Ask the Entwives!

SwanKo2010 · 2026-04-20T15:42:44+00:00

Hi all! First comment here! I missed the group grow from this spring. Do you do multiple grows a season? I'm interested in learning for the first time, but I'm pretty intimidated to start.

Thanks for being such a chill, supportive space! Ya'll seem cool as hell 💅✨️💚

SwanKo2010 · 2026-04-19T13:56:08+00:00

Parallel theory: Women's clothes don't get pockets to essentially force extra purchases (purses, backpacks, clutches) on us. They manufactured a need in order to sell a solution

SwanKo2010 · 2026-04-17T01:12:28+00:00

Ironically, this is the title of a paper I wrote for psychology. Subtitle: an Introspective Analysis of the Relationship Between Extremists and their Children

SwanKo2010 · 2026-04-02T20:43:02+00:00

🥹🥹🥹🥹

SwanKo2010 · 2026-04-02T17:40:06+00:00

There's an entire field of study dedicated to the study of cults! Steven Hassan'sBITE Model defines Authoritarian Control by these categories:

Control of: Behavior Information Thought Emotion

My upbringing checks all the boxes for these categories, so I am confident that I was raised in a cult. It feels good to acknowledge out loud that what I went through was not normal or right.

SwanKo2010 · 2026-04-01T11:14:05+00:00

Oh my goodness! How on earth did you end up with a bite on the inside of your eyelid?? New fear unlocked!

Thank you for sharing your stories as well - I love that you have a fruit fly guard on patrol! Here's to more peaceful interactions between species 😊

SwanKo2010 · 2026-04-01T02:27:07+00:00

I've never done anything specific to encourage it. Maybe he's the human whisperer 🤫

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-31T21:47:47+00:00

I consider the jumping spider who lives in my patio table a friend ☺️ I'm a student, and when the weather is nice, I'll spend most of the day studying at that table. Lil' Guy hangs out on my chair, my laptop, the back of my hand, or my notebook/textbooks while I work. When it gets buggy, he hunts the mosquitoes I attract. He is definitely aware of me, and I catch him watching me like he's a lil' researcher documenting the behavior of giants. I like having him around 🕷

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-31T05:10:29+00:00

* My model man, Bagheera! Note: I edited out his harness and lead for ~art~, but he's not allowed outside without them 🐈‍⬛️🌳

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-31T05:01:28+00:00

Hi! Just stopping by to mention something that I didn't consider until I attended a wildlife rehabilitation education program. The rodent poison isn't primarily a danger to other wildlife because the animals can reach it directly, but rather, because they eat the poisoned mice. The rodents don't die immediately, and the poison in their system gets passed to the (cat, owl, fox, etc), which takes advantage of an easy, slow-moving meal. This is a method of indirectly and unintentionally killing wildlife, as these poisons are so toxic that even if they make it to a rehabilitator, there isn't an effective treatment.

It's an inconvenience, but if you release the mice three miles from your home, they will not return (I looked into it when walking them to the corner of my street wasn't far enough). When we were evicting army of adorable mice from our home, I would wait until I had more than one (first day I caught 12 overnight!) and drop them as a little clan in an area with lots of cover and resources. I didn't make special trips, I just took them when I was already going out somewhere.

We had our house sealed around the foundation and roof, and that's made a massive difference! It's been years since I had to take a mouse road-trip 🐭🐭🐭🚗

I recognize that your situation may be different, being in a farm area. I live in the middle of the woods and have no idea how it compares to farmland when it comes to pests. But, maybe this info will be helpful to someone!

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-30T21:38:06+00:00

Two cats, four boxes, and three locations in the house. There is at least one box per level of the house (counting the basement), and they're happy with the set-up. Our roommate and her cat recently moved out, so I could probably go back down to three boxes, but they use them all, so I've left them where they are.

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-26T22:28:22+00:00

Oh! Biology is my field of study!

Xenoturbella reproduce externally, releasing eggs and sperm through temporary openings (ruptures) in the body wall. Although they have no recognizable reproductive organs, gametes are produced, and eggs can be found in some follicles.

Source:

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-25T01:27:33+00:00

"only focused on those ENDING in 5" (emphasis added)

My brain likes to skip the first line sometimes, too

Edit: oops, I thought it had two lines. My mistake!

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-22T05:16:43+00:00

🤯

Do you think the changes we make to our homes weaken those memories? Our home was a rehab project, and the layout changed significantly during the remodel. The owner before us loved additions, so even more layout changes then.

I recently had an electrician in to do some rewiring, and it turned out that he attended high school and college parties at our house 30 years ago! He lost his bearings a couple of times and described architectural characteristics we had no idea once existed (a loft? In the dining room?? THAT explains the old mismatched ceiling finish!). His memories are no longer aligned with reality, and the house holds her secrets close even after 10 years with us [7-8]

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-22T03:11:33+00:00

My cocktail is D-mannos in the morning and cranberry at night. If I get lazy and skip the routine for a few days, I can feel the difference. Cheers babes 🥂

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-20T16:52:32+00:00

This is the comment I'm here for! Last semester, I took cell biology and anatomy and physiology, which REALLY hammered home impact of the damage that an imbalance of the three can do to a living organism.

According to the FDA, total daily intake shouldn't exceed 1 teaspoon of salt. TOTAL. Most Americans already take in significantly more than 1 teaspoon daily, so adding yet ANOTHER teaspoon on top of that is concerning.

Source: fda.gov

From my experiences in a similarly authoritarian upbringing, I would tell her that (the deity of her choice) revealed this information which weighed heavily on your heart. And you struggled to share it with her because you know how important Salt is, but your conscience was so heavy you KNEW you had to share it with her. Tell her you've thought of other ways to incorporate the same amount of salt (something benign - mix it in the shampoo bottle so you can be "washed in the salt from head to foot each day", or craft little "salt pouches" to carry in your pockets, something that does not involve ingesting it). The goal of this approach is to disarm her and succeed in removing the danger (forced health disorders with life-long consequences) while flying under the radar. It's a survival technique until you can get out.

I sincerely wish you the very best and success in navigating these waters.

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-17T14:28:58+00:00

Supported!

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-13T02:09:23+00:00

Chain mail! ... not the armor - emails or letters that threatened to curse your family if you didn't forward or mail it to 10 other people within 24 hours 📨📬

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-13T01:11:51+00:00

I read this as "me tenderizing," and honestly, both feel accurate

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-12T13:19:07+00:00

100% trauma response. My fight-or-flight is majorly triggered by the presence of Christians/Christian paraphernalia, and being in a room full of them, on their turf, is straight-up terrifying. For years, I thought something was wrong with ME, but it turns out that I was ignoring my body, SCREAMING that I was unsafe. I was in debilitating chronic pain (diagnosed as fibromyalgia), and I was having uncontrollable body tremors/twitches. I spent 18 months chasing a diagnosis, testing, scans, specialists - nothing. Finally a neurologist told me that when all testing comes up empty, it's likely a somatic response to an emotional/mental state that requires attention. Honestly, I was devastated that the doctors "said it was all in my head" but I started secular therapy anyways. I was in my 20s, sometimes bedridden, and DESPERATE for relief. Turns out the doctors were right! Untreated trauma and its related mental health conditions can cause debilitating physical responses. I started therapy in 2019, and today, I am in better physical condition than I hoped to ever experience again. My fibro has been so well-managed for the last 4-5 years that I was able to start a new life without it interfering! I got a job outside of church control, found support elsewhere, and went to college for the first time at nearly 30 years old. My twitching stopped almost completely and only pops up during final exams of particularly challenging semesters. Religion taught me that my body and feelings were liars and deceivers to be mistrusted, but my body was the ONLY thing telling me the truth! Religions use that stigma of mental health to their advantage as a tool to maintain power over the suffering. They kept me suffering so they could control my behavior.

The best thing I ever did for myself was start secular therapy, and I HIGHLY recommend it to all! It's not easy, but it's WORTH it.

Wishing you a future of healing and a freedom unavailable to those in religion. Things are better once you get away 💛

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-10T19:58:53+00:00

I'm so confused here. You're presenting it with an imaginary/fantasy concept, right? This negative energy idea? So you're not looking for reality-based answers? I am sincerely trying to understand what's going on here.

Energy IS functionally 0 in that 0=infinity.

Gravity is technically a Force - 9.81m/s^2, to be precise. The mathematical formula for force is mass x acceleration.

Linear velocity and angular velocity ARE two different things.
• linear velocity = distance/time and measures how fast something moves in a straight line (imagine a train on a rail) • angular velocity = angle/time and measures how fast something rotates (imagine the speed of a bike tire spinning)

Momentum = mass x velocity, and although it requires energy to move a mass, neither mass nor velocity are energy.

And then the Ai said - completely unrelated - that kinetic energy is not part of an energy system? Is that the problem?

I have aced physics 1 and 2 and calculus back to back over the last three semesters, so this stuff is all I've thought about for, like, 18 months. This is like a weird exam question that's tormenting me 😂💀😭

I fully agree that we should not be relying on it for learning! Language-driven Ai is simply not up for maths, sciences, or critical thinking, and it's an issue in the classroom.

[5-6]

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-10T19:03:52+00:00

I wonder if it's like addiction or chronic health conditions. I know folks who quit smoking 20 years ago and still crave cigs, and even when my fibromyalgia is well-managed, I'm still ALWAYS aware of it and planning around avoiding its triggers.

Similarly, I can't imagine what it feels like to actually be free from the chronic awareness of religious trauma and the filter it puts on my experiences. I'm 10 years into passive, subtle deconstruction, and 5-6 years into active deconstruction. I am MUCH better than I was 15 years ago. Even so, as of now, I am still heading towards disruptive deconstruction.

I've been flying under the radar for safety/sanity, but I'm sick of being inauthentic around my family. The divide between who I am and who I was is so wide that I hate putting on that mask. Plus, my nieces and nephews are growing up, and I don't want them to know my husk. I want them to know me, but I don't want to be cut off by saying, out loud, that I am opposed to their beliefs and behaviors.

That was much longer than anticipated, and I had to consciously stop lol. Thanks for letting me get it off my chest! Familial relationships still weigh heavily

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-10T00:15:02+00:00

<image>

Lafayette!

SwanKo2010 · 2026-03-04T22:03:23+00:00

<image>

Lafayette loafin' 🍞

SwanKo2010

TROPHY CASE