#covid marketing

[communistkenobi]

The deeply moralist tone that a lot of discussions about media representation take on here are primarily neoliberal before they are anything else. Like the shouting matches people get into about “purity culture” “pro/anti” etc nonsense (even if I think it’s true that some people have a deeply christian worldview about what art ought to say and represent about the world) are downstream of the basic neoliberal assumption that we can and must educate the public by being consumers in a market. “Bad representation” is often framed as a writer’s/developer’s/director’s/etc’s failure to properly educate their audience, or to educate them the wrong way with bad information about the world (which will compel their audience to act, behave, internalise or otherwise believe these bad representations about some social issue). Likewise, to “consume” or give money to a piece of media with Bad Representation is to legitimate and make stronger these bad representations in the world, an act which will cause more people to believe or internalise bad things about themselves or other people. And at the heart of both of those claims is, again, the assumption that mass public education should be undertaken by artists in a private market, who are responsible for creating moral fables and political allegories that they will instil in their audiences by selling it to them. These conversations often become pure nonsense if you don’t accept that the moral and political education of the world should be directed by like, studio executives or tv actors or authors on twitter. There is no horizon of possibility being imagined beyond purchasing, as an individual consumer in a market, your way into good beliefs about the world, instilled in you by Media Product 

[alwaysbewoke]

[officialrapunzelfitzherbert]

hello friends i am getting ready for a very big move up north and i will be closing my shop temporarily on july 28th - but before that i am having a Moving Sale!!! a sasalele!!! whoa!!! 25% off everything through the 27th!!! everything i have in stock rn is pictured here, i would love to clear out some more of it before i pack this all up. if you've been eyeing any of these guys now is a great time to grab em!!

i don't have an exact date yet as to when i'll reopen (and start taking clay orders again) but hopefully around mid august when all my supplies are at my new place and i am all settled.

excited for the future !!! thanks friends!!

sasalele

[tomorrowusa]

Donald Trump has not been able to come up with a nickname for Kamala Harris. None of the lame-ass ones he's tried so far have gotten any traction.

On August 5th/6th the major stock markets experienced a minor correction. There was a temporary fall but in the past 10 days they have largely recovered. As stock market indices continue to edge up, the attempt by Weird Donald to portray the blip from early August as a "crash" looks increasingly pathetic.

So if you're searching for the BIGGEST market crash of the past five years, look no further than the one that resulted from Trump's botched early response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020. It's the Grand Canyon of market activity from the period. By comparison, you need to squint to notice the early August 2024 temporary dip.

^^^ The markets are now roughly 25% higher than when Trump left office in disgrace.

Speaking of crashes on the markets, Trump's misnamed Truth Social stock which is traded at NASDAQ has not been doing especially well.

Truth Social (officially DJT:NASDAQ on markets) has dropped about $55 a share since April. SAD!

[lemonthepotato]

I think I finally know what the worst emotion you can experience is.

A loss of excitement for the future.

I’ve experienced anhedonia before, a lot, actually, and it’s always been a terrible emotion compared to the pain I’ve felt for my life circumstances being ‘bad.’ The problem now is that I’ve felt that tenfold. I’ve always strived above what was normal- for an exciting, perfect life. To think for a moment my dreams are unrealistic, that I shouldn’t strive for them… might save me pain in the long run. It might save me the disappointment, the sorrow, the pain…

But the alternative

Oh, the alternative is so much worse. To not want anything from life. To not see purpose or meaning. To not be excited about anything.

Sure, I know the chances of being famous, having a dozen friends, finding love, living on my own, having excitement and thrill in my life… I know that’s unrealistic. But I can’t let my future be set in stone as not achieving that, as living the way I feared; below average. Even what’s being seen as ‘average’ now. People are lowering their excoriations. What I thought to be an average life, fame aside, is being seen as luxurious or unrealistic nowadays. And for the few seconds I let myself feel that not striving for that would be a wise decision, I immediately spiralled.

“I won’t have that. Even if I did… would it make me happy? Do I even want to be happy, or do I just want the excitement?” The excitement, the pain, all of it I strive for. Heartbreak, drama, sadness- all things that I have dreamed of. Love, friendship- happiness- all things I have dreamed of, because living such a solidary lifestyle for so many years was a numb feeling.

I went off my antidepressants in May. They gave me bad dissociation. The moment I went off them, I felt… real, for the first time. Unfortunately, I thought the anhedonia, the numbness would go away forever- that I would be full of pain, misery and happiness for the rest of my life. But… that was mistaken.

I wonder if my striving to be a less angry person also made me less passionate. I wonder if trying to be a ‘better person’ for ‘myself’ made me less passionate. I wonder. Is it better to be extremely flawed, but passionate? Perhaps.

When things didn’t turn out to be how I thought they would be with college, I saw that as the end of the road. But it can’t be. And though I don’t know how I can turn the tide to make a life I’ve dreamed of, I can’t give up. I truly can’t. Even if it would be the smarter decision… I cannot live a bland, unfulfilling life.

[marsixm]

u know that whole "theres a whole world out there we're unaware of" thing that usually gets applied to like, unheard of network tv shows, the zynternet, suburban family trends, etc? thats how i feel when i hear about like, in person events or whatever via some random reel, like showing some massive hyper specific event with like hundreds of people doing some activity or at some place w zero context or explanation, seemingly in america just like me, that i have never seen or heard of in my life. like where did this come from? was this always a thing? is this a thing that only popped up in the last 3 years like a lot of weird specific trends? im not judging im just confused 😭

[bri-does-art]

a little birdy told me you have some kind of an AU for the Funtime animatronics also?

... who is this.

There are, like, only 5 people who know about this. So which one of youse is it? >:'D (I am not mad. I am very glad to have the opportunity to tease it out. <3)

I am working on an AU featuring the Funtimes, little birdy is right! It's a very different flavour than Call of the Abyss, more of a fantastical drama than a science-fiction horror mystery. It is a tale of duty and responsibility, secrets and closets, choices and consequences, healing and growth, a farmer's child and a puzzling fae, and above all, it is a tale about two lonely souls whose fates are more closely intertwined than either realize.

It is also a tale full of fae shenanigans, fun and indulgence. It's not a serious epic like Call of the Abyss, and hopefully not as huge and ambitious either. 😂 So, dropping the serious act, it's a Fae AU in which some poor unsuspecting farmer gets caught up in the Funtimes' court's bullshit and learns to navigate a new social circle that seems hellbent on keeping their newest member close. I will make a new blog just for it, as there will be more, err, kid-unfriendly elements featuring in this one - I want to be able to properly curate my audience for this AU without alienating people who follow me here and like my non-explicit stories. So, until that's done, I'm leaving y'all with this little sneak peek. :)

[shinylitwick94]

Kids be vaping all the time and going "there's no real side effects" and I'm like my parents thought that about tobacco when they were your age too and you don't wanna see their lungs

[culmaer]

¶

[pokabrows]

First weekend of the summer virtual market in VRchat. You can go in VRchat and tour the booths selling mostly digital but some physical goods. There are also live performances scheduled throughout the event. For more information their official website is event . vket . com (link in reblog)

Here is the live music schedule for today July 20th. Just join a VrChat vket central boundless instance hosted by the group "Corbelle's music festival and sessions" or watch CorbellePlays on twitch because it's also being streamed there. (Link in reblog)

[bbkld]

Catching Up

Ep 189 of our writers podcast is “a book is judged by its cover.” Readers will skip your book unless something grabs their attention. We talked about the challenges and covers for Serving Salvation and Zoey. 

[kenyatta]

Moderna is considering raising the price of its COVID-19 vaccine by over 400 percent—from $26 per dose to between $110 and $130 per dose [in the U.S.] —according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. 

The plan, if realized, would match the previously announced price hike for Pfizer-BioNTech's rival COVID-19 vaccine.

Until now, the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have been purchased by the government and offered to Americans for free. In the latest federal contract from July, Moderna's updated booster shot cost the government $26 per dose, up from $15–$16 per dose in earlier supply contracts, the Journal notes. Similarly, the government paid a little over $30 per dose for Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine this past summer, up from $19.50 per dose in contracts from 2020.

But now that the federal government is backing away from distributing the vaccines, their makers are moving to the commercial market—with price adjustments. Financial analysts had previously anticipated Pfizer would set the commercial price for its vaccine at just $50 per dose but were taken aback in October when Pfizer announced plans of a price between $110 and $130. Analysts then anticipated that Pfizer's price would push Moderna and other vaccine makers to follow suit, which appears to be happening now.

Moderna CEO: 400% price hike on COVID vaccine “consistent with the value” | Ars Technica

[juanabaloo]

if you live in the USA and are feeling especially overwhelmed rn, remember we are living through both a modern day civil rights movement (like the 1960s) and a genocide that our govt is funding (like the Holocaust). keep fighting. if you need a break, rest up. take care of yourself. i believe that we will win.

[stabyou]

been having so much fun making jewelry lately. i have so many pieces now that i can't feasibly wear all the things i've made in any kind of timely manner. got bracelets coming out of my ears