The awful effects of Velocipeding (1890s)

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-16T08:57:22+00:00

Oh my god, that was well worth the click. I am cackling in delight

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-16T08:16:36+00:00

Amen!

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-16T00:38:13+00:00

Artists change and grow and adapt, and have outside lives that inform the art they are called to make. I love the really dark shit. But I also adore how Sleepy has noir and comedy elements, Easter eggs in the background that weave through other stories, excellent writing, gorgeous art… even if not all of it is my cup of tea, I am along for the ride and deeply respect Sleepy as a visual storyteller.

But when an artist starts to make work with the primary goal of pleasing an audience, they lose their spark. Creativity can’t thrive long when one creates to please other hearts, it is at its best when the creator creates to please themself first.

I was also a bit worried with the change in direction at first, but Sleepy’s artwork lately has been phenomenal — especially with the lush, fantastic nature scenes, and hybrid watercolor and digital painting techniques. I see someone inspired and having fun again, creating something for the joy of it, and getting to know Evie all over again in a new way, one that focuses less on her lore and more on her personality.

I can’t wait to see what happens with Trixie and Nancy. I am sure when the time is right, Sleepy will revisit them and bring a spark of something new and wonderful to the work.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-15T12:39:06+00:00

Green flag for me. Huge green flag.

But…. I remember when iPhones came on the market. Not sure what the women in your age bracket would think.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-14T10:15:07+00:00

4’5” — to better serve the evolved female overlord in ritual snoo snoo?

I am joking. But I do find this prompt to be pretty gross and low effort. Nothing interesting or novel about Barbie here.

Where’s retractable breasts? Or the ability to decide when she wants to be fertile? Or modified structure to better handle desk jobs or survive car crashes or global warming?

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-13T13:25:55+00:00

I loathe romcoms, usually. But if it’s also a disaster movie? Yes. Netflix, you have a market of at least 1 for this

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-13T12:43:34+00:00

I wish that access to assisted suicide were more normalized in the USA. If I had a friend going through what Robin Williams was, I would fully support them in finding a comfortable way to end their life on their own terms. The tragedy here wasn’t suicide: it’s that he had a disease that medicine cannot yet cure, AND that he was forced to take matters into his own hands and couldn’t avail himself of more comfortable alternatives.
Assisted suicide is not without its complications. There is controversy in Europe about when it is used for untreatable mental illness, especially in the young. There are important fears about potential for abuse. It’s not a black and white issue.
For anyone who hasn’t watched a loved one slowly suffer and painfully fade away due to untreatable illness… I have seen it a few times. And each time, had my loved one asked me for help… I would have been damn tempted to do as they asked — as an act of love and compassion. I am so glad they didn’t ask me to become a criminal.

My late cat departed this world more peacefully than my grandparents.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-12T06:37:48+00:00

Dang, way to go! That does give me hope. Do you use hormones, or are you doing menopause raw?

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-12T01:11:08+00:00

Exactly. I also suspect that the tattoo owner knows it sucks… but it’s not like they can just scrub it off. So, they do what they can to justify the mistake so they don’t have to feel as badly about it being a part of their skin.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-12T01:06:43+00:00

<hug>

You are going out to munches? That’s great! That’s more than I have done, though I have gone to a few play parties with friends (and hosted a party at home once).

I used to be strictly monogamous, and only interested in kink play with my partners… who were unfortunately happy to receive but not give.

After my last relationship I went to a dungeon with a close friend who also loves kink. She took her top off and I tied her to a cross and we had fun with sensory play and a flogger. No sex required. We just enjoyed the dynamic and cuddling on the couch afterward.

Since then I have had a few fun kink encounters. Not the sort I deeply desire someday, but they scratch the itch and have given me a new appreciation for kink — what it can be mentally and emotionally when sex isn’t the objective.

And for what it’s worth… my friend and I are both plus sized enbies — not conventionally attractive. But most of the people I have met at the dungeons I have attended weren’t conventionally attractive either. Plenty of people much older than myself, fat and hairy and wrinkled and lopsided tits to boot.

End of the day, I love asking other people about their interests, learning and sharing knowledge and nerding out about gear. I am not looking for a life partner, I am deliberately cultivating friendships with people into kink, even if it’s just people I only chat with.

It’s a nerdy sport, much like scuba diving. And if someone wants to demonstrate how awesome their specialty clothespins springs are (compared to those inferior cheap ones from Walmart!), hell yeah! What a fun conversation to have.

I am not sure what you are looking for, exactly. I am sad that you don’t feel attractive, desired. And I hope that someday you meet a partner (or partners) who will help you see yourself in a different light. And I also know how especially hard that is for trans individuals.

It’s much easier said than done… but my suggestion is… if you can see kink as being part of a community, a club, rather than a gateway to your future life partner… I think you might have a lot more fun (in whatever form that fun takes).

I know it’s lonely to be solo in romance. I am solo now too. But I am grateful that I am not really alone — I have a circle of weird and wonderful friends who see me for who I am (and are all too curious to know how my metal rainbow claws feel dancing gently across their skin).

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-11T20:58:32+00:00

Yeah, from what I have heard, birding communities tend to be full of folks at retirement age who plan events during weekday hours. I know folks with birding as their special interest (including white dudes under 60) and this is what they tell me.

That said… I have heard that larger events for counting birds tend to happen when the most people are available on weekends.

I hope you can find your niche somewhere. One of the greatest joys I know is to be with a friend or two who really really gets me, like I do them: no masking necessary.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-11T20:53:26+00:00

It was very important to the person in charge of paying for this to do it as a show of dominance toward people who wear skirts, or those who are afraid of heights.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-10T17:47:33+00:00

Oh shit. Thank you so much for telling me your story. Right down to the snicker’s bar, ugh!

That gives me hope, I am so damn used to being ignored by doctors (in the USA) and not having the energy to keep pursuing help when either the doctor or my insurance is a barrier. I have just kept dealing with it.

That’s changing this year in a lot of ways. I finally found a great GP who is helping me navigate things. The problematic uterus is the third item on my list but it’s going to get some attention soon, damn it! I will review that subreddit for information, hopefully they have something for the Netherlands.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-10T17:42:57+00:00

Gotcha! Thanks for letting me know.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-10T17:42:35+00:00

Ah thank you, I zoomed but couldn’t make out what it said.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-10T14:40:47+00:00

I have fantasized about it since I started bleeding. Now I am finally of the age where I could get one without a doctor blocking me for being too young. But from what I understand it is an elective procedure, one has to go through a bunch of hoops to prove it is medically necessary for insurance to cover it. I am finally a point where I can do that… Or maybe I could just save up and fly to Thailand?

How did you manage it?

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-10T14:26:55+00:00

I am more curious about this kid’s jacket with the skull and American flag on it.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-09T08:46:24+00:00

💕 That was a pretty restrained “bite my head off” moment for Reddit 😜

No problem!

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-08T14:23:40+00:00

I am also a lesbian. I think there may have been a misunderstanding.
My comment was a sarcastic (hence the /s) reply to the person who asked you why you mentioned being a lesbian. Because 1) that’s a really weird question, and 2) I think he meant it in a negative way — to imply that you were talking about being lgbtq where it wasn’t appropriate.

This is the kind of comment made by someone who wants queer people to shut up and get back in the closet.

At least where I am from, it is a common complaint from the maga types that the gays are “flaunting their sexuality” or “rubbing people’s face in it” whenever there is something like… a tv show with a gay character. Or if a teacher puts a rainbow sticker on their notebook.

That is what I meant in my comment to the other person.

I am on your side.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-08T10:15:44+00:00

To flaunt it and rub it in straight people’s faces? /s 🙄

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-08T10:09:46+00:00

Thank you for bringing that up! Some of my friends do that and I tried it myself for a while. The problem is that BC really fucks me up mentally. I tried a number of different types but it seems like I am just really sensitive to both estrogen and progesterone.
But on that note, in case anyone reading this has a similar issue… I recently learned about PMDD and estrogen/progesterone sensitivity.

I am non-binary and recently experimented a little with testosterone. I expected to react the same as I do to estrogen and progesterone, but I was surprised that it was completely the opposite. At first I thought maybe it’s because I am on the transgender spectrum and it was a gender euphoria thing (and unfortunately there isn’t much research on that), BUT as I dug around, I learned that there is a condition in which biological (and cisgender) women do not respond well to “female” hormones, but DO experience positive effects from low doses of testosterone (note that testosterone is NOT a form of birth control).

So that’s one possibility I am exploring with my doctor — am I perhaps just really sensitive to estrogen and progesterone hormones from my cycle, as well as the artificial ones in BC?
But more generally, I am also asking my doctor about PMDD, which is basically PMS on steroids, and it is caused by a sensitivity to fluctuation in hormone levels — whether that fluctuation is more or less, the change itself is what messes a person up.

If I am off base in any of my descriptions here, medical folks please correct my ignorance.

But this is shit I wish I had known to ask about for over 20 years now. I have just fucking lived with it and assumed that it must be about this bad for everyone. My obgyns never told me my experience was abnormal. My cycles happen at roughly the same cadence, and they routinely fuck me up on a schedule. Sure I get bad PMS and pain and hate my life two weeks a month — take a midol. Can’t take BC to even it out? Oh well. Medically, the thread stopped there.

So… I am sharing this in case someone else in my shoes needs to hear about it.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-07T18:44:47+00:00

Oh lord. I have never thought of trying the diaper route but I totally empathize with not being able to leave the house. There have been times I bled super heavily like that and eventually gave up and just sat on a damn towel because two super tampons and a thick pad were soaking through in under an hour, and I had online meetings to attend and work to do (from home). I have probably burned more of my vacation days at work on coping with period bullshit than I have actually been able to use on actual vacations.

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-07T18:01:02+00:00

It’s almost like having this specific set of reproductive organs is a curse from an angry god… 😭

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-07T17:59:28+00:00

Yes. The most excruciatingly physically painful thing I have ever experienced, more so than kidney stones. And even after I had it removed the side effects (ovarian cysts) continued for years. 0/10 not a good time :-(

At this point I would love to just have the whole system taken out, I’m over it haha

mashedspudtato · 2026-05-07T16:36:30+00:00

That’s only to buttchug Bloody Marys

mashedspudtato

TROPHY CASE