#this is going to be a sweep

[dduane]

Just so that people know...

Facebook/Meta's just-announced change in its fact-checking and moderation policies (which would, among other things, allow users to refer to LGBTQ+ people as "mentally ill"), and its sudden vanishing of trans- and nonbinary-friendly themes, has made it plain to me that some of the book-series-oriented spaces I've maintained over there for years are no longer safe places for users, especially younger ones, to be.

I have therefore begun deleting them.

The Middle Kingdoms page (being both the smallest and the one now potentially most dangerous to keep) was the first to go: I nuked it about ten minutes ago. (Naturally I checked it first to make sure nothing of any note was going on in there, and also naturally, I took a backup.)

The Young Wizards page will be the next to be deleted, probably tomorrow. The Ebooks Direct page there will also be deleted over the weekend. Neither of them was all that busy, ever: but that's not the point here. Meta is no longer a safe or appropriate place for them to be. (It doesn't hurt that many of FB's employees are furious about this policy change too... but their boss, I firmly believe, doesn't give a shit about that.)

The DD Facebook page may suffer the same fate. My personal "main" account...? I have a lot of older friends over there for whom FB is their lifeline and main digital platform. I'm going to have to think about how best to handle that. It may be that there will be no more public posting from me there: just DM'ing. ...And I'm still working out what makes the most sense to do about the Middle Kingdoms Instagram account, and my own personal one. Neither of them has been heavily trafficked, and I may nuke them too.

(sigh) All this comes as something of a wrench. But at the very least, as regards the part of my creative work that contains LGBTQ+ themes and characters, I refuse to leave any of it there. To do so would risk having its continued presence seen as support for the platform's boss (and, as @petermorwood remarks in passing, "would-be capo"), who's already busy genuflecting to the US government's incoming (mob-)boss's agenda.

So, as the man says,

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly..."

[nostalgicfun]

Feel free to share which is your favorite NOW in the tags, but this particular poll is about which you preferred as a child! ⭐ These are being grouped by a vague theme, so in a few days we'll do another one with more options!

Also, same rule as the last poll: REALLY popular choices (ATLA, SpongeBob, Scooby Doo, Pokemon, etc.) are overwhelmingly popular and have been omitted for the sake of seeing the results for other shows.

Notes: These are shows involving live action characters, no cartoons this time! The timeframe for these polls is generally "I was a kid in the mid-to-late 90s or early 2000s." Mister Roger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street are both multi-generational so they were not included to be fair to the show's with shorter runs 💖

[hemlock-dreams]

Hiii!!! I'm in love with your Spiderman!! Do you think you could share a little more about him? (Also... Are you planning on making a fic or something?)

(This is literally one of the first questions I ever got and I am SO sorry for such a late ass answer)

"In prison, violence was always the answer. Peter never really adjusted to a world that asked other questions."

Hunt!Peter is a man who has built his life around the mistakes he's made. More than anything else, his guilt defines him and, like a black hole, sucks everyone else into it.

He thinks he's taking on the burdens of the world, but in reality, he's a narcissist who projects his martyrdom on others and relies on big displays of heroism and escapes into the suit to make up for the fact that he deeply loathes himself.

You see. Peter Parker is a felon and a fuck-up, but Spider-Man is a hero. Spider-Man lives only in the present, while Peter Parker has to suffer the consequences of his decisions.

Spider-Man is always there for strangers, but Peter is an absent figure for his friends and family.

Because of his venom, Peter is incapable of giving anyone real intimacy and believes that keeping everyone at arm's length is the safest thing to do for himself. And because he cannot give anyone real intimacy (both physical and emotional), he replaces that deep seated need by internalizing his desires and hypersexualizing violence.

However, Peter is generally a good person at his core. He genuinely wants to do the right thing for people and doesn't particularly care about following the letter of the law to do it.

Peter might have a more lenient code, but it's there and it's unshakeable.

He enjoys violence, but only in situations where his violence can be reciprocated and believes in the concept of street justice- which means standing up for people who can't stand up for themselves. At the end of the day, he wants to be a hero and wakes up every day choosing to be good and do good (no matter how hard that is).

And he is very good at being Spider-Man. He sucks at living as Peter Parker though, and maybe this new world will give him a better chance to reconcile these two halves of himself in a way he's never done before.

Once again, thank you so much and I hope this is a decent answer! And because this was a question from months ago, yes, there is a fic: Pick Your Poison (still wip).

[suntails]

toot toot!

[numbuh424]

since yall liked the quick drawing of older npa chief light, here's the full thing

[ghostmaggie]

MAYBE SHOWING ONE ACT OF KINDNESS LEADS TO KINDER SOULS DOWN THE ROAD 🤝 I'D LIKE TO SHOW MY FRIEND THAT KINDNESS IS BRAVE

[boxheadpaint]

it is Sunday which means Vinny gets to sit alone, on the counter, in the dark, staring at the coffee maker. It is his activity.

[fisheito]

He's a magician

[martianbugsbunny]

My TNG poll is over (Data won and I should not be surprised lmao; proud of dealer's choice Will Riker for pulling a solid third) so let's do another one!

Dax and Odo don't get to be in it because that feels like cheating. they're actually trans.

[parasitoidism]

this was funny to me like zelenin girl u have been stuck in a dungeon where you and your crewmates have been tortured to death/insanity by demons for like, at least a day now, when John Bootboy gets tossed in with you and is immediately like oh hey let me airdrop you the demon app that lets you be friends with demons. i would freak out on him too

[en-somniac]

man there's something so painfully unique about the relationship with someone in your same system

like. hi. we're strangers. I know everything about you. I've seen you maybe twice in my life. I know every edge of your being viscerally. I've walked in the same skin as you. I love you inherently. I barely know you. I know you. more than anyone ever could. I'm walking the exact same existence as you. I've lived in your skin.

We've barely been introduced.

Here we are. In this terrible experiment. We're in this together, and fuck if that isn't terrifying.

there's something so painfully unique about the relationship with someone in your same system.

you know?

[homolobotomized]

*die for him

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Game night results (from this poll)

Character selection inspired from extraterezi's post!

[kbsd]

you made me want you, and all the time you knew it

OR: buck just needed a little time