welp,

“Over the next few hours you will ingest fat, salt, sugar, protein, bacteria, fungi, various plants and animals, and, at times, entire ecosystems. But I have to beg of you one thing. It’s just one. Do not eat. Taste. Savor. Relish. Consider every morsel that you place inside your mouth. Be mindful. But do not eat. Our menu is too precious for that. And look around you. Here we are on this island. Accept. Accept all of it. And forgive. And on that note… food!”

how about?????? dad bod harry 😼🤞🤨🥰

The Monster: Am Eloquent Baby

Charlie Weasley

Happy Sunday! The amazing @thebooktopus recently posted her masterlist of individual recs and inspired me to do the same, hoping to keep track of this mess if nothing else. I was worried curious to see how much work this would take, and after going through my own archive (ty SS for showing me how!) I was shocked to realize that all of these were posted on the blog’s first month. 80 recs in 30 days is something I’ll never be able to do again. Most of them are on the short side (how did I ever manage two-line reviews? who knows, not me) but over time they turned into 3+ rambling paragraphs. As a classic procrastinator I will be taking my sweet time going through them, but here’s the first batch as a way to force myself to keep going. This is more for my personal records than anything else but in case anyone’s interested in seeing them all in one place:

A Ghost in the Garden by thistle_verse

A Hippogriff for Christmas by xanthippe74

A Lick and a Promise by tackytiger

A Song, Incomplete by RurouniHime

A Sword Laid Aside by korlaena

Against All Odds by momatu

All Bets Are Off by dualwieldteacup

All Missing Things (Can Be Found) by gracie137

All Our Secrets Laid Bare by firethesound

All Roads Lead Home by dracogotgame 

amid this warm and steady sweetness by warmfoothills

And Save Me From Bloody Men by blamebrampton

Any Instrument by dictacontrion

At the Crossroads There We’ll Meet by firethesound

At Your Service by faithwood

Between Two Fires of Beltane by secretsalex

break the bad luck in my life by seaworn

Chocolate and Pastry by agentmoppet

Countdown by dysonrules

Crossing Lines by Ren

Embers by shiftylinguini

fly like paper, high like planes by harryromper

Headlights in the Snow by Saras_Girl

In Which Harry is Magnetic North and Draco is An Idiot by bryoneybrynn

In Your Arms, Rests My World by loveglowsinthedark

I’ll Floo Home for Christmas by jadepresley

I Bet You Look Good at the Dancefloor by birdsofshore

In Our Blood by secretsalex

Intelligence by aideomai

It’s Up That I Fell by zuzallove

Let Me Have You and I’ll Let You Save Me by Frayach

Level Two: Series One by Ashii Black, blamebrampton, Catsintheattic, dustmouth, epithalamium, incandescent, JosephineStone, nerakrose, raitala, Romaine, Vaysh and Writcraft

Little Compton Street (One Rainy Night in Soho) by Writcraft

Lost and Found by rillalicious

Match Fit by ravenclawsquill

Matched Set by astolat

measures of our days and nights by flimsi

My Name Was Safest in Your Mouth by alpha-exodus​

Nice Things by aideomai

On Your Way by lqtraintracks

Open for Repairs by feelsforbreakfast

Potential Gravity by zeitgeistic​

Rebuilding Draco Malfoy by khasael

Reparations by Saras_Girl

Right Hand Red by lqtraintracks

Running on Air by eleventy7

Solve Us Like a Mystery by tryslora

Speak (and may the world come undone) by shealwaysreads

Stately Homes of Wiltshire by waspabi

Take the Air by dysonrules

Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop

Temptation on the Warfront by alizarincrims0n

That Old Black Magic by bixgirl

The Boy Who Only Lived Twice by lettered

The Four Ds of Apparition (or: Destination, Determination, Deliberation, and Dicks) by eidheann and firethesound

The Full Monty by magpiefngrl

The Good Guys by Frayach

the keys to your kingdom by thistle_verse

The Paradox of Active Surrender by korlaena

The Strongest Affinity by eidheann

The Wand Slipped by sdk

There is Always the Moon by firethesound

This Christmas, I Give You My Everything by loveglowsinthedark

Through His Teeth by dictacontrion

Time and Again by lauren3210

Touch me Fall by lqtraintracks

Transmutations by khasael

Trouble, my Old Friend by Tepre

Turn From Stone by harryromper

Unseen by astolat

Vale Sanare by RurouniHime

Vortex by xanthippe74

Waiting by an Open Door by Femme and noeon 

Welcome to the Broom Closet by incapricious

What Real Thing? by loveglowsinthedark

What We Pretend We Can’t See by gyzym

When You Kiss Me (What A Lovely Way To Burn) by Femme 

White as Snow by bixgirl

Who We Are in the Shadows by quicksilvermaid

You Open Always (Petal by Petal) by birdsofshore

A Pocket Full of Stones by @amywaterwings

Lily's Boy by @somewheressword

Tit for Tat by @mintamintathings

A lot of people in the US are super worried about the Supreme Court axing Roe v. Wade, but what they might not know is that some states have laws in place that will protect the right to reproductive choice and abortion if that happens. One of these states is the state of Illinois. In 2019, a law was passed that protects abortion rights within the state even if the federal right to an abortion falls. This means that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion will still be a protected right in Illinois. Even before Roe, Chicago was a haven for safe abortions- you just called and asked for Jane.

Now, safe abortion access is the law of the land in IL, and there are several groups who can help you. This post is long, but I think it’s worthwhile. Even if you don’t read all the way through it, maybe save it for later. You or someone you know might need it. If you want to stop now, the TL;DR is this:

f you’re a minor and you can’t tell your parents, get a waiver of notification from the IL Judicial Bypass program.

Schedule your appointment.

Contact abortion funds to get financial aid. Your home state might have s fund, and the Chicago Abortion Fund can help.

Secure housing for the procedure through the Midwest Access Coalition or by talking to the intake staff at the clinic of your choice.

I’d like to start by saying that the closer to home you get your abortion, should you need one, the easier it will be for you… probably. It depends on your individual situation AND your safety. If I still lived in Indiana and I needed an abortion, I’d probably leave to get it done, even though there are abortion providers in Indiana, because Indiana is super hostile and there’s lots of clinic protestors- for example, when I was taking my GRE my senior year at Notre Dame, the testing center was in this little strip mall in Mishawaka next to Planned Parenthood. Despite the fact that the PP in Mishawaka does not provide abortions, there were protestors who yelled at me for going in there. I wasn’t even going to PP. I’d like to say that I said something devastatingly cool but I just ran in flustered. Point being: It really, really would have sucked if I was there for healthcare instead of a standardized test for graduate school. And that’s a very tame, mild situation! Real abortion clinic protests are often much more devastating! 

ANYWAYS. The less you have to travel, the easier things tend to be, if it’s safe to get an abortion where you are and if your state will have protected abortions if Roe is overturned. If you’re not sure what might happen in your state in that case, this map has a clear, succinct overview of the legal status of abortion in each state and all US territories. You will want to click through to that link, because this image isn’t interactive.

[ID: a map of the US with states and territories sorted by their legal protections for abortion into four categories: expanded access in the case of Roe v. Wade being overturned, protected, not protected, and hostile. IL is highlighted.]

So let’s say you live in any of those red states. (Yellow and blue are safe- abortion access is protected there.) Let’s say, worst case scenario, Roe gets overturned and you get pregnant and you want to terminate. You will be able to do that in IL, and it’s relatively easy to do that in Chicago for a relatively low cost and with the benefit of a robust support network of people who want to reaffirm your reproductive choices.

First, if you’re a minor and you don’t want to tell your parents because it’s not safe for you to do so, get a judicial waiver of parental notification. The IL ACLU has a judicial bypass hotline. This will come at no cost to you. Do this ASAP, because it takes time to get it set up! You can do this by calling the hotline at 877-442-9727, texting 312-560-6607, or emailing [email protected].

Next, you need to get an appointment set up. You could get a referral from someone local to you, but this can be tricky- 87% of counties in the US don’t have an abortion provider, and google can lead you to a crisis pregnancy center. They will not help you. If you have a local Planned Parenthood, call them. Even if they don’t provide abortions, they can refer you to someone who can. If you’re coming to Chicago, which this post… kind of assumes you are… you can call any of these groups to talk about your options and what clinics can help you. I recommend starting with FPA or PP; those are two actual clinics. MAC and CAF are funds- they can direct you but they can’t schedule an appointment for you.

Family Planning Associates (FPA): 312-707-8988 or use their online schedule tool, found here: https://www.fpachicago.com/schedule-now/ Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF): Phone: 312-663-0338 (note: the helpline is only staffed MWF from 3:30-6:30 PM CST, or email [email protected] Midwest Access Coalition (MAC): 847-750-6224 or email [email protected] Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PP): 1-800-230-7526

You might want to shop around and see which clinic costs the least, and is the most practical for you to get to. FPA has a lot of patient resources, as does PP. Don’t be afraid to ask for financial assistance. The people staffing those organizations have extensive networks and deep compassion for their patients- if the clinic can’t help, they might know who can.

Once you’ve made an appointment, now’s the time to start gathering financial aid. Some insurance, including IL Medicaid, covers it. If yours does not, or if the copay is still too much, this is where abortion funds come into play. Many states have their own abortion funds for state residents, so you might have to look around to see who can help you. I’d start with the National Network of Abortion Funds.

You also need to figure out transportation and housing while you’re in the city to get your abortion. This isn’t super necessary if you’re just coming for the pill abortion, but if you’re coming for a d and c or other surgical procedure, you will be staying for a couple of days. THIS is why I’m writing this up, because abortion funds typically only are able to help cover the financial cost of the procedure. It’s expensive to stay somewhere and it can be absolutely terrifying if you’re on your own! Navigating while you’re in pain from the procedure can be an absolute devil of a time, too! However, Chicago has MAC (contact info above), which is a practical access fund, which means that they help pay for transportation to the city (bus tickets and train tickets) and around the city (volunteer drivers or volunteers who take rideshares with clients), food, aftercare medicine (painkillers, etc.), and housing, and there’s also free access to emotional support staff throughout your stay. This is not just open to IL residents; it’s open to anyone coming to the city for an abortion. ALSO if you go through FPA, they have a partnership with the Hampton Inn a block away from their location where their patients get a discount. If you go that route, just talk to FPA about housing and they’ll hook you up. This can be super helpful if you need some evidence that you’re on a “business trip” or something like that- if you are in a position where you need an excuse for your safety, that might work well.

https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a37668369/abortion-funds-crisis-where-to-donate-end-of-roe/

https://abortionfunds.org/

http://www.sparkrj.org/

https://keepourclinics.org/

http://www.sparkrj.org/website/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/SMA-1-Pager.pdf

Now, this only works early in a pregnancy (up to 11-12 weeks), so if you’re in a situation where you suspect you may become pregnant and you don’t want to be, test early and often if you can. The various help lines can also help you figure out how far along you are.

More resources: https://www.reprolegalhelpline.org/- this link is a good resource for talking about your legal options. If you’re a pregnant person of color, immigrant, or low-income (and using Medicaid) in an abortion-hostile state, I HIGHLY recommend talking through your legal options because you are absolutely targeted by politicians and the US legal system.

https://www.plancpills.org/

https://abortionhotline.org/

Also, if you would like to do something IRL to help, why not print out some stickers? These have a QR code that leads to Plan C’s website.

https://global-uploads.webflow.com/5f7e0692875fa8243cac6673/613fac241151daf59881d89e_PlanC_DIY_StickerSheet_2x2.pdf

I know this is a long post, but if Roe is overturned, it’s not going to stop abortions. It’s just going to stop safe abortions. Abortion access is reproductive healthcare, and a lot of states are going to get really restrictive. Indiana, my home state, has already put a woman in jail for having a miscarriage. Oklahoma lawmakers would rather let women with ectopic pregnancies die than allow lifesaving medical procedures. This is bad, but! Underground abortion networks did exist before Roe vs. Wade, and now we have the internet. We have robust networks in place to help people that the government would rather see dead or imprisoned. Even if Roe is overturned, some states will be safe havens for abortion. Travel to these states can be difficult, but not impossible– that’s what abortion networks and abortion funds are for.