#that they want us to use OUR social media and our analogues

[bit3z]

being evil in the tags again. i need to come uo witg a 8ersonal tag ig i kee8 loosing ny own 8osts

[mactiir]

So you want to learn to swordfight.

The most common question I see in historical fencing forums and on social media is "how do you get into HEMA?"

If you're like "what's HEMA?" -- that's Historical European Martial Arts -- it's the study and recreation of historical martial arts through weapons manuals written at the time! Many people take a scholarly approach to it -- focused on reading and recreating martial systems -- but many take a sport approach, because martial techniques are designed to be used martially! This means we're fencing -- swordfighting! Think Olympic fencing with bigger swords and slightly different rules, and more colorful gear. In this post, I will be more focused on how to get into the sporty, competition-focused side of the hobby.

Historical Fencing is a martial art! This is a really common confusion from folks who are more familiar with more well-known sword-loving communities. It's not LARPING (though I love a good LARP) -- we aren't playing characters or scenarios, and we don't dress up (usually-- rapier fencers love poofy pants, lol). It's not stage combat or SCA (although there's some community overlap)-- most of us are less interested in recreating periods or aesthetics from history than we are in learning to fence, and compete, with our weapons of choice. Although LARPing, SCA, and stage combat are all cousin hobbies to WMA, the closest analogue to Historical Fencing as a hobby is... Modern Fencing! Kendo and blade-focused Eastern Martial arts, like Kenjutsu, are also much more like historical fencing than SCA is.

Whether you're considering starting longsword fencing because your favorite author uses it as a reference, rapier fencing because it's the coolest weapon in your favorite video game, or just because you think it'd be sick as hell (it is), here's a (noncomprehensive) FAQ for becoming your very own sword lesbian/broadsword bisexual/greatsword gay/spear queer.

I don't know if there are any classes near me, where do I look?

The best place to start is the Hema Alliance Club Finder. You can use it to look up classes and sparring groups in your immediate geographic area.

2. The Club closest to me doesn't offer the weapon I'm interested in. Should I still go?

Yes. Most clubs are "longsword" clubs, but it’s really rare to find a historical fencer that exclusively fences a single system or weapon. Even if nobody at the club fences the system you're interested in, you can 1) probably talk them into it and 2)fencing not-your-weapon will still make you better at your-weapon. My club is a "longsword" club, but we have fencers who regularly do saber, rapier, rapier and dagger, messer, messer and buckler, side sword and buckler, katana, broadsword, spear, and even montante (greatsword). Just ask!

3) The nearest club is too far away. Can I learn just by studying manuals online?

Yes and no. I don’t recommend doing lots of solo practice without having attended a class. It's a good way to engrain bad habits, as well as avoid fencing altogether ("i cant spar yet, my form isn't perfect/ive learned bad habits" or worse, "i don’t need to spar, i know all the manuals inside and out"). This is a really important point: LEARNING TO MOVE A SPECIFIC WEAPON IS LESS THAN 30% OF FENCING, and you will be moving through guards and forms like a pro with only a few months of intentional practice. Your cut form can be picture-perfect and you will still get wrecked in a bout if you don't have experience. Most of fencing is understanding timing, distance, your psychology and your opponent's, and knowing from experience which positions you can get to from what other positions. You can only learn to fence by... fencing. Now, if your thing is studying arms manuals and replicating them picture-perfect, which some people are into, more power to you! But it won't be winning you any tournaments, and I am writing this assuming you want to do the sporty/swordfighty side of things.

4) wait, there are books on swordfighting?

Yes. Check Wiktenauer. Most of them are free. My club does Joachim Meyer; Fiore and Lichtenauer are also fairly common for longsword.

5) I really can't get to classes, though. Am I just out of luck?

Is there an Olympic fencing group nearby? How about lightsaber fencing? No, seriously. Kendo? Boxing? All of these things train the exact skills that are difficult to learn in HEMA fencing -- distance, timing, reaction speed, fight psychology. Some of the best beginners I've ever sparred came from lightsaber, or kendo. If there is no group nearby at all, pick up a copy of Meyer's art of combat and a 12-inch length of steel pipe (it's the same weight as a longsword) to learn how to move the sword (do NOT hit people with this, oh my god), go to kendo for a few months, and you'll be in decent shape for WMA sparring when you can get to a group.

The reason HEMA is fun is because of the community! Even if it's a really intense commute, try to make it to class at least once or twice. You will enjoy it more, you will learn more, and you will fence better. Don't just do it all on your own! Most of the people in these groups have fallen into the common mistakes so YOU don't have to. Utilize them!

6) What do I do if there are no people to spar with nearby?

Why don't you start a group? Purpleheart armory sells foam swords for like $50 each. Get some friends, get everybody a mask and a boffer and get to it! This is how HEMA as a hobby started -- people messing around with foam trainers and a copy of a 16th century arms manual.

6.5) I'm sparring outside of a club -- should we use synthetics, wood, or steel?

Dude, just use foam until you can get a complete steel kit. Keep in mind: synthetics can be as dangerous as steel, wood is MORE dangerous than steel, and steel requires full safety kit for full speed sparring. Don't break your fingers because you wanted to look cool. These things HURT, and can cause serious injury unless used with intention.

7) should I buy a sword?

If you're with a HEMA school, they will have their own cadence for buying gear, and the sword is usually the last thing you get. You should only buy a federschwert (training sword) once you know your style and sword preference. If you're not following a club cadence or planning to attend a tournament, Do Not buy a steel weapon. A full steel spar kit costs like $800 dollars, and without a full safety kit all you have is a $300 wall ornament nobody can use.

And don't buy a blunt, please. Beginners love blunts because they look like "real swords". They also break bones. Federschwerts are standard in the community and nobody is going to think you’re cool for showing up with a weapon designed to snap someone's humerus in half. If you're that twisted about it, Sigi forge sells schiltless feders that look like "real" swords (a feder is a real sword, but I digress).

8) what safety gear should I buy?

Every club and tournament has its own recommendations. Look at the Mid-Continental HEMA Open rules for a very standard list of gear reqs for a reputable tournament. Generally, in this order, it's:

-mask (don't point a sword at anyone without one of these on)

-chest plastron (for preventing unfortunate accidents that might send shards through the lungs)

-gorget (rigid or semi-rigid)

-hardshell gloves (don't do lacrosse gloves or other soft gloves for longsword, you'll break your fingers)

-puncture-resistant jacket

-forearms/elbows

-shins/knees

-back of head protector (concussions bad)

-pants/skirt

-sword

I probably missed something but these are the most common questions-- fellow HEMAists or interested parties, lmk if I missed anything! Happy fencing!

[dangerous-ladies]

Help the Dangerous Ladies Keep Creating!

Hello, it’s been a while! Unfortunately, we’re coming back under less than ideal circumstances.  Our Etsy shop, our main source of income, has been recently suspended due to copyright claims. At the behest of our supporters, we have started a Gofundme to help keep the lights on.

Help Us Out at our GoFundMe

If you don’t know us, we're a small woman owned and operated, LGBT-friendly costuming company that has been cosplaying together for a decade and providing resin kits, patterns, textiles and other accessories to the community since 2013. We’re based in Toronto, Canada.

To date, we have shipped more than 26,000 kits, prints, files and other resources for cosplayers. This business is our livelihood and came to fruition through hard work and effort. Everything we make is from scratch, with our own hands and our own machines, in small quantities, to order. Our digital files are all made in-house, individually, using no official assets. We are not a factory mass-producing wholesale goods, nor do we dropship other people's products. We are a committed little business that has loved being on Etsy, and truly believe we are the very artists that Etsy should want to platform –– our goods are handmade, unique, and often the only resource of their kind! We work hard for our high ratings, but agents operating on behalf of certain companies occasionally send take-downs, and then do not reply to us when we try to work it out with them. It's complicated, but the reality is that we're creating projects in the realm of transformative work and are by no means taking away profit from the creators of these properties, as our cosplay kits are one-of-a-kind creations with no official analogue. We also feel very strongly that cosplay is an incredible form of free advertising for companies producing video games, anime, tv shows and movies. Cosplayers put in a tremendous amount of labour, time and money to make their costumes, which they wear and display all over conventions, the internet and social media. We know from experience that companies enjoy and engage with the fruits of this labour; the very companies that inspire us to create kits sometimes hire us (and other cosplayers) themselves to represent their media after having seen our store! We've had the distinct pleasure of working for media companies large and small, and they know what we make and allow us to keep the rights to our files and associated assets. These companies also regularly post on social media with cosplayers using our work.  However, Etsy does not know who or what companies choose to allow the sale of fan art and goods. To them, a report is a report, even if it is erroneous or mistaken. This has been a crushing blow to us as a small business. We're a very month-to-month, low-profit business after we pay the bills and our team. Currently, Dangerous Ladies employs eight staff members and operates from a rented studio space. Both our staff and our space are an integral part of our business and allow us to be able to operate at our current capacity, providing cosplay resources to creators all around the world.  Without support, we will have to scale back dramatically, if not close entirely. While we work to appeal with Etsy, we realize that there is a chance we may not see our platform flourish there again, so we are working diligently to bring you our new website, and welcome you to visit our Storenvy in the meantime. We started this Gofundme  Although orders are very important to us right now, we understand that some of you may not have the need to order a kit, print, or fabric at the moment, but still wish to support us through this trying time. For this, we want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Sincerely, the Dangerous Ladies Jenn, Christine, Shazz, Aubree, Nicole, Gabi, Syd, and Jules <3 Can I see more of what you do? Of course! While our Etsy is down, you can visit us on Storenvy or subscribe to our newsletter. You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram!

[langernameohnebedeutung]

I know, I know it might be the algorithm and all but I'm actually disturbed by how much content I see on places like Instagram, reels of couples talking about how your partner is toxic if they're not letting you have access to their phone, don't give you the code to their devices (Clearly they have something to hide!!!!) if they're spending time with (respectively) male/female friends on their own or if they're going out - and I don't think it's a coincidence that the vast majority are explicitly or implicitly about women being 'toxic' if they don't give their boyfriend access to their social media or have male friends or go out on parties or have female friends (!) (because apparently female friends will sabotage the relationship aka tell her that her boyfriend is a controlling manipulative knob). One woman bragged about how her boyfriend sends her photos and locations every several minutes on vacation to show her that he's just with the boys and that this is beautiful and normal and 'see, your relationship can be this healthy, too! Don't take less!' <3<3<3<3<3<3 Yesterday I saw a guy talking about how if he pays more for stuff like rent or food or sth, he has a right that his girlfriend delete her social media presence entirely.

it's 'they read my message at 10:15 am and haven't responded!!!!!'/'they were online on social media A but didn't respond to me on social media B!!!'/'they received so-and-so many snaps!!!' culture meeting toxic relationship meeting heteronormative stereotypes and relationship models meeting using therapy language for manipulation meeting 'men and women cannot be friends' meeting you have to be online and available 24/7 meeting parental child-tracking devices NOW FOR ADULTS meeting abusive partners hiding AirTags in your car (but now guilt-tripping you into taking them with you) meeting women are a passive resource that is accessible to any man talking to her for long enough.

It's basically turning relationships into a dystopia of their own where you can track your s/o like a fuckin Tamagotchi (and if they don't let you, they are the evil wrongdoers who are hurting you!). You cannot escape work anymore, you grow up controlled by your family, you're under constant supervision of whatever loser tiktoker happens to walk by you - and now even your relationship is being turned into a hyper-controlled space. Not to be dramatic, but that's another space - the most private and most intimate space for most people's lives - that is no longer private or personal and no longer in their hands.

And I think most of us adults are still analogue enough to see how toxic it is (except abusers will definitely see how useful it is to tell their SO that this is normal) - but you also have kids growing up and bombarded with this content telling them that this is normal and healthy and that they have a right to track their partner like they purchased GirlFriend Premium PlusPlusPlus and are now owed (and it's so healthy and normal and good!) access to their partner 24/7.

And there is also the simply matter of what it does to relationships if the demon of 'cheating' is constantly, constantly, constantly in the room without reason. It's pushing a culture where you treat your partner like they've already cheated - for no reason. Where the default of your relationship is treating your partner like that. Which is something that hurts you and hurts them. This is like becoming randomly obsessed with the idea that your partner might be stealing money from your purse or has a second family hidden away somewhere. It's basically setting yourself up to look for something that doesn't match up or feeling betrayed if your partner simply...wants a moment of privacy. Privacy and some alone-time is a very central human need. One that in our current time is losing a lot of ground which means that most of our secrecy is now happening in our private lives (someone made a post on here about how young people e.g. are more likely to shut their curtains and stuff). But if you now hivemind the kids into the belief that every person is per default a cheater and under constant obligation to prove otherwise (guilty unless proving innocent at all times), that's another piece of privacy disappearing and it's putting a giant strain on your relationship - basically setting it up to fail and do you both a lot of mental damage.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

A Tale of Two Hannya: Flowers Without Names

Last time we dabbled in this area we made it clear we were just scratching the surface. I have a lot I want to say about how Kiku & Yamato play off of each other and how it plays into manga’s long history of playing with gender. We’ve already brought up the classic series on the right, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and how Yamato sorta falls into some of the same pitfalls of the iconic princely lady. But I don’t think this discussion is complete without acknowledging another very important landmark shoujo that still casts a long shadow today. The Rose of Versailles, an iconic 70s series starring the dashing Lady Oscar. Raised as a man to inherit her father’s spot in the royal guard and her “Anthy,” fitting for a story told with the backdrop of the French Revolution, is none other than Marie Antoinette.

So here’s our thesis. Famously the intent of Rose wasn’t initially Oscar. Antoinette was supposed to be the protagonist but was upstaged by such a novel heroine for the time. Utena was the deconstruction of what spawned in her wake. Wano’s Hannya duo? A wickedly smart evolution that’s actually quite responsive to contemporary social changes.

Oscar really does seem like she ended up being this accidental icon, but for all the glory and passion her story is so often wound up in how she can never really escape being sucked in to “women’s games.” It’s a solid recipe; she’s remarkable as a guard & soldier but situations force her to deal with things as a woman. Contrast between battle and courtroom intrigue. It’s a very old school type of feminist work. Similar tone if a different structure than Kozue in the slightly earlier Attack No.1 and a lot of our Pinkie Violence heroines. Deep down there’s always that “A woman is still a woman” element. That’s fallen out of fashion as more feminist depictions have become normal, but there’s a certain power in that internal dynamic. 

The appeal was just seeing a female lead doing cool shit. And this parallels a lot of world media from the 60s/70s. Still pretty old fashioned gender expectations but seeing women buck them at all was fresh. Thing is...give it twenty years and new issues crop up. By the 90s we have a generation that grew up on things like Rose of Versailles and analogues to the point this action girl tomboy is just a trope. A trope bordering on cliche. A trope that allowed how we write most women to stagnate. Love interests, mothers, etc. didn’t have to get with the times. Just toss in a girl that does cool guy things and you’re golden! Most copycats lacked the balance that made Rose so iconic.  Enter Utena, so far ahead of the curve. I’ve heard her described as revolutionary even.

The titular Utena is a fairy tale character in the real world. She is a perfect lil Mary Sue, but the more the story matures the more it becomes obvious a fairy tale character lacks the sense to pick up on real issues. That’s Utena’s magic; juxtaposing the uber cool main character with the actual scary forces in the world. Leading to an ending that lets seemingly useless, docile Anthy drive the point home. A character like Utena can inspire strength...but most girls are going to have to learn other tactics. “Utena” is the Japanese word for Calyx, the outer part of a flower bud that protects it. Smash the world’s shell...

Revolutionary for the time, ahead of the curve in so many ways. But its 30 years old now. We’re at a point it isn’t rare to see casual critique of leaning on the action girl tomboy as a crutch. Nothing new under the Sun, we’ve been here before. It’ll swing that way until a new generation thinks Peppermint Patty is subversive again. And that’s the landscape One Piece got to have fun with.

Which brings us to our pair of breakout new faces in Wano. One of the biggest changes to stories that play with gender roles in this day and age is the reality we pay more attention to why some people organically feel that way. Yamato’s still playing this trope straight. Very straight actually. Background is totally on par with Oscar and the way you go about it feels very similar...for the most part. Could say the same about Utena, Yams is someone who kept that spark of nobility equivalent well into adulthood. There is definitely not a “woman is still a woman” angle with Yamato. The bath scene is a great example. No, you just don’t have that modesty. 

Kiku has that element though, in spades. Her story runs on it. What was old fashioned becomes forward thinking now by combining two tropes. Let the girly trans woman have that old theme if it isn’t as relevant anymore for most women. Same logic I’d use to say she makes a great quartermaster template. It’d be an eyeroll to make most female crewmates the one swabbing the deck or doing laundry in establishing shots...not so much if it’s Kiku. Which gives a cool edge, what’s stifling for some is liberating for others. 

That said...looking at the two together I can’t unsee the gentle repudiation of the very extreme end “all that matters at all is what you say your are” mindset. We’re not getting into discourse here, I’m just identifying trends that exist regardless of how you may feel about them. One Piece is far, far, far from the only reflection the pendulum is swinging the other way even within the community. Yamato’s treated more on the same tier as like, Bon & Iva. He does feel a little more like a caricature at points. And I do think part of the way they’re used together is making a statement about their relative journeys. How certain aspects can feel like Yamato gets the best of both worlds and Kiku the worst. Yamato doesn’t have to care because at worst you’ll think he’s silly instead of creepy and for meeting that impossible bar of being the perfect lady as good as anyone in Wano...Kiku’s “prize” is having to juggle two sets of lofty expectations.  

I feel like Oda really knew what he was doing here. Knew teenage battle shonen fans would bend over backwards to make excuses for Yamato and aggressively ignore Kiku. If OP Academy’s pulling the same trick this was clearly the intent. Both play with the expectations of that generic Strong Female Character archetype One Piece has generally avoided. Oda’s great at writing women but seems to feel that action girl tomboy is a crutch too. We’ll probably revisit this one down the line. It’s a deep well and one that’s delicate to talk about. But I wanted to end this tour of my drafts page for the last year with a bang.

[dog-uncrushed]

think im hitting a kind of fatigue at the larping as analogue thing -- ive had a flip phone for couple months now and not sure the good its done me exactly... the most noticeable change is using my laptop more, which has become the only computer in my life. The vulgar doomscroll and media bingeing havn't gone away theyv just become less convenient and therefore more conscious processes , which also means more violent processes (the forces at work are naked). So i have come to contemplate my addiction and its withdrawals more...

one part of me wants to ride out the experiment as an exercise in discipline. yet another part of me wants to cave in: cant i have a critical consciousness of our living in a culture of image, celebrity, self-mythos, pornography and envy and so on while still participating it? The luddite phantasy is to not participate and thereby win new freedom that consists in its return to the Old. Non-participation precipitates analogue activity: the luddite is as active among his books and notebooks as the egirl is on the web. But I worry that the Luddite's phantasy is a phantasy of purity: the internet is dirty, books are clean. This sets up superegoic circuits: going online and getting dirty becomes a temptation because it is a transgression. Routines of self-flagellation and ablution that correct for transgression reinforce a dependence upon the dirty internet even though they ostensibly cut against it.

Here are the seeds of fascism. The luddite is a reactionary: reject Modernity, for it corrupts absolutely and embrace tradition which corrects and absolves absolutely. It doesn't look Reactionary for the luddite identifies Capital as the culprit of corruption: he has the same enemy as the Revolutionary. Yet Marxism insists that we cannot try to resolve the contradictions of capitalism by going against the momentum of Capital which throws the Modernist project into the future, the Communist project must reconcile itself to these contradictions and incorporate them into its social organisation and Not resist them for the sake of returning to an earlier time without contradiction: for everywhere contradiction reigns. A logic of purity, like the one envinced by the superego is one that seeks to eliminate contradiction. But in practice it exploits contradiction instead of eliminating it: the idea of purity promises salvation while always delivering denigration. The more one tries to be pure the more one finds oneself impure. The fascist leader and the superego are one in setting up impossible ideals of salvation which function to demarcate lines of purity and impurity, of 'us' and 'them'. The luddite fancies himself a puritan isolate, separated by 8"inches of gorilla glass from the great zoo of the terminally online "They".

I still think social media is a scourge on this earth, I just don't know if its a scourge that one has to quarantine from. It comes down to this: we're all attention-whores today whose personalities start to freeze and crumble without warm and steady streams of recognition. Turning off the taps of recognition leads to the zombie like withdrawal state of total passivity that scrolls to court the abyss.

Against the abyss I toast to activity: Here's for activity! I drink to the text post

[just6f]

SALE, SALE, SALE -- GET CREATIVE CAT CATERPILLAR PLUSH TOYS AT A 13% DISCOUNT! We are glad to offer you our Creative Cat Caterpillar Plush Toys at a shocking 13% discount! Get this high-demand product today at our special price, while stock is still available. With us, you get: Fast, worldwide delivery A no-questions-asked return policy Ready-to-help customer service Learn more about Stuffed Soft Animal Long Pillow Funny Bed Cushion with our info below: CREATIVE CAT CATERPILLAR PLUSH TOYS DETAILS Filling: Pp cotton Material: Cotton Gender: Unisex Features: Stuffed & plush Moreover, we will deliver your to any country and location of your choice. So, enjoy this limited offer with no doubts: if you don’t like the product, you can ask for a refund! PRODUCT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS I want to buy the Stuffed Soft Animal Long Pillow Funny Bed Cushion you offer. But what makes it better than analogues? Having the highest quality and lowest price, the Creative Cat Caterpillar Plush Toys will certainly let you safely enjoy your choice with no post-purchase regrets. What about quality? Do you produce this item according to all the manufacturing requirements? There is nothing to worry about because our supplier manufactures the Creative Cat Caterpillar Plush Toys in accordance with all the required standards. Are you sure this product is affordable? According to our research, $21.84 is not a high price to ask for such a product. Furthermore, many our competitors ask for a higher price. How much? The Creative Cat Caterpillar Plush Toys will cost you $21.84. Click ADD TO CART to place an order! I would like to provide your future customers with a review of this product. Is it OK? Listening to customers is very important, so it would be great if you could post your reviews on social media! Is it wise to make this purchase? View the picture gallery, read the product description, look through the customer reviews and see if the Stuffed Soft Animal Long Pillow Funny Bed Cushion will meet your requirements. We're sure you won't regret it, because it has good value for money. ORDERING & STORE POLICIES Can I order several products at once? When placing an order, you can choose the number of units, so you can order as many products as you want. I’m worried about my package. What if it breaks? We pack all orders in a proper way to prevent your purchases from damage in transit, so you don't have to worry. What should I do to order the Stuffed Soft Animal Long Pillow Funny Bed Cushion for myself? Click on the Height and Color you want to buy, then click ADD TO CART button. After that, you will need to indicate your first and second names, address, etc., and pay for the order. Then relax and wait! We will do everything possible to send your package in the shortest time. Is the estimated delivery time true to life? Our estimated delivery time tends to be accurate in the majority of cases; still, please allow for 2-3 days’ difference. Lots of stores sell similar stuff. So why would I order from you? We cherish our reputation and want our clients to keep coming back. Therefore, we don’t deceive customers and cash in on them. We don’t inflate our prices and don’t sell items of poor quality. Can the Stuffed Soft Animal Long Pillow Funny Bed Cushion be available offline? You might see similar items in regular stores, but the price will most likely be higher than ours. https://just6f.com/creative-cat-caterpillar-plush-toys-stuffed-soft-animal-long-pillow-funny-bed-cushion/?feed_id=7815&_unique_id=66e809cf85ea2

[emmachine22]

17/01/24 - Animation

I also created the animation for the Facebook advert. The idea was that you would be scrolling on either Instagram or Facebook and this would pop up as a paid ad.

Amy and I had brainstormed a storyboard the night before and so I used this to inform my decisions on After Effects.

Starting with the “pssst.. hey you!” Immediately grabs the audiences attention as it directly speaks to them. “Are you endlessly scrolling?” adds relatability, as that is what majority of people do on social media. When it came to timings, I just used “endlessly scrolling?” Because having the whole sentence took up too much time with the typewriter effect that I felt worked with the John Doe font we had chosen. It brought the viewer back to an analogue feel, before fast typing, which was one of the aims for our brand. We wanted to almost completely remove modern technology, so I felt this effect kept it interesting with an old-timely feel.

I played around with the pun on the name, ‘log off’, and used the font we had chosen for it. This made the brand memorable, especially with the beautiful pictures of the cabins we found on Pexels. I showed the pictures by animating them like you were shuffling physical photographs and at the end, revealed the log off logo that Ayalah designed, with a short tagline for impact and short explanation for the brand.

At the end, I added bird song over the video to make the viewer feel calm and like they were already at the cabins. It worked perfectly to set the scene which, learnt from my research, would entice the viewers to book our retreats.

If I had more time, I would probably want to add one of the organic social media stickers we made at the end, with a call to action. However I was getting short on time as it took the majority of the day to make this animation, and I didn’t know how to create a sticker peel effect.

Despite that, I feel my animation worked really well, applied to the TA and showcased how the brand would be advertised in context.

[xtruss]

Illustration By Bryce Wymer

The Year of Ozempic: We May Look Back on New Weight-Loss Drugs as Some of the Greatest Advances in the Annals of Chronic Disease.

— By Dhruv Khullar | December 14, 2023

A Century Ago, August Krogh, a Danish physiologist who had just won the Nobel Prize, embarked on a U.S. lecture tour. Krogh studied the intricate network of blood vessels that nourish our muscles, but he was increasingly interested in diabetes—a condition that his wife, the physician Marie Krogh, not only treated but also suffered from. Marie asked her husband to stop in Toronto, where a surgeon and a medical student had experimented with “pancreatic extract,” which appeared to shift sugar from the bloodstream into muscles and other organs. Krogh returned to Denmark with permission to sell the stuff. He and some colleagues started Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium, and in the spring of 1923 they injected their first patients with an early miracle drug: insulin.

The next year, two Nordisk employees, brothers named Thorvald and Harald Pedersen, left the company. Krogh apparently asked Harald, “What are you going to do?”

“We want to make insulin,” Harald responded.

“Well, you’ll never manage that,” Krogh said.

Krogh was wrong. The Pedersens founded Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium, and for decades, the two rival companies produced much of the world’s insulin. In the early days, they operated hospitals mostly for people with Type 1 diabetes, a previously fatal autoimmune condition in which the body produces little or no insulin. In the second half of the twentieth century, however, their market grew: obesity and an associated condition, Type 2 diabetes, were becoming more common. Novo and Nordisk, which merged in 1989, explored other potential diabetes remedies, including a naturally occurring hormone, GLP-1, that appeared to exert exquisite control over blood sugar. It would eventually form the basis for one of the world’s most profitable drugs.

Krogh once argued that, for many biological problems, “there will be some animal of choice, or a few such animals, on which it can be most conveniently studied”—an insight known as Krogh’s principle. Originally, GLP-1 wasn’t considered a useful medicine because it dissolved too quickly in the body. But in the nineteen-nineties, as though in homage to Krogh, an endocrinologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs discovered that the venom of Gila monsters, a type of lizard native to North America, carried a peptide similar to GLP-1 that lasted for hours. He licensed his finding to researchers who developed a twice-daily injection that imitated the lizard peptide. Meanwhile, scientists at Novo Nordisk developed their own GLP-1 analogue and, in 2010, released a once-daily injection called liraglutide, or Victoza, for Type 2 diabetes. The GLP-1 drugs had another effect, too: people taking them lost a little weight.

If the story ended there, so-called GLP-1 agonists—also known as incretin mimetics, because they mimic natural gut hormones—would not be very well known. But Novo Nordisk wanted a medication that people didn’t have to inject every day, so it developed a once-weekly formulation. For reasons that remain a mystery, semaglutide, which is sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, caused profound reductions in weight. A two-hundred-pound woman might easily lose thirty pounds on the medication. People who had struggled to lose weight since childhood suddenly could.

Last year, the news spilled from scientific journals onto social media, generating hope for patients, excitement among doctors, and a windfall for Novo Nordisk. It is now the most valuable listed company in Europe, worth nearly half a trillion dollars, and Novo Nordisk is responsible for essentially all of Denmark’s recent economic growth. Meanwhile, there are scores of similar drugs in development, including pills, which patients prefer to injections. In June, a clinical trial sponsored by Eli Lilly found that a pill with the melodious name orforglipron caused weight reductions on par with Ozempic’s. Soon, millions of people could wake up, brush their teeth, and swallow their orforglipron along with their multivitamins or baby aspirin.

The science of GLP-1 agonists has often zigged, and now it might zag. GLP-1 produces all sorts of cascading effects; the human body has receptors for it not only in the gut but also in the liver, muscles, and brain. Studies keep turning up surprises: some of the medications appear to reduce the incidence of heart attacks and strokes, slow the progression of kidney disease, and shrink dangerous fat deposits in the liver. People who take them have reported diminished cravings for alcohol and tobacco; some have reported feeling less compelled to gamble, compulsively pick at their skin, and engage in other addictive behaviors. “It’s an unprecedented situation,” Christian Hendershot, a University of North Carolina clinical psychologist who is studying semaglutide’s effect on alcohol use, told me. “The anecdotal reports of people saying these drugs are helping them cut back on drinking or smoking have come much faster than our clinical studies can confirm.” Lizard venom helped to turn an obscure hormone into potent diabetes medications, and then into the most promising weight-loss treatments in history. We’re still discovering how much they’ll change our lives.

Obesity has existed in some form since antiquity. So-called Venus figurines, which date back tens of thousands of years, portray women with wide hips and bellies that, in times of food scarcity, might have signified wealth and well-being. But, over time, obesity has assumed harshly negative connotations. When Alexander Hamilton was Treasury Secretary, his sister-in-law, in England, fretted in a letter that “our dear Hamilton writes too much and takes no exercise and grows too fat.” Just before assuming the Presidency, William Howard Taft, perhaps the first American politician to be defined by his weight, enlisted the services of a British weight-loss physician. “No real gentleman,” Taft wrote, “weighs more than 300 pounds.” His weight yo-yoed for the rest of his life, and a generation of cartoonists ruthlessly caricatured him. According to one study, between 1922 and 1999, a period when many Americans gained weight, the average weight of a beauty-pageant winner declined by twelve per cent. An unrealistic and often harmful ideal of beauty was taking hold, even as sedentary jobs, targeted advertising, and ultra-processed foods made it less attainable. Corporations were hiring food scientists to test combinations of sugar, salt, and fat that hijacked the brain’s reward circuitry. “We’ve built a consumer society that extracts profit from consumers by exploiting our inability to control our cravings,” Scott Galloway, an N.Y.U. marketing professor and podcaster, told me. “The industrial food complex offers us what we’re evolutionarily unable to resist.”

It is hard to overstate how little progress the United States has made on this issue. Weight is not always a health problem: people with larger bodies can be metabolically healthy, just as people with normal B.M.I.s can develop diabetes and heart disease. But, over the years, obesity has been medicalized because of its links to diabetes, hypertension, and heartburn; arthritis, strokes, and heart disease; cirrhosis, sleep apnea, and kidney failure; depression, infertility, and cancer. Even so, the share of the population that is overweight has increased virtually every year since the nineteen-seventies. In the years after the National Institutes of Health essentially declared war on obesity, in 1998, rates of severe obesity doubled, and deaths from obesity-related heart disease tripled.

These poor results are not for lack of trying: when prescriptions of “diet and exercise” proved insufficient, there were the fen-phen debacle of the nineties, the Atkins craze of the early two-thousands, and the soda taxes of the twenty-tens. Advocates have argued for more walkable neighborhoods, changes to food subsidies, and the removal of junk foods from vending machines in schools; researchers developed protocols that produced small reductions in weight, only to see patients quickly gain it back. Today, nearly three-quarters of the U.S. population is considered overweight, and more than forty per cent is considered obese. Globally, twice as many people are overweight today as there were humans on the planet a century ago. Too often, obesity has been blamed on bad choices. In truth, it is a condition that, perhaps more than any other, has been manufactured by modernity.

As a doctor, I regularly treat patients for whom obesity has worsened an illness or complicated a treatment. Often, the impact is obvious: severe sleep apnea makes an older woman’s pneumonia worse; a man who doesn’t drink suffers from cirrhosis, because fat has infiltrated and inflamed his liver; an adolescent who has been mercilessly bullied for her weight arrives in an emergency department with suicidal thoughts. At other times, the medical system itself can make it harder for patients. Years ago, when I was still in medical training, I was surprised when a surgeon refused to operate on a patient of mine who was overweight. Obesity, I learned, is linked to complications like wound infections, blood clots, kidney problems, and difficulty weaning off a ventilator. But my patient had a medical condition that made it difficult for him to exercise, and his job as a taxi-driver made it virtually impossible. Asking him to lose fifty pounds before a surgery that we all knew he needed seemed cruel and futile.

For patients like these, the new medications could be transformative. Doctors who once had little to offer could soon have many effective treatments to choose from. Ozempic and its sister drug, Wegovy, mimic the effects of GLP-1 to lower blood sugar, suppress appetite, and produce a faster sense of fullness. In clinical trials, people who’ve taken the medications have lost, on average, fifteen per cent of their weight. A newer drug, Mounjaro, also mimics a second hormone, producing even greater reductions in weight; in Phase II trials of retatrutide, a “triple-agonist” that mimics three hormones, people taking the highest dosage lost nearly a quarter of their body weight—a decline approaching that of a much more invasive intervention, gastric-bypass surgery. These drugs tend to make food less appealing, leading to fundamental and durable health benefits, at least while patients take them.

Over the past year, demand for Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro has greatly outstripped supply, creating persistent shortages for patients who need them. (Technically, Ozempic and Mounjaro are approved for diabetes, while Wegovy and Zepbound are approved for obesity. In practice, all have been used for weight loss, and “Ozempic”—which was the first to market—has become a kind of shorthand for the class.) Suspected fake Ozempic pens have spread across Europe and caused several people in Austria to be hospitalized; in the U.S., some have turned to off-brand compounding pharmacies for their supply. Unfortunately, unreasonable beauty standards are driving some of the demand, showing us just how far we are from having truly healthy relationships with our bodies. People have used the drugs to get into wedding shape, and have taken out credit cards or second jobs to pay for them; wealthy Americans look around at thin neighbors and ask, “Who’s on Vitamin O?” This spring, speaking to a crowd of annoyingly attractive actors at the Academy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel mused, “When I look around at this room, I can’t help but wonder: Is Ozempic right for me?”

Galloway, the marketing professor, is convinced that new weight-loss drugs will reshape American society almost as profoundly as processed foods once did, leading to better health, elevated moods, more sex, deeper creativity, and even a reorientation of the capitalist drives that manufactured our obesity epidemic. In a sense, the enormous collateral damage of one industry, Big Food, is helping to supercharge another industry, Big Pharma. In recent months, shares of beer, snacking, and fast-food companies have fallen, in anticipation of the changing consumption habits of tens of millions of Americans. (Investors seem to hold special concern for the prospects of Krispy Kreme.) Some think that lighter passengers could save airlines millions on fuel costs, and medical-device manufacturers are scrambling to assure investors that people will still need glucose monitors and knee prosthetics. Obesity is a problem that our high-tech society invented; now we’re finding out whether technology can also be the solution.

The Ozempic Revolution could still disappoint us. For one thing, the medications don’t work for everybody. “Everyone wants to be that person they see on TikTok or Instagram who lost fifty pounds,” Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity-medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, told me. “The reality is that there are high-responders and low-responders, and people need to be prepared that they could fall anywhere along the spectrum.” Stanford wants pharmaceutical companies to study the role of genomics in the effects of GLP-1 drugs: “Why is Jane Doe losing tons of weight while John Doe, poor guy, hardly loses any weight at all?”

Ozempic and Wegovy can cause nausea, constipation, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal symptoms. A man in his early fifties told me that he has persistently experienced these side effects since starting Ozempic six months ago. He said he lives with the trade-off in hopes of avoiding obesity in old age, when it’s most harmful. “I’ve come to accept that the side effects are kind of how the drugs work,” he said. “It’s the price you pay for gaining the ability to not overeat.” Still, one analysis found that, although most people tolerate the drugs in clinical trials, roughly two-thirds of real-world patients discontinue them within a year. One major downside of the drugs is that if you stop taking them you tend to regain the weight.

Weight loss can come with its own risks for older adults. People can lose fat on the medications, but also bone density and muscle mass, which in turn has been linked to an increased risk of falls and other problems in older individuals. (Several pharmaceutical companies are studying weight-loss drugs that could reduce these potential risks.) “I try not to call these drugs game-changing or earth-shattering or whatever,” Stanford said. “They are another tool in our tool kit. Yes, that tool kit is growing more effective—maybe a lot more effective—but these drugs have some issues, and they should be understood as one part of the over-all solution.”

The cost of the medications presents a further challenge, especially in the U.S., where a thirty-day supply of Ozempic is priced at close to a thousand dollars. (It costs a hundred and forty-seven dollars in Canada, and just ninety-three in the United Kingdom.) Even Americans with health coverage may find that insurers don’t want to pay for decades of drugs, and Medicare, which covers sixty-five million Americans, is currently prohibited from paying for weight-loss medications. (If advocates succeed in changing that, Medicare could face a colossal budgetary problem: if everyone diagnosed with obesity used the drugs, coverage could cost more than the program’s current spending on all other drugs combined.) Meanwhile, Medicaid’s tight budgets could make low-income Americans, who have the highest rates of obesity, the least likely to benefit from the new medications.

Even as new competitors enter the market, reducing prices, “the huge numbers of people who could benefit from these medications, multiplied by the indefinite period of time they need to take them, makes this a very big and very long-term spending problem,” Stacie Dusetzina, a drug-policy expert at Vanderbilt, told me. She pointed out that Sovaldi, an antiviral that can help cure hepatitis C, débuted in 2013 at a cost of nearly ninety thousand dollars; although versions of the drug are now sold for less than half that price, only a third of eligible American adults have been treated. “The fact that we missed so badly with hep C doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence when it comes to drugs,” Dusetzina said. There are some three million Americans with hepatitis C; there are more than a hundred million with obesity.

Early in My Medical Training, I thought that I might devote my career to fighting obesity. I interned at a tobacco-control organization, hoping to apply the lessons of one public-health campaign to another. I shadowed an obesity-medicine doctor, took classes on food marketing and food addiction, and researched the causes of childhood adiposity. Over time, though, I became disillusioned. Whereas the harms of smoking can be traced to tobacco and the companies that peddle it, obesity is tangled up in our food, jobs, culture, education, and neighborhoods. Year after year, in visit after visit, I couldn’t help feeling that I was failing my patients. As I sat in the clinic, asking them to try “diet and exercise” or intermittent fasting—these appeals have limited effectiveness, according to numerous studies—my recommendations started to feel hollow. I was reading them a script, knowing how the story would end.

Lately, I’ve been thinking back to the moment in late 2020 when covid treatments and vaccines started to change the course of the pandemic. For months, doctors could do hardly anything as patients suffered and died. Then, suddenly, we could do a lot. Steroids helped patients survive, antiviral medications seemed to reduce symptoms, and soon we had not one but several powerful vaccines. For me as a doctor, the arrival of these medications this past year has felt like a similar kind of tipping point—the moment when a leading threat to human health may finally have started to recede. We may look back on these drugs as some of the greatest advances in the annals of chronic disease. They are not a cure for obesity, or the stigma associated with it; some people will struggle with side effects, and others will struggle to pay for them. But, for many millions of people, our post-Ozempic world will be better than the one we lived in before. For the first time in years, I’m reading from a new script. This one has a more hopeful ending. ♦

— Dhruv Khullar, a Contributing Writer at The New Yorker, is a Practicing Physician at Weill Cornell Medicine and an Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medical College.

[sophiewilliamsonardn716]

REFERENCING

PARADISE

A short video, part of Corona’s ‘This is Living’ campaign

The ‘This Is Living’ campaign was launched by Corona in 2017, and was designed to highlight the beauty of the natural world and the importance of spending time outdoors (Green, 2016). The campaign focuses on promoting the brand’s lifestyle, rather than just its products, by celebrating the carefree, laid-back lifestyle associated with drinking Corona beer. An evolution of Corona’s iconic beach style, ‘This Is Living’ builds upon the brand’s iconic image of sand, salty water and sun. It includes a variety of marketing touchpoints such as television commercials, social media campaigns, and experiential events.  An essential part of this was a short film called “Paradise.” –  a reminder of what it feels like to be outside during an age where we spend most of our lives indoors (Wardell, 2017).

The film “Paradise” is set in a remote location and features stunning visuals of nature, including a jungle, a waterfall, and the ocean. It captures the sights, sounds and sense of adventure on the journey to a secluded beach – and the reward once you get there. The film aims to capture the feeling of being completely immersed in nature and to encourage viewers to seek out similar experiences in their own lives. It celebrates the authentic, simple, and beautiful moments in life spent outside. 

The film also features a chilled out soundtrack that complements the visuals and helps to create a calming and serene atmosphere. Overall, the video is a sensory experience of sight and sound that fully immerses the viewer. Several techniques are used to achieve this effect. One of them is slow motion, utilised to emphasise the idea of slowing down to fully live in the moment. In slow motion, details of the scene can be appreciated, such as a single drop of rain falling from a leaf, and the rays of sunlight glinting through the surface of the ocean. Another technique used is drone footage, allowing the viewer to fully take in the stunning scenery as well as view scenes filmed from an interesting birds eye view perspective.

The video is entirely shot with natural light, using the natural changes in sunlight throughout the day to emphasise the idea of a journey and to enhance the mood of each scene. From dappled forest shade, to golden hour on the beach, to sunset over the ocean, each scene is carefully considered to make the most of the natural light.

Editing also plays a big part in the impact of the video. Colour grading creates a cinematic, nostalgic atmosphere by enhancing the warm tones and rich colours to create an almost analogue film look. A slight grain enhances this effect. The world created looks colourful, beautiful, and welcoming, one which you would want to explore, which is exactly the point of the film.

PARADISE was directed by Camille Herren. Growing up in Switzerland, Camille was no stranger to adventure (Herren, n.d.). He spent his childhood climbing ice falls, skydiving, paragliding, and generally nurturing his love for the outdoors. But alongside his thirst for adrenaline, he also had a passion for storytelling and film. Following his instincts, Camille decided to leave Switzerland for New York, where he enrolled in his first film course. After honing his skills, Camille made the move to Amsterdam, from where he has directed numerous successful projects. Driven by his love of adventure and the outdoors, Camille is always seeking to explore new cinematic journeys that transport the viewer to a different place. His work is beautiful, cinematic, and emotive, celebrating natural landscapes and light.

REFERENCES

Green, R. (2016, May 12). Corona launches its new ‘this is living’ global brand platform via Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam. Campaign Brief. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://campaignbrief.com/corona-launches-its-new-this-i/ 

Herren, C. (n.d.). About. CAMILLE HERREN. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://www.camilleherren.com/about

Wardell, F. (2017). Corona: This is living . Corona | This Is Living - Franky Wardell. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://frankywardell.com/Corona-This-Is-Living

[mark6f]

925 Sterling Silver Wedding Bands Hollow Guard Ring Cubic Zircons Minimalist Jewelry HURRY AND GET THIS 36% DISCOUNT ON OUR 925 STERLING SILVER WEDDING BANDS! If you’re surfing online for the best deal on 925 Sterling Silver Wedding Bands, then look no further. Our store offers a leading selection of goods, all at a 36% discount -- ready to sell! Browse our online store now and get: 36% off for a limited time Premium quality not found elsewhere from a specialty retailer Reliable worldwide shipping MORE ABOUT 925 STERLING SILVER WEDDING BANDS Item Weight: 2.79g Gender: Women Sounds like a tempting offer, right? Therefore, ADD TO CART the desired variation of the Hollow Guard Ring Cubic Zircons Minimalist Jewelry and enjoy your purchase! PRODUCT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS I want to buy the Hollow Guard Ring Cubic Zircons Minimalist Jewelry you offer. But what makes it better than analogues? Our manufacturing procedures and production resources meet the highest industry standards, thus, assuring the top quality of the 925 Sterling Silver Wedding Bands. I think you use some cheap stuff to make the Hollow Guard Ring Cubic Zircons Minimalist Jewelry. Change my mind. The quality of resources used when manufacturing our 925 Sterling Silver Wedding Bands is as high as required by the industry standards. Are there any additional taxes to pay? Taxes may be included, but it depends on your location. In any case, you will see the total order cost together with the taxes (if any) on the checkout page before you confirm the order. Do you charge extra fees for delivery or anything else? You can see the total order cost together with fees and taxes (if applicable to your location) on the checkout page. Thus, no other expenses will be required. Do you give a refund if the item doesn’t suit me? Don’t worry, because we have a flexible refund policy! If the purchase doesn’t live up to your expectations, we will compensate for your trouble. If I put my photos with your product on social media, is it alright? Please, feel free to share photos of your new product with your friends. Because we will be very happy about that. ORDERING & STORE POLICIES Do I have to indicate my personal address? Can I request the package to be sent somewhere else? It doesn’t make a difference which address you’re going to indicate. Because we will arrange the delivery to any address you specify. Can you assure me that my 925 Sterling Silver Wedding Bands will arrive safe and sound? We pay close attention to the choice of packaging materials and the methods of securing the item(s) within the package. As a result, your order will have a top class protection during the transportation. Is the estimated shipping time accurate? One of our main business goals is to let you know the estimated delivery time as precisely as possible. At the same time, there might be some factors we’re unable to predict that can insignificantly influence the postal offices’ performance. How many do you have? The number of these items in stock has been declining steadily. Currently, there are enough units to purchase, but we would recommend you to hurry up with placing your order. Why should I choose your store over the others? After all, I have a lot of choice We care about our customers and try our best to make them happy. As a result, we offer a wide variety of products and use a customer-friendly return policy. Can I purchase the Hollow Guard Ring Cubic Zircons Minimalist Jewelry in an offline store? If you come across the 925 Sterling Silver Wedding Bands in offline stores, you should know that you deal with a reseller. Therefore, you’ll be overcharged. https://mark6f.com/925-sterling-silver-wedding-bands-hollow-guard-ring-cubic-zircons-minimalist-jewelry/?feed_id=1434&_unique_id=63935226c0357

[cathodic-clairvoyant]

Hello everybody, Jack Phlegm here. I’m here with a new start up that will redefine the entire social media marketplace. Audiophony ™ is the worlds first, audio only, analogue social media platform. Using our patented listening receptacle attachment and telescopic connection dongle (both sold separately) you can stay connected to your friends and family in a whole new way.

The standard Audiophony ™ experience not enough? Too many advertisements? Well for $1.99 USD / month you can gain access to the premium service of Audiophony ™ , Megaphony ™.  Interested in knowing what the people you’re following are up to when they’re off line? Megaphony ™ has the answer for you then! Megaphony ™ gives you access to our Off Line Listening Receptacle! (Purchased Separately)

Still not enough? Need more off line interaction? Want to get rid of all advertisements? Want to add a visual component to Audiophony ™ ? Then maybe Tier 2 of our premium service, Ultraphony ™ is just what you need! For only $5.99 USD / week you’ll unlock the uppermost tier of Audiophony ™ giving you access to use the Delayed Communication Tablet and Communication Stickers! Leave messages and pictures to other Ultraphony ™ subscribers!

We hope our future users are just as excited as we are about the future of the social media landscape. Stay tuned for next update where we unveil our Resources for Content Creators as a part of our Ultraphony ™ experience!

[raptorbricksart]

How does social media work on Clara’s world?

The internet is in its very early days, Clara's own world is one of the most recent ones to get it (primarily due to floating islands being challenging to use the at-the-time standard of cable-based connections with) and it is still being established, only about 70% of settled islands have been linked in.

The internet system within the setting, named the WebNet, was established by Webi, a race of arachnid folk (I've put an old concept sketch under the "Keep Reading" if you want to see them), around 40 years ago. At the time it was a very limited, essentially being a network of cables, each ending with a little terminal in a box in each settlement with an analogue split-flap display that displayed text messages and a punch card reader to verify identity. It required that you know the contact code of your recipient and which terminal they would be at and someone noticing that the message was waiting.

About 10 years later, a similar system was set up in the Lofi's homeworld, and was slowly refined into something more like the internet. It slowly developed, becoming something that we'd recognise as something akin to our internet back in the early 80s about 20 years ago from the current time in-universe.

These upgrades were sent back to the Webi and spread to some of the other worlds, eventually, interworld connections were added resulting in a single shared network. The sky folk were the last to get in on it a few years back, due to the previously mentioned logistical issues

Now onto the actual question

(Part of me wants to apologise for the pre-ramble, but I like to set the scene so I'm subjecting you to it)

The social side of the internet is still in its infancy, lacking the level of interconnectivity we have. Clara's own blog is part of the Star Network, a distributed system that is akin to services like Geocities, but with a Tumblr style central hub for discovery, following and messaging. Essentially, imagine Tumblr, but you have to manually construct your blog and wire it into the system.

Look at this little spider lass! Ain't she cute!

[marvelfans4blm]

Marvel Fans 4 BLM - Rules and FAQ!

What is Marvel Fans 4 BLM?

Marvel Fans 4 BLM is a charity auction where fans offer works in exchange for donations. Our focus is to raise money for various Black Lives Matter organizations as well as focus on creating content for Black Marvel characters. 

Who is allowed to participate?

All fans from any and all Marvel fandoms are welcome! We ask that if you are under 18, you do not offer or request explicit rated content.

How does it work?

Creators sign up to offer their works. Bidders then pledge donation amounts in auction-style. The winning bidder donates their pledged amount to a charity; once that donation is confirmed, the creator starts, uh, creating!

What is the schedule?

Monday 15 June - Sunday 28 June: Creator Sign Ups

Monday 29 June - Sunday 5 July: Browsing Week

Monday 6 July - Sunday 12 July: Auction Week

Sunday 19 July: Proof of Donations Due

Sunday 15 November: Check-In

Sunday 31 January 2021: Fanworks Due

More FAQ, Rules, and Resources under the cut! 

What items are acceptable for creators to offer?

All creations should be centered around one or more canon Black characters in any Marvel fandom (movies, comics, TV - any Marvel adaptations!). Other characters are welcome to join the fun, as long as they are not the main focus. Shipping and Gen content alike are welcome! Creations accepted are:

- Fanfic

- Digital art (original art, moodboards, manips, edits, etc.)

- Physical art (artworks, crafts, merch, etc.)

- Podfic

- Fan vids

- Translations

- Fan labor (beta work, sensitivity reading, culture-picking, fact checking, SPAG editing, etc.)

If you’d like to offer something not listed, feel free to ask.

I wanna be a creator! Tell me more!

More details will be shared at each stage, but here’s an outline to get you started! 

Creator sign-ups run from Monday 15 June to Sunday 28 June. You’ll sign up via a Google form and there you can specify what type of fanwork(s) you are offering with some relevant details like characters, pairings, and content you are willing to create in addition to other notes for bidders to see!

As well as fundraising for important causes, this event is intended to create new content for our favorite Black Marvel characters. With that in mind, we will not accept any previously published or created works. The exception to this is physical goods and crafts. 

After the auction closes, we will put you in touch with the highest bidder and from there you two work together to create something great! Once you have your bidder’s prompt, you’ll have until 31 January 2021 to complete your work for them. We’ll have a check-in on 15 November but it’s up to you to follow through by the 2021 deadline. Unfortunately, failure to complete by the deadline will mean you will be unable to participate in future events - until you meet your obligation to your bidder.

You can offer up to three works for auction, but please be honest and respect your limits. We want both creators and bidders to end with a complete work and enjoy the process! For physical goods, it is up to you and your bidder to decide how to handle shipping - keep this in mind when setting your starting bidding price. 

After posting, you can tag us in and any works that follow our rules will be included in our AO3 collection and featured on our Tumblr! 

I wanna be a bidder! Tell me more!

From 29 June through 5 July, you will be able to view all items up for bid, as well as check out each creator’s other works to get a feel for what they can do. You may also reach out to contact individual creators if you have questions. We recommend that if you have a specific idea in mind, or a rarepair, or something the creator has never done before, that you reach out and confirm they will be able to fulfil your request before you bid on them.

From 6 July through 12 July, bidding will be open. All bids will be placed in US dollars, with a $5 minimum starting bid and a $2 minimum incremental bid. Bidding will not be anonymous. Group bids are welcome. 

You may bid on as many items as you like, but please keep in mind that you cannot retract a bid, so make sure you can commit to donating the amount(s) that you bid. You may donate to any of our approved organizations listed below, or ask the mods for approval to donate to another cause that is working towards BLM goals.

For physical fanworks, whether or not your final bid includes shipping will be up to the creator. Once we receive confirmation of the donation, we’re no longer responsible for communication between creators and bidders. Be aware that for physical fanworks, creators will need your address to send you the item. If you aren’t comfortable giving out personal information, we suggest you bid on other auctions instead.

Once the auction is over, we will confirm the final amount for your winning bid(s); do not donate until you receive this confirmation. As soon as we have proof of your donation (pdf receipt that shows date, organization, and amount, all other info can be redacted) we will put you in touch with your creator. At this point, it is up to the two of you to work out how you’d like to proceed to ensure that the bid is fulfilled by 31 January 2021.

If you don’t hear from your creator after we connect you, please reach out to them yourself! If it has been a couple of months and you haven’t heard from them at all despite your efforts to get in touch, let us know and we’ll try to contact your creator on your behalf or help you assess the situation. Unfortunately, there’s always an inherent risk that a creator may fall through for various reasons. If this happens, we hope that knowing that you donated money to support an amazing cause will lessen the disappointment of not receiving a promised fanwork.

Remember that this event is designed to create content for Black Marvel characters, so please be sure to keep your requested works aligned with our Content & Conduct guidelines.

What charities will be supported?

We want participants to feel connected to where their efforts are going. There are multiple organizations linked in our Resources section below, along with master list sites that are updated regularly as new donation opportunities arise.

Creators will be allowed to specify up to three sites that they’d like their winning bidder to support with their donation. Any of the sites or organizations linked in our Resources section are acceptable. Creators can also decline to list a preference, and their winning bidder will be permitted to donate to any of the sites or organizations linked in our Resources section.

We are also open to suggestions! Other donation opportunities requested by the creator and vetted by the mods will be welcome.

Can I sign up to provide more than one offering? Can I sign up as a creator and a bidder? Can I bid on more than one offering? 

The answer to all of these is an enthusiastic yes! Creators can make up to three offerings. Just be sure not to spread yourself too thin; we want everyone to have a successful participation. Do not agree to participate, either as a creator or a bidder, unless you are absolutely committed to following through.

Content & Conduct

This event is designed to spotlight Black characters in a positive way. This doesn’t mean we require fluff, smiles, and happy endings, but it does mean that for this event, we require that you think critically about what you are presenting and how that representation fits within the larger context of the way fandom treats characters of color.

All creations must be centered around one or more canon Black characters, meaning they must be the main focus of the story, artwork, etc. They should not be sidelined in favor of other characters, and if there is any shipping (which is not required, Gen creations are more than welcome) they should be in the main pairing.

This event is designed specifically to support BLM and therefore we expect all participants and creations to align with the values of the movement. To that end, we ask that you do not create or request fanworks that celebrate law enforcement or the military. This is not the appropriate event for a cop AU or similar. For characters canonically affiliated with law enforcement or the military, be critical of how those institutions are portrayed, as well as how BIPOC are treated by and within those institutions.

Some additional points to keep in mind:

- Some Marvel characters have canonical physical, mental, and emotional disabilities - including invisible ones like chronic pain and mental illness. These should be treated respectfully, with due diligence given to portraying their lived experience.

- No perpetrating anti-Black stereotypes or tropes.

- No sympathetically portrayed Hydra or other Nazi analogues.

- No explicit or romantically portrayed non-con.

- No sexual/romantic relationships between adult and minor characters.

- No sexual/romantic relationships between family members.

- All content shared publicly should be tagged appropriately and thoroughly. 

Any offerings or creations that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be promoted on any of our social media platforms, and may affect your ability to participate in future events.

Resources

Creating: 

Writing With Color blogs, recs, & resources

Sam Wilson Birthday Bang resource page

Guide for non-Black authors writing Black characters

Common Microaggressions

Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters and Audience Perception

Donations: 

Black Lives Matters carrd

Say Their Names carrd

BLM card master list

Homeless Black Trans women fund

Who are the mods?

@a-majesti, @awesomesnafu, @gavilansblog, @samstevebuckyhq, and @thundercakes22​ are your friendly mods. We bonded together over our love for Sam Wilson, and are amongst the mods & organizers for a variety of Sam Wilson-centric spaces, including the Sam Wilson Birthday Bang, SamSteve Small Gifts, SamSteveLove on Twitter, and the Sam Wilson Appreciation discord.

I have another question!

No problem, we’d love to hear from you! Email us (marvelfans4blm at gmail) or send us an ask here on Tumblr.

**Mod note: Thank you so much to @fandomtrumpshate and @marveltrumpshate for generously sharing their resources!

[just6f]

AMAZING INS TEDDY BEAR'S PAW PLUSH PILLOW! 14% OFF! Score on one of our trending items such as INS Teddy Bear's Paw Plush Pillow Animal Seat Cushion Stuffed Plush Floor Indoor Mat Girls Winter Toy when you shop our ongoing special sale! This product is just one of our customer favorites, and we're offering our INS Teddy Bear's Paw Plush Pillow for just $39.36! Our 14% discount won't last forever, so add to your cart NOW. INS TEDDY BEAR'S PAW PLUSH PILLOW INFORMATION Material: Cotton Features: Stuffed & plush Gender: Unisex Filling: Pp cotton We always try to make our clients happy with their purchases. Therefore, this product is ready to satisfy the most demanding tastes. No time to hesitate, time to act! PRODUCT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Do you produce the Animal Seat Cushion Stuffed Plush Floor Indoor Mat Girls Winter Toy according to the industry standards? We want to treat our customers with the offers of the highest quality, and the same goes for our INS Teddy Bear's Paw Plush Pillow. Therefore, we pay close attention to our manufacturers’ record. I want to buy the Animal Seat Cushion Stuffed Plush Floor Indoor Mat Girls Winter Toy you offer. But what makes it better than analogues? Being a new product, our INS Teddy Bear's Paw Plush Pillow can hardly be found among our competitors. If I order your Animal Seat Cushion Stuffed Plush Floor Indoor Mat Girls Winter Toy, will any extra fees apply? When placing an order, you can see the final price of the item including all the fees. So, after you have confirmed the order, no additional fees are charged. I want it! How much does it cost? You can order this item for $39.36. Can I post a photo of my purchase on social media? You can freely share the photos of our products. Moreover, we’d be happy if you did. Is it a good idea to buy it? If you like the Animal Seat Cushion Stuffed Plush Floor Indoor Mat Girls Winter Toy, why not place your order? It’s made of good quality materials and the price is attractive, too. So be brave! ORDERING & STORE POLICIES Is it necessary to use the address of my residence for shipment? Can I order it for my friend? It doesn’t matter whether you want us to send the order to your personal address or to any other location because we’ll arrange a top class delivery anyway! What if I buy several of these? Will they all arrive together? When you order several units at a time, we may put them into several packages, but they should anyway arrive together. Will the Animal Seat Cushion Stuffed Plush Floor Indoor Mat Girls Winter Toy be delivered in the same time period as you promise? It’s one of our major concerns to make you as certain about the expected delivery time as possible. However, various local events affecting post offices’ performance might unexpectedly influence the delivery time. How to place an order? Choose the product variation you’d prefer and press the ADD TO CART button. Next, fill in your contact details and make your payment as per the instructions. That’s it! Using your order details, we’ll assemble and send the necessary package to you. Is it a reliable store? You may check the feedback of our previous clients, if you wish, and you will see that they had no trouble dealing with us. Furthermore, most of them indicate that our store always tries to do its best to make you satisfied with the purchases. Is it legal for you to distribute these products? When selling these and other items, we strictly follow the legal regulations obligatory for this sphere. https://just6f.com/ins-teddy-bears-paw-plush-pillow-animal-seat-cushion-stuffed-plush-floor-indoor-mat-girls-winter-toy/?feed_id=7213&_unique_id=661a5fbe1f6f1

[crescentcampbell]

what's ASP's beef with phones

This took me a second. It's not really a beef it's just the way, particularly in Gilmore Girls: The Revival, the use of the internet was portrayed as virtually nonexistent except for a yelp mention by Paris and Rory using youtube to stress tap which was the dumbest thing they could have done with Rory being a writer. Rory's own aversion to the internet with Sandy Says because it's digital and not a print and an obvious reference to popular websites like Hello Giggles rip-off it made me want to scream. It made zero sense given that she was a writer who if they'd used ANY of the season 7 storyline instead of just ignoring it would have worked on a campaign trail heavily involved in the implementing of social media (the Obama campaign which was one of the first to do so) and oh yeah DATED a guy who worked in tech. I've been writing and or attending writers conferences since I was sixteen years old (I'm 31 now---the first writer's conference I went to was like in 2006, and I was the only one who knew what the Gossip Girl books were on the YA panel for perspective) and even back in the 2000s, they were telling people that having a website or a blog was a good way to get your name out there. There's so much disconnect between print writers and Hollywood writers it drives me crazy because the two things are NOT the same and Rory's portrayal of writer life was so clearly a Hollywood version of someone who had no idea what that was it MADE ME WANT TO SCREAM. Not to mention she would have used it just for research purposes? But they've got her looking through everything analogue because, I guess, it looks better or whatever. I know Stars Hollow is in its own little bubble but I live in a small town that is similar and even OUR newspaper has a website we can pull up past issues on.