#'but they shouldn't like that!' we they do! for whatever reason they do!

[buckttommy]

i don't think i really understand pr and what actors should and shouldn't say. why is what oliver's saying so wild?

Hi, it's okay. I'll walk you through it. The tl;dr version is written in bold.

So. PR, or, Public Relations, is the dynamic between the general public (us) and any entity that has interests to protect (in this case, that would be the network + 911). PR teams are designed to ensure the relationship between the public and [their entity] is as harmonious as possible. Happy relationship, happy consumer, happy company.

Because keeping the peace is the intention of good pr, pleasant ambiguity is the name of the game. People can speculate, and people can guess, but no one should ever be able to look back at your words and claim that you've given a definitive answer on anything—good or bad—because definitive statements can harm the entity's bottom line, whatever that may be.

Oliver is very good at keeping the peace between the network and the public. We know this because we have seen evidence supporting this fact for years. He always says a little bit of what everyone wants to hear—he'll keep things vague (plausible deniability) for the sake of the network, while also giving nods of support and encouragement to the fandom without promising anything. You know how he's talked about being cautious and aware of what he's saying in interviews because he knows the impact it could have? Okay, well, aside from wanting to avoid "queerbaiting" allegations, this is part of the reason. PR is a very delicate game and he plays it very well.

Or at least he did.

Right now, Oliver is using binoculars to identify the line, making sure the line is exactly where he left it, and then taking a giant wrecking ball to it. Because now, Oliver is saying things that should absolutely not be said in interviews, or to anyone in the general public, at all. Now, he's elevating the conversation from pure speculation, to actively confirming and placing the blame at people's feet for things that have gone on behind the scenes.

Saying that Buck's Queer storyline was floated years ago? Huge no-no. Why? You were on tumblr yesterday. You can see why. People were angry, and people were hurt, but most importantly, people started to ask questions. We started to look at past arcs, past moments in Buck and in Buck and Eddie's relationship (because, whether you like it or not, Buck's queerness is and always has been tangentially linked to the existence of Buddie) to try and pinpoint when/how his queer arc could have launched. Now. Most of us have been here for years, so we can easily look back at the show and see where it's pretty damn obvious how Buck's Queer arc could have launched, depending on the arc(s), the characters at the time, things that were going on outside of the show (re: Oliver liking Buddie edits before/after the shooting), etc.

But we're not the only ones who are reading these interviews. Other people—casual fans, new fans, people who don't give a damn at all and are just clicking around on the internet—are going to look at these interviews, they're going to look at the things Oliver is saying, and they're going to have the same questions that we had. When could this have happened? And, more importantly, why didn't it? To keep it simple: everyone is going to start looking a little closer at the man behind the curtain, and the network does not want that.

Now, sure, it could be argued that, "hey, 911 isn't with FOX anymore, so maybe Oliver is allowed to say these things." But that's not really how it works. Sure, he might have a bit more leeway (as in, a microscopic, so-small-it-might-as-well-be-insignificant amount of leeway) to say whatever it is he wants, but this isn't the first time a major transfer/acquisition has occurred, and there are safeguards in place (such as NDA's—Non-Disclosure Agreements—which often do not expire for years post-acquisition, depending on the entity they're protecting) to prevent him from harming FOX's bottom line. So, that reasoning rings hollow. Especially because, now, it's not just FOX he's pulling into the fray either.

In the article that dropped today, he openly acknowledges this thing between Buck and Eddie in Season 7. And at this point, we're well into ABC's era. So the fact that he's saying, "I went to Tim and asked if there's something I can play with when Eddie says he's going on a date"—that's odd behavior from him. Not necessarily bad, just odd. And after years of toeing the line, the question that has to be asked now is why? And, more importantly, why now?

Does this mean that Buddie is going canon? Not necessarily (and, before anyone freaks out, I'm not saying it's not going canon either; I'm just saying this isn't an indication). But The Buddie Problem, at least, in the way Oliver is addressing it, is something the Higher Ups would want to keep quiet for as long as possible, for whatever reason. Maybe because they intend to go forward with it. Maybe because they don't. But the fact that he's cracking the shades open and letting light through is deeply fascinating.

But, despite all this, it's important, also, to realize that, even with demolishing the good PR line he's always walked so carefully, Oliver still isn't promising us anything. He's still treading carefully regarding how we, Buddie shippers, will interpret his words. He's not claiming Buddie canon is a go and it'd be remiss to think that's the implication here when it's not. He's not that stupid, and he's not that cruel. But all of it is very curious.

So that's why a lot of us are looking at each other, and then looking at Oliver, wondering what the hell he's doing. Because he knows better, and we know he knows better. We know he's very good at playing this delicate game but right now, he's making moves that are... intriguing... to say the least. And it's not just him, even though he's the main culprit. 9-1-1's move to ABC—and this entire press junket since 7x4—has been rife with sensitive information being released to the public, starting with Lou's untrained self revealing that it was supposed to be Eddie and Tommy that were going to get together, and circling back around to... literally every single word Oliver has uttered in the past three weeks.

So. It's odd! As you can see. So I'm sitting back, and I'm waiting and seeing because something is happening behind the scenes, and I don't know what it is (and I don't even think it's bad!) but it is still very much happening. So.

#god this was so long and i'm so fucking late for work #jack answers mail #tv: 911 #oliver stark

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for yelling and threatening my dad because he keeps spitting in the toilet?

For context, I (18) live at home with my parents (Dad: 50 / Mom: 53) and my twin (also 18). I've never gotten along well with my dad for a multitude of reasons, and we regularly clash because of opposing ideals and beliefs. My dad is also a smoker, which is why he tends to cough and spit a lot, and my mom either buys him cigarettes or gives him money to buy some for himself.

Within the last 6 months(ish?), my dad's taken to spitting in the toilet and leaving it in there without flushing. He's NEVER done this previously, and has generally been respectful of how he spits up until recently. So, every time one of us has to pee or whatever, we gotta see his spit and bloody phlegm in the toilet. And it's not just that one toilet, he does it in BOTH bathrooms so we literally can't escape it.

I've tried talking to him privately about this, but he doesn't care and ignores me. My sister and mom have complained about it because it's disgusting, but he laughs us off. Every single one of us has asked him to flush or spit somewhere else, but he tunes out and keeps doing it despite this. We've asked him so many times to stop now that I can't even give you an number.

Yesterday was the breaking point. I was already pissed for reasons unrelated to this, but when I walked into the bathroom there was a huge ball of spit there and other smaller ones floating it there. I was so disgusted and mad, and he knew I would be because he was sitting right outside! And he was smiling and laughing, like my disgust was funny somehow!!

I turned right around and went off at him about how his habit isn't funny and is disrespectful to everyone, and that if he wants to keep disrespecting us then I'll convince my mom to not buy him cigarettes anymore since he keeps coughing up stuff. He said that that's cruel and that I'm just being sensitive, but I'm very clearly not being sensitive if my sibling and mom agree with me. He said that he doesn't want to flush the toilet if he spits in it once, but he very clearly spat in it multiple times, and even if he was concerned about wasting water then spit in the trash or something!!

The argument stopped when he left and went upstairs, and me and my twin were left downstairs. He said that I could've handled that better, but she was glad that I said that to him because she was very close to confronting him herself. I told my mom about this today, and for some reason she thinks that I was being mean and that while she understands that I was angry, I shouldn't have threatened him like that. I told her she can just not buy cigarettes for him until he stops, but even the mere thought of him not getting cigarettes is enough for my mom to be upset with me.

So, aita for this? I get that I could've handled this situation better, but I don't think he should keep getting rewarded with cigarettes for not respecting our shared space and house.

#aita #am i the asshole #unsanitary cw

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

One way to have "diverse" characters in you story without sounding preachy or woke is to avoid making the antogonist a strawman of whatever political faction you consider """"evil""""""

For example, if my character is a trans man, there is no way, the antagonist would be Mr. or Mrs. Transphobe.

That´ll be boring and predictable.

The absolute best way to do diversity (if you must) is to write a character first, then just make them black, trans, gay, or whatever. And yes, to have the antagonist be a character also that isn't just a stand in for homophobia or racism or whatever. Boring and predictable, like you said.

I remember after The Butler became a hit, Lee Daniels said he wanted his next movie to be an action film with a gay male protagonist. The way he described it made it sound like a straight forward, typical action movie, just with the main character having a male love interest instead of a female one. It never got made, as far as I know, but I think back on it from time to time and wonder if that could have been a "diverse" movie done right. Where the focus is on the plot and the characters and the action and the diversity stuff is just one facet of the character, instead of literally the entire character and the main focus of the movie. Sadly, these days, it's almost impossible to trust that anything with "diverse" characters isn't going to be filled with woke writing and the same diversity committee approved plot points we see in basically everything these days. One of the reasons I'm still mad that Netflix canceled Archive 81 is because it was a series with a black lead who was a fully realized character, and his race never came into the story at all. Yes, the rich white man ended up being the bad guy, but there was nothing racial about it. It was just a casting decision. That character could have been any race or either gender and the character would have been exactly the same. Same with the protagonist. To me, that's what writing should be. Unless the story is specifically about a certain race or gender (ie, you probably shouldn't write a race-neutral MLK biopic) then the race or gender of the characters shouldn't come into play within the story at all.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Unless I missed something, it seems you don't have anything about Rita Skeeter in your HP masterposts (other than "what if JKR was Rita").

I'm wondering what you think of her? I feel like I barely even remember her in canon, but fanfic uses her for everything under the sun.

You know, I think you're right anon.

Generally, she's unscrupulous as hell and will do nearly anything to chase down a story regardless of the devastation it may cause an individual (see her roasting a 14-year-old girl in a national paper to people who otherwise would never have heard of Hermione Granger but then only knew her as WHORE, including Mrs. Weasley who for a year thought Hermione was a gold digger), incredibly hard working and ambitious, very thorough with her sources, and has an unfortunate tendency to be... not wrong a lot of the time.

Say what?

Yes, I know, I know, she uses the quotes quill which is clearly intended to exaggerate a person's reactions to whatever she's saying (and infuriate them so they'll say more things to her face while they're flustered) but the woman is meticulous with her sources.

The Dumbledore book was extensively researched, with letter evidence, interviews with everyone Dumbledore had pretty much ever known in his life, and it turns out it's... pretty much... entirely... correct...

We learn that the reason Rita knows all this information she shouldn't is that she's been wiretapping (well, being a bug in a room). And that's the thing, she doesn't make things up, she does put them in the worst/most scandalous way possible (e.g. misconstruing Hermione and Harry's friendship into being romantic and theorizing what Hermione gets out of this relationship) but it's not wholesale made up.

So, I actually like Rita as a character. The woman will ruin you for a story, and is absolutely vicious and manipulative as hell, but she's just so interesting.

(And JKR clearly despises her, to a hilarious degree, Rita represents all of JKR's hatred of the British tabloids in one human form that she calls ugly.)

#harry potter #harry potter meta #harry potter headcanon #rita skeeter #meta #headcanon #opinion

[blade-that-was-broken]

Well there’s child that bites that’s Bruce jr I believe, there is the one that got stuck in the ketchup bottle that one is also real hyperactive so maybe HC those two as twins make em identical nightmare children. I saw a fanfic where one of Bruce’s kids was like super allergic and intolerant to practically everything which causes problems cause Bruce owns a restaurant. And of course there is anarchist daughter. You should definitely give Bruce and brandy at least one pair of twins or triplets to justify him eventually having like 8-9 kids by the time he’s like 40ish.

Thanks for the ideas! Since we basically know nothing about them and most of them I don't even think have names at this point (?) it can be kinda of difficult. Bruce was about 13 when their parents divorced and it has been about fifteen years so Bruce is only about 28 at this point. He's not done having kids but he's got several already.

"Those two are twins, Jr. likes to bite," Bruce grimaced a little as he showed John some pictures. Brandy insisted on driving back home, even though Bruce said he could do it. He wasn't sure what her game plan was but she wasn't taking no for an answer. John just silently looked at whatever Bruce showing him at any given time and didn't seem to mind the rant and chatter. "And his twin is really... hyperactive. I love them to death but wow, they are everywhere, you have no idea."

"I can probably fix the biting," John replied.

He'd been doing that, insisting he could help or fix things or whatever. Bruce really wasn't sure what to make of it. His first instinct had been thinking that John thought there was something wrong with his kid that needed to be fixed and that made him upset. Sure, Jr. shouldn't be biting and they would work on that but he wasn't some broken thing to be fixed.

John said everything so plainly and Bruce couldn't really determine his meaning.

But he kept telling himself that John wasn't exactly himself either. The doctors said he would probably come back to himself. He just didn't really know who his brother was anymore.

"Uh... this one is allergic to pretty much life in general, especially cats, for some reason?" he said, flipping through the photo. "Which is tough because out neighbor loves cats and well... he's been kind of taking a liking to them too."

"Feed him eggs from a farm with barn cats," John replied.

"Uh... what?"

John looked up at him and tilted his head a little. Bruce had to take a moment to take that in. Clay did the same thing. Geez, how was he going to tell everyone else? He'd figure that out later.

"Helps with allergies."

"Okay...? It can be difficult with the restaurant since there is a bunch of stuff he's allergic and intolerant of but we are working on a medication regiment. And he's not really supposed to be around the kitchen anyways," he continued, trying to keep things normal but his speech just kept getting quicker and more excited. "They are going to love you. They have always wanted an uncle living close by. I know technically you don't have to stay out here but it is the best and you have an in!"

"An... in?"

"Me!" Bruce nodded with a grin. "I can get you set up with a fantastic place when you are recovered, if you want. You can stay with us as long as you want, I just know a lot of people tend to be independent so I thought hey, maybe he'd want a little place on the beach or something instead but then again, we haven't really seen each other in..."

"Alright, honey," Brandy interrupted. "You are getting a little excited."

"Where else would he go? We are by far the most financially stable and it's Hawaii for heaven's sake. People would kill to live here. There can't possibly be anywhere better. He doesn't even have an address."

Brandy just shot him a slight glare in the rearview mirror.

"Uh, he's right... uhm about the address thing," John confessed. "If I needed to spend my leave off base, I usually just found a camping spot or stayed with one of my squad."

Brandy's face twisted into something interested and possibly mischievous. John wouldn't have been able to catch it but Bruce definitely could. "Oh! We would love to hear about them! You must be very close."

"We are," John shrugged, lightly. "Might as well be family at this point. Kinda curated an orphans, losers and runaways club. Or in my case, all three," he chuckled.

It was the first time Bruce heard any sound that could possibly be classified as vague amusement from John, although Bruce wasn't entirely sure if it was genuine. He knew one thing; he didn't really like the type of humor.

"Except for Chaz, he's just a fool," John snorted. "They wouldn't let me get rid of him."

"What about the others?"

"Dickory is one of the best. He's very cunning but you can count on him even in strange plans. Pete is retired, not that you'd ever know he was there in the first place. Barely said a word. We useta call him Growly Pete cause that's generally how he was."

Okay. Best friend. Crotchety old man. This was okay. This seemed normal.

"Tresillo... hasn't been with us long but he's shaping up to be a good kid. Needed some discipline but considering his parents weren't exactly in the picutre, I get where he's comin from. He's grown a lot in the time that he's been with us, we're really proud of him."

Brandy glanced at Bruce again. He knew what she was thinking.

He wasn't going to think about it.

"Anyone else?" she asked.

He listed off a few more. "And then... and then Delta."

"Oh! Who is Delta?" Brandy asked with a smile.

"She's mah girl."

His what?

"My partner in crime, the law, whatever you wanna call it," John replied, rubbing his arm and looking out the window. "Go-to gal, best friend, right hand man or I'm hers, whatever you got, it's us. By some miracle the military thought it best to keep us stationed together. She ain't crazy but probably a good choice on their part."

"So, I suppose we will be seeing her visit sometime?"

"I'll haveta call her sister and see what all happened after well, this," John shrugged. "But maybe. It used to be where you found one of us, you wouldn't find the other far behind. I dunno how that'll be now. Things are different, but uhm... I'm hopin' she''ll come around sometime.''

#ask #soldier on au #i lost a whole page sobs #so I don't really remember what JD said about Tresillo and Delta and had to start over #I'm really sad about it

[gender-euphowrya]

how tf are there still people acting like other people calling themselves 'pansexual' kills thousands of bisexuals a year

#people using a label isn't erasure #it literally does Not fucking matter if there is a difference between pan and bi or if they're identical and interchangeable #WHO CARES. WHATEVER. #different people will have different reasons to vibe with either word OR BOTH and like. what the fuck is it to you #anyway pansexuals ilu bisexuals ilu anyone who loves multiple genders and uses another label than bi/pan ilu #we literally are the same fucking community #what are any of y'all doing. why are we on some ''we shouldn't call it almond milk it's not milk'' level discourse #how old are we. what planet is this #''but that's not what the definition of th-'' SHOW ME ONE WORD IN THE ENTIRE LGBTQ JARGON THAT HAS A SET IMMOVABLE DEFINITION & NO VARIATION #show me One fucking definition that's like 'yep everyone who calls themselves that word is Exactly this way and no other way whatsoever :)'

[applexi]

school madness

#drama is happening in the school AND I AM IN ON IT RN‼️‼️‼️ /POS IM ABOUT TO RALLY WITH THE ADMINS RAAAUUAWWWWRR #OKAY SO LIKE?!?????!!!!!!!! #our exams are on monday #but not all of the teachers really had their chance to cover all the lessons for us to tackle for the reasons being: #1) the school loves extracurricular activities #2) national holidays (but this is understandable) #3) THEY WANT OUR FUCKING CLEARANCES SIGNED!!!!! SHOULDN'T THAT SHIT BE DONE /AFTER/ EXAMS????? #MF NO CLEARANCE NO EXAM EXCUSE MEEEEEEE YOU EXPECT LIKE 1K STUDENTS TO GO SCRAMBLE AROUND THE SCHOOL ASKING FOR SIGNATURES #youre pushing them to finish getting the admin signatures first RATHER than telling them to study for the exams??? and you tell me #OHH FINISH THE CLEARANCE FIRST BEFORE THE EXAMS #anyways the students and my class adviser (not an admin) are rallying to reschedule the exam for another week because this is bullshit #last school year our exams were transfered to january!!! why cant we do that last time!!!!!!!!!! #and it was okay!!!!!!!! #im like #mad and tired and fuckin OAUUAAHH #usually i feel thr urgent need to study to be prepared for the exams BUT I DON'T FEEL THE URGENCY BECAUSE WE WERENT TAUGHT PROPERLU 😭😭 #my complaining isnt even filled to my satisfaction i still have so much more to complain about ohmymgoiooodd #eugh whatever i literally walked out today to get my clearance signed (30% complete 😭 its not easy to get signatures) im gonna go write #absolute bullcrap i tel you #this week has been hell

[likelylarks]

:/

#ramble rant incoming that is in fact an indirect #but also at anyone who does this or things like it bc i take issue with all of it even if this one thing was a catalyst for ramble rant #and if you have a problem with that don't read :) #you know what i feel like we shouldn't do? #go around calling real children who have done nothing but exist #quote little brat unquote #like? i get that you have some sort of beef with kelly? #she's not my favorite person but think however you want #to whatever extreme (even if it feels extreme like she's just a person you don't have to interact with her on any level) #but p? is a kid? that has done nothing wrong? #by all accounts is growing up healthy happy and securely attached to the adults in her life #like? genuinely what? #and for all p slander to be done mostly through the eyes and words of daniel? who loves kids? and wouldn't realistically say/do anything #like that at all #just shows that it's not even a narrative thing or an exploration of character it's just bashing on a literal child for no reason #it just..... why the fuck are people dragging a literal fucking preschooler into their issues #and shitting on her? #it's just gross to read! #and sorry to anybody who is like kids suck! and/or anybody can write whatever they want! #but consider? having a heart?

[blitzisms]

y’know, maybe writing on tumblr just doesn’t do anything for me anymore. maybe that’s it. i dunno.

#i don't know what my plan is here tbh. #or on any of my blogs #i've just been doing other things lately #i've been on tumblr for so long i haven't really thought of like. /not/ doing it. #but most of the people i wrote with the most are gone for whatever reason so #is it worth putting the effort to still be an active blog? idk #i probably shouldn't get this emotional about it but here we are lmao #oh well #【⛧OUT OF CHARACTER⛧】

[rubberbandballqueen]

hgnnghh... college friend has been asking me questions abt adhd n how to get diagnosed n stuff recently, which i'm more than happy to help him with, but just now he sent a tik tok that was like "maybe i should ask abt this too?" n it was like "why do adhd people seem to crush so hard" n it was like.

now listen i haven't had a serious romantic feeling since i was in middle school, but the description in that tik tok literally dragged the memory of all that out of my chest n i just said to him "haha yep... that's accurate my dude" as though it hadn't just described what was easily one of my top ten "do not ever repeat this again" experiences of my life

#i then proceeded to tell him that he probably shouldn't be pathologizing every little trait n thinking it's a 'symptom' or w/e #like if adhd tips help n stuff then just follow them; if you feel medication would help talk to your doctor etc etc #but also like. i don't wanna live my life like 'ugh i'm hyperfixating on my crush again but i don't want to make a move' #'bc what if they think i'm weird/creepy/just not interested in me back ugh i'd literally just die' PLEASE LET ME BE NORMAL ABT THINGS #idk just the way everything was described. ugh! the shame!! #i think i used to talk abt this more in the very early days of the blog (bc that's when i was still rlly bitter abt my last crush) #but like yeah it seems i really don't like to think abt romance when it's abt myself or my past w/it #i'm okay with the idea of like. being older n doing things in a more mature way should anyone ever grab my interest #but like idk!! it's weird!!! bc when rereading my old middle school diaries it's like 'aww yeah i was really struggling w/this' #but it's very deeply sympathetic like 'yeah it was rough but you'll get through this; it gets better' #for some reason watching this tiktok was just like. a fucking ice bucket of shame. like what the fuck who gave you that right #the worm speaks #i'd really just rather romanticize falling in love the way i have been doing these last few years through anime fanfiction #and never ever ever ever ever ever ever deal with whatever the FUCK happened in middle school ever again bc we were v immature then

[crimsonblackrose]

I’m absolutely fascinated that when I talk to friends, my aunt and uncle (not the ones I live with), my cousins, my aunt’s best friend about my next goal buying my own place everyone nods like this is a sage and smart decision and gives me advice. Meanwhile I visit my older sisters and ask for their advice and I get lectured on what a terrible idea it is. 💀

#mumblings #I'm tired of moving #I'm tired of not putting down roots #I want a place to be mine and to have an asset #my sisters want me to rent and not buy a place which just feels like a waste of money to me #but I don't know I think I'm disappointed that I came to them with all these plans of things I want to do and accomplish #that I thought was logical and every single one of them was shot down as if they were the dumbest decisions ever #and unrealistic #to be fair my sisters and I have not discussed finances #but damn this was disheartening #especially because the reasoning just doesn't feel...right #like I wasn't given a good reason not to just that I shouldn't...so I'm like ???? #it felt like they were trying to prepare me for disapointment but mostly like I was being lectured for no reason? #like you should rent first just to rent? #why? #that was the reason to rent just so I've rented #Like I have rented just not in the states #It's not like I missed out on that experience #ugh I just was hoping for some better advice related to whatever talk my aunt and uncle that I live with are going to have #and I feel like we just argued for no reason and didn't understand one another and it's frustrating #like at least my friends have warned me that interest rates are awful #but that's a logical warning you know #not just rent to have the experience of renting #or like get a car first how is that logical? I don't even know how to drive 😬💀 #I wish they'd just have been straight with me about why they thought it was a bad idea specifically #I feel like I didn't gain any advice just frustration

[honeyednights]

i love moving, such an easy process<3

#packing books rn and i'm like 'i kinda want to read this book maybe i shouldn't pack it' to so many of them rip #and don't even get me started on all my books from my curriculums thru the years that's a whole monster in and of itself... #like i'm doing a new bachelor thesis (again :)) #which also sidenote but omg that one class i had where i handed in some piece of shit term paper that i was soooo sure i wouldn't pass #i got an e!!!!!! I PASSED!!!!!! never in my LIFE thought i'd be over the moon for an e but here we are khsafjh and i was so happy when i #told my family and friends and everyone was like 'it's so funny to see someone so happy for an e' which same hahaha #so now it's literally only my bachelors left and then i'm done!!!!!! #anyways #so idk which books i'll need and since i have no idea what i'm gonna write about yet tho it'll be within the renaissance era i think but #that's still so many of my books that can be kinda related to that so :///// #the reason this is all a problem is bc i'm moving in w mum for an undecided amount of time which surely is every single persons dream<3 #bc i haven't gotten a job yet so idk how much i can afford in rent so i can't just move somewhere y'know #so all my stuff except for whatever i need for the next like couple months is going in my grandma's storage room which takes a little while #to get to so it's not like i can on the day decide to go to her and pick whatever up #aaaaaah this is such a difficult decision #anyways that was today's little rant<3

[isitovernow-ootw]

vent in tags

#omg a fellow aro :) #sometimes I'm afraid in a couple years I'll realize i was a woman the whole time #or even just that I'm a woman now even if i was really nonbinary all these year #i know its ok and gender is fluid and identities don't need to be there solid forever things and labels aren't that important #but I'm still often sad about not being part of the aro community anymore and its been almost a year since i realized #like theoretically its great to change labels to whatever fits you #but these labels have been big important parts of my identity for like 5 years #and its a really bizarre feeling to just. not be able to define myself with them anymore despite them being such a bog factor in molding me #like im happy i know who i am now #but whenever i see a post talking about being aro i reflexively am like and then i remember and im not gonna lie #its fucking sad #all these people i used to relate to and be a part of a community with i have to suddenly disconnect from #and like even though i realistically probably was never really aro i still FELT that pain from arophobia and amatonormativity #because i really believed i had never had a crush or romantic attraction in my life and that still made me feel broken #and alons #but i feel like i definitely shouldn't try to like talk to aro blogs i used to talk to about these feelings because well im not aro #and like what do they care about some ex aro person's struggles #they have no reason to be interested in that #I probably wouldn't care about some random straight chick's story who used to think she was a lesbian unless we were like friends #and it fucking sucks because that still feels like it should be my community #and I can't imagine how much worse that would be for actually being cis. like being trans has been such a fundamental part of my experience #all the online circles I've been in for years have been almost entirely trans and most of my irl friends have been trand #if i were to realize i was just a cis lesbian I don't know how I'd cope #like trans discussions wouldn't be about me #my experiences wouldn't be relevant to them #i can't imagine how hard it would be to accept that #god #end rant i geuss #lmk if you relate to this weird anxiety #*when i'm screaming at the sky

[sophiamcdougall]

You're a reasonably informed person on the internet. You've experienced things like no longer being able to get files off an old storage device, media you've downloaded suddenly going poof, sites and forums with troves full of people's thoughts and ideas vanishing forever. You've heard of cybercrime. You've read articles about lost media. You have at least a basic understanding that digital data is vulnerable, is what I'm saying. I'm guessing that you're also aware that history is, you know... important? And that it's an ongoing study, requiring ... data about how people live? And that it's not just about stanning celebrities that happen to be dead? Congratulations, you are significantly better-informed than the British government! So they're currently like "Oh hai can we destroy all these historical documents pls? To save money? Because we'll digitise them first so it's fine! That'll be easy, cheap and reliable -- right? These wills from the 1850s will totally be fine for another 170 years as a PNG or whatever, yeah? We didn't need to do an impact assesment about this because it's clearly win-win! We'd keep the physical wills of Famous People™ though because Famous People™ actually matter, unlike you plebs. We don't think there are any equalities implications about this, either! Also the only examples of Famous People™ we can think of are all white and rich, only one is a woman and she got famous because of the guy she married. Kisses!"

Yes, this is the same Government that's like "Oh no removing a statue of slave trader is erasing history :(" You have, however, until 23 February 2024 to politely inquire of them what the fuck they are smoking. And they will have to publish a summary of the responses they receive. And it will look kind of bad if the feedback is well-argued, informative and overwhelmingly negative and they go ahead and do it anyway. I currently edit documents including responses to consultations like (but significantly less insane) than this one. Responses do actually matter. I would particularly encourage British people/people based in the UK to do this, but as far as I can see it doesn't say you have to be either. If you are, say, a historian or an archivist, or someone who specialises in digital data do say so and draw on your expertise in your answers. This isn't a question of filling out a form. You have to manually compose an email answering the 12 questions in the consultation paper at the link above. I'll put my own answers under the fold. Note -- I never know if I'm being too rude in these sorts of things. You probably shouldn't be ruder than I have been.

Please do not copy and paste any of this: that would defeat the purpose. This isn't a petition, they need to see a range of individual responses. But it may give you a jumping-off point.

Question 1: Should the current law providing for the inspection of wills be preserved?

Yes. Our ability to understand our shared past is a fundamental aspect of our heritage. It is not possible for any authority to know in advance what future insights they are supporting or impeding by their treatment of material evidence. Safeguarding the historical record for future generations should be considered an extremely important duty.

Question 2: Are there any reforms you would suggest to the current law enabling wills to be inspected?

No.

Question 3: Are there any reasons why the High Court should store original paper will documents on a permanent basis, as opposed to just retaining a digitised copy of that material?

Yes. I am amazed that the recent cyber attack on the British Library, which has effectively paralysed it completely, not been sufficient to answer this question for you.  I also refer you to the fate of the Domesday Project. Digital storage is useful and can help more people access information; however, it is also inherently fragile. Malice, accident, or eventual inevitable obsolescence not merely might occur, but absolutely should be expected. It is ludicrously naive and reflects a truly unpardonable ignorance to assume that information preserved only in digital form is somehow inviolable and safe, or that a physical document once digitised, never need be digitised again..At absolute minimum, it should be understood as certain that at least some of any digital-only archive will eventually be permanently lost. It is not remotely implausible that all of it would be. Preserving the physical documents provides a crucial failsafe. It also allows any errors in reproduction -- also inevitable-- to be, eventually, seen and corrected. Note that maintaining, upgrading and replacing digital infrastructure is not free, easy or reliable. Over the long term, risks to the data concerned can only accumulate.

"Unlike the methods for preserving analog documents that have been honed over millennia, there is no deep precedence to look to regarding the management of digital records. As such, the processing, long-term storage, and distribution potential of archival digital data are highly unresolved issues. [..] the more digital data is migrated, translated, and re-compressed into new formats, the more room there is for information to be lost, be it at the microbit-level of preservation. Any failure to contend with the instability of digital storage mediums, hardware obsolescence, and software obsolescence thus meets a terminal end—the definitive loss of information. The common belief that digital data is safe so long as it is backed up according to the 3-2-1 rule (3 copies on 2 different formats with 1 copy saved off site) belies the fact that it is fundamentally unclear how long digital information can or will remain intact. What is certain is that its unique vulnerabilities do become more pertinent with age."  -- James Boyda, On Loss in the 21st Century: Digital Decay and the Archive, Introduction.

Question 4: Do you agree that after a certain time original paper documents (from 1858 onwards) may be destroyed (other than for famous individuals)? Are there any alternatives, involving the public or private sector, you can suggest to their being destroyed?

Absolutely not. And I would have hoped we were past the "great man" theory of history. Firstly, you do not know which figures will still be considered "famous" in the future and which currently obscure individuals may deserve and eventually receive greater attention. I note that of the three figures you mention here as notable enough to have their wills preserved, all are white, the majority are male (the one woman having achieved fame through marriage) and all were wealthy at the time of their death. Any such approach will certainly cull evidence of the lives of women, people of colour and the poor from the historical record, and send a clear message about whose lives you consider worth remembering.

Secondly, the famous and successsful are only a small part of our history. Understanding the realities that shaped our past and continue to mould our present requires evidence of the lives of so-called "ordinary people"!

Did you even speak to any historians before coming up with this idea?

Entrusting the documents to the private sector would be similarly disastrous. What happens when a private company goes bust or decides that preserving this material is no longer profitable? What reasonable person, confronted with our crumbling privatised water infrastructure, would willingly consign any part of our heritage to a similar fate?

Question 5: Do you agree that there is equivalence between paper and digital copies of wills so that the ECA 2000 can be used?

No. And it raises serious questions about the skill and knowledge base within HMCTS and the government that the very basic concepts of data loss and the digital dark age appear to be unknown to you. I also refer you to the Domesday Project.

Question 6: Are there any other matters directly related to the retention of digital or paper wills that are not covered by the proposed exercise of the powers in the ECA 2000 that you consider are necessary?

Destroying the physical documents will always be an unforgivable dereliction of legal and moral duty.

Question 7: If the Government pursues preserving permanently only a digital copy of a will document, should it seek to reform the primary legislation by introducing a Bill or do so under the ECA 2000?

Destroying the physical documents will always be an unforgivable dereliction of legal and moral duty.

Question 8: If the Government moves to digital only copies of original will documents, what do you think the retention period for the original paper wills should be? Please give reasons and state what you believe the minimum retention period should be and whether you consider the Government’s suggestion of 25 years to be reasonable.

There is no good version of this plan. The physical documents should be preserved.

Question 9: Do you agree with the principle that wills of famous people should be preserved in the original paper form for historic interest?

This question betrays deep ignorance of what "historic interest" actually is. The study of history is not simply glorified celebrity gossip. If anything, the physical wills of currently famous people could be considered more expendable as it is likely that their contents are so widely diffused as to be relatively "safe", whereas the wills of so-called "ordinary people" will, especially in aggregate, provide insights that have not yet been explored.

Question 10: Do you have any initial suggestions on the criteria which should be adopted for identifying famous/historic figures whose original paper will document should be preserved permanently?

Abandon this entire lamentable plan. As previously discussed, you do not and cannot know who will be considered "famous" in the future, and fame is a profoundly flawed criterion of historical significance.

Question 11: Do you agree that the Probate Registries should only permanently retain wills and codicils from the documents submitted in support of a probate application? Please explain, if setting out the case for retention of any other documents.

No, all the documents should be preserved indefinitely.

Question 12: Do you agree that we have correctly identified the range and extent of the equalities impacts under each of these proposals set out in this consultation? Please give reasons and supply evidence of further equalities impacts as appropriate.

No. You appear to have neglected equalities impacts entirely. As discussed, in your drive to prioritise "famous people", your plan will certainly prioritise the white, wealthy and mostly the male, as your "Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin and Princess Diana" examples amply indicate. This plan will create a two-tier system where evidence of the lives of the privileged is carefully preserved while information regarding people of colour, women, the working class and other disadvantaged groups is disproportionately abandoned to digital decay and eventual loss. Current and future historians from, or specialising in the history of minority groups will be especially impoverished by this.  

#ukpol #uk politics #fuck the tories #lost media #data loss #cultural vandalism

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

I like how we just all ignore the Spider-man eye mask physics I find it SO FUNNY

Like there's no logical reason for their eyes to be able to move the way they do but we don't even care because this is cuter and more fun I LIKE THAT

Like when they do things LIKE THIS

And at this point we don't even notice.

We don't even realize that their lenses or eyes or whatever SHOULDN'T BE DOING THAT

But we just accept it. Tune it out. Brain don't notice too busy staring at the funny 0_0 eyes

#spiderman #atsv #marvel #spider man #hobie brown #across the spiderverse #spider punk #spiderpunk #Gwen Stacy #pavitr prabhakar #miles morales #across the spider verse #spider Gwen #spidergwen #Pavi