#Universities can & will look at ALL social media you have If you're doing something illegal LIKE MESSAGING A MINOR THE POLICE WOULD PULL UP

[th3-c0ll3ct3r]

Scott haters be like: "I saw him make a joke. But I took it seriously so I hate him. But the joke about Grian absolutely hating Jimmy's guts? A joke. Clearly. But Scott? Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

OR

"I choose to believe out of context/misinformation about him over doing my own research. Therefore I hate him because I blindly believed someone the Internet."

[secularbakedgoods]

Meme fraud

This is a crosspost of my newsletter! If you'd like to get posts like this direct to your inbox or RSS reader, subscribe here.

Committing a crime is easy. Committing a crime and getting away with it — that's hard.

One of the big stories on the internet last week was the Chase bank "viral TikTok trend." Long story short:

There was a short-lived bug in the Chase banking system that allowed users to deposit a cheque, then immediately withdraw the full amount of that cheque (normally, the funds would be held until the cheque cleared).

This bug became public knowledge. Social media posts popped up which encouraged people to write cheques for large amounts to themselves, then withdraw or transfer the funds from the account to give themselves "free" money.

This is called cheque fraud, and in America it's sometimes prosecuted as a federal crime.

Multiple people posted TikTok videos of themselves withdrawing huge amounts of cash from Chase ATMs and celebrating.

These fraudulent cheques inevitably bounced, leaving those who attempted to exploit the "free money glitch" thousands of dollars in the hole.

Again multiple people posted TikTok videos, this time crying over their negative account balances and impending criminal charges.

The prevailing narrative surrounding this whole thing is one of stupidity. There's no shortage of posts and TikTok videos mocking those who tried to exploit the "glitch" as idiots for not realizing what they were doing was illegal, or for believing there's such a thing as "free money."

And I'm not sure this is a matter of not knowing what cheque fraud is, or that it's a crime. I think a lot of people, even if they don't fully understand how or why, recognize that many great American fortunes are built on fraud.

An "entrepreneur" in Silicon Valley can put together a pitch deck for a startup based on a vague idea, pull in millions in investment, pay himself a ludicrous salary out of those funds for years, then fold the company with nothing to show for it — and as far as any legal authority is concerned, so long as the startup can claim they had one or two engineers doing something, all those lost millions were just the cost of doing business.

For that guy, there absolutely is such a thing as "free money." So it's possible to look at him and think to yourself, "Well, why not me?"

And your mistake there would be not realizing that the rules for the entrepreneur class are not the rules for the working class. A Silicon Valley founder who scams a bank out of millions is the Man in the Arena. A guy who works at Wal-Mart and scams a bank out of a few thousand is going to jail.

A criminal is not a special kind of person, or even a specific set of actions. A criminal is a context. And the failure of those who participated in the Chase cheque fraud scam may have been a failure to recognize context.

New Short Story: "Move Fast and Break Things"

My short story "Move Fast and Break Things", which originally appeared in the Grendel Press anthology The Devil Who Loves Me, is now available as a standalone work! You can get it as an ebook or read it on Medium; if you're one of my Ko-fi supporters, you can also read it on Ko-fi.

This Week's Links

Dead birds get new life: New Mexico researchers develop taxidermy bird drones

Taxidermy bird drones - currently being tested in a purpose-built cage at the university - can be used to understand better the formation and flight patterns of flocks. That in turn can be applied to the aviation industry, said Hassanalian.

P(Dumb)

The narrative that artificial intelligence is rapidly accelerating toward "AGI" that will eventually outwit humanity’s efforts to contain it, has gone unchecked by one important segment of the population: the people who write the laws, and the people who whisper into the ears of those people. What they’re whispering is stuff like "P(Doom)": your personal confidence level (usually rendered as a percentage) that a rogue artificial intelligence — ​and not anything else — ​will annihilate humanity. A lot of things have to happen first for this to even be a possibility, let alone something you can assign a probability to.

Bill Gates, Big Agriculture and the fight for the future of Africa’s farmland

"We used to grow diverse crops," said Mary Sakala, a Zambian farmer and chairperson of the Rural Women’s Assembly, which commissioned the report. "But now governments and agribusiness have pushed farmers into monoculture that depends on inputs. Their programmes have made us all vulnerable."

—

If we're going to start resurrecting crimes from the 1930s, I'd like to see some rich people get ripped off in a huge elaborate confidence game. I think we've earned this, as a society.

-K

[ketbra]

✨2024 goals✨:

1) Don't let your country fall into a fascist state

Show up for your community

Join library's event and groups

Join your university's events and groups

Speak up against injustices (if it safe to do so)

Make sure your workplace respects yours and your colleagues rights

Be kind to strangers

Show up at protests (if/when it's safe)

If you engage in a debate with the opposite party: be safe, be calm, don't let them get to your nerves

Help old people

Listen to teens

Talk to people who seem lonely

More in person action, less social media activism

Be kind to the homeless, if you have the possibility some spare change can make the difference

If you can join a volunteer organization

2) Help fighting climate change

STOP BUYING THINGS YOU DON'T NEED

Stop using shein, temu, amazon and all the e-commerce apps and websites of the sort

Buy local and in person. This applies for food and objects as well

If you have the space and the time try growing easy vegetables

Recycle and demand your country/state/region/city to actually dispose of waste in a safe way and to actually recycle

Instead of throwing away your old clothes give them to others, friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, charities

Try to avoid buying plastic products. (I understand this can be impossible sometimes but if you have alternatives pls consider them)

Demand your government for environmental friendly politics and demand them now

Boycott brands that greenwash their products

Take care of your garden, plants, the grass at the park

Stop buying from brands who pollute water (fuck nestle)

Stop buying from brands who promote child labor and slavery (fuck nestle)

Demand for better public transportation

Try to fix the objects that break instead of buying new ones

Don't buy another car if yours works fine

Read what things are made of, clothes, foods etc

If there are protests join them!

3) Improve mental health

Less screen time

Unfollow anyone you think has a perfect life, a perfect house, a perfect partner, a perfect career, a perfect body. Unfollow any aesthetic blogs. Life isn't like that anyway

Anyone who tells you you can fix your life with just enough motivation is lying to you

You just need the right diet/outfit/skin routine/face symmetry/... Lies! ALL LIES!! You need a support system.

The good news, if you don't have a support system is that, is that making friends isn't as hard as it seems I promise.

Lots and lots of people are feeling lonely right now, everybody is looking for a sense of community, build one

Try a new hobby, or continue with another one

Read something, not like everyday, or that you have to reach a book quota, read anything magazines, fanfictions, instructions...

Sometimes the world seems against you, but it's not

Don't panic

Talk with your friends

Talk with your family

Make new friends and/or a new family if the current ones sucks

Walk a little bit every day

Get out of the house

Ask for help if you need it, even if you think it's something stupid, I promise people won't roll their eyes and be pissed about it

You're a complex organism, you need to eat

4) Career

It's always okay to waste company's time and money

Ask for a raise even if you don't think you deserve one

Never give your 100%

Be friendly with your colleagues (you're in the same boat)

Don't do things that are obviously dangerous just because "they've always done it like that" . You have the right to be safe

Always check the company's benefits

In many countries is actually illegal to get fired on the spot. Workers have rights, and if they don't they should demand them

Unionize. If you can't/don't want to at least talk with your colleagues about the problems you all are facing

You don't owe your workplace the truth about your lifestyle and your identity

5) Manifesting

Remember that is always morally right to celebrate when horrible people die

It's also always morally correct to wish for billionaires, politicians, CEOs, and dictators to die

6) Be the change

- Vote. One of the most important things you can do is to VOTE

I know politicians all look the same and it feels like compromising your ethics. But it's not like that. The only ones gaining something from your absence at the polls are the fascists!!

Spread awareness about the injustices, not only online but in your circle as well.

Donate when you can

Protest

Demand your government to take action

[aspicystrum]

Embarrassingly, last night I wrote an exceedingly long and sickeningly heartfelt email to some Netflix people (executives? Idk) based on advice from #saveteenagebountyhunters. It felt important, so I decided to share.

Hi there, friend. 

I don't usually do this, because writing in to a studio about a show that you just watched seems a bit over the top, and potentially just a drop of salt water in a river that somebody has already built a bridge to get over. 

However, on the off chance that this email might make a difference, I just want to say that it would be really, really, super-mega-cool if you guys changed your minds about renewing Teenage Bounty Hunters for another season. I finally got around to watching it this week, and I want to firstly, congratulate you for such a stellar piece of work, and secondly, implore you not to leave it unfinished. Not only is it fantastic and hilarious, but I also think it's kind of important, and I'm going to apologise in advance for the length of time I'm going to spend on telling you why. 

I'm definitely not a teenager anymore, but I was definitely a young christian questioning her sexuality when I was a teenager, and there was just nothing remotely like this on TV at that time. If there had been, I think it might have been a bit easier for me to figure myself out. Much easier, even. I dislike clichés, so I don't like that I'm basically saying the same thing that most queer people over 30 are saying about new media featuring queer representation, but the thing is, there's a reason that we're saying it. And Tropes Aren't Bad. The only thing that was around when I was growing up that had any gay women in it was porn and the L Word. Buffy too I guess, but I never got into it when it was airing (I'm not even sure if I'd have been allowed to watch it, to be frank) and later on, I wasn't interested in the drama and heartbreak. And of course, because I was a young christian, I thought porn was bad (I mean, it's terrible if you're looking for accurate romantic representation, but it's certainly not morally wrong like I thought it was) and because I don't live in the US, I never came across the L Word until I managed to pirate it in university. And while the L Word was massive and so important for representation and visibility... Honestly, I never really liked it. I didn't relate to a bunch of lesbians having sex and being bitchy in LA.

But Teenage Bounty Hunters? Shit. That would have been young Alex's obsession. Or lifeline. Cup of tea. Addiction. Breath of air while feeling like I was drowning? I don't know. Pick one. All of the above. I grew up going to an Anglican, semi-private high school. So while lesbianism wasn't wrong per se; (God still loved the gays - they weren't wrong for loving who they did) it definitely had to be wrong for me. Because it also sure as hell wasn't good. It was definitely no path to happiness. Lesbian was an insult that you used against girls you didn't like on the opposing soccer team. It wasn't until I went on exchange to France when I was 17 that I met girls who were out and proudly, wonderfully, sweetly dating. It's not even like it was illegal or anything, or that the LGBT+ community weren't tirelessly working to be visible and represented. I live in New Zealand. Generally, we're a pretty open, progressive, liberal country. I like to think that most of the time kiwis make pretty sensible decisions in terms of governance (though, believe me, there's always room for improvement). But, there's a difference between what's allowed, and what's socially acceptable. Especially in high school. Especially when you bring religion into the conversation. Or politics. It just wasn't done. Even in public school, you'd be asking to be an outsider. 

So I can't satisfactorily express how incredible it was for me to experience the relationship and character arcs of April and Sterling. A couple of staunchly christian girls, falling in love and unashamed of that. Albeit fucking scared. Their storyline resonated with my queer little soul. I was Chapel Prefect in my final year at school. I was an overachiever like April, and I had no idea how potentially gay I was, like Sterling. I wanted to kiss boys and sort of ignored all the crushes I had on the girls I went to school with. I wanted to be a good student and above all, a good person. I believed in a god. In fact, I wanted to believe in a purpose for existence and God so badly, that I chose to continue to believe, even while I wanted to kill myself in my first and second year of university because I felt like I was a bad student and a bad person. I still believe and it still keeps me alive from time to time.

All this is a very dramatic and unfortunately slightly sad way to say that you've got something incredibly special in Teenage Bounty Hunters. And that's just from one perspective. There's so much else that the show brings to the table. So much that it has the potential to. I could talk about racism, or adoption, or classism, or so many other things that I don't really feel I have the experience or understanding to give voice to, and do them justice, but you get the picture. 

Finally, I just want to say, I think I got my first recommendation for this show after you'd actually officially cancelled it. And it wasn't from your algorithm, it was from a male co-worker. Somebody I wouldn't have expected to recommend something like this show. Both based on judgements from before and after watching it. And I'm not going to lie, I heavily judged the title when I heard him talk about it, because I thought it sounded pretty frivolous and mindless. But certainly after searching for the show (I'm kind of shocked it was never recommended to me actually), and watching the trailer, I was immediately interested, because it's fucking hilarious. Now, after watching it I'm curious to know what he liked about the show too. So if your algorithm is designed to target viewers you think might be in a show's intended demographic, I feel like it needs tweaking. Also, I feel like you need to give more than two months grace-time for a show after releasing it, before you decide to cancel it. It's kind of tragic finding out about and deciding watching a show even though you know it's cancelled and then having your suspicions confirmed about you loving it. Very Fox and Firefly. Congrats, I guess? 

Anyway, I do genuinely want to say thank you for the work that you do and the joy that you've brought me and others through Netflix. I do hope the decision does get reversed, but it is a small hope.

If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading all of this. You're clearly a generous person with your time. 

Sincerely, 

Alex

[sunarintoes]

Synopsis: Yn Ln is an environmentalist - Miyagi University’s very own campus ‘Green Thumb.’ One day Hinata Shōyō who happens to be a close friend of Yn, invites them to come to one of his races. The only problem is that this race of his, is illegal. Read the journey of Yn who has been sucked into the world of illegal street racing with the one goal: to create an eco-friendly race car.

Masterlist

WC: 1.2k

Flat Tire

You find yourself sitting down at the table enjoying a mediocre bowl of cornflakes as you scroll through your various social media apps. To your surprise you receive an email from your professor informing you that class will not be on today because they were… well, hungover from their 80th birthday party. ‘Wild spirit,’ you whistle out. You look up at your roof, ‘about two hours until I meet with the crew… what to do?’

The sky is blue and the birds are chirping, surely there were kids and teens running about... causing mess and littering. ‘Yeah let’s go on a stroll and pick up some rubbish.’

✄.

‘Hey! Couldn’t help but see you there all alone… picking up trash? Why?’

You turn to look at the person who approached you, ‘I don’t see the problem? I have gloves and sanitiser. Can I help you?’

‘Nope’ he says, popping the p, ‘I was just curious and bored. Got nothing else to do since my lecture got cancelled, mind if I join you?’ He gives you a lopsided smile, ‘I’m Futakuchi Kenji.’

You stare at him in shock, surely this could not be the driver from the other night? ‘Your name, doll?’

You furrow your eyebrows as you look back to him, ‘Ln Yn, might as well call me Yn.’ He lets out a low whistle.

‘First name basis already huh?’ He smirks, ‘you sure move fast.’ You let out an overly loud scoff while shoving a bag and a pair of gloves into his chest.

‘You gonna help or just stand there looking like a creep?’

The directions from your house to The Garage seemed straightforward enough - there was nothing suspicious about them and it looked like a relatively peaceful car ride, and it was! But then your car tire ran over a sharp rock causing it to deflate, and that is how you ended up here, at Max’s Repair shop.

‘Hello…’ you call out, ‘is this place open? My tire popped and I’ve had to walk about a block to get here.’

‘Mmm darling is that you?’ You whip your head to the right and see none other than Oikawa Tōru standing there - covered in grease might you add, and wearing his irritating, smug smile. ‘My my, don't look so startled! You’re the one who walked in here in the first place, I’m assuming you got one of your little friends to tell you where I worked?’

You scoff, ‘listen here, you piece of shit, my tire popped while I was trying to get somewhere. The place I want to go is about 7 kilometres away and I’m supposed to be there in less than thirty minutes! If you really do work here, why don’t you do your job and fix my car?’

Now it was his turn to scoff, ‘listen darling, I’m busy. Find someone else to do it or why don’t you catch a bus to The Garage?’ He says as he gets back to work.

You look at him with your mouth agape, ‘how did you know I’m going to The Garage? Also, I’m a paying customer please just fix my tire? Or at least tell me how to so I can do it!’

He turns back around, ‘Sawamura said you’re in the design and mechanic team right? If you can’t even change a tire you might as well leave Karasuno,’ he pauses as he looks you back up and down, ‘you don’t even know the first thing about cars do you?’ You feel yourself shrink and look away as he continues to make poor accusations at you, ‘listen up darling, you might as well leave, I’m not sure what business you’ve got with them but if you can’t do something as simple as change a tire, then you’re useless.’

You have always tried your best to not let words hurt you, but something about what he said really, really hurt. It felt like a punch to the gut. He was correct, you can not change a tire and you don’t have a vast knowledge on cars.

Oikawa sighs, ‘the doors right behind you darling. Go fetch some other mechanic to help you…’

With tears in your eyes you go to turn away, but your pride decides it wants the last word. You raise your head and look him dead in the eyes, ‘Oikawa! I do not care about what you have to say! You don’t know one thing about me and I will prove you wrong! Just you wait, I’m going to build a car so amazing you won’t be able to stop yourself from begging me to service it!’ With one last breath you finally turn and stomp away.

Oikawa watches your leave with a shocked expression. As soon as you're gone his face turns sour. Maybe he was too hard on you, but that is your fault! He scoffs as he gets back to work, again. ‘Who does that girl think she is? She's aggravating for some reason and I can't get her out of my mind!’

✄.

‘Well there we go! Good as new!’ Nishinoya says as he turns to you with a bright smile, you smile back;

‘Thank you so much Noya, I'm sorry I don't know how to change a tire…’ he gives you a confused look, seemingly picking up on the deflated tone in your words.

‘You know there's a shop about a block away? Is there a reason you didn't go there?’ asos Ennoshita.

You look away, ‘well I went there… but Oikawa was the only employee and well… we’re like oil and water. We don’t mix well and he said some things that hurt, but I'm okay!’ You look at them both with a fire in your eyes, ‘we’re going to make the fastest race car ever and no one is going to stop us!’

‘You're right!’ screams Nishinoya as he jumps.

✄.

‘So now that we’re all here - minus Asahi of course, let’s get down to business. I think we should start by having a team leader of sorts, someone who can organise meet ups and keep us all going smoothly, personally I think Yn should be said leader.’

You look at Ennoshita, ‘Me? I think you’re better off as the leader. You have my respect and the respect of everyone else here, plus you know about cars and how to change a tire!’

‘You also have the respect of everyone here Yn!’ Yachi says, ‘don't be so hard on yourself just because you're new here!’

Nishinoya nods his head in agreement, ‘I understand you had a run in with that bastard from Seijoh, but you shouldn't let it get to you! We've known each other for a day or something but I already know we're going to be great friends!’

You smile at the three of them feeling lucky, ‘I’m glad I’ve had the chance to meet you all, even if I might get a criminal record.’

Taglist: @dadchi-oya @cutepet09

[mariaiscrafting]

Regarding @rainniel 's point, I'd like to clarify that I'm not trying to defend dream or george with this post. Frankly, I think they're grown-ass men who don't need defense from some rando on the Internet, and I highly doubt they'll ever see any Tumblr discourse. What I am doing is calling out creepy behavior because I find it creepy as hell and I tend to criticize the social circles I am a part of in order for us to self-improve and grow. I am a dnf shipper. I see this stuff not because I peruse the dnf tag looking controversy, but because it shows up on my dashboard. And yes, I do block and unfollow people whenever they post or reblog this stuff. But I can both make efforts to reduce the amount of something I see, while also criticizing that thing; those two actions are not mutually exclusive.

To your last point, to pretend that different social media circles of one, singular fandom are mutually-exclusive is naive and a cop-out. First of all, you cannot escape criticism simply by claiming that a CC will never see your posts; from an objective standpoint, the shit you're saying is still wrong, whether or not that CC will see your particular blog or post. Second of all, are we in some parallel universe where it's illegal to have both a Tumblr account and Twitter account? DNF shippers on Twitter may well be the same shippers on Tumblr, so if this post gets to them and convinces someone to posting about CCs on Twitter, too, where they can actually see it, fantastic. Third of all, the MCYT fandom does not live in a vacuum depending on whatever social media platform you're currently on. The way CCs are treated on x platform will also seep into how CCs are treated/talked about on other platforms. Even if this creepy, analytical behavior stemmed from Tumblr, that doesn't mean it wouldn't/has not seeped into Twitter where, as you said, CCs could actually possibly see this shit.

But none of that fucking matters because I'm not defending Dream or George. Frankly, I kinda dislike Dream as a person, and I'm pretty neutral towards George. This is not to mention that they're also both adults who chose this profession and likely knew what the fuck they were getting into. My point is that this is creepy as fuck behavior that I'd like to criticize because of several, completely different reasons: 1) this kinda shit is ruining my and many others' experiences within this fandom and on this platform, 2) I tend to call out anyone on any kind of creepy behavior, whether in real life or not, directed at real people because I'm a judgmental asshole and it makes me uncomfortable, and 3) I think this whole situation speaks to a larger issue of the extreme scrutiny CCs are unjustly put under, to the point that they aren't even afforded the same human decency one would afford to people they know in real life.

ANYWAYS, kindly fuck off

didn’t watch most of this dream stream, but the number of posts in the mcyt tag and on my dash psychoanalyzing every single instance dream mentioned george or listened to him talk in the manhunt video is so beyond creepy.

I don’t tend to criticize the people in this fandom very harshly. usually, I diss someone and move on, I talk shit about mcyttwt as a whole just because that’s a dumpsterfire and justified, or I have discussions with people who disagree with me. but this is something that truly disgusts me, and I’m going to say in no uncertain terms that I’m disgusted by every single one of you who does this. 

Every single one of you who makes these ridiculous, nitpicky posts and engages in this kinda discourse is disgusting, I’ll fucking say it. First of all, this stream was not about this at all, so this being your takeaway is absurd. Second of all, counting the seconds it takes for him to pause in between words or breathe, noting the inflection in his voice at the end of some sentences - these are so beyond creepy. I just can’t even articulate how fucked this is. I get that people on the Internet are going to be scrutinized because videos are forever and can be scrolled through, rewatched, and paused, but that that reality exists doesn’t excuse it, in my opinion.

Also, I’m going to use this as an opening to bring up a point about dnf that I have hated for some time but never said anything about. Why can’t a man talk about a male friend without every single utterance and action assumed to be romantic? I get that there are distinct moments that explictly seem like flirting and are naturally going to garner shipping from the audience, I get that. I get that sometimes one of them laughs a lot at a seemingly-inane joke and it’s cute, or that sometimes George blushes at something Dream says, or that one of them makes an innuendo/tells a pickup line, yeah. All of those things are, in my eyes, justifiably assumed to have romantic subtext. But every single joke between them, every single word they tell each other, every single insult or compliment, everything is scrutinized and given a romantic meaning by shippers, and I can’t help but feel like that’s kinda fucked. If we’ve gotten to the point that a seven-second clip of Dream - someone who, by the way, hasn’t streamed in weeks and also has ADHD, for fuck’s sake - getting distracted incites entire paragraphs overanalyzing why he got distracted and concluding that it was because of George’s voice, I can’t help but feel like we’ve crossed a fucking. line.

[demonofthelight]

Life stories: Simon Clarke

Joanne (presenter): What keeps you awake at night, like what do you regret the most?

Simon: I don't know if I regret anything because everything teaches you something. Everything we go through is a lesson in life.

Joanne: That's the diplomatic response. What's the real response? If you could change something what would be?

Simon: There's this girl, anyone that listens to this podcast regularly probably knows all about her. Well, I can't regret us ending, because she's getting married in, what's the date? She's getting married in less than a month and she's meant to be happy so I don't regret us ending. I regret being so unimportant in her eyes that we don't still speak. I regret that, more than anything. I don't know if she was the 'one' but she was a friend. A friend I will forever adore.

Joanne: Does that keep you awake at night.

Simon: I wouldn't go that far but there are days I wonder about her.

Joanne: If she was watching this show, what would you say to her?

Simon: I'm sorry I never made her happy and I'm sorry she felt pressured by me. There's this story where a mutual friend once told me, this girl who I don't want to name Joanne, I really don't. You've shown pictures there but she doesn't look the same anymore not even the same coloured hair. Anyway this mutual friend told me she 'hates me for bringing her up'. Honestly, I'm sick of talking about it but I was always taught there's no taboo subject.

Joanne: Do you wish you two stayed in touch?

Simon: Mixed. (looking uncomfortable and shifting) I wish we never drifted so apart into two different circles but the circle she mixes in aren't compatible with the circle I drift in. I don't want to sound like an arrogant asshole. I mean it's nothing to do with superiority or a god complex. The circles I drift in are quite intellectual. Political debates, university alumina, professional jobs, e-sports. The circles she drifts in are more materialistic or hobby orientated. Motorbikes, sports etc. I mean some of those people think I'm literally the worst thing to happen to her, while some of the people in my circle find those who can't debate infuriating. The reality is the person she is now and the person I am now are completely different.

Joanne: Moving on to the death of your mom. Can you remember the day you found out?

Simon: Like it was yesterday. I got woke up in the morning while the paramedics were in my kitchen. I got told that my mom had died in her sleep and as you can imagine my father was in bits. I didn't know how to process it initially so I stayed in my room for about an hour. As time passed, I just wanted to be hugged and told I wasn't as alone as I felt.

Joanne: I'm sure your sisters and brother were by your side.

Simon: Of course, but they were trying to come to grips with it too. To be entirely honest, I reached out to a friend the following day or within the next few days. It became a blur that week but I remember distinctly that the one female who I loved and depended on to that level other than my mother was my ex. I spent the time up until the funeral genuinely believing she would pop over and check up on me even after we broke up on bad terms.

Joanne: How did your friend react , how did they support you?

Simon: As we've touched on, I was a loner in school. Until near the end of high school, I was a bullied shy kid. I didn't have any true friends. But this moment, this terrible event, Matthew made me realise I would never have to go through a travesty alone. He took time out to go for a drink with me during that week and he took the day off work to go to my mom's funeral. He's a complete atheist. He think's my philosophy on the afterlife is closer to Stephen King than history textbooks but he literally walked probably a few miles to and from the funeral just to show his support. I've never told him how much that meant to me. But I'd like to think he just knows.

Joanne: I'm sure he wasn't the only friend over that time?

Simon: No, I have another fantastic friend called Andrew. I had a very bitter falling out over him trying to get me support and honestly anyone else would have knocked me out for the abuse I gave him over it. He just laughed it off. One of two friends that I can depend on, hopefully and as far as I'm concerned the rest of my life.

Joanne: You mentioned the girl again (picture of 2011 as a couple goes on screen), her family is your neighbour right so they knew about what happened with your mom but didn't she text you or call in?

Simon: Her parents lived opposite the street, but she never asked or showed concern on my wellbeing. I have no entitlement of that care. It's her right to feel or act in any legal way she wishes. I'll respect her freedom to do that for as long as I can.

Joanne: How does that make you feel?

Simon: It made me realise our perspectives on the 18 months we were in a relationship were different. For me, it was a fantastic period and I imagine for her it's best to forget it.

Joanne: Does that bother you?

Simon: Should it? People change, circumstances change. Can we move on?

Joanne: OK. We'll go to a break... Welcome back. I'd like to talk about university and is it true that you were warned before you enrolled?

Simon: As a 18 year old child. I made a stupid comment about a friend publicly on Facebook. My friend found it hilarious and it's the sort of dark humour we say to each other over voice chat and in person but someone twisted what I said to imply someone who died in my local area. Well implied the post was about them. I never met and couldn't care less about them. I apologised and thought that was the end of it but a formal police report was filed and the individuals informed my university who at this point had just provided me with an offer to enrol that I accepted. I mean top business college diploma in the county, they ripped the hands off for me. So that was interesting. The university was great about it. The police were as incompetent as you can imagine but it did teach me that don't say anything on social media that can't be literally taken. Like this will go up on YouTube and Tumblr. So anything I say can be proved.

Joanne: How did you emotionally react to this event, where what you said was taken out of context?

Simon: Betrayed by others but I was stupid and naiive. You can't be those things especially as a successful businessman. At this time a lot of falsehoods and rumours came around ranging from me being a drug addict to committing sexual assault. It was obvious at this point those who had ever had a conversation with me knew that I had traditional moral values so the accusations were as ridiculous as they sound. Childish rumours spread to squash what I had to say. My friends just ignored them, and the people the bullshit influenced were better off not in my life anyway.

Joanne: I've only met you twice and you're quite outspoken about some controversial subjects but its obvious to me morally your the other way. Severely punish criminals, probably too far in my opinion.

Simon: I agree, my opinions can be quite controversial but I'm as against illegal drugs as I love a cup of tea. Even my critics would tell you that.

Joanne: You've gone from a social media account with 50000 followers overall to less than a tenth of the size. Why do you think this is and does it bother you?

Simon: I used to be a depressing blogger with poems, and writing that was soul crushing but honest about my thoughts or feelings about myself. I then started to feel less lost so naturally started writing about facts not emotions. Politics was always a topic I found fascinating. I've always been debating since I can remember. I get off on a debate, which is why it's hilarious to mock those that call you names because they can't debate the facts of the topic. I started looking at things like the wage gap and white privilege economically and they don't hold up to the scrutiny expected in academic work. They just don't. Those that believe either of those things are either stupid or lied too.

Joanne: I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of politics because it's become who you are but if I can, I want to touch on 'getting off' of those that call you names in other words 'Trolls' can you elaborate on that?

Simon: I'll give you an example. I'm quite camp just look at what I'm wearing so I got an anon message on Tumblr once that read 'you are a gay homophobic sexist Nazi that should just kill yourself'. How hilarious is the stupidity of that statement. If I was gay, I couldn't be homophobic and gay people aren't allowed to be a Nazi. It shows the idiocy of these people that are probably children.

Joanne: Does these kind of hate messages matter to you?

Simon: Of course it matters, everybody wants to be liked. Those that claim otherwise are lying. But the opinions of people I've never met who are so ashamed of themselves they hide through anonymous, do not matter to me. The opinions of friends and parents of friends matter to me.

Joanne: You once said you were 'bad with women'.

Simon: Oh God, yea. I really wish I hadn't had said that. It was on an emotional post at 3am. It was a spur of the moment thought. I don't think I'm naturally bad with women but I am a marmite figure. I'm not universally liked. Most people I meet are probably intimidated by me. I think the women that I find attractive clearly don't normally find me attractive.

Joanne: Why is that? What type of women do you find attractive?

Simon: I'm probably a 6 out of ten, if I could lose the acne probably a good 7. I tend to fall for either the tall slim blonde or the short petite unique person. I'm quite simple like that. Then if they are able to debate or disagree with me brilliantly, I just adore them.

Joanne: (laughs) So you see yourself as just above average?

Simon: In looks, I do. In style, I'm quite unique and some people hate that I stand out. In personality, I am extremely demanding but I also expect that from myself.

Joanne: Do you ever think about children?

Simon: I did. I thought about marriage and kids but I've only ever found three people in 21 years that I could see having a life with. I do think about children's names though, I have top three for both genders. For a boy: Constantine, Excalibur or Arthur. For a girl: Katherine, Kate or Kathleen.

Joanne: Do you think it's fair when some people refer to you as egotistical, arrogant or psychotic?

Simon: It's no business of mine what other's perceive me to be. I can only concentrate on who I am and I'm none of those things.

Joanne: Do you like being the centre of attention with someone claiming you 'have to be seen to be the most overdressed person because you need the attention?

Simon: I don't mind it, but I don't actively pursue it. I don't really mind whether someone outshines me. I love a challenge and I think demanding the best from myself constantly while can be quite exhausting to see, is who I am whether that's monopoly, gaming or dressing.