#and knows you have to be something very specific if you want to be discussed in the public eye
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
I've got to say, it's a very strange feeling, becoming the sort of person that is in the exact target audience for Buttercup Festival.
Like, this thing has been running for decades, since 2000 if you believe wikipedia, and it got around without ever being really discussed explicitly by people I know. The strips always drifted past me every now and then without incident- neither offensive nor inoffensive, a bit puzzling at times.
And then... something? Something in me, not in the strip, that much is clear enough. But now I just love these little things to death, on a good day it's competitive with Calvin and Hobbes or something else really top-tier.
And it's just bizarre, you know? They certainly don't rely on what you'd traditionally call humor, and even when there's a belly laugh it's not because there was anything like a joke per se. But if I try to explain to people what it is that makes the strip work, I just come up with all these ridiculous sentences that may or may not mean anything.
So I went from not getting the strips at all, and just walking past them without registering their presence, to really enjoying them and considering them one of my favorite comics ever, without once passing through a moment in time where I understood what made them so poignant. Just bouncing between two very different kinds of ignorance.
And that's interesting in itself, no? One kind of wants to reason through one's aesthetic preferences. I know I do. I suppose, on the grounds that I want to reason through everything. But my experience with Buttercup Festival seems determined to resist that treatment, at least so far.
Jokes as an art form are rather interesting- they get a laugh out of us before we know why they're funny, and discussions about humor tend to be unsatisfying after the fact. Explaining a joke doesn't make it any funnier, and the experience of 'funny' itself can't really be explained. Most forms of art, you can develop a deeper appreciation of the form by breaking it down in to specific shapes and methods and styles, and find new layers of beauty as you explore the structure of it. But it seems like laughter doesn't follow the same path, exactly.
Jokes aren't necessarily the only thing with this kind of structure. The koan, also, is supposed to open something to the student without any intervening explanation or analytical framework. Like a good joke, a koan often don't seem to make any damn sense at all, and like a good joke, a koan is often quite short. So that's two examples.
So there's this tricky thing where there's a class of experiences that seems to resist explanation, and we mostly encounter it through humor, but it's not actually limited to humor per se. I don't think I have the slightest idea where the contours of that thing are, or how to explore it, even though it's quite beautiful.
I don't think it's meaningless either, even though it sort of challenges the usual ways we define that term. I don't know how deep it goes, though it's much deeper than I expected. And you can grow in it over time, either because of certain experiences or certain insights or... I don't know. It wasn't signposted. I just kinda woke up here one day.
173 notes
·
View notes
Note
I’ve noticed that you’ve been talking about DSaF a bit again, and something I’ve always been super curious about is Dave’s relationship with Henry kinda outside of all the experimentation and the joy of creation. It’s something I don’t see discussed a lot outside of Henrys very blatant abuse. Was Henry actually very kind and empathetic towards Dave towards the beginning? Or was he always cold and distant, and Dave just didn’t know what actual care looked like? Did Dave ever have a very parasocial relationship with Henry before the circus shut down. I know this is a bit of a strange and specific ask, but I just find their dynamic really interesting. It’s something I want to explore in my au, and it’s just a very interesting part of DSaF that I don’t think is talked about enough.
Yes, it started as a parasocial relationship. Dave, as you might recall, started out by following Henry's circus around. Given he'd lived on the streets for his whole life and was used to being cold, lonely, Henry's circus was like nothing he'd seen before that point. Is it really any wonder that his end-game with the player is always going to a city of lights, bright colours + dopamine rushes? He basically followed the circus around from town to town for years, scavenging food from trash bins and getting gradually closer and closer to the main circus tent each time, and by the time he saw what was inside, he was hooked.
Henry's circus had a lot in common with Barnum's and given the 'freak show' element, I'd imagine Dave felt less alone, even though nothing Henry used was nearly as surreal as Dave himself.
Eventually Henry noticed him and he was assigned jobs like shoveling Tiger shit, usually away from guests. Henry definitely wasn't kind to Dave (they barely spoke at this point) but it outlines the second part of Dave's attachment, the feeling of being a part of something greater, being included.
Henry noted Dave's loyalty + defense of his character. I recall Dave mentions that Henry wound up being investigated for a string of murders and wound up framing the Tiger keeper at the circus, something Dave corroborated, believing the word of his distant (but providing) father figure over the guy who rushed him to finish shoveling animal shit.
By the time the investigation ended, Henry's circus had taken a bad hit, but ofc, Henry had enough money saved to go into something new and realized that Dave was trusting/devoted enough to be useful to him. Dave had some money saved up at this point and would eagerly work for free, so it was really a no-brainer on Henry's part. It's anyone's guess how long he intended to keep Dave around before using him as a patsy of some kind. It was incredibly lucky that a nightguard happened to die at their diner shortly after their first string of murders and that Henry managed to fudge the employment records to tie him to the previous 2 murders that'd happened just before this.
I don't doubt that there were occasionally 'nice' moments between the two, but I'd imagine they mostly amounted to Henry occasionally showing his business partner basic courtesy and Dave latching onto it. That and the two speaking about their pasts to some degree, which Dave likely took as the two being inseparably bonded since he wasn't used to really knowing people.
Most of Dave's perception of Henry came from his own inner loneliness, wanting to believe that someone valuable could see genuine good in him. It wasn't really backed up by anything logical, but hey. People see what they wanna see, I guess.
142 notes
·
View notes
Text
I just enjoy the amount of parallels between Ogden and Lucanis that I didn't expect, and you all are going to have to suffer and listen to them.
But this line, specifically, hit hard.
It's something Ogden can relate to, on a very personal level. Tie in Lucanis's fear of disappointing his family and then the abomination stuff and Ogden's background, it's really all there because, if you don't know...
Ogden is from a gentry level Free Marcher family. They were ambitious in climbing the social ladder and were already discussing expectations for Ogden to marry up the ladder, arranging lessons for him to take and other things when he was a child to be set up for the best future they chose for him with the betrothals they would desire without concern or thought for what he'd want.
And then when he was found to be a mage, they were quick to cast him aside, viewing him as an abomination to the line and reputation they were trying to build. They couldn't wait to be rid of him as he was no longer useful.
And then in the Ansburg Circle, the expectations of being used for the chantry, without his own choices, not really. An illusion of choice but he wouldn't see much outside of the walls, now would he? His role was to play good little mage and listen to the templars. But he didn't. He fought back however he could, received beatings and abuse from the knight commander for being 'obstinate' and 'rebellious.' He wouldn't even be able to count the amount of times he was put in solitary. His nose isn't straight anymore due to the amount of times it was broken.
But he carried on to spite the knight commander. The knight commander was so sure he'd fail his Harrowing and he'd be done with the thorn in his side, but Ogden succeeded spectacularly. Yes, he won that, but he still was under the knight commander's thumb.
And then a way out with the wardens and being recruited by the Hero of Ferelden. But really, there was more freedom, in a sense, but...
He was to fight darkspawn and end up dying alone in the deep roads when his calling came
And even though he was supposed to train at Weisshaupt then return to Ferelden to help training and building up the wardens there, the powers that be kept him at Weisshaupt due to his skill and leadership ability, not letting him do what he had intended to do.
Also they're both more subtle in how they show affections, as well as being 'need to focus on the job first' kind of attitude. Puts them similar to Neve in a way, but the similar backgrounds meshed them together more in my playthrough.
So how much of Ogden's own life was determined for him, just like with Lucanis?
Honestly, if I'd done more research into the companions before playing, it should've been obvious they'd end up a thing. There's too many similar scars for them not to be.
#Character: Ogden Thorne#Dragon Age#Dragon Age: The Veilguard#Dragon Age The Veilguard#they're also about the same age with Ogden a year older than him so that's fun#rookanis#lucanis dellamorte#datv spoilers#dav spoilers#I enjoy them bc they feel like a decently mature romance with pining galore at first
23 notes
·
View notes
Text
WIP FRIDAY
I apologize for getting this out two days late, I’ve been busy with lots of packing and events! But I have a little reprieve, so I wanted to post another WIP; this one is from Heart Full, Bowl Empty.
BE AWARE THAT THIS SEGMENT INVOLVES A CONVERSATION REVOLVING AROUND UNWILLING BUT INTENTIONAL STARVATION. I know there are people who say they can’t read this fic because of themes like this, so be aware of this before reading this WIP!!
I included this snippet in today’s WIP because I have like three versions of the entire segment this snippet is from. I feel like it’s a really important segment with a really important conversation, and I’ve had a hard time balancing all the emotions the way I want to between Ingo and Akari, with frustration, sadness, anger, and empathy, to realistically get them to the resolution I want at the end of it.
The final version will probably only include a few parts from this particular segment.
Enjoy!!
—————
“I knew it! You’re doing it again!” Akari’s eyebrows scrunched, trying to understand through the frustration. “You said you wouldn’t!”
“Circumstances will improve soon.” Clearly done with the conversation, that was all Ingo said, but it was confession enough that he had fallen back on his word. Shame contaminated his voice, but if there was any regret, he hid it well.
“No, it won’t!” They were not even half-way through winter yet. “And you know it won’t!”
Ingo said nothing as the kits carefully moved around his slumped form, finding comfortable places to settle around him. She didn’t know if he intended to snuff the conversation out with angered silence, or if he was just too exhausted to care about arguing with her anymore. If it wasn’t for his small occasional signs of movement or acknowledgement, she’d think he was actually sleeping.
Akari carefully stepped into the nesting layers, moving to sit down next to Ingo. She settled with her back against the cavern wall, pulling her knees close as a few kits shuffled around to accommodate her. “You know I’m right.”
Huffing out an irritated sigh and nothing more, it didn’t seem like Ingo had any intentions to engage with her argument anymore.
“You couldn’t even pull yourself up over the ridge,” She prodded at him again, trying to motivate more conversation out of him. “I had to help you!”
“There are many, many factors that go into that.” A reluctant answer, perhaps a reflexive attempt to quell her worry; Ingo feebly rubbed his wrapped hand, almost as a display for his excuse.
“I’ve seen you do more when you’ve been hurt worse.” Akari retorted, a little softer now but still cold.
Ingo’s eyes remained closed, though his hardened expression implied that it came across as more accusatory than she’d intended. But perhaps it was precisely the time to be accusatory.
“Ingo, you’re so tired all the time now – you stopped coming to the training grounds because you just can’t make the trips all the time anymore! And you’re sleeping so much more than you used to, and it’s like you’re always hungry all the time, even though all I see you doing anymore is gathering food!” Akari’s voice grew more jagged as she continued to jab at him, entirely uninterrupted.
It was getting difficult. With Ingo’s tunic still sopping by the bucket, still somewhat red from the exhausted effort of washing out the blood, it could not hide the ribs that pressed out just a little bit more, or help fill out what the waistline had lost under the loosening belt. The abject dread of directly acknowledging that was too much.
“And- and look! You aren’t even willing to hold a conversation with me anymore, and I don’t know if it’s because you just won’t, or because you can’t!” The kits shifted uncomfortably as Akari retreated back into her own frustration instead. “People think you’re sick, Ingo! They’re asking me about you! What are you doing?”
The exhausted man remained where he laid in the nesting material, only moving his hands to rub at his face and sigh — a deep, forced sigh that swelled his side before releasing. Akari almost didn’t think he’d answer her, but with some effort, he propped himself up first onto his elbows, then slumped forward. The teen watched him run shaky fingers through his hair as he sat next to her.
“…I don’t know what I should do.” The guilt. The weary guilt cracked his voice and tore Akari’s anger down to heartache.
#ref for fic#BE AWARE THIS IS DISCUSSING INTENTIONAL BUT UNWILLING STARVATION#tw starvation#just in case#cause I know not everyone vibes with this story#and I’ll say it’s been weird myself returning to these segments I wrote months ago and re-reading them#AND TO BE MORE CAREFUL I talk about a personal situation sort of dealing with this below#a lot has happened in the timeframe of originally writing this and coming back to this#at the end of fall I got very very sick and it lasted well into February#I unwillingly shed thirty-five pounds because I could not eat#and I didn’t notice at all until I stopped and realized just how tight I had to make my work belt#even when family members pointed it out during the holidays when they’d hug me#it wasn’t until someone got very concerned and did something about it that I realized just how bad it was#I’m sure people remember when I mentioned I had gastritis#that’s what all this was I just never really went into detail about how bad it truely was here#so coming back and reading this segment specifically#having written it months before I went through any of this#felt really really weird and a little uncomfortable#I edited Akari’s accusations a little to fit my situation more about a month back#because I did not realize just how much more stuff like this would make you want to sleep#at least in my experience#but it’s been very very just#strange I guess coming back to this#it doesn’t make me want to not work on HFBE anymore it just feels very weird
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
fiona fox is the love + light of my life . also no i am not taking any criticism on her questionable tshirt collection i can and will defend all of my choices.
also bonus artist commentary in the alt text
#sonic#archie sonic#fiona fox#scourge the hedgehog#iratusmus.png#fionourge#<- i have NO idea if this is the ship name or not but tbh im mostly just tagging this for blocking purposes#since i know some people dont like it and personally i always find it rude when people dont tag their ships#namely because i dislike. a lot of ships 💖#REGARDLESS before any of you recognize something on one of them and get offended because you think fiona wouldnt like it .#just know i understand her better than you do <- JOKE but also i do actually have justifications for all of these#and if you ask i will be happy to enlighten#or you can just read the alt text. but if its too long and bugs out i will be absolutely copypaste it#also yes the haircut is directly taken from bell-mere one piece#anyways this world needs more fiona appreciation. unfortunately for me there is very little#but yada yada yada be the change you want to see in the world#i also need to work on the incredible lack of fionourge content in this world but we'll get there at some point or another#well. content aimed at me specifically. i have lots of opinions on this relationship and i dislike many people's takes on it#but thats a discussion for another time. maybe
243 notes
·
View notes
Text
Be My Favorite is rewiring my entire brain istg... just unraveling those brain wrinkles and resculpting them in exciting new shapes and patterns
#be my favorite#be my favorite spoilers#what an episode#for kawi to realize it's not just about being kind to himself and fixing the life he wants#but being kind to pear and pisaeng and caring about the life they get#especially worst timeline pear#he has time-ruined her life beyond all belief#will he take responsibility#and like ok ok ok the thing where pisaeng is like you helped me with something big and i'll always be grateful for that#the specifically queer experience of the person who makes you KNOW you're queer#pisaeng knew-ish before kawi. he and his mom have discussed it#but kawi made it firm and unchangeable and something he could no longer hide from or run from#so no matter how much kawi hurts him after that no matter how much he confuses him and pushpulls him#he's that person to pisaeng the person who made everything clear the person who made him brave#ahhh that's so reallllllllllllllll#and praying with all my heart they are very deliberately writing not and notpear and notkwan the way they are#never expecting us to ship it but laying the groundwork so we understand this future#pisaeng was right to friend breakup with not and has stayed right#please if the show does pearkwan it will become my new top ten stars show of all time i'm trying to manage my expectations#because i don't THINK it's going that way#but o! how i want it!#but yeah ships aside just kawi realizing that pear's life going well matters more to her & her happiness#than his life going well#and realizing thusly that that matters more to HIM#than his own successful future#i would like to see it#treat the girl who has been so great to you greatly please#and that guy you're so grateful for? who you feel unworthy of?#stop focusing on what is bad or unworthy about you start focusing on how to support him and his life into something worthy of him#do you see it? my vision??? gah this story has so much potential i'm so hype
31 notes
·
View notes
Text
this might be a hot take... but if you care about disavowing media made by bad people out of fear of looking like a bad person yourself more than you care about actually doing good things... you might have your priorities (and your morals) screwed up a bit :/
(see my tags for more of my thoughts on this topic! please try to avoid making make bad-faith assumptions about what i mean!)
#melonposting#there is a good case for not wanting to associate with something on account of the creator being harmful. sure whatever#but people have talked at length about the sort of moral ocd that it promotes when that idea is fervently preached and enforced#i don't know about you but i think there's a big difference between#a) not wanting people to associate with something because the media itself spouts harmful rhetoric#and because its bigoted creator both benefits from people engaging with the books and is idolized by many of the books' fans#and b) not wanting people to vocally enjoy ANYTHING made by ANYONE who's held any harmful ideology at any point#because doing so 'inherently' supports and spreads those harmful ideologies#it's true that you cannot separate the art from the artist#but good people can make bad art and bad people can make good art. artistic talent is not inherently correlated with the artist's morals#the goodness/badness of a person CAN seep into the art they make. and it often does. and that can affect one's enjoyment of it#but even then there's nuance to be had on how to deal with it#like my hero academia for example. when i started watching it in middle school i didn't know how misogynistic it would be#of course i ended up seeing it in the show (and god it's so misogynistic)#and i ended up learning that the 'joke' sexual-harasser character is a self-insert for the creator#which of course i could never get behind. the creator is undeniably a horrible guy#at the same time though the show means a lot to me and i've gained a lot from watching it#i won't elaborate here on how but believe me it isn't superficial. if you want to ask me about it i'd be happy to share#i can hold both in my mind. the disgust and the enjoyment. i don't think those have to be mutually exclusive#of course not everyone is like that; you could immediately stop liking the show on discovering the gross stuff. and that's your prerogative#i don't know... i agree with the values behind avoiding media made by people known to have moral failings#and in some cases (like harry potter and jkr) i fully endorse the values and the practice. but such cases are very specific#but in most cases i fear the practice is misguided and unnuanced and ultimately unhelpful in fulfilling one's values#it is largely a philosophical matter: about how an individual regards their moral standing in the context of themselves and other people#which is important to discuss - especially in our globalized internet age! speaking of which feel free to disagree with me#if you want to have a civil discussion i'm more than open to it#but no matter how important this matter... there are way more important ones in the world. especially right now#calling out people who watch a youtuber who said something bigoted 5 years ago does little to stop that bigotry overall#just have good morals and practice them! support oppressed people! be thoughtful and understanding and compassionate!#callouts and dni lists rarely make for impactful advocacy!!!
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
thinkinggg about. race in adventure time
#random thoughts#adventure time#okay so in the original show there were very few characters of color because humans are basically extinct#and ive seen some people discuss how at appropriates aave despite the mc being a white boy#and (more importantly in my opinion) most of the staff being white#and then in fionna and cake they decided to make marshall lee physically black#and you'd think his mom'd be white right? because marceline's whole thing is her being divided between two halves of herself#which could be sooo an allegory for growing up biracial#but like? they made his mom also black?#which i assume they did because they didn't want to make it a 'white parent is toxic towards their black child' storyline#buuuut since marceline's physical characteristics were tied to her demon bloodline and marshall obviously takes after his mom...?#like you could make the argument that they're implying SOMETHING there#and adding onto the theme of characters voiced by white actors being voiced by poc in the genderswap (marshall y cake)#DID YOU KNOW FLAME PRINCE IS VOICED BY HANNIBAL BURESS???#which like. i was thinking about how flame princess's role in the show seemed kinda like#okay so there's this video by harriyanna hook about the disposable black girlfriend trope in svtfoe specifically#and flame princess (from what i remember dude i gotta rewatch at) seemed to have been used by finn narratively to grow as a character?#and also there's the whole 'pb stealing a part of fp's culture for what she claims is the greater good' thing#and her dad's voiced by the president from rick and morty. and he's a strict dad who won't let his daughter date a white boy#(which is SUBVERTED when he reveals he keeps her contained for safety purposes or whatever but it's still there)#at is kind of fucked with parents in general tbh#god i need to rewatch it. analyze it
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
you do realize that actual Scottish and Irish people have in fact, criticized how people talk about the Fae, and done so specifically on Tumblr
its fascinating how very very surface level 1920s-ish jazz age inspired aesthetics are very popular (see: hazbin hotel and electroswing and the endless wave of bowtie pinstripe character designs from the 2010s) but the vast vast majority of people who are into that seem fundamentally disinterested in actually engaging with actual jazz age art and culture because that would require engaging with black art
#It may not be widely discussed but I've seen people talk about how calling Hozier a fae bog mam sometimes goes too far#And reaches microagression territory#I've researched how real life court cases involving the good neighbors were used to slander all Irish people as superstitious barbarians#And deny Ireland the right to rule itself by the British Empire. And the specific case is fairly well known and STILL repeated uncritically#The way it was back then uncritically by people because they don't stop to look at the context around it#And therefore ignorantly spread a very bigoted version of events#Your argument is patently stupid too tbh. 'Why do I have to study Mexican culture in Spanish class' ass statement#You have to know the culture around something because otherwise you won't understand it#For linguistics this literally means you won't understand idioms or will have poor manners and piss people off#For a subculture like Jazz it means you won't understand where it came from or why it formed or who it spoke to#You won't understand any of the context. You'll just be looking at images like an iPad baby with cocomelon#I cannot fathom being interested in something and not wanting to know ots context#Especially because Jazz and it's connection to Blackness is HEAVILY political???#I'm not even particularly interested in Jazz and I know that. A lot of racists from the 20s-40s attacked Jazz and saw it as a threat#The reason you square danced in gym class if you're American is because white racists were scared of Jazz
24K notes
·
View notes
Text
A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.
My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.
My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.
This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.
Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.
I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.
So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.
#fanfiction#fanfic#ao3 writer#ao3 fanfic#writing is hard#fanfic writing#writer stuff#archive of our own#ao3#this isn’t about me#my stuff still has great interaction from readers#although I would never say no to more#but please please please don't hide your enjoyment from us#they feed the gremlins in our heads which give us the stories
18K notes
·
View notes
Text
Hey, so, Patreon is lying to you about Apple forcing their hand.
Patreon is getting rid of 1st-of-the-month/per-creation billing, claiming a new decision by Apple has forced their hand. This will hurt a lot of creatives, and their excuse is bullshit. Allow me to explain.
In 2018, Patreon tried to impose a new ill-considered fee structure on everyone that would have cost creators a lot of smaller pledges. They ended up apologizing for this profusely; they have now deleted this apology from their website and unfortunately I was unable to find it on the Internet Archive. This was shameful, but to their credit they backed off quickly when things got ugly.
Back in 2021, Patreon discussed plans to force all creators into a rolling bill structure and get rid of first-of-the-month/pay-up-front billing. The community once again very decisively shouted them down, and they had to walk it back again. This whole fiasco damaged the already shaky trust between Patreon creators and staff.
This week, Patreon announced that, along with extra fees, Apple's policies were supposedly forcing them to move everyone over to the rolling fee structure that they first tried to get us to agree to in 2021. Patreon will tell you they are not happy about this. As a person who spent a long time watching Patreon make terrible decisions, I can tell you-- they are probably very happy about this, because it's exactly the smokescreen they needed to do what they've been trying to do for years, which is pull ALL Patreon creators away from 1st-of-the-month and per-creation billing.
The spin in the news I've seen so far is "Apple bullies Patreon, boo hoo hoo poor Patreon". This is very obviously not what's happening. Mind you: Apple does suck, and they are doing something bad here. Fuck apple. But Patreon and Apple are BOTH the asshole in this situation; Everyone Sucks Here. Patreon has options: they can make the iOS app a reader app and do billing through the browser to avoid the restrictions and the extra fees (Netflix and Amazon, notably, both do this), or they can allow creators to opt-out of iOS billing if they want to use billing models that don't work with it.
It seems most likely to me that the Apple situation is a real fire that Patreon has chosen to use as a convenient smokescreen to do what they've been wanting to do since at least 2021, and maybe since 2018.
What do we do?:
They have a feedback form specifically about this.
They also have a creator discord.
And they have lots of social media pages where they probably really, really hope that this doesn't blow up again, because they never learn. The incidents I've described here aren't the only two other times Patreon has pissed off their creators. They know if they don't contain the noise it'll be harder to get away with it, so make some noise. They've done a lot of work to spin this cleverly so you'll have sympathy for them and they won't get the kind of backlash they know they deserve.
Please don't misuse these links and make threats or spam or something. All you have to do is give well-reasoned feedback. Patreon hates feedback. Make sure they get a nice heaping helping of their least favorite vegetable.
18K notes
·
View notes
Text
treasure planet is the romanichal movie ever i will not elaborate
#ok fine ill elaborate#first of all coming of age story about travelling across the galaxy to support his working mother HELLOOOOOOOOOOO#jim and sarah are romani dont argue w/ me#def not projecting having a romani mother and distant father nope /s#ANYWAY#sarah is very protective of him and knows how much he gets targeted by the police for victimless crimes and ''tresspassing''#hes already doing trade skills at 15 exceeding everyones expectations yet hes seen as a delinquent!!!!!#sarah just wants her son to understand how their socioeconomic and ethnic background means he has to cut the shit#but its hard to explain it to a kid believe me i didnt get it at the time#now onto silver. hey fun fact did you know the way a lot of pirates in literature are depicted come from romani styles of dress?#the bandana jewelry scarves and all that? taken from roma specifically spanish roma#and treasure planet was written RIGHT about the time that this became popular#so allow me for a moment to imagine romani silver.#no longer wanting to live a life in poverty and unfairly targeted daily#wether you believe he worked for flint or not doesnt matter but it does enhance the lore a bit#hes a fantastic cook a great mechanic HE HAS A FAMILY STEW RECIPE.......... 💙❤️💚#yeah hes greedy and a straight up pirate nobodys perfect but CONSIDER FOR A SECOND#hes basing his standard of success on what colonial empires consider successful and as a result has lost a chunk of his humanity in doing s#something something character becomes what other people say he is. a thief and a liar#hes destroying himself in order to escape persecution and poverty and to never have to deal with it again#i headcanon that hes an orphan and oh boy the discussion about roma children being taken away from their parents on bullshit charges...#he sees jim and just knows. he knows.
0 notes
Text
So a few months ago there was the discourse about would you rather meet a man or a bear in the woods. I didn't want to touch it while the discourse was hot and everyone dug in hard because those are not good conditions for nuance, but I waited until today, June 1st, for a specific reason.
I'm not going to take a position in the bear vs man debate because I don't think it matters. What is really being asked here is how afraid are you of men? Specifically, unexpected men who are, perhaps, strange.
People have a lot of very real fear of men that comes from a lot of very real places. Back when I was first transitioning in 2015 and 2016, I decided to start presenting as a woman in public even though I did not pass in the slightest.
I live in a red state. I knew other trans women who had been attacked by men, raped by men. I knew I was taking a risk by putting myself out there. I was the only visibly trans person in the area of campus I frequented, and people made sure I never forgot that. Most were harmless enough and the worst I got from them was curious stares. Others were more aggressive, even the occasional threat. I had to avoid public bathrooms, of course, and always be aware of my surroundings.
I know how frightening it is to be alone at night while a pair of men are following behind you and not knowing if they are just going in the same direction or if they want to start something - made all the worse for the constant low level threat I had been living under for over a year by just being visibly trans in a place where many are openly hostile to queer people. You have to remember, this was at the height of the first wave of bathroom law discussions, a lot of people were very angry about trans women in particular. My daily life was terrifying at times. I was never the subject of direct violence, but I knew trans women who had been.
I want you to keep all that in mind.
So man or bear is really the question "how afraid of men are you?", and the question that logically follows is "What if there was a strange man at night in a deserted parking lot?" or "What if you were alone in an elevator with a man?" or "What if you met a strange man in the woman's bathroom?"
My state recently passed an anti trans bathroom bill. The rhetoric they used was about protecting women and children from "strange men", aka trans women.
Conservatives hijack fear for their bigoted agenda.
When I first started presenting as a woman the campus apartment complex was designed for young families. The buildings were in a large square with playgrounds in the center, and there were often children playing. I quickly noticed that when I took my daughter out to play, often several children would immediately stop what they were doing and run back inside. It didn't take me long to confirm that the parents were so afraid of "the strange man who wears skirts" that their children were under strict instructions to literally run away as soon as they saw me.
"How afraid are you of a strange man being near your children?"
I mentioned above that I had to avoid public bathrooms. This was not because of men. It was because of women who were so afraid of random men that they might get violent or call someone like the police to be violent for them if I ever accidentally presented myself in a way that could be interpreted as threatening, when my mere presence could be seen as a threat. If I was in the library studying and I realized that it was just me and one other woman I would get up and leave because she might decide that stranger danger was happening.
Your fear is real. Your fear might even come from lived experiences. None of that prevents the fact that your fear can be violent. Women's fear of men is one of the driving forces of transmisogyny because it is so easy to hijack. And it isn't just trans women. Other trans people experience this, and other queer people too. Racial minorities, homeless people, neurodivergent people, disabled people.
When you uncritically engage with questions like man or bear, when you uncritically validate a culture of reactive fear, you are paving the way for conservatives and bigots to push their agenda. And that is why I waited until pride month. You cannot engage and contribute to the culture of reactive fear without contributing to queerphobia of all varieties. The sensationalist culture of reactive fear is a serious queer issue, and everyone just forgot that for a week as they argued over man or bear. I'm not saying that "man" is the right answer. I am saying that uncritically engaging with such obvious click bait trading on reactive fear is a problem. Everyone fucked up.
It is not a moral failing to experience fear, but it is a moral responsibility to keep a handle on that fear and know how it might harm others.
20K notes
·
View notes
Text
re my dumb tag ramble in my last post i guess it boils down to the bullshitery that is someone saying they dont eat. idk. donuts, bc they just dont like them, but then weighing in and butting into conversation about donut history and ppls right to eat donuts w/o getting shamed or called greedy or lustful or whatever, to just loudly declair that YOU dont eat donuts and youd rather eat LETTUCE instead and that you think donuts are kinda gross anyway. to a room full of people who enjoy donuts, or have otherwise complicated feelings about donuts. or used to be shamed for liking donuts and are just now coming back to letting themselves enjoy donuts safely. or used to be terrified of eating any kind of pastry bc of something in their past, and are only just now realizing that donuts arent scary at all and that they actually really like them! or people who like both donuts and lettuce at the same time and feel torn between liking these two things bc team donut shames them for liking lettuce and team lettuce shames them for liking donuts, and you screaming about just wanting lettuce in a donut-centric space is making them very nervous. if u say u dont sit at the donut-eating table and dont WANT to sit at the donut-eating table then dont get upset when ur opinion abt eating donuts isnt taken as the most prioritized one. when we're specifically talking about people who want to and who enjoy the very personal/complex act of eating donuts in peace. if you, yknow, get what im putting down
#my t#its just something that really burns me sometimes#we need aroace spaces to specifically talk about aroace stuff#but we also need spaces for people to talk about sex and also having sex ***especially for queer sex***#w/o needing to interrupt ourselves with 'AND UM IF YOU DONT WANT TO YOU OBVS DONT HAVE TO YOU ARE VALID' like we KNOW#can we pleasseeee stop talking down to eachother like that its fucking weird#ive never ever seen anyone in aroace discussions do the same w/ “UH IF YOU WANNA THEN YOU CAN”#at least in the aroace spaces ive been in. there was always a 'i can finally relax cause these queers dont kiss' air to those spaces#what im saying is that the way we talk about sex (including the lack of having it) is inherently broken#if someone is talking about sex when u dont have sex its not about you#if someone is talking about NOT having sex when you do its not about you#its very simple
1 note
·
View note
Text
overall a very successful birthday BUT i need to be a bitch for a minute like i really need to say something that i know will make me sound awful and ungrateful and miserable so. ranting in the tags don’t follow me there.
#birthdays are very much a family occasion in our house and always have been#like you can absolutely make plans and celebrate with friends but they’ve gotta be on other dates#the actual day of birth is family only. like. this specific day means nothing to my friends but 26years ago my mum was in labour. u know???#like. this day is for family. friends can have tomorrow. ok.#ok.#so. we have traditions. lots of them.#one is. whoever’s birthday it is picks any film they want.#and the whole family has to watch it over dinner.#no phones no extra screens like you’ve gotta sit there and pay attention.#the whole point is like. this is my birthday and here is something i want to share with you and discuss with you and think about with you.#ok#i chose my film. we watched my film.#film ends. me & my mam launch into conversation about it.#dad is silent. glance over. he’s pulled out his phone already and is just scrolling twitter paying no attention.#we try to prompt him to share his thoughts.#nothin. silence. we manage to get a ‘yeah i enjoyed it’ and that is LITERALLY it.#mum goes off to bed. i go off to bed. i say goodnight to my dad. he is like. ‘yep’. like. ok. bye i guess.#like do you KNOWWW the shit i have had to watch and critically analyse with that man over the years of his birthdays.#and i have done it!!!! every time!!!!#meanwhile somehow every year on my birthday it’s like. sorry i fell asleep. sorry i fell asleep again.#sorry i can’t disconnect from my phone for 5mins to talk to my family.#like sorry fuck off that man is so fucking disrespectful sometimes. and on my BIRTHDAY????#thank god for my mum thank god she’s so great bcus. jesus christ.
0 notes
Text
Sources for Somerton's Plagiarism from Hbomberguy's Video (as much as I could get)
I went back through Harry's video, focused entirely on the sources James Somerton pulled from in the hopes of creating as much of a comprehensive list as I could--though my Google-Fu is not very strong. I did however find something I thought was forever lost and that made me very happy--specifically the magazine Midlands Zone containing the column by Steven Spinks that Harry poignantly used as an illustration of gay erasure... while Somerton uses it to sound like HE is waxing remorseful about the very subject.
This is not a complete list, I'm sure. For one thing, I was only able to attempt to pull sources that Harry himself mentioned in the video. Surely there's so very much more out there. I expect there to be a great deal more internet archeology to unearth just how much writing and culture Somerton has stolen like he's the British Museum of Natural History but for gay people.
- - - - -
Harry's list of mentioned youtubers:
Alexander Avila - https://www.youtube.com/@alexander_avila Matt Baume - https://www.youtube.com/@MattBaume Khadija Mbowe - https://www.youtube.com/@KhadijaMbowe Lady Emily - https://www.youtube.com/@LadyEmilyPresents Shanspeare - https://www.youtube.com/@Shanspeare RickiHirsch - https://www.youtube.com/@RickiHirsch VerilyBitchie - https://www.youtube.com/@verilybitchie
Harry created a convenient playlist of videos by these and other people he wants to bring to everyone's attention.
Please give them your support.
- - - - -
Midlands Zone Magazine - Column by Steven Spinks
After a great deal of searching, I found an archive of the "Midlands Zone" magazine, where you can read through past issues dating all the way back to February 2014. I have also found the issue from which Somerton took Spinks' poignant discussion of gay erasure: Overall archive Specific Issue - Pages 16-17
It will not allow you to download it, but you can read it exactly as it appeared in print form.
- - - - -
My best effort to find the exact book or article Somerton lifted from to be able to get attention to the original writers
Tinker Bells and Evil Queens By Sean Griffin
The Celluloid Closet By Vito Russo Wikipedia article about the book Wikipedia article about the documentary My weak google-fu could not find where you can access the book or documentary. Check your local municipal or university library for book or documentary, or if you know a good source for one or both, please reblog with it added
Camp and the Gay Sensibility By Jack Babuscio
The Groundbreaking Queerness of Disney's Mulan By Jes Tom Personal site with links to social media accounts
Why Rebel Without a Cause was a milestone for gay rights By Peter Howell
Why "The Craft" is still the best Halloween coming out movie By Andrew Park
Opinion: From facehuggers to phallic tails, is 'Alien' one of the queerest films ever? By Dani Leever
Women and Queerness in Horror: Jennifer's Body By Zoe Fortier
[Pride 2019] We Have Such Sights to Show You: Hellraiser and the Spectrum of Queerness By Alejandra Gonzalez
Revealing the Hellbound Heart of Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser' By Colin Arason
Queering James Cameron's Aliens (1986) By Bart Bishop
Demeter and Persephone in space: transformation, femininity, and myth in the 'Alien' films By David Greven
Fears of a millennial masculinity: Scream's queer killers By David Greven (Scholarly site, unable to access original work, offers a way to request a full copy of the text in PDF)
Queer Subtext in Stephen King's It - Part 1: 'Reddie' Character Analysis By Rachel Brands Rachel is the very unfortunate lady who found out she was being stolen from because she supported Somerton through Patreon and saw one of his videos early with her writing--lacking any form of citation or credit
How 'It: Chapter Two' Leaves Richie Tozier Behind By Joelle Monique
When Horror Becomes Strength: Queer Armor in Stephen King's 'IT' By Alex London
Why Queer People Love Witchcraft By Amanda Kohr
'The Favourite' Queers The Past And The Present By Giorgi Plys-Garzotto
(Wuko) Crush (Mako x Wu) By MoonFlower on YouTube
5 Terrible Movies With Awesome Hidden Meanings By J.F. Sargent
The Radicalization of Sexuality: The Queer Casae of Jeffrey Dahmer By Ian Barnard
Netflix's 'Dahmer' backlash highlights ethical issues in the platform's obsession with true crime By Shivani Dubey
The Possible Disturbing Dissonance Between Hajime Isayama's Beliefs and Attack on Titan's Themes Original Article by "Seldom Musings" (Author has made all posts not related to Attack On Titan private and has retired from the blog)
Everyone Loves Attack on Titan. So Why Does Everyone Hate Attack on Titan? By Gita Jackson
- - - - -
The following people are otherwise named in the video. There are no direct citations of articles or books by them in said video. I am unable to guarantee that I have identified the correct individual.
Darren Elliott-Smith Michaela Barton David Church Claire Sisco King Amanda Howell Jessica Roy
- - - - -
Telos announced and cancelled a film likely based on this book: The Final Girl Support Group - By Grady Hendrix
- - - - -
I refrained from including certain sources.
First off only focusing on Somerton's work.
Secondly not including anything that might be visible enough to not require amplifying their voice (I cannot speak for all of those I have found links to, but journalism is frequently a thankless job).
Thirdly any source that is of a nature that is antithetical to the very existence of the queer community, such as the right-leaning source that didn't make it into Somerton's video, but Harry was able to identify as a source he had considered using.
If you feel I have missed a mentioned source--or you know of a source from material that was not covered in Harry's video--please do not hesitate to reblog with added details.
- - - - -
Please share this information far and wide, and please add to it if you find more material that can be positively identified and linked to the creator/writer.
#hbomberguy#james somerton#Plagiarism#Queer#LGBT#LGBTQIA#youtube#Solidarity#gay erasure#Make them un-erased
10K notes
·
View notes