#really really free market

[rrfmkc]

Squeezing in a 3rd June Market

As I've mentioned, it has been difficult to find an indoor venue for the market this month. The silver lining is that all my hunting has resulted in me getting places lined up through September. So I am going the easy route and visiting another library this month.

The Kansas City Really Really Free Market will be at the Kansas city Public Library Southeast Branch. The southeast branch is located at 6242 Swope Pkwy, Kansas City, MO 64130. We will be there from 1PM to 4PM tomorrow, Friday, June 28.

Recent market events have been very active, but nevertheless there is a great deal in our collection. Here are some of the items that we will be bringing out to the library.

shoes

purses

clothes

a digital projector

bird feeder

a lamp

toys

books

an electric razor

dishes

glassware

and more!

[cuttingcophater]

just stole a really solid pair of jeans from TK Maxx after not stealing anything (other than food for various co-ops) for a while- it's so insane that i can literally put something in my bag and then be seventy dollars up. more proof that money is made up. and i get paid, like, fifteen bucks an hour. if i'd paid, i would have given TK Maxx like five whole hours of my actual life.

which is fair seeing as i'll probably wear these jeans for the next year straight- but whatever. im just making the market really, REALLY, free. like the capitalists want.

[noodlesarecheese]

So Watcher is launching a Dropout (it's not called Dropout but they're clearly using the same template format platform thing idk what it's called, and the same pricing structure), and the reaction so far has been wildly different than what I remember from Dropout's launch. I was curious about why that was or if I was just misremembering the Dropout launch, so I went back to the Dropout launch video to compare them and I think I can see where some of the difference is coming from.

If you want to make the comparison yourself: Watcher's Video, Dropout's Video.

I wanna clarify first though that this isn't a knock against Watcher or the fans who are reacting one way or another or anything like that, I genuinely am just fascinated with how different the reactions are to what seems to be the same business decision. This also isn't a 'wow watcher sucks and dropout is so much better' I'm just using them for comparison because they did the same thing with different results. ALSO this isn't about the business decision itself, just the presentation! Disclaimers out of the way, here's the analysis.

Title and Thumbnail So the Watcher.tv announcement video is titled "Goodbye Youtube" and the thumbnail is Ryan, Shane, and Steven sitting on a couch looking serious, with a dark background. That really makes it seem like they're quitting (which, ok, they are quitting youtube but not quitting quitting). Viewers are already primed to be upset, and it's easier to go from upset to angry than upset to excited, curious, or neutral.

Compare to the dropout announcement video: "How the Internet is Ruining Comedy" - inline with other collegehumor video titles, might make you curious. Thumbnail - Big News! with Sam smiling and a bright background. We know its big news, but he looks happy, and the exclamation point let's us know they want us to be excited. Viewers are primed to be curious and excited.

Tone The Watcher announcement has 2 main tones. The first half is very sentimental, almost sad or wistful at times, and while there are parts that veer into pride at achievements, it's mostly bittersweet and sentimental. The second half is a bit more uplifting, but still quite serious. It reminded me of a tech announcement, like when they introduce the new iphone or something like that. Very professional, sleek, and serious, which isn't automatically a bad thing! But I do think that's not the vibe a decently-sized chunk of the audience expected or wanted. Many people watch Watcher for the cast's dynamic with each other, humor, and the more relaxed/conversational/friendly feel that most of the series have.

Compare to dropout - excited and comedic tone. Still professional, but also fits the expectations of the viewers. People watch collegehumor for the humor (it was in the name, after all). They also poke a bit of fun at themselves, which lightens the mood, shows self-awareness, and alleviates some of the bad feelings about paywalling.

Focus The Watcher announcement focuses a lot on the creative journey of the cast and company, as well as how this move will benefit them. Which isn't a bad thing, that's actually quite interesting! The problem here, I think, is actually more about what isn't here - a solid explanation of how this will also benefit the viewers and why the viewers should be excited. There's a brief description of one new show, and the promise that existing shows will get an upgrade, but we weren't given many specific details about how they'll be improved, and there's only one new show to tempt us into subscribing. Some people will be excited for that, some people won't, and some people will be excited but not enough to subscribe. Having 2 or 3 series (even if it's 1 fleshed out plus a few teasers of what's in production or what is being planned) plus some more details about how existing shows will be improved would've helped. Without that, it really does seem like it'll just be the same stuff viewers were getting for free, but now paywalled, rather than new and exciting stuff. That makes a big difference. I think with the fans not getting as much focus, this also led to some (accidental, I hope) hurt feelings. Based on what I've seen from fan reactions, all the talk about hitting the peak of what they can do on youtube and wanting more, translated for many people to 'youtube isn't enough' which became 'you (the current viewers) aren't enough.' Which I don't think was their intent! But I also don't think fans are wrong for feeling hurt by that.

Compare to dropout: They clearly explain how the move will benefit fans, and reassure viewers that existing content will stay where it is, and only new content will be behind the paywall. (Watcher clarified this too, but in a comment. It's not in the video itself, which is a huge problem.) They include clips of several new (at the time) series that would be premiering on dropout, including things that specifically could not be made on youtube (due to weed, violence, and sexual humor), so the reason for the shift is clear to the audience.

Advertisers Both videos contain the sentiment that being monetarily successful on youtube means working to appease the advertisers, and that over time what the advertisers want and what the creators want drifts further and further apart, putting strain on the creators.

However, I think the message gets lost a bit in the Watcher vid. Instead, it leaves viewers with the idea that the main problem is just ads are annoying instead of advertisers putting constraints on content. I'm not even sure what the specific constraints are for watcher, because they didn't give any examples. And the focus on ads being annoying leaves viewers frustrated because people typically either don't mind ads or they already have an ad blocker.

Timing and Size Okay, this isn't exactly about presentation, but it is still a factor that impacts perception so I'm tackling it. And I'm actually going to do dropout first. CollegeHumor launched dropout in September 2018. Pre-pandemic, but also pre-Sam Reich as CEO. The company was still owned by IAC. It was a Company, and while it wasn't huge it wasn't tiny either. So launching dropout was a Company Decision, a Business Strategy. Some people were upset about, but it wasn't a personal betrayal (generally, anyways). If I remember correctly, this was also not a high point for the company. They kinda needed dropout to do well to keep things running smoothly (which is why they shut it down and sold it to Sam just 1 1/2ish years later), so the sudden shift made sense.

Watcher Entertainment is a company, but it doesn't feel like one. Ryan, Shane, and Steven own and operate things, but they're also the faces, and they're youtubers. Which makes every business decision they make feel more personal to viewers, especially those who have been watching for a long time. They've also seemingly been doing well on youtube, which makes it more difficult for viewers to understand why the sudden change is happening now. They do talk a bit about it, about the company expanding and wanting to do things that advertisers don't like (which I've already covered). However, mostly the choice to start a streaming platform is framed as 'the next big step' without much clarification on why it's the next big step. Plus, it's post-pandemic, and a lot of people are still struggling financially with the ripple effects of that. Yes, $6 isn't a wild amount of money, but there have been some months where $5 absolutely meant the difference between paying all my bills or not, and I know I'm not the only one. This, coupled with a lack of clarity about why exactly they're doing this, leads to fans feeling hurt, betrayed, bitter, and frustrated.

Now, presentation and framing isn't everything. No matter how perfect your announcement is, some people are still going to be upset. It's a big change, of course people will be upset! But I do think a more careful presentation would've alleviated some of the hurt and anger that fans are feeling. While I do think a lot of the reaction we're seeing is due to the decision, I think (based on what I've seen) that some of it is also based on the poor communication in the video itself, and that could've been avoided!

So I'm gonna get a little speculative and describe what I would've done. In this hypothetical, they've decided to launch the streaming service and brought me on just for the announcement.

Firstly, switch the title out. If they're married to Goodbye Youtube then add a (and hello...?) after so it's at least obvious they aren't fully quitting. The dark color scheme of the thumbnail fits their regular vibe, but they want everyone to be excited so they should look excited. Next, let's lighten the tone up. Being proud of what they've done so far is great, but we don't need the sentimental music and bittersweetness. Remember, the goal is to get viewers excited about what come's next - so let's focus on what actually comes next! Talk about specific show plans and mention why they wouldn't work on youtube. Then, take some time to reassure the fans. Predict a few likely worries and address them in the video. Acknowledge that it's a big change, that it will take time to get used to, and that not everyone will be onboard, and let the fans know that it's ok if they aren't onboard.

Like I said, this wouldn't fix everything. There are a few differences in between dropout and watcher that don't have anything to do with presentation. Dropout launched with primarily new shows rather than new seasons of existing shows, and they continued uploading to youtube relatively regularly in addition to the content behind the paywall, which I do think went a long way to keeping fans happy. At this point it's unclear if watcher will do either of those or not. But, while I don't think it would fix everything, I do think improved communication in the announcement would've helped.

[letters-to-lgbt-kids]

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

If you sometimes come across the term “banned books” but don’t really know what it means, here’s a simple little introduction to the topic: 

“Banned books” refers to books that have been censored or removed from libraries, schools, or bookstores due to objections from certain groups or individuals.

When we read that definition, I think a really common and understandable response is: „whoa, okay, these must be really bad books full of dangerous ideas!“… and in some way, that’s true. 

Because, you see, to someone with a homophobic worldview, any book with a gay character is really bad and dangerous. And to a child abuser, any book that educates children on consent is really bad and dangerous. 

Among the top reasons for book bans are lgbt+ content, sexual content (including sexual education or education on sexual abuse), themes of racism and themes like drug use or addiction. Over the years, many books with significant cultural and educational value have faced bans - and this continues to be an issue all around the world, including in the US. 

When books are banned, it restricts the access to information people (including kids and teenagers) need to understand themselves and others. This negatively affects queer people and other marginalized groups (for example people of color or disabled people) but it also impacts everyone else. Diversity in literature enriches our understanding of the diversity of real life. It helps to build empathy, compassion, kindness and understanding. Access to different stories and viewpoints is vital for an inclusive society. 

Censoring queer books in particular also normalizes the message that queer experiences are inappropriate or “dirty” - which, again, is really beneficial to homophobes and transphobes. If it feels safe for them to say that queer books harm children, it paves the way for all other kinds of discrimination and harassment of queer people. 

Now you may think “this all makes sense when it comes to books with gay characters! But didn’t you also mention stuff like sexual abuse and addiction and racism up there? These are indeed bad and dangerous things!” 

I think this is another really common thought. These things happen in real life and it can be uncomfortable to even think about them. But that’s precisely why we need books about those “uncomfortable” topics! 

We may not like the idea that a child hears about racism or abuse - but in a world where kids can experience racism and abuse, they also need to be able to read about racism and abuse. They need to be able to say “this is what’s happening to me and this is not okay”. We need to be able to name bad things when they happen to us or when we witness them happening to others. We need an understanding of and a language for bad things. That’s the only way to fight the bad things. 

Another thought you may have is “Okay, and now what? I don’t have the power to do anything about all this anyway”, and honestly I wouldn’t blame you for that one either. Hearing about book bans (on top of all the other negative stuff we hear about) can feel really depressing. But there are things you can do to push back and help keep diverse stories accessible - even if you are young or have limited resources! 

Some ideas: 

use your public library (many public libraries actively resist censorship and make banned books available!) 

use a digital library (services like Libby and Project Gutenberg offer free access to many books) 

look out for online petitions or letter-writing campaigns by organizations that oppose book bans (for example PEN in America) 

look up if there are any “little free libraries” in your area (free book-sharing box operating on the honor system: anyone can take or leave a book for no cost) 

look up if there are any book swapping events in your area 

take part in reading groups, book clubs etc. (either in person or online) 

And of course the big one: if you can afford to buy books - make a point to buy banned books (or more generally, queer books and books from marginalized authors and books on topics that frequently get banned)! As a starting point, you can find lists of banned books online. Wikipedia has one, for example. 

If you have a bigger budget, you could even buy multiple copies and put some in your local “little free library” or bring them to book-swapping events or gift them to friends etc! (You could also ask your local public library (or school library or prison library or youth center or women’s shelter etc) if they take book donations, but you may want to hold off on buying before they say yes - not all of them can accept donations!).

Happy reading and resisting!

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Dad 

[ganondoodle]

seeing a speedrun of botw all dungeons and even like that .... its so strange how soulless totk feels to me when botw didnt, allthough it feels much flatter to me now since i know there wasnt any thought put into the things i thought were meaningful and that it will go nowhere in the end

and yet still it feels like its got soul that totk just hasnt; botw is far from perfect, like everything really, but totk to me really feels like a clunky grind game with no trust in the player at all, be it puzzles or 'story', and a fundamental missunderstanding of why botws world design and structure worked well as a whole in the end

i honestly still cant quite understand how on earth botw got totk as its 'sequel', all the things that needed work in botw where neglected or made worse totk while it also failed to follow up on literally anything in a meaningful way- when i still think the changes it needed where so OBVIOUS and the directions to follow up and expand on things to enhance not just the sequel but also botw in retrospect where so plenty and ready for the taking, it hurts me still even to think about it not being done and everything really being actively thrown away for NOTHING or things that make it AND botw WORSE in retrospect instead

i wont ever be able to forgive that, and some part of me hopes that this is the worst that they will ever do so at least we will get better games again in the future

[jaythelay]

Nintendo filed for the patent after Palworld was already out. In fact, the feature was already in several games before Pokemon.

So they legally stole an idea and are suing people for using such a broad concept of said idea.

Oh! And now they're taking down people's Channels for making videos about emulation (This (Emulation) has long be established as Legal? Legal. Bastards.)

If Nintendo wins this lawsuit, Japanese companies are going to patent Eeeverything and start suing Eeeeveryooone.

Nintendo Needs To Lose So Hard They Lose The Patent. Genuinely anything else? Kills the games industry.

Nintendo is willing to, Once, Again, Throw the entire Industry under the bus for Just A Bit More Money. These fuckers aren't even competing with Anyone, they just want to destroy competition. Remember what became the ESRB trials? Did you watch those? Because that was the first time Nintendo put the industry into uncertainty and censorship Just To Spite Their One Competition, Sega. Had the US government not been reasonable? And say "regulate yourselves" Gaming would have died.

Nintendo is absolutely disgusting, pathetic, incapable of competing with even it's own fans without pulling a gun on them, but hell has no fury like Nintendo's legal team seeing anything thay challenges Nintendo's perfect little image.

Please. Do Not Support Nintendo Anymore. If you care about Art, Creation, people's Careers, yourself and your friends, you will choose to harm Nintendo'a BottomLine by no longer giving them money, by talking shit online. Nothing else will work.

If Japanese courts take Nintendo's side, nothing will stop companies from patenting first person shooters, from patenting platformers, from patenting MOBA's, nothing is safe.

What Nintendo has effectively started is quite literally the end of gaming. They're Attacking Indie developers, they're attacking all artists of all sectors, they're attacking your ability to create, they're attacking people's livelihood, they're attacking everything built up over the course of nearly 6 decades, just to spite One Fucking Game.

[clockwork-carstairs]

drinking game where you take a shot every time someone calls jem attractive in ghosts of the shadow market

[sweatandwoe]

Arcane S2 drops tomorrow, time for last minute predictions

Probable: it's going to be amazing, will not be as good S1, mainly because S1 was peak with 8 years of work behind it, but S2 won't be far behind in quality. It was worked on the same time as S1 but also probably needed just as much cooking timebut also I do not trust studios to make good decisions after a show is super successful in regards to franchised characters (HotD, Mando, Ouat <- all shows that dropped in quality after S1 to me, most likely due to studio execs weaseling in some way)

Hopeful: 10 minute lesbian situationship montage, with full frontal, or young Silco concept art becomes real for even one frame or like a background photo or something. Just canonize the manbun era

One true fear: Cameo fest

[ismellbitches]

🗣️THE GIRL !! THE LASS!! THE MAAM!! THE JAY FERIN !!

+-+-+-+-+

Still a WIP, there’s a lot I still might change. If you’re interested, the context of this piece is just Jay spending some downtime with herself after a long day of working on the ship at Canella post ep 97-ish.

[frogeyedape]

I am so unbelievably pissed off. FUCK HOAs

Oh, my trash/recycling bin can't be visible except on pickup day? Ok whatever fine I hate you but I can deal with this

Weekly inspections?????? FU FU FU FU FU

SECOND NOTICE ALSO WE'RE CHARGING YOU MONEY TO SEND YOU CERTIFIED MAIL OF THIS TOTALLY LEGIT TOTALLY SECOND NOTICE OF WHAT IS ACTUALLY A VIOLATION cue me: checks notes. Hmm. My recycling bin was. on the curb. on recycling pickup day. You know. The day it has to be out. The day it is motherfucking ALLOWED TO BE FUCKING OUT AND VISIBLE.

so. 1) not a violation

I have sent them the trash AND recycling pickup schedules, which are DIFFERENT, btw

I have disputed the fact of the violation

I have disputed the linking of this "violation" to a previous violation MONTHS AGO--their "first notice" in this case was a "Courtesy Notice" LITERALLY 5 MONTHS AGO and they've done so many inspections since then and my bin CLEARLY WASN'T OUT IN THOSE INTERVENING MONTHS so WTMFH

So I am posting like a crazy person here instead of sending the absolutely deranged email I almost sent (I did send a slightly less deranged version with the disputes, and requesting a hearing)

OMG. It has been. Less than one hour since I learned this fun fun news. My bin was out YESTERDAY, y'all. YESTERDAY. I am going to blow a gasket

[rrfmkc]

7 Years, 0 Sales!

Tomorrow will be the 7th anniversary event for Kansas City Really Really Free Market. The Really Really Free Market began on May 7th 2017 with 2 small tubs of items. Since then, we have had 84 of our monthly markets in Brookside park and 24 satellite events. We've had scores of donors, hundreds of guests, distributed countless items, and had one police interaction [1312].

But enough reminiscing, tomorrow we will be set up in Brookside Park from 9AM until Noon near the corner of 57th street and Brookside Blvd. I have already heard from several people who have been waiting for the main event to bring donations, but here is some of what I know we will have.

Clothing

Pots & Pans

Shoes

Kitchen Utensils

Hats

3 ring Binders

WIne Glasses

Toys

Books

Puzzles

A Vacuum

Yarn

Baskets

Picture Frames

Bird Feeder

Lamps

And more!

[y4zurulvr]

"I ship makoharu!" WHICH ONE???

[cruesuffix]

Mick needs to drop an alien cookbook

maybe instead of the autobiography he just needs to put out a cookbook with all his staple meals like:

1. gasoline cake

2. tin can casserole (with chunks of glass sprinkled in)

3. shoelace spaghetti and rubber ball meatballs

4. a ham sandwich (except the bread is two notebooks slapped together with cow organs in between)

of course, that’s only a quarter of what can be expected in a book like that…still, i’d buy it!

[songtwo]

officially my year of concerts and festivals is over…… taking a break from music journalism to focus on getting a job that actually pays but that i still enjoy and coming back in a few months but only occasionally like i did back in 2022-2023….. very good year learned a lot both good and bad really saw the world from another perspective and grew so much both as a person and professionally….. excited to see where 2025 takes me!!!!!!!!

[wizard-mp4]

Matt mullenweg is an idiot and a piece of shit

I think that matt mullenweg should have to give up his company and be forced to work on a sheep farm.

[aardwolfpunx]

tidbits from a really good gale article about capitalism and free stores

while here do your daily clicks for palestine 🇵🇸

Under the logic of capitalism, you only deserve to "make a living" if you sell yourself and your labor power to a capitalist. At a free store, the criteria for participating is simply being alive.

People who benefit from the current system—landlords, police, politicians and bosses—rely on mass media and our schooling systems to deceive and dull the population into believing capitalism is the most efficient way, or the only viable way of producing and distributing resources.

But what currently exists is one way of organizing a society of many, and it isn't serving most of us. An ability to imagine and create non-hierarchical alternatives threatens the authority of people benefiting from the current system. At a free store, we can begin to glimpse a world where everything is free and built on voluntary exchange of labor, resources and knowledge.

More recently, anarchists started organizing "Really Really Free Markets" (RRFMs) throughout the 2000s, which tend to be pop-up events, across the United States. These markets never completely dwindled but, if media coverage is to be an accurate benchmark of organizing efforts, there seems to have been an uptick in RRFMs over the past couple years. Collectives are organizing them in cities large and small, from Louisville, Kentucky; Corvallis, Oregon; Avon, North Carolina; Ypsilanti, Michigan; Tempe, Arizona; New Paltz, New York; Athens, Georgia; Jersey City, New Jersey; and in many other locations.

Sohal also emphasized the collective's desire to facilitate connections and relationships in the neighborhood. "People can come in with their kids and sit down or sit outside and rest and chat. We've been talking about having a really big, comfy seating area, and sitting options outside," she said. "We know the power of talking to your neighbors, and we're hoping that having a physical free store will allow conversations between neighbors so that people are letting people around them know that this resource exists. Maybe neighbors will pick up groceries for each other."

"There's a really high rate of poverty in Pulaski County, and in a lot of Southwest Virginia and its really common for a lot of places that do offer help to do a lot of means testing and put other barriers in-between people and help," Hazel Wines, an organizer involved in the free store told VPM News. "And we wanted to remove as those barriers and just be a place where people could help each other. It's not just food, it's not just clothes.… Everyone deserves to live a life of dignity and we want to help provide that."