The Year Hogwarts Reopens

“You fight like a girl.”

I’m sorry

I didn’t

realise

that 

was 

a

bad

thing

New prints added to the Etsy shop. All of the wood I used to build these panels seem to be made from the same tree, which is pretty cool.

how did cartoons become such a ‘kids’ thing? how did we decide as species that, as soon as we made it through 16 rotations of the earth, suddenly we’re too old for moving drawings made by really talented people? cartoons are art? and hilarious? minimal angst and unproblematic jokes?  ?? zero logic. cartoons for everyone 2k15

Make yourself a Mermaid just do it

It don’t even gotta be an actual mermaid it can be a shark mermaid or a seahorse mermaid or even just a human stuck underwater

it has so many options just do it

(psst, rebloge with ur picture)

Female Fantasy III

I need reblogs. I’m ready to stand up. LGBT announcement

Ok,

So a few of you may know my story but for those who don’t, prepare yourselves. I’m a lesbian, but I prefer the term gay. I came out to my Mom in september, she was quiet and didn’t have much to say. Something went down in January that I never like to repeat, but then being gay came back up. I was in her room, we talked, I told her again and she said she didn’t want to talk about it but I said I did because if not we would never start to talk again. We yelled

Stuff was said

Christianity was brought up

I backed out of my religion, I no longer identify as Christian.

I cried

a lot

I was hurt

She took all of my passwords, has all of my accounts. I can no longer communicate with the trevorprojectawareness over this. I wasn’t able to communicate with certain people for a few months. She made me unfollow people like Tyler Oakley. I can no longer, however, find his tumblr so if anybody knows the official one then please link it on this post.

It was bad, my sexuality was destroying me. Not to mention going through a christian school where if they learned of me, I could be kicked out, wasn’t helping either. At one point right when I moved in with my dad, she sent me some….really upsetting text. She used my sexuality to her advantage, “Well this this this because basically I know about your sexuality and can use it to get away with stuff” She played that card too many times. She believes it’s a choice, always said, “You are not gay! You do not know what it means anyways! You think you’re joining in with the cool kids!”

A lot of hurtful stuff along with that I don’t want to say. It’s been 6 months now and once I’m 18 in September, this will be gone. But at times It feels so far away. Sometimes I don’t even think about it, sometimes I do.

During this period my anxiety started to act up, I would talk to friends then break down having a flashback about what happened. I believe my Mom could hear everything because she tracks my ip, has my passwords, everything.

My anxiety got to a level where I felt paranoid all the time.

Well I’m sure all of us know that supreme court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states Hooray!

I cheered!

I was happy!

Now of course to my christian friends on twitter I voiced my opinion, I explained that today wasn’t a day about just putting a ring on somebody’s finger, it was more than that. It was a victory.

My sexuality isn’t public on twitter, so everything I said was from a non-homophobic, heterosexual view from those who know nothing about me. I woke up today, going through twitter and felt rage because everything I said was deleted. Where somebody quoted me agreeing it said, “tweet no longer available”

And I knew exactly why. She deleted them.

This stuff has gone on for months. Every time I voice my opinion she’ll take it down, my tumblr has not been touched which I don’t know why but, ok, whatever. “Oh, Jordyn, get over it. Just a few tweets, whatever.”

It’s more than that. For the past 6 months I feel I have been gagged and unable to voice my opinion about anything like this. It’s always like, “Sssh, you’re still suppose to be a christian who’s straight and like boys. Shush you don’t know what’s going on.”

And that annoys me. I’m getting angry and want to put my foot down.

If this post gets deleted you know exactly why

So what I’m asking is for you to reblog this post and stand up for me. I will write down each url, screenshot this post, etc. Either on my 18th birthday or when I leave for college I will show her this and how many people (hopefully a lot) who stand up for me.

I’ve been pushed, broken, and hated like any other for my sexuality, I want to take a stand.

tl;dr

gay teen under a lot of restriction for sexuality and what not. Mom involved, unable to voice opinion anymore. Feeling broken, sad, I’m wanting to stand up.

Please, no matter how many times you see this please reblog. I need the help. The lgbtqa+ community is a loving community most of the time who rejoiced together over our victory, now let’s get back together and help each other again.

Both mine and your battle isn’t over yet.

Deer

They don’t like one another but all want to sleep on the bed. This is the agreement they came to.

A few weeks ago my mom stapled pages of a story in one of her women’s magazines together and handed it to me. She gave it to me pretty much with the tag lines “for your feminist blog” and “something new to consider.” Indeed it was; she knows me well.

The story is titled “I was forced to be pregnant.” With a title like that, reading it was actually not on the top of my to read list. I thought it was about women not exercising their right to choice. I was very, very wrong on that one.

Have you ever heard of Reproductive coercion? It is a term that was quite recently coined by the advocates against domestic violence to describe a certain type of abuse some women face. It occurs when a man pressures their partner to have kids and/or impregnates them against their will. Reproductive coercion comes in three different types: 1. Emotional pressure that turns into verbal and physical abuse. 2. Sabotaging birth control 3. Marital rape Over 75% of women 19-49 who reported once experiencing domestic violence also endured some type of reproductive control by men. It’s all about control and domination over a woman’s body.

The first story in the magazine is about a woman who got married around 36 years of age. After a few months of dating her boyfriend talked excitedly about having children. After he proposed he began calling her “The Babymaker.” She then confided with him that one of her fallopian tubes was blocked. He in return insisted she see a fertility doctor. She recounts, “I had finally met a great guy who was eager to start a family with me. What woman wouldn’t fall for that?” Soon after her honeymoon he persisted on in an obsessive manner, but his efforts had to be temporarily halted as she had to get emergency back surgery. Alas, 6 months into recovery he was back to pressuring her again. She was in much pain at the time due to her back, but she agreed to In Vitro Fertilization. She then became pregnant, but soon miscarried. In response, her husband grabbed her by the neck, choking her. He apologized, blaming his outburst on his grief and had her sign up for another round of IVF. And then a third round. She tried to put him off with the excuse that she needed to weigh more before she could take treatments, her husband forced her to get on the scale often and filled the fridge with fattening foods. “It hurt that all I was good for was getting pregnant.” She recounts. At the end, he screamed at her, threatening to replace her with a maid if she couldn’t get pregnant and she told him she no longer wanted to have his child. He destroyed bedroom furniture, pushed her down the stairs and threatened her with a gun. She fled to a domestic violence shelter.

The second story was about a woman who faced marital rape. This woman was 40, had a then boyfriend and two children from a previous marriage. After telling her boyfriend she did not want any more children, her boyfriend refused to wear a condom and began to rape her.  She then became pregnant with her third child. Birth control was never an option for her because she couldn’t hide pills anywhere for he went through all of her belongings. Three months after giving birth, he raped her again, impregnating her with twins. She lost the twins in a physical fight with him, but soon became pregnant again. During her recovery she begged her obstetrician to remove her ovaries and devise a lie to tell him; that she had cancer. After a decade of sexual abuse and violence she was able to get a job that kept her out of the house and often times traveling.

One in four callers to the National Domestic Abuse hotline said that their partners had tried to force them to become pregnant. Why? As one woman stated, “Its like he wants to own me from the inside out.”  Having a baby is the perfect tie that binds. These type of abusers want to create a circumstance in which their partner is dependent on him.

WHAT’S THAT HAVE TO DO WITH PLANNED PARENTHOOD?

Many voters never consider how defunding these clinics could hurt victims of domestic violence who turn to them for counseling as well as pregnancy prevention. Abused women will turn to health care providers long before they will turn to domestic abuse hotlines and organizations. Many women in abusive relationships rely on life saving, affordable care programs such as Title X. It is critical that such places are open and operation when women and children need them so desperately.

Do You Love Someone With Depression?

If you have a partner or are close to someone who struggles with depression, you may not always know how to show them you love them. One day they may seem fine, and the next they are sad, distant and may push you away. It is important that you know that as a person who is close to them and trusted by them, you can help your friend or partner have shorter, less severe bouts of depression. Mental illness is as real as physical illness (it is physical actually, read more about that here) and your partner needs you as much as they would need to be cared for if they had the flu.

Your relationship may seem one-sided during these times, but by helping your partner through a very difficult and painful affliction, you are strengthening your relationship and their mental health in the long term.

1. Help them keep clutter at bay.

When a person begins spiraling into depression, they may feel like they are slowing down while the world around them speeds up. The mail may end up in stacks, dishes can pile up in the sink, laundry may go undone as the depressed person begins to feel more and more overwhelmed by their daily routine and unable to keep up. By giving your partner some extra help sorting mail, washing dishes or using paper plates and keeping chaos in check in general, you’ll be giving them (and yourself) the gift of a calm  environment. (I’m a fan of the minimalist movement because of this, you can read more about that here.)

2. Fix them a healthy meal.

Your partner may do one of two things when they are in a depressed state. They may eat very little, or they may overeat. In either case, they may find that driving through a fast food restaurant or ordering a pizza online is just easier than fixing a meal. Eating like this, or neglecting to eat will only degrade your partner’s health, causing them to go deeper into their depression. Help your loved one keep their body healthy, and their mind will follow. This is a great article that talks about the “Brain Diet” which can help the symptoms of depression, and this article talks about how our modern diet could contribute to the recent rise in depression. Here is a recipe for a trail mix that is quick to make and has mood-boosting properties.

3.Get them outside.

 The benefits of getting outside for a depressed person are huge. And it is possibly the last thing on earth your partner will want to do. Take them to be somewhere in nature. Pack a picnic and lie in the sun, take a leisurely hike or plant a garden. Being barefoot in the dirt, or “earthing” helps ground the body and reverse the effects of living in a world of emf’s, and digging in soil can actually act as an antidepressant, as a strain of bacterium in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers the release of seratonin, which in turn elevates mood and decreases anxiety. Sunshine increases Vitamin D production which can help alleviate depression. My friend Elizabeth wrote an excellent post about Vitamin D and its link to depression here.  For more information about other sources of Vitamin D, this is a great post as well as this.

4. Ask them to help you understand what they’re feeling.

If your partner is able to articulate what they are going through, it will help them and you better understand what you are dealing with, and may give insight into a plan of action for helping your partner. Also, feeling alone is common for a depressed person and anything that combats that feeling will help alleviate the severity and length of the depression.

5. Encourage them to focus on self-care.

Depressed people often stop taking care of themselves. Showering, getting haircuts, going to the doctor or dentist, it’s all just too hard, and they don’t deserve to be well taken care of anyway in their minds. This can snowball quickly into greater feelings of worthlessness since “Now I’m such a mess, no one could ever love me”. Help your loved one by being proactive. Tell them “I’m going to do the dishes, why don’t you go enjoy a bubble bath?” can give them the permission they won’t give themselves to do something normal, healthy and self-loving.

6. Hug them.

Studies show that a sincere hug that lasts longer than 20 seconds can release feel-good chemicals in the brain and elevate the mood of the giver and receiver. Depressed people often don’t want to be touched, but a sincere hug with no expectation of anything further can give your partner a lift.

7. Laugh with them.

Telling a silly joke, watching a comedy or seeing a stand up comedian will encourage your partner to laugh in spite of themselves. Laughing releases endorphins and studies show can actually counteract symptoms of depression and anxiety.

8. Reassure them that you can handle their feelings.

Your partner may be feeling worthless, angry and even guilty while they are depressed. They may be afraid that they will end up alone because no one will put up with their episodes forever. Reassure them that you are in the relationship for the long haul and they won’t scare you away because they have an illness.

9. Challenge their destructive thoughts.

A depressed person’s mind can be a never-ending loop of painful, destructive thoughts. “I’m unlovable, I’m a failure, I’m ugly, I’m stupid”. Challenge these untruths with the truth. “You’re not unlovable, I love you. You aren’t a failure, here are all the things you’ve accomplished.”

10.Remind them why you love them.

Look at pictures of happy times you’ve had together. Tell them your favorite things about them. Reminisce about your relationship and all the positive things that have happened, and remind your partner that you love them and they will get through this.

(via The Darling Bakers)