something is really lost when exceptionally beautiful actresses (so almost all actresses who get cast in big films) are cast to portray real historical or contemporary figures who were/are not conventionally beautiful, or who’d even be considered ugly. appearance isn’t our only dimension as humans ofc, but it’s one of them–our bodies are a part of who we are and beauty makes for a certain set of experiences and ugliness makes for another, especially for women. it’s a disservice to all of us, honestly, to communicate w these casting decisions that singularly beautiful (as in rare) women’s faces are the only ones worthy of being shown, and that the faces of real women who lived their lives in normal unbeautiful bodies must be obscured by cinematic history
so here’s what’s been going on: last month, Bird – @thulimo – was hospitalized briefly and we learned that she has a major tumor on her ovary and will need a complete hysterectomy in the (very near) future, as well as some internal bleeding. the latter has been taken care of, the former still needs ongoing care.
our insurance company is dragging it’s feet now because they’ve paid out over $20,000 so far and are reluctant to do anything else for us, even authorizing specialist visits and referrals, until we pay the remaining balance. the remaining balance comes to $2800. that’s just so far.
I simply do not have that kind of money. my paycheck pays for 90% of living expenses and in april I was involved in an accident at work where I was pinned between the inside of a mortuary transport van and several hundred pounds of decedent and casket, causing a very serious back injury (and requires a surgery of it’s own, which will put me out of work – obviously I am putting this off as long as I can). in spite of that. I’m at work every day the funeral home is open. I’m working 70-80 hours a week. simply put, the FH is not open enough for me to get any more hours, and I’m pushing myself past my breaking point as it is. I would need to save back from my paycheck for over a year to come up with the money to pay it off between student debts and the cost of being alive in this economy. Bird doesn’t have a year to wait for continued care.
I hate making this post. I hate asking for help like this because we all have our own problems, but I’m desperate. below is a screenshot of the balances due (with personal/identifying information blacked out) just to show that I’m serious and that I’m not just pulling a figure out of thin air:
I don’t even like to think about where we’d be right now without an ACA healthcare plan, or without insurance at all, it honest to god makes me break out in stress hives. I’ve already been pacing around my office so much today that I’m driving my coworkers insane.
getting to the point: i’m opening fic commissions at $1 per 100 words. you can send me a message here on tumblr to discuss details. I will write nsfw even, anything goes.
I’m also offering 10 card tarot readings for $10.
I have a ko-fi page, and $3 will get you a 300 word ficlet of your choice (and obviously a higher donation will get you a higher word count)
and if none of these appeal but you still want to help you can imagine i’m not going to say no, and I have a paypal.me account
and if you can’t donate at all but still want to help, reblogs and signal boosts are so appreciated. thank you guys so much for even reading this far. <3333
update — 7/31/2018
thank you to everyone who has reblogged and commissioned us and donated so far, you’re all blessings and I’m overwhelmed
as it stands, we are currently $2300 past due still and Bird still needs ongoing care, so I’m still offering commissions and tarot readings!
There are now more than 90 people dead. You can bitch and whine that’s it’s hotter where you are, but you have to understand that it’s the elderly, homeless and small children who don’t have air conditioning and are susceptible to health problems. How fucking despicable can you be to just laugh at people dying because temperatures are hotter where you are. Our infrastructure was built to withstand -30 C°, not the heat. It’s not about how Canadians are “weak”, it’s literally just shitty circumstances.
Not to mention that people who are accustomed to cold climates have a physically more difficult time coping with temperatures that their bodies aren’t used to. Also a lot of people who have never had to cope with hotter temperatures aren’t as familiar with heat exhaustion or heat stroke, don’t know how to manage the heat safely , etc!
That last point.
Denmark is currently in its hottest summer ever recorded, and the number of people I’ve talked to who have only now discovered what a heat stroke is amazes me, because I grew up in the South of France where summers are hot as fuck every year – my brother-in-law went out for a bike ride without a hat and with a half a liter of water for three hours and came back and was sick because of it.
The idea that he’d get sick because of the sun didn’t even OCCUR to him, because in his 30+ years on this green ball swirling through space, it’s never been an issue for him.
In the South of France, most cafés have mist sprayers and all shops / malls are air-conditioned. In Denmark, most cafés do NOT have mist sprayers (but heat lights!) and the shops are not always air-conditioned.
Most of the warehouses have been out of portable air-conditioners and fans on an off since May because people are hot and have no air-condition installed. The buildings are built to keep heat IN. Not out.
No air con, buildings designed to keep heat in, not even ceiling fans, no drinking fountains, windows that don’t open in buildings, and we expect people to work in those buildings, in their full uniform which has no ‘hot weather’ option – I mean what employer is going to provide short sleeves and shorts for that one week every three years where it gets above 25/80 degrees? – windows that don’t open on public transport, and often no shade while waiting for said public transport, we have heaters and insulation and draft excluders, we buy black cars and dark clothes, we buy sunscreen for our holidays in Spain, then forget where we put it, when we find it and apply it we sweat it off again because we’re not used to the heat, we walk places rather than drive and even if we drove, our cars don’t have proper air con and we don’t have covered parking, school playgrounds and public parks have no shade, people don’t have pools so kids play out all summer in the heat. We don’t have ‘American style’ large fridges or freezers with ice makers and they break down when competing with hotter than usual ambient temperature, most of us don’t even own cool boxes – or if we do it’s at the back of the shed full of spiders.
So yes, we have to be told it’s going to be hot. And we have to be warned to check our elderly neighbours and to help them take the blankets off their bed or to swap to a summer duvet, to suggest they have a cold drink instead of a pot of tea and take off their cardigan.
Because we only know people who got sunstroke on their holidays abroad.
And we have never in our lives known anyone who died from the heat.
To anybody who thinks it’s funny when people die, you can go fuck off a tall bridge.
I live in Phoenix. It’s going to be 115F/46C degrees today. This is nothing unusual for this time of year. And yet every year we lose people to the heat. I can’t imagine what super temps must be like when you are not used to it. England, Quebec, and most of Europe’s home were designed to keep heat in. Not let it out. So instead of giggling like evil children over someone else’s horror, try being a little more understanding at the very least of what they are going through.
Seriously.
Even here in the Midwest, we have drives every year to distribute fans, water, and air conditioners to vulnerable people, and a few people die anyway.
And we have the infrastructure to cope and are used to it! And even then! For people vulnerable to it and people who push themselves too hard without taking time to drink fluids and cool down it is still! Dangerous!
Young and elderly are the most common victims because they have physical limitations to their ability to sense overheating or combat it. Children don’t have fully formed sweat glands, produce more heat during movement, and their smaller body mass means they dehydrate faster. The elderly have limited mobility and diminished autonomic reflexes, so they’re less likely to sense thirst or hunger. Especially keep an eye on people with heart or vascular conditions – dehydration will necessarily lead to a drop in blood-water volume, which can cause spikes in blood pressure and heart rate. People with clotting disorders or vascular stenosis can have circulatory issues resulting from increased blood viscosity. People with respiratory conditions are also at risk if the air is severely humid because moisture in decreases oxygen intake per breath. If possible, you really want to keep these groups in areas that are dry, cool, and hydrated.
Avoid drinking excessive caffeine and alcoholic products. These contain diuretics that will increase water loss. Make sure you wear sunscreen when out – a sunburn will, of course, increase dehydration and body temperature. Try to avoid being in direct sunlight extensively between the hours of 10a.m.-4p.m., particularly on days with intense highs and significant humidity. If you jog/run outside, do it outside of peak hours when temperatures are dropping. People who do manual labor really need to be careful here. Industries like construction and landscaping need to making sure their employees are taking regular breaks and drinking consistently throughout the day. They may also want to supplement with Gatorade or other electrolyte improved drinks if you’re sweating a lot.
Key symptoms you want to watch out for are dizziness, exhaustion, dry mouth, vomiting/nausea, and headache. If your urine is very dark (or nonexistent) or if you can’t muster up enough saliva to spit, you’re badly dehydrated and need to drink something. If you see somebody pass out, immediately check their heart rate – rapid, weak pulse is a sign of danger. If they lose consciousness for any significant period of time (more than a second or two), contact an ambulance immediately or take them to the hospital. If their skin feels hot or they have a fever over 100F, get them to a cool spot if possible. A bathtub filled with cold water or ice can help bring down over all body temperature while waiting for paramedics to arrive. Otherwise, damp rags or even taking off some clothing layers may help.
Headcanon: While the Havens itself is built on dry land, it is surrounded by tidal wetlands. The elves of Sirion can’t raise anything like the Girdle of Melian, but they can use song and their relationship with the land and the river to make it difficult for those who aren’t friendly to approach. Coming down the river to the Havens ought to be simple. But what was a straightforward river to navigate turns tricky when you reach the estuary. If you don’t know exactly which channels to take – and when, because some of the ones you need only have a few inches of water at low tide – you could get lost. That ground that looked solid when the water was low gets muddy and then disappears entirely within a few hours. (The elves can encourage the tide to come in or go out faster at need.)
Yes: I see the Havens as occupying low-lying islands in the estuary, connected by bridges across creeks and streams, and surrounded by rustling reed-beds. I don’t think they have big walls or towers. They were built by refugees in hiding: I think they were largely wooden,which is why the attacking Feanorians despite being a fairly small force by that time could do so much damage.
I also think the tide explains how Elwing escaped : she jumped into the sea, but not from a high tower or a cliff into static water: it was the tide going out that whirled her away before she became a bird.
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