#at least if they're active in the community

[m41-d]

abt to swing a bat at a hornets nest here lol

more of a tangent to your point op, but a lot of so-called "anti-religious leftism" is led by people who have been traumatized by religious institutions and dont actually have any academic background in comparative religion so they dont realize theyre doing this. these people very often outwardly endorse anti-consumerism or anti-capitalism, but in their actual praxis they are neither anti-religious nor anti-consumerist, because in fact they adopt the consumerist industrial complex as their religion.

there are outliers to this of course but particularly in more liberal circles you will see young adults declaring themselves as communists, socialists, anti-capitalists, and of course more importantly anti-religious atheists. but in their daily lives they think that their salvation lies in commodity fetishist identity politics: buy therapy, buy psychiatric medication, buy self help books– this is the way to save you, not community. buy this pride flag, buy this political flag – how else will we know what you stand for?. buy hairdye, buy tattoos, buy piercings – make yourself visually distinct from your parents! buy subculture clothing – find community with the menhera people, the jirai kei, only they can understand what you're going through. buy this gender affirming gear, buy hrt, buy gender affirming surgery (before someone gets on my ass over this part – im medically transitioning myself so i'm not saying these things shouldnt be available, i'm just saying someone's making money off of it and they're not doing it out of love for trans people). buy this sustainable brand, buy this bracelet that funds plastic cleanup efforts – don't you care about the environment? . buy vegan food you speciesist. etc etc.

modern media analysis loves to throw around the word "social contagion" when it comes to specific branches of liberal leftism but it's silly to me, because most ideas are. a far more useful analysis imo is that this type of consumerism is the extension of usamerica's well documented civil religion, and america is the dominant power in the world right now, so these quasi-religious ideals of hyperindividualism achieved by means of commodity fetishism have high social value and therefore spread, or are in other cases forcibly installed. in a similar way that christianity spread when rome was the dominant culture either because countries benefited from adopting it or were pressured to, same story with islam i suppose although i am less versed in the history of how islam spread worldwide so i won't speak on it.

inclusive/exclusive definition of religion is obviously a hot topic and never a fully resolved debate, but i think at the very least a person engaging with this subject in good faith has to note similarities. there's a strict system of values (debated, sure, but nevertheless confined to a more or less definite canon), there's the way to practice it (consumerism) and the sense of community built around it (wider leftist populace as well as various sub-communities created around whichever facet of the identity they latch onto, be it clothing subculture, specific diagnosis, queer identity, a specific branch of activism etc) and the sense that by doing so you both get to be a Good Person TM and achieve Salvation TM ( in this case usually presented as "living as your true self" and "liberty of personal expression"). and of course, when viewed through this lens, this vicious denouncement of religion becomes very funny – no different from how believers of any main faith would always proclaaim that other religions are backwards and superstitious pagan beliefs, meanwhile their own faith is the objective truth. ditto for this cultural behemoth that's spreading from the anglosphere outwards.

people denounce traditions and rituals like 'prayer is just repeating words' or 'why would I rest on Sunday I have stuff to do' or 'going to church once a week is just mindless'

and then they say 'here's a great morning routine! repeat these affirmations every day! practice gratitude every night before bed! 5 ways to build community! Sunday reset checklist!'

my sister in Christ you're reinventing the wheel. we've been doing all that for centuries.

[dragoninatardis]

Today I actually went out and had lunch with someone I knew as a kid! In fact, one of 7-8 people who shared a particular foundational experience. Specifically, one of my classmates from Religious School. We've been trying to get together for ages and it was just so great to talk to her, and we're in very similar places in our lives. To the point where we had similar issues working in the two schooling systems operating out of our synagogue, and might work together on something at some point. She's bi, we're both adhd and autistic with adult diagnoses (though she's still trying to find somewhere to get an official autism diagnosis as an adult). So yeah, we clicked on a lot of things and were able to mutually appreciate inevitable tangents.

We also talked about gender and sexuality and how that was treated, because our town is very liberal and leftist and our rabbi set up a talk for our class about those subjects when we were eleven or so, and both the sex positivity and the specific refutation of the parts of scripture that were being used (and still are) very much stuck with us...but it was still 2006. Even spaces that were more overt in acceptance of gay people were extremely hetero- and cis-normative. When the speaker told us that sex between man and wife on Shabbos was something holy, none of us were going to ask "Hey, what about gay couples?" because gay marriage wasn't even legal in most of the US. But those are questions kids are going to ask now, and even if they don't, we need to make a space to talk about them.

All of this is a conversation I could happen with a lot of people though, and it was just great to talk about *our synagogue* and its place in *our lives* having grown up there together. But one of the best parts was honesty the moment when we were talking about school early on and *she* said that she is always kind of like "ehhhh...not really though?" when people talk about our class being this all-girl class. Because that was unusual and kind of how we were identified by the community, and we were generally considered this really great group of kids to the point that teachers specifically changed years or put off retirement to get to teach again. But of course, we weren't. And I'm really unsure of how to feel about that, because the class was great and important to me, but it basically made my identity in the community fundamentally based on my gender, while my unidentified gender dysphoria grew. It's just one more thing to reconcile in a very gendered religion, and I'm sure I'll post about it again like 300 times, because the original point wasn't really about the details of that struggle.

My original point is that my friend understands the experience that went with that specific group, the weight that it had, what the community was like in a way that someone who didn't experience it can't, even if my experience was still much different to hers, especially since I was, to my knowledge, the only one that actually *wasn't* a girl. And I haven't talked to someone who shared that on a serious level for at least ten years, before I even realized that "nonbinary" was really an identity I could have.

My second original point was that in telling me that she had basically the same "cringe and kind of correct" response to people describing our class this way, and doing it before me, she showed me that she thinks about me and thinks of me as being *not a girl* to the extent that she will immediately recognize a phrase that refers to a group identity that we shared for a huge portion of our childhood, even without me being mentioned specifically, as incorrect. And will say something (ish; I don't know her exact response but even if a kind of cringe and shake of the head or something is all she does, I would be happy with that. My response would be pretty similar and it's honestly just not worth it to get into a conversation about that with anyone who talks about our class and isn't going to respond to that body language, at least for such a small thing (or at least, small for them.)

[drowningmoon]

No honey they're a murderer to YOU, but to ME they're just a traumatized girl who was feeling silly

[catboynutsack]

wait do people actually think transmisogyny isn't like. A gigantic fucking issue facing our community and the trans women and nonbinary ppl from both inside and out. Like I get that we trans mascs are also under attack but like. What the fuck happened to standing in solidarity with our sisters and siblings. Why are y'all harassing them. Why are y'all talking down to them. Why are y'all dividing our community. Why are you hurting the people we're supposed to help protect because we understand what they're going through more closely than any other marginalized group and we KNOW how hard it is for them. Why are y'all being absolute fucking dicks to these people who just wanna Exist Peacefully. Can't y'all let them exist in one fucking space without being freaks. All the bullying and hate... Actually disgusting. Do better.

[alittleplaytime]

🎒 — what are the items in your ideal agere / caregiver bag or backpack ? how often would you have it with you ?

lots of sea themed snacks/lunchbox and ocean based stim toys and a shark plushie!! ooh and my headphones, communication cards and pastille lollies!! i'd always have them, i like being prepared!

🪼 — favorites aquatic / semi—aquatic creature ?

i love love love jellyfish an sharkies!! the aquariums near me don't have these but i also love water scorpions and lesser water boatmen!!

🦑 — is there anything your especially scared of when regressed ? ( alt : is there anything you especially dislike when regressed ? )

not particularly! i'm more scared of the crowds,than any of the animals :3

🐡 — what’s your most “exotic” hobby or interest ?

bugs >:3 and also roller derby!!

🐟 — do you identity with a particular aesthetic when regressed that’s different than your big self ?

my regression tends to be a lot softer aesthetics wise, even when still alternative then my big self!

🐋 — favorite animal when big vs. regressed ?

big it's meerkats and regressed it's koalas & quokkas!!

🦈 — thoughts on sharkies ?? friend or foe ? cute or scary ?

friend definitely!! they're actually quite friendly and just curious!! they're like... puppies of the sea!!

🦭 — how often do you regress ? do you notice any patterns of when you regress like times or days of the week ?

i tend to regress at least once a week but it all depends on my mental state and health! i regress more often later in the day because i'm tired- it's also why i regress more often in the later days of the week!

🦦 — do you have or want to have plushies ? ( if you do , what are their names ? )

i have looooots of plushies!! the main ones i take around with me + sleep with are: briar(tatty teddy), oliver(giant sea otter), sunshine(hand made sheep), trick(pumpkin kitty) and falkor(snow dragon)!

🌿 — what’s your favorite color ? ( be as specific as possible ! )

i love black, pale baby blue and dark purple!! i've also grown fond of pale yellow (thanks to this blog!!)

🐚 — do you like to collect things ? if so , what’s something you love to collect ?

yes!! i collect ghost (band) merchandise, such as: figurines, replicas and stage money! i also collect (original) beanie babies!!

🪷 — do you have a specific area you like to regress in , or that makes you feel safest ?

my room, i have all my gear in there and it means none of my family interrupt me or notice my regression!

🌊 — favorite thing to drink when big vs. regressed ?

when i'm big it's coke zero, black tea w/ honey and white monster! i'm not against drinking them when i'm regressed, i just don't find myself craving them: i want apple juice, hot chcolate and chocolate milk!

🫧 — what’s your favorite activity to do when regressed ?

colouring and watching movies!! i love relaxing and just letting my mind wander when regressed, i tend to be sleepy when regressed so easy tasks are best for me!

aquarium—themed regression ask game !!

not all of the questions are regression—oriented , but they’re still good get-to-know-me questions ^_^

[ ⭐️ ] it is appreciated that when you reblog this post , you send some questions from this post to whoever you reblogged it from ! /gen/nf

🎒 — what are the items in your ideal agere / caregiver bag or backpack ? how often would you have it with you ?

🪼 — favorites aquatic / semi—aquatic creature ?

🦑 — is there anything your especially scared of when regressed ? ( alt : is there anything you especially dislike when regressed ? )

🐡 — what’s your most “exotic” hobby or interest ?

🐟 — do you identity with a particular aesthetic when regressed that’s different than your big self ?

🐋 — favorite animal when big vs. regressed ?

🦈 — thoughts on sharkies ?? friend or foe ? cute or scary ?

🦭 — how often do you regress ? do you notice any patterns of when you regress like times or days of the week ?

🦦 — do you have or want to have plushies ? ( if you do , what are their names ? )

🌿 — what’s your favorite color ? ( be as specific as possible ! )

🐚 — do you like to collect things ? if so , what’s something you love to collect ?

🪷 — do you have a specific area you like to regress in , or that makes you feel safest ?

🌊 — favorite thing to drink when big vs. regressed ?

🫧 — what’s your favorite activity to do when regressed ?

[milfbrainrot]

.

I feel like in the past the mix of this site being used for both activism and fandom helped contribute to a lot of unhinged politicized fandom discourse where yeah ofc there's a political tie to media but ppl used it as... a form of activism where it was given disproportionate importance compared to other activism discussions? Whereas now we're swinging to the opposite site of How Dare You Care About Meaningless TV Shows When Politics.

Like... we can have a mix of realizing there's more important stuff to focus on than shipping discourse in the world at large without also minimizing the insane doxxing and death threats behavior going on in fandom that people in fandom have to take into consideration to be able to do their hobby, esp given how those attitudes stem from irl political climates at times in ways that are telling to study. Hobbies are kinda how we prevent activism burnout also. Crazey how that works.

[fearcicada]

God gives his strongest battles to his toughest soldiers (hating j*nmartin in the TMA fandom)

[astro-g0re]

Genuinely AI and character ai will never replace the absolute joy and excitement of planning out a whole plot and story with potential reactions, ideas, concept, and art with the other person

The people only using character ai really don't know the soul and fun that comes with doing actual roleplay that stays consistent and won't repeat the same sentence/motion a million times over

[tousey-mousy]

This is why servers I run have the option that someone who has been ID-card verified can personally vouch for you if you can't tolerate showing ID. This comes with the caveat that they also get banned if you're found to have lied. They're expected to check your ID in private and verify to us that, yeah, you're over-age they pinky-swear. Also only applies if your voucher is in good standing and has been in the community for at least a month with regular activity.

Would you show your id card or phone number to discord mods to verify your age or account so you can be in a server?

[icantalk710]

...So, after I communicated that (his "not a huge texter"ness aside) I wanted us to text just a *little* more so we'd keep connecting while he's "had a lot going on" (even suggesting Snapchat for that and that I'd be here if he wanted to talk about some of it [even though we'd only hung twice, we've been friends on IG for a year]) after he last apologized for disappearing got no response, and after my check-in a week or so ago about how his week had gone gave me nothing, I sent a last text two weeks ago seeing if we were still talking and he still did want to hang out again but "all good if not" and even that got no reply--of course, note that he has had time throughout all this to check out my IG stories, yet still wouldn't communicate...

And turns out he's still been on the Apps (TM) as I've been waiting to hear back either way on that--with a guy leaving him a little hookup review on the site we started talking on last night 🙃 (which also complimented his gorgeous eyes I wanted to see again 🥲)

Having only hung twice (drinks/hookup early Aug and a dinner late Aug [with a hookup pre-empted by leaks from some rain that night that he had to tend to bc of his building super phoning in some repairs, but we kissed on making that up on Labor Day and he flaked, though he at least apologized the next day]), I didn't make much of seeing him there sometimes thinking we were still vibing well enough, but it felt shitty seeing that review when I also said i missed him in that text and he still hadnt replied to me--and while I was taking him at his word that things were too hectic on his end to hang out based on what he told me at dinner was going on and giving him space. Like, how much of that has been true the last couple weeks?

After fighting it a bit, I sent him an actual last text earlier to get it off my chest, saying i would've liked a reply either way, that i couldve worked with him wanting to just be casual or friends if he said so, and how I'd like to think he was being honest about how hectic things were but it felt shitty seeing him getting that review when I've thought we still had chemistry, be it casual or more. We'll see if he replies and doesn't just block me on things (he hasn't yet on that site), though I might softblock him if he just views my stories again... But just from how much energy I've spent trying to check in on him and what we're doing (and him rarely checking on me, which should've been a sign) and in overthinking how I wanted to text him about how we were feeling... It helped in August that he would reaffirm that he was interested, and I told him at dinner that I liked being reassured some so I know not to overthink things, but there was little of that through September, and i thought he'd take me up on Snap 😔

Especially sucks since he would've also been nice to talk to given my grandma's worsening health and how he'd recently lost his, but since he hasn't cared to see how I'm doing... Mom's probably going to have to unplug her this week, and while I'm mostly doing okay about her because I knew this might have been in the cards for months (she'd needed an oxygen machine for a while and was sent to the ER twice between Aug and Sept due to liquid in her lungs, the latter time leading to her being in intensive care and then out of there now and mostly stable but intubated and apparently only doing 3% of her breathing herself and not really responsive), naturally it has been tough on Mom, and tbh it's also sorta scaring me a bit about having to be in a similar position with her or dad in the next 20-30+ years (they're 60 and 63 now)... or even my being on the other end of it whenever that time comes... iunno, just existentialist thoughts i guess, this is kinda just turning into freeform lol. My sisters, dad, and I will likely split funeral costs too, can't believe it's almost $5K to hold one for someone... We did hope to get her back to the DR sometime, and it is sad it most likely won't be under more ideal circumstances.

Anyway, really just wanted to vent about that guy but squeezing in grandma thoughts helped a little; I remember trying to do some occasional journaling a while back which did somewhat help keep me from bottling up thoughts so might find my way back to it somewhat.

[Ofc, it would be nice if a cute guy would hit me up on said Apps to help me take a load off too 😩 (if one doesn't compliment my Digimon crest necklace or band shirts when I'm out and about soon 😩) It doesn't help that I've still had how this guy rimmed me and how hot he and his dick were in mind since our only hookup... Wouldve been nice having a sexy socialist bf or FWB if communication was better, but oh well there should be others right]

[lesbiancharliedalton]

-

[musical-chick-13]

.

[doppelnatur]

to a certain degree i don't think there is such a thing as purely internalized and internally directed bias. i don't think directing bias at yourself is morally much better than directing it at others it's just a lot harder to stop. that said, as soon as your self cruelty begins to affect anyone else it's just cruelty. a gay man being homophobic is not any more justifiable than a heterosexual man. then again, maybe this entire way of thinking shows a lack of compassion for myself and is a form of bias.

[jvzebel-x]

news letter from SWOP Behind Bars, sent Monday, July 17th, in regards to the Woodhull Freedom Foundation's constitutional challenge to FOSTA

[images 1,2,&3 text:

"The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday, July 7th 2023, that the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) is constitutional, upholding key portions of the law that critics have said intrudes on First Amendment speech protections and harms sex workers.

FOSTA suspends Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a law that grants online platforms protection from liability for user-generated speech. After FOSTA passed, social media platforms were forced to censor sex-worker generated content in fear of being held criminally liable under the law. Since becoming law five years ago, FOSTA has been condemned for making sex work more dangerous and increasing online censorship. While lawmakers passed the law to combat sex trafficking, critics have alleged that the law has hindered law enforcement from using websites to catch actual traffickers, and that sex trafficking reports actually tripled the year after FOSTA was enacted.

Although the Court did not issue the constitutional ruling that was sought, it held that the law must be interpreted narrowly in order to avoid “grave constitutional questions”. By imposing the interpretive discipline Congress lacked, the Court ruled out many of the broader applications of FOSTA that caused Woodhull and its partners to challenge it.

Specifically, it held that FOSTA “Does not proscribe facilitating prostitution more generally, which could extend to speech arguing for the legalization of prostitution or that discusses, educates, or informs about prostitution.” It also clarified that the law “Does not reach the intent to engage in general advocacy about prostitution or to give advice to sex workers generally to protect them from abuse. Nor would it cover the intent to preserve for historical purposes web pages that discuss prostitution.”/text]

[kuromi-hoemie]

fwiw cohost.org doesn't rly use an algorithm, is worker-owned with good ethics, has a chronological timeline and also allows nudity/nsfw content unambiguously 👍 they draw their inspo from a few other socmed sites but i see enough elements that tumblr has to feel like I'm rly gonna like it there once my account's been fully activated.

i don't think it's large scale, but it could be :3 would also like tumblr to see they're bleeding users and that good alternatives DO exist actually.

cohost has a 1-2 day activation period before u can actually start posting but ur still free to like and follow in the meantime.

An open letter to @staff

I already submitted this to Support under "Feedback," but I'm sharing it here too as I don't expect it to get a response, and I feel like putting in out in public may be more effective than sending it off into the void.

The recent post on the Staff blog about changing tumblr to an algorithmic feed features a large amount of misinformation that I feel staff needs to address, openly and honestly, with information on where this data was sourced at the very least.

Claim 1: Algorithms help small creators.

This is false, as algorithms are designed to push content that gets engagement in order to get it more engagement, thereby assuring that the popular remain popular and the small remain small except in instances of extreme luck.

This can already be seen on the tumblr radar, which is a combination of staff picks (usually the same half-dozen fandoms or niche special interests like Lego photography) which already have a ton of engagement, or posts that are getting enough engagement to hit the radar organically. Tumblr has an algorithm that runs like every other socmed algorithm on the planet, and it will decimate the reach of small creators just like every other platform before it.

Claim 2: Only a small portion of users utilize the chronological feed.

You can find a poll by user @darkwood-sleddog here that at the time of writing this, sits at over 40 THOUSAND responses showing that over 96 percent of them use the chronological feed. Claiming otherwise isn't just a misstatement, it's a lie. You are lying to your core userbase and expecting them to accept it as fact. It's not just unethical, it's insulting to people who have been supporting your platform for over a decade.

Claim 3: Tumblr is not easy to use.

This is also 100% false and you ABSOLUTELY know it. Tumblr is EXTREMELY easy to use, the issue is that the documentation, the explanations of features, and often even the stability of the service is subpar. All of this would be very easy for staff to fix, if they would invest in the creation of walkthroughs and clear explanations of how various site features work, as well as finally fixing the search function. Your inability to explain how your service works should not result in completely ignoring the needs and wants of your core long-term userbase. The fact that you're more willing to invest in the very systems that have made every other form of social media so horrifically toxic than in trying to make it easier for people to use the service AS IT WORKS NOW and fixing the parts that don't work as well speaks volumes toward what tumblr staff actually cares about.

You will not get a paycheck if your platform becomes defunct, and the thing that makes it special right now is that it is the ONLY large-scale socmed platform on THE ENTIRE INTERNET with a true chronological feed and no aggressive algorithmic content serving. The recent post from staff indicates that you are going to kill that, and are insisting that it's what we want. It is not. I'd hazard to guess that most of the dev team knows it isn't what we want, but I assume the money people don't care. The user base isn't relevant, just how much money they can bring in.

The CEO stated he wanted this to remain as sort of the last bastion of the Old Internet, and yet here we are, watching you declare you intend to burn it to the ground.

You can do so much better than this.

Response to the Update

Under the cut for readability, because everything said above still applies.

I already said this in a reblog on the post itself, but I'm adding it to this one for easy access: people read it that way because that's what you said.

Staff considers the main feed as it exists to be "outdated," to the point that you literally used that word to describe it, and the main goals expressed in this announcement is to figure out what makes "high-quality content" and serve that to users moving forward.

People read it that way because that is what you said.

[homunculus-argument]

Consider: Aliens land on Earth, they are vaguely humanoid in shape and size, but there is no real way to communicate with them. They're social, curious and friendly, though, and try to get to know humans and interact with us the same way as cats do. By mirroring.

They follow humans around - not necessarily any specific ones, but just wandering wherever people go - and do human things with them. Or at least do their best to try. In gravely serious, intensely focused, but deeply confused silence, they join human activities with this air of "I don't understand what we're doing, or what this achieves, but we're doing it together now."

When there are people waiting at bus stops, one or two of the creatures will join the group, standing in wait. When the bus comes, they'll join the queue lining up inside, and once inside, turn their open palm into a light source and show it to the bus driver in the exact same way as the people showing their bus passes from their phones (the aliens' ability to shapeshift this way has raised theories that they may not be naturally as humanoid as they seem, they've just adopted the human shape to better interact with us), and then go find seats wherever, just like humans do.

They're not going anywhere in particular, nor are they capable of actually paying for their ride, but since there doesn't seem to be any force to stop them from this, people just have to accept their presence. If the bus is crowded, they'll stand just like people do - and sometimes when seated aliens see a human offer their seat to someone who is pregnant, disabled or elderly, they will unpromptedly get up and offer their own to the nearest standing human.

They go to churches, temples, grocery stores, libraries, wherever people go, and clearly try their best to do whatever people are doing. In temples and holy places, they will sometimes join hymns in their eerie, wordless howls, which follow no melody but stop when humans stop singing. They sit and stand where the people do, and copy the positions in which humans pray, and many places of worship don't just tolerate, but downright welcome them - no matter what these creatures are, do they not have the right to pray?

In the libraries they are silent, eerily wandering the hallways, picking up books at random and staring at the pages, turning the page this way or that every few minutes. They don't bother anyone much, once the librarians figured out how to make them put the books they pick up into the returns cart, instead of some random place in the shelves. Some of them seem to enjoy simply grabbing random books, and carrying the whole piles to the returns cart.

They don't understand why we do what we do. We don't understand why they do what they do. But we're now doing it together.