#heavy topic ?

[the-crow-binary]

Hi everyone! So! Things are not going well for me here!

My mom's currently at the hospital with many health problems, one of them being cancer (and we don't even know wich one), basically paralyzed because of the severe pain she's in. Apparently we're not even sure she's treatable (the doctors are a bit lost, from what i understand). I really want to go see her, the problem is that she lives oversea and plane tickets aren't cheap.

So I made a ko-fi page. Not only you can donate to me there (even the littlest bit of money will be greatly appreciated!!), but I also made a commission page if you'd like to receive a drawing in exchange of your money! And if you can't spare a penny, then please consider sharing this post in exchange of my eternal gratefulness!

Thanks to everyone reading this and who are willing to help, no matter the way, shape or form!

EDIT because I see people are still reblogging this (wich i really appreciate!): I reached my goal, guys! And my tickets are bought! I'm keeping the kofi page up for now but there's no urgent need of money anymore, thanks!

[jonnymarzetti]

CONTENT WARNING: eating disorder talk

o.k. so i started ranting on discord about it but realized i might want to take it to where it can be more easily avoided. but i have to rant

there are a lot of things people dont talk about with eds (eating disorders) and even about recovery and its just. argh

when you recover its a LOT of nonrecovery: the amount of times i've neglected to eat because my brain is like "wellll what if you forgot, not in an ed way just a forgetful way :)" and then i've had 300 calories by 5p.m.

NOT TO MENTION the calorie counter. it stays with you without a doubt. there is rarely a time where i eat and dont think about the calories/total them hp for the day so far

getting into vent territory but its o.k.

i've been in ed recovery for 2 months or so? not like an official recovery because i kept my disordered behavior to myself. but you know. trying to get better

and im still losing weight

its like i cant cross the threshold into actually being o.k. with my body and it feels like im faking again. like my ed wasnt that bad and im just struggling for the attention (thats what my brain says even though it DOESNT make sense because nobody in my life knows about it)

but its so hard to recover. especially when in your mind you're "not sick enough" to heal, to get help

to anybody else out there struggling with ed recovery. it is o.k. please keep trying and i love you

[harvest-is-tired]

TW: Death

So I'm not usually one to talk about stuff like this on this blog, but I feel others need to know what's going on, a friend I've known for about four years just died, and I'm currently grieving them, and I may take a break from Tumblr to focus on this, their funeral is in a few days and I will be attending, I will not be taking videos/pictures at the funeral or of anything I may have been given in their will out of respect.

[sleepykamukura]

hi, i run a blog dedicated to calling out MizumiKahago (the person who made 3 excessively long hate-essays against komahina), and I was wondering if you had a link to the twitter post you made calling them out? (I think the one where you called them a "weirdo?")

hi yes here’s the thread where i detail all of it

here’s my original post that started it

just wanted to note because this info isn’t exactly told in the post : she called me (a gay trans guy) a delusional yaoi fangirl for liking kamukoma , also replied to an ask about me saying me and my friends are a “circlejerk” (which i feel is inappropriate because i’m a minor and some of my friends in said circle are adults) and also stating i was “jerking myself off on another platform” (again, minor)

i read the doc on your page & this isn’t really significant compared to the stuff on there so sorry if its a time-waster ‘^_^

[polyamorouspunk]

As much as I’m joking about this my mom did call someone and said if he’s not here soon she’s calling the fire department to evacuate us.

[ultravioart]

man... i woke up with a real cry about the world. Unmasking has been a real journey of self-acceptance and a practice in emotional intelligence. It's allowed me to feel many emotions I've simply not allowed myself to, due to social expectations. My brain really said: "If crying is bad, simply do not feel the emotion that causes crying." I know that sounds silly but that's how I've lived decades of my life. In one way it's a big relief being able to just feel an emotion unbridled without having to justify why I should be able to feel that emotion.

Today was a sad day, but that's okay. Feeling sadness authentically is a part of the journey. Such as is feeling joy unbridled. This sadness this morning was a needed expression, I think. Sometimes it's hard to reconcile with the fact that even if you do all you can do and did the right thing to stop bad actors from hurting others, innocent people will still be hurt due to the bad systems in place. And you in that moment can't change the systems/environment, they are much too big for any one person to fix. The best you can do is be safe, and educate. It's a scary world, but education can make it less dangerous. It can get a bit overwhelming and sad. But knowing that people care about doing the right thing and try to reduce harm in the world is enough to keep me motivated. Never stop speaking up for what's right and good. That little bit can mean the world of difference.

[werewolf-kat]

Was about to write in tags, but there’s actually quite a lot I do want to add onto this for educational purposes. Stuff that more people should be aware of if they don’t keep up with how technology is used and what companies or those in power seek out of it.

I’ll say upfront: it won’t matter if you individually don’t believe this is happening or think it’s paranoid to believe it’s happening at a mass scale. (I see this expressed a lot when news like this comes out, and people want to be “not scared” about it.)

Companies with access to user data genuinely collect as much as they can because it makes them money. They can target key words in your posts - private or not - to put into their algorithms for advertising. A lot of specific data can be pretty much saved or traded around forever because it’s valuable like gold for companies involved with tech or social media. I have to emphasize again: our personal information makes bank regardless of political leanings or moral standings. Names, addresses, interests, hobbies, job history, and so on.

This is an open secret among anyone who has worked or trained under companies with internet/tech-based connections. If you want to do your due diligence in looking at the sources, here are many proven/discovered cases of data that was collected and saved by companies for whatever “use” they have for it. This includes information taken from literal children despite laws like COPPA here in the US.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

More on Google in particular.

And a whole thing about data brokers (by some guy selling courses for this shady stuff).

Anyone making a website can use Google-created advertising code quite easily. This is why lots of sites might feel shady or without filters for their ads. It’s just there in the wild, being wild. The website may not get your data for the ads, but it sure is feeding Google more this way.

On top of this, any average person with some bucks to spare can buy data they’re looking for too. Whatever’s linked to your online alias, or emails you’ve used in accounts... Those can be found behind a paywall. I don’t want to share those sites here, but they’re terrifyingly easy to find if you search some basic terms for them.

Also beware that some aspects of user information stored on servers won’t be secure against malicious hackers. There are malicious hackers who break into this user data, take it hostage, and put bounties on their own unlawful collections. The basis of our information (emails, names, passwords, etc.) being of value, extends to these internet “rogues” as well.

Security for any server costs HUGE money to maintain and truly prioritize. The experience and knowledge needed from each employee and the mere importance of their role will demand massive pay. You can’t even trust a company as big as Google from the occasional security breach when they let their guard down. In the situation I linked, Google kept that particular breach a secret from the public for as long as they could. They weren’t transparent about it.

Now, when it comes to terrible laws and power trips that cops are happy to enforce, they can very often request social media companies to hand over any “evidence” and data that’s needed for police investigations. This can be helpful for truly important cases (sexual assault, murder, etc.); but it can be used for criminalizing people under laws of “moral righteousness” like this anti-abortion nightmare the U.S. is in right now.

It’s not a matter of how much of your data can be read by humans. You think humans are doing the reading anyways? Everyone agrees that’s impossible. That’s why it’s done by programmed systems.

I’m moderately experienced in JavaScript, but even in that language I’m aware of “Reg-Ex” (Regular Expression) and string/integer matching. All programming languages - to my knowledge - are capable of searching for key words. That’s what I meant earlier by algorithms that target “key words.” The company can give a list to their developers for words to include in the program, and then the program will do the searching. At an advanced level, these go into algorithms that are always “learning” and in-taking related words that come up as a pattern related to what was first entered in by the human programmers.

Not to mention, it’s not limited to text. At my lower level of programming, I’ve already tinkered with speech recognition API for personal projects (which Google unfortunately runs that API for JavaScript). It was fairly good - albeit not perfect either - at picking up what words I’m saying after the sentences complete. It screws up when my voice is too slurred due to my weird mouth muscles I guess? (My pronunciations can be real loose at times...)

There’s accessibility software where you speak into it, and it outputs text for you on a digital device such as computers. That’s been around a LONG time. The technology has been there for ages. It’s used in automatic Closed Captioning that you may see plugged onto live Twitch streams too, for example. And it’s good for accessibility!

But greedy/creepy companies use this for teaching their algorithms too. You still gotta look out for what you say around your own phones, laptops with built-in mics you can’t physically unplug, your Amazon Echoes, Google Homes, and so on.

There isn’t realistically some shady voice-listening center or any group of humans that can access/read through the data collected from millions of people in different languages and countries. We can all agree on that to an extent, I hope.

What is realistic, is that they have shady algorithms programmed to do it for them.

So don’t settle on “you’re paranoid if you think humans can keep up with all this information.” We’ve been in a technological era for a few decades now, and it advances faster than we can protect against these days.

Before recommending encrypted services, however, there’s more I should add:

You gotta research the company and any ties it may have to other companies or governments in the background. Just because something’s encrypted, doesn’t mean it’s actually safe and trustworthy.

Here’s a video on the early history of encryption (cryptography/ciphers) and how a government agency had a choke-hold on it during wars and disputes:

There’s also this article about powerful encryption that can be requested to be purposefully weakened for the sake of criminal investigations. It’s a mixed bag of helpful and harmful effects of encryption that really can’t be touched easily if at all.

It would be helpful to dig into a proven murderer’s messages or other data that they wanted to hide. This will provide a strong case in their court trial (based in what I know generally about the US legal system) when evidence is needed for their motive, or a possible premeditation level of heinous acts.

But it can also do harm in places where the law (or power-tripping cops) want to target marginalized, “inferior” groups of people.

Communicating online or around internet-connected devices with microphones, it’s nearly impossible to avoid grabbing the attention of those in power who see marginalized people as threats. If you’re seeking abortion and need help getting one, please don’t immediately trust any encrypted service you see. The same goes for anyone in a state that’s taking away their rights to medical care (such as the threat to trans health and freedom).

I understand the situation is beyond stressful; and it’d be mentally taxing as well as time consuming to find something with the lowest risk of being a target by police agencies. You still matter and your safety matters. Tread your path among these oppressive landscapes carefully.

Some “support groups” might even have one or be made entirely of undercover cops wanting to rat people out. Just, you really can’t know people out there.

I don’t quite feel qualified to give any specific advice, though. This is the best I can confidently give. I hope the information here gives direction in your own research and the resources you seek out. Wishing you safety and comfort out there.

Facebook and google are helping cops prosecute people seeking abortion. Be very careful in this new era people.

[atomicgambit]

The day fathers stop treating their daughters like their girlfriends is the day I will believe cis men can be trusted to be around girls

[theromanticscrooge]

This video has some sensitive content in it. This was an extremely difficult topic to cover but I wanted to explain why I was gone for 7 years before moving forward with any other character analyses or whatever else. It's not about just YouTube stuff.

This was also my very first attempt at recording footage of myself drawing anything (or in this case, crosshatching). Hoping to figure out better setups/approaches to recording if I make any more art process related videos.

[kert-rats]

i'm not "crazy". my feelings are not a problem to be "therapised" away, or rationalized away. i've been having regular human reactions to being abused and neglected. there was and is nothing wrong with me.

[crippled-punk-guy]

I haven’t been posting about it here because I’ve been focused on posting on other platforms. I do want to make it very clear however, I support Palestine and every other group of people who are or have been the victims of colonialism. Disabled people are the first people to be forgotten about when a tragedy of any kind happens. There are disabled people who are going through these attacks also, we can not and will not forget about them.

I would care either way because this is a humanity issue, it shouldn’t be a political one, but as someone who comes from a long line of ancestors who have had to fight for their right to exist, as someone who knows the importance of access to medical care and electricity, as someone who has been learning about this occupation for years, I firmly stand in support with the Palestinian people. There’s not much I can do myself other than post and raise awareness, but I implore everyone who reads this to educate yourself and realize that this is not an issue you can ignore.

Everyone always asks “how did the world let this happen?” Because people found ways to ignore it. They found ways to turn away.

You wouldn’t want people to turn away if it was your family. Your people. Your country.

Free Palestine.

And as a disclaimer, which shouldn’t need to be said but sadly some people will intentionally take this the wrong way, I also firmly support Jewish people. I will not allow religion to be used to excuse inhumanity, however. I have Jewish friends who I love and support wholeheartedly, and they also stand with Palestine. I also understand that I, as someone who is not Jewish, can not make the call of if something is antisemitic or not. Many Jewish people, scholars and Rabbis have stated it is not antisemitic to support the Palestinian right to resist. Please do not turn this into an argument, I’ve already had this conversation a hundred times.

This blog and I as it’s host can always be assumed to side with the victims of injustice.

[directactionforhope]

By the way, even if you fully plan to vote for Biden in November (because Trump would be worse and has declared that if elected he would ban Palestinians from entering the US x, x, x, x)...

You can and I would argue should call or email Biden or whatever other Democrats represent you and just straight up lie about it. Tell them "I'm a constituent, and I've voted for you in x number of elections, and thanks to your support for the genocide of the Palestinian people, I will never, ever vote for you again."

Politicians, Democrats, and especially Biden need a fire lit under their asses, because the vast majority of them clearly aren't going to do shit without one. Or, worse, be like Biden and actively be the reason that Israel can continue its genocide on a political, monetary, and military level.

Tell Biden and other politicians that you will never vote for them again. It doesn't matter if it's true. It will help pressure US politicians to stop this genocide, and therefore it's the right thing to do.

Obviously this also applies to other countries where politicians are supporting Israel's genocide, especially countries that have cut funding to UNRWA (list here).

[turtleblogatlast]

One of my favorite headcanons is that Leo grew up watching telenovelas with Splinter.

It just works so well - his bits of Spanish that he spouts randomly, his showy way of apologizing, and, of course, his love for dramatic betrayals all point to this being a very real possibility.

Plus, it’s very cute to imagine a tiny Leo at his father’s side as they both gasp in shock when the show’s eighth plot twist in just as many episodes happens.

[thechekhov]

Did you seriously reblog a post defending the sanctity of life of pedophiles?

You did not read that post.

I understand that it might be difficult, because of the knee-jerk reaction we all have when it comes to this topic. I admit I also had the emotional first-response of disgust. But I urge you to go back and try to read it again, when you are cool-headed.

Stating that 'murdering people we find disgusting is not the moral high ground it feels like', is not the same thing as 'defending the sanctity of life' of anyone.

And while it feels good to emotionally say 'we should kill all (people who do bad things that cause harm to others)' this does not actually accomplish what our brains think it does.

From the post:

denying the humanity of people who do horrible things accomplishes exactly three things:

give cover to people who haven't been caught yet by allowing them to use their humanity as "proof" of their innocence

silence any criticism of societal structures and institutions that facilitate those horrible things by putting the focus on individuals who are assumed to be so uniquely monstrous that the ways it was made easy for them are irrelevant

provide a shortcut to dehumanize anyone you feel like killing: simply accuse them of doing a horrible thing

Listen, to me, listen:

I know that we are all human and when we see someone committing evil things, we feel justified and good, and we want to use our teeth and claws to rip them to shreds. I KNOW it feels incredible to reply to pain and harm with equal violence.

But on an ideological level, if you EVER hope to understand how emotional manipulation and dehumanization on a social level works, you NEED to be prepared to unwrap this delicious i-can-murder-that-person-and-feel-rightous burrito.

You need to understand why it is not the swiss knife of justice that it feels like.

You need to know that it can and will be used to kill innocent people who don't deserve it, and you will not even notice.

Because if you can justify murder with a simple 'if you fit into this category you automatically don't deserve to live' then you are supporting an authoritarian regime, who can and WILL happily take the easier job of convincing you that some person that they need dead fits the description (of a person you've already agreed doesn't deserve anything but a swift and unquestionable death).

This is why, when they needed the gays to be feared and hunted, they labeled them 'pedophiles'. This is why they're now doing this to trans people. This is why dehumanization is a tool of oppression, not justice.

There is way to fix injustice in the world and protect children without becoming easier to manipulate and trick.

[octocurse]

I hate pedophiles. I hate people who sexualize children. I hate people who sexualize a childs needs. I hate people who sexualize gear made for children. I hate people who sexualize the relationship between child and parent. I hate people who sexualize what children call their parents. I hate people who sexualize the relationship between student and teacher. I hate people who sexualize childlike behavior. I hate people who sexualize siblingry. I hate people who sexualize childgear. I hate people who sexualize age regression. I hate, I hate, I hate.