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Surviving the Cold: Tips from an old hag

I'm hearing some of ya'll are losing power when it's below freezing. This is terrible, and I am sorry.

If you have time to prep, do it. The Red Cross has several excellent pages on this stuff. If not, work with what you have.

As someone who has survived being snowed into a house without power in subzero temps, here are some suggestions (generally useful even if your power is on):

Light candles: I suggest sticking to small tealights, tapers, or jar candles to avoid building up smoke. Keep them ON a table or tray and AWAY from anything that might dream of catching fire (remember, kids, dust is flammable... as is pet hair). These won't provide the heat a fireplace would, but they will do SOMETHING.

Don't take off your shoes unless you're putting on thick slippers: Frostnip is a bitch and I get it every other year because I'm a dumbass. Learn from my pain.

Cover windows and doors: You know those heavy carpet wall-hangings that are so popular in the northeast parts of Europe and Russia? Those bitches are functional. If you have spare area rugs, comforters, or blankets, tape or tack them over the Ice Portals.

Don't run down your phone battery: Yeah, it's boring, but don't scroll TikTok unless you KNOW you can recharge at will. I had a friend get trapped on the road and I had to organize a whole rescue posse in the dark of night. She only had enough juice for one call. That call probably saved her life.

If it's safe, spend time elsewhere: Become Walmart's resident ghost. Inspire dread in your small town coffee shop's baristas. The library always welcomes hapless ghouls. Better to haunt public spaces with hair you haven't been able to wash for two weeks and smelly clothes than become a statistic.

Layer the fuck up: Multiple socks. Fingerless gloves over regular gloves. Two undershirts, a long-sleeve concert crew neck, you highschool spirit t-shirt, that shirt your friend keeps forgetting to pick up, a thin sweater, a thick sweater, the Horror Your Loving Auntie Knitted Just For You, your old button-up, and a coat. Get a hat. Add a blanket - it's a cloak now. Be ridiculous. Make it weird. Be the junk lady from Labyrinth.

Do not drink booze: Alcohol will make you feel warm while compromising your actual body temperature. Save the schnaps for the party when the power's back.

Ask for help if you need it: Remember how I mentioned the Red Cross? If you need a warm place to shelter until the power's back and you don't have safe family/friends, they can help. Your county may also have emergency shelters in place. Those aren't just for unhoused folks. If you need them, use them, and ASK FOR HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT.

Do Good: Get Fic

Hello! For reasons I go into more detail with here, I'm diving back into the fray of the COD:MWF fandom.

Civilian Asset and my Price marriage of convenience fic I never posted are both available for "patronage."

How it works:

I am not touching your money. I have a list of charities below, and you can donate as much or as little as you want. No minimum. We're all poor. I get it. If even $5 goes towards a good cause I'll feel I've done SOMETHING.

Make a donation to any of the charities listed below. Send me a censored screenshot of your confirmation page or confirmation email. Be sure to censor your name, address, financial information, email, etc. Let me see the date (if possible), the charity's name, and an amount (if possible).

Let me know which fic you'd like to see updated (Civilian Asset or the Price marriage of convenience fic). Let me know if you'd like to be listed as the chapter's "patron" or whether you'd rather remain anonymous.

Notes: I may not always wait for a patron once a story gets rolling, but I'll always bump the requested fic to the top of my to-write list after a donation. Please feel free to send an ask with questions.

The charities:

The Palestinian Children's Relief Fund

This organization sets up emergency medical centers, provides food for displaced families, has a special program to gather diapers and formula for infants, has an orphan sponsorship program, and even has a program specifically for pediatric Palestinian amputees.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society

This is essentially Palestine's branch of the broader Red Cross/Red Crescent umbrella org. This is a boots-on-ground group who have suffered casualties of their own while trying to rescue civilians. Highly reputable and working to save lives.

Doctors Without Borders

Although not as region-tailored, this organization has a long history of work in Palestine, which has helped them with access and understanding. I can't promise a donation with go directly to the Gaza crisis, but it's a current priority, and this international aid group is one of the best.

Individual Family GoFundMe

This fundraiser is to sustain a family split by the border closing and trying to survive both in the warzone and in a whole new country with minimal support. There are many of these going on, and I recommend investigated more, because many have been vetted by third parties. This one was personally vetted by a mutual friend who reached out when they heard about my plan. You can find out more by following the link.

This man (thatgreygentleman) is one of my favorite creators and his hot take on Zuko’s coronation is amazing

once i beat the depression and the burnout and the anxiety and the loneliness and the exhaustion and the guilt and the awkwardness and the apathy and the low income and the chronic illness and the impatience and the vulnerability and the creative block and the capitalism and the cruelty THEN you'll see

its of utmost importance you have sound on while watching this

Queer 👏 people 👏 are 👏 not 👏 all 👏 fucking 👏 activists 👏

Stop quizzing us on queer history and asking us questions we aren’t qualified to answer about the world and about politics and about our identities

Stop trying to back us into a corner so you can justify your discrimination on the basis that we don’t know what we’re talking about or can’t “defend” ourselves to you

Stop treating every queer person that stands up and says “I want to be treated like a person” as if they’re an activist

Cut that bullshit out

Marginalised people just want to exist and be happy

I don’t know everything, and that doesn’t make me undeserving of your respect or my human rights you fucker

I don’t even owe you the stuff I do know- I still am entitled to basic fucking respect

TLDR; Queer people shouldn’t have to be historians or scientists for you to not be a fucking dick