#i mean. there are more important reasons not to open tumblr in public but

[onstoryladders]

remember when you had to be scared to open tumblr in public because you might find porn in the tags at any moment and then they banned all the porn???? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 yeah absolutely nothing changed

#i mean. there are more important reasons not to open tumblr in public but

[eventidesworld]

An Important Notice

Almost every time I read a fanfic or see what people say on Tumblr and Pinterest, Inej is perceived as this perfect angel with no flaws and Kaz is the one who needs fixing.

This is really annoying.

Listen, people, Inej is amazing, don't get me wrong. She's one of the best characters in all of literature and I look up to her as a role model, but she's not perfect. She is not a saint or an angel, she's a human. Even she can be stubborn and arrogant from time to time. Let's not forget how she doubted Wylan's demo ability at the beginning of SOC. Her line, "I will have you without your armor, Kaz Brekker, or I will not have you at all," is iconic and I understand the meaning, but it's still a bit hypocritical when you think about it. She's telling Kaz to make himself vulnerable but it's not like she's that open about her own vulnerabilities either.

As for Kaz, the poor baby is almost always painted in the wrong light. He's the one with all the flaws, the one who doesn't deserve anything but misery, and the one who needs fixing. Even if he's just a character, I feel bad and think perhaps sometimes the Grishaverse fandom isn't fair to him. In the books, Kaz told Wylan how he shouldn't feel ashamed of his disability, VERBALLY said that he wanted to give himself up for the Crows, and didn't allow Jesper to use Parem even though it was a very efficient way to gain the victory. He even gave Nina Matthias's share of the kruge despite having the option to take it for himself.

And for Inej, the sweetheart did as much as he could. 😭

He was dead set on saving her at the beginning of CK and stopped at nothing until she was with him again. And his line, "I would have come for you, and if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you." He said he would crawl, CRAWL!! Fucking crawl to her, and knowing Kaz, he so would if he had to. And then he liquidated all, not some, all of his assets, every single cent, he gave it all up for her. To fully free her from the Menagerie. In the end, he bought her a ship, found her parents, and even went as far as taking off his gloves and holding her hand for a long time IN PUBLIC!!!! At the harbour where anyone could see. In fact, he's the reason why she's where she is in the first place. He got her out, gave her a knife, and made her dangerous. He gave her the freedom to grace the rooftops in the dead of night and haunt the streets. He gave her the option to leave if she wanted. HE LOVED HER TO THE POINT WHERE HE LET HER GO BECAUSE HER HAPPINESS AND DESIRES MATTER MORE TO HIM THAN HIS OWN!!!

He's not that bad okay. I know he's very flawed and traumatized, but he's got a very big heart, he just doesn't show it. He gave Jesper a place to go, provided Wylan with protection, and allowed Nina and Matthias to reunite. He formed the plans for the Ice Court and ended Van Eck and Pekka Rollins while doing his best to ensure that the Crows would stay alive. But still, he's the only one who has to fix himself. Some fans still think that he isn't worthy of Inej. Meanwhile, Inej is the perfect, flawless angel. I thought people didn't like a Mary Sue. And Inej isn't a Mary Sue, she has flaws, she has weak points, and she has things that she needs to work through as well.

For those of you who read all this, thank you for sparing some time.

#kaz brekker #grishaverse #six of crows #inej ghafa #third army #kanej #crooked kingdom

[prettyjunk]

COULD PLS WRITE ANY DATING HCS FOR CLIFF?? THERE IS NOTHING FOR HIM ON TUMBLR 🥲🥲☹️i’m begging for crumbs rn

cliff burton x reader

sfw headcanons!

note: i know!!!!:( he’s so underrated and for what. plus, it’s his birthday today! so there is not a better time to write some sweet head-canons about him.

requests are open!

.✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧

one of cliff’s more important personality traits is his integrity. bro’s honest; sometimes his honesty would be so sharp it would hurt the people he’d be talking to.

but with you, it was a different case. he was cautious— thought about what he was going to say and how he was going to say it out loud, careful not to hurt your feelings. he was still bluntly honest, though.

but hey! this doesn’t mean he’s rude, or cranky. he’s actually a sweetheart with most people (if they don’t get on his way).

and obviously, he has a soft spot for you.

most boyfriends are embarrassed to be mellow with their girlfriends in public, keeping all the cheesy stuff behind closed doors.

not cliff!

he truly doesn’t give a fuck. just in general, really, he never has cared about what people might think or say about him, so as soon as you guys started dating— he’d show you off. he doesn’t have a reason not to! you’re his girl and he wants everyone to know.

and this is connected to his love language; touch. cliff is a very touchy person towards you, but he’s subtle about it. its not like he’s constantly kissing/hugging you, but he likes to keep you close; and feel that you are close to him. hand on your thigh, rubbing your back, caressing your hips, playing with your hair— the list could go on forever. he just feels more calm and comfortable keeping you close.

he asks your opinion on everything he does. if we’re being completely honest, he doesn’t really care about it— nothing you could say would change his point of view.. but he still loves to hear your perspective on anything he can get it from. it’s his way of getting to know you better, little bits of information that help him put together the puzzle that is your mind. and it truly works out!

cliff doesn’t look like the type of person that would put much attention to detail since he’s always in his own world, but he always manages to surprise you with random things he knows and noticed about you.

you often see this in the gifts he gives you. you eyed something on that antique shop you guys went to last month? he got it. you bopped your head to a song on the radio on the ride home? he found out what record that was— got it on vinyl, too.

talking about music! one of his favorites things to do with you, is listen to music. more specifically; to show you different types of records so you can both talk about it. cliff is known for having a wide music taste— from motörhead to kate bush, and loves to discuss the ridiculous minor details that each song has. you were often surprised by his random knowledge, but you were mostly fascinated. his ideal sunday afternoon was you, a brand new music album, and acid.

going back to his unmeasurable uprightness! even though he’s a very likable guy— often being remembered as the cool and nice long haired dude— he doesn’t really have much of a filter. if he thought something was wrong, or he straight up didn’t like something; he won’t hesitate to make sure everyone knows that. so you’d often find yourself having to apologize to people when cliff would randomly flip them off, or yell fuck you’s around the room.

adding his personality, he’s also very witty. cliff is a very wise dude, and he’s also kind of like a child. so the mix of both get you a very funny but also old-souled boyfriend. and he’s also a big talker, so it’s almost like you’re dating a encyclopedia. a bullshit encyclopedia, though. he keeps you constantly entertained by speaking whatever was going on in his mind— because he trusts you enough to tell you whatever he thinks of right when he does.

we all know cliff smokes a bunch of weed. even though than he sees it more like a creative tool than a drug— he also does it for fun. and when he smokes around you, he gets impossibly clingy; if he sees you laying down when he is high— he will get on top of you, and won’t stand up for hours. just laying there; tracing random shapes on your skin with his fingers and talking a bunch of nonsense— interrupting himself once in a while to tell you how much he loves you.

if you bring that up when he is sober, though, he denies it.

and a stupid little last one: he really likes to play poker with you. cliff taught you how to play in one of many dates, and it became your thing! it quickly turned into something that is inevitable each time you see each-other. he’d play it every minute of every freakin’ day— and he’s also such a bad loser. the kind of guy that would throw everything to the air when he lost, and walk away in anger. a few kisses and everything was right, though.

#i made myself sad writing these </3 #this is kinda short but hopefully it’s okie #cliff burton #cliff burton x reader #metallica #metallica x reader

[solisaureus]

safety risks for discord servers with NSFW content

with the ongoing enshittification of social media platforms like tumblr, the app formerly known as twitter, and reddit, many fandoms are opting for discord servers as a way to stay connected and creating. this is a great alternative, but due to the more personal interface of chat servers like discord, there can be some safety risks since discord allows NSFW. I think it's important to talk about them, because I don't think everyone understands them. (I'm censoring words so that this post doesn't get flagged by tumblr as violating community guidelines).

Discord does not regulate how NSFW is shared in servers, and this can be a great thing. However, this also means that server mods are mainly in charge of NSFW content regulation, which is a huge responsibility. when making a fandom discord server, it is absolutely critical that your server does not allow adults and minors into NSFW spaces together. Your discord server can be open to all ages, or it can have NSFW channels, but not both. The reason for this is that providing a space for adults and minors to talk about explicit s*x carries a massive safety risk for minors (i.e. s*xual gr00ming and exploitation), and a legal risk for adults, including server mods (i.e. being labeled a s*x offender, even if the adult has no intention of preying on minors, depending on the regional laws regarding s*xual exploitation of minors). This is different and riskier than a minor accessing NSFW content on their own online, because on discord it is specifically a direct exchange between adults and minors. It is extremely dangerous to allow adults to talk about explicit s*x with kids. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Enforcing this can seem tricky -- after all, minors lie about their age to get access to NSFW content all the time. But it's easy to identify content that is NSFW. Therefore, it is more enforceable to ban NSFW than it is to ban members depending on their age. The only safe option is to ban NSFW in a public, all-ages fandom server. NSFW should be reserved for servers that are private or invite-only, where you can invite only people that you know and trust to be the age that they say they are.

please stay safe and do your part to protect the most vulnerable members of your fandom community.

#robin text #internet safety #i guess internet safety is something i post about regularly now

[o-wild-west-wind]

note to self: don’t log onto tumblr right after seminar because despite being so discussion board shaped, my peers on the internet will not be open to discussions of critical analysis :)

idk man I’m just tired of coming here as a means to loaf and seeing take after take weaponizing the word homophobia while parroting genuinely harmful claims. I see this shit every day coming from people I know are too deep into their echo chambers to reason with but you’d think people here would be more cognizant of what they put out into the world. I don’t mean this in fandom specifically, but fandom is as real a space as any, and it feels especially insidious to see all this happening in a fandom that should be the safest space of any for non-conforming, non-white gays.

and I wish people understood that conversation and discourse doesn’t equate to “I’m right you’re wrong,” but “here’s a perspective. here’s another. let’s keep going until the problem is evident.” Framing new perspectives is just that, and is not a personal attack—or at least they shouldn’t be, even though they so often are. And disagreement is so important; it opens the door to deeper understanding.

we have to become comfortable with being wrong, as people and as a society. with being open to new perspectives and ideas. with having our perceptions challenged. and we have to understand that posting in a public space means that people will question your words, and that it’s a good thing, actually, to think critically about a response—because that’s where you can really analyze if what you think makes sense or not. we have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

this kind of got away from me, but tl;dr, be mindful of what you say and share on the internet. it’s not as faceless as it seems!

#anywho. sorry tumblr for being a menace it will probably happen again #and by menace I mean reacting to things that are inadvertently causing harm #fandom crit #ofmd fandom crit

[mountain-lion-gremlin]

a good reason to leave for me:

i honestly think it would be safer for me and therians to not be in the same space sometimes haha. P-shifting isn't safe for many and it can really hurt others.

Although I would love to stay, I know that it's probably safer for everyone to no longer teach it and keep to myself about things that involve how to shift and such.

P-shifting isn't a joke and can harm people who suffer from mental issues and other things of that sort. Its just not safe to teach in a large public space. It's something only some can stomach and be safe while doing. Plus some communities that are too unregulated exist and may mess with people's reality and how they perceive it. Some are too open to allow people to start p-shifting right off the bat and it's just too dangerous that way. (including those that say "oh just wait you will shift eventually but you cant control it at all" those are even worse.)

Theres a very good reason why newer communities are very apprehensive about teaching, or telling, or allowing new people who know nothing about it just hop in and start shifting. Usually if you are coming to the "learning" community (as in, you are following steps laid out by others to understand your identity) there is guidelines, there are warnings, etc. It's just too risky to not follow these guidelines and not listen to the warnings.

Dont start p-shifting right when you find out. Take the time to start a journal. Understand that what you are getting into isn't something that will make you cool or quirky. You risk your mental health if you are not careful. You have to be born to be a p-shifter. You must first mental shift before you can even think about p-shifting. P-shifting is not easy and will take years to even get to a point where you start getting somewhere physically.

The list goes on. When someone who is teaching shifting slacks in saying these things, you can harm someone. It takes a very long time to even get to the point where you may be ready to p-shift. Some never will p-shift. You have to accept these realities too. Not to mention how some older guides, although effective, can be so incredibly risky. (Such as completely shutting out the world and being an animal 24/7. Some people just take it too far and do it too early and ruin themselves.) Its just not worth it sometimes.

Thats why I'm leaving Tumblr. Too open, not safe for neither me nor others looking in. I know I usually don't have these sorts of posts, but I just saw someone in an anon saying how unstable their reality and they were after lurking in the community and it just.... its just so hard to see. Nobody deserves that sort of mental torture. Sometimes I forget that p-shifting actually can be dangerous to some if nobody teaches how important it is to regulate yourself, check in on yourself, and remember that p-shifting isn't for the faint of heart.

It's only for those who have spent so much time over years of their journey, exploring themselves, askong questions, taking breaks, questioning themselves so many times, and checking in, to finally be able to claim that they are able to p-shift. (There is so much more to it than that obviously.) My fourth year of shifting is coming up, and after so long I might be ready to leave the online community permanently and start my journey. (of physically shifting i mean. I spend more time teaching others rather than doing the practice itself right now lol. When i say p-shifting im trying to refer to the whole process, but really talking about the mental shifting and phantom shifting etc. Sorry if its been unclear, many know the whole community as "p-shifters" when in reality "p-shifters" are only those who havw actually preformed a p-shift. I havent yet in my conscious memory so i just call myself a shifter or nonhuman.)

Please be safe. Please, if you are curious about the p-shifting community, remember that it is a mixed bag and not for everyone. As always any community can be a mixed bag, but p-shifting "learning" communities can spiral and be too lax on the warnings and importance of these warnings.

Thats all. (make sure to read all tags fully too.)

#please be safe #if you are interested in p-shifting feel free to approach me but I'm not going to be as open as i used to be #this whole post isn't to claim that the p-shifting community is incredibly dangerous #i can be full of the most amazing kind people #the only issue is people forget how dangerous it can be to not remember the warnings that follow the community #many young people toss them aside because they think it's gatekeepers or a “cool kids only club” #(like i did) #but it's for safety and making sure you take it slow enough so that you can back out without being permanently damaged #p-shift #I will always tell anyone interested that you have to spend time researching thinking evaluating the list goes on #And it's nobody's fault #when you've been a p-shifter for a long time (like me) you forget the warnings that you followed in the beginning that protected you #from spiraling mental issues depression etc. #p-shifting can be done and practiced safely #hey i did it and I'm doing fine. I've lived with it for so long and don't hold onto it like a lifeline anymore #it's more of an aspect of my identity #im just trying to help others understand that it can be fun and safe but it's not something to joke with or play with #it is something that is serious and if the warnings are ignored usually very risky. #bro it's like rock climbing almost #“WEAR THE HARNESS. If you fall you won't plummet to your death!! Remember rules ABC and you will be okay!!” #it's sort of the same thing in that matter. #we do unsafe things all of the time but since we know the dangers and the warnings we will go about to be much safer in practicing it #Im just trying to say p-shifting from the “learning” side of it - these warnings should be heeded and taught. #Or else you get whats been happening lately with people wandering into places that are too lax with teaching the dangers #and people are traumatized and damaged from it #Many new people who I've seen wander onto my Amino don't even really know that there is even a process before p-shifting itself #it's scary and I'm afraid even more people will have to deal with the rough bumpy road of understanding that they aren't p-shifters #yeah so uh #this might not get any likes or anything but I still wanted to put this out there. #Please don't crop this and use this for out of context hate against p-shifting and p-shifters

[hornsketch]

hey there! ive finally made an art blog! im going to try post more just… stuff, as usually i reserve my art posts for either special occaisions or specifically public-oriented works, and it kinda bums me out to not just have a place to dump my art anymore, so here you go!

(more details and helpful info below!)

who are you?

in hopes of providing some relevant lenses to view my work through, ill give some personal details here. if these lenses dont suit your interpretation of the work, thats alright! view as you please, though i do still think these will always be important context in said viewings.

my name is zelda (she/her) and im a queer jewish 20something who struggles quite a bit with illness both physical and mental.

ive always been kind of enthralled by impressionism and what it really means to use suggestion and spirit as a stronger tool than portrayal and form.

i have a particular draw to fantasy and magical aesthetics, especially the world-building within.

i am a serial overthinker, and tend to see alot of meaning and symbolism in things that plainly do not have them.

while yes i am jewish, my relation to faith is complicated. if you see me type “god” im using it in a turn of phrase with no meaning. if you see me type out “g-d” i am being religious. yes i know thats not how its supposed to work. its meaningful to me.

what will you post?

as previously mentioned, here im trying to make a concerted effort to post a broader variety of things with a wide selection in quality and topic, so unfortunately here the only real uniting theme is going to have to be that i made it. still! to help navigate the space, listed below will be a list of tags i will try to keep to, all of which this post will also be tagged as, since i know tumblr search can be finicky.

#the self and the other

these will be about me, my friends and loved ones, or possibly both

#differing mediums

these pertain to other works or universes, as well as fan content

#harsh tones

this is gonna be the rough stuff. topics will be tagged as needed.

#jaunty doodles

funny business. shenanigans, even.

#lesssfw

listen this blog is for a wide breadth of content, so please if you do not want to, or otherwise should not be seeing mild to moderate nsfw content (i dont rlly plan on posting straight up porn here) block this tag.

do you take commissions?

yeah, usually. im not really at the point where i have to close and open them for availability reasons, so shoot me a dm and ill usually be able to give you a response pretty quick on.

price tends to vary by project, and i always set $20 per hour of canvas time as my baseline, but generally simpler stuff like limited detail icons and emojis run in the $20-$30 range, while fully detailed halfbodies tend to run in the $40-$50 range, and fully done fullbodies range more $70-$80. aside from that, backgrounds are a little too context dependent to put a full price estimate on and extra characters can and will cost extra.

usually whatll happen is after laying out the basic price range we’ll talk, and ill thumbnail until we have smth we can agree on, and once weve got an idea of what were going for ill give an estimate that ill try to stick close to, barring any major changes or complications. from then on ill try to send updates whenever i work, and then when im relatively close to finished ill ask for the payment either through paypal or cashapp, after which ill send on the finished piece and any expected variations. in some cases, this may be changed, and payment may be done half at the start, and half when relatively close to completion.

#the self and the other #differing mediums #harsh tones #jaunty doodles #lesssfw #the amazing moving picture

[astroyongie]

Guess Who’s Back

Hello everyone !

This was a whole rollercoaster of emotions and I’m very happy to be back on Tumblr ! ❤️ I want to apologize to everyone who I worried. It happens that I was suspended because that person who has been harassing me denounced my page.

I spoke with Tumblr services and they apologized for the mistake. So everything is back to order ❤️ however as you guys must understand, this incident brought me a lot of anxiety. I have many works on this page that I was very scared to lose due to the time I spent searching and writing.

This is the reason why I’ll be more careful with what I post now mostly concerning 18+ stuff in order for this not to happen again. Also if it’s okay for you guys I’ll perhaps remove the option of anonymous questions. Mostly for my safety and to be able to report that account if they come back harassing me.

I would also like to say and remember one thing. My page is suppose to be a safe place, where people can talk about their thoughts on kpop, where you guys can speak about your witchy or spiritual path, paranormal experiences, astrology. It’s important for all of us to keep a open mind and to TAKE THINGS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT !

My readings are my truths. It doesn’t mean it needs to be yours. I won’t be posting public names of idols related to controversial topics. I’ll as always, keep it private and under emojis. Take things easily, and remember there’s space for truth and false. Idols are like us all, human. No one in the industry is perfect.

Anyway that was it ! I want to thank everyone who reached out with dear messages. Thank you also for the ones defending me, I have seen you all, and I really can’t thank you enough for the support ❤️

Anyway, happy to be back ❤️❤️❤️ let’s be happy and safe

Astroyongie ✨🌙

[nenilein]

Every single unlockable Character Profile in Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (Screenshots and Translations)

I spent way too much time unlocking the character profiles in Fever 2 yesterday, so to make it worth my while, I went on twitter right afterwards and made a huge-ass thread translating every one of them.

Since I am planning to move back to tumblr in the long run anyway, let's compile them all here in a nice post first, 'aight?

Firstly,

The unlock conditions:

*) Lexicon of People (Girls): Play 24 VS matches in Freeplay mode (I think the majority of them need to be wins).

*) Lexicon of People (Boys): Unlock Lexicon of People (Girls), then play 6 more VS matches in Freeplay mode (This is a pun. The internal development name for Fever 2 was "24/6", and marketing reflected that).

*) Lexicon of Creatures: Beat Sig and Raffina's WakuWaku courses.

*) Lexicon of the Undead: Beat all HaraHara courses.

Follow me under the cut for the Boys' Lexicon! (The others will be in separate posts for space reasons)

Lexicon of People, Vol 1

Profiles of the boys of Primp Town. All contents were approved for public consumption by the subjects of the articles. One must first prove themself as worthy to the subjects of this volume to be allowed to browse it.

Sig Born June 16th (Gemini)

Blood Type: B Special Skill: sleeping with his eyes open Favorite Thing: bugs Least Favorite Thing: ghosts

A rather sleepy boy who is a classmate of Amitie's. Lately one of his arms has been odd.

(Translator's Notes: Unlike Ringo, Sig doesn't panic when faced with ghosts, but he's often been shown to have a very deep hatred for Yu in particular, especially in the Drama CDs. She's one of the two people he'll tell to the face that he doesn't like them, the other being Lemres. He gets along with Rei, but only because they both collect bugs.

苦手 can mean both "least favorite" or "weakness". Since some profiles use one meaning while others use the other, I will swap back and forth between how I translate it depending on the profile.)

Tartar Born July 19th(Cancer)

Blood Type: 0 Special Skill: imitating bird calls Favorite Thing: all living things Least Favorite Thing: spiders

A gentle giant. His only fault is that anyone sitting behind him in class can't see the blackboard.

Klug Born September 29th(Libra)

Blood Type: A Special Skill: card games Favorite Thing: researching sorcery Least Favorite Thing: self-important people

A troublesome, bespectacled boy who things evil things are cool. He idolizes Lemres.

Lemres Born August 25th(Virgo)

Blood Type: A Special Skill: candy presents Favorite Thing: parfait Least Favorite Thing: his family home

A student from a magic school one town over. He always secretly carries some sweetstuff, which he loves, on him.

(Translator's Notes: The "least favorite thing" part later got elaborated on in the drama CDs. Turns out he's actually an emancipated minor who escaped from his rich family because they more or less emotionally abused him to parade around his talents...)

Gogotte Born October 1st(Libra)

Blood Type: AB Special Skill: cooking Favorite Thing: honey Weakness: sunlight

A strange chef who lately showed up in Nahe Forest and now seems to be cooking up potions there. His speech carries the accent of a distant land.

Prince Salde-Canarl Shellbrick III Born March 5th(Pisces)

Blood Type: 0 Special Skill: finding servants Favorite Thing: traveling incognito Least Favorite Thing: state Business

A freedom-loving prince. Currently M.I.A. His personal attendant is looking for him.

(Translator's Note: Salde's name is a pun. "Salde-Canarl" can be shortened to "SaCana", which is where his nickname in Japanese, "Sakana Ouji" ("Fish Prince") comes from. This is what is consistently translated as "Ocean Prince" in English, even though this means the pun no longer works...)

Otomo Born April 17th/Aries

Blood Type: B Special Skill: knitting and crocheting Favorite Thing: the prince's photo album Least Favorite Thing: the prince's selfishness

A royal childcare attendant who is currently looking for his missing prince. The thought of how his prince might be faring right now gives him stomachaches.

(Translator's Notes: Firstly "Otomo" literally means "attendant" when written in Kanji(お供) (it's written in Katakana here tho), so it might not even be his real name.

Secondly, SALDE IS GIVING HIS MAN ULCERS. WTF.)

Click here for PART 2 (Girl's Lexicon)!

#Puyo Puyo #Puyo Pop #Puyo Pop Fever #Puyo Puyo Fever #Puyo Puyo Fever 2 #Puyo #Neni Translates #Translations #Puyo Lore

[sarasa-cat]

As for a few other things --- my literal exhaustion regarding the state of the world (things clearly beyond my ability to do anything about it so I'm turning the volume down) --- I'm sticking some vague blogging about political shit behind a cut:

ngl, the current state of international affairs, national politics and political projections/fortune telling about future outcomes, and a major clusterfuck of not-well-publicized local political bullshit has pretty much made my brain turn off at the sound of all of it.

I have no plans on unfollowing anyone on tumblr and no plans on blocking any tags --- honestly, I'm fine seeing political content on occasion on my main dash and my scrolling fingers are fast --- but my level of engagement with those posts (meaning hitting the occasional like-heart) has dropped and will continue to drop precipitously.

Also, my brain has shifted into winter break mode so, lol, even if my butt is planted in a chair in the US right now, my brain has left the continent and, in a few weeks, my body will catch up location-wise.

Re: tumblr:

I really love how well curated some of my "top of tumblr page" tabs are.

My tags feed is super curated with tons of lovely visual imagery (well, minus that recent infestation of porn bots ... which makes it hard for me to interact with my tags feed when in public or in "all ages family friendly spaces").

My Blog Subs tab is becoming a bit more populated as I add more aesthetics(tm) content to it rather than only using it to keep track of my closer mutuals.

And for the most part I want to keep tumblr mainly as my place for chilling and relaxing and being watercooler-social with fannish friends online.

In Summary:

ONE: The international, US, and local-to-me political scene makes me exhausted and there is really nothing I can do anymore. (Also, I'm no longer working on various campaigns or non-for-profit-political-outreach or doing research that affects our understanding of any of the media, etc., so, like, really, I'm just a tax payer and a voter these days and nothing more on that front --- which is very different from who I was from age 18 onward, up through the end of 2022).

TWO: I am not happy with the direction of pretty much anything in the point above and when I look back at the work I have done in the past (see point ONE) and feel like .... what the fuck was it even for? Very little*** but personal experience because none of it amounted to anything beyond a full fledged extra resume attached to my normal/aca-pro resume.

(***I originally typed nothing but then I remembered a bill we managed to pass back in [*cough*] plus the work I did during the worst of the "a horse is loose in a hospital" period of pandemic, what was work that MATTERED)

THREE: I'm reclaiming all of my spare time for other things.

FOUR: Tumblr is for chilling and relaxing. and seeing tons of pretty on my dash is important to me. (preferably without the semi-disembodied butt cheeks, cunts, and boobs... tumblr-- get these bots under control).

(caveat: I am still open to ongoing political discussions that occur in private channels btwn me and a few other mutuals --- but my overall tumblr disengagement with overly political topics is going to continue dropping and may eventually plummet to zero regarding likes, reblogs, and original posts; and yes, yes, the personal is political, etc. there will always be some leak through for those reasons, and how muck leak-through you perceive depends on how personal politics can be. But this caveat is getting academic and meaningless. All of the above paragraphs clearly speak for what they mean.)

[dionysianfreak]

often when people DM me with questions or needing advice, they preface their message with fear of judgement and often apologize for their questions since sometimes they can be complicated or commonly "uncomfortable" topics. so I'm gonna leave a public disclaimer here in case anyone has hesitated to ask me something due to the question being too "weird" or a hard one to face.

with absolute love, I don't know you at all and there's a 99.999% chance I never will. I know nothing about you and I usually don't plan to (I'm a hermit, sorry). therefore, I have no rhyme or reason to judge you. life is full of hard questions and many of them are too complicated to be answered alone. if we as a community can't help each other with the hard questions pertaining to our faith, Gods, and personal relationships with Them, then we are hypocrites.

so, I will always do my best to answer any question anyone has. I'm very slow to anger and very unbothered when it comes to the internet. if I didn't want to respond i literally just wouldn't. if I felt bothered I also just wouldn't answer. i enjoy helping people because there are many questions I wish someone had helped me with. finding people I could openly ask hard questions to was the best thing my religion has gained. not all of us have this, so I always have the time for strangers who don't.

does this mean nothing bothers me ? absolutely not. I have boundaries, and I'll enforce them, but I cannot blame you for asking when you did not know my boundaries. in this case i urge you to ask someone who is comfortable with the topic. even if i can answer, please get more opinions that you can base your own off of. having only one source can lead you down a narrow minded road. plus, it's a great way to connect with the Tumblr hellenic polytheist community.

so, in summary, my dms and ask box are always open for questions regardless if I can answer or if I end up turning you away. I can usually point you to someone who can help. never be afraid to ask the hard questions, those are the most important ones.

#helpol #hellenic polytheism #hellenism #hellenic pagan #resources #ask #theoi

[moremysteriesthantragedies]

In a way, there are more mysteries than tragedies…

Our WIPs/Taglist-Reading Blog/Ko-fi

DNIs

Minors | Not System Friendly | Furry Haters | Anti-self-diagnosis | MAPS | Transphobes/Homophobes/Bigots | JKR supporters | Don't give proper TWs (this is for our own safety, thank you!)

We have zero tolerance for drama. If you don't like someone's work, block them and move on.

We practice reblog karma. If you reblog a game from us, please send in an ask! We always do our best to return the favor when it comes to asks and reblogs.

Welcome!

With that out of the way, welcome to our writing blog! We focus on mainly horror, romance, and mysteries, though dabble from time to time for fun. The main people on this blog are myself, Essie, along with Mel, Meyer, and Desmond. Please specify when sending in asks and read our Carrd linked above if you want to know more about us and our WIPS! Our main project right now is Infernal Serenade, a four-book series we're gradually working through to edit them together for the sake of continuity.

Why Carrd?

Well, unfortunately, and especially with the new updates, it's harder to find original posts, links break all the time, and having the information here essentially means we'd be stuck with a URL from now until the end of existence (which would be fine if we weren't so indecisive lol). So, it's just easier to have all the information off-site in one easy-to-manage place so that when Tumblr gets weird, people can still access information on our stories. It also means we'll have an easier time building on it based on information people seem to want to see!

Below you'll find an "Ask Guide" but, to summarize, just don't be a prick and know that if you have any questions or concerns, our inbox is always open! Specify who the ask is intended for when you can!

Ask Guide

Pretty much the "don't send" list is pretty obvious; anon hate or anything that seems to be sent with aggressive intent will be deleted. Any asks that make us uncomfortable can and will be deleted. Any bigotry or hate against our fellow writers will not be tolerated for any reason.

We are completely fine with being asked about our own plurality and speaking on it. Under the condition you do not ask any overly personal questions or use said information irresponsibly. We can only speak on our experiences, and understand it can be a very different experience for others. We can never speak for others, only ourselves. Don't be rude or try to psychoanalyze us, that will get you an immediate block.

It is extremely important to understand what you are seeing are drafts, meaning characters and elements of the plot are yet to be finalized, things may be smoothed out in editing, etc. along with general writing ramblings, with no promise of stories being publicized in the near future (or ever if I decide the story is best kept private).

However, we understand the sensitive nature of writing minority characters, and want to make it clear our inbox is always open to those who want to offer critiques or speak on their own experiences. To be clear, we will be doing our own research as a part of the writing process, and will always involve sensitivity readers before any story is publicized just to make sure. But, we want to make it clear this is a safe place for other minorities and that they will be heard.

#writeblr #writeblr intro #writeblr reintro

[sweaterkittensahoy]

hi i just want to say i love love love ur blog and thank u for all the info on “rad feminism”. although i very much believe in / support / LOVE feminism (of course!!!!) i wasnt really aware of the term but i do hear it thrown around a lot so i’m shocked to hear that this type of “feminism” is discriminatory towards transgender people. feminism should be the complete OPPOSITE of that. calling urself a feminist and forcing ppl into boxes is CRAZY.

So, here's a post I reblogged today that looks at how radfems and TERFs are doing shit on tumblr to try and indoctrinate people, and I just want to share that because there's further good information about their tactics.

The history of radfems is 100% wrapped in gatekeeping and control tactics. Very short history: Radfems were birthed out of second wave feminism. Up until that point, feminism was something pursued in the public sector most often by women who had the means and time to focus fully on activism. So, upper middle-class white women. There were BIPOC women in every aspect of feminism from the beginning, but due to socioeconomic factors and just plain old racism, those women were rarely listened to outside their own sphere of influence.

In second wave, BIPOC women had finally gained some upward mobility economically and socially that opened the doors to do more in the wider world of the feminist movement. When they went to the white women in charge of the movement and said, "Hey, we have supported and worked for your concerns for decades. Here are things that are especially affecting BIPOC women, and we would greatly appreciate the reciprocation of everything we've put into the movement.

To which the upper middle-class white women who had the power in the movement basically said, "No, those things don't affect us, so we don't care."

Out of this schism came a lot of white women who couldn't believe other women were "betraying" them by putting the needs of their communities ahead of what white women wanted. And that was the birth of radical feminism, the idea that anyone who called themself "feminist" disagreeing with these women were the enemy and had to be silence and stopped.

Several decades later, third wave feminism was able to really start discussing intersectional feminism where even if your concerns aren't mine, they are valid because you are speaking from an experience and a community I don't have. But we are all striving for human rights, dignity, and respect, so fighting for the rights of one woman is fighting for rights for all of us. Third wave isn't (wasn't? I'm not sure if we've actually rolled into fourth wave at this point) perfect. White Feminism is still an issue. Getting people who say they believe in the rights of all women to realize that means women they find fundamentally terrible deserve the same human rights is a problem. People wanting to put Western Feminism Ideals onto other cultures like Japan and the Middle East is a problem.

Meanwhile, Radical Feminists have built a walled-off city where they can all yell about how they're the truest and purest feminists and anyone who disagrees with them is mentally ill, or hates women, or is an abuse apologist. Amongst many other claims.

The difference between Radfems and Feminists is that Radfems don't want to bring in anyone who doesn't absolutely agree with them on every point. Feminists want to open the doors and welcome anyone trying to genuinely help all women achieve human dignity. It's not a perfect system. As listed above, there are issues in the movement to this day that will likely persist until the universe ends, but at the core of it, Radfems want total agreement and loyalty, and Feminists are seeking to build a community where we understand one another and support one another even if my problem isn't your problem.

The most important thing to remember, I think, is this: The number of radfems is actually pretty small. They're just fucking loud. And I think the reason they've gotten so loud is that more and more people are realizing their goals aren't to educate or help but to shame and control, and so they're getting louder about how they're the real victims and MUST fight back against people who disagree with them, whether directly or not because they're trying to "save" the "real" feminists. They're not trying to save anyone except themselves and the rest of their cult, and to hell with the rest of us. But, there's more of us seeking real community and care than radfems, so I think we'll win in the end. We just have to remember that we're in this together, and that keeping the door open to new ideas and information is a very powerful tool.

#radfems #feminism #intersectional feminism

[if-confessions]

hi, just wanted to ask if you have an opinion on one star ratings on itch.io in general? i understand supporting authors, and i don't support mean comments on reviews. but it also feels dishonest to keep your opinion to yourself only when you have a negative view of a game. It seems like (in the cog-ish community on tumblr) sharing an opinion less than good for an if is frowned upon

i understand authors write for fun, and sometimes aren't looking for constructive criticism. but if the last part were completely the case, there IS an option on itch.io to just... disable reviews and ratings. opening yourself up to getting stellar 5 star reviews means opening yourself up to less than happy reviews as well

but, let me know what you think. you seem very insightful for these things!

Insightful XD you are too kind, Anon. I usually have some mild takes...

Long post ahead. TLDR:

use all stars available, it's there for a reason

reviews are good to get more information out of a rating

constructive =/= mean

don't want to deal with it, disable ratings

-------------------------------------------------

==> The whole range of stars in ratings should be used.

So, this is my current itch rating distribution:

As you can see, it is currently a bit skewed to the top. But that's because I tend to forget to rate a game after I play it*, and mostly because I am currently reviewing games and I wanted to start with games I know I've enjoyed in the past**. And also because I haven't played a lot of games recently... *which I only do in the first place if I actually finish a game, or gave it a fair shot. And you can't rate the game during the voting period of a ranked jam **the ones I didn't really enjoy may not be on itch either...

Even then, I am still personally in favour of using the full range of stars on itch by creating your own metrics to base your ratings* on. Not every game is worth a 5-stars and less-than-good games should not automatically get a 1-star. There are 5 stars for a reason! Use them! *My rating metric on itch is based on my enjoyment of the game/how entertained the game has been to me.

To me, ratings are part of the game making experience. They are a way to judge whether it is well received or not. And even if it doesn't feel good to receive a 1-star*, it is important to remember that not everyone will enjoy what you make, and they are still allowed to express that (what's the point of ratings otherwise...). *it's a bit like a rite of passage to get one :P

==> Itch Reviews... are not really reviews.

Even if they call it reviews, they are more small comments on ratings. Itch reviews are not visible on the game page, only in the ratings list of the game on the author side, and in the feed of the reviewer*. It cannot be perused by itch users wanting to know more about what players thought about the game. *if the reviewer doesn't remove it from their activity. Also sometimes visible in the global feed

They are more like personal messages from the player to the creator, rather than what you'd expect of reviews (opinion publicly visible*). This can be great for creators who want to hoard those private messages and keep it for themselves, or hide the more critical comments. But it might sometimes leads to getting irrelevant or less-then-nice messages**. And the most annoying part: you can't reply to them to correct some things, or ask for further details. *I guess you have the comment section where you could post a proper review? **itch allows you to report abusive and spam comments.

That's why I kind of prefer the system of the IFDB: your reviews and ratings are public, you can comment on reviews or indicate whether the review had been useful to you. And because it is much smaller than itch, reports are handled faster.

==> Still you should leave some comments with your rating.

Ratings give creators some sort of an indicator about the reception of the game, but, since ratings are highly subjective and everyone have different personal metrics when rating, they can't tell what when right and what didn't, how well or how poorly the game is being experiences... Only words can do that.

So I personally believe we should leave some comments with our ratings, whether it is good or bad, from full novelette-length reviews* to a few sentences. If it is criticism, then it should be shown constructively; if it is praise, it should be explicative. This will give the author some concrete elements to focus on to fix issues or continuing the project. *maybe don't do that on itch...

Here are some examples of comments I got with ratings of CRWL : only gotten 6 total, which is 5% of all ratings

ngl that second one stung (I think cried for an hour...) but nothing was false about it. It definitely needed a re-write and I was being a bit dramatic. It might have been a bit harsh, but it is a good example of a constructive comment

I know itch will never enforce it, but I do think leaving a sentence or two of constructive comment on lower ratings should be a bit more of the norm. Being constructive doesn't mean it is overly negative or mean, it should target elements that do not work and explain why it doesn't (and maybe how it could).

Sidenote: this is not a place to request things or changes from the game/creator, obviously.

==> If you don't want any 1-star ever, don't enable ratings.

Getting a 1-star rating or a bad reviews might usually be a rite of passage when putting your stuff out there, but you don't have to suffer through them if you don't want to.

Itch allows you to disable ratings and reviews (and even comments) for a reason*. Enabling it is a bit of a gamble, you don't know how people will rate and what they will say about the game. It could be a flood of stellar reviews or a barrage of terrible ones, or a bit of both, or... nothing. If you don't feel like you could handle getting some low ratings or more negative comments (like the middle one screenshotted above), then I would advise you to disable them. *it will also affect the visibility of your game in the browsing section if you are worried about that

I personally think it helped me build a thicker skin and grow as a creator* and a person. Getting long reviews** about how how my game wasn't working and why felt to me like the reviewer respected me enough to give my game a fair shot and explain their reasoning behind their view. I know I don't have to agree with everything, and I don't have to take every piece of criticism on board, but they all have made me think about my games differently. *probably more the IFDB reviews than the ratings here, because they were more constructive and explicative. **Damnit, can't link it. It was a review for this game, but locked in the forum because the reviewer had submitted a game too.

#confession time #if-confessions #reviews and ratings

[stereax]

I think MM is cooked, he’s 1 of 2 players to not outright deny his involvement and there’s also the damning picture of him in the hotel room

I'm rolling with the idea of innocent until proven guilty (the report comes out). There's a LOT of moving pieces and we won't know for sure what happened until we get the report - and even then, we don't know how accurate the report will be to what really happened.

Under the cut, I'll explain more. TW we're going to be talking about the 2018 WJC scandal in-depth, so if you're sensitive to sexual assault themes, please don't read forward.

I'm scheduling this post because I'm honestly a little terrified about this one, for (hopefully) obvious reasons. Sorry for the delay on this, in advance. God, fuck, shit, I know this is a bad idea, and I'm reasonably sure this is gonna get me cancelled (as much as a Tumblr account can be cancelled) lol... please be nice?

Before I get into the discussion, a disclaimer: I am not denying the 2018 WJC rape case. I fully believe that it happened. What happened is terrible and disgusting and should never be allowed to exist in professional hockey. I am analyzing one player (Michael/Mikey McLeod) and his possible involvement in said scandal.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty: A Stereanalysis.

Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. - United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN UDHR) Article 11 (look, international relations IS a useful major!)

Let's start off with the (very limited) facts of the case, from the lawsuit: At a gala in London, Ontario, celebrating the 2018 gold medal of the Canada World Junior's team, a woman (EM) meets a hockey player (Player 1). She becomes increasingly drunk and ends up going to Player 1's hotel room. They engage in sex (seemingly, at this point, consensual, though EM is intoxicated and possibly Player 1 is as well - the ethics of drunk sex are not my realm to parse out, and I will not be analyzing whether this specific instance is rape or not, as it is ultimately moot). Player 1 then invites his friends into the hotel room without EM's knowledge or consent. The number varies; in the lawsuit there are eight total players, but police say there are "reasonable grounds" for only five players. Important to note here is that most media says the lawsuit is against eight CHL players, among which 2018 WJC players are included. These five-to-eight players then proceed to sexually assault EM, intimidating her and blocking off exits. EM and her mother soon open a case with the local police on this issue. Player 1, upon being informed of this investigation by Hockey Canada, goes so far as to contact EM through Instagram and beseech her to "put an end to" the investigation.

Yikes.

We've got up to eight players (five that are going to be named in the report, it seems) that have raped EM. At least one of these, and likely several, but presumably not all, are members of the 2018 WJC roster. We will assume that all these facts are accurate.

On the picture: I can't find it anywhere. I'm looking. It doesn't help that seemingly ALL of Reddit is shut off with the API protests. Fire it my way, if you can. I've seen mentions of it in other places, so I will believe it exists, but I'd like to see it.

Mikey not saying anything doesn't mean he was or was not involved, in my opinion. It would be, frankly, stupid, to make comments on the investigation while it's pending. Remember how anything you say can and will be used against you? Exactly. Any legal advisor worth their salt would tell you to say as little as possible in front of the media.

Every other player on that team, barring (I think) Formenton and Batherson (both on the Sens), have denied they did anything. Formenton's contract wasn't re-inked and he's playing in Switzerland. Batherson was wearing an A when there was a recent injury on the Senators' roster. If we go Court of Public Opinion and claim Formenton is guilty and Batherson is innocent, we still have four-to-seven players' names to fill in. And it's entirely possible that none of those players were on the WJC roster.

Now, consider the NHL's position on this. They're just emerging from the wakes of the Kyle Beach scandal. Do they really need a second major sex scandal on their hands? Especially one at the hands of players and not staff? Would it not be easier to simply round up the players reasonably suspected to be part of the sexual assault and explain to them that yeah, you'll be taking a "personal" leave of absence or playing in Europe until this is resolved?

"But Stereax!" you say. "Cale Makar! Carter Hart! Those guys might be involved and they would be protected by the league because they're stars!" To this, I simply say: Mikey is not a star. As much as he plays a vital role on the Devils, he is far from a Jack Hughes-esque kind of player. I'm fairly certain they could Europe him with little or no real issues.

"But Stereax!" you say. "They did so little about Kyle Beach, even though Kane and Toews were publicly implicated! Nothing happened to them, and they're all but proven to have known and done nothing about it!" To this, I once again say: Mikey is not the face of a franchise. He is not a star. In the eyes of hockey, he is a replaceable 4C. You remove him from the team, you can put Shango or Boqvist in as the 4C and shuffle the third line accordingly.

Another thing to note is how, from the very limited information Mikey did give us, he stated that he was working with the authorities. If a person sexually assaulted someone else, and then ended up under an investigation, would that person willingly work with the authorities? Would they go so far as to say that on record? I'm doubtful.

Even if the NHL was to take no action, I sincerely believe that the Devils' organization would have done something if they were aware that Mikey was involved in the scandal. Unlike some organizations in the league (coughcoughRangerswhocough), the Devils tend to do things with general respect for humans. Like Fitz, who took the time to sit down with Severson and basically tell him that we'd love to keep him but he's too expensive, then help engineer the sign-and-trade to Columbus, getting Sevo the extra contract year. From a team that outwardly had a gender equality night, it would seem antithetical to the organization's roots to knowingly shelter a rapist. Hell, why would they write a FEATURE PIECE on McLeod in the playoffs? That's just asking for trouble.

Speaking of the playoffs - the report is dragging on. It's been months since we were promised it. Devils fans had worried that the report, if it would be indicting Mikey, was being postponed until the Devils were out of the playoffs so as not to mess the team up in the middle of their run. The run's been over for a month now. The report still isn't out. That's perhaps a good sign, that the report wasn't being held just so Mikey could have his "last hurrah", so to speak.

Think now about Ben Johnson. When he was found guilty of rape, the Devils terminated his contract basically immediately. Johnson never played for the Devils, splitting time between the AHL and ECHL affiliates (Albany Devils & Adirondack Thunder). Even so, it was a hard-line and immediate stance from the organization in a league that keeps trying to get Mitchell Miller ice time.

Or Jake Virtanen - though he was found not guilty of sexual assault by court, his contract was bought out and then he hauled ass to EHC Visp in the Swiss NL, where he got in enough fights with his teammates that the team basically told their manager they'd walk if he stayed. Recall Virtanen was a 6th overall pick in the NHL, probably the best non-lockout-era player the NL had ever seen, and he was that unpopular and much of a jackass.

Contrast this with Mikey, who the entire team seems to love. Take the Desert Island interviews, where every player asked says they'd take Mikey or Nate (the Superbuddies) or both onto a desert island for entertainment. Or how Luke's first dinner with the Devils was with the Superbuddies, Jack, and Dawson. Or generally how Mikey (and Nate) seem to parent half the young'uns on the team. Is Jack "our parents raised us to believe in gay rights and support the queer community" Hughes going to knowingly associate with a rapist? Is the team, which Jack has outright said was excited and had no issues with pride night and were looking forward to supporting that - is this a team that would all stick by someone who's committed sexual assault? Hockey culture and all, but I'd hope the Devils would be better than that.

And here we get to the most intriguing part of Clouder's Defense, what I call the 7+1 Theory. There have been whispers of this in the media and among circles of those in the know. The 7+1 Theory, most simply, is: Eight players were in the room where it happened. Seven sexually assaulted EM. One walked in and out, "unaware" of what was going on. (How "unaware" is up for debate. Some sources say that Player 8 was unsure whether whatever was happening was consensual and just resolved to stay out of it.) If this is the case, was Player 8 Mikey? We have no way of knowing.

And that's the long and short of it - we don't know. And we won't know until the report is released. And even when the report is released, how much will it say? How accurate will it be?

Now, if Mikey IS indicted in the report, all of this speculation is moot. However, I wouldn't go so far as to assume he is involved until we get the report - there are significant factors playing in his favor, which I've outlined above. I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting, but I've spent way too long on this post already...

When the names are named and the information is released, only then will I pass judgment. Until then, I'm going to stick with the UDHR and presume innocence, both for the sake of legal thought and for the sake of my own sanity.

Once again, please do not take ANY of this as me dismissing or belittling sexual assault in any way. What happened in that hotel room in Canada was horrific and should never be even implicitly approved of by the NHL. I hope this report comes out sooner rather than later and justice can finally be served.

#stereanswers #tw sa mention #faceoff king #mikey mcleod #(tagging him for blacklist purposes) #2018 WJC

[mywingsareonwheels]

Some hopefully reassuring observations on fandom and human beings

1. Sometimes (more of the time than not) when two fans of something disagree sharply on their interpretation of a character or event in the story, neither of them is actually wrong. Especially if the source material is any good and thus complex and open to more than one way of looking at things. The more simplistic an interpretation the less astute and wise it’s likely to be, but that doesn’t mean that even someone who holds an opinion like that has missed everything important about it! When portrayals of a character in fanfic vary wildly that’s... actually probably a feature, rather than a bug. (Even if it is occasionally saddening to be halfway through a fic and suddenly realise that this excellent writer hates your favourite character/adore your least favourite! ;-) Such is life, doesn’t mean anyone’s doing anything wrong.)

2. It is totally reasonable to unfollow or even block an entirely lovely strange or near-stranger on tumblr/refrain from reading their fics because their interpretation of the story or a character is so different from yours that it’s just stressful to read their takes. But if it’s someone you already know and like, especially a real-life or close-online friend, it’s really *really* not worth falling out about that.

3. Relatedly: I think we all got so damn burned out by “you need to not just follow/like/befriend people you agree with about everything” being used to attempt to guilt us into listening to fascists, or otherwise put up with bigotry or constant microaggressions or generally get exhausted by nonsense. So let us all agree that instantly blocking bigots or others with views that we find dehumanising is a Really Damn Good Thing. BUT ALSO... over issues that aren’t that crucial, writing friends off due to any possible difference of opinion (fandom-related or otherwise) is a bit miserable. And absolutely awful as a pattern for activism, given that people of goodwill who may disagree with each other over some stuff working together is an absolutely necessary bit of activism.

4. When a fandom has a pattern of preference over characters, ships, and storylines that conforms to societal biases, a) that’s a bad thing and worth talking about, b) it *doesn’t mean that everyone in the fandom who has that preference is doing so because of those social biases*. Group tendencies do not generally predict the motivations of every individual within the group.

5. “It is an especially good thing when A happens” and “It is a bad thing when B happens” are not the same thing. (I most want to make the point that “queer actors playing queer characters is extra awesome” is true but so also is “sometimes het actors play queer characters beautifully and as long as they do their jobs well that’s totally okay”.)

6. It really is okay to ship characters because you fancy them rather than for any more supposedly exalted reason. (Which isn’t to say that other reasons to ship characters aren’t valid and interesting! But “I ship these two because they are/would be hot together” is a complete reason. If indeed any reason is needed.)

7. There is no moral dimension to what gender(s) you find attractive (if any).

8. There is no moral dimension to what gender(s) you are (if any).

9. Not everyone in fandom is a woman, let alone a cishet woman.

10. Actors and other artists are all human beings first and foremost, and should be treated accordingly. And being human beings, it should be trivially obvious that the theory that all of them are motivated by the desire for publicity and nothing else is absolute nonsense.

11. Being kind and generous with yourself and other people is a very very good thing.