#especially Everyone's a little be racist” and “The internet is for porn”

[the-improbable-one]

Was I the only one that loved Avenue Q back in High School or was it a fever dream?

[olderthannetfic]

People calling BL fetishization are... have they not watched porn directed towards gay men (or any man) before? Admittedly cis gay white men, but still gay men. Almost every big porn site has a gay section that's marketed towards gay men and as someone who enjoys porn in a variety of mediums for a variety of audiences I think I'm in a good place to talk about the comparisons. I will admit there's a little less (open) incest and rape kink on major porn sites than BL or even indie erotica, but that matches the het side of those porn sites and it's not because people aren't into those things, it's because a lot of their servers are based in Canada and they've been trying to take down that content rather than doing anything useful about abuse or legal protection for those in the industry. Futilely of course, it's relatively easy to find, especially if you're familiar with what kinks individual studios and actors gravitate toward, and of course people keep reuploading stuff that isn't their's (mutters about how the true victims of poor copyright enforcement are porn actors and small studios, not Disney), but there's a lot less than there used to be when those sites had official incest tags. However there are plenty of porn studios with their own sites that cater specifically to those kinks. Mainstream live action porn, both gay and het, is far more intense than any BL I've read in terms of pure fetish.

And that isn't even getting into hentai which overwhelmingly caters to cishet dudes but also features plenty of rape, "reverse rape" (female on male rape which... I think that could be phrased better but that's how it's sorted usually), lolisho, incest, and so on. Or 3D animation which is a mixture of extremely vanilla blender animations of Overwatch characters, futanari, and intense monster rape that sometimes is also just bestiality. A lot of the better 2D animations I've seen often take an almost slapstick approach to rape. Of course I'm generalizing but if you want to go after BL, A) stop being racist, western animation and literature is just as kinky, and B) it's not the women or the straights, it's everyone, in every medium, in every place. I'm far more annoyed about the chikan subgenre of porn (which refers to molesting a woman on a train which is a huge RL problem in Japan) than a BL that features dom-sub sex between a pretty twink and a taller twink.

BL can be dark but compared to the depths of the internet I have trawled, it's often comparatively mild. Unless you're ready to call hetero porn a fetishization of the hets because it features common kinks, or can somehow justify to me why women finding men fucking hot is wrong without also damning straight porn and lesbian porn regardless of intended audience, fujoshis are fine and so is BL.

--

It usually boils down to "I am allowed to like m/m content and you are not."

[tessatechaitea]

The New Titans #60

First time in my comic book reading history that I noticed how much Nightwing's symbol looks like the torso of a woman in a skimpy top.

It's difficult beginning a new New Titans comic book when I'd let myself believe I was finished reading them all. It's especially difficult to keep reading this comic book when the first page includes this warning:

You don't have to tell me twice!

Apparently my brain disagreed with its first assessment that the comic book didn't need to tell me twice because it reread the warning and idiotically read it correctly this time.

Dammit! Why did I already read Batman #440?! Now I'm practically locked into reading this!

Looking on the bright side for the second time in my life (the first time was when I realized that when I die, it'll most likely be in some horrible accident in which I won't have time to register that my life is ending and therefore I'll never actually know I've died, easing swiftly into the loving embrace of non-existence!), I thought, "Well, Batman #440 was written by Wolfman and it was a decent read. How terrible can this comic book be?!" But that pleasant thought was completely undone when the first panel reminded me of something I had yet to consider:

Fuck. Cyborg was still alive at this time. I'm fucking bored already!

Well, looking on the bright side who loves seeing a character yell "Booyah!" constantly, this comic book should be a real treat! I do feel a little bit of white guilt creeping in around the corners when I voice my indifference of the most boring character in the DC Universe because he's black. Especially with Donald Trump's recent explicitly racist tweets and the GOP's rush to hide behind other members of the GOP in the hopes that they won't have to shrug apathetically on camera when asked about the tweets. But it's not my fault that DC Comics chose to make their most boring character an American black man! Would it help if I said some of my favorite DC characters were black? Nope. Just heard how that sounds. Not better! Paragraph breaks don't do as much heavy lifting as I need them to. Sometimes after I've written some commentary, I'll wander off to another part of the Internet to take in some sights. Then when I come back, I sometimes want to discuss what I've just experienced. But going from one paragraph to another, readers just think they're reading it in real time as I wrote it. What I need are paragraph breaks that represent the amount of time I was away (but not what I was doing while I was away or they'd all be variations on "Gone five minutes. Jerked off to Sailor Moon porn where Rei surprises Usagi in the shower and teaches her how to masturbate" or "Gone ten minutes. Watched an erotic massage video and spent most of the time fiddling with the sound so the downstairs neighbors couldn't hear it. Turns out 3 out of 100 is still to loud for some women's orgasms" or "Gone three days. Couldn't take reading another Wolfman New Titans comic book and wound up just playing thirty games of Apex"). Between the last paragraph and this one, I went on Twitter where Andy Richter posted Fats Domino's version of The Beatles' "Lady Madonna." My only response after hearing it was, "Holy fuck." Seriously, I never want to hear The Beatles' shit version ever again! I also just noticed in the above panel, Cyborg accidentally stuck his penis plug-in to the side of his face! Whoops! Back in 1989, Cyborg wasn't capable of contacting anybody in the DC Universe immediately. So he's having trouble finding Dick Grayson. He tried his pager and...well, that's about it! It was 1989! If somebody wasn't sitting by their phone, you didn't have many other options when trying to contact them! This is probably one of the moments where much later DC editors looked back at Cyborg and realized he needed to be more powerful. I'm not arguing that he definitely needed to be more than a white noise gun that said "Booyah!" but they could have realized he needed to be interesting as well. Hell, it's not long after this issue that Marv Wolfman completely gives up on him and smashes him into bits. Having no other options but to risk exposing Batman's secret identity by putting calls to Wayne Manor on the Titans phone records, Cyborg gives Bruce a call. I'd understand interrupting Batman's hectic life if the world were on fire but the big emergency right now is that some weird kid looking for Dick visited Kory while she was practically naked (no wait. She had a towel on after showering so her body was more covered than usual). Batman is busy dealing with Two-Face even though it's the middle of the day. I think maybe Alfred lied to Cyborg. I bet Batman's taking a shit. Dick has gone back to Haly's Circus to find himself.

I bet these two clowns are actually old white land developers responsible for the circus failing! Their next trick will be to dress up like ghosts and zombies to scare everyone away!

A third clown named Harry comes out of a tent and passes out in Dick's arms. Can you imagine blacking out as a clown? You'd probably wake up in an unknown tent with no make-up covered in lion spit and shame. Dick meets with Haly and is all, "I read about the circus closing down and I couldn't figure out why. But now that I'm here, I totally get it!" And Haly is all, "Fuck you, Dick! You try running a circus in 2019! I mean 1989! Oh, yeah, I guess I should probably still have been able to trick idiots into thinking freak sideshows and abusing animals was still cool." Haly actually blames the failing of his circus on too much TV and too many video games. Obviously Super Mario, Tecmo Bowl, and Duck Hunt (hee hee! You thought, "Cunt!") were way more fun and interesting than sitting in a smelly tent being terrorized by people in greasy face paint but Haly really should take a little responsibility for his own business failings. Dick arrives and in ten minutes, he's already washed an elephant and kept a drunk clown from breaking his neck. Maybe get off your ass, Harry Haly, and fix up your shit. Haly also mentions that there's been a rash of accidents that have kept the selling price of the circus down. I bet it was those fucking clowns!

He's talking about his penis so yes, Dick, he has to ask.

While at Haly's Circus, Dick Grayson witnesses the origin of Clown Batman!

Later, after Bozo Wayne grew to an adult and was wondering what direction to take, a clown crashed through his window.

Tensions are running high at the Haly Circus as some performers want to circus to be sold so they can move on and others just want things to remain unchanged.

Finally, a clown that makes me laugh!

During the show later, Wilhelm the lion tamer gets his throat ripped out before Dick can save him. Dick was disguised as a clown so Wilhelm probably bled out as Dick was struggling to take off the stupid shoes. Tim Drake is in the audience watching because he's smarter than the entire Titans team put together. Later, Tim and Dick team up to find out who's been sabotaging Haly's Circus. It turns out it was the little person and the strong man. So typical! It's totally who I thought it was and not those two clowns from earlier. That was just a red herring I was throwing out to confuse you. The team-up doesn't make me like Tim Drake any better. But then Tim makes an admission that warms my heart and I can't help but love the kid.

Wolfman knew what he was doing.

At the end of the day, Dick Grayson buys half of Haly's Circus to help keep it afloat (with Bruce's money). Then Tim shows him the pictures of Batman battling Ravager that he took in Batman #440. He pleads with Dick to go back to help Batman cope with the death of Jason Todd. "Batman needs Robin!" he argues like a nerd doing his thesis on Batman's inexplicable need to endanger minors. Dick takes the kid seriously because who else has ever figured out that Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are Batman and Robin?! Only the smartest man on Earth and he won't do that for another twenty five years! The New Titans #60 Rating: B+. Apparently it's the Titans that make the Titans comic book suck. Concentrating on Dick Grayson and his relationship with Batman and the circus (and even this new upstart kid that loves Dick) causes Marv Wolfman to be at his best! My guess is that it's the lack of Cyborg that really makes the book shine.

[nautilusopus]

when you reposted the gaud post. no thats not all. don't "tumblr step up your game" us. that person is terrible and before you assume that's all they did you could at least look up gaud receipts???? even so people paying $1000 for them to eat crayons is still a bad thing as well, when there are tons of posts being reblogged that are about to be homeless lgbt people asking for money, or stuff like that. and you have the audacity to say "tumblr step up your game"

who the fuck is “us” 

who are you people, how do you keep finding me, and don’t you have voltron gifsets to make or something

i’m gonna need a little more to go on other than “that person is terrible” because i keep googling and i’m honestly not getting anything. anyone can say “that person is terrible” with nothing whatsoever to back it up. remember the aphobe list? or the billion other clones of it on basically every issue ever? remember that time i got called double backwards reverse racist against myself? 

also if we’re gonna pull the “there are people starving in ___” business, you know it’s possible to care about funding dumb bullshit without first making sure there isn’t a morally superior cause for it to go to, right? this is the same bullshit line of thinking that leads to people saying “you bought a video game instead of donating that $60 to charity!” “you reblogged this post about a movie being dumb when people are DYING in third world countries RIGHT NOW”. would i, personally, fund someone’s eat-a-crayon endeavour? no, that’s kinda dumb, i can go babysit my niece and see that. but it’s one absolute fucking hell of a stretch to suddenly call someone morally reprehensible for it. christ. 

like, did you miss the part last month where i fucking ran out of money and had to beg my followers for $60 because there were no more corners for me to cut because i was already eating once every four days and still couldn’t afford my meds? did you see me make a guilt-trip post immediately afterwards for everyone going out to eat when they could have given that money to me, someone who truly needs it? no, because that’s kind of shitty and demanding everyone be constantly aware of and fighting every single injustice in the world is, 1. unrealistic (there’s a reason people get exhausted and just stop giving a shit), and 2. really fucking manipulative and is less about encouraging people to do the right thing when they can and more about a bunch of performative nonsense where you look good if you yell at the right people, even if it is to absolutely no fucking end whatsoever.

is there a game you were planning on buying when it came out? too fucking bad. here’s my ko-fi. you’re morally obligated to give me that money instead. you owe me. i’m starving, in debt, and in actual, serious, no-joke, immediate danger of losing my apartment next month and have nowhere to go, and due to the shutdown i am unable to take out a loan to tide things over until then. your video game can wait. or your latte, or whatever non-essential you were gonna spend that money on. cough up, bucko.

what? you say it’s unfair of me to demand you have to give me your money when you’re not exactly loaded yourself, and that while it’s nice to chip in while you can, you’re not responsible for the welfare of a stranger on the internet especially when you want to spend that money on something so ultimately small that’ll make you happy? fancy fucking that. 

(btw sorry guys i swear i’m working on that bonus fic it’s just longer than i thought it would be bear with me, thanks for your support sorry i’m bad about deadlines)

now, if anyone actually wants to tell me who the fuck gaud is and if they’re a MAP or a neo-nazi or a terf or some shit, i’m all ears, fuck ‘em. but until then, if the biggest objection is “there are children starving in africa”/hardcore crayon-eating action? no chicken blood closet? no bone theft? no running a massive years-long financial scam over a Hamilton AIDS AU fanfic that only got outed because another author was mad that they were accused of “gentrifying cannibalism”? no gigabytes of kiddie porn on their hard drive? just crayons?

Tumblr, step up your game.

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

sjw anon

Hello everyone, I am the SJW anon, and I want to thank you very much for the words you’ve said.

Disco, thank you so much for the link, but too bad the page said that the service is only for Australians :(.

Thank you all. Oh I actually don’t partake in tumblr culture/debate. My tumblr only follows gay porn stuff + fanfic writers, I don’t follow any social movement-related tumblrs at all. I agree with you guys, SJW is not exactly a bad term, but now it feels like a term for overly sensitive people who only take part in aggressive internet debate about social justice without doing anything in real life. And I feel I’m becoming something like that. I really want to help too, but it’s hard to be a part of a social movement in my country. In here, being gay can get you a public whipping and being a trans woman can get your hair shaved publicly by the police. Women are expected to be virgins, or they are whores. Racism inside the country still exists, I am Eastern Asian-born, which is a minority and often discriminated by the majority, South East Asian-born.

Like Disco said, it’s hard not to be angry when the status quo isn’t changing. Either status quo of the things that are happening in my country, or in USA. I always look for the things in USA because I feel it has become the beacon of the world. If USA is changing to a better direction, the rest of the world will follow, with their own pace of course.

Fanfictions have been an escape for me, but I don’t know how much more it can help me/destroy my sense of reality. It helps me to fantasize about this world that accepts me the way I am, imagining myself finding true love who is loyal, having friends that supports my belief, etc. But it also distances me from the reality even more. Do fanfictions make my standard too high for men? I only want a nice guy who doesn’t cheat, is that too unrealistic? Is that only in fanfictions? But if I stop reading fanfictions, I feel I won’t have anything to cling on. I have guy friends who I asked about cheating, and they said “well men are men, what can we do?”, and that fucked me up even more about getting a nice boyfriend.

I guess it would be easier if I took a step back from the internet & interacted ith my real life friends more. But even my real life friends are either homophobic, cheat with their partners, or think I’m crazy for having these life values. I have to wear a mask when I’m with my friends. I really wish I can enjoy life more like they do.

To the anon who submitted a response to me: How do I stop caring? I wish I know, seriously. Now I am easily triggered by anything. Pictures of celebrities will remind me of my assumptions, movies that have ‘problematic’ scenes, etc. One thing I know, if I stop caring about those issues, won’t I become someone who grows insensitive to them? At first I do care about these issues because I really cared. But now, after seeing how I was not appreciated, I also wanted appreciation & recoginition (not saying that I care less now). I feel really useless and sometimes I feel I’m doing the wrong thing by prioritizing things wrong. I feel I’m not allowed to fuck up a bit, especially in the sexism/racism/homophobia part. And I feel people can’t fuck up in those area as well, or they’re assholes. I can’t be a racist (LOL ___ people are stupid as hell, their race should vanish!!) and advocate for anti-racism the next day. What kind of hypocrite would I be? I feel you can fuck up in other areas, but if you fuck up in sexism/racism/homophobia, then it just means you are showing your true colors.

“Their lives are theirs and not yours. How is comparing their success/lives to yours helping you?” I know this would sound unrealistic, but me wishing for consequences to happen to them is just my way of thinking, that good behavior will be rewarded, while bad will be punished. What would it teach to young men when they see grown men who cheated on their wives are still successful? What would it teach Americans when they see celebrities like Steve Harvey making fun of Asian men or Ellen making fun of Chinese names and they still have their own show? Isn’t it normal to wish for punishment?

I can’t exactly go to a therapist face to face. In my country, even the most professional psychologist & therapist has stated that homosexuality is a sin and wrong.

Sometimes I wish I was religious. At least if I believed in God, I could rest assured that someone would know & appreciate my inner struggle.

I feel I’m getting more disconnected to reality, yet I can still feel the weight of the ugliness of it.

Again, thank you so much for Disco and her followers, for allowing me to get things off of my chest, and for your time & advices. I’m sorry it took me so long to formulate my response (and yet I still feel I was incoherent in many parts).

I’m sorry! I had a quick look at that site and I didn’t see that it was only for Australians. Is there anything similar in your country? 

It really does sound like you’re struggling, and I hope that you’ll keep reaching out to people online, if that’s the safest place for you to do it. 

I hope that you can find a way to be a little easier on yourself--although of course that’s easier said than done. But also, I just wanted to address this too: 

I feel you can fuck up in other areas, but if you fuck up in sexism/racism/homophobia, then it just means you are showing your true colors.

I absolutely agree with having no tolerance for bigots, but sometimes people do say the wrong things, or they’re still learning, or they just haven’t been exposed to enough of the world to have an open mind. 

me wishing for consequences to happen to them is just my way of thinking, that good behavior will be rewarded, while bad will be punished. 

And this is something that I think most of us ask ourselves at some point, when we realise that the world is a very unfair place. Which brings me back to what we talked about in one of your previous submissions: find a way that you can make the world a little better, a little fairer. Nobody can change everything on their own, but if everybody did just a few little things, then that would make a difference. And--importantly--it might stop you from feeling like you have no agency. 

Pick some small steps that you can take, that are still meaningful for you, whether it’s volunteering at a local charity when you can, or fundraising for people in need, or buying  couple of tins of pet food for an animal shelter. 

You don’t have to do the big things all on your own. 

[what-even-is-thiss]

I haven't figured out my sexuality. I always see posts saying shit about hetros or just hate them(I'm not talking pointing out issues with how they interact on parnormal show). It's scary cause the same people who say that they support you in finding yourself, make you feel they will reject you if you land on hetro(It's not everyone but it's there)and anytime people point it out or say things about hetrophobia, it's called fake, and people are allowed to hate their oppressors. I just don't know.

This is... a very touchy subject. I’ll try to go about it in an acceptable way, but sometimes things like this are like walking on a tightrope over a minefield. Please forgive me for any mistakes I might make, everybody. And this got pretty long so I’m sorry.

So, there’s this thing called “punching up” where someone criticizes someone that has more privilege than them in a certain area, especially in comedy. Like, women making fun of or criticizing men, poc making fun of or criticizing white people, poor people making fun of or criticizing rich people, etc. However, there are limits to this. For example, a white trans woman making fun of Mexican men probably couldn’t say she’s punching up even though they’re cis men because that’s just not right. It would be racist.

What you’re referring to I think is when punching up goes too far. It’s quite difficult usually for it to reach that point, but, and I may be causing some controversy here even though I don’t mean to, but I think it is possible for it to go a little too far. Especially when people begin to push away persons with open minds that are willing to help them.

Another thing you might be concerned about is that you can’t tell when people are joking or not. Some of these people might not be joking, or some of them might just be making jokes that aren’t meant for you to see but they don’t actually feel that way. They’re just exaggerating. Like, once in a while, because I’m ace, I might make a joke about allosexual people and/or straight people. Call sexual things in the media exhausting, or say that straight people are a myth. When I say things like that, I’m joking. I’m expressing some frustration I might have with society or be turning around a group’s words on them. Same thing when someone says “I’m not heterophobic, but could you just not do that where my kids can see it?”. They’re using the same language that has been used against them in reverse because they know that saying that is obviously a joke and not going to actually cause a lot of social harm to heterosexual people in the same way that heterosexual people saying that about queer people does to them.

I’d say, if it feels too exaggerated it’s usually a joke. However, there are people around here that actually do hate men or cis people or straight people or white people or whatever. And on some level, you can understand why, but I think it’s best to avoid them if you can. And sometimes jokes are easy to take the wrong way, unfortunately.This is why I personally try to avoid “down with cis” jokes and don’t like it when people say they’re gonna eat all the men or something like that.

Almost everybody knows that not all men/straight/cis/white/rich/etc. people are awful. We already know that and that’s why we say to save the “Not all (insert group)” language for special occasions. Most people you meet won’t hate you for the parts of who you are that are out of your control. If they do, it’s best not to associate with them.

Just be mindful. I know it’s hard to navigate sometimes. None of us want to be seen as a bad person and Tumblr can be intolerant to mistakes at times. I’ve struggled with something similar in my life. I’m a white person, and I grew up in a middle class educated family, so I’m always learning. I’m always figuring out what I am and am not allowed to talk about or have an opinion on. That’s how it is from anyone from any position of privilege. If you are white, or straight, or cis, or a man, or grew up in a stable family, or don’t have mental illness, or are able bodied, or middle class, or upper class, or a natural born citizen, or if English is your native language, whatever. You’re going to have a blind spot. And living with that blind spot makes it hard to tell when something has gone too far or if it even can go too far.

So, sorry for maybe kind of rambling, but I think the bottom line is, that if you’re willing to learn and try to be a good person, and advocating for positive change, then you’re doing all that you can. Like I said before, most decent people won’t reject you for something out of your control, and your sexuality is something out of your control. If you do end up being straight then just try to be a good ally. Try not to give into the straight guilt feelings, because you’re not responsible for all of history. Don’t claim LGBTQ spaces as your own, be open minded, and if people hate you for it? Block them. Ignore them. Do whatever you gotta do. Just don’t spread more hate. And if it means anything, you won’t get real hate on my blog for being straight. I might joke sometimes but we’re all just people. And as long as people are respectful and not porn bots they’re welcome in my little corner of the internet.

[quinnfrcser]

A bleeding heart, that’s what her parents always called her. Quinn Fraser, bleeding heart—the two seemed synonymous in their lives. She was good; not for a child, but as a person. She screamed and cried and carried on when things weren’t just so. But she donated her toys, her gifts, her time whenever she felt it was needed.

Her parents, stony cold and logically insincere, were always surprised by Quinn’s depth for good. Not that they were bad themselves, but they were selfish. Their money was theirs—they earned it, so they kept it. The rest of the world was the way it was and there was naught they could do to change it. A dollar donated here, an hour there would do nothing for those that needed it most. When Quinn’s expensive private schools came knocking for donations, the money didn’t uplift anyone but painted the library, retiled the bathrooms; physical things they could see, touch, smell.

But Quinn always had more in mind. She could see in herself a potential; she was smart, she could be kind, she had the world at her fingertips. There was nothing she couldn’t do. And there’s power in that, in knowing how limitless she could be. Her younger years were marked with it. She never seemed to ask for herself, but for others. It was pure, a reflection of her as she was. A little girl who had hope, who went to her expensive private school and hung out with her few friends and was happy with the bits she could do.

But as she grew, so did her anger. Now, goodness wasn’t merely time at a soup kitchen or gifts donated to people in need, it was more, more, more. But she changed. When she was thirteen, she saw the world as what it really was, not as what she hoped it could be. The good in it was miniscule and so often taken advantage of. The bad in it was overwhelming, crushing everything in its path until everyone and everything was tainted by it. Now, she fought.

Helping wasn’t sitting at home and donating something, it was going out to rallies  and creating websites for charities and BLM and things that wanted for change. She was scared (her hands shook as she made her signs, her legs weak as she stood in the crowd) but she went and screamed and she acted unshakeable.

Then she moved across the country to attend Welton. She hated it, but she didn’t. She missed her friends (sort of, almost out of obligation than any real sense of loss), her home, her pet snake, and sometimes her parents. She liked the change in scenery, the way she was just one more face in the crowd. No one paid her much attention, which she liked. When they saw her typing on her computer or sitting alone in the cafeteria, they would leave her alone. There was none of the California friendliness in these girls. And she liked Luna, the only person who ever made her feel normal, who made her feel loved.

But everything else, oh how she hated it. The classes, the people, the teachers; they all dragged. She didn’t need them, their books, their words. She knew she was better than it all. Her future was all but settled; she would inherit her parents’ company and that was that. English, math, French, physics—it was all unnecessary. From her parents, she learned all she needed. Graduating from Welton, graduating from whatever Ivy league university, was just a piece of paper she could wave in people’s faces, trust me, I’m smart, I’m worthy of this empire.

Through sheer boredom, she began to hack. (Such a dirty word for someone like her.) Having nothing else to do—few friends to hang out with, no homework to do, too many hours on a game she knew she had to take a break from—she started weaseling her way into places she shouldn’t. The school’s website went from proclaiming the respectability of this prestigious academy to Miss Boaz: We can all see your nipples, consider investing in a sweater. The internet started sporadically crashing, especially when some big projects were due. Library computer backgrounds were always changing and could never seem to be changed back.

The IT couldn’t figure out why these things were happening, who was doing it, how they could fix it. She was so proud of herself, for all these little annoyances. So she kept at it, got better, perfected her skill. And then she posted about it in forums, talking about her newfound abilities, of the things she wanted to learn. Some people there took her under their wing. They taught her more about it—that the power she wielded sitting behind that computer was immeasurable.

As she got closer and closer with these fellow ne’er-do-wells, they looped her in on something big: Anonymous. Of course she’d heard about it, everyone had, but she just thought it was a bunch of basement dwellers threatening celebrities with leaked nudes. But she quickly learned this was not the case. That they were bigger, better, more. Their first project with her: Cleveland. That poor boy, shot dead in the street—his story angered her, made her thirst for change like nothing else before. So she joined Anonymous without a second thought.

They took down their website, plastered it with CHILD KILLER under photos of the cop, the video of the killing, numbers people could call to politely ask (re: harass) the police department into firing, arresting, persecuting the man that killed Tamir Rice. It was heady, trying to change the world so aggressively, and she loved every minute of it. To her, it was pure adrenaline, pure ecstasy. She felt stimulated, challenged, excited—to stick it to the man, to create some kind of change for the better. Her hands shook when she typed.

As time wore on, she did more and more with Anonymous. Almost every time a person was killed through police brutality, she was there, in the background, doing her best to get their justice. It didn’t always work, it didn’t always go their way, but that never stopped her from trying. Really, it just made her try harder. She wants justice, for those who hurt others to be punished. She would seek out those who dumped celebrities’ pictures online, or who posted revenge porn, or who said something racist and volatile and awful. She would find them and post their information, send their words to anyone who might be able to do something. Quinn became a full-blown Saturday night vigilante, striving for justice whenever she thought it was needed.

But now—oh, but now—she’s a little busier, a little less able to work her green and black magic. The Dead Poets Society, Vivienne said. Quinn laughed, scoffed; What do I care about poets? (It was true, of course: her world is so very different from theirs, a universe separated by centuries.) But her cousin only had to say a few choice words and Quinn was hooked. It was a rebellion, she said. It was their little mutiny against their lives, their futures, their pasts. It was something Welton couldn’t control, couldn’t take from them.

And so, she went, she became a member. She was so surprised when she had fun, when she made friends—not many, and not closely, but it was nice to know there were more people in the school she could stand. (Delilah, the minks, she’s a different beast altogether.) But Quinn, she never felt very creative. She didn’t pen poetry about the angst of her life; she didn’t paint or draw; hell, she didn’t even journal. It almost felt like she was there just because Vivienne was her cousin.

It took a few meetings, but Quinn began to find her place. She didn’t write her own poetry, or stories, or anything of the sort. Instead, she translated it, renewed it. A basic choose your own adventure game from A Road Not Taken (up to debate whether she was right about the ending or not), a program that pulls random quotes from Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, a mood ring based upon which Emily Dickinson poem one wanted to read.

It took time, and would require much more, but Quinn had a fondness for the Society. It was like her; a little bit of good with a little bit of bad. It would only make sense for her to feel at home.

[withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus]

I am a little tired of snowflakes today. “Protect yourselves from this and that content”, “protect your kids from this and this content”. I am not saying show everyone everything bad about life from the day they were born but some things piss me off cause I grew up allowed to see those things and nth bad happened to me. It was the narrow-minded snowflakes who weren’t allowed to such content that fucked me up in my life. It was those kids who were “protected“ from such content who called me names like freak and stuff, in my life, it’s those kids who today are afraid of anything different from what they are used to, filling our society with more racists, sexists etc. My parents had told me, as a child, there are good and bad things in life, you have to make sure you choose wisely so, if u have any questions for what you see, come to us, we will tell you what’s right or wrong and then you choose if you wish to follow it or not. They told me about limits and they helped me develop my own judgement which most overprotective parents don’t allow their kids do and which surprises me about my parents who were overprotective with me in other aspects of my life. Of course, there are children who had a perfectly “healthy“ and “protected“ childhood and ended up being good people, but so far I’ve been mostly shown the opposite. The more protected a child was raised the more fixed views they had because their parents always told them “this is bad, this is right“, their entire life. If the parent teaches their child how to distinguish what is really bad for them and encourage them ask them questions without fear, then the child won’t have such issues.

Overprotection does bad things to people. Like those classmates of mine who had strict rules about content ended up narrowminded but had more courage in life than me, because their parents were open-minded when it came to their kids getting experience. Content was a biggie for them but exprerience? All good. Those kids were allowed to experience life when they entered their teenage years, whereas I had mostly freedom in mind than action so I ended up pretty scared when it comes to life because, while my parents let my mind be free to explore all kinds of things, they were overprotective when it came to when, where and what time I was allowed to go. So yeah it was never the fuckin content.

An example: Greek television was full of series using cursewords, because it’s big part of Greek humor. I wasn’t allowed to use cursewords at home though till I was 15. Weird right? Both my parents cursed a lot too. So yeah outside home I did curse, everyone I knew did, but it never fucked me up. I knew not to use it in front of teachers and grown ups and I was fine. Nowadays Greek tv has added beep sounds over the cursewords. Even when an old series is playing again it beeps everything and guess what. Half the humor and punch-lines are gone. Oh and kids still curse. :) So what’s the fuckin point?

Another example: Kids use the internet nowadays, so did I. I had a pc since I was 8, no other kid had that in my school. Yes my parents were around me when I was online till I was 10 but I grew up with horror videogames and movies of all kinds so that was mostly in fear I’d find nudes or anything xD. My parents always told me the blood in movies is sauce and the videogames were fake so, I then wanted to make such movies and videogames but anyway xD. They told me some scenarios used in such stuff are real but yeah. Nowadays everyone is like ooohhh cover your kids’ eyes when blood is on tv, from horror films from this or that. Only thing horror content did to me, for one, is make me a horror addict and wanting to make horror films and art. As for nudity and all...I was taught that the human body is absolutely normal so I don’t even blush when I see someone naked. I mean as an artist it looks normal to me, too. How old was I when I was allowed to watch sex scenes in movies? hmmmm. 10 and that’s a stretch. My sister for example was more protected with content than me and she still blushes when we talk about sex and genitals in front of her (she’s 13). I am always telling her, there is no need to feel uncomfortable. One day you will do this too. Or not. There are people who don’t like sex. *shrugs* But it’s sth normal, not taboo. Just you know, don’t do it before 16 cause it is a matter of health. You can be curious without destroying yourself. I am just saying. But yeah porn is sth to keep kids away from. People who are trying to keep kids away from that are right and have my support. But when it comes blood in movies, cursewords, naked human bodies, I get so annoyed. If you keep telling them the latter one is wrong, especially, all the time they will grow up not feeling confident in their skin, feeling objectified, afraid, embarassed and many more.

Calm down you epitomes of morality. Focus on giving your child smiles and healthy environments than raising them in fear. Protect your child without smothering them. A middle approach is the best thing to do. As a Greek saying goes “Μέτρον άριστον!“, meaning having a balance in everything in life is the best thing. Not too much nor too little of sth. If you want to be extreme about sth in your life by all means do it, but forcing it on others can affect many things in that person’s life and usually, for the worst. I had both freedom and overprotectiveness each one in different aspects of my life and saw that the freedom part didn’t betray me. But that’s just one person’s experience so *shrugs*

[spoookiepie]

Thoughts because that Ghostbusters/MLP post is coming around again: You know, I rly don't dislike dudes who like MLP. It was male friends of mine that got ME to watch it. There's nothing wrong with men/boys enjoying media originally created for women and girls. In fact, we'd all be better of if that was seen as normal. Gendered marketing is bullshit and hurts everyone. BUT. Just like having a black friend doesn't make you not racist, liking female-targeted media as a man doesn't automatically make you not sexist or toxic. And here's the thing too. I don't care that MLP porn exists at all? Yeah I don't like it and I think it's gross, but I also accepted long ago that the internet is gonna be the internet and there will be porn of everything. I KNOW there's porn of other children's media. I know you can find porn of Disney, or Pokémon, or anything. But None of those fan groups became a cultural phenomenon. Because, despite my post only talking about googling MLP safely, it's not just about the porn. It's about the way that a large group of men and boys came into a piece of media and it's fandom, and very purposely, and loudly, carved out their presence. It wasn't enough to be male fans of the show. They had to be "bronies." They had to have name that very openly called out their status as a Male Fan(c), and it was work with pride. Thy started up "Bronycons". Not MLP cons. No no, these conventions more often than not had the name Brony in it. But god forbid anything by the Male Fans(c) be front and center. We had one here in my hometown too. I went to it. It was ok. (Just ok) But there are plenty of stories about how these cons were not exactly kid-friendly, and AGAIN, I'm not just talking porn or 18+ action. Rather, they simply didn't cater as much to little girls as they did older (often male) fans. Other adult fandoms for children's media didn't get newspaper articles or blogs written about them. They did get news stories or, not one but TWO documentaries about the 'radical new group of fans breaking age and gender stereotypes'. (Women have been into 'male oriented' fandoms for YEARS but no one bats an eye at that "breaking of gender norms". Where are the blurbs about women who like Transformers or Voltron or hey hey, Ghostbusters?) No, the fact is, the 'Brony' fandom because a huge cultural phenomenon, much of which they themselves actively helped to create. Parts of the Brony fandom actively worked to be the face of the fandom, and demanded they be catered to. (And let's not ignore how Hasbro and the creators of the show DID bend an ear to these fans, at least for a time. They have some responsibility in this as well) The fandom itself became a place not welcoming to the group of people it was originally for, i.e. Young girls, an often over-looked or talked-down-to demographic as is. And like, in a perfect world, it would be great if everyone could like everything openly and enthusiastically and not have to worry about who a show is for and who it's not. And again, please like what you like, and don't worry about gender stereotypes. But understand that we DON'T live in a perfect world, where everyone is catered to and treated equally. Minority groups get the shaft all too often, girls/women being one of these groups. So while you can and should like what you like, understand that when a piece of media is FOR one of these minority groups and not you, you need to respect that, and keep that a safe space for that group (especially one as vulnerable as children). THAT. Is the problem with the 'brony' fandom. THAT. Is why it's so gross to see nerd men get all pissy when women dare be a part of their precious (and abundant) media.

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

Its been a LONG time since I’v done anything regarding Anita Sarkeesian.  And to be honest, I wasnt going to make a response to this.  But I feel like he actually raises some interesting points that are worth discussing.  

to the skeptics and anti sjw's she'sseen in all ways as a force for bad adishonest critic opportunist a scamartist and ideologue a huge dick 

I guess thats fair.  At this point I dont think most anti-sjws really care about her though.  I will say that, I, personally never got on board with the whole idea that she was a scam artist(though I can see why some people came to that conclusion).  Imo, even if its true(and I doubt it), its largely a red herring.  

so what I'll call the Internet left however she was broadly understood as an all-around decent critic who was unfairly maligned harassed and abused because she was a woman who spoke about feminism and about her unfair treatment on the Internet

Since you are part of the ‘internet left’ I’ll take your word for it.  

I genuinely like Anita sarkeesian I agree with lots of her points and thought she was pretty cool before I knew she was somebody who everybody hated

I’m gonna be honest: Even if I was inclined to agree with anita’s criticism(I’m not), I dont know if I would really like her as a person or say she was ‘cool.’  Her videos and public appearances to me just come across as boring and uninspired.  

To be fair though, my only interaction with her has been through those videos/appearances.  So its possible she’s actually really nice and funny in person.  

even if I didn't like her though I still wouldn't think she deserved the ire of the public you know threats and harassment from people who hated every fiber of her being

Looking back I’m actually somewhat inclined to agree with you.  Aside from the obvious that nobody deserves threats and harassment(although those were grossly exaggerated), I actually think the attention given to her was unwarranted.  That said, I think most of was less hatred for Anita as a person, or even as a woman, and more concerns about her potential influence and how that might affect games(and other media) we love.  

Looking back that influence turned out to be ‘basically none’ but you know what they say about hindsight.  

I'm gonna be looking closely at a few people mostly Thunderfoot and sargon of akkad

I’m going to point out at this point that I’m not really that interested in defending Sargon or Thunderf00t(especially not Thunderf00t).  I have my quibbles with their takes on Anita.  

the first big argument that Anita sarkeesian wants to make that looking at games we can see a general tendency toward centralizing narratives of male and particularly straight male empowerment and what's more that this narrative tends to place the women of video games into some pretty weird positions women are less likely to be the protagonists of games they're more likely to be presented as sexually appealing to have their bodies put on display they're more likely to take on passive or victimized positions as damsels their to be rescued by predominantly male heroes

You cold argue that there are games that do this.  I could point out loads of counter-examples of games that dont.  

But, more importantly, I think, is that she doesnt really make an argument for why this is bad.  And even the limited attempts she does make, you explicitly reject later in this video.  In other words, we’re left with no reason to accept this as a criticism, unless we’ve bought into feminist ideology prior to clicking on Anita’s videos.  

If you want to argue that these videos were meant to be specifically for a feminist audience and that its silly for non-feminists to care, I guess thats fair as far as it goes.  But I dont think thats what you are getting at with this video.  

not being an expert in games myself I can't really go through er work fact-checking each and everyone of those examples besides that's not really something that interests me

I guess thats fair as far as it goes.  I’m actually glad you acknowledge that you dont know that much about games(unlike anita).  But I think you’ll miss a lot of the criticisms of her in that case, which tended to focus on how fairly she was presenting the games she looked at(not very in most cases).  

He then posts and summarizes a Thunderf00t video here, I’m only gonna respond to one point then pick up later(watch the full video for context)

Jamie's girlfriend didn't need to get beaten up we didn't need to see her panties as she was taken away

I pointed this out when I responded to Anita, but compare the amount of Marion porn, to the amount of Chung-li porn, and then tell me how much men desire weak or disempowered women(granted this isnt overly relevant to anything he said, but it was something that always bugged me about anita’s arguments).

Double Dragon might be a story about heroism in some broad sense but it's also a male power fantasy it makes you feel good because you get to play as a badass

No, it IS a story about heroism.  I can agree that the game sidelines and ‘damsels’ Marion(although again I’m not sold on the idea of that being inherently a bad thing).  But the fantasy isnt just about beating people up for no reason, its about being able to protect and save the people you care about.  I’m seriously skeptical that Double Dragon(or most other games) would resonate as much without that aspect.  

I’m skipping most of the rest of the Thunderf00t stuff, because I dont think thunderf00t made the best arguments, and dont have much desire to defend them.  

here's her second and much more important position that games being like that that's a problem Anita isn't just here to make a bunch of neutral statements about what video games are like she wants to say that video games have some relationship to things like sexism misogyny the patriarchy negative and pervasive stuff she sees in our culture

And since I’m not convinced that games can cause people to become sexist or other have other negative views(and neither are you as we shall see).  The only problem is that the games in question offend her feminist sensibilities.  

[these youtubers] nitpick small errors in her analysis see she spoke too broadly about hitman her general observations about video games must be totally off-base

Its not just hitman.  That was just one of many, many examples of her misrepresenting or deliberately using game mechanics to painting games in a worse light than reality is.  Also she shows no understand of how gameplay affects player attention and focus(presumably because she doesnt know as a result of not playing them)

cultivation Theory cultivation theory is an area of research and psychology that attempts to study and demonstrate the impact that media has on people the sorts of behaviors and dispositions it cultivates and when these youtubers talk about this theory it is always to point out that the research has proven it false

Not so much that its been proven false.  But that the effects shown are much more subtle than is commonly portrayed, tends to reinforce previously held beliefs rather than implanting new ones, and may not even apply to games.  Liana Kerzner(funny how you dont cover her despite the fact that she got a decent amount of attention for arguing with Anita), and AydenPaladin have both discussed this extensively, so I’ll just leave links to their videos.  

let's say for the sake of argument that these people are absolutely right about their science every study we've done shows that video games cause no shift in behavior or disposition our research into cultivation Theory has given us nothing but a bunch of bummed out psychologists now assuming all this let's ask a question what exactly would these findings mean to Anita sarkeesian's claim that video games can be harmful

It would mean she’s wrong.  Actually she’s wrong even in the real world where cultivation is a thing, just more subtle and might not apply to games.  

but to me it would mean absolutely nothing and why is that well here's one big reason I don't think that science is actually capable of disproving obvious facts about the wa ypeople work media's abilities are cultivate behaviors emotions and dispositions isn't some incidental point about it that requires further proof rather it's the entire reason why media exists in the first place

You’re conflating two very different things here.  Nobody denies that media has an ‘effect’ in the sense of causing an emotional reaction or giving some new information to people.  But thats a VERY different thing than saying media can alter peoples long-term attitudes, beliefs or behaviors.  

I agree the former is obvious.  The latter isnt.  And in fact the effect media has is pretty small.  

let's do a little thought experiment say a film is made that is unabashed Nazi propaganda let's call it Lubin'sLubin

You obviously dont speak German, but okay.  

every moment in this film conveys an anonymous and an explicit hatred of Jews let's say that this film is so horrendously racist that nobody in society can possibly be influenced by it to become Nazis the vast majority of people watch it critically tear it apart maybe even reflect on how silly and gross Nazism is

So you’re saying this film may, unintentionally, have a net positive effect on society.  Go on.

now if what's argon and Thunderfoot says is true if the only way to say a work of art is toxic is to look at its literal impact on society then we would be unable to condemn Lubin sh Lubin since the film has no tangible effect on anyone's behavior

Oh we could absolutely condemn the film, say its gross or bad or stupid or whatever.  What could not do is say its harmful.  Because it isnt.  

everybody with a brain knows that this movie is bad politically not in a way that means we should ban it but in a way that is worthy of our scorn and disgust

Sure such a film would be disgusting.  But disgust isnt harm.  And to conflate the two is not only disingenuous as fuck, but potentially dangerous.  

By this logic, Anita Sarkeesian’s videos are harmful, because lots of people are disgusted by them.  

watching Anita sarkeesian's videos she does site cultivation Theory a few times says there's a causal relationship between video games being the way they are and people being sexist and to be honest I kinda wish she hadn't said those things

Do I even need to comment?  

you can see that she means something very similar to what we described in our thought experiment we can see this whenever she talks about games it's pretty obvious

Indeed.  Her main reason for condemning video games is that they offend her feminist sensibilities.  So non-feminists have no reason to accept her criticism.  

she didn't wait for the Double Dragon studies to come in and prove that the game causes regressive behaviors and of course she didn't do that because she doesn't have to she is a person who experienced this work of art and she's claiming here that what she saw in it

Or in other words:

it stipulates that violence against women can be understood as erotic

Again, who is the bigger sex symbol: Marion or Bayonetta?  hint: its NOT the one who is passive recipient of violence.  

it just doesn't make sense to reserve our judgments of media to only those things that the work is actively calling for we also have to look at subtext and coding

And the subtext here is ‘kidnapping and beating up women is bad.  And real manly badasses protect and care for the ones they love.’  

keeping with our Nazi propaganda theme which I guess we have here let's use let's use this boy as an example:

image posted for reference.

this image obviously sucks because in the society it was used in it conveyed terrible ideas it serves to implicitly justify racial hierarchy and to normalize the idea that Jewish people were subhuman it

The difference here is the image in question was used in explicit anti-semitic propaganda.  There is a history here that directly links this imagery to Nazism and anti-semitism more broadly.  

Video games dont have such a history.  Even the tropes anita discusses that pre-date video games, such as the damsel in distress dont really have such a history.  The story of Saint George and the dragon(one of the earliest DiD stories, and the oldest anita cites) was about faith and knightly duty, not gender relations.  Hell Double Dragon isnt ABOUT how helpless your grlfriend, but about being the hero who is willing and capable to protect her.  

Skipping some more, because I dont care:

what he[thunderf00t] seems to have forgotten is that you can buy cigarettes under capitalism and you can buy an apple under capitalism cigarettes kill 400,000 people every year but apples they don't do nearly that much damage it's actually said that they keep the doctors away you might think that cigarettes should remain legal and I'm sympathetic to that idea but you'd have a hard time convincing me that they're not harmful to the people who use them

The difference is that we have loads of evidence that cigarettes cause real, tangible harm.  The same cannot be said for media.  Even cultivation theory says that media tends to reinforce existing beliefs than implant new ones.  And its not always clear that those beliefs translate into tangible actions.  

And I’m gonna say it again before anybody brings it up:  disgust is not harm.  

you may think that you can talk about the worth of art from a political or moral perspective but in fact that's just a mirage anything you say about media is just an unverified and likely unsupportable position and you should probably forget about

I would phrase it differently:  You can talk about media from a moral or political perspective all you want.  However, anybody who doesnt share your perspective would then be perfectly justified in simply dismissing what you have to say.  

hate Anita sarkeesian not because of what she says but because of who she is and the damage she causes

More precisely the damage we thought she might potentially cause.  Which admittedly in hindsight was an overreaction.  

they talk about how she sucks because she released her video slowly

Usually its less about her being slow, and more about she failed to keep her kickstarter promises.  I dont really go in for that because because I frankly dont think its that big a deal.  

didn't like being harassed on the Internet

Look, what she has shown as harassment is no worse than what most people(men and women) experience.  The vast majority of it wasnt even harassment but responses and criticisms.  

I guess you could say that online harassment shouldnt be a thing at all.  But I also dont think thats very realistic.  

talk about how she's a fraudulent grifter who gets her lackeys to phony bomb threats so she can make more money

I dont know about the bomb threat thing specifically.  I DO know that she used the harassment she received(real or not) to get attention and money.  

about how she's a fake gamer and so she shouldn't be talking about games

Thats a perfectly valid criticism though.  Media criticism is best done by people who actually have knowledge of the media in question.  

these guys are unapologetically anti-feminist and because of that they see no reason to change media to make it more feminist

So you DO get it!  

and they don't criticize and Anita sarkeesian's work because of cultivation theory I mean where are the studies that show that these videos are causing murder rates to increase

I honestly dont know what you’re getting at here.  The only reason anybody ever brought up cultivation theory is because Anita did first.  

And they dont criticize Anita  Sarkeesian's work because she explicitly calls for immoral actions

Nobody said she did?  Although I think if you read between the lines she has some really negative views towards men.  

and they don't criticize Anita sarkeesian's videos because they exist outside some benevolent capitalist structure I've got some hot news for you Anita sarkeesian's work is actually facilitated by capitalism

I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.  But it does make Anita a massive fucking hypocrite.  

no they hate Anita sarkeesian's work mostly because she says stuff they think is bad she's a feminist who wants various things about games to change and they disagree with her vehemently about it

And more importantly, that with all the attention she was getting at the time we thought the kind of changes she wants might actually start to happen.  Not that her videos would turn game developers into feminists(because lets face it, theres basically zero chance of her videos turning anybody feminist).  But because they might become convinced that there is an audience for the kind of games she wants.  

Like I said multiple times:  We were mostly mistaken about that.  

Theres not really much else here.  he just repeats himself.  so thats all for now.  

[thesffcorner]

Emergency Contact

Emergency Contact is a contemporary novel written by Mary H K Choi. It follows 2 characters: Penny, a freshman at UTC who wants to be a writer, and Sam, a boy who works and lives in a coffee shop nearby and wants to be a documentarian. The two meet by accident, but when Sam has a panic attack that he mistakes for a heart attack, Penny helps him, and they become each other's emergency contacts. Soon however, both realize their relationship might be deeper than that. This was an odd novel: it started off pretty engaging, but lost a lot of the steam towards the middle, and though the ending picked up pace, the actual climax left me somewhat dissatisfied. However, even though my reading experience wasn’t great, there were still elements of this book I enjoyed a lot. It seems the book is pretty polarizing, and I think there are two main reasons for it, so without further ado, let’s talk about them. 

Writing: Writing is subjective, and as such I tend to avoid talking about it, unless it’s noteworthy. Well, here it’s definitely noteworthy. It’s what I like to call ‘quirky, modern prose’; think mumblecore in films, but in novel form. The characters are up to date with modern slang, jargon and internet culture, and as such they speak in a very exaggerated manner; when they text they use a lot of shortcuts, barely any punctuation, their thought process is very ‘raw’ and sometimes more than a little iffy with the jokes, and just in general it’s a style that I don’t think many people will like. It’s hard to explain without examples, so here are 2: “Okay, they weren’t full on frontal - bless. Mark was still sixteen, and Penny didn’t need the FBI landing at her college dorm for kiddie porn. They were risque though. Each went slightly beyond the treasure trail. [...] Penny was even sure he Facetuned at least one, which was a quality she simply could not respect in a man.” (pg. 14) “Oh my God, Penny. Stop being so emo. Are you going to make us talk about feelings?” asked Mallory “Seriously, you are so homeschooled sometimes” (pg 296) I dare you to show that to someone over the age of 40 and expect them understand any of it. There are several problems with this. First, I like a book that’s about teenagers, and sounds like what teenagers actually speak like. I’ve heard from people younger than me, who’ve read this book, and didn’t like it because of the way it’s written; they thought it didn’t sound authentic, and tried too hard. I personally didn’t find this to be an issue; I thought both Penny and Sam, as well as the rest of the characters for the most part spoke like people do today, but keep in mind I’m 24, and have been out of college for at least a couple of years. Second, and what actually bothered me, is that this style of writing was exhausting to read. On the one hand, seeing as we are trapped inside the heads of two incredibly anxious, over-thinkers, it made sense that their internal monologues were likewise overwritten and exhausting, but it made for a really unappealing reading experience. I shouldn’t feel like I’ve been run over by a tractor every time I read more than 2 paragraphs of a contemporary romance; a lot of the time it almost felt like Choi was writing on a dare to show someone how hip with the times she was. Which is fine, but I’d like to actually get to know Penny and Sam, without having to waddle through endless apathy and jargon. The third thing, which even I had some issues with, were the risque jokes. Look, I was a teen. I know how it was; you’d say whatever offensive thing comes to mind to get a reaction; it’s basically part of the universal adolescent experience. Except a) Penny is 18 and in college, and Sam is 21; and b) they are still risque jokes even if they are said ironically. It’s a catch 22; you want to subvert tropes and make fun of stereotypes, but you still have to write those tropes and stereotypes. So I completely understand why you’d be turned off by jokes about underage porn, calling men who cry ‘pussies’, calling people who are awkward ‘homeschooled’ or making racist and xenophobic jokes. It’s authentic, but it’s not fun to read. Characters: My last point about the writing, leads nicely into what I know a lot of people had issues with (and at points I did too) which were the characters. Let’s start with Penny. Penny is both very funny and infuriating to read from. At times she reminded me of myself when I was her age; constantly anxious, judgmental, with a superiority complex stemming from being the smartest and most read person in class, someone who doesn’t fit in and purposefully isolates herself even more to cope. To top it off, she has a strained relationship with her mother, an unpleasant experience with men, and generally prefers communication over text. There were so many things that she did and said that I just couldn’t stand, and a lot of them, were things I would’ve done and said when I was her age. As such, while I didn’t like Penny, I can’t say she isn’t a well written, well rounded, authentic character. This could lead into a bigger debate about protagonists, but in my opinion, the protagonist needs to be fully fleshed out and well written, more than they need to be likable, and this is especially true of female protagonists, since they are rarely allowed to be flawed. My issues with Penny were more that I didn’t feel like she changed by the end of the novel, and a lot of her flaws were never even addressed, let alone resolved, as well as some of her truly bad behavior. Like I said Penny is often judgmental, and the book implicitly sides with her, even though lots of times she’s blatantly wrong and draws conclusions based on stereotypes. A good example is the scene where she arrives at UTC, and a girl asks about her lipstick; I’m sorry, but when are we going to stop demonizing girls for enjoying make up? The girl is friendly and nice to her, and Penny still concludes she’s vapid and dumb because she asks about PENNY’S LIPSTICK. There’s a scene later on where she decides to meet Sam without the lipstick on, because I guess ‘that’s her authentic self’ and like fuck off. Wearing makeup doesn’t make you inauthentic or dumb, and you just KNOW, that if Penny were a boy, or a boy asked about her lipstick, y’all would be praising this book about how progressive it was. Then, there’s the whole subplot with Jude and Mallory. Mallory was equally as judgmental and annoying as Penny, so their rivalry was understandable, but Jude was nothing but nice and kind to Penny the whole book, and Penny repays her by hiding and lying to her about the one thing Jude asked her not to do. Jude calls her out on her behavior, and gets rightfully pissed, but then she still forgives both Penny and Sam so easily, even though they treat her like shit for the whole book. Moreover, I didn’t even get the sense that Penny was genuinely sorry to cause Jude pain, or felt bad for lying; she was just scared that Jude wouldn’t talk to her anymore, which was incredibly shitty and selfish, and the book never makes her face any real consequences for it. The same can be said about her relationship with her mother. All of her monologues, internal and otherwise, about how terrible her mother was just because she was hot, young, and flirts a lot were exhausting. I get that Penny was angry at her mother for trying to be her friend instead of parent, but you know what might help you solve that Penny? TALKING TO HER. This woman pays for your education, lets you choose exactly what you want to do, which is not something many people have the privilege of, clearly loves and cares about you, and has genuinely done nothing wrong, for you to hate her as much as you do. Especially, in comparison to Sam’s mother who is an actual monster. The fact that she drives to the hospital, and then doesn’t see her mother, constantly brushes off her calls and texts, doesn’t go to her ACTUAL BIRTHDAY was just ridiculously shitty behavior, and again, she never really gets called out on it, or suffers any consequences, even in the end when they have their big make up scene! The only thing I liked about that scene was Celeste calling out Penny’s behavior towards her peers; that she doesn’t have friends not because everyone hates her, but because she considers everyone beneath her because they don’t match up to her ridiculously high standards she holds everyone to. I wish someone told me that when I was her age, but man, was her character hard to read from. But honestly, Penny was a gem compared to Sam, who I wanted to punch multiple times. Beware, some SPOILERS about Sam inbound. First off, Sam is possibly the most unfortunate character I have ever read about in books; his backstory is so sad, so beyond dramatic, it was like he walked straight of the set for Days of Our Lives. He has an alcoholic and a hoarder mother, grew up perpetually poor, is constantly starving, is himself a borderline alcoholic and is still in love with a manipulative, abusive ex-girlfriend. There’s also false pregnancies, him failing out of community college to protect a Dreamer and panic attacks. That’s… waaay too much drama for one person. And to make matters worse, a lot of the issues Sam has, are self-inflicted, and it’s very hard to root for and sympathise with someone who consistently makes the wrong decision about everything. First off, Sam works in a coffee shop, and lives rent free in the attic of said coffee shop. The owner even pays him more than minimum wage, and lets him eat and drink coffee at the shop. And yet, Sam is constantly broke and starving, because he forgets to eat, doesn’t feel like it, has no money because he spent it on alcohol (even though he’s sober) or expensive dates with Lorraine. How am I supposed to root for him? He saves enough money to enroll in a documentary film-making class at a community college, and instead of using this as an opportunity to truly make a good documentary, get it to play at student festivals, and local film fests and connect with other artists in the area (since y’know, they live in AUSTIN), he shoots at the last minute, doesn’t get realizes until the ABSOLUTE last minute, and realizes that his subject and his mother are unregistered Dreamers. Are you telling me, that someone who was a FILM MAJOR doesn’t understand how releases work, and didn’t bother to check what the university’s policy on authorial rights are before he enrolled in the class? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So he fails the class because he refuses to submit the film. He doesn’t DO anything with the film; we don’t find out if he intends to submit it to festivals, screen it, or anything of the sort he just fails the class because he’s either the stupidest director ever or the most noble guy in Austin. Then there’s Lorraine. Oh boy. Firstly, Sam’s absolute obsession with Lorraine was infuriating. I don’t find it fun or engaging to read about someone who is so naive and thoroughly manipulated, and I am forced to watch them endure an abusive, self-destructive relationship for chapters on end. Sam doesn’t love Lorraine; he’s obsessed with her. It’s not ‘love’ to know absolutely everything about the other person, and expect them to do the same; it’s not love to be completely codependent on the other person. As much as Lorraine was a bad person, so was Sam because he refused to see how destructive his behavior and their relationship was to him. Then, there’s the pregnancy. Why was it in the book? It’s fake, so there are no real consequences. Abortion is immediately dismissed as an adoption, even though objectively neither of the two are capable of being parents, with Lorraine refusing to go to an OBGYN, drinking though she might be pregnant and generally acting like the spoiled brat she is, and Sam having 17 dollars to his name, no real job, no prospects and no sense of responsibility. Sam could’ve easily realized his relationship to Lorraine was toxic without involving a potential child, and honestly his belief that a) Lorraine would somehow change or want him back, or won’t cheat on him just because of the baby and b) that her ridiculously rich and prejudiced family would allow him anywhere near that baby were borderline delusional. But the thing that pissed me off the most about Sam, was that he doesn’t get any resolution! We never find out what he does about his alcoholic mother, or the massive debt she had incurred in his name, there’s no comment on the fact that because of that he’d never be able to get a credit card, lease an apartment or buy a car; since he fails his course we never find out what he wants to do next or if he still wants to be a filmmaker, we never find out what happens with the documentary. All we get is that he’s now dating Penny. Yay. Some Good Things: I did gives this book 3 starts, so here are some good things. I liked Penny’s writing class and her professor, as well as what we see from their class discussions about who gets to write whose story. I also enjoyed Penny’s Anima story and the Korean couple; I thought the connection between the virtual baby and her phone being a metonymy for Sam was great. Andy was also cool, and I liked the banter he has with Penny; he was smart and funny, and I appreciated that we actually got some female-male friendships in this book. Jude and Mallory were also great; I especially liked Mallory’s speech about cows and mothers, and that she was presented as a confident if a bit overbearing person. Bastian was also cool, as were his mother and buddies. I enjoyed the fact that he was this boy trying to prove he was a man, but he was also a talented artist. I honestly wish the book had more to do with him and Sam, than Sam’s actual main plot. Speaking of Sam, I did like that he cried, was vulnerable and had hobbies that aren’t stereotypically male, while also being very much a man. He has tattoos and they are shown to be cool instead of ‘edgy’; I think the last time I saw that was probably Divergent. Yikes. Conclusion: Again, I find myself only half-recommending a book. There are good things in here; it’s just that the reading experience wasn’t great, and some of the character drama went a bit too far for it to be believable. If you think you’d have issue with any of the things I mentioned then skip this book; but if you don’t mind any of it, then you very well might love this. It’s a polarizing novel for a reason.

goodreads

[skiasurveys]

sex sex sex sex.

1. What’s your favorite position and why? i like doggy style a lot because i dont know it just feels really great and its pretty dominating..but i also like missionary but its boring but i like it when i want to feel “romantic”. lmao.

2. How did you lose your virginity? If you’re still a virgin, is there any specific reason?  I lost my virginity at 19. Basically I was preparing to bang my boyfriend ( my current one!) but I was super nervous ( I already had some trauma from the past). I was scared and stuff and so we tried and I was like Idk man im scared. Then later that night we just started to kiss and make out and he asked if I wanted to try again and I said sure so I got naked blah blah, I was sitting on him kissing hm and then bam he fucked me but it felt really awesome and nice, didn’t hurt because he was slow at it and then he fucked me from behind after i got used to it lol. Great times. That was like a year ago!

3. If you could have sex with any porn star or model, who would it be?  i dont know any porn stars and im not attracted to any models either.

4. What’s one thing in particular that makes you want to tear off your lover’s clothes? Sometimes if he looks at me a certain way or if were doing something . Or if he starts touching my thighs and/or kissing my neck 

5. Five turn ons. 1. Strong looking/masculine 2.Taller than me but no taller than 6′3 3. kissing my neck. 4. man handeling me (without being too aggressive).5. showing me off ( Not like “OH LOOK WHAT I HAVE” but being proud you have me. 6. Five turn offs. 1. Being an asshole. 2.Acting like you don’t care about me when youre around others. 3.Racist/sexist/etc 4.Creepy. 5.Hating my friends

7. Have you had any embarrassing sexual experiences?   its so embarrassing.. so I had just finished my period ( OR so i thought) and we started to fuck and it was going well.. after we finished he was like “Um i think you still have your period.” and Im like “what?” and yeah there was blood on his dick and I legit ran and cried in the bathroom like a little bitch LOL. He came after me and said it was fine and that hes done more awkward shit but DUDE...

8. Do you have a fetish? not really. I like calling my boyfriend daddy in the bedroom but i dont like the ddlg fetish at all. 

9. Have you experimented with anyone of the same sex?  no 10. What’s “out of bounds” for you during sex?  Choking, or tying me up, or like bondage stuff. I just have a severe panic attack if that happens and I dont like it and I had trauma so its actually triggering.

11. What’s the best sexual unsolicited advice you can give?  Just dont fuck them if youre not ready. 

12. Hickies - get ‘em or give ‘em? both

13. Do you like giving head? im that weird girl who actually enjoys sucking cock

14. Do you like getting head? yes 

15. What’s one thing you look for in a partner?  loyalty and companionship. 

16. How many partners have you had?  1 and im still with him :)

17. What’s your sexual orientation? Straight

18. If you’re bi/pansexual, what gender do you tend to prefer? n/a

19. Describe the best sex you’ve ever had.  Theres a few. It usually is when he goes hardcore with teasing me and kissing me. One time he was kissing me and teasing me. He ate me out for a bit which was amazing, and the he kissed me from my tummy to my lips, and he fucked me hard but slow and said I love you which was awesome. But i also had one where He was teasing me and doing lots of foreplay and he told me he owned me and that he wanted all of me and then he fucked me so good. especially when he cums inside me. MMMMM.

20. Describe the worst sex you’ve ever had. It wasnt bad but I just have depression and sometimes it hits me when were fucking and  i lost my sex drive and just didnt care and it didnt last that long but i lied i orgasmed so he could finish because i wasnt feeling it lol

21. Have you ever had a funny sexual experience? What was it? i dont know. Im sure. 22. Are you okay with rough sex?  Yess just not too rough ok!

23. How big was the biggest dick you’ve ever seen? Was it in a porn or in real life? well i mean guys in porn always have huge dicks but my boyfriend is the only one Ive had and he is pretty big.

24. Boobs or ass - which is better? ass. 25. Do you prefer sex or masturbation? sex i hate masturbating.

26. Describe how you usually masturbate. ill leave that for your imagination. 

27. Do you like tattoos on a partner or do you like them to have a clean slate, skin wise?  i dont care. either or.

28. How do you feel about daddy dom/little girl roleplaying? some people go a little too far with it. Like for example actually acting like they are 4 years old in public. You can leave it to the bedroom, please.

29. What’s your fantasy?  pay off my student loans.

30. Do you have any sexual regrets? no

31. When did you last have sex? april 1st before Connor moved! He will be back in the end of May or start of June so it will be a while before we have sex again :(

32. When did you last masturbate? last night

33. Have you had anal? yeah. Its ‘ight. 

34. Do you like to spank/be spanked?  i like to be spanked.

35. What do you want done to you right now?  well since  I havent seen my boyfriend in like a month i would love it for him to just push me against a wall. mmm.

36. Are you comfortable with getting tied up? no

37. Did you have sex in high school? nope. No one really liked me back then. I had like 2 boyfriends then and it was shitty then. I met Connor the fall after i graduated. Hilarious.

38. How old were you when you lost your virginity? How long has it been? 19 years old and its been a year now.

39. Do you like teasing or would you rather get straight to the point? teasing.

40. Sexting or phone sex?  ive done both. sexting is fun but phone sex can be pretty hot. I just dont like phone sex..i rather sext tbh

41. Have you had sex in any interesting places? One time we were hanging at our friends place and everyone had gone to bed and Connor was cuddling me on their couch and he said , “ I bet its just bothering you that you cant touch me” and im like whatever idc and then hes like “lets lowkey fuck” so we fucked on their couch while they were sleeping! It was pretty fun but nervous cus if someone walked out. oh god..and then we fucked behind a couch like 3 times while there was a party going on. cool.

42. Are you sexually active?  i guess so. since he moved its hard to say but its only for short time.

43. Have you had car sex? no our car is too small for that. but i want to.

44. Have you ever had sex with anyone else in the location you were at? (i.e., while your sister was in the other room) yes..see above

45. Why aren’t you fucking anyone right now? well the only person i would fuck is in a nother city obvs so thats why.

46. Are you able to have emotionless sex? not rly

47. Does penis size really matter? yes

48. What has been your most memorable experience sexually? theres a lot

49. If male, are you well endowed? n/a

50. If female, what’s your breast size?  34 B cup.

51. Have you ever been the other person? no

52. Have you ever cheated on anyone?  no!

53. Describe an orgasm.  i just felt really weird and shakey but it felt so good.

54. What’s the longest time you’ve had sex for? I dont really keep count.

55. What’s the shortest time you’ve had sex for?  like 5 minutes. -___-

56. If you could change the person you lost your virginity to, would you?  no

57. Have you had any pregnancy scares? Yeah kinda. my one period didnt come once and i was so scared. I bought like 3  sticks.

58. Are you comfortable naked?  kinda. Ive been with Connor for a year now and I still feel awkward naked. lol

59. Are you comfortable sending pictures of yourself to others? depends.

60. What’s your sexual comfort zone like?just dont do rape play.

61. What’s something sexual that you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up liking?  i cant think of anything

62. Do you have any piercings in fun places? (i.e., clit, nipples, dick) no

63. Would you say you’re good in bed?  i think so.

64. How do you get sex tips? internet or i ask him how he wants me to do something. like i ask him if he likes what im doing and he will tell me how he wants it.

65. Have you ever had sex with anyone while they were on their period? Have you ever had sex while on your period?  no except that one time when i thought i was fkn done but i wasnt. kill myself.

66. If you could be the other sex for a day, would you and what would you do first? idk.

67. What’s your favorite part about being the gender you are? I dont know really. I can buy cute drinks without looking dumb?

68. Slow but passionate, or fast, furious, and kinky? slow but passionate. But also depends on the mood or whatever because sometimes i want rough, sometimes i don’t.

69. Have you ever 69’d? Did you enjoy it?  yes but it feels too good to suck him while hes eating me out.

70. Have you ever done drugs and then had sex?  weed

71. Have you ever had sex with someone you’re in love with? yes

72. How are you with BDSM? Would you ever engage in it?  nope.

73. Do you like gagging on cock/having someone gag on your cock? Why?  i love gagging on his cock.

74. When it comes to oral, are you gentle? Do you use your hands too? gentle. i dont want to hurt him but if i do go hard kinda. and yeah i used my hands.

75. Okay, how do you feel about handjobs?  sometimes i do hand jobs but its only when im making him hard. Lol.

76. Have you had any unwanted pain during sex? yeah.

77. What is something that’s not sexual that can turn you on more than anything sexual?  arms? 78. Can your sexual partners be categorized by their zodiac signs? no

79. Have you had sex to music? What’s your favorite sex song? we fucked to Wish you were here by Pink Floyd.

80. What’s something you want to try in bed?  i dont know.

81. Has anyone drew blood from you during sex, whether it was by cutting, biting, or scratching? How did you feel about that? no. if there was blood from biting/scratching/etc i would feel awful.

82. Have you ever fucked someone who was sad? Did it help them emotionally or make it worse? I have fucked him when he was sad and it helped and same for me sometimes it makes me feel way better.

83. Do you like sexual anons? no

84. What’s your ideal round of sex?  i dont know.

85. Do you like the use of whipped cream, handcuffs, chocolate, and cherries?  nope.

86. Have you ever been walked in on or caught?  almost got caught.

87. Have you ever had sex in public? Would you? yes and i would.

88. What’s a good sex joke?  i dont know. 89. Do you like to be called a dirty slut or would you rather be treated like royalty?  i love it when he calls me a slut but theres a time and place during sex when i want to be slutty and then loved LMAO.

90. Are you more submissive or dominant? sub 91. What’s your naughtiest secret? i almost fucked a 33 year old when i was 18.

92. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve encountered sexually?  i cant think of anyting

93. Have you ever “stuck your dick in crazy”? Was there a lesson learned?

94. Do you like playing with balls/having someone play with yours? i like playing with them because he loves it. 

95. What’s the best nonsexual feeling?  feeling safe and loved by them.

96. Do you like feet? ew 97. Do you look at rule 34/hentai? ew....

98. Pick a random question off this survey for yourself. N/A 99. Who’s your ideal sexual partner? MY BOYFRIEND.

100. Do you have a partner right now? Would you like one? have my boyfriend :) 101. Are you accepting “applications” for a partner?  um no

[adambstingus]

5 Ways The Modern World Makes Mass Murder Easier

OK, Christ, let’s get one thing clear here: The internet isn’t a bad thing. At no point will the world become a cartoonist’s caricature of some smoldering dumpland surrounding a cow pen of millennials checking their smartphones. I get that no one under the age of 70 wants to hear some hand-flailing diatribe about the dangers of modern conveniences or how video games and Twitter turn supple minds into itty Patrick Batemans (Batemen?). It’s horse poop.

But also horse poop: pretending that society has lurched into a tubular hack-the-planet age without any detrimental consequences. And one correlation that’s always troubled me is the FBI���s report about the rise of spree shootings adjacent to the rise in the web’s popularity. While it would be horribly irresponsible to use that data alone to point fingers at the world’s favorite new cat and porn depository, there’s certainly enough circumstantial evidence to at least support suspicious squints toward your cable router. For example …

5

The Internet Attracts Depressed, Emotionless People (According To Science)

Like I just got done saying, the internet isn’t turning people into psychopaths, just as video games and movies aren’t. But to quote the great modern mind Skeet Ulrich: “Movies don’t create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative.” In other words, troubled people can draw inspiration and solace from anywhere, and science has found that one common place to hide has been the internet.

Read Next

You’ll Have Mo’ Money & Less Problems With These 4 Courses

If a person tends to be introverted, or isolated, or generally uncomfortable dealing with other people (like I’m sure a lot of you reading this are), then the internet is a great place to find peace. There’s nothing wrong with that. But it also means that the more rejected from the world a person feels, the easier it it for them to live their life solely through a computer screen. And while we’ve only just begun to study the effects of this, what little results we have seem to indicate that excessive online use tends to go hand in hand with addiction, depression, impulsiveness, and anxiety. Getting more specific, things like online forums and file sharing tend to attract those with depressive personalities. In other words, you don’t have to be an isolated, depressed loner to enjoy 4chan and Reddit … but it helps.

And going back to the fact that these websites absolutely don’t turn you into a sociopath, they are fan-fucking-tastic if you’re already one of those to begin with. Forums and Twitter are great ways to pass the time if you have no empathy, considering how impersonal they can be. And you know who tends to fit into that? Teenagers. Specifically, teenage boys.

“Cognitive empathy” — aka the ability to relate to other people’s perspectives — is not something that develops right away in people. For girls, it happens around the age of 13, but for boys it tends to start a bit later … right around the time they become parentally untethered online. And while I’m totally speculating, it makes way more sense to me that the reason so many spree killers are young men isn’t that men are inherently terrible crime monsters, but that they are biologically more susceptible to violent actions in an age in which you can escape into a faceless digital world. After all, I remember being that age when the internet first became a thing (I’m fucking old, you guys), and can personally attest to the hours I spent on sites like rotten.com and Limewire seeing just how much my adolescent brain could take. That doesn’t mean I’m a psychopath, right? Right, guys? We wouldn’t want that.

And since my early days, it’s gotten easier to find not only just about any corner of darkness you want, but also a whole digital community lurking there with you …

4

Online Communities Make Unhealthy Interests Seem Normal

Hey, let’s say I’m really into pictures of cars having sex with dragons. Hypothetically, of course. Let’s say it really gets my hammer slamming to see a Toyota Matrix squat behind some nubile hydra and give it the full business. Twenty years ago, that’s something I would have to keep to myself, quietly understanding that it’s kind of messed up I would be into such things. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to hope I wouldn’t be ashamed of my vehicular fetish, but it’s certainly nothing I could build a whole lifestyle around. With luck, one day I might meet a woman who shared my dark secret, and together we could dress up like Herbie and Draco and go buck wild on each other. Just a honking good time.

But today, I don’t have to worry about any of that. There’s already a Reddit community of over 3,000 people who share my interest:

I know, I know, it’s a joke subreddit. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The point I’m trying to make here is this: One of the strengths of the internet is that it unites people from all over the country and world … which at times is also one of the worst things about it as well. Because along with political advocates, LGBT groups, nerd communities, people who drink beer in the shower while naked (hey, NSFW), and any other innocuous lifestyles like cosplayers and furries, we’re also seeing the garbage unions of Nazis, child predators, animal abusers, weird-shaped egg enthusiasts, and a fucking 2,000-strong group devoted to Taylor Swift’s armpits:

Reddit Which somehow forced the dragon-fucking out of top spot on the “weirdest fetish in this article” list.

This is something we’ve talked about before with online MRA groups. In the same way that a cult isolates and bubbles people into a false interpretation of reality, some online groups find the equally susceptible and gather them under one obsessive interest. And to keep repeating, it’s not that the internet is making them this way, but rather that it’s creating a nurturing place where those beliefs can be not only unchallenged but supported. Someone like an anti-vaxxer or Sandy Hook truther would be booed out of an everyday conversation, but online, they are not alone. Online, they have a community to assure them that what they are doing isn’t bat-dong wacky-sacks.

And then it’s only a matter of time before that person grows to believe that the rest of the world is the problem. Their awkwardness, isolation, and social anxiety is suddenly a justified reaction to a backwards society. It’s only a matter of time before they proudly lash out against the non-digital world, and what was once a quiet hobby becomes some dude fucking a neighbor’s Tegu dressed like a Transformer. Or, you know, a man shooting up Planned Parenthood after enveloping himself in anti-abortion YouTube videos edited to falsely assert that the organization sells baby parts.

And I know that it seems super weird to lump violence with joke subreddits about celebrity arm fetishes, but there’s a deliberate reason I’m doing this …

3

For Every Stupid Offensive “Joke,” There’s Someone Out There Taking It Seriously

Lemme tell you about being a young punk in the very liberal state of Massachusetts, which is what I once was. In order to rebel in a place like that, the goal was to be as offensive and politically incorrect as possible. And so derogatory bands like GG Allin, GWAR, and something terrible called “Anal Cunt” were often blasted with a smirk from my shitty car. It wasn’t necessarily that I believed the screeching lyrics, but rather that I enjoyed the immature shock value of it all. And while a lot of these bands were also simply in it for smirks, there comes a time when you realize that not everyone is interpreting them ironically. At some point, you find yourself moshing to a live performance of “Hitler Was A Sensitive Man,” only to notice that the dude next to you has a swastika tattooed on his chest. That isn’t to say I don’t still listen to bands like GG Allin, but rather that I do so quietly and in more personal, adult situations — like in the shower, or doing my taxes.

And as we sort of touched on before, this shock value is likely what a lot of 4channers and younger right-wingers think they are creating:

See, the joke was this: Pretend that certain symbols like the “OK” hand sign are Nazi salutes to freak out the media into thinking it’s real. Only guess what? “Pretending” something is a Nazi salute is ultimately the same goddamn thing as using an actual Nazi salute. And the more you do it, the more you end up attracting actual Nazis. Being “ironically” racist is just being racist, especially if you’re not building to any punchline beyond “Look how racist we’re being!”

And what comes next isn’t pretty. Ever hear of Alt-Reich Nation? It was a Facebook group all about “jokingly” posting racist and sexist memes. I say “jokingly” because its creator came out and clarified just that — as he put it to The New York Times, “Nothing is meant as true; we follow none of the beliefs.” And if you’re wondering why he had to make that public correction, it’s because one of their members recently stabbed and killed someone in what appeared to be a hate crime. But I’m sure he was just doing it for the lulz.

2

No One Can Tell You’re Being Radicalized If It’s Happening Online

Going back to my own edgy punkness (and frankly the reason this whole subject feels personal to me), I got into that genre and style because I spent my junior high years feeling like a complete outcast. And not the cool kind spelled with a ‘K.’ I gravitated toward something that turned my depression into energy, something that boosted my self-worth and made me feel part of a community.

So I can’t really say it’s a bad thing if young people are doing the same with the internet. However, what makes it vastly different is that before computers, taking part in a community meant being seen doing it. There was a level of accountability toward your family and friends. That goes for the unhealthy hate groups as well. It used to be that racist and violent groups congregated in a very visual way, and anyone joining would have to physically do so by attending rallies or shows or meetings. For communities and law enforcement and parents and peers, if someone became a white supremacist, that transition would come with a lot of huge red flags (ya know, like the swastika one). But now? Not so much.

A guy like Dylann Roof, who shot up the church in Charleston, certainly posed with his fair share of Confederate Flags and guns, but so do a lot of people. His indoctrination into violence and white supremacy happened quietly online, as it does for most everyone who joins some kind of hate group these days. It can be so goddamn under the table that a respectable member of society can not only be a part of a hate group, but fucking create one:

And what’s worse is that this problem is especially evident with law enforcement. That Mr. Roof? He had run into the cops multiple times in the past, even being questioned by the police for owning parts to a firearm. But since there was nothing physical linking him to any potential violence, there was no reason to keep an eye on him. Same with the Orlando nightclub shooter, whose neighbor flat-out reported him to the FBI for potential radicalization. They thoroughly investigated it and found no hard evidence, despite it being completely true. How did they miss it? Because it was happening online, while he was alone, with nobody noticing what was happening. He was radicalized into committing mass murder without leaving the comfort of his ergonomic office chair and microwave nachos. And while that certainly speaks volumes about the delightful convenience of the digital age, I’d like to hope you’re seeing what the big problem is here. Especially because these two instances aren’t the only ones by a long shot …

1

Every Goddamn Modern Spree Killer Fits This Pattern

Guys. Literally every time some asshole suddenly kills a bunch of people with an ideological motivation, we find out that they belonged to some kind of online community spouting their exact motivations. Dylann Roof described in detail his long nights pouring through racist stories on the Council of Conservative Citizens webpage which eventually led him to be radicalized. The Oregon community college shooter from 2015? He declared his intentions on a 4chan thread he frequented (adjoined with a Pepe meme). The Dallas shooter who targeted cops? Yet again, he was a part of online hate groups and posted about the killings online. Remember Elliot Rodger, who went around targeting women in Isla Vista, California, killing seven? Not only did he post YouTube videos leading up to it, but he was also a member of anti-women forums online.

I can keep going. You probably don’t even remember the guy back in 2007 who shot up a megachurch in Colorado, killing four. He was a member of an anti-Christian site the feds were alerted to hours after the incident. And just recently, there was the unhinged and racist Portland train attacker, who was deemed too intense for a right-wing rally and kept to the internet instead.

Look, I really can’t stress this enough: Nowhere am I saying that the internet is changing sane people into racist lunatics. Nor am I trying to ignore the millions of other factors, like mental health care and gun control, which play into the uptick of spree killings. And to be honest, I can’t even offer a definitive solution beyond personal responsibility and attention toward people around you who may be troubled. But maybe it would be a good start to at least keep a compassionate eye on your friends and family, and be there to let them know that the non-meme world is pretty cool, too. Otherwise this will just continue, and not even our sexy lizards will be safe.

Ironically, follow Dave on his Twitter, where he spends a lot of his time.

Also check out We Asked A Mass Shooter Why The Hell This Keeps Happening and I Hunt Serial Killers: 6 Facts You Thought Movies Made Up.

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from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/5-ways-the-modern-world-makes-mass-murder-easier/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/172012394162

[nothingman]

The pro-Trump forum is Reddit’s hate-mongering shadow. But admins want to work with the community.

The community of “involuntarily celibate” men on Reddit’s r/incels subreddit has long been one of the internet’s darkest underbellies: teeming with violent misogyny, it’s a space where its members dramatically perform victimization at the hands of the women who’ve rejected them, members who view Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger, a self-identified incel himself, as a hero.

But not anymore. Last week, as part of its recently announced recalibrated moderation policies, Reddit banned r/incels for violent content. The move comes in the wake of the violent white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this year, which resulted in a previous ban of at least one community. Reddit has banned alt-right communities before; after the new rules took effect, however, administrators promptly banned more of them than ever before.

Many of these subreddits, including r/incels, have served as targets for alt-right recruitment. And there are indications that such strict Reddit bans actually work to curtail violence and harassment on the internet.

But not everyone is cheering Reddit’s new administrator crackdown. In fact, many Reddit users are extremely skeptical that the newly tightened policies will bring much real change to the site.

Why? For one thing, many users seem to feel as though the site has been here before. For another, in a crucial indicator of how far Reddit isn’t willing to go to disturb its uneasy equilibrium, it continues to accommodate the most controversial subreddit of all: The_Donald.

Reddit has tried stricter moderation policies before, with inconclusive results

Reddit’s newly updated content policy contains stricter and more specific language about inciting violence — specifically against “any content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people; likewise, we will also take action against content that glorifies or encourages the abuse of animals.” Notably, the new policy applies to all content, including usernames and meme images.

The most upvoted thread on the announcement post about the policy, however, speaks to the level of frustration on the site. In the comment, users Grickit and ImNotJesus sum up what many Reddit users perceive is happening with such announcements.

“This cycle is so tiring,” Grickit writes:

1) reddit admins totally ignore all reports of horrible shit going on and ramping up

2) something really despicable finally emerges from the buildup

3) reddit makes national headlines

4) reddit finally adds some lukewarm rule clarification

You'll enforce it for maybe a month or so. Then when the news has died down, we'll be back to step one.

Below Grickit’s comment, ImNotJesus adds, “In case anyone doesn't believe that this is the cycle, I made this exact same comment in 2014.” That comment refers to similar observations the user made that year, after Reddit banned r/TheFappening, the subreddit responsible for the site’s infamous leak of celebrity nude photos. At the time, Reddit administrators seemed open to the idea of adult nudes — including revenge porn, which many of the leaks clearly were — being posted on the site. They claimed it was the presence of nude photos depicting minors and an onslaught of Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices, not a wish to censor the site, that ultimately resulted in the banning of r/TheFappening.

Reddit has often found itself at odds with its user base in its fight to curtail toxicity on its forums while maintaining its commitment to openness and free speech. The banning of r/TheFappening kicked off a period of unrest marked by the persistent harassment of interim CEO Ellen Pao by Reddit users after Pao tried to enable stricter policies against sitewide harassment. Pao ultimately resigned in 2015 after users staged a massive sitewide protest, partly against what they saw as her “politically correct” banning of subreddits devoted to fat shaming.

Since then, Reddit’s rules have expanded — revenge porn is now explicitly prohibited, for example — and its content policy has grown more specific. And the banning of toxic subreddits has proven surprisingly effective in combating the site’s ugliest elements.

It helps that the rapidly changing political and cultural climates have shifted the priorities of many members of Reddit. After all, while some Reddit users may be in favor of fat shaming, most of them are firmly anti-Nazi, which is why the unfolding battle that has played out on the site since Pao’s resignation has not been about too much political correctness, but too little — especially when it comes to the alt-right and one subreddit in particular.

The issue isn’t creating stricter policies — it’s implementing them.

The comments from the Reddit users mentioned above neatly highlight not just the cyclical nature of Reddit’s policy changes but also the true problem with them: It’s not the policies themselves, but the inconsistency with which they’re enforced, that leads to trouble.

This is a theme we’ve seen again and again with various internet communities, from YouTube and Tumblr’s repeated conflation of queer content with sexually explicit content to Twitter’s ongoing failure to combat hate speech and abuse. The best and strongest content policies can essentially be rendered useless if they aren’t enforced in a consistent and responsible way.

In Reddit’s case, this inconsistency is reflected in the site’s ongoing accommodation of what’s arguably the single most damaging community on the site: r/The_Donald, which became the major hub of Donald Trump’s alt-right supporters in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

The_Donald has become notorious for its incitements to violence, its blatant white supremacist rhetoric, and its use as a lure for the alt-right into more explicit forms of right-wing extremism. Trump’s notorious anti-CNN tweet, which seemed to advocate violence against journalists and arguably violated Twitter’s own content policy, originated from a post on The_Donald. Prior to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, The_Donald hosted a stickied post encouraging members to attend the rally and march alongside neo-Nazi and “ethnostate” groups, because, “In this case, the pursuit of preserving without shame white culture, our goals happen to align.” Most recently, a member of The_Donald, an alt-right blogger who formerly worked for Milo Yiannopoulos, murdered his own father after his father accused him of being a Nazi.

As Polygon recently pointed out, Reddit’s new stricter content policies won’t do much, if anything, to halt the violence and hate speech in sub-forums like The_Donald and r/KotakuinAction, a notorious Gamergate hub that also fuels alt-right rhetoric — the reason being that, well, Reddit administrators don’t appear to see them as serious problems, despite routinely being handed evidence to the contrary.

Reddit administrators are trying to accommodate The_Donald. It isn’t returning the favor.

In a recent Q&A session with Reddit’s co-founder Steve Huffman (better known on Reddit as the user spez), one exasperated user linked to 45 different examples of comments on The_Donald that clearly violated Reddit’s rules against violent content. The comments include refrains like “kill them all,” “kill all SJWs,” and “kill the unnecessary ones,” plus plenty of targeted racism and xenophobia.

Huffman responded to this comment, and basically said that The_Donald could stay because the mods were agreeable to addressing abuse:

Generally the mods of the_donald have been cooperative when we approach them with systematic abuses. Typically we ban entire communities only when the mods are uncooperative or the entire premise of the community is in violation of our policies. In the past we have removed mods of the_donald that refuse to work with us.

But if anything, moderators of The_Donald have been consistently uncooperative in dealing with Reddit admins. Past mods have been accused of using hundreds of sockpuppet accounts to upvote posts and boost moderating decisions in violation of Reddit’s rules. The moderators were also well-known for gaming the site’s ranking system by pinning posts in order to prevent them from getting downvoted, thus ensuring that The_Donald posts wound up being constantly promoted to the top of Reddit’s front page — again in violation of Reddit’s rules.

To stop them, Reddit had to completely overhaul its ranking system earlier this year in order to keep posts from The_Donald from spamming the site’s front page. The moderators also subtly encouraged their users to brigade Reddit’s r/Politics subreddit — a huge Reddit taboo — to the extent that Reddit administrators banned them from being able to link to r/Politics at all. Administrators also removed the top three moderators at The_Donald, reportedly because they refused to take actions against doxxing, harassment, and brigading; in response, the remaining mods briefly shut down the entire forum in protest.

This pattern suggests that Reddit has done far more to accommodate The_Donald than The_Donald has done to accommodate Reddit’s community standards and good-faith guidelines.

The mods of The_Donald have also been consistently unwilling to take steps to deal with toxicity on their forum — and they arguably encourage it. Last year the moderators pinned a giant Islamophobic post to the forum’s front page and explicitly invited white supremacist users into the forum, announcing that they would not be enforcing its “no racism” rule “with regards to the middle east.” Transphobia across the forum has been well-documented, and at any given time one can find a litany of hate speech and racist, misogynist rhetoric on posts there. As of this writing, The_Donald currently features a vaguely threatening transphobic post, a post with comments favoring Nazis over the current political left wing, and several helpings of straight up racism, all on its front page, all apparently unchecked by moderators.

The_Donald’s moderators have themselves been called out for a string of alleged bigoted remarks, and have kept the forum mired in drama in the process. Last year the forum lost five of its moderators in the span of a week, when one moderator, who’d been accused, along with another moderator, of making bigoted remarks, suddenly deleted his account, demodded three people, and left a new mod in charge. That mod then deleted his own account just days later, after Redditors noticed he had a history of bigotry and misogyny. At the time, the user calling out his behavior described that mod as “all the bigotry of the subreddit compressed into a single person.”

Clearly The_Donald’s mods have a history of being something less than “cooperative” in addressing abusive behavior on the forum, but the rest of Huffman’s response highlights an even knottier aspect of The_Donald’s relationship to the rest of the site. Huffman went on to argue that The_Donald had the right to expect the longstanding support of free speech around which Reddit has built its community:

Finally, the_donald is a small part of a large problem we face in this country — that a large part of the population feels unheard, and the last thing we're going to do is take their voice away.

It’s understandable that Huffman would want to try to work with The_Donald rather than banning it altogether, given the site’s commitment to free speech. But The_Donald has habitually seemed uninterested in integrating into the rest of the community: Moderators routinely suppress opposing views, “ban[ning] hundreds of people a week who are either concern trolls, berniebots, republican shills, spammers, sjws and so on.” Between its hostility to outsiders, perpetual rule breaking, perpetual drama, and perpetual hate speech, The_Donald has become, statistically speaking, the most unpopular community on Reddit.

All in all, The_Donald seems to have done far more to disrupt Reddit as a whole than it has to enhance it. In this case, Reddit’s commitment to free speech has meant allowing a deeply toxic community to actively undermine the general spirit and tone of the site.

Reddit’s own rules, as stated in its user agreement, are “intended to keep people safe, protect kids, keep Reddit running, and to encourage personal responsibility for what you do on Reddit.” It’s hard to see how the rhetoric and tactics of The_Donald are contributing to an atmosphere that’s intended to keep anyone safe. But this seems to be the rhetoric that Reddit administrators have chosen to uphold — at least for now. Whether this approach can sustain Reddit’s community into the future remains to be seen.

via Vox - All