#if this ain't a mood in this climate

[sophsun1]

Community – 3.19: Curriculum Unavailable

[msookyspooky]

I was super in the mood to read your fic soooooo i decided to reread the last chapters AND OH MY GOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!! I thibk your fic is awesome but every time i read it againn i have the feeling that i didnt REMOTELY remember HOW GOOD IT IS!!!!!!!! Ughhhhhhhh and the last chapter?????? that WAS DIVINE!!!!!!! since i started reading i was expecting those 3 idiots admit they care for each other and iwiwjkeks im FREAKING OUTT!!!!!

I LOVE love LOVE LOVEEEEE the little details of this care spread in this chapter like how Billy and stu are always in a protective stance when jill is talking to yn!!!! and SHITTTT BILLY HOLDING HANDS W YNNNNN!!

I just cant explajn how much of a emotional rollercoaster reading yiur fic is to me LMAOO I POVE IT SOO MUCHHHH

ANYWAYSS this rambling was just to explajn how much i love your writing so muchhh !!!!!! Hahha

OH WOW THANK YOU SM!!! ♡♡♡♡

I try 💘 And these types of reviews make me try even more!

I'm actually trying to piece together two chapters atm BECAUSE this climax is like...It changes everything more than any other climatic chapters have other than Set Up so I'm really combing over it because there ain't no going back if I fuck it up

AND I AM SO GLAD YOU CAUGHT THE SUBTLY!!! Ik slow burns aren't for everyone but unless it's some stockholm kidnapped no choice thing then most slashers are a slowburn ESPECIALLY in Scream where the final girl is constantly beating or at least fighting them off and they were friends before it went south. And Stu is way more likely to be like 'Girl you know I love you!' when he half ass means it because he's manipulative like that. (He did/does care and it's probably the closest to love he's had but is it a genuine 'I won't ever harm you and I accept everything about you and trust you' love? Uh uh. At least not when he left that note a decade ago but of course you aren't gonna convince him it'snot 'love'.) Stu manipulated everyone much better than Billy did in Scream imo.

NOT THAT BILLY ISN'T MANIPULATIVE but Stu does it for his own entertainment or comfort and Billy does it for kills and to not get caught. So Billy isn't gonna lie to our face or exagerate his feelings. Holding hands in a dying moment was probably the closest affection outside of sex he's had in 15 years and it being us when we are possibly dying just seals the deal even more that he can lie he wants...He gives a shit 😏🖤

[crowjack20]

RTTS OC by me. RTTS is a hard sci-fi setting by @jayrockin and all the things depicted in this OC profile was made by them for that world. I am taking a bit of leeway, but it ain't nothin major I hope

Name(s): Derknao-Tem, though goes by Mack or Boulder in English(the latter in Martian English and the former in Jovian English)

Age: 19 earth years

Gender: transmasc

Homeplanet: Centaur Homeplanet

Date of Birth: December 12 if using Earth Calender

Nationality: Opnay Clan, Nomadic

Type: Centaur Alien

Race/species/clade(if applicable): Nightchaser×Daewirgh cross

Occupation(if applicable): a hunter and artisan, in the worker status

Clothing/accessories: a fur coat, fabric undergarments, leather armsleeves, a bandana of fabric that combines a leather choker, and some golden armbands

Weapons(if applicable): a bostaff he made himself out of a wooden rod and a piece of scrap plate metal he sharpened and riveted onto the rod. He usually prefers to use his own teeth and the hooves on his arms that he sharpens into very crude claws

Special features: a very scruffy facial disk, a shaggy ruff of long fur going down his neck(similar to how Talita looks in the bluish comic panels but longer and it kinda looks like that even when it's dry), and especially long antlers for his age when they grow in. He also has weirdly long fluff on the rest of his body, though it's longest at his underbelly and the backs of his legs(similar to feathering in Dogs and Horses). He also has multiple scars on his arms, midlegs, and neck from hunting wild beasts and picking fights

Family: his father the primary Sire, his mother the Matriarch, the rest of his siblings, and an aunt

Love Interest/Crush: ....it's complicated

Friends/Allies: no friends yet, but he sees his clan as his allies

Enemies: most people, he's an extreme introvert

Likes: having alone time, Tep silkcheese, fresh air, getting to throw his weight around, those close to him, smart people, small cute things; and his Hawkdog, a Guardian-Stock×Hunting-Stock male named Ruggle(in English)

Dislikes: annoying people, tubers, cramped spaces, horny Tep roosters, especially hot climates, getting noticed for his heritage

Trivia: His father is the Daewirgh who fell in love with his Nightchaser mother, the two running off to form their own clan together that mostly live a Nomad existence, but do come into Settled towns for vacations and supplies. His clan has a small pack of Hawkdogs that are primarily guardian-stock and Hunting-stock with a few Siren Sentries. His bodyplan is a weird in-between of Nomad and Settled, being adept at both the endurance chases of his mother and the ambush sprints of his father, though usually prefers to ambush before chasing prey for a fairly long time or just pouncing on it then and there depending on his mood(he does have a hard time with especially quick sprinting at short bursts though)

[bakugouscentedcaramel]

Ah yes, the time has come.

It's time to get your pen and paper because class is in session!

There's plenty of things I could talk about and I pretty much covered the basics down below, but I'm more than willing to help y'all out with anything specific!

I have to preface that I'm not an English major by any means nor do I have any experience writing professionally, the things listed below are purely based on my opinions and submissions I have received.

Writing is forever a learning process, there really isn't a right way of writing but there are definitely some things that will hinder your readers. Here is a list that I compiled both with my own experiences as well as some user submitted issues when it comes to reading works:

•Big blocks of text

° Typos/wrong word usage

•Using the same words

°Too spaced out/not indented where needed

• Dialogue runs into normal sentences

° Speakers/POVs change without notice

• Inconsistencies, either in general or story inconsistencies

°Lack of description/Too much description

• Bland/Artificial actions/dialogue

° Misuse of punctuation/lack thereof

• Capitalization errors

° Long winded sentences

• Using italics for actions

° Confusing formating

• Changing in Tenses

° Using wrong tags/falsely advertising (ex. Reader x Blank should have Y/N, not an OC/Authors name)

• Author notes/comics/pictures in middle of fic

° "~This is a transition~"

• Forcing a character to be OOC for sake of story

° Filler characters

• Not sticking to a specific genre/jumpy moods

Now don't be intimidated by this list! Some of these are pretty self explanatory so I won't go into a few of them. There are plenty of ways to avoid these and in some cases it is perfectly fine to use any of the above. 

Let's start off with the basics!

Sentence structure is the backbone of writing, but it's a very flexible rule. Obviously you have your subject, verb, object and whatnot, but the true art lies in word choice and length.

When it comes to sentences, size does matter. If your sentences are too short they will seem choppy and unfinished, whereas if they are long they will seem winded and unnatural. The biggest tool you can use to find out if a sentence is too short/long is by reading it aloud! If you run out of breath it's too long but if you finish abruptly it's too short.

Word choice is my favorite weapon to work with, I could describe a blue jay as a normal bird or as a mythical animal just by picking the right words!

"The blue jay flew across the field while it sang it's melody."

Or

"A creature with wings made of clouds swooped across the field whilst roaring out a devilish tune."

Word choice can easily convey tone/feeling so it's definitely an important element to writing! If you ever have trouble finding that perfect word try googling for synonyms! Also this website might help you find that one word that you just can't think of!

Grammar is also a very important part of writing. Using the right words and punctuation can be difficult sometimes but there are some easy fixes!

Spelling is an easy fix, if you forgot/don't know how to spell a word consulting a dictionary or Google is a surefire way of solving your problem. You can even find synonyms if you feel like you've used a word too much. 

Punctuation on the other can be a big more difficult, however. 

Here's a couple of sentences that helped me learn basic punctuation:

A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink then leaves. Commas are a means of sewing two sentences together to form a compound sentence. These are mainly used to list out things and to add fluidity to your works so they don't sound as choppy.

A question mark walks into a bar? Question marks are pretty self explanatory. They either raise a question or form uncertainty.

Two quotation marks "walk" into a bar. Quotations are used for both dialogue and metaphors. I personally love using them for sarcasm!

A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to drink. This one is a tougher one that I personally never learned from any of my classes. A gerund is basically a word that can act as a verb or a noun which would be "drinking". An infinitive is the base of a verb, in this case it's "drink".

The bar was walked into by a passive voice. A passive voice is when you emphasize the action and object of a sentence rather than the subject. You can find that a passive voice tends to use past tense where as an active voice uses present/future tense.

Three intransitives walk into a bar. They sit. They drink. They leave. An intransitive verb is an action verb, expressing a doable activity like arrive, go, lie, sneeze, sit, die, etc.

Some other things that I commonly see are the wrong usages of words. For example:

They: a group of individuals/pronoun "Yeah, they said he'd be here thirty minutes ago."

Their: a possessive pronoun "Leave their stuff alone!'

There: location "What's that over there?"

Then: event/action "Val went to the mall then skittered to the park."

Your: possessive "Your self esteem is lower than the Mariana's Trench!"

You're: a conjunctive "you are"

Affect: caused by actions "The fallen french fry really affected Val's mood."

Effect: caused by events "Climate change has a negative effect on my Cheerios."

Peaked: a summit "Val has peaked at 10:19pm"

Piqued: stimulate interest/curiosity "You have piqued Val's interest by mentioning food."

Do time: "Val is fixin' to do time if she keeps slacking."

Due time: "Val will come with hydration in due time."

Per say: not a thing

Per se: by/in itself "She didn't write this late at night, per se…"

There are different tools you can use to spice up your writings, from metaphors to innuendos, all the way to zeugmas! Let's go over the basic definitions of these bad boys.

Metaphor: a figure of speech that is not literally applicable. "The darkness surrounded us like a shroud." Obviously the darkness can't physically shroud anyone.

Innuendo: a sentence with a hidden meaning "Is that a gator in your pants or are you just happy to see me~" 

Zeugma: a sentence containing words that can be used literally and figuratively, like a love child of the two above. "Val and her coupon expired last week." This implies that not only did my Colgate coupon expire, but I died as well.

Paragraphs are a necessity when it comes to writing. Big blocks of text are an eyestrain to readers and it's easy to lose your place, even if it's only 150 words. It's always best to use Tab or at least 5 spaces when indenting. A paragraph should only be 5-7 sentences long, this is so it's not just multiple blocks of text

When to add a new paragraph:

° A new person comes in

• New idea/context

° Setting changes

• New person is speaking

° Time changes

• The "camera" moves

° Tone shifts

• 5-7 sentences has been reached

Paragraphs help you organize your work in a way and they make it easier for your readers' eyes!

POVs are also very important. First person and third person are by far the most common ones so I'll only touch on these two. It's very important to write a story in one strict POV as to not confuse the readers. You can however jump perspectives like Heroes of Olmpyus by Rick Rodian, as long as the ready can easily tell who is telling the story.

First person is a story that is told from first-hand experience. It's the same as if I told y'all the story on how I almost chopped off my thumb in woodshop class back in middle school. First person tends to use a lot of I's and my's

Third person is a story that is told from a narrators' point of view. Such as "Once upon a time" type of stories. I's and my's should only be used in dialogue

Dialogue is probably one of the most important features of any fic/story. Dialogue can push plots forward as well as add life to a character. Here's a simple exchanged:

"Hiya 'Splodey," Val chirped.

Katuski smirked, "M'dumbass."

Dialogue should always come with a pair of quotation marks. Commas and periods generally go inside the quotation marks whereas dashes, colons, and semicolons almost always go outside the quotation marks. Question marks and exclamation marks however can go either inside or outside, it goes by a case by case basis. Always indent whenever a different speaker is talking, running quotes into each other is a no-go because it causes confusion and eyestrain.

You have to be wary of using simple dialogue exchanges though, if they seem off try saying them out loud! Dialogue is one of my favorite things to write because you can weave personality into them, not to mention you can always hear people talking to get a better idea on how to write dialogue.

For example, I have a southern dialect, meaning I sound different than someone from the north! I use words like "y'all", "fixin'", "finna", "ain't" and have a different vocabulary than that of my northern friends. This means that the characters you're portraying should have their own way of speaking! This will not only add flavor to your dialogue but it also adds to their personalities/backgrounds.

Describing things can be just as valuable as dialogue, but it is a bit more complex. Sure we've all heard of the "show, don't tell" rule. Which is a good rule to follow, however too much showing is just as bad as telling. Again, reading out your work is a great way to tell if you're focusing too much on one thing. Another thing to keep in mind is importance, such as do we really need to know that the grass outside was bluegrass? Which in certain situations it would be! For example:

The grass around the disheveled house was brown and straw-like, with the exception of a ring of grass. Bluegrass. Which wasn't even native to this location.

This paints a pretty good spooky picture in the readers' mind and even adds the element suspense by the implied uncertainty.

I've only covered a small portion of writing so if y'all have any questions or need any help feel free to slide into my DMs or send in an ask! I love getting questions about writing and I'm always willing to help a fellow writer!

[angelicfluffs]

𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚢 : 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚎 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚝

↳ 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 : 1512 (without lyrics)

↳ 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴 : you don’t wanna be greedy but can’t imagine Timothee with anyone else but yourself and confessing your feelings to him

↳ 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 : hey guys ! So basically if you live under a rock, prettymuch are being exposed for sexual assault, racism and other things and so it’ll be a little difficult making imagines for nick but yeah, I’m still deciding whether not to give up his writings after this series but yeah, enjoy ! :)

↳ 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 : nasa

Boy, you give me feelings, never felt before

I'm making it obvious by knocking at your door

I know that I'm coming tonight

You know I'm coming tonight

Don't want to deny it anymore

Me and Timothee had been friends for a while and everytime we were in the same environment, it just made me want to spend time with him even more, if it’s in a crowded room or just the two of us. He was always smiling whenever our friend group did something, he just made my world a little brighter with not only his bright white teeth but the genuine happiness radiating from him.

Tonight, our friends were together in one of their apartments and it was dark with mood lighting changing colours every now and then. Timothee was coming and so beforehand, I decided to talk to one of my close friends in the clique. I whisper to her “can I talk to you for a minute?”. She nods with a puzzled face. We make our way to one of the bedrooms and I await for her to enter the room before closing the door.

I say before telling her the reason of her escape from the party “before I tell you this, don’t tell anyone this, ok?” As I lay out my pinky sticking out as she interlocks her pinky with mine. He ly out a deep breath and say “well-“ and smile at her. “I think I like Timothee and I don’t know what to do, if I should tell him or make hints-“. She interrupts as she answers passionately “follow your heart y/n. Besides, you wanna make sure you’re comfortable if you tell him. Maybe Timothee would like that, just being upfront and besides, he won’t hold it against you, he’s not like that” while holding the ends of my fingers, like a mother talking to her daughter about something important.

Baby, you got lucky cause you're rocking with the best

And I'm greedy

'Cause I'm so greedy

'Cause I'm so

Somehow, I had to pluck up the courage to tell Timothee and besides, I’ve never done something like this. When I start getting comfortable with the idea, I immediately think of the other factors, like what if he wants somebody in the industry or isn’t liking me like that. My mind and body then become more tense and more uptight, resulting in worrying and fidgeting.

When I exit the bedroom, I enter the main room where all our friends where and the main event of the night, Timothee. When I fully enter the room, Timothee makes a smile at me and I do the same as I turn to my friend from before and she makes a face raising her eyebrows. I laugh silently and plant my eyes on the floor alerting myself that I don’t want to embarrass myself, especially tonight.

My attention is stolen as the mood coloured lights switch into a new vibrant ambience and a burst of laughter exits one corner of the room. I sat myself down beside my friend from before and she comes closer to my ear and whispers “you’ll be fine y/n, besides, he’s your friend” and moves back with a smile on her face.

I don't need a phone call

Got nothing to say

I'ma tell you when it's over

Got no games to play

You know that I'm coming tonight

I know I'm coming tonight

I just need to get this out the way, oh baby!

I waited till the perfect moment to pull aside Timothee in order to get a accurate response from him. I take a breath before lift myself off the ground and walk over to Timothee and ask him “hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”. He smiles and replies in a high and gentle tone “yeah, sure” before he stands up following me. The walk towards the same room was daunting and almost like a make or break moment.

Before we enter the room fully, I make sure the door was shut before anyone was coming in while I was spilling my guts out. While shutting the door, he asks “have I done anything to offend you? If so, I’m so-“. I brush off his sentence and for a split second, I admire his caring nature. I respond assuringly “no, not at all”. He breaths out of relief and looks back at you.

I take a deep breath in and out and start “so, I know we’re friends and I don’t want to make you feel weird or make you feel anything like that. So, I feel like I should be honest with you and I know that this is between us. But basically, I think I’m gaining feelings for you.” I look at him as he does the same and I let out a deep breath. His stare is a bit blank as I start to worry what he’s thinking.

Been in this state of mind

Been in this state of mind

Been in this state of mind, oh yeah

I add “I know but if you wanna go with someone in the Industry or whatever but... I thought I’d tell you I’m into you”. He gives me a muted smile and makes a effort to say “you know, y/n, you are a lovely person and just having a good energy but I’m a little overwhelmed I think but, I mean.. you’re feelings aren’t anything to be ashamed of but I’m just a little shocked that this something you felt”.

I look at him as he does the same with me and he tries to put together what else to say as his former sentence was a little bit of puzzle piece. There was a feeling of a awkward silent tension yet this wasn’t addressed. I try to make my conversation starter from before seem better as I say “I know this is new but I don’t wanna feel .. greedy but I just want to make sure that you are ok and that our friendship isn’t.. you know.. tarnished”.

His face now has a sympathetic face as he makes another sentence leave his mouth “y/n, you’re fine and besides I’d rather you tell me than you feel all bottled up and you feeling comfortable. But I get what you mean, feeling greedy almost but y/n, I’ve had worse encounters with girls and let me tell you, you’re no where near their tier of bad” as we both end that with a laugh.

I ain't talking money, I'm just physically obsessed

And I'm greedy

'Cause I'm so greedy

'Cause I'm so greedy, ooh

You know that I'm greedy for love

You know that I'm greedy for love

'Cause I'm so greedy, ooh

You know that I'm greedy for love

You know that I'm greedy for love

'Cause I'm so

Our conversation kept revolving valid feelings, joking about past encounters while in the romantic situation and reassuring the other person that we are fine with each other. The night seemed to go by fast as somebody walked into the room as they shout “heyyy, timmys gettin it on with y/n” which his tone seemed under the influence and a little comedic making me and Timothee silently laugh.

The guy leaves the room with the door opened ajar and makes the talk with Timothee seem sped up as he must’ve wanted to make this seem less awkward and get back to normality within the friend group. He covers the current climate we were in and starts “so basically, y/n, I don’t think of you any differently and while we were speaking, you are cute but” and a laughing sigh leaves his body with his hand on the back of his neck. He continues “but yeah, we could maybe go out some point this week and catch up with each other”.

He later leaves the room as I silently realised that he just asked me on a date... I think. I let myself take a few minutes to calm down from my excitement and seem cool leaving the room to maybe catch his attention. I quickly check my makeup before exiting the area and she was all good. I adjust my outfit as the second it was fine, my foot entered the room, the bold lights making it a little dramatic.

Greedy, I'm greedy, I'm greedy, I'm greedy

I'm greedy, I'm greedy, I'm greedy, I'm greedy for love

The eyes of some people were captivated by me and one of those pairs was Timothee. I always high fived myself internally as that was my goal as I quickly come back to reality and sit next to my friend from before. She asked “so, how was it?”. I smile and reply “better than I thought” as she’s quick to say “I told you so”. I laugh and add “yeah, he was so sweet about it and I think he asked me on a date”.

She readjusts her seating and has a shocked face plastered on her face as she asks “really? No way!” As I nod my head to confirm her question. He smiles as she asks “so, where and what you gonna wear?” As I have a serious face as I continue the questions but to her. “How come your so invested?” As we both laugh. She responds “I’m just excited, thats all. Besides, y’all would make a cute couple.... just saying”.

I raise my hand to deny that statement and to go along with it, I said “no way, he’s just taking me to a coffee place or something simple”. She nods and I add “besides, I don’t wanna seem like those crazy fan girls just cause he’s famous”. She adds “how many people that have I asked me if I know him?”. I state “I think it’s the status of knowing him”. As we continue talking, Timothee walks over and says “I’ll talk to you soon, but yeah, I’m gonna go” as I say “bye” and touch his hand of a gesture of saying bye as he smiles and walks away. Me and my friend are all giddy and are probably gonna talk about this all night.

[cadyrocks]

Saw Don't Look Up last night. Some takeaways:

- it's incredibly realistic. This isn't magical realism or out-there satire; every step of the process can easily be mirrored to a real-world analog. The only change is that mass death and collapse is more immediately obvious.

- The most unrealistic step of the whole thing? That any humans lived through the techbro solution.

- that bit where Katie says "fuck it, we're all gonna die" and fucks the skater kid? That resonated. A lot. @yak-leather-whips. Making impulsive, poor decisions because there doesn't seem like there's going to be a future, particularly surrounding sex? Woof. Big mood.

- Leo's big "we are all going to die" speech is... Hard to watch. Because it's horrifyingly accurate. We just watched nearly every institution and power structure fail us during the pandemic. They have been and will continue to fail us through the climate crisis. None of this will be fixed on its own. There are no capable adults at the helm. Zero.

- if you thought, at the end of the movie, that someone really ought to kill the people in power... Well, like I said, it's not an unreasonable portrayal of what's been happening. That decision, to call off the planet-saving mission and let it crash? That's happening in boardrooms and offices around the world on a daily basis.

- the shot near the end, where it pans over a city block to show the rich partying and drinking on the roof while the poor riot and gunshots ring out on the streets below... *chef's kiss*. This movie ain't good because it's subtle!

- the bittersweet ending dinner... It's an important lesson. It's dark, and heavy, and still joyful. Remember what's important. No matter how bad things get, remember what matters to being happy.

What am I doing with my life? The world is ending and I'm... What? Getting kind of good at Dead Cells? Barely doing my job 8 hours a day?

Modernity has failed us. I'd love it if we made it.

[vtforpedro]

tagged by @vestadragon thank yoooou! 1. Why did you choose your url? I was 14 and dealing with a creepy 16yo boy irl AND online so I needed a new username lmao napoleon dynamite had just come out on DVD and my bro and I were watching it every day so vtforpedro came about and hasn't left since c; 2. Any side-blogs? If you have them, name them and why you have them. an abandoned one that I won't be naming :eyes: 3. How long have you been on tumblr? 10 years 4. Do you have a queue tag? not uh 5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? tumblr was all the rage in 2011 6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp? I have like 15 of these 'eyecons' made by zyden on deviantart so I use them in a lot of places! 7. Why did you choose your header? do I have a header? idk it's a free theme 8. What’s your post with the most notes? oh lord the one I made about popular authors not supporting other authors lol getting hit with the 'oh I loved that fic!' when they didn't leave kudos or a comment numerous times from numerous well-known authors in a short time had me In A Mood 9. How many mutuals do you have? is there an easy way to count this? otherwise I have no idea haha 10. How many followers do you have? 739 11. How many people do you follow? 341 (catch me being too nervous to follow people I don't know cause of the fandom 'climate' lksjfss) 12. Have you ever made a shitpost? yes 13. How often do you use tumblr each day? I check my activity/messages every day, but I took a long break from actively going thru my dash cause it bothers my head 14. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won? ummm I don't think so!! 15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts? you ain't guilt tripping me 16. Do you like tag games? I do! 17. Do you like ask games? yep! 18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? fjksjfsl a few?! 19. Do you have a crush on a mutual? do friend crushes count 20. Tags? @curiousartemis @polymathicdragon @lindirs-gaze annnd I'll tag anyone else that wants to do it! :D tag me so I can see pls

[funamblrist]

if this isn't enough to convince the public that capitalism doesn't give a shit about you or humanity, and is going to get further and further down this road to increase profits and squeeze the earth - it's resources and it's people - to fucking extinction, then i don't know what will.

this goes for apolitical bystanders who "don't fuck with politics" as if that's even an option. like good on you - choosing to stay ignorant of things which threaten the livelihoods or everyone, or the fact that the world revolves around politics. you sure showed those "extremists", and totally don't live in a good little consumer bubble.

it's not just the ignorant either. for those who unironically support capitalism, and turn a blind eye to shit like this: you are a cuckold. oh, you support capitalism? where's your business, or your factory? you don't own the means of production - you are like the rest of us and are only deluding yourself into thinking the system is the only option. you don't get shit from capitalism, and the capitalists don't care about you. you are shilling for a system that actively uses you for profit and gives you nothing in return, and you will never be anything more than that no matter how much you try and promote "hard work" and licking the boot. i'm sure the billions of people who work hard their whole lives and never make it just need to work harder, because the free market rewards those who truly deserve it!

even funnier are those who idolise le epic trendy capitalists like Elon Musk as if you are ever going to be a fraction as successful as him. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates - they are one in a billion success stories - and the closest you will get to them is starting a small business (if you can even get that far today) and having to work your ass off until your 75 (assuming we'll be around that long), turning zero profit in the grand scheme of things. it's the same old "oh well i work hard, and i'm putting my whole livelihood in danger since i'm not provided any real security, but that's the risk you take in life! capitalism ain't perfect, but it's the only way!" while the 1% doesn't have to work a single day in their luxury-filled lives. this isn't even mentioning the fact that most people don't even get the opportunity of going anywhere in the first place - that window of opportunity has been getting smaller and smaller since the baby boom.

tl;dr capitalism only cares about profit and if you still don't realise this, then you can go back to your wage cage and work until climate change fuck us all because "it's the best we got". hope the reality doesn't hurt your morale, wouldn't wanna set off your mood observer and be fired, would we?

IN THESE TIMES

You’ve been fired. According to your employer’s data, your facial expressions showed you were insubordinate and not trustworthy. You also move your hands at a rate that is considered substandard. Other companies you may want to work for could receive this data, making it difficult for you to find other work in this field.

That may sound like a scenario straight out of a George Orwell novel, but it’s the future many American workers could soon be facing.

In early February, media outlets reported that Amazon had received a patent for ultrasonic wristbands that could track the movement of warehouse workers’ hands during their shifts. If workers’ hands began moving in the wrong direction, the wristband would buzz, issuing an electronic corrective. If employed, this technology could easily be used to further surveil employees who already work under intense supervision.

Whole Foods, which is now owned by Amazon, recently instituted a complex and punitive inventory system where employees are graded based on everything from how quickly and effectively they stock shelves to how they report theft. The system is so harsh it reportedly causes employees enough stress to bring them to tears on a regular basis.

UPS drivers, who often operate individually on the road, are now becoming increasingly surveilled. Sensors in every UPS truck track when drivers’ seatbelts are put on, when doors open and close and when the engines start in order to monitor employee productivity at all times.

The technology company Steelcase has experimented with monitoring employees’ faces to judge their expressions. The company claims that this innovation, which monitors and analyzes workers’ facial movements throughout the work day, is being used for research and to inform best practices on the job. Other companies are also taking interest in this kind of mood-observing technology, from Bank of America to Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc.

These developments are part of a larger trend of workers being watched and judged—often at jobs that offer low pay and demand long hours. Beyond simply tracking worker performance, it is becoming more common for companies to monitor the emails and phone calls their employees make, analyzing personal traits along with output.

Some companies are now using monitoring techniques—referred to as “people analytics”—to learn as much as they can about you, from your communication patterns to what types of websites you visit to how often you use the bathroom. This type of privacy invasion can cause employees immense stress, as they work with the constant knowledge that their boss is aware of their every behavior—and able to use that against them as they see fit.

Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute at Cornell University, tells In These Times that the level of surveillance workers are facing is increasing exponentially.

“If you look at what some people call ‘people analytics,’ it’s positively frightening,” Maltby says. “People analytics devices get how often you talk, the tone of your voice, where you are every single second you’re at work, your body language, your facial expressions and something called ‘patterns of interaction.’” He explains that some of these devices even record what employees say at work.

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