#im turning off notifications for this post

[ancharan]

i definitely understand the frustration op is experiencing here

and i want to take a second to acknowledge that part of this frustration seems to be stemming from the compulsive nature of this environment

we can't opt-in to the page-wide ads, we can't toggle a switch or click a button to enable notifications, it's assumed, it's a given, it's another data point on a big board that a company can bundle and sell

but!! it is possible to disengage with a lot of this. the tools are there. everyone and their dog knows about ad-blockers (do you know about ad-blockers? do you know how easy it is to add an extension to firefox that will block ads on the internet?) but op, did you also know that you can turn off the windows search functionality on your desktop? you can change it so it only shows you local files. you can turn off auto-saving on office programs. you can disable cortana permanently, you can delete edge. computers are a tool!! and they can be changed to accommodate your needs

personally, im a big foss person. i love non-corporate, open-source alternatives to paywalled bullshit. i use LibreOffice at home, i use Linux on my laptops, i dont pay for a spotify account...

like im not making this post to brag or anything im just saying it's possible to disengage with these systems

they're unjust and exploitative and unfair and they should be disabled by default, but until the Revolution™️ fixes all of our problems, u can at least save yourself a few headaches

I don't know I'm not done talking about it. It's insane that I can't just uninstall Edge or Copilot. That websites require my phone number to sign up. That people share their contacts to find their friends on social media.

I wouldn't use an adblocker if ads were just banners on the side funding a website I enjoy using and want to support. Ads pop up invasively and fill my whole screen, I misclick and get warped away to another page just for trying to read an article or get a recipe.

Every app shouldn't be like every other app. Instagram didn't need reels and a shop. TikTok doesn't need a store. Instagram doesn't need to be connected to Facebook. I don't want my apps to do everything, I want a hub for a specific thing, and I'll go to that place accordingly.

I love discord, but so much information gets lost to it. I don't want to join to view things. I want to lurk on forums. I want to be a user who can log in and join a conversation by replying to a thread, even if that conversation was two days ago. I know discord has threads, it's not the same. I don't want to have to verify my account with a phone number. I understand safety and digital concerns, but I'm concerned about information like that with leaks everywhere, even with password managers.

I shouldn't have to pay subscriptions to use services and get locked out of old versions. My old disk copy of photoshop should work. I should want to upgrade eventually because I like photoshop and supporting the business. Adobe is a whole other can of worms here.

Streaming is so splintered across everything. Shows release so fast. Things don't get physical releases. I can't stream a movie I own digitally to friends because the share-screen blocks it, even though I own two digital copies, even though I own a physical copy.

I have an iPod, and I had to install a third party OS to easily put my music on it without having to tangle with iTunes. Spotify bricked hardware I purchased because they were unwillingly to upkeep it. They don't pay their artists. iTunes isn't even iTunes anymore and Apple struggles to upkeep it.

My TV shows me ads on the home screen. My dad lost access to eBook he purchased because they were digital and got revoked by the company distributing them. Hitman 1-3 only runs online most of the time. Flash died and is staying alive because people love it and made efforts to keep it up.

I have to click "not now" and can't click "no". I don't just get emails, they want to text me to purchase things online too. My windows start search bar searches online, not just my computer. Everything is blindly called an app now. Everything wants me to upload to the cloud. These are good tools! But why am I forced to use them! Why am I not allowed to own or control them?

No more!!!!! I love my iPod with so much storage and FLAC files. I love having all my fics on my harddrive. I love having USBs and backups. I love running scripts to gut suck stuff out of my Windows computer I don't want that spies on me. I love having forums. I love sending letters. I love neocities and webpages and webrings. I will not be scanning QR codes. Please hand me a physical menu. If I didn't need a smartphone for work I'd get a "dumb" phone so fast. I want things to have buttons. I want to use a mouse. I want replaceable batteries. I want the right to repair. I grew up online and I won't forget how it was!

[gyroshrike]

If I need to the sole person who ships Morgan and Rick then so be it

[i-may-be-an-emu]

Hugs (if you want them) for all my american moots and honestly just everyone who’s scared 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

[bamsara]

"hey one of your posts broke containment again-"

[moondirti]

thinking about mean man simon who uses any excuse to beat ur poor cunt. loves spanking it especially, no matter the occasion, tho he’s not above pinching your clit within an inch of your life if you misbehave

[neroushalvaus]

One very draining thing about having an openly gay presidential candidate is having the humanity and capability of us openly discoursed everywhere like it's fucking 2013 all over again

[septimusmoonlight]

You doing ok?

hi

[irrealisms]

i have at this point gotten three people in my notes going "i volunteer at a crisis center and this is misinformation!" (a) literally what about my post is misinformation. op was kind of sloppily phrased bc i didn't expect ppl to reblog it but "most hotlines call the cops sometimes, here are some that do that Never" is just true information (b) fuck OFF. check my blog. i'm a psychiatric survivor you're not going to convince me that calling the cops to forcibly institutionalize people is totally okay when you do it and it's so irresponsible of me to discourage people from getting help. maybe i should add that in bold letters to the top of my pinned post (or temporarily pin a different post?) until this post dies down.

i just. it's not ~spreading misinformation~ to say that you do the things you admit to doing. (one of the people was actually denying that crisis lines did that but in a way that was...trivially disprovable? so im not sure what that was about lmao. and then the other two were straightup "YES we call the cops sometimes but only when we HAVE to so it's NOT BAD, stop spreading MISINFORMATION")

also 2/3 blocked me and the third is just going through my notes and reblogging all the people who disagreed with me without actually responding to me.

[cursed-elements-blog]

SELFSHIPTOBER DAY 1 - Confession/Night

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't sleep, and I'm pissed about it.

The past three hours or so have seen me tossing and turning in my bed. No matter the position, no matter whether I'm draped by the blanket or not, no matter how many pillows I use, I just can't seem to fall asleep. "This is bullshit..." I groan, slowly sitting up and swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. I'm well past the point of giving up on sleep tonight, might as well make the most of it. I pick up the phone and glance at the time - 2:47AM - before typing in my password. Without wasting any time, I navigate to my messages and begin looking through recent contacts. Surely at least one of my friends are awake...?

I swipe through my contacts as if carefully considering who I should text. Though in truth, there is only one person on my mind.

"Hey! Chase? You up?" I hit send and immediately put my phone screen down on my bed, my heart racing as nerves flare up within my gut. Thoughts race through my mind: Maybe he's asleep...do I just delete the message before he wakes up? Oh god what if he's awake and reads it? That's what I want though...Right? Would he be upset that I'm texting him so late? I look down at my phone, seeing the glow of the screen peaking out from under the body against my sheets. Tentatively, I reach out for my phone, deciding that it's better to delete the message and let him rest.

Bzzt-Bzzt!

Fuck... Deciding that it's too late to back out now, I pick up my phone and hesitantly look at the screen.

"Yeah, unfortunately. What's up?"

I can't help but smile at the message, releasing a breath I didn't know I was even holding. My fingers tap away at the screen.

"Can't sleep :/ Wanna hang out? I have these tuna melts I got from the campus convenience store that I wanna try."

I watch as the message status goes from "Sending" to "Delivered" and then to "Read". There's a pause and I begin to feel as if I might've fucked up when...

"Sure. Give me five minutes and I'll head out."

It takes everything I have to stop myself from cheering, knowing how pissed my roommates would be if I woke them at this time. Wasting no time, I send Chase a quick message telling him where to meet me as I excitedly get dressed.

I'm practically skipping down the sidewalk in the dead of night, the sound of crickets and the click-clack of my claws on cement keeping me company. Campus is always silent at such a time, though despite that it's rather safe. But my mind isn't on that.

Chase and I have known each other for about a year now, having taken the same gen-ed writing class during the spring of our first year. We were paired together for a small little presentation and we hit it off really well. We've been friends ever since.

Friends... just friends...

In all truth, I always found him to be pretty cute. Not only that, I really enjoy just being around him. Talking, laughing, just sitting in silence; Every moment with him was one I cherished. Maybe...maybe he'd be open to being something more? I make it to our meeting spot right in front of the Pueblo University Central Tree and sit on the bench with my bag of essentials and sandwiches at my side. It's nice and cool tonight, with the full moon shining brightly above.

It isn't long before I hear familiar footsteps approaching from my left. I look over with a grin and my heart leaps when I see that otter clad in blue.

"Well look who it is! Fuckin' took you long enough," I jest, grinning at Chase and giving him a gentle shove. "Thought I'd have to eat these myself." I pull out the two sandwiches from my bag and hand one over to Chase, who takes it with a smile. "My bad, Vincent was struggling with his report and wanted some help writing it." He shrugs, sitting on the bench. I begin unwrapping my own sandwich as I sit next to him. "Doin' his work for him again?" Chase rolls his eyes and nods, "Yeah... His job at the café has been hell lately from what he's told me. They're kinda understaffed right now." Chase unwraps his tuna melt and takes a bite. He pauses for a moment, looking down at it, before setting it down on its wrapper as he chews what's in his mouth.

"Well I hope he's doin' something for you in return..." I reply, bringing my sandwich up to my mouth and taking a bite out of it. "Maybe he can pose for that photography class you're takin'. Make shit easier for you, y'know?" Chase looks over at me inquisitively, "Easier how?" He asks.

I swallow my food before continuing, "I don't know, he's like...objectively hot, right? Vincent looks good in any photo he's in so you have to put in less work with composition and framing and shit, right?" I take another bite, the sandwich kinda sucks; It's borderline tasteless and kind of soggy...but it's edible. Chase shoots me bit of a grin, raising an eyebrow "Want me to pass that on to him? I think he's-"

"Nooooo!" I cut him off, dramatically waving my hands, which gets a light chuckle out of the otter. "All I said was that he was objectively hot! Not that I'm into him, two different things. Don't get shit twisted." Chase raises his hands in mock defense, his cute little smirk growing a bit, "Alright! Alright... all I'm saying is that he's looking."

"Well I'm not. Not at him anyway." I mutter without further thought before taking another bite of the disappointing sandwich. I can almost see the cogs in Chase's head working away as he processes my words. Shit... don't ask more questions... "'Not at him'? Is there someone you are interested in?"

You're shitting me. I can feel my face heat up and I know it's over, there's no way he can't see how flustered I am. Kicking myself silently, I glance away before turning my attention back to the otter. It wouldn't be so bad to tell him how I feel... right? Worst case scenario, he says no and we stay friends. I take a deep breath, though it does little to calm my nerves. The moonlight reflects in Chase's eyes, making them look like amber shining proudly and I melt slightly. "Uhm yeah sort of... He's, y'know..." I gesture vaguely with my hands. What the fuck am I doing? Chase, meanwhile, just watches me with a slightly amused expression on his face. Cute bastard he is, having fun watching me stumble over myself like this.

"He's a good friend..." I finally manage to blurt out. "Known him since my first year here, made this program much more bearable haha." Chase nods before pausing, seemingly considering whether to pry any more. It doesn't take him long to decide, "Well... does this friend have a name..?" His voice carries a playful undertone, which only serves to fluster me further. I think for a moment before blurting out, "Track Pursuer."

...

The silence is deafening and I feel like I'll die on the spot. Chase's once playful expression is replaced with a blank look and I wish I could just disappear. What the fuck was that? I think to myself. It feels like I'm in middle school with a response like that, crowded around at the lunch table as my friends hound me with information about my crush. My self-loathing is only broken through by the tenor timbre of Chase's voice ring out in what can't be described as anything other than pure confusion, "... What?"

I look over at him and shake my head, "That was dumb, I'm sorry haha...I was- I wanted to be kind of cheeky with it and...God- fuck..." I shake my head, deciding not to embarrass myself further trying to explain the shitty wordpay - if it can even be called that - on his name. "Chase, it's you. I'm talking about you."

I watch as Chase's blank expression changes to one of surprise and then to something more bashful. A small, awkward chuckle escapes his muzzle as he rubs the back of his neck. "Oh...wow...Didn't realize that you were talking about me." He mutters. I sigh, looking off into the distance. "The one and only...Didn't want to tell you like this, especially not with fuckin 'Track Pursuer'" Chase chuckles softly at that before shrugging, "Looking back at it...It's kind of funny." He nudges me gently with his elbow and I can't help but smile a bit at how well he's taking it.

An awkward, yet comfortable, silence falls between us. Crickets chirp in the grass around us; The wind blows gently, rustling the leaves in the tree above us; And the two of us are here alone.

The silence is broken by Chase once more, "Well..." he begins, "if you're not happy with how you told me, want to try again?"

I focus my gaze back on Chase, who's gazing at me gently. Again my heart begins to race, and I take the opportunity. "Chase...I really like you. Would you like to go on a date sometime?"

He smiles, scooting a bit closer to me so his arm brushes up against mine. "I would really like that, El. Of course."

I can't sleep, and I don't think I've ever been more grateful for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[moon-lords-lower-body]

?????????? Thanks, original down with cis bus post OP...????????????????????

[cherries-in-wine]

When he thinks calling me "hot" would make me swoon but my best friend wrote me a letter where she said "the stars would be so proud that their atoms created someone so beautiful"

[poniesart]

Im stunned and very happy to see my post about the global strike spread so far!

USAmericans, call and email your reps if you can! If you dont have time for phone calls, emails are still an option. You can use one of the email sending tools with a prewritten message, such as the one linked in my post. It's free and doesn't take long!

You can also still buy eSims, and share links and resources!

[flattykat]

ok these are the last ones i promise but i did get an obsession on @kyuhu ‘s feliks omg let me tell you they started something big

[sirfetchd]

"actually it's good that [company] is zionist so i have a reason not to give them my money" do you people listen to yourselves