#community and love shouldnt be radical

[finchilyflawless]

It all starts with one choice: to care

[professorspork]

idk how to word this properly but wrt the fanfic thing you reblogged earlier. Why do fanfic writers have such different expectations than any other content hosting platform?

Like lets take youtube as a point of comparison, Engagement like comments and likes largely exists to boost the works place in algorithm, thats why youtubers put in calls to action and other engament bait. Few with decent reach even read the comments and the audience shouldnt try to develop any weird parasocial relationship with the youtuber. Fanfic authors ask for likes (kudos, because the websites gotta use nonstandard language for some reason) and comments despite them not having any impact on an algorithm, and seem to want the audience to try and develop a relationship with the author based on tumblr posts like that one.

Why the radical difference in behaviour away from the norm? And honestly with all the (usually) metaphorical blood spilled online about parasociality why are authors really surprised that the audience tries to keep their distance as is best practice with any other content producer?

okay I am going to answer this as kindly and as calmly as I can and try to assume that you are asking this in good faith. because my friend, the fact that you feel the need to ask is, to me, The Problem.

[this is, for the record, in response to this post]

fanfiction writers are not *posting content.* (I also have reservations about engaging with the term "content producer" or "content creator" but let's put that aside for now, I'll circle back to it.) you say "they seem to want the audience to try and develop a relationship with the author" as though it is strange, off-putting, and incomprehensible to you, when in fact that is the point of writing fanfiction. it is a way of participating in fandom. it is a way of building community and exchanging ideas and becoming closer with people.

if authors wanted to solely ~generate content~ that would get them attention (?? to what end, the dynamic you have described seems to equate algorithmic supremacy as winning for winning's sake, as though all anyone wants to do is BUILD an audience without ENGAGING with them, which I cannot fathom but let's pretend for a moment that is, in fact, true) then like. if that were the case why on earth would they choose a medium in which they categorically cannot succeed and profit, because it isn't their IP?

you are equating two things that are not at all the same thing. to the degree that parasocial relationships are to be avoided, and "that person is not trying to be your friend they are trying to entertain you, please respect their boundaries" is a real dynamic -- which it is!! -- like. you have to understand that the reason that is true for the people of whom it is true is because it is their JOB. they are storytellers by profession, and they are either through direct payment, or sponsorship, or advertising, or through some other means, profiting off of your attention. i don't say this to be dismissive, many wonderful artists and actors and comedians and any number of a thousand things that i enjoy very much go this route but they do so as a *career choice.* and so when you violate the public/private boundary with them, you are presuming to know a Person rather than their Worksona. the people who work at Dropout or who stream their actual play tabletop games or who broadcast on TikTok or YouTube are inviting me to feel like i know them to the degree to which that helps them succeed in their medium and at their craft, but there MUST be a mutual understanding that that's a feeling, not a fact.

however.

a fanfiction writer is not an influencer, not a professional, and is not looking to garner "success." there is no share of audience we are trying to gain for gain's sake, because we are not competition with one another, because there is nothing to win other than the pleasure of each other's company. we are doing this for no other reason than the love of the game; because we have things we want desperately to say about these worlds, these characters, these dynamics, and because we *want more than anything to know we are not alone in our thoughts and feelings.* fanfiction is a bid for interaction, engagement, attention, and consideration. it is not meant to be consumed and then moved on from because we are NOT paid for our work, nor do we want to be. the reward we seek is "attention," but attention as in CONVERSATION, not attention as in clicks. we are not IN this for profit, or for number-go-up. there is no such thing: legally there cannot be. we are in this because we want to be seen and known.

like. please understand. i am now married to someone i met because of mutual comments on fanfiction. our close friend and roommate, with whom i have cohabitated for over a decade now, is someone I met because of mutual comments on fanfiction and livejournal posts. that is my household. beyond my household, the vast majority of my closest personal friends are people with whom I built relationships in this way.

you ask why fanfiction writers want THIS and not "the norm," but the idea of everything being built to cater to an algorithm to continue to build clout, as though the only method of reaching people is Distant Overlord Creator and Passive Receptive Audience being "the norm" is EXTREMELY NEW. this is not how it has always been!! please think of the writers of zines in a pre-internet fandom, using paper and glue and xerox to try and meet like-minded people in a world that was designed for you to only ever meet people in person, by happenstance, in your own hometown. imagine the writers of the early internet, building webrings from scratch to CREATE a community to find each other, despite distance. imagine livejournal groups, forums, and -- yes, indeed, of course -- comment threads IN STORIES -- as places where people go to *converse.* in the past, we had an entire Type Of Guy that everyone knew about, the BNF ("Big Name Fan") whose existence had to be described via meme because it was SO DIFFERENT THAN THE NORM. treating fellow fans like celebrities or people too cool for the regular kids to know was an OUTLIER, and one commonly understood to lead to toxicity.

in the past, I have likened writing fanfiction to echolocation. i am not screaming because I like hearing the sound of my own voice, though i can and do find my voice beautiful. i am screaming so that the vibrations can bounce back to me and show me the world. the purpose is in the feedback. otherwise it is just noise.

does this make any sense? can you see, when i describe it that way, why an ask like yours makes me feel despair, because it makes us all sound so horribly separate from one another?

perhaps I will try another metaphor:

a professional chef who runs a restaurant will not have her feelings hurt if you never fight your way into the kitchen to personally tell her how much you enjoyed the meal. that would, indeed, violate a boundary. professional kitchens are a place of work, and you have already showed her you enjoyed the meal by paying for it, or by perhaps spreading your enjoyment by word of mouth to your friends so they, too, can have good meals. you show your appreciation by continuing to come back. if a bunch of people sitting around randomly happen to have a conversation about how much they love the food, it wouldn't hurt that chef's feelings to not be included in the conversation. however: EVEN IN THIS INSTANCE, it is ADVISABLE AND APPROPRIATE to leave a good review! you might post about how much you like this restaurant on Yelp, and it would probably make the chef feel great to see those positive comments. but the chef doesn't NEED them, because the chef is, again, *also being paid to cook.* that's why she started the restaurant, to be paid to cook!

i am not being paid to cook.

i am at home in my own kitchen, making things for a community potluck where i hope everyone will bring something we can all enjoy together. some people at the potluck are better bakers, some better cooks; some can't cook at all but are great at logistics and make sure there's enough napkins for everyone; some people come just to enjoy the food, because that's what the party is for. and if I, as this enthusiast chef who made something from my heart for this reason alone, learned after the fact that a bunch of people got together in the parking lot to rave about my dish but no one of them had ever bothered to tell me while I sat alone at my table all night, occasionally seeing people come by to pick up a plate but never saying anything to me -- of course that would bother me, because I am not otherwise profiting off the labor I put in. this is not a bid to be paid, because if someone WERE to say "hey, great cake!! here's five bucks for a slice" i would say no, friend, that is not the point and give them the money back. i'm not trying to Get Mine. I am in it to see the look on your face. I'm in it so you can tell me what about it moved you, so that I can say back what moved me to make it in the first place. so we can TALK about it.

because what happened in the first place is this: one time I had a cake whose sweetness, richness, flavor, intensity, and composition moved me so much that I *taught myself to bake.* so I could see how much vanilla and sugar was too much, so I could learn how to make things rise instead of fall flat, so I could even better appreciate the original cake by seeing for myself the effort and talent and inspiration that goes into making one even half as good.

learning to do so is a satisfying accomplishment in and of itself, yes.

but I also did it because at the end of the day we should EAT the cake. and it's a lonely thing, to eat alone when a meal was always designed and intended to be shared.

so, to answer your last question: i'm not surprised, i'm just sad. because somehow two things that were never meant to be seen as the same have been labeled "content," and thus identical. and it diminishes both the things that ARE intended to be paid for AND the things that are not, because it removes any sense of intimacy or meaning from the work.

i hope you know i'm not mad at you for asking. but i'm frustrated we've come to live in a world where the question needs to be asked, because the answers are no longer intuitively obvious because we're so siloed.

[littlemisshaleybug]

Not sure how much I want to or even can add to the conversation about consuming "problematic" media, but the topic is on my mind and I just wanna get a few thoughts out.

Its important to read and understand challenging media, and even media made by people you condemn actions of. Getting rid of things because they're made by racists or sexists or sexual predators does not help in the long run and is just another form of censorship, and opening the door to censorship opens the door to dictatorship, and we all know where the global political climate is right now.

Should you give living problematic creators your money? Probably not, so bootlegging and pirating is probably your best bet, but there are a few factors I want to specify on why I dont condemn people who still enjoy those things.

First, we need to get comfortable with the fact that bad people can make good art. Horrible people can be wonderful musicians, amazing artists, moving writers. Of course sometimes their views or beliefs can bleed into their work, and in some cases it is very clearly written within the text, but sometimes they just make good stuff and it doesn't make you evil if you aren't able to pick up on their badness right away, or even at all, on your own, and it doesn't make you a bad person for still finding joy in the art that they created, because chances are you love it for reasons completely outside who made it. Maybe you read a book growing up that brought you joy in dark times, or played a game that introduced you to lifelong friendships. That still matters! It still means something! The key thing to remember is that the happiness doesnt come from the creator, but from what you made their art into for you personally.

This is leads to my next point, that because what made it special to you is your own, there shouldnt be any need to justify your actions, but more importantly you shouldnt justify the actions of the creator. As an example, getting into arguments over why you deserve to keep buying HP merch and feeding into the media monster that it has become despite not supporting JKR's radical feminist dogma completely eradicates the self awareness of understanding the enormous harm she has done to the queer and transgender community, or attempting to stand up for Vizzypop and minimize the slurry of doxxing and death threats she encouraged back in the day, as well as the hossibke working conditions of present animators, because you love the Hellaverse and absolutely need to stream it and visit her booth at conventions. Having an emotional attachment to something they made does not negate the damage people like this have done in the world, and you are only harming yourself and your own emotional maturity journey if you do deny or ignore their actions.

On that note it should not come as a surprise to you when people you love criticize or question your motives when you praise these works or attempt to encorage others to engage with them. In this day and age, especially online, you can and will lose relationships with people for supporting certain medias, and you need to be prepared for those consiquences. Personally I struggle to understand the disconnect a few of my loved ones seem to show about not one but two pieces of media made by "alleged" child predators. It makes interacting with them difficult because they adore the works so very much, and often insist I should give them a chance and that I will love them if I do. I am no moral standard by any means, I have plenty of problematic favs that would make your average keyboard warrior explode, but we all have lines we dont cross and thats mine. If I know about the crimes prior most of the time I dont want to give it any of my time or attention, and I should not have to feel like the odd one out for standing my ground and politely declining.

Im human, Im not trying to be superior or kick down someone's passions, but if someone has a very direct and valid reason to not engage with a piece of art then that should be both respected and validated. If you feel shamed or embarrassed, use that shame to take a deeper look and understand why you feel that way. Obviously dont just take insults or abuse if someone is trying to tear you down, but if you believe their points are valid and its coming from a place of honesty and willingness to communicate, I think the mature thing to do is to do some introspection on why this media means so much to you and come up with your own conclusions. Is your love for a children's show really worth losing trust in your relationship? Is it worth the relationship altogether?

Anyways, I dont know where I was exactly going with this, but I guess to summarize it I understand that to be a person in this media age you have to understand for your own sanity that the world is a multitude of gray areas and that nothing is truly black and white. Taking anything too seriously, or too casually, does have consiquences, and there is nothing that will grant you immunity from criticism, so take the extra time to think things through and decide if the thing you passively give your time and attention to is really worth it, and kill the cop in your head that condemns every rough or uncomfortable or completely unproblematic part of you. Expand your horizons, not just for your intelect, but for your soul as well, because you may surprise yourself with how complex you really are.

[danielnelsen]

i dont wanna see people talking about how harmful discourse doesnt actually bleed into real life, because last year during the public survey on marriage equality in australia, there was a huge amount of blatant homophobia everywhere, and people in my uni’s lgbt group told me and my boyfriend that it was gross when we (lightly) made out.

it’s not a matter of whether you’d call the same expression of pda between straight people gross or not. that’s not a valid argument here. the fact is that we had nowhere that was safe outside of that room where we could actually express that we cared about each other. what we were doing was not inappropriate and it didnt infringe on the experience of any other people in the room; we were not touching anywhere intimate, we were not removing any clothing, we were not making any noise, etc, yet we were told we were disgusting in a place that was designed to be safe for, among other groups, gay men.

im not hardline on too many discourse topics because, frankly, most things just arent worth it. this isnt a sentiment that im targeting at anyone other than people who have a problem with gay pda. but there is nothing gross or harmful about two gay men being physically affectionate with one another.

[iridescentides]

hi again dia! happy first day of december ❤️💚 i wanted to ask you what, in your opinion, are the 5 most underrated dcoms? i remember you saying before that you've watched all of them so i'd love to hear your opinions 😊 - 🎅🎁🎄

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH secret santa you are so good! asking me all the best questions 💜

okay so i literally had to make a list of all the dcoms i consider underrated and then narrow down a top 5. theres lots of dcoms that i love, but that i think got the right amount of attention and care (like lemonade mouth and the teen beach movies, for example), so this list just focuses on ones that deserved more hype for their quality level.

5. The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008)

okay so even as i type this i feel like a hypocrite. i have only watched this movie one time. BUT i can acknowledge that its one of the most criminally underrated dcoms ever, tons of people didnt watch it simply because raven wasnt in it. thats why i avoided it as a child, and i didnt get around to watching it until i did my big dcom binge in 2016. and it was so good. theres a really long post floating somewhere around tumblr full of specifics on why its actually the best cheetah girls movie (my favorite is the second one purely out of nostalgia), so to paraphrase some points from that post:

its a solid example of cultural appreciation, rather than appropriation, as the girls go and learn about bollywood and indian culture together

the indian characters arent treated like props or unimportant sides, they get their own agency and storylines that are important

the songs are good!!!

basically this movie was overlooked and slept on even though in terms of role modeling and social value, and just like the first two cheetah girls movies it was important and impactful.

4. Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011)

okay so as someone whos very neutral and occasionally negative-leaning towards the hsm franchise (mostly bc its overhyped and not really representative of all dcoms), i was pleasantly surprised by sharpays fabulous adventure. this is another one that i know lots of people skipped right over and dont hold with as much esteem as the main hsm franchise, and that doesnt sit right with me.

i do not agree with the “uwu sharpay was the real victim in hsm” arguments bc in their efforts to look galaxy brained the people who say that overlook the fact that she was a rich white woman who used her power and status to exercise control over opportunities that should have been fairly and freely available for all; they were not “making a mockery of her theater” in the first movie, they were literally just kids who wanted to try out a new school activity that everyone was supposed to be allowed to participate in; and despite allegedly learning her lesson and singing we’re all in this together with everyone at the end of the first movie, she literally showed no growth in the second movie as she fostered an openly hostile environment and favored troy so heavily that it literally cost him his friends, all as part of yet another jealous plan to take things away from people who already have less than her. she was NOT the victim in the main franchise, and she did not seem to exhibit any growth or introspection either.

and that!!! is why sharpays fabulous adventure was so important. in focusing on sharpay as the main character, they finally had to make her likeable. they did this by showing actual real growth and putting her outside of her sphere of influence and control. we saw true vulnerability from her, instead of the basic ass “mean girl is sad bc shes actually just super insecure” trope (cough cough radio rebel), and this opened us up to finally learn about and care about her character. throughout the movie we see her learn, from her love interests example, how to care for others and be considerate. she faces actual adversity and works through it, asking herself what she truly wants and what shes capable of. and in the end, when she finally has her big moment, we’re happy for her bc she worked hard to get there. she becomes a star through her own merit and determination, rather than through money and connections. this movie is not perfect by any means, but it is severely underrated for the amount of substance it adds to sharpays character.

3. The Swap (2016)

okay i know im gonna get shit for this but thats why its on this list!!! just like sharpays fabulous adventure, its not perfect and definitely misses the mark sometimes, but it deserves more attention and love for all the things it did get right!

the swap follows two kids who accidentally switch bodies because of their emotional attachment to their dead/absent parents’ phones. and while i normally HATE the tv/movie trope of a dead parent being the only thing that builds quick sympathy for a young character, they definitely expanded well enough to where we could root for these kids even without the tragedy aspect. we see them go through their daily struggles and get a feel for their motivations as characters pretty well. as a body switching movie, we expect it to be all goofy and wacky and lighthearted, but it moves beyond that in unexpected ways.

the reason the swap is on this list is for its surprisingly thoughtful commentary on gender roles. its by no means a feminist masterpiece, and its not going to radicalize kids who watch it, but it conveys a subtle, heartfelt message that deserves more appreciation. the characters struggle with the concept of gender in a very accurate way for their age, making off-base comments and feeling trapped by the weight of expectations they cant quite put their finger on. we watch them feel both at odds with and relieved by the gender roles they are expected and allowed to perform in each others bodies, and one of the most interesting parts of the movie to me is their interactions with the other kids around them. as a result of their feeling out of place in each others environments, the kids inadvertently change each others friendships for the better by introducing new communication styles and brave authenticity. 

the value of this movie is the subtle, but genuine way it shows the characters growing through being given the space to act in conflicting ways to their expected norms. ellie realizes that relationships dont have to be complex, confusing, and painful, and that its okay to not live up to appearances and images. jack learns that emotional expression is good, healthy, and especially essential to the grieving process. one of the most powerful scenes in the movie comes at the end where, after ellie confronts jacks dad in his body, jack returns as himself to a very heartfelt apology from his father for being too hard on him; the explicit message (”boys can cry”) is paired with an open expression of love and appreciation for his kids that he didnt feel comfortable displaying until his son set an example through honest communication. this is such an empowering scene and overall an empowering movie for kids who may feel stuck in their expected roles, as it sets a positive example for having the courage to break the restrictive societal mold. for its overall message of the importance of introspection and emotional intelligence, the swap is extremely underrated.

2. Freaky Friday (2018)

this is my favorite dcom, and probably my favorite movie at this point. ive always assigned a lot of personal value to this movie (and i love every freaky friday in general), for the message of selfless familial love and understanding. i know i can get carried away talking about this topic; i got an anon ask MONTHS ago asking me about the freaky friday movies and i wrote a super super long detailed response that i never posted bc i didnt quite finish talking about the 2018 movie. and thats bc on a personal level, i cant adequately convey all the love i have for this movie. so i will try to keep this short.

first lets state the obvious: the reason people dont like this movie is bc its not the lindsay lohan version. and i get that, to an extent, bc i also love the 2003 version and its one of my ultimate comfort movies, and grew up watching it and ive seen it a billion times. i even watched it a couple days ago. but the nostalgia goggles that people have on from the early 2000s severely clouds their judgement of the wonderful 2018 remake.

yes, the 2018 version is dorky, overly simplistic plot wise, a bit stiff at times, and super cheesy like any dcom. the writing isnt 100% all the time. the narrative takes a couple confusing turns. the song biology probably shouldnt have been included. i understand this. but at the heart of it all, this movies value is love. and its edge over all the other freaky friday movies is the songs.

on a personal level, the movie speaks heavily to me. i cried very early into my first viewing of the movie bc i got to see dara renee, a dark-skinned, non-skinny actress, playing the mean popular girl on disney channel. that has never happened before. growing up, i saw the sharpays and all the other super thin white women get to be the “popular” girls on tv, and ultimately they were taken down in the end for being mean, but that doesnt change the fact that they were given power and status in the first place for being conventionally beautiful. so, watching dara renee strut around confidently and sing about being the queen bee at this high school got to me immediately. and in general, the supporting cast members of color really mean a lot to me in this movie. we get to see adam, an asian male love interest for the main character. we have a second interracial relationship in the movie with katherines marriage to mike. ellies best friend karl is hispanic. and we see these characters have depth and plot significance, we see them show love, care, and passion for the things they value. the brown faces in this movie are comforting to me personally. additionally, the loving, blended family dynamic is important to me as someone in a close-knit, affectionate step-family.

but on a more general level, this movie is underrated for its skillful musical storytelling and the way it conveys all kinds of love and appreciation. in true freaky friday fashion, we watch ellie and katherine stumble and misstep in their attempts to act like each other. its goofy and fun. but through it all, the music always captures the characters’ intimate thoughts and feelings. the opening song gives us a meaningful view into ellie and katherines relationship and the fundamental misunderstandings that play a role in straining their connection. ellie sings about how she thinks her mom wants her to be perfect, and her katherine sings about all the wonderful traits she sees in her daughter and how she wants her to be more open and self assured. this is meaningful bc even as theyre mad at each other, the love comes through. the songs continue to bring on the emotional weight of the story, as ellie sings to her little brother about her feelings of hurt and abandonment in her fathers absence. the song “go” and its accompanying hunt scene always make me cry bc of the childlike wonder and sense of adventure that it brings. for the kids, its a coming of age, introspective song. for katherine who gets to participate in ellies body, its a reminder of youth and the rich, full life her daughter has ahead of her. she is overcome with excitement, both from getting to be a teenager again for a day, and from the realization that her daughter has a support network and passions that are all her own. today and ev’ry day, the second to last song, is the culmination of the lessons learned throughout the movie, a mother and daughters tearful commitment to each other to love, protect, and understand one another. the line “if today is every day, i will hold you and protect you, i wont let this thing affect you” gets to me every time. even when things are hard and dont go according to plan, they still agree, in this moment, to be there for each other. and thats what all freaky friday stories are ultimately about.

freaky friday 2018 is a beautiful, inclusive, subversive display of familial love, sacrifice, and selflessness, and it is underrated and overlooked because of its more popular predecessor.

1. Let It Shine (2012)

this is another one of my favorite dcoms and movies in the whole world. unlike the other movies on this list, it is not the viewers themselves that contribute to the underrated-ness of this movie. disney severely under-promoted and under-hyped this movie in comparison to its other big musical franchises, and i will give you five guesses as to why, but youll only need one!

let it shine is the most beautifully, unapologetically black dcom in the whole collection. (i would put jump in! at a notable second in this category, but that one wasnt underrated). this movie was clearly crafted with care and consideration. little black kids got to see an entire dcom cast that represented them. the vernacular used in the script is still tailored mostly to white-favoring audiences, but with some relevant slang thrown in there. in short, the writers got away with the most blackness they were allowed to inject into a disney channel project.

the story centers on rap music and its underground community in atlanta, georgia. it portrays misconceptions surrounding rap, using a church setting as a catalyst for a very real debate surrounding a generational, mutlicultural conflict. this was not a “safe” movie for disney, given its emphasis on religious clashes with contemporary values. it lightly touches on issues of image policing within the black community (cyrus’s father talking about how “our boys” are running around with sagging pants and “our girls” are straying away from god), which is a very real and pressing problem for black kids who feel the pressure (from all sides) of representing their whole race with their actions. its a fun, adorable story about being yourself and staying true to your art, but also a skillful representation of struggles unique to black and brown kids and children from religious backgrounds.

on top of crafting a fun, wholesome, thoughtful narrative and likeable protagonists, let it shine brought us what is in my opinion the BEST dcom soundtrack of all time. every single song is a bop. theyre fast, fun, and lyrically engaging. “me and you” is my favorite disney channel song of all time due to its narrative significance; i will never forget my first time watching the movie and seeing that big reveal unfold onstage, as a conversation and a plot summary all wrapped into a song. the amount of thought and care that went into the music of this movie should have been rewarded with a level of attention on par with that of other musical dcoms.

if disney channel had simply cared about let it shine more, it couldve spanned franchises and sold songs the way that other musical dcoms have drawn in success. i would have loved for a sequel that explored and fleshed out cyrus’s neighborhood a little bit more, and maybe dipped into that underground scene they caught a glimpse of. i wanted a follow up on the changed church community once cyrus’s father started supporting his sons vision. i want so much more for these characters and this world than disney gave them in just one movie.

for its bold, unabashed representation of blackness and religion, subtle, nuanced presentation of race-specific issues, strong, likeable characters, and complex, thoughtful songs, let it shine is the most underrated dcom.

and because i made a full list before i started writing this post, here are some honorable mentions:

going to the mat (2004)

gotta kick it up! (2002)

tru confessions (2002)

dont look under the bed (1999)

invisible sister (2015)

[laurakinney]

what are your, "thoughts on," hickmans xmen books?

im not proofreading this and im typing it on my crappy phone so sorry for any mistakes

hm okay when i first started reading dox i was like. in the middle of getting into the xmen so i didnt really have a solid idea of their characters their relationship and their history so i Loved dox, like i went crazy reading new mutants nad *sigh* marauders cause like. at the time it was everything i needed u know like pretty island? all the characters in one place and not fighting? its really great at first glance but lucky for me time passed

now my thoughts are just. unclear. cause like as much as it pains me to say hickman is a good writer but hes a good writer in the sense that its interesting to read his books when its three years later and all the plot points and big reveals have become part of their universes landscape. and honestly comics make me so tired hickman is a good writer simply for... having good ideas....

but this has been said over and over (because its true) but hickman Does Not Know How To Write Character like legit... i havent read any of his other big runs but this is a Very big problem in hoxpox and dox... i cant tell u a single thing thats happened in xmen and it has had like all my favorite characters as the “main focus”, but even then theyre used more like pieces to the story cause the main focus will always be the plot and hickman setting up a bunch of things

theres also just. the blatantly bad stuff hickmans made a part of krakoa like the imperialism, the eugenics, the exclusionism and blatant disregard for the characters cultures and origin under the guise of New Mutant Nation (cult)

it also makes me ... scared for the future of the xmen and for the undertones it has like. the xmen are not the most liked group now more than ever and the way theyre treated in universe by the population And the superhero community has always been alwful like? the mutant population has been decimated so many times over the years and there are so many groups dedicated to murdering mutants for whatever reasons and anytime any of the xmen say “oh wait this is actually a really shit and opressive society mutants shouldnt be treated like this” they get viewed in universe as crazy and “too radical” 

i got off track here but basically im worried this has some “minorities are supposed to be opressed because this is the way it has always been and any kind of change to the status quo will only lead to worse things” undertones....

send some asks that are like “thoughts on ______”

[crowchucktaxidermy]

this is my ostrich skull. it's a young adult specimen, and I love it to bits! it is, however, a Chinese sourced skull. I didn't know - I had bought it second hand from an antique shop, and it didn't occur to me ostriches were the new thing!

we've been told for a while now never to buy Chinese skulls - they're often poorly cleaned (this boy here has got some grease, and foxes can be orange with it), and come from fur farms, which are rife with abuse and neglect.....right?

we all want to avoid supporting unethical trades in the Vulture Culture Community, and I'm absolutely all for that. avoid those fruit bats, as they're hunted en masse for their parts. avoid that certain Indonesian eBay seller, and all those African facebook sellers who found 50 perfect dead hornbills. however, on the basis on Chinese fur farms having high levels of animal abuse? the only examples I've seen can be traced back to animal r/ghts activism or radical v*gan (censored so this doesn't pop up in the searches) articles - which have either been exposed as faked, or are notorious for taking what they record out of context, for example, filming a cow bellowing "desperately for its baby," when in reality, she's just in heat.

china is, indeed, infamous for its poor welfare standards and regulations. but I've been thinking, and I've found it hard to believe just because the welfare standards are lower, every single ostrich farm and fox ranch out there are treating their animals horribly. a neglected, uncomfortable ostrich will not produce enough eggs, and it's more economic to meet its needs. a cramped, stressed fox will have poor quality fur.

one example on an article by natgeo shows a photo of a mink fur farm owned by a small business. it shows the enclosures appearing to be quite small, with even smaller, mobile cages containing a mink in each on top, and two staff members. those mobile cages are almost definitely to temporarily contain the animal, possibly during enclosure upkeep. and yes, the enclosures are small - but consider how poultry is raised. often in worse conditions, bred to crush themselves under their weight if not culled, beaks clipped so they can't kill eachother. this is acceptable by our welfare standards, and the same people (including myself!) who have been warning against the ethicality of Chinese specimens, have been happily devouring some KFC.

at this point, it appears arguements against these sources have turned from a worry for ethics, to borderline stereotyping and racism. I've caught some folk saying some nasty stuff following a conversation about Chinese specimens. when in reality, I haven't seen any refutable source to support the notion that, currently, a large enough portion of farming in China is abusive enough to warrant warnings of maltreatment to animals over byproducts on ebay.

this isn't to say go on eBay and buy 15 greasy fox skulls right now because it's actually okay! I haven't found any sources of the contrary, either, which isn't surprising - positive articles about any kind of farming are few and far between as fearmongering over the finnish furfarm and PET@ takes hold of western media, and because, well, farms SHOULDNT be praised with media attention for treating animals well, it's a bare minimum. I'm asking for a discussion - is it as bad as we make it out to be? are the poor practices held by a majority, or only a viral minority?

I would absolutely love any takes and sources on either side of this. I would love to believe things have been exaggerated, but I know i may just be feeling hopeful, too. please note I am not v*gan, never have been, never will, I'm a huge supporter of sustainable farming and hunting for any resource, I believe fur farming should not be banned, please do not dump animal r/ghts stuff on this post.

[sparrowpraxis]

The Problem with Solarpunk

I love solarpunk. I love the idea of being agressively, radically positive. I love the earth. I want to see it thrive. I love that people get together to fight and create positive change for the environment.

But yall are really botching this.

Any "solarpunk" community ive been in online is rife with academia, elitism, and disregard for poor people. Its making the movement stale and sick.

Posting academic articles isnt solarpunk. Partificating over words and "should-we-could-we" isnt solarpunk. Defending shit people because they wrote some half decent academia isnt solarpunk.

Solarpunk is throwing wildflower seeds on your neighbors monoculture lawn. Its reduce/reuse/recycle. Its grafting food tree stems onto the trees in your neighborhood. Its planting food in the median. Its planting food in parks. Its climbing up trees and joining protests to stop pipelines.

We should glorify stuff like this!!! Encourage action!! Solarpunk is about making the world a better place, goddamn what the people say.

Solarpunk should look like ecoterrorism. It should look like dirty hippie punks giving a fuck about the environment. It shouldnt look like an article passed around to no avail, no action.

[th3okamid3mon]

[SPOILERS] Review/Ramble on Roma (2018) Dir. Alfonso Cuarón

So i just watch Roma, a movie around the 1970´s (1971 to be precise) in México, Ciudad de México

For anyone who doesn´t know, there´s this suburb called Roma, that´s why it has that name, its not in Italy or anything jaja. 

By now, probably everyone has seen it or has been like ¨OH, SPANISH! i don´t want to read the english subtitles ¨ (i hope that´s not the case because SO HELP ME DOG), in my unprofessional and cinema student-ish opinion, I like it. 

The movie is recorded in black and white, not sure with what camera or why the decision was to make it that way but the image has great quality and it makes the focus more on the story and characters than the surroundings (not that the art wasn´t important, in fact, it must have been a hell of a work to make certain pallets of colors to make it contrast different to each, also to not make everyone blend together into a weird spot). Cuarón direct, write and was in charge of the photography (which is what he is known for) , his writing was actually really balanced between the serious main parts of the movie, the common daily basis humor and interactions between the characters. 

Most of the shots were master shots with panning, there were no medium shots nor close ups (At least not until the end of act 3) . Doing this type of shots gives the viewer a chance to see the surroundings of the characters and to view whats going on around. I think this is because, even if we follow the main family and the protagonist Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), the main point could be that they aren´t the only ones with a life and with problems. We can see other people, we can see them doing their own thing, it gives the film a more genuine feeling about a really busy street, city or town, we can see there´s more life outside the house of the protagonists. 

The whole story has a lot of tragedy, in fact there´s 2 whole stories full of tragedies: Cleo´s (the maid) story and Sofia´s (the employer or ¨patrona¨) story. Cleo is working like a maid and nanny for a family, she doesnt seem to be miserable, just indifferent about that job. It doesnt mean she is uncaring towards Sofia´s children or anything, its just her usual routine that she already knows. It is really nice to watch 2 people which share the same language talking like a usual common thing, other than just spanish. In this case, Cleo and her friend talk in mixteco a native language of México, im glad to see it treated as something usual for them and not like a surprise because there´s still a big community of indigenous people that still practice certain traditions and still talk languages. This includes more people and shows the diversity in the country as well as introducing more talent to the filming industry (not just certain type of people). Cleo isnt mistreated by anyone at the house, which is nice to see (other than the usual racist comments and mistreament), however she has this impotence appearance when her employer gets angry at her (obviously anyone would be terrified, specially if you lived with them and you could be potentionally thrown out). At some point, Cleo gets pregnant and its horrified when she: a) cant convince Fermín (motherfucker 2) that he is the father, and b) isnt sure wether her boss will throw her out of the house or not. 

Sofia is the employer, her children are Sofia, Paco, Toño and Pepe. Her husband Antonio (motherfucker 1) is a doctor which she loves, but once the story starts developing you get to know in the background that their marriage is crumbling. He goes on having adventures with other woman and lying to Sofia, meanwhile Sofia tries to keep it together while her children are acting like children and pre-teenagers. 

One thing i found interesting is the decision the writer (Cuarón) took when he made almost every male character an asshole. You have Antonio which lies and cheats her wife and then you have Fermin who bails on Cleo once she tells him she´s pregnant, also he threatens to kill her and her unborn child with martial arts (it...got a bit weird...). I would add the kids Paco and Toño because they were acting like disrespectful asshats, but I´ll pretend it was the hormones of teenage years and the whole situation between their mother and father. There´s also el compadre (i think its brother in law) of Sofia who tries to ¨comfort her¨. In general, this movie has certain violence towards female protagonists. 

Another thing i found interesting was how everything was according the era, like everything around the characters was moving independently of the characters. Everyone had to move according to the circumstances around them which they didnt had control over. Most notorious example: 1971, 3 years after Tlatelolco 

[NOTE: the image above is a real picture took from the protests from 1968]

The characters move around while events like the protests of students are still going around, the children are talking in one scene bout someone who got shot and in another sequence we see Cleo and her patrona going to a store to buy a crib which is interrupted by the screams of horror from the students, then a pair gets inside the store screaming ¨They are killing us!!¨. Then a group of porros (people who are paid by the government to start riots and make the opponent side the responsible of the excessive force used by the police, AKA, making them the guilty ones) get inside and shoot them. That whole scenario is independent of the characters, yet they are involve in it because they are there, and they cant do anything because thats what a person would do in a stressing situation: nothing, besides, Cleo is pregnant at that point so she would obviously wouldnt make any dumb move, specially when she sees that one of the porros is Fermin. 

[NOTE: this shot is from the actual movie, AKA: ITS NOT REAL]

Including social and politic events in the movie gives it a more authentic atmosphere, it makes the viewer get inside the story and give a view and let us appreciate how México (my country) looked back then as well as giving us a look to everyones personalities during this different time period. 

The interactions of the children and Cleo was the sweetest most adorable thing i have ever seen. Cleo is looked like a human being and not like a third type character, she has a voice and a personality, which is something we dont usually see when it comes to maids. She shares fun with her friends, she has dates, she laughs, she cries, she is human. She also shares part of her culture, with the children and Sofia isnt bother at all. Cleo sings lullabies in mixteco to the little girl Sofia, who gleefully sings with her. Making it so common, so normal and such a nice moment normalizes it; in the shot Cleo and Sofia says prayers first and then Cleo sings her lullaby. Its great to see the interactions and intersections of cultures like that, both are mexicans but come from different homes and cultures, yes, cultures because at the end of the day México is very diverse, it doesnt have just one way to live. There are different cultures within the country. It is really important that we see it as the normal, our normal because we need to include more people, to make it ok for everyone to feel included in the same place, we are from the same place after all. 

Other important point is the fact that this women have each others back in some sense and in most of the movie. Cleo helps Sofia during her times of need when she is stressing over her husbands infidelity and economic state, while Sofia helps Cleo during her pregnancy. Teresa, Sofia´s mother, also helps Cleo by getting her to a store to buy a crib and Cleo´s doctor is actually a woman, so most of the movie is woman helping woman. NOTE: Im not saying the men in the whole movie are awful people, SOME of them are, the one who have more interactions with the main protagonists. I dont want a radical feminist group to take this movie and twisted like they usually do with EVERY fucking thing. The main point of the movie is looking the hard and tough lives of women from different cultures and how they move on, some man do help like the guy who drive them around or Ramon (a side character which i think it was Adela´s boyfriend, Adela is Cleo´s friend), END OF THE NOTE

CONCLUSION: 

It is a good movie that shows a common part of life which involve good and bad things, from tragedies like infant death or civil massacres to the hopefulness of a better way to live, because the end of the movie comes full circles with everyones life but with hopefulness of a bright future. In this case the saying ¨What doesnt kill you makes you stronger¨ fits perfectly. 

The photography and art departments did a great job making the ambient from the 70s and giving the atmosphere to each scene and sequence a heavy and light feeling depending on what was going on. My mom was delighted to see certain places during those times because she remembers during her childhood looking at those different signs and streets, so the ambience was on point. For some reason I feel Netflix sold their soul or something to make this movie cause THOSE CARS LOOK EXPENSIVE, or maybe it isnt as expensive as i thought (should look up that later). The only complaint i could think of is that it should have pass to movie theaters a bit longer or at least project it again cause it can be more appreciated in those places than in your home with a faulty internet (my internet went out at least 7 times); also the effects of the babies were... really awkward to the point of being distracting and funny. They really looked like dolls, they bounce a bit, specially during the scene where Cleo gives birth to the death child (I shouldnt have laugh to that scene...but that damn doll look so plasticy... ) 

All and all, it was enjoyable to watch, the acting was good, even for the children. They did a great job, some of the lines were spoken awkwardly by the oldest kid, as to sound more mature? i guess that was the direction they went for. The characters were likable, they could make you laugh or cry during different times and make you feel for them. 

I think anyone could watch this but it is, what everyone could consider, a slow movie. So make sure to have everything you got and take time to appreciate everything around them, because i think this is like a candy you need to look around, everything they put its meant to be looked at. I give the movie 8/10 

[LOOKATTHATDAMNFUCKINGSHOTHMMMM!!!!GOODSHITRIGHTTHEREIFIDOSAYSOMYSELF!!!HOLYSHIT!!!NOMAMESESTASUPERCABRONALABERGA!!]

[turtons]

revolutionarypoodle said: you have to admit the cost and red tape is discouraging particularly to low income families 100% but then just don't have children imo. rich people pay big money for surrogate mothers (or go to india and pay less) and ivf and they shouldnt have children either - and anyone who needs to crowdsource funds to biologically have a child shouldnt be doing that in my opinion. like, honest to god having biological children should not be such a cultural milestone that ppl think its required and like their god given duty, and there are so many people who do have biological children they dont want either from the beginning or down the line. and people will say that children in foster care or up for adoption are difficult for a variety of reasons but there is no guarantee a kid you give birth to wont have a behavioral problem, encounter trauma, get a chronic disease, develop a disability, whatever. if you want to make an impact on children but cant afford adoption why do you need one of your own - go get a background check and start volunteering at elementary schools or community centers or share a skill and teach kids. i know this will never change and that this is a radical anti-individualistic opinion and i'm normally very individualistic but an unborn child cant choose to come in to the world but there are thousands of kids lying in bed at night desperate to feel loved and they are forgotten as soon as they age out of the system and it's completely inhumane.

[collection-19]

SUNDAY 09 FEB 2020

0400

(((I’ve messed up a lot in my life I wasn’t really there, not because of the people around me but because of me. I didn’t know myself and still don’t really know, but I’m closer because I can see what I was doing. I don’t know everything but I know im in a different place right now, mentally. And I feel stronger, more there, I was ready before for a lot of things, and people got hurt along the journey of my lessons and teachings and that what I feel for the most, the pieces lost along the way. the moments lost. I wasn’t honest, but first to myself and that was that caused it all. not seeing yourself here. But now I see more clearly, I am more of my own person, I acted unaligned impulsively because of the circumstance but I’m changing them now - the words are right, this isn’t how it sounds in my head 0445)))

Man shits been playing on my mind a lot in the last couple months. I’ve been through a lot and have absorbed so much knowledge and experience and choas along the way. The current climate scares me. Im talking about the social, political, economic and environmental climate. Theres so many wrong doings going on rn that my current positions as a student seems irrelevant to the future we could see. Im questioning a lot of things right now and i can see things in this huge web. Everything is interconnected. Its time to start waking up, growing, learning. We need to be absorbing quality content, i mean real shit man. What is happening with indigenous communiates. Why have their rights been stripped. Why are we not learning more about the world today. Why arent we leaning about the history that created the world today. How are we meant to move forward without understanding the past, our past. If you look properly, if you see, you see that actions have changed but the motivations are still the same. We need more dialogue, experience, understanding and to learn from each other. Just start using your time to learn, and enjoy. Enjoy the here and now, living in the present, and have a undertsanding relationship with the past and future. We are more than just employees, social media profiles, constituents. We are active citizens that should be more engaged and participating. We shouldnt just contribute to society throught misplaced votes, jury duty and taxes. We all have a voice right? Its should be normal to talk, speak up, its time to understand what you’re really hearing and seeing. I’m not saying be radical, i’m saying just start questioning more - openly! Without judgement and discrimination (i’m talking about that conditioned hatred not the shit you ‘know’ is bad, that systemic embedded bullshit - we all are players we just don’t see it) and be open to explore things from different perspecitives. Its time to wake up. Life is short, but it means something…

Intentions, motivations, morals, justifications. It’s fine and healthy to be questioning yourself no?, i wish more people voiced some kind of active search for understand of the roots of out opinions, prefernces and actions - right?. We are all people, just living different experiences.

What is speciesism? - why is this relevant.

Im not some radical person, if you knew me in my life you’ll see i’m just a mellow people whos trying to take life easy. Trying to embrace the flow ya feel. I have opinions but they change, i am open to all opinions were people are willing to delve deeper. I dont know much, i’m not someone who thinks they know it all bc i dont, theres too much, im just trying to make sense of the things around me. I dont know the definietions or how to use big words but language is powerful and its kinda mad. Life is a journey of learning and evolving. Are we moving forward? We need more love, kindness, positivity, for everyone. The bigger picture man.

If theres a possibilty of harm, isnt it even worth it. Im talking about suffering and lofe and death here. The real shit people are subjected too. I live a privileged life, i do, and its disgusting that i could be living such a different life if i was born as a different race, different sex, different gender, different appearance, different body type, different height, different household, different class status, different country, difference community, different species. Why would lofe be different? Bc we have lost that sense of collectiveness, them roots. its just comparisons. We’ve lost the sense and the fact that we all live of this earth sharing the same big varied environment but we’re all in the same atmosphere, in the same planet, in the same solar system. in the same… we can go on for days here aha. I guess something that might be fitting is something i heard years ago, (maybe from buddhism) but it went something like we are all just individual drops in a ocean, but a ocean can be still or turbulant right? I dont know what i’m getting at but i think i mean we are all small but we are all part of a collective you know. We can make waves together. I think the key is in that togetherness, is that understanding (but time is running out) we gotta come together man, in today with the people you see, we need to be talking about uncomfortable topics, about hate crimes, terrorism, sex, relationships, traumas, politics, laws, the environment, the food we eat, the things we do, our routines, our likes and dislikes, there are soooooo many more things, but think about some how you’ve known people but how many times have been talked about the experiences that have shaped us or the things that are shaping who we are and our actions. We gotta alogn ourselves, and inner selves. The mind that talks while its quiet. The things that bug you or lifts you. Its a lot more man.

[isitovernowfromthevault]

Political lesbians go back to the 70's as part of radical feminism. Its particularly strong in academia and comes from the idea that relationships between men and women are inherently bad for some reason or another. We cannot escape the patriarchy in our private lives and so we must prioritze and in fact only have relationships between woman, romantic or platonic.

They're a bunch of TERFs.

Ok no, that was harsh. They're not all terfs, and, ideologically speaking, they shouldnt have to be. However, they are a part of radical feminism, and most radical feminism theory is nowadays either terf adjacent or just straight up terfy.

Irl, Ive never met a political lesbian that wasnt also a terf so that might be coloring my view of the situation. I do believe radical feminism is nowaday a ghost of its former self and that a lot of academia who still uses that banner is just terfs now. Obviously i love love love the ideas radical feminism gave us, but this is the one type of feminism i truly believe has gone downhill.

As a whole ass lesbian I also resent my identity being used as a political banner. Most woman who use it have had traumatic experiences with men, thats true, but in my experience those are usually the loudest transphobes inside the queer community.

On a more personal note, Im not sure not being attracted to men and never wanting to date one again are comparable experiences, but terfs have done enough gatekeeping of "lesbian" so im not gonna contribute to it. As always, queer labels are supposed to help all of us and open doors, not close them.

i actually do know a few women who id as political lesbians, but usually they're like queer women who due to like trauma or something decide that they dont want to have anything to do with men and therefore only date women, but theyre not usually exclusively attracted to women, just in practice thats how they live their life. i think its a complex notion and i couldnt see myself doing it, but i can understand that. i dont get straight women who do it though like just stay single

I mean I’m obviously more than fine with queer women saying “I only date women” either as a result of trauma, a heavy homoromantic preference, or even because they’re like “actually as a political choice I want a queer love story.” Same as how it’s obviously fine for queer women to only date men for safety, due to external or internal pressure, or even because they’re like “actually I just want to make my parents proud.” But that’s different to a straight lady being like “lesbianism is a choice fuck men” idk.

I’d never heard of this before but it seems a bit wild to me.

[narcisbolgor-blog]

Thats when I lost my temper: Ash Sarkar on her clash with Piers Morgan

The activist who confronted the Good Morning Britain presenter talks about her fears over Brexit, the future of communism in Britain and her passion for Spurs

Writer, lecturer and activist Ash Sarkar, 26, grew up in north London and got two degrees at UCL. She is now senior editor at radical leftwing website Novara Media, focusing on race, gender, class and power. Footage went viral last week after she appeared on ITVs Good Morning Britain to discuss the Stop Trump march, telling presenter Piers Morgan: Im literally a communist, you idiot.

How is your newfound fame? Surreal. Im punch-drunk but still alive. Before, Id maybe get recognised a couple of times per week; now its most places I go. What if Im really hungover and gross one day? Or having a PMS cry on the bus? But everyones unerringly lovely and just wants to chat about politics, which is encouraging. It shows theres a real desire for engagement and conversation that doesnt treat people like theyre stupid.

Do you think theres a trend towards shouty, adversarial media? Yes, although theres a huge contrast between Newsnight, where you can make a point clearly, and Good Morning Britain, where youre entering a bear pit to get savaged. Piers Morgan and the production team have tacked quite hard towards the alt-right. A leftwing Muslim woman is like throwing chum to them.

How did you feel when Piers Morgan kept talking over you? He kept trying to pin me down on Obamas presidency, even though Id come on to talk about Trump, with the presumption that I was a diehard Democrat. Thats when I lost my temper. I hadnt planned to call him an idiot or go in hard about his journalistic record. I was just frustrated with being barracked for something Im not.

Is his co-anchor, Susanna Reid, complicit? Ive always found her very fair. The following day, you could see her trying to take the fight to Steve Bannon in the face of his [Morgans] fawning and flattery. She clearly understands how to play the foil, but shes a respected reporter. There will come a point where shell ask herself if this is the kind of journalism she really wants to do. Has she worked hard her whole career to play this Mr & Mrs game? Or does she want to strike out on her own and show the full scale of what she can do? I hope its the latter.

Did Morgan boost your cause? Hes accidentally rehabilitated communism. Comrade Morgan, the Peoples Commissar For the Execution of Revolutionary Justice. I just wanted to discuss Trumps despicable politics and the importance of rejecting bigotry. I didnt realise that the next day Id be doing an interview with Teen Vogue about Karl Marxs Grundrisse [laughs]. Lots of us have been plugging away, building a platform to talk about libertarian communism and post-scarcity economics. I never expected it to have a cultural moment like this.

Have you had more TV offers? Celebrity Big Brother asked me to go on. I said, Listen, there are much easier ways to see me get drunk, alienate people and have an ill-advised dry hump. Just find me on a Saturday night out. I could become a tap-dancing poodle in the culture wars, but is that going to get more people participating in politics or just make me a discourse clown?

Owen Jones meets Ash Sarkar | Is communism literally back?

Do you feel you should capitalise on your higher profile? Its not about personally profiting; I want people to support the media organisation I work for. Since Good Morning Britain, Ive had lots of emails from weird men asking if I can fin-dom them financially dominate them by spending all their money. Its unsettling, so Ive been replying with the link to our donations page. Were selling Im literally a communist T-shirts to help keep the studio running.

It was also on placards at the Stop Trump march. How was that? I bumped into some of them. This is what people have been missing: politics shouldnt be about the dour cultishness and pomposity that dominated the left for decades it should be joyful and exuberant.

Your Twitter bio uses the phrases anarcho-fabulous and luxury communism. Can you explain? Its partly poking fun at how people accrue adjectives and put them in their bios as if theyre a meaningful badge. But also, my communism isnt about authoritarian bureaucracy, suppressing freedom or everyone wearing burlap sacks. Its about the desire to see the coercive structures of state dismantled, while also having fun. Its not about driving everybody down to the same level of abjection, but making aesthetic pleasures and luxuries available to all.

How do you envisage communism working in 21st-century Britain? As a long-termist, I acknowledge there are more pressing causes than the abolition of private property. This is why Im a Corbyn supporter. We have the opportunity for a socialism that says austerity is a deliberate political choice. We can more equitably distribute wealth through taxation. We can borrow to invest in housing, railways and healthcare, making them publicly owned and managed assets. Thats what weve got room for in this country right now. Communist vision can help guide that and give people a say in every decision that affects their lives.

Is it possible to support Corbyn but still feel betrayed by him over Brexit? I voted Remain but the cost of losing twice would be catastrophic. It would make life difficult for people of colour or anyone perceived as an immigrant. If you want any hope of staying in the EU, or having a Brexit that doesnt mean capitulation to ethno-nationalism, youve got to tie it to a wider vision of political and economic transformation. Which, at this point, means backing Corbyn.

Youre a big football fan, right? Huge. Im a diehard Spurs supporter who gets her heart broken again and again. I love terrace culture, the flow of the game and those moments of beauty like Zidanes volley where you just think: That is God speaking through you, my son. I became obsessed with Jordan Pickford during the World Cup. Mainly how he looked like Thomas Turgoose from This Is England.

Is it true youve never knowingly kissed a Tory? Absolutely. I make it my business to check. I give them a reading list before a first date, then maybe we can go to Wetherspoons.

What will you say next time you get the call from Good Morning Britain? New phone, who dis?

Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific

=> *********************************************** Post Source Here: Thats when I lost my temper: Ash Sarkar on her clash with Piers Morgan ************************************ =>

Thats when I lost my temper: Ash Sarkar on her clash with Piers Morgan was originally posted by Viral News - Feed

[schrodingerslion]

been awhile since i done a read more but i feel like i gotta post somewhere and i aint really wanna bug any particular friends they got enough on their plates

the world’s a fuckin terrifying place right now. i’m seeing the rise of people who murdered my grandparents in my very own country as well as violence at a campus ive only just arrived on. im being forced to live with the consequences of an election i was exactly one week too young to participate in, despite the fact that the outcome affects several layers of my identity

im mentally ill. im gay. im jewish. all of these groups were particularly targeted way back when. in terms of keeping discourse clean and unbiased, my teachers are forced to call people like richard spencer a “white nationalist” instead of a neo-nazi. people are literally out here defending those who are advocating for the death of my friends and family, for the genocide of all the communities that have actually made me feel welcome in the world. 

i was suicidal for so many years. i still am sometimes, when i hit low points, but since i started medication its been so much easier. it feels unfair to me, because right when im finally starting to feel like my life is worthwhile? the world is imploding on itself. right when i find something to live for again, life seems to take it away right again. 

im not a danger to myself, for those of you reading this who might care. im not participating in any sort of self harm, im being safe, and your hypothetical concern touches me in a way i really can never articulate. 

im just so tired. im so tired of not being able to walk to class without overhearing terrible things all the time, without having to steel myself and make sure i can keep fighting the good fight. 

hell, in english class today i was anxious as hell because yesterday i had been extremely outspoken about how richard spencer was a neo-nazi and today i was wearing my captain america shirt, so i thought people would judge me and think i was some kind of radical liberalist. part of that comes from my experience with a girl in highschool who really was one, but that’s besides the point.  

i dont intend on giving up, whether its because i feel i shouldnt or i feel i cant. im fighting this shit with everyone i know until my last breath. im a dumbass who gets into arguments over her head all the time. hell, i’ll break every bone in my body if it means i get the chance to defend someone i care about. im still just so tired of this. that everyone else has to suffer like this. 

this got a long longer than i wanted it to be, thanks i suppose to those who read through the whole thing. its really been awhile since i made one of these to pour my heart out huh...stay safe out there, guys. you have people that love you.

[weederstudy06-blog]

How to Fire a Customer

Can you remember your toughest customer? Chances are, the experience involved some sweat, maybe some tears, and a few extra cups of coffee.

When you’re dealing with people, there’s no rulebook. A rational approach doesn’t necessarily evoke a rational response. Learning to tease out the nuances of interactions with difficult customers and untangle the right solution takes time, thoughtfulness and skill.

In the most extreme situations, though, firing a customer is the solution. But it’s one you have to leverage sparingly and discerningly to yield positive outcomes for your business. With a rigorous approach, you can save your company time, money and heartache in an otherwise impossible scenario.

The catch: There are no boilerplates for this big call, so we spoke to several experts to tap into their wisdom.

When to consider firing a customer

Firing a customer is a radical act, but there are times when it’s necessary to protect your team. With a measure so extreme, it’s important to clearly establish what merits a firing.

Challenging customer support interactions happen all the time; almost always, though, there’s a nugget of gold at the heart of a customer’s feedback and their experience of your product or service. The majority of these criticisms can contribute to valuable insights, whether they’re given constructively or not. It’s a company’s job to separate the wheat from the chaff, or in our case, important feedback from plain old negativity.

When you fire a customer or client who’s giving you tough insights, you miss out on all that value — not to mention you’re setting a dangerous precedent. Michael Redbord, the General Manager of HubSpot’s Service Hub, cautions that firing should be an absolute last resort:

“In our world, ‘firing a customer’ refers to cases where we, the vendor, proactively introduce the concept of terminating the relationship to the customer due to extreme outlying circumstances not covered in our Terms of Service. There could be extreme cases of cost-of-goods-sold (COGS) overrun that you failed to predict, far outgrowing a solution so that it's best if a customer finds a new provider or a sufficiently awful working relationship with the humans of your company that warrants it. But these should be extreme cases that crop up rarely, and are statistical outliers by all measures!”

Here’s how to identify if your situation is the extreme exception to the rule of awesome support:

A customer is abusive or threatening

Examples:

A customer uses abusive language in their interactions with team members.

A customer threatens a customer support person with emotional blackmail, or issues threats of a smear campaign on review sites unless their demands are met.

A customer says they’ll prompt undue chargebacks.

Just as you wouldn’t tolerate slurs, curse words, and name-calling from team members, these toxic behaviors shouldn’t be tolerated from customers either. Mercer Smith-Looper, Head of Support at Appcues, explains that verbal abuse is the most cut and dry reason for firing a customer. “If someone verbally accosts an employee or makes any suggestive or overly aggressive comments via email, usually, that merits a firing,” she says. “On occasion, we can issue a warning and then a firing, but usually it just comes straight to firing.”

It’s critically important for team members to feel safe at work, and it’s the employer’s job to protect workers from inhumane behavior.

In some terrible scenarios, customers also make threats to try to derail the company’s reputation with unfair or rampant reviews on sites like TrustRadius, Yelp or social media. These situations are less straightforward than verbal abuse, so they’re worth considering one by one. If a relationship reaches that boiling point, it signals that the customer may not be open to more constructive avenues of support.

A customer is never, ever, ever happy

Examples:

A customer makes insistent and continuous support requests that have previously been addressed a number of times.

There’s a terrible customer-product fit that can’t be realistically remedied with workarounds, integrations, updates, or product changes within the needed time frame.

Whether a customer just can’t get what they need because of a poor product fit or they’re endlessly frustrated with your support team, firing is only an option when the customer exhibits repetitive, unceasing behavior. Are their complaints a daily pattern? “You can usually find ways to approach their needs or reframe their expectations that can work around firing,” says Smith-Looper.

Jason Pearson, Head of Product Support at Figma, agrees. He’s never had to fire an unhappy customer in his current role, but in a previous position, Pearson just couldn’t facilitate an alignment between the customer and the product. “The customer became increasingly aggressive in their tone and was bombarding our support team daily. The team was spending an inordinate amount of time assisting this customer and they were causing a great deal of frustration for support as well as engineering.”

Pearson and his team exhausted every possible solution, and the engineering team worked around the clock to roll out new features. Unfortunately, the development timeline didn’t sync with the needs of the customer. This kind of example — when a customer just can’t benefit from the product as-is — sometimes signals that it’s better to part ways.

How to fire a customer (the right way) in 5 steps

Once you establish that a customer’s behavior or the situation merits firing, there are some guidelines you want to follow to ensure that your team walks through the process with integrity. There are so many ways to approach the task, but these five steps can serve as building blocks for a thorough, fair experience all the way around.

1. Confirm you’ve exhausted other options

Knowing when it’s appropriate and how to fire a customer depends on a detailed record of every interaction. Set aside time to talk formally with anyone at the company who has been involved with the abusive or difficult customer. Reread every support ticket, talk to account managers, and ask for formal written feedback from any support personnel who have corresponded with this customer during the course of the relationship — even if you’ve been hearing about it every day for months.

Take all this information and compile a detailed list of the customer’s complaints, the way that the customer made them (escalating in language or frequency), and how the team tried to resolve issues. With everything clearly in front of you, you can discern how the problem has unfolded and whether it’s an escalating pattern.

These details also give you the bulk of the information you need to take the issue to company leaders and explain the situation. The nitty-gritty details show that you’re taking complaints seriously and you’ve listened to and integrated the customer’s feedback as much as humanly possible.

2. Set up a time for a meeting of minds

Unless you’re a support leader making a clear-cut decision about a non-paying customer, you don’t want to make this choice alone. Colin Flanigan, Customer Support Manager at Pingboard, says the decision should include an account manager, one executive, and one support leader. Because these situations are so rare and directly impact revenue, it’s better to bring more voices to the equation than stumble through firing a customer in a detrimental way.

Redbord says HubSpot elevates these rare situations to an executive team who digs into the issues to get to the root of the problem. “When we have difficult situations they’re handled on the phone or in-person, at the executive level, and we always do a ‘five whys’ and look at how we got into that situation, with an aim to fix the root cause and remediate the customer situation to the point where we don’t fire them,” he shares. HubSpot — and a lot of other SaaS companies — intentionally don’t build out a documented process for firing customers because they don’t want to normalize the action. .

Ask yourself and your team: Is there anything else we can do to make this relationship work? If, in this exceptional circumstance, firing seems like the most beneficial option, it’s even more important to do due diligence and investigate the outcome. For large contracts, you may want to consult a lawyer or your company’s general counsel to understand any legal implications.

3. Consider the potential financial gains or losses

When firing a customer or client, you also want to thoroughly assess the financial risks and benefits of the choice. Even though every situation is unique, there are some consistent factors at play. For example, happy customers always spend more money than their unsatisfied counterparts. These joyful folks also cost a lot less to support, and they’re a lot more likely to refer your business to friends and colleagues.

Next, consider the possibility of issuing a partial or complete refund, even if it’s not required in your Terms of Service. The upside of this kind of generosity is clear: A refund helps bring the relationship to a close in a cordial manner, even if the customer was clearly in the wrong. It also neutralizes some of the perceived loss for a client, buoying an otherwise bad experience and lowering levels of resentment. It’s a case-by-case scenario, but usually, some level of refund strikes a chord.

Given the likelihood that the customer took up a ton of your team’s resources, the operational gains (your team takes back its time) will most likely offset any revenue losses that occur when canceling a contract and offering a refund. Plus, you’ll free up energy to pump toward customers who love your product. That will always yield financial benefits in the long run.

4. Pick the right person and channel to communicate the break-up

Ending a customer relationship is a big deal — it should be handled by leaders who have the experience and the confidence to deal with these exceptional circumstances. Take it up the chain — as Redbord says, “If you don’t feel you can introduce sternness with ease, you’re not the right person to fire a customer.”

Within that context, there are two schools of thought on the right channel a business should use to fire a customer:

Let go of a customer through the channel in which you receive their support inquiries.

Opt for the most personal method of communication: in-person, video chat or phone.

The first method may work for non-paying customers, but the level of consideration you bring to the process should align with the depth of the relationship and the financial commitment of the contract. An email from a support leader is awesome for detailing each issue the customer experienced — and that a solution isn’t plausible — but ending an expensive contract should always occur over the phone.

As Flanigan says, “Nobody likes to be broken up with via text, right?” The bigger the contract, the more important it is that a senior executive (or two) leads the calls. Again, escalating seniority of the people leading the conversation and the channel imbues the process with a level of seriousness that customers can respect.

5. Communicate with transparency, sincerity and firmness

All of these thoughtful steps lead up to the business of actually firing a customer. Regardless of the method you use to communicate the end of the relationship, you want to do it with strong boundaries and neutral language.

Lead with empathy and a firmness that scales with the circumstances. When you and a customer come to a mutual “break up” because it just isn’t the right fit, an appreciative, cordial tone is appropriate. When a customer is being abusive, you need to be stern, succinct and final.

Every situation requires a completely tailored approach. Here are some final words of wisdom from two of our experts on getting it right:

“The clearest standard is honesty, sincerity and finality. Nobody should ever be happy about breaking up with a customer, so you can be honest about that — you should be honest about that. Practically speaking, avoid qualitative statements. Be purely objective. State facts and be brief.

If you're on the phone, speak calmly but less expressively than you might usually be. Be specific about what has happened, what will happen next, and their options for how to move forward.”

— Colin Flanigan, Customer Support Manager at Pingboard

“It's incredibly important to tailor your communication to each person that you are talking to. You should not use a boilerplate template for firing a customer unless firing them over something like a Terms of Service violation.

Even then, there should still be a level of personalization — they are human, after all. Avoiding condescension and any heated language while clearly presenting the reasons that you are firing them is a good way to introduce sternness. Avoid words like ‘maybe’ or ‘possibly.’”

— Mercer Smith-Looper, Head of Support at Appcues

Once you’ve mastered how to fire a customer, let it all go. You’ve done your best, made an exceptional decision in a trying circumstance, and communicated with clarity and strong boundaries. Now, you’re free to focus on the customers you love to serve every day. Make those interactions count, too!

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Source: https://www.helpscout.net/blog/firing-a-customer/

[dorothydelgadillo]

9 Things You Want to Do When You Quit Your Job But You Really Shouldn’t

Sometimes you have to rage-quit your job (we totally get it) but instead of living out the fantasy you’ve been playing over and over in your head of filling your boss’s office with sea cucumbers and dead fish, consider a different approach. We all know that in reality you don’t want to burn your bridges and potentially ruin your future career prospects by making an enemy. So instead of actually doing these things we all want to do when we quit, indulge by reading on.

1. Reenact every scene from the 1990s classic workplace film Office Space.

No matter how tempting it is to take the fax machine equivalent of your workplace to a secluded field and end its miserable existence with a baseball bat, deep down we all know its a bad idea.

2. Nail a list of grievances to you boss’s office door like some kind of white collar Martin Luther.

At some point we will all probably work for a boss who makes every project seem like a waking nightmare. And while a laundry list of their bad behavior and habits might be burned into your brain, it just isn’t a good idea to advertise that publicly. Only rookies leave physical evidence.

3. Raid the office supply cabinet and line your pockets with company staplers.

Besides the logistics of finding and wearing a trenchcoat with interior pockets perfect for stashing away a cache of contraband office supplies, you really don’t need that many staplers. Take a deep breath and try radicalizing your oppressed coworkers against the patriarchy instead.

4. Go rogue on the workplace kitchen and sample your coworker’s greatest lunchtime hits.

Invading the sacred space of the communal fridge in any workplace should be a violation reserved only for the heinous circumstances. Instead of plowing your way through the mystery tupperware of everyone in accounting, try upping your lunchtime game to such a high level that all your coworkers will be sorry to see you go (before they have a chance to pick your brain about that guac recipe).

5. Throw an after-hours going away party at the office without inviting anyone who actually works there.

This tactic is possibly one of the biggest middle finger salutes to your workplace, but ultimately not worth the effort. Resist the urge to purchase all the pinatas at Target and focus your energy on nailing that new position you’ve been after so that the next time you want to throw a blow out party, you’ll actually want to invite your coworkers.

6. Rent your cubicle space out to local film studies majors to use as a set for their low-budget indie flick.

Some ideas are best suited to that doc you have for that story you keep meaning to write. Instead of unleashing such a specific kind of hell on your coworkers, consider putting your diabolical creative energy into a new website design or equally productive activity. And if you can’t re-channel that energy—that’s okay too. You’re only human. And it’s time to quit your job.

7. Give your two weeks notice while out on a three week vacation without Wi-Fi.

Unfortunately, a graceful exit—even from a job that is a total bummer—means actually showing up until the end instead of escaping to some tropical locale and blowing through the vacation days you’ve been hoarding for months. A rage vacation is never really a good idea.

8. Respond to emails from coworkers only in gifs from awards shows and links to Whitney’s classic parting-ways jam “I Will Always Love You.”

You know what will satiate this urge and help you keep your professional rep? Discount karaoke night with your friends Whitney, Britney, and Mariah. Invite your most supportive local pals to cheer you on while you let it go.

9. Put all the passwords and information your successor will need in one of those lockbox puzzle games that sadistic relatives buy for kids, and leave it on your cleaned out desk with a note that just says “Check mate.”

Setting up easy transitional materials for the person taking over your job might be the last positive act you can manage in a difficult workplace. Take pride in the fact that having your ducks in a row is good practice for growing your own professional life: You get to keep the positive parts of your job experience and discard the rest.

from Web Developers World https://skillcrush.com/2018/03/16/things-you-want-to-do-when-quitting-but-really-shouldnt/