Why Hello!

Laura: So like...sisters?

Carmilla: Your obliviousness is exhausting.

Laura: Are you a boy donning a disguise to woo me in secret?

drive-by thank you

Panel 1: The crow whistles to himself as he unlocks the front door of his house A trans flag hangs in the window.

Panel 2: “Excuse me!” calls a pink capybara from a nearby car. The crow jumps, startled.

Panel 3: “Hi!” waves the capybara, “I just wanted to say, I’m the mom of a trans kiddo...”

Panel 4: “And I know it makes them feel good when we drive past the flag in your window,” the capybara continues.

Panel 5: The crow looks at the flags as the capybara concludes, “It lets them know there’s other people like them out there.”

Panel 6: The crow pauses, eyes water and mouth open.

Panel 7: “You’re welcome!” says the crow

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1. Trust celebrates birth of rare lemur quadruplets

“The trust said red ruffed lemurs were only found in a small area of the northeast of Madagascar and were "critically endangered". It said the birth of quadruplets was incredibly rare, occurring in fewer than 6% of births worldwide. [...] It added alongside being part of the breeding programme, Shaldon Wildlife Trust directly supported the protection of the animals in the wild through their field conservation partner, the Lemur Conservation Association.”

2. Colorado Gov. Polis Signs New Conversion Therapy Ban, Defying Supreme Court

“The bill [...] allows survivors to sue the practitioners who subjected them to [conversion therapy], using a private right of action—notably, the same legal mechanism first pioneered by Republicans to get around Roe v. Wade in Texas. [...] Once it takes effect, it should immediately make conversion therapy financially prohibitive in the state, as any practitioner who engages in it faces unlimited civil liability with no statute of limitations on claims.”

3. A ‘Reforestation Pipeline’ in New Mexico Trains Seedlings to Survive in Burn Scars

“[First, researchers] find seeds from trees of various species that have already survived drought, wildfire or temperature extremes. [… Then, the nursery] toughens seedlings up so that they’re better prepared for the extreme conditions they’ll face outside[….] Toca and his team are exposing seedlings to controlled drought, which causes them to create a larger root system that can absorb more underground moisture[….]”

4. 8 crested ibises released in Japanese town decades after extinction in Japan

“The eight birds have been raised at a conservation center on Sado Island in the neighboring prefecture of Niigata following a successful captive-breeding program. Ten more birds are waiting to be released. [...] The birds went extinct on the Honshu main island in the 1970s[....] In 1999, artificial breeding by a pair donated from China successfully led to the first Japanese crested ibis chick born in captivity[....]”

5. Thanks to two new laws, more Virginians can save with community solar

“The legislation expands subscription-based solar farms from 250 to 875 megawatts[….] “You can tuck this [solar array] in a farmer’s back 40 where it can’t be seen from a road[….” and the income enables the farmers] to retire comfortably. […] The measures include allowing plug-in balcony solar units, reining in local restrictions on large solar farms, and pushing for better utilization of the state’s existing network of poles and wires.”

If you are in the United States and not employed by a zoo or sanctuary or a veterinarian working with a facility, if anyone for any reason offers to allow you to touch a big cat, please do not do it.

No matter how much you want to, no matter how much it is a dream, understand that it is a violation of federal law that could get the facility the cat lives at in very serious trouble. It does not matter if it is through the fence, or in the context of a trained behavior, or if the cat is on a leash. Even if it feels “safe” or they swear the facility condones it.

It’s starting to appear that lots of zookeepers have not been informed appropriately about the scope of the law - or in cases where they do know it’s inappropriate, they are sometimes being overridden by their management and forced to allow encounters. (Even at accredited facilities!)

We do not know exactly what the penalties could be for that happening within an accredited zoo (yay badly implemented laws) but it typically comes down to being risk to a) the cat’s welfare b) the facility’s ability to have any big cats at all and c) someone, either the facility owner or the person offering, could go to jail or pay serious fines. There are two instances of this happening at AZA zoos that were leaked recently and we may now find out how bad it’s going to get for them.

Lots of facilities will have big cat pelts as educational biofacts that they will allow you to touch. You do not ever need to take the risk associated with touching a live big cat - generally anywhere, and especially in the US.

Beautiful, you don’t HAVE to forgive them. You just can’t ridicule them after leaving for being “tainted” or “evil” or whatever the acceptable word is now. Do not punish the behaviour you want to see.

“But they should’ve known sooner” and we should’ve known sooner that Destiel was never gonna meaningfully happen outside of queerbaiting, what’s your point?

“I never want them near me” that’s fine, but you do realize to insult them, YOU have to get near THEM, right? Wouldn’t it be more conducive to what you want to just leave each other alone?

I’d been feeling pretty dysphoric lately after seeing a photo a coworker took of me while I was working at a miniature convention. You know how sometimes pictures taken by other people just look... wrong? Like somehow they capture a completely different version of you. I didn’t feel feminine in it at all. It just didn’t look like me, the me I see in the mirror, the me I’ve been growing into.

So this morning I was doing my usual routine before work: grabbing breakfast at a local restaurant. I headed to the bathroom. Even now, as a trans woman, I still get nervous about using the women’s restroom because there’s always that little voice in the back of my head telling me I don’t pass well enough yet.

I ended up using the men’s room and was walking out when a woman stopped me.

She looked genuinely concerned and said, "Ma’am, you’re in the wrong bathroom. That’s the men’s bathroom."

Then she pointed toward the women’s restroom.

When I just stood there for a second, completely caught off guard, she pointed at the sign again and said, "They should really make that thing more visible."