#RANT MODE ACTIVATED

[romanos-photo-album]

ffxiv mods are a touchy subject for a lot of the community, and while there are some people who charge up the butt for their mods, there are a lot more who offer their stuff for free. so i feel bad when i complain about something thats free not matching my tastes, but i will sometimes be a begging chooser about it.

Here we have 3 of the more popular lala bodies, Stacked (Right), EveHD (Middle), and Bibala (left). I like to use EveHD, because I have one major complaint about the other two.

The Waist. The Snatched Waist that Bibala and Stacked use is WEIRD to me. (And it's not a problem that's unique to lala bodies, 90% of body mods for tallfolk are an hourglass and the ones that make people even slightly pudgy get next to zero support, but thats a whole different discussion.)

the problem can be alleviated a bit with Customize+, but then if i wanna put anything else on i have to go turn off the scaling.

i dunno theres no point to this its just something about a fair number of 14 mods that bothers me, but im in no way bashing the hard work that goes into all of these mods or the people who do enjoy them, i just wanted to put my thoughts here cause i couldnt put them on twitter

[what-the-fang]

FSOG Trailer Reaction and Some Stuff about China

I’m baaaaaaaack! Not, of course, that any of you were actually missing me, I’m sure. But for the three of you who might’ve actually been curious as to where I’ve been for the past month after only 5 posts, I’ve actually been halfway around the world. No, seriously, like I was actually in Taiwan and China for two weeks. Yes, I climbed the Great Wall, and yes, I really am just that awesome. For…

[whatsleftofdishaa]

Simp aisa kro chand pe jaisa koi insaan insaan pe bhi na krta ho

[obaewankenope]

Link to the thread on bluesky buuuuut...

I went Off™ about the Disability Benefits aka PIP because I'm just- yeaaaah.

So, enjoy the 2k word rage that happened.

With the recent ‘consultation’ of the changes to Disability Benefits (PIP) presented by the UK Government, I have many, MANY concerns and a burning desire to bring some receipts and challenges to the entire disability assessment process. Hence this thread with the burning hot tea.

Condolences anyone who reads this, it’s gonna be LONG. References will be at the end too.

.

The current disability benefits is Personal Independence Payment (PIP) introduced in April 2013 to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) that had had been the established disability benefit since the mid-90s. PIP came into being after the then Conservative government had already overhauled the Incapacity Benefit (IB) and created the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) in October 2008. The ESA benefit assessment used the biopsychosocial (BPS) model of disability for its assessment criteria. The problem with this is that the BPS model is... flawed. Especially with the way it was applied to assess claimants of ESA. As Mo Stewart (2017) states, the BPS model is a “non-medical assessment” utilised by ESA and PIP assessments which “totally disregards medical opinion”. Stewart also points out how ALL the research commissioned by the DWP to justify using the BPS assessment model has “failed ALL academic scrutiny”. That’s right. ALL.

[rest under cut]

A peer-reviewed, independent study in 2016 literally stated that the BPS model has “no coherent theory or evidence behind [it]” and that the DWPs research was “POLICY based research not evidence based research” – aka the DWP research was literally designed to support the policy not assess it.

Back in 2014, a Parliamentary Committee literally admitted that the ESA assessment needed “fundamental redesign” and that it was committed to help “stop the ongoing identified preventable harm” of the assessments.

Fun fact. The BPS model used by the DWP for WCA and other disability assessment was “influenced by the PRIVATE INSURANCE INDUSTRY” especially UnumProvident in 2004 which FUNDED the DWP research to “justify the replacement of IB with the ESA”!!! (Stewart 2017) This had been happening since 1995 ffs when “corporate America were first involved with advising the UK government on welfare claims management” (Aylward & Locascio, 1995). This literally caused a 2001 conference that literally REINFORCED ITS OWN BIAS to publish papers that went on to influence future UK social policy leading to the “politics of fear” that sick and disabled people experience everyday now as a result. The bs concept of ‘malingering’ aka people MAKE THINGS UP TO AVOID WORKING BY PRETENDING TO BE SICK was championed during that conference and has affected ALL susequent social policy from that point on because it’s clearly easier to believe people are LYING about being sick than actually being sick.

ANOTHER fun fact: UnumProvident Insurance was identified by the American Association of Justice as the 2nd worst insurance company in America in 2008.

When the BPS model was recommended in 2005, the DWP commissioned research suggested one million plus people could be taken off IB. That number, incidentally, correlated to the number of claimants with mental health illnesses. So the DWP literally didn’t care about people’s mental health – how little has changed, hmm.

Atos is the company that performs the ‘assessments’ of disability claimants and its their decision that is listened to over that of the Jobcentre Decision Maker (in theory the one SUPPOSED to have the final say) because Jobcentre workers aren’t specially trained in understanding disability or medical problems, they “don’t comprehend the medical evidence” and it’s why so many ESA and PIP claimants get the refusal overturned when “all the medical evidence is (finally) considered at Appeal”. It is literally all up to the person doing the in-person assessment who, incidentally, has an INCENTIVE to process as many as possible claims with a leaked 2018 letter indicated they would receive a bonus the more cases they worked through. The problem there is its easier to process more cases by DENYING them than working through the evidence and assessment questions which is time-consuming.

On top of THAT, there’s been House of Commons documents published that showed the DWP set targets for how many mandatory reconsiderations MUST be rejected. Which is ESPECIALLY worrying when the DWP ‘target’ wasn’t even at risk of being failed with only 4% of PIP mandatory reconsideration appeals upheld between April 2013 and March 2017. Hell, the DWP staff were even noted to fell ‘under pressure’ to “rubber stamp” the original decision of cases ffs!

Stewart: “the BPS model of assessment disregards diagnosis, prognosis and the claimant’s past medical history and was always destined to create significant preventable harm. Between January 2011 and February 2014 over 91,000 deaths are linked to the ESA functional assessment, known as the Work Capability Assessment (WCA)”

91,000 deaths in THREE YEARS.

There’s been a DIRECT link identified by research in 2015 (independent and peer-reviewed) “between the ESA assessment and a SIGNIFICANT increase in suicides, self-reported mental health problems and the prescribing of anti-depressants” (Stewart 2017)

Most damning of all, the DWP has REFUSED to publish updated ESA mortality totals since 2016.

Moving on otherwise I’ll be here all day.

I have personal experience with filling out the PIP and DLA assessment paperwork and attending the in-person assessments by ‘trained professionals’. I have completed the paperwork and attended with others who claimed and have been refused and had to go to appeal. I’ve had to fight for them at appeal. I’ve succeeded but it is a long, exhausting, dehumanising process.

Questions from the PIP assessment include questions about food preparation, managing treatments, washing and bathing, toilet needs, dressing, communication (verbally), reading, understanding, following instructions/directions, engaging with others face-to-face, and budgeting. You’re asked how long you can focus on things, how far you can walk, what you can carry, how long, where you go, if you go alone, how you manage your money, if you can take your medication without someone handing each tablet to you, and so on.

On the surface, the questions are innocent and just looking for better information to ‘help’ you better gain the support you need.

On the surface.

But the questions are used during the in-person assessment and what you say and how you act is directly compared to the answers you put on your paperwork and both are used to determine the ‘score’ you receive for each aspect of your mobility needs.

The MAJOR flaw with the assessment is that the paperwork asks you to answer based on your WORST DAY and the in-person assessment is used to MINIMISE the answers you gave on the paperwork.

Because the basis of the BPS assessment model used by the DWP assumes EVERYONE malingers (pretends/exaggerates) and this means the answers you gave on the paperwork are viewed through that lens and your conduct during the in-person assessment is considered to be the ‘real truth’ of your disability.

It doesn’t account for if the day of the in-person assessment is a GOOD day for you.

You’re examined and interrogated and coerced into performing for the assessor during the in-person assessment regardless of whether you CAN do something because you’re NOT told that you CAN REFUSE at all.

They don’t tell you to only lift your arms to where it doesn’t hurt, or where you safely can without harm. They say “lift your arms as high as you can” and that’s it.

Because they WANT to catch you in a lie. They WANT to look at your answer you gave on the paperwork and see you raise your arms high despite pain and discomfort because they didn’t give you ANY additional parameters beyond “as high as you can” because they can then give you a LOWER score and justify it in the final decision as “claimant stated they struggle to lift their arms above their head x days but were able to complete this task with no issue during assessment, indicating their mobility is not noticeably impaired to qualify for the mobility portion of PIP”

Additionally, the psychological and sociological effects of disability on a person aren’t seriously considered. Especially when someone says they struggle to travel or be in public or talk to others yet are FORCED to do these things to attend an in-person assessment that dismisses the person’s difficulties by justifying the dismissal since “claimant attended in-person assessment and was calm, polite, and responded normally to questions”

The dichotomy between the paperwork assessment and in-person assessment aspects of the PIP assessment CAUSES people unnecessary pain and suffering because the in-person part is DESIGNED to reject the paperwork and medical evidence the claimant provides.

The disability benefit assessment is structured with REJECTION as the primary purpose of it, not SUPPORT. It doesn’t ENABLE disabled people to live better or have support without forcing disabled people to constantly JUSTIFY their need to have support and to even be allowed to live in the first place.

THAT is the flaw of the disability assessment and its use of the BPS assessment model that literally was designed with malingering and denial of support from the get-go.

So this government consultation and ‘improvements’ to disability benefits is even more terrifying because the narrative surrounding disability in society today is incredibly hostile.

Disabled people are presented as a drain on finances.

Disabled people are presented as scammers and lazy and malingering illness to avoid responsibility.

Disabled people are presented as UNDESERVING of support.

The narrative focuses on how many people have claimed disability PIP benefit in the last few years. It DOESN’T look at WHO those people really are.

The people who are claiming PIP lately are the same people who were frontline workers and NHS staff during the global pandemic. They’re the ones who DIDN’T die from COVID. They’re the ones who sacrificed and sacrificed because that was their JOB and now they’re being targeted and presented by a narrative as malingering scammers and liars.

Even those who are disabled and weren’t frontline workers or NHS staff are overwhelmingly people who NEED the paltry financial assistance that PIP provides them. These are people who don’t even get more than £900 a month from PIP. People who may be completely unable to work full-time or even part-time because they may not be able to travel or work in office environments or perform manual labour jobs, so they rely on a small amount of money every month to SURVIVE.

I can assure you, even if someone is claiming UC and has the non-working element, as well as enhanced rate PIP, they NEVER have more than £1600 a month in benefit. They receive less than £20,000 a YEAR if they claim UC and PIP. Most retail positions and even a newly qualified NHS nurse receive more than that annually.

The problem isn’t disabled people needing support and it isn’t even social welfare support being so expensive. The problem is that it is much easier to use a minority with little power and a near-silent voice as a scapegoat to avoid tough reforms to taxes and spending and enforcing corporations paying their taxes instead of avoiding them with loopholes.

It’s so much easier to use disabled people like this when it’s a foregone conclusion that disabled people are going to die much quicker than other minorities AND that will save you expenses at the same time.

References:

Mortality Statistics DWP

The Guardian, DWP mortality figures

Mo Stewart, 2017

2015 suicide figures

May 2016, BPS Model: Blaming the victim all over again. 

Parliamentary Committee 2014

Influence of Private Insurance Industry

Atos and leaked letter

[harryinramshackle]

When I made my username I actually used to go by jovie, hence "Jovie in Ramshackle" however now I'm too attached to it to change it

I guess the logical thing to do IS to change it...but also this damn oc consumes like 85% of my brain, if my brain is Ramshackle then ofc she's in it. It truly is Jovie in Ramshackle.

[cantevenbeachhere]

☕️ + wiping out while surfing

Uuuuuggghhhhh!

*sigh* Dude. You have no idea. Like seriously, it’s intense.

Sometimes I think it’s safer flying through the air than it is to actually surf! Shredding waves is much more dangerous than people realize. I should know. Not only do I try surfing, but my job is Beach. I know these things.

Send me a ☕️ and a topic to rant about

[heavenly-wounded]

Here’s GingerBrave as phos!

GINGERPHOS‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ THIS IS VERY COOL AND AWESOME AND I LPVE IT :3:3:3:3

seeing his silly smiley face turn grim is so sad tho i wanna give him a hug 💔💔💔💔

[pockysquirrel]

Oi why do I keep getting posts on my dash that are just generic porn but inexplicably tagged with Kamen Rider? Like, I get the concept of spamming your ad for bog-standard boring smut with fandom tags to bait the algorithm into giving you views, but Kamen Rider ain't exactly the most popular fandom out there.

And when I see porn tagged with Kamen Rider, god dammit I expect there to be cyborgs.

[what-the-fang]

FSOG Review

For the lazy, here’s my Fifty Shades of Grey review from Goodreads in full. Yeah yeah, I know I’m way behind on the times and everyone and their mother has reviewed this garbage already, but hey, I hadn’t discovered Goodreads yet back when I first read it, ok? And since my opinion is the correct one, I must put it out there. Besides, the movie will (unbelievably) be out in less than a year, and…

[shoot-of-corruption]

6. is roleplaying the only writing-based hobby you have, or are there other things you like to write?

12. what roleplay trends do you remember from the year you started tumblr rp? how did you feel about those trends?

6. I USED TO write short RPGPlayer type games with plots and in ye olden days, I actually did write some fanfiction, but it was BAD, really bad. x'D

I still feel terribly cringy remembering an original horror story I wrote for our school paper, when I was like 16 years old PFFF.

I have to say roleplaying in written form is really my poison of choice and I am doing a pretty acceptable job at it. That won't change that anymore, I think.

12. ........ UUUHM.

Do you know when I started RPing here?? I can't even remember well anymore?! It must have been like 2011 or 2012? *shifty eyes*

We were all throwing stuff together wildly, this community was at it's golden age. Everyone and their mother did what they wanted! We took icons from art, doujins, wherever. Nobody had a plan but all of us were so enthusiastic it didn't even matter.

I remember we all did some asks, where it's like characters talking about their RP- partners or evaluating them IC but we had to do it on soundcloud and it was SO CRINGEY to speak as Mariku anywhere for me.

Also something with a lot of handwriting memes... I always used NBC backgrounds, because i was like " You thought, I use blank paper?? HAHAHA WROOONG!"

Also the drama was terrible... and back then I got a LOT of hate, because apparently it was still hard to understand IC =/= OOC...

It was wild as fuck.

[jeeppu]

I'm playing pokemon sword/shield with my gf and after I printed her a type chart she has gotten more and more strategic and keeps checking info from pokemon database

[babieken]

hello again! i sent the ask earlier about stuck kihyun. i actually think i'm an anon of yours... 🚇? i can't remember for sure though lol oh how i wish i could go back in time and witness monsta x's debut and be here for the entire journey. did you witness it? i too ended up going and listening to his solo music after sending my last ask. i'll have to go watch the stuck mv asap though! i'm just having a whole kihyun moment recently. he is my bias though so it's bound to happen every again, but being a multi impacts the frequency >.<

OMG subway anon!!!!!! Hi!!!! how are you??? how have you been???

no, i didn't witness their debut either (I got into them in 2018 and became a casual listener and in 2020 it became official <3) but I kind of prefer it that way... i will elaborate. for one i do no have the stomach to watch No Mercy, Even today. after watching Pentagon Maker against my better judgment i vowed to never watch an idol survival show. also tbh mx's earlier music wasn't really my taste so i probbaly wouldn't have gotten too into them anyway.

That being said, not a day goes by where I don't wish I had gotten into them sooner so I could experience being Wonho's Monbebe... like this is legitimately one of my few regrets in life: not getting to truly experience ot7.

[gaypiratepropaganda]

well you see, I enjoy all those other things. they're funny and I can forgive them. the only one that made me sad was ed pushing lucius overboard but it makes sense he's got intimacy issues and lucius witnessed the first draft of his terrible breakup poetry. they're pirates. a bit of violence is to be expected.

izzy tells the navy where they are so he can legally steal their ship and ends up with ed released to his custody, whatever that means. I just think that's icky, I don't know. it's beyond regular pirate violence. he's brought the english military into their little gay interpersonal drama. who does that?

literally I can forgive torturing racists or setting them on fire, plotting to murder your husband, cannibalism, a kinky bit of stabbing between friends, and um… having passionate, consensual gay sex. but I draw the line at snitching on your own people to the english government just so you can be captain. he uses state violence to try to get his crush's boyfriend killed. and then they give him legal custody of his crush. that's fucked up on a different level, man.

I also have a hard time forgiving izzy for assigning people bullshit busywork just so he can feel powerful or whatever. that's more scandalous to me than polamory. I know it doesn't seem as bad as cannibalism, but cannibalism has so far never affected my real life, so.

he represents a lot of things that make my life worse. toxic masculinity, authoritarianism, sexism, homophobia, those guys that get a crush and make it your problem. it's an important role for a character and I understand that he's needed for the plot, but that doesn't stop me from hating him. in fact, I think that's his intended narrative role. the hateable guy with bad opinions. I think that, for once, the people writing the story actually agree with me about the characters. that never happens!

it's ok to like any character, obviously, even if they are evil. but I don't even really think he's evil, just a dick. in a special, power-hungry way that reminds me too much of real life. so I can't love him the way everyone else does. sorry.

'Izzy is evil'

Ed just pushed an innocent young man clean overboard and Stede Bonnet burned an entire ship full of people. Spanish Jackie just gave 0 fucks about one of her husbands being shot and Mary Bonnet was about to skewer hers in the ear.

Frenchie wanted to turn a man's back into a table!

Roach literally tortures people for fun.

Buttons' only joy in life is to eat people's juicy legs.

'Izzy Hands is a freak, he's disturbed'

Izzy has a sore tummy and is crying about Blackbeard, meanwhile the Swede is shaking his dumptruck ass at not one but TWO cannibals

Like ???

Ed and Stede were stabbing and shooting eachother for shits and giggles.

Lucius was having passiomate sex with like four different pirates at the same time.

Izzy could never. He's the weak link of the group. Wee John will set fire the the ship for fun before Izzy does anything scandalous or violent lol

Not even defending Izzy just he's a sad lil man, face facts.

[zan0tix]

Any general thoughts on/relating to the Brobot?

Have my half awake scrawlings...

I really love the brobot!!!! People really misconstrue it and also leave it out in a lot of dirkjake talk? Its a big player in not only how dirk expresses his affection/desire towards jake but also in their multi year spanning unspoken game of gay chicken 😭😭(all of dirks splinters are but Not about them rn)

It was sent yknow under the pretense that jake loves wrestling and wished so bad to have somebody he could wrestle with. But at the same time it protects jake from the horrors of hellmurder island (seen before they strife), pushing jake into the Damsel in distress role he wasnt expecting to play even before all the shit in the game, with Dirk being his hero.

Jake says he keeps it on a high difficulty because apparently in the Novice mode he says their interactions become "too tender" and doesnt want to elaborate, Friendly reminder! His convo with jane on the SAME DAY dirk pulled off that big romantic overture and the kiss happens and him and dirk begin "dating".. is the same day he asked jane if it didnt make him weird for wanting to date dirk. And he also says hed joke around with dirk about how theyd soo make a great couple if dirk were a girl haha.

I imagine the brobot and well. Getting physical like that with a robot that supposedly looks like dirk probably gave jake his internal gay awakening at 13 but he just never wanted to actually confront it and instead just wanted to brush past everything 😭😭 (See: every single time sexuality or romance comes up in relation to jake he is literally always thinking about dirk somehow and he never directly talks about his attraction to men or how that reflects/contradicts on his self image of the Movie Star Hero guy)

and jake doesnt actually hate the thing either, he tells jane he thinks it genuinely did improve his fighting capabilities (Which we see it did in collide! he beat basically the whole felt with guns and fisticuffs alone, no hope powers.) Which serves as a pretty evident parallel to dave who also is good at fighting, even if he doesnt want to be. (see dirk + dave convo)

This one comes from hussies authors notes in the aradiabot and equius scene (which equius imagery being invoked with dirk. something i could totally rant about another time haha) but yeah. Jake was being selfish asshat in that log forcing jane into a corner and wringing what he wanted to hear out of her, and also not giving a shit about the brobot (Which served as his protector and only other semblance of human connection since he was 13 and was a BIRTHDAY GIFT FROM DIRK) KILLING ITSELF? But hes so preoccupied talking about dirk. THE REAL DIRK. And immediately after jake loses the dirk splinter that protected him, HE (AND DIRK) CREATE A NEW ONE FOR HIMSELF USING THEIR COMBINED POWERS/?

Hussie is lying.. somebody Does care about dirks feelings. a whole lot to the point they activate their powers unwittingly Because of it. and its jake. but jake just cant admit that himself. (He cannot admit his real feelings until given permission to, dirk would have to concede the game of gay chicken first using his words and not just actions)

ANYWAY. hussie is so right its so easy to get sidetracked times one million talking about this comic. BUT AHH!! BROBOT. his existence.. tragic.. Jakes really smart in knowing that all of dirks splinters enlighten aspects of himself he doesnt oft share, and the brobot served as another dirk action on the pile of dirk actions he engineers to signify his deep immense care for jake, where he lets these grand gestures and implications sit out in the open without ever actually saying what they mean and where his feelings lay.

EVEN IF ITS SUPER OBVIOUS. The d man cant use his big boy words to actually describe his feelings despite how much a yaps! so jake doesnt know if hes even allowed to say anything about his own. Fellas: Is it gay if you labour for supposedly an extended period of time to create a custom robot in your own image to ship in pieces to your best bro guy crush who is HUNDREDS OF YEARS IN THE PAST because you cant be there yourself?

I think this hal message says enough about how bad dirk wished he could visit jake 💀💀

[cantevenbeachhere]

☕

Strong feelings about hot chocolate flavors (good OR bad!)

~☕👈

Are you ☕️👍🏻anon who decided to change things up or are you a different anon? I’m guessing you’re the same anon…or maybe you’re different because you didn’t ask about coffee 👀

Listen! My dude! You’re gonna get both because why do “or” when you can do “and”?

Okay look, I wanted to like candy cane hot chocolate. I really did. Lots of my friends like it, and they’re like “it’s so the holiday flavor” and I tried it and it’s so not my holiday flavor. Normally, mint and chocolate don’t bother me. Is that my go-to? Heck no, but I’m not gonna turn my nose up to it. But ew, this was not good hot chocolate. Like not at all.

But a good flavor of hot chocolate that I think is like unfairly overlooked which is maybe one reason why I like it is mixing a little bit of cinnamon with my hot chocolate. It’s sooooooo good! Like this is a flavor most people sleep on, but I swear, dude, it’s no different if you dunk a churro in chocolate! You’ve got the cinnamon and the sugar and the chocolate! It’s good! What more could ya want? Cover the top with marshmallows and whipped cream and you’re all set!

Send me a ☕️ and a topic to rant about

[tealvenetianmask]

Here's a compilation of Blitz's tail being brilliantly expressive in The Full Moon and Apology Tour.

His tail starts getting really active around here, with the "I can always do better" line. It's appeasing body language, a little wag, along with leaning in and making himself small.

Then during Blitz's rant at Stolas, his tail goes absolutely haywire. All of the movements here are sharp and sudden. There are whip-like movements (more on that later) where the tail sweeps and then hits, but also a lot of erratic jerking around. Notice that his arms are going crazy here too. Boy is so upset- the animation captures such a brilliant mixture of rage and terror.

Now Apology Tour. Blitz enters Stolas's garden in appeasing mode, and he's super anxious. Getting attacked by the plant can't help. His tail perfectly captures the mood of the moment. There are the wags again, but also a fair amount of flailing.

Angry whip tail is back. This is defensive mode, and it's more contained than in The Full Moon. Blitz seems truly ready to use his tail as a weapon (not that he would physically attack Stolas). Notice too that as he's yelling, his tail stays mostly still but shakes for emphasis.

I think that the way Blitz uses his tail to emphasize his expression in these scenes is mostly involuntary on his part. Not that he can't move it with absolute precision as we've seen in some of the fight scenes. But the animators treat it as another limb, and our boy is super expressive.

So . . . I think this is neat. That's it. That's the point of this analysis. Let's watch for more tail language in the coming episodes.