psst, let me tell you a secret

are you listening? 

ready? 

Tumblr Blaze is the biggest fuck-you to Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, and other advertising companies in basically ever

wanna know why? 

On Facebook, I could show this post only to white, politically undecided, lesbian college students aged 18-21 who live in zip codes 75023, 75024, and 75025 (yes, even after the changes Facebook recently announced). Anyone who interacts with the post, therefore, is extremely likely to be a white, politically undecided, lesbian college student aged 18-21 who lives in Plano, Texas. If this post was an ad, and you clicked the ad and bought the thing it was advertising, then I’d also know your name, physical address, telephone number, email address, and approximate financial status. 

You probably don’t want me to know all that about you, right? 

Do you want your health insurer to know? What about your employer? If you’re queer and not out to your family and friends, would you want them to know? What if you’re a domestic violence survivor, hiding from your ex-spouse?

All they need to do to get all that information is buy a Facebook ad for under $5.

And before you say that you don’t share all that on Facebook: too bad! Even if you don’t, Facebook (along with pretty much every ad company out there) buys, sells, and/or trades the data it collects about you with other companies. Facebook collects data about you even if you don’t have a Facebook account.

Wanna know what’s scarier? 

Bad guys can also buy targeted ads, and use them to convince you to do things like vote for a particular presidential candidate, or vote against unionizing Amazon workers. This is a very common tactic used by hostile foreign governments to foster extremism and isolate vulnerable minorities, and influence elections and other political and social events. Even the tech companies themselves can and do use this data to manipulate your emotions, making you happier or sadder according to their own whims.

(why do you know all this, Sanity? because I’ve worked in information security, fighting for data privacy and security, for over a decade)

Facebook, Google, Twitter, Amazon, and other advertisers claim that collecting all that data about you, and letting anyone target you with it, is absolutely, 100% necessary for the existence of the entire ad-funded Internet. They want you to believe that nothing bad could possibly come of it, despite proof to the contrary being in the news every other month. They want you to blindly continue letting them collect and use YOUR data to influence you to think, feel, and do what THEY want. 

But. 

BUT!!!

Enter Tumblr Blaze. 

(from the Blaze FAQ)

Tumblr looked at advertising and said, you know what? we don’t need to target anyone. Targeted ads don’t actually work anyway. All that hyper-specific targeting is just an excuse for ad companies to raise prices and collect more data to use for their own purposes. 

Tumblr said, we bet people will pay real-life dollars to share their posts with up to 50,000 people, whether or not those people will care. 

Tumblr said, we’re going to blow up the entire online advertising industry.

That is fucking amazing, y'all.

I saw someone talking about Cale not being innocent with relationships, which i agree with, so wanna also add my personal opinion on this rather interesting matter+a bit on his trauma!

Cale loved reading novels and comics, so he probably read some romance or smut among the way too. As we know, he is a quite curious person, thus i doubt he wouldn't be interested in it at least for a bit.

He also recognizes relationship stuff overall! Like for example in Korean arc with Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum. They weren't a couple yet, however Cale noticed vibes around them so there is also a comment about them looking good together. Even if it was more of a "Ah, they were lovely-dovely since then", it is still a realization.

As a result, if we push back the idea of Cale being aroace, he isn't innocent! Cale knows enough to understand romance, sex, flirting and all that jazz on a basic level.

Here is the thing, right?

When literally anything relared to emotions or relationships, both platonic and romantic, includes HIM in the equations, Cale suddenly becomes a fool.

An obvious, absolutely traumatized and with little to no self-awareness fool.

Cale literally degrades himself and his feelings or emotions on a daily basis, guys, i don't think this depressed man is able to comprehend that people actually just enjoy his sole presence alone.

Again, the problem here not in Cale not realizing/recognizing that kind of stuff (what basically innocence implies), but in Cale not thinking that someone can like him or be into him.

People don't give enough credit to how severe his self-hatred, that was builded for tens of years and supported by hearing others hate him, is.

It absolutely distorted Cale's view of himself.

As Kim Rok Soo? Well, he was always average looking, the scars made him look even worse.

As Cale? Well, he might look better now, but his personality still trash, he is selfish and not emotional overall.

If nothing above works? Well, his self made inner image of a "Bad person" always does!

He wouldn't ever believe that someone can love him romanticly.

Because why? Why him?

He is absolutely disoriented when people show their care for him nowadays. In the novel it plays of as the silly moments of obvious Cale, but if you think about that?

It just Cale honestly not understanding why they care for HIM.

This is not about innocence. Not at all.

It is about a man who cannot love himself and as a result doubting everyone's love for him.

You know, I'm sorry for another story time but my life has been very stressed lately and today I got a huge boost. SO.

As some of you may know, I moved states at the end of July and have been here since August 1st basically. Social anxiety is a struggle but I'm making it. And there's this easy to reach by walking convenience store and almost every time I walk there I walk past a gem store. And I think to myself almost every single time "I love the store has a bouncer". I didn't say anything to him at first! But one day I got brave and proceeded to make an absolute FOOL of myself as I am on my way back from buying some sodas and ask him "are you like the store bouncer?"

The man looks at me and smiles and gives a little chuckle and says pretty much yeah? And then I say more awkward things and then promptly leave feeling very embarrassed. I purposefully AVOID that lil corner for a couple days and then finally feel brave enough to walk by cause it's ... like. Literally right by my destination. Man isn't even outside that day and I think phew! I can't be creepy if I can't talk to him!

BUT THEN I SEE THAT HE IS DIRECTLY INSIDE CHATTING TO A WORKER. And he sees me. And smiles and stops whatever conversation he's having and exits the store to say hi. (I am definitely beaming, like a normal person, because I apparently am NOT creepy enough to this man more than a foot taller than me who could easily kick my ass if he wanted) So we just chat. For maybe ten minutes? It's very nice! We have a Very Normal Conversation! I feel better about the first interaction because I had a second interaction.

So now............ today. I am once again wandering around and on my way to lunch when I pass the gem store and I'm like "hello again!" to the gem store bouncer. We begin to chat again and he mentions a pendant they recently appraised that he likes and I, thinking this entire time that the store was ONLY appointment only and I would never be allowed inside, am casually mentioning "yeah, I was born in June and we have three birthstones and like.... none of them are dark enough for me. I mean there's pearl which I'm not a fan of and then moonstone and another." And so he's saying they have a sheet inside to show birthstones so we walk in together to find out the mysterious third stone.

And the sheet only shows pearls. And I'm like "this is a crime against June babies" and then I somehow start talking to one of the female workers and I'm saying "yeah I just kinda like walking by here and seeing the bouncer" and she looks at him and is like "oh I like that." and I admit I have no other idea what to refer to him as (I don't know his name at this point anyway) and she's like "most often security guard."

Ah. Yes. Like a normal person would think. Security. Yes. Not "gem store bouncer". She then leaves to grab a coffee from across the street and I leave with the bouncer and somehow we get into talking about wearing mostly black and how he's pretty goth and then I mentioned a sweatshirt my aunt sent me once saying "I'm only wearing black until they come out with something darker" and he grins and says it's a life motto. Then the woman returns with her coffee and he tells me to tell her what I said, so I repeat it and she looks me dead in the eye and says "that was made for me. Also I love that you called him a bouncer it's hilarious".

I now observe that he (all black suit black shirt black tie) and her (black sweater with black/white striped pants n black shoes) are indeed somehow the gem store goth club. And then she heads back in and he says he's sorry they don't have any cookies to offer me, they normally have cookies in the back for employees, and I'm like "ah no it's fine thank you".

And then I left feeling like I was somehow allowed to join the Cool Goth Club at the gem store.

Anyway, sup, my new favorite person is the goth bouncer at the gem store and he makes me smile so much when I see him.

I’ve seen some people headcanon Espio as having a darker past pre-Chaotix involving needing to kill people and my mind just went:

Espio, somberly, almost as a confession: I’ve killed people before, Silver.

Silver, who lived in an unlivable apocalypse: Wha– yeah?? So did I??? Wha– Huh????

so i was crying about javier always greeting lloyd with "it's been a while master lloyd" regardless of how long it's been since they last talked, about lloyd telling him they're gonna be mistaken for the cowherd and the weaver girl if someone hears javier say that to him and lloyd knowing exactly how long it's been since he and javier met in person, down to the very day, "107 years, 7 months and 17 days". as one does. and then i got curious about whether there was any significance to the fact there's so many sevens in that number and i-

right. yeah cool that's. that's really. such. such a funny coincidence. yeah. really swell. what. what are the chances of that uh.

crafting the game

(this has been in my drafts for ages)

Question for all fellow artist frens

Can somebody PLS tell me why we put hours, days, so much time and effort into our art, yet we only get a few notes

Yet some posts here only have 1 or 2 sentences in this font and get SO MANY notes

WHAT ARE WE MISSING?? XD

Some very lazy concept doodles for my swap au Wendy

i finally finished bg3

and it only took me [looks at steam]

SIX HUNDRED HOURS

these are not new limits but i will repeat them anyway; please do not make suicide jokes on my posts and do not reblog my posts onto nsfw blogs. similarly do not leave insanely horny tags on my clips and photosets please and thank you. i do not want to deal with that in my notes and y'all should be mature enough to know not to pull that on someone who has not asked for it

calling all US-based renters

I just spotted a VERY interesting request for public comments from the FTC: 

The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau invite interested individuals to submit comments about background screening issues affecting individuals who seek rental housing in the United States. Tenants, prospective tenants, tenants’ rights and housing advocacy groups, industry participants (including property managers, commercial landlords, individual landlords, and consumer reporting agencies that develop credit and tenant screening reports used by landlords and property managers to screen prospective tenants), other members of the public, and government agencies are encouraged to provide comments and information about the use of credit reports, credit scores, and criminal and civil (including eviction) public records in tenant screening; the use of algorithms in making tenant screening decisions; the use of tenant screening recommendation products developed, marketed, or sold by consumer reporting agencies; and other tenant screening issues.

The full document (pdf) also includes a series of questions about “unique impacts on historically underserved populations, such as Black,  Indigenous, and people of color; the LGBTQI+ community (especially trans and gender nonconforming individuals); military service members; immigrants; public housing voucher recipients; renters with disabilities; or others”

If you have Opinions on this, drop a comment by May 30th, 2023: 

https://www.regulations.gov/document/FTC-2023-0024-0002

tumblr staff are so fucking delusional nobody wants to use your dumbshit streaming service 😭 this COULD NOT have been made any clearer in the last nine months since they rolled it out

AKECHI COMPILATION

for the WIP folder game: I love your Old Gods AU and would really like to hear more about what you have planned for it!

uh, plans... my plans? for an au? I don't have any plans ever (i say, like a lier)

So currently I'm trying to work on a plot point that revolves around Celegorm and it's kind of his swan song for the series, if you will. As has been seeded out in some stories, Celegorm goes haring off to hunt down Eol and get revenge for what he did to Aredhel (who Celegorm is very in love with and no you can't change my mind about it). Unfortunately, leaving his family's protections behind and having a lot of dark thoughts along the way is not good for him, and the Entity (already connected to him due to a childhood encounter) starts worming It's way into him.

As you might imagine, things don't go great when he eventually comes home. Beyond the Entity's growing influence over him, he's seen and done a lot of things that are at odds with how he was raised, and he doesn't want to go back to who he used to me. One of my C+C week stories is set during this period and I love that it's setting up how wrong things feel when Celegorm comes back. Something that isn't explicitly said in that story (figured I can reveal it now) is that Celegorm has started killing small animals for fun.

Anyway, things are going to progress and he's going to do something Really Bad in town. The family finds out, Feanor and he have a fight about his behavior, then he takes his horse and favorite dog (Huan, of course) and leaves. Without any defenses against the Entity, It consumes him.

And, well, that's kind of the end of him being an active character in the series. Astute readers will mark that he comes back to the family but thanks to time enthralled to the Entity, he isn't really doing much any more.

Fun fact (that might never get in a story): Huan leaves Celegorm and becomes Legolas's pet!

Not fun fact: Celegorm eats his horse.

Hello to Everyone on this Beautiful day, my brain is full of Kudou Shinichi and his cute little nose, his soft features, BIG PRETTY EYES, and the very fact that his looks he mostly inherited from Yukiko.

(How to communicate a 'this is a freak who would lick their own blood off of the cement after they had the shit beat out of them' vibe without having to add several additional visuals to their ref-)

you 🤝 me: We Need To Eat Lee Felix ASAP

but also [deranged screaming] this is my first comeback with them as a stay and i'm going to go insane because EVERYTHING about this comeback will not let me live like ?????????????? please stop for my sanity despite having none in the first place

my first comeback was noeasy (? somewhere around there) so i've been around awhile but it's always been like. oh yeah those men hot but anyway what about jun. i had bigger and better things to focus on so i didnt really try to get super into them 😔 and it took me the LONGEST time to choose a bias bc i just liked them so casually and i wasn't super attached to any of them (and also my ex friend was crazyyy about hyunjin so i was like damn ok girl u can have him chill ! she almost put a hole in her tv once watching the red lights mv but that's a whole nother thing). then by the time oddinary came out i had watched a little more and knew them a little better (lots of chan/felix compilations in my youtube history bc theyre so silly together little guys) and i was like okay yeah its official. that dude is My Man. he's just so auuuurghhhhh grrrrr bark bark bark i love him but at first i just picked him bc i liked him the best even tho i still didn't know that much about them. and then like for some reason in the last couple months something just clicked and i've been feral deranged foaming at the mouth over him ever since like idk what happened but one day out of the blue i woke up and i was like. must eat him must eat him must eat him i need that man carnally viscerally desperately. i have probably read every single felix fic on this app in the last week i've literally just been scrolling thru the felix fluff/smut/etc tags every night for hours like i am down BAD. definitely not more that svt and definitely not ult status yet but like. he is climbing the charts i fear he is getting closer (svt pun). also a friend from the kpop club at my school recently dropped her skz collection and gave me like 6 felix photocards and i was like well fuck now i need MORE of him and so then i bought all their recent albums and my wallet is very unhappy about that but serotonin part of brain is very happy about that. silly little man cards make happy chemical go brr