#i need to make the post about them easier to find

[misscammiedawn]

Legitimacy vs Selection Bias in Hypnosis

This has been on our mind a lot recently. It's mostly been sparked by the recent Mindless Banter podcast run by @theleeallure @enscenic and @hypno-sandwich where the three hosts spoke about how they dislike academic models of hypnosis and a recent post by @h-sleepingirl discussing why they herald hypnotic education.

One thing that is always going to be true about the advocates of our kink who have been involved with the community for a long time is that we are going to be experienced and capable hypnotists and/or hypnotees.

Likewise those who join and find themselves brought in to the fold tend to self-select; if a person is not able to find any success or joy in hypnosis because it's not working or they do not gel with the styles taught and practiced then they will not hang around.

This means that we have a functioning ecosystem of people who know the lingo, who are primed to react as they should and tend to have things work for them.

Which is great! It makes it so much easier to work out when everyone is on the same page.

But it also creates an insular community.

I've written before on why the insular nature of our community worries me.

One of the lines I wrote in that post was this

One of the big differences between the online erotic hypnosis community and the NGH (National Guild of Hypnotists) who rue our existence is that we do not require legitimacy to function when they themselves exist in a half-truth state where when receiving both of my certifications it was impressed that we needed to perform an uneasy dance of providing services without practicing medicine because hypnotherapy is not licensed psychology in the same was that chiropractors are not performing medicine.

Legitimacy is the idea of taking what we do, what we are, what we believe and what we practice and trying to make it valid to those outside of the community. It's performing studies, it's building a framework of hard rules, it's about pretending that we understand how the brain works beyond the anecdotal evidence that we witness it every day within our corners and communities.

Fact is, hypnosis is a malleable and belief-based practice that rests right in the middle between faith and science. As mentioned in the above linked post, trance can be detected on an EEG:

Source

Our last post on this topic just spoke about accepting that we exist in a soft science where what we believe, how we approach our beliefs and what ideas we allow to take root in our minds will have a firm impact on how the minds of the hypnotists and hypnotees we interact with.

Today I want to talk about why keeping the education and the science involved in the conversation is important.

Because, like the Mindless Banter crew, I have reached the point of my career in hypnoplay where should Dawn wish to induce a trance she need only find a partner, lay out what will happen and perform. The rest of it just happens.

Once you reach a level of confidence and community, it pretty much takes care of itself. The interaction between a hypnotist and a person who has never experienced trance before and the interaction between a hypnotist and an enthusiast will play out differently.

What I mean by this is if Dawn is approached in DM by someone who wants a session she will be able to pick up a number of tells without even noticing it on their confidence and experience. Someone shy, unsure and untrained will not dive straight in. Which makes the encounter less likely and even if it does happen it comes from the power dynamic of a teacher and student rather than two enthusiasts going to town.

This is normal and it's not a bad thing. It just means that the typical educator in the hypnokink community is typically aware of the "weight class" of their hypnotees which paints their expectations of how things will go and allows for a line between the way hypnosis is taught in 101 and how it is practiced in enthusiast circles.

It's why Progressive Muscle Relaxation is something which gets scoffed at a lot in our circles. The typical enthusiast does not need to spend 20 minutes on an induction when their typical partner is someone they can hold the shoulders of, stare at with intent and give permission for the hypnotee to drop.

That isn't to say that experienced hypnotists only play with experienced hypnotees. It just means that the majority of the play from those who educate does not match the material that we teach to beginners. Not a bad thing.

But it does breed this divide I mentioned. Between the experience of those who do this all the time and what is "academic".

So, besides helping new people into the community or playing in pure theoretical space, why must we keep the academic approach involved?

Well, first... the science does inform what we do. Yes, a lot of this is based on belief but there is a large amount of the science which is just fact no matter what we do. The neuroplasticity of traumatized brains is a topic we type about a lot given our dissociative disorder. I mentioned in my Dissociative Disorders and Hypnosis post that there are multiple studies that there's a higher hypnotic suggestibility in those with conditions that include dissociation as a symptom. The fact that this was being taught in a 101 class was why I made that post to begin with.

From my Mind Makes It Real post I mentioned that we need to be aware of the truths to keep ourselves in check. We should always be wondering "am I wrong?" about everything and the moment one lets go of the academic framework and commits to the loose ethos of "it just works" you lose a little bit of that footing and external perspective. We're an insular community and there's an element of "the popular ideas win out", not to stress a point too much but the whole hatred of the progressive muscle relaxation induction is a good example of this. I know a few community leaders who reflexively rant any time they hear it. These people have the ability to control the con schedule. They teach classes and part of their lesson is their personal disdain for that approach. This goes into the minds of those who were taught by that person and becomes part of the internal dogma. Suddenly you have a situation where a minority of people in the community need to defend the PMR.

I do not actually care too much about PMR but it really is one of the most accessible entry level trances and the disdain for it is a little gatekeepy, if I am being honest. I don't think any individual means for it to be something they keep out of the community but enough individuals following a trend creates a community concept, a widely held belief.

And hypnosis is entirely about widely held beliefs. Thus it is now a fact that PMR is boring and ineffective and there's more fun ways to do trance. That is an example, hopefully one that is understandable to an audience who are also into hypnokink (apologies to my non-hypnosis Tumblr followers, I hope if you're reading this you enjoy this peak into a little internet sub-culture).

Which brings me to legitimacy.

Do we really need it?

Hypnosis is both science and fantasy. A person attending a hypnokink convention could treat hypnosis with the technical skill and care that one would approach as roleplay, learning all of the different terms and all of the safety procedures and treating it as a psychological version of what can be physically observed.

But you may also have someone who treats hypnosis as roleplay and improv with a framework not too dissimilar from a tabletop sourcebook for D/s shenanigans that they can learn and play within much the same as a D&D player can switch to World of Darkness. I guarantee there are a large number of people in the hypnosis community who do this and they're not wrong for doing it.

But as I mentioned above. Hypnosis is a scientifically observable phenomenon and it is dangerous if abused. Heaven knows I know that more than most. One must not believe in the dangers for them to be real. An immature hypnotist is a danger to a hypnotee regardless of if they think they are roleplaying or performing edgeplay. And the same is true for a hypnotee, too. If one believes it's all roleplay then their limits and safety will be at a different level than someone who is aware of the risks.

One need only look to the dark corners of our community where covert hypnosis is practiced eagerly, recruitment is a game and personality erasure is an aesthetic to know that there are uncomfortably large swaths who are practicing hypnosis from the perspective of fantasy. I do not want to pull out the news articles about how Disney Deer brainwashing ruined people's lives again.

The good news is that within the educator/convention going portion of the community we do teach this stuff. We do make everything clear. We're not currently in a community where academic approaches are shrugged off.

But it makes me uncomfortable when experienced educators in the community forget how far their words reach and dismiss the academic for the sake of "what works".

We do not need to seek legitimacy for the eyes of those outside of the community. We do not Demand To Be Taken Seriously. We have a community where people are welcome to join or not join. We do not need external legitimacy.

But we need internal legitimacy.

We need the people who practice within our care to know that they're practicing with dangerous tools that can and will mess a person up if treated without proper care.

Safety and education require we keep room for the academic and seek to legitimize what we do or those who look at hypnosis as pure fantasy will not be able to recognize the risk.

At least, that's my opinion.

-

For more of our ramblings on hypnosis and the hypnosis community, please check out our Hypnokink Writing tag for other bits of education and commentary like this <3

#camden posting #hypnokink #hypnokink writings #hypnosis #hypnosis community

[bloominglifedyinglife]

Hey there! Sorry for the pause in art! Helping out with hay bailing doesn't exactly leaves the arms in a 'I-want-to-draw' state.

Anyways, I had wanted to upload some pictures for my TOH AU when I realized that I had nothing about Nicholas and Abigail beyond their initial face sketches!!!

So here's some for you guys!!

The first picture is Nicholas in his emperor's armor, as I haven't gotten around to drawing his outer garb yet. The diamonds adorning his outfit are not for decoration, rather they are the main 'source' of Nicholas's artificial magic. Unlike Philip, Nicholas does not have a love for machinery, (nor is he keen on inflicting self harm to try and use glyphs), so Nicholas would struggle a lot in learning to make his artificial magic work for him.

For a long time, Nicholas refused to even entertain the idea of creating artificial magic. It took him even longer to figure out how to make it work, not to mention learning to wield it. He eventually got the hang of working with his gadgets. He even tried making smaller trinkets to get the idea on how to make something work. Once he was down with them however, he would just have them tossed. Not even being useful enough to be scrapped as that point.

I would like to add it that Philip would then find these trinkets in the garbage dump and take them to improve them. Insulting whoever made them in the first place as the designs were horrible.

One of the reasons he has so many stabilizing crystals is because they help control his artificial magic when he has to use it on a large scale. They also help with keeping his curse in check from small outbursts. He still needs palisman for when the curse goes too far, but they have thus far prevented a repeat of the incident with his wife.

Abigail on the other hand, as a more modest outfit, following the ideals of 'women should always wear dresses' that she and her husband were born into. The outfit is about 17th century-ish, definitely not from the era they came from.

One thing that Abigail does not embrace about their cultural upbringing is her lack of control as a woman. Even centuries later she still has to fight her husband on the right to have any control. Especially once they both became Emperor and Empress of the Boiling Isles. Part of her duty as Empress is the management of the Isles, from creating the laws, to making sure that schools keep to the 'single-track' study to enforce the Coven System.

The only reason she has any say at all is because the people of the Isles expect her to.

Just like how despite us knowing how canon!Belos would have felt about same sex relationships, or gender change, or even sex before marriage, Belos DIDN'T DO anything about it. That was because it was a part of the Boiling Isles, the people never saw anything wrong with it. It would have been harder to convince the people that their way of life regarding their genders, sexuality, and acceptance of all of it was wrong compared to getting everyone to follow the Coven System. So Belos had no choice but to ignore it and act like he accepted it just like them.

It's the same thing here, despite the people of the Boiling Isles being new to the idea of having rulers over the Isles, they still expected them BOTH to have a say. Abigail keeps hold on this right with an iron fist.

And I will say this now, Abigail's chest gem is NOT like Eda's It serves a different purpose entirely.

I wanted to draw more of these two so I went ahead and drew them as chibis!! Don't they both look vicious?

#the owl house #toh #toh au #the owl house au #original characters #i still don't have a name for this au #i need a name for this au fast #i need to make the post about them easier to find #toh nicholas #toh abigail #wittebane brother's parents

[arcaneyouth]

having a chronic illness/disability and also having medical trauma is a bitch for obvious reasons but also like. being part of the disabled community n stuff. like yeah i want to show my love and support for disabled people and i dont want to be uncomfortable when they talk about their experiences. if they talk about specific experiences i will stop breathing while the panic hits me like many bricks

#negative #sorta kinda #a lot of disability posts are like 'if you are uncomfortable with (disability stuff) you need to reexamine yourself and #learn to live with it' and these posts are true and i do have biases i gotta be aware of #but theres also stuff i just cant become comfortable with. ive tried. ive been trying for a decade #it is simultaneously true that i should be allowed to avoid my triggers and that other disabled people shouldnt have to be aware that #im triggered by them existing #i dont feel bad about that i just feel bad that i am apart of this community too but theres spaces i just cant be in #its the same kind of thing with like. so you'll never find me putting my ocs in a medical setting #i could potentially do it since i know exactly what triggers me and what doesnt but its easier to just avoid it in my stories #but the thing about my chronic illness is its. an invisible illness #and a lot of the things i could bring up for my readers to understand they have My Illness are. things that trigger me #and again. i have tried so hard to be more comfortable with these triggers #its not happening. it is likely i will panic about this stuff the rest of my life #so now theres a disconnect between me and my ocs that are like me because i cant make them like me without freaking out #its just. man what the hell. #my disability that gave me medical trauma is preventing me from participating in disabled spaces i want to be part of #what the fuck dude

[sea-jello]

i know its a lot of screenshots listen i just like this scene okay peak boyf moment tbh

the one below is 7 im not labeling it cause i really like this shot

extra lol i paused it at the right time

#propaganda rested for a bit cause school started back up #but we're BACK #jeremy not getting the joke in the first one and rushing to comfort michael my beloved #the nd is real in this one #some of these you really need audio 😭😭 #what if i take the winner of all the propaganda polls and put them into one final poll #bmc australia showdown #that means i cant go over 10 propaganda posts oml #or i can make it an even number and do rounds #should i do that #this ones HEAVY on the pictures but its hard to capture a video in screenshots yk #at first this was supposed to be funny screenshots of like weird positions and stuff like the extra but no its evolved into this #PROPER propaganda #i should put these in a tag so its easier for me to find #bmc australia propaganda #<- how about that #im gonna be known as the bmc australia propaganda guy on here #bmc #be more chill #bmc australia #be more chill australia #jeremy heere #michael mell #be more chill squip #chloe valentine #brooke lohst #jeremy bmc #bmc jeremy #michael bmc #bmc michael

[gayvampyr]

misandry truthers dni you’re all annoying and misogynistic

#i don’t think i’ve ever used a dni seriously before but y’all are the worst #go ahead and block me if you’re offended by this. sorry women don’t universally have it easier then you #people on ​this site are so terminally online they think being an oppressor makes you oppressed #‘but what about [minority] men??’ yeah that’s intersectional oppression babe #learn the difference #i was reblogging from the person in my prev post but then i saw a bunch of shit about how if you complain about men as woman then you are #and i quote #a ‘misandrist terf’ #so #take that as you will #not to mention it seems suspiciously aimed at lesbians since we are more likely to complain about men because everything seems to revolve #around them and our lives just don’t #like im all for transmasc positivity and gay/mlm positivity but like #‘cis men are so cool n sxy! masculinity should be celebrated!’ bitch have you been outside lately #and i find it hilarious that their posts imply that lesbians have it easier and that gay men are fetishized more than us #LMAOO #boy get your head out of your ass <3 #and yes i am referring to xam/pyre #do not tag them pls cuz im not interested in starting shit but i needed to say this cuz omfg this sites nrainrot 😬 #lesbophobia

[toytulini]

ouagh at some point i should try to post some of the multiple thousands of pictures I've taken every time i go to an aquarium huh

#toy txt post #i went thru my phone and sorted almost everything in my camera roll at some point #need to do more sorting again and also sort into narrower categories to make it easier to tag shit and then #ill be able to like. navigate my insane amount of photos on here one day #also the multiple thousands is not. an exaggeration #i seem ti take At Least 1000 everytime. i go to an aquarium #less so at the one i volunteer at sometimes just cos. its smaller and i try not to be on my phone while volunteering #ouaaaagh #i guess i should try to look into more. schooling/edu fucking cation #cos volunteering there. doesnt suck #like its a little physically demanding just cos the water is Very Extremely Cold and its like 2hrs drive away from me #but like. like i Hate interacting w ppl i dont think i could do customer service or retail BUT i love #a captive audience to infodump about sea life to #i just need a college professor that is very extremely patient w me and treats me like the fragile little baby that i am/j #i guess i need to once again seek out Fucking Therapy to wrangle with my Homework Issues #all those posts explaining how to study that were too triggering to look at ages ago. guess i need to find them lol #god. it really does feel like such a silly stupid issue i have here. like if someone else told me they had issue w this id be like #no yeah of course that sounds horrible im so sorry etc #but alas i am not so forgiving w myself like #oh yeah im apparently traumatized ig by uhhhh Being Assigned Homework. like. normal amount. it was fine and all #like i passed shit. it was extremely difficult and i barely made it in some classes but i did Get Thru It and i had like accommodations to #turn in shit late and everything but uhhhhhhh #yea #theres slightly more to it than that ig but! like. basically. that is basically. #im a huge baby who couldnt do their fucking homework and now if i see Study Tips ill start crying #which is super inconvenient cos like hey bitch you know what might help with the homework? #taking my brain out of my skull and shaking it #anyway. im way offtopic here #the point is that i have so fucking many pictures of fish #and also pictures of birds from the beach i have soooo fucking many. i should post more Photos

[girls-and-honey]

Hiya honey girl!

How are you doing? ♥️

I feel gay today, and I don’t have anyone to vent to, so it’s gonna be you I’m afraid

I feel so gay, I spent half the day looking longingly in the distance, and *sighing* wishfully

Do you ever feel like that?

Last week I bought a red rose from a dude in the street and offered it to a beautiful lady singer in a bar, and even if I don’t particularly want to see her again, it still felt good to do something chivalrous and lesbiany you know?

I like living my life on my own, but some days I wish I could do those romantic things with somebody, like holding hands and cuddling, and walking along the river, and maybe kissing a little.

Even if I’m happy by myself, sometimes I still yearn for the day I’ll have my own lady to offer my roses to 🥺

inkaaaa hi hi <3

I'm doing pretty good, in drastic need of a weekend. almost there!

!!! gay vents are always welcome here! oh to look longingly into the distance whilst sighing wishfully...

do I ever feel like that YES absolutely in fact while pondering my response I did just that asjdfkl okay I might ramble in the tags but yeah completely relate to be happy with life on my own but sometimes wishing it wasn't just me yeah I'm definitely going to ramble in the tags

offering a beautiful lady a rose I'm 🥺🥺 sometimes you just have to indulge in chivalrous lesbiany actions this is unavoidable. manifesting this for you, I hope all your rose offering yearnings come true!

#this is so sweet and very relatable alksdfjs #only opting to ramble in the tags instead of the response bc I feel like this is going to get long lol you've been warned #but yeah. definitely do feel the happy by myself but sometimes wish I could be sharing that time with others #sometimes if i'm watching tv I'll wonder what new shows or movies I'd be watching if someone else was here #instead of the same eight shows I just watch on rotation all year (this is bc I like them btw. it's just hard to watch new shows #without external motivation to do so) #or when I'm working on the blanket that's been in progress almost two years. I wonder if I'd be making it in someone else's favorite colors #lot of little thoughts like this. some are fleeting and others I tend to get stuck on a bit or overthink #like breakfast for example. would I eat breakfast more consistently if I was also making it for someone else? what if they prefer to eat #the same thing every day? i need variety but I could make sure we always have their favorite fruit or put their cereal box out to make it #easier. or if getting the cereal out is part of their routine i can make sure their favorite bowl is always clean #i find myself wondering which of my mugs would be their favorite? which of theirs would be my favorite? #yeah i'm an acts of service person can you tell. also quality time... can you imagine the shared floor time conversations #a lot of the time I picture myself doing the exact same thing like watching tv and playing switch or practicing music or even working #the biggest different is just that someone else would also be here doing their own thing #to scroll tumblr in silence from the same couch... sending each other posts even though we're both right there. I do miss that #even chores would be more fun and go quicker I think. racing to see if they can do the dishes faster than I can fold and hang laundry #tidying and putting our things together in shared spaces. seeing them side by side just like we are #making the bed together and putting each of our stuffed animals on our own side #or maybe I'd just make it so they have one less thing to worry about #I think i've exposed myself enough alskdfj but there are quite literally hundreds more where those came from #anyway who wants to admit they have a crush on me (kidding) (ish) #asks #oops after posting this is looks like way more tags than I thought it would sorry anyone who made it this far

[klutzytomb]

To all the people that reblog stuff on their blogs that will help them in the future under a certain tag: THANK YOU

#it honestly makes my job of finding every bit of helpful information so much easier #I'm filling up a google doc with all the stuff that could possibly make me and/or my friends lives better in the long run #also this post is directed at someone specific but you might not even know it's about you #so far I have 45 different links to posts that could help me in the future #I still need to find more though #like a LOT more #I would say who I'm referring to here but I don't want them to know I've been stalking their blog again #kris rambles

[maxillo]

just now occured to me that maybe I have vastly different expectations and presentation methods of content specifically because i got my start on wikia

#as in im more used to just creating repositories of information that others then read #in a space thats in some sense communal and interlinked in content #i have no idea how to consistently post about my work on social media like most people do #and it always feels like it goes against the grain of my brain because i want to keep everything centralized #and that i have to cater and trim it in a way that gives a reason for people to read it if they find it at all #versus people only needing to find a specific wiki of specific kinds of content where everyone contributes their ideas in the same space #its hard for me to even find and try to interact with fellow creatives on tumblr or elsewhere #it feels like such a goose chase of algorithms that demands way more energy than just being part of a wiki where people come and socialize #on their own terms and occupying a close and inherently blended environment where collaboration and interaction is much easier #maybe thats why i dont like 'advertising myself' in places either #in my wikia days people would just find my stuff and interact with me of their own volition all in the same space #it feels so weird and uncomfortable trying to pitch myself and my ideas in places where im not guaranteed reciprocation of interest #no surprise that i still prefer to structure my ideas through wikis but theyre not community spaces because tiddlywiki is 'solo' on its own #and i genuinely dont know how to bridge the gap between them and social media #im honestly wanting to just either find or create an actually communal wiki space and invite friends and mutuals to join or observe that #and maybe somehow integrate it with the wikis i already have #i just really miss being part of creative communities in a mutual way and thats the only method to organize it that makes sense to me #max yaks

[sparrowchute]

Bugsnaxbugsnaxbugsnaxbugsnaxbugsnax

BUGSNAX!!!!!!

I love bugsnax!!!! I'm very new to the fanbase but incredibly excited to be here!! I put off playing the game for a while (i am lazy and it is also very hard for me to absorb new media that isnt already an interest lol) but im very glad i finally managed to drag myself into it!!!

I almost just played on gamepass (xbox), but I found out that if you're on PC you can mess with the code and I've been having a lot of fun there!! I've so far made it so that Snorpy has all his normal limbs intact (no cinnamon roll leg, no popsicle arm) and I'll occasionally give characters other characters hats :0 I've given Chandlo Shelda's flower crown in my current save and my first save currently has Beffica wearing Wambus' hat lol

#i hate coding. i need to stress this. i fucking hate code i hate working with it. #but this isnt like. normal coding. theres no building shit from scratch its all there for me #i simply just have to dig through the codes and find asset names then move them around!!! #snorpys normal limbs were the hardest to find because they arent in the normal save code :0 i did find them though!! #ive now realized though theres probably an easier way to zero them out.... i havent tried it on snorpy yet but it worked on wiggle lol #sorry for rambling ab coding stuff in the tags it just got me very excited!!! #i couldnt find anyone online that did a deep dive of the games code so i had to put on my big boy pants and do it myself #sighs. it aint much but its honest work. i should mention the zero-out trick worked for eggabell too!! #so now i just have her with her eyepatch and lizberts hat :D #ok ok sorry im done. mahbe one day ill make a post about all the coding deep-dive stuff ive done lol #ask #anon #bugsnax

[youremyonlyhope]

Trichotillomania is weird.

Because just now I was reading a bit in the trich subreddit, and as I scrolled with my right hand I could literally feel my left hand want to pull hair. So I was like “No. Don’t.” and the feeling stopped. Then I put my attention back into reading whatever post I was on and the urge was instantly back the moment I stopped focusing on not pulling. I actually nearly pulled before I noticed and stopped.

I can’t tell yet if reading about other people’s experiences is helpful or not. On one hand it makes me want to pull, but on the other hand it makes me hyperaware of the urge to pull so I’m more likely to choose not to rather than absentmindedly do it. So I guess it’s neutrally good?

Anyway. I gotta go get box braids to see if this will help me fight the urge.

#trichotillomania #oh yeah i have trich #goes hand in hand with the anxiety and ocd #i thought i'd mentioned it before but i searched my blog and didn't see any posts so yay #i think a braiding place near me might be the way to go since their reviews look good and the location looks good too #since so many braiding places are holes in the wall that i'm sure do amazing work but i've never gotten my hair professionally braided #so i'd rather go somewhere that has an actual website and a large legit space #since i don't personally have the connections of 'my cousin works at this salon' or 'auntie works at that salon' or 'friend's sister braids' #since that's usually the reason you go to those hole in the wall places because you already know the braiders there. #i know that mini twists definitely help me fight the pulling urge but it takes me 2-4 days to do mini twists on my whole head myself #since i prefer having like 150+ twists in my head and i have to do my own parting and my arms get tired easily #having someone else do braids (or maybe mini twists) for me would be much easier and faster #also i've literally been pulling since i was like 16 or probably earlier but 16 was when i was like oh i pull my hair and acknowledged it #then 24 i think was when i was like 'ok this is a problem and not just a habit' because yay pandemic #making all my mental illnesses much more pronounced and the reason i started wearing mini twists more often #also i want to go so i can confirm that i don't have bald spots. that's my fear. #i should have known at age 20 when i was worried about a hairstylist finding bald spots that i had an issue. 24 was too late. #i can ask the braider if she notices any. but then again i think if i know i have any it will make me freak out... hmm... #anyway i'm posting this partially because i need to dye my hair with henna before i do anything to my hair #because my greys have like 2 inches of new growth. it's a miracle i don't pull my greys. i like them too much to pull them. #i'm actually sad when i see a grey in my hairbrush. i like that they're now all bright orange from the henna #i actually want MORE greys so i can make them be orange highlights #so yeah gonna henna my hair tomorrow after my therapy appointment and then figure out when/where i will get my hair braided #and i'll get that done either next week or the following week

[foone]

Your posts are in an AI model

and then Tumblr decided to sell them to AI models.

Now, don't get me wrong, tumblr selling out the users to AI companies is bad, yes, they shouldn't do that. It sucks.

but don't lets get this confused: your posts were already in there. Tumblr selling them is about tumblr making some money and about the AI models having more exhaustive post collections. It's not about your posts being in an AI model, vs not being in one. That battle has already been lost.

Can you find your post on google? Then it's almost certainly in an AI model already. Think about it: These AI sites showed up before all the sites were making deals to sell their users' content, right? How do you think they built them in the first place?

They scraped the posts. Just like google and bing and such do when they build their search indexes.

It's a fundamental part of how the open web works: you want your posts on tumblr to be visible to users, right? You want them to be readable?* Like, look how much stuff broke when twitter changed their whole read-while-not-logged-in policy, ruining a bunch of thread links/NSFW links. And if it's visible, it's scrapable. That's what the AI models were built on.

I've done website scraping before (not for AI models, of course. I was doing search engines and website archival), this is just how it works. You hire a few relatively smart CS graduates and tell them "build me a scraper that'll give us a bunch of tumblr posts" and they go off for a month or two and come back with a database of a few billion posts, and you stuff that into your AI model. That's how they got all the deviantart and flickr and twitter and pinterest and so on posts. They didn't pay for them: they just took them.

They only ever pay for this shit because either:

they fucked up in such a way that the site might be able to sue them for taking rather than paying

They can buy them cheaper than they can finish taking them. Maybe they'd need to pay the CS grads for an extra month? well, that might be more expensive than just throwing the site a couple hundred thousand bucks.

ANYWAY: my point is, don't treat this "oh no tumblr is selling our posts to AI" like it's a big thing that might happen and it would be bad to happen. Yes, it's bad, tumblr shouldn't do this, this'll let AI models get continual updates of content for far easier than just scraping them would be, tumblr betrayed user trust, and so on...

but realistically, this is not a black and white matter of "if only tumblr didn't do this, then we'd be safe from AI models!"

Nope. We already lost that battle. I'm sorry, and it does suck, but that's just how it is. The avalanche has already started, it's too late for the pebbles to vote. * I'm assuming here that you don't run a private blog that's set to only followers or something. You'd be safer then, of course, but you're not really my target audience for this rant

#this is not in any way pro-ai #but I don't know how to tag this

[getvalentined]

An open letter to @staff

I already submitted this to Support under "Feedback," but I'm sharing it here too as I don't expect it to get a response, and I feel like putting in out in public may be more effective than sending it off into the void.

The recent post on the Staff blog about changing tumblr to an algorithmic feed features a large amount of misinformation that I feel staff needs to address, openly and honestly, with information on where this data was sourced at the very least.

Claim 1: Algorithms help small creators.

This is false, as algorithms are designed to push content that gets engagement in order to get it more engagement, thereby assuring that the popular remain popular and the small remain small except in instances of extreme luck.

This can already be seen on the tumblr radar, which is a combination of staff picks (usually the same half-dozen fandoms or niche special interests like Lego photography) which already have a ton of engagement, or posts that are getting enough engagement to hit the radar organically. Tumblr has an algorithm that runs like every other socmed algorithm on the planet, and it will decimate the reach of small creators just like every other platform before it.

Claim 2: Only a small portion of users utilize the chronological feed.

You can find a poll by user @darkwood-sleddog here that at the time of writing this, sits at over 40 THOUSAND responses showing that over 96 percent of them use the chronological feed*. Claiming otherwise isn't just a misstatement, it's a lie. You are lying to your core userbase and expecting them to accept it as fact. It's not just unethical, it's insulting to people who have been supporting your platform for over a decade.

Claim 3: Tumblr is not easy to use.

This is also 100% false and you ABSOLUTELY know it. Tumblr is EXTREMELY easy to use, the issue is that the documentation, the explanations of features, and often even the stability of the service is subpar. All of this would be very easy for staff to fix, if they would invest in the creation of walkthroughs and clear explanations of how various site features work, as well as finally fixing the search function. Your inability to explain how your service works should not result in completely ignoring the needs and wants of your core long-term userbase. The fact that you're more willing to invest in the very systems that have made every other form of social media so horrifically toxic than in trying to make it easier for people to use the service AS IT WORKS NOW and fixing the parts that don't work as well speaks volumes toward what tumblr staff actually cares about.

You will not get a paycheck if your platform becomes defunct, and the thing that makes it special right now is that it is the ONLY large-scale socmed platform on THE ENTIRE INTERNET with a true chronological feed and no aggressive algorithmic content serving. The recent post from staff indicates that you are going to kill that, and are insisting that it's what we want. It is not. I'd hazard to guess that most of the dev team knows it isn't what we want, but I assume the money people don't care. The user base isn't relevant, just how much money they can bring in.

The CEO stated he wanted this to remain as sort of the last bastion of the Old Internet, and yet here we are, watching you declare you intend to burn it to the ground.

You can do so much better than this.

Response to the Update

Under the cut for readability, because everything said above still applies.

I already said this in a reblog on the post itself, but I'm adding it to this one for easy access: people read it that way because that's what you said.

Staff considers the main feed as it exists to be "outdated," to the point that you literally used that word to describe it, and the main goals expressed in this announcement is to figure out what makes "high-quality content" and serve that to users moving forward.

People read it that way because that is what you said.

*The final results of the poll, after 24 hours:

136,635 votes breaks down thusly:

An algorithm based feed where I get "the best of tumblr." @ 1.3% (roughly 1,776 votes)

Chronological feed that only features blogs I follow. @ 95.2% (roughly 130,077 votes)

This doesn't affect me personally. @ 3.5% (roughly 4,782 votes)

#tumblr dot com #tumblr staff

[peapod20001]

When I love a song, I’ll love it forever

#random post #smth i thought about earlier. yknow. I have a hard time picking favorites with literally everything #I also have what I SAY is a favorite of mine. but I have a hard time really pinpointing whats number 1 in my brain #like. I love lots of things. I like different aesthetics and clothing and art mediums and movies and shows and books and music and people #but it’s difficult trying to find the favorite. some things are easier cus there’s more that I DONT like so it kinda singles out an option #like with music. I love LOTS of music. but what does it mean when smth is a favorite? I don’t have a favorite genre cus I have songs I love #from all over. even ones I haven’t heard yet. music overall is one of my favorite things. I’m not joking when I say it’s a love language #I love the melodies and beats and rhythms and lyrics and voices. always and forever will have a place in my heart and mind #I hate questions that want to know favorites. isn’t it enough to just show you instead? to share everything with you? why do you need one #single thing to know exactly who I am? wouldn’t you get me better if you spent a day with me instead? #I can’t remember everything of importance to me. not all in one single moment. if I went through my playlists and told you what songs I love #and why. what books I love and why. what anything I love and why. you’d find that I’m a bit undefined. I’m an artist and a creator. strong #yet weak imagination. sometimes think better in the abstract and other times do better with what’s set in stone #I love sharing things with people. I wish people would engage more with what I share sometimes. but I never hold it against em or hate them #if they don’t haha. often I feel down when ppl don’t engage with what I share. I know people aren’t obligated to do things but. yknow. it’s #my heart in a platter. splayed our for everyone. bits of me I want to share. what I want people to see. I’ve sat down with people to share #music I like. one friend said a song I like was scary. some people make faces at what I play. some have paid it no mind at all. they don’t #even know how important to me sharing something like that is. hell. how important me sharing ANYTHING is. it’s so easy to hide away #everything about myself. yet here I am trying my hardest to open myself up. yea. wish I was able to connect with someone like that #in person I mean. I guess. I just want to lay down with someone and play music we love. explain why we love it. or try to understand why #idk I’m getting rambly. I just want to do new things forever. and relive the first time everytime #this isn’t a vent or anything. just thinking and writing as I do. typing helps me to keep my mind on track. a bit at least. as much as one #with a brain like mine can havagahhaga. I wonder if anyone actually reads through my tag rambles in their entirety. I know it looks daunting #so I don’t blame you if you can’t or don’t feel like it. it won’t kill me if my words are lost in the void #haha anyways yea :> thinking lots

[neverendingford]

.

#tag talk #“older men shouldn't be allowed to like younger women” excuse me. as someone who enjoys older men liking them I will defend their rights #like. it sounds reasonable to say “women should be allowed to like older men” because that's feminism #but then you say “men should be allowed to like younger women” and suddenly it's bad. #yes I get that there's history and yikes and power abuse. but if young women are going to find older men #they need older men looking for young women. #have you seen that Agatha Christy post about her and her husband? cause like. as long as their adults age isn't the issue. #can agree lend itself to a power imbalance that can be unhealthy? yeah. age isn't the direct issue. #anyway. it's a two way street and it helps to remember that every situation has its reciprocate. in other words I met a very nice man #unfortunately I'm moving in a month but you'd best believe I'm gonna make the most of my time 😏 #and remember. there's cool people everywhere. my town is lowkey a dead end and I still met a cool guy. there's always hope. #you just have to keep looking. #there's hella typos in this but I'm not retyping this whole thing in the tags so deal with if #also. thank the skies for bi men. it's so much easier to be openly genderdiverse when the other person isn't exclusively into one gender. #like. will he see me as a woman or a man? it doesn't matter he thinks I'm sexy either way. bless up #I recognize my privilege as a young skinny white twink and it's my duty to be an ally to the disenfranchised middle-aged man community

[tgirlwithreverb]

I saw that post about what to do if you're homeless again (the one that starts by telling you to spend all of your money on motel rooms lmao) anyway, here's a few thoughts, specifically for trans girls, cuz I don't really care otherwise tbh:

1) plan ahead, most trans girls are in precarious housing situations, you will have a much easier time when it falls apart if you already have a pack with most of the gear you need in it. Also, if you find yourself in a situation where you cant make rent, dont pay part of it, spend that money on gear, pocket the rest and leave, youll have a much nicer time. Look up your local eviction laws, you have plenty of time. (Gear list at the end)

2) travel! If you're in Arizona in May, leave. it's about to be hot as hell. If you're in Michigan in October, leave. It's about to be cold as hell. If you're in a big city, leave. It's way easier to be homeless pretty much anywhere else. Amtrak is cheaper and more comfortable than greyhound, hitchhiking is free and easy, if you're alone it's not that much slower than the previous two, and it's more fun, and sometimes people buy you food or whatever or give you money. I promise it's not scary and you're entirely capable of doing it, no matter who you are. 95+% of people who will pick you up are very nice. All you have to do is take the bus out of town, as far down the highway you can, to an exit with a truck stop if possible, then just stand on the side of the road with your thumb out until someone picks you up. You can stand at the bottom of the ramp(on the highway) near where the merge lane ends or at the top of the ramp(where there's usually a traffic light), the former is more likely to lead to cop interactions but will maybe get you a ride faster, check on hitchwiki for how the cops are in the area. don't be afraid to take a commuter bus or Amtrak to get out of a shitty cop area

3) skip shelters if you can (they are very occasionally a decent place to get stuff from) and encampments, good places to sleep include the trees near railroad tracks or highways, wooded areas behind shopping centers, sections of parks without paths, overgrown empty lots. Hang a tarp above you if there's an appreciable chance of rain, there's tons of YouTube tutorials on how to do this, maybe I'll make a post about what I usually do some day. There are many habits more fun than motel rooms, save your money for them lmao.

4) get on food stamps. This is easier in some places than others, but it makes the whole thing a lot easier. Just tell them you're homeless, if they don't give you a card the same day, you can probably ask to pick it up from that office, alternatively some drop in centers/day shelters can receive mail for you, or you can have it sent to general delivery(USPS service, look it up)

7) libraries are great for charging your phone and using wifi, but also keep an eye out, plenty of random outlets on the outsides of buildings are also powered

5) dumpster. sidewalk trash cans, Aldi, Einstein's, trader Joe's, pizza places, etc. You need to develop a bit of a sense for it but it's an easy way to get cooked food or travelling food or expensive food without spending resources. Also it's fun.

6) water is free, go into the bathroom of any gas station or grocery store in America(offer not valid in most big cities or on the west coast, but in that case just go to the library) and fill up your water bottle

8) hygiene notes: truckers get free showers from chain truck stops(loves, pilot/flying j) go there and ask them. convenient if you're hitchhiking, also you don't need to shower 3 times a day, really, you'll survive. Ditto with deodorant. Take care of your teeth though. Take your socks off every. day. Change them consistently. Safety razors give a good shave, work well without adequate water pressure, and the replacement blades are very stealable, they're kind of heavy though. Walmart makes these electric razors for women that take AA batteries and are pretty light but give a worse shave, also they kinda go through batteries, pick whatever works for you(cartridge razors suck)

9) traveling food notes: peanut butter is great, tortillas and bagels travel pretty well, tuna packets are pretty good protein for traveling(the ones with rice and beans or whatever are nice since theyre often the same price as the regular), condiment packets are free, hot sauce makes everything better, and mayo goes well with tuna and has a bunch of calories in it, salad dressing packets are free from truck stops and work well turning the Walmart shredded vegetable packages (labeled for making into slaw, next to the bagged salads) into a salad with real vegetables(not iceberg lettuce) in it or mixing in with tuna packets for even more calories than mayo

Gear world:

Necessary items(in order of importance): a gallon of water carrying capacity(an Arizona jug or other twist top jug is conventional, but a bladder+arizona bottles also works), a tarp(larger than 6'x9', not brightly colored), a hank of parachord, a sleeping bag (20° rated, synthetic insulation), a backpack with a padded hip belt(at least 50L, no more than 75), rain gear(a rain poncho might cover your pack too, a rain jacket can help with wind when its cold, a trash bag inside or outside your pack can keep it dry, a plan to watch the weather and not get caught also works), a z-fold foam sleeping pad, three pairs of socks, two pairs of underwear (at least one pair of boxer breifs strongly recommended if you arent incredibly skinny), a decent pair of shoes with good arch support, a functional jacket(skip if you got a rain jacket before), a base layer(wool or poly, absolutely no cotton)

Convenient items: a sleeping bag liner(cotton free, keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer), gallon zip locks to pack your stuff in(helps keep it dry and organized), no more than one change of clothes(as light as possible), a multi-tool(can opener, pliers, wire cutter), lighter(burning rope ends etc), spoon, floss and needles for patching

#anyway #not all encompassing or whatever #feel free to add your own tips but ill make fun of you if theyre stupid