#if i check and the original post is deleted...

[ghostboyravenight]

Making a separate post actually, because tumblr really does have an all or nothing problem when it comes to Palestinian fundraisers, and it’s causing several problems.

It is impossible to advocate for campaigns on pretty much any platform, not only because so many platforms will shut you down if you even mention the word “Gaza” but because everyone has instantly written off every fundraiser as being a scam. This is a form of genocide denial because it’s insinuating that Palestinians are not going through the kind of nightmare needed to raise funds to escape or to afford basic necessities, and therefore that must mean all campaigns are fake. Not only that, but it basically assumes that no Palestinians are online in the first place, which… shouldn’t even need to be debunked because obviously that’s not true?? Treating Palestine like this other worldly country without access to the internet or social medias is extremely dehumanising, and yet this mentality is so common when viewing non-Western countries. Yes, the internet in Gaza gets cut off regularly, but you think Palestinians don’t have phones? Don’t have blogs? Use your goddamn brain and stop being racist for one second. I have a Palestinian friend that I’m fundraising for, and I’m the one sending in the asks in the first place whenever he loses his internet access, so I’m not gonna sit here and pretend that the existence of a “real” Palestinian on tumblr is an unprecedented phenomenon. Try to actually start thinking of them as human beings rather than “a group of people going through a genocide right now.”

Imagine living through this nightmare and desperately needing money and you literally can’t raise it anywhere because every platform and its user base will instantly shut you down and call you a scam. That’s not just genocide denial, that’s full on genocide perpetuation.

However, this does not mean that EVERY Palestinian fundraiser is real, because obviously there’s always going to be shitty people out there taking advantage of tragedy. You should not let anyone make you feel guilty for not posting every single ask you get, because you’re better off just verifying a few and focusing on them, instead of trying to do everything. That’s not going to help, especially if you’re posting actual scams without realising.

A lot of people don’t really know where to start with verification, though, so here are some tips I’ve picked up that will ensure that you’re sharing real campaigns with as much accuracy as possible:

Delete any asks that are on anon. Every anon ask I’ve received have had similar messages and similar emojis, and I’m sure pretty much everyone else has come across them as well. They’ll start with something like “hello wonderful soul 🕊️” and then give you no information about their campaign or who they even are except for a random username at the bottom of their message. Whatever you do, do not click on the username. These are scams. They are a bullshit copy and paste message that will most likely lead you to a campaign full of stolen photos. Even if there’s a 1% chance it’s a real person, it is not worth taking the risk. There is no reason for someone to be on anon of they’re sharing a public campaign.

If the ask is not on anon, check if they have offered up their verification information. Usually this means they’ll end their message saying that they’ve been verified by @/gazavetters or @/90-ghost or another blog who verifies campaigns, and at this point it’s important to make sure they’re telling the truth. Don’t just take their word for it. @/gazavetters has a list, and if they give you their number, you can check to see if they’re on that list.

Don’t stop there, though, because they can still take real campaigns and fake their identity, but I emphasise real because those campaigns are still out there needing money, and you need to make sure you’re sharing the original one. If they haven’t been verified by major verification blogs yet, you can still do the verification yourself.

Search for their campaign on the GoFundMe website instead of clicking directly on their link, mostly because you should never click a link that someone you don’t know has sent you. If donations are protected, then that’s a good sign, because it means that everyone will be fully refunded if any fraud does happen. Scammers will usually do whatever they can to bypass this protection, such as using different sites that don’t have it and saying that their original GFM was shut down (note: this does NOT mean everyone who says their GFM has been shut down is a scam, because Palestinian GFMs are absolutely being targeted by GoFundMe and getting shut down for no reason. This is just an extra bit of information if the ask you’re getting is giving you any major red flags).

Reverse image search is your friend, and you can make sure that the images being used on someone’s campaign hasn’t been stolen from somewhere else. If you can’t find an original source, then it’s likely those photos belong to the person who made the campaign.

If everything check out to you, then it’s most likely safe to share. I don’t want to discourage people from sharing, because I’m watching in real time the consequences of distrusting every single Palestinian campaign you come across, and so many people are struggling to raise even 1% of their goal. However, sharing campaigns without being discerning is not going to help, because if you accidentally share a scam, you’re not only going to be harming the people who donate, but you’re also going to be taking money away from people who genuinely need it. If you’re able to focus on even just one or two campaigns that you’ve personally verified yourself, then you could really make a difference. If everyone did that, Palestinians would actually be able to reach their goals more quickly.

It is also a good idea to share around Palestinian organisations that do a lot of help towards a lot of people, so you know that your money is going directly to a good cause. I will always support the Sameer Project as they’re an organisation of Palestinians working within Gaza to bring food, water, tents, clothes, haircuts and other necessities to Gazans, and you can be confident that all of their aid is actually reaching Palestinians.

And obviously I’m going to share my friend @othmanjehad1 ’s campaign as I have personally verified it, and I am friends with Othman, so please consider donating because he has only raised just over €500 so far.

Keep sharing Palestinian fundraisers, but also be discerning to make sure your money is going to the people who need it.

[ollie-duck]

Ok. So. For the first time I have encountered someone who has put “cripplepunk” (quotes included!!) in their bio. And I’m sitting here like.

You are mad… that I want rights? Like… cripplepunk is literally just applying the punk mindset / social conventions to disability activism.

You do not like.. disability activism?

You don’t want cripples to talk to you???

HELLO??

[gimmick-blog-bracket]

Hm... there's a squatter of sorts that has taken the @reading-comp-posting url, I think? I don't know if that's just a me thing, though.

[mushroomjar]

I don't like the way you guys talk about Palestinians asking for donations. I don't like it.

I had to see someone make MULTIPLE posts bitching and moaning about how people need to stop sending them asks asking for them to reblog their donation posts, that they'd just be blocking them from now on, and that they didn't care if they were vetted because they still found the act of sending asks to get reblogs on their donation links suspicious, even if they were in a dire situation. They even went as far as to say that they got an ask, deleted it, and then they got another ask from the same person, and accused the person of sending another ask to purposefully "get under their skin"

I don't know man, have you considered that being a victim of ongoing genocide will make you ask for help in whatever way you can? And sometimes that involves sending random blogs asks to see if they can donate or at the very least share your donation links? A Palestinian reaches out to you multiple times because they need help and your response is to whine about getting donation links in your inbox? I wish I had your problems

Also the thing about "getting the exact same ask from the exact same blog multiple times"... uh, duh? First of all, they're probably reaching out to dozens of blogs daily, do you think they're gonna type up a new paragraph for each blog they reach out to? Second of all, maybe they reached out to you multiple times because a. They really really really need the help and b. What, do you think they're gonna see your URL/blog and be like "oh! I already reached out to this blog, I'm not gonna send them another ask"? Or do you think they'll be like "this person has been reblogging other people's donation posts, maybe they'll reblog mine too"?

Like I understand being suspicious about getting sent donation links to your inbox, but literally all you have to do is check if the blog's been vetted by other bloggers? It's as easy as searching for their URL on tumblr sometimes, it literally takes less than a minute or two. And that's what bothers you? That's what you're complaining about? Find a real problem!!!

[knightwhoisni]

1999's loading screen music is in the game files and I Am Exploding

[unknownarmageddon]

au masterpost!!!!

Apocalyptic Kross AU

This AU is owned by me and psycho-chair. This is, as the name suggests, an apocalyptic AU mostly centered around its versions of Cross and Killer as they traverse the dying, destroyed, and dangerous world they find themselves in after humans set off bombs on the cities more welcoming to monsters in an attempt to eradicate monsterkind. It is (currently) separated into four arcs: Proximity Arc, Distance Arc, Sunrise arc, and Lovelorn arc. Sunrise and Lovelorn act as two separate “endings”.

Main Tumblr tag Other Tumblr tag (currently unused, but good for information) Cross’s ref Killer’s ref

Rental Suits

In this more modern kross au (owned by both me and psycho-chair), cross works at a gas station and Killer frequently loiters around said gas station. they first met when killer came in and stole a pack of energy drinks. (this au has been developed very extensively over time, so there is a lot more to the story and their relationship, but it is hard to explain concisely. i recommend just browsing the tag for information)

Tumblr tag Chair’s initial tags

Death’s Doorstep: The Remix

in this au, killer is the lead vocalist and guitar for an indie rock band called Death’s Doorstep. his bandmates include: horror (drums), cross (guitar), and dust (bass). the time period and fashion are generally 90’s based, but this might not always be consistent. also, this is an au i’ve had for around two years, so it has since been revamped, meaning almost all of the old works surrounding it are no longer as relevant.

refs tumblr tag - #death’s doorstep: the remix

Sirius

this au is sci-fi based and generally dystopian, set many years after the end of normal life on several planets. In this au cross is a bounty hunter and killer is a rogue assassin both on the run together from killer’s past employer after cross’s failed attempt at turning in the bounty over killer’s head

Fanfic tumblr tag Cross and Killer’s ref

Fear The Forest

This is a kross au owned by both my and psycho-chair in which cross and killer are massive, tree-like eldritch beings that inhabit and roam a dense forest fairly far away from civilization

tumblr tag cross and killer’s ref

Forces of Nature AU

this is an au owned by me and psycho-chair, formed from the concept by justanidiotartist, in which cross and killer are two forces of nature, killer being lightning, cross being tornado. they frequently fight, generating large scale storms and causing destruction

tumblr tag killer’s ref cross’s ref

Horns and Wings

classic demons-and-angels-style kross au, in which cross is a fallen angel cast out from heaven, and killer is a demon still tied to hell. they had met long prior on the battlefield between angels and demons. right now, it doesn’t have much of a set story yet, and is mostly character focused

tumblr tag cross and killer’s ref

Deja Vu AU

kross au (in a more modern setting) in which cross is caught in a timeloop. he and killer had made a promise to each other to get out of this town they’re stuck in, but, they get caught up in trouble and crime after killer kills the owner of a house they were robbing for money. cross is forced to live these conflicts over and over as the loop resets each time, with nothing to stop it, seemingly as if cross’s distress is the trigger. currently, this au is only really a concept, and i plan to write a more in depth fic for it in the future.

initial post; elaborates on the concept more tumblr tag cross and killer’s ref

Swords and Scars

kross au in which cross and killer are gladiators similar to those in ancient rome, who commonly find themselves pitted against each other in the colosseum. i haven't done much else with it as of now, so that's the current gist

tumblr tag designs ref

Sondertale

In this au, cross, killer, horror, dust, error, and nightmare are entities simply called monsters that live in a vast secluded forest. here they hunt humans, other animals, and generally go about their lives within the forest. this au is around two years old, meaning there’s a lot that’s outdated and no longer accurate. i have been slowly reworking parts of it, but overall it’s been neglected

Tumblr Tag Tryst (Killer)’s ref Alpas (Cross)’s ref

[eruanee]

Kiryuu Touga and the cyclical narrative

TW : Discussions of misogyny, emotional manipulation and abuse, sexual abuse and (sexual) child abuse. (Very vague) mention of incest.

First of all, not really as a disclaimer but more as a recommendation, a lot of my thoughts about Touga are shaped by this essay, which is definitely easily one of my favorite pieces of Utena meta. I think I'm going to implicitly or more explicitly reference it sometimes, but you don't need to read it to understand this post.

I have a complex relationship with Touga. He is despicable, yet the more I watch the series, the more I find myself... fascinated by him. This post is a pretty much a synthesis of all these thoughts.

On a purely narrative level, Touga's role is a bit special. He's the antagonist of the first arc. The three duels involving him are all turning points in the series. He's a core character in the development of several other characters (Saionji, Nanami, Utena and Miki on a different level).

Yet, turns out he's only a puppet, just as everyone else is. How surprising. And when it comes down to it, what do we know about Touga ?

He's the Student Council's president. He seemingly can't have a relationship with anyone without manipulating them to his advantage. He sleeps with any girl (and maybe not only girls) who breathe around him in a 1 ft radius. His way of coping with depression is to seal himself in a wide and totally empty room to listen to his own voice on repeat to ponder heavily on his broken hopes and ideals. (Hmm. Hardcore.)

And more importantly, he wants power. A power that would be absolute. But why so ?

And this is the point where it gets complicated.

Touga is barely the main topic of episodes focused on him. He is the center of many obsessions and interests, but it seems we never touch upon him as a person. He can be seen being vaguely vulnerable in eps 11 and 12 and then there's the whole Black Rose arc thing. But where does all this mess steam from ?

Victim status

Eps 35 and 36 are the one going deeper into Touga’s character and yet... we’re barely sure of what’s actually going on in his brain. These episodes always give me a weird feeling because we don’t really get to see Touga express his feelings very clearly or freely... We barely get to hear his thoughts. 

Just like Anthy.

Don’t make me say what I didn’t say, though. Touga gets to have way more agency than ever does Anthy, and he certainly doesn't endure the same dehumanization as she does. Anthy does have agency in a way. But she expresses it in hidden, implicit ways : playing tricks, hitting people in their sore spots, sarcasm, empty eyes and fake smiles. She’s manipulative and Touga is, too. These two share many similarities, though they can’t completely blend with each other, of course. 

We don’t know much about Touga’s childhood. We know he and Nanami were adopted (or “sold”) to the Kiryuu family at a young age. That’s basically it in the canon of the series. Though, Touga’s backstory in the movie, showing him being sexually abused by his adoptive father, was apparently meant to be included in the series as well :

Although the TV series touched upon Touga’s younger days, the film goes into more details – the wound of Touga that was never directly depicted. In his younger days, Touga was a normal kid who enjoyed happy times with his friend Saionji Kyouichi and his younger sister Nanami. However, he came to know his unfortunate fate from the time he was ordered by his parents to wear his hair long. His parents sold him to the Kiryuu family. Although he was an adopted son on the surface, the instinctive Touga knew what that meant. And in order to protect his younger sister, he accepted his lot. Being sold. We did not go into depicting what Touga’s parents obtained by going as far as selling their son. We would like you to think of it as a kind of metaphor. 

And Touga accepted in silence the sexual abuse from his new parents. His personality changed while he made a magnanimous show of enjoying the abuses in order to prevent his personality from splitting. The change took place in a spot so deep in his mind, that even those closest to him did not notice. Saionji and Nanami never noticed out of their innocence. And Touga never told his secret to anyone. It is said that a human being gains whatever he lost in exchange. So what did Touga gain in exchange at that point in time? It was the sense of alienation from being abused every night and seeing his innocent friend and sister during the day. The alienated self.

(Extract of a comment Enokido, one of the writers who worked on Utena, wrote about Touga’s role in the Utena movie.)

Of course, you could argue whether or not the sexual abuse is canon or not in the series. After all, the series and the movie don’t seem to take place in the same canon (even though it is hard to completely disconnect the two). Whatever you choose to believe, I personally think it all makes so much sense. 

It makes sense regarding Touga’s general behavior in the series (but this is more touched upon in the essay I linked above) and it makes his goal and his narrative role much clearer.

Being sold like a mere object, knowing a much harsher truth about life Saionji and Nanami don’t know about, showing everyone a stronger facade in order to not completely lose your mind and keep protecting your friend and your sister from this reality and eventually... letting them know in a painfully gendered way, perpetuating everything this system has forced on you. 

It has all become part of you. 

Keeping the cycle of violence going became part of your blood and flesh. Making clear who is supposed to inflict pain and who is supposed to receive it. Who is supposed to protect and who is supposed to be protected. Who is supposed to act and who is supposed to wait. 

And you ? No, you’re never supposed to hurt anymore. You want a way out of this. For you, the easiest way is to simply reclaim the place that was always prepared for you to take. 

When Touga and Saionji found Utena in her coffin, it feels like Touga knew something Saionji didn’t. Saionji felt it too, but he wasn’t able to recognize what it was. After all, he was still a child. Touga knew about the same thing Utena learned with her parents’ death : they both had a glimpse of what the “adult world” (Akio’s world) actually looks like, shattering their juvenile knowledge of the world. 

A world where people die. A world where the weak lose. A world where the prince should protect the princess. 

Touga already had a coffin. Utena just found hers and was about to find a new one. Saionji was just finding his. 

It all makes sense regarding how obedient Touga is to Akio and why he seeks his validation, his desire to go up in the hierarchy aside. It makes sense because he is “alienated”. Touga got deprived of everything, he knows the burden of being alive and he’s learned, from his early childhood, to be compliant. 

He seems independent during the Student Council arc and a majority of the series, but eps 35 and 36 show he is not the mastermind of it all. He has a privileged position but unlike some other characters, Touga never uses his agency to try to break out of the system ─ he follows its rules and tries to reinforce his dominance. 

Why would you break out from a system serving you so well ?

“I want to become like him. I want power like his.”

Touga is alienated to the system and his only goal is to become what it expects of him. After all, why wouldn’t he ? Being a prince is the best position offered by the system. Being a prince means acquiring an absolute power. With such power, one doesn’t die and is forever out of reach and harm and pain. Who wouldn’t want such a thing ? 

The prince never saves the princess out of selflessness. He saves her because it gives him a reward in exchange. He saves her because it gives him power and control over her and ultimately, everyone else. And so, the princess becomes a "toy" wannabe princes has to win, to conquer.

Does Touga, even during what seems to be his most “sincere” moment in ep 36, ever wish to protect Utena for something else than possessing her ? When could have he learned to know and appreciate her as a person, rather than a princess ? A reward to conquer ?

When did he stop wishing he could’ve saved Utena just like Akio did ? I believe he might be genuine, yet he acts toward Utena exactly like she acts toward Anthy. He wants to save her for his own sake, regardless of her personal hopes and desires. 

It’s truly sad, though. Because all of it is nothing but a childish dream. There was never once a prince in this world. Only boring and abusive adults. 

“Are you really happy with that?”

Well, when it comes down to it, probably not. But was it ever about happiness ? Probably not either. The pursuit of power only ever leads to isolation, to a complete lack of meaning ─ after all, friendship is a fool’s thing. No one can reach what’s behind the facade. 

Saionji was able to confront Touga with his own lies and paradoxes, get as close to his real self anyone probably could. But it wasn’t enough. Saionji himself didn’t go as far as leaving the system entirely, even when it seemed he had cracked it all. Touga sort of did, too. 

As far as I’m concerned, we only heard his own, deep thoughts once.

“Kiryuu Touga, the playboy Student Council President... Is it? "Playboy" sounds old-fashioned.”

Touga weaponized himself. He weaponized his body (sex is only a tool to aim for power). He weaponized his heart (relationships only matter if you use them to your advantage. Those who believe in love and friendship are fools and will be ultimately be used to someone else’s advantage). And for what ? 

I really like the symbolism of the poppy flower in ep 35. I feel like it symbolizes Akio’s power, in a way. I’m incredibly bad when it comes to the language of flowers (so everyone is free to correct me) but please bear with me. In the East, red poppy flowers apparently symbolize romantic love and success (what it probably means for the girl confessing to Touga, as well as Akio when he “eats” it in this scene, since Touga and him are talking about Utena) but it can also symbolize “luxurious pleasures and fantastic extravagance”. In the Japanese language of flowers, red poppies can also symbolize someone “fun-loving”. I feel like both of these work with Akio and I believe that for Touga, they are a symbol of luxury and extravagance. 

Yet another girl confessed to him. Without even thinking about it, he kissed her. He will never read her confession letter, he probably didn’t even notice it. He will probably simply leave it on the floor, without a care. This pursuit of power isn’t even fulfilling to him, there’s absolutely no thought behind it. Only automatic actions, behaviors working in favor of someone else’s greater scheme. He won’t even get to actually possess Utena. 

He will never get what he truly wants. Is there even anything that he truly wants ? Saionji, maybe. In the meantime, he’s just a tool for a system. A system made up by boring adults, based on lies, illusions and unachievable dreams. 

Touga is condemned to go in cycles. He’s given everything to overcome what keeps him stuck and trapped, but it doesn’t do anything. He can only revolve around his own coffin, completing the same circle, again and again. 

He doesn’t know how to do anything else. 

It will never make anything he’s done forgivable. But at least, maybe one day, he’ll realize. Or maybe never. 

We can always create new roads, leading to worlds completely unknown to us, where everything needs to be built. Anthy and Utena are here to show the way, who deserves to follow these new roads is only up to you. 

On a purely personal standpoint... I was never really able to answer this question. 

“No. It's not over until we see it through the very end.”

[for-the-evulz]

i just realized willcrafts quitting video (and the hiding and mining episodes of monster school too apparently) got deleted off of youtube posting this here incase anyone scrolling the wc or ms tag didnt know either. he also made a community post on it too edit: oh btw i archived willcrafts quitting video !!!! found a method on how to get videos from archive.org youtube video links and downloaded it. idk where id upload it since i dont have a youtube (no gmail) but

(OTHER EDIT: check reblogs. Some videos are back up)

[pynkhues]

https://www.tumblr.com/pynkhues/766659804816130048/httpswwwtumblrcomfishjellylou766623772774137

Girl don’t even bother with them. They hate the fact their fanon view of Louis is challenged by textual evidence and hate that not everyone sees him as some submissive little virginal kitten compared to alpha alpha abusive big bad Lestat. They play the racism card so often it’s laughable, actually. Instead of talking about actual racism in the fandom they purposefully go after (and conveniently not @) people who have different takes from them and take posts out of context or twist the narrative to their liking. Of course they don’t @ you, that would require placing the actual text you wrote under analysis and they can’t twist the narrative as they want with that.

I’m absolutely done with these people. they’re all over X and I had to block all of them because I like Lestat and they can’t stand it, especially because I’m a black woman myself. Some of them called Lestat a violent slave owner and a woman hater, and others regularly throw fits when people remind them through canon evidence and analysis that Louis was a pimp and not some cute little victim of everyone else, and that says enough. Then they start to rant about how tumblr is hell for Louis stans and people of color. Yeah… no.

You can tell most of them never had to deal with a show or piece of media where everything isn’t shoved in their face and they actually have to think about stuff and use their brain. They allegedly like the show and have watched it multiple times but somehow can’t grasp that the pretty innocent perfect victim Louis they got in season one and worsened with their fanon isn’t the full truth. So don’t even bother, let them sulk all they want in their sorry ass rants.

Sending love to you. Dong let this shit affect you. If anything, write more bottomstat to piss them the fuck off lmfaoooo

Thank you, anon, both for your kind words and the context. It's good to know, and I'm sorry you've had to deal with them in the past. 💖💖

[sprinedankle]

guys i think im going to buy my first vinyl record and its going to be the boygenius ep and I DON'T HAVE A RECORD PLAYER!! BUT I DONT CARE!! actually my mom's partner has one so im going to steal it from him

[5hehzada]

[s1xseasonsandamov1e]

I made a weird comment on someone’s tiktok and they made a respond video with the “will I get over it? Hmm no.” Sound and I got really scared that people were gonna get mad at me so I blocked the creator and everyone who responded to my comment then deleted my account (with over 600 drafts and thousand of favorited videos and a bunch of community and swiftie moots, and all my friends) and then had a panic attack and didn’t think about anything else for three hours then got a one hour break from the anxiety cause I distracted myself by watching community but now I’m back to panicking and I’m actually scared I’m gonna do something I’ll regret

[cantdanceflynn]

MY BABIES

[therevengeoffrankenstein]

bwuce spwingsteen sink post getting so popular it gained like over a thousand notes in a day it's sitting at like 2k rn 💀

[seven-thewanderer]

yall, remind me so I don’t forget:

I am going to make a new side blog for my Flower Cows (since the old one’s a mess)

[ms-demeanor]

How to avoid sharing Social Media Scams in the Wake of a Disaster

The world is full of disasters. It is also full of people who have learned to profit off of disaster. It is an unfortunate fact of life in the modern social media/online environment that in order to avoid spreading scams, you have to make a continuous effort and you have to be cynical.

There are a lot of wonderful, well-meaning people in the world who want to help everyone who asks for it. Unfortunately, those people are easy to scam.

These are some rules to prevent you from either falling victim to scams or from passing scams along to other people.

These are not suggestions, these are not things to take into consideration, the rules listed here are RULES that you need to adopt in order to keep from spreading scams on social media.

Rules:

Never, ever share screenshots of fundraisers or resources that you haven’t verified yourself. If you see a screenshot of, say, the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds Instagram announcing that they will be accepting evacuees with RVs, you go find the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds website, you find the social media linked on their website, and you check that the post you’re seeing actually came from the entity it’s claiming to. Once you have proved that the post actually came from the entity it’s claiming to, double check that entity with a couple of verifiable sources. So, for instance, if I was checking on the Guitar Center Music Foundation I’d check Guitar Center’s website and maybe I’d look for news articles about donations from the foundation. If I was looking up the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, I’d look for a local newspaper calendar of events that linked to the fairgrounds or would check the city websites in the area and search “fairgrounds” on them. I would not share a link to a social media page for an organization until I was 100% certain that it was actually associated with the organization. You shouldn’t either. If you see a post that claims to come from a specific group but all you have is the screenshot of the post, go find the group’s website and if it all checks out you may share it IF AND ONLY IF you add the link to the post. And if a post has a link already, click through it and STILL check that everything looks okay.

Never give money or information to someone with a free email address. This sucks. I know. But if the group you’re looking at only has a gmail address or a protonmail you have no way of knowing if they’re legitimately associated with the organization at a glance. And even if they ARE associated with the organization, the free email account demonstrates a lack of planning/commitment that has troubling implications for the handling of your money or data.

Do not share screenshots of “resources,” headlines, social media posts, or news articles. I’m done with screenshots. Screenshots are easy to fake and almost always remove context from the discussion. A standalone screenshot isn’t information, it’s a trap to get you to share something without thinking. Do not *trust* screenshots of “resources,” headlines, social media posts, or news articles. Always assume a screenshot is faked unless you have found the original post yourself. A screenshot isn’t a “resource” it is an un-source, it is intentionally removing information from the viewer and we are well past the time when people should have understood that sharing screenshots without a link to the original text in context is never, every trustworthy.

Do not give money or information to accounts without a history. This may mean individual social media accounts, or it may mean a shiny new mutual aid project that popped up near your house. It’s unfortunate that people have their accounts deleted, it’s unfortunate that new orgs have trouble finding support, but the likelihood that a new account is a scam is simply too high to trust your money or information with it. If someone is asking for money or offering help on an account that hasn’t posted for years, or that suddenly changed all its content, or that has only existed for a month with no links to other, older sites and socials, you shouldn’t trust that account.

Okay, those are the RULES. Those are the lines you draw in the sand. The TL;DR version is this:

Don’t share posts you haven’t personally verified

Don’t give money or information to accounts with generic email accounts like gmail

Don’t share or trust screenshots that have no links or further context

Don’t give info or money to brand new accounts

I absolve you of any guilt you have surrounding this. You want to share that post to help a stranger but they have only had an account for a week. You want to spread that resource, but unfortunately it is only available as screenshots of an anonymous instagram account. You think that perhaps that mutual aid group really can help people, but the only way contact them is to put your info into a google form and send an email to their gmail account. That post seems really helpful, but actually you can’t find anything that suggests that the Mt. Pacifico Aquatic Center exists outside of this twitter account. No more guilt! Guilt be gone! You do not have to feel bad for not sharing these things, or not reaching out, or not giving money because doing so would be irresponsible and would put other people at risk of being tricked by scammers or wasting what money they can donate on a potential fraud.

Now, some tips:

Always, always, always take at least ten minutes to think about giving someone money or your information online. Read the post that moved you, then re-read it, then go sit away from it for ten minutes and think about it. There’s a good chance you will still want to give, or sign up, but ten minutes away will give you a chance to consider if there are any red flags in the post that inspired you.

Independently search everything you’re going to share. Go outside of social platforms and check on search engines. Check Wikipedia. Look up the website and send a while clicking around. Go on a *different* social media platform and check their account.

Just straight up search “[SUBJECT] Scam” before you do anything. See if this thing you’re looking at is actually an old scam that’s revamped for a new disaster. See if you can find an explanation of how something might be a scam or risk in a way that you didn’t understand before.

Get used to getting away from social media. Go check websites.

Learn domain name syntax. “musicfoundationguit.arcenter.com” is a bullshit scam. “guitarcenterfounditaon.org” is a bullshit scam. “guitarcenter-foundation.org” is a bullshit scam. The actual domain is “guitarcenterfoundation.org” and the link to the correct page isn’t going to be “guitarcenter.foundationfires.org” it’s going to be “guitarcenterfoundation.org/fires”  

Tips for Orgs:

If you do not want your org to look like a scam you are going to have to put some effort into it. Unfortunately this will probably also require at least a little bit of money; I know it’s hard to get money together at the beginning, but it will pay off in the long run.

Invest in a domain and hosted email. You can get relatively inexpensive hosted email through most domain registrars and even if you only get one email address for your domain you can forward it to all the free gmail and protonmail accounts you want. But buy a domain, set up a simple website, and get an  info@[yourdomain].com email set up because you don’t want people emailing “MyOrgInfo@gmail.com” because it’s super fucking easy for a 1337 hax0r like me to set up “YourOrgTeam@gmail.com” and scam the people who want to reach out to you.

Make a blog on your actual website, not on a social media site. A blog means that you can make regular posts and establish a history to prove that you are real and you do real stuff; it will also help with SEO and help to ensure that when people search for your org YOU are what comes up. Keeping up calendars of previous activities with links to those activities is also good.

Set up social handles on all the sites you use, make a “socials” page on your website, and link to your handles so that people can verify if you’re the one posting something. If you don’t make it extremely easy to find your socials, that means it’s extremely easy to set up fake accounts claiming to be you. Then put the link to your website in the bio on your socials.

If you are offering something or holding a fundraiser or doing anything on your social media page, link it back to your website. If you have an IG post offering resources, you should include a url for your site in each image. If you share a photo on twitter with the info for a march, that should link back to your website with more info about the march. If you post a fundraiser on tumblr you need to link the fundraising page of your website on that post.

If you absolutely positively cannot set up a website and a real-ass email address, set up a linktree, choose a primary social media to post on that all the others refer back to, and very explicitly state what your email address is and that you do not have other email addresses somewhere that's difficult to miss. Build a history of posts and link to other orgs that you work with or any writeups or stories about your events or projects. The point of all of this is making yourself easy to verify. "northfullertonfnb@gmail.com" sucks but it sucks a lot less if it's in the bio of "@northfulltertonfnb" and that page has a two year history of posting meal share schedules and menus.

In conclusion, don't share things that you haven't personally checked. When in doubt, it is always safer not to share.