#I don't have an issue with 'donating' to something that's not a non-profit

[msbarrows]

Seeing a lot of people in the notes who seem to want to be able to donate without getting a badge for it and... well... you can buy a badge and NOT DISPLAY IT. Because one of the many Tumblr features that I guess other users haven't always noticed is that you can decide what badges to display and in what order.

If you go into the Settings page for your blog/sideblog, the badges you have set to display are shown right underneath your avatar, with a "manage badges" pencil icon at the end. Click on that and you'll get a popup with a list of the badges you currently have unlocked, with ticky boxes beside them. They'll show up the order the boxes get ticked, and won't show up if unticked.

(I'd happily get ad-free or the supporter badge, except unlike the other badges or store merch I can buy, there's no PayPal option - I assume because there's an issue with setting up repeating payments? How about making a one time payment version of the annual ad-free/supporter badge for those of us who don't do credit cards?)

you've probably have gotten this question a million times, but -- what about fundraising in the style of ao3 or even wikipedia? for all the thousands of fourteen year olds running around who don't understand how much it costs to run a website, there's another thousand of adults whom would love to keep using this site forever. it may not be a more-profits-every-quarter kind of situation, but then again, one is allowed to dream beyond the current silicon valley web 2.0 profit driven hellscape

That was the idea behind the Tumblr Supporter badge, a way for people who appreciate the site can chip in towards keeping it going. It hasn't been as successful as we hoped, only about 2,300 subscribers so far (out of 11.5M monthly active users) but over time maybe it could compound to be what drives the site.

[the-guilty-writer]

Headcanons for Hotchner!daughter Service Dog

No one asked for it but here we are.

Inspired by the headcanons done by @ssa-thotchnerr on hotchner!reader emotional support dog

As someone who is a service dog handler, this topic is near and dear to my heart, especially service dogs who do psychiatric work. It's also important to me to address the differences between an ESA (emotional support animal) and PSD (psychiatric service dog) as they are two seprate things.

If you have questions about ESAs or Service Dogs send me an ask or a message! It's something I love to talk about and educate on!

Here we go:

CW: Foyet, Haley's death, counseling, medication, PTSD, PTSD symptoms, meanings to names

The whole thing with Foyet was traumatic. Being pulled away from your dad, being in witness protection, being told your dad was dead only to find out that he wasn't, your mom being killed- it was all too much.

Hotch was very proactive about getting you and Jack into counseling. Jack recovered from the events far faster and easier than you did.

After evaluation from a psychologist, they concluded you had severe PTSD.

You were talking to a therapist multiple times a week, taking medication, being open with your dad, even peer support groups, but after a year you still struggled immensely.

Panic attacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, depressive episodes, and avoidance still ruled your life.

Your medical team brought forward the idea of a service dog as an addition to the rest of your treatment.

You and your dad looked into it and decided it would be a good idea.

Until you looked at the price of training or getting a program dog and it was going to be upwards of $15,000 (really closer to $25,000) or at least two years on a non-profit waitlist. Some options were both.

Thank god for the "anonymous donation" from Uncle Dave.

You and your dad met with the program. They had you meet a few different dogs that were ready for task training, but ultimately you were matched with a solid black female german shepherd.

"She's from our outer space themed litter. Her name is Comet, after Halley's Comet."

That had you and your dad in tears.

It would still be months before she would complete her task training, but you got to see her when you went to do handler training.

She finally finished her training with the program and got to come home to complete it with you!

At first, having Comet almost made things worse.

People would point and stare, little kids would scream, rude people saying things like "you don't look disabled", "I thought only veterans could have PTSD", access issues, even some of your friends who didn't want to bring you along on activities anymore since you'd have Comet with you.

But it forced you to be a bit brave and learn to stand up for yourself and her.

And her tasks made your life so much better and gave you so much more independence.

Comet would "search" the apartment for strangers before you entered, so you could come home alone without Hotch or Jessica having to be there.

If you were home alone, she would bark when someone came into the apartment and go check to see who it was. If it was someone she knew, she would stop barking and come back to you, but if it was a stranger she would continue barking so you could call your dad and ask who was supposed to be coming to the apartment.

When you had nightmares, she would wake you up before they got really bad. This improved the sleep quality of everyone in your family.

Comet would alert you before you had a panic attack so she could perform deep pressure therapy and you could use your coping skills to try to make it less intense.

If your panic attack did get intense, she would do a "take down" to put as much pressure on your body as possible and gently lick you until you calmed down.

In the after-fatuige of an attack she would take you to a quiet place to recover and continue to provide pressure therapy.

If it happened when your dad was home she would get him to help you through it.

She would annoy you at certain times of the day to remind you to take your medications, sometimes even fetching the bottles for you.

When you would cry alone she would just starting bringing you anything she could find - water bottles, papers, pillows, dirty laundry (usually bras because it made you laugh) - so you didn't have to be alone with your feelings.

She would stand behind you and alert to people approaching so you didn't get startled.

Sometimes would provide "checks" around corners if you were having a really bad day with hypervigilance.

Having Comet opened up an entire new world for you, making you feel safe without having to have your dad or your aunt with you.

She wasn't a replacement for your therapy or medication, and the public could still be extremely rude. Sometimes you did leave her at home if you were going somewhere that it would be hard to accommodate her and you had your dad to help you incase anything happened.

But she gave you independence that you didn't have before and made your life so much better.

[finchinmoria]

LOTR characters at Pride 🏳‍🌈

(A little silly and out of character but aren't we all.)

(Also, I headcannon them all queer but left out my specifics so they could be read how anyone wants them to be.)

Speak friend and enter the pride fest:

Frodo, Sam, Rosie and Rosie's girlfriend/theyfriend (Who? You? Me? Reader's choice!) are a powerhouse polycule with a YouTube channel. Even though Frodo made a list of events they were going to hit, they keep getting sidetracked by fans who want to talk and take selfies. So they mostly just wander and enjoy the day. Sam does have a backpack full of necessities to keep everyone comfortable and makes sure everyone, even complete strangers, are wearing enough sunscreen.

Arwen and Aragorn may not be 👑royalty👑 in this timeline, but are still pretty high profile so they keep it pretty open and casual. They set up all day in a shady spot at the public square on a bench with blankets laid out on the grass so they can talk with anyone who passes by. It's the pit stop for their friends to come cool off or relax when they need a break. Arwen brings a bag full of hair supplies and makeup so people can come in for touch ups throughout the day. She can do anyone's pride flag eyeshadow look flawlessly in under two minutes. (So could Aragorn, probably.)

Pippin's main goal is to eat something from every single food truck, deli, and coffee shop in the area. He says it's so he can post actual helpful reviews but he ends up only posting one Instagram reel where he speaks incoherently with a mouthful of vegan chili fries and that's it. Takes a bunch of pictures of different food items with different pride flags but forgets about them and doesn't post them until September.

Merry will buy from every single vendor at every event. You have flags? T-shirts? Jewelry? Art? He's going to buy one of each from every artist and organization. (He then donates most of the things he buys to the local lgbtq community center.)

Boromir doesn't want to wander around too much by himself because it's his first pride, but sticking with Merry and Pippin means he becomes responsible for carrying all their stuff. Within an hour he's absolutely covered in merch with three tote bags on each arm. He knows his flag is one of the 27 he now has hanging on or tucked in every available space on his body but if you asked him which one it was he would have to ask Merry. Pippin does keep him hydrated at least, a new flavor of iced lemonade always appears in his hand whenever the last one runs out.

Éowyn and Faramir run the table for the local non-profit advocacy group that educates citizens on important legislation that impacts the queer community. They can explain the details of different bills and current issues being tracked in the legal system, organize volunteer groups for different causes, and hook people in need up with outreach and activist organizations.

Gimli and Legolas disappear on June 1st and don't emerge again until the month is over. People will catch glimpses of them pretty much everywhere, and when they do there is always either a lot of glitter or alcohol involved (and let's be honest, most of the time both). No one can figure out how they managed to be on multiple floats in the same parade but after a while no one questions it. 

Haldir saw once a long time ago that some orientations weren't represented very well and has been on a mission to rectify that ever since. Even though things have gotten better, he now always has a table where he gives away stuff for the underrepresented identities. He's got all the genderqueer flags, tons of neopronoun pins, and whole decks of cards with just aces in them. If you're demi or flux or anything else not widely represented, Haldir's got you.

Gandalf loves the drag shows but since they are all either outside or in very crowded loud clubs, he usually hits one then spends the rest of his time in a very air conditioned, quieter, industrial style bar with elder queers and some bears.

Bilbo coordinates all the literary events like the queer banned books mobile, drag story times, poetry readings, and elder queer panels. Definitely tells his own activist stories from back in the day to anyone who will listen (and many do!)

Elrond goes just to check things out for an hour or two, but ends up having the time of his life and signing up to drive the queer banned books mobile for the rest of the summer. 

Happy pride, everyone! 🌈

[dalekofchaos]

@taylorswift Your silence is deafening. You made a movie detailing how you recognize the power of your platform and how you would use your influence to speak out more. You made a song condemning the Trump administration. But nothing for Palestine. Nothing for hospitals being bombed and children being burned alive. Do better. Speak Out Now.

this is not a political stance, this is a humanitarian crisis. ignore anyone who says it’s too late to speak up and 👏 speak 👏 the fuck 👏 up.

ONE encouragement to donate. ONE link to a formal petition. ONE open letter.

you have enough money & power to combat any backlash while over a million people huddle in tents tonight, starving, wondering if they’ll make it to sunrise.

it’s time to speak up. Picture source

To all her fans saying "Taylor speaking out would not end the genocide" it wouldn't, but her voice is powerful

having a massive platform helps spread awareness as to where you can donate money and resources to help people.

Do you know how many lives were probably saved in these 24 hours after they posted the donation link?

Funny how this one Swiftie is more brave than Taylor Swift

And other artists should be speaking out for Palestine.

Yes more artists should speak up, not just Taylor. Billie Eilish should speak up. Olivia Rodrigo should speak up, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, Halsey, Lorde and more should speak up for Palestine. Taylor Swift is one of the biggest names in the industry, if not the biggest and one word from her and her thousands to millions and billions of fans will show their support for Palestine and demand a ceasefire. Like I don't know how else to explain how vital it is to use your voice as an artist and a huge platform as Taylor has.

People saying "she's not an activist" as if that justifies her silence. she's pretty much the most powerful non-politician on the whole planet right now. i get the discomfort, but who doesn't use their power is complicit.

She specifically made Miss Americana to tell her fans she would use her platform and voice to speak out more on important issues. She has done nothing. At this point I wish Miss Americana was never made, and I'm pretty sure Taylor wishes she never made it as many of her fans are disappointed in her silence throughout the years.

Taylor might not be a Zionist but we (her fans) need to know what side shes on. Not speaking on a genocide that's happening is never ok even if she has been donating privately. Everyone assumed she supported Trump until she spoke out against him. The same can be done for speaking out against the atrocities committed against the Palestinians.

But honestly she has millions to billions of fans, huge connections and she doesn't use that power. Taylor should be ashamed of herself not to remotely speak out for Palestine.

At this point all it feels like is she cares about the fame of her success and from her relationship with Travis and the profit of her brand and nothing else. Nothing about her is authentic, everything is performative. It's all about control and profit to Taylor Swift. It feels as though she's ostracized everyone in her audience who isn't white or heterosexual and made it clear we need to find a new guiding light and I think we should.

And in her own words she is telling us who she is

“i just think it’s so frilly and spineless of me to stand up here and say ‘happy pride month!!’ while people are coming for their necks.”

"My entire moral code is a need to be thought of as good"

" Spineless in my tomb of silence "

'I never had the courage of my convictions, as long as danger was near.'

"I've never heard silence quite this loud"" You should find another guiding light "

"You're on your own kid"

"Do something, babe, say something" (Say something)

"Lose something, babe, risk something" (You're losing me)

"Choose something, babe, I got nothing" (I got nothing)

[aloeverawrites]

I think some of us have a mindset problem.

Not voting for Biden to show how we feel about the horrible things he's been doing.

Organising protests that don't have power behind them.

Posting about what we want to see in the world and not taking any steps to change it.

We're showing the people in power how we feel and asking them to change things for us.

And I don't think that alone is going to work.

We need to study the civil rights movement, other movements. LGBT rights, suffragettes. Things changed because everyday people forced them too.

We can't just ask them for what we want, we have to show them what's going to change and what we're going to do if it doesn't. Unions, boycotts, sit-ins, civil disobedeance.

Expressing what we want to change and raising awareness is fine but that can't be it. We have to take action as well.

Not to be cliche but be the change you want to see in the world.

You want people to have housing and food? Volunteer at a food bank and make suggestions to improve it. Start your own when you've leaned enough. Make your local candidates run on that issue.

You want more support for lgbt students? Form a club or help an existing one.

You're want to end child labour? Research the companies you buy from, buy local, donate to non-profits, help raise awareness and help people sue abusive compaines.

There is something we can all do, and we just need to find what that is.

Don't be scared of your own power. Use it.

@aloeverawrites

[reasonandempathy]

What to do with 10 trillion dollars

I spent way too much time actually answering a reddit question of "How would you spend 10 trillion dollars if you needed to in 20 years. You will die after 20 years." So, I figured I'd share it here.

With only $10 trillion dollars you can't stabilize greenhouse gases or get rid of fossil fuels, which are 13t and 44t respectively. I'm using a variety of sources, so don't expect citations.

I did slightly overpay for things, strategically, partially because I can only imagine doing the things I would do would make it more expensive than it would otherwise be. You'll see.

I'm presuming I don't get assassinated.

What you can do (I did the math) figures are in Billions:

Personal (2.44/10000):

1.44 on remaking 8 games as mid-line AAA games (I chose Legend of Dragoon, FF8, Witcher 1, and the Legacy of Kain series).

.214 on 50 years of housing and buying yourself a $130,000,000 home in NYC. Includes taxes, maintenance, and furniture.

.15 on household staff for 50 years, with at double the normal pay

.000327 to put 3 kids through the best pre-k and best college in the country

.664 setting up each of those 3 kids with their own equivalent home and staff setup

Public Service (4303/10000):

Big one out of the way. 2500bn in lobbying/buying up American politicians to enact structural reforms I want to see. You would think this would be way too much, since the presidential election in 2020 only had 14.4 in it. This amounts to averaging 250 in spending every election cycle, even off-year. I counter with the global commercial banking market having a market cap of 2800 in 2023. The defense industry is almost 480. Health insurance in the US is 1600. This is an expensive, long-drawn fight. This is likely the single most important thing on the list. Anti-corruption measures, labor rights, pro-democracy reforms, including ultimately making it illegal for other people to buy more elections.

a cumulative total of 1803 spent on:

curing the most common cause of blindness worldwide

eradicating polio, rabies, elephantitis, malaria, world hunger, COVID19 issues, Water + Sanitation access, extreme poverty, homelessness in USA, Canada, and UK (I looked for China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Egypt, and Pakistan but couldn't find real numbers),

protecting the Amazon rainforest

Corporate Fixing (5692/10000):

Buying up and changing (converting to Co-Ops, converting to non-profits, dissolving, or something in line with those:

Meta

Amazon

Disney

JP Morgan Chase

Lockheed Martin

Delta

Alphabet

Asda

Tesco

Nike

The Weinstein Company

United Airlines

Shein

EA

BP

Bayer (side-note: they own/are Monsanto now)

De Beers

Vonovia Real Estate Developers

DLE

Ubisoft

Ikea

Shueisha

and Viz Media

It leaves me with 1.4bn left over. I'm comfortable with saying an additional billion would likely be used up administratively as things get a bit more expensive than I thought they would.

Honestly, I could likely blow it on close friends and family who need it. If you have an issue with the house spending being for 50 years instead of 30, that can just be shuffled around a bit to include more people in my personal life to meet the same number.

Leaving me with 470 million to spend elsewhere in the next 20 years. Expensive vacations, nice cars, donating to "smaller" issues as I see worthwhile, giving family and friends money for their ventures/dreams, etc. make me think it wouldn't actually be hard to lose track of that much money in those many years.

Hell, if I want to I can probably spend a million bucks on food a year just for my family. Probably more, if I actively try to do so.

[firesign23]

Fandom Trumps Hate 2023

I'm participating in Fandom Trumps Hate (@fandomtrumpshate) this year, and like I should probably promote it so y'all are getting a too wordy post on the topic and I apologise for that.

What is FTH?

FTH is a cross-fandom charity auction that has been running since 2016, focused on supporting small-scale non-profits on a series of progressive issues in the US. Why the US? Because the auction began as a direct response to the results of the 2016 elections there. This year's supported organisations cover a variety of issues.

How does it work?

This is not a commission. The FTH tumblr goes into this more in-depth, but in essence: creators such as myself decide which organisations they would like to support, and bidders bid the amount they are willing to donate. The highest bidder at closing donates to one of the chosen causes, then receives a thank you gift for their donation, tailored to their preferences.

Important dates and details?

Auctions are currently open for browsing! This will give you an opportunity to see what fanworks are on offer before bidding opens. The easiest way to do this is by browsing the tagsets for fandoms that interest you.

Bidding opens March 1st (08:00 EST) and closes March 5th (20:00 EST). Proof of donations are due March 12th.

Why are you doing this?

Because I can.

Nah, participating in a fandom auction is one of those things I've said I'd like to do once and never actually managed, and I got sweet talked into it this year.

What are you offering?

Ohhh, this is the fun question, isn't it? I've officially offered a story of up to 5K words in one of three fandoms, but if you are interested in a fandom I've not offered but previously written for that may be negotiable. As for length, I have found that fics will be precisely as long as they want to be--I'd much rather say up to 5K and write 10K than say 5-10K and write 3K.

Examples of my work Game of Thrones and Wheel of Time fic can be found here and my Miss Fisher fic here, but in general my work leans towards character-driven and bittersweet fics, competence kink, and the mortifying ordeal of being known. (Are the cool kids still saying that? Probably not.) My smut leans into soft horny even when kinky, which tends to be either very much someone's tastes or very much not. I love writing so many classic fic tropes and kinks, so if there's something you're interested in but are uncertain, feel free to ask!

Unwilling to address: Scat/watersports, ageplay including usage of daddy/mommy/girl, underage/high school AUs or college AUs where focus is on the college element, casual misogyny or sexual violence (narratively relevant is fine), dubious/non-consensual sex that is not treated as such, revenge porn (literal revenge porn or the "Punish character X" type), power dynamics where there’s a potential abuse of power, humiliation.

Now, onto the fandom specific details:

Game of Thrones: Jaime/Brienne, other pairings with discussion. Prefer to avoid Brienne with major body image issues, ESPECIALLY when phrased about feeling like a “real woman”--insecurities, yes, but not as the driving narrative force. Not interested in Cersei-bashing fics--she's awful, I'm happy to make her awful, but I don't want to make her one dimensional. While happy to incorporate elements of the book canon, this story would be primarily driven by show canon dynamics/characterisation. Happy to write in a canon or AU setting. Into this fandom, but what I offer isn't quite to your taste? Check out other asoiaf/GoT creators here.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: TV/film canon. Any pairing, canon or fanon. I primarily write Phrack, but as my ao3 will tell you there's very little I've not dipped my toe into. If you are interested in Dot/Hugh fluff, I'll do it but it's not a strength. I strongly prefer canon set stories for this fandom. Into this fandom, but what I offer isn't quite to your taste? Check out other MFMM creators here.

Wheel of Time: I am offering anything centred around Lan, Nynaeve, and/or Moiraine, whether it's platonic or romantic or pre-romantic. I have read the books many times, but this offer is for TV canon only due to other commitments. If, however, you want something like a missing scene from the first few books, that can be discussed during the bidding process. I strongly prefer canon set stories for this fandom. Into this fandom, but what I offer isn't quite to your taste? Check out other WoT creators here.

Anything else?

Not really! My offerings page can be found here. When auctions go live on March 1st you will be able to access the bidding page from there. If you have any questions, whether that's about how this works or what I am/am not willing to write or something else entirely, my Tumblr inbox is always open and I'm happy to answer publicly or privately. If you prefer the answer be private, please ensure you have not selected to make it anonymous and mention it in the message!

[an-aura-about-you]

I Was a Queer Salvation Army Bell Ringer

Part 3: So What Were My Coworkers Like?

I mentioned in the previous part that the Salvation Army is not a hive mind. They are an Equal Opportunity Employer and, much like the US Army for some time, their policy on queer employees is Don't Ask Don't Tell. Granted, they needed to find queer employees for their propaganda, or at least employees willing to say they were queer for the cameras. But in any case, considering the Salvation Army's reputation that they have no organization-wide interest in rectifying and the fact that I live in a very conservative area of the United States, I decided that I would keep my queer identity primarily to myself.

And like, I am generally a pretty open and out person regarding that. If you are reading this and you, yourself, are not queer, the truth of the matter is coming out is not a one-and-done thing. A person may choose to come out to certain people but not others. A person may choose to come out to a complete stranger just because that's where the conversation leads. A person may choose to come out about part of their identity but not all of it, or may use a term that more people are comfortable or familiar with.

For example, I don't typically go into all the nuances of my gender identity with others unless they have made it clear they're signed on to listen. For my day to day life, I tend to let people assume I'm my assigned gender at birth since I dress in a way that aligns with what people expect for that. (Not completely, but that is a tangent for another day.) And if someone is cool with something beyond that, I tend to go with the term "nonbinary" rather than any of the more niche terms I use for my gender. Because ultimately, that's for me. My identity is mine. I am very fortunate to be in a position where any gender-related issues I have with my body don't necessarily have to be solved with surgery, and I know this is not the case for anyone. But I am the sort of person who can let my gender be mine and not worry about correcting the majority of people who are determined to get it wrong.

So yeah, coasting through this job in the closet.

For the most part, I didn't meet a lot of my coworkers. Because I still have my normal job, the primary time I had any shifts was Saturdays, and even then I had a late start of it due to other obligations. The person I saw the most was the woman who actually hired me, the head of the red kettle program.

She was, for the most part, pretty okay. She would drive me to where I was supposed to ring for the day, we would shoot the shit, she even bought me a soda once. She also said I was valuable as a worker specifically BECAUSE I was willing to come to work on Saturdays. She even gave me a bag of plums and apples. (The plums were ok and the apples were Red Delicious, which were definitely red.)

She was also, perhaps, a bit unprofessional and a little less than moral.

She talked about other bell ringers who didn't exactly perform well behind their backs, complained about a former donor who didn't donate a car this year, and, when I wanted to go to a pay-for-entry market, insisted I just sneak in without paying using my Salvation Army apron to let me in.

She also let me know something I should have realized before but didn't fully get until she said it: the bell ringers' pay comes out of donations. Not just any donations but specifically the donations from their own kettles. Any time I went out and rang the bell, my pay was a cut from the kettle. It does make sense, it being a non-profit organization. Of course everyone's pay came from donations. But this? This just makes the red kettles glorified panhandling in my mind.

In one sense, I'm for that. Indeed, the quickest way to solve a person's financial problems is giving them money. And more of it going directly to the bell ringers, most if not all of the hired ones not being merely lower class like me but actually in outright poverty, is better than it going to an organization where the head of this program is complaining about not getting another car they don't actually need.

In another sense, it does feel a little underhanded, and added to my personal moral dilemma of working there. More on that in another entry.

And honestly, there's not really much to say about my other coworkers as individuals as I hardly saw them. One of the drivers is an obvious Trump supporter as he was never seen without his Trump 2024 hat. Most of the other people were scraping by on the cusp of homelessness, taking up residence in an apartment complex that charges rent by the week. Some had pasts that involved jail time for stupid charges (ie marijuana possession, missing a court date, etc.), job loss, or crushing amounts of debt.

I did have an unexpected conversation with one coworker that, at this point, has been my last in-person interaction with anyone involved with the Salvation Army, but I will leave that story for another entry.

[sixthwater]

Content Creation & Consumption

Disclaimer: since it's hard to read tone over text, this should read pretty neutral. I'm passionate about the idea in general, but I want this to be seen as an informative piece? Or a thought piece. Comfort or Reassurance? It's not supposed to seem aggressive, that's the point. Anyway, I hope it's helpful in some way.

Once again, I've been sitting on these thoughts for a while and they haven't left, so I have to spit them out somewhere (and actually I did! but they're still around-), so here I am. I've seen some weird takes in regard to content creators lately, in a lot of places not just here. So I want to talk about platforms, creator-consumer relations, and the like while courage the cowardly dog plays in the background.

Creator & Consumer

One of the main issues that will be reoccurring is: seeing content creators as non-human. What I mean by that is they're sometimes viewed as content farms which is insulting and frustrating honestly. Before I continue, creators absolutely should have something to deliver for the consumer. They kinda can't just expect people to always support or donate to them without anything in return (that would be ~exploitation~). It reminds me of an artist (who I forgot please if you know who I'm talking about let me know so I can source it) who explained the process behind their album making: "Let's say the album has ten songs. I make eight for them, two for me." So it's like a present for them and self-serving for the artist. It's also a bit of knowing what the public wants and being able to balance doing what you want and "performing". However expecting them to perform and do all of their services and beyond? For free? All the time? Is kind of pushing it. They have every right to charge for their service or ask for support/donations of some kind to keep their 'business' going. They always say two things: never make your passion a full time job, or make sure you truly love what you do for your job so you don't begin to hate it. Both are true. Recent times have made this issue so grey and blurry but turning your hobby into your work is a risk because what do you turn to when you need a destresser now? It's possible to achieve a new balance but it takes a while to figure that out, which is why support and kind words are so important in the beginning.

I grew up on the internet, I have been here for a long time. I have also made loads of different stuff under different aliases while being here. I will never forget what it feels like to hear people's reaction to my creations in a viewing room. Hearing hushed reactions to my stuff. Knowing that people come back to my pieces as a source of comfort. I still remember the usernames of people who left feedback on my old content and the way they talked -- it made my day seeing a notification from them since they became 'regulars' in a way. Support does not need to be money. Knowing that I wasn't merely throwing my stuff into the void, but people were consuming it and enjoying it, someone was actively waiting for new stuff from me -- it made me motivated and excited to make more stuff on top of how much I enjoyed my hobbies. Creators aren't joking when they say it matters and they remember you.

Lately thank you's have become pretty rare and it's just become a request without a please even, barely an acknowledgment to the previous work, which is a whole other issue but I digress. Please show support to your favorite creator if you like their work, I assure you it makes their day a little better lol.

Platforms

Not to be negative but every platform sucks for creators. That's just the truth. Some have more benefits, but at the end of the day it's a business so they still have to put themselves before the creator so the website can stay up for the creator to profit off of it. Which is why it's so important for the consumer to carry some sort of weight (support) for the creator to keep shining. I shouldn't have to explain much about how Youtube has slowly gone down the drain in reference to creator preference. Most of it's creators are now relying on Patreon which is actually pathetic considering how Youtube started out. However, it's not like Patreon is a golden website for creators either. There's a reason why there are so many Ko-fi VS Patreon articles, but those two just come down to which one you prefer. I assure you they're hell of a lot better than Etsy, at least currently (it's pretty bad if the original creator makes a tweet against you). I know a lot of people usually speak to Tumblr's shitty system, but a good amount of well known artists on Twitter started off here. During the 'Twitter meltdown', a good lot of them mentioned going back to Tumblr, remember. Before the weird 'no reblogging' phase that started in 2017/2018?? Getting eyes on your stuff here was pretty easy. The only thing these sites have in common is that they're unreliable for artists or content creators, and consumers are so helpful for them. If you pay attention to intros/outros for youtubers, they've become more extensive over the years right? It's because of their algorithm. It used to just be if you liked it, subscribe. Oh likes help, give it a like. Comments now help: okay give it a like and a comment to help maybe throw me a boost into landing in their good graces? Oh you guys suddenly aren't getting notifs that's fine: Give A Like, Comment, Hit the Notif Bell, and subscribe if you like :). Literally none of the platforms are actually supportive of creators. Consumers are though, they are always the ones we're thankful for because like, you're the one reading/watching our stuff. If you didn't spread or interact with our stuff it's kind of game over for us since there's really no clear answer with these sites. However I guess if anyone ever cared about people pursuing the path that was fairly walked then the starving artist trope wouldn't be a trope then would it.

That's it. A little quick thought that's been sitting with me and if you want to add something then feel free? I like talking. Obviously lol.

[picnokinesis]

Have you any way of vetting the people who ask you for donations or do you just trust they’re authentic

Hi there!! So, from what I understand, most of the actual vetting is being done by palestinian-run blogs such as gazavetters and 90-ghost, who are better able to confirm and communicate with individuals who are asking for help. Gaza Vetters in particular have a list that you can check which is right here, so if you get people in your inbox and you want to check if they're a vetted campaign, you can check the list. A lot of people will also say on their blogs or in the ask that they send if they are on the list, and which number they are on the list.

If you want to try and vet something for yourself - another thing you can do is do a reverse image search of the photos that people are using in their campaigns, and see if those same photos are being used in other campaigns by people with different names, or check if campaigns are duplicated - although, be very aware that GoFundMe and other fundraising organisations are being pretty terrible about this and will shut down people's fundraisers without warning, which might mean someone has made a new fundraisers elsewhere. Also, people may have restarted fundraisers in a different currency, because there was an issue with conversion rates, and people donating what they thought was like, £10 or £5, but it was actually 10 or 5 units of a much weaker currency, which basically amounted to less than a penny. So people changed campaigns to be in pounds, dollars and euros instead of SEK, I think it was.

I think also try and remember what the people sending these asks are going through too, and the fact they will not be using their first language - so, when you're looking, please don't judge people for poor spelling, emotive language, or if they send multiple asks or it's a blatant copy-paste thing, or anything like that. Imagine if you were in their position, I guess - desperately trying to get enough money to get yourself and your surviving family members through extortionate border prices, and also have money for food and supplies and just to live - and you're already living in a horrific situation. So I never judge the 'validity' of an ask or campaign based on things like that. People are extremely desperate.

I personally don't share any campaign where I can't find out if it's been vetted or not. I have, unfortunately, not shared every campaign that I've received, and that is at least in part because I have a problem with my tumblr inbox where I actually can't see or interact with roughly half the asks that I receive, it looks like (case in point: right now, I have two asks in my inbox, but I can only see yours). I only realised this when I had a lot of asks in my inbox the other month, and when I got through them all I still had a ton of ghost asks left.

My main rule of thumb - it's up to your own discretion. If you don't feel comfortable donating to individual fundraisers, but you do want to donate, I strongly recommend checking out any of the organisations in this post here (which I will reblog after this ask as well) which is a list of Gazan mutual aid projects and non-profits. That is a very good thing to do. I know the PCRF does good work, and all the proceeds of the zine that I was involved in at the start of the year when to them. Alternatively, donating to crips for esims is another really good one, because enabling people in Palestine access to the internet is incredibly important.

Hope that's helpful! 💜I am by no means an expert, but this is what I've picked up upon going around.

[somebodysnothing]

it's not like anyone is reading this....

100,000% I'm traumatized from the past 8.5 yrs at my job. It's nothing an outsider would understand and it's a massive pill most won't ever open their mouths to even consider swallowing. Much of the butter taste in my own fucking mouth is because of that. Because the fake shit that so many people do and the act they put on, acting like they have a clue how anything on earth functions. And people believe them, the masses anyway. Because who would question something they don't know about anyway? I'm never going to challenge a scientist, an engineer, a lawyer. I probably won't run into a person in the profession anyway. I wouldn't question a chef or be willing to duel an athlete, answering really there isn't a whole lot I'd feel confident in standing up and claiming to know some shit about,....

But there is something.

I do have a decent working knowledge of small animal veterinary technology. And I do have 9 yrs of experience working at an open intake, high volume municipal shelter. And I do have a big ass perspective of the broad picture of what the fuck is going on there. And if no one is ever questioning this shit, then that's concerning. If an enimal welfare organization is ever fundraising, and even matching a portion of those donations, but a branch of that organization can't replace broken furniture, that's a red flag.

The thing about animal welfare is that everyone thinks they are helping. Most people like animals. Even love them. But most municipal shelters operate off their own budgets, along with public donations of supplies and money. A lot of them even have their own non profit organization designated to raise money on their behalf. Those non profits can claim that status and raise money and then do God knows what with it.

When I worked at the shelter before resigning less than 2 weeks ago, their little non profit on side had lost it. The nonprofit was so out of touch with reality that not a single board member ever came in for anything anymore. At all. Ever. Their approach was to be the most hands off rhey could possibly be. They even fired my friend, telling her she wasn't raising enough money on the right things. This board, composed of idiots who know nothing about fundraising and nothing about shelter life, wa Ted my friend to raise thousands of dollars by somehow convincing more members of the public to spend $1000 or more on a sign that would have their name on it and go on a dog or cat kennel in their honor. No one buys these and they aren't a money maker. They are a fomite, harboring infectious disease and potentially killing the next occupant , because the shelter also employs a staff that for 50+ reasons, all of which h I can name, won't ever end up santizing that stupid sign. And no one wants to walk back to see their little sign, because it houses an animal in a filthy kennel, amidst a whole room that smells like urine and feces, echoes beyond audible recognition when the dogs start barking, and nothing guarantees the animal in it won't die. It's too much for most people to handle. Or people who are unaware. Or people who don't educate themselves. People who try to make money off a stupid idea like this and think it'll ever become a thing.

The non profit at my old job, let's call them Fomas, they like to be unaware. Because unaware means you don't have to ever face a real issue head on and be a solver of problems. Unaware means you can look like a hero on a board of an organization that is no longer doing good things because they are no longer even trying. And get enough of the unawares together and suddenly no o e.kbows what the guck is going on. And even better, all the unaware dumbfucks have been given the authority and power to decide see everything. Which is terrifying. Because when you have ppl in charge that are killing animals to make room for more animals, you want those people to make the rights choices on which ones die vs which do not. It's gross. But goddammit, you don't wanna just put it all to chance, right? If there's a reason 1 should die before another, wouldn't it be a good rule to follow? Like if one bit someone and another didn't, if one were very ill and one healthy, wouldn't it be a better path to take?

But then the outline would have to know these things because otherwise no one could face all the mistakes made and lies being covered up.

I had to get the fuck out of there. I overstayed by a few years. I thought I could fix it or make a dent in it on my own, combat a lot if the issues and then it'd spark the needed change. But what a person can't change is another person's ability to care or another's capacity to love. Those are innate qualities. So when I'm getting a haircut and the hairdresser tells me how she lost her dog some years ago when her boyfriend left the dog outside on the hottest day of the year, well that lady and myself will never see things on the same level nor in the same light. Not judging her, but maybe kinda I am. Because the thing in my head that Snaps when hearing a story like that is a thing that the lady doesn't possess. I can attempt to explain all the things in my head that send Red flags waving, all the things that seem like common sense to me regarding animal welfare. But it won't matter because 100 mes will always have another 100 of those lady's on the opposite side, too stupid and too obvious to what the fuck is realy happening.

Even worse if the people who aren't too stupid to actually hod the capacity to understand, but who opt not to because they can't face the problem head on or because they come out the same if they do or if they don't. As I'm they will inevitably their pockets with the same amount of money if they do a ot, a itte, and if they do nothing. These are typical the ones who shout just to be heard, use tactics of a bully, get their way thru intimidation. They often have shadows who mi.ic or support them. At this point in the time the main message has become couded if not gone. When this happened to me, my supervisor at the time iteray was ignoring me. Et me repeatedly that, my supervisor at work was 100% ignoring me. If someone who uou are supposed to directly report to is ignoring you, peace eave that job. Huge red fg. And if you work for the government, run. Bc no o e is gon a take a stand for what's eight, if they ever did anyway. When a person Maki g twice as much as you is ignoring you and choosing sides when it's not even necessary, get the fuc out. Bc that means they are already Making Huge and massive mistakes. Iike euthanizing the wrong dogz. Forgetting to feed and water whoe rooms of dogs and cats. And then not addressing it when brought to attention. So then pp with broken ankes end up having to do it because there's no accountability and it'd not happen otherwise. If you are giving any money to anima sedate groups, as to go inside and iook around. Unannounced, unplanned. if im giving money to a pace who has a goal of 37,099 and they can't keep water in the Animas bowes and people think aa the 37,099 goes to care for just the shelter Animas,

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

RE: your food bank reblog: This may be a localized issue, but some food banks I have encountered/worked with do not actually want money if they have released a list of non-food needs. Many who receive grants/funding from the government or are registered as non-profit FOOD banks are not allowed to use donated funds to purchase anything other than food. Which means that toiletries, mentrual products, diapers, cleaning products, clothing... these things are oft forgotten. just worth noting! Money is great to donate but don't neglect their requests. (there is also an argument to be made here that some people like picking out food to give. it seems silly, but it feels more personal to give someone an item than to give someone 20 dollars...it helps people feel directly connected to the cause they are supporting...but i digress)

Hi Anonie!

I don't know if it's a localized thing or not, but I 100% agree with you. I think the main thing that post was trying to get at - or at least, what I received from it - was giving what the organization is looking for. So if they're looking for money, give money. If they're looking for clothing, give clothing. If they're looking for healthcare products, give health care products, etc. You get the point. No matter what you give giving is great. And I would say, if something is all you can give, give it. But do not neglect the requests of the organization. They know what they need and we must know them to help them.

[yhwhrulz]

Today's Daily Encounter Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Ask and it will be given to you

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 'Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"1

What do you need from God today? What's the first thing that comes to mind? Hope? Provision? Freedom? Love? If you find it hard to ask for what you need, look to children for inspiration. They're not afraid to say what's going on in their heads.

In a list of interesting questions that the children asked their parents, the following stood out:

How did they make the first tools if they didn't have tools?

Why don't crabs have eyebrows?

In the old days, was it all black and white?

As children, we are predisposed to ask our parents what is going on, if something is troubling us. Naturally, we turn to mom or dad for answers without fear of coming across as rude or silly. We simply rely on our parents to resolve our issues.

However, as we grow, things change. We discover that our parents are fallible. We are disappointed. As a result, we start stuttering when asking questions. We fall into the mentality of "I have to figure it out on my own."

Although an attitude of autonomy is not bad, it encounters difficulties when we translate it into faith. God wants us to share our whole being with him, the good times and the bad, the joys and the struggles. God expects us to invite Him to share in our pain, rather than hide it from Him.

Our next step in healthily processing suffering, is to learn to ask Jesus for what we need with confidence, just as a small child does. Instead of relying on our own strength, we should actively turn to God when we don't understand and trust that He will help us. We have the certainty that he will not reject us.

In today's passage, Jesus uses the analogy of a child with his parents and encourages us to ask him for what we need instead of trying to live on our own, in our own way.

Part of facing suffering as believers is asking for divine help and wisdom. It is to persist in prayer and to seek in God the relief we need. Biblical suffering includes leaning on Jesus, being vulnerable, and boldly asking for help.

Constant petitions to God become hopeful reminders of His promises. Asking God for what we need stimulates us as we pray and strengthens our resolve not to give up. Moreover, it encourages us to put our trust in God's omnipotent sovereignty.

This is today's approach to experiencing God's well-being in difficult times: Ask Jesus for what you need, don't give up, and persist in prayer.

As today's passage says, "For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him that knocketh it is opened." I pray to God that this will be your reality.

Suggested Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, thank you for being so present with me; showing yourself to be real and sovereign whenever I need you. You take care of me like a loving father cares for his child. Today I want to put Jesus' words into practice and ask you for what I need. I give you my heart and trust that you will do your perfect will. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Matthew 7:7-11 (NIV).

Today's Encounter was written by: Rosina N

NOTE: If you would like to accept God's forgiveness for all your sins and His invitation for a full pardon Click on: http://www.actsweb.org/invitation.php. Or if you would like to re-commit your life to Jesus Christ, please click on http://www.actsweb.org/decision.php to note this.

Daily Encounter is published at no charge by ACTS International, a non-profit organization, and made possible through the donations of interested friends. Donations can be sent at: http://www.actscom.com

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Phone: 949-940-9050 http://www.actsweb.org

Copyright (c) 2016 by ACTS International.

When copying or forwarding include the following: "Daily Encounter by Richard (Dick) Innes (c) 2005-2023 ACTS International

[lets-talk-archives]

Digital Archives

There's a good chance if you've been an internet user in fandom spaces for long enough, this website is the first thing that pops into your mind every time I use the word "archive." For anyone who doesn't know, Archive of Our Own (AO3) is a non-profit project of the Organization of Transformative Works (OTW), an organization dedicated to the importance and the preservation of fan-made content and culture. AO3 account holders can upload both original and derivative works of fiction, though the latter is most common, and readers with or without an account can browse the works for free. The site features an extensive tagging system so that readers can filter works by the exact content they do (or don't) want to see.

Basically, it's fanfiction. Lots and lots and lots of fanfiction. But it's also a pretty robust digital archive, and a community archive. All of the content is entirely user-generated and they upload it of their own free will. Readers can read, rate, and review the works even without an account of their own, making it entirely open access. The works also stay up unless deleted by the original author.

It's difficult to discuss digital archives as their own, independent category when many, many archives that were once only physical are now becoming more and more digital. Still other archives originate as solely digital works. Pretty much every type of archive discussed on this blog has digital components. While they're not all open-access, digital collections are generally more accessible. Content can be shared to anyone anywhere with an Internet connection near-instantly. Digitizing physical archives can also help preserve fragile materials, and digital copies can be studied by many people at once compared to one original physical copy.

Are open-access digital archives always appropriate? Absolutely not. After all, once something is on the Internet, it's there forever. Keep in mind that many archives and museums are colonial, imperialistic institutions. Who is at the top making decisions on what should be digitized, and what is appropriate to spread online? The Internet is a relatively new blip in human history. Many photographs of humans (living or deceased), oral histories, descriptions of cultural practices, personal diaries, and more were all collected or donated before the concept of a nonstop open access digital highway was even conceived. Where do issues of consent blur? What if the materials are associated with a cultural group other than your own that may have specific customs related to the spread of certain images or practices? Furthermore, if a box of personal letters is held in a physical archive, they may be all grouped together to preserve their context as related to one another. In a digital archive, these items could be individually scanned and recalled as separate objects. How do digital archives preserve context?

Even in the relatively low-stakes case of AO3, let's say you upload a fanfiction, but a year later decide you don't want your work online and delete it off the site. It will no longer appear in the archive, but how do you know someone didn't copy down your entire fanfic and upload it elsewhere? Or save it onto their computer?

In a nutshell: digital archives have the potential to reach far greater audiences than solely physical archives, but the intersection of digital archives and open digital access is a complex issue with benefits and drawbacks alike, and must be navigated with care.

[falandosozin]

ok first of all i wanna appreciate that people online are still capable of having an actual reasonable discussion without jumping to name calling or dehumanizing each other - i hope this doesn't sound condescending but this happens far too often, specially on this hellsite, so it's always a win in my books when people are able to be normal about each other despite differing opinions

and second im sorry if this response seems too shallow and im fine with elaborating further some other time, but as of right now im leaving to get an x ray done on my foot (nothing bad, it's probably just sprained or something but i just wanna be 100% sure, i promise this isn't me looking for sympathy points, im just explaining why i cant go into detail about what i mean right now)

ok, onto the actual reply now lol

i get what you mean, i think. it's true that some scenarios/situations can be far more traumatizing than others. it's true that forced marriage, for instance, isn't comparable to catcalling when it comes to how debilitating it is, in general, to the victim. this is a fact. i still don't think, however, that this means one somehow more acceptable than the other - which is, in my opinion, the sort of thinking that this can unintentionally lead to. i don't think that's what you're doing, for the record. i just think that saying that one is always far worse than the other will very likely just lead to a separation between those two (neglecting the fact that they are born from the same issues) and focusing solely on one to the point of normalizing or trivializing the other (for instance: one is far worse therefore catcalling isn't even that big of a deal, not even if it's, say, a child walking home on her own and fearing for her safety - it's just words at the end of the day, people have it so much worse!)

again, not saying you're saying that. i just think that this sort of thinking can and will lead to that. but that's my personal opinion lol (also don't assume that every single trans person ever thinks like this)

in summary, while it's necessary to acknowledge that some situations are generally more traumatizing than others, separating the two and treating one like The Big Issue will lead to neglect of the other. although possible, it's really hard to do that in a way that doesn't erase one of the issues, and i don't think people, specially online, can do that at all. at least not yet. does that make sense? (sorry if this seems rushed)

about the questions - the first one, for instance, there are multiple situations of masculine women, butches, etc. being kicked out of women's spaces like, for instance, public bathrooms. this has and continues to happen to cis women quite often. i personally know a cis woman this almost happened to. in my opinion, a woman not being considered feminine enough to be allowed in women's spaces is misogyny. maybe a different expression of it, but misogyny nonetheless. having said that, generally speaking, this is far more likely to happen to trans women, whether they are gender confirming or not (as in, whether they present traditionally feminine or not). and it's still misogyny when it's happening to trans women, despite it happening far more often to trans women when compared to cis women.

about the second question, no, but not for the reason you probably expect. i dont really trust the government to be able to discern what needs or doesn't need attention. specially as someone from an ascending country, governments and sometimes even company donations use a cause to directly or indirectly harm more people. i dont think this is always the case, of course, and much less with non profitable or nom governmental organizations, and as a concept i do think it's fair to delegate resources to something that's more debilitating than something else. i just don't trust the government or governmental organizations to use that as an excuse to entirely neglect other issues. i hope that makes sense

Hello! terfs, radical feminists, or anyone who happens to stumble across this post.

Im a amab trans woman, ask me anything. I’m not posting this in bad faith I simply want to understand y’all better. Similarly I hope you’ll use this opportunity to gain a better understanding of the trans community.

Though I don’t hold the terf/radfem movement in the highest of regards I will respect anyone engaging in this post. I hope you try to respect me as well.

[feecarsazali]

cult

I wake up feeling traumatise with issue " suami kahwin lagi belakang isteri". it happen in the family. just stop. lagi teruk pakai agama.

Ya Allah lindungi aku dan keluarga aku.

nampak macam takde pape majlis maulid biasa? and even perform umrah rombongan without bertauliya etc tapi ada dark hidden that also involve money and not too.

i know every child have problem with their parents. but I don't know how many children have left their parents or far apart from their family member. cause they convince say alot of things like your family is toxic or bad that you need to be away for your own good.

encourage married man to have second wife. ni paling gila! if you have marriage problem, dont tell them. they will say your sponse are bad for you. you should left them, you deserve better. dorang carikan kau partner baru kt dlm group lps tu kahwin kat situ atau batam.

encourage newly father to left their wife alone in pantang to attend their " important" majlis. they teach them ask their mil to takecare of their wife while they are away until late night. Newly father need a break kononnya.

idk how many wife and husband rude to their sponse. Wife spend most of the time there without husband. Husband also the same. don't want join this agama group so partner is no good. Alot of wife or husband use their states right upon each other. " you tell ur husband/ wife already. you're done with your responsibilities"

other people private problem is been share without their permission. you think you can trust them because their advice really convincing? behind you. your problem is sell. people see you in other views.

Is a issue if you dont commit to the event due to own commitments. Card will flash " itu lagi penting dari akhirat" . like come on 24/7 with them? you can say crazy but your life is hook to them.

Fitnah : very strong word. that's what they do the best. they cover their sin they expose others. people left the group for their good. they with their illusion saying bad things about you to the group. See what happen to their life who left the group? their life in a mess.

Money: make some donation. For india etc. go for a trip every month near or far without thinking if everyday life expenses enough. Is not compulsory to go, sarcasm and guilty you will face after that. take every happiness you make outside as a guilt. your donation you make for the place or what? they make it for their own use like buying themself something good but have the cheat to say other asatizah give speech all want money etc. keep saying they non profit organisations to gain sympathy to gain funds and etc.

Please don't bring your friends and family members there. end up your relationship with your love once will be apart.

Those that single, they will match make you and will ask you to get married as soon as possible. Either you get a old partner or just widow with alot of problem that you have to bare responsible with.

the list can go own...

I dont dare to say anything because of axious and traumaise. Ya Allah pls end of this cruel thing going on.