#The internet is such that misinformation can very easily spread

[entanglementbroke]

If I see one more person saying that the castle moves in the book because Howl is evading taxes I'm gonna force every Ghibli fan to READ THE BOOK. Or at the very least not post about it online.

For all we know Howl pays MORE taxes as a result of having multiple residences and living in TWO UNIVERSES.

This also applies to people who say Diana Wynne Jones was Welsh, or the striking amount of people with the false recollection that she came up with the claim that the movie is how Howl tells it, and the book is how Sophie tells it.

These people spread rumours better than Michael in Market Chipping.

[thelaurenshippen]

okay I DO love this post just because that last photo always gets me, but also I love how its about everyone of all ages being capable of falling for misinfo bc there was a super interesting study released recently that found the people most susceptible to misinformation are people under 30 who spend a lot of time online.

also, they released a quiz you can take to see how good you are at spotting misinfo - I highly recommend taking it!

[caparrucia]

There's a very Tumblr-specific grift that I find both fascinating and utterly frustrating in how recurrent it is.

Because Tumblr is a casual social media site, this is rarely the site where professionals and organizations host a public presence. Tumblr isn't Twitter. You pick up a username and use it as a pseudonym and all anyone knows about you is what you say about yourself. To connect someone's personal Tumblr with their wallet name is doxxing and evil.

So you end up with people who are passionate and knowledgeable about a vast array of subjects, but there's not really a structure of credibility behind it. Which is really cool and awesome and allows people to express themselves and keep a private space where they can be themselves without much consequence... but it also opens the ground for this particular flavor of griefter: The Enlightened One.

The Enlightened One is just knowledgeable enough about an obscure or complex subject that a simple Wikipedia search will not debunk them, but fundamentally wrong in ways that people actually knowledgeable on the subject froth at the mouth about, because they're not straightforward or easy to debunk. To explain what's wrong with their shit, you'd need to give a full course on your specialty, which requires time and effort most people don't want to spend in their fun, casual space because it amounts essentially to doing work.

And that frothing rage and frustration is very easily mischaracterized as "jealousy" or "hate" and used to uplift The Enlightened One into a pedestal of prosecution.

See, most of the time The Enlightened One is just a clueless dipshit making themselves seem important on the internet, and while they're incredibly frustrating for the people who actually know what they're talking about, they're easy to ignore. But the worst kind, are the kind that are actively spreading misinformation and often starting panic waves, when their niche of interest turns out to be... you know, a bit more sensitive than say period clothing or ancient poetry.

There's nothing wrong with learning from people who are happy to share their knowledge, even in a casual setting like Tumblr. There's also nothing wrong with people asking for compensation when that sharing of knowledge has become a structured, time consuming effort and it's essentially a curated resorce.

But the moment you meet someone who encourages you to run all your decisions by them? Who wants you to treat their inbox like the google search box? Who answers questions without providing any sources, or all their sources link back to their own posts/content? When you meet someone who insists you can stop thinking and let THEM do the thinking for you?

Run The Fuck Away.

[sxorpiomooon]

RAHU

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Rāhu (राहु) is the name of an Asura (demon) whose head was cut off by Viṣṇu. When the gods produced the Amṛta by churning the ocean, he disguised himself as a god and drank some of it. But he was detected by the gods and produced before Viṣṇu who cut off his head. Sūrya and Soma (the sun and moon), when noticed him drinking it and realised what was going on immediately told Nārāyaṇa (Viṣṇu), who instantly cut off Rāhu’s head with his discus. As the head contained Amṛta it became immortal and came to represent the ascending nodes of the moon’s orbit. The body of Rāhu, according to the Puranic notion, was called Ketu, and represented the descending nodes. Rāhu is defined according to texts in dealing with śilpa (arts and crafts), known as śilpaśāstras. Rahu is spoken of as the chief of those who have possesing personality. In Buddhism, rahu is defined as a dark monster / planet who is responsible for the phases of the moon by swallowing it. Rahu is supposed to be a mighty and naughty child of maya(illusion) and thus has a lot of dualities attached to its illusory nature.All sorts of poisonous chemicals like fertilizespesticides, and disinfectants are also ruled by rahu. Wherever it sits in your chart it manifests itself exactly like that. Anything that can fool you is rahu whether it's photography or video games. The karma that you are going to create in this life in the future is rahu. The thing that everyone needs to understand about rahu and ketu is that they are both outcast planet they dont act in a certain expected way. They surprise you. Anything that is material and a short cut is rahu. Rahu always wants fame and attention. Rahu is addiction since its obsessed with things bc he has no stomach to see if it has enough. Rahu is always trying to show you the different realm whether its good or bad. Anything that shades out and protects you from the sun is rahu. Wherever rahu aspects it gives something foreign. Anything that explodes.

Rahu in our generation and day to day life

The Internet for me is the biggest rahu example in our daily life now think of something that tends to happen a lot with the internet, illusion whether it's of beauty filters or people lying and then getting caught lying. On the internet we get influenced so easily that also while knowing that things might not exactly be how they are shown. Every once in a while we see random people blowing up on the internet out of nowhere. One of the biggest examples is that the internet is often used to spread lies and misinformation regarding things which is what rahu is. The influencers or the people that get popular are unconventional in some way whether it's regarding their way of living or them just dropping out of college and choosing to take a career path(living as an influencer) that is not something that is usually done by the people in the society. Good and strong rahu placements are also seen in famous and successful politicians and businessmen and they are ALL clever people most of the time spreading lies(politicians). We also see cats being very popular or all of a sudden being loved by the internet and cats are rahu as well. We also see people that make good edits or take good photographs blowing up on the internet as this is also ruled by rahu especially when it's foreign places as that's ALSO rahu. In india, if you guys are familiar with the ancient history "baniyas" aka businessmen or traders were naturally seen by the society as people that were "unconventional" or "non traditional" because they were starting something that was unconventional to the society that's also rahu. People breaking traffic rules is also rahu. This generation is ruled by rahu, we break rules, lie, break the traditional norms, drink and smoke etc.

I hope this post helps in your understanding of what rahu is as it's a very interesting planet alongside saturn.

[batboyblog]

Just wanted to say thank you for everything you do with political posts and stuff. You're one of the more level-headed people I've seen, always providing sources and things to back yourself up, and also spreading positivity in what feels like a bleak time ❤️

well thank you.

idk so much that its positivity, I mean I guess it is, but thats not where it comes from truthfully. By nature I'm a fighter, and we just live in such an age of depressed apathy! so in my way I guess its my way of fighting against that to say that all around us stuff is happening thats worth while and important.

and also we live in such an age of viral misinformation, I mean we saw it with the UK ripping itself apart over fake stories being boosted by Russian disinformation, and the whole world melting down over transphobic nonsense over Olympic women's Boxing of all the things. So I guess making sure to source as best that I can is a way that I push back and fight back on that.

Tumblr is so wonderful because you can just link to a source very very easily, its not wonderful in other ways, but the ability to say as much as you need to, AND link what you're saying is lovely and everyone should take advantage.

and I guess, the world feels so much bleaker when we sit alone at our computer watching it all feeling helpless. We live in a very dangerous time for our mental health, we don't fully know what effect the internet and social media has on the human mind, but the early data is NOT! good. And bad actors are using social media and its depressive effects against us on a weaponized scale (again see UK rioting) So the best thing any one can do is not to give into fear and apathy and the feeling that the world is ending or there is nothing you can do about it. Get out, and get engaged, you do have the ability to change the world, all of you, I promise.

[requiemsystem]

PROGRAMMING MISCONCEPTIONS

Trigger warning for discussions of programming and RAMCOA. CLOCKING Clocking is not a real thing. It's arguably one of the stupidest things I've heard of in this community. I don't blame people for believing it, paranoia is understandable, but I absolutely do blame the person who chose to spread that misinformation in the first place. It operates under the assumption that everyone comes from similar groups with similar hierarchies, which is just not true. There is no possible way for someone from a completely different group with a completely different structure to tell your rank or anything about your group just by looking at you. What is possible is identifying dissociative traits and trauma responses as well as potentially attire matching specific groups, if you are still involved with your group. Even this would take some level of practice and familiarity with the individual, you probably can't tell some random stranger in the grocery store is traumatized and dissociative just by looking at them, the same is true for anyone else. INTERNET PROGRAMMING You can't be programmed over the internet. You just can't. Programming requires someone in person torturing you and causing you to dissociate, this is not possible virtually. Programming takes a degree of control and torture that is just not possible over the internet. What is possible, and what is probably being mistaken for programming over the internet, is virtual manipulation and grooming. PROGRAMMING OUTSIDE OF A GROUP Programming is inherently organized because of the nature of the abuse, there need to be multiple people to reinforce the abuse. If only one person were involved it would fall apart from not enough reinforcement and exposure to cues. Even if there aren't many active abusers, there have to be people complicit in the abuse and allowing it to occur. Programming groups typically have multiple victims as well, it's very unlikely that they just suddenly decided to program only one child one day. What can happen outside of a group setting is conditioning, which is frequently mistaken for programming. For more details, see this post. SCRIPTING Scripts have to be implemented very early on, and it's very hard to implement a script. Most programming survivors will not have scripts. It's also unlikely to have multiple scripts, as they would get confused very easily. I also dislike the term "miniscript", as it's still a script even if it only affects one part of the system. What commonly gets confused for scripting is forced introjection, where alters are forcibly introjected as certain characters. Scripting involves molding the innerworld and programming around the media, forced introjection does not. PROGRAMMING AFTER THE AGE OF OSDDID FORMATION The entire purpose of programming is to create dissociative states in the individual, this cannot occur past the age of OSDDID formation. What can happen past the age of system formation is someone manipulating and abusing you, which can cause further splitting, but this would not be programming as it doesn't have to do with the formation of your system. To my knowledge, programming has to do with the actual creation of the system, not just causing someone to split. I am a bit uncertain about this, so correct me if I'm wrong. DEPROGRAMMING You cannot be deprogrammed without a lot of internal work. You have to put in a lot of work yourself and with a reputable therapist to effectively deprogram. It isn't something that happens overnight, and it's not something that can be done to you if you aren't ready, and you have to be in a safe and stable environment in order to effectively deprogram. PROGRAMMING ONLY OCCURRING A FEW TIMES In order for programming to be actually effective, it has to occur repeatedly on a regular basis. It cannot happen just a couple of times. This isn't to say it has to be constantly occurring, but it has to be semi-regular and reinforced via activation of cues. If it happened infrequently, it would be much less likely to cause dissociation. - C-004-2

[drill-teeth]

Extremely weird phenomon watching people put "autistic" or "adhd" or "disabled ally" very prominently in their bio and then on that same platform they bully people for common trairs and symptoms associated with autism or straight up spread mental health misinformation or fall back on "I can't be ableist I'm LITERALLY neurodivergent/an outspoken ally" when they're called out for crazy shit they said about other mental disorders or the physically disabled. And I don't think the answer to this is a witch hunt for who's really autistic. Because I've watched very kind people get chased off the internet for "faking" disorders that they likely weren't faking because online mental health communities decided they needed to purge the space of fakers. And we need self diagnosis because of the medical bias extremely prominent in the psychiatry and therapy field. It's just extremely frustrating to watch misinformation spread among a community that attracts vulnerable people. It's disheartening watching people who are seeking answers about their mental struggles people irl are ignoring get sucked into a vortex where suddenly they're going from "maybe I have autism?" to fear mongering about psychotic people or saying everyone struggling with NPD is an abuser or even mocking autistic folks who are higher needs. And claiming everyone criticizing the behavior or pointing out misinformation is secret ableism.

And like idk I don't have a catch all solution for mental health misinformation because it's already hard enough to get the general public to believe in actual mental health research that anything that's dressed up in gentle language and isn't literally a DID serial killer movie caricature can easily be passed off as legitimate anf healthy. But I'm begging people to put on their critical thinking caps here.

Who's being ableist in these situations? Who's being cruel? Who is benefitting? Is the person who's criticizing misinformation an ableist or is it people who built their platform around being neurodivergent and relatable shutting down the critism?

[masterhallmark]

I'm really sick of the "Pirates are Lost Boys who grew up and escaped Pan" theory

1) The book is a children's story, not a horror novel.

2) The idea Peter kills boys who grow up is based on one throwaway line that says he "thins them out" if there are too many, which can mean several different things.

3) HOOK WAS A PIRATE WITH A CREW BEFORE LANDING IN NEVERLAND! He literally has a backstory in the book and several speeches J.M. Barrie gave about going to Eton, running away, and becoming a pirate. The crew arrived in Neverland AS IS.

4) The book mentions Peter will travel with the souls of dying kids halfway to the afterlife so they aren't scared. He also desperately begs children to save Tinkerbell, tries to sacrifice himself for Wendy, saves Tiger Lilly while commenting that the pirates were being unfair when capturing her, even tries to help Hook regain his footing during a fight, and saves the Neverbird's eggs from being destroyed. Does that sound like a psychopath to you?

5) The ONLY TIME we see Peter try to kill a Lost Boy is when he mistakenly thinks said Lost Boy killed Wendy, and said Lost Boy told Peter to kill him. Once it turns out Wendy is alive, not only is the boy forgiven, but the only punishment Tinkerbell (the actual culprit) gets is banishment.

The entire purpose of the book is to contrast the innocence of youth with the responsibilities of adulthood. The negative traits Peter has are meant to show the dangers of refusing to grow up, while Hook is meant to show the dangers of growing up TOO much. Hook OBSESSES over good form and acting proper to the point he almost FAINTS when Wendy sees a stain on his shirt.

Also, the entire book "Peter and Wendy" and every other variation of the story JM Barrie wrote is FREE on the internet. Anyone can read it RIGHT HERE http://neverpedia.com/pan/Read:Peter_and_Wendy

There is no good reason for this misinformation spreading. It is easily available.

Passages from the book under cut, since last time I posted something like this someone tried to argue with me

At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said to live with the fairies. There were odd stories about him, as that when children died he went part of the way with them, so that they should not be frightened.

-----

"It lifted Michael off the ground," he cried; "why should it not carry you?"

"Both of us!"

"It can't lift two; Michael and Curly tried."

"Let us draw lots," Wendy said bravely.

"And you a lady; never." Already he had tied the tail round her. She clung to him; she refused to go without him; but with a "Good-bye, Wendy," he pushed her from the rock; and in a few minutes she was borne out of his sight. Peter was alone on the lagoon.

The rock was very small now; soon it would be submerged. Pale rays of light tiptoed across the waters; and by and by there was to be heard a sound at once the most musical and the most melancholy in the world: the mermaids calling to the moon.

Peter was not quite like other boys; but he was afraid at last. A tremour ran through him, like a shudder passing over the sea; but on the sea one shudder follows another till there are hundreds of them, and Peter felt just the one. Next moment he was standing erect on the rock again, with that smile on his face and a drum beating within him. It was saying, "To die will be an awfully big adventure."

------

Nevertheless the bird was determined to save him if she could, and by one last mighty effort she propelled the nest against the rock. Then up she flew; deserting her eggs, so as to make her meaning clear.

Then at last he understood, and clutched the nest and waved his thanks to the bird as she fluttered overhead. It was not to receive his thanks, however, that she hung there in the sky; it was not even to watch him get into the nest; it was to see what he did with her eggs.

There were two large white eggs, and Peter lifted them up and reflected. The bird covered her face with her wings, so as not to see the last of them; but she could not help peeping between the feathers.

I forget whether I have told you that there was a stave on the rock, driven into it by some buccaneers of long ago to mark the site of buried treasure. The children had discovered the glittering hoard, and when in a mischievous mood used to fling showers of moidores, diamonds, pearls and pieces of eight to the gulls, who pounced upon them for food, and then flew away, raging at the scurvy trick that had been played upon them. The stave was still there, and on it Starkey had hung his hat, a deep tarpaulin, watertight, with a broad brim. Peter put the eggs into this hat and set it on the lagoon. It floated beautifully.

The Never bird saw at once what he was up to, and screamed her admiration of him; and, alas, Peter crowed his agreement with her. Then he got into the nest, reared the stave in it as a mast, and hung up his shirt for a sail. At the same moment the bird fluttered down upon the hat and once more sat snugly on her eggs. She drifted in one direction, and he was borne off in another, both cheering.

-----

"It was poisoned, Peter," she told him softly; "and now I am going to be dead."

"O Tink, did you drink it to save me?"

"Yes."

"But why, Tink?"

Her wings would scarcely carry her now, but in reply she alighted on his shoulder and gave his nose a loving bite. She whispered in his ear "You silly ass," and then, tottering to her chamber, lay down on the bed.

His head almost filled the fourth wall of her little room as he knelt near her in distress. Every moment her light was growing fainter; and he knew that if it went out she would be no more. She liked his tears so much that she put out her beautiful finger and let them run over it.

Her voice was so low that at first he could not make out what she said. Then he made it out. She was saying that she thought she could get well again if children believed in fairies.

Peter flung out his arms. There were no children there, and it was night time; but he addressed all who might be dreaming of the Neverland, and who were therefore nearer to him than you think: boys and girls in their nighties, and naked papooses in their baskets hung from trees.

"Do you believe?" he cried.

Tink sat up in bed almost briskly to listen to her fate.

She fancied she heard answers in the affirmative, and then again she wasn't sure.

"What do you think?" she asked Peter.

"If you believe," he shouted to them, "clap your hands; don't let Tink die."

Many clapped.

Some didn't.

A few beasts hissed.

The clapping stopped suddenly; as if countless mothers had rushed to their nurseries to see what on earth was happening; but already Tink was saved. First her voice grew strong, then she popped out of bed, then she was flashing through the room more merry and impudent than ever. She never thought of thanking those who believed, but she would have like to get at the ones who had hissed.

"And now to rescue Wendy!"

[alpaca-clouds]

Solarpunk and the Internet Or: How to Unfuck the Internet?

Okay, I just gotta talk about this. Because it is actually quite a headache.

How do we unfuck the internet?

Because let's face it, right now the internet is a fucking shitshow for so many different reasons. For the most part because it is so centralized on just a few platforms - and those are very much controlled by advertizers and in many cases also some algorithms that are basically a blackbox for the users.

I first got access to the internet in 1999, though I only started using it for real in 2001, because only in 2001 I got access to somewhat higher speed internet. (The kind where you could at least show a jpg without waiting 10 minutes for it to load). Hence: I do remember the time when everyone was mostly communicating through forums, while a lot of people had their own pages and where there were tons of different fansites out there to a variety of topics.

And sure, there are still some fansites out there, but a lot of that these days is actually channeled through all sorts of Wikis, rather than classical fansites. While a lot of the other stuff is somewhat centralized.

And don't get me wrong. Technically speaking that centralization is not a bad thing. It allows you to see a lot more fanworks, for example, than otherwise. And as a creative it allows you in turn to get more eyes on your stuff. But we do have to reckon with both the thing about algorithms and the fact how much it controls what we can post.

Basically there are right now not many platforms on which you can post explicit fanwork, or generally anything explicit in forms of creation.

And outside of the creative sphere there is always a good chance that a lot of information can be suppressed on those centralized platforms. We have seen the stuff of people posting about Palestine being banned from a variety of platforms for all sorts of vague reasons.

Sure, a lot would probably be unfucked, when the platforms would be handed to the people. That is rather than being controlled by some CEOs and boards of directors be controlled by the community itself.

But there is also the two-sided issue of the centralization. Because on one hand it is good. Because information can travel a lot further and a lot faster with it. Still, it also does bring a variety of issues with it, that are... less easy to solve.

For example the quick proliferation of information can also lead to a lot of misinformation spreading. Something that has definitely been increased through social media being a thing.

And exactly that is the point that gives me a headache.

The internet is amazing. Especially from a solarpunk point of view. You can share information online for free. You can also use it to help with organizing of stuff. You can connect with people all over the world so easily.

But there are also some inherent dangers - and I am not sure that we have the ability to tackle them right now.

[ashantisinterlude]

Blog Post #9

Why twitter? 

Black people, like many other marginalized communities, have gravitated towards social media platforms, in this case specifically Twitter, as an outlet for activism for several reasons. Twitter offers several features that make it an effective outlet for organization, spreading ideas, and easily advocating for social change. Stated in an article, “...black Twitter’s power comes from its participatory democratic nature—the idea that users, through the creation of ironic, yet cutting-edge hashtags, create a space to address social issues of racial bias and discrimination.” Because of its nature, Twitter allows for the black community to freely speak their minds and have a huge sense of community that they can easily reach out to and relate to. Other platforms, like Instagram for example, hold more guidelines and restrictions that hinder people from saying or speaking up about certain things.  

What does long term activism look like, and why haven’t we reached it? 

Long-term activism is a concept that would create great, meaningful change over time, instead of lightly, or temporarily, addressing immediate problems in a reactive way. It would basically have an ongoing effort to challenge our systemic problems and empower communities in a way that creates lasting societal modifications. It would take all of us as a community to make this happen, and to actually work towards progress that changes how we function, and all the hindering problems that we have and have had in the past. We haven’t reached this long-term activism because of how stubborn we can be when it comes to ‘teamwork.’ “In a very simplistic, media-instigated view the last category covers online attacks committed by "hackers." Of course, this sentence in itself summarizes the problem with the popular understanding of this more proactive and aggressive use of the Internet to achieve a goal that can be both politically and financially motivated” (Vegh). There will always exist a group of people who will try their best to resist progress, ad will try to instead stunt it. This doesn’t indefinitely mean that it is impossible to work towards long term activism, but it definitely can discourage the majority, ending in the activism falling short. 

What are the pros and cons of using social media for activism? 

Social media is a powerful tool for activism; it helps spread messages quickly, connects people all around the world, and gives a platform to those that might otherwise be ignored. It's free and easy to use, making it possible for anyone to get involved, but also helps organize different opinions, and create communities for those who share similar concepts. But there are downsides too. Social media can oversimplify complex issues, and people often gravitate towards bias, only hearing from those who agree with them. There are also people who only like or share information to feel better about themselves not taking ‘real action.’ Misinformation can spread fast, and activists face the risk of being censored, trolled, or harassed online. While social media is a great tool, it works best when combined with real-world efforts and thoughtful engagement. 

Why do we as people create hostile environments on the cyberspace? 

The anonymity of the internet makes it easy for people to troll, bully, or spread hate without facing real consequences. Some do it for attention or to stir up drama, while others push political or ideological agendas by attacking people they disagree with. For some, it's just about entertainment or to gain attention from trolling. Social and cultural factors, like personal biases, also play a big part. Some people also disrupt things as a form of protest. There exists a mix of anonymity, personal gain, and societal influences all contribute to making the internet a hostile space. 

[obstinatecondolement]

It is very important to be aware of how easily misinformation can spread online, but I feel like sometimes people have this overzealous "It's all The Youth because they're stupid and don't have critical thinking skills" analysis when like... my mother is in her 60s and has told me that she believed everything she read in a non-fiction book was true until her early thirties because it never occurred to her that something could be published if it wasn't reliable information.

She has an honours degree and graduated second in her year at university. She is a qualified teacher.

We do have a problem with misinformation, insufficient media literacy and critical thinking, and the internet has made this problem explode in the past twenty years with the barrier to publication becoming zero. But like... it's not just The Youth who trustingly believe things that aren't true and are not sceptical enough of unverified information, and this is not a recent problem. Learning to be sceptical does not come naturally do most people and most people from all ages and all walks of life do not take the time to learn this at any point.

I am not nearly as sceptical as I should be and by nature am very gullible and trusting. I've been trying to be less reactionary in spreading things that make me angry but when it comes to substance are just "Source: bro, just trust me" someone making up a guy/situation to be mad at and being like "Wouldn't it be fucked up if that were real? It is, by the way." And I only started making this active effort in, wait for it, my thirties. And I still fuck up all the time!

Like... I don't think this is a generational issue or a problem of youthful naivety. The kids are not all right, but none of us are.

[problematicraccoon]

okay i dont know who needs to hear this right now, but PLEASE. FOR LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY. GET. OFF. OF. SHIFTTOK. DELETE that god forsaken app off your phone. do NOT listen to the people on that side of the internet. ignore any and all "advice" from shifttok creators. stop putting all your eggs in such a flimsy basket.

p l e a s e.

yes, in every online community there is both good and bad. every yang has a yin. but when it comes to shifttok, that hellsite is so damn convoluted you cant tell which way is up. there is such an abundance of misinformation still floating around and its so easy to get swept up in it. remember when that one shifttoker tried to convince us that if we shifted the "shifting police" would come get us and return us to our CRs? yeah. this is the shit im talking about. people lying about their experiences, people spreading misinformation for funzies, discouraging antis who just want to be a little bitch and ruin everybody else's day. its just such a breeding ground for negativity. this is why i stay tf off of that side of the internet anymore. and if i do go on shifttok, its for the occasional shifting story or scripting ideas, not for genuine advice or guidance. there is literally only like two creators there that have shifted that i still trust.

the key to shifting is your mindset. and idk about yall, but i am SO easily swayed by other people. im very sensitive to negativity, and if i see even one little comment from an anti thats like "you're just lucid dreaming :/" it knocks me off course and i feel insanely demotivated for weeks. and i know there's probably others like me who feel like they're not strong enough because of this or are embarrassed by this. dont be- its okay to be sensitive. allow yourself distance from things like this that demotivate you. surround yourself with other shifters and people of whom you can trust. shifttok is a total dumpsterfire and i HIGHLY recommend that yall stay tf off it. or, at the very least, stop taking every word that shifttok creators say as gospel.

[septembersghost]

How do you deal with all the hate directed towards Elvis? He wasn’t a saint but some people are so intense for their hatred for him online that it kinda takes the run out of being a fan :/

hi anon! okay, so the first thing i'm going to do is link you to my love tam's @headfullofpresley reply to this question because she recently answered it very well and more succinctly than what i'm about to write.

i am not on the clock app, which is where i gather a lot of this is coming from? but i know the breakdown of that hate comes in three basic forms - 1. COMPLETELY false and easily disprovable accusations of racism that have somehow spread over the internet for years. (there are countless sources to dispel this, this touches on a mere few.) this has somehow entwined itself with the idea that he "stole" music, which is categorically untrue, and while absolutely there is a factor there regarding the fact that he could succeed differently due to being a handsome white man in a still segregated and tumultuous time, his music and his melding of gospel and r&b was never malicious, it was inspired by absolute love. he also actively supported charities, including black and jewish organizations. his generosity and kindness wasn't limited or biased at all. 2. people victimizing priscilla as if she isn't allowed to speak for herself and tell her own story, one in which she has never claimed that and i don't personally believe anyone else has the right to decide that for someone. (which @bcofl0ve has addressed well here and here). 3. really upsetting and damaging ableism that has persisted in many ways since his death, where people make certain insinuations and judgments about his health and choices with disdain rather than any understanding. this is a problem in that it tends to demonize addiction and weight and other issues rather than approaching that sympathetically.

moreover, i do believe it's a real problem with current social media that we expect sainthood from anyone. demanding unimpeachable behavior and strict nearly puritanical morality from anyone is never going to be attainable. the legendary music, the various iconography and images aside, at the core of it all, he was a person. people have faults and flaws, they make mistakes, everyone is affected by whatever trauma and grief and struggles they may face, and the pressures of that intense, and quite unprecedented when elvis' star rose, level of fame are unimaginable. was he perfect? absolutely not. but being perfect isn't the same as being good. and when you delve into his life and his beliefs, his feelings about other people and reaching out to them, his connection to his music (be it rock and roll, gospel, or anything in between), the way he searched often for meaning, how he had that desire to extend kindnesses to others and to make others happy...there's so much, and the accounts from those who knew and loved him paint a picture of someone who certainly was fallible, but was undoubtedly good. and i think that's an important distinction to make - perfection simply isn't real. human beings are never one thing - we're fragile and resilient and angry and loving and impulsive and kind, and that's never one facet at a time, it's all at once. if you can only look at someone from a judgmental, "this is problematic!," point of view, you're frankly NEVER going to be able to interact compassionately or genuinely. if you look at someone and define them by their mistakes and condemn that without nuance (and you know what i mean by this, obviously we are not speaking of unforgivable actions here), you're never going to be able to embrace the full person, but it also limits understanding and compassion for anyone. i just feel it's vital to look at the entire tapestry of who someone is, and the full measure of their light and heart.

and then i'm just going to reiterate what tam said - haters (of anything) are miserable and tend to be misinformed and thrive on that mean-spiritedness, and that's so antithetical to how i interact with things i love that i don't have time for it and don't think it deserves energy. if something makes you happy, please don't let outside noise steal that! we know and can easily explore what was inherent to his heart and soul. we can hear the beauty and innovation and joy in his music. if that's providing you a sense of comfort and happiness and fun, that's what matters most. if someone doesn't get it, that's their problem. you are always allowed to love things. 💗💗💗

[winns-stuff]

I thought in 2023 we were past this trying to make excuses of what consent is..like we were having so many tell us about "no means no" and how some will manipulate the victim to eventually give up, which is so messed up to consider this "as an agreement".

It's common sense actually when you read this part of Persephone assault it was really hard to read it, it was painful how hopeless and lost she felt about the situation. And also Apollo later took her photos without her consent and blackmailed her! The problem is how the author handled the plot.

Rachel for some reason focused on adding new plots and referred to P assault as something small which is not! The series tried to make her "heal" fast which is huge red flag for survivors. Trauma doesn't just go away, victims can be fine one minute then have panic attacks for just thinking about it! It takes time and they should be given all the time in the world to heal. Like how can someone say it was "consensual" when mentally it destroyed her?

I recommend people watch the Emmy winner series "I May Destroy You" it tackles into the themes as the protagonist herself is a sa survivor.

I’m sorry for taking such a long time with these inboxes, I’ve just been in such a state today but now I’m feeling good enough to actually answer them.

But I agree with all of this, it’s basic human knowledge or at least it should be at this point to understand what consent is and what’s not consent, but of course with how some of these serious topics are handled especially on the internet the very definition of consent gets thrown around in the hands of those who have the least information about what the meaning is as a whole. Normally they’re not the best people to listen to with this sort of stuff too, so sadly I feel as though we’ll have to keep having this same discussion until the people who keep saying otherwise actually learn from their mistakes of spreading misinformation and harmful messages and grow their mindset.

With all of that being said, as much as I personally hate the way that SA and trauma as a whole has been handled by LO it’s very clear that Persephone indefinitely got assaulted there’s no ifs ands or buts about that and if there is you’ll need to recheck the panels and deeply analyze it before making such a weak ass argument. But once again I do agree with you, the SA in Lore Olympus as a whole is treated small and can easily be missed by the audience because the comic never treats the assault like it’s anything but a bad memory. A inconvenient if you will, yes there is some good depictions of the trauma that comes with things such as the assault but at the same time it’s rare that it gets addressed and fully fleshed out without being pushed to the side for fluff and possible NSFW.

Again, this is all disappointing but the SA still happened regardless.

[cealtrachs]

I find it very annoying to see some professed anti-Zionists spread misinformation that can be easily disproven by an internet search. The number of otherwise thoughtful people who have outright stated that DNA tests are "illegal" in Israel (they're widely available at doctor’s offices, albeit not over-the-counter), 50% of Israeli citizens has dual citizenship (the real number is approximately 10%), or all Israeli Jews are Ashkenazi (more than 50% of the country's Jewish population is of Sephardic and/or Mizrahi descent) is ridiculous.

None of these facts invalidate the importance of justice for the Palestinian civilians displaced, killed, or brutalized by Israel. The ongoing occupation of Palestinians is not a meme that one can simply re-blog posts about without thought. It's more than the latest "pet cause." To feed into misinformation is so counter-productive, and actively harms efforts to assist the Palestinian cause, especially in the West.

[artisticgreaser0]

REGARDING WELCOME HOME NSFW!

Okay, I feel like this is need to be said. This is going to be a long ass rant about the NSFW and Antis side of the Welcome Home Fandom. I'm fed up with this shit.

People have been time to time,every single day, posting and venting on about Clown's boudaries like Clown is some lil kid that NEEDS to be taken care of. Some, even crying and spreading misinformation about how NSFW is going to ruin the fandom and make Clown take down the official WH website/project because artists have been breaking theirs rules, pity me. I'M SO TIRED AND DONE WITH ALL OF THAT BULLCRAP!

IT NEEDS TO BE ADRESSED, IN THIS WHOLE THING HOW THINGS HAD GONE BEHOND OUR CONTROL!

WE HAVE OUR ACCOUNTS,USERNAMES,PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS BEING SHOWN ON TIKTOK,TWITTER,TUMBLR PUBLICLY TO MINORS WHO LATER HARASS/REPORT/SUSPENDS US WHICH IS SOMETHING CLOWN DIDN'T WANT TO HAPPEN AT ALL! Why can't ya'll read the ''DON'T attack people on my behalf'' post Clown wrote? Don't you get what Clown is saying? He's saying (DO NOT ATTACK PEOPLE BECAUSE OF ME). if ya'll TRULY respect Clown's decicions HOW,JUST HOW IS THERE IS STILL HARASSMENT,DEATH THREATS AND TWITTER ACCOUNTS GETTING SUSPENDED???

And to use the ''oh but why do you expect us to respect you when you haven't respect Clown's boundaries?'' Like,thanks gee….I CLEARLY TRIED TO BE AN RESPONSIBLE ADULT BY NOT SPREADING IT MUCH FURTHER AND NOW MINORS ARE SEEING MINE AND MY FRIEND'S +18 ATWORKS ALL THANKS TO ALL OF YOU! How many times are ya'll gonna pretend like minors aren't stupid and horny to TRY to see our accounts and all the porn we do? Why are you even comfortable with the IDEA of a minor seeing a page full of pornographic content to begin with enough to EXPOSE our names and artworks to them!?

WHEN WE NEED TO BE THE ONES BLOCKING,PRIVATING,RECIEVING DEATH THREATS,HATE AND REFUSIE THE ANONIMOUS QUESTIONS maybe just MAYBE it's because we are human and FEEL!

The last time I had this talk with an anti the person was 22 FOLLOWING UP TO +15 MINORS from 15-17 years old, HOW CAN WE TRUST YOU FOR ANYTHING?

It'ld be PERFECTLY FINE if the people you words spreaded it to were just TO adults but NO, THE HASHTAG WE USED ISN'T NO LONGER A SECRET AND WHO HAS REVEALED IT? Antis. All of this and putting words into Clown's mouth and defending blindly everything for the sake of keeping the fandom pure! WE HAD AN SECRET HASTAG,NOW KIDS KNOW WHAT IT IS ALL THANKS TO Antis and VERY responsible adults! (sarcasm)

Guys,I'm nobody's fucking parents to be worried about what these kids watch on the internet and I'm EXTREMELLY TIRED OF HAVING TO BLOCK MINORS WHO FOLLOW ME(THIS SHIT HAS HAPPENED MORE THAN ONCE!). If you want to bring awareness,this isn't the way to do it! As much as I hate talking about it, Clown HAS NOT helped regarding this topic. It's either a yes or NO question. If people misunderstood more than once what you said maybe it's because the message isn't clear, it's like you are writing like the words are making a fucking swirl and at the end there's no solid conclusion to what you just said.I have seen all this bullshit everyone keeps pulling, to realise that

Clown ISN'T A KID! THEY ARE THEIR OWN PERSON, THEY ARE A MATURE ADULT WHO TAKES DECISIONS!

and ya'll still keep attacking,harassing,reporting all because you don't see Clown as who they are!

Heck, directly asking, SHOWING OUR ACCOUNTS NAMES WHAT WILL IT DO? quick answer: Nothing!

-Minors will see our artworks -Minors will more easily find our artworks -You are gonna upset Clown -Minors will find our hashtags faster -They will expose our names -Accounts will be suspended -More hate and ranting within the community -pedo accusations and mass reporting

IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? IS THIS WHAT YOU ALL WANTED TO HAPPEN SO THEN WHEN SHIT GOES WRONG YOU CAN BLAME US FOR IT?

Like, just tell me because I'm fed up. I love these characters AS MUCH AS YOU ALL DO! Nobody,nobody is doing this shit because we hate nor want to upset Clown! we all equally LOVE this project, but, this is TOO MUCH! And no one my friends nor me want this stuff to keep happening! we all are uncomfortable with minors and kids seeing our stuff, we private and they still lie,still prentend to see our shit because(SUPRISE NO SUPRISE) MINORS ARE FUCKING STUPID AND IMMATURE, THEY WILL NOT JUST REPORT AND IGNORE LIKE MANY THINK THEY DO!

I don't care if you hate me now,I open this will make someone reflect on the shit they go around spreading. I'll keep all my shit private and so will my moots because we are all tired to fight to keep this fandom stable. Bye.