#still sharing these since if they believe i have the platform to spread it i will

[deerspherestudios]

Hi 👋 🚨plz don’t scroll 🚨

Iam writing to you, appealing to our shared humanity, to help me to share and reblog my story and my family’s fundraising campaign. 🙏

Iam Samer Abu Ras, my wife Shorouq, and our three children, including a baby 👶🏻 who is not yet two years old.

We are enduring unimaginable suffering due to the ongoing war, constantly moving from place to place in search of safety. We live in harsh conditions within tents, having lost our home and everything we owned. Our eldest son, Qusay, has had heart problems 💔since birth and urgently needs medical 💊follow-up after undergoing several surgeries. I humbly request a donation of 50 kronor more if you can my friend and if u can’t just support us enough for me.🌹 to help us travel to a safe place where we can continue Qusay’s treatment and provide a better life for our children.

In conclusion, my family and I thank you 🌺from the bottom of our hearts for accepting our message. ❤️🌹❤️

Note: My friend, if you wish to donate, note that the currency used in the fundraising campaign is the Swedish krona. Every 50 kronor is equivalent to 5 $dollars, 100 kronor is equivalent to 10 $dollars, and so on.

My friends, my appeals may seem repetitive to you, and I apologize if my requests cause any inconvenience. However, I need your continuous support. Thank you for your understanding.🙏🌹❤️

Link to donate is HERE ! 🍉 This campaign has also been vetted ! 🇵🇸 An additional note from the blog:

“Please note, The goal of our fundraising campaign is to raise $43,000, which is = equivalent to 450,000 SEK. My friends, the currency used in the fundraising campaign is the Swedish Krona (SEK), and every 50 SEK is equivalent to 5 USD.” 10$ = 100 SEK 50$= 500 SEK 100$= 1000 SEK 200$= 2000 SEK

[jovialsongdefendor]

"Sonamy is canon and sega confirmed it! So sonadow will never be cannon!"

No. Sonamy is not canon. And this is not saying like a rage fan that doesnt like the ship. I sayed it because the people on the fandom spread so many wrong information that it becomes so annoying, specially on tik tok where you say that the earth is flat and everyone believes that. "Sonic sayed that he would like to share a umbrella with amy!" Ian, the writer of the game, sayed himself that he doesnt even remember or even write those lines for sonic. Most likely someone on the team pushed it so it can be in the code of the games. and why is in the games and it shows voicelines of it? Simple, because the game can be coded so some unused lines can be show on some scenes. And what makes it that those lines are likely just pushed into it like forcing a line that ian never ever write in the first place?

[It is strange that the lines doesnt even appear on the same scenes, just on differents ones?]

I am just gonna put the information that sonadow wiki done: "In bullet points:

These lines are cut-lines and they never made it to the final version for any platform

Ian, the writer for Sonic Frontiers, didn’t even write these lines to be in the game

Since the lines are in the database of the game (but does not occur in the final version of the game), the lines can be modded into the game to make it seem official or that it’s in the final version of the game

“Proofs” showing these lines to be in the game have faults within them, such as not occurring on the correct island or weather condition

There are several factors to consider when acknowledging these lines existence. One of the main factors is that these are cut-lines that never made it to the official and final version of Sonic Frontiers. This goes for both the English and Japanese version of the game. These lines can only be found through datamining the game, which means to look through files deep within the game that don’t make it to the surface. So, these lines will never be activated because there is nothing to activate it, therefore it is not official lines.

Another thing to know about is that Ian, the one who wrote the story and dialogue lines for Sonic Frontiers, was not even aware of these lines existing in the game because he never wrote them or had anything similar be made for these lines to exist. Therefore, it wasn’t even planned to have these lines in the game whatsoever. Someone else, other than Ian, snuck the lines in and had it go against what the original story was in the first place; they tried to have their own story or vision be put in the game aside from what Ian wrote or how it was originally conceived. This makes the lines even more unofficial and not real. Many already acknowledge that these lines are not official and are cut lines." https://youtu.be/vGnN6Q7yo5c "One more thing to consider is that even if people show “proof” of it existing in the games, these lines and even text can be easily modded into the game for it to seem like it exists in the final game. But just because it is modified in, doesn’t mean that it was there originally."

"As it can be seen through this individual who is able to make unused conversations be put into the game in some manner through modification, it is also possible to put unused conversations lines in the game in some manner. These lines towards Amy aren’t the only lines that are unused in the game. There are many lines that aren’t used and that are still in the database of the game, but that doesn’t mean that any of them made it to the final game for people to see through normal means.

Another thing to take note about is that these lines towards Amy (the “Umbrella” and “Making up his mind” lines), are lines that occur on Rhea or Ouranos Island, but the first pictures shown in this thread show that the lines were randomly said on Kronos Island, the first island you go to in the game. That shows that this person modified the lines to be said in the game and that they are not triggered under normal means. Another way to figure out that these lines are modified is that the “Umbrella” line is supposed to only be triggered while it’s raining, but the line is said randomly while it is only cloudy in the person’s “proof” of it existing in the game.

On a side note, datamining and modifying games tend to be illegal depending on what company the game comes from. For example, Nintendo has policies that say that if you are to play their games, you cannot modify their systems or games that are played on that console. So this practice of modifying and datamining is not encouraged by the majority of game companies and isn’t welcomed, therefore it should become a common practice to not to try to do these illegal activity towards any game."

"And what about this proof of sonamy being canon?"

Japanese version:

Putting again what sonadow wiki sayed:

"The Japanese is mistranslated in the English translation when talking about Sonic CD in Sonic and the Secret Rings. In English, it may call Amy Sonic’s love interest, but that was never stated in the original Japanese, therefore the English translators mistranslated it on purpose or are pushing their own personal interpretations in the mistranslated English. In Japanese it simply gives Amy a description before stating that she appears in the game. Sonic’s name is never mentioned in the original Japanese.

What it says in Japanese: “A brimming with vigor, love to fall in love girl, Amy, appears.”

Or for it to make more sense in English: “Amy, who is an energetic girl that loves falling in love, appears (in this game).”

The sentence in Japanese: “元気いっぱい 恋に恋する女の子 エミー登場”

If you take the sentence apart (which you can see on this��website) you will see each word on it’s own to see the direct translation.

元気 = Energetic; Lively

元気 いっぱい = Brimming with Vigor; Brimming with Health; Full of Vitality

恋 = (Romantic) Love (which is more closer to having an attraction towards someone)

恋する = To Fall in Love (with); to love

女の子 = Girl; Young Woman; Daughter; Baby (girl)

エミー = Amy

登場 = Appears"

And about the ask and question of the characters when they sayed that sonic has feelings for amy and is official: welp, I guess tailor swift and etzio are cannon on the sonics universe, and maluma too

[fellshish]

I have a question, and my name is Sal.

I grew up watching Coraline as a kid. It was my jam. I loved that movie, and I will forever say Henry Selick deserved more attention for making it.

I like the Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn (Amanda Palmer projects) I still have the songs stuck in my head. You know where this is going.

I know you said that fans of works should still enjoy the work even if the creator sucks. And I can do that with Kubrick and Aaron Fechter, but that’s because Kubrick is dead, and most of Aaron Fechter’s IP got ripped away from him and is gladly in the hands of the public (despite how much he likes to sue).

Gaiman (and Palmer) are still alive and/or profiting off their stuff. Not to mention, I want to bring attention to the situation and help bring justice to the victims. Yet everytime I post about it or reblog what someone else put into words what I think, I feel like I’m virtue signalling.

How do I handle it and is it bad that I keep thinking of the art that influenced me by them instead of what they did (in a way to soften the blow to how horribly they abused these women)?

(You can respond to this publicly, as I am sure people are thinking the same thing somewhere. I am sorry for dumping all this on you.)

hi sal!

sorry, this got long. your ask was so genuine and i was afraid of getting it wrong. 

i want to start this off by saying i am not the boss of anyone’s fandom experience. everyone gets to decide for themselves how they proceed after learning about the numerous women who have come forward against neil gaiman.

the things you mention are things i’ve struggled with too — last year when i first learned about it, when i listened to the podcasts and recently again reading even more detailed (and horrifying) news reporting.

these are also struggles shared by many fans in many fandoms of creators who were accused and/or controversial and/or convicted. for example many (trans) people i know have grown up loving harry potter, and have had to deal with their favourite writer waging a vendetta against trans lives. some still participate in the hp fandom without supporting her. they can’t help their hyperfixation and still find a lot of good and a lot of friends in the fandom. 

because yes, i do believe that someone can stay in such a fandom as ethically as possible. as in: i try the best that i can to make sure no further financial gains go to the creator. that means i avoid watching official streams, buying official merch, going to official cons, going to plays based on his work etc. i also amplify the women’s voices by spreading the article. 

the thing to keep in mind is: there is a difference and a distance between a creator and a fandom of what they created. a huge wall even. fandom is about community, friendships, creativity, … i am on a playground playing with the characters with my friends. sharing art and fics and gifs etc. and what those characters and stories mean to me are positive things. 

the core is this: if you have to live your life only consuming art by morally pure people (and who determines that?!) then you will have very little left to enjoy. 

and of course i understand the urge to want to help the victims, and the guilt/worry about virtue signaling. i’m going to break those down separately.

i think the idea of ‘helping bring justice to the victims’ is good but it also puts an unreasonable amount of responsibility on your young shoulders. here’s what’s already happened: the women’s voices have been heard, there is now more widespread media covering, he has lost his reputation, hasn’t been on his platforms since last summer, he’s losing (film) projects of his work, … what else consequences are yet to come, legally or otherwise, we’ll have to see. the responsibility for that lies not with you as one single fan but with lawyers etc. and you might find it important to keep vigilant that the story doesn’t get buried (again). in that case reblogging isn’t virtue signalling but useful.

but it’s also unreasonable to expect someone to continually do that for days and days. that’s a quick ticket to depression. ultimately tumblr is, to many, a fandom space. some people use it only for pleasant fandom activities. and what if they do? you can’t know a person’s whole life: maybe they are survivors who are too triggered to participate, maybe they’ve donated to causes that help survivors, maybe they have shared the story on other platforms etc

you asked “is it bad that I keep thinking of the art that influenced me by them instead of what they did”, and i found that the most heartbreaking part of your ask. it isn’t helpful to you or to anyone to keep torturing yourself with guilt. you’re aware of the allegations, and that’s good. but don’t burn yourself out trying to live up to the impossible standard of a morally pure activist that doesn’t exist. please stop being your own thought police. 

i think the fact you struggle so deeply, shows what a beautiful person you are.

now you’re going to be reading a lot of opinions. some very different from mine. am i right in continuing in fandom? i don’t know. this is my first time living life too. but i AM right that you’re a good person.

that said: protect your heart. block freely and curate a fandom space that makes you happy. avoid engaging in endless internet discourse that is bad for your mental health. step away for a while if that is what you need.

these are some intense days but i promise it gets better. the kid who loved coraline can still love coraline, but is just more informed now. 

the main rule of fandom is: does it spark joy? if yes, embrace it, because that’s a wonderful and rare thing to have.

[beware-of-pity]

Cinnamon Girl - Prologue

Masterlist I ao3 link I- Next

Harry James Potter x Reader

Summary :

Only dreams can awaken consciousness. As the final battle between him and the Dark Lord draws nearer every day, Harry attends his sixth year at Hogwarts, warped by strange dreams, which he's sure someone is having a hand at. Hidden away by the shadows of the darkness in which those hands are summoned, he finds a girl not in synch with the world she dwells in. A seer, a siren, or perhaps just a girl he finds himself madly intrigued by.

Prologue: Oh, my life is changing everyday (In every possible way)

. ⚯ ͛

They say dark times require dark measures. It seems that after ‘He who must not be named’ had revealed his presence in the halls of the Ministry of Magic during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, no one was willing to deny the obvious return of the Dark Lord, which had been the causing of much speculation after the Tri-Wizard tournament, and the much distressing death of the young Cedric Diggory.

Open war on the wizarding community had been declared, and no one could consider themselves safe anymore.

Harry had spent a long time laying his eyes upon the purple leaflet that an owl, who had made his way on the perch of his window, had delivered to him. The instructions were simple, or at least, those were the measures the Ministry of Magic believed to be sufficient enough to protect oneself against the dark forces of the Death Eaters on the loose to spread chaos upon the world Harry had known ever since he was but a boy.

To not leave the house unattended had been a challenge enough, seeing as he could not rely upon the presence of another wizard to accompany him wherever he went, especially at night when he would sit at the old, run-down food stand on the platform of the train station he had found a fondness for wandering around and riding the trains off. He had been precarious, looking behind his back all the time. To say he had become paranoid would be a little too over the top, but he surely could not find the ease he felt when at Hogwarts or any of the familiar surroundings, where he could be safe or could find a helping hand at the simple turn of a corner.

He could not advise his aunt and uncle of the precautionary ways to protect themselves were it to come down to it either, for no charm or spell they could master, seen by their lack of magic, and even if there was a way for him to know how to defend them, he wasn’t sure they would be too open to hearing him out. Their pride, especially his uncle’s, beget him to ignore Harry. He could not blame them, he supposed, the less they knew, the better, left them less exposed and more into safer hands were something to happen to them.

He shared letters with both Ron and Hermione in the weeks following the battle of the Department of Mysteries. Both of his friends tried to be there for him as much as they could, sending comforting words that would put him off any sort of ideas that may come to his mind in light of Sirius’ passing. A tragedy, it had been deemed, by people who could not come near comprehending just how much the death of one of the few people he considered close to him and which he held dear to his heart had truly impacted and affected him. He grieved him still, and he was sure he would for a very long time, even surer he was that he would never stop, for the love he held for the man called his ‘godfather’ could never go away from the cave in his chest that had been carved and reserved for Sirius.

Things had been chaotic, to say the least, as the dust ruffled by the events ending his fifth school year slowly settled back upon the shots that had caused it to move in the first place. As recommended by the leaflet, he, Ron and Hermione had agreed upon several security questions to detect if the friend they thought was presenting in front of them was truly them or a Death Eater masquerading as others by use of the Polyjuice Potion.

But unlike all the ruffled feathers filling the air, his had been a couple of quiet weeks. He had not heard from Dumbledore ever since the time he had tried to shield him from the photographers rounding him, flashing their cameras too close to his eyes, practically blinding him, and shouting questions which made his eyes ring in a way that pulled at his eardrums, quickly sending waves of pains through his temples, reaching his forehead, where the nerves under his skin probed him in pain and left him disoriented. He made for a horrid sight, with speckles of blood on his face, pale, with a twisted pain he had come to know very well burning at the skin of his chest, where his heart resided. 

His breath had begun to quicken; his lips had tightened from the lack of moisture he tried to recover by wetting his lips, but to no avail, it did nothing but dry his mouth in turn, while the hard knot on his troath continued to tighten in the chord of the flesh there.

Had it not been for the comforting presence of his headmaster’s hand which had been placed on his shoulder as he had been led away from the sworn of journalists, he wasn’t sure he could have endured the ordeal for much longer before he could begin to lose his mind.

He needed a remedy to clear his mind, so he wandered the streets of the little Surrey town of Little Whinging, where he had lived his entire life since being placed in the care of his aunt and uncle. Trains were fast, and the rush of adrenaline they gave him felt nice. It would blind him of all the thoughts his mind had been filling itself with lately, if only for a moment.

He then began to find himself unconsciously spending time sitting at one of the tables of the food stand, watching over the train from across the window, and the pretty waiter, who would cheekily smile his way whenever she found him looking at her, peering upon the latest copy of the ‘Daily Prophet’ he’d bring with him, reading it as slowly as he could as an excuse to spend more time in the establishment.

He wasn’t sure he liked her, liked her, in that way. His feelings had been all over the place, especially in the romantic department, which he found himself more than not fumbling his way into.

First, it was Cho, a kind girl which he knew would never find the love she had felt for Cedric in him, but he hoped she would see a new, mature one, born upon the shared feeling of the hardship and the loss of a person which they found a friend into. He had been mistaken, in that he realized, as had Cho, who liked him, she truly did, but the pain of the loss of her first love shadowed everything that could have blossomed between them.

Then it had been Ginny, the younger sister of his best friend; he found in her a wild, young nature that he grew attracted to. Ginny embodied everything in her that meant being a Gryffindor. She was brave and good at everything she settled her mind upon, and he knew she would accomplish great things if given the opportunity, such as the path he could see her embarking on in the sport they both loved and played, Quidditch. 

He had wondered, at times,  how Ron would feel about him possibly crushing upon his sister, who he knew Ron was protective of.

It had all begun, he would think, after meeting at King's Cross. Ginny developed feelings for him and talked about him all summer, or so he had heard about it from an amused and teasing Ron, and when he was rescued from his family and brought to the Burrow, she became extremely shy in his presence. Since then, they have both gone on different romantic paths, but he knew it was hard to omit what was always there and would probably leave unless they faced it.

Overall, everything was just too complicated for him to get ahold of, especially his very complicated feelings, and with everything that had gone down in recent years, he could not think of affording the time to get to know anyone. Or so he thought, he had more important things to worry about, such as the flickering light that had begun to go wild on the opposite platform on which the food stand stood. He had stood to peer over the fogged window, trying to get a closer look at the sight before him that he knew could be of no normal nature as glitter dust began to dance over the opposite platform. As a train roars past, Harry squints through the flickering window and watches the dust transform into the headmaster of the place he had come to know as his one true home, Albus Dumbledore.

Levelling his glasses, he peers across the platform. Dumbledore smiles and gives Harry a wave. Although amused, Harry tightens his lips at the sight, knowing no good could come out of Dumbledore’s presence before him.

He was right, as he told himself he always was when his second instinct kicked in. One moment, he was standing beside his mentor, looking up at the rather provocative billboard he had seen being glued there not a few days past from his usual spot at the table at the stand; the next, he was being led through a steep, narrow street lined with darkened houses. It had lasted but a moment, but once he had placed his hand on that of his headmaster, the pitched headlong tornado he had been pulled into, and that trashed him into a sound of rush and fury had his guts twisting in ways he did not know could be twisted.

Even as he walked, he reeled from the apparition he had experienced. His eyes sting with tears, his steps heavy and unsteady, he followed Dumbledore in what he apparently required his assistance with.

“Most people vomit their first time. Don’t be too hard on yourself” he heard Dumbledore call out as he walked on the front.

“Can’t imagine why that is…” he murmured to himself, trying to regain his footing.

He glances about as Dumbledore explains to him that they are in the village of Budleigh Babberton. For what, Harry could only wonder, and as such, he says when asked of his opinion of the matter.

“After all these years, I just sort of roll with it, sir.” Dumbledore smiles mildly as if pleased by Harry’s willing compliance before the old lines on his face harden once they reach the objective of this ‘mission’ they had set out. A small stone house, in which Harry could not find any appeal whatsoever. Run down, the door blasted and misplaced, the windows on its sides broken and completely not whole. Something’s wrong, and Dumbledore takes the moment to voice it.

“Wands out, Harry”

Utter devastation is what they meet as they pass through the cracked door, moving smoothly and swiftly through the entrance hall, the light coming from the tips of their wands as their guiding light, with careful steps, avoiding the many possibilities of making noises that presented themselves to them in the form a grandfather clock laying on the floor, its face cracked, a piano sagging in in the corner, keys strewn like teeth upon the rug. A copy of the Daily Prophet, the same one he had been reading at the food stand, trembles in the breeze from a half-open window, broken shards of glass, more likely being the busted chandelier no longer on the ceiling, where in its place a hollowed hole in which a wet, dark and glutinous substance dripped down from upon, strikes the word ‘chosen’, written upon the gazette.

Harry gasped softly as it hit his face, flicking down on his forehead, right on his scar, and startling him. He went to dabb at it before Dumbledore stopped him, grabbed his hand, tapped the blood with his finger, and went for a taste.

The reaction is immediate, surely recognizing that which he had just gotten a taste of. Dumbledore turns, his eyes narrowing on an overstuffed armchair. A couple of perfectly placed slippers are in front of it, giving away the hiding spot of the person they were here for. 

Moving to it, Dumbledore jabs his wand into the plump seat cushion, awakening that which had not wanted to be disturbed in the first place.

Horace Slugghorn was many things. Some would say he was a fool. 

A naive, foolish fool who priced himself too much. A fool, indeed, but a prepared one he was.

The armchair he had mutated into reveals his plump, aged form, even as he briefly gets caught between the two forms. After a bit of grumbling and wrestling his way to the parts of him unwilling to change, seams splitting and the popping of a cushion button or two, the fat old man known as Horace Sluggorn reveals himself in all his glory, looking overly mighty in a pair of well-worn lilac pyjamas.

Quite the scene, Harry thought, as he watched the two converse before he was introduced to the man and he, in turn. Sluggorn looks at him as if he were a dragon, ready to pounce upon his new shining toy to add to his prized collection as he makes the observation many made at his sight. His father’s through and through, yet when people would meet his eyes, it was his mother staring back at them.

Harry didn’t know for how much longer in his life he could hear this comparison any longer; it brought him mixed feelings, to say the least. On the one hand, perhaps it was the fact that he could not remember either the face or the eyes most talked about if only by the memories brought by the many times he had passed flipping through the album of photos of them he held as a dear possession. But also, he felt a sort of pride in carrying the face of the people who were his parents, a mix of the love they had bore one another in the living form that he was. A true testament to who Lily and James Potter were, living and breathing, walking and very much alive in the form of their son.

Throughout it all, Sluggorn stared at Harry as if hypnotised, even as he gestured for him to walk closer to the dresser crowded with photographs, which his mom is part of many, it seems. Sluggorn rambled on and on about the other students he had the pleasure of teaching, whom he had stayed close to during the years, and his best students, his best picks, and members of his prized collection.

Harry remains disinterested in the description of many of these people until his eyes land on a framed photo, where a boy, no older than he was now, stands beside the professor, clad in his Slytherin quidditch uniform, who, for Harry’s liking, resembles Sirius too much.

He had come to know the boy as Regulus Black, Sirius’ brother, and Harry, hypnotised, just as Sluggorn had been of his presence, stares at the photo intently as Sluggorn describes him, the pleasure it had been being his teacher while professing the disappointment of not being his brother’s, how he had never been able to complete his collection of teaching members of the Black family through the lack of Sirius.

Before they can continue, they’re interrupted by Dumbledore coming back from the loo, a muggle magazine in hand about knitting patterns, a jolly expression on his face as he holds it up for Sluggorn to see as he asks if he could keep it. Sure enough, he’s given the go, and before Sluggorn can protest they make a go for the door once more, now in its place again.

Not even a few steps out of the door, Sluggorn comes rushing through, yelling about relenting to the hidden proposal that Dumbledore had come to present to him, as he had, it seemed, many times before. Returning to Hogwarts to teach potions. To Harry, it seemed a rather redundant proposal, especially coming all this way to pursue and persuade a man who did not ask to be impressed or be offered more than he bargained for and one who had seemed to be more than willing to take the offer once considered through. With just one interaction, Harry had come to understand who Horace Sluggorn was. He likes his comfort, the company of the famous, the successful, and the powerful. He enjoys the feeling that he influences these people as he boasts about them to others. He has never wanted to occupy the throne himself; he prefers the backseat — more room to spread out. It had been, just as they returned to the spot they had apparated to, that Harry truly realised just why Sluggorn had so easily accepted that which he had so vehemently denied before.

Him. It had all made sense. Harry wondered if he was so appealing to a man like Sluggorn, who did not seem to want anything and asked for nothing more than what he needed, that he would risk it all just to acquire him in the list of students Sluggorn had the pleasure to boast about.

The was something more, which he was shielded from, yet, but one that he knew would be revealed to him soon. Not now, it seemed, perhaps not the time yet. He didn’t ask or inquire, he knew it would be futile. He trusted Dumbledore, and he knew that he did things a certain way because those same things required them.

He took a deep breath as he placed his hand on the one Dumbledore extended to him, dreading what was to come next.

What he did not expect was for his next apparition to be worse than his first. His shoes, as well as a good chunk of his trousers, were wet from the running pond in the field the Burrow was built around, he had just landed into.

He groaned as he stumbled through the muddy ground under the water, trying to regain his footing as he winced.

Once he gets close enough to the house, he glances about, until his eyes land on the fiery-haired girl he shared complicated feelings for, Ginny, as she flits briefly past an upstairs window.

His reunion with his most dear friends had been bittersweet but a happy one nonetheless, even as he greeted Ginny, with whom he shared an air of awkwardness after she gave him a great grinning hug, the moment oddly charged, a surprise to both of them, which he thinks of even as he greets her mother, Molly Weasley, who he viewed as his own.

A copy of the Daily Prophet tumbles within a makeshift campfire of blue flames, protruding by Harry’s wand, but magically doesn’t disintegrate. Harry teases the fire with the tip of his wand, where ‘The Chosen One?’ mingles with Draco’s haunted face in flames, the photo taken outside the hearing for his father’s trial.

He, Ron and Hermione catch up on what’s been happening as of late, the fact that both Hermione’s parents, muggle-born that had no idea of the intricacies of the wizarding world, and Ron’s mother deemed the idea of returning to Hogswart to be too unfit to happen.

Harry shook his head as he argued against the notion of Hogwarts ever being dangerous.

“But we’re talking about Hogwarts. Dumbledore. What could be safer?” His question was met with both of his friends sharing a knowing look. Perhaps it was his naivety or the simple trust he blindly placed in a man who had proven to be more than reliable, but Harry truly believed in the idea that as long as Dumbledore was around nothing would happen. He knew that to be true, he would stick to his gun unless proven otherwise.

He believed he knew the old man, who he viewed as his mentor, better than everyone at school; what a fool Harry was, he didn’t know the man at all, only what he was given to believe he was. But such a young spirit could not be dispirited by the harsh reality of the world he was not shown, that which was purposely hidden from him. He needed to believe, otherwise what else would there be for him to believe in?

The comforting silence in the room breaks as the three break off in laughter, and the night comes alive with the flesh of youth. That night, as Harry lies on a straw-together makeshift bed, he looks out upon the blue field, where shining stars glisten brightly, contrasting their dark surroundings.

With his nose filled with the smell of sweet vanilla candles, he falls into the depths of his dreams, where warm fingertips trace and trail upon his face. The echoes of a muffled voice lull him into the darkness he had become so afraid of before he falls into their warm embrace.

He would soon find out whose hands those fingers belonged to and why they were reaching for his dreams.

AN: I wanted to preface that i'm writing this fanfic as a birthday gift to one of my friends and that with her permission I heavily edited this to make it a x reader story for you all to enjoy. I am not the biggest fan of this franchise even though I appreciate it for what it is, its impact on fandom works, and the childhood it took me through. It's been a long time since I've interacted with this fandom (which i'm not sure it's still alive for this x reader story to enjoy) or since I watched one of the movies, so please, if you think I'm not educated enough in the source material it's mostly likely because I am actually not. I will try my best to be faithful to the events of the movies since this is canon-compliant to them (especially because I have not read the books), and I hope that with that little warning in mind, you will be able to enjoy this as much as I actually found myself while writing it.

[yukirayu]

These I've also shared on Twitter, but I thought I'd share them here before someone tries any sort of libel.

You know what's funny about this whole discourse about the Slow Damage patch ? The whole discourse reminds me of game mods, in a way.

Game mods are made by fans, for free no less, for you to download, and only if you wanted, to help improve your experience with a game.

Whether it's improving the aesthetic (character or background design) or tweaking some of the gameplay elements itself. Or adding new elements, or even changing things purely for shits and giggles.

That way, mods are akin to patches. More often than not, mods are made because the base game had flaws in their design (technical or otherwise) that the mod intended to fix or improve.

But these mods are optional. And naturally, most mods are going to use preexisting assets from either the game they're modding or from another game, assets that they'll either refine or combine with other assets to make something better.

While some mods earn a raised brow, if the mod isn't to one's liking, most generally just ignore it.

Except in this specific instance, some don't like the mod that is the patch and feel that it doesn't sit right with them for whatever reason, believing that its existence would be "spitting" on the original game or because it no longer sounds as snarky as they themselves would like to read it as.

But instead of ignoring the patch, which they were explicitly advised to do if they take offense to it, they decide to make their dislike everyone else's problem, and by poisoning the well, no less.

And one quick way to ensure that is to accuse the patch of bigotry towards the LGBT community.

I'm already aware that this same accusation is spreading like wildfire, both in Reddit and especially in Twitter, and in some Discord spaces, most likely.

But did anyone, and this includes the accusers, even play at least 40% of the patched version, and intensively at that, before making that claim?

Oh, I'm all too aware that bigotry is a real, serious and widespread issue.

But in most online circles nowadays, accusing something of bigotry right off the gate is also one surefire method of turning people off of it before they can even check it out for themselves.

I mean, what better way of publicly dragging something you don't like through the mud than to spread accusations/misassumptions that are quick for others to believe before anyone can even try and personally fact-check anything?

Especially in a place like the internet itself.

The note stating the avoidance of using a specific pronoun for some characters to not assume their identity could've been phrased better, yes, and the patch team did clarify their stance on the matter. Alas, anything can still easily be misinterpreted and used as flame bait.

But what's odd is that the people who first touted this claim (either here or in other platforms) have one thing in common: they never checked out the patch (let alone played through one certain route in full) to personally confirm if that really is the case.

Taking all this into consideration, I think that no matter how the patch was presented, it'd get backlash.

Even long before any of us knew this patch was even going to be a thing, even giving constructive criticism about the localization and any mistakes/goofs it made already drew ire, and it's those same people who took offense that are spreading the hate about this patch.

It all really boils down to the matter of the patch even existing, since - as some detractors point out - it's what they call to be a disrespectful spit to the face, even without factoring the false accusations of transphobia and plagiarism.

Let's say they used the JP game files instead and have the patch work with that version. They'd get decried for copyright infringement and they risk a C&D order.

Use the EN files? We already get the claims that they barely did anything to the text, among other things. Why?

Because they didn't adjust every single syntax and change every single word in every single sentence… when English isn't exactly the most versatile language and there's only ways you can translate something, especially in the simpler sentences like "Who are you?".

Using a thesaurus on everything would make it sound weird. Heck, the patch being more verbose and detailed and impersonal (which is what's to be expected when it's third person and in a visual novel, no less) already got it accused of being no more than a fancy MTL.

And it doesn't help that many already assume that the statement that MTL can be a helpful tool is also the same as "MTL being the superior translator of all time", and people will find anything and I mean anything to hate on something and discredit it.

And as for the preferring 1st person over 3rd person and vice versa? It's a matter of preference, yes, and that can't be helped.

But let's get one fact out in the open: Out of N+C's 5 main VNs, only one is told in first person POV in the JP/original version, and that's DMMD.

The other game that used 1st person narration is Slow Damage's spinoff game, Clean Dishes, but not the main/parent game itself.

And even years before they got licensed, the fan patches followed the intended narration viewpoint of the first 4 VNs. Third person for Togainu no Chi, Lamento, and Sweet Pool, and first person for DMMD.

Their respective localized versions (except Lamento), also followed the intended narration viewpoint, and nobody complained because that was all they knew.

But because Slow Damage's localization took the creative liberty of changing the narration from third to first person, with people exposed to it, it's not really surprising some have gotten accustomed enough to end up preferring it.

Even when another version that retells the game in original narration comes up, for the past two years, the localization has been what they knew, and that is what many usually then decide to stick to.

In the scenario where the localization - even if it would still be a mess - never changed the narration, would people still say "Oh but they should've changed it to 1st person since it would've enhanced the story"?

It's telling that it never happened with Togainu no Chi, Sweet Pool and DMMD, no?

And before anyone tells me that I just hate localizations overall, you don't hear me complaining about the official translation of any of the BLVNs that Mangagamer licensed, do you? I also have plenty of gripes with DMMD's fan translation over what it did to Mink.

[pixiecaps]

no bc im not usually involved w stuff like this and believe everyone should be held accountable for their actions no matter what. but seeing the way quackity has been seen as non human, any emotion or misstep he has being seen as manipulative or fake is like crazy. i don’t understand how people don’t see like wait, your actually just being racist you are not capable of seeing him as a person, why? it feels like he really could’ve handled this perfectly and there still would be this large crowd regarding him as a heartless fraud??

truly. i have closely observed this situation and listened to both sides and theres a lot of different opinions that can co exist and theres a lot of complexity to them.

one particular thing that has bothered me and made me uncomfortable is the projection of quackity as this scheming conniving figure. its gross. him having to explain that hes had previous experiences like this where he keeps any sort of bad situation with another creator private and that in turn has made him perceived as more manipulative is so sad. and this isnt surprising obviously since this is something ive witnessed. but overall i think with the internet nowadays theres a large mindset that everything needs to be public information and shared with the audience while they preach to solve things in the dms. people only care for a show and to watch creators destroy themselves. thats what twitter is and what a lot of people actively strive to do on that platform. specifically in regards to leak communities.

everyone should be aware enough that theyre allowed to criticize quackity and the decisions he’s made that people may not agree with. he acknowledges that himself. but to paint him as anything other then human and someone who has deeply fucked up reaches that level where it is racism. i dont think many people quite realize micro aggressions when they see them. so theres that. and then theres obviously the extremes of the situation when it came to the doxxing and death threats. people actively celebrating and saying it surely is an okay thing to spread because well he fucked up right? hypocrisy. this goes the same way for any admin or worker involved the situation that has been sent and told the same.

this entire situation has proved to me that nobody knows how to properly handle anything or how to properly react to anything and choosing instead to immediately jump to those extremes mentioned in the name of activism and moral superiority.

anyways support the admins. listen to their stories. criticize media you consume in a constructive manner. call out xenophobia and racism when you see it. and treat people like the humans they are. they will all make mistakes each side has made a mistake. yes this also applies to the people in the community. think for more than a second before you post anything for fucks sake.

[firecrackerhh]

Jesus CHRIST you’re so fucking retarded YOU DO FUCKING REALIZE THE WORD GROOMING HAS AN ACTUAL FUCKING DEFINITION RIGHT?????

You bitch that republicans call the LGBT+ community groomers when you CLEARLY have no problem with misusing the word the same way THEY DO by using the word where it isn’t fucking applicable to try and paint someone in the LGBTQ+ community as a dangerous person all because they can tell basic fact from reality while your clearly unmedicated schizo ass can’t? Stop making your obvious mental illness other people’s problem, Jesus fucking Christ.

You aren’t any better than the people you despise.

“Waaaaah you don’t have to be so meeeeaaaaannn to them they can’t heeeeelllppp iiiiitttt!!” I’m sure some of you particularly whiny bitches are thinking of typing into your keyboards. So what? They aren’t special. Spread dangerous bullshit around and I don’t care WHAT the fuck is wrong with you. They shouldn’t be exempt from consequences, however minor, just cus their brain is fucked.

Like Jesus fucking Christ forgive me but when you start accusing LGBTQ+ people of GROOMING over something this objectively fucking retarded I think your internet privileges should be fucking revoked. It’s so fucking obvious some people don’t understand the responsibility having a platform gives them, however small.

Like Jesus Christ. I know I say a lot of shit, but god, even I understand that accusations of grooming are actually a big fucking deal and if I ever for a MOMENT thought someone was actually doing that I would have actual sources to back up my claims!

Not this retarded fucking horseshit where some retard claims that Vivziepop is actively fucking grooming people because she’s not a fucking retard and actually understands the difference between fiction and reality!

But then again, considering this stupid cunt probably believes every proshipper is a pedophile, I guess I can’t be surprised.

If this shit is the only “evidence” you have of Viv “grooming” people…you don’t have a fucking clue what grooming actually fucking looks like.

Frankly, given the little info they’ve shared about their personal life that I’ve seen them talk about on their current (and past) blog, they should know better.

I will leave it at that. I’m a bitch, not a complete asshole. Some shit isn’t my place to speak on.

Not even to mention what I’ve seen them say to other victims of abuse, but you can go through my archive for THAT can of worms. Might take a while to find tho, I bitch a lot lmao.

Jesus Christ man, Jesus fucking Christ.

I’m no SW aficionado but I have a feeling this point is retarded anyway.

Honestly I imagine DV is only more kid friendly or whatever in like…kid friendly media specifically so…I dunno dude, I dunno what point you’re trying to make here but something isn’t connecting. It’s fine to have merch of a shitty character if said merch is from a kid friendly spin off I guess? Or something? So would you object if LEGO made toys based on the first trilogy for kids? Since yknow, he’s a killer in those movies?

And frankly, this is gonna be a shock to you, but some people LIKE Vader cuz he’s a terrible fucking person. Same thing can be said for the joker or any other fucking villain. Contrary to what you fucking believe, that doesn’t mean fans of them are terrible people who actually want to do any of the shit he does, or endorses it. Why the fuck are you so stupid?

Clearly it’s only children’s cartoons this bitch can handle on an emotional level. It’s actually so fucking embarrassing they’re STILL acting like this, not even grass can help this bitch. Tragic.

[joannechocolat]

Dear Mr X...

It’s hard to give up a relationship, even when it has become toxic. Even when it brings you no joy, it’s hard to accept the fact that you’re better off without it. To look at the time you spent building it, to write off those years and start again can feel like jumping off a cliff into a bottomless precipice. You start to think of all the things you’ll lose if the relationship ends; the good times, the shared friends, the laughter and the memories. Your heart sinks at the thought of trying to rebuild all that from scratch. The time. The work. The energy. It feels like a bereavement.

I feel like that about Twitter now. A relationship that began fifteen years ago, when I was someone different, and the platform was new and hopeful and designed for communication, rather than spreading division. Sometimes I still find myself mourning that time; the friends I made; the stories I wrote, the thousands of incarnations of the Shed. Some of my friends have been left there for good, their Twitter accounts frozen in time; their words all that remains of them. Perhaps that’s why I’m reluctant to leave, even though the bluebirds have flown, and even the logo is changing to something that looks to me a lot like a modified swastika – an apt comparison, given the way in which certain voices and political views have been given unasked-for prominence, while others seem to have vanished altogether from my feed. Feed someone garbage for long enough, and they start to sicken and die. That’s what happening via this site. I have watched it happening ever since Elon Musk arrived - a man so cartoonishly self-obsessed that it’s hard to even believe he’s real, except that no writer of fiction or game designer would dream of creating such a crass and substandard character.

X. What a choice of symbol.

X marks the spot for pirates in search of buried treasure. X is the mark of a person who is unable to write their name. X is the identity of someone who needs to stay anonymous. It’s a voter’s mark; an erasure; a mystery; a chromosome.

And it’s also an occult symbol, a rune: the rune Gyfu according to the Old English Futhorc, and Gebo in the Elder Futhark; both of which translate as “gift”.

The Anglo-Saxon rune poem that accompanies it goes like this:

ᚷ Gẏfu gumena bẏþ gleng and herenẏs, ƿraþu and ƿẏrþscẏpe and ƿræcna gehƿam ar and ætƿist, ðe bẏþ oþra leas.

which translates as follows:

Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one's dignity; it furnishes help and subsistence to all broken men who are devoid of aught else.

At first glance, this seems the opposite of what Elon Musk has done for the world. A man who sees social media as his own personal platform; a man who sees the cosmos as his own personal joy-ride.

The mistake we made was believing that Twitter was our playground. Elon Musk has made it his, and is currently in the process of breaking the toys, chopping down the trees and nuking the site from orbit, just to prove that play is overrated, and that only money counts. I can’t help feeling sorry for the little boy he must have been, and to wonder what he might have been like if he’d actually had any friends. But it’s time: and the change of branding makes it even easier to step away.

So maybe this is a kind of gift to the ones of us leaving Twitter. Misinformation, misogyny, transphobia, conspiracy theories and other kinds of social media poison have already made it increasingly difficult to feel safe there. (And fun fact, the word Gift in German happens to mean “poison”.) Perhaps the ultimate gift of X is the freedom from the toxicity that has built up in this most volatile of media; the gift of better mental health; of greater connection to our world; an escape from a toxic fantasy back into the open air.

I won’t leave altogether – Threads still isn’t open to Europe, and the jury’s still out on Bluesky - but I don’t want to give any more of my content to a man who values power and money over human connection. I’m @joannechocolat across all my social media - that’s Threads, Bluesky, Tumblr and Instagram – and I’ll still be posting stories on my ko-fi account at: https://ko-fi.com/story. But if you want to know what I’m doing, then sign up to my free newsletter on my website at joanne-harris.co.uk. I’m coming to believe that social media as I once knew it may have run its course for me: I won’t leave it altogether, but from now on I plan to invest more of my time and energy elsewhere.

And as for Mr X - I doubt you’ll be around forever. But while you are, my gift to you is this final story: written live on Twitter, as was, for all the little bluebirds.

There once was a boy who had no friends. His father gave him everything money can buy: toy cars, model aeroplanes, even rockets that really flew, but friends were impossible to buy, and the boy was lonely, angry, and bored. 

One day, when he was playing alone with one of his expensive toys, he saw a group of children playing in a nearby park. They sounded so merry and carefree that the boy was jealous. 

“Why don’t I have friends?” he cried. “I shall buy the park, and then everyone will notice me.”

And so the boy asked his father to buy him the park for his very own; and he settled there with his expensive toys, and put a notice on the gate, saying: Entrance fee, 8 shillings.

The children of the neighbourhood looked enviously at the empty park. Some of the wealthier ones paid the entry fee, but many of the children did not; instead, they waited outside the gates, and looked into the place where once they had all played together.

But still the boy was not content. None of the new children played with him. Instead they played their own games, and climbed trees, or played hide and seek, or lay on the grass watching the clouds. None of this served the boy at all, and he was sulky and discontent.

“If I have all the trees cut down, then maybe the others will notice me,” he thought.

And so he ordered his servants to cut down all the trees in the park. But apart from a few toadies and flatterers, the children still did not play with him, but mocked him secretly from afar, and fell silent whenever he passed by.

“How ungrateful these children are,” said the boy, getting angry. “I bought this park for them, and still they refuse to play with me! Very well, I shall cease to pay the groundsmen and the gardeners. The park will be overrun with weeds. Wild animals will roam there.”

And so the boy did as he had promised, and the park became a wilderness. No-one wanted to pay for it, and even the toadies and flatterers and children of wealthy families went elsewhere to see their friends.

The boy was very angry at this, but there was no-one to be angry with. All the other children had gone. And so he took out his rage on the deer who had begun to roam in the park, shooting them with his toy crossbow, and became known throughout the land as a mighty hunter.

[milky-rozen]

Hello Dear ❤️😊, 🇵🇸

With many followers and admirers, your platform holds incredible power. I reach out to you today with a heart heavy with both pain and hope, seeking your help to save my family from the horrors of war in Gaza. We are a family that includes women and children, living every day under the weight of fear and destruction. 🙏 I write to you because I believe that humanity and compassion are our shared strengths, and when we unite, we can achieve miracles. ❤️

Our story is not just our own; it is the story of every family living under the shadow of conflict and war. We are facing a real danger that threatens our lives and the future of our children. 🥹 Sharing our story could be the lifeline we desperately need. I kindly ask you to spread our story far and wide, so it may reach those who can offer help, and to remind the world that every soul deserves life and safety. 🌹

As influential bloggers with many followers, your voice could be the difference between life and death for my family. 🌺 A simple reblog of my pinned post on your account could amplify our plea and bring us the help we urgently need. 😊 We humbly ask you to be a beacon of light in this darkness, extending a helping hand in any way you can. We rely on your kind hearts and support to survive, and to provide our children with a chance for a safe and bright future. 🍉

Thank you from the depths of our hearts. 💐

With sincere gratitude,

🌹☺️🙏

I don't think I'm this influential, and I have no idea how someone can tell how many followers you have on Tumblr since, by default, you can't do that, there's literally no option to do that at all, but--

If this post is true and it's verified, and it's not made by any vicious bot which is taking advantage of the whole situation in Gaza to scam people, I will gladly share this with all of my followers.

I do not have the tools to determine if this is 100% reliable, but I still want to give it a try if it can help 🇵🇸

[beardedmrbean]

TikTok star Montana Tucker has been using her platform to spread awareness about antisemitism in the months after the October 7 attack on Israel.

The singer, dancer and social media activist, who grew her social media following to 14 million by singing and dancing videos, recently made her Jewish heritage a bigger part of her content, she told Fox News Digital in an interview. Since October 7, she has recognized the need for more education about the history of antisemitism and Holocaust denialism among America's youth.

Tucker grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, with two grandparents who survived the Holocaust. They often told her about the horrors of the Holocaust and the importance of never forgetting the genocide of six million Jews during World War II. When her grandfather, whom she called Zadie, passed away at 97 four years ago, she felt compelled to continue his legacy by reminding people they should "never forget." 

Tucker visited Poland where she filmed a docuseries called "How to Never Forget" that was released in 10 mini-episodes on her social media. The series included a visit to Auschwitz and personal stories about her grandparents, with the goal of educating America's youth about the Holocaust. 

CHAMPION CYCLIST SAYS SHE WOULD SERVE IN IDF RIGHT NOW AMID REMOVAL FROM INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY EVENT

"Antisemitism has always been here, it has always been here," she said. "When I released that series, that was kind of the first time I introduced my followers really to my family's background. A lot of them never knew that I was Jewish. My name is Montana Tucker. My content, at the time, wasn't specifically Jewish content."

"Then a year later, with everything that happened on October 7, I felt that it was my responsibility, it was my duty to make sure that I share personal stories of what was happening," she continued. "This is my people, my grandparents didn't have a voice back during the Holocaust, and now I have a voice and I'm able to stand up for what I believe in and speak out for people who don't have a voice."

In December, Tucker went to Israel to meet with survivors of the October 7 attack and their families. She used the opportunity to spread the message of what happened and share their personal stories, which she said is of upmost importance given some have downplayed or denied certain aspects of the attack or attempted to justify it. 

"When I always heard Holocaust denial, I couldn't believe it," Tucker said. "That's why, with what's going on now in the world with all the denial, even though we were live-streamed what happened on October 7, there's still denial about it or still denial of what is going on. I never understood that concept of people denying something that was so obviously shown with evidence of survivors, but now living in it, people denying what happened on October 7, it's really scary and it's even more of a reason why I keep using my voice."

Tucker also said she has heard from people in Hollywood who've thanked her for what she has done in speaking out for Jewish people since October 7, but explained it makes her upset that people are afraid to share or talk about what they believe in. 

"I've had people in Hollywood come up to me that are, I'm here [motions down] and they're there [motions up], they're on a whole different level than me in their careers, and they come up to me and say, 'Thank you so much for what you're doing, you're amazing, you're really taking one for the team.' And I'm like, 'What do you mean? Like, have you shared anything? Have you posted anything?' And they said they did in the beginning [but] when they got so much hate from it and lost business, followers, whatever it is and now they're scared to post. In my mind I'm like ‘do hear how crazy that sounds?’"

"Especially when there are so many awesome, powerful Jews in Hollywood … I think people absolutely need to stop being scared," she said. "If you're going to lose business over you talking about being Jewish or you talking about innocent lives that were taken, then you shouldn't want to do business with those people. Point-blank."

Tucker pointed to social media as a huge reason why antisemitism has been allowed to proliferate, making it "popular to be anti-Israel" and "popular to be anti-Jew." 

"With Gen Z and younger generations, we live in this day and age of what's trending, what's popular and if you look at popular hashtags on these apps ... #hitlerwasright was a massive trending hashtag on TikTok, #osamabinladen was a massive trending hashtag on TikTok, all pro-Palestine content was super trending, billions of views, versus Israel or anything to do with pro-Israel was like super, super low."

She said a lot of people discussing the conflict on social media aren't educated on the issues, so when an average user comes across a viral video with 30 million views sharing one person’s opinion about Israel or Gaza, "all of a sudden now it's a ripple effect of everyone that just saw that video now believes that because they don't know better."

Tucker said the impact of social media needs to be taken seriously, since it is where so much information is shared and news is consumed, allowing antisemitism to proliferate in the months following October 7. 

"Even with October 7, think about if we didn't have social media nowadays, how different that could have been with what spiraled after," she said. "I think what happened on October 7 was the start, and now we're a hundred and how many days in, and it's only gotten worse with everyone's opinions and everyone's thoughts in these videos … being fed to people every single day [there is] so much propaganda that I see."

"Fortunately, I heard from survivors, but my grandma was 13 when she was taken to the Holocaust, and she's 95 [now], so in a few years, there are going to be no more survivors left," she said. "Imagine the denial that's going to happen then with literally no survivors."

Tucker said one of the ways to combat antisemitism is to teach America's youth about the Holocaust in schools.

"I grew up in Florida, which is one of the states that did have it, thankfully, and my grandparents used to speak at all the schools … But there are a lot of people who don't," she said. "It's hard to blame these kids that just genuinely don't know better because they weren't taught it in school."

"Then they come across this TikTok video that denies the Holocaust or says Jews are terrible … and that's all they're going to know and that's all they're going to believe," she said. "If their favorite rapper or their favorite athlete spews out antisemitic comments, they look up to that athlete, they look up to that rapper, they're going to say, 'That must be true.'"

Tucker encouraged Americans to do their own research and continue to learn about the long and difficult conflict in Israel and the Middle East. She also said people should be easier on each other because there is "so much hate" in the world and in the U.S., specifically. 

[0alanasworld0]

Always always always free Palestine

i ofc havent been active on here at all these past couple of months but i am online elsewhere and have seen the same horrific things as you have. i do make an effort on other platforms to share what i can and i do try to donate within my means as well.

i will always maintain the fact that this is not a war. it is not a conflict. it is an attempted ethnic cleansing of the INDIGENOUS palestinian people by a state founded upon the principles of settler colonialism and white supremacy. as if the past 75+ years of torment under israeli occupation havent been enough, the bombing raids since October the 7th have been reported to be the most brutal since it all began. the images and videos being shared across the internet are very real and beyond horrifying. the palestinian people do not have the time to grieve, they dont have the dignity of a proper burial. theyre forced to raise the bodies of their martyrs to the cameras and even then they're not believed.

the bombing raids alongside a complete blockade of any food, water and aid imports only solidifies what has been said from the very beginning. israel is constantly commiting war crimes on the palestinian people under the false pretense that they have a right to the land. Israelis have to steal palestinian homes because, "If i dont, someone else will" to quote one of them.

zionists constantly spread false information about palestinians and their resistance movements. some of the most blatant propaganda ever crafted and palestinians are still doubted regarding their plight. livelihoods are put at risk in countries that flaunt the principles of free speech. safety is jeopardised and palestinians and their supporters will always be villified no matter how careful they are with their wording.

there are no two sides. the attack on october 7th did not happen in a vacuum. its a culmination of 75+ years of corruption, vilification and gaslighting by israel and the west. you cannot condemn them without condeming israeli first and attributing fault to the vile regime.

as a muslim, my only comfort is that these people are incredibly strong in their faith. they are killed in their thousands but i believe that they will be among the very first to enter the highest levels of jannah. may their suffering not go in vain, may their oppressors be punished in the dunya and akhirah and may the people of palestine see justice in the dunya and akhirah and may allah help us all and grant us strength and protection from all evil as we stand with palestine. Ameen.

[nommi707]

The Big Internet Scare... (WGST 320- Week 2)

A time when technology did not live up to its hype was during 8th grade, in which the uprising of the video of a person named "Momo" was trending. In addition to videos, there were also images of the person spreading across the internet; Momo was a woman with the body of a chicken, long hair, and a scary face with big eyes. I first heard of Momo from my friends during P.E. (physical education), in which they showed me videos of people getting hacked and the content of Momo was stuck on their screens. Although I was fortunate enough to never get hacked or see the videos after that, I still continued to hear stories and it caused me a lot of paranoia since I was not sure if it would occur on my screens. For example, I had a conversation with my mother about what was happening online, and she shared how one of her friend's sons recently came across that video randomly on his tablet. The whole event made me feel skeptical of using the internet as it can be limitless and anything can happen at any time. I remember that the paranoia was so severe that it cost me many sleepless nights, and even having to have some form of nightlight in my room because, without it, I believed that Momo would come to get me. Although the trend has since died down and I have grown older, I still have the fear that something terrible will pop up on my screen, so I try my best to be careful on what platforms I am on and what I am looking at. My parents have always taught me to be careful on the internet, and having recently gotten on social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, I was pushed even more to be cautious. If I could go back in time, I would try to tell my younger self to avoid the internet as much as possible during that time so that I would not have to face the major paranoia that came with it; it was not the best way to be introduced to social media.

[tshifty]

I actually do blame people for staying home. Trump will be even worse for Palestinians. Choosing not to go vote for Kamala is going to result in more harm for EVERYONE. If you can even help any number of marginalized people suffer less by voting and you don’t, I just can’t understand that thought process. This isn’t at you since I know you said you would be voting. But also from a strategic standpoint, democrats aren’t doing to start listening to leftist until they can show they are a reliable voting block and that takes time. I wish liberals/leftists could play the long game like republicans always do and look how far they’ve moved the party right.

I think this is a really important conversation to have right now, so I am going to answer this very earnestly in a long form. And I don't purport to know the right answer-- honestly I don't think anyone knows the "right answer" or if there really is one atp. But I do want to share my perspective on this, which is a bit contrary to yours.

TLDR; bc this is very long: I think that political and social change is more nuanced than simply "voting is right or wrong", and I think that we are about a decade into fundamental systems change in this country which does add a layer to the conversation.

I think as a baseline, we can agree on a few points:

Voting is an important tool that we have in the system we live in

Trump is objectively, on every issue, worse than Harris

If Trump gets elected, more people will die, and faster

Shifting our political culture and system is long-game

So now a few of your points that I am going to disagree with.

"Democrats aren't going to listen to leftists until they can show they are a reliable voting block" -- this is something that I used to also believe to be true, but I don't anymore. I don't think the Democratic party is ever going to in truth embrace leftist policies, because those policies by nature weaken the grip of our 2-party system, and thus lose democratic party leaders and politicians a lot of money. The Democratic party has shown time and time again that they are very willing to do whatever it takes to prevent a leftist, or a democratic socialist, or a progressive whatever label you use, to rise through the party ranks and succeed. The party endorses in down-ballot elections against progressives; the party bankrolls moderates to defeat progressives; the party spreads disinformation and works to cause fragmenting within left spaces. Unfortunately, the Democratic party is at the end of the day one side of the electoral machine; and while the GOP is worse on policy issues, I would say that the parties operate the same in many functioning ways.

"People who choose not to vote are (at least partially) to blame for the result" -- again, something I wholly used to believe, but don't entirely anymore. At the end of the day, I believe the blame lies with those in power. I blame the Democratic party and elected officials for being morally decrepit and absolutely incomprehensibly unstrategic. I blame politicians for being spineless fucking freaks who either are actively trying to harm people, or refuse to do what is needed to actually create the change they run their platforms on every few years. While I do personally still believe that voting is an important tool even given the context we are seeing in 2024, I cannot bring myself anymore to blame those who are continually spit on by the Democratic party, for not voting for them. So while I do agree with the sentiment that voting is important to the extent that we vote to choose our enemy, I do not believe that it is really those who don't vote that are wholly to blame. I think this system is designed to hurt people, and I can't blame people for refusing to vote for politicians who continue to harm them and their communities.

"Liberals/leftists should play the long game in a similar way that republicans have"-- I halfway agree with this and halfway think we may disagree. I agree that Republicans, as fucking morally decrepit as they are, have as a collective deployed some pretty brilliant and terrifying political strategy over the past many decades to achieve their goals. I agree that the Republican party plays politics much better than Democrats, and that it's pretty embarrassing to watch Democrats and leftists etc. fail to do so. However. I disagree in the sense that, I don't think this political system that we have is even worth fighting for. I think that fascism is knocking at our door red or blue; one is just going to happen faster and more intensely than the other. The Dems are running towards fascism at 20mph; the GOP is running towards fascism at 200mph. So while I am going to vote for the 20mph option bc that buys us more time to prepare, I do unfortunately now believe that we have crossed that point of no return. Our politics will never be "as they were". I think that for the past 10-15 years, the US has been in a stage of political and social revolution (and let me be clear, NOT in the way i have seen many self-proclaimed communists talk about in that revolution is some big event, that shit is stupid as fuck), and that we also have a long ways to go. The US is a very young country, and historically we have been due for this for a while. I think the next 4-8 years are going to dramatically accelerate our democratic backsliding, and I honestly am at a point where I am going to spend my energy to prepare for how to operate in that reality, than I am going to spend my energy trying to save an outdated system. I do think we have to play the long-game, and to me that looks like reimagining how we want our government and politics to operate, and being extremely pragmatic about what that will entail and how we can leverage power to get there. I believe that social and political revolution and change takes DECADES, and ultimately that the change will not come from within our current system but from outside it. Also to be clear I believe that armed revolution in the context of the United States would be fucking stupid bc that means going up against the US military and ultimately that is truly just some stupid half-baked notion coming from very privileged people who don't believe they will be the first to get shot.

So this has gotten extremely long and I do apologize for that lol.

[rainbowtechnadrome]

Thought for a minute the largest public platform that hosts CSEM of me was down maybe for good and was relieved .

But AO3 is still up. My hell is still written by my abuser.

It is shared in circles of those who enjoy kid’s suffering. I know other survivors with my same experience. Many who have tired to contact the platform without result.

CSEM is in spaces you don’t want to think it is. It is a non-zero chance that you by mistake may have read this thinking its yet another story. Especially when your platform may not prioritize survivors over absolute freedom of speech.

To clarify again the content describing how my abusers abused me as a child. Mostly one of them has made a name for himself in certain spaces by publishing retellings of the events for years and I’ve had to follow with take down requests every year since. And AO3 is the one of the only platforms not catered specifically to spread of CSEM that has been the WORST in lack of response.

Not an attack on you if you engage with the site but a warning I guess? My abusers publish under different usernames barely changing the events of time they hurt children changing their name ( sometimes not all the time)to random child characters at times that the person liked as a child as a form of control.

I started having to engage with this and not ignore it because I realized people with no connection to my abuser were incidentally finding the material and thinking it was fiction. People were finding it and sharing it thinking it’s just like anything else, reading my pain, often maybe engaging with it sexually unaware it is CSEM.

Maybe! I’d like AO3 to stop allowing the general population to access the Worst Time of my life for gratification. Maybe I wouldn’t like to see comments about it. Or even if I could confidently say no one so wasn’t setting out to read the contents of my police report from my abusers view not wanting to.

Sorry but yeah, I’m not fond of it! Or any platform that allows sexual content of minors, especially without a believe survivor’s first policy. And possibly if I see someone donating to AO3 I will want to scream.

I really am of the opinion that in order to prevent CSEM from being wildly shared, material for sexual gratification describing kids needs more HEAVY review. And if you’re not going to moderate it insanely well and prioritize survivors you don’t need to allow that content. Otherwise yes people with less than stellar goals will use it as a safe haven.

But yeah sorry. If you like AO3 maybe considering Just Not Donating, or engaging with sexual content involving child characters while their mod team is rough that’d be cool .

[sweaterkittensahoy]

I understand the need to fight back against anti semitism in this country, especially against people who don’t care about Palestinians, but are happy to use them to make people think their bigotry is somehow morally justified. But it feels like ultimately, people still don’t care about Palestine. Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas. I don’t think they should just lie down and accept terrorist attacks happening in their country. But they don’t have a right to attack innocent civilians for the crime of being in the same place Hamas is located. And I’m having a hard time believing that people aren’t being as terrible towards Muslims as they are towards Jewish people. I don’t think they need an excuse to hate somewhere with a mostly Islamic population. But that doesn’t seem to be as huge a concern. I understand where you’re coming from in that some pro Palestinian platforms in leftist spaces are dancing in just being loudly anti Semitic or for whatever reason think that the terrorists have a point when they want to spread fear by mass murdering innocents for their “cause”, but the rising rhetoric that supporting Palestine means you hate Jewish people when Palestinian lives are being wiped out in huge numbers feels wrong to me. It shouldn’t be a fight of which innocent lives in which country matters more, but that’s what it’s starting to feel like.

It's not "rising rhetoric" that to support Palestine means you hate Israel. It's a huge fucking problem that loud antisemites have taken over the largest, loudest parts of the movement to support and bring peace to Palestine and unquestionably turned it into an antisemitic shitshow. The only fix for that is people who support Palestine and don't hate Jews is to get louder and clean their fucking house.

That being said very directly, I will be focusing the rest of my answer on this portion of your ask, which I think is the most important chunk because you are sharing incorrect and intentionally wrong information, and I don't think you realize that's happening. I'll also be answering about the rise in Anti-Muslim activity because I think it's important we don't ignore what Anti-Muslim activity looks like right now versus Antisemitic activity. Because it's all fucking terrible, but it's important to consider that getting dinged by a car turning a corner is bad (happened to me) and getting hit by a car doing 20 mph is really fucking bad.

But they don’t have a right to attack innocent civilians for the crime of being in the same place Hamas is located. And I’m having a hard time believing that people aren’t being as terrible towards Muslims as they are towards Jewish people.

Israel isn't aiming at civilians on purpose. Hamas put military targets next to civilian targets to be able to claim Israel is aiming at civilians when they're bombing. This is a very well-known tactic of Hamas, and calling it "Israel bombing civilians" puts the fault of the situation on Israel, when they aren't the ones who did it. Hamas doesn't give a fuck about civilians. That's why the military installations are next to schools and hospitals. So they can point at the plie of bodies and go, "Look! Look what Israel did!" and fuck up the narrative to "Israel bombed a school!" and not "We very intentionally put a military installation next to this school because we will do anything we can to discredit Jewish people even if it means causing the death of our own civilians." This is a war crime, by the way. Putting military installations in places where they are likely to cause civilian harm. The Geneva Convention considers this sort of action a war crime.

I looked up Anti-Muslim stats for 2023 and found this article from ABC news that discusses a rise in Anti-Muslim and Anti-Sematic bias and attacks since October 7. I think this paragraph breaks it down well: There were 11 confirmed anti-Muslim hate crimes in New York City from Oct. 7, 2023, to Dec. 30, 2023, according to the NYPD, and 26 confirmed antisemitic hate crimes over the same time period -- a total of one anti-Muslim hate crime every 7.7 days, and one antisemitic hate crime every 3.3 days. There were just five confirmed anti-Muslim hate crimes from Jan. 1, 2023, to Oct. 6, 2023, according to the NYPD, and 49 confirmed antisemitic hate crimes (one every 5.7 days) over the same time period. So, yes, there has been a rise in bias against Muslims, and that's fucking bad. They shouldn't be bearing the brunt of Hamas's choices any more than every Jew in the world having to answer for anything Israel does. But--and this is incredibly important to this conversation--While Muslims are facing bias, Jews are facing VIOLENCE, and it was happening at a noticeably higher rate than violence against Muslims even BEFORE October 7. They are being told they should be eradicated. They are being told they should "go back to Poland" (what an astounding statement to make to Israeli Jews especially). They are being threatened for walking down the street and looking Jewish. It is a false equivalency to say "Well, there's a rise in Anti-Muslim bias, and no one is talking about it." Because the difference is--as detailed by the article linked above--bias on the job and in education along with immigration issues--and constant death threats and attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses. Both things are wrong and awful, but one group is being told they should be murdered en masse AGAIN, and the other is not.

[spankingtheatre]

hey there! As a fellow writer, have you also noticed regressing reblogs on your stories? When I first started I had very few followers but my stories still got lots of notes. Now, I've gained more followers but still the reblogs get few and far in between. I'm interested if this is a me-problem and people just don't like my stories anymore of if it's a more global phenomenom.

I hope you have a great day! Love your stories and games and thank you for sharing them (I swear I reblog) :)

That is such a great question!

My answer is yes, I have seen a drop in engagement (reblogs and likes) since I started writing, even though I think the quality of my stories has actually improved, and the number who follow me has greatly increased (although one can never tell how many are bots!)

So I'd be very interested to hear what others believe is the reason for this, both creators and readers. Feel free to reply and add your own thoughts below.

Personally, I think the main reason is fewer people now engage with Tumblr regularly, especially given the hostile attitude to sexual content. Communities are fragile coalitions of people, hard to build and build and easy to shatter. Being a member of a community requires effort, and if we don't feel our interactions are valued, we stop commenting and curating, and become merely consumers.

I strongly suspect there are other contributing reasons too. One of my core mental principles is if I ever want to understand why something is the way it is, I consider whether it's due to the Matthew Effect first, (aka the principle of accumulated advantage).

Popularity begets popularity. Attention is finite, and people tend to invest theirs in the places with the highest social proof. We writers are the small independent bookshops in the backstreets, not the hot buzzy nightclubs. So we rely on people who share our taste to spread the word of our existence. Likes give content an algorithmic boost, helping newcomers discover new content, whilst following builds an enduring audience.

But choosing to share on social media is a very personal choice, since you're effectively putting the words of others on your own blog. My Tumblr blog is a showcase of what I create, rather than what I curate, so I don't share much to avoid confusion. Whereas my Twitter feed does include content I retweet from others. People use different platforms in different ways, and that's OK.

So, in answer to the original question, I wouldn't take the drop in sharing personally. Sometimes great things go unseen.

I know I could get far more likes and reblogs if I "marketed myself properly". But I'm a modest guy at heart, who's uncomfortable shouting for attention. I just want to write, and excite the minds of those who read me.

The marvellous Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you”. I've never been motivated by popularity, I write because it's agony not to write.

But we are social creatures, and validation still matters. Any performer who walked off a stage as the audience sat in silence would feel terribly anxious and insecure. That's why we have the social convention of applause. and why social media has likes.

So thank you to everyone who applauds what I do, it helps me feel so much less weird, especially when I write about weird thing we all do.