“It’s funny,” I told Flewin. “We have an old Nintendo Game Boy floating around the house, and Tetris is the only game we own. My wife will sometimes dig it out to play on airplanes and long car rides. She’s weirdly good at it. She can get 500 or 600 lines, no problem.”
What Flewin said next I will never forget.
“Oh, my!”
/end id]
TL;DR on the article
The husband was writing an article on classic video game records, was surprised to find out that holding the Tetris record is a bit of a big deal, and mentions how good his wife is at it.
The guy he’s talking to mentions that the record is 327, way lower than his wifes usual scores of 500-600.
They travel to a tournament, and she goes to do her attempt. Just after she beats 327, and is climbing higher, a judge brings up to the husband that the specific version she’s playing actually has a different record of 545.
She overhears that she needs to beat 500-something, and keeps going, setting the record at 841.
Plain text: Please read this story of a man accidentally discovering his wife is the world’s best Tetris player. End plain text
An open letter to the artist community (from a disabled artist)
I’m not really someone who likes making PSA type posts, as I like to keep my existence mainly quiet but with some consideration I’d like to cast my stone in the water today to talk about the entitlement of able bodied artists towards disabled folk.
I want to express foremost that I AM disabled, I AM an artist. I’ve been doing art since I was 9, and have been taking it as a serious career possibility since I was 10. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and while I might not be in the same business as many other artists, I absolutely get the right to talk about our own community.
I’ve gotten into the ID scene more recently than I’ve been an artist. I am not a perfect product of IDers, but I am someone I consider knowledgeable on the subject and want to share part of my insight for other artists, young and old.
What are IDs?
IDs, or image descriptions, are text additions onto a post that describe what is going on in the image or video. These IDs are here so people who have visual impairments, who cannot see the image, or otherwise do not understand what is going on can gain access to the post and understand what is going on.
IDs ARE necessary, because not everyone on the internet is able bodied, and disabled people shouldn’t be excluded from enjoying the posts or art we enjoy. If you think disabled people don’t belong on the internet, or that adding IDs are a waste of time, or make a post look ‘ugly’, you are ableist.
They are valuable tools that disabled people need, and as a community we should all work towards adding more IDs to our posts, or reblogging posts with IDs in the notes. Many of us are not asking you not to post ever unless a post as an ID, and we’re not asking everyone to start adding identifications (though it would be deeply appreciated!), we’re asking you to be more conscious of these usual tools so that other parts of the community who are otherwise excluded from your normal posts, can be included!
Art entitlement
Okay, great! Cool! We know what an ID is, and why they’re important, but what’s the tie into art? Very glad you asked! You see, most art is a visual medium that has traditionally been only accessible to those who can see it. Thanks to the internet, art has become a more widespread medium that anyone can enjoy!
That’s why, in more recent years, accessibility blogs have been reblogging art with image descriptions so that those who might not be able to access art in its image form, can still enjoy what an artist is trying to communicate with visuals.
IDs on art can be VERY helpful tools, especially for people who might consume similar content to you, but can’t always enjoy the exact same content as you due to outside factors.
It’s why, as an artist, you should be conscious about posting art, or reblogging others’ art.
Now, like above I am NOT saying you cannot post art ever unless you have an image ID. However I am saying that when you believe in full truth, that you as an artist are entitled to being reblogged for your time and effort, you are disrespecting several ideas.
You are disrespecting the idea that people OWE you something, when they don’t. As artists we often need as much attention as we can get on our art if we want to make big money off our work. However, as artists we are also often freelance.
We have no employers besides ourselves, and our occasional clients. When we offer our work to others, our clients do not owe us to accept our services. They are entitled to say no. It’s the same in reblogs.
You are offering your service (art), and if a client for whatever reason doesn’t want to reblog your art. They don’t have to. You are not entitled to telling people what they do with their own autonomy.
Additionally, when you are not providing accessibility to your art & are demanding/begging for people to reblog your art over liking it, you are digging your own grave here.
No one OWES you that reblog, but when you are purposefully excluding an entire community from your post, you are making it harder for people who DO want to reblog your post.
As someone who is disabled, I have very limited spoons. I take it out of my day to go online, and spend 5-20 minutes writing up an image description for posts I want to reblog. I cannot work endlessly reblogging posts with my own image IDs, but in most cases I have to make my own IDs because no one else has.
Not every artist is able bodied, but a large majority of you are. It often takes much less effort and energy than it does for someone like me, or my friends, to make a short image description.
If you are unwilling to do that bare minimum, or are unable to at that moment, you do not get to feel entitled to people reblogging your work. You do not get to shame your other community members, or your clients, for not reblogging your work ever. Period.
I am tired of having to hear people complain over and over again, shaming their fellow artists for being the ‘weak backbone’ of their community for not reblogging each other’s art. I am tired, I am disabled and I’m an artist: and I need you all to give a damn about adding image descriptions to your art/reblogging posts of art with image Ids.
Plain text: (bold) An open letter to the artist community (from a disabled artist) (end bold)
I want to express foremost that I (caps) am (end caps) disabled, I (caps) am (end caps) an artist. I’ve been doing art since I was 9, and have been taking it as a serious career possibility since I was 10. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and while I might not be in the same business as many other artists, I absolutely get the right to talk about our own community.
(Bold) What are IDs? (End bold)
IDs (caps) are (end caps) necessary, because not everyone on the internet is able bodied, and disabled people shouldn’t be excluded from enjoying the posts or art we enjoy. If you think disabled people don’t belong on the internet, or that adding IDs are a waste of time, or make a post look ‘ugly’, you are ableist.
(Bold) Art entitlement (end bold)
IDs on art can be (caps) very (end caps) helpful tools, especially for people who might consume similar content to you, but can’t always enjoy the exact same content as you due to outside factors.
Now, like above I am (caps) not (end caps) saying you cannot post art ever unless you have an image ID. However I am saying that when you believe in full truth, that you as an artist are entitled to being reblogged for your time and effort, you are disrespecting several ideas.
You are disrespecting the idea that people (caps) owe (end caps) you something, when they don’t. As artists we often need as much attention as we can get on our art if we want to make big money off our work. However, as artists we are also often freelance.
No one (caps) owes (end caps) you that reblog, but when you are purposefully excluding an entire community from your post, you are making it harder for people who (caps) do (end caps) want to reblog your post. End plain text
Others have said it better and more eloquently, but the LGBT community has a massive fear and disgust of masculinity it needs to reckon with in order to be whole. Bears, transmascs, masculine enbies, AMAB enbies, butch lesbians, masc intersex folk, drag kings, and those who find themselves in some fluid space between them or are masc in ways I’ve left out - they all needsupport from the LGBT community, they all have the same traumas from being queer, and all of them that I’ve met have some horror story about hitting the ‘must be this femme to ride’ bar.
You can be gnc andmasculine. This needs to be embraced.
Masculine people are notthe enemy. The community needs to be as ready to embrace its brothers as it is its sisters. We are all queer.
Plain text: Others have said it better and more eloquently, but the LGBT community has a massive fear and disgust of masculinity it needs to reckon with in order to be whole. Bears, transmascs, masculine enbies, AMAB enbies, butch lesbians, masc intersex folk, drag kings, and those who find themselves in some fluid space between them or are masc in ways I’ve left out - they all (italics) need (end italics) support from the LGBT community, they all have the same traumas from being queer, and (italics) all of them (end italics) that I’ve met have some horror story about hitting the ‘must be this femme to ride’ bar.
You can be GNC (italics) and (end italics) masculine. This needs to be embraced.
Masculine people are (italics) not (end italics) the enemy. The community needs to be as ready to embrace its brothers as it is its sisters. We are all queer. End plain text.
Aka: public displays of affection vs performative displays of affection
I was talking to me mom today about PDA and, we got on the topic about how there really are two types of PDA: the first is really just displays of affection where you just happen to be in public and the second being where you are engaging in displays of affection specifically because you are in public.
I don’t know if I’m, exactly, explaining this right but like: sitting close next to a SO on a couch at a coffee shop because you enjoy sitting close to the person would be a public display of affection while, like, making a post on Facebook about how much you love your SO even though your SO doesn’t use Facebook and will never see it would be a performative display of affection.
And, I mean, there is kinda, probably, an overlap between the two but, I did decide to look it up and found this:
Anyway: this is something I would like to explore with the community in the sense of romance-repulsion and how it affects it, because I can definitely say that I can usually tell the difference between PDA and PDAand that, while PDA usually doesn’t flare up my romance-repulsion, PDA definitely does and I’m now wondering if it’s because the people engaging in PDA are, in a way, forcing me to participate in a romantic scene/situation that I did not concent to or agree to be involved in.
Thoughts?
The number of people reblogging this with tags like ‘oh this makes so much sense now!’ Tells me this is definitely something the aromantic community should have been talking about for a while!
[id: an extract from the linked article reading:
Although a number of people said they participated in PDA, 32% of people who identify as women and 37% of people who identify as men said that they had engaged in PDA in a strictly performative way. So it really wasn’t about being caught up in the moment with their partner — it was about grabbing other people’s attention.
end id]
Plain text: (Big text) PDA vs (italics) PDA (end bug text and italics)
(Medium text) Aka: public displays of affection vs (italics) performative displays of affection (end plain text and italics)
I was talking to me mom today about PDA and, we got on the topic about how there really are two types of PDA: the first is really just displays of affection where you just happen to be in public and the second being where you are engaging in displays of affection specifically (italics) because (end italics) you are in public. End plain text
[id: an extract from the linked article reading: Although a number of people said they participated in PDA, 32% of people who identify as women and 37% of people who identify as men said that they had engaged in PDA in a strictly performative way. So it really wasn’t about being caught up in the moment with their partner — it was about grabbing other people’s attention. end id]
Plain text: Anyway: this is something I would like to explore with the community in the sense of romance-repulsion and how it affects it, because I can definitely say that I can usually tell the difference between PDA and (italics) PDA (end italics) and that, while PDA usually doesn’t flare up my romance-repulsion, (italics) PDA (end italics) definitely does and I’m now wondering if it’s because the people engaging in (italics) PDA (end italics) are, in a way, forcing me to participate in a romantic scene/situation that I did not concent to or agree to be involved in. End plain text
reminder to loveless aros that you matter and your story matters. you deserve the same respect that other queer people do. love is overrated and you’re an absolute badass
[do not tag with ace tags]
Plain text: Reminder to loveless aros that you matter and your story matters. You deserve the same respect that other queer people do. Love is overrated and you’re an absolute badass (green heart emoji)
(Bold) [do not tag with ace tags] (end bold). End plain text
[video description: a black woman with afro-textured hair struggling to put on a graduation cap. she puts it down and shakes a finger at the camera, then shows a way to make the cap fit. she tapes a regular headband to the inside of the cap, folds the soft part over it, tapes it down with an asterisk of clear scotch tape, and then puts the headband in her hair.
after, she shows off how the modified cap looks by fixing her hair and posing, mainly with various waves and blown kisses. the video is watermarked “@chiziduru”. end description]
[image description: a tweet from @RawNefertiti reading, “For any kinky/curly haired girl whose cap won’t fit because of their hair texture. I swear they design caps for only straight hair…” end ID]
Plain text: For any lovelies with graduations coming up (two pink hearts emoji). End plain text.
throwback to that time in my existentialism class where the professor asked ‘who thinks hell is other people’ and half the class slowly and meekly put their hand up
then the prof was like ‘…i mean who originally said it’
there are some posts that sound utterly made up for the joke or for the notes, but this one I whole heartedly believe
Sounds right to me…
That quote is amazing to me in that it’s quoted completely accurately and yet in a way that means something completely different from what it meant in context.
(Sartre was claiming that Hell was other people. He was not claiming that other people were hell.)
…I can’t actually tell what distinction you’re drawing there. Can you expand?
The line comes from No Exit, which is set in Hell. Spoilers for No Exit follow
In particular, three people who have been condemned to hell are trapped eternally in a room together. And at first they think they got off easy without any pitchforks or fiery lakes or anything. But over the course of the play they discover that they have been chosen very specifically to have neuroses and character flaws that interact with and torment each other.
Each one needs the approval of a second in an unstable RPS cycle so that any time one of them might be satisfied by a second, the third swoops in and ruins it.
And when they figure this out, one of the characters expresses his understanding, that hell isn’t physical torture. “Hell is just—other people.”
So the point isn’t that other people, generically, are hellish; it’s rather that you can build a hell out of other people.
But when I hear people quote it, it’s usually sort of an introvert-pride thing. “Other people are hell; you should spend time alone.” And that’s not the point at all. It’s a statement about how bad unhealthy relationships can be, not a statement about how all relationships are unhealthy!
“hell is other people” has always been misunderstood. It has been thought that what I meant by that was that our relations with other people are always poisoned, that they are invariably hellish relations. But what I really mean is something totally different. I mean that if relations with someone else are twisted, vitiated, then that other person can only be hell.
Reblogging for the original post which was hilarious and also for that explanation which is beautiful
Plain text: That quote is amazing to me in that it’s quoted (italics) completely accurately (end italics) and yet in a way that means something completely different from what it meant in context. The line comes from (italics) No Exit (end italics), which is set in Hell. (Bold) Spoilers for No Exit follow (end bold).
I usually tell my students that “close reading” means looking at what is actually on the page, reading the text itself, rather than some idea “behind the text.” It means noticing things in the writing, things in the writing that stand out. To give you some idea of what this means, I’ve made up a list of five sorts of things that a close reading might typically notice: (1) unusual vocabulary, words that surprise either because they are unfamiliar or because they seem to belong to a different context; (2) words that seem unnecessarily repeated, as if the word keeps insisting on being written; (3) images or metaphors, especially ones that are used repeatedly and are somewhat surprising given the context; (4) what is in italics or parentheses; and (5) footnotes that seem too long. This list is far from complete—in fact, no complete list is possible—but the list is meant to begin to give you an idea of what sorts of things we notice when we’re doing close reading.
What all five of my examples have in common is that they are minor elements in the text; they are not main ideas. In fact, your usual practice of reading which focuses on main ideas would dismiss them all as marginal or trivial. Another thing they have in common is that, although they are minor, they are nonetheless conspicuous, eye-catching: they are either surprising or repeated, set off from the text or too long. Close reading pays attention to elements in the text which, although marginal, are nonetheless emphatic, prominent—elements in the text which ought to be quietly subordinate to the main idea, but which textually call attention to themselves.
Most of you have been educated to ignore such elements. You have been taught to seek out and identify the main ideas, dismissing the trivial as you go. This has had to be trained into you: read to a young child sometime, you will notice she has the annoying habit of interrupting the flow of the story to draw attention to some minor thing. Close reading resembles the interruptions of that child. It is a method of undoing the training that keeps us to the straight and narrow path of main ideas. It is a way of learning not to disregard those features of the text that attract our attention, but are not principal ideas.
Jane Gallop, “The Ethics of Close Reading: Close Encounters,” Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, Vol.16, No.3 (Fall 2000), pg.7-8 (x)
Plain text: (italics) I usually tell my students that “close reading” means looking at what is actually on the page, reading the text itself, rather than some idea “behind the text.” It means noticing things in the writing, things in the writing that stand out (end italics). To give you some idea of what this means, I’ve made up a list of five sorts of things that a close reading might typically notice: (1) unusual vocabulary, words that surprise either because they are unfamiliar or because they seem to belong to a different context; (2) words that seem unnecessarily repeated, as if the word keeps insisting on being written; (3) images or metaphors, especially ones that are used repeatedly and are somewhat surprising given the context; (4) what is in italics or parentheses; and (5) footnotes that seem too long. This list is far from complete—in fact, no complete list is possible—but the list is meant to begin to give you an idea of what sorts of things we notice when we’re doing close reading.
What all five of my examples have in common is that they are minor elements in the text; they are not main ideas. In fact, your usual practice of reading which focuses on main ideas would dismiss them all as marginal or trivial. Another thing they have in common is that, although they are minor, they are nonetheless conspicuous, eye-catching: they are either surprising or repeated, set off from the text or too long. (Italics) Close reading pays attention to elements in the text which, although marginal, are nonetheless emphatic, prominent—elements in the text which ought to be quietly subordinate to the main idea, but which textually call attention to themselves.
Most of you have been educated to ignore such elements. You have been taught to seek out and identify the main ideas, dismissing the trivial as you go. This has had to be trained into you: read to a young child sometime, you will notice she has the annoying habit of interrupting the flow of the story to draw attention to some minor thing. Close reading resembles the interruptions of that child. It is a method of undoing the training that keeps us to the straight and narrow path of main ideas. It is a way of learning not to disregard those features of the text that attract our attention, but are not principal ideas (end italics).
Jane Gallop, “The Ethics of Close Reading: Close Encounters,” (italics) Journal of Curriculum Theorizing (end italics), Vol.16, No.3 (Fall 2000), pg.7-8 (x)
your pal says something mean about a fat person in shorts this summer you SAY, “oh so they’re supposed to get heat stroke because of your sensitive ass?” (fat people deserve to wear weather appropriate clothing)
you’re getting ice cream with your friend and they make a comment about the fat person eating an ice cream cone you SAY, “oh then I guess you don’t want ice cream, let’s go.” (fat people don’t need to earn food even for enjoyment)
you’re at the beach and a fat person is laying out and your dad says something rude about it you SAY, “I think they look comfortable. It’s good they’re getting some sun. I bet they work hard all year for this vacation.” (fat people deserve to appear in public)
telling a someone you like their stretch marks does NOTHING for fatphobia and will NEVER make your friends and family think twice about their shitty learned hatred.
Plain text: Your pal says something mean about a fat person in shorts this summer you (caps) say (end caps), “oh so they’re supposed to get heat stroke because of your sensitive ass?” (Fat people deserve to wear weather appropriate clothing).
You’re getting ice cream with your friend and they make a comment about the fat person eating an ice cream cone you (caps) say (end caps), “oh then I guess you don’t want ice cream, let’s go.” (Fat people don’t need to earn food even for enjoyment).
You’re at the beach and a fat person is laying out and your dad says something rude about it you (caps) say (end caps), “I think they look comfortable. It’s good they’re getting some sun. I bet they work hard all year for this vacation.” (Fat people deserve to appear in public).
Telling a someone you like their stretch marks does (caps) noting (end caps) for fatphobia and will (caps) never (end caps) make your friends and family think twice about their shitty learned hatred. End plain text.
just a reminder that the most wonderful thing you can give a teacher is a handwritten note/card/letter
I promise you, we treasure those things like gold and we take them out and read them over and over again, especially on bad days, just to remind ourselves that we’re making a difference to somebody.
so if you had a teacher this year whose class you enjoyed, write them a note and let them know because it will seriously make their YEAR
Plain text: (I promise you, we treasure those things like gold and we take them out and read them over and over again, especially on bad days, just to remind ourselves that we’re making a difference to (italics) somebody (end italics).
So if you had a teacher this year whose class you enjoyed, write them a note and let them know because it will seriously make their (caps) year (end caps). End plain text.
No matter what a post on tumblr tries to tell you, your moral and ethical stances will never be determined by what you reblog and what you scroll past. Don’t let manipulation tactics force you into doing anything you don’t want to do.
I find it very interesting to note the times in which this post has a sudden resurgence. It often follows very stressful, upsetting events, where a lot of “REBLOG THIS OR YOU SUCK” posts start appearing on this site.
So I’ll say it again: it is okay if you come to tumblr to escape upsetting news. It is okay if you’re just here for fun and fandom. It is okay if you do not want to use your tumblr as a place to read about or spread the current events that are circulating. It is okay if you need a place to decompress and just relax. There are other ways to be involved in/support causes and you are allowed to set boundaries on social media platforms without it being indicative of your belief systems.
Your beliefs, values, ethics, and moral stances are not determined by whether or not you reblog something.
Plain text: I find it very interesting to note the times in which this post has a sudden resurgence. It often follows very stressful, upsetting events, where a lot of “(caps) reblog this or you suck (end caps)” posts start appearing on this site.
So I’ll say it again: (italics) it is okay if you come to tumblr to escape upsetting news (end italics). It is okay if you’re just here for fun and fandom. It is okay if you do not want to use your tumblr as a place to read about or spread the current events that are circulating. It is okay if you need a place to decompress and just relax. There are other ways to be involved in/support causes and you are allowed to set boundaries on social media platforms without it being indicative of your belief systems.
Your beliefs, values, ethics, and moral stances (bold) are not determined (end bold) by whether or not you reblog something. End plain text.
sorry if i’m being a party pooper but because rabies is apparently the new joke on here ??? please remember that rabies has an almost 100% fatality rate after symptoms develop so if you’re bitten or scratched by an animal that you aren’t 100% sure is vaccinated then GO TO A DOCTOR. it’s not a joke. really.
You’re being kind when you say “almost 100% fatality”. What people need to hear is: if you get to develop rabies symptoms, you’re dead. If you get heavytreatment after developping symptoms, you still need a miracle. Like, a real miracle, you should enter some religion if you escape that.
ALSO, I don’t want people feeling confident about petting stray/wild animals because there’s a vaccine available, either. I’ll explain why from my own experience (I’m not a doctor).
I got bitten by a wild tamarin once, on the pulp of my index finger. It drew blood, there are many wild animals in the area (tamarins, possums, bats, foxes) and it isn’t that uncommon to hear about 1 or 2 rabies cases every now and again (a puppy we gave to a friend got it, for instance), so I went to an ambulatory immediately.
Because I was bitten in an ultrasensitive area, I needed fast treatment. But it was also a small area, so the usual thing they do - inject the vaccine in the place - wasn’t a choice. They told me they’d divide the shot in 5 small ones, and inject me all over my body, so the antidote would get to my entire system fast.
Please stop for a moment and think that the disease is so worrysomethat they’d rather needle me all over than to give me one shot and wait until it spread through my system.
Then they said that, okay, but there was a catch first. I needed to take an antiallergic shot. “Why?” “Because the virus is devastating, and as the vaccine is made from it, but weakened (like almost every vaccine) it will still create a reaction, and it’s a strong one, and it’s veru common for people to have strong allergic reactions to it.” YOU HAVE TO TAKE AN ANTIALLERGIC SHOT IN ORDER TO TAKE THE VACCINE COZ THE VACCINE COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE YOU REALLY SICK
ALSO IT WASN’T JUST “A LITTLE ANTIALLERGIC SHOT”
IT WAS ONE OF THESE FUCKERS HERE.
It was OBVIOUSLY dripped in my body and not injected because HAHAHAHA. Truth be told I was an adult already and I’m tall so I have a lot of mass but STILL.
So after I had taken the antiallegic and was starting to feel drowsy (as a side effect of it) the doctor came with the 5 shots.
- One in each buttock
- One in each thigh
- One in my left arm
They all stung like a bitch and I usually don’t care about shots.
“Okay so can I go home now?”
“No, we have to keep you under observation for 2h so we’re SURE the vaccine won’t give you any reaction.”
BINCH I WAS GIVEN A BUTTLOAD OF MEDICINE BUT THERE WAS STILL A RISK.
I slept through the two hours and then was liberated to go home. My legs, butt, and left arm hurt all over, like I had been punched there, for a few days. I also had a fever (not feverish, a fever)
BUT DID YOU THINK IT WAS OVER?
WRONG!!!
I had to take fourreinforcement shots in the next month, one a week, so I could be positively be considered immunized.Every time I took a shot, my arm would swell and hurt like it’d been hit, and when night came I’d have a fever. Because that’s how fucking strong the vaccine is, BECAUSE THAT’S HOW VICIOUS THE VIRUS IS.
So yeah. DO NOT PUT YOURSELF IN RISK, GODDAMNIT. Rabies is a rare condition all over, THANK GOD, and 1 confirmed case can be already considered a surge and a reason for mass campaigning, AND FOR A REASON.
If you like messing with stray/wild animals, don’t go picking them up and be extra careful. Or just, like, DON’T- call a vet or an authority that can handle them safely.
I must add that I live in a country with universal healthcare, so I didn’t pay a single penny for my treatment. Is this your reality? If not, ONE MORE REASON TO NOT FUCKING PLAY WITH THIS SHIT.
Rabies is 100% lethal. Period. If you are scratched or bitten by an animal you’re not positive is vaccinated, you need to find treatment NOW. And probably go through all that shit I’ve been through (also if you are immunosupressed? I DON’T KNOW WHAT’D HAPPEN)
Stay safe and don’t be stupid ffs
Guys, I know this isn’t art nor anything like that, but I’ve been hearing about this rabies thing and ???? Look I trust none of you would risk yourselves like this, but maybe you can educate someone through my experience and stuff.
Also rabies does not necessarily cause frothing-at-the-mouth aggression in animals. Docility is also a very common symptom so any wild animal that is ‘friendly’ or ‘likes to be pet’ is suspect. Literally any wild animal is a vector.
Finally, you don’t need to be bitten. All you need is to come into contact with an infected animal’s bodily fluids through a cut that maybe you didn’t notice when you were handling it when it drooled on you.
Never touch a wild animal.
Infection with the rabies virus progresses through three distinct stages.
Prodromal: Stage One. Marked by altered behavioral patterns. “Docility” and “likes to be pet” are very common in the prodromal stage. Usually lasts 1-3 days. An animal in this stage carries virus bodies in its saliva and is infectious.
Excitative: Stage Two. Also called “furious” rabies. This is what everyone thinks rabies is–hyperreacting to stimuli and biting everything. Excessive salivation occurs. Animals in this stage also exhibit hydrophobia or the fear of water; they cannot drink (swallowing causes painful spasms of the throat muscles), and will panic if shown water. Usually lasts 3-4 days before rapidly progressing into the next stage.
Paralytic: Stage Three. Also called “dumb” rabies. As the infection runs its course, the virus starts degrading the nervous system. Limbs begin to fail; animals in this stage will often limp or drag their haunches behind them. If the animal has survived all this way, death will usually come through respiratory arrest: Their diaphragm becomes paralyzed and they stop breathing.
And to add onto the above, saliva isn’t the only infectious fluid. Brain matter is, too. If, somehow, you find yourself in possession of a firearm and faced with a rabid animal, do not go for a head shot. If you do, you will aerosolize the brain matter and effectively create a cloud of infectious material. Breathe it in, and you’ll give yourself an infection.
When I worked in wildlife rehabilitation, I actually did see a rabid animal in person, and it remains one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, because I was literally looking death in the eyes.
A pair of well-intentioned women brought us a raccoon that they thought had been hit by a car. They had found it on the side of the road, dragging its hind legs. They managed–somehow–to get it into a cat carrier and brought it to us.
As they brought it in, I remember how eerily silent it was. Normal raccoons chatter almost constantly. They fidget. They bump around. They purr and mumble and make little grabby-hands at everything. Even when they’re in pain, and especially when they’re stressed. But this one wasn’t moving around inside the carrier, and it wasn’t making a sound.
The clinic director also noticed this, and he asked in a calm but urgent voice for the women to hand the carrier to him. He took it to the exam room and set it on the table while they filled out some forms in the next room. I took a step towards the carrier, to look at our new patient, and without turning around, he told me, “Go to the other side of the room, and stay there.”
He took a small penlight out of the drawer and shone it briefly into the carrier, then sighed. “Bear, if you want to come look at this, you can put on a mask,” he said. “It’s really pretty neat, but I know you’re not vaccinated and I don’t want to take any chances.”
And at that point, I knew exactly what we were dealing with, and I knew that this would be the closest I had ever been to certain death. So I grabbed a respirator from the table and put it on, and held my breath for good measure as I approached the table. The clinic director pointed where I should stand, well back from the carrier door. He shone the light inside again, and I saw two brilliant flashes of emerald green–the most vivid, unnatural eyeshine I had ever seen.
“I don’t know why it does it,” the director murmured, “but it turns their eyes green.”
“What does?” one of the women asked, with uncanny, unintentionally dramatic timing, as she poked her head around the corner.
“Rabies,” the director said. “The raccoon is rabid. Did it bite either of you, or even lick you?” They told us no, said they had even used leather garden gloves when they herded it into the carrier. He told them to throw away the gloves as soon as possible, and steam-clean the upholstery in their car. They asked how they should clean the cat carrier; they wanted it back and couldn’t be convinced otherwise, so he told them to soak it in just barely diluted bleach.
But before we could give them the carrier back, we had to remove the raccoon. The rabid raccoon.
The clinic director readied a syringe with tranquilizers and attached it to the end of a short pole. I don’t remember how it was rigged exactly–whether he had a way to push down the plunger or if the needle would inject with pressure–but all he would have to do was stick the animal to inject it. And so, after sending me and the women back to the other side of the room, he made his fist jab.
He missed the raccoon.
The sound that that animal made on being brushed by the pole can only be described as a roar. It was throaty and ragged and ungodly loud. It was not a sound that a raccoon should ever make. I’m convinced it was a sound that a raccoon physically could not make.
It thrashed inside the carrier, sending it tipping from side to side. Its claws clattered against the walls. It bellowed that throaty, rasping sound again. It was absolutely frenzied, and I was genuinely scared that it would break loose from inside those plastic walls.
Somehow, the clinic director kept his calm, and as the raccoon jolted around inside the cat carrier, he moved in with the syringe again, and this time, he hit it. He emptied the syringe into its body and withdrew the pole.
And then we waited.
We waited for those awful screams, that horrible thrashing, to die down. As we did, the director loaded up another syringe with even more tranquilizer, and as the raccoon dropped off into unconsciousness, he stuck it a second time with the heavier dose. Even then, it growled at him and flailed a paw against the wall.
More waiting, this time to make sure the animal was truly down for the count.
Then, while wearing welder’s gloves, the director opened the door of the carrier and removed the raccoon. She was limp, bedraggled, and utterly emaciated, but she was still alive. We bagged up the cat carrier and gave it to the women again, advising them that now was a good time to leave. They heeded our warning.
I asked if I could come closer to see, and the clinic director pointed where I could stand. I pushed the mask up against my face and tried to breathe as little as possible.
He and his co-director–who I think he was grooming to be his successor, but the clinic actually went under later that year–examined the raccoon together. Donning a pair of nitrile gloves, he reached down and pulled up a handful, a literal fistful, of the raccoon’s skin and released it. It stayed pulled up.
Severe dehydration causes a phenomenon called “skin tenting”. The skin loses its elasticity somewhat, and will be slow to return to its “normal” shape when manipulated. The clinic director estimated that it had been at least four or five days since the raccoon had had anything to eat or drink.
She was already on death’s doorstep, but her rabies infection had driven her exhausted body to scream and lunge and bite.
Because, the scariest thing about rabies (if you ask me) is the way that it alters the behavior of those it infects to increase chances of spreading.
The prodromal stage? Nocturnal animals become diurnal–allowing them to potentially infect most hosts than if they remained nocturnal.
The excitative stage? The infected animal bites at the slightest provocation. Swallowing causes painful spasms, so they drool, coating their bodies in infectious matter. A drink could wash away the virus-charged saliva from their mouth and bodies, so the virus drives them to panic at the sight of water.
(The paralytic stage? By that point, the animal has probably spread its infection to new hosts, so the virus has no need for it any longer.)
Rabies is deadly. Rabies is dangerous. In all of recorded history, one person survived an infection after she became symptomatic, and so far we haven’t been able to replicate that success. The Milwaukee Protocol hasn’t saved anyone else. Just one person. And even then, she still had to struggle to gain back control of her body after all that nerve damage.
Please, please, take rabies seriously.
This has been a warning from your old pal Bear.
I knew how bad it was, but I had never read anything like the raccoon story.
I am not exaggerating when I say that is literally terrifying.
Y'all please read this. That is absolutely hideous. That’s literally like something from a horror movie.
Do not fuck around with wildlife. Or weird strays.
TFW Rabies education comes across your dash because some fuck up calls themselves Rabiosexual.
Rebloggin’ for that raccoon. o.o The original post I can pretty much guarantee is a troll, but it’s useful to know just why rabies is such serious shit.
Education right here
Extra reminder: If you see any animal other than a dog who’s been attacked by a porcupine? It’s rabid.
Dogs are dumb, friendly fucks who will investigate anything; everything else in the animal kingdom knows better than to mess with a porcupine, unless their brain is being ravaged by something beyond their control.
If you see a non-dog animal that has porcupine quills sticking out of it? Don’t try to help it yourself. Call animal control.
@talesfromtreatment@is-the-cat-video-cute tagging you to spread the word? Apparently people have forgotten that rabies is a brain disease, terrifying, is fatal if not treated immediately, the treatment is horrid, and the treatment is very expensive
Also I heard that in the USA, human rabies pre-exposure vaccines are not widely available and cost something like $900
Get your pets rabies vaccine every year, folks. Aside from everything else - and that’s a lot of everything - the test for rabies involves the brain, so the animal will be killed first.
And that is a kind end. The videos of rabies seizures are nightmarish
This is also why you’re not supposed to sleep outside without cover (ie a CLOSED tent) if there are swooping bats in your area. Apparently it can be very hard to realize you’ve been bitten by a bat (vs a bug, I guess it’s very small). Some students from my university were on a trip where they came into contact with bats, taking lots of selfies holding them etc, in the area they were supposed to be sleeping and the professor lost it when they saw some of the pictures. The students were housed elsewhere and the university had everyone vaccinated at the school’s expense- the pre-exposure vax may be expensive, but the number of shots you get post-exposure can vary (as demonstrated above) and it was ASTRONOMICAL.
When I looking for places to move to when I can finally leave the states, I looking to laws and procedures to bring my cat with. Any place that had eradicated rabies, intense policies and quarantines for any animal entering the country, unless you were coming from a different place that had also eradicated it. Some of would put your animal down if they were symptomatic at all. I remember thinking “what can’t rabies just treated?” No it can’t be, putting your pet down is the humane option if there symptomatic.
[image: a sixty-milliliter syringe, with human hand for scale. the syringe barrel is likely around five inches long and likely has an inside diameter of an inch or more.]
Plain text: Sorry if i’m being a party pooper but because rabies is apparently the new joke on here ??? (Bold) Please remember that rabies has an almost 100% fatality rate after symptoms develop so if you’re bitten or scratched by an animal that you aren’t 100% sure is vaccinated then (caps) go to a doctor (end caps and bold). It’s not a joke. Really.
You’re being kind when you say “almost 100% fatality”. What people need to hear is: (bold; if you get to develop rabies symptoms, you’re dead (end bold). If you get (bold, italics) heavy (end bold and italics) treatment after developping symptoms, (bold) you still need a miracle (end bold and italics). Like, a real miracle, you should enter some religion if you escape that.
(Caps, bold) Also (end caps and bold), I don’t want people feeling confident about petting stray/wild animals because there’s a vaccine available, either. I’ll explain why from my own experience (I’m not a doctor).
Then they said that, okay, but there was a catch first. I needed to take an antiallergic shot. “Why?” “Because the virus is devastating, and as the vaccine is made from it, but weakened (like almost every vaccine) it will still create a reaction, and it’s a strong one, and it’s veru common for people to have strong allergic reactions to it.” (Caps, bold) You have to take an antiallergic shot in order to take the vaccine coz the vaccine could potentially make you really sick (end bold).
Also it wasn’t just “a little antiallergic shot” (end caps). End plain text.
[image: a sixty-milliliter syringe, with human hand for scale. the syringe barrel is likely around five inches long and likely has an inside diameter of an inch or more. End]
Plain text: (Bold, caps) It was one of these fuckers here (end bold and caps).
It was (caps) obviously (end caps) dripped in my body and not injected because (caps) hahahaha (end caps). Truth be told I was an adult already and I’m tall so I have a lot of mass but (caps) still (end caps).
So after I had taken the antiallegic and was starting to feel drowsy (as a side effect of it) the doctor came with the 5 shots.
- one in each buttock
- one in each thigh
- one in my left arm
(Italics) They all stung like a bitch (end italics) and I usually don’t care about shots.
“Okay so can I go home now?”
“No, we have to keep you under observation for 2h so we’re sure the vaccine won’t give you any reaction.”
(Caps, bold) Binch I was given a buttload of medicine but there was still a risk (end caps and bold).
I slept through the two hours and then was liberated to go home. My legs, butt, and left arm hurt all over, like I had been punched there, for a few days. I also had a fever (not feverish, a (italics) fever (end italics))
(Caps) But did you think it was over?
(Medium text, bold) Wrong!!! (End caps, medium text, and bold)
I had to take (bold) four (end bold) reinforcement shots in the next month, one a week, so I could be positively be considered immunized. Every time I took a shot, my arm would swell and hurt like it’d been hit, and when night came I’d have a fever. (Bold) Because that’s how fucking strong the vaccine is, (caps) because that’s how vicious the virus is (end caps and bold).
So yeah. (Caps, bold) Do not put yourself in risk, goddamnit (end caps and bold). Rabies is a rare condition all over, (caps) thank god (end caps), and 1 confirmed case can be already considered a surge and a reason for mass campaigning, (caps, bold) and for a reason (end caps and bold).
If you like messing with stray/wild animals, (bold) don’t go picking them up and be extra careful (end bold). Or just, like, (caps, bold) don’t (end caps and bold) - call a vet or an authority that can handle them safely.
I must add that I live in a country with universal healthcare, so I didn’t pay a single penny for my treatment. Is this your reality? If not, (caps) one more reason to not fucking play with this shit (end caps).
(Bold) Rabies is 100% lethal (end bold). Period. If you are scratched or bitten by an animal you’re not positive is vaccinated, you need to find treatment (caps, bold) now (end caps and bold). And probably go through all that shit I’ve been through (also if you are immunosupressed? (Caps) I don’t know what’d happen (end caps)).
Stay safe and don’t be stupid FFS. Infection with the rabies virus progresses through three distinct stages.
(Bold) Prodromal (end bold): Stage One. Marked by altered behavioral patterns. “Docility” and “likes to be pet” are very common in the prodromal stage. Usually lasts 1-3 days. (Italics) An animal in this stage carries virus bodies in its saliva and is infectious (end italics).
(Bold) Excitative (end bold): Stage Two. Also called “furious” rabies. This is what everyone thinks rabies is–hyperreacting to stimuli and biting everything. Excessive salivation occurs. Animals in this stage also exhibit (italics) hydrophobia (end italics) or the fear of water; they cannot drink (swallowing causes painful spasms of the throat muscles), and will panic if shown water. Usually lasts 3-4 days before rapidly progressing into the next stage.
(Bold) Paralytic (end bold): Stage Three. Also called “dumb” rabies. As the infection runs its course, the virus starts degrading the nervous system. Limbs begin to fail; animals in this stage will often limp or drag their haunches behind them. If the animal has survived all this way, death will usually come through respiratory arrest: Their diaphragm becomes paralyzed and they stop breathing.
And to add onto the above, saliva isn’t the only infectious fluid. Brain matter is, too. If, somehow, you find yourself in possession of a firearm and faced with a rabid animal, (bold) do not go for a head shot (end bold). If you do, you will aerosolize the brain matter and effectively create a cloud of infectious material. Breathe it in, and you’ll give yourself an infection. But before we could give them the carrier back, we had to remove the raccoon. The (italics) rabid (end italics) raccoon.
The sound that that animal made on being brushed by the pole can only be described as a roar. It was throaty and ragged and ungodly loud. It was not a sound that a raccoon should ever make. I’m convinced it was a sound that a raccoon (italics) physically could not make (end italics).
It thrashed inside the carrier, sending it tipping from side to side. Its claws clattered against the walls. It bellowed that throaty, rasping sound again. It was absolutely frenzied, and I was (italics) genuinely (end italics) scared that it would break loose from inside those plastic walls.
(Bold) Because, the scariest thing about rabies (if you ask me) is the way that it alters the behavior of those it infects to increase chances of spreading (end bold).
Rabies is deadly. Rabies is dangerous. (Bold) In all of recorded history, one person survived an infection after she became symptomatic, (end bold) and so far we haven’t been able to replicate that success. The Milwaukee Protocol hasn’t saved anyone else. Just one person. And even then, she still had to struggle to gain back control of her body after all that nerve damage.
Dogs are dumb, friendly fucks who will investigate anything; everything else in the animal kingdom knows better than to mess with a porcupine, (bold) unless their brain is being ravaged by something beyond their control (end bold).
This is also why you’re not supposed to sleep outside without cover (I.E. a (caps) closed (end caps) tent) if there are swooping bats in your area. Apparently it can be very hard to realize you’ve been bitten by a bat (vs a bug, I guess it’s very small). Some students from my university were on a trip where they came into contact with bats, taking lots of selfies holding them etc, in the area they were supposed to be sleeping and the professor lost it when they saw some of the pictures. The students were housed elsewhere and the university had everyone vaccinated at the school’s expense- the pre-exposure vax may be expensive, but the number of shots you get post-exposure can vary (as demonstrated above) and it was (caps) astronomical (end caps). End plain text.
IN A WORLD WHERE BEAUTY AND ATTRACTIVENESS HAVE BECOME SO COMMONPLACE AND MUNDANE THE EXCEPTIONAL UGLINESS HAS BECOME DIVINE
I SAW AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR A CAR THAT LOOKS LIKE EVERY OTHER CAR AND THEY COMPARED IT TO A UNUSUAL UGLY LITTLE VEHICLE AND ITS STRANGENESS WAS FAR MORE CAPTIVATING THAN THE SLEEK BORING CAR THE AD WAS ACTUALLY FOR
[image ID: Text reading, “Beauty is, in some way, boring. Even if its concept changes through the ages… a beautiful object must always follow certain rules. A beautiful nose shouldn’t be longer than that or shorter than that, on the contrary, an ugly nose can be as long as the one of Pinocchio, or as big as the trunk of an elephant, or like the beak of an eagle, and so ugliness is unpredictable, and offers an infinite range of possibility. Beauty is finite, ugliness is infinite like God.”
The phrases, “a beautiful object must always follow certain rules.” and “Beauty is finite, ugliness is infinite like God.” are underlined in red
/end ID]
[Plain text: In a world where beauty and attractiveness have become so commonplace and mundane the exceptional ugliness has become divine.
I saw an advertisement for a car that looks like every other car and they compared it to a unusual ugly little vehicle and its strangeness was far more captivating than the sleek boring car the ad was actually for].
Seriously though, modern fandom, y’all need to remember that you can, like, ship multiple ships.
Like I can ship two ships that are diametrically opposed, at the same time, because I like both ideas. You don’t have to choose one or the other.
Like I can ship, for example, Sam/Frodo, and also Sam/Rosie, both AT THE SAME TIME. I don’t have to pick ONE couple and denounce all others, and tell everyone else that their ships are WRONG and BAD and mine is the only TRUE AND CORRECT ship.
Related: You don’t have to sink other ships to sail yours.
Exactly! You can have more than one ship. You can have an ARMADA!!!
Ship everything and ship it so hard you end up sideways in the Suez.
Plain text: Like I can ship, for example, Sam/Frodo, and also Sam/Rosie, both (caps) at the same time (end caps). I don’t have to pick (caps) one (end caps) couple and denounce all others, and tell everyone else that their ships are (caps) wrong (end caps) and (caps) bad (end caps) and mine is the only (caps) true and correct (end caps) ship.
Exactly! You can have more than one ship. You can have an (caps, italics) Armada (end caps and italics)!!! End plain text.
[Image description: A two panel drawing. A pink creature is talking to an audience and says “But I couldn’t ship the sane characters with two or more different characters and/or include them in multiple different relationship dynamics spanning multiple universes and/or scenarios (ellipsis)”. Someone from the audience then says, “You could I’d you weren’t a fucking coward”. End image description]
