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#anti paid blogs
tavina-writes · 2 months
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1, 2 and 3 for the fandom questionnaire?
!! :D Hi Friend! I am going to assume that you would like my Very Correct Opinions and Ships for MDZS bc that's our shared fandom! :D
name ur politically correct ship that no one ever questions hmmm do I have any of these. Given the number of tinfoil hats I wear and the state of fandom as a whole I feel every ship I've ever had has been questioned at some point, but I suppose no one ever questions why I like XuanLi?
now name ur trash ship I exist in the land of trash ships. Lets put our tinfoil hats on and say that I'm REALLY fond of NHS/Wen Xu and that this is a ship that I have no canonical basis for but I just think Sexy Prisoner Wen Xu would be Sexy!
and ur really trashy im-going-to-hell ship hmmmm thinking about this bc I don't really think I'd go to hell for shipping! But I suppose that that one WRH/JC bespoke warprize au fic with additional ChengQing inspired by @autumnslantern and I talking about a Diao Chan-Dong Zhuo-Lv Bu au of Sunshot would probably send me to hell if any antis really wanted to come for me?
I don't really get antis though so 😌. If I do get any the block button is handy!
Thanks for the ask!
fandom trash questions found here.
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spite-and-waffles · 1 year
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"But it's not like that in canon at all!" ok but have you considered I. Don't. Care
#it's necessary to have people who can check things against canon and to call out flanderized and one-dimensional fanon portrayals#but sometimes fanon interpretations are more fun for people and their quality entirely subjective#also it's COMICS. It's all fanfiction! Just licensed to a company who pay some mediocre white men to write it#people who haven't picked up a back issue about the character they're writing even if they're literally paid to do it#Sometimes this accidentally ends up making the story and character multi-faceted. Other times it's just a constant butchering#We all have the same right to do whatever we want with our characters#there's no 'right way' to portray anyone. There's just good storytelling and bad storytelling#canon matters when you're doing META#That's where fanon is annoying as all fuck because you need to show your work#And even then bad faith readings exist. Which is different from simply interpreting things differently#meta discourse is supposed to be fun too#Not a game of one-upping each other and behaving like this is a PhD program#where you don't get to have an opinion if you haven't read everything ever#that one popular fandom blog got in my teeth so much because she was not just checking fanon against canon#but imposing her interpretation on everyone like it was fact too#I really think too much canon just makes you lose perspective about yourself#We aren't all here for the same things and that's quite alright#Also those with white queer brainrot seem to think that stanning the correct blorbo is activism#anyway if your main aim in reading comics is to dunk on other people's headcanons I suggest you get a life#It's high-key hilarious if antis reblog this. Absolutely no sense of irony in that lot#DCU#DC comics#Batfamily#Bat meta#DC meta#canon#fanon#fandom discourse#spite waffle
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craycraybluejay · 7 months
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Name and shame @/jonsnowislovejonsnowislife
Block this idiot
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I love how they flat out say anyone called weird or a freak deserves to be bullied. And also their seeming lack of comprehension of dramatic lit pieces. And also also the audacity to criticize either my character or work without knowing me-- despite the fact that I can promise you this person hasn't made anything creative in their life that's worth more than a kiss from mommy and a participation trophy. Maybe they wouldn't be so vehemently in favour of bullying unspecified groups they don't understand if they weren't the kind of person who mindlessly consumes corpo media and is as a whole ungrateful and uncaring towards the craft that goes into art + unable to appreciate the diverse range of human existence.
Imagine seeing a lit post about how hypocritical and scathingly conformist "normal" culture is and deciding it's about every specific group of "freaks" you think you have the right to bully and *then* going for the ad hominem on someone who spends more time creating than you ever will even using your small mind to learn more about the people and world around you. It's rude, it's pathetic, and it's truly a striking example of exactly the kind of crowd I was referring to in the post.
I don't usually make "callout" or "blocklist" style posts but please if you're a creative or are being bullied, block this person and anyone like them. No one with this much vitriol for othered groups and creative expression deserves your time of day or space in your circle.
I'm a freak? I deserve to be booed? Well. At least I'm making something, at least I'm doing something with my skills and my life. At least I don't defend the bullying of people for mental illnesses, sexualities, culture, etc. You, Tumblr stranger, should feel ashamed of yourself for being so mask off hateful.
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themidnightpanda · 1 month
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and today in "why is fandom so antisemitic" just blocked two more followers in my sideblog, which makes it about 10 of what would have been almost 35 followers over a couple months. because the "all israelis are evil" bs is really big in mcyt circles.
also haven't watched the new season of hc because I don't want to touch the fandom anymore and enjoying things alone isn't as fun when you know there's a fandom. but also the fandom is full of people that wish I was dead so I dont want to be there either. which means right now the only things in my life are the jewish bloggers I follow (love yall) and doing daily challenges in microsoft solitaire. and university ig but it's the weekend and Im trying not to think about my homework rn
also gave up and made a "btw Im israeli plz stop following me if u want me dead" post on the sideblog. hope it works ig.
#its also wild bc I do fandom art on that blog and people love it#even my dad thought it was awesome enough to commission me for his own work stuff once! thats awesome#I got paid for the art I did for him with a merch hoodie from the fandom#and I love it and I love the art I did and I love the original content its based on.#but I cant even watch the new season without thinking about how I want to liveblog but cant because liveblogging attracts attention#and fandom attention scares me now. half a year ago I worked nonstop to get any amount of positive attention in the fandom#I stopped family dinners to watch new episodes and liveblog half an hour after the sessions were out to get people to see my posts#and now. I want none of that#a month or so ago I joined the community discord. the people were so nice to me#and then I went to the vent channel. bc someone mentioned there's i/p stuff in there. its all anti-israel#to the point I felt uncomfortable staying there despite never saying a word about where I'm from beforehand. almost felt unsafe to be there#just... that fandom prides itself on trying so hard to be wholesome and safe after the dsmp fandom ended up so toxic#and here they are wishing I was never born#because I never would have been born if not for this country. my grandparents on my dads side met in the resistance against the british#my parents met at uni. they never wouldve met if not for this country#I wouldnt be alive if not for this country and while I dont like the government I love this country so much#Im just so sad#ישראבלר
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VW wouldn't locate kidnapped child because his mother didn't pay for find-my-car subscription
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The masked car-thieves who stole a Volkswagen SUV in Lake County, IL didn’t know that there was a two-year-old child in the back seat — but that’s no excuse. A violent car-theft has the potential to hurt or kill people, after all.
If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/28/kinderwagen/#worst-timeline
Likewise, the VW execs who decided to nonconsensually track the location of every driver and sell that data to shady brokers — but to deny car owners access to that data unless they paid for a “find my car” subscription — didn’t foresee that their cheap, bumbling subcontractors would refuse the local sheriff’s pleas to locate the car with the kidnapped toddler.
And yet, here we are. Like most (all?) major car makers, Volkswagen has filled its vehicles with surveillance gear, and has a hot side-hustle as a funnel for the data-brokerage industry.
After the masked man jumped out of a stolen BMW and leapt into the VW SUV to steal it, the child’s mother — who had been occupied bringing her other child inside her home — tried to save her two year old, who was still in the back seat. The thief “battered” her and drove off. She called 911.
The local sheriff called Volkswagen and begged them to track the car. VW refused, citing the fact that the mother had not paid for the $150 find-my-car subscription after the free trial period expired. Eventually, VW relented and called back with the location data — but not until after the stolen car had been found and the child had been retrieved.
Now that this idiotic story is in the news, VW is appropriately contrite. An anonymous company spokesman blamed the incident on “a serious breach” of company policy and threw their subcontractor under the (micro)bus, blaming it on them.
This is truly the worst of all worlds: Volkswagen is a company that has internal capacity to build innovative IT systems. Once upon a time, they had the in-house tech talent to build the “cheat device” behind Dieselgate, the means by which they turned millions of diesel vehicles into rolling gas-chambers, emitting lethal quantities of NOX.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal
But on the other hand, VW doesn’t have the internal capacity to operate Car-Net, it’s unimaginatively-named, $150/year location surveillance system. That gets subbed out to a contractor who can’t be relied on to locate a literal kidnapped child.
The IT adventures that car companies get up to give farce a bad name. Ferraris have “anti-tampering” kill-switches that immobilize cars if they suspect a third-party mechanic is working on them. When one of these tripped during a child-seat installation in an underground parking garage, the $500k car locked its transmission and refused to unlock it — and the car was so far underground that its cellular modem couldn’t receive the unlock code, permanently stranding it:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/15/expect-the-unexpected/#drm
BMW, meanwhile, is eagerly building out “innovations” like subscription steering-wheel heaters:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/02/big-river/#beemers
Big Car has loaded our rides up with so much surveillance gear that they were able to run scare ads opposing Massachusetts’s Right to Repair ballot initiative, warning Bay Staters that if third parties could access the data in their cars, it would lead to their literal murders:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/03/rip-david-graeber/#rolling-surveillance-platforms
In short: the automotive sector has filled our cars with surveillance gear, but that data is only reliably available to commercial data-brokers and hackers who breach Big Cars’ massive data repositories. Big Car has the IT capacity to fill our cars with cheat devices — but not the capacity to operate an efficient surveillance system to use in real emergencies. Big Car says that giving you control over your car will result in your murder — but when a child’s life is on the line, they can’t give you access to your own car’s location.
This Thu (Mar 2) I’ll be in Brussels for Antitrust, Regulation and the Political Economy, along with a who’s-who of European and US trustbusters. It’s livestreamed, and both in-person and virtual attendance are free. On Fri (Mar 3), I’ll be in Graz for the Elevate Festival.
Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg
CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
 — 
Upsilon Andromedae (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/upsand/212946929/
CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
[Image ID: A blue vintage VW beetle speeds down a highway; a crying baby is pressed against the back driver's-side window. In the sky overhead is the red glaring eye of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, emblazoned with the VW logo. The eye is projecting a beam of red light that has enveloped the car.]
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chrisdornerfanclub · 5 months
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^2018
^ 2021
^ 2022
^ 2023
From Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Israel-Gaza ceasefire protest an 'insurrection' 2023, MSN News:
"There’s an insurrection happening now on Capitol Hill," Greene said as she panned with her phone across a crowd of protesters filling the building.
A member of Greene's staff captured a photo of an unidentified person at the protests having a text exchange with "Global Intifada."
"MORE PHOTOS OF THE INSURRECTIONISTS PHONES!! Global Intifada and Jewish Voice for Peace are the organizing groups that antisemite and Pro-Hamas Rashida Tlaib brought in today," she said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, while showing photos of the texts.
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) joined Greene in writing a similar post on social media: "INSURRECTIONISTS are storming the Capitol in support of Hamas. They are interrupting official government proceedings. Will there be federal charges? Solitary confinement? Will FBI raid their homes? WHO PAID for their buses, signs & t-shirts?"
"These people do not want peace. They are pro-Hamas," Greene said to Real America's Voice amid the protest on Capitol Hill. "This is a complete setup. This is the beginning of a movement."
Greene wrote a letter to U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger requesting that he "preserve all video surveillance footage, photographic evidence, police reports, and arrest records from all House Office Buildings on October 18, 2023."
She added, "By launching an insurrection in the Capitol complex, these actors caused elevators to be shut down, staircases and hallways to be blocked, exits to be made inaccessible, and official legislative business to be obstructed, putting Members of Congress, their staffs, and Capitol visitors at risk."
Greene also took aim at fellow Rep. Rashida Talib (D-MI) for "the occupation of the Cannon office building with radical Global Intifada group and anti-Israel activists JVP."
She reposted a video of Talib outside the Capitol.
"Hamas Caucus Leader @RepRashida is leading the current insurrection on Capitol Hill," Greene said in the post with a video of Tlaib standing before a "Ceasefire" banner speaking to pro-Palestinian activists.
There is an emerging Zionist-Antisemite Alliance (always existed IMO) against Palestinian and Jewish antizionists.
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I'm finishing up my rewatch of season 3 of The Boys before I begin my SPN rewatch (got 2 more episodes left) and watching Jensen's performance as Soldier Boy just absolutely floors me.
It floors me because I've seen antis time and time again claim that Soldier Boy/Ben was essentially Dean in a superhero suit, that Jensen has one note acting, that he watered down the character by refusing to do scenes that made him uncomfortable (especially by one anti blog in particular who claims to be an acting expert, you know the one), and that his acting is very bland.
But in studying his performance because I'm studying the character (for writing purposes), these people couldn't be more wrong. I will admit that the only time I got a semi-Dean vibe from him was during the scene where Soldier Boy tells Butcher about his father. Which doesn't surprise me because Jensen himself said he leaned into the Dean/John dynamic for that scene.
But otherwise, I don't see anywhere where their claims hold any water. I mean, have you actually watched his scenes?
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This scene is so important. Annie is getting ready to face off with this guy and even though she knows he's dangerous (after seeing he results of one of his explosions up close and personal), but she has no idea how dangerous, not really. This isn't Dean. This isn't Beau. This is the dangerous side of Solider Boy and had Hughie not intervened, there's a good possibility shit would have gone even more sideways. Especially, with Ben coming off of the confrontation with Countess, her hitting him where it hurts the most (meaning she tapped into one of his biggest insecurities. That explosion wasn't an accident (like NYC or even at Herogasm with the Twins). Ben didn't black out here. That's shown to us by there being no Russian trigger, despite him learning that Countess and his team handed him over back in 1984 and didn't even get paid for it.
I mean, look at this expression right here. His body is moving but his eyes don't. He's getting into position, ready to take out the next threat. Only when Hughie steps in and Annie's eyes dim does he step away, assessing her as not a threat. This is the weapon that is deadly enough to take on Homelander and no matter where you stand on Jensen as an actor, he pulls it off here.
The physicality he utilized in this role speaks volumes. And it's not about Soldier Boy being a Supe or being in a suit or having to look pissed off all the time (minus the few times he's amused). It has to do with how he embodies that character, carries him, and if he pulls it off. Spoiler alert: he did.
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This scene exemplifies exactly what I'm talking about. I have watched it countless times and this part of it always sticks out to me every single time. Look at that expression, look at the eyes. Ben is not going all out to sell this belief let's call it to Hughie. He's giving him a look that says "this is the truth and you better believe it or else". He's not smiling for news cameras or doing propaganda or greeting fans of his movies decades prior. He's not selling the Soldier Boy is America's Greatest Hero image here. He's subtly threatening Hughie, and this is where he begins to have an issue with him. Because Ben wants to see himself as the good guy, something Kripke, Jensen, and the cast have talked about in promoting the season. In his own mind, he is the good guy; he's a legend in his own mind so to speak. He's bought the hype about himself. And anyone who doesn't see him that way is an enemy aka a threat.
It doesn't mean he doesn't know he's doing things that aren't right (as we saw in those outtakes of the 'Don't-do-drugs' commercial). He's very self-aware but he justifies it to himself because he's Soldier Boy and almost like Homelander always says, he can do what he wants. Not necessarily that he has a god-mentality that rivals Homelander's but everything is justifiable in his mind because he's a Supe, or more precisely the Supe, and he's protecting his country. And it also keeps that insecurity of being a disappointment at bay that he has from his childhood. It's all layered into his make-up so to speak. So not only is Hughie a threat (not physically obviously but to Ben's image of himself) but is also bordering dangerously close to reminding him of the very thing he hates: a mirror that reminds him that maybe his dad was right about him (not saying he was, I'm saying this is potentially what is running through his mind). So not only does it share a brilliant parallel between Hughie and Annie when it comes to Soldier Boy that eventually plays out beautifully in the Tower Scene in the finale, but it also is sewn into the issue between Hughie and Annie this season in their own relationship.
But the way Jensen plays that scene is phenomenal because if you watch it, you realize if Hughie says one wrong thing, he may be in trouble.
Which is then continued in this scene:
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In this scene, Hughie is mentioning there's a lot of people inside Herogasm and here we get Ben's reaction to Hughie saying that. Then he tells Hughie as long as the people stay out of his way they should be fine. But again, watch how he says it, his expression, focus on his tone, his body movement. He clearly is not happy that Hughie says this (it literally is a continuation from the hotel room scene) and again has that subtle threat vibe, even with Butcher standing there (because let's face it, to him, even with temp V, Butcher is no threat). And of course, we all know the slap scene and the punch scene that happens later. Not only does Hughie get switched out for Ryan later on who Butcher ends up protecting from Soldier Boy, but it all plays out beautifully as all of the connections, overt and subtle, unfold throughout the season.
But back to Jensen's performance. There is so much to appreciate in how he fully embodied this character. And that's not saying it through an AA haze of "omg he's so hawt!" or "omg did you see his ass?" That's appreciating the amount of work that he put into this role when the cameras started rolling. He literally became Soldier Boy and he embodied him even outside of the suit.
As an actor, Jensen is very nuanced. He consistently adds in these little things that help make the character even more multi-dimensional than what is written on the page or what is called for int he scene and how it's blocked. This is why there is a certain small group of people on here that repeatedly talk about Jacting Joices, it's not just related to Supernatural or Destiel or Dean. It's about Jensen as an actor, as a performer, and how much he actually pours into these characters he plays. Whether it be the way he moves (or walks), or the expressions he uses, his eyes (yep, he does that too, see above), with his hands, even down to the way he delivers a line. All actors do this in their own way obviously, lean into physicality as well as their performance, but he definitely has his own unique style that I just don't see anyone else replicating. I think there's a reason so many people say no one else could have played Dean the way he could have for example. And if you watch his characters, really watch them, you'll see what he does each and every time. Even smaller characters like Jason from Smallville or Tom from My Bloody Valentine or Alec from Dark Angel. It's all right there on the screen.
So I guess my whole long point is I don't get why antis rip him apart when it comes to this role of Soldier Boy (other than being antis I guess) or say he can't act or that has no idea how to properly analyze his character because he actually did put a ton of work into this specific character (as well as all the others he's done) and you can clearly see it as you watch his scenes in the show. While I wish we could have seen Homelander and Soldier Boy go at it a bit more, and see Soldier Boy truly unleash that Alpha-ness of being the original Supe like had been talked about in promotions and interviews, it doesn't diminish that this character was fascinating and he brought it to life from the script in a way that complemented his own unique style as a performer.
tl;dr Jensen crushed Soldier Boy and Ben (yes, two different characters to embody actually) and I cannot wait to see more of him in any future Boys-related visual story telling, on the show or others.
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YOU THERE!!!!!! TUMBLR USER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Are YOU tired of how Tumblr treats trans people, particularly transwomen and transfemmes? Are YOU tired of how Tumblr treats people of color, particularly black folks? Are YOU tired of fandom trying to police the madeup bullshit you like to draw, write, or read about? Are YOU tired of all this fucking AI bullshit? Are YOU looking for a new online home to settle in?
Consider Pillowfort.social!
I’m not going to go into the nitty-gritty of how Pillowfort functions, because others have talked about that and explained it much better than I can (I recommend reading @/vergesm’s post here for a more general Pillowfort overview). What I’m going to do is explain what I, personally, get out of Pillowfort and why I enjoy it.
To preface, I’m not being paid to make this post or promote Pillowfort or anything. I wouldn’t think that needs to be said, but people make things up sometimes so idk. I’m writing pro-Pillowfort propaganda because I genuinely like the place and want to see it thrive. If you want to take a look at my own fort and get a feel for the place, you can do so here.
So with that out of the way – let’s talk about it!
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Pillowfort is quite a bit like Tumblr, in that it’s a blogging platform, but it’s got a few things that make it better than this hellsite imo. For one thing, you can post NSFW content there. Although I don’t draw much explicit stuff, it’s nice to be able to post art there without worrying I’ll get shadowbanned for a picture that’s just a lil too suggestive. It's nice to know that the option is there. Honestly, it’s freeing not to have to worry about that shit. And it’s also really cool that there’s a built-in system for marking certain posts as NSFW, because as well as being able to mark your own posts as NSFW, you can choose whether you want to see other people's posts marked as NSFW. And for minors, the ability to see NSFW content is automatically turned off. Pillowfort’s got a really good system for both allowing NSFW content and keeping it away from people who don’t want to see it. I really like that flexibility, and how that flexibility isn't detrimental to the users.
And speaking of being able to see or not see certain content, the content filtering is pretty solid. You’re able to block tags and even words in the body of a post, and like I said, you can control whether you want to see posts marked as NSFW. You can even control who sees your own posts! There’s blocking users, of course, but you can limit who sees your own posts even further than that. You can make them visible to anyone, visible only to logged in Pillowfort users, visible only to your followers or mutuals, or hell, even visible to you alone!! It’s cool to have that level of control, and I find it reassuring to know I have those options.
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Another big appeal of Pillowfort, for me, is the userbase’s strong “don’t like don’t read” policy. A lot of the people there operate under the mindset of “as long as it’s fictional, whatever dude. I don’t have to like it, but you do you." There are still dipshits, of course, but it’s WAY better than the insane purity culture that’s developed here. I don’t have to worry about some wannabe-conservatives telling me I’m just as bad as Ted Bundy for [checks notes] sexualizing Michael Myers or some shit. Plus, this general userbase mindset is backed up by actual site policy! I’ve heard that Pillowfort is very swift in responding to reports of harassment – whether it’s fandom-based harassment or bigotry. I haven’t had any experience with this personally (and hopefully it’ll stay that way), but I’ve heard good things about it, and it makes me feel more comfortable being there.
Also, did I mention Pillowfort has an explicit anti-AI policy? AI generated images and writing are banned on the website, and staff made this decision once its userbase and community made it clear that they wouldn’t welcome that sort of shit. And GOD, does it make me feel so fucking good as a writer and artist to know that.
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And that’s another thing – Pillowfort staff actually fucking listens to its userbase. The website is crowd-funded and relies on subscriptions and monthly donations to keep things running. And because it relies on its community, it relies on keeping the community happy. So complaints, bug reports, suggestions and alterations and things the users would like to see on the site – it’s all taken pretty seriously. And again, it’s just really nice to know that the staff of the place actually give a shit and are looking out for its community rather than trying to suck the dick of the biggest investor.
Really, the only problem I have with Pillowfort is the fact that it’s a bit small. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because the people there are lovely. But since a lot of people aren’t happy with Tumblr, and haven’t been happy with Tumblr for some time, I thought I’d just ask you guys – maybe consider it. Consider making a Pillowfort account. Consider making your own little fort, stringing up some colored lights and cool art and making yourself cozy. Consider offering some money, if you can spare it, because it’s genuinely a really cool place that I want to spend more time in and see prosper.
So far, I’ve had a lovely time there. It’s cozy and friendly and it feels like one of the few places where a queer artist like me is actually welcome. And I think a lot of Tumblr users might really like it too.
I hope to see you there! 💜
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accidentalsiren · 2 months
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You are worth your weight in gold. You know that, right?? If you need a little reminder, the ♌️ Full Moon in Leo ♌️ on January 25th (also known as the "Wolf Moon" or the "Severe Moon") has you covered! Fueled by a powerful T Square with Jupiter in Taurus and a frankly deadly Opposition to the Sun conjunct Pluto in the sign of Aquarius, we'll be motivated to shine regardless of convention. Or the status quo. We'll want to speak out against institutions, leaders, or groups of people who siphon our light & abuse their power. We'll be reclaiming the individual sovereignty within us. And it'll all hinge upon what our personal values are and how they're changing. Don't be shocked if you find yourself disengaging with certain social circles that no longer reflect what you personally stand for. This full moon wants us to wear our inner crowns with a regal pride. Not gonna lie, this has "dump him" energy written all over it. Looking directly at you, Trump.
But what are our personal values? And what can we do in order to find our inner crowns if we've misplaced them? Take a deep breath, center yourself, and come along with me on this PAC reading. Let's find out where your royal regalia has been stashed! Choose the crown below that most feels like something you'd wear...
*like, follow, and reblog if you find this reading helpful.
[about me] [paid readings]
👑 Disclaimer:  All PAC readings on my blog are for entertainment purposes only. They're meant to help you reflect on aspects of your life & hopefully inspire you. Beautiful divider made by @kawaii-lau
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👑 Pile One 👑
You're a free-thinker. You place value in your ability to take in new thoughts and ideas into your life. And you're not adverse to changing your opinions when new information reveals itself. You have an adaptable, flexible mind. I think it's your best quality!! Something to be proud of. But, I'm sensing that it's gotten on the nerves of one person (very close to you) who doesn't share your mental adaptability & has no ability to change their thoughts on a subject. No matter how many times you've tried to appeal to them with facts or figures, they will not budge an inch. This Full Moon in Leo might spark another heated, fruitless debate on a subject that the two of you have clashed on in the past. To be honest, this has Boomer versus Millennial vibes. Let me ask you this: how many times will you engage in this conversation before you realize that said person won't leave their informational echo chamber? I said you're an adaptable, flexible thinker, but in this, perhaps you're being just as rigid as the other person. Your crown has been hiding inside that rigidity and the other person is mirroring you. Let go. Let them do their thing. Accept that you're different and divided on some topics. And that it isn't your job to educate them anymore. I guarantee it, one day they'll WISH they had listened when they had the chance...
⚠️ Side note: You would do well taking this debate outside of the person & to a greater forum where you can have discussions with people who do not argue in bad faith. I feel like this is a very pro/anti Isreal or Palastine debate that you've had with that person or that you've been slogging through hell with your blood family about politics lately. They won't change. Take that energy and talk with people who can actually discuss issues in an informed way.
👑 Pile Two 👑
You value financial security and getting your Maslow's hierarchy of needs met. But you've misplaced your crown by following someone else on their projection of your life instead of your own. Losing you time and money in the process. And maybe causing you a streak of bad luck lately. I think you've noticed this. 🧐 I can see that you're a very lucky person who can manifest things easily. So, this sudden & misfortunate wave has probably gotten you suspicious that something isn't quite what it seems. Investigate that. When you dig down into the roots of that doubt you might find a different person at the end who is pulling the strings. Wear your ruler's crown on this Full Moon in Leo. Put your foot down and finally act on your desires instead of theirs. Make a plan to put your own needs first this time. It will help your good luck to come back to you & hopefully reroute you to greener pastures in the spring of this year. Another aspect to this might involve a signed contract or a bad partnership to someone taking you for a ride in the worst way. Part of this full moon may require you to advocate for yourself against this financial robbery and pursue your own course instead of just listening to their many guilt trips & threats. Your first priority should always have your well-being in mind. You're worth the rewards for all the work you put in.
⚠️ Side note: I feel like someone in this pile will be opening up a new bank account just for themselves & not adding their significant other to it because they aren't being very "significant" right now and are acting more like an "other" to you. It's probably a good idea, to be honest.
👑 Pile Three 👑
You value family. When I pulled the cards for this pile, I got Princess & King of Swords and the Page & Queen of Cups. But they were all reversed. You value family...however, this Full Moon in Leo is asking whether you value or are trying to garner their unwinnable, always moving approval?? It seems to me like you're running a race you can never finish. I'd go to Pile One and quickly browse through what I said about mental rigidity. However, I'd also say "easier said than done" in your situation. Unlike Pile One, yours is an emotional tether rather than an intellectual discourse and it's so hard to disengage when it boils down to the people who raised you or the people you are raising. Wearing your crown on the 25th will entail setting some firm boundaries and living up to YOUR OWN expectations. What would a family that you choose look like? Or what are reasonable asks when it comes to fulfilling the wishes of your mother or father or child?? Remember that you're also a part of the family system & have needs too!! You matter. If you're having trouble, reach out to an outside friend or trusted support system. Talk to them honestly about your situation & listen to them. They may have some good advice. But most of all, try being gentle with yourself while you untie the twisted puppet strings keeping you from standing in your strength here. I'm sending you a big hug right now. My inbox is always open if you need someone to talk to, by the way.
⚠️ Side note: Lean into your 4th and 10th houses or Capricorn/Cancer placements if you have any in your chart.
👑 Pile Four 👑
You value reciprocation. Things must be an even balance of give and take for you. This Full Moon in Leo, it'll become obvious that the symbiosis in your partnerships are way off, and the scales need to even out. I also see this being a situation where you've spent too much money (or energy) one one thing & have ignored pretty much everything else to your own detriment. It may become needed to go over your budget & see where the $ is going or come up with a new plan on how all the bills are getting paid. I definitely feel like you're the one on the "paying more, getting less" end. 😡 Wearing your crown on this Full Moon means speaking up & standing in your self-worth. It means asking your partner for more time spent with you. Or asking for the raise you've been promised but have yet to see. It may also require you to step away and reconsolidate your energy if a solution to the imbalance isn't reached. A "lack mentality" is all over this pile. However, I think this is due to the slack you've been financially carrying for others and not something intrinsic to you and your bank account. You're lacking cause people around you are slacking! Time to cut off the loan-giving and set a payment plan in action!
⚠️ Side note: It isn't your job to make sure someone else's rent or bills get paid. If they aren't making the effort, why are you?? Also, if a boss keeps teasing a raise but wants you to put in more effort first, it may be time to take your business elsewhere.
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eldritchtouched · 3 months
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I just saw the take that anti-AI art people are "reactionary." And that just blows my mind that people don't understand the problems with it who aren't part of the grift.
AI art is distilled capitalist exploitation.
And that isn't going to change or become a good version of AI art until capitalism is completely abolished and someone makes a different program entirely from the ground up that actually takes ethics into account.
Massive corporations are stealing everything from everyone who ever posted or had their work posted online. And random other stuff, too, like peoples' family photos, random blog posts, and illegal material like CSEM. They're having people who are paid peanuts sort through it all and tag everything. Their data sets include CSEM because, again, they took everything from everywhere.
Then they're selling access to the programs to people who would rather pay for that than actually have to pay any creatives for their labor. People are being forced to compete with their own and everyone else's stolen labor for their wages.
On top of that, it's an insane resource hog akin to cryptocurrency and NFTs. The amount of water, energy, and other resources it takes to power it is ridiculous. All this AI shit is part of the same grift as NFTs and cryptocurrency! The same people are pushing it! The AI generated stuff has a gatcha mechanic akin to NFTs where there's randomized variation and mass producing similar images!
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davidmariottecomics · 9 months
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The 6 Figure Theory
Hello! 
In today's blog, I'm getting *spicy*! In that I have a hot take that is of course related to the current state of the entertainment industry, but isn't as directly about comics or writing or editing or what you might usually expect. Anyway, let's get to it! 
The 6 Figure Theory The 6 Figure Theory states that once an individual is earning $100,000, to maintain that level of pay, they must sacrifice some level of morality. It only applies to individuals making over $100K annually--not families where multiple incomes may combine to be over $100K. And the level of morality sacrificed is hard to quantify, both because morality is deeply personal and often hard to quantify for an individual and because the extremes one is willing to go to are likely tied to the level of money being brought in. 
So, for example, let's say you're a big shot Hollywood executive who has been paid $500 MILLION over the course of about 5 years. Let's say you're making "384 times the average pay of a Hollywood writer." Chances are you are out of touch with reality and willing to make a bunch of business decisions that make you look like an incompetent asshole. Maybe you'll cancel competed and even released work as a way of getting tax write-offs. Maybe you'll attempt to sell your film music catalog. Maybe you'll repeatedly not come to the table in any sort of reasonable way in such a way that multiple unions go on strike. Maybe you'll spend your time at a retreat for some of the wealthiest people in the world turning down Venmo requests from the people whose projects you've canceled to save a dime. Maybe you'll be described as the most hated man in Hollywood.
Now, that's just one extreme example. He's so incredibly highly paid--if he was willing to just not take a salary for 5 years, he could single-handedly pay out the proposal amount from the WGA. And, let me check my notes, he would still be incredibly, unjustly wealthy and live his extravagant life. That's the sort of money that allows true ignorance. 
I don't know anyone making David Zaslav money, personally. And I'm pretty glad to not. But even at the lower side of that 6 figure theory, there are people who are being paid to make decisions that may compromise their morals--from freezing pay rates to letting people go to instituting AI. Or, maybe you're making that and can remain morally upright in your work, but like... become an anti-vaxxer or something. 
It's easy to look at the wealthy and famous and see issues. Humans are inherently fallible and scrutiny goes harder with more public visibility. But I have to wonder, truly, to what extent higher wages correspond with lower ethics. And I think that's a question a lot of folks are asking on the picket line now too. Make sure you send them your support, whether through the Entertainment Community Fund or direct action with SAG-AFTRA or the WGA. I have not specifically seen picketing actions at SDCC, but obviously, be aware and supportive if they happen. And I saw things like the Venture Bros creators pulling out of the show (though I'm unclear on if the new movie will still be debuting regardless). You don't have to cancel your streaming platforms--in fact, largely the request has been the opposite because the concern is fewer people on a streamer will be used as data justification that the work of actors and writers doesn't make enough difference to maintain an audience and therefore their labor is less valuable. And, finally, there are other unions going on strike, like UPS, and they deserve your support too. 
Passing $5 Back-and-forth Infinitely Forever
It stinks that this has to come back to those of us who are making less to support each other. But whether it's because there's increased morality for folks making lower wages (and, I'd describe the shrinking middle class as that) or, maybe, it's less a matter of morality than community and solidarity (though... I'd contest those are inextricably linked), it does come to us standing together. And sometimes, it means doing what little we can, supporting each other back-and-forth with the same $5. 
With that rant out of the way, see ya at SDCC next week! 
What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Craig of the Creek (Cartoon), Honkai Star Rail (Video game) Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video game), My Adventures with Superman (Cartoon), the beach, Girly Drinks by Mallory O'Meara (Book), The Broken Room by Peter Clines (Book), Crime Scene Kitchen (TV show), all the folks I've seen being supportive of the joint WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike--including the many folks changing their SDCC plans, getting closer to finalized on SDCC plans myself! Oh, and I forgot to mention it a couple weeks ago, but Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger & Sara Kipin slaps. 
New Releases this week (7/12/2023): I didn't have any new releases this week, but it was a pretty big week for IDW as a whole!  Eddie Campbell's The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell & The Fate of the Artist, Van Jensen & Jesse Lonergan's Arca, the first issues of Stephen Mooney and David Messina's The Rocketeer: In the Den of Thieves, G. Willow Wilson, Chris Wildgoose, and Msassky's The Hunger and the Dusk, and the second issue of Andrew Wheeler and Ilias Kyriazis's Cat Fight, the My Little Pony 40th Anniversary Special, plus more TMNT and Trek than you can shake a stick at! 
New Releases next week (7/19/2023): Also an off week, but there's somehow even more TMNT to check out, plus the start of our big Star Trek event: Day of Blood! 
Final Order Cut-Off next week (7/17/2023 - AKA Preorder Deadline) Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors - All Hail the King! TPB (Editor)
Announcements:
I'll be at San Diego Comic-Con! I'll see you at Sonic the Hedgehog: Speeding to the 900th Adventure on Sunday at 10, room 25ABC! If we've planned something, I'll see ya there too! And if not, y'know, at least let me know you'll be around and hopefully we run into each other! 
I'm now on Patreon! A big part of it is a new way of accessing this very blog! But I'm also going to be updating it with some other cool stuff soon--from exclusive blogs to old scripts and pitch materials that I can share to funky one-off videos/podcasts (?) to group funded new comics pages! And there'll even be updates during SDCC (thanks, pre-scheduling)! 
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Do you not want to read this pitch for my Patreon? Good news: If you subscribe to it, this is cut out from the blog! Ooo aah!
Lastly, because of SDCC, expect no or a very short blog next week. And Becca's Twitch stream won't be back until the 25th, I believe. But in the meantime, Becca's own Patreon has been very active, including some stuff they recently drew on stream! And their webshop is current (though orders won't ship til after SDCC). It's Non-Binary Awareness week and San Diego Pride, so now's a good time to support them! 
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Pic of the Week:
I was in Old Town earlier this week and saw this very fun display of "Sonic" hats. Love that they come in every color. 
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matan4il · 5 months
Note
Hi. I'm Polish and I want to educate myself. Last week I went to The Polish Jews Museum Polin in Warsaw, Poland.
I also read a lot of online leftist stuff.
Cam you tell me what were 2019 Gaza protests about? Why are you calling them "protests"? I thought they were largely peaceful.
Hi! Sorry it took me a moment to reply. You might have noticed that I'm getting a lot of asks, and I do try to research some things before replying. I'm glad you're trying to educate yourself, I hope you do so by more than just reading whatever anti-Israeli blogs are posting here, posts which de-humanize Israelis and Jews, and justify the violence and murder of our people.
Here's a few pics from the events you're asking me about, organized by the terrorist organization Hamas. In the first pic, please note that each "peaceful protester" is holding a weapon, including an axe (you mentioned the Holocaust... ever since I guided at our museum a Holocaust survivor from Libya, who was attacked by axe-wielding local Arabs half a year after the end of WWII, forever scarring his head and his hands, I never look at an axe in the same way):
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And here's some of those "peaceful protesters" with cutters that would allow them to try and breach the fence on Israel's border:
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If there's any doubt what would these Hamas terrorists have done if they had succeeded back then in crossing into Israel, we got the answer during the massacre of Oct 7.
On the surface, these "protests" were about Palestinian liberation. But on Apr 9, 2018 Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, admitted that he was staging these riots to divert attention away from the failure of the Palestinian Hamas and Fatah to reconcile. An internal Palestinian matter erupted as violence targeting Israel, allowing Hamas to depict itself as THE leader in Palestinian society.
Anyone telling you that these border riots were peaceful is trying to sell you something. Beyond selling you hatred for Israel, the biggest Jewish community in the world today, it's also meant to sell you an alibi. According to this, Hamas' terrorists supposedly had to use violence, 'coz they tried protesting peacefully, and that failed. But these were not actually peaceful protests. Hamas has never tried peace, and has never wanted to, since it's an antisemitic organization committed to the murder of all Jews. It's the same people who murdered over 1,400 people in Israel on Oct 7, who brutally raped, beheaded, tortured, cut off limbs, cut off intimate parts, burned people alive, and all in the name of an ideology that strives to kill every Jew in the world.
Does it sound like "protests" organized by this entity along the border of the Jewish state could have ever been peaceful?
The riots lasted continuously for almost two years, from Mar 30, 2018 to Dec 27, 2019. Since then, there were more riots by the fence, but they had been sporadic. So most of the time, people refer to that period when the riots were a constant. Here's a report on the violence taking place during the riots, released on Mar 27, 2019 (almost a year after they started. Click the pic for better quality):
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Again, since you mentioned educating yourself on the Holocaust, I'll point out the swastika that these Hamas terrorists drew on that arson kite that you can see in the above screenshot. I can give you many more examples of how they use the swastika, for now I'll just include one more:
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I found another report for you, from an intelligence and terrorism research center. It's from a much earlier point during the riots, posted on May 28, 2018. It mentions the violent nature of the riots, but it also identifies most of those killed when trying to breach Israel's fence up until that point. They're overwhelmingly members of terrorist organizations (not just Hamas). A report from Jan 21, 2019 had similar findings.
Something else to take note of is that Hamas actually paid people to join these violent riots. How much would people get paid depended on how bad their fate would be. Think about how cruel Hamas is being to its own Palestinian people... Hamas is estimated to be one of the richest terrorist organizations in the world (with most of the money going to Hamas' leaders). Here's a reminder that Hamas spent A LOT of money on the Oct 7 massacre, which it could have spent on the Gazans. A little over half of the Gaza population is kept in a state of poverty (the rest are Hamas members or affiliated with it, such as the wives and kids of Hamas terrorists). So, this terrorist organization intentionally keeps the people in Gaza poor, then offers to pay them if they go try to breach the border, and get injured or killed. That gives people motivation not just to participate, but to be violent, in the hope of attracting gunfire from the IDF. Hamas actively encouraged the Palestinians in Gaza to be violent, and to die.
Another piece of evidence that the riots were violent is that there were eight Israelis killed and over 380 injured during these "peaceful protests." If they had been peaceful events, and had been kept to the Gazan side of the border, there should have been no casualties on the Israeli side. This is Barel Chadaria Shmueli (on the right), who was killed by a Palestinian that got close enough to an IDF post along the fence to shoot him point blank:
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There are also lots of vids showing the violent nature of the riots, here are two that I can embed, and one I can only link you to, and which reports on over 100 explosive devices thrown at IDF soldiers during that one day alone...
youtube
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One last, but crucial thing that I'm going to add here... How do you think Hamas managed to breach the Israeli border fence on Oct 7? Hamas used the "peaceful protests" to study the fence and the soldiers guarding it, figure out where there were weaknesses and blind spots, and use that information to infiltrate Israel and massacre over 1,000 innocent civilians here (and over 340 soldiers trying to protect them). Without these "peaceful protests," all of those people would have been alive. In fact, according to one report, some of the explosive devices along the fence that were blown up by Hamas on the day of the massacre might have been planted there secretly during one of the more recent riots along the border.
I hope I managed to answer your question? Let me know if anything wasn't clear!
(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)
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genericpuff · 5 months
Note
so, i'd been stalking your blog in silence for the past few days/weeks because i used to be a huge fan of LO (i paid patron, was on the discord, own merch and a volume, spent money on fast past for over FOUR years). but as it happened to most fans, i got frustrated and gave up fastpass, and for a while i was trying to stay away from LO critiques because it just made me mad to realize something that was a comfort thing for me was bad all along (and i didn't wanna go full blown anti-LO) but i just finished reading your analysis on the mid-season finale and oh my god dude.
the retcon on how persephone feels about apollo after over 4 years of seeing her hate him because of what he did nearly pushed me over the edge. i feel sick to my stomach, this has to be among the worst things rachel has done and i just wanna say thank you for bringing it up and talking about it so eloquently. i'm a victim of SA and its comforting to see people in the fandom take it as seriously as it should be.
also LO rekindled is a breath of fresh air, thank you for creating it and putting so much work into it <3
Aw man, it's wild when I see people go through the pipeline of realizing LO has issues, mostly because it's a common attack on the critical community that everyone in it are just a bunch of "trolls and haters", but really, a lot of us started in the same boat as you, myself included. I unfortunately just missed the Patreon era, but I remember when I was a diehard fan of LO, it was one of the biggest facets of my friendship with the person who introduced me to it, I would literally be swiping my app refreshing it over and over again in the last seconds leading up to new updates trying to get the episode to just load, I drew fanart, I even did a tattoo of it once for that same friend who got me into it, and yes, I was really pissed that there was an anti community surrounding it.
It's crazy to think back on those times. I do miss how the comic used to make me feel, but at the same time, I know there's no going back to that time so I try to make the best of what I have now within the critic community, and what I've gained since then in terms of dissecting and discussing literature.
I feel so much for your feelings regarding the SA plot, I'm also a victim of SA so it was one of the biggest plot points that drew me into the comic in the first place, so it was really hard to truly realize what the series had become as the SA plotline took a backseat and the characterizations fell apart. It felt like something that I had gone through - and many others who also related to Persephone's struggles - was being used for cheap drama and that feels especially apparent now with how the series seems to be backpedaling it, or at least, replacing it with different motivations to make Apollo the villain, almost like it's an attempt to distract us from the SA and make us want to see his downfall for reasons that Rachel can quantify in a more black and white "good vs evil" kind of way.
I'm so glad you like Rekindled, I made it for people like you and I who loved LO once upon a time but mourn for what it once was before it turned into what it is now. It's been such a cathartic project for me and I'm so happy that others enjoy it too <3
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bootobeneficiary · 2 years
Note
maybe im missing something but why do you want to be financially dependent on a man? how is that a goal? this blog feels like genuinely one of the most anti-feminist blogs I’ve ever ever seen and it makes me really sad that so many girls are falling for this weird dated idea… i do not understand why you want to advise women to believe that just because we are women we deserve money from a man? why don’t we just make money for ourselves?
How to Depend on a Man for Money
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I’m absolutely an anti-feminist blog because the feminism movement seems to ignore forget black and trans women specifically and centers their focus around mistreated cis white women. Read “Hood Feminism” by Mikki Kendall for further insight.
You’re missing a few crumbs of common sense, clearly. Nowhere on my blog do I encourage anyone to depend on a man for money however now I will:
Ask for Emergencies, Not Responsibilities
DON’T - “I need my phone bill/rent/car note paid”
DO- “My laptop broke/My phone screen broke at the gym/My dog won’t poop and the vet quoted me 5K”
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Be Discreet About Your Income
DON’T- Be honest about your annual income, your pay rate, raises or outside income (from your parents, Financial Aid, etc.)
DO- “I make a comfortable amount/ Why?/ Not enough for this spoiled brat”
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Your Main Complaint: “I Need a Getaway”
DON’T- hesitate with planning trips and making excuses for even a weekend vacay/ spend your own money traveling
DO- ask for him to cover “girls trip” expenses (even if you don’t have one…you need to cover your part of the Airbnb & activities)/ sign up for reward points (I will never encourage anyone to open a credit card however if you want to open a travel one and have him cover the monthly bill or become an authorized user on his)
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Insist on Investments
DON’T- solely ask for shopping, gifts and overall frivolous shit.
DO- act like/insist that everything is an investment. Yourself. Your career. Your electronics. Everything is for the long term (and his benefit. For example, you want a boob job to feel more confident and take your confidence to a new level- including intimately).
When you do ask for gifts such as clothes, jewelry, shoes etc…make sure it’s for a reason such as getting good grades, completing a personal challenge (no smoking for example) or a miscellaneous treat yo’ self.
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Refuse to be Reimbursed
DON’T- take any action without money upfront. Whether it’s traveling to see them or going to the store for them and they’ll pay you back.
DO- not move an inch until you can feel, hear and confirm the cash in hand (or bank account)
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Make Your Self Care His Priority (Too)
DON’T- insist or directly ask for it. Stick to subtle hints. Activate your damsel in distress. Masculine figures naturally want to cater to you to rejuvenate yourself.
DO- become distant for a day or two and when they check on you “what’s wrong?/are you ok?/talk to me” communicate your need for self care time but struggling with detaching from your work/school responsibilities.
Pro Tip: Use keywords such as “overwhelmed” “stressed out” “burnt out”.
This is a perfect opportunity to throw in that you need a getaway…see above!
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Men do not, will never hesitate asking you for anything. Pussè, a meal, bail money. If you’re interested in entertaining a man, you better make that man pay in many ways.
The only ones complaining are the ones who will give a limb for a man to spoil them or the broke boys who are out of my eyesight and tax bracket.
Dropping this gem before I dip:
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The surveillance advertising to financial fraud pipeline
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Monday (October 2), I'll be in Boise to host an event with VE Schwab. On October 7–8, I'm in Milan to keynote Wired Nextfest.
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Being watched sucks. Of all the parenting mistakes I've made, none haunt me more than the times my daughter caught me watching her while she was learning to do something, discovered she was being observed in a vulnerable moment, and abandoned her attempt:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2014/may/09/cybersecurity-begins-with-integrity-not-surveillance
It's hard to be your authentic self while you're under surveillance. For that reason alone, the rise and rise of the surveillance industry – an unholy public-private partnership between cops, spooks, and ad-tech scum – is a plague on humanity and a scourge on the Earth:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does
But beyond the psychic damage surveillance metes out, there are immediate, concrete ways in which surveillance brings us to harm. Ad-tech follows us into abortion clinics and then sells the info to the cops back home in the forced birth states run by Handmaid's Tale LARPers:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/29/no-i-in-uter-us/#egged-on
And even if you have the good fortune to live in a state whose motto isn't "There's no 'I" in uter-US," ad-tech also lets anti-abortion propagandists trick you into visiting fake "clinics" who defraud you into giving birth by running out the clock on terminating your pregnancy:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/15/paid-medical-disinformation/#crisis-pregnancy-centers
The commercial surveillance industry fuels SWATting, where sociopaths who don't like your internet opinions or are steamed because you beat them at Call of Duty trick the cops into thinking that there's an "active shooter" at your house, provoking the kind of American policing autoimmune reaction that can get you killed:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/14/us/swatting-sentence-casey-viner/index.html
There's just a lot of ways that compiling deep, nonconsensual, population-scale surveillance dossiers can bring safety and financial harm to the unwilling subjects of our experiment in digital spying. The wave of "business email compromises" (the infosec term for impersonating your boss to you and tricking you into cleaning out the company bank accounts)? They start with spear phishing, a phishing attack that uses personal information – bought from commercial sources or ganked from leaks – to craft a virtual Big Store con:
https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise
It's not just spear-phishers. There are plenty of financial predators who run petty grifts – stock swindles, identity theft, and other petty cons. These scams depend on commercial surveillance, both to target victims (e.g. buying Facebook ads targeting people struggling with medical debt and worried about losing their homes) and to run the con itself (by getting the information needed to pull of a successful identity theft).
In "Consumer Surveillance and Financial Fraud," a new National Bureau of Academic Research paper, a trio of business-school profs – Bo Bian (UBC), Michaela Pagel (WUSTL) and Huan Tang (Wharton) quantify the commercial surveillance industry's relationship to finance crimes:
https://www.nber.org/papers/w31692
The authors take advantage of a time-series of ZIP-code-accurate fraud complaint data from the Consumer Finance Protection Board, supplemented by complaints from the FTC, along with Apple's rollout of App Tracking Transparency, a change to app-based tracking on Apple mobile devices that turned of third-party commercial surveillance unless users explicitly opted into being spied on. More than 96% of Apple users blocked spying:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/96-of-us-users-opt-out-of-app-tracking-in-ios-14-5-analytics-find/
In other words, they were able to see, neighborhood by neighborhood, what happened to financial fraud when users were able to block commercial surveillance.
What happened is, fraud plunged. Deprived of the raw material for committing fraud, criminals were substantially hampered in their ability to steal from internet users.
While this is something that security professionals have understood for years, this study puts some empirical spine into the large corpus of qualitative accounts of the surveillance-to-fraud pipeline.
As the authors note in their conclusion, this analysis is timely. Google has just rolled out a new surveillance system, the deceptively named "Privacy Sandbox," that every Chrome user is being opted in to unless they find and untick three separate preference tickboxes. You should find and untick these boxes:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/how-turn-googles-privacy-sandbox-ad-tracking-and-why-you-should
Google has spun, lied and bullied Privacy Sandbox into existence; whenever this program draws enough fire, they rename it (it used to be called FLoC). But as the Apple example showed, no one wants to be spied on – that's why Google makes you find and untick three boxes to opt out of this new form of surveillance.
There is no consensual basis for mass commercial surveillance. The story that "people don't mind ads so long as they're relevant" is a lie. But even if it was true, it wouldn't be enough, because beyond the harms to being our authentic selves that come from the knowledge that we're being observed, surveillance data is a crucial ingredient for all kinds of crime, harassment, and deception.
We can't rely on companies to spy on us responsibly. Apple may have blocked third-party app spying, but they effect nonconsensual, continuous surveillance of every Apple mobile device user, and lie about it:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar
That's why we should ban commercial surveillance. We should outlaw surveillance advertising. Period:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/ban-online-behavioral-advertising
Contrary to the claims of surveillance profiteers, this wouldn't reduce the income to ad-supported news and other media – it would increase their revenues, by letting them place ads without relying on the surveillance troves assembled by the Google/Meta ad-tech duopoly, who take the majority of ad-revenue:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-ban-surveillance-advertising
We're 30 years into the commercial surveillance pandemic and Congress still hasn't passed a federal privacy law with a private right of action. But other agencies aren't waiting for Congress. The FTC and DoJ Antitrust Divsision have proposed new merger guidelines that allow regulators to consider privacy harms when companies merge:
https://www.regulations.gov/comment/FTC-2023-0043-1569
Think here of how Google devoured Fitbit and claimed massive troves of extremely personal data, much of which was collected because employers required workers to wear biometric trackers to get the best deal on health care:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/google-fitbit-merger-would-cement-googles-data-empire
Companies can't be trusted to collect, retain or use our personal data wisely. The right "balance" here is to simply ban that collection, without an explicit opt-in. The way this should work is that companies can't collect private data unless users hunt down and untick three "don't spy on me" boxes. After all, that's the standard that Google has set.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/29/ban-surveillance-ads/#sucker-funnel
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resetium · 3 months
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terfs don't exist moron they're just the same women who were getting called "feminazi" 20 years ago. anti-feminists have simply switched their insults from "feminazi" to "terfs, who are just like nazis" it's literally not even subtle 💀💀💀
Let me be abundantly clear for you.
The term Feminist refers to a person who advocates for women's rights, particularly in the equality of the sexes. Actual equality, mind you, not the current patriarchal bullshit disguising itself as equal.
Radical Feminist generally (keyword generally) refers to a person who advocates for women's rights at the expense of equality of the sexes. Basically matriarchy in place of patriarchy, which I frankly doubt will work, given the cultural factors required to enforce it are, get this, part of why you see so many nazi men in the first place (summary: they see their masculinity as under attack due to men sometimes but not always being painted as inherently evil/rapists).
The acronym TERF, meanwhile, means Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, which refers to a movement (or, in some cases, a person). This movement is aligned primarily with the political right, who do not agree with the idea that trans people do not deserve to be harassed for personal decisions, and are often not aligned with feminists. I can't believe I have to say this, but TERFs are a real thing, something that would be obvious to you if you paid attention to something that is not a perfect echo chamber (even the majority of right-wing echo chambers agree that TERFs exist, after all).
You mentioned the term Feminazi, which is a term primarily used by the same people who invented the term Social Justice Warrior, that being the political right, to silence feminist perspectives as "nazi propaganda". This term fell out of use with the recent surge in neo-nazi movements, and to my understanding has since been replaced with the more general Social Justice Warrior.
Let me reiterate that the side who approves of TERFs is the same side that popularized both Feminazi and SJW, and thus why TERF and Feminazi do not refer to the same group.
Regardless, I doubt you're interested in defending your statement, as you chose to remain anonymous, so I'm going to request that you return to the terf blog I clearly annoyed (assuming you aren't said terf blog, though it would be hilarious if you were) or come off anon so that we might grow as people together.
In the case of the latter, I promise I won't bite.
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