#one of the top 10 most important posts of my blog

[hzrnvm]

here's that rhythm again... here's my shoulderblade... here's that sound i made... here's the picture i saved... here i am... here i am... here i am... here i am... auaguh! hEre i am. here i am. here i am. here ii aamm.

[wonder-worker]

"We therefore need to separate out the 'facets' of [Anne de Pisseleu's] life, the way she was perceived by different groups and individuals. According to these, she could be viewed as an ornament to the court, a grasping favorite, a desired patroness, an able businesswoman, later on as a pillar of the reformed church and cantankerous old woman. At different times and over a long life, Anne de Pisseleu played all these roles."

David Potter, "The Life and After-Life of a Royal Mistress: Anne de Pisseleu, Duchess of Étampes"

[theminecraftbee]

I'm really glad to have found the Hermitcraft fandom here on Tumblr, I've been a long time fan and it's awesome to discover all this great fanart and content and stuff. Any must-follow MCYT/Hermitcraft/Minecraft blogs?

oh gosh, welcome! in general i am BAD about remembering who i follow and who i don't; a great way to find who you want to follow might be to just go through the #hermitcraft tag and follow people you find funny, or, heck, if i reblog a lot of art from a certain artist you like (or not a lot, like one art even), go follow them!

while we're here, a few additional general etiquette rules (keeping in mind that like, this is tumblr, trying to claim ANYTHING is a whole-community norm is basically impossible i am claiming a norm from my specific circle of guys): do not crosstag, only tag things that are actually in your post. don't use the 'minecraft' tag, that tag is for people who like the actual game. (i mean, you can use it if you are posting about minecraft, but not if you're posting about the youtubers). it's generally considered rude to put your crit in the main tags, especially without tagging 'discourse' somewhere so it can be filtered. shipping should generally have a 'hermitshipping' tag on it for filtering purposes as well, but if something is tagged hermitshipping and you're mad about it just like, block them, they did the important part.

the hermits i know of on tumblr (could be more, idk): @/joehills @/pearlescentmoo @/falsesymmetry @/therealdocm77 (not actually active but has the account) @/geminitayyt. cleo also had an account but it is no longer active. also @/inthelittlewood is here and like very active, as is @/askzloyxp and @/quinnhills. as a general etiquette rule, just... act like they're perfectly ordinary tumblr users and continue your business as usual! and don't send them weird asks or anything.

off the top of my head, a few blogs i like, an EXTREMELY non-exhaustive list, find your own guys out there as well you won't regret it! like, you will find the experience you like best just going out there and looking for it yourself! i've absolutely missed a bunch of guys i love, let alone guys you would love! this is like 10 million percent non-exhaustive, i follow 1,570 blogs apparently, many of which aren't hermitcraft or mcyt related, but many of which are, so i just sorta. went for it. and when i was having trouble remembering if a name was a repeat that's when i stopped. so. non-exhaustive list:

@nightshadeowl, @jestroer, @astronomodome, @kingtheghast, @floweroflaurelin, @roenais, @silverskye13, @wasyago, @rusty-courage, @art-by-fate, @silverskye13, @redstonedust, @betweenlands, @sixteenth-days, @judas-iscaryot, @terracottakore, @cherrifire, @antimony-medusa, @hybbart, @made-nondescript, @luigra, @cuteiemonster, @mawofthemagnetar, @potionofinstantdamage, @concorp, @spiderziege, @salemoleander, @bc-jpeg, @magicalmanhattanproject, @simplydm, @12u3ie, @mishapen-dear, @lunarblazes, @girltimeswithscar, @kishdoodles, @quaranmine, @shadeswift99, @bdoubleowo, @quicksandblock, @beacon-lamp, @kikunai, @sideblague, @applestruda, @ingapotejtoo, @belmarzi, @strifetxt

anyway FEEL FREE TO PROMO GUYS OR YOURSELF ON THIS POST TOO! from what i understand we may be getting some new guys sometime soon here from the twitter lands? so it may be helpful to have that for anyone who's looking for new guys to follow!

and most of all: WELCOME!!!

[poppitron360]

In honour of today being 55 years since the first stone thrown at the Stonewall Uprising, here is some Valgrace fanfiction (definitely that and not the fact that I just happen to have finished it yesterday).

I am so, incredibly grateful to all those people who rioted from June 28th-July 3rd in Greenwich Village, New York, just so that I could one day have the right to post angsty little fics about these two fictional teenagers on my tiny Tumblr blog (That is what they were fighting for, right?). We have come so far, haven’t we? And I think it’s important, next time we read a silly little Valgrace fic or reblog some Solangelo fanart, we owe it all to a Black Trans Woman who threw the first stone (Seriously, guys, read into the Stonewall Riots, they are fascinating).

So the message here is… Don’t be mean, just read Valgrace?

Anyway-

Summary: AU where Valgrace is canon meaning that Leo came straight back to chb after BoO. Set at New Year’s, following the aftermath of the battle with Gaea and Leo’s “Death”. Leo struggles with flashbacks, having just exploded and therefore probably being traumatised. Jason comforts him, and they realise- even though they’re still scarred from the war- just how lucky they are to have each other, and to, for once, not have the weight of the world resting on their shoulders.

CW: Angst I guess

Word Count: 2,084

VALGRACE

Jason was swaddled in his scarf and winter coat. Leo had settled for just a jacket and gloves, after much grumbling.

“I don’t get cold like you do!” He’d complained, “I’m toasty warm!!”

He’d agreed to put on the jacket for the necessity of pockets (because his magic infinitely-pocketed tool belt apparently wasn’t enough). Jason, on the other hand, was freezing. He needed a sweater, a coat, a hat, a scarf AND his hot-water-bottle of a boyfriend to keep from turning blue. He’d spent most of his childhood at Camp Jupiter in California, where even wintertime was balmy. Here on Long Island, the air bit like an alley cat.

They walked down to the beach, the cold night air stinging Jason’s cheeks. Jason put an arm around Leo’s shoulders and rested his chin on the top of his curly-haired head, which made it awkward as they walked.

“…What’re you doing?” Leo asked.

“Mmm…” Was Jason’s response, “You’re warm…”

Maybe it was the whole “raised by wolves” thing, Jason had always had the urge to curl up on a comfortable lap and snore.

Leo didn’t push him off.

They stepped gingerly down to the docks, hug-walking as they went. A crowd of people had already gathered along the shoreline, looking out towards the ocean. A large clock had been set up to face them, the time reading 11:52.

“Eight minutes to go…” Jason said, taking his chin off of his human chin-rest and looking at Leo, “It’s been a hell of a year, hasn’t it?”

Leo nodded, “Yeah. I died.”

“We fought giants and monsters.”

“And I made a super awesome plate of enchiladas, my best yet!”

“Those were some really good enchiladas.”

Leo looked down, and Jason could see a little hint of sadness in his eyes. Then he looked back up at Jason.

“I’m glad I have you, Jason.”

Jason put an arm around him and pulled him closer as they looked out towards the clock and the sky and the sea, “I’m glad I have you, too, firefly.”

They stayed there, enjoying each other’s company, waiting for the New Year to drop, and for once, they were just regular boyfriends.

Then the countdown started.

“10… 9… 8…”

Jason looked into Leo’s deep brown eyes and smiled. Everything was perfect.

“7… 6… 5… 4…”

Leo smiled back, yelling the numbers alongside everyone else.

“3… 2… 1…”

They kissed.

“Happy New Year!!!!!”

And then, the first firework exploded, and everything went wrong.

Bang!

Leo’s face flashed with panic, his eyes darting around wildly like for a moment he’d forgotten where he was.

Bang! Bang!

Fireworks lit the sky, but Jason wasn’t looking. He was watching Leo’s face as the colours flashed across it, reds and greens and purples. The bright twinkle that reflected in his eyes was supposed to be that happy spark of wonder at the fireworks, but Leo’s eyes were filled with utter terror and dread. He pulled away from Jason, and took a few steps back, momentarily stunned by the explosions.

“Leo, what’s wrong?”

BANG!!

Leo yelped and wrapped his arms around his head, covering his ears. He stumbled back, colliding with some other campers in the crowd. They briefly stopped their whooping and cheering to shoot him a disgruntled look, then turned back to the sky.

Jason stepped forward, but Leo was looking around, confused, like his mind had gone somewhere else. His breath was short and panicked. His eyes were watery, staring in fear at the sky.

Bang!! Bang-bang!!!

Leo unwrapped his arms from his head, and used them to push through the bodies of staring people, stumbling and scarpering away from the noise.

Jason chased after him, “Leo, wait! Where are you-“

Leo had disappeared into the crowd.

Jason spent the next few minutes searching for him on the beach, no luck. He ignored the bangs behind him. The crowd ooh-ed and aah-ed at the explosions of light. Jason pushed through them, calling Leo’s name. He was getting worried. Leo knew how to disappear if he wanted to. If he was running scared, Jason wasn’t sure if he could find him before he got himself hurt. Why did he have to end up dating the flight risk? No, that was unfair. Leo’s runaway childhood was through no fault of his own. But if he was frightened, Jason had to find him quickly.

He searched the Hephaestus Cabin. Nothing. The forges. Nothing. The only other place Jason figured Leo would hide was Bunker 9. And sure enough, as soon as he’d entered, the large industrial lighting rig slammed on, and he could see Leo curled up against the wall, shivering. And Leo didn’t get cold.

“Leo?” He asked, “You okay?”

Leo shook his head, his hands still clutched around his ears. His voice was chocked with tears.

“Expl-explosions-” He managed, “Loud… very loud…”

Leo’s whole body was shaking. Jason crouched down next to him.

“When you… when you died? In that blast? The fireworks brought you back to that moment?”

He remembered the confused look in Leo’s eyes as he watched the colourful explosions light the sky- like he was somewhere else, hearing a different bang.

“I… I…” Leo wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand, and took a deep breath. He seemed to regain his composure, enough to look Jason in the eyes. “It was so painful, Jason… I was… and I didn’t understand why everyone was clapping.”

Ever since Leo had come back, he’d kept that same bubbly persona going. Jason hadn’t even realised how much actually dying had scarred him, but of course, it must have done. Leo never let on that he was haunted by that, but Jason could see it now clear as ever. Every firework would bring him back to that morning, when Leo had vaporised Gaea with the force of his own power.

Jason nodded. “I understand. The flashbacks… they’re hard. Particularly when everyone else seems to be unaffected. Your whole life flashes before your eyes and they’re cheering. It’s scary… But you’re safe now. Nothing’s gonna hurt you here.”

Jason wrapped his big strong arms around Leo’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug. Leo buried his face in Jason’s lap and began to sob. Jason stroked his hair.

“Shh… it’s okay… you’re safe now… you’re safe…”

Outside the thick walls of Bunker 9, muffled bangs continued. Leo whimpered at every single one.

“It’s okay, Leo… they can’t hurt you… you’re safe with me…”

“I’m sorry…” Leo sobbed.

“Shh. Shh. Sorry for what, Baby?”

Leo rolled over in Jason’s lap so that he was looking up into his eyes, “For ruining New Year’s with my stupid PTSD. You should be out there enjoying yourself instead of worrying about me, crying like a baby who’s afraid of a little fireworks.”

“No. No. Stop thinking like that. Stop it, right now. As your commanding officer, I forbid it.”

“You’re not my commanding officer!” Leo complained, indignantly, “Those are only to Roman soldiers. At Camp Half-Blood, we’re both head counsellors. We’re of equal station.”

“Fine,” Jason rolled his eyes, “As your boyfriend then. You’re banned from calling yourself stupid. You’re not stupid, Leo. You’re hurting. You’re scared. It’s okay, you have a right to feel those things. It’s totally normal, considering what you’ve been through.”

Leo was silent for a long time. Then he said, “Actually, I have the title of Supreme Commander, so I outrank you.”

Jason chuckled, “How about Prince then? My dad is King of the universe.”

“Holy Hephaestus, you’re right… I’m dating a freaking Prince.”

They laughed and settled into comfortable silence for a few moments. Then Leo’s expression turned sad.

“I know that I- I joke about it a lot, but I was… dead. I was actually dead, Jason.”

“I know… I know…”

“Like, I actually died. And… I can’t help but wonder… how she felt…”

“You mean your mom?” Jason asked.

Leo nodded, “How much pain I was in… I put her through that…”

“No… Baby, no…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know it was Gaea who caused it, but it was my flames that burned her. Or maybe it was smoke inhalation or something, I dunno, but it came from me. The pain she felt was a direct result of something that came from inside me. And I felt it, too. When I killed Gaea. It was horrible. I finally understood how she would’ve felt. Except it would’ve been worse for her, wouldn’t it? Trapped in that workshop, helpless, alone, as the flames rose up.”

Leo paused. Jason just studied him, silently. At the lack of new input, Leo continued, “What was she thinking? Did she see the fire and know that I’d done that? I mean, she didn’t know that Gaea was there. In those final moments, dying by her son’s hand, did she think I’d let her down? Because I couldn’t control it? Did she realise with a sinking feeling that all her worst fears were confirmed, that I really was too dangerous? Was she disappointed in herself for not raising me right? For not teaching me to be more careful? It’s just… once you’ve faced your own death, experienced the thoughts going through your head in those final moments, you start to wonder what other people thought during theirs. I dunno…”

Jason thought about that, “No, no, I get it. I understand.”

It had taken a while for Leo to get to a point where he could talk to Jason so openly like that. Where he could share the thoughts that haunted him, articulate his feelings in a way that Jason could understand. Even if he didn’t understand sometimes, he still listened. But most of the time, he could empathise with Leo- probably more than Leo realised. Jason himself hadn’t been dead, but he’d come close. And what Leo had said about thinking in those final moments… that resonated with him. He thought about his own mom. Did she think about him at all in that car crash? Did she regret abandoning him, not reaching out? Or did she not care?

“I get it,” Jason said again, “I mean, I actually lost you. It might’ve been only for a day or so, but for a few moments you weren’t on this planet at the same time as me. I don’t really want to think about it, the fact that I could’ve…”

He stroked Leo’s hair, as Leo started to cry.

“I’m sorry, Jason…” He mumbled.

“No… No, what’re you sorry for?”

“I don’t know,” Leo admitted, “Putting you through that, I guess.”

“Oh, Baby… No… I mean, it hurt, but you came back. All is good.”

“And I’m sorry to my mom.”

“She’ll forgive you. She knows you didn’t mean it.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I can take an educated guess,” Jason told him, “I’m Prince of the freaking Cosmos, remember? You have to listen to me.”

Jason rubbed Leo’s shoulder as Leo lay in his lap, “Look, Leo, you’re valuable. You’re needed. You deserve love, and forgiveness, and patience, and everything else. You’re brilliant, and awesome, and cool.”

“I know,” Leo said.

“Then why don’t you believe me when I tell you that? This was not your fault. You don’t need to keep kicking yourself about it. You did good. You saved the world. You avenged her death. You are loved. You are cared for. You are forgiven.”

Leo burst into tears.

“Shhh… it’s okay…” Jason soothed, “You can rest, now.”

“You can rest, now…”

Long had Jason waited to hear those words. And now, looking down at Leo, eyes closed, head rested on Jason’s knee, his breathing getting increasingly steadier- he realised how much Leo had needed them, too. And he found, with absolute certainty, that it was true for them both. There were no explosions. There was no Gaea. They were safe, here, at Camp. They had each other. It would take time for the nightmares to end, for the scars to fade. It would mean Leo would not be able to enjoy fireworks for a long time, maybe never. But they were safe. They could rest here, until daybreak. They might even skip breakfast and sleep in all morning. No urgent quests needed to be undertaken. No oracles prophesied their deaths. Leo had Jason to dry his tears. Jason had Leo to keep him warm. They were beaten and damaged, but they were alive. And they could rest, knowing that they had each other. For that, Jason was eternally grateful.

[whateverisbeautiful]

Sorry if this is somewhere on your blog already but I was just curious if you had any thoughts on Michonne/Judith & Michonne/Carl and any moments you had that were your favourite or maybe top 5? Maybe even just Grimes Family 2.0 family moments you really enjoyed.

I relish any opportunity to reflect on the Grimes family, so thank you for this! Sorry, it took me a minute to respond. I adore Michonne’s relationship with Judith and Carl. They are both so important to Michonne’s healing and development and she’s so important to theirs as well. I like how through each relationship with her kids we got to see different aspects of Michonne’s motherhood.

With Carl being older, Michonne was able to first establish a genuine friendship with him first and then fully step into that mother role in his life. And then with Judith, Michonne got to raise her from the earliest stage of her life and see Judith grow up to be so much like her mom Michonne.

I definitely have favorite moments between Michonne/Carl and Michonne/Judith that I’ll share next. For this post, I wrote below my Top 5 Grimes Family 2.0 moments from TWD. 😊⬇️

#1: The Train Tracks (4.15) 

This scene is so special for so many reasons and it’s one of my favorite scenes in all of TWD. I mentioned it in the Top 30, but one of the many things I love about this moment is how happy and light-hearted it is even despite their difficult and uncertain circumstances. Like they truly had so little at this time and yet it felt like they had everything because they had each other.

And before this, it was already more than clear that Michonne was vital to the Grimes, but seeing the way she was able to carve out some fun for Carl along their travels and make this world feel less dark and bleak for a moment further cemented how much Carl needs her, not just to protect him but to add brightness to life too. Their little competition and sharing of candy was such a nice depiction of Michonne and Carl's bond. And of course, Rick grinning from ear to ear while watching Michonne and Carl together really completes the scene and communicates that he has most certainly fallen in love with his son’s best friend. 😊

#2: The Scale of 1-10 (4.16) 

There are a couple scenes between Rick, Michonne, and Carl on the road in the season 4 finale that could make my list of favorite Grimes family moments. They had so clearly become family and you just knew no matter what happens next this family unit would remain intact. But a scene that quickly comes to mind when asked about fav Grimes family moments is when the golden trio is hovering over a fire and Rick asks them how hungry they are on a scale of 1 to 10.

I always find that whole scene so sweet, especially when Michonne and Carl both answer above 10, and when Michonne says "28" Rick gives her the food first. And then when Carl wants to go with Rick to check the snares, I love the way Rick includes Michonne in that and wants her to come along as well. It was truly giving family camping trip and it showed how much Rick views Michonne as part of the Grimes family.

There’s also a s4 finale scene where Carl asks about what they’ll tell Terminus about themselves as he seems to be wondering who they’ve become and what parts of themselves they should share considering they’ve had to do a lot of tough things to survive. It’s such a subtle moment but I always love that when Carl asks this weighty question, Rick’s first instinct is to share a look with Michonne. To me, that look showed that Rick entrusts Michonne as a fellow parent to also be able to step in and address Carl’s questions.

And I love that she’s the one to respond and that Carl got to have both a mom and a dad to turn to during this time. Especially later when the Claimers show up, I think a huge reason why Carl didn’t entirely spiral after that experience is because he was able to have two parents who could both fiercely protect him and emotionally support and comfort him.

#3: The Morning Routine (6.10)

Anytime we got domestic Grimes Family moments it was always gold. And I love the insight we got into how the Grimes spend their mornings during that 6.10 episode. It was all so comfortable and I love that it’s a scene that includes Rick, Michonne, Carl, and adorable baby Judith too. Of course, the flirtatiousness and steam coming off Richonne as they near finally taking their relationship to the next level are great, but I also love the whole playful parents vibe with Carl having such teen responses to his parents calling him and his dad’s goofiness with repeating what he said.

I always appreciate that whenever the Grimes got a chance to enjoy some periods of normalcy with each other there was often lots of smiles and laughter included in those moments because they make each other happy and bring out each other’s most at ease side.

#4: The Art (9.01)

It is impossible for me to not smile over the opening Grimes Family scene in the season 9 premiere. Again, I love the way this gave insight into how their family spends quality time. With Michonne having been shown to love art, it’s the sweetest thing to see her out on the patio talking about Judith’s paintings with her and being so encouraging about it. I also love that we got to hear Judith talk more in this scene and that she has such a fondness for their family and friends with how she always likes to draw them, including her late brother Carl. 🥲

And then Rick walking out and taking in the image of his wife and daughter is also so heartwarming. You just know he’s looking at them in that moment and thinking about how they’re his heart and they’re what makes life so worth living. And then the way Rick asks about the grumpy face and Judith says he gets a grumpy face and big tummy, I’m smiling just thinking about how cute that was. And it’s made even more perfect when Michonne can’t help but let out her adorable laugh.

The Grimes family's moment in the field with the birds was also such a lovely visual. I love the way Judith has her hand over her mom’s as Michonne holds her and the way it shows yet again how Rick and Michonne both value giving their kids these moments to appreciate the beauty that’s left in the world. 

#5: The Family Fun Day (9.03) 

I feel like this one making the list of favorite Grimes Family 2.0 moments needs no explanation but of course, I still have to gush about it a little more lol. This montage was everything from beginning to end. And this scene technically includes RJ too which just makes it all even better. 😊 Along with what I’ve already shared about this scene in the Top 30, I love the way this Family Fun Day reminded me of how Judith has long been a beacon of hope for Rick and Michonne and just her presence always helped bring them to where they need to be and to who they are most meant to be.

Judith needing formula played a big part in Michonne going to the prison and meeting her future Grimes family. Wanting to find a home where Judith could live played a big part in them going to Alexandria. And after losing sons and enduring so much, Rick and Michonne were able to still remain in tune with their parental side and their playful side through raising Judith and making sure her life and their lives still included fun and joy.

And seeing the three of them get to just be solely focused on being family and playing and enjoying the day during their Family Fun Day was food for the soul. In the deleted scene on that picnic blanket, Rick basically suggests he hopes for more years spent like this and it makes sense because whenever the Grimes family are together and just getting to be present and at peace, there’s nowhere else they’d rather be and there’s nothing more I’d rather see than Grimes Family 2.0 getting to live happily.

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

as someone who relates a lot to both Anakin and Padme because i grew in a stressfully abusive enviroment (not being allowed to express too honest emotions and fear, having to mask my neurodivergent tendencies, not being able to raise my voice ever or cry or be angry, etcetc) and i was a "gifted kid", and on top of that i'm queer. So for a lot of my teenhood i "attached" *badly* to anything that would remotely give me comfort, mostly objects but also people and friends, it's been quite healing to read your analysis about how "attachments" are presented in SW and how the fandom tends to twists attachments as something toxic and selfish, it's understandable when people don't like him but when everyone runs to say he was evil just for getting attached or feeling "too strongly" about something is quite hurtful

victims should be accountable for the things they do wrong, and anakin outright did so many many horrible bad things, but it's cathartic for me bc he shows how victims of abuse and trauma aren't and can't be perfect, and they react in ways that are inherently affected by the enviroment that shaped them, and in the end, anakin had one of the most famous and iconic returns ever, so it's really important to me, and your analysis are great

Thanks anon. I had a period over a couple months where I was very hardcore pro Jedi/anti anakin which in retrospect was really just to fit in with what was popular on tumblr since all the big SW blogs like Kanansdume/antianakin or GFFA are Jedi apologists. I regret a lot of my past behavior and how I treated some Anakin fans. A lot of Jedi stans like to paint anyone who likes Anakin as a right wing dudebro and it doesn’t help that there are a few people who are that way such as caripr94 or Otnesse. Yet their side isn’t much better. There’s a lot of ableism, victim blaming, and queerphobia rebranded to sound progressive. For all their pseudo-wokeness, a lot of them sound like conservatives when they put the blame entirely on Anakin for his fall and refuse to acknowledge systematic and psychological issues he had because they’d have to accept that the Jedi were flawed and not perfect.

Fandom in general has become a lot more puritanical and moralistic. People insist that you can’t show any sympathy or depth for villains, possibly as an overreaction towards movies like Maleficent or Cruella as well as the rise of Trump, hence why everyone felt Big Jack Horner was refreshing and propping up TOH as the anti SU for killing Belos. The SW fandom is no different. Antianakin has a whole pinned post ranting about not just Anakin but Padme, Ahsoka, Kallus and Crosshair too. People insist you must view Anakin as an allegory for a white boy radicalized by 4chan and Jordan Peterson but one could argue he’s closer to those in the global south who live in poverty and oppression as well as queer people who have to hide their relationships or risk being rejected by their communities.

SW isn’t even close to my top fandom or favorite media but I do post about it if it relates to stuff I do like more like anime or Ben 10. It’s easy to write off a character as just born evil which removes the tragedy knowing that he was a good person at one point and dehumanizing villains allows people to reject the idea that they could become that way. I like a lot of characters who are flawed or abrasive because of trauma or abuse they suffered such as Shinji and Asuka from NGE, Hodaka from WWY, Raven from TT or Homura from PMMM. Anakin/Vader is an interesting character who has been dumbed down to just a “fascist MAGA manchild” by some when, for all my criticism of him, is not what Lucas wrote. As a side note, knowing that all 4 OT Vader actors have passed away is sad. RIP Sebastian Shaw, Bob Anderson, David Prowse and James Earl Jones. May the force be with you all.

[dokiluvsk]

⚠️ POLITICAL POST ⚠️

With the recent election and the fact that i have many trans friends, id like to talk about some issues that i otherwise wouldnt talk about on my main blog.

Just to get this out of the way, i am not trans. I do not know and will not pretend to know how dysphoria feels, socially and physically. As well as the many other struggles trans people face day to day. However, my best friend is trans. So i do at least have a better understanding of it than i did say a year ago.

This election has been chaos. Its invoked fear not only in American's, but the world. The "Land of the Free" shouldn't make the world piss itself simply because of election day. And the lives of the LGBTQ+ Community, POC, and women all over the country are now endangered. For this post, i will be talking mainly about LGBTQ+ rights and my thoughts. Specifically because thats the area im most worried about right now. This is in no way to say that POC rights or Woman's rights are less important, that is not at all what i am saying. I plan to make separate posts for each of these 3 subjects in the next month, i want to dive into each of them fully and not have to skip over any details about our future (As an indigenous, gay woman.) So consider this 1/3 Parts of a very, long post.

Transitioning into the actual conversation, This election has been terrible. Millions of kids around the country terrified to have their rights taken away, the fear of how powerless they are and how little they get a say in politics is the driving nail in this coffin. Remember people, gay marriage hasn't even been legal in America for 10 years! Everything is very uncertain, and I wish people would understand the LGBTQ communities worries more. Our people are killed, tortured, and taunted around the world every single day. There aren't many countries nowadays where LGBTQ people have ALL their human rights, no strings attached. And one of the biggest countries in the world, supposedly the land of the free , is now trying to rip those rights away again. So many people i know are currently fleeing the country, planning to leave as soon as they are financially stable, or are mourning because they aren't able to. Thats horrid.

What i am especially worried about is transgender youth and transgender people in general. This is the part where my personal political opinions really come into play, if you aren't a fan, you can click off the post. Or read! i don't care! i encourage you all however to stick around and comment or reblog this post, telling me your opinions on the matter. I genuinely would like to hear to get more insight on my audiences views.

The reason i've been so worried about trans people specifically is because changing your gender is very different from loving someone romantically. Yes, we are all the same community. That is certain, and I am in no way trying to alienate trans people. But changing your gender is a physical, mental, and social challenge. Trying to get T or HRT? nope! sorry! top or bottom surgery? yoink! cant have that one either! oh you wanna cut your hair short or grow it out long? good luck with all the bullying and teasing you'll face! haha sorry kid! thats just the good ol' American way 😁

On a now serious note, I think im getting my point across. I can hide the fact im dating a girl, i can hide that from the neighbors across the street, trans people cannot hide their physical transitioning. Social transitioning cant even begin to happen because of uncertainties of your safety. You are denied medical products, denied public spaces, denied even trans unrelated healthcare, those aren't JUST trans rights, those are HUMAN rights. And I don't think republicans realize that mental toll. This isn't attention seeking, this is justice seeking. Do y'all know how many teenagers and adults contemplate suicide because of an unaccepting society? too fucking many. That number should be 0, yet never has been. Do y'all know how many gay teens and adults have to hide their love from the world? way too fucking many!

My girlfriend and I are obviously 2 different people. I am out of the closet, i have been for years and years. I am fortunate enough to have a family who accepts me and loves me. I am fortunate enough to have friends for the past few years who are also apart of the community, i am fortunate enough to have religious friends who don't hate or deny who I am. My girlfriend cannot come out to her family out of fear, she cannot be public about who she is, she does not have as safe of a space as I do. Despite me and my girlfriend both loving each other and being in the same community, we have very different personal lives. kind of like 2 sides of the same coin. No LGBTQ persons experience is the same. Every single one of us is different, you know why?? because we are fucking human! LGBTQ people are HUMAN! just like everyone else! what is it going to take to get that through politicians heads?? we deserve access to healthcare, we deserve to be able to comfortably talk about our lives, we shouldn't have to lie, hide and suppress ourselves just to be safe and live a normal life.

I hope the community hears me on this, LGBTQ people, do NOT kill yourself. do NOT do it. do not be scared, you need to remember that at the end of the day, nobody, not even your governors, can silence you. You have free will, the world is literally your oyster. Stay strong, I love you ❤️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

[herdemimonde]

My Weight Loss & Fitness Strategy:

Just like 2 years ago, I'm going to keep it simple.

Fitness:

Straight cardio no chaser. Not going to focus on strength building or weights at the moment. I'm going to be doing aerobic walking (via my Walk At Home subscription) and I will be doing an average of 3 miles every day (sometimes it may be less, like 2 miles, other times it will be more, like 5 miles. But every day minus rest day I will be doing anywhere from 30 min - 1hr of exercise). I'll also be adding in some 10 minute "warm ups/light walks" throughout the day, not so much as additional exercise but just so that my body can get some movement after it's been sitting in one place for hours.

I also know that I need to incorporate stretching and flexibility workouts into my plan as well. I always do a quick stretch at the end of my workouts but I definitely need to fit in some longer ones as well.

Eating/Diet:

This is where it may get questionable for some people, so let me state my disclaimer again: i'm not encouraging nor recommending anyone to do what i'm about to do. this is simply what worked for me.

So as far as eating goes, I will mostly be eating salads with an iceberg lettuce base with vegetables and protein toppings. I will of course still have some indulgences (I actually think it's important that you do, restrictive dieting is one way to regain your weight back quickly once the diet is over) but for the most part I will be eating salads and having certain veggies and fruits.

If this list seems rather small (especially compared to 2 years ago when i was also having oatmeal, green smoothies, etc. ) it's because I have now been diagnosed with SIBO, candida and chronic constipation (with is closely related to IBS). although I'm not going to focus on healing my digestive issues at this time, I also don't want to eat foods that are going to trigger them or make them worst.

I'm currently researching and looking more into this so my diet will most likely be altered along the way.

And that's all folks. I'll be posting daily updates with pics of my food (sometimes). This blog may get a bit fitblr-y for a while lol.

[whoiwanttoday]

Today is, if you can believe it, the 12th anniversary of my blog. Which is sort of nuts because that would make me old and while my body is breaking down and I am tired all the time and it's weird how different foods bother me now that never used to, I am actually not old. My friends have largely gotten old, my family keeps getting older, yet I remain vibrant and youthful and hip and with it. It's weird. I am posting Charli XCX because in celebration of my blogiversary she announced a new album last week and released her first single and as such has been much more present in the world because that goes hand and hand with promoting a new album as a popstar. I often think about her statement that the two most important things to being a successful popstar are being young and being hot. It's that sort of thing that makes me love her, she has always had this ironic detachment mixed with metacommentary and almost satire of pop culture. Except of course, it isn't satire because it's stuff she tends to love as well. Anyway, we all know I think she's a tremendous talent and over time it seems like more and more people have come around on that, as I like to point out I got True Romance in the bargain bin but eventually I had people on discogs offering me $500 for her mixtapes. Still a cult favorite I guess but the cult is significantly bigger. Think Jonestown as opposed to those three weird dude that lived in that cul-de-sac a block away when I was a kid. Anyway, with all these anniversary I post some stats for the people who care, which is literally @femalecelebrityoftheday and @kat-eleven because he likes numbers and she likes girls, so between the two of them this picture is their ideal.

Charli has been number one since about the start of the pandemic. For years it was Kate Upton and Katy Perry changing places but what I have learned over the years is that a lot of this is a matter of, "what have you done for me lately". I didn't think it would be that way going in but largely none of us are the unique, free thinking people we think we are, we're easily influenced by the world around us and this fortunes have risen and fallen with greater popularity and to be honest with the marketing pushes around celebrity brands. Miss Mosh was pretty solidly in the top 10 once upon a time and likely still would be if she was still a working model but again, out of sight out of mind. Most of the top 20 has been in the top 10 at some point but Amber Heard was the third most posted person after the first year of this blog and guys, you might have noticed her name isn't even in that picture there and it's simply because that was a once upon a time thing that quickly cooled, no doubt in part because she became less famous for movies and more famous for tabloid drama which generates different interests. Which really is the main thing i have learned with all of this. Celebrity culture is fascinating but these aren't real people. That might get me some backlash and I am not trying to dehumanize anyone but Charli XCX is not Charlotte Aitchison and either one of those people are not someone we're seeing through anything. I think great artists indeed put part of themselves in to their work but we don't know them, we know the portion of them that they are showing us. You mix in celebrity culture, which is not art or artists but brands and marketing and you are being sold something. We are attached to an idea or an image and if you want to really examine this I would argue who and what you like says more about you than them. I don't have a greater point here I suppose, other than to simply state it. I like Charli XCX a lot, I like her work, but none of this is real in the sense my friends (who are getting so fucking old somehow) and loved ones are. It's for fun, don't lose sight of that. Today I want to fuck Charli XCX.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Clarence Thomas and the generosity of a far-right dark-money billionaire

Clarence Thomas has set some important precedents in his career as a Supreme Court justice — for example, the elevation of the unrepentant rapist Brett Kavanaugh to the bench could never have occurred but for the trail blazed by Thomas as a sexually harassing, pubic-hair distributing creep boss:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/01/30-years-after-her-testimony-anita-hill-still-wants-something-from-joe-biden-514884

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/06/clarence-thomas/#harlan-crow

Today, Thomas continues to steer the court into new territory — for example, he’s interested in banning same-sex marriage again:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/24/thomas-constitutional-rights-00042256

And of course, he’s set precedent by hearing cases related to the attempted overthrow of the US government, despite the role his wife played in the affair:

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/30/1089595933/legal-ethics-experts-agree-justice-thomas-must-recuse-in-insurrection-cases

Thomas is not alone in furthering the right’s mission to destroy the morale of constitutional law scholars by systematically delegitimizing the court and showing it to be a vehicle for partisan politics and dark money policy laundering, but he is certainly at the vanguard:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/25/consequentialism/#dotards-in-robes

Today, Propublica published an expose on the vast fortune in secret gifts bestowed upon Thomas by the billionare GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, who is also one the most significant funders of political campaigns that put business before Thomas and the Supreme Court:

https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow

The story, reported by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski is a masterwork of shoe-leather investigative journalism, drawing on aviation records, social media posts and other “open source” intelligence to expose the illegal, off-the-books “gifts” from a billionaire to an unaccountable Supreme Court justice with a lifetime appointment.

Here are a two of those gifts: a private jet/superyacht jaunt around Indonesia valued at $500,000; and a $500,000 gift to Ginni Thomas’s Tea Party group (which pays Ginni Thomas $120,000/year).

On top of that are gifts that are literally priceless: decades’ worth of summer vacations at Camp Topridge, Crow’s private estate, with its waterfall, great hall, private chefs, 25 fireplaces, thee boathouses, clay tennis court, batting range, 1950s-style soda fountain and full-scale reproduction of Hagrid’s hut.

Summer retreats to Topridge allow business leaders like Leonard Leo — the Federalist Society bankroller and mastermind who set Trump up to pack the Supreme Court — to coordinate in private with Thomas:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/29/betcha-cant-eat-just-one/#pwnage

They also allow top execs from PWC, Verizon and other corporations who may have business before the court to establish a warm, collegial relationship with a judge whose decisions can make billions for their employers. In its reporting, Propublica points out that Thomas got to hang out on Crow’s superyacht with Mark Paoletta, who was then general counsel for Trump’s OMB, and who has opposed any tightening of ethics rules for Supreme Court judges: “there is nothing wrong with ethics or recusals at the Supreme Court.”

Crow and Thomas also hobnob together at Crow’s Texas ranch, and at the Bohemian Grove, the Bay Area’s ultra-luxe retreat for rich creeps. Crow bought Thomas a private superyacht cruise through New Zealand, another through the Greek islands, and a river trip around Savannah, GA. He also traveled around the country on Crow’s private jet — even a short private jet trip is valued around $70,000.

Crow also makes many donations on Thomas’s behalf, from a $105,000 donation to Yale Law School for the “Justice Thomas Portrait Fund” to paying for a 7 foot tall, 1,800 lb bronze statue of the nun who taught Thomas in the eighth grade, which now stands in a New York Catholic cemetery.

This is without precedent. No Supreme Court justice in US history received comparable gifts during their tenure on the bench. Federal judges quoted in the story call it “incomprehensible,” noting that US judges bend over backwards not to owe anyone any favors, going so far as to book restaurant reservations without using their titles.

Virginia Canter, a former US government ethics lawyer of bipartisan experience said Thomas “seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations,” adding “it makes my heart sink.”

The Supreme Court’s own code of ethics prohibits justices from engaging in conduct that gives rise to the “appearance of impropriety,” but the code is “consultative,” and there are no penalties for violating it. But US judicial officers — including Thomas — are legally required to disclose things like private jet trips. Thomas did not. In general, justices must report any gift valued at more than $415, where a gift is “anything of value.” This includes instances in which a gift is given by a corporation whose owner is the true giver.

Crow is a Red Scare-haunted plutocrat who says his greatest fear is “Marxism.” He was a key donor to the anti-tax extremists at the Club For Growth, and has served on the board of the American Enterprise Institute — climate deniers who also claimed that smoking didn’t cause cancer — for 25 years.

Crow is a proud dark-money source, too, whose $10m in acknowledged donations to Republican causes and candidates are only the tip of the iceberg, next to the dark money he has provided to groups he declines to name, telling the New York Times, “I don’t disclose what I’m not required to disclose.”

Crow claims that the vast sums he’s lavished on Thomas — who, again, presides over the test cases that Crow is helping to put before him — are just “hospitality.” Crow called the private retreats with business leaders and top government officials “gatherings of friends,” and added that he was “unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence Justice Thomas” while at his private estates or on his superyacht or private plane.

For his part, Thomas publicly maintains that he hates luxury. In a Crow-financed documentary about Thomas’s life, Thomas tells the camera, “I prefer the RV parks. I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that. There’s something normal to me about it. I come from regular stock, and I prefer that — I prefer being around that.”

Judges often have to make determinations about conflicts of interest, and lawyers have an entire practice devoted to preventing conflicts from arising. I doubt whether Thomas himself would consent to have a dispute of his own tried in front of a judge who had received millions in gifts from his opponent.

The Supreme Court’s power comes from its legitimacy. The project of delegitimizing the court started with the right, and Democrats have been loathe to participate in any activity that would worsen the court’s reputation. As a result, the business lobby and authoritarian politicians have had free rein to turn the court into a weapon for attacking American workers, American women, and LGBTQ people.

It doesn’t have to be this way. When the Supreme Court blocked all of FDR’s New Deal policies — which were wildly popular — FDR responded by proposing age limits for Supreme Court judges. When the Supremes refused to contemplate this, FDR asked Congress for a law allowing him to appoint one new Supreme Court judge for every judge who should retire but wouldn’t.

As the vote on this bill grew nearer, the Supremes reversed themselves, voting to uphold the policies they’d struck down in their previous session. They knew that their legitimacy was all they had, and when a brave president stood up to their bullying, they caved.

https://theconversation.com/packing-the-court-amid-national-crises-lincoln-and-his-republicans-remade-the-supreme-court-to-fit-their-agenda-147139

The Supreme Court has moved America further away from the ideals of pluralistic democracy than we can even fathom, and they’re just getting started. They are taking a wrecking ball to the lives of anyone who isn’t a wealthy conservative, and they’re doing it while accepting a fortune in bribes from American oligarchs.

Have you ever wanted to say thank you for these posts? Here’s how you can: I’m kickstarting the audiobook for my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller about Silicon Valley scams called Red Team Blues. Amazon’s Audible refuses to carry my audiobooks because they’re DRM free, but crowdfunding makes them possible.

Image: Mr. Kjetil Ree (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Supreme_Court.JPG

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[Image ID: An altered image of Clarence Thomas, standing in gilded judicial robes on the steps of the Supreme Court. Looming over the court is a line-drawing of a business-man with a dollar-sign-emblazoned money-bag for a head.]

[33446699]

Suga DUI and The witch hunt:

How SK media handled suga DUI Vs the other DUI cases in that country where a DUI of falling over an E-scooter gets more coverage than BTS Grammy achievements alone and when there were other DUI cases happening in that month too ,even the following months with even SK ex president daughter having DUI but guess here we have media leaving no chance to use BTS to cover every issue in south Korea.

Total of 271,525 articles were published about this incident and among them SK media alone published 263,913 articles .29,990 articles were published on 10 aug 2024 alone making upto almost 5000 articles per date ,alot of these articles were almost identical and only 6% factual .During period ( 7 Aug- 15 SEP ) most articles were written in earlier dates.

Top media houses which include JTBC ,Dong -A ,X -spots ,Ten Asia ,Yonhap ,Top star shaped public opinion ( by sharing fake CCTV footages and other misinformation) with this much reporting and while neglecting the imp cases or issues such as deepfake etc but even with this much reporting media failed to teach public and authorities about these E- scooters and rules , regulations about their usage and classification because even the Head of Urban Transportation Office couldn't recognise which scooter was suga using when shown picture ,so people clearly need to be educated.

By this post I am not defending crimes or saying DUIs are nothing , the problem is if DUI is so worse in Korea then all the other DUI cases should be treated like this too but they were solved in one or two weeks,got almost no media coverage,no tabloids articles written,no blogs mentioning those cases,no fake information and the media and witch hunt happened only in this case.If this is fair treatment and a standard for how a criminal and DUI case is handled why I am unable to see the same for other cases which were worse where there was property damage ,car involvement .If crime and law is important every citizen should be treated equally just because they are BTS it doesn't mean that they have to tolerate this much . Journalists ,blogs ,media dont have to treat BTS like this and this is without antis which also contributed a lot ( by creating fake DUI challenges ,sending funeral wreath etc which is still happening to even this date).

* I tried to share links ,drives ,pdf since yesterday but I am not able to due to my phone and Tumblr acting up. Props to people who actually did this research by doing so much hardwork.

[dreamteamemojis]

How-To Tumblr for Dtblr :]

So, I've seen a few newer blogs start arriving from people who have never used this site/app before and I just thought this might be helpful to get started because it's quite a bit different from Twitter.

To start, the dtblr community has dwindled since last year so there are literally only about 500 of us left I'd say and thats being generous and including lurkers. Speaking of that, lurking is a great way to learn how to use this site! Follow a few blogs or lurk in the main tags for a while to get vibe of how people use this app. When you find a blog you like, see who they are reblogging from and check out their blogs, its a good way to find people to follow since people like to keep their follow lists private.

Making your blog! First things first, get a pfp and a basic bio at least or people will assume you are a bot and block you if you follow them.

On tumblr we have Main Blogs and Side Blogs. Everyone has one Main Blog, and you can add a bunch of side blogs, people use them to keep their fandoms separate and to save urls (don't hoard too many urls on blogs you dont use, it kinda sucks and is technically not allowed, but around 5-10 isnt so bad). A lot of people also might use side blogs because they dont want to get blocked by someone they are following or liking from that is in a different fandom. Like, if you wanted to follow blogs from other mcyt communities, I would stongly recommend making a dtblr side blog instead of a main, because you will most likely get blocked. There are a couple of differences between Main and Side blogs though, here is a link to the main tumblr help post about them but a couple quick things here-

-Main blogs are where you (and everyone else if you don't turn it off!) can see your likes and follows. Everything that you like or follow will show up under your Main blogs url, so keep that in mind.

-Main blogs are what you send Asks off anon from, you cannot send asks using your Side blogs url, so again, keep that in mind.

-When you block someone, it will only block them from your Main blog, you have to manually type in their url to block them from your Side blog. You can also ip block Anons who are being shitty or harassing you.

Lots of people will have Pinned Posts that you can basically use a longer bio (I recommend making them non-rebloggable). You don't have to make one and it's not weird if you don't, but you have the option. Lots of people have 'Blinkies' in their pinned, you can make them here if you want.

Tips for your settings!

-Hide your Likes and Follows!!! Even if you come from Twitter and you think it's not a big deal, it's kinda seen as really weird here to leave them visible and it makes you stand out and people weary of you, plus you should enjoy the privacy!

-Under Account, turn off 'show top posts'. You can also choose whether or not you want to allow Anon asks from there. if you are getting hate, I recommend turning them off for a while.

-I recommend going to Dashboard Preferences and turning Off 'best stuff first', and then turning On'shorten long posts' and 'snooze Tumblr live' (you will have to snooze tumblr live every 7 days but trust me basically everyone does it).

-This is actually pretty important, go to Account settings and turn OFF 'let people blaze my posts'. That feature allows other users, without your permission, to pay to have your post boosted as an ad basically to a certain amount of random people. this can even be done with your asks, and it has the potential to cause harassment and I strongly recommend turning it off.

-Under Account setting and Content you see, that is where you will be able to filter out tags that you do not want to see. For neg I would recommend, #neg #negativity, #discourse etc. If you don't want to see certain ships you can filter those. For stuff like spiders, I would do a couple variations of #spiders, #tw spiders, #spiders tw #arachnaphobia, etc. because there are a lot of different ways people will end up tagging stuff like that. This is also where you can change your Mature Content setting. They default to Hide, so set those as you prefer. You can Hide, Blur, or Show.

This is a link to the x-kit extension, it has a lot of customizable settings for tumblr, but it can only be used on desktop and requires a little more knowledge about using the site but its here if you want it.

I think those are the most important things, other settings can be left up to your personal preference (try out the color palettes to find your favorite!!)

Tags!

-Tags and Tagging are super useful on Tumblr! This post has a very good rundown of how Dtblr uses Tags to filter content for the community, pls learn these they will help you a bunch!!!

-When you make a post, the first 5 tags are the most important, they will show up in the tracked tags. So make sure you use community/main tags first if you want your posts to be seen, this is most useful for artists or gif makers etc.

-When you reblog a post, the tags are just for adding commentary and organizing your blog, you dont have to worry about your tags from a reblogged post ending up in the main tag searches. Talking in the tags is very fun and a great way for even shy people (me) to interact with the community. They are used a lot more than Replies, it tends to be mostly mutuals that use Replies on each other's posts, but it wouldn't exactly be weird if you did choose to comment in the Replies.

-You can use custom tags for your blog! Lots of people come up with custom tags for their asks, their personal posts, just pick your favorite variation of gnf, gogy, gogs, georgie, and many more to organize your george gifs! and its also pretty common to see someone post a . (just a lone period or comma) and then just rant in the tags. people do that if they want to vent or something but dont want it to be reblogged. - if someone reblogs a post and tags it with 'prev' they are referring to the tags of the person they reblogged the post from, the 'previous' tags. (tumblr recently nuked this feature with the new update but you might still see people doing it, its just super hard to find the source now)

-#709 and #404 are common tags that people will use on posts from outside of dtblr to stay covert/subtle so as to not get mass blocked when referencing our ccs. #709 refers to Dream and #404 to George.

-Tagging posts as #nsfw has the potential to get your blog restricted. I recommend using #nsft (not safe for tumblr) or #not sfw instead.

Etiquette

Liking and Reblogging- Tumblr does not have an algorithm, liking posts is basically just bookmarking them. If you want to support writers/authors/gif makers etc. PLEASE reblog their posts, it is the only way for them to gain visibility. You can even make sideblogs specifically for reblogging art or fanfiction if you wanted to.

We don't make call-out posts here. If you have a problem with a user, block them, end of story.

And we do NOT interact with Anti or Critblr posts. Critblr is tumblrs Leaktwt, do not interact with them, follow them, reblog from them, or bring attention to them, you will be blocked by the majority of the community if you do. We are very small, and interacting with anti posts will do absolutely nothing but bring us all mass harassment and invite them to start interacting with us. Pls do not screenshot their posts and share those either especially with the url visible. If you feel the need to have discussions with antis, do so on twitter. Please ask before screenshotting and uploading someone's post to twitter. A lot of us are not comfortable with it at all, and some of us are okay with it as long as you leave out the url but please ask because we generally dont want our stuff on that platform where CCs could potentially see it.

And I think thats all I've got i think, so I hope this post helps you guys with getting started on Tumblr! :]

[wackyscreamswithraisin]

Indefinite Hiatus and Clearing the air BIG TW ON //PERSONAL

Before I say anything this is the fanfic summary: It’s/ it was revolving around Raisin and Malcom (and Hamilton) from the Smart Talk With Raisin short, somehow stealing a meta cartoon remote from the, inaccessible to them; Cartoon Network ‘toonworld’ (like when you see the characters crossover in CN bumpers). They’d watch Courage the Cowardly Dog on their tv in their room like a comfort, but with the remote they start meddling with the character’s awareness of meta for entertainment - and when Barbara accidentally fuses with a glitched artefact, she is unable to be reverted to normal and she breaks the constructs of her own minor characterdom to try and track them down. The fic idea has changed a lot over the years but that’s what it (currently) has changed to. It’s rather Pibby adjacent and would focus on a lot of what’s changed about cartoons between every half decade - yeah it’s very complicated and over the top lol.

I know y’all are sick of me making these long ass walls of texts instead of proper content and I’m really sorry I keep pulling this 💀. I was going to make a nicer pinned posts] of explanation but since this blog is in a confusing place at the moment I just decided to do it quick instead so I don’t put it off.

For those who don’t want to read the full thing: TLDR,

1. I have personal attachment to Fred that has probably affected my judgement

2. My thoughts on Fred as schizophrenic rep is certainly not universal and the partial embarrassment about writing content revolving around him continues to catch up with me

3. The related problems below are reason why I have been so adverse to seeing Fred as being a r-pist m—-ster or SA’er

And 4. I’m starting to accept that it’s not that deep if my fanfic never gets told. Even if it would make me happy, it’s not the end of my work or me if I don’t. Nevertheless I hope you all understand and I’m sorry for any disappointment.

On the personal issue: First, bc some might not know, I am mentally ill and have had a vague diagnosis of psychosis for years that was never fully decided and that I understand now and abridge as ‘schizopsec’, but follows all the traits of OSDD 1B, enough that I tend to use both terms. ‘Fred’ is one of my alters - he’s my main ISH (internal self helper), caretaker, and fictive (fictional introject), and he has been for around 10 years. This is not a joke. This is as cringe as it sounds, even worse in real life when he fronts of course, and is embarrassing for me to admit even when I attach this post to my main blog where I share schizospec upliftment posts. It’s a complicated and excruciating subject matter for many many reasons, and it’s important that I clarify this, even though it’s uncomfortable for me, since this naturally affects my ability of separating Fred the alter from Freaky Fred in my writing and art. This is part of why I have to keep scrutinising my writing drafts. I believe I can keep them separate, but this is part of the reason why I guess my attachment for him and making content to do with him is there at all.

My thoughts on Freaky Fred in episode : As a schizospec, putting the alter aside, schizophrenic representation means the world and the moon and the stars to me, even when it’s bad. I can’t tell if this is an agreeable opinion amongst other schizospec/ psychotic people, but even damaging and dangerous rep involving homicidality like the axe crazy maniacs have something of catharsis in their rises and falls that I can appreciate, depending. Sexually depraved and violent rep however, crosses a line; obviously schizo killers in fiction are heavily drenched in misinformed stigma and is mostly bullshit and can be dangerous- we are dramatically far more likely to hurt ourselves or be hurt - but I think most people would agree that sexual violence is a different evil altogether, and I cannot stand to see the marginalised mentally ill conflated with such horrendous shit.

There’s the problem. I think Fred is a schizophrenic; other than him getting the equivalent to straightjacketed at the end and taken to presumably some asylum or how he narrates/ talks/rhymes in his own head and otherwise barely talks just disjointedly - he’s got that classic 90s-00s cartoon crazy grin and is instilling fear in the viewer through said unbalancedness,his whole deal is very ‘of its time’ on displaying scary madness. And, all that being said, even though he’s clearly not good rep by any stretch of the imagination, he doesn’t harm anyone - he’s even ‘nice’ - or at least doesn’t seem to be blatantly malicious. The bar is on the floor, but that’s already better than idk William Afton or something.

Fred as a predator: The point of view of Fred as a metaphorical molester is pretty obvious and is a popular opinion, and it would be dishonest to say I don’t completely see it, especially with how he says naughty - the implication steers more into the sexual predator area. Hair shaving isn’t violent as much as taking something away - subtracting, and this can be interpreted in a murderous or SA fashion, but the murderous interpretation I stick with, one akin to Sweeney Todd, is a very flattering view of it and I know it. It’s easy to see how it comes off fetishistic which favours an SA view and is naturally the reason why a lot of people see it as rapey.

The episode as a metaphor for SA or CSA enabled in a household that turns the other way is popular, and at first I didn’t like this theory because it felt like a dark theory made almost to tarnish child content with a deeper or darker meaning, which I had seen a lot elsewhere. But this wasn’t really honest; ‘The Mask’ works well as an episode with no subtext but is respected moreso as an episode clearly about domestic abuse and misandry born from trauma. ‘Freaky Fred’ can also be this.

I think the well and honest truth for me is, even when I do everything I can to touch grass, and remove my personal connection to the character/ the idea of him through the alter, away from the conversation; I really don’t want Fred to be a schizophrenic and a sexual predator character at the same time, and I cannot remove my view of him as the first one, but I have to admit that, in some ways, both was intended for him and this episode in some variation. It’s pretty upsetting to think about; I know a majority audience isn’t going to be that invested in the representation of mad people, especially not in cartoon antagonists, but it matters a lot to me. Obviously it would still be bad if he wasn’t a crazy character and it would still be scary and awful if he acted more ‘normal’, but that craziness is there and the combination feels particularly wretched because, once again, schizophrenics are far more likely to be victimised.

What I’m trying to say with all this; Fred is a mad character who despite being the most offputting and scary character I’ve ever seen in my life, managed to become irremovable from my psyche for almost my whole life, for better and for worse, and in some small way, seeing him as so scary and uncomfortable, but equally ‘good-willed’ and harmless by technicality in that episode, made me feel a little less alone. But people who have been yucked out by this blog and this fixation as I said before are fully in their right, and I am taking a step back to consider if I want to continue with making stuff to do with Fred or not.

The fanfic?: I still think about the story a lot but as you can probably tell I’ve made it very convoluted by involving a meta narrative, and as I’m just about to head into university by the time I’m writing this, it’s difficult to tell what will come of this. I will let you all know, but it’s in a continuous grey area and I don’t want anyone to get their hopes up. I’m sorry.

Will I still post art?: Maybe haha, I never know how to feel when I post it. Sometimes I worry it gives off the impression that I ship post-shaving incident Barbred (I don’t) or that I endorse Fred’s ‘freakiness’ at all. And sometimes I think it just looks bad, as in not a good recreation of the ctcd art style, or too sad - like idk why I think the audience is just going to understand these alarmingly emotional pieces when I’ve been pretty scarce on context, I apologise for everyone’s who’s gotten tonal whiplash scrolling. Fred art may come up elsewhere on my other blog which I will reblog here if I think it’s appropriate.

If you read all the way thank you so much💚, I hope you get what I’m saying, and if you don’t I understand. Consider following my main zebedeezing if you want somewhere I post more often though non ctcd related.

[codename-adler]

ik it’s not, like, an OC OC, but i loved your post about Wade Vesper and i’ve seen you mention Rhemann quite a lot on your blog so… James Rhemann à la Adler s’il vous plaît? 🙏💛

IT WILL BE MY PLEASURE ANON! BLESS U! BLESS UUUUU!!!!! (official unofficial Trojans ocs list here)

James Rhemann (42) Head Coach of the USC Trojans

I am so unbelievably not normal about this man. and yeah, i went there. you can't pick out Lee Pace to play the man and not give him the most dramatic homosexual backstory. (before him Rhemann's face was just Ron Swanson. so rejoice. or wtv.)

As previously discussed on Wade Vesper's character sheet, the two men had a very painful almost-kind-of-affair while Wade was an athlete on Rhemann's Exy team in some college, and also when they both moved to SoCal so Rhemann could take the offer of assistant coach to the Trojans, and Wade managed to get accepted into USC and made the team as well.

I think even though Rhemann was kinda part of the OG Exy gang (Kayleigh, Tetsuji, Wymack), he was always very wary of Tetsuji, and lowkey scared of Kayleigh, and considering the times' rampant homophobia, and pursuing one of his athletes, much younger, Rhemann just couldn't do it. He totally broke Wade's heart, and his own, by refusing to admit they had a good thing going on, that hey even had a 'this'. By the time tragedy struck Wade, it was too late for Rhemann to reach for him and be his source of support and comfort. Wade locked himself away and out of reach, and Rhemann completely lost him, for years.

Rhemann climbed the ladder to the top until he was head coach of the Trojans, but he never did have another lover, not even something casual, not even something straight and fake. He never forgave himself. It's a failure that comes up to fight for the top spot along with warning Kayleigh too late about Tetsuji.

But his kids (they're adults, James) fill almost all the void, as does his career and his fight for the Champions title. So of course, two things come to haunt him, bite him the ass, and upend his carefully taped up world. 1) Wade's back in town, with a kid (again, an adult, James) and a whole lot of ghosts, and 2) his right hand man, Anderson Atwell, is falling for one of their players, Levi, and it's so much like he and Wade were back then, it hurts.

And what does he do? He tries to break Anderson and Levi apart, tries to tell them how bad and ugly it'll get, how it is not a viable relationship, just an illusion, and pipe dream. He almost loses Levi. Wade is so mad at him for not learning from his mistakes and trying to hurt others with his unlearned lessons. Fortunately, Anderson comes to terms with things better than Rhemann, and he and Levi maturely pursue each other, and they're okay.

Then comes the revelation that Wade's kid, Adèle, is related to his own Jean Moreau, and it's like catching a grenade all over again. There's no time for regrets and mistakes anymore, Rhemann's got to make choice after choice and hope for the best, hope he doesn't lose Jean, hope Adèle stays safe (and alive), hope Wade stays, hope he's enough of a reason to stay.

xxx

On another note, I imagine younger Rhemann very much alike to Ennis del Mar from Brokeback Mountain, and present Rhemann more like old Jamie Taylor from The Haunting of Bly Manor. He did mature a lot despite the exception of his history with Wade. He's more mellow, more loose, but in a bittersweet, tired way. Like all he ever allows himself to hope for is the best for his kids.

The mustache is very important. He's kept it for a record of 10 years, and he's not planning on shaving it off anytime soon. Only Wade could persuade him maybe, but Wade is a sucker for it, unfortunately.

He is very educated on queer culture and history, closeted fool that he is, because even if he has the hardest time letting go of the traumatizing homophobia of his youth, he'll be damned if his kids aren't their truest selves and live their lives out and loud. Living in Vegas has helped and still does. He did do drag for one night only, partying it out on the town with a bunch of queer and queen friends that found him drinking his sorrows in a gay bar he did not realize was a gay bar. He has defended his team and players many times against other homophobic schools and players, even against the ERC and USC's direction. He always won. He'll always fight. He has an endless stock of rainbow tape for Exy sticks.

Most satisfying Pinterest board to look through:

Mustache mustache man. Sexy sexy man.

Also leaving this here for the #aftg smau . In case that interests you.

What else? His best friend is one of the team's therapist (who is [redacted] for now until I land on a name).

I put him at 6'5" (actual Lee Pace height). He can look Jean Moreau eye to eye. He can rest his elbow in Jeremy Knox's head. He can carry a man.

I think that's it for now?

[quillkiller]

whats ur opinion on jegulus?

for me i dont really fw it. I think it’s mostly bc i don’t like james that much and putting him w/ regulus i feel kinda takes away from both their characters. For reg I feel like the ship kinda softens his character and takes away his agency. ‘he was just a wittle baby whos mummy an daddy forced him to join a hate group 🥺’ which is very far off from how I view him. It gives james a savior sort of role. And that’s not to say i haven’t read some good jegulus fics and enjoyed them I think they jsut need to be modern day bc the whole ‘james saves regulus from the horrible fate of the desth eaters that his parents forced him into!’ Annoys me.

(ps im sorry if you really like jegulus i promise this wasn’t meant to be hate or anything)

agree with all this!!!!! 🤍

i don’t really like jegulus all that much and i have been known to mention it once or twice here on quillkiller dot tumblr dot com. honestly, for me, it’s probably just that im too much of a sirius guy and and i think both sirius and regulus deserve better than to have james juggle between both of them. james and sirius are too important to me and i dont like what happens in their dynamic if reg was added into it. in my world james is always and forever going to choose sirius if it ever came down to that and regulus deserves better !! + and ive talked a lot about this before too, im not a fan of regulus becoming part of the marauders friend group!! i think he’s a way more interesting character to delve into when he has his own life outside of sirius and his own friend group (the skittles <- which i also dont like interacting too much with the marauders). in addition to the james and sirius friendship being important to me, so is regulus and sirius’ relationship, and i don’t like what happens to their dynamic either if reg is paired with james. the whole thing just stresses me out and i can almost never enjoy it. ’best friends brother’ trope is weird and strange to me, probably because im an oldest sister myself, and i don’t see the appeal which is why i have a running theory that people who like that trope are younger siblings themselves or like….. only children ….

anyway, i don’t hate jegulus!! i just think they’re the least interesting james and regulus pairing !! i follow some jegulus blogs that have captivated me body and soul. they’re just not interesting enougj to me to like. explore further myself. i dont go looking for fics about them + i have the jegulus tag blocked and only unblock/click to see the post when its my favorite jeggy mutuals/blogs ive followed specifically because i like their jegulus… so like, im not necessarily immune to jegulus but it also takes a lot to get me interested ! ive read a few jegulus fics and ive fallen in love with some of them and there’s one (1) that i would put in my top 10 favorite fics i think !

however!! my favorite jegulus is unrequited jegulus where regulus us in love with james. to me, their dynamic is the most compelling to me in a canon compliant setting !! ive read a bunch of modern aus too that ive enjoyed, but i like the angst of jegulus the most.. the angst and unrequited vibe of it all is so hot and sexy to me.. like the jealousy and resentment regulus feels for james because he took sirius in and becomes his new and better brother. and that resentment mixed together with confused desire during your puberty years when everything is angsty and confusing and you’re heartbroken and grieving ? you’re the absolute polar opposite to your brothers favorite person and you’re supposed to hate him but his smile looks like summer and his mere presence is always suffocatingly warm and you get it. you’re not surprised your brother chose him over you and you think that if james potter cornered you somewhere and kissed you and said ’sirius doesnt have to know’ you think you would probably let him because who wouldnt. james can have whatever he wants, he proved that by taking sirius (like that IS a big deal. sirius was heir to the noble house of black !!!!!!!) and what else is there to do but grieve your brother and hate wank over his best friend, who only knows you exist because you’re sirius’ brother, he chose over you

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT SEO & MARKETING NEWS FOR ECOMMERCE, JULY 2024

If you are new to my Tumblr, I usually do these summaries of SEO and marketing news once a month, picking out the pieces that are most likely to be useful to small and micro-businesses.

You can get notified of these updates plus my website blog posts via email: http://bit.ly/CindyLouWho2Blog or get all of the most timely updates plus exclusive content by supporting my Patreon: patreon.com/CindyLouWho2

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

There is a relatively new way to file copyright claims against US residents, called The Copyright Claims Board (CCB). I wrote more here [post by me on Patreon]

After a few years of handwringing and false starts, Google is abandoning plans to block third-party cookies in Chrome. Both Safari and Firefox already block them. 

When composing titles and text where other keywords are found, it can be useful to have a short checklist of the types of keywords you need, as this screenshot demonstrates. While that title is too long for most platforms and search engines, it covers really critical points that should get mentioned in the product description and keyword fields/tags as well:

The core keywords that describe the item

What the customer is looking to do - solve a problem? Find a gift? Feel better? 

What makes the product stand out in its field - why buy this instead of something else? Differentiating your items is something that should come before you get to the listing stage, so the keywords should already be in your head. 

Relevant keywords that will be used in long tail searches are always great add-ons.

What if anything about your item is trendy now? E.g., sustainability? Particular colours, styles or materials/ingredients are always important.  

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google’s June spam update has finished rolling out. And here is the full list of Google news from June. 

Expect a new Google core update “in the coming weeks” (as if we needed more Google excitement).

Google’s AI overviews continue to dwindle at the top of search results, now only appearing in 7% of searches.

Despite Google trying to target AI spam, many poorly-copied articles still outrank the originals in Google search results. 

Internal links are important for Google SEO. While this article covers blogging in particular, most of the tips apply to any standalone website. Google also recently did a video [YouTube] on the same topic. 

Google had a really excellent second quarter, mostly due to the cloud and AI. 

Not Google

OpenAI is testing SearchGPT with a small number of subscribers. Alphabet shares dropped 3% after the announcement. 

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

General

New social media alert: noplace is a new app billed as MySpace for Gen Z that also has some similarities with Twitter (e.g., text-based chats, with no photos or videos at this time). iOS only at the moment; no Android app or web page. 

Thinking of trying out Bluesky? Here are some tips to get the most out of it. 

Facebook (includes relevant general news from Meta)

Meta’s attempt at circumventing EU privacy regulations through paid subscriptions is illegal under the Digital Markets Act, according to the European Commission. “if the company cannot reach an agreement with regulators before March 2025, the Commission has the power to levy fines of up to 10 percent of the company’s global turnover.”

If you post Reels from a business page, you may be able to let Meta use AI to do A/B testing on the captions and other portions shown. I personally would not do this unless I could see what options they were choosing, since AI is often not as good as it thinks it is. 

Apple’s 30% fee on in-app ad purchases for Facebook and Instagram has kicked in worldwide as of July 1. 

Facebook is testing ads in the Notifications list on the app. 

Meta is encouraging advertisers to connect their Google Analytics accounts to Meta Ads, claiming “integration could improve campaign performance, citing a 22% conversion increase.”

Instagram

The head of Instagram is still emphasizing that the number of DM shares per post is a huge ranking factor. 

LinkedIn

Another article on the basics of setting up LinkedIn and getting found through it. 

You can now advertise your LinkedIn newsletters on the platform. 

Pinterest

Pinterest is slowly testing an AI program that edits the background of product photography without changing the product. 

Is Pinterest dying? An investment research firm thinks so. 

Reddit

If you want to see results from Reddit in your search engine results, Google is the only place that can happen now. 

More than ever, Reddit is being touted as a way to be found (especially in Google search), but you do have to understand how the site works to be successful at it. 

Snapchat

Snapchat+ now has 9 million paying users, and they are getting quite a few new personalization updates, and Snaps that last 50 seconds or less. 

Threads

Threads has hit 175 million active users each month, up from 130 million in February. 

TikTok

TikTok has made it easier to reuse your videos outside of the site without a watermark. 

TikTok users can now select a custom thumbnail image for videos, either a frame from the clip itself, or a still image from elsewhere.  

Twitter

You can opt out of Twitter using your posts as data for its AI, Grok. 

YouTube

YouTube has new tools for Shorts, including one that makes your longer videos into Shorts. 

Community Spaces are the latest YouTube test to try to get more fan involvement, while moving users away from video comments.

(CONTENT) MARKETING (includes blogging, emails, and strategies) 

Start your content marketing plans for August now, including back-to-school themes and Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday on August 13. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (EXCEPT INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL MEDIA AND ECOMMERCE SITES) 

Google Ads now have several new updates, including blocking misspellings. 

Google’s new Merchant Center Next will soon be available for all users, if they haven’t already been invited. Supplemental feeds are now (or soon will be) allowed there. 

STATS, DATA, TRACKING 

Google Search Console users can now add their shipping and return info to Google search through the Console itself. This is useful for sites that do not pay for Google Ads or use Google’s free shopping ads. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER TRENDS, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

The second part of this Whiteboard Friday [video with transcript] discusses how consumer behaviour is changing during tight economic times. “People are still spending. They just want the most for their money. Also, the consideration phase is much more complex and longer.” The remainder of the piece discusses how to approach your target market during these times. 

Prime Day was supposedly the best ever for Amazon, but they didn’t release any numbers. Adobe Analytics tracked US ecommerce sales on those days and provides some insight. “Buy-now, pay-later accounted for 7.6% of all orders, a 16.4% year-over-year increase.”

MISCELLANEOUS

You know how I always tell small business owners to have multiple revenue streams? Tech needs to have multiple providers and backups as well, as the recent CrowdStrike and Microsoft issues demonstrate. 

If you used Google’s old URL shortener anywhere, those links will no longer redirect as of August 25 2024.