#| announcement ; psa |

[cemeterygrace]

reminders:

if you or someone you know might need it in the next few years, purchase plan b. the shelf life of plan b is 4 years, and we might not be able to access it as easily as we can now in the days ahead.

if you are larger/plus size: go online and purchase ella instead of plan b. plan b is less effective if you aren’t under 160 pounds.

if you can, purchase books that project 2025 is looking to ban.

mass deportations are starting. if you see ice vehicles or agents, yell ice raid and la migra as loud as you can.

if someone asks who you voted for, keep your mouth shut. they’re fishing for traitors.

if anyone, anyone at all asks about your neighbors or their legal status in the us, you know nothing. don’t be the reason that their family is separated.

if anyone asks about your religion or lack thereof, keep it vague. this administration will look for any excuse to persecute you.

your friends are trans or queer? for the next four years they’re not. don’t expose anyone’s status as a trans or queer person to anyone else, even if you think you can trust them.

did someone you know get an abortion? no, they didn’t. they were never pregnant.

in short, don’t be a snitch, and keep to yourself these next four years. we’ll make it through this even if it seems hopeless at times.

we can survive this. we’ve survived before, and we’ll survive again.

[tumble-tv]

ICE raids are happening.

Any immigrants, no matter how long you have been a citizen of the USA, is at risk of being deported either out of the country as a whole or into what are basically concentration camps. Raids starting in Chicago, Illinois. and spreading to other major cities with high POC and Hispanic populations. The US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have started raiding homes and families in California.

There are no "protected locations" as of January 21, 2025. Hospitals, schools, and churches are all at risk of being raided, where before these places were deemed safe and off limits to raids.

When it comes to spotting an ICE agent, look for these:

Weirdly neat/well kept hair (shaved heads, side parts, military burs for men; low buns, high ponytails, close cropped bobs for women)

Oversized jacket (long and bulky outerwear makes it easier to hide tools/equipment without being suspicious)

Both hands in pockets

Many undercover agents/cops buy cheap plain clothes off the racks so they aren’t seen in their own clothes. This can make their outfit seem awkward

Sweatshirts with the hood up

Sports apparel (warm up jacket, sweats, etc) with non-sports clothes (jeans, cargo shorts)

Cargo pants/shorts (usually full of items like their badge, flashlight, taser, pepper spray, backup handcuffs, zip ties)

Military or hiking style boots, sometimes chunky sneakers (extra points if none of it matches anything in their outfit)

Outline of a gun in their pants/shirt (easy to see when bending, leaning, or raising arms) (NO NOT SAY ANYTHING)

Overly friendly

Overly inquisitive

“How old are you” and “what do you know about this happening” are both red flags, along with generally odd and personal questions

Don’t fit in

Mismatched pairs in public spaces (usually cops do these things in pairs. They don’t talk to each other or acknowledge each other much, if at all)

DO NOT SAY ANYTHING UNTIL YOU ARE 100% SURE

YOUR BEST BET IS NOT TO SAY ANYTHING UNTIL THE SUSPECT STARTS ACTING OFF AND GETTING PUSHY

COPS ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE UNDERCOVER

COPS CAN AND WILL LIE TO YOU

SCREAM “LA MIGRA” AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS

For protesting:

N95 masks

Respirator/gas mask if you have access to one

Water water water water water (I hate to say it, but disposable one use bottles are best here. If it comes to it, you need to be able to drop and run.) Use for flushing wounds, flushing eyes of tear gas, and of course drinking.

Snacks! You'll be doing a lot of walking and/or running and need to keep that energy up. Trail mix, dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, crackers, jerky/meat sticks, fruit snacks, candy, etc. Think of it like packing your lunchbox for a field trip.

Eyedrops (teargas is a bitch)

Goggles (I bring my old snowboarding goggles)

If you are wearing a t-shirt or have exposed skin, put on fake/temporary tattoos. If you are brought into something and they say you were there, showing a picture of you with the tattoos, show them where that tattoo would be and how there’s nothing there. How would you get rid of a giant flower on your forearm in 2 days anyways?

Wigs fall under the same category as tattoos. The person they're claiming to be you has a blonde bob and you have green hair past your shoulders.It also makes it possible to go with a completely different color without the use of hair dye. This means if they try to arrest you later and try to prove it was you by taking your hair and testing for dye, it won't come back the way they hope. (Thank you @violetrosepetals for this addition!)

Hide your hair. I tuck my hair into my beanie since it’s short. If you have longer hair, try to do the same or tuck it into your shirt. Balaclavas are also a good choice, as they cover both your face and hair.

Power bank

Chargers

Helmet. Any is fine, my personal choice is a skating helmet since they’re rounder and can take more damage, but tactical is also good

Hand sanitizer

Gloves with hard knuckles (tactical gloves). These pack a good punch even if you don't have the correct form. Don't have those? Wrist guards for roller skating/skateboarding work kinda like that too. More of a slapping motion, but still hurt like a bitch. Extra points if they're all scuffed up from use and falls.

Bandanas. Somebody might need one for their face or hair, maybe you need to get dirt off somebody’s face, maybe somebody got injured. They’re great for anything and everything.

Cash (try to stick to cash, your card can be tracked)

Medications if you take them. If you get arrested or happen to somehow be away for longer than expected after the protest, it’s always good to have emergency meds

FIRST AID ALL THE FIRST AID (Tourniquet, Quikclot, chest seal, trauma shears, gauze, bandages, duct tape, and all the usual stuff you’d have in there)

Good shoes. Boots and sneakers are your best choices. Not heels, not platforms, not sandals. Good boots or shoes that won't come off your feet too easily when you run. Steel toed shoes are a great option. Your toes won't be squashed, but also it'll hurt someone a lot more if you start kicking.

Spare socks. Trust me. You can use them to stop bleeding if it comes to it, but also you can put rocks in there and boom weapon. Also if the socks you're wearing get wet.

As much covering clothing as you can handle. Plain jeans, plain hoodie, plain t-shirt, keep yourself as anonymous as possible. Black and baggy is best.

Photocopy of your ID, not your real one.

Sunscreen!

Make sure your clothes have pockets, even if you have a bag. You want everything to be easily accessible.

Do not wear contact lenses. If tear gas is used, that will make everything so much worse. Wear your glasses or go blind. If you have overly unique or identifiable frames, goggles are your friend here. Get some goggles that will fit over your frames, preferably ones that are tinted.

If you use mobility aids, cover defining features. Logos, brand names, colors, stickers, all of it. Take some old plain t-shirt and tie it around your wheelchair’s backrest. Wrap your wheelchair frame in cling wrap, then duct tape, or plain black self adhering medical tape. Cover stickers on your cane or crutches the same way. Electric chair? You have a little more work, but you can do it. Wrap it up. Same idea. Walker? Same thing. Cover. It. All.

If you are bringing a bag, make sure that bag is as plain as possible. No pins. No patches. No keychains. Except maybe a pride flag so people know which team you're playing on.

Scarf or keffiyeh if you have one. They have many uses!

Write a reliable phone number (of someone who is not at the protest with you) on your body. On the off chance you get arrested, that is your emergency contact.

Pocket knife.

Pepper spray/mace/bear spray

if you get tear gassed, shake around first before using water. Most tear gas is more of a powder and water has a high likelihood of just spreading it around. (Thank you @actually-a-bread-loaf for this addition!)

Tennis rackets also work wonderfully for chucking tear gas canisters back at those throwing them. Anybody asks, you're going out to play tennis with friends later. Baseball bats also work! (Thank you @azul-nova-24 for this addition!)

Anything you can throw. Soup for my family.

IF YOU CAN, LEAVE YOUR PHONE AT HOME

IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT WITH YOU, TURN OFF LOCATION SERVICES ON ALL APPS AND TURN OFF BIOMETRICS (FACE ID AND FINGERPRINT) SO YOU CAN ONLY UNLOCK YOUR PHONE WITH YOUR PASSWORD

COPS CAN FORCE YOU TO OPEN YOUR PHONE WITH YOUR FINGERPRINT OR FACE ID

MAKE SURE SOMEBODY KNOWS GENERALLY WHERE YOU ARE

If you see a potential or active raid, take pictures and note the time and location. Post online if you can, as well.

You have the right to remain silent. State that you wish to remain silent. Avoid giving information about anybody's immigration status. You have the right to refuse to sign anything before speaking to an attorney. You have the right to refuse searches of your car, your home, and yourself. Schools do not collect a child's immigration status.

I do not want to scare anybody, but this is what life is right now. That man does not care how long you have been a citizen of this country. If you are not a white, cisgender, heterosexual, Christian male, you are seen as less than by men in power. You are not less than. You are a threat to them, and they are scared. Keep it that way.

Even if you're not currently protesting, it's good to know this just in case. Things are happening very quickly, and there is a very high chance of it changing very quickly within the next four years.

Here's the link to my post on what to bring in terms of first aid.

If you cannot attend protests, that’s fine. Do what’s best for you. Even just reposting information helps.

This is an updated version of this post,

Updated January 27, 2025.

[biblicallyaccuratemoth]

I didn’t want to be here.

To my fellow trans people in the US, think about what that line is. For me? The moment the government begins actively keeping and expanding a list or registry of transgender citizens, I will be leaving. I’m prepared to flee in less than 2 weeks if necessary.

We will make it through this. But we need to be prepared. Running is hard. Especially from the only country you’ve ever known. You’ll have to leave things behind. But you are worth saving. Lives can be rebuilt, but a life can’t be returned once taken.

Find your line. Be ready to leave if it’s crossed.

Pass it along. We all need to think about this. We all need to be ready.

[thewrittenpodcast]

Steve: so. You thought-

Peter: oh my god a live psa demo

Peter: can I video this?

Tony: a live what

Steve:

Steve: oh no

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

PSA- TAKE YOUR FLASHDRIVE OUT OF YOUR COMPUTER

If you are not using your flashdrive to actively back things up- TAKE IT OUT OF YOUR COMPUTER! DO IT NOW! RIGHT. NOW.

Yesterday one of my flashdrives stopped working. My mom took it to our local computer guy to find out what was wrong with it and the guy said the the ONLY way that it could POSSIBLY (not definitely, POSSIBLY) be recovered is by sending it to a FORENSICS COMPANY that charges NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS ($950) as a flat rate for this service. IF the stuff can even be recovered.

The computer guy said that he has seen all types of flashdrives, no matter the quality, fail because people don't know that they need to take them out of their computers when they're not using them. A few of the things that can happen are the flashdrive can overheat or a virus could destroy it if your computer happens to pick up a virus.

I have thousands of pictures and videos on that flashdrive, precious, precious memories of kids I've worked with that I may never see again in my life and now I might have lost them because I didn't know to take my flashdrive out of my computer when I'm not using it. The cute pictures of my three new kittens I've been posting? On that flashdrive. Memories from holidays and birthdays and camping adventures might be lost forever.

TAKE. YOUR. FLASHDRIVE. OUT. OF. YOUR. COMPUTER!!!!!!

(please for the love of all that is good share this so other people don't have it happen too)

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Star Friends - Star Wars themed public service announcement commercial (1979)

[victusinveritas]

[batwynn]

Just a heads up, something really messed up is going on with Joann (fabric/craft store) and I highly recommend you don’t order online from them. Multiple people, including myself, have placed orders, had the entire thing or most of the order canceled by the store the same day while claiming the items aren’t in stock. However, they will hold the amount of your order for a month, in PayPal’s case, and not actually cancel it. I have called, emailed, and texted all of their customer service lines and only got one text in response that was just… a lie?

Obviously, they should not be allowing people to order stuff that supposedly isn’t in stock to begin with, but they should also actually cancel the order and not let a chunk of your money sit in limbo or never refund it.

Additionally, the twenty something items I ordered (to make a gift for a friend and for some Patreon stuff) were all very different things and there’s no reasonable way every single item was out of stock. And then they lied and said it was a payment issue:

When I spoke to both my bank and PayPal they said everything is up to date and perfectly functioning.

I honestly can’t tell you what, exactly is going on. But something is. And it’s bs. And I would highly recommend you find another source for crafting supplies if you can.

[v-rg1l]

A reminder.

This will impact you. This will hurt you, your friends, your friends friends, your family, your coworkers, your classmates, your teachers, your doctors and nurses, your neighbors, your lovers. If they do not come for you first, that does not mean you are safe. Once they are done with the rest of us, they will come for you. That does not, however, mean you should despair. Use your time. Use your voice. You have so much power in your every action. Use them.

You can no longer use the excuse of being too young or too unknowledgeable or not having any power. You do. Do not forget this. Do not let them convince you otherwise. Sit down during the pledge. Stay up-to-date on current events. Ask your friends to join you in raising awareness, even if it is limited to your small community. Put up posters and stickers around town and in public spaces. Cover up and tear down hate you see.

Educate yourself. Educate your friends and family. At the same time, do not fully trust anyone. Do not ever out someone - whether that be as queer or trans or as an undocumented person or someone who needs certain medical care currently being eliminated. If anyone asks you about someone's status (who they voted for, if they are queer, if they are getting/got an abortion, their citizenship status), you do not know anything. Do not forget what is going on around you and around the world. The suffering of others does not end just because yours has only begun. But together, the weight can be lessened.

Be prepared. Participate in mutual aid, even if that just means sharing food or comfort with those you know need it. If you cannot think of anyone, find them. Participate in local elections - and if you cannot, boost the voices of those who can. Go to your local library. Support public services. Start making copies of documents and videos and any media you can find online that is at risk of being eliminated. Save it to your device, print it out (many public libraries will do this for you, if at a small cost), burn it to a disk. Nothing is safe, nothing is permanent. They can and will take it away. Buy books and textbooks that are at risk. Make sure your friends are doing this too.

Never offer up information not specifically asked for. Know your rights. Be clear and specific in your requests and do not let them trick you. Ask for signed proof. Get your lawyer. Know your surroundings. Raise awareness. Stay safe.

These next years will be hell; it has already begun. But we will survive. We always have. If only on spite and anger we have done it. And we will do it again. By all that lives and dies we will do it again.

[shinsources]

FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT EVERY CANON CHARACTER IS SOMEONE ELSE'S OC.

Peter Park is Stan Lee's OC. All Might is Kohei Horikoshi's OC. Liu Kang is Ed Boon's OC. Ash Ketchum is Satoshi Tajiri's OC (as well as a self-insert). So if you can't handle "non-canonical" OCs then you most certainly can't handle "canonical" OCs. And if you can't handle overpowered female characters then you most certainly don't deserve your beloved overpowered male characters.

[milksnake-tea]

hey all !! normally i wouldn't engage in something like this on my blog, but considering that it's happening to a friend of mine, i felt i had an obligation to speak out. sorry for clogging up the tags/interrupting your scrolling 😭

tldr: @/hxveneru has stolen the works of my good friend @lowkeyren not once, but twice and is deleting any comments calling them out.

edit: they've changed their user to @/yneri; if you've blocked them already, this doesn't really matter bc they're still blocked :) reminder to not engage with them, they're just looking for attention. block and ignore!

i know. fun stuff. proof is under the cut.

please note that i'm doing this of my own accord, and the only involvement ren has had in this post is me asking for permission to post it since, well, it's an issue mainly affecting her.

also i should say beforehand but. don't ??? send them death threats please 😭 we are better than that. i'm mainly making this to spread awareness about the issue :)

reblogs are appreciated to spread awareness.

first stolen work is ren's oneshot "drunk words, sober thoughts!" for aventurine here.

as you can see, it was posted on June 15th, a little over two months before hxveneru posted their own oneshot.

for reference. hxveneru is a new blog and all of their posts are in the month of september, proven here via their archive.

and here's the two oneshots side by side, with ren's on the left and the stolen one on the right.

notice how the oneshots are exactly word-for-word except for the title and synopsis? even the author's note is exactly the same. obviously i can't fit the whole thing here, but this should be enough.

honestly it's. i have to laugh at the audacity to just copy and paste like hello???

and here's the second work that was copied, with hxveneru's "diff scenarios w hsr men" taking from drabbles from two of ren's works.

these are the two fics that were stolen from, with their dates attached. both are posted far before september. links are here and here if you want to double check..

now let's look at the drabbles that were - once again, copy and pasted. first is blade's, again with ren on the left and the stolen one on the right (ren's is circled bc they didn't take the hcs part).

and here is the sunday drabble that was stolen.

so far, those are the only works posted on their blog. i was also informed that they had apparently stolen from @/exuvianen's post here but deleted it, but since said post is deleted, we don't have evidence for that so take it with a grain of salt.

but yeah! just wanted to let yall know out there, especially since the plagiarized works have already gained some traction and have 100+ notes on them. i've talked about them vaguely on my blog before, so if this sounds familiar, yeah this is them.

plagiarism is shitty, i shouldn't have to say that. it is not that hard to just write your own stuff. i know validation and publicity make you feel good, but stealing someone else's hard work is not the way to go. writers already have enough to deal with. just don't do it. what's the point of getting validation if it's not even your work?

again, don't send death threats, please. that's a bit far, and they likely won't even do anything since the plagiarizer has already been called out before and this was their response.

not a single ounce of remorse or shame. people have gotten way too comfortable on here.

also "who the hell is ren anyway" bestie you blocked her 😭😭 and ignored her ask to you. that's why ren can't dm her to sort it out privately btw, in case you were wondering.

anyways! that's all i have to say, thanks for sticking around this long and have a great rest of your day. hxveneru if you see this. hi ig ?? id say smth to you but i doubt you'd take it seriously so i won't <3

[abyssalshriek]

If you write on AO3 (Archive of Our Own), edit your comment settings NOW (There is a way to edit all works at once. I will explain that shortly). By default, only registered accounts can comment on your works, but if you have allowed Guest comments, you must disable guest comments. If the following problem starts coming from registered users, it may become necessary to disable ALL comments.

Another wave of AO3 comment spam bots are hitting, except this time they are commenting with disturbing images. From what I've seen, they seem AI generated, but that doesn't change that they are commenting with the intent to show what can be deeply upsetting pictures. This imagery CAN BE GORE. While I haven't seen any cases of registered accounts spamming these images, I have heard reports of bot comments from registered accounts recently, so be aware there is a chance even Registered comments MIGHT be effected.

How to edit all works at once:

1) Go to your AO3 Dashboard. Click the option near the top labeled "Edit Works"

2) On the next page, in this order, select "All" then "Edit Works"

3) Scroll to the bottom of the next page and select either "Only registered users can comment" or "No one can comment". After this, select Update All Works.

So long as you don't click any other options in the list of possible edits, then nothing else will change on your fics.

--

Please, everyone, stay safe out there and take care of yourselves! If you get a comment of disturbing imagery from a REGISTERED account after making these changes, let me know and I will edit this post to recommend turning off all comments, not just guest ones.

Have a nice day!

[silcoitus]

WordStream is stealing fanfics and using AI text-to-speech to make audiobooks, AI art covers

I'm still trying to dig into this as much as I can, short of making an account and poking around in it. But it appears WordStream monetizes via premium accounts, though I have no idea what these tiers offer. It also looks like you're able to upload works to be made into audiobooks, but I highly doubt there is any vetting process, so someone can just upload your works without permission and boom, now it's suddenly on their library and being fed through AI to generate an audiobook (and it looks like book covers as well???)

The developer is Ofek Weitzman and there is zero means for reporting stolen content because the entire site's business model is stealing content. There are published books, though so far I am only seeing works in the public domain, where the copyright on them has expired (Pride and Prejudice, Alice in Wonderland, etc.)

As of right now, I would suggest you search for your fic handles to see if your work has been uploaded. Right now, as far as I can tell, there's no way to report individual works on the website itself (because that would break its entire business model, wouldn't it) so your only recourse is to report the app on Apple (requiring you to actually download it and then go through Apple's entire circuitous reporting process) or report the site itself to Google.

Every single part of this is a scam.

From the AI audio to the AI covers. Ofek is stealing the hard work of countless authors in order to make money off people who either don't know any better or don't care.

[ask-ranma-and-ryoga]

I’m moving!

So ask-ranma-and-ryoga will be taking a break while I focus on house-hunting and moving, but I’ll be back as soon as I can! 🙏

[intothestacks]

Friendly PSA about the original book version of Wicked

It's very much an adult book.

For the love of sanity, don't read that to your kids or get it for them for Christmas or something!

It's a good read though, I definitely recommend it for grownups.

[genderqueerpositivity]

I know that 2016 wasn't yesterday, but even so it seems like our collective memory is shorter with each passing year. The 2016 election and the Internet Research Agency were news a long time ago in media years...and there are bad-faith actors and agents out there who are counting on us forgetting.

As we get closer to Election Day, I encourage everyone to be more cautious of the information that you come across online. Fact check info that you come across in random social media posts, use reputable and reliable sources, get your news from more than one TV channel or website.

Be wary of anyone or anything online designed to manipulate your actions or influence your emotions, whether it's tumblr posts or advertisements or tiktoks. Do not allow propaganda and/or misinformation to sway you into voting against your personal values, your best interests, your personal safety, or the well-being of your neighbors and community in November.

I've already seen things that are concerning online within the past few months, and I expect to see an increase in this the closer we get to November.

Think critically and pay attention.