#these kids need to know that there's spaces for them to be online safely without having to stumble into places that'll pray on them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fakeshibe · 8 months

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the internet is so overtly hostile to kids and young people. commercialisation and profit margins killed off the places younger kids were safe and welcome to be in, creeps and those seeking to goad people towards extremism took over those spaces designated for teens.

There is no safe place. Every time i see a 14 year old on twitter, I see them being told to get off the platform. It’s not safe, it’s not for you. And that’s entirely correct, twitter is not a safe place for a 14 year old, but where is? Tumblr? not really. Club penguin? it’s dead. Community forums? not really a thing anymore. Discord? not without that teen being very aware of their safety and how to look after themselves, at which point they may as well have stuck to twitter.

Like it or not, it’s the job of every single one of us to make a space that is safe for teens. Doesn’t mean you have to be kid friendly, just means you need to take reasonable precautions that your not-kid-friendly content stays in your space, that they can’t accidentally come across it. Content warnings, censoring/spoilering posts, possibly avoiding the main tags for a thing if that topic is child friendly and your art is not. stuff like that. Like if young people are likely to search for stuff like lego, maybe don’t put your nsfw bionicle ship art into the general lego tag, stuff like that.

It’s your job to keep an eye out for your fellow humans. If you see a young person they you know displaying signs that they’re possibly being harassed/groomed/generally made uncomfortable/not doing well, make sure they have a safe person to speak to. You don’t have to be that safe person, you just need to make sure there’s someone who can listen to them.

If you see a kid doing something they really shouldn’t be, it’s on you to explain why they shouldn’t be doing that. Don’t berate them, don’t attack them for it. Explain, help them to understand why that’s concerning to you. We all know internet safety classes in schools are pretty rubbish, usually super outdated. I did a child safety course like two years ago that still included tips on building a safe myspace page. School isn’t going to teach kids about the immediate issues on todays internet, it’s on the community around them to guide them and look out for them.

Also playground humour is fine, just be aware when you’re joining in to not take it too far or make it weird. And bear in mind that even just by virtue of being a couple of years older than whatever young person you’re talking to, there’s a power imbalance in that conversation. Don’t encourage playground humour to the point of making it an entirely inappropriate topic. Your the one guiding this conversation, steer it in the right direction.

And if you see someone being weird towards any minor, wether you know them or not, call that shit out. Let it be known that someone is keeping an eye out, let that kid know that they’re welcome and they’re looked out for. Let that creep know that people see them, and people are very, very aware of what they’re doing. Make them feel unwelcome, run them out of your spaces, spread awareness of risky people. Keep your spaces safe.

This is all especially as important as IRL spaces become more hostile to potentially vulnerable young people. Queer teens especially are going to be looking for community and safety online more and more frequently. Make sure that the places they find will be a respite from the real world, not just a different set of threats to navigate.

Make sure young people feel safe on the internet, and make sure that those looking to take advantage of their presence, don’t.

Why am i writing all this? I’ve seen too many posts about people’s experiences as a young person online, and i talked to my brother the other day about him and his friend’s experiences and it’s terrifying that there’s really nowhere for young people to go. Also i’ve realised that i’m not doing enough to be part of the solution. so this is part of that, im gonna be far, far more aware of the issue and doing more to try and help.

#internet safety #This post brought to you by seeing several communities on twitter oust dodgy people the last few days #no beef with bionicle fans btw i just couldn’t think of another example

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munsonthemisfit · 1 year

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This following post will be a rant about the fanfiction situation we have seen over the last couple of days. Please note: this rant covers the topic of child endangerment, assault, interacting in nsfw ways with minors, taboo themes and the internet's reaction to it all.

This post DOES NOT condone the creation of said subjects and does NOT go into detail about anything graphic other than explaining the situation at surface level. If this makes you uncomfortable then please skip this post, I have put it under a "keep reading" to ensure you aren't forced to read something that makes you upset <3

*sighs loudly*

Alright, fuckers. Buckle up, I’ve got something to say.

Firstly, there’s a major difference between a subject being dark/taboo and literally straight up illegal. I'm unsure how you cannot understand that, but here we are I suppose?

I do not care what your personal opinion is on the matter, there is a huge difference, and if you are someone who feels comfortable writing/reading/reblogging illegal material like what we have seen over the last couple of days, I truly have no shame in calling you out in the slightest. You can take that up with God or whatever kinda thing you believe in; I’m judging you and I’ll call you out on that shit when I see it. Things are illegal for a reason and I'm unsure why anyone feels the need/urge to post that kind of content without needing their hard drives checked in all honesty.

Fanfiction is a community; fandoms are a community.

We need to keep our community safe.

Writers post things with trigger warnings and content warnings, readers need to heed those warnings before consenting to interacting with it. We post smut for adults and everything else is free for all ages to enjoy.

We heavily insist that minors keep away from our content because as adults, we shouldn’t be interacting with any of y’all, but we know the risks when we post. There’s always going to be children who don’t listen, don’t respect our warnings, don’t get the hint that we block them for our protection as much as their own. Which is why writers (at least ones with their morals in check) will post on everything possible that minors are not allowed/will be blocked if caught interacting, and at almost 27 years old, I stand by this.

I don’t care if you think I’m an asshole, I do not consent for minors to be in my circle. If you are a minor and you choose to interact regardless of our boundaries/warnings, you are proving why we have to resort to blocking anyone we find infiltrating our bubble.

People over 18 do not even need to be interacting with minors, let alone providing them nsfw content, that isn’t for you yet. Kids will find ways to get what they want, and the older half of fandoms are aware of this because we used to be you, but you can’t get mad at us for doing our best to filter you out of our pages.

We do not want to appear complicit for providing any sort of adult content for you children. We have the right to protect our online space however we see fit.

Writers post stories with brief descriptions and warnings at the very top of their posts¸ to allow anyone scrolling by to know whether things are going to be your cup of tea. Even if these posts are reblogged, funnily enough, warnings and descriptions are still the first thing you can see.

I'm unsure on how people have chosen to use the excuse “I didn’t see/know” because there is literally no way you could have avoided that. To interact in any regard (liking/reblogging/commenting) you have to scroll past the entire story to get to those buttons, don’t try and say that you ignore the entire block of text in favour of interacting without knowing a single thing about it.

I refuse to believe that anyone who is on Tumblr is just “so busy” that they can skim read all forms of warnings on a horrendous post and still go ahead and spread it/encourage it by interacting. If you are going to be complicit, you are coming across as complacent.

If you choose to interact/spread horrendous content with the excuse of “well I didn’t know” despite the fact the writer themselves gives you a warning on the content, you are part of the problem.

When you come online, you have to do your part. Read things.

Take the time to truly see what is within your community, it is not our job to police it. We shouldn’t have to come and message you every time we think you are connected to something we don’t want to see, we don’t have to slide into your dms and ask if you knew what you were doing. If you have liked/reblogged a post with content we don’t like, that is you showing that you are complicit, that is you making a public statement of “this is okay with me, here my name and face is attached to positive reinforcement of giving this user notes” and that is enough to make us block you.

If you can “casually” like/reblog because you “skimmed” something, we can block under that same principle. We see your name attached to something illegal, we block. We don't owe anyone a second chance, if something makes us umcomfortable, we can remove it from our circle without needing to defend our choices.

I’ll be honest, I’m a busy person, I skim read. Yes.

However, the difference is, I will still take the time to ensure that what I am skim reading isn’t something illegal, and apparently that is something some of you are unable to do. If I have gone out of my way to like a post to get back to it later, I have skim read over the vague tone of the post beforehand, so I would have seen the giant fucking warnings that explain a post has some messed up shit in it.

I literally do not understand how you could have read over the warnings and gone “yep – I’ll read that later 😊” and then gotten upset that we have seen your name attached to the notes. That is a pathetic excuse. You should have seen the warnings and subject and taken a couple extra seconds before acting upon it.

It’s completely different if the author had sneakily slipped that in or not given a heads up about the subject, but they did, there is no excusing it, really.

As I said before, it is not our job to police things. I’m not going to sit and refresh a horrible person’s post and contact each person who likes/comments/reblogs it and be like “did you know that you’re doing this?!” because it’s not my job and you have already proven yourself to be okay with it as you’ve interacted.

We have full time jobs, classes to be attending, life to be living, we sure as hell are not going to slide into multiple DMS and question your every decision. If we see that you are causing the horrid writer to think we want more from them by interacting positively, we are going to see that as a red flag and block at source.

It might be just me, I’m not sure, but if someone tags their posts as “dark/taboo” then I will check out their page and see what their limits are. I want to know that I’m comfortable interacting with the type of content they will be writing. I don’t want to like one post from them and find out later that they post something utterly horrific because then I would appear complicit with their entire nature and that makes me massively uncomfortable.

So, yes, I will look at someone’s page and get a vibe check before interacting because funnily enough I don’t want my name attached to their potential abuse. It seems like the bare minimum to check out who’s in my circle and make sure none of us are encouraging illegal shit, y’all don’t vet authors who post and make sure they aren’t using fanfic as a way to normalise their morbid nature?

People aren’t getting policed for everything they say/do, people are being called out for attaching their name so confidently to a person/blog/story that has some horrendous content.

We are allowed to voice our discomfort and announce our detachment from said person/blog/story to bring awareness to those who were unaware to give them the chance to either consent to those posts in their circle or block at will. I’m not saying we should run around with pitchforks screaming “*insert @ here* is a nonce!!!!” if they “accidentally” like a post to “read later” as they claim, but I’m within my right as an adult with a moral compass to block/unfollow anyone I see liking that shit.

I don’t owe you an explanation, a chance at forgiveness, anything.

If something you have done makes me uncomfortable, you aren’t allowed near my page, why is that so hard for anyone to respect?

“Not everyone fully looks at content before they reblog it!!” Well, maybe y’all should start. Welcome to the internet, where you need to understand that actions have consequences. Accidents happen, but you’ve gotta accept responsibility and realise that accidents still have reactions.

If you do something we don’t morally agree with, even as an “accident”, and we are uncomfortable, we are blocking it.

“They only warned about *insert two illegal topics here* so why are you mad about us interacting with *insert different illegal topic here* that we ‘didn’t know’ was included?” – bruh, please try and have some self-awareness. People have different boundaries. If they are uncomfortable with you supporting any content with any illegal subject involved they are well within their right to block you.

The fact it took us mere seconds to skim read their accounts and find the problem, yet you are using the defence that you had “no idea” despite the fact y’all were the ones interacting with the account speaks volumes, my dude. Why are you promoting shit you “don’t agree with” and acting like you were clueless when it took us all mere seconds to find the problem and decide we aren’t okay with it?

You need to be way more careful with what you interact with online, that’s what needs to be taken from this.

Like I said – it is not our job to sit and gatekeep things 24/7. If we see people interacting with content we don’t agree with, blocking you is completely within our rights to do. You need to be responsible for your own online interactions and maybe not skimread things.

This isn’t directed at any one person, more the whole community.

I’ve unfortunately seen people defending their actions, I’ve seen many call out posts, I’ve seen people stating their repulsion to this situation, I’ve seen it all and acted accordingly. It’s that simple. This isn’t a hate post, I’m not indirectly mentioning anyone, I’ve just gathered the gist of the situation from the stream of it on my dashboard and this was my personal standpoint.

If you’re going to get mad that people are hurt over you mindlessly interacting with posts where people have fantasied and romanticised the idea of any character harming children in any form, whether you liked the posts “by accident,” or because you are a sick fuck, that is your problem, frankly. You cannot hurt people's feelings (whether it was by accident or maliciously), then get mad at them for being hurt.

You need to do better and actually read what you are interacting with before you do that. People are allowed to be hurt and uncomfortable and angry and upset over others deciding to sexualise horrendous topics.

We can’t exactly stop the content being made, but we can keep our circle clean of that shit and block/unfollow anyone who’s values clash with our own.

It’s that simple, internet. <3

#ooc #long post

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faeriekit · 7 months

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Faer i would love to know more about the event about fan ostracization from mainstream comic culture??? Do you have any like, panelist names or details or anything?

OkAY I found the program online because the paper thing they gave me for the programming sucked severely!!

It was a thursday panel, which meant pros/educator oriented (Thu, Oct 12, 2023 • 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM). The title was "Geekspaces Assemble! Safe Spaces for our Marginalized Communities". Clicking the link will give you all the details, but the panelists were (Left to right) an owner of a queer/female friendly comics store in Portland, a letterer who's been in prominent aspects of the comics industry for fifty years, a...business entrepreneur (maybe also she was an illustrator?) and Jubilee fan, and an Author/Illustrator who spent a good chunk of his childhood in Puerto Rico. The panel consisted of three women (which, for comics, seems rare as hell), one queer women, two women of color, and a gentleman of color who grew up outside of America.

The only reason I am not putting their names down is that I am Suspicious one name might be wrong and I cannot verify it because they did not link their professional contact information to their NYCC guest pages haha. Their identifying info give on the page is still present.

To summarize the bits I remember, everyone involved gave a rundown on how hostile comics culture and the outside point of view on comics culture was to their efforts to actually enjoy their hobby. The woman in the industry spoke on how hard it was to actually get her voice and interests heard, and how the need to make a safe space for women and people of color helps keep the peace. The business woman spoke on representation and how it affected her growing up, and how when there isn't anything to look up to, we sort of have to make our own role models and characters to lean into, and having a space space to create helps us do that. The man had an interesting perspective on how comics were a huge hobby of his growing up, but when the Simpsons made it to Puerto Rico, the Comic Book Guy made it so that other people looked down on him for engaging in something that seemed so snooty and unpleasant on the show. The bookshop owner talked about how it was not only super vital for her main audience, queer people and women, to have a space safe enough where they could explore comics how they wanted to, but that she heard testimonials after she opened that the main cishet white male audience of comics loved and appreciated her shop as a safe space too, because it was a place where they didn't feel the need to perform in order to engage with their hobby as they had to in the quintessential shops that were so popular at the time.

Everyone was well spoken and brought up great points about how the experience for enjoying comics is so different when you're queer, not a man, or white— something I have absolutely noticed from spending time even peripherally watching the dc fandom here on tumblr and on ao3. Having a place where you can express your interpretations and experiences with your hobby without fear of reprisal or attack makes all the difference. Comics are very often not written for us. Based on their age, comics written about us may be lacking, at the very least, or outright harmful at the very worst. Reading certain DC lore gives me psychic damage. If we want to make comics a fun, welcoming space (and I know that's not every comic fan's goal), we have to make and protect our own spaces from outside prejudice.

Overall, it was a great panel, I loved it, and I really wish it hadn't been at 10:30 in the morning because half the intended audience (and a panelist!) was still trying to get into the building by the time it hit 10:30! It also reinforced my need to make the graphic experience in the library better integrated with the younger kids, because I don't want them to think that comics aren't for them if the first experience they have is people being weird and rude when they get into it as teens. I know that the panelists are from at least one if not more generations above me, and that the landscape has expanded and changed since then, but I find the fundamental base of the talk very true, and find it even more prudent that they speak, because their work built the foundations we're trying to build up on right now— with graphic memoirs, with indie comics, with irl geekspace occupancy, with ao3 and tumblr gossip and interaction.

Anyway, occupy your local comics shop. If they suck, get on facebook, network, and see where all the weirdos like you collect.

#nycc 2023 #tumblr #faer winds #library posting #comics #mainstream comics

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aromantic-diaries · 9 months

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hello. i know that this is not a help blog (feel free to delete this ask) but i need help and i don't know where else to go.

i am barely old enough to be on the internet, and it can be argued that i am too young to know whether i am ace, but the thought of puberty (as in increasing libido and beginning to feel sexual attraction and/or romance) horrified and disgusts me. i tried asking my mom for advice, but all she would say was that i was too young to know.

i don't want to be a late bloomer. i don't want to bloom at all. i'm terrified that puberty will turn me into something that isn't me. i cannot stress how genuinely horrifying sexual attraction and libido are to me. i don't know how i would cope if i felt either of them.

i just. even if you don't want to answer this ask, could you just say something like "hey anon, you know who you are, x could probably help you". please

Okay, first thing's first stay safe on the internet. Anyways I don't believe in telling people they're too young to know if they're ace but I do think it's probably easier to know if you're ace or not once you've hit puberty

Now as someone who's gone through puberty, one thing I can assure you of is that it doesn't just creep up on you and get you all of a sudden, for the most part the changes occur slowly and steadily. A lot of it is pretty uncomfortable and feels gross but that's mostly cause as a kid you're kind of taught that bodies are taboo when really that's just how we're put together. Having a body is gross sometimes and that's okay. As for libido and sexual attraction, I think it's best to take it slow and learn about it from a safe source. I know sex ed is flimsy in most schools and I was unfortunate enough to learn about sex through the internet which lead to a lot of confusion so I recommend asking a trustworthy adult that you feel safe with to explain things to you. If that's not an option, there's probably some good sources online or in your local library. Understanding sexuality can make it a lot less scary

I don't know if you're ace or not. If the idea of sex makes you uncomfortable as of now, it could be cause you're still very young. Regardless of what the case is, you don't have to rush into it. Your safety is important and I should warn you that the internet is a scary place and finding porn is way too easy, and being exposed to that stuff at a young age can seriously mess with your brain chemistry. If you do end up experiencing sexual attraction, the most important thing is to explore it safely. Don't interact with people in NSFW spaces on the internet, if you reeeally want to look at that stuff, only lurk. There's a lot of creeps online and any adult who isn't a creep will tell you to stay out of these online spaces for the sake of your own safety. Same goes for reading fanfic. No one can really stop you from reading it if you want to read it but the 18+ warning is there for a reason. As for actually having sex, only do it once you know you're ready and with someone you really do like. And if you are ace after all, I recommend taking the time to learn about the identity so you can understand yourself better.

I should also mention that having a libido is something that can happen even if you do turn out to be asexual. This is because if someone's a mammal with all their parts in tact they'll come equipped with a reproductive system and all it's functions, regardless of whether or not they want to use it. So don't be alarmed if you feel stuff even though you don't really want to do anything about it, it might feel uncomfortable but that's mother nature for you.

I hope I could make this whole ordeal a bit less intimidating for you, apologies if I sound condescending at times, I'm just trying to talk about things without being creepy (at the end of the day I am still a stranger)

If anyone in the audience has some good resources that could be helpful for youngsters, it'd be greatly appreciated

#anon #mail time

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multi-fan-dom-madness · 10 months

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Chapter 14: Ruusaar (Second Chances - Hunter x reader)

Ruusaar. n. foundation.

Chapter Summary: Reunited with your squad, you and Hunter come to an understanding.

Chapter Warnings: canon compliant as far as Echo going with Rex to fight for his brothers; I nearly cried writing this one, y'all, so angst but also feelings!; if I missed anything, please let me know!

Word Count: 2,421

Read it here on AO3!

< Previous chapter | Next chapter >

You scramble to your feet, heart stuttering in your chest. “Hunter, where. Is. Echo?”

“He’s not dead,” he says. He pushes to his feet, a few loose curls bouncing on his forehead. “He’s...well, I’m not sure where he is, exactly.”

Your knees nearly give out as relief crashes over you. He’s alive. Only Omega’s hand slipping into your own helps to ground you, keep you steady. Meeting her red-rimmed eyes, tears prickle in your nose.

“Explain,” you say, looking back up to Hunter.

Lips pressed into a thin line, he nods once, before leading you to the cockpit. The wash of the hyperspace vortex is familiar—but the empty co-pilot seat shatters the otherwise comforting sight. Tech glances over his shoulder in acknowledgement of your entrance.

Hunter lowers himself into one of the other seats, and you mirror him across the small space. Crawling into your lap, Omega curls up against your chest; you wrap your arms around her, a surge of protective warmth blanketing you. You’re home. You’re safe. You’re okay.

Wrecker sidles into the cockpit and silently takes the remaining empty seat, the co-pilot chair. His usually happy and unbothered expression is drawn and tired, eyes downcast. A trill of alarm flits through you. You glance at Hunter for reassurance.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Hunter sighs. “We were on Coruscant a few standard weeks ago.”

Jaw dropping, you narrow your eyes at him, feeling a little betrayed. The entire time you’ve known these men, protecting Omega has been their number one priority—going to the literal heart of the Empire is probably the most counterintuitive move they could have made. And they made it without you.

Hunter drops his eyes from yours, grimacing. He continues, “An...old friend needed help with something. It had to do with other clones. We couldn’t say no. Echo decided to stay with our friend to keep helping other clones get free of the Empire.” Rummaging in one of his pockets, he pulls out a smooth, black holopuck. “Here.”

You catch the puck in one hand. Pressing the button, a miniature blue hologram of Echo gutters to life. Omega shifts in your lap; you hold the puck so she can see the holo, too.

“Nav,” the recording starts, and you can’t help the grin that tugs at your lips. Echo continues, “Listen. I don’t know when this will make its way to you, but you deserve to know that I don’t blame you. There are no easy answers these days.

“I’m going to work with an underground network to free clones from the Empire and fight for clone rights. My comms will be off. But send me messages; I’ll see them...whenever I come back online.” The image of Echo grins bashfully and rubs at the back of his neck. “Not sure how often that’ll be. But I’ll comm you all as soon as I’m able, just so you know I’m alive.

“Take care of the kid, Nav. And take care of Hunter. Ask him—” Echo’s gaze draws away from the recording device, and in the background are muffled voices, Tech calling for the drop out of hyperspace, if you had to guess. “Well, that’s my cue. I’ll see you around, Nav.”

With that, the blue glow fades.

Omega sniffles, burying her face against your shoulder. You mindlessly rub her back, drawing soothing circles. Your own face is wet with tears. Hunter offers you a tight, sad smile.

“I know you and Echo were close,” he says, his voice soft, softer than it should be.

You can only nod. “How—” Your voice breaks, and you clear your throat. “How long ago was this?”

“Two standard weeks, give or take,” Tech says. “Our friend contacted us not long after we left Iridonia. We completed another unsuccessful mission for Cid. The Marauder was stolen; we retrieved it, obviously, and then we received the transmission. We thought it was you.”

Wrecker perks up at this part of the story. “Yeah! We took a vote and went back for you.” He grins and says, “We all voted to go.”

You glance between him and Tech, before your gaze settles once more on Hunter, who is avoiding looking at you. “All of you?”

Hunter meets your eyes for a fleeting moment—long enough, though, that you recognize the pain behind the shield he’s thrown up around himself: It’s the same pain that’s lodged itself between your lungs and breastbone since they left. When he drops his gaze again, he nods slowly. “All of us.”

“Well,” you say, warmth creeping up your neck, “thanks for that.”

Tech swivels his seat around. “Now I believe it is your turn to explain. What were you doing in an Imperial detention facility? And if that transmission did not come from you, who sent it?”

You squeeze Omega a little tighter, unsure how she, of all of them, will react to this news. After a moment, you say, “I think it was Crosshair.”

Drawing back from your embrace, Omega peers up at you with wide eyes, a glimmer of hope overtaking her expression. Wrecker’s jaw drops, while Hunter works his.

“Explain,” Tech repeats.

You recount the appearance of the strange ship, your encounter with the sand lion, the brief conversation with Crosshair before he stunned you, and the time spent in his ship. You don’t omit any details, not anymore. They deserve the truth, and you deserve to tell it.

When you mention the name Tarkin, each of them tense, glancing at one another.

“What is it?” you ask.

“Tarkin’s no friend to clones,” Hunter says, a bite of anger in his voice. “If he’s after you, he’s after us.”

“We’ll be safe, though, right?” Omega says. “Maybe he still thinks we’re dead. After all, if Crosshair survived on Kamino and told the Empire we escaped, why haven’t they been chasing us?”

“Good point, kid,” you murmur. She flashes a toothy smile, before her face drops again.

“So, Crosshair is a good guy again?” Wrecker asks. His brow is furrowed in genuine confusion.

“He is still working for the Empire,” Tech says, “so that part is unclear.”

Hunter catches your attention, his eyebrows raising just a fraction, asking a silent question that you’re relieved you can still decipher. You nod; he leans back, face vacant, staring into the middle distance.

“Let’s say he hasn’t told the Empire you’re all alive. He also used a comm frequency that can no longer be traced because it’s off-world,” you say, holding up fingers as you list evidence. “He waited until after I was in custody so it couldn’t be pinned on him. And unless another clone has taken up the habit of carrying toothpicks, who else would have left one with my pack?” You shake your head. “I don’t know about ‘good guy,’ but...”

“He helped us,” Hunter says, quiet, thoughtful. “For now, that’s going to have to be good enough.”

“Do you think...” Omega’s voice trails off, like she’s afraid to finish her question.

You shrug with one shoulder. “I dunno, kid. Crosshair has to make his own decisions.”

She slips from your lap and pads across the cockpit to curl up in Wrecker’s grasp instead. Cold without her, you tug your legs up to your chest, resting your chin on one knee. The five of you sit in silence. Today has been a whirlwind. Somehow, you wonder if being captured and brought to Coruscant hasn’t left the squad in a worse spot than if you had just...told them about your past in the first place. An admiral knows your name now. Who else in the Empire has accessed your file? Brain cycling through progressively more and more anxiety-fueled thoughts, you lose track of time.

A soft blip-blip-blip from the control console breaks you out of your spiral. Blinking, you peer at Tech, who eases the ship out of hyperspace. Through the viewport, you stare out into the vast black void, dotted by specks of burning gas. Another few moments, and Tech throws the lever once again, sending the ship hurtling through another hyperlane.

Omega has fallen asleep on Wrecker. Gently, he cradles her closer, then stands with more care than you’ve ever seen him move. The girl doesn’t even stir. Sending you a soft smile, Wrecker ducks out of the cockpit to put Omega in her room; when he doesn’t return, you figure he’s probably gone to sleep, as well.

Sleep sounds nice, but despite your aching eyes, a fresh knot of tension has twisted your heart up, and you know you won’t find rest until it passes.

“You guys should rest,” you say, voice hoarse. “I’ll take watch.”

Hunter begins, “You don’t have—”

You hold up one hand, and he falls silent. “Please,” you say. “Let me do this.”

Tech offers no argument, and, unlocking his datapad, shuffles out of the cockpit with a mumbled, “Goodnight.” When the door swishes shut behind him, you thud your head back against the headrest. Hunter, though, remains in his seat across from you. You study each other for what could be moments, or could be hours. You don’t know, and right now, you don’t have it in you to care. You’re home; that’s all that matters.

Echo’s words drift to the forefront of your mind. Take care of the kid, Nav. Like you weren’t already planning to do that. But it’s his request that you take care of Hunter that has you stumped. Sure, Echo was the first to realize you harbored a crush on Hunter, but taking care of him? And what was he going to tell you to ask Hunter?

Swallowing against the sudden lump in your throat, you worry your lip. “Hunter.”

His gaze flicks to you. In the blue-white lights of hyperspace, half of his face is hidden in shadow—the un-inked side, giving him an intimidating presence. Or it would be intimidating, if you didn’t recognize the deep well of exhaustion and confusion in his glimmering eyes. His mask has dropped, you realize. Shoulders slumped forward, permanent frown, chest rising with shallow breaths: you’ve never seen him this stressed. Maybe he’s just never shown you this side of him before.

You continue, “Thank you. Really. You didn’t have to come back, and I’m grateful you did. I owe you. All of you.”

He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, pressing his fists against his eyes. He draws the bandana off as he sits up straight again. Free, his curls cascade over his forehead and tumble to his shoulders. You want to freeze him here, take a holoscan, do something to capture the way he looks in this moment. Without the bandana, he looks so...young. Scared.

“You owe us more than that, Nav,” he finally says, voice low and scratchy. “But we came back because we don’t leave one of our own behind.”

You consider his words, weighing your own. Is that what I am, one of yours? is what you want to say. Instead, you sigh. “What about Crosshair?”

“Like you said, he has to make his own decisions.” Hunter searches your face. “We’d welcome him back if that’s the next choice he made.”

There are so many things you want to say in this moment. Apologies, explanations, questions, answers: none of the words feel right, none of them string together in ways that make sense to you. You want to ask about Crosshair’s scars. You want to know every detail of what happened while you were gone. Kriff, you just want him to tell you where you stand.

Slowly, telegraphing every movement before you make it, giving him ample time to get up and leave, you make your way across the cockpit. He merely looks up at you, head tilted to the side. When you raise your eyebrows in your own silent question, he hesitates for only a moment before opening his arms. Trembling, you settle into his lap, much like you had that night on Quantxi. His body is warm, almost hot; his arms are strong where they rest around you. You want to cry.

“Are we going to be okay?” you whisper.

He looks down at you for a long moment. This close, you spy the freckles hidden beneath his tattoo, admire the lines and creases around his eyes, study the depths of his gray irises. He’s so close that his warm breath puffs across your face.

“I was...” He shakes his head, thumping his head back against the seat. “I am angry with you for lying to us—to me. But these past two weeks....” He falls silent again. Then, quietly, so quiet that you’re only certain he speaks because you’re pressed against him: “I missed you more than... more than I thought I would.”

Your heart leaps. “Let me fix this. Let me make everything up to you.”

“I’m not good at this,” he says. “I’m not good at...feelings. Not good with people.”

“You’re good with Omega,” you offer.

His lips twitch. “She’s a clone.”

“Ah, right,” you say. “I’m nat-born, how could I forget?”

“S’not a bad thing,” he says. “But I don’t know if this is something you can fix, Nav. I think this is something that just has to be.”

Biting your cheek, you reach up hesitantly. His cheek is coarse with day-old stubble, but he lets you turn his face towards yours so you can meet his eyes again.

“Then let it be with me,” you say.

He nods and leans forward. You stay absolutely still, freezing in his arms. He presses his forehead to yours briefly, his curls tickling the sides of your face, so close that you’re damn sure he can hear every nerve in your body shrieking. When he pulls back, the soft look he gives you nearly makes you sob.

His expression falls in the next heartbeat, his eyes screwing shut. “One more mistake, Nav, and you won’t ever see us again.”

“I- I understand,” you whisper. Any louder, and you won’t be able to hide the way you’re holding back tears.

He nods. For a second, you think he’s going to accept that as the end of the conversation and stay here with you, to hold up his end of the bargain, to let whatever hurt he needs healing to sit between you. But he nudges you to your feet and, without another glance, disappears into the cargo hold. The near-deafening silence of hyperspace presses in on you, and you sink to your heels, shaking.

Tag list: @the-hexfiles @fjordg @idoubleswearimawriter @skellymom

#tbb hunter x reader #hunter x reader #hunter x gn!reader #second chances #rhiwrites #tbb x reader #the bad batch x reader

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shock · 2 years

Text

I was looking at the comments on that one post i added onto dying at how sketchy people think it is for a young person to be in a field where young people are necessary and vital to bridging the gap between young students and older staff. for change to happen in places of learning you need people who understand the role technology has on students and culture and is able to translate and engage in a way that betters a community 🤣

I don't even have a teaching degree, im a BA social worker and im pursuing a masters degree in education with a concentration in diversity and equity. it is beyond heartbreaking and disgusting that the immediate assumption people who are too online for their own good and are so wrapped up in online community age politics have when I talk about how much I care about and respect my students and children in general, and how being a part of my local community means caring about and seeing how they contribute. I do plenty of stuff with just adults, I have my own gatherings and events and my own social life outside of my students, but I spend a significant amount of my waking hours with them, they are people I have to know how to communicate with and see their perspectives and model for them how to use what they already know and try to do it better.

My position is mobile. I go into a lot of classes, im in the hallways, im in detention spaces, im in the lunch rooms, i run groups, i have students in my office. I tell yo mama jokes with kids to model how a good joke should disarm and add joy, not be told to our students with dead mothers to hurt them, and because it's fun. I play basketball with them to model how an adult can be worse than they are at something and not make it a power struggle, and because its fun. I walk the mile with them if they're having a rough day to support them, to show them its possible, and because its fun. I bring in my own rock collection to give them an experience, to teach them responsibility, and because its fun. I sit in classes for lectures and raise my hand to ask questions to model behavior, and because it's fun to learn. I spend 9 hours a day with them, why should I spend that not engaging with them as fully as I can? They have things to teach me, im always learning, that's how a community works. Everyone teaches everyone.

I go to the grocery store and am excited to see my kids and their families. I have relationships with parents, community leaders (both children and adults, because yes, children can be community leaders and they need adults to help them learn to do well and do safely what they're passionate about), and a lot of my coworkers are the age where they have their own children who come over to my house, from the youngest being an 8 month old baby, all the way up to 18 who needs to see adults closer to her age being happy and successful, not even including the adult children of my colleagues. I'm the same age as many of them.

I live in a community and I worked hard to get here. Young people work in communities and it's not unusual. I have many coworkers who are 20-22, and they're great teachers with great mentors.

It's not weirdly young, it's not unusual to play games with and be involved with the lives of my students while also setting appropriate boundaries, and comments like this so often scream "I hate kids/don't want to be around kids/don't see kids as people and cant imagine why anyone would without a sick ulterior motive" more than they scream "I want to protect kids". If you want to live in a community that is healthy, productive, vibrant, ever-growing, and healing, how can you do that if you don't put time and energy into the future of your community? I spend a significant amount of time protecting kids from abuse, helping them process abuse, helping them heal from trauma, and teaching them how to know their worth and I help them have a voice the times a teacher DOES treat them unfairly. I am their voice at staff meetings because they can't be there.

Kids used to annoy me, scare me, freak me out, and I never wanted to interact with them. For me, healing that mindset involved examining my trauma on my own, and understanding that all of that hatred came from jealousy at the ability to have a normal childhood and a fear that I would hurt kids around me by existing near them because of how much my mother hurt me so deeply. I thought I could never be a parent because I would hurt the way she hurt me. I thought I would ruin joy and love. I healed that hurt, saw the positive impacts I made, and I don't need to feel jealous when childhood actually doesn't end when you are able to be invited into the games they play, have inside jokes, get pranked, prank the kids, prank staff, and experience it authentically. The work is hard and you have to learn when to be serious and when to speak their language, but it's not an either/or. It's both. Same goes for older people, if you care about community you should learn to engage with people who arent your own age.

Change isn't done by someone who wakes up one day at 30 and decides to do that, it starts by telling kids that they matter and that there are things about being a kid that are special and important for everyone so that they don't lose that and become jaded, miserable adults who feel like they have nothing to live for like I was for too long.

#yes this is okay to reblog

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rattle-snake-space · 9 months

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So my little age is 1-4 and my big age is 14 and I just wanted to know if you have any suggestions on how to get pacifiers and a sippy cup ect without my mom knowing because she buys my stuff online :3

Hey kiddo, thanks for the ask. I totally understand wanting kid stuffs to play with! If you think it is going to be very shamed or punished in your household, maybe avoid buying things until you’re older, but here are some tips if you are really wanting to access these things.

1. Buy something in store: you can find pacifiers that are 36 months plus that are decently big enough o be comfortable. They are harder to find but try drug stores and places with extensive baby isles.

2. Consider what your buying: Sippy cups are actually the easier to keep, even right under other people’s noses. They are easy to find at stores, and if you are not picky, there are a lot of toddler cups that pass quite easily as a “childish water bottle” outside of its packaging. Anything with flip up straws and drinking bits can often pass. If you want proper sturdy sippy cups, its as simple as keeping the lids separated. Those solid coloured sippy cups are great because with out the lid it just passes as a plastic cup.

3. Buying adult sized pacifiers online: If you are dead set on getting an adult pacifier, Absolutely Do NOT use your parents card’s and do not buy one if you think that your parents will not be understanding about it and that you could get in serious trouble. If you don’t have a visa debit, go to the store to buy a visa gift card to use online, and order from a third party seller. Like people who sell them decorated on Instagram, this way you can ask for discreet shipping. Make sure the shop is for agere. You don’t want your family concerned that what you are doing is nsfw, and obviously it’s important you don’t enter those spaces as a minor.

4. Be honesty about as much as possible: Don’t hide things that aren’t absolutely necessary. If your family is understanding, no need to hide things like you love for kids movies, or your stuffies or colouring pages, it fosters trust, and it can help them be more understand of your childish side if they already know about it!

5. Be prepared to have an honest conversation about your gear: there is always a chance people will find things. Be prepared to explain how and why you use them, to try and bargain and at least get out of trouble. For pacifiers, try things like “I know it’s odd but it was recommended to me because it prevents teeth grinding (or insert other harmful thing here) while you sleep, and I was having trouble with that”. For kids cups try something like “I know it’s childish but the tip was so much more comfortable and I thought it was cute”.

Sorry this was super long winded but I’ve got lots of thoughts about this. I totally understand not wanting to share this hobby with your family, and as long as you are confident that you’re in a situation where it is safe to have some little gear, I don’t see much harm if you’re thoughtful about it. Make sure you are never putting yourself in danger, or doing anything malicious, or harmful to your health!

#agere #cglre #littlexspace #sfw caregiver #caregiver blog #carerxsmol #petre #age regression #he speaks #age regressor

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thelittlemermage · 1 year

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Actually, I do completely understand how and why Gen Z came to feel the way they do about internet/fandom culture. I just think their solution to fixing the issue is misguided and more reactionary than solution-oriented based on personal trauma. The open internet and fandom culture itself was never built for small children to be able to safely wander around in. There were specific spaces for children like Neopets, Disney.com games, stuff like that. You wouldn’t have a little kid on social media. There was no social media. You’d have forums and myspace at best. Youtube was literally built because the creator wanted to show an uncensored nip slip. So the idea of protecting children was not a necessity because children were not online yet in the way adults or older teenagers were online.

What happened was technology progresses at and extremely fast rate. Faster than you can move around content on the internet or develop a different culture where kids are expected to just be around. And this unfortunately happened alongside child-friendly sites being eliminated. I’d say even with those sites tho, no one should have ever been giving two year olds ipads with unrestricted internet access. None of these kids should have been in the position to be able to come across fandom porn without their parents noticing. That’s crazy to me. My parents would check what sites I was visiting on our family computer. I think these kids were failed by ignorant parents and just...our ability to create technology faster than we know what to do with it. I think it’s horrifying we have a generation of kids who were all exposed to porn at a young age. I think a lot of things they say and do are because it fucked up their view of sex. And that’s not their fault, but I think a lot of young adults probably need to be in therapy about it and idk if they’re aware. Attacking art on the internet can’t heal your inner child. But I’m getting ahead of things.

I think we can all agree a lot of shit came to a head with MLP fandom. Those guys generated an unprecedented amount of porn, even for fandom. And this was also at a time when a lot of kids were now online and looking up their favorite shows. I don’t think there could be worse timing for anything. I don’t even want to say MLP fandom was all bad, a lot of them dedicated time to rounding up nsfw images that show up in google search and reporting it. But it was definitely a huge shitshow that I think molded a lot of people’s ideas of cartoon porn on the internet.

I still find the idea of a “kid’s fandom” oxymoronic because until recently a fandom for any cartoon would not be a “kid’s fandom”. It would be a fandom of adults and teens talking about a show that as aimed at kids, but no one would find that particularly relevant. Because the people present were not young kids. Animaniacs was actually one of the first big fandoms on the internet and it was big with college students. (Btw I feel like someone is going to purposefully start something because I keep referring to kids and teens separately. This is because there is obviously a huge difference developmentally in what content say a 7 year old and a 17 year old can handle. Whether or not a 17 year old should look at adult content, it’s not going to fuck them up the way it would a prepubescent child. I think that’s obvious. Trust and believe I’d look at a lot of shit I wasn’t supposed to as a teen and that was a purposeful choice on my part. I don’t have any particular regrets about this and I don’t feel any disgust towards sexual content, nor did I at the time. But if I was a little kid and it was being shoved in my face at random, I imagine I’d have to shit to work through. So for clarity, that’s what I mean.) I think fandom in the current year would look at something like patb fandom and be like “yea, a kid’s show for kids. It’s a kid fandom.” Maybe it would be currently, idk, but until now everyone here was in their 20′s and 30′s because it’s a show from the 90′s. So I do think there’s a culture gap in the understanding of what a fandom even looks like.

Ultimately tho, and this is my opinion based on living through all of it so far, I don’t think the problem is with the type of content people make. Frankly, having grown up in a time when every other fic was untagged noncon (because believe it or not, it’s a very common fetish and I promise that has not changed as much as people act shocked and outraged by it now. The same amount of people are still into it. They’re just in an environment where all their friends would come after them if they knew and they aren’t stupid. So they join in attacking others, but just know a lot of your friends do read it on the side, regardless of what they say publicly. 🤷‍♀️I see those kudos.) and I’ve never been as disgusted and genuinely distressed by that as I have with how real living people are treated in fandom today. It makes me sick to my stomach the things people do to each other. Fanfic and fanart have NEVER triggered me. This shit does. That CANNOT be the solution. It’s an impossible fight to begin with to eliminate everything you don’t like from fandom. And really things have come a long way with tagging believe it or not. I can avoid things like never before. So actually going out of your way to attack something you don’t NEED to look at just because it exists is just stupid to me. I’m not sure how purposefully looking at stuff you hate actually helps you with not seeing the things you hate. People obviously won’t agree with me, but I don’t think your art defines your morals. Art can be/mean anything, and I don’t personally want to live in a world that dictates “immoral” art as illegal because it’s obvious where that sort of thing can lead and it’s not pretty. (I do not necessarily agree with everything people make. I just think censorship is ultimately worse like...as far as real world ramifications go.) What you do to other people determines what kind of person you are. It’s weird this is even an unpopular opinion, but it is. You can treat others like absolute trash and still be seen as a good person so long as they “deserved it” for making The Wrong Kind Of Art. Which varies depending on which fandom you’re in anyway. And I really can’t get behind hurting people for reasons that are often so arbitrary to me.

I think the issue is just. The internet exists and kids are on it and there’s no place for them. And I really don’t know what the solution for that is. Because fandom aside, the internet is the internet. There are random porn ads on any given site, tiktok can lead you down an alt right rabbit hole in a matter of hours, twitter is....twitter lol. It’s a hostile environment for anyone these days tbh. I don’t think kids should be exposed to any of that. I think childhood is shrinking in our culture. Kids don’t have a tween phase anymore. It’s like you’re a kid and then you’re expected to look and act like a mini adult. It’s sad to me. I think that’s why a lot of people want to recapture some type of innocence and childhood. You were pushed out of it way too fast. There’s some state I think that was proposing children be banned from the internet until they’re 18. While that would be cool for me, I think that’s dangerous in a different way given how a lot of extreme alt right parents are starting to homeschool their kids. I think it’s more about putting a stopper on information than about protecting kids. And I think this would have a devastating effect on queer kids in particular. So idk. There has to be something in between we can do.

More than anything I wish we could all work together to try to fix this because I don’t think people WANT to see kids get hurt. We’re all on the same side at the end of the day. But I think the environment is too hostile to actually achieve anything useful atm. 🤷‍♀️I think that sucks. I’d love for fandom to be a fun and close-knit community again. It’s something that always meant a lot to me growing up and I think it’s sad people can no longer have what I had. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

#these aren't in any way fighting words lol #I think it's a really important conversation and I do wish more people were having it #even if you disagree with me #tho tbh I doubt anyone who generally disagrees with me will be reading all that lol #people do not like when I get all wordy :p #Kind of funny imo. But I have a lot of thoughts on things so 🤷‍♀️#if any of you can be polite tho I do encourage conversation #generally I think people just fundamentally misunderstand each other

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bunny-heels · 3 months

Text

all my blogs are finally fully backed up so.

Matt is a fucking idiot. imagine being in charge of a website that advertises itself as the gayest place on the web when in reality all you do is sulk in your office being upset and whiny because people rightfully call you out on your hypocrisy, ignorance, neglect, and blatant bigotry.

there is a literal genocide happening that's been going on for years killing innocent people. a non-binary teen was beaten to death and the killers have basically gotten off free. and this fucking dumbass decides to worry about what people are saying about him online as if he isn't sitting in a pile of money like every other jackass CEO is dong. the fact Palestine isn't one of the listed trending tags on tumblr when i see news about it every 5 posts is ridiculous.

he's just like any other rich guy. he doesn't care about the wellbeing of others, thinks only for himself, puts others down when they feel threatened, and just wants more money.

tumblr stopped being a safe place for "outcasted" people years ago, even before the porn ban. in fact, maybe it never really was for outcated people. trans, black, and disabled users have been getting put down by this site for a very long time, and its fucking disgusting. this site literally houses the largest percentage of LGBT+ and disabled users i've ever seen if we're going by the polls where literally the option of cisgender and neurotypical is always under 1%. they literally are the reason this website still exist, because they've created their circles and safe spaces for them to feel comfortable sharing their life experiences and adventures through life.

most people on this site can't go a day in their real life without some form of harassment or hardship, they don't need that transferring to their digital life. every group of people deserves their own corner for them to have fun and get away from everything for a while. if that's taken away, you are left with people who are just throwing tantrums, and the actual users who made your site usable are now out there probably doing better than you and getting more respectable support than you will with your group of crying babies.

Matt is not a 13 year old kid running a GMod DarkRP server. Matt is not a 26 year old forum mod. he is a 40 year old CEO who is the founder of a well known blog creation site. he has an extremely important and powerful position, yet he is choosing to put his own immature feelings first before thinking about the safety of his own userbase that is literally used as this sites selling point.

the fucking audacity to do this shit to your own users that you literally use for a selling point when you won't even allow for certain tags to show up in the search because you claim for them to have sexual content meanwhile other tags are full of hatred, bigotry, and downright defamation of innocent people who just happen to live different lives is fucking gross. i absolutely cannot believe society and social norms have let the minds of people in power get this fucking bad. it's almost impressive, in a tortured lab monkeys way, not in an innovated and breakthrough way.

please protect all trans users, especially trans women/trans fems. please protect black users, disabled users, all people of color users, homeless/financially struggling users, harassed users, victims of assault users, Palestinian users, jewish users, any religious users-any user that you know for a fact could be thrown away by this bullshit system any day now, protect and take care of them, and make sure they know you'll always be there no matter what.

this post will be rebloggable because i want to pass these links.

palestine related links:

arab.org

gofundmes

esims

PCRF

funds for gaza

POC related links:

BHM mutual aid

american indian college fund

black family mutual aid

trans related links:

freedom oklahoma

transformationskc

trans liberation

suggestions for more plus any corrections are appreciated. reblogging and replying to add your own links for mutual aid and donations is extremely acceptable and encouraged. i apologize if anything in this is worded incorrectly.

if this is taken down despite me being a cis straight chick, you know why.

#the bun talks #god my brain is fried #anyway for my mutuals if i DO get fucked over from this #my carrd has links to my other socials

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manstrans · 10 months

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I feel like “children should not have their privacy in the hands of Uber controlling parents that are basically stalking them and causing them harm” and “the internet is not safe for children and they should not have social media accounts until a certain age/parents should learn to allow their children agency while monitoring their safety online with a healthy communication model and/or monitoring their social media usage” are things that can and should coexist. But also abusive parents just shouldn’t have kids LMAO but you don’t need me to say that.

And there must also be a dialogue about how on the internet children who are not an appropriate age to be left unsupervised are consistently exposed to content (I was I was younger being a liveleak kid, and now there is/was Ankha Zone and Cupcakke memes on tiktok or the few instances of graphic gore and death footage being passed around) that they should not be seeing. I should not have been seeing 8 year olds talking graphically about sex the way I was on platforms like tiktok.

“But children deserve a place on the internet,” people may say — to which I agree, but you’re also talking about the same internet where shit like Ankha Zone was exposed to young children and I was exposed to actual IRL gore when I was 5-11.

“Children deserve a place on the internet” absolutely can, should and must co-exist with acknowledging how unsafe the internet is for them, because no matter how hard we advocate for filtering and tagging and stuff like that there will always be someone somewhere who will find their way around it.

We must also recognize that parental safety features, while they can and WILL be used by people that most certainly should NOT have kids, are also very important — what about parents who are not cruel overbearing assholes? What if they have an open communication model as I’ve mentioned before with mutual respect etc etc and they DO have a good relationship and therefore are capable of using these tools for the advantages of both parent and child? What if for a moment these tools could prevent someone from turning out like a liveleak kid or what have you if they were handled in the right hands by a parent who isn’t a helicoptery abusive shitstain?

Idk it’s hard to articulate but it is a very wide and nuanced argument and I feel like a lot of people miss out on the capability of using these types of things for good because they get so caught up in how it will be used for evil by people who should, again, not have kids. It’s also so hard to try and bring up how these tools can be useful and healthy for the child (again if the parent and child have a good relationship built on open communication trust and respect and the parent isn’t you know hovering constantly) without someone wanting to tunnel vision on something and call me an abuser for just… advocating for the safety of children online and how certain tools can be used for such when the internet is full of people (see: trolls) who will do anything to get around filtering?

Idk I do hope this made sense I did just wake up from an afternoon nap LMAO.

I get what you're getting at, but tbh it's also like... there's a huge difference between a 10 year old and a 13 year old using the internet. at the point where a child is going to be talking to people online, especially people they met through the internet, they should already be old enough to have this as a space away from their parents strict watch

sure, you can ask your kid before monitoring what they do online, but are they allowed to say no? and if they are, do they know they're allowed to? has there been a previous pattern of not letting them say no and set boundaries that could make them think that saying no will, at best, do nothing?

will monitoring them in this way even protect them? how are you supposed to know that someone is a predator just from their icon and username? does being able to pry just at that information make your child free like you don't trust them, so they must hide anything that could cause even less trust or more shame? not to mention teaching them that this kind of spying is okay as long as the person doing it has power over them

and even if you could answer all of those confidently that there's no inherent harm, there's still going to be bad people abusing it. it doesn't matter that some parents might use it responsibly, we know that many parents are going to use it to control and traumatize their kids. and abusive partners could use it to track their significant other as well, this is also basically a given

when I weigh any potential good against any certain bad, it just isn't worth it in my eyes

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blindedbythedarkness · 10 months

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The Undeniable Dystopia is Here.

Life is bad. Like shockingly, horrifyingly bad. Growing up really felt like living through a series of unfortunate events- I was certainly repeatedly traumatized. But I never had to fight for my life every single day. That's where we are right now, and yet 95% of people can't or won't acknowledge reality. Hell really is empty and all the devils are here.

We live in a cesspit of plague. That's the state of the entirity of the Western world. I didn't want it at the start because I knew I was more "vulnerable" to its effects. Now I'd avoid it with just as much effort even if I was the healthiest person on Earth. The vaccines didn't stop the death, they just made it slower so people wouldn't notice.

All around me the effects are obvious. Everyone is ill. "The worst colds ever" and "the first year they've ever had hayfever". Quality of life is plummeting. Life expectancy is plummeting. Workers shortages. The internet full of people begging society to change course but incapable of leaving their beds to plead in person. Babies born tiny and starved, the effects on their brains untold. Kids collecting autoimmune diseases like pokemon cards. More Strep. More RSV. Kid after kid with their limbs stripped to the bone to stop the bacteria killing the rest of them. Brain damage termed just "brain fog." Friends of friends dropping dead. Strokes galore.

But you only see it if you're willing to open your eyes.

I can't study safely. I can't sit my exams without risking another hit of the virus that has already left me more disabled. It's not safe to go to the shops. It's not safe to sit in my own garden without a mask. It's not safe to go to the hospital- I know for sure because that's where I caught it last time. Every possible step forward, every possible move, every single day, involves a level of risk I couldn't comprehend 4 years ago.

I don't have PTSD, because we are not 'post'. The trauma is still growing.

At uni, I sit there in full PPE. PPE I spent more money on than I can afford, as someone who lives on less than minimum wage. I look around the room for the seat with the best ventilation, the best chance of air flow. I'm not religious, but I pray. Because I cannot afford to become even more disabled and I cannot afford to disable the person I love most. And then in filter 200 people who no longer care who they hurt with what they spread. Most avoid me- an uncomfortable reminder of the ongoing horror. One decides to sit next to me, coughing, excitedly asking me if I will be joining them for post-exam drinks. Indoors. Unmasked. We live in parallel worlds and yet they cannot even acknowledge that much.

They jet off abroad. Go to clubs. Have a sniffle but visit gran anyway. I pay attention when watching shows set in other dystopias, taking note of how to clean and suture a wound at home if needed. We cannot risk the hospital. I grow vegetables as the online prices rise and we cannot risk a trip to the store. I'm reminding my family what's at stake and begging them to protect themselves because I can't lose anyone else. And I'm praying.

Once again, just like when I was a teen, I find my comfort in misunderstood monsters and outcasts. The lonely characters that the world hates, who break down in tears when shown an ounce of kindness. I get wrapped up in the fantasy of having a safe space where I can finally let my guard down just for a minute. Where I can finally feel seen and see a bearable future. And when I see their visible scars, I feel them too, and I struggle against the urge to make more of my own.

There's no one coming to help me though and no safety in sight. There is just endurance. Even what remains of the mental health service is useless- why would I explain my pain to someone likely happily spreading the very virus that has created this hell? And I can't ask for support from my uni- they've made their views clear that this is my "anxiety" and I'm merely "overly cautious".

But I caught it, so not cautious enough. And it damaged my already disabled body further, so not anxious enough.

The undeniable dystopia is here and there is no end in sight.

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agro-carnist · 1 year

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Hey just wanted to send some support, bc this entire thing has been ridiculous. Saw the callout posts and like.... the only question I had when ppl were talking about the stuff you post was ''okay but does he warn for it properly?'' so i checked your twitter and saw the several warnings as well as the blur you had to click to even see the actual art and like..... yeah. At that point I went okay? What is these ppl's problem?

The absolutely only point I saw that I kind of agreed with was that you shouldn't interact with minors from that account (but even there I assumed it was a mistake and you've said you'd be more careful about it so all good)

Idk maybe I'm weird but I literally do not care what fucked up things people draw or write as long as it's properly warned for and doesn't actually hurt anyone - and no ''a child might potentially see it if they ignore the warnings'' doesn't count as hurting anyone. I clicked through ''yes i'm 18'' warnings as a kid and saw some fucked up shit i wasn't ready for and I learned from it not to just click through warnings without considering if I really wanted to see what was behind them. Sometimes you only learn not to touch the hot stove top by getting burned. Doesn't mean we shouldn't cook anymore.

Yeah beyond content warnings and keeping it in an nsfw space it's outside my responsibility. Teenagers are going to try and look for that kind of stuff and that's normal but I'm going to block any minors I see. It's the responsibility of parents to teach their kids to be safe online and monitor their online activity if need be. I won't facilitate a space that minors are a part of but I can't stop them from searching for nsfw

It's also not my job to coddle you (general) if you deliberatey ignore warnings and choose to interact with content you know will disturb you. That's on you. I won't feel bad for you no matter how much you cry about it unsettling you. If I were sending this to people unsolicited that would be a different matter but I'm not. To my understanding some people seem to have seen my t*gerstar/sc*urge art through a discord server where it was shared uncensored and seem to blame me for that even though I was not the one to share it. It's apparently also on e621 which I also did not post there and did not know was there until recently and also don't know who posted it. But it is a blacklisted submission meaning you have to 1) be logged in 2) consciously undo the blacklist for gore and 3) likely had to be searching for something involving warriors or feral anyway due to the nature of the content and how e621 images are tagged. So it makes me think "what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament?"

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the-trans-advice-blog · 1 month

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Long Vent, apologies in advance (feel free to ignore this):

I'm a bit worried about whether I can transition (legally and medically) cause I live in south africa and I'm just scared the seemingly lack of formalized trans healthcare is gonna fuck stuff up for me, doesn't really help that I everyone I know and know of irl is cis, every single person besides me is cis. And my non-transphobic parents still don't believe that I'm not their little girl even after being out to them for about 2 years. And they're the most liberal family members i have, the rest are extremely conservative and transphobic. And I'm just fucking scared. For fucks sake I don't even have the guarantee of hearing or reading my name anywhere each day. Like atleast I've got a few friends who are extremely supportive of me (one of them continuesly telling me that she does not understand why anyone ever thinks I'm a girl cause I already pass as a cis guy lol) and it fucking sucks that my school is a conservative Christian school (not like america public schools can be religious here) where I was the second "girl" to have a short haircut in the entire school and it's a massive fucking school. Counting me atleast there's 4 people who have short "boy" hair and have to wear the girls' uniform. On that topic I fucking hate that I can't be out to teachers, the teachers regularly make horribly transohobic comments without being prompted to or even knowing about the one half-out trans kid (me). Like i hear shit like teachers saying they believe trans people are truly sick in the head and that they want kids to out their trans friends (luckily my friends are nice enough not to do that) and I hate the girl's uniform I gotta wear and I hate it all and I've still gotta deal with high school for 2 and ¾ years. And idk my mental health has been really bad lately and this all doesn't help, and i love being trans, I just want to atleast be tolerated for it amd have a bit more stable future planned in terms of transition. And I want my parents to fucking be able to help with that, they're wonderful parents otherwise sonjwnush I could just rely on them a little for some of this shit.

idk I'm just scared and tired and dysphoric and I feel very very alone

(On another note, I appreciate your blog a lot, you're cool)

I’m really sorry to hear you’re going through this. Obviously there’s nothing I can say to make it magically better but I hope you do know there’s a huge community out there who’s happy to support you in whatever ways we can. I’m not sure how safe online spaces are for you if your family is conservative but you’ll always have a safe space here to talk about whatever you need to. I hope one day you can get out if you want to, or that something’s changes in the area you’re in. High school is the worst, especially being trans, but I know that you can get through it! I’m really happy you have some supportive friends, and if I were you I’d maybe try to make some online ones if you haven’t already just because it seems like the people around you won’t be very safe.

I wish you luck on your journey and I really hope things get better for you.

#marshal answers

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danbisroom · 1 month

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Ep. 13 - If You Believe In It It’s Enough, You Will Find Your Way

Hello my beloved fellow souls,

welcome back to Danbi’s Room, your weekly dose of safe space. Go grab a cup of something warm and get yourself cosy.

I hope you had a chill week and that you aren’t stressing too much. Also, if you’re a Stay, I hope you were able to attend Magic School fan-meeting, whether online or off-line. To be completely honest I’m still positively speechless after watching it this morning. All I can say, putting it into words, is that I love this family.

To be completely honest, I was in dire need of some kind of booster. Yes, I do have some post-event blues, but who doesn’t? To every emotion its counterpart. Anyway…the point is that I’ve been sick lately, both mentally and physically. I’m deteriorating with an astonishing calmness. When you love people so dearly, seeing them fall shatters your heart, even when you’re 100% sure they’re going to get back up and stand even taller. My dad, who’s actually included in this group, once jokingly told me: “It’s crazy, among your friends, there isn’t even one who doesn’t have problems.”. By “problems” he meant life-crippling problems. Stuff that could potentially altogether destroy your life at any given moment. Stuff he experienced as well. There was no reproach in his voice of course. If there was any feeling it was sorrow for my friends and pride for me. I’m very grateful for that. My parents’ biggest aspiration for me is that I can help people. I know that if I suddenly changed all of my plans to help a friend out they would support me. And objectively, without them, I would have never been able to do some of the things I did for the people I love. And, most importantly, I wouldn’t be who I am, I wouldn’t think this way. I do have many dreams. I really wanna do a lot of things but please believe me when I say my biggest dream is to see my loved ones achieve theirs and be happy.

Yes, this attitude got me some fake idiots along the way, but the more you grow, the more you learn how to actually understand who’s part of your pack and who isn’t, who’s there to stay and who’s there just to offer you the opportunity to learn a lesson. I regret nothing.

Because it’s me, I am the “friend without problems”. I have the strength and the time to share heavy weights. You see, these beautiful people I’m talking about believe many horrible narratives about themselves: they assume they aren’t worthy of the love they receive, they shut their dreams off deeming them vain and vile, they silence their own voice, as if it was undeserving to move through their vocal cords, let alone be heard.

Every time I hear their inner children silently screaming I’m always on the verge of sobbing uncontrollably. I’m still sloppy in handling this, I never manage to do everything I’d like to do for my loves, but I feel I’m slowly getting better though - I used to be much sloppier in the past.

Now I just take them in. There’s a secret garden inside my soul, a happy neverland with a happy pond to watch the rays of the sun blink to the sky embroidered with pink clouds. There’s little me, happy to have all of these other kids around. The only sad memory is that the little wolf cub is trapped: he was the first to get here but he will probably have to stay forever. There’s another wolf cub now, and I hope they can become friends with time, he’s been the last to arrive so far. Then there’s a beautiful butterfly with puffy cheeks, and another puffy-cheeked sweetie with black locks, and then there’s little goldilocks me. To be fair fair there’s also another goldilocks, but he’s still a bit shy. They play together and hug each other and laugh watching sunsets. I will protect them at all costs and it’s for them that I live. I don’t care how crazy and mad this might seem. I know it’s the right thing to do. And I’m always amazed at how patient they and their adult bodies are when I crumble under my own weight. Sometimes I’m weak and despite having the world against them, they still collect my pieces, every single time.

I really can’t think of a person luckier than I am.

They don’t deserve this misery.

I’ll make the kids happy, whatever it takes.

Today’s song recommendation is L’Isola Che Non C’è by Edoardo Bennato. A childhood favourite of little goldilocks Danbi. It talks about Neverland and about dreams. Hit me up if you can’t find an English translation!

I hope you enjoyed this episode and that you have a beautiful week ahead of you!

I’ll see you in the next one, big hug!

With love, yours,

Danbi

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prismuffin · 1 year

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OwO Anon, we need to stop sharing the same brain cell. I had it before my shift, did you take it??

Anyways, I noticed some of your tags and stuff about your snake and how crazy things have been for you. I'm not stalking your blog, I swear... I just have notifications on..

Please use this ask box message, to rant/ vent about what you are okay with sharing!

Because, you seem like the type to not bring up shit in conversation, snice you'll feel like an asshole if you took up space in a convo.

- Crow

CROW LMFAO not you calling me out perfectly with that last sentence-

yeah I practically have no one to talk to because of my current situation and I feel bad for ranting whenever but I'll take the invite and rant a bit- so with that in mind, you can ignore everything under the cut but thank you for this vent ask!

But yeah there's just a lot happening right now and it's all making me feel really bad which in turn is making me feel worse because I feel like I have no right to feel bad??

Things are pretty wild with my family right now- for some context my family is pretty big with my parents having 10 kids in total- my mom didn't have all 10 and all of my siblings are half siblings so growing up I was the only one with both of my parents present- the rest of my siblings were only related to my dad or mom. Now that mostly everyone has moved out or is living with their mom/dad they're trying to go into their retirement plan and the only problem with that is I'm still here!

my parents are trying to live in the US for certain parts of the year and in Mexico for the other parts which is totally fine but it's completely uprooting my life and I have no idea what to do. I already dropped out of my school because my depression was worsening (like it got real bad) and I couldn't take it anymore so I left it for college prep (which is online and allows me to control my hours and how much work I do) so I lost contact with most of my friends then and I'm losing time with all my other ones because I'm in a different country for half of the year- and in said country I also have no friends and the one friend I did make is leaving for Portugal so I can't hang out with them anymore.

Me moving countries/traveling often means that I have to sell most of my stuff since I won't always be in a place for too long. I already had to give away my dog and now I'm gonna have to sell my snake as well and it's terrible because I'm very attached to both of my pets. I also have to get rid of all of my clothes and throw practically everything in my room away to make moving easier and once again I'm very attached to all my stuff so it's really stressful.

I don't like to complain about all of this though because I think I sound ungrateful. Like- Wow, you get to travel the world often and at such a young age without having to worry about school? That sounds soooo hard, you're struggling sooo much. I feel like shit for hating the traveling because I know there's people that would do anything to be in my position and to see some super cool places that my parents are planning on living in for a while but the whole thing is really uprooting the comfortable life I built for myself within the comfort of my room with my snake and dog and classes that I could control. In a way it's like they're taking all of my control. I feel like I have none of it and in a way I kinda don't.

The whole thing is making my depression come back in full force- I was going to therapy for a bit but then that stopped.

Then there's the one time I was literally crying at a huge birthday dinner for one of my parents friends and no one noticed at all and at the end of the night I got yelled at in the middle of the street because I just wanted to walk home after the dinner instead of walking to the hosts house to continue the party. Random tangent I know but I think that's the night my depression fully came back and hit in the face.

Writing is a safe thing for me, I enjoy it and I enjoy making content for others and writing for myself even, at times. Recently I haven't been able to do much of that though not only because of school but also my motivation is dropping bit by bit which is why after these requests I might take break from writing while things sort themselves out in my life. I'll still be active on Tumblr and doing asks and such but writing full fics for others might take me some time!

But yeah, that's some of the things that are happening that I'm comfortable talking about. I feel like this post is too long already so I won't get into the other stuff that actually led to my depression worsening but-

thanks Crow! Even if you didn't read this I suppose it's a bit better to get this off of my chest.

#what can I say #Pris got Probs #thanks crow #personal rant #just some extra btw:#I was on my own for a bit and it was fine but then my parents got back and now it's all “get rid of the snake” “have you sold your pc yet?”#theres also some stuff with my ex and her relapsing and me wanting to reach out and help her but not knowing how #the way we ended things make them kinda complicated but hopefully I can get her a gift or smth for when she's out of the ward

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