#So don't lose hope basically

[thatonebirdwrites]

A thread I wrote on a different platform. I'm transferring it here.

‪Matt Browner Hamlin‬ ‪of @mattbh.com‬ (on AT Protocol) WRITES: @aoc.bsky.social e-mail going after TikTok & social platforms collaborating with Trump - with a shout out to @bsky.app

ALT TEXT: First of all, Donald Trump is not president right now. He's a private citizen. He does not have access to presidential powers. He does not have the ability to do any of that. Please understand that TikTok's decision to name Trump in the notification is a choice. They are signaling that they have agreed to privately collaborate with Donald Trump and the Trump administration. For all of those concerns that people were saying that TikTok is gonna be used as a propaganda tool by the Chinese, understand they're using it as a propaganda tool for the right. Now, I want you all to put all the pieces together because what this effectively means is that every mass social media platform in the United States has been taken over by the right wing, with the exception of Blue Sky (but Blue Sky is still very small, relatively). (The thread: https://bsky.app/profile/thebirdwrites.bsky.social/post/3lg5p5lhyqk2i )

MY RESPONSE (I'm speaking to those that may see the above post and fear all social media sites are falling to fascists):

Not every social media site is being taken over. People forget that the fediverse (a decentralized web) still exists. There are servers of people who are decentralized communities of Leftists - some use the Mastodon client, some use Sharkey or Misskey, Friendica, and others. Stop forgetting them.

This isn't to say that far-right fascists don't exist on the fediverse. They do, but many defederate/block them. (EDIT: This also isn't to say bigotry doesn't happen on fediverse, it most certainly does and needs to be better handled).

For example, threads (run by Meta) is fascist transphobic racist trash.

Disabled.social, the disabled server I help mod, defederated/blocked them. This keeps us safe from those trolls. ‪ A majority of centralized social media like Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads), Tiktok, Twitter/X are all owned by corporations and funded by venture capitalists. THOSE are the ones that have already been taken over as Right-wing fascism already.

Bluesky isn't immune to this as it is also centralized. ‪

Bluesky has shown a willingness to allow bad faith actors that harass and harm trans people. I haven't really seen a resolution to that yet, just people stopped discussing it. That's testing the waters. Bluesky has also taken venture capitalist funding. It's protocol is a centralized silo. ‪

Will Blue Sky go the way of the others? Maybe. Based on Bluesky's own plans and documentation, they show a strong tendency toward profit and growth paradigms.

Will those community servers in the Fediverse fare the same? No, because they are based on community and safety paradigms NOT growth. ‪

Decentralized networks in the Fediverse include these open-source clients: Mastodon, Misskey, Sharkey, Pixelfed, Peertube, Diaspora,Writefreely, and many more. People like myself can host a server on any of these for people to join. That community decides on how to handle moderation, updates, etc. ‪

All of the fediverse uses the ActivityPub Protocol, which is NOT what bluesky uses. ActivityPub has more privacy built into it. (Edited to add: this is in comparison to AT protocol. It's not enough privacy - more should have been built in, but of the two, AT is worse in regards to privacy. Also, protocol and clients are not the same. Protocol is like infrastructure and clients is buildings atop it. The features in clients on ActivityPub hold far more privacy than the BlueSky client on AT).

Bluesky's AT Protocol has no privacy features (for one, I'm furious that it allows one to query block lists of people. ActivityPub doesn't allow queries like that, which is the difference I reference above.)

Open-source developers are making bridges between Blue sky and the rest of the larger fediverse, but the bridges aren't always stable as the two protocols don't talk well to each other.

So Blue Sky sits in a precarious spot, where their venture capitalists could push it toward an X demise. ‪

But the larger fediverse (those dozens of different clients) are not affected by profit-driven, growth-paradigms. Most servers like disabled.social are run by people like me. Folks who live at home, maintaining software, so people can chat. Costs for hosting are paid for by donations.

However, centralized networks do not want you to know about decentralized servers. They don't want you to leave their silos, so they try to make it look unappetizing, while making their centralized services as easy to join as possible. But this leaves us to the whims of capitalist propaganda.

It's easy for centralized social media to become a propaganda machine (like Tiktok, X, and Facebook are doing) because they trap their users in their silos. The captive audiences end up seeing whatever these silos allow in.

Fediverse, since it's decentralized, is too diffuse to capture. ‪

Focus of decentralized must become:

keeping the servers up and running (donations, combating attacks on Internet access).

Finding the safe servers where the community is good at blocking bigoted trolls and right-wing fascists and good at moderation.

Solidarity between marginalized groups to protect each other.

Working together to fight the growing fascist state.

Teaching and beefing up safety and security culture to help us survive the growing fascism

Teaching and showing how to engage in collective action, community building, and horizontal democracy (See book: Anarchic Agreements https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1286)

Our routes of communication is hindered, yes, by centralized networks falling under the control of far-right fascists, but my above thread is a reminder to all of you that not all social media has been taken over. Marginalized populations exist on the fediverse and are fighting back there too. ‪

Remember, Community is the only way we'll survive this. They want us isolated and easy to destroy. That's why they are doing huge spectacles right away to demoralize us.

As long as our community continues to exist, as long as we continue to write and create art, we are resisting and surviving. ‪

Do not let the huge spectacles and take over of centralized sites demoralize you.

Community can be built. We can work together to build that community. It won't be easy to build and maintain. We all will have roles to play for that. But it can be done. We can survive and defeat these fascists.

RESOURCES:

*Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Umoja Noble

*We Do This 'Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba

*Audre Lorde

*White Rage by Carol Anderson

*The End of Policing by Alex Vitale

*Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

*Crip Kinship by Sins Invalid

*Care Work by Piepzna-Samarasinha

*David Harvey

*Paulo Freire

*Creative Interventions Toolkit: www.creative-interventions.org

*Beyond Survival edited by Dixon and Piepzna-Samarasinha

*Overcoming Burnout by Nicola Rose

*adrienne maree brown

*Andrewism's Library of Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOYa3YzVtyk

*John P. Clark

*A Profession Without Reason by Bruce Levine

*The Future is Degrowth by Schmelzer, Vetter, Vanisintjan

*Surviving the Future edited by Branson, Hudsen, and Reed.

*Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

*Cedric Robinson

*Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong

*How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong

*bell hooks

(Any others feel free to add in notes...)

Addendum: I will add that although I discussed decentralized versus centralized -- I was focusing on the existence of alternatives, so that people didn't lose hope or think that all social media is now right-wing/fascist run.

So, having written that thread, I want to be clear that the fediverse desperately needs better moderation tools for the building up of the security and safety culture. Racism, ableism, and transphobia happens even in Leftist circles, so to keep the fediverse working for us, to build up solidarity and community, we need tools to combat that better.

We also need better documentation that's easier for newcomers to learn the ropes if they wish to get more involved in the developer side. I consider this part of security and safety culture -- building the tools for it and making it accessible.

[vaguely-concerned]

during the last solas regret memory, when you choose the sad option (he loved her and blamed her) and rook says: "when the other gods struck her down, he destroyed the elven empire to avenge her," they seem to be looking right at lucanis. (who is also the next person to speak and seems to be meeting their gaze during that). there are some times when the staging of a scene makes me feel slightly unfairly rewarded for being a lucanis romancer haha. (or rather unfairly rewarded for having the kind of unhinged brain I do while being a lucanis romancer, maybe.) guess who pretty consistently gets to sit at rook's right hand in most of the scenes where everyone is at the dinner table too :) just little lucanis privileges

[deoidesign]

.

[lord-squiggletits]

Y'know the thing about writing feral/unhinged versions of Orion/Optimus, is that you can't go too far into the feral/unhinged direction to a point where OP's core character traits are lost or become too diminished. After all, in a multiple-continuity franchise like TF, part of what makes the stories make sense is that even if details change (sometimes major details), the characters are still recognizably themselves to one degree or another. (Although this isn't always the case due to executive meddling or some characters being such blank slates from their initial G1 appearances that there's basically nothing to model them off of, but I digress.)

It's pretty much another reason why I love IDW1 Optimus, bc he literally is a canonical feral/unhinged Optimus who's unhinged as a direct consequence of who he is as a person and what he's been through. Like, he still has those fundamental character traits of trying his best to be moral and make good choices, trying to be a role model, etc, except after 4 million years of war and untreated depression he's basically holding onto his sense of self by his fingertips. So when he "goes feral" e.g. losing his temper and beating up/killing people or saying hurtful things, he's feral in a way that's directly tied to his normal personality and not just as a random quirk he has.

IDW OP's feral moments arise from the gaps between "Optimus' attempts to be who he thinks he needs to be" and "the reality of the world that he can't fix/seems to only make worse" that cause him to lose hope, or become cynical, or lose his temper. But in this case, the unhinged-ness makes perfect sense because it arises out of Optimus trying and failing to be the best person or to make the most morally good choices he's trying to make. Basically, the "feral/unhinged" label is just another way of me trying to say that he's not just unhinged because he's weird or because he's a bad person, but because it's an emotional reaction (more like an emotional explosion due to pent-up emotions) to the context he exists in.

I'd also say that IDW OP's personality being generally reserved/stoic and (trying to be) noble works in tandem with those moments he has of going feral because it makes him more realistic. His psyche is treated in a way where the writers are like, "Hey what if the pressure of having to be everyone's idol and be the best person in the galaxy at all times actually broke Optimus down mentally and emotionally?" It makes IDW OP far more relatable. Instead of naturally being a perfect Christ-like figure who never wavers in his morals or convictions and is just naturally a nice person who always has the wisest and best answer, being a good person is something that IDW OP has to consciously strive to be. Even when he feels like it's useless, or the cycle of violence will never stop, or any attempts he makes to help only ends up with things becoming worse.

And I feel like this does a service not only to IDW Optimus as a character, but also as a sort of moral/philosophical perspective for the reader to ponder upon? I feel like culture at large (or at least my experience of it) tends to believe that "goodness" in a person is simply an innate feature that people are born/not born with, and that being "good" means that you must be good at all times, both in your actions as well as the way you feel emotionally about yourself and the world. Like, there's a tendency for our vision of "a good person" to be good in every aspect at all times without having to try to be a good person. So I think IDW Optimus' character stands as a good example of how someone can be good at heart but still struggle to maintain those feelings of optimism and hope and justice. It's a good idea to have such a paragon of a character (in-universe and out-of-universe) be so conflicted and to even be mistaken, misguided, or make things worse because it shows that goodness is as much about "trying to behave/act in a way that is good" and not just "existing as an innately good person."

It's way more realistic for a person to want to be good, try to be good, and sometimes/often fail than it is for them to just be a good person. I enjoy the fact that IDW Optimus is both a good person at heart, but also has to strive to be a good person and live up to other people's expectations of what they see in him. I like how he wants to be a good person and change society for the better, but he also spends a good amount of time either feeling hopeless and alone or being angry at/detached from other people because of how frustrated they make him. He's realistically portrayed as someone who wants to be good and hopeful and change things for the better, but is also mentally and emotionally broken by that burden because of how impossible it is for him to Fix Everything and be the Perfect Prime/Leader/Autobot that people see him as. It's this fascinating mixture of "yes, this is who he is as a person" but also "there are things he desires to be that he could never possibly become or live up to."

This got really far off based from feral/unhinged Optimus sdklfjaslkdlfkas. The TLDR is that if people want unhinged OP, I feel like they should give IDW OP a chance because he IS unhinged but he's unhinged in a way that's a realistic/thematic representation of how being an Absolute Good is impossible. And how being a good person isn't just about Existing And You Are A Good Person, but rather goodness is a constant state of flux in which you adjust, you make mistakes, you lose your temper and feel hopeless, but then you pick yourself up and try again.

Also IDW OP really likes climbing in dangerous wilderness and jumping out of flying vehicles which I think is very feral and sexy of him to do.

[cnl0400]

Idk I'm still not invested in the SF storyline, like I said before in another post, RAD always feels so barren because the lack of another "normal" students, you have the student council and the exchange students. The only "normal" student we have Is technically Mephistopheles, and since all of them are friends, there's really not a lot of conflict you can have without it feeling pointless. We know that since we have 7 wishes, every brother Is going to win a wish... I don't want to see Diavolo lose 7 times lmao

The next week we are going to the Celestial Realm (suposely, I don't think God will let them enter lol) so this lesson feels pretty much filler for the next week lesson, that *might* be more interesing idk

[another-clive-blog]

Thinking about the Clive and Bill parallels again...

Both started with pretty average goals (gaining money / getting closure). Both became obsessed with said goals to the point of going through with their plans no matter the cost. Both became consumed by the desire to pursue a goal that isn't actually achievable (You can get more money but it will never feel like it's enough. You can lash out in anger but it won't make the anger go away). Both ended up killing innocents.

And yet.

Bill getting rid of his humanity in the hopes of getting money. Clive getting rid of his money in the hopes of getting his humanity back. Bill claiming he despises people like Clive when he has himself killed innocents for his own selfish plans. Clive claiming he hates politicians and scientists but still using science to build a mecha and politics to justify its use. Bill hiding everything, hiding from Claire that the machine isn't ready, hiding his crime from everyone. Clive exposing everything, exposing his secret base to Layton, exposing Bill and Dimitri's crime by his staging. Bill covering up the incident while Clive broadcasted his crime inside the fortress.

I don't know where I was going with this. Maybe that prime minister Bill looks like a honest citizen, just your regular Londoner really, while Clive is so obviously violent and destructive : and yet, Clive is the dove and Bill the hawk. Funny.

[teplejtrouba]

i won this competition thing at school which was a surprise and i didn't really mean to or care for winning. but sure they liked my design. why not. they want to give me money. great. but now i have to deal with my deadname being plastered all over the place and i sent an email to the company (that chose my design that they're going to make and sell) like hey im going to be changing my name Very soon would it like. be possible to use the new name when talking about me :-) and they answered that it's not possible (i get it if it was for like legal reasons idk) but their wording was very... ??? 'you won the competition as *deadname* so it wouldn't be right to change it' im sorry what. what does it mean it wouldn't be right. what. why. I'd understand if they wouldn't change it for the booklet if they already have them printed out (i did ask if they do. they didn't answer), fair, i get it, that's your money. but they straight up have a whole paragraph on their website that talks about me that she/hers me extensively (i haven't discussed that with them yet i only learned about it yesterday. like bestie that can't be that hard to change). wtf is a mladá umělkyně I'll kill you

[bumblingbabooshka]

If 'Resolutions' happened with Chakotay & Tuvok they would have made a beautiful home down there on that planet. It'd be Better Homes & Gardens material by the time they left. If it happened with Tuvok & Janeway it'd just be the captain running around barefoot chasing a monkey while Tuvok grew flowers and made comments about her not tracking dirt into the house after he just cleaned the floors.

[mimi-saurio]

WIP of a comic inspired by the mythic phrase "She used to be cool, she dressed up as an elf for our campaign"

[acerikus]

Thinking about TS!underswap again...

[13eyond13]

Is Death Note considered post-modern media

[thethingything]

so we use these little packs of disposable travel toothbrushes that we can keep next to our bed and don't have to rinse after using them or anything because between executive dysfunction, sensory issues, and fatigue, this is basically the only way we can keep up with brushing our teeth regularly.

anyway, I realised we'd almost ran out and went to buy more and they suddenly aren't available anywhere. we'd get a pack of 24 for relatively cheap and now all I can seem to find are packs of 1 or 2 "travel toothbrushes" that are basically just normal toothbrushes for the same price as a pack of the ones we normally get. the brand that made them has nothing about them on its website besides a pack of 2 toothbrushes listed under the same name that aren't the same product.

so anyway now I need to figure out an alternative for the sake of actually being able to manage our dental hygiene because the one thing that was letting us do that somewhat adequately isn't available anymore

[chussyracing]

which livery are you most excited for?

ferrari since it's my one true love and always has been (also because last year's launch was the best ever launch i have ever seen from any team ever, so the expectations are set high). other than that i'm curious about williams, because i love the blue color and i'm a SUCKER for the duracell sponsorship part of ther livery (they better keep it)

[cosmosarcana]

i've determined i will probs never play minecraft again bc the sheer amount of content, while amazing, also is overwhelming to the highest degree but gameplay videos are highly enjoyable. also since finding creativerse it just hits better and terraria is like my happy (moddable) medium.

[arolesbianism]

Ok so I need to rework my Wendy skilltree concept because klei heard ppl complain abt the combat and went alright then time to completely rework combat but very slowly one update at a time so no one realizes until we straight up give Willow spells

[unproduciblesmackdown]

fr both taylor's quants as mirrors to themself. rian Seen as so meritous and deserving and talked to and tasked with and advised and considered but apparently rian's whole thing is going "huh. wha" and having wendy's level of self-reflection (none). winston who is begrudgingly allowed to sit in his corner and ignored b/c he's undeserving so he can't really be meritous and nobody would look in that mirror b/c it's gonna be So not their reflection. while he just won't stop cassandraing and having all these insights and perception and observations nobody even asked or told him to have and is peak taylor understander and just like taylor: isn't guided by a paper-thin ego but also will take criticism / blame / mistreatment Too Much for his own good