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tsururoach · 1 year

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i was so curious about what yjh’s description said since i saw a few say they got him in your orv poll but no one was posting screenshots, and i am so glad i apparently had enough of a grasp on him to get his result first try

as for what i actually got beforehand; it was kdj, as expected

If other people are curious, this is the result... Honestly I'm super relieved that when trying to get him you managed to! While I did general tests for the Kimcom to see how accurate my answers were, that obviously has innate bias as I was the one who made the quiz.

If you wanted some elaboration... with some spoilers that I couldn't include on the quiz description:

As a general disclaimer, I don't think my quiz is anything final. Not even close to be honest. It's my personal belief that the ORV that we've read is all a different story. Not because difference in translation or distributors, but because of the different readers.

Each of us had our own meaning and our own belief of the characters- and that means we all got a different 'story' from ORV. Clearly, there is some character aspects that are relatively unarguable to what is canon, but there is going to small differences based on how we see Kim Dokja's perspective of the world... and our perspective of him.

Yoo Joonghyuk is a strong, strong character. No, a strong person. He is someone who cares too much, and I feel like it's something not noticed enough. Or, perhaps, can never be noticed enough.

"It is because he is weak that he is strong." or is it "Because he is strong, he is so undeniably weak."

Even before the apocalypse in TWSA, he held this kind of responsibility as well. He had to be steadfast and reliable. He has a sense of responsibility and by god he's not going betray that. But to what cost? What could he rely on?

From the very beginning- from the very start, did Yoo Joonghyuk have anyone to rely on? It was only a man and his younger sister, what could possibly be there for him?

I feel like a lot of people tend to think that YJH is more aloof than he actually is. That nothing matters so long as he achieves his goals. I beg to differ, and I'd do it on my hands on knees.

YJH 'caring about his image' may seem far off... but it really isn't? Perhaps my phrasing was poor, but I don't think YJH knows how to feel weak. Well, he has to learn how to be weak in front of others. And for the record, I don't even think it started because of the apocalypse. YJH is someone tied to responsibility. Not that kind of cold apathic responsibility, but the one made delicately out of love.

YJH's sacrifice and KDJ's sacrifice is kind of funny in that way. YJH tries to save his family by living. KDJ tries to save them by dying instead. YJH needs to live, needs to continue, needs to find the solution, so he can go back to the family and bring them with him.

I'd be hard pressed to call YJH simple, but he definitely defines himself in a way you would call simple? He definitely knows himself enough to know what he wants and what he should do- even if KDJ calls it into question more than he should... I guess you can say he can think well? Even when it's difficult for him to verbalize as such.

Is it too much to say of the main trio, YJH is definitely the one who loves the most. YJH... I feel like probably couldn't handle that 'empathy' or kindness he offers to those he trusts being 'weak.' Which I suppose is why it's such a big deal that he has trust issues. It's honestly why the 1st turn is the one I'm the most curious about (not the 0th!) Because it's the turn that we assume YJH started off of. Which in hindsight, isn't that clever? Starting at 0 instead of 1?

How is that YJH who went through the apocalypse for the 'first' time with little help and no knowledge? How did he cope? Just how much did that infallible protagonist change? Not only that... remember that the YJH we start off is supposed to be the '3rd' turn. What happened to get from point 1 to 3?

Anyways, as for the quiz... Since this has run a bit long, let me review the questions that had YJH in mind. (also to note, since it's been a while, I did actually make sure the results are relatively equal save for the minor minor characters.)

4-5. Love language

YJH to me... It's definitely words of affirmation? Like all things aside, no ship nothing like that- but isn't that what helped him become the YJH we meet at the end of the novel? KDJ talking to him?

The affirmation that he could and should go on? That his life- no, this life matters? That just because he could theoretically continue, doesn't mean 'this' life is worthless?

That there is hope to go on the next day?

While love language isn't absolute- he absolutely could find it in simply just presence alone, it's definitely the most important. It's important for him to hear all of these things and more.

As for the expression of love language... YJH expresses it the most through acts of service, and I kind of expect that to be obvious enough... Though I can see him thinking his words matter a lot as well... Even if it's rougher than he intends, I think that the acts of service is more.. instinctive? While the words are intended.

8. Webnovel prompt

To be honest this question was mostly something to lay off of the tediousness of the quiz. Something on the sillier end even though I looked through it... Yoo Joonghyuk.. Definitely is someone who craves normalcy though. Okay. Like I get he's a gamer and all that, but he's just so tired. He deserves it- and that... is kind of what he was looking for, wasn't it? Like Yoo Sangah, even if it didn't have KDJ originally, didn't he crave family and a peaceful way of living?

18. Pick something in the future.

'To keep the future my own'

Yoo Joonghyuk wants to control his own life- his own future. Isn't that why the fact he is the one responsible for writing part of ORV so important? He did it, he escaped the story and became his own person out of the bounds of the constellations. He is a hero, but most importantly, he is himself.

He made that decision and that is what makes him, him.

21. Fanfiction cliffhanger

This one is the one that makes me wish that you can make the questions be worth more or less (though I ended up balancing it out a little.)

However, I will stand by my answer for YJH.

"It'd be fine, to sacrifice mind and soul, if it meant I'd die knowing the love for you."

I... Can see how it's a bit weird, and maybe too romantic for him? But I mostly brought it up here because I think... Yoo Joonghyuk would hate to lose his emotions and care? I think the thought of forgetting who he cares for and forgetting what he did to and for them, is something more painful than dying. It's more painful than regressing so much- because that is a loss that sticks with him more?

I could elaborate more on this, but I'm not the most eloquent person out there.

75. Safe Emotion

For Yoo Joonghyuk, I think he finds anger is a safe emotion. Not because it's the one he's most familiar with nor is it the one he adheres to most- but because it's the one he understands best? Not understand as in he's felt most often, but because it's the most straightforward of emotions to him. He knows when to be angry and what it means to be angry.

83. Does the End Justify the mean.

This is one of the questions where I wish I separated YJH more than just SP, simply because it really is more than that? And honestly I feel like if I'm going to be wrong about characterization, this one would be the question I feel like it's most fair for.

YJH does not think the end justifies the means... I think SP does...? But I also feel like that changes. But I really can't just separate those iterations of YJH in any clean way anyways, so this is what it will be.

84. (not YJH but I'm adding it) Isn't it fucked up for the superpower question I put 'flight' for OD. Isn't that messed up. Looking over the quiz again that's soooo fucked up of me.

95. Boundaries

I feel like YJH is willing to let go of his boundaries but it's not as easy as he can let it seem? I feel like the consequences of him overstepping his own boundaries are definitely a lot more than he exposes, but if he's allowed the time to process the decision, he's willing anyways.

99. Which one is strongest to you?

Hope. YJH is a character who embodies hope. He is hope and he is always in an endless journey to chase it. He is OD's hope. He is KDJ's hope. He is the hope of HSY and the others of the apocalyptic world. In the Epilogue... he's willing to be Kimcom's eternal hope.

He is innately a hopeful person. He faulters, but anyone would. He's human. And humans will hope before they despair- they will hope in despair. Yoo Joonghyuk is hope.

And it makes sense he would understand that.

#ORV #spoilers #yoo joonghyuk #oh boy can't wait to get a concise answer from the person who made the extensive orv quiz #I should make an extensive 104 question orv uquiz with spoilers #i think it owuld be funny #people would be like "wow we have 2 100 question uquizes for ORV wow!!#and they're both by me #Actually i don't doubt it would be longer than 100 by a large margin #there was a lot of orv related questions I would've loved to ask #but I also feel like it owuld be a little redundant bc I don't think my quiz was that inaccurate. I just think there are some subtleties #that others may prefer over my vague questions #I think the only way I would do that if I make the Uquiz about experience over result #an interactive esque uqui #Honestly I could #But uquiz really did not like the 100 question uquiz so either i need to cut down the possible results or get a better laptop #which is dying #swoopsies #actually if someone asks me right now to make one i will. do it #do it ask me to. i dare you #call my bluff

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shijiujun · 3 years

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on the danmei twitter fight

okay guys i didn’t wanna say anything about this and yes it’s that hot danmei twitter translations saga thing that’s going on, because honestly i feel like there’s nothing much to say but when i see dumb posts on tumblr taking about that, by people who present a misleading hot take and their friends or moots run off with it without even knowing what exactly is going on - it really pisses me off.

and also if you shit talk translators for not continuing their translations or locking their translations whatever - the door is that way on your right and left, but anyway here’s a rundown on what happened because i am seeing people make comments without two brain cells put together, without the slightest bit of consideration for the people who bring them translations

here’s my hot take and thesis: if you enjoy english translations made by fan translators, you don’t, in any way, no matter happens, shit talk fan translators. fan translators do this for free, and whatever their intentions are, whether genuine sharing or like some of you like to say, for clout, if you consume, and you enjoy these translations, i’m sorry, you’re not uninvolved, and you don’t get to sit on a high horse and say translators should or shouldn’t do something. you should just keep quiet, honestly, because someone else is doing you a favour, a favour that you are enjoying and taking. that’s what respect is.

i’m presenting both sides or i guess three sides of the story as objectively as i can, altho my support is still for fan translators who were just minding their own business before this blew up.

===

🔺 what happened:

so it started because one of the bigger translators in the fandom did this poll - i’m not blaming her at all, i doubt she had any intentions of shaming anyone or causing any controversy and was plain curious, but her poll asked english speaking danmei twitter how many people buy the digital, print copies of the danmei they read, and who did not.

in my honest opinion, it’s not strange at all for her to have created that poll, considering just how much work she’s put into making sure things are accessible for the eng-speaking danmei fandom. i mean i’d be curious too, to know out of my thousands of readers, what the reading and buying behaviour is like. do yourself a favour and don’t read too much into it.

obviously in an era where a lot of people do consume content for free whether the underlying content is profit-making (like anime, donghua, manhua, manga etc.) or not (fanfiction etc.), it was unsurprising to see that the last option - the ones who consume danmei without paying a single cent, came out as the majority. i don’t think this is a surprising result at all, for all sorts of reasons that i will not get into now.

anyway, this is obviously kind of a sore point in the fandom especially for translators who want a wider audience to support their fave author’s works - i won’t get into that for now, but the issue began because other translators or fans started to criticize the majority of people who don’t pay for objectively rather affordable danmei and just consume things for free.

and yes, i don’t deny that the argument on both sides got really heated and emotionally charged with both sides calling each other names which i believe is uncalled for, but it totally derailed the crux of the issue, which basically is that the majority of english-speaking danmei fandom - consumes danmei for free.

anyway this whole thing escalated and fan translators were brought into this for no fucking reason at all except that the people who didn’t want, or were unable to pay for the danmei they usually consume, made what i call a LOGICAL FALLACY in argument by going to the extremes, i will explain why later.

the end result is that fan translators were brought into this (most of them, the bigger ones i know at least) without even participating in the direct crossfire. and obviously, you can see why they’re hurt and decided to lock their translations. let me explain why

===

🔺 kind of like four camps:

(1) translators and fans who criticized those who consume danmei liberally but do not pay for them in any way - no merch, no digital copies, no physical copies, no audio dramas whatever

*** their arguments:

danmei is so cheap right, that technically people should be able to pay for it in one way or another, even if not all

danmei and its authors are, at the end of the day, out here to earn a living, and the industry, like any money-making industry, is a for-profit enterprise - and unlike public goods, if you cannot afford danmei, then there is no obligation for others to make it free for you (fan translators or otherwise, it wasn’t super clearly stated while this shitshow happened) when it is inherently a for-profit industry

yes, i don’t deny that some of them did call the peeps who don’t pay at all, “leeches” and other sort of names. personally, i wouldn’t go that far or even like venture there to be honest because in general, if it’s something that i’ll get punched in the face for if i called someone that in real life i tend not to do it, but i’ll leave my opinions, whatever they’re worth, for later

(2) the readers and fans of danmei who do not pay in any sort of way for them

*** their arguments:

some of them really cannot afford, even the dollar or more, to spend on danmei for several reasons: upbringing, culture, money-spending mindsets, real poverty, struggling to make ends meet etc. - some definitely more valid than others (and when i say not valid, it’s because SOME, a minority or like those few stragglers, say they cannot afford and then you see them like idk, throwing $50 on other merch on kpop and stuff - i’m just bringing up ONE example. not shaming anyone for spending more money on one aspect rather than the other, but yeah you can see why some of them, when making this same argument, are a little invalid, that’s just a small number of them tho)

if translators are blaming them for consuming free of charge, then the fault lies, at its foundation, fan translators who translate illegally, which i mean, in that definition, all of them including me

did i mention that we were called illegal translators like you know in response to being called leeches? anyway-

(3) others translators who literally were just minding their own fucking business before some smart alec dragged them into it

i don’t think most of us had an argument. we were just quietly munching on popcorn and staying out of it and yeah, can you imagine, we provide a service, however illegal it is, for free on our own time, we don’t even check whether people support legally or not, we just... provide, and pray that those who are able to, at least support in some small way or another do so, on their own time. i mean i don’t check, most of us don’t, not the bouncers at your local club before COVID happened do, and then suddenly, to be used to derail an argument, we were called illegal translators. and that we should stop translating, and that it is our fault that there are free riders in the fandom

(4) people who offered to provide JJWXC credits to those who said they couldn’t afford it etc.

honestly i think they were just trying to help - no different than a gofundme. there’s no shame in taking a free thing that people already weren’t intending to pay for. it’s there, just take it!

===

🔺 the shitshow that led to fan translators locking their stuff up:

i would provide some actual examples in the form of screenshots but i’ve blocked most of them, and i don’t want to direct any sort of traffic to them so i guess you’ll have to take my word on it or go search on twitter yourself but-

(1) the affordability issue: i can understand the frustration at being called leeches, and some if not a majority of people, do have valid reasons for not being able to afford something or anything and end up pirating content they enjoy. hey, i am not about to crucify anyone for pirating at some point in their lives. we all have done it at some point, or for example hate disney+ and that $30 they were trying to rip off us for a subpar Mulan live action. i don’t have anything to say about that. inherently, is it wrong and illegal? yeah sure of course it is. do we call people leeches? i wouldn’t go that far.

if anyone cannot afford, cannot access for whatever reason, fine, i’m not gonna go check if jjwxc truly is banned in your country, or is your postal service so terrible that you definitely won’t be able to receive a hard copy of the book you like at affordable rates.

and if you have to pirate? go ahead. i mean it’s always been a rampant thing. the only thing fan translators and fans can do is encourage, motivate and incentivise as much as possible to get people to support legally. they can only put up REALLY COMPREHENSIVE guides as to how to access jjwxc or taobao or whatever.

and if you still cannot afford it and pirate, honestly no one cares about the story behind it. you owe no one justification, just as how no other person is obligated to take it into consideration or understand you or empathize with you. i don’t say this in a malicious way - i do think that in general, you just do you.

(2) the poor people don’t deserve nice things argument: honestly, this was not the point of this entire debacle, altho yes, people were rude to those who could not afford to support legally. but this is not the point of this whole thing.

main point - there are free riders who can support but choose not to because they choose to just consume it for free and if you are able to you should support

everyone going off on a tangent - you guys hate poor people / you guys are leeches

well guess what, no one wins in this argument.

there were a lot of people saying “reading danmei is our only source of happiness, are you saying poor people who can’t access legally don’t deserve to read danmei” (this is just one example i’ve seen, there are other variations), and it wasn’t put across perhaps in the right way, but the other camp of people were saying “you’re not entitled to it for free if you cannot afford it”, which raised a lot of hackles and anti-poor yellings

altho i do not deny that there are those who mean it maliciously, i think what everyone is trying to say is - the danmei industry, like any other profit-making industry, is looking to make profits. the people working in the industry, the authors even, are looking at numbers - traffic to jjwxc or other legal platforms, how much revenue they’re making from their live actions etc., comments, rankings, etc. i think @/hunxi-after-hours made a really succinct post on this aspect which yall should read.

it’s the same as - if you wanted to purchase a standee which costs $20 USD, but you cannot afford it = you don’t get it. there’s no way you can get this standee unless some gifts it to you for free. what the camp trying to ask people to support legally is saying, is that danmei is NOT A PUBLIC GOOD. it is a private, for-profit product. it might be intangible, but it is a PRODUCT that has a price that needs to be paid.

if you cannot afford it, you either don’t get access entirely (i’m saying this objectively and honestly from an economic standpoint). if someone gifts that standee to you for free, count yourself lucky - if someone makes a danmei accessible to you for free, COUNT YOURSELF LUCKY. you don’t have to be grateful and treat them as gods or like obey their every word, but it’s not rocket science. someone did you a favour that you accepted and consumed, show some respect.

if you cannot afford to buy the standee - you do not go on twitter demanding that someone ensures that you have access to the standee for free. do you see how ridiculous this sounds once it’s a tangible product? and danmei novels ARE PRODUCTS. they are not FREE CONTENT. if someone cannot afford the standee, this is the equivalent of people going “we didn’t get the standee for free because poor people don’t deserve nice things”

totally missing the point. i don’t even know how it got to this. once again, i do admit that some users were unnecessarily mean, but going to the extreme of this is ridiculous. in argumentative essay writing we call this a logical fallacy:

e.g. “if you cannot pay for merchandise or danmei, it is a fact that you might not have access to it” morphing into “if we cannot pay for food, does this mean we cannot have access to it?!” - this is a slippery slope, and factors are not equivalent!!!! do they not teach people anything in school

don’t confuse fanfiction with danmei - danmei novels ARE PAID PRODUCTS unless for free chapters, just because it’s released online doesn’t mean it’s free public property, and also selected novels (did you guys know the WHOLE of SCI novel is free? about 500 chapters sorry, random, just a tidbit)

there are of course nuances right, like if anyone told me they were pirating disney+ content i’d be like yeah hey get one over those bloodsuckers, they take enough of our money and produce shit content anyway. the difference is that danmei authors, and the danmei industry itself can still be considered a nascent and not-yet matured industry, with a majority of authors if not all, depending on monetary flow, likes, comments, virality on the sites their content is hosted on, for a living, unlike hugeass MNCs trying to squeeze us dry for content that isn’t even interesting.

danmei is priced rather reasonably - and this brings me to another argument that was made, that the value of money is not the same for everyone. i don’t want to make comments on this because yes this is correct to a large extent. a $6 book might be cheap to most of us, but might be expensive to someone else. i’m not gonna comment on how cheap or whatever it is, if you gotta use your money for other things, definitely! i still maintain however, that a novel less than a dollar should be affordable to most people, a majority of people. and i definitely side eye some users who obviously have money but are just creating noise because they wanna continue free-riding

(4) the “they’re losing out on their international audience” argument: honestly, i feel like english-speaking danmei fandom gives themselves a bit too much credit. danmei has long thrived in china in its domestic market - sure the international audience is a plus to have and i’m sure the authors are grateful and flattered that people who don’t understand chinese love their content and love it a lot, but do they and their companies care about fans who basically don’t bring in money? i’m not sure (okay i’ll get to the fan translators doing illegal shit later okay i got it don’t be impatient)

and international fans are great, i don’t deny that - but when i see arguments like “oh but it’s their loss if they don’t cater or deny access to us, they get more popularity and sharing overseas”, i honestly think they don’t care as much as you think. once again, hunxi made a really good argument regarding non-sinophone audiences, but it really irks me, because this is the same as:

an instagram influencer saying they’ll give a restaurant exposure for free to their followers, if they get a free meal

it’s par for par - danmei authors wants earnings, popularity, tangible results that show that they are succeeding. this is life. if i put something out there for sale, i better be getting returns, simple economic logic. they probably don’t care that a non-paying reader is bringing them greater ‘exposure’ - once again, i mean this objectively.

and yes if they’re thriving without the international market then why should it matter that people are pirating right? which brings me to the next point~

(5) it’s fan translators faults for so many people pirating, and fan translators are the ones doing the “illegal” work: this one is like... wow where do i unpack this and how-

firstly, we are talking about assholes who can pay but decide to free ride and not pay for danmei, and we assume that if you really cannot afford and have to pirate, no one’s saying anything as long as you don’t go around spreading how to pirate, how the hell did it get to fan translators from “you guys are anti-poor” and whatever

yes, fan translations are indeed illegal, i don’t deny that, and i also don’t deny that there are translators who translate for clout and popularity but putting these aside - here’s what i have seen from people who ran their mouths and made this argument

“if you guys care about us pirating the book so much than fan translators shouldn’t have translated in the first place” and “if you wanna come after us for reading illegally, then fan translators, you guys should go get the copyright for the book and then translate it cuz what you guys are doing is also illegal”

hooooo i’m telling ya, i am all for translators locking up their translations at this point. see how fucking hurtful that is? you eat from my hand and then now you biting at the hand that fed you the gays in love?

honestly if you’ve made this argument or supported this, you can basically go to hell. yes this is personal because what, you think fan translators don’t take out their personal time and effort and hard work to make translations accessible to you? if you’re ever consumed and read translations, don’t be a hypocrite and make this argument. you benefitted from it, now you wanna say it’s their fault?

most translators want to share and spread the love they have for a novel right, want to show you how wonderful all these authors are, how much enjoyment u get from reading these wonderfully thought out stories of gays in love. yes we all know we are illegally translating, which is why on top of sharing we first, purchase the novels legally ourselves first, and then we try to encourage people to buy etc. and actually put their money to use. it doesn’t make it any less illegal, but we are bridging the gap between danmei and basically the english-speaking fandom, albeit illegally

we aren’t that self-important to ask for gratefulness but some respect would be nice. like i said, you read it, you consumed it, you enjoyed it, you can only access it because of illegal translators - a bit counter-intuitive to yell at these translators, who are simply telling you, if you can, please support. and none of us went “if you cannot afford, begone!”

===

🔺 some people tried to help by offering jjwxc credits so people who cannot afford as they say, can get legal access: honestly, just take it right, guess what some of these users did in response

they said the people giving away credits are trying to redeem themselves for their comments by giving away free stuff

they also said that we are trying to shame the people who cannot afford it with this handout to them, to show that they are the bigger person - the fact that they think this is a handout to them is TELLING. the people offering this is giving their money not to these readers, but to the authors! that’s the point of this exercise!!!

one of them even said “instead of trying to do these giveaways, here, there are greater world problems out there, donate instead to these causes” - love the initiative, but how did we get from being able to afford danmei and entertainment content to saving the world? i just- i cannot

===

🔺 so why i get why fan translators are locking up their translations, because wow, so hurtful:

you have no idea how many fucking assholes went “sure, lock up your translations, deal with the consequences” - ermmmm firstly, thanks for making a threat. like who the fuck do you think you are?

the consequences is... the authors still don’t get the money these free riders weren’t going to give them anyway, so no loss, and they weren’t reading on jjwxc anyway so you know, the authors don’t lose or gain any readership numbers or traffic they didn’t already have. instead, it WILL push and force people to pay for the PRODUCT. once again, it’s a product.

this works, and i’d say Word of Honor’s payment model worked marvellously for Youku, because they fucking forced everyone to pay to access content. ALL OF THEM. sure ok some people still pirated it, but how many MORE people paid on Youku, on Youku Youtube, watched on Viki etc. than if they didn’t? even english-speaking fandom were wracking their brains trying to purchase a Youku pass even if there were no subs initially - and other examples that lovely hunxi brought up in her amazing piece

and for translators?! honestly me for one, i’m glad i don’t feel pressured anymore to churn out a chapter every week since we get called names etc. most of us are glad to have a break to be honest. we’ve lost all motivation to translate because it’s a free service, at the very least we don’t expect like hate, or rudeass fuckers. for those who are doing a proof of purchase thing - go for it honestly!

hopefully it’ll minimize the free rider problem - some people for whatever reasons really cannot buy or support legally, that’s totally cool and they don’t have to justify it, i get that. but for others making the same argument but obviously are just unwilling to pay because they can’t read chinese, think it’s too troublesome when there are guides and translators provide it for free anyway so what’s the point - we all make concessions and make decisions to grab what we like (not talking about the ppl who have their various troubles and difficulties!)

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🔺 and those who are saying why is it the ‘rest of us suffer’ from locked translations just because of a few bad apples:

IT ISN’T ABOUT YOU. where the hell were all of ya when we were getting called illegal huh? it’s about us fan translators getting shot at for no reason, and then people still demanding things for free. i don’t see any of the people i’ve seen on tumblr complain about fan translators stopping or locking translations defend any of us in any way. instead, you’re complaining.

it is the translator’s prerogative to start, stop and end translations, unless of course the original author starts to sue i suppose. i see people on tumblr going like if they were gonna do this, they shouldn’t have started in the first place etc. - i don’t what world you live in, but when i do something for free, then get called names and am attacked or get dictated on how i should do something that’s already like free, i tend to be less generous.

i’m sorry, do us illegal and free translators owe ANY OF YOU? i wasn’t aware any of us were being paid for this hobby. readers, especially those who CAN and just refuse to support, don’t get to say SHIT. translators deal with so much shit and so many entitled readers, i say they get to lock whatever they want as long as they aren’t profiting off of this monetarily.

let me give you an example - nan chan, which is translated by lian yin, completed translations by the way for all chapters. it is all free for viewing, and she only locked up one extra and asked for proof of payment. some dumbfuck quotes that locked up extra chapter tweet and said “honestly, this turned me off reading this novel because they restricted access”.

the. fucking. entitlement. the whole of nan chan is free, that’s like what more than 80 chapters. she locked up the EXTRA and the money goes to the author, she doesn’t earn anything. AND HERE THAT BIJ is (yes, i’m going to call them names because you know, fucking asshole who didn’t bother to check) going “yeah i didn’t wanna read because 1/80+ chapters were locked”.

AN EXTRA. LITERALLY AN EXTRA!!!!!!

at the end of the day, translators are not like DYING to translate, not like some of you are DYING to read the translations. once again, this isn’t a “BE GRATEFUL” message, it’s a please be respectful to the people who put in time and hard work for free and share the goodness ya know? what’s the use of yelling at fan translators as if we owe you anything?

================

🔴🔴🔴 TOO LONG DIDN’T READ 🔴🔴🔴

some people may need really need to pirate - and no one needs to justify why they cannot afford to purchase etc. pirating happens all the time, translators only hope that when you can, and in whatever way you can, to support legally - in general we don’t ask and we get it! we’re just annoyed that some people think that it SHOULD BE FREE, when it is a paid product, especially for those who CAN afford it

readers are not entitled to shit on translators for what they do with their translations - once again, you’re not OBLIGATED to have it. so what if i start and stop? i’m the one doing the work, i get the only say. don’t be a hypocrite and shit on translators, whose works you’ve read - it’s no loss for translators, we read and enjoy danmei just fine

yes, fan translations are illegal, but you can’t read and enjoy them like some of you have, and then turn around and point the finger at translators - a lot of us are happy to stop translating - this isn’t a threat, but at the end of the day, shitting on translators simply decreases access, and sure, some people can indeed live with you know, MTL or shitty translations from people who’ve learnt chinese for only six months or whatever, but you’re gonna be reading an entirely different book tbh

the people saying illegal translators are at fault - funnily enough, most of them consume the translations, so what the fuck? i mean we know it’s illegal, we’re trying to share the love and trying to minimize the illegalities of it by redirecting people to hopefully support legally. it’s still illegal yes, but i think it’s hypocritical for people who have read translations, stab translators in the back. and now that translators are indeed ‘restricting’ and ‘removing’ their ‘illegal translations’, yall yelling again? and threatening?

fan translators aren’t “elitist” or “classist” - just looking for some respect in a community which seems to have taken them for granted, and also looking for support for their fave authors - and honestly a lot of us were caught in the crossfires truly, don’t be an asshole and demand things from fan translators - who are you talking about? do you know why they decided to lock? do you know know what their locking system is like and what for?

it’s not EASY to lock the translations up - it’s more admin work, it’s putting together a whitelist of people, if given the choice i’m sure translators would prefer to share everything. but not when there are assholes who have a comment on how they should translate etc. and yeah!!! calling us illegal!! i mean we are but still!!

the last straw was seeing that post on tumblr and people in the comments going like fan translators shouldn’t or should do something, without getting the whole picture, without even considering how hard it is for fan translators being caught in this situation.

whoever puts in the work gets to decide, and everyone else should leave them alone.

be nice to the people who really cannot afford as they say so (or just don’t think about it), be nice to the translators feeding you content, and the people who free ride and shit on translators - honestly, i’d say ready the pitchforks.

edit: i forgot to mention this is my hot take and i’ve tried to like present all the arguments i’ve seen so far. i’m definitely not doing all of it justice and i don’t claim to speak on behalf of any of them except maybe one or two- and i’ve definitely left out stuff, but anyway, lmao we’re just tiny people doing what we love. i wish we could solve you know inequality or poverty or hunger or other pressing concerns. if i was that great i wouldn’t be stuck on tumblr or twitter or have to make posts like these like a loser.

thanks for coming to my ted talk.

#danmei #danmei twitter #rambles #long post #literally cannot take the stupidity of some people anymore

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wcamino-confessions · 4 years

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A Lesson with Nikateen: False Info

Hello, I would like to talk to everyone about false information and addressing a few things. I do type fast, so if I tend to slip up on a few words or sentences don’t make sense, I’m stupid and I’ll try to correct them in the notes, haha.

Okay, so,

1) The hornets. In the Juicebox chat, I brought up the thing about hornets. They are recently new to the world right now as they came to the US and I had no idea a bug could be a trigger. But, we were sending images of them and saying ew, look at them, and everything.

Nobody told me to stop. Others were doing it as well, and I was NOT doing it on purpose to trigger people; because I didn’t even recognize that it could be a trigger for someone. In my Juicebox chatroom, a way to say you’re uncomfortable is by saying JUICEBOX in all caps. We stop talking and change the subject. Anyone who continues talking on a subject after JUICEBOX is said results in an automatic ban.

We were talking about the hornets casually. We were all chillin’, just talking about bugs and stuff, and NO ONE said stop.

2) I DID NOT HARASS ANYONE. I DID NOT SEND ANYONE TO HARASS ANYONE. Screenshots? Right, you don’t have it, because it didn’t happen. You are scraping at the bottom of the barrel to get me banned for life because you legit don’t like me. I have no idea what I did but ok ilyt 😔❤️

3) I sent pictures that were triggering? Like what? A fucking hornet? Once again, no one said stop. No one said they were uncomfortable. And if you so uncomfortable, it’s on you that you didn’t say anything.

4) literally shut up. it’s my amino, i ban who i what. it’s a safe place; and you wrote a whole rant against me. why do you think i banned you?

5) me talking about adult men groping women on a subway. what the fuck are you even talking about. i’m a minor.

and lastly, 6. good ol’ 6

6) shut up

i said sorry, i left the ban alone and I’m not appealing because i don’t care.

I can admit, some part of me wants back. Look at me, I’m Nikateen, a loser that lost wa polls three times but now I have wotw, and haha, 169

but no, i got banned. what gives? the world not understanding the difference between a joke. And if domimoclaw is seriously going to change the public chat number from 20 to 50, then it should include me and I’d like a temporary ban please. :)

I said I was over it, so I’m going to be. Just leave me alone and leave the ban alone; it was justified and my friend got banned from wa for making a rant (? What she told me) about me. I don’t want that to happen to you, so leave the lt alone.

Thank you for your concern. Sucks because I owes lot of people commissions and one hour is not a lot of time when you have 100+ people to say goodbye to, collect your writings and characters, etc. fix the time limit too. Do you really think I had time to harass people in one hour? Nah. Not worth it.

😔 Happy New Years and fuck off.

#submission

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watchtheblog · 4 years

Text

petty cache

thank you for coming to read my diary which masquerades as a blog but is actually just a vessel for disseminating my birthday wishlists. it’s like an event you show up to where the host tries to sell you a timeshare 25 minutes after some requisite, mindless song and dance.

welcome! if you’d like purchase a timeshare, scroll to the bottom. for the song and dance, look no further:

the other day i zoned out on zoom therapy and when my therapist asked where i “went” i had to lie because i had gone to the part of my brain that holds all the things i need to think about forever for no reason (i call it the petty cache — this is an umbrella term for the space that also houses my attitude cabinet) and dusted off a memory of a comment i saw on a stranger’s facebook three weeks ago that said “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”.

i don’t know either person, and that’s what i was thinking about. i spend $[redacted] a month on therapy and instead of focusing on one of my numerous unsolved mysteries, i was thinking about the nuances of this comment - like why they wouldn’t just share the news or message the person directly? or what losing their password had to do with anything? or why they would comment on facebook instead of texting or calling the person. did they not have their number? imagine not knowing someone well enough to have their phone number, but still wanting to share your good news with them!

all i want (for my birthday) is to know what the news is that this stranger has to share, and i’ll never know so i have to put that comment in my minutiae repository with all the other things that will plague me until i die from texting and driving, smoke inhalation as a result of purposely leaving a candle lit in my home overnight almost every night, consuming half a dozen hot dogs a week, or a now unnamed disease that will posthumously be attributed to my chronic inability to mind my own business.

i’m constantly concerning myself with things that are none of my concern - no matter how insignificant - because my brain is a commune of sentient pepperoni running instagram polls among themselves to discern if something is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about. and guess what? it turns out absolutely everything that has ever offended, confused, bothered, intrigued, slightly inconvenienced, or merely happened to me is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about.

because i devote so much energy to nonsense, i can often be found persecuting strangers for insulting me on the internet (and for other miscellaneous bad behavior). the information superhighway is my home so i have to protect myself (and my friends) here, and if that means spending 45 minutes to 48 hours trying to find every misstep you’ve made in your life until i have enough ammunition to spray a dozen simulated retaliatory bullets at your virtual head because you called me a “stupid bitch” on instagram, well… so be it!

i am relentless in my pursuit of wasting time, so if that doesn’t work, i will find the cold stone creamery you frequent, seek employment there, be hired on the spot, learn the craft, be promoted to manager, poison you on your birthday, gain access to your funeral, and tarnish your reputation by reading your shitty DM in front of the few family and friends whom i haven’t already made aware of the abhorrent way you conducted yourself online!

there are so many different ways strangers will try to hurt your feelings — an interesting genre of which come from men who (like me) have definitely never had sex before, and mistakenly think i care about the ways in which my body does not make them horny.

“no tits” one will say. and i’m like, how do you want me to respond to that? my boobs are indeed small, yes. did you come here to shoot facts back and forth all day? ok: you’re going to start balding way sooner than you’re prepared for, i bet your childhood dog is dead, your time on the internet should be supervised, your closet is full of vests, and you wait on line at nightclubs… good day?!

while i will obviously engage with anyone if they want to fight, i prefer when the unsolicited criticism is personalized, and not just thoughtless, lazily devised tripe.

a year and a half ago, a man who looked like he exhales smog DMed me to let me know - among other things in a paragraph long rant - he’d “lost brain cells” watching my story. knowing he had likely never had an adequate amount to begin with, it seemed like an emergency, so i started a group DM with his wife. because his message had come just three days after a “fuckkk [heart eye emoji]” response to a photo of my ass, i included a screenshot as evidence of his devolving mental state.

being - presumably - gainfully employed, neither of them responded.

luckily, the consolation prize for insulting me is that you gain residency in my brain and stay in my thoughts and prayers for all eternity, so i checked in on them a few days ago. they’d unfollowed and wiped their feeds clean of each other!!

because i’ve never “moved on” in my entire life, i fired up our long dormant group chat, and sent my condolences: “aw. sorry your trip to positano - where you were going to attempt to repair your ramshackle marriage - got cancelled because of covid and so you just got divorced instead :(” i wrote before being blocked by both of them.

then i headed right over to my therapist’s facebook and commented “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”

i spent an entire therapy session detailing this monomania before my therapist thoughtfully suggested i “pick [my] battles”.

to which i thoughtfully responded: yeah, babe. i pick every single one.

***

timeshare time! it’s the same list as this post, with a few additions (at top) (and edits based on availability).

places to donate food education fund pretty brown girl the okra project

some furniture stuff a side table a pointless, laughably tiny little thing this website is calling a “drink table” a lamp one of these benches i do not want this but it’s important to me that at least 2 other people know it exists

this plant that obviously does not need to cost $165 but idk how to shop economically

air pods

gifts from the previous post - all still v much in play!

a pair of shoes (size 8 or 38) one pair, another pair, yet another, these are on sale, these are not, and a final pair

a specific clutch with three color choices they allege this color is called sand but it looks white to me, pink, green for those who do not know what malachite means (it couldn’t be me. i learned it 3 hours ago when i began compiling this cursed list)

something everyone with money to waste needs this

dresses i’ll never be able to wear until there’s a vaccine because unlike someone tacky who knows me, i won’t be having a birthday party in the middle of a global pandemic (hi, you fool) white polka dot, not white polka dot, also not polka dot, a red dress, a skirt (aka half a dress), a black dress

this sweatsuit xs in this, small in this

is sephora cancelled? i want this hair dryer which i’m sure you can buy elsewhere if sephora is cancelled, which it v well may be

this item which you may think is cheap but actually it’s not soooo a hairpin

earrings one pair, another pair, and another

this dress which i’ll never wear anywhere even when there is a vaccine because… what?! but maybe. you never know. size 34. lol when i get this far into the list i’m always blown away by how insane it is that i do this every year to no audience. so i’m just laughing alone at that. :) i am v funny to myself. another dress i’ll never wear ;)

the nicest weighted blanket you know of i’m depressed!!!!! if you can’t tell!!!!!!!

every year i have asked for a weekend bag and every year i have not received one, so alas, we try again this is not a weekend bag actually but it will do. this is!

a peloton but just venmo me the cash (@merce212) because i have a hookup

an assortment of ridiculous things a $500 body scarf a $580 beach towel with an octopus on it for no reason besides “art” i cannot tell analog time but it’s never too late to start!! how mad would you be if someone bought you a roulette table for your wrist? be honest. (THIS WATCH IS FOUR YEARS RENT!!!!!!) they won’t say how much this costs :( i’m losing my mind and must be gifted a chanel watch or else i will perish. to put my salami on when i am eating salami in my bed “24k gold crocodile [?!!) teddy bear”. the website says there’s only one left, which begs the question “why did someone buy one of these rather than buying me a chanel watch?!!” *real ‘billionaires shouldn’t exist [unless they’re buying me a watch]’ energy* to put my new watch in this is ugly but it’s on sale :) idk wtf “secret box pendant” means but i wish this necklace was also a USB with every season and spinoff of 90 day fiancé on it hi yes i’m stupid but i draw the line at $1500 connect four…

#things i want #things I want for my birthday #lists of things #lists of things i want #my birthday #birthday lists #9/26; never forget #invidious consumption

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luckylq40-blog · 4 years

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softforcal · 5 years

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Omg could you please do a poly!5sos where reader gets pregnant and they tell the fans and everyone’s reaction and how they act around reader. You can choose who like got reader pregnant lol

-i just want to start by saying i’m in love with this

-so you’ve been in this poly relationship for a while

-it was a huge shock when you all came out to the fandom as being in a five person poly group? like, shook. hard core

-people were skeptic at first

-you all had to deal with your fair share of disrespectful radio hosts saying shit like “okay, but how long is it going to last? i mean don’t you all get jealous?” or “how exactly does that work? you know, in the bedroom.”

-but those questions died down after a while because the boys made it clear that they were not about to take that shit

-anyways, you’ve been together for a while and people are used to the idea

-all of you had just come back from their tour, it had been wild to say the least

-we’re talking all kinds of exhibitionism sex and quickies and all the good stuff

-condoms of course, because safety first kids

-and you’re all finally back in LA and you’re all cuddling and watching a show and there are kids in the show being so cute and kid like and you’re all kind of melting at how adorable the kids are

-”i want kids so badly.”

-everyone kinda looks at Ashton because everyone knows he wants a lot of kids but its not something you’ve ever talked about as a group before

-you turn off the tv and begin talking

-”i mean, if we even consider it, who would be the father?”

-”we could do surrogates for each of us.”

-”and then just have like four children all at once?”

-”wouldn’t be the worst thing.”

-you all talk for hours about it because there are so many possibilities and there are so many things to consider in a poly group that regular two people couples don’t have to worry about

-”i’m just worried that if we do this, the three who aren’t the dad will be kinda sad about it.”

-”have you guys heard about that thing where a woman gets pregnant by two different guys and then has twins but they have different fathers?”

-you all look it up and someone’s just like “apparently you can have triplets with three different fathers.”

-”can you imagine?”

-so much laughter

-”do we think we’re ready for a baby?”

-all of you deciding to sit and think on it for a week

-Michael and Ashton are the first to break and a day later are both just like, yeah, we want kids

-Luke and Cal agree too and then it’s up to you

-”if i get pregnant, what if we don’t do a dna test to see who the father is?”

-i mean, there would probably be signs and you all know that, but yeah, not doing a dna test is a thing. because that way, its all of theirs. its all of yours

-going out clubbing together and being a huge clump of hands and lips as you make it back to the house, all managing to get to the bedroom and Ash goes to get the condom box when you’re just like “no. no condoms.”

-wild, raunchy sex fam, i know it, you know it, we all know it

-and the thing about pregnancy is it doesn’t always happen the first time you try so lets say a full week of high frequency sex and they’re all so loving

-like, because you’re actually trying to create something, it’s this entirely different level of intimacy and love and commitment

-and they are so doting on you

-you look it up and find out you probably wont get an accurate pregnancy test until after the first day of your missed period

-waiting is so excruciating because you all want to know so badly

-”hey, should you have had your period by now?” Calum asks one day

-”i don’t know, let me check my calendar.” you do the math and you realize Calum is right, if your cycle happened exactly as it was supposed to, you should have had your period the day before

-you and Cal rushing to the store for a pregnancy test while you call all the guys to tell them that you’re grabbing it

-showing up home and the other three have raced there and are waiting for you and Cal

-”wait, i don’t really have to pee.”

-they all run to the kitchen and fill up glasses with water for you to drink

-sitting in the living room waiting for you to drink

-”okay… i think i could pee.” “then pee woman! pee!”

-they can’t all fit in your bathroom so they all pace outside while you pee on the stick

-you set it down in the sink facing up before it has a result and go back outside, “we should wait a few minutes then we can all go in together and see what it says.”

-so much pacing

-especially Ashton, he is freaking out

-and him freaking out is making Luke freak out, he’s standing too, shifting on his feet

-Michael’s knee is bobbing anxiously

-Cal has his head in his hands

-a timer goes off and you all stop and look at the bathroom

-”okay, we all go in and don’t look down, then look down together, agreed?”

-you all file in, it’s a bit squishy but Michael counts down from three and you all look down

-”holy fuck!”

-they all want to hug you but there’s no space so you all go into the living room to celebrate

-but they’re all so worried about your tummy

-the softest kisses

-Calum is the first to go down to his knees and kiss your tummy even though there is not even a slight bump at all

-”thats our baby in there.”

-”lets throw a fucking rager!” this is classic Ashton celebrating

-but they don’t want to tell anyone why they’re celebrating yet? they want to be the ones to break the news to the fandom and don’t want any possibility of it getting out

-so a bunch of people come and your guys are just so sweet to you

-Luke making you a non-alcoholic cocktail

-Michael freaking out when he sees you drinking what looks like an alcoholic beverage and you have to explain to him that its virgin, he even has a sip

-and thus begins the great non-alcoholic cocktail competition on who can make the best cocktail for you

-people at the party are so confused

-your guys are protective of shit now though

-going outside while Cal is smoking and Cal throws the cigarette away and is just like “baby, you can’t be near smoke right now!”

-as soon as Luke sees you yawn for the first time he’s just like “thats it! party is over!”

-between the four of them they somehow get everyone out in under ten minutes?

-Ashton carries you to upstairs bridal style and he sets you in bed but you’re like “guys i need a shower, and you’re all sweaty and-”

-before you can even finish Ashton is carrying you to the bathroom

-but they can’t all fit in the shower, Ashton gets in because he’s the one who’s carrying you around, and before anyone can stop him, Michael is getting in too

-they both wash you and Michael’s like “is that a bump already?” and you’re just like “yeah, that’s my non-alcoholic cocktail baby.”

-sleeping in a huge mass between all your boys but they all are somehow touching your belly

-you would think that they’d calm down with the whole ‘treating our woman like a fucking queen while pregnant’ but they dont

-finding time to sit down and call all their families

-its kinda confusing because they’re fam’s dont really want to ask the question on who is really the father

-their fams for the most part being super accepting

-(imma be real here, i dont know jack shit about their families yo)

-you’re able to hide the small beginning of the bump with loose shirts but it gets to the point where you can’t hide it

-plus, the boys are being super protective of you and everyone has noticed

-”are we going to be that couple group that does a whole pregnancy photoshoot?” you joke

-”why do you not want that?” Ashton asks, “because i can cancel the photo shoot if you don’t want it.”

-a week later you’re at a super hush hush photoshoot with a hella professional pregnancy photographer but even they have to take some time to work out how they’re going to include all four guys

-but they’re all hella photogenic? so it don’t matter

-it being actually super fun? and they’re all so giddy and excited

-spending an entire day choosing the perfect photo to use to announce the pregnancy

-spending two more days coming up with the perfect caption

-spending another whole day working up the courage for you to post it

-you all have the post open on your phones on insta just waiting to hit the post button

-finally Michael says “fuck it” and just hits all the post buttons

-fans flip their shit

-like it actually practically breaks the internet

-trending on twitter

-people posting reaction videos on youtube

-the instagram picture posted showing up in so many articles that are up within 24 hours about it

-so many congratulations from people on twitter

-an official 5sos post about welcoming a new member to the 5sos family

-they want to just stay with you all day and take care of you but they have to go to work things

-going to the first interview since the announcement and the interviewer is an asshole and asks “who is the father?” and Ashton straight up leaves and Cal has to follow to make sure he doesn’t punch a hole in a wall somewhere

-they make it very clear that shit like that won’t fly

-making a twitter post about how people shouldn’t be ignorant and that you all made a choice to not know the DNA and that no matter who’s the baby ‘actually’ is (whether that be Luke, Or Calum, Or Michael, or Ashton) that its all of their baby

-Cal getting worried about the pregnancy being so public

-like… celebrity babies aren’t respected by people and internet trolls will come after anyone, even children

-they all get kinda worried about it tbh

-Michael really pushes you all forward and focuses on the positives

-like baby names

-your group chat consisting of entirely baby names and polls on names and screenshots of name meanings

-Luke probably snuggles against your tummy the most

-but Cal loves the way his tattooed hands look on your growing tummy

-they definitely all go out on a group shop one day and come back with baby things

-Michael finding the cutest onesies that are gamer related, seriously, look them up, they’re so funny

-Luke trying to set up the baby crib but Ashton ends up doing most of the work while Calum hands him things

-you get food cravings like a motherfucker and one of them is always down to go to the store to grab you things

-usually its you, Cal and Duke going to a corner store at three in the morning

-and Luke is not allowed to cook for you

-i can see Ash especially trying to do stuff to make you laugh

-half the time he has a hoodie with a basketball in the tummy area and pretends to be pregnant with you

-so many bubble baths with your guys

-you are legit being treated like a Queen

-they look it up to see at what point research says maybe the baby can hear things

-and then they take turns playing their favourite songs they’ve made

-”can’t we play something not 5sos?” “and make the baby prefer some other musician? i think not Y/N!”

-Ashton tapping little beats onto your stomach

-the baby kicking for the first time while Ashton is drumming and he screams

-everyone comes running and when Luke says “what’s happening?” the baby moves again

-four pairs of hands on your tummy

-so much cooing

-realizing the baby likes certain voices and certain songs

-so if its moving around a lot and you can’t sleep you play a slow song like “ghost of you” and the baby settles down a bit, or when Michael sings for the baby

-ya’ll have no idea if the music or Michael actually helps but whatever

-this is such a soft concept

-the request was only for pregnancy not birth or toddler so here’s this, also i never really understood baby fever or anything but jesus fuck if this is what i’d get? i’d be down fam

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doeeyeddarlingxo · 4 years

Text

Myriad Misadventures - Chapter 56

The Myriad Misadventures of a Midgardian Queen-In-Training - Chapter 56

AO3 | Previous | Next

Word Count: 1661

Pairing: Loki/Reader

Rating: T

A/N: i'm posting this from the train back to school (sad reaccs only), so i'm going to keep this brief so that i can post before my connection cuts out. but i love you all! it is snowing outside, but the reactions to this story have kept my heart so warm! keep the predictions coming, and expect the daily chapter update to continue from now until (eep!) the END of the story! ahhhhh

Taglist (brand new, so lmk if you want to be added!): @lokis-girl-in-mischief

Myriad Misadventures - Chapter 56

You hadn’t realized they’d filmed the kiss.

Wedged in between Irina and Rhea on the couch, with Rosa just a pillow’s breadth away from you, you realized that none of the others have ever been portrayed as having any kind of physical relationship with Loki. Irina and Rhea tastefully avoided such questions, while Rosa...she said things, but in a joking manner. Not to be taken seriously. You, they’d left alone - it seemed like you weren’t the only one who’d thought you’d had no shot. But the day after the segment airs, you’re still wondering:

Were you the first one he kissed at all? Or just the first he kissed on camera?

********************************************

You get almost a full day’s peace and quiet before the storm begins.

"You just can't get enough, can you?"

You recognize the voice, but don't bother looking up. "I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rosa."

A soft green gel-tipped nail appears in your peripheral vision, clutching a sheaf of shiny, colorful papers. "Right. So you totally haven’t seen these.”

“What?” You grab the magazines from her. “Where did you get these?”

She snorts, flopping onto the chair across from you. “We all have our little secrets, I guess.”

You flip through the top one eagerly. There they are - the results of the most recent poll.

WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN THE CROWN?

Lady Rhea - 39%

You laugh. Is this really what Rosa’s so upset about? “Are you surprised? You know they love her.” She rolls her eyes in response, and you keep reading.

Lady (Y/N) - 38%

“What?” A few pages later - your page - there are more comments, scattered around a screenshot of Loki cradling your face in his hand. You read:

~ Lady (Y/N) is on FIRE!

~ I squealed out loud watching that kiss - soooo romantic! I honestly wasn't expecting him to kiss (Y/N) first, but now I hope he doesn't kiss anyone else! I can't imagine any of the other girls connecting with him like that.

Of course, not everyone’s opinions of you are quite so positive.

~ Everyone's talking about Lady (Y/N)'s "chemistry" with King Loki. One has to wonder though, is she even old enough to have even completed a college chemistry course? Her level of maturity would suggest not. She's nineteen, people!

But your supporters always come through, defending you with a vengeance.

~ I see people mentioning age. Clearly, she’s more than mature enough to be able to speak up for herself.

~ I love how Lady (Y/N) can call him on his BS and he’ll take it because he knows she’s right. Come on, I can’t be the only one who thinks she’d be a great queen!

~ Lady (Y/N), though she does have her moments, is wise beyond her years. Wishing her the best in and out of the palace.

“You could have at least told us before we saw it on TV.”

You wrinkle your brow. “Since when have you given me any reasons to trust you?”

“I’m kind of with Rosa on this one.” It’s Irina, closing the door quietly behind her. “This feels...wrong. We shouldn’t be keeping secrets from each other. It’s like sabotage.”

“Thank you!”

“It’s her business, though.” You look up with a start—you’d almost forgotten Rhea was in the room. She walks over, settling on the couch besides Irina.

“Thanks.” You start fidgeting with your hands. “I didn’t realize they’d gotten it on camera, anyway.” Rhea raises an eyebrow. “What?” Suddenly, you feel under as though you’re under siege. “I swear to God, I didn’t!”

“Right.” Rosa sounds thoroughly unconvinced. “Well, don’t go thinking you’re so special or anything.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that you aren’t the only one in it to win it.” She turns away with a “hmph” and a flip of her hair.

“Win what? Him? Or the crown?”

She glares at you. “Alright, Little Miss Holier-Than-Thou. What about you? Do you really think you’re the only girl he talks to? The only one he sees? Kisses? You’re a game to him. A stupid little girl that he can manipulate and play around with while he figures out who he’s really going to keep around.”

You shrug. “Say what you like, Rosa. All I know is that I didn’t see you up on that screen last night.”

She gapes at that, mouth hanging open like a codfish. “You - you know, I am so sick of your act.”

“My act?”

“Yes, your act! You pretend to be so innocent, sweet little (Y/N), ‘tee hee, look at me, I’m dumb enough to flip out on the king and lucky enough to get away with it!’ I’m telling you, he doesn’t care about you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“You haven’t seen - ”

“Girls,” Rhea interrupts, calm and regal as always. You and Rosa both shut up immediately. “Half of the girls we started out with aren’t here. The fact that we are makes the four of us special to begin with.” She keeps her voice low, though it carries in the quiet of the room. “Maybe we should stop fighting each other.”

Irina snorts. “Right, like that’s happening.”

“No, I’m serious. And here’s how we’ll start: we’ll go around and talk about our encounters with His Majesty.”

You and Rosa shoot each other one more glare before nodding. You feel the sting of tears as you sit back down (you hadn’t even noticed you’d stood up to begin with) - you hate being reprimanded. And some of what Rosa said hit home - what if he really doesn’t care? What if - you try to block out the image of him and Rosa, his fingers tangled in her hair, her legs around his waist as he kisses her against a wall. His lips on Irina’s, his hands circling her waist as he helps her dismount from one of her precious horses. Rhea doesn’t worry you, only because she seems far too conservative to allow such a thing to occur.

“What we speak of doesn’t have to be romantic or sexual in nature,” Rhea adds. “Anything. If you went on a date that wasn’t public knowledge. If you passed and spoke to him on the way to the stables. Things like that.”

“Oh. How far back is this going? I barely remember what I wore yesterday, forget what I said three years ago.”

Rosa rolls her eyes. “God, do you have to overthink everything?”

Irina stares daggers at her. “Okay, then. Show us how it’s done. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of stories to tell.”

“Fine.” She takes a deep breath, and your heart sinks...until she releases it in a sigh. “I can’t even think of a good lie. Nothing, okay? Absolutely nothing happened.”

You’re surprised to hear tears in her voice.

After an uncomfortable moment, she speaks again. “All right, I’ve humiliated myself enough. You go, Irina.”

Irina shrugs, shaking her head. Then she hesitates, opening her mouth as though to confess something. “Actually, I’m going home today.”

“What?”

She nods. “I wanted to tell you all. In person.” Another shrug. “But nothing happened before then, anyway.

None of you know what to say.

Until, like ripping a Band-Aid off a wound, Rosa switches her attention back to you. “How the hell did you manage it, then?”

“Me?”

She rolls her eyes again. “Well, apparently you’re the only one who’s kissed him.”

“I don’t know. What, do you want a rundown on everything he’s said to me since...I don’t know, however long?” All three of them nod. “Okay. We danced at the first ball we ever went to, the masquerade. Remember?” They nod. “We always ran into each other in the hallway after that. I don’t know. Oh, and then...well, there was the attack on the castle.” The quiet turns somber as you remember that day. The panic. Lexi. “Anyway. We ended up hiding out together. We’ve been...friends, I guess, ever since.”

“Friends?” Irina repeats incredulously.

“And, to make a long story short, he kissed me after dinner last Saturday. And I might have yelled at him?”

“You yelled at him for kissing you?”

“...I mean, it was a little more complicated than that. Anyway, the next day he, um, invited me to dinner, and we argued again about that. During dinner he made a comment that struck a nerve. Like, on purpose, though. So I kind of went off on him for that.” You shrug. “But, um, you guys already know that part.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Rosa holds up a hand to stop you. “So he kissed you twice? I can’t...You didn’t even want to be here!”

“I don’t exactly get to leave whenever I want!”

“Aw, (Y/N) doesn’t get her way for once. Boo freaking hoo.”

“I had a life before this!” Tears are pooling in the corners of your eyes, but the anger you feel is eating you up from the inside out and you can’t hold it in anymore. “My friends are out there worrying about final exams and spring fling plans, and I’m here. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining, though - I get to deal with court etiquette and alien attacks and everything else that’s been thrown at us. So yes, Rosa, I miss my life, and if I could have left three years ago, I would have.” You need to pause for a few moments just to compose yourself. “But that’s changed. I’m not leaving. You’re not going to just get rid of me.”

“Why?” She sticks out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout. “Because you love him?”

“Yes.” You look her dead in the eyes. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

For once, she doesn’t respond.

You pick up your book. “I’ll see you ladies tonight at dinner.” As you begin walking out, you hear her call out after you, but you ignore it, the blood still rushing in your ears.

#loki #loki x reader #loki/reader #reader insert #reader-insert #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #Loki Laufeyson #loki odinson #doeeyeddarling #myriad misadventures #fish fork

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woildismyerster · 6 years

Note

Can you write anything with davey? I love how you characterize him!

Y/N: i need a favor

Davey: Sure, what’s up?

Y/N: you just agreed. no backing out now

Davey: Y/N.

Y/N: meet me behind the school

Y/N: bring a box

“Davey is my best friend,” you cooed into your arms. “If you like me, you’ll like him by proxy. Probably. Hopefully.”

To say that liking you was the same as liking Davey was a stretch, but Davey was winsome. He would be fine as long as he didn’t do anything stupid.

“And there he is,” you said, grinning at him while he approached. His eyes were already on what you were holding. “The life of the party. The VIP. The man of the—”

“That’s a cat,” Davey said, voice going up at the end as though it was a question.

“Well spotted.”

“It looks dead,” he said, nothing questioning about it.

“It isn’t.”

It did look it, though. The kitten was small, patchy, and buzzing with flies. If it hadn’t been walking when you found it, you probably would have assumed the same thing. It had settled into your arms without too much of a fuss, which was probably a universal sign that this was supposed to be the Salem to your Sabrina Spellman.

Davey looked at you, then at the box. “You can’t seriously want to keep that thing.”

You balked. “Somebody has to take care of it. Why not me?”

“Because your parents don’t want ‘anymore living things’ in their house,” he pointed out. “Because you have nowhere to hide a cat, especially if it needs special care.”

“You already agreed to help,” you said with a grin. “No take-backs.”

“You’re the devil.”

“Irrelevant.”

He groaned. “My parents will kill me.”

“Suitable. A life for a life.” You held the cat out to him, hoping that maybe there was a scrap of empathy in him somewhere. “C’mon, Davey. The cat needs help. I’ll do all the work; I just need a place for him to stay.”

“You can’t do all the work,” Davey said, “when it’s at my house.”

“I’ll come over all the time,” you said eagerly. “So much you’ll get tired of me.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he said, a strange look on his face. Maybe it was suspicion. Maybe he was just thinking it through, imagining how he’d have to change his schedule to fit this in. “I could never get tired of you.”

“Please?”

“I don’t even like cats,” he said, defeated. He held out the box so you could settle the kitten in.

“You don’t have to like cats—just the one,” you said, scooping up the box and setting off toward Davey’s apartment.

Davey: If I touch him, I’ll probably get a horrible disease and die.

Y/N: dont touch him then

Davey: This is all on you.

“I feel like a mom,” you crooned.

“The mom of a gremlin, maybe,” Davey said. He’d locked the cat in a cage, both for his own sake and the cat’s. He’d read online that the cat needed a chance to get used to it’s surroundings, so he’d been trying to help it chill out in private. “Or like the queen that gave birth to the Minotaur.”

“Don’t talk about your son that way.”

He snorted. “Believe me, I’d remember fathering this beast.”

You winked at him, and he went a little pink.

“Not like that, you cretin.” He sat on the floor with you in front of the cage, crossing his legs. “We could always give him to a shelter, you know. To people who know what they’re doing.”

“We’ll take him to the vet tomorrow, and we’ll know what we’re doing after that.”

He sighed. “You want to keep him.”

“Of course I do. He’s perfect.”

“He has fleas.”

“He has feelings too, Dave, so watch your mouth.” You bumped your shoulder against his to soften the words, and he bumped back. “I want him. There’s no good reason; I just do. Please help.”

“Sure, sure. You know I will,” he sighed.

You grinned, laying your head against his shoulder. “Isn’t our son beautiful?”

“If you say so, dear,” he said. After a second, he laid his cheek against your head. Even through your hair, you could feel how warm his skin was. Maybe it was just warm in the room.

You weren’t sure there had ever been so many people in Davey’s room before, but cats were a siren call that no rational human could ignore. None of your friends were rational—aside from Davey, perhaps, but even he had succumbed.

“We took him to the vet,” he told anybody within earshot. “They gave us a food plan, and he has roundworm—”

“You’re killing the magic, Dave,” Jack said. “Don’t.”

It had taken a few days for the kitten to get comfortable in his new home, and even longer to reach a point where he didn’t lose his mind around new people. Your squad had been hankering to see him for ages, but Davey had been adamant about keeping the stressors to a minimum.

“I dunno, guys,” Elmer said. “I just watched The Haunting of Hill House, and you saw what happened to the kittens they took in—”

“We aren’t kids,” you said. “Between Davey and I, we can keep one cat alive. The vet mapped it all out.”

“There are probably other scary movies with bad cats,” Race said. He grinned, running his fingers along the length of the cat’s head. “Look out, Davey, the end of days is near.”

“The Black Cat, by Edgar Allan Poe,” Romeo said.

“Lucifer,” Albert said. “‘Cinderella’ didn’t play around.”

“Mrs. Norris,” Crutchie said. He hadn’t stopped smiling since he first saw the cat, and the cat seemed to like Crutchie just as much. No surprise there.

“Or,” you cut in, shooting a sidelong glance at an exhausted Davey, “this cat is gonna be like Crookshanks. That’d be pretty cool.”

“Not gonna lie, Y/N,” Davey whispered later. “This is harder than I expected.”

You grimaced. You’d trust Davey with a cat before anybody else, but you’d never intended to inconvenience him. “I can ask somebody else to hang onto him, if you want.”

“No,” Davey said hurriedly. “No, it’s fine, I’ve got it. I just hadn’t realized how much that would take, before.”

“I could come over more,” you offered. “Bribe you with snacks.”

He smiled, shooting a look at the shoelace the kitten was chewing. “That would be nice.”

You grinned back, warming up to the idea. It was always nice coming to Davey’s house. There was always good food, and anyplace with Davey obviously had good company. “You really will get tired of me, now.”

“Impossible,” he said.

Cat NAME POLL RESULTS:

Muffin Man - 2 votes

Name him Davey so we can replace Davey Jacobs with a better model - 8 votes

Jean Ralphio - 4 votes

Dat Ho - 7 votes

Wilson (Jesus, guys, a normal name) - 1 votes

Tom Hanks - 2 votes

“We aren’t naming the cat ‘Davey,’” Davey the Human said.

“That attitude is exactly why we wanted to get rid of you in the first place,” Race said.

“Use the second place name.”

You grinned. “You know, I thought that ‘Dat Ho’ had a nice ring to it.”

Davey’s glare was withering. “I should stop hanging out with you guys. How hard could it possibly be to pick a nice name? I’m even willing to use a pun at this point.”

Davey the Cat walked across Race’s backpack, claws scritching against the fabric. He slipped, hit the floor, and proceeded to act as though nothing had happened.

“He even looks a little like you,” you said. “Fitting to share a name, isn’t it?”

Race threw an arm over Davey’s shoulders. “It’s a compliment. Bask in it.”

Les sometimes sent you pictures of Davey with the cat. They would read together, or Davey would stay up two hours later than usual because he didn’t dare wake the cat up by standing.

You took a screenshot every single time. After a while, you started setting them as lockscreens on your phone. You had no good explanation when people asked about it.

“Y/N?” Davey rubbed his thumb over his lip while he looked at the chess board. “Are you going to the fridge?”

“Yeah.”

“If you get some cheese, you can give a little to the cat.”

You grinned. “You give him cheese?”

“Davey the Cat loves cheese,” he said, shrugging. “Might as well let him treat himself.”

“You’ve gone soft,” you said. The cat was sitting on the table, looking at that game board with as much interest as Davey was. Seeing it made you feel a little soft, too.

“I still don’t like cats,” he said.

“Just the one, huh?”

Davey said nothing. He rubbed the cat’s head, and the cat leaned into the touch.

You showed Jack and Race a picture of Davey with the cat, waiting for their faces to light up. They smiled, but didn’t seem as taken with it as you were.

“I was surprised when Davey took the cat,” Jack commented on the way to class. “He’s so whipped.”

“What do you mean?”

“Whipped,” Race said, dragging out the word. “You know, when somebody does absolutely anything their lover says. Davey’d jump off a cliff if you smiled at him while you asked him to. Actually, letting the cat in his house is probably crazier than that.”

“Davey isn’t whipped,” you said. “He’s just nice.”

“So’s Crutchie, and he would have at least asked his parents before saying yes.”

“Jack, Davey is your best friend. You know that he doesn’t do anything if he doesn’t think it’s a good idea,” you said.

“Of course it seemed like a good idea. You told him you’d hang out with him more if he did what you asked.”

You cringed. “I didn’t say it like that. He wanted the cat.”

“Davey didn’t want the cat,” Jack snorted.

“He literally told you that he doesn’t like cats,” Race said. “You need to listen better.”

You scowled at them. “Davey wouldn’t have taken Davey the Cat in if he didn’t sort of want him, a little bit.”

“He didn’t want the cat,” Jack said, as though you would only understand him if he spoke slowly. “He just wanted to make you happy.”

“I call BS.”

Jack put his hands on your shoulders. “Listen to me. Davey thinks you’re great, and wants to make all of your dreams come true, yada yada yada. You needed help with the cat. He could help with the cat. That’s all there is to it.”

“Please,” you said. “This is Davey we’re talking about.”

“Exactly. Why would Davey do something if he didn’t want to? Because what you wanted mattered more than what he wanted. It isn’t rocket science.”

It sure felt like rocket science. Actually, rocket science would probably have made more sense.

So, maybe had taken in a cat because you asked him to. That wasn’t so crazy, right?

It was a little crazy.

The real problem, the big thing that plagued your mind for days, was the guilt. You should never have asked him in the first place. When he hadn’t seemed interested, you should have backed off. Here he was, stuck with a cat, because he maybe sort of probably would have done anything to make you happy.

You called Jack one night, hoping that talking about it without seeing him might make it easier to ask questions.

“Has he ever told you that he liked me?”

“No,” Jack said immediately. “Davey’s not really like that, you know. He’s not really chatty, and he really doesn’t tell people things if he doesn’t want everybody knowing them.”

You knew that, of course. “What makes you think that he did this because he’s whipped, then?”

“Y/N, don’t be an idiot. You have eyes. You know how he is. If he didn’t want the cat, it was for you. If he had you come over to help, it was because he wanted you over. He can take care of a cat on his own. He likes you.”

You hugged your pillow. “Okay.”

Jack yawned. “Is that it? Can I go to bed?”

“One more question. Why did I ask Davey to take the cat in the first place? I knew that Davey didn’t really like cats.”

“Don’t get mad at me for saying so,” Jack said, “but we all assumed that it was because you like Davey back.”

“Oh.”

“Looks, it’s just—it’s always the two of you. It always has been. I’m not saying that you guys can’t be regular friends, but I’m not sure that either of you would be good at that. Not with each other.”

“Davey,” you said.

“Y/N.” He carefully peeled his string cheese to each strip was around the same size.

“You don’t have to keep Davey the Cat anymore,” you said. “Crutchie offered to take him on.”

Davey blinked at you, surprised. His hands dropped a little, his snack forgotten. “Oh.”

“You didn’t want him,” you said.

“I know.”

“Now things can go back to normal.” You didn’t want Davey to be unhappy because he thought it was better for you. You weren’t sure what to think of Davey liking you—or the possibility (certainty) that you liked him back—but you could try to make life easier for him, at the very least. “You can have evenings to yourself again, now that I won’t be coming around.”

“Oh,” Davey repeated. There was no emotion on his face at all.

You grinned, a little too large to be real. “You were probably getting tired of me, after all.”

“I wasn’t,” he croaked. The emotion was there now, and you wished you’d talked to him before talking to Crutchie. “I really wasn’t.”

“You’ll be happier once everything is back the way it was,” you tried.

“I’m not sure that’s true.”

You winced. “Look, I know that this was all for me. You don’t have to do this anymore.”

He went a little pink. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I talked to Jack—”

“Never listen to Jack. He’s had too much paint water to drink to be sane”

You half smiled. “Maybe, but he knows you pretty well.”

“No,” Davey said.

“Yes.”

“Maybe.”

“So,” you continued, “I’m going to make this right.”

“I want the cat,” Davey said forcefully.

“What?”

“I want the cat. I like the way my life is, now. I like Davey the Cat. I like having you over. I like that I’m your lockscreen, and I like coparenting, and I like—”

You kissed him, and everything else was far away. Sure, you were conscious of everything happening around you. You heard his food hit the floor. You heard cars honking outside, and the light tapping of rain against the window. You were aware of many things, but none of them mattered as much as Davey’s hands going to your waist, or the sharp inhale right before he started kissing you back.

“I, ah, really like coparenting with you,” you said after pulling back.

Davey smiled, baffled. “Okay.”

“I’ll tell Crutchie that you’ve changed your mind about the cat.”

“Okay,” he said again. His hands were still on your sides. “What—why’d you—”

“I’m just not tired of you yet,” you said.

Davey was grinning, still confused but incredibly happy. “I’m so confused right now.”

You kissed him again. That would illuminate some things.

TAG LIST:

@bencookisagod, @albertdasillva, @broadwayandbookblog, @races-erster, @simplyvictoria-93, @theapexpredatorr, @paigedapotato

#Newsies #newsies fanfiction #newsies x reader #davey jacobs #davey x reader #davey jacobs x reader #Ally writes

250 notes · View notes

ace-aro-positivity · 5 years

Text

Is “aspec” an autistic term?

Recently, along with the "ace discourse" that started up a few years ago, this is a huge question that many people have had. Unfortunately, the discourse on this never really died down. So let's take a look at this.

(Most of it is under the cut for a quicker-to-read version, but you can see the full Google doc here.)

I started my search by trying to find sources that were NOT Tumblr or Twitter. The first one is an autism forum. Pictured is the poll conducted on the thread, and a few of the comments left in response to the question "Have you used the term 'aspec' for the autism spectrum?"

No one there thought "aspec" was meant for autistics, so I also searched on urbandictionary (which can be a wildcard, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to check). Only 1 of the 5 definitions said anything about autism, and it wasn't posted until 2019.

I searched on Reddit next, and there was only ONE post that had the term "aspec" referring to the autistic community. The majority of posts on Reddit were about cars or other unrelated things.

Facebook was next. You can look at the Google doc link for more screenshots (many were from private groups and though I blocked out names, I want to be able to easily remove them just in case), but here are some of the public posts on the matter:

In summary, from Facebook there were about 108 total comments/posts/replies/etc. by autistic people, and of those 108, there were 7 people who had seen “aspec” used as an autistic term. NONE of them had a problem with it being used for the ace/aro community.

There are TONS of screenshots from Tumblr. So I'll just include some of the more thorough ones, but you can see more on the Google doc. This first one, by autistic-kitten, disputes the argument that the idea of a "spectrum" can be stolen at all.

From autistic-answers, we have another post talking about how the ace/aro community using the term "aspec" does NOT hurt the autistic community, and it lists things that /do/ hurt the community.

This next post has a response by rhodanum, who mentions they've been active in the autistic community for 15 years and never heard "aspec" used as an autistic term. They are just one person, but this type of statement has been made by countless other autistic people.

Then there's a post by historicallyace, in which they link to other posts that show how the discourse may have started-- autistic people asked aces/aros to not use the phrase "on the spectrum," but /suggested/ using "aspec" for the ace/aro community instead.

In the responses to that post, some people reblogged with the results of their searches, in which they found that they couldn't find any posts prior to the overall "ace discourse" where the autistic community used "aspec."

In that response, they link to another post where autistic people were discussing who coined the term. Two separate people, one being autistic and the other representing a group of three people (two were autistic), both claimed having coined the term "aspec" specifically for the ace/aro spectrums. These screenshots show that discussion.

It's not pictured in this thread (but you can find it in the Google doc), but one autistic person on Facebook also made a similar claim. All were very clear that they meant for "aspec" to be ace/aro spectrum.

That SHOULD be enough evidence, but I gathered much more anyway. This next post is by a Tumblr user who tried to find proof of "aspec" being used to describe the autistic community before the discourse, and they were not able to find anything.

They were open to responses, but none of the responses contradicted their findings.

There were only two posts by autistic people who didn't want the ace/aro community to use the term "aspec." However, one has the word "aphobe" in their username and likely doesn't care about the ace/aro community overall, and the other was unnecessarily rude in their post.

(The second image here was what was posted with the second post.)

Tumblr aside, I also found there's a group called "Aspect" in Australia, which is for the autism community. I don't know anything about whether this is a good/reliable group at all, but there may be a possibility of regional differences in language based on this group.

Lastly, I have a bunch of Twitter posts about the issue. These first two are separate, but I'll upload them together.

In this next one, the OP isn't autistic and tried to spread what they had heard about aspec being an autistic phrase, and lots of autistic people corrected them in the replies.

Another user made a poll asking the ActuallyAutistic tag if they had seen "aspec" used as an autistic term. These are the results and a few comments.

And here are a few more posts/comments by autistic people:

I tried to count up everything I included in the doc, and there were about 247 comments/replies/etc. about the issue. Of those, only 6 (about 2.5%) people had a problem with aces/aros using the term "aspec" Now please stop spreading rumors.

It's pretty clear that an overwhelming majority of the autistic community does not use "aspec" or at least does not care if the ace/aro community shares this term with the autistic community. I am also autistic myself, and everyone I know thinks this is BS.

Again, here's the link to the full Google doc, which has more screenshots/info than I put on here (I put the most important things on this thread so it's a bit quicker to get through, but the doc just has more of the same things).

#actuallyautistic #asexual #aromantic #aspec #aspecpride #ace discourse #my post

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michaelandy101-blog · 4 years

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Do Consumers Actually Engage With In-Stream Ads? [New Data]

New Post has been published on https://tiptopreview.com/do-consumers-actually-engage-with-in-stream-ads-new-data/

Do Consumers Actually Engage With In-Stream Ads? [New Data]

In 2020, video outpaced blogging and infographics as the most common content marketing strategy.

As users increasingly turn to video content for entertainment and education, most social media platforms have become more focused on expanding their visual and video capabilities. Now, the average social media user sees videos in the form of live streams, Stories, or Newsfeed posts on a daily basis.

Consumer preference for video over other mediums is only expected to get stronger. Although millennials watch more videos on a regular basis than Gen X and the Boomer generation, the age group’s consumption still pales in comparison to Gen Z.

As a marketer, you likely already know how effective the combination of video and marketing tactics can be.

At this point, we’ve seen millions of brands boost awareness by going live on Facebook and LinkedIn. We’ve also seen brands report gaining traffic from video-based Instagram Stories with swipe-up links.

While video marketing seems like a winning tactic in 2020, you might ask, “What about video-based advertising?”

While posting a marketing video on social media or your website might cause you to gain traffic or brand awareness, launching an ad that encourages viewers to click to your store might provide both of those benefits — plus a more direct path to revenue.

When looking into paid video promotion, one of the common offerings you’ll hear about — especially if you plan to advertise on social media — is in-stream advertising.

An in-stream video ad is a promotion created by a brand that runs before or during a video on a streaming platform, such as YouTube. Aside from appearing in popular videos, these ads can also appear in Stories or live streams on platforms like Facebook.

To give you a visual of what an in-stream ad looks like, here’s a screenshot for an Olay ad that appeared before a YouTube video I recently viewed:

There are a handful of perks to in-stream advertising. The first is that your video can be targeted to audiences similar to your brand’s or can be placed in videos that match your ad’s keyword. With these types of targeting options, you can present your ad to viewers that match your audience’s demographics or interests. Because these viewers might have similar interests and purchasing motives as your customers, a well-targeted in-stream ad could ultimately result in a higher chance of purchases.

Another perk of in-stream ads is that these videos don’t need to be incredibly long or detailed. Depending on the platform you use, you can often launch ads as short as five seconds. While this gives marketers a limited amount of time to grab a viewer’s attention, it also means they’ll need to produce less content than they would for a long-form marketing video.

Aside from length and targeting capabilities, the last and most obvious perk of in-stream ads is their ROI potential. Even back in 2016, shortly before Facebook launched its in-stream ad offering, a Google study revealed that YouTube ads — which are usually in-stream — saw higher returns than television ads.

Sounds great, right?

Although the perks above might have you ready to invest in in-stream ads, there are still a few things you’ll need to research and keep in mind.

Even though in-stream ads are shorter and can be spoon-fed to your audience with ad targeting tools, your content will still need to convince those viewers to click on the ad’s link and buy your brand’s product. This in itself can be a major challenge for video advertisers.

How Consumers React to In-Stream Video Ads

While successful in-stream ads are possible, there are still important user-behavior barriers that you’ll want to keep in mind as you aim to create a winning promo. To help you determine some of the biggest barriers you might run into, I surveyed 400 consumers about how they interacted with in-stream ads.

Do Consumers Actually Click on In-Stream Ads?

Many in-stream ads include a call-to-action that you can click or tap to visit a brand’s website or ecommerce store.

But, do people actually click these CTAs?

To determine how often people clicked on in-stream video ads, I first asked the survey pool, “How often do you click on in-stream video ads that appear before or during a video?”

When you consider that in-stream video ads are sent to target audiences and demographics, rather than a wide pool of users, you might think that people will regularly click on this type of advertisement to learn more. However, the outlook was quite grim for in-stream ads in this particular survey:

Data Source

While 42% of people say they “almost never” click on in-stream video ads, another 22% say they’ll click on an ad “once a week.” Only 22% will click on two to three ads per week, while the remaining 15% say they don’t watch online videos.

As you plan your in-stream video strategy, remember that the results above are just from one small consumer pool. Had we asked this question to a particular demographic or a group of users on a specific platform, the numbers might have been different.

Although you should continue to do research about the pros and cons of in-stream ads, you should still keep the results above in mind. This data speaks to the age-old theory that people either completely avoid ads or mentally tune them out, regardless of their format or type.

While video advertising does offer the perk of audience targeting, you’ll still need to produce intriguing, interesting, or valuable video content to be successful.

In-Stream Ads and Purchase-Related Conversion

Before you start panicking about the results above, there were some optimistic findings in this survey. Although the consumers I polled are less interested in clicking on in-stream ads when they see them, they might still consider buying the promoted product.

When I asked, “Have you ever purchased a product that you learned about from an in-stream video ad?”, more than one-third of respondents — or 37% — say “Yes.” Meanwhile, 52% say, “No.”

Data Source

Of those who haven’t made a purchase related to an in-stream ad, 39% simply selected, “No” while 15% say, “No. I avoid in-stream ads at all costs.” Meanwhile, 9% say they “don’t watch online videos,” and thus wouldn’t have the option to see in-stream ads or make a related purchase.

While the percentage of people who won’t haven’t made a purchase after seeing an in-stream ad is quite large, this is somewhat expected when you consider online attention spans and how most of these consumers also say they don’t usually click on in-stream ads.

On the other hand, the percentage of people who’ve made a purchase after seeing an in-stream ad is still more than one-third of the group we surveyed. This might hint that there is a solid chance your in-stream ad could result in a purchase.

When do consumers click the “Skip” button?

When you look at the results above, you might think to yourself, “Consumers might not click on my ad, or purchase my product, but they’ll still watch the content. — Right?”

The truth is, most types of online content have just a few seconds to grab a consumer’s attention. Video content is not exempt.

As with any video marketing strategy, you can’t expect audiences to watch your content just because it’s right in front of them. Video ads, which often feature a “Skip” button, might have an even smaller window than the average marketing video.

When asked, “When given the option to skip an in-stream video ad that plays before or during your video, how long will you wait before skipping?”, a whopping 37% say they’ll “skip an ad as soon as possible,” while 20% say they’ll click skip in five seconds or less.

Data Source

The interest in skipping isn’t a shocker. We’ve all done it. Sometimes, we just want to watch the video we planned to stream and don’t really care about the ads that are put in front of us.

Although the result above comes from just one small group of consumers, it aligns with mounting research which shows that global attention spans are narrowing — especially online.

While the average consumer’s attention span shouldn’t scare you away from an in-stream ad strategy, you should certainly keep it in mind.

To be successful with in-stream video ads — you’ll need to create content that grabs your viewer’s attention as soon as possible and is valuable enough to ease annoyances related to seeing an ad in their video.

In this example from the job search site Reed.co.uk. The ad immediately draws attention with a video of meowing kittens. Then it embraces its pre-roll placement by calling out YouTube viewers for watching videos because they’re “distracted from their job.” Towards the end of the ad, the site’s founder, tells the viewer to click on the video, which will send them to the job site:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=8ErTZh9zEbg&feature=emb_title

How to Launch a Successful In-Stream Ad

As you’ve seen, there are solid pros and cons to in-stream advertising. While the cons shouldn’t scare you from trying this marketing tactic, you should still keep them in mind in order to create a video that can avoid constant skips from your audience. Here are a few tips to keep in mind

Throw viewers into the action.

Based on what consumers told us, you have anywhere from one to five seconds to grab your viewer’s attention before they zone out or skip your ad. You’ll rarely have more than 10 seconds to sway them.

So, begin your ad with an action-packed scene or concisely explain your product as quickly as possible. Don’t take time to get to the point — even if the ad platform you’re using allots a 30-to-60-second video.

Ask yourself, “Is this content valuable to prospects?”

Audiences will either skip your ad because they just don’t want to see a commercial, or they’re bored by your content and want to get to their video. This is why it’s important to create ads that either entertain your viewer or educate them about a product or brand-related topic they’ll value.

Use examples as inspiration.

Luckily, millions of brands have already tested out in-stream advertising. While this means the pool of advertising could be competitive, it also means that there are plenty of effective ads out there that you can watch for inspiration.

Next time you’re watching a video that begins or features an in-stream ad, watch the content. Take a mental note of why you do or don’t want to skip the ad. If you’re considering engaging with the ad and tapping to learn more about a product, ask yourself, “How did this content persuade me to click?”

If you don’t feel like searching out ads on social platforms, we’ve also got plenty of content to help you. Check out this rundown of effective short-form ads from small businesses and Super Bowl brands.

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#General

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simkjrs · 7 years

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Hi please PLEASE talk to me abt the socioeconomic state of japan in bnh verse I am SO interested to hear ur thoughts? I'm a poli theory major and let me tell u im a SLUT for fic that deal w the political/social repercussions of fictional happenings

sure thing!

disclaimer: i only just graduated high school so i’m pulling all of this out of my ass one semester of macroeconomics i took in senior year. feel free to add onto or correct any of this

edit: if anyone wants to use this for reference when writing boku no hero japan, feel free! i’d appreciate any credit, but it’s not necessary.

what really got me thinking about the socioeconomic state of boku no hero japan was probably the difference between orudera junior high (bakugou and izuku’s school) vs. yuuei, both of which are in the same city, musutafu. orudera junior high gives off the feeling of a school that’s a bit run down; not terrible enough that it obstructs the kids’ education, but enough that you think the school probably can’t afford to keep it in good repair.

here’s a screenshot of bakugou and izuku’s classroom:

and then here’s izuku’s desk, which has details indicating that it’s in slight disrepair:

if you go back through the chapters and look at the setting at yuuei, it’s spic-n-span. just super clean and well-kept. it’s an entire world of difference… so already there is this huge disparity between the junior high school in izuku’s neighborhood, and yuuei, which is a 40 minute subway ride away (chapter 3).

makes sense that yuuei would be so nice and expensive if it’s the most prestigious hero academy in the country, right? but there’s more details too, like this brief exchange between bakugou & iida right at the very beginning:

bakugou’s resentful comment about iida being an “elite” really only makes sense to me in the context of economic disparity. let’s infer that soumei junior high is better funded, better equipped, better everything in general. of course bakugou will resent iida for that, especially coming from the more ill-maintained orudera junior high. the difference in their economic status is already apparent.

this isn’t even going into the difference between yaoyorozu’s incredibly rich status vs the rest of the class vs uraraka, who has decided to become a hero because she wants the financial security, and who also lives in an apartment by herself and skips meals to save on money. so even within the class itself there’s a huuuge difference in economic status.

you could just think of it as the individual circumstances of the characters, but i think it’s more of a systematic problem – see, again, the difference in infrastructure quality between the different schools (the public school is not doing so great but yuuei is doing fantastic). maybe the city is poor, or maybe all of its funds go towards repairing the constant property damage from villain attacks, or maybe there’s just some areas they don’t care to maintain. either way: just by traversing different parts of the city you’ll probably see big differences in how well the neighborhoods are kept.

and now, for a different question: if this is the golden age of peace, why are there still so many villain fights?

looking at chapter one (the first villain we see is a guy who stole a purse and then tried to fight back when he was caught) and chapter 115 (villain activity increases sharply after all might’s retirement), i feel like… these attacks are driven by financial need. look at this:

a group of adults gathered to commit crime… just to steal a register from a convenience store. that’s such a small sum of money! but they were so elated to get just that amount. it seems like the kind of thing that would happen if you were strapped for money, right?

and then the villain from chapter 1: why would he fight so hard just because he got caught stealing a purse? he stopped the trains, for pete’s sake. all i can think is that a) he needed the money he’d be able to get by selling the purse, or b) he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford the fines, and that’s why he fought.

maybe i’m reading too much into this, but based off these crimes, plus the other details provided above, i really feel like there’s a growing problem in boku no hero japan where there’s an increasing disparity in wealth.

another thing to consider: in the golden age of peace, you’d have to be pretty stupid, pretty reckless, or pretty desperate to commit a crime where heroes frequent. (or you’re a black market dealer and/or evil.) if you’ve got an increasing number of people who are poor, who are dropping from the middle class to under the poverty line, or who have no upwards economic mobility, then you’ve got plenty of people desperate enough to try some petty crime for the sake of just a bit more cash for rent this month. that would be enough to explain the frequent villain fights that heroes get into – which are common enough that people will stop by and watch the show on their way to work. (chapter 1)

this is really just a theory… but what could you use to explain why there’s a growing number of people struggling to make ends meet?

here’s some factoids about japan (this article is from 2016):

its real wages were falling, and as such, had weak domestic consumption; people buying less & saving more, or people just not having the money to spend in the first place, resulting in less money circulating in the economy and causing the economy to slow down. efforts to stimulate wage growth in 2015 did not make it down to the workers

there was an increasing number of people with non-regular jobs, part time jobs, etc. as opposed to full time jobs, so they couldn’t get the financial security of a full time job (source)

one in six people in 2014 were living in relative poverty. this rate is higher among single mothers and among middle aged men without families, i believe.

japan was like, 39th of 41 developed countries in terms of child poverty (the higher the number, the worse it is). something like that

this is despite japan having a high labor participation rate and a low unemployment rate, and also a low violent crime rate

basing boku no hero japan off of actual real world japan’s current economic problems: we could surmise that, in boku no hero japan, although nominal wages are rising, real wages are falling; infrastructure spending is poor and disorganized, geared towards repairing villain-inflicted property damage and not enough towards everything else; and people are finding difficulty holding onto jobs (as seen with uraraka’s parents) and are forced into low-paying, part-time work, and may find themselves struggling with debt.

oh, and here’s a quote from the guardian (jan 2017): “experts say programmes to help needy children are underfunded and held back by bureaucratic inefficiency and political apathy.”

so it’d actually be quite viable for boku no hero japan to be doing quite badly, economically, and to be struggling with wealth inequality and other super fun things like that.

boku no hero japan is also like centuries in the future, one where villainy is commonplace, so it’s not a surprise that people’s response to struggling to make ends meet would be “well, i have a pretty good quirk. if i’m lucky, i think i’ll be able to steal some cash, and i’m desperate enough to do it, too.” SO, my personal guess, is that this is a biiiig portion of the crimes that heroes fight.

i mean, it doesn’t really make sense for villains to do so much… villain-ing… when there’s footage almost every single week of the heroes taking down yet ANOTHER criminal. why do they keep coming out of the woodwork? why’s there still enough criminals to keep all the heroes in business? ‘cause they’re desperate and need the money, probably. which is understandable. so even if you eliminate a villain, you haven’t addressed the economic problems that drove them to become a villain in the first place; hence, there’s always someone else rising up to take their place.

on that note, let’s take a closer look at the hero industry!

in chapter 1, horikoshi gives us a brief history of heroics. quirks emerged, the government wasn’t sure what to do to combat quirk-related crime, heroes emerged, and heroes eventually became sanctioned by the law. and when that happened:

so that’s pretty cool! seems like heroes aren’t specifically a government institution, but they are affiliated with & rewarded by it. makes sense, since heroes have to work closely with law enforcement on some matters, anyways. heroes =/= police only because heroes are specifically there to combat quirk-related crime.

but times have changed since then, as shown in the latest manga chapter:

“it’s all about entertainment and approval ratings and whatnot.”

we know from the stain arc that heroes are still paid by the government:

‘given my status’ – in other words: his hero ranking? popularity? how respected he is as a hero? hmmm.

uraraka’s mentor that arc explains that heroes are sort of “paid on commission” by the number of crimes they can resolve, but said commissions usually get sent their way by the police:

but to get your name out there (both to the police and to the public), and to become higher ranking in the popularity polls, you need to cultivate a public image, too. get yourself some attention.

so to cultivate a public image, one thing that heroes can do is to conduct a fight in a public, open space where anyone can see. apparently this happens often enough that izuku would actually regularly run into one of these fights on his way to/from school, and would stay to take notes and learn from them. villain attacks are ALSO frequent enough that apparently all might keeps arriving at yuuei late because he stops to help out:

in other words, villain attacks and fights are a regular, almost quotidian experience. more on that in a sec. for now, just think about how the heroes benefit from public fights: they get to show off, and their fights are broadcasted, and they can get a boost in their rankings. fighting against a villain, they don’t just have a motive to do their job and save people; they have a motive to grab the spotlight and show off. popularity boost! we actually see this happen in chapter one, when mount lady leaps into kamui woods’ fight and defeats a villain in one kick.

so, as a citizen, you may be grateful to the heroes for saving people – but you might resent them for turning these situations into a spectacle for showing off. incidents sometimes turn into competitions between heroes. if you take that a step further, you might think some of the heroes are only helping because they want to look good. and hey, that’s not the kind of person you’d want to entrust your life to, right?

because heroics is now partially driven by entertainment and image, heroes are all forming their separate hero agencies to try and differentiate themselves. for example, this list:

while they work together to fight crime, they have to battle for popularity and attention… they probably even have to vie for commissions/crime cases from the police. they all need to make themselves stronger, cooler, & a better choice than the other hero agencies. it’s something of a conflict of interest. you can imagine sometimes that gets in the way of cooperation (i.e. endeavor’s forever grudge against all might. y’all should read the illegals spin off.)

and if you’re battling for popularity and attention… it would also make sense for you to center your hero office somewhere with lots of crime, and lots of people to see you fighting crime. right? urban centers would provide plenty of both. what about slums, and the underground, and the outskirts, then? these are places that news reporters and cameras can’t reach easily – and possibly might not want to travel to at all. these are also places where passersby and onlookers might run away instead of praising you. you won’t get a lot of return (in terms of publicity) by working here. so if you’re business-minded… you’re not going to conduct your hero investigations here.

i mean, yuuei even has a business department. heroics is a business. you make money off of this, and you have to sell your image to the police and the public. if you focus more attention on places that are profitable to you, then the other areas lose. there’s no way around that.

so poor neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods, camera- and television broadcasting-inaccessible places get the short end of the stick. the heroes don’t go here as often, because it’s not profitable. (well, the heroes probably come down here if they get a police commission. but where are they if a spontaneous crime happens, hm?) meanwhile you turn on the t.v. and you see like five heroes show up at one battle downtown, which is complete overkill. you’d feel pretty resentful, right? do the heroes think your area of residence isn’t worth protecting, just because it doesn’t get them as much attention? do the heroes think it’s okay to just ignore your area of residence? fuck that, right? heroes are supposed to serve the public, and you’re still part of the public too, right?

that’s gonna build up more resentment between bad neighborhoods & areas v.s. the areas that heroes frequent (often urban, downtown, lots of people to witness their good deeds). and it definitely builds up resentment towards heroes who aren’t so discreet about the money-making aspects of their businesses.

like: all might sells merchandise. okay, understandable. present mic has a radio show (which probably gets paid to run advertisements). okay, that’s pretty cool! but then you get things like this:

a hero using their public service, publicly paid hours… to shoot a commercial and make themselves a little bit of cash on the side. if you’re in one of those areas that heroes don’t frequent so often – wouldn’t you be pretty furious to find out that the person who’s supposed to be fighting crime in your neighborhood just made $500,000 by filming a commercial instead?

you’re going to turn on the television and see ads with pro heroes in them – pro heroes who used their public service hours to do something for their own profit. this isn’t to say that heroes can’t film commercials, or make money on the side. if they’re helping people, it’s great that they can make a living! but they’re making that living by pandering to the entertainment industry when they’re supposed to be… you know… helping people. even kendou (in the picture above) comments that it’s not very hero like. the next page, momo replies that this aspect of the hero business is ‘unavoidable.’ ads, entertainment – it’s all part of the hero industry now.

and they don’t feel that good about it.

if all this conjecture is true, then – as grateful as people are to the heroes – they might be quite critical of the hero industry itself, and the heroes that embody the worst parts of it. i’m not surprised that there are a whole bunch of people who feel “othered” by heroes, and by society as a whole.

like… that’s no excuse to be a villain. stop that. but it would certainly be a reason for people to dislike the hero industry. AND it would explain why it is that stain’s ideology resonated so deeply with other people.

AAAAND that’s basically the rundown of what i think the socioeconomic state of boku no hero japan is like. sorry this was horribly long

#teasdays #readmore because this is unbearably long #meta #i guess?#i don't really have a proper tag for this stuff #ask

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confessionsofalionholic · 7 years

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The RMA Fiasco & Staff / Userbase: My Two Cents

First, let's get a few things straight.

Disclaimer: This is based on what I remember based on Jackster's and these blog posts, LD threads, screenshots and other stuff. I'm not Jackster or the staff so I can't have a 100% clear view of both perspectives and I haven't covered everything 100%, but I tried to be objective. All my arguments are based on the assumption that Jackster's screenshots, quotes, post claims and facts from their blog are all true ( and I have no reason at the time to doubt them as of now. ) They could be withholding or warping information, but I highly doubt it. My opinion can be subject to change as information changes. Also, I hope my arguments make sense as I'm kinda distracted writing this. If anyone actually cares about this I'd love to debate open-mindedly and courteously and clarify things.

***************************************

Here is the RMA intro excerpt from the news post when it was introduced to the game:

"This awesome 1 GB oasis item is something entirely new! As you pick a slot, a random marking will fill it up with a random opacity. It's of course to be expected the marking will be a common or a custom one, HOWEVER, there is an extremely rare chance to get a Raffle marking, Event marking or Applicator marking, and even rarer chance that a Rosette marking will pop up!

Notes: *Future markings will automatically be affected by this item in proper rarity types *Mane Markings are included *Markings can duplicate, as it's completely random *Mottled Rosette or any future mutation related markings are excluded"

Posted on 2016-06-24 13:53:44 | ( No edits to news post visible )

We can nitpick and throw words and definitions and technicalities around all we want but there's no refuting this evidence. Jackster and Locust chose to invest the money in LD for an item that doesn't guarantee special marks and the news intro and item description, seen every time the item is used ( though the description alone explains well enough ) clearly state what it does and definitely don't claim or imply there is an equal chance for a special or event marking to appear.

Furthermore, here is another definition of random from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

"adj. Mathematics & Statistics

Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution"

Based on THIS definition, the item truly is random. As Abbey / Kitty confirmed, there are different percentages for the rarity tiers but still, this would be the "probability distribution." Anyways, it's already obvious there isn't an equal chance for the non custom or NCL / Oasis markings, those are "super rare" outcomes.

As far as I know the description of the RMA hasn't changed; it's always been:

"You can choose a slot and have a chance at it filling up with any random common or custom marking at random opacity. BUT! There is a super rare chance for a rare type marking such as raffle, event or even a rosette!"

The issue is that a few users claim the percentages should be public in the description as they only purchased the item thinking it was more likely for rare markings to appear. I don't see a need to divulge the exact percentages different marking pool outcomes as that would kind of take the fun out of it, and the item itself explains it adds a random common or custom marking BUT there is a "super rare" chance for rare markings.

As an example, would exact percentages for random mutations popping up in breeding be publicized, or, say, the chances of certain breeding items of producing each type of mutation tier we would all likely be discouraged. We already know mutations are rare with the less common ones being even rarer as they should be to preserve "specialness", but despite these small chances, people have gotten leopons and lethals and other super rare mutations from both item and natural breedings. GMO cows, for example, often produce common mutes and fails but some have gotten pons and other specials from them.

When I saw the rare marking percentages publicized myself all thoughts of purchasing a couple to try for project / rare mark disappeared, however, even if they implemented RMA only special markings.

"This Week's Game Poll:

Would you like Random Marking Applicator to have markings that are exclusive entirely to the Applicator itself?

877: Yes! Gamble will bring a unique reward!"

Personally, I think upping the chances of the RMA applying rare / event markings just a liiiitle bit would promote more RMA sales as those who purchase them for projects and customization goals would be willing to spend more if they see results at least more often. Either that or maybe an item extra you could purchase to slightly up the percentage for a certain marking of your choice since the odds are so against you?

It's kinda like egg yolks. Some people purchase them in bulk from the TC with GB purchased from the site, supporting LD. Upon use they sometimes fail and give little to no stats, "wasting" the purchaser's money, but the risk is worth it as sometimes they give up to 15 stats (?) and even if they don't work that well they give a decent amount of stats if you purchase a decent amount which is relatively attainable during the event due to their relatively cheap price and they don't give you 0 stats more than a few times in a row. It depends on your budget, stat goal and how many yolks you get but you're pretty much guaranteed at least some stats from using a couple of yolks so most people are satisfied and purchase more, though some bulk buyers say it is a bit expensive in the long run.

The staff had no responsibility to "refund" this oversight, as the item explains itself clearly in its description in my opinion, a description visible every time you use it, mobile or not. I've defended it further above.

What's more of an issue in my opinion is why they revoked the offer to Jackster, which there is no solid evidence for. We can't see what Jackster said and if it warranted the staff's removal of the offer and can only rely on incomplete, personal accounts of what happened. From what I see Jackster sees polite, reasonable and courteous, but then again people here have said they're rude and brag often in chat, so I don't know. I do think it would be a nice touch to give Locust and Jackster, who have both contributed to the community a little freebie for the trouble if the likelihood percentage is implemented, and even if not it would be a nice gesture. Staff just has to be careful that other members don't see this as an opportunity to beg and guilt trip them into other favors which is the difficult part.

**** As for staff, I think people have gotten too ...jaded with their presence. They may claim "Oh, so and so is an ___, they ___." but they offer no proof. People interpret things differently and can share this opinion anywhere, even here. Some people may believe hearsay from this blog and hate staff with no real evidence of their character. Some users can be overly defensive or entirely misinterpret gentle reminders from staff and go here to complain. Pretty sure one user even said this months ago on this blog about a mod, taking back their original claims that X member of staff was rude saying they were upset at the time and the mod was actually super sweet.

I don't know any of them personally, but all of my dealings with staff & admins have been courteous and given the opportunity a few have gone out of their way to help me out with tickets & questions on their own time, and I've seen almost if not all of them be kind, friendly and helpful in general to others. Staff are humans too, and though they may not always be objective they do their best. They're all humans with lives and worries and forgetfulness and downfalls every now and then, just like you and me. That doesn't excuse any unfair behavior, but they do make mistakes and overlook things. We all do.

Likewise, Jackster seems to be a notorious LD member, yet I don't see why. They seem interesting, intelligent, well articulated, courteous and even generous, though then again I don't follow the community or chat 24/7 or even that closely at all. I could say much the same for all the staff members I have seen in forums and such and talked to personally - they've always been courteous, helpful, interesting, and a few, given the opportunity, have even gone out of their way, taking time out of their busy days to help me out in a pinch.

Tl;dr: There's too much animosity and baseless accusations of staff and also between the general userbase itself. No, it's not always rainbows and unicorns, sometimes some staff may do unfair things but if there is no proof then take those claims with a grain of salt. Many complain about other users or staff here but provide no evidence. If there is proof, courteously confront them if you can. Kindness can go a long way, and often if you don't go causing trouble you never get into it. If you're afraid of being silenced, you could find someone who will help you here.

As for the RMA, maybe for website profit and growth best interests and for users to get more out of the item it would be a good idea to up chances of rarer marks, and maybe an additional item could up the chance of a certain mark and / or pool. Furthermore, a "compensation" gift for the trouble could be given to those heavily impacted who have helped the community out as a kind gesture such as Locust and Jackster as long as staff doesn't turn into a freebie machine.

#submission #staff #players #community #anon response

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marcdouffet · 5 years

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Sharing Someone’s STI Status without Permission is Psychological Abuse

Earlier this week a few folx asked if I had seen the recent dialogue happening between @gabbiehanna and @trishapaytas wondering if I had reached out to them, if I was going to write about it, etc. For those who are unfamiliar, Gabbie Hanna and Trisha Paytas are YouTubers with HUGE followings across social media. I decided not to reach out to them directly, as they would likely not see or respond to my messages – they will likely not see or respond to this post either, and that’s ok – but after receiving many similar messages from the folx following me, I realized this was an issue I couldn’t ignore.

Full disclosure, I’ve also experienced personal trauma in this format, so I was reticent to dig it back up again, but it was actually the trauma that reminded me I couldn’t leave it alone. I wasn’t planning to make a statement, but the more I chewed on the stigmatizing behavior and how it was influencing millions of people, the more I realized I couldn’t not say something.

It might surprise you to learn that I don’t fight all fights, despite how often I’m ranting about something or another on social media. In the grand scheme of things, I address very little of the problematic things I see, because there’s actually endless ongoing jokes about people with STIs, ongoing harms and marginalization toward people with STIs, and other wrongs in this space that I have to choose to let go. As only one person (even if I were to enlist the help of my network of activists, HANDS (Herpes Activists Networking to Dismantle Stigma)), I don’t have the bandwidth to address it all.

That said, I still appreciate the messages that I’m sent giving me a heads up and asking if I have seen the latest bullshit, because I think through each of those instances and decide if I should or can address them.

The Backstory

The simple backstory is that @gabbiehanna took to her social media account last week asking her followers a question: If they heard about someone possibly having an “incurable STI,” and that person was dating a close friend of theirs, would they tell their friend? Gabbie then followed up with some justification.

Her justification for this social media poll was that she was “looking out for a friend,” she would personally want to know if someone she was having sex with was suspected of having an STI, and she wasn’t using the name of the person who was suspected of having an STI, so she wasn’t spreading gossip or hurting anyone. Seems innocuous and altruistic enough, right?!? Wrong. And here’s why:

Everyone Knew Who and What She Was Talking About

The person she was referring to was none other than popular YouTuber and direct competitor @trishapaytas – which later came out through publicly shared conversations and screenshots of their dialogue (many knew she was referring to Trisha right away). Through those shared conversations, it was also made clear that the “suspected” incurable STI was herpes. But more importantly, what was evident through those screenshots was that they had had an on-going feud/competition/disagreement, so there was far more to Gabbie’s “concern for her guy friend” than she originally let on.

What disturbed me most about this back and forth was that the majority of Gabbie’s followers agreed with her! When she asked if she should tell her guy friend that she heard from someone else that Trisha might have herpes, most people said yes! (WTAF) When she asked her followers if they thought this would be considered gossip or hearsay, most said no! (double WTAF)

That’s when I got triggered, because this had happened to me, too, on a smaller scale, but no less traumatic.

Before I touch on that, though, let’s first break down why sharing someone’s known or suspected STI status is a complete and utter flaming hot dumpster fire of bullshit.

Sharing Someone’s Status is Psychological Abuse. Period.

To put it more professionally, sharing someone’s status without their express permission is psychological abuse. What Gabbie attempted to do to Trisha was bullying and social media warfare in the lowest form possible. Trisha, if you are reading this, I am so sorry this happened to you. For any others who’ve experienced similar atrocities, I am also so very sorry.

While I will not co-opt the LGBTQ+ movement’s activism, sharing someone’s status is the equivalent of outing someone’s sexual orientation, and that is not ok EVER. Someone’s sexual orientation, identity, status, gender, and/or genital configuration is NEVER anyone’s business (other than the folx who are involved in a sexual relationship with them, but only if/as they become relevant).

When someone takes that disclosure into their own hands, they are not “doing their friend a favor,” they are crossing boundaries, acting unethically, and behaving like a salty, jealous adolescent.

The responsibility of disclosure, sexual health, safer sex, and all sexual needs/wants/limits is that of the people involved in the sexual activity(ies) only, and it is none of your damned business ever.

Someone’s STI Status is No Different than ANY Other Personal Information

In so far as STIs are concerned, specifically, there’s literally no way you can know for sure if someone has an infection.

Trisha Paytas probably doesn’t even have herpes! Who knows, actually?!? It doesn’t matter AT ALL. I don’t care, and neither should you. It’s up to her and her partner(s) to have the disclosure, safer sex, and sexual health conversations that are best for them. If you are not engaging in sexual activities with her, then you have absolutely NO right to her body, knowledge about her body, her health information, or her disclosure/safer sex/sexual health conversations.

Even if/when you actually know someone has infection (for instance, I have herpes, and someone could choose to run around telling people that I have herpes, as has been done to me in the past), telling people is STILL unethical, bullying, manipulative, and psychological abuse.

What’s silly about all of this is telling people that someone has an STI is not going to stop them from having sex with that person. It has literally NEVER stopped anyone from having sex with me, and the folx who were “warned” about me reported that it just made the other person look catty, small, and shallow. Good job making yourself look stupid, Liza, Liza’s sister Nicolette, and LaShawna (names have all been changed).

To pause for a brief moment, I’d like to point out that I’ve used the word bullying intentionally, because in my experience, sharing someone’s status without their permission is usually little more than bullying being dramatically disguised as someone who is trying to “look out for” someone else.

The Reason Folx Think This Is Ok Is because of Stigma

There’s a bigger, more pervasive issue here, and that’s that many folx view this as acceptable behavior when it centers around STIs.

If you re-frame the question, however, then the consensus changes, “Is it ok to tell a friend that I think their new partner might be bisexual, might have a foot fetish, might have a small penis, might have a mental health issue, might have experienced past sexual trauma, might have a parent in prison, might have a negative net worth, might be an anti-vaxxer, might have a hard time holding a job, might have the flu, might be a racist, might hate dogs, might have a wart on their finger, might have a giant collection of Beanie Babies…[insert whatever else is none of your damned business]?”

While those are all things that may or may not impact a relationship, if you asked folx if it would be ok to tell a friend that you suspect those things about someone else, you would find that the majority quickly sways toward, “Nope, that’s not ok.” But in the case of STIs, the stigma is so intense, so extensive, and so pervasive that people believe sharing someone’s suspected STI status is “looking out for the greater good.”

So, let me be the first to tell you that sharing someone’s status without their express permission is WILDLY UNETHICAL, because it contributes to fear, shame, and stigma. And that fear, shame, and stigma is limiting testing, disclosure, and healthy conversations about sexual health.

Stigma has framed having an STI as the absolute worst thing that can happen to someone. Stigma has made it so that we view people who have an STI as the monsters of society that we have to look out for at all costs. But none of that makes actual sense, because the vast majority of all sexually active people contract an STI at some point in their lives. Sure, I get it, no one wants an infection, but an STI infection is just like any other infection: not ideal, but also usually not a big deal.

Another interesting facet of this nonsense was that herpes was used here, as opposed to HIV or chlamydia, for example, and that’s also an intentional move on Gabbie’s part that speaks to her motivation. Other infections are either seen as far more serious, or they’re curable. Herpes happens to be the perfect tool for shaming someone, because it is the most socially stigmatized infection. Despite being relatively benign, herpes carries almost insurmountable social ramifications, and that – the social ramifications – was the point here.

Although Unethical, Bullying, and Abusive, what Gabbie Did Has Far Worse Implications

In attempting to share Trisha Paytas’ suspected incurable STI (herpes), Gabbie Hanna gave her followers another reason to NOT get tested and to NOT disclose a known status to anyone ever.

Now Gabbie’s followers will deduct that what they don’t know about their sexual health will hurt them less, and that’s the exact opposite of what sexual health educators such as myself are trying to promote.

Gabbie’s actions told her followers that if they get tested, have a positive status, and heaven forbid, ever tell someone else about their results, there will be a giant army of Gabbie Hannas and Co who will share their private and personal health information publicly (all in the name of “helping out a friend,” nonetheless).

What Gabbie Hanna did to Trisha Paytas this past week was sex-negative, wildly unethical, psychological abuse disguised as altruism, and it’s not ok. Keep in mind, just because a majority of Gabbie’s uninformed followers answered her poll with, “yaaaasss, queen, you’re right!” does not make her actions ok. History has proven that someone can rally a giant following to persecute, oppress, and marginalize people, but that does not make those actions humane. And this was just another example of how our lack of awareness, education, and acceptance around sexual health is continuing to harm us all.