The Red Weekend
fire, menstrual health science & bodily autonomy...
If you have been feeling like everything (not just this “Black Friday” deal weekend) has been too loud, too fast, too much — you’re not alone. Me, too. We’re already inundated with email newsletters that make us wanna reactivate our old flip phone, headlines that make us wanna either crawl out of our skin or learn how to make a molotow cocktail, and hot takes and rage bait that makes us wanna hide in a swamp, never to be found again…
I feel you. And (because there’s always an And), there’s something I’ve been wanting to say. Something that sits at the heart of everything I create, teach, write, and build. Something I think this moment — I call it the Red Weekend — is uniquely suited to hold.
Because scrolling on social media lately feels a little like we’ve lost the plot. Between fast fashion offers and folks complaining about polyester, actual genocides and folks complaining about politics at home, Hollywoods’s latest installment of near-death and/or pedophile “beauty standards” and folks complaining about the price of fillers… I think it bears repeating: There is always a third way. If we don’t like the options presented to us, we can choose differently. We can simply not spend our money with large companies. We can boycott organizations that only seek to extract/genocide/pollute. We can support small, indie, soulful creators and writers and builders and artists and poets and record stores and developers… We can co-create with our friends and mutuals what it is we wish to see in this world (instead of what we’ve been given).
I know, it might sound simple but it’s not easy. And I know it takes energy and devotion. And I also know we’re all exhausted…
That’s where my specific niche comes in. Because being well-rested, nourished, energized, and ready to change the world starts with listening to our bodies. Trusting our symptoms to tell us a story about our overall well-being (nervous system, immune system, hormone health, all of it). Moving in cycles — that is with the ups and downs of our cycle, instead of against them. Not questioning our own power when we’re follicular. Being unabashedly unashamed when we’re ovulating. Resting more when we’re luteal. Raging when we’re pre-menstrual. And dreaming when we’re menstrual…
Friend, I believe this one thing with all my heart and soul:
We deserve menstrual health tools that are not owned by corporations, advertisers, or political agendas. We deserve tools that tell the truth.
Tools that respect our intelligence. Tools that honor our intuition. Tools that empower rather than extract. Tools that treat our fertility as a vital sign — not a liability.
And because nothing like that existed when I first started out, I did the reckless, tender, necessary thing and built one (and with a single developer, too, way before AI came on the scene): the Baba Yaga app.
I know this might not seem like much (especially in a world where hundreds of new apps are created by AI robots, every damn minute), but it is a huge deal to build something that’s actually needed, that reminds folks of their natural inner strength, and that empowers people to trust in the cycles of life (& their own blood).
Why we created the Baba Yaga app (the honest version)
We never wanted anyone to have to choose between:
science-based fertility awareness,
body literacy and cycle education,
deep wisdom rooted in rhythms and patterns,
and the subtle magic of moon cycles, intuition, and archetypes.
Every app out there forces us to pick a lane: Either we get a cold, clinical fertility tracker or a vague, pink “goddess app” with no scientific backbone… Either we get the big-tech data-siphoning period tracker or the basic 4-seasons cycle phase info that doesn’t really feel personal. Either we get education or empowerment.
We wanted both. Because… why not?
Why shouldn’t menstrual health be allowed to be both accurate and enchanted,
both data-based and deeply embodied? Why shouldn’t body autonomy feel like a spell and a skill?
So we built the thing we couldn’t find.
And — I still can’t quite believe this — I think we might be the first app to fully integrate:
✦ science-based Fertility Awareness (real FAM, not just the calendar method in disguise)
✦ cycle tracking + pattern recognition
✦ mood, energy, and hormonal support
✦ moon phase magic + seasonal wisdom
✦ narrative guidance + rituals
✦ a privacy-first, feminist ethos: your body (& your data) belongs to you
This is not a hobby. This is not “content.”
This is the future of menstrual health literacy — and a refusal to accept the industry’s low standards for bodies like ours.
The Red Weekend
From Black Friday to Cyber Monday, we’re offering a special entry point into the app. No big ads, no urgency traps, no shouting.
Just a simple invitation:
If you’ve wanted deeper menstrual cycle guidance, this is a beautiful time to begin.
A year of:
real fertile-window clarity
full-spectrum cycle tracking
daily support
science-backed insights
intuitive moon wisdom
sovereignty-building education
and the sense that your cycle is not an enemy but a compass
All wrapped in the framework we’ve been quietly co-building with you for years now: science + magic = autonomy.
Priced at $4.99. For the whole year. That’s it.
You can claim your Red Weekend access inside the app. It’s active until Monday night.
And because today is Small Business Saturday…
This part is a little vulnerable. I don’t usually talk about money on here, but I want to be transparent.
Baba Yaga is built by exactly two people: me, and my developer partner.
There’s no VC funding.
No corporate parent company.
No hidden data analysts collecting your body information.
No monetizing moods, cravings, or fertile days.
No selling anonymized reproductive data to “research partners” (yes, that’s a thing).
No ads.
No trackers.
No silent harvesting.
No “growth at any cost” dashboards.
Just humans. Writing code. Writing educational (& sometimes emotional) content. Building the future we wish existed.
When you subscribe, it literally pays:
our rent & groceries
the safe European servers
the development of new features
the research
the articles
the education modules
the community work
the ability to make this sustainable
There’s no safety net, no corporate cushion. We’re the definition of small business.
And if you’ve ever wondered why indie apps charge subscription fees — it’s because the subscription is what allows us to keep going, keep building, and keep the app private and ethical.
Why independent menstrual health tools matter
Because our bodies and our fertility have been made political. Because menstruation is surveilled, shamed, legislated, misunderstood, underfunded. Because data is currency and our cycles are constantly being mined.
Independent apps matter because:
They answer to you, not advertisers.
They can stay ethical without a growth mandate.
They can prioritize safety over profits.
They don’t become surveillance tools in a post-Roe world.
They keep body literacy human, not commodified.
And honestly? Because so many of us feel lost in our own bodies — and we deserve better than that…
If this app has supported you…
…or if you’ve been meaning to try it, or if you want independent feminist tools to exist, or if you simply want clarity for the year ahead:
This is the moment. The Red Weekend is open. It closes Monday at midnight.1 Share it with our friends. Follow us on the socials. Or just talk about your menstrual health with your chosen folks.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for supporting small, slow, intentional work. Thank you for wanting better for your body, and for all of us.
With love and fire,
Natalie 🖤
In full transparency: we’ll have one more deal for the holidays at the turn of the year.