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bao3bei4 · 4 years ago

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fan language: the victorian imaginary and cnovel fandom

there’s this pinterest image i’ve seen circulating a lot in the past year i’ve been on fandom social media. it’s a drawn infographic of a, i guess, asian-looking woman holding a fan in different places relative to her face to show what the graphic helpfully calls “the language of the fan.”

people like sharing it. they like thinking about what nefarious ancient chinese hanky code shenanigans their favorite fan-toting character might get up to⁠—accidentally or on purpose. and what’s the problem with that?

the problem is that fan language isn’t chinese. it’s victorian. and even then, it’s not really quite victorian at all.

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fans served a primarily utilitarian purpose throughout chinese history. of course, most of the surviving fans we see⁠—and the types of fans we tend to care about⁠—are closer to art pieces. but realistically speaking, the majority of fans were made of cheaper material for more mundane purposes. in china, just like all around the world, people fanned themselves. it got hot!

so here’s a big tipoff. it would be very difficult to use a fan if you had an elaborate language centered around fanning yourself.

you might argue that fine, everyday working people didn’t have a fan language. but wealthy people might have had one. the problem we encounter here is that fans weren’t really gendered. (caveat here that certain types of fans were more popular with women. however, those tended to be the round silk fans, ones that bear no resemblance to the folding fans in the graphic). no disrespect to the gnc old man fuckers in the crowd, but this language isn’t quite masc enough for a tool that someone’s dad might regularly use.

folding fans, we know, reached europe in the 17th century and gained immense popularity in the 18th. it was there that fans began to take on a gendered quality. ariel beaujot describes in their 2012 victorian fashion accessories how middle class women, in the midst of a top shortage, found themselves clutching fans in hopes of securing a husband.

she quotes an article from the illustrated london news, suggesting “women ‘not only’ used fans to ‘move the air and cool themselves but also to express their sentiments.’” general wisdom was that the movement of the fan was sufficiently expressive that it augmented a woman’s displays of emotion. and of course, the more english audiences became aware that it might do so, the more they might use their fans purposefully in that way.

notice, however, that this is no more codified than body language in general is. it turns out that “the language of the fan” was actually created by fan manufacturers at the turn of the 20th century⁠—hundreds of years after their arrival⁠ in europe—to sell more fans. i’m not even kidding right now. the story goes that it was louis duvelleroy of the maison duvelleroy who decided to include pamphlets on the language with each fan sold.

interestingly enough, beaujot suggests that it didn’t really matter what each particular fan sign meant. gentlemen could tell when they were being flirted with. as it happens, meaningful eye contact and a light flutter near the face may be a lingua franca.

so it seems then, the language of the fan is merely part of this victorian imaginary we collectively have today, which in turn itself was itself captivated by china.

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victorian references come up perhaps unexpectedly often in cnovel fandom, most often with regards to modesty.

it’s a bit of an awkward reference considering that chinese traditional fashion⁠—and the ambiguous time periods in which these novels are set⁠—far predate victorian england. it is even more awkward considering that victoria and her covered ankles did um. imperialize china.

but nonetheless, it is common. and to make a point about how ubiquitous it is, here is a link to the twitter search for “sqq victorian.” sqq is the fandom abbreviation for shen qingqiu, the main character of the scum villain’s self-saving system, by the way.

this is an awful lot of results for a search involving a chinese man who spends the entire novel in either real modern-day china or fantasy ancient china. that’s all i’m going to say on the matter, without referencing any specific tweet.

i think people are aware of the anachronism. and i think they don’t mind. even the most cursory research reveals that fan language is european and a revisionist fantasy. wikipedia can tell us this⁠—i checked!

but it doesn’t matter to me whether people are trying to make an internally consistent canon compliant claim, or whether they’re just free associating between fan facts they know. it is, instead, more interesting to me that people consistently refer to this particular bit of history. and that’s what i want to talk about today⁠—the relationship of fandom today to this two hundred odd year span of time in england (roughly stuart to victorian times) and england in that time period to its contemporaneous china.

things will slip a little here. victorian has expanded in timeframe, if only because random guys posting online do not care overly much for respect for the intricacies of british history. china has expanded in geographic location, if only because the english of the time themselves conflated china with all of asia.

in addition, note that i am critiquing a certain perspective on the topic. this is why i write about fan as white here⁠—not because all fans are white⁠—but because the tendencies i’m examining have a clear historical antecedent in whiteness that shapes how white fans encounter these novels.

i’m sure some fans of color participate in these practices. however i don’t really care about that. they are not its main perpetrators nor its main beneficiaries. so personally i am minding my own business on that front.

it’s instead important to me to illuminate the linkage between white as subject and chinese as object in history and in the present that i do argue that fannish products today are built upon.

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it’s not radical, or even new at all, for white audiences to consume⁠—or create their own versions of⁠—chinese art en masse. in many ways the white creators who appear to owe their whole style and aesthetic to their asian peers in turn are just the new chinoiserie.

this is not to say that white people can’t create asian-inspired art. but rather, i am asking you to sit with the discomfort that you may not like the artistic company you keep in the broader view of history, and to consider together what is to be done about that.

now, when i say the new chinoiserie, i first want to establish what the original one is. chinoiserie was a european artistic movement that appeared coincident with the rise in popularity of folding fans that i described above. this is not by coincidence; the european demand for asian imports and the eventual production of lookalikes is the movement itself. so: when we talk about fans, when we talk about china (porcelain), when we talk about tea in england⁠—we are talking about the legacy of chinoiserie.

there are a couple things i want to note here. while english people as a whole had a very tenuous knowledge of what china might be, their appetites for chinoiserie were roughly coincident with national relations with china. as the relationship between england and china moved from trade to out-and-out wars, chinoiserie declined in popularity until china had been safely subjugated once more by the end of the 19th century.

the second thing i want to note on the subject that contrary to what one might think at first, the appeal of chinoiserie was not that it was foreign. eugenia zuroski’s 2013 taste for china examines 18th century english literature and its descriptions of the according material culture with the lens that chinese imports might be formative to english identity, rather than antithetical to it.

beyond that bare thesis, i think it’s also worthwhile to extend her insight that material objects become animated by the literary viewpoints on them. this is true, both in a limited general sense as well as in the sense that english thinkers of the time self-consciously articulated this viewpoint. consider the quote from the illustrated london news above⁠—your fan, that object, says something about you. and not only that, but the objects you surround yourself with ought to.

it’s a bit circular, the idea that written material says that you should allow written material to shape your understanding of physical objects. but it’s both 1) what happened, and 2) integral, i think, to integrating a fannish perspective into the topic.

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japanning is the name for the popular imitative lacquering that english craftspeople developed in domestic response to the demand for lacquerware imports. in the eighteenth century, japanning became an artform especially suited for young women. manuals were published on the subject, urging young women to learn how to paint furniture and other surfaces, encouraging them to rework the designs provided in the text.

it was considered a beneficial activity for them; zuroski describes how it was “associated with commerce and connoisseurship, practical skill and aesthetic judgment.” a skillful japanner, rather than simply obscuring what lay underneath the lacquer, displayed their superior judgment in how they chose to arrange these new canonical figures and effects in a tasteful way to bring out the best qualities of them.

zuroski quotes the first english-language manual on the subject, written in 1688, which explains how japanning allows one to:

alter and correct, take out a piece from one, add a fragment to the next, and make an entire garment compleat in all its parts, though tis wrought out of never so many disagreeing patterns.

this language evokes a very different, very modern practice. it is this english reworking of an asian artform that i think the parallels are most obvious.

white people, through their artistic investment in chinese material objects and aesthetics, integrated them into their own subjectivity. these practices came to say something about the people who participated in them, in a way that had little to do with the country itself. their relationship changed from being a “consumer” of chinese objects to becoming the proprietor of these new aesthetic signifiers.

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i want to talk about this through a few pairs of tensions on the subject that i think characterize common attitudes then and now.

first, consider the relationship between the self and the other: the chinese object as something that is very familiar to you, speaking to something about your own self vs. the chinese object as something that is fundamentally different from you and unknowable to you.

consider: [insert character name] is just like me. he would no doubt like the same things i like, consume the same cultural products. we are the same in some meaningful way vs. the fast standard fic disclaimer that “i tried my best when writing this fic, but i’m a english-speaking westerner, and i’m just writing this for fun so...... [excuses and alterations the person has chosen to make in this light],” going hand-in-hand with a preoccupation with authenticity or even overreliance on the unpaid labor of chinese friends and acquaintances.

consider: hugh honour when he quotes a man from the 1640s claiming “chinoiserie of this even more hybrid kind had become so far removed from genuine Chinese tradition that it was exported from India to China as a novelty to the Chinese themselves”

these tensions coexist, and look how they have been resolved.

second, consider what we vest in objects themselves: beaujot explains how the fan became a sexualized, coquettish object in the hands of a british woman, but was used to great effect in gilbert and sullivan’s 1885 mikado to demonstrate the docility of asian women.

consider: these characters became expressions of your sexual desires and fetishes, even as their 5’10 actors themselves are emasculated.

what is liberating for one necessitates the subjugation and fetishization of the other.

third, consider reactions to the practice: enjoyment of chinese objects as a sign of your cosmopolitan palate vs “so what’s the hype about those ancient chinese gays” pop culture explainers that addressed the unconvinced mainstream.

consider: zuroski describes how both english consumers purchased china in droves, and contemporary publications reported on them. how:

It was in the pages of these papers that the growing popularity of Chinese things in the early eighteenth century acquired the reputation of a “craze”; they portrayed china fanatics as flawed, fragile, and unreliable characters, and frequently cast chinoiserie itself in the same light.

referenda on fannish behavior serve as referenda on the objects of their devotion, and vice versa. as the difference between identity and fetish collapses, they come to be treated as one and the same by not just participants but their observers.

at what point does mxtx fic cease to be chinese?

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finally, it seems readily apparent that attitudes towards chinese objects may in fact have something to do with attitudes about china as a country. i do not want to suggest that these literary concerns are primarily motivated and begot by forces entirely divorced from the real mechanics of power.

here, i want to bring in edward said, and his 1993 culture and imperialism. there, he explains how power and legitimacy go hand in hand. one is direct, and one is purely cultural. he originally wrote this in response to the outsize impact that british novelists have had in the maintenance of empire and throughout decolonization. literature, he argues, gives rise to powerful narratives that constrain our ability to think outside of them.

there’s a little bit of an inversion at play here. these are chinese novels, actually. but they’re being transformed by white narratives and artists. and just as i think the form of the novel is important to said’s critique, i think there’s something to be said about the form that fic takes and how it legitimates itself.

bound up in fandom is the idea that you have a right to create and transform as you please. it is a nice idea, but it is one that is directed towards a certain kind of asymmetry. that is, one where the author has all the power. this is the narrative we hear a lot in the history of fandom⁠—litigious authors and plucky fans, fanspaces always under attack from corporate sanitization.

meanwhile, said builds upon raymond schwab’s narrative of cultural exchange between european writers and cultural products outside the imperial core. said explains that fundamental to these two great borrowings (from greek classics and, in the so-called “oriental renaissance” of the late 18th, early 19th centuries from “india, china, japan, persia, and islam”) is asymmetry.

he had argued prior, in orientalism, that any “cultural exchange” between “partners conscious of inequality” always results in the suffering of the people. and here, he describes how “texts by dead people were read, appreciated, and appropriated” without the presence of any actual living people in that tradition.

i will not understate that there is a certain economic dynamic complicating this particular fannish asymmetry. mxtx has profited materially from the success of her works, most fans will not. also secondly, mxtx is um. not dead. LMAO.

but first, the international dynamic of extraction that said described is still present. i do not want to get overly into white attitudes towards china in this post, because i am already thoroughly derailed, but i do believe that they structure how white cnovel fandom encounters this texts.

at any rate, any profit she receives is overwhelmingly due to her domestic popularity, not her international popularity. (i say this because many of her international fans have never given her a cent. in fact, most of them have no real way to.) and moreover, as we talk about the structure of english-language fandom, what does it mean to create chinese cultural products without chinese people?

as white people take ownership over their versions of stories, do we lose something? what narratives about engagement with cnovels might exist outside of the form of classic fandom?

i think a lot of people get the relationship between ideas (the superstructure) and production (the base) confused. oftentimes they will lob in response to criticism, that look! this fic, this fandom, these people are so niche, and so underrepresented in mainstream culture, that their effects are marginal. i am not arguing that anyone’s cql fic causes imperialism. (unless you’re really annoying. then it’s anyone’s game)

i’m instead arguing something a little bit different. i think, given similar inputs, you tend to get similar outputs. i think we live in the world that imperialism built, and we have clear historical predecessors in terms of white appetites for creating, consuming, and transforming chinese objects.

we have already seen, in the case of the fan language meme that began this post, that sometimes we even prefer this white chinoiserie. after all, isn’t it beautiful, too?

i want to bring discomfort to this topic. i want to reject the paradigm of white subject and chinese object; in fact, here in this essay, i have tried to reverse it.

if you are taken aback by the comparisons i make here, how can you make meaningful changes to your fannish practice to address it?

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some concluding thoughts on the matter, because i don’t like being misunderstood!

i am not claiming white fans cannot create fanworks of cnovels or be inspired by asian art or artists. this essay is meant to elaborate on the historical connection between victorian england and cnovel characters and fandom that others have already popularized.

i don’t think people who make victorian jokes are inherently bad or racist. i am encouraging people to think about why we might make them and/or share them

the connections here are meant to be more provocative than strictly literal. (e.g. i don’t literally think writing fanfic is a 1-1 descendant of japanning). these connections are instead meant to 1) make visible the baggage that fans of color often approach fandom with and 2) recontextualize and defamiliarize fannish practice for the purposes of honest critique

please don’t turn this post into being about other different kinds of discourse, or into something that only one “kind” of fan does. please take my words at face value and consider them in good faith. i would really appreciate that.

please feel free to ask me to clarify any statements or supply more in-depth sources :)

#x #-__- another fandom essay sorry

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foundthe8wing · 4 years ago

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Okay, doing this over here because my main tumblr is usually a place for me to vibe and I don’t want all the bullshit tied to that account, but basically: I’m really angry and disappointed with the dndads cast for how they’ve put a lot of the minors in their fanbase in danger. Everything below is a repost from twitter (with permission from the OP, crypticjoy), and I’ll link the thread in a reblog.

Under a cut because it’s long and potentially triggering (content warnings for grooming, sexualizing minors, and sexual assault)

[OP tagged the relevant cast accounts; I added slashes here bc I’m not sure if those same urls exist on tumblr and I don’t want to be randomly tagging people over here]

5:49 PM Sep 5, 2020

“I don’t usually do this, but: the way that the cast of @/dungeonsanddads engages with their audience is actively dangerous to minors, and they need to get it together. (cw for discussion of grooming, sexualizing minors, sexual assault)

First off, there are some iffy jokes and situations in the podcast itself. I’m not going to get into all of it right here, but have a google doc: [doc will also be linked in reblog]

Yes, the kids in #dndads are fictional, but that doesn’t mean this stuff doesn’t affect real kids listening. a. it normalizes talking/joking about kids in that way and b. There’s a lot of inconsistancy and confusion on the lines they draw--

Paeden saying “baby” is weird but Ron sitting in Terry Jr’s lap isn’t? I’m confused. You know who the fuck relies on that type of confusion and unclarity? Fucking predators

And I’m not saying every in-character decision has to be perfectly moral or acceptable, but the way the cast, out of character, discuss what’s weird and what’s not sends a lot of mixed messages. And that’s legitimately dangerous.

So then you take all of this, and you add a patron discord server that lets nsfw discussions run virtually unchecked--you create a fandom space that allows adults to discuss kinks, and porn searches, and just, all this other stuff, with teenagers...

... and it becomes a breeding ground for grooming and abuse.

The creators aren’t responsible for babysitting their fanbase or for how people engage with their content outside of their spaces (though, again, I’d urge them to be very careful about what kind of messages they’re sending)

But they ARE responsible for taking basic steps to keep the spaces that THEY create and engage with safe.

“But the rules for the server say 18+!” The rules say you have to be 18 *or have parental permission.* They also say to keep things PG-13. That’s vastly different than establishing something as an adult-only/nsfw space.

“Minors shouldn’t be joining/listening anyway!” The cast can’t control who listens and neither can I, but there’s a difference between knowing teens are listening to you discuss sex with your adult friends vs facilitating conversations between teens and adults on those topics.

“If people are uncomfortable they can just leave.” First off, this situation isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s unSAFE. Second: fuck that. It’s not on minors to set and maintain boundaries about this stuff; a lot of them literally do not know how

Not because they’re stupid, but because they’re young and inexperienced. It’s the responsibility of adults to set and enforce healthy boundaries around sexual discussions, and this particular group of adults has done a fucking terrible job

(Maybe don’t encourage listeners to DM you about kinks! Maybe especially don’t do that when you’ve communicated, intentionally or not, that making and escalating sexual jokes is a really good way to get a reaction from you guys)

I get that they didn’t expect to have so many young listeners, but to be aware of that fact and make no adjustments whatsoever is irresponsible and it WILL lead to someone getting hurt. Does their “young, thirsty, female” audience only exist to them when they can laugh about it?

And let’s be absolutely 1000% clear: this isn’t an issue they’re unaware of. The stuff I’m talking about is an ongoing problem with how their server is run, but it came to a head with one specific situation very recently:

They released a bonus, patron-exclusive episode about the dads taking the bdsm test. Given the general state of the server, I was worried about where those discussions might lead, so before it dropped, I reached out to @/anthony_burch to express my concern

He told me he raised the issue with @/fwong and Ashley, meaning at least three members of the dndads team were aware of the situation, and decided it didn’t warrant any type of preemptive action on their part

(alternatively, it means Anthony lied, which would be a whole separate issue)

[Image ID: a discord DM conversation from Sep 1, 2020, between a crossed out username and reverendanthony. It reads:

OP: heyyyyy have you guys considered that releasing an episode focused on the bdsm test is almost inevitably going to lead to a bunch of 15 year olds sharing their results in your server because you might want to get ahead of that before someone gets hurt

reverendanthony: oh holy shit, really good idea

OP: thanks, I know it's easy to veer into that territory just because of the nature of your show but I wanted to bring it to your attention because I figured you don't want to create a situation that's like, actively dangerous (and for the record I'm willing to discuss what I think would make it safer but I'm also not going to assume you want/need my input, obviously you can handle it however you see fit)

reverendanthony: No, thank you for bring it up, I really appreciate it -- I just raised the issue with Freddie and Ashley

OP: Good to know, thank you /End ID]

I’m not overreacting. I have seen this shit happen, to my friends and to myself, and watching the dndads cast take absolutely no meaningful action to prevent situations like that from occurring directly under their noses makes me fucking livid

I can guarantee that the #dungeonsanddaddies fanbase includes both predators and survivors of abuse, grooming, etc (including those currently living through it), and I need them to think very, very hard about which group they’re prioritizing.

And I need that choice to be evident through more than just their words, because it doesn’t fucking matter how much you “really appreciate” that I brought up my concerns if you do fuck-all to address them.

It doesn’t matter how many times you say the word “consent” if apparently everyone was okay that “Darryl gets sexually assaulted” was almost a plot point played for laughs.

(His dare from Scam would have been rape, straight up. Just because no one said the word doesn’t mean it wasn’t coercive and gross).

I’d like to think the @/dungeonsanddads cast isn’t intentionally encouraging abuse, but they’re sure as hell enabling it, and they needed to get their shit together ages ago, because they’re not the ones their negligence hurts.”

Quote retweet by OP 6:51 PM Sep 7, 2020

“So, they updated the rules for the patron server, but I want to be really clear that from my perspective, it’s way too little, way too late.

The new rules don’t adequately address the core issues and they certainly don’t absolve the cast of the harm they’ve already caused.

[Tweet includes 2 screenshots: one of a bot asking people to click thumbs up to confirm they’re 18+ (or have a parent’s permission) and agree to the rules, and one that includes two of the rules. It reads:

“This is an 18+ space. Them’s the rules: per Patreon’s policy, you must be 18+ or have parental permission.

Use language as if you’re at your parents dinner table. Don’t get people in trouble because of your SPICY POSTS. Keep conversation polite. NSFW content is not allowed!”]

(and before anyone says I should bring up my concerns privately, a quick refresher on how well that went last time I did it:)

[links back to the “(alternatively, it means Anthony lied . . .)” tweet from the original thread]

So hey, @/fwong, some thoughts:

1.The rules are vague and unclear: what /exactly/ do you mean when you say “NSFW content is not allowed!” when the content of your show itself is so often nsfw? And how are you planning to enforce this?

Does it mean you’ll shut down the MBIC conversation that is literally just kink discussion? I need you to be clear on where the line is, because, again, predators rely on that confusion. Don’t give them a gray area to play in.

For an example of a more clear policy, it’s pretty easy to say, “yep, ‘Henry gets pegged’ sure is a sentence we said on our show and you don’t have to pretend it’s not, but if you’d like to discuss it in any more detail at all, you need to move”

2. Remember how I said I needed to be clear on whether you’re prioritizing survivors or predators? While I doubt it was intentional, the language you’re using here is prioritizing predators.

It’s not “don’t get people in trouble,” it’s “don’t make people uncomfortable.” It’s “we all have a responsibility to make sure this space is safe for everyone, especially the younger members of the community.”

You’re setting people up to be afraid of expressing concerns for fear of “getting people in trouble” or “inciting unnecessary drama.” Even if it’s not what YOU meant, it’s very easy for those words to be manipulated, so +

You absolutely have to be explicitly clear that if someone expresses their discomfort, you’ve got their back. Being safe is more important than being polite.

3. I need every cast member to take responsibility for their own actions. I’ve gotten no indication from any of you that you understand the ways in which the in-show things I brought up were harmful.

Acknowledging that harm is important not just because of the immediate effects of that content, but also because it implicitly sets an example for how similar complaints should be dealt with going forward.

When someone says “hey, I was uncomfortable that you seem fine with the Glennary ship, because she reads as very young to me,” I don’t need a dissertation on how the perception of characters can evolve due to your improvisational nature

I need to hear “oh, I interpreted her differently, but you’re right, we should have been more clear, and I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.” Because your responses to your own mistakes set the tone for any other situations like that going forward.

How comfortable is someone going to be with coming to you, or Ash, or any of the mods about someone making them uncomfortable if they’ve seen that when people call YOU out, they’re argued with and shut down?

Don’t tell people you’ve “made it clear that you won’t go there” when they tell you that you ARE there. Listen to them and do better.

Set the expectation that people will be respected when they raise their concerns. “If you want to come at me you have to bring the heat” is not an appropriate response on a subject that made people genuinely uncomfortable.

In essence: set people up to be supported and protected, not dismissed.

[It’s like a matriosche of tweets over here. This one links to another thread, also by crypticjoy. That thread reads:

A non-comprehensive guide to keeping discord servers safe for minors:

1. Make designated channels for nsfw/18+ discussion. Generally speaking, this is a lot more effective than banning those discussions altogether, because it’s a lot easier to say “hey, can you move this conversation?” than “hey, I need you to stop”

In fandom spaces, it’s usually a good idea to have separate channels for talking about nsfw fiction vs discussing your personal sex lives.

2. Give everyone minor/adult roles; make sure your 18+ channels are locked to people who don’t have an adult role. It’s important that there’s more of a barrier there than just checking a box.

3. NSFW channels shouldn’t necessarily be a free-for-all; be aware of people’s boundaries and respect them (for example, r*pe jokes aren’t funny or okay, even if you’re not making them around kids)

4. Explicitly state in your rules that people should feel free to come to mods if anyone is making them uncomfortable. Actually listen to people and resolve the situation if they do approach you.

5. Make it clear that creepy behavior via DMs or other means is also not tolerated--you can’t control what people do outside your server, but you can make the choice to not allow people like that in your space

6. Make sure mods are on top of things BEFORE people have to say anything; sometimes being a mod means being willing to be the “asshole” who shuts things down before they get out of hand, even if they’re not asked.

Be generally aware of signals that people are uncomfortable or that things are escalating too far, and address those situations sooner rather than later.

*It should be noted that safety involves a lot of components beyond just containing nsfw discussions; this thread just happens to be focused on that one specific element.

oh also! It's a good idea to provide resources on grooming so people know what to look out for [links to some resources; again, this’ll be in the reblog]]

So, @/dungeonsanddads, if you’re interested in anything beyond just having a flimsy excuse you can point to to cover your own ass, I’m gonna need you to try again.

Sorry I can’t be nicer about it, but I’ve given so many benefits of the doubt I could be running a successful charity, and this isn’t an issue I’m willing to drop.

10:02 PM

Thought I was done but actually I've got a few more questions: to what extent were @/HeyBethMay, @/WillBCampos, and @/mattLarnold included in conversations about this issue/the new rules? Is this something your whole team is involved in?

Have you discussed what you're doing on a team and individual basis to keep your fan interactions safe, and are you on the same page about how much it matters? Are you holding each other accountable? Is everyone okay with where this ended up?”

#dungeons and daddies #dndads #cw grooming #cw SA #8wing

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prayerith · 4 years ago

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a flaw in the code

Kaiba runs his Twitter more or less automatically, including a function to mass-block people who interact with Tweets he has blocked. Unfortunately, this sometimes means that he blocks people he doesn’t mean to block. When he gets confronted over this, how will he respond?

my introduction to canon x oc (the oc being kazuko kubota, the child of me and @duelistkingdom ) and it’s from kaiba’s pov (feat unrequited rivalship), because of course it is. enjoy! read on ao3 here

“Kaiba.”

Kaiba’s spine stiffened at the familiar voice. He clutched his books to his chest, their reassuring weight giving him the courage to spin on his heel. As he expected, Yugi Mutou was behind him. Or, not Yugi, but the other Yugi. He was wearing the uniform jacket properly, unlike his tendency during Battle City, but he was no less imposing.

Kaiba swallowed, hoping his voice came out naturally. “Yugi. What’s this about?”

“My partner was discouraged this morning. When I asked him why, he pulled up his phone instead of actually talking to me. So, I will do the same to you: care to explain this?” With all the flair he usually saved for revealing a Spell card, the other Yugi flipped his phone towards Kaiba. Kaiba had to squint—he wouldn’t be caught dead in his reading glasses at school—but when he finally made out the text, he frowned.

“So you’re blocked by somebody on Twitter? Please, Yugi, this isn’t something to get worked up about. It’s not like it’s a personal attack.” He ignored the voice in his head reminding him that he had written a program for his own Twitter that would block anyone who associated with certain tweets. Tweets that featured Yugi boasting about his beautiful, talented, clever girlfriend in particular.

“Just somebody, huh?” The other Yugi fixed Kaiba with a stern look. It should have seemed out of place on Yugi’s round, friendly face, but Kaiba couldn’t help but feel suddenly small. “Try again.”

Kaiba sighed, but took Yugi’s phone in his own hand, finding the appropriate position where he could read the text with the least amount of eye strain. And— “What is this?”

The other Yugi was right; he wasn’t blocked by just any random loser on Twitter. The screen was on Kaiba’s own Twitter page. Instead of the Kaiba Land promos and Duel Disk news he had most recently retweeted, however, the screen was gray, apart from a block of tiny letters. “You are blocked by this user,” the website proclaimed, though as Kaiba met the other Yugi’s piercing eyes again, it felt more like an accusation than a simple statement of fact.

“I’d think you would know,” the other Yugi replied, voice startlingly cool.

To his horror, Kaiba found himself at a loss for words. “I don’t—I mean—” He cut himself off, squeezing his eyes shut and taking a couple deep breaths. As he did so, he searched his memory, but he couldn’t recall hitting the block button on Yugi. At least, not of his own volition.

“Use your words, Kaiba.”

Kaiba growled, but forced his eyes back open. “I didn’t block you.” At the other Yugi’s raised eyebrow, he rushed on, words running into one another in his haste to get them out. “At least, not on purpose. In fact, my account is more or less completely run automatically, using programs that I wrote specifically for that purpose. Some of these scripts do involve blocking users, so it’s possible that your account got caught in some filter accidentally.”

The other Yugi frowned, crossing his arms and tapping his fingers against his elbows. “So what you’re saying is, your computer programs blocked my partner by mistake?”

“Exactly.” Kaiba couldn’t help but feel a jolt of envy at how quickly the other Yugi picked things up. “It was a quirk of the system, nothing more. Tell Yugi that he can stop moping about it.” He felt ridiculous asking someone who, for all intents and purposes, was Yugi to pass along a message to Yugi. Ever since Battle City, though, he’d found himself a bit more amenable to the ridiculous, implausible things that happened around Yugi Mutou.

The other Yugi, for his part, perked up substantially at the mention of his own name. “I can do better than that!” A genuine grin spread over his features, drawing Kaiba’s attention to his plush lips, the dimple on his left cheek. “I can bring him out so you can tell him yourself!”

He continued speaking, but aside from a few mentions of the word “partner,” Kaiba was no longer listening. Ice had shot down his spine, while paradoxically, heat bloomed in his cheeks and sweat formed on his hands. “That won’t be necessary,” he snapped, interrupting the other Yugi’s joyful monologue. “Just tell him what I said. Goodbye.”

With that, he turned on his heel and fled the hallway, books still clutched close to his chest. He could feel his heart hammering in his ears, even as he turned into the men’s room and locked the door behind him. The wooden door was cool against his back as he sunk to a sitting position against it, letting his school supplies fall from his arms.

God damn it. Kaiba exhaled sharply, dragging his hands down his face, before pulling out his phone and opening Twitter. A rare occurrence, as of late; there wasn’t much that he needed to keep up with online, and he rarely wanted to check the inane tweets his contemporaries made. When his profile opened, he navigated to the “Blocked Users” page. There was quite a bit to scroll through, but eventually, he was face-to-face with Yugi’s smiling profile picture.

Almost immediately, he turned his phone off, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in his crossed arms. He really did block Yugi. Prevented from interaction with one of the only people he actually wanted to interact with by his own programs.

He allowed himself a moment of despair, before pulling himself back together, unlocking his phone once more. Even so, he still flinched at the reappearance of Yugi’s picture. Keep it together, Seto. You’re just seeing what triggered the block. Think about it like a programming error.

One of the benefits of Kaiba’s auto-block program (nicknamed “Crush Tweet Virus” by Mokuba) was that if Kaiba blocked a tweet, not only did it block the person who made it, it also hid the profiles of anyone who interacted with it. What’s more, it allowed him to see the blocked tweet a given user had liked or retweeted. This was a nominally useful feature. In Yugi’s case, however, the reason for the block made Kaiba’s blood run cold. God. Anything but that tweet.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried to blink it out of existence, the proof was there. Kaiba opened the blocked tweet in question, and his stomach immediately turned over. He didn’t have a name for the emotions burning in his gut. All he knew was that the image of Yugi pressing a kiss to Kazuko Kubota’s outstretched hand, the caption declaring “These two are couple goals,” threatened to overwhelm him with discomfort. He had blocked it for a reason.

In fact, there was a theme to the posts he had blocked. They all contained some reference to Yugi Mutou, Kazuko Kubota, and/or the fact that they were currently in a relationship. As much as he wanted to lie to himself, he knew what irked him so much about the reminder that Yugi was dating somebody. It was the fact that he wanted to be the person whose hand Yugi was kissing—the reminder that Yugi clearly didn’t have the same feelings toward Kaiba.

His face was burning. If only he could take his uniform jacket off, splash water on his face, anything to calm him down without ruining his composed appearance. Instead, he navigated back to his “Blocked Users” page, once again making eye contact with Yugi’s smiling headshot. If his fingers trembled at all as he hit the “unblock” button, Kaiba certainly wouldn’t admit to it. He would have to reprogram “Crush Tweet Virus” to exempt Yugi entirely, as he would almost certainly interact with other tweets about his girlfriend. Girlfriend—the word made Kaiba’s stomach do another unpleasant flip.

He thought he was done with the whole endeavor. In fact, he was almost at peace, comfortably eating his lunch on the roof a few days later. Part of that had to do with the fact that he hadn’t interacted with Yugi in all that time, but nobody needed to know that. Unfortunately, things couldn’t be so easy for him.

“Hey, Kaiba! They told me I could find you up here.”

Kaiba nearly spit out his mouthful of rice. Surely, his ears were playing tricks on him. Kubota went to Rintama, she wouldn’t have time to make it onto the roof of Domino High during her lunch break. Yet, as he craned his neck up from his lunch, his stomach dropped. Those baby-pink hair buns could belong to nobody else.

He jumped to his feet, uncomfortable with looking up at the much-shorter duelist, then cleared his throat. “Kubota. What are you doing here?”

Kubota just grinned at him, though it looked more like a hostile baring of teeth to Kaiba. “I was in the neighborhood. Figured I’d drop by and thank you for unblocking Yugi.”

“You knew about that?” Kaiba said, keeping his gaze fiercely locked with her lavender eyes.

“Of course! Yugi and I don’t keep things from each other,” she responded, sounding hurt. “He was really upset when he realized you blocked him, so finding out that it was a mistake made him feel way better. So, uh, thanks.”

Why was she thanking him? He and Kubota didn’t speak much, but when they did, she was usually admonishing him. The lashing she gave him at Duelist Kingdom flashed through his mind; he suppressed a shudder. Yet, analyzing her body language, he didn’t think she was being sarcastic.

She cleared her throat, then, and gestured towards him. Right, she had said, “Thank you.” What was the right response to give? He settled on a curt, “You’re welcome,” and a brief jerk of his head, an abridged bow. Yet, she didn’t turn to leave. Instead, she glanced up and down his form, hands on her hips. One side of her face twitched—a suppressed smile?

“So, the stowaway tells me your Twitter account is basically automated,” she said casually, slipping one of the straps of her bright red bag off so that it hung from one shoulder instead of both.

“Stowaway?”

“Right, you don’t hang out with us much. That’s what I call the other Yugi.”

Kaiba flushed with embarrassment at the memory of the prior conversation. “I see. Yes, he’s right. That is how Yugi got blocked.”

Kubota leaned in, one eyebrow raised. “So, what program blocked Yugi? ‘Cause Stowaway tells me that he didn’t think you were lying about it being an accident, but I haven’t heard of anything that blocks people so liberally.”

“What do you mean?” Kaiba asked, frowning. “One person getting blocked by my program doesn’t mean that I’ve blocked everybody.”

“Are you sure about that?” Kubota wasn’t looking at him anymore, instead focused on her own phone. She scrolled for a moment, fingers moving in time with the rhythm she chewed her gum, before turning her screen towards him with a cry of triumph. “This thread says otherwise.”

Again, Kaiba was forced to squint at someone else’s phone screen, and almost immediately, he regretted ever signing up for Twitter in the first place. The first tweet was from Mai Kujaku, reading, “Lmao, guess I pissed him off somehow!” It was accompanied by a familiar screenshot: Kaiba’s own profile, with the text “You have been blocked by this user.”

The next tweet was from Kubota herself, remarking, “Lol, I’ve been blocked since Duelist Kingdom.” After that, the replies were full of Yugi’s friends, all posting similar screenshots and complaining about (Mazaki) or rejoicing (Jonouchi) being blocked by Seto Kaiba.

Damn him for forgetting that Kubota was an excellent strategist in her own right; he shouldn’t have let his guard down around her. He would never admit he had been thrown off, though. Instead, he straightened his posture, using the extra inch of height to sneer down at Kubota. “So my program kept the dweeb patrol from interacting with me. Seems like it’s working as intended.”

“But you didn’t want it to keep Yugi out, right?” Kubota said, a confident gleam in her eye that he recognized from when she dueled. She was right, of course, but he kept his mouth shut rather than admit it. “Whatever your program does, it obviously has a chain effect, since I haven’t interacted with any of your tweets. Maybe it doesn’t involve your tweets at all? I can puzzle this out all day, Kaiba.”

“Fine! If I tell you, will you stop talking?” Kaiba growled, frowning all the harder when Kubota grinned in response.

“Sure.” Her voice was as bouncy as the curls escaping her buns. Kaiba hated it.

Kaiba paused, trying to collect his thoughts. All the while, Kubota rocked on her heels, humming a melody he didn’t recognize. Finally, he happened on a good starting point.

“I thought I was aromantic.”

To his dismay, Kubota appeared to choke on air, coughing hard before breaking into disbelieving laughter. He crossed his arms, glaring at her, until she finally collected herself enough to say, “I’m sorry, I just— That is not what I expected you to say.” At Kaiba’s silence, she sighed, putting her hands up in a placating gesture. “Fine, I’ll be quiet. I guess you’re not aromantic?”

Kaiba thought about saying something in response to her air-quotes, but thought better of it. “I thought that I was above all of that. I didn’t have time for romance anyway—I still don’t. But then, you and Yugi got together, and it made me feel...ill.” Kubota’s face twisted, but he didn’t address it. “At first, I thought I was having romantic feelings towards you—”

“What?” Kubota’s horrified cry was a bit much, in Kaiba’s opinion, but he felt the same way.

“Calm down, that wasn’t the case.” He narrowed his eyes at Kubota’s exaggerated exhale, but continued. “After some thought, it became clear that… I was experiencing romantic attraction, but not towards you.” The other words on his tongue died once that horrifying revelation was out, and he snapped his mouth shut, letting his confession linger in the air.

Kubota’s brow was furrowed, however. Why was she confused? Kaiba had told her everything she needed to know! He was about to accuse her of taunting him when she gasped, eyes widening. “Are you… Coming out to me?”

Kaiba’s already-pale face became even whiter. “No?”

“Yes, you are! You’re coming out to me! And you started your coming out speech by telling me my boyfriend was your gay realization?” With every step, she advanced on him, until she was close enough that when she pointed her finger for emphasis, it brushed his chest.

“That’s—a blunt description, Kubota.”

She just shook her head. “I mean, it’s fine, I’m bi, but it’s a weird way to tell somebody you’re gay. And this relates to Twitter...how?”

Kaiba scoffed. “I could be bisexual.” When Kubota’s brow raised, a familiar irritation began coursing through him. Better than embarrassment. “I could! You don’t know that I’m—that I don’t like girls.”

Kubota scoffed right back, undaunted by his bristling. “Whatever you want to tell yourself. I just want to know what this has to do with blocking Yugi on Twitter.”

“It has everything to do with that,” Kaiba said, but his mouth dried up as he realized exactly why Yugi and the rest of his friends were blocked. He cleared his throat, then balled his fists and looked away from Kubota. The words felt like venom in his throat; the only way to alleviate the burning they caused was to spit them out. “I set up a program to block anybody who liked certain posts. Posts that talked about yours and Yugi’s relationship.”

A raised eyebrow. “Just talked about? That’s kind of a broad net, even for you, Kaiba.”

“Fine. They were posts which included photographic or video evidence of you being a couple. Usually with highly supportive comments. Those were the kinds of things I blocked, and the virus associated with it blocked anyone who interacted with a post I blocked using this system.”

Kubota shook her head. “Even your weird Twitter bots are like Duel Monsters cards. I’d say to get a hobby, but it seems like you’ve got your hands full already.”

“Are you challenging me? Because I’ll wipe the floor with you in a Duel, we both know that,” Kaiba growled.

“No,” Kubota said lightly, “but not because I think I’ll lose. You’re so predictable, Kaiba. I should have seen this coming, though I didn’t think you would be this weird about me and Yugi. Guess I was wrong!”

Arms folded, Kaiba surveyed his adversary. Five-foot-nothing, blowing a bubble of gum at him while she rocked back and forth on her booted heels, skateboard underneath one arm. Her Buster Blader cards came to mind, and he cringed internally. He made a mental note: find a copy of her Battle City deck and run simulations against it, to discern ideal counter-strategies.

But, he needed to respond to her before that could happen. “Hmph. As long as Yugi doesn’t forget who his true rival is, I suppose I don’t need to make a fuss about his romantic decisions.”

Kubota’s shoulders shook, but she looked him in the eyes and nodded. “Thank you, Kaiba. Are you...sure you’re okay?”

“Of course I am,” Kaiba said, more off-kilter than he’d ever been. “Now, the bell’s about to ring, and I haven’t finished my lunch.”

Checking her watch, her glossy lips parted in surprise. “Shit, you’re right. I gotta get back to Rintama. Don’t be a stranger, Kaiba!” With that, she ran toward the stairs, waving at him over her shoulder before the door slammed behind her. Kaiba exhaled slowly, and looked at the remains of his bento. He wasn’t very hungry, all of a sudden.

What had he done?

#my writing #yugioh fanfic #oc: kazuko kubota #anyway!!!!

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mr-entj · 5 years ago

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Career 102: Getting a job you have no experience in

Combined with the following asks:

Hey Mr ENTJ. Do you have advice on how to move from academia into industry for someone who has only research experience? Only a CV and not a resume? Thank you!

How do you spin skills from one industry to be applicable to another? I'm a theater and English major (yes, I know) and it's been difficult finding work lately, because I am stuck living in a state where there are little jobs for that. I've worked on films, weddings, as a curator guide at a museum, and have my AA. I've had good interview after good interview, and have been outright told at three different places that I was a perfect fit. And then they went with someone else. Any advice?

Hi Mr. ENTJ I love your blog, is a great source of information for me so thanks for that! I have a question if you don’t mind. What kind of advice would you give to a graduate student who has not worked on their field during college and now is looking for a job? I’m a Business major but I’m currently working as a language teacher at a private institute (it started as a part-time job) My salary’s really good, however I’d like to start working in business but I have no experience on that :( thnks!

Hi there! I've read some of your advice to other askers and find what you say very perceptive and realistic. I'd like to ask your opinion. I have Bachelors and Masters degrees in the life sciences. I worked in academia for 2 years but my field lacked funding so I left. I have no commercial experience.I have problems getting a job because of this and most companies' resistance to hiring nonpractical grads. I want to go into consulting which is more flexible with degrees. What would you advise?

Hi mr entj! This may be a bit of a stupid question but what should I do if I can't find the job in a field(actually sub-field of a field) that I'm aiming for? I'm looking to be a concept artist but I can't seem to find any such jobs that don't require atleast a year of experience and since I'm a fresher I don't have that. In my country, there is also not a tradition of getting small student jobs so I don't have that experience either. Help me with some tips please.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Since we are seeing more shops closed due to Etsy’s customer service level standards, my blog post on ODR now has major revisions explaining what we have learned, and includes some tips for staying out of trouble and if necessary, appealing a suspension. Please circulate the info widely, as many sellers still haven’t heard about this, and some were closed without having any clue this was possible.

Mobile continues to grow while desktop use is slowly shrinking. It should affect how we design web pages. “Mobile visitors also behave differently from their desktop web counterparts, staying on pages for shorter periods of time, for example.” Other interesting takeaways from this SimilarWeb report: “[Facebook] lost 8.6% of [web] traffic over the past year alone” but increased in app sessions.

The price of domains ending in “.com” will almost certainly be going up soon, and will go up most years after that, unless something changes at the last minute. If you are absolutely certain that you will continue to use the same domain name for your website, blog, ecommerce forwarding etc., then you might consider paying a few years in advance to save a few bucks.

Another article explaining how people are selling thrift store and vintage clothing on Instagram, without setting up a checkout/cart anywhere. (The article focusses on teenagers, but does reference other examples.)

ETSY NEWS

Two weeks ago, Etsy Support posted on Twitter that they were no longer monitoring the account, and asked everyone to use the help page maze instead when they need support. Forum thread here.

Another trend report for 2020 from Dayna Isom Johnson [podcast links & transcript] She leads off with tips on how to get featured: “ so it's incredibly important to see a bright representation that really clearly shows your product...Do be original. I'm always trying to find the latest and the greatest that isn’t already on the shelves...Do be inclusive. ... I'm talking about models of all ethnicities, all genders, all body types, all ages.” Etsy chose chartreuse as their colour of the year: “in the last three months, there's been a 12% increase in searches for green already, and a 55% increase in neon green.” The wedding trends part was mostly already covered in a blog post, but she does also answer a few seller questions.

Website user experience (UX) is a big part of getting people to convert, and an outside group ranks Etsy’s as “acceptable”. Many will be unsurprised that search gets a score of “mediocre” and Accounts & Self-Service get a “poor” grade.

The migration to Google Cloud services is complete, so now Etsy can run more experiments more often, including those involving AI. (Although the forum thread was laughing at the idea of bad reviews helping shops, there is actually some research supporting that, so it is a logical thing to test.)

Etsy sellers in the US, UK & Canada who use Instagram can apply to win a trip to Etsy HQ here, until March 1.

Etsy is launching an Etsy U program which just seems a bit sketchy. Forum thread here.

Reverb (owned by Etsy) named a new Chief Technology Officer on Feb. 18.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Google does not confirm every large search update, so this one remains a mystery at the moment, since Google refused to give an answer. That means it’s not a core update.

Another video (with subtitles in several languages) from the SEO for Beginners series from Google, on the basics you need for good website SEO.

If you are interested in “searcher intent”, this 500 person survey asks about what people are really looking for, and what they think of the search results the end up with. Overwhelmingly, they say they prefer organic results to ads, and the majority see targeted ads that they can’t figure out the reason/s behind. “Sixty-eight percent responded that Google adding more ads to the search results would make them want to use the search engine less.” Also, a slight majority preferred text results to images, video, & audio. “When asked which factor had the most significant impact on their decision to click a result, 62.9% responded it was the description, followed by 24.2% who said the brand name, and 13% who said title.” That means that the first part of your Etsy listing description, or the coded meta description on a page on your website, has the most influence on people clicking on your link once they see it.

I usually strongly suggest that people setting up their own websites make sure they do some SEO work & keyword research for their category/shop section pages, and it turns out that there is new research showing I am correct. “Specifically, e-commerce category pages – which include parent category, subcategory and product grid pages with faceted navigation – ranked for 19% more keywords on average than product detail pages ranked for. The additional keywords they ranked for drove an estimated 413% more traffic, based on the keywords’ search demand and the pages’ ranking position. With optimization, those ranking category pages also showed the potential to drive 32% more traffic.”

Semi-advanced: explaining the (seemingly endless) debate on whether subdomains or subdirectories are better for SEO.

SEO study - do you really need to use H1 tags on a page? Maybe not, although some screen readers recognize them as the page title so they help with accessibility. (Etsy & many other marketplaces don’t let you make this coding choice, so don’t worry about it there.)

Confused about how to apply all of these SEO tips I post here to your Shopify site? Good news! Here’s a list of what is most important for Shopify SEO. Note the attention to setting up your category pages, which is something I completely agree with. (it’s by Ahrefs so of course it pushes their tools; you don’t need to pay for that.)

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Some businesses say social media doesn’t work, but maybe they aren’t doing it right. See if you are making one or more of these three mistakes. “Understanding who your target audience is - what they want, what they need, where you fit in, etc. - is critical to maximizing your social media marketing performance.”

Email marketing also works better if you do it right, so here are 5 things you might be doing wrong. And if you like a quick read, here’s an infographic on the psychology of email marketing.

8 ideas for getting more interactions on Facebook (detailed infographic).

More fourth quarter reports continue: Pinterest’s 4th quarter revenue was up 46% but they lost $1.36 billion, and they are introducing a verified merchant program. “Almost all (97%) of the top searches on Pinterest are unbranded, according to the company, giving merchants a chance to stand out.”

Want to tap into that Pinterest traffic? You should because “90% of weekly Pinterest users log in to make buying decisions.” Here are 10 ways to get more attention, followers, and pins.

Like almost all social media, Twitter has an algorithm that mediates what users see (although you can turn it off, or use apps such as Tweetdeck to get around it as a reader). Ranking factors include recency, engagement, media and activity. The article includes a few tips on how to make it work for you, but then slides into promoting its app as the solution - you can just skip that part.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Google search ads get more results than Facebook and Instagram, simply because more people who see them want to buy something. “Less expensive products tend to sell better than more expensive ones on Facebook and Instagram, per the study.”

If you are running ads where you can choose your keywords, don’t forget to examine your organic search results and impressions for new words to advertise. Google Search Console is a great source.

If you found Instagram ads too expensive, check out this post on how the ads are priced, which can help you make decisions on your spend.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Amazon has nearly 40% of the US ecommerce market, according to a report by eMarketer. Etsy is not in the top 10; eBay is 3rd behind Walmart.

Sales on Shopify sites during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday long weekend went up 61% to $3 billion in 2019. They claim that the “direct -to-consumer” approach can be successful for both big & small brands.

Japanese authorities are going after Rakuten for the ecommerce company’s push to make its sellers offer free shipping.

eCommerceBytes’ annual Sellers Choice survey placed eBay first out of the online marketplaces that were rate. Note that this is not a scientific survey and largely covers the site’s readership only. Bonanza was the most improved & Etsy showed the worst drop (from 1st to 5th place).

A review of that article last month that says ecommerce sites should have info pages as well as product pages, if only for SEO reasons. The author approves.

The CBC show Marketplace did a large test buying branded items on AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Wish. It turns out that most were fake.

Facebook’s cryptocurrency plans (Libra) finally have a partner: Shopify. The potential benefits include no credit card processing fees.

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

Younger people (think Gen Z) expect to see gender treated expansively and beyond traditional stereotypes, and they expect this from companies and advertising. “Half of women and four in 10 men in the U.S. now believe that there is a spectrum of gender identities, according to a recent Ipsos poll titled "The Future of Gender is Increasingly Nonbinary." An additional 16% of those surveyed said they know a person who identifies as transgender”

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Google employees are pushing back against the sea change in the company’s culture and values - and some are being fired.

Turns out that the “Peleton Wife” ad might not have hurt them as much as you might think. However, their stock dropped 12% after the fourth quarter report showed a 77% increase in revenue that still managed to be below market predictions. Interesting discussion around going viral in a negative fashion.

#Cindylouwho2newsupdates #seo #search engine optimization #search engine marketing #Etsynews #etsy #social media #Contentmarketing #Content marketing #ecommerce #Smallbiz #Seotips #Customer service #Ppc advertising #onlinemarketing #ecommercetips #EmailMarketing #socialmedianews

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kingofmyfancyheart · 5 years ago

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“Don’t you dream impossible things?”

On Friday August 2, 2019 one of my biggest dreams came true. I met my favourite musician, role model and best friend: TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT. Here’s my story:

So it was on a Tuesday evening when I received the message of messages on twitter. The Direct Message from Taylor Nation. I was just casually looking at my phone since it had been around 6 PM. I also got a message from Tayswiftdotcom about the ME! Vinyl, which I won… But of course I read the message from TN first and I was SHOOK. I don’t know my exact reaction, but I must have been in shock. I was even wondering if this really would be for secret sessions??? I first told my best friend – the one I trust with my heart – as fast as I can. It went like ‘OMG E’ ‘OMG KSJOD OMG’ and she knew what it was. She actually didn’t know more info. SHE JUST KNEW.

I told about the message to my parents, sister and another best friend too. My sister knew a bit about secret sessions and stuff already, but my parents didn’t. My mom was even a bit scared that I would get kidnapped or something jsfkdjsfldjs but I comforted her. This was all real and TN is real. Verified. Legit. It was real 100% SURE. The message was real. As soon as I read the message, I answered with my information and then the waiting began. And the wait seemed to be SO long!!! Although it wasn’t THAT long, but feeling wise… I kept checking my DM’s. Did they read my reply already? Fortunately I had things to do in the meantime. This helped me to distract myself from social media.

I got the call on Thursday, July 18, around 10 PM. It was after my mom’s birthday. I received a call waiting as I was calling with my sister already. It took me a few seconds to realize though. So I said “wait, I got a call” and checked the screen… and then I saw a US phone number. I immediately got back to my sister: “THEY’RE CALLING!!! I NEED TO HANG UP NOW.” So I hung up, but TN also did. So… I immediately called them back, while I ran upstairs with a notebook and pen. I didn’t even think about how much this call was going to cost me… I just didn’t realize, HAHAHA. I sat down behind my desk without even turning on the lights and waited. Then I heard “do I speak with Mrs. Jennifer?” and my nerves went SKY HIGH. It was Michael from Taylor Nation. The conversation remained 16 minutes and 23 seconds. I know, quite long, but that’s because of my lack of English… haha. During the call they invited me officially to go to the UK for… an event.

After the call it was time to rearrange things. Luckily enough I still had two weeks left. My sister helped me much with searching for flights and an accommodation. I’ve not much personal travel experience… I just really needed a little help. I wasn’t going to travel on my own, but with my mom who still had days off. We booked our accommodation in a lovely place near London. Of course I would have LOVED to sleep in the big city, but well… I’m definitely going back once. It was a nice and calm introduction to the UK for me.

On July 25 I had a lunch with my best friend E. We also had a little shopping spree. Of course I wanted to have a new outfit for this special day. AND I WASN’T THE PERSON WHO FOUND THE DRESS. No, my best friend spotted the dress and I immediately was like ‘YES!!! That’s it!’ It looked so romantic, lovely and it was screaming Lover at me.

In the two weeks before my flight I’ve been so excited. It’s been such a weird time, like… When I scrolled through my timeline and saw tweets about secret sessions (stuff like ‘which pose would you choose?’), I was giggling and thinking ‘wait, so I’m going to be THERE??? LIKE REALLY THERE – IN HER HOUSE?????’ It felt so insane and surreal. I couldn’t believe it.

We arrived in the UK on Thursday August 1 and took it slowly. We didn’t have much time and both my mom and me needed some time to acclimatize. We decided to stay just in the countryside of London, which was really okay to me. Actually I loved it very much. I love nature and more local places and especially the place where we stayed. On the other hand, our place still had this big shopping mall with shops like New Look, H&M and Top Shop. It was a small town, but not that boring haha.

Around 4 PM we were arriving at our accommodation, where we met the guest lady (Arie). She was so kind and friendly!!! And the house looked beautiful and lovely just like the town. My mom and me had room 5 which was one of the attic rooms. Normally we would have shared a bathroom with room 6, but that day we had a private one since room 6 hadn’t been booked yet.

So, when the guest lady was introducing herself, she also complimented my t-shirt. I wore my Meredith shirt from Taylor’s collection, so that was really nice! She even told me she was going to search for the shirt online! She needed it hahaha!!! That conversation made me like this lady even more.

But well… the day went by and suddenly it was Friday. August 2. THE DAY OF THE EVENT. And NOW I really felt the nerves and excitement. Yes, this morning I finally felt the nerves. Although it came even more later on the day, but I’ll talk about that soon. First things first, people. I’m the princess of details. (Taylor is the queen!)

We didn’t plan anything specific this day except for the event. I think I woke up around 7 AM first, but then I was going back to sleep. And then I woke up again around… ehm, 8:45 AM perhaps? I don’t know, but I woke up before my alarm set. (I set my alarm for 10 AM.) I ate my oats breakfast while staying in bed. Like, it was still a holiday, so let’s serve myself some breakfast in bed. My mom was also awake and had the same breakfast. After breakfast I watched one episode of Gilmore Girls and then afterwards it was time to get ready, I guess.

I was wearing the new bought dress and a flower headband, which seemed a really good idea. But I’ll come back at you about that later. We booked my taxi for 1:30 PM. I asked mom if she would walk with me to the gate. In this way she could see by herself who was going to bring me to the meeting point. It would made me feel a bit more safely. Also, it was a bit unclear whether the return taxi was included in the same booking as the afternoon one or not. This all ended well though. :) I arrived on the exact time as Google Maps told me I was going to be. This meant I was waaaaay too early, but well… Better early than too late, right? That’s why I brought a book with me (can you see me? – by Libby Scott & Rebecca Westcott). During the taxi ride the driver asked me where I was going. “Do you have to work?” he asked and so, I was like “no… I got invited for some event…” that’s it. Of course. I didn’t dare to tell ANYONE about this except the five people, who I trust with my whole heart. That was quite hard for me btw, since I’ve always been so honest to everyone. So, when I was arriving at the meeting point, I went into the lobby to sit down somewhere. I thought: no way that there’ll be someone already this early. But then there was this girl… she was on the phone, though, but I thought immediately: could she be invited too??? We were looking at each other a few times and then she hang up. She decided to sit near me and then… she (@yntcdtyler) asked. “Are you her for…?” And we were both like ‘YES!! FINALLY I CAN TALK WITH SOMEONE ABOUT IT.’ Apparently, I didn’t need to bring a book with me.

Later on more Swifties were arriving and for some reason we recognized each other immediately. Even though we didn’t really know each other. Or well… Sometimes WE DID KNOW each other. Like, that one time I met one of my fellow DUTCH SWIFTIES (@danique99xkiss) for the FIRST TIME AT THE MEETING POINT FOR A SECRET SESSION. Like… HOW??? APPARENTLY TAYLOR DECIDED TO INVITE US BOTH!! FOR! A! SECRET! SESSION! And we weren’t the only two Dutch Swifties. There were like six or seven people, who had Dutch as a native language. And there were so many different internationalities!!! People from Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Canada, even Singapore!!! But I was so glad with my fellow Dutchies. It made me feel a bit more comfortable. It was nice to meet everyone out there right before the evening of our lives was going to start.

Around 4 PM someone from TN walked over to us. She greeted us and took us with her, while everyone was thinking ‘IT’S STARTING!!!’ But unfortunately when we were inside, we still had to wait for like an hour. Hahaha, but well, we were together and again: it was so nice seeing everyone there! I just knew everyone was going to be sweet. We all had one big common interest. We were all here for the same reason. I sat next to my fellow Dutchies Danique, Britt (@alltoowonderland13) and Mila (@taylaaahhh-13) and also behind Laurens (@gotthatwhitetshirt) and a few other people. While everyone was mingling, walking around and talking with each other, I just sat there… Although I tried to talk too, but socializing isn’t my best treat. @ London Sessioners: Sorry if I was a bit quiet… I’ve always been the shy, introvert person… Please don’t think that I didn’t like you all, CAUSE I DID!!!

We had to leave all of our stuff in this room and couldn’t take a bag with us. And then, around 5 PM, we were about to leave… NOW IT WAS STARTING. FOR REAL. So everyone walked over to the door, where we were waiting to get on the buses. I stood next to Mila and realized that I hadn’t drunk water, yet. But in that moment I started to feel a bit dizzy or something… Maybe because of the nerves? So I decided to take a glass of water anyway. I didn’t want to faint omg. Mila and I got on the first bus and… I just kept thinking: THIS IS REAL!!!!

When our bus was arriving at THE HOUSE, someone from TN told us that that we had to pretend we’re excited, hahaha. They were going to film us, when we ran of the bus. Well, of course we didn’t need to PRETEND everything. Our feelings were ALL REAL. Duh. Oh btw, my first reaction to her house was like ‘omg this is really the house of a queen! It looks so royal!’ Like, it was so big!!!! I actually don’t know what I was thinking, when I walked through her front door… I guess I was just very impressed. And in shock. Oh and when we were all standing in the bus ready for our run, I said to no one in particular ‘I hope I won’t fall during my run’. I really felt my legs shaking jkdsfjksjf but fortunately it went well. I think I looked SUPER happy and enthusiastic.

Taylor’s house smelled so good. So, I don’t know exactly what I was thinking on my way through the hallway, but I know that for a moment I really thought (OKAY THIS IS GONNA SOUND REALLY WEIRD)… I really thought for a second that one of the security said ‘goedemorgen’ to me. I mean ‘good morning’, but in Dutch. I DON’T KNOW WHY I THOUGHT SO OMG, I’M JUST CRAZY HAHAHAHA. I think I was dreaming. But I really heard him saying ‘good morning’ in my own language, BUT THAT’S SO IMPOSSIBLE HAHAHAHA! @taylornation please confirm so I could decide if I’m really crazy or not

Anyway. I tried to take everything in so carefully. I just wanted to remember this experience very well, so I was paying attention to the most small details. She had so many perfumed candles around her house!!! And there was a cupboard in the dining room with many boardgames. The dining room was a very light and bright room because of all the windows and glass doors, which were all open widely. We were allowed to walk onto the porch too, where we could find cold drinks. Inside there was a table with pizza and burgers and also one with vegetables, fruit and Lover M&Ms (those were SO cute!!!) I remember how at first everyone was just walking around and looking at everything. No one dared to touch something lol, but soon enough people took food and drinks. And later people were sitting on the chairs. It was very surreal and bizarre to be walking around her house as casual like that. In the garden there was a trampoline too and two soccer goals. We thought those soccer goals were Joe’s idea, but that’s actually bsh*t. I mean, we all know Taylor can play soccer. Riiight.

Inside the house I was still a bit quiet and shy, but I really had the time of my life. I promise. I was just enjoying the smell of her house and the people surrounding me in silent. Besides, actually I just really couldn’t wait to hear her album!! But it was really amazing to spend time with the group of sessioners in London. At some point You Need To Calm Down was playing and everyone in the dining room started to sing SO loud. Like, really, REALLY loud!!! I was in shock!! And of course I just sang out loud with them! Some lyrics we even sang out LOUDER, like for example the sentence ‘AND SHADE NEVER MADE ANYBODY LESS GAY!!!!!’ That was SO awesome. I was standing next to the girl in the red dress (@taylorisglowinginthedark) and we immediately looked at each other after that sentence with this big smile <3 I really think Taylor heard us. She MUST HAVE. @taylorswift YOU MUST HAVE.

Not much later after this moment the listening session was going to start, but just before we go to that I still want you to tell about something. At another point there was a butterfly flying through the dining room and THAT WAS SUCH A MAGICAL MOMENT. For me it felt like Taylor was inside the room, but like, undercover. Hahaha. I know, surreal, but this whole day was surreal. So. But it was really one of my favourite moments. I mean, everyone was looking at the butterfly. It connected us just like Taylor and her music connects us <3

So, time to go into her living room. WHAT. YES. I SAT IN HER FREAKING LIVING ROOM!!!!! I SPEND A WHOLE EVENING WITH TAYLOR AND 70+ SWIFTIES. I sat somewhere in the back, because the room was full already when I walked in. But I found the perfect place. Inside a fire place btw hahahahaha, which wasn’t on fire of course hahahahfdhsfosjfosjf why did I say that? Of course it wasn’t on fire, sigh. My mind. Anyway, I sat half in the fire place and next to the air-conditioning AND a tissue box. So, perfect place. I shared the tissue box with Zita and Danique immediately, because I just KNEW we were going to need that. The parents from some Swifties were also sitting in the back on couches, and Tree of course, while we sat on those light pink blankets laying across the floor. Taylor put multiple cushions as well on the floor, so it looked all cosy. I loved the atmosphere. Up in the front there was a big chair with a side table, where obviously Taylor was going to sit with her iPod. THE IPOD. WITH THE MOST PRECIOUS THING. LOVER. We’d been surrounded by candles again and much wood. It was just a really cosy and warm place. Just as warm as her heart.

And then. . . . . . .Taylor walked in. AND WE SCREAMED. AND CRIED. AND SCREAMED. AND YELLED. She walked in from a door somewhere in the front, which lead to the kitchen, I guess. But I’m not sure. She was wearing a very soft and sweet outfit: pastel green shirt with stripes, white shorts and sneakers with stars pattern. I remember how I was just staring at her. I guess all I thought was ‘THIS IS REAL. SHE IS REAL.’ Her voice was so friendly and soft as well. It was truly amazing to hear all the backstories straight from her mouth. I could have listened to her FOR HOURS. I really wouldn’t mind. I was smiling really big the WHOLE time. I’m truly honest when I’m saying that I liked each song on the album. Also, Lover gave me many 1989 vibes, but more grown up.

During the listening session Taylor held a short break, so we could stretch legs and taste her SELFMADE PASTEL COLOURED RICE CRISPIES. AND THEY WERE DELICIOUS!!! Very sticky, but still very delicious. It was the perfect snack after hearing the most emotional song EVER.

Taylor took us outside while holding the plate with snacks. Although I was just realizing this in the dining room. Then I realized it was TAYLOR HERSELF who was walking in the front hahahaha. I really was on cloud nine. There were some Swifties who were allowed to jump on the trampoline. I didn’t hear this by myself at the moment, but apparently at that moment Taylor was saying ‘THOSE ARE MY KIDS’. After this she walked over to the parents – with a glass of white wine – to introduce herself, which is SO Taylor. And of course the parents took their children with them. It was all so amazing. The fact that she was just standing in the middle and talked to us in this casual way. Surreal. Taylor asked if people didn’t need to go to the toilet, but yeah, of course not. We all wanted to stay there with her. Duh. Hahaha!

After a while we were walking back inside for the second half of the listening part. First I was thinking of going to the toilet, but then I saw everyone going inside the living room and I thought ‘oh whatever’. Hahaha, I still had a place somewhere in the back though. But again not a bad place. Maybe it was even a better place. I had a bit more space now. I was still sitting next to Zita and Danique, and also to a girl with very cute cat shoes and @taylorisglowinginthedark. She had been sitting IN FRONT OF TAYLOR during the first half, which must have been a whole experience by itself!!! That’s also a reason why she wanted to sit more in the back now. I could understand. She wanted to give other persons the chance to have this kind of view also.

I tried to listen very carefully during the session. I couldn’t take my eyes off Taylor, but just because I didn’t want to miss a single thing!! I loved it so much how she was singing along with each song and doing those little dances. SHE’S SO CUTE, FUNNY AND SUCH A DORK!!! <3 When I was listening to the songs, I tried to let my body and feelings speak. I wanted it to experience as calm as possible, so I would let the songs sink in deeply. I thought that would possibly help me to NOT forget anything about this evening. If I’ll be listening to her album again on August 23 (or later), I hope I can remember everything again so clearly like I’m back again in her living room. This was such a special night. Once in a lifetime experience.

So, I said it already that I liked each song and that’s really TRUE. I’m not lying to you and also, this is just MY opinion. Personally I didn’t think during any song ‘meh…’ I also have some favourites… Track 7, 8 and 10… Not saying anything more. Just that.

After the listening session we were allowed to look into the DELUXE JOURNALS, which was such an honour. Unfortunately I didn’t hold one in my own hands, but well, I saw them and they looked really beautiful. And I was going to buy them (all) anyway. Hahahaha. Ever since we’ve heard about the content, I decided that I just want them ALL. GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL. My feeling between the listening session and the individual meet & greet was… weird. The evening was almost over, but the best part had to come now. And I just felt… I don’t know. But I know that I was walking from inside to the porch and back a few times. Mostly I stood with fellow Dutchies Mila and Danique, but sometimes it became a bit hot inside and so, I walked over to the porch. OH by the way, right after the listening part we got selfmade baking stuff again!! This time Taylor made VERY CUTE HEART-SHAPED PINK LOVER COOKIES. And since I’ve been a cookie monster, I ate them immediately of course. Although they were actually too beautiful to eat, but yeah… Wouldn’t it be rude if we did NOT eat them directly?

During the wait before the meet & greet I just couldn’t catch up with my mind anymore. I had so much stuff to process. It was TOO MUCH for my brain. But well, I survived anyway. But yeah, this evening was very surreal and a whole new fan experience.

Luckily I didn’t black out during my meet & greet with (THE ONE AND ONLY) Taylor Alison Swift. Since it all took a little longer than expected, some Swifties were given priority. For example, when people had to catch the train or booked a taxi. Something which I did indeed. Around 9:30 PM I told TN about this, but they were letting me wait anyway. Maybe it wasn’t necessary to give me priority, but apparently later on it was.

And then. . . . . . . I was in line for THE MEET & GREET. When I was standing there, I looked over my shoulder for a moment to check at my Dutch friends and was like ‘eeeek I’M ALMOST THERE’. I was standing behind the sweet girl from Singapore and we were both so nervous. Also, my eye decided to irritate JUST at that exact moment. Like, WHY???? Fortunately, I had everything under control before my moment with Tay. And I was so happy with the huge mirror in the hallway.

I don’t know the exact time of when I was walking into the living room. I didn’t wear a watch jksjdlfdsj, but I know what was happening at first. When I just entered the room, Taylor said to me, very enthusiastic, “THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING OVER!” followed by the BEST. HUG. EVER. It was a really big, warm and REAL hug. She didn’t let go until I was deciding to (unfortunately). After her “THANK YOU” I was like “YOU’RE WELCOME” and told her how I would have come anyway. How I’ve done anything to come, because I just had to be there. Something like that.

Then I told her that I came with my mom. So she responded “Oh, she’s here?!”, but I was like “no, she’s still in the bed & breakfast”. Then Taylor said “oh, could you thank your mom for me for taking you here, please?” which was SO SWEET OF HER. How she thought about my mom <3 During our conversation she had this very sweet and friendly face the whole time. SHE’S JUST SWEET, PERIOD.

At some point Taylor also called me Jenni, probably because of my necklace. So I was like “it’s Jennifer actually, but…” and then she was a bit confused. She responded: “Oh, I always thought it was Jenni! But I’ll call you Jennifer then.” And just how she said my name and nickname… such a moment. It felt so personal. Hearing your full name said by one of the biggest musicians. I just--

When I told her that I liked each song on the album, she was like “REALLY??” when she held up her hand for a HIGH FIVE. LOVE HER. Oh, and also, HOW COULD I FORGET THIS???? Taylor also said “I like the flowers in your hair!!!” which was such a sweet comment!!!!! I’m so happy that I wore the headband. I just thought ‘this is very Lover era, so I should wear it’, but didn’t think of THIS.

Then it was time for our picture.Taylor asked me if I was thinking about a pose already. I answered “maybe we can hug and ehm… hold hands??” So she asked me “oh, and do you want it like this…” – she took my hand and hold it in a ~normal~ way and then she intertwined our fingers – “or this?” And immediately I was like ‘YES!!!’ Then she hold me even closer to her and SNAP! PICTURE TAKEN! Afterwards I thought ‘I hope this picture turned out well??? Did I smile?? How did I look?’, but I didn’t ask about the picture anyway. Right before I walked out, Taylor was saying to me “SEE YOU ONLINE!” and so I responded “see you at a concert!!” and that’s that. Wow.

Outside the room the sweet, blonde girl with the camera – from TN – was waiting for me. She asked how it was and I was like “good”??? I didn’t really know what to answer, I was just in awe. I also got a customized bag with merchandise. And then I was walking into the bus, where everyone asked how it was and again I was like “GOOD”. Nothing more. I was really on cloud nine now and so much in shock.

When we were all waiting inside the bus to go back to the hotel, I felt really dreamy and sleepy. I also really felt the urge to call MY SISTER!! Or just someone, but I wanted to call my sister first <3 But yeah, we didn’t have our phones yet. So I talked a bit with my neighbour, which was the sweet girl from Singapore! Although she was talking more than me, but well :) I loved her energy. Then after some time the bus was going to leave. It was … ehm, around 11 PM? When the bus was driving away slowly, it came past the meeting room. And. . . YES, the curtains were open. So we had a little sneak peek inside and saw TAYLOR!!! Which made us scream of course haha. Unfortunately someone from TN decided to close the curtains then, which she did slowly though… And she was waving, haha. She looked sweet and friendly. A sweet goodbye :( <3

Back at the meeting point I was waiting outside with Britt. It felt weird to be back at that place, while having a Lover Secret Sessions tote bag with me. Like, SOMETHING VERY BIG HAPPENED TONIGHT. WE MET ONE OF THE BIGGEST POPSTARS. TAYLOR. SWIFT. TAYLOR SWIFT. WE WERE AT HER HOUSE!!! Britt was also panicking a bit, because she didn’t really know how to go back to her hostel. But luckily we fixed that together (and with a local AND Stephanie from TN!! SWEET!) and she booked a taxi, so she was safe apparently :) And then my taxi arrived at 11:30 PM. . . . . . .

I’m posting the story on August 18, which is more than two weeks later. I had some time to let it all sink in, which was quite hard. Like, it was just SO surreal. I keep using this word, but it’s just the only thing I could come up with. My feelings during this evening cannot really be described actually. I enjoyed EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this experience!! I’m very grateful for the chance. Thank you @taylornation SO much for inviting me to @taylorswift‘s house. And thank you Taylor for letting me in your house! <3 I didn't tell you everything I wanted, since I had this whole list of things. But well... I had the time of my life with you and all the other Swifties. And that's what matters. This has been one of the happiest days of my life.

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okayto · 5 years ago

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As a fellow adhd librarian, I can't help but ask....how do you deal with the lull times when you have maaaaaybe 4 patrons an hour, you have finished all your projects and there are NO at desk tasks to be done, but SOMEONE just blew it for everyone by being caught doing her homework and ignoring the ONE patron who wanted help, and now you have desk hours and have nothing to do and all computers and books are banned. *twitch* I might have a bit of an issue with boredom right now.

First, that sucks, completely. Curse that ~*~someone~*~ who ruined everything for the rest of you.

Second…can you not use your own computer, or is there not a computer at the desk? If there’s nothing at the desk at all, I am out of ideas and the only thing I can think of is having a chat with whoever makes the rules and being like, “Hey, we agree I’m a good worker, and I get my stuff done, but that means that sometimes I’m at this desk for literal hours with no projects and nothing to do.” Get them to agree that you should be able to do something, even if it’s “only reading magazines/books from the library collection” or something. ‘Cause otherwise, jeez that’s cruel.

If there is a computer at the desk, I have some go-to websites I can browse–nothing objectionable, makes me look busy if someone comes up (because I’m obviously working on the computer!), etc.

If I have a project (however tenuous it is), I can justify searching for resources for it. My projects include:

Bulletin board creation. I can trawl Pinterest and the internet for inspiration anywhere.And once I have inspiration, I need info on the topic…which could be poetry, or cooking, or gardening, or chickens, or whatever.

Helping with collection management for our young adult and graphic novel collections. I haven’t done much but hey, I should probably read these blogs about YA book reviews, right?

Posting to social media, so I look up articles on how to do that engagingly, and I look at other accounts for inspiration/things to share/hashtags to join/tweets to retweet

If using a desk computer is something feasible for you, some ideas for non-project fun things, moving from “okay probably anywhere that lets you on the computer” to “use your best judgement about whether this would fly in your workplace”:

Start with more academic resources (this looks better if someone sees the screen). At my library, I’ll browse our digitized archival collections because I think reading 40+-year-old student newspapers/yearbooks is interesting (and I can get ideas for #ThrowbackThursday posts).

Other university/library/museum digitized collections are also fair game. I have some links in my blog (tagged “link”) and I just save a bunch of stuff when I see something interesting. Places like the Smithsonian’s digitized stuff, or links I find on Twitter by scientists and archaeologists, etc.

Local/national newspapers. If you can get it approved, you could try reading physical copies at the desk, but at my library we also have a digital subscription of the local paper included. And through some library databases, I can read things like the New York Times (or specific articles) without using my “10 free articles a month” thing.

Also, NPR, BBC and other reputable news sites that will have stuff like book reviews, features, etc. On my to-read list is NPR’s “Reading the Game” occasional feature, which looks at video games from a literary perspective.

The Awful Library Books blog is fun and interesting

Mental Floss is also informative and fun

Ask a Manager is great, and directly related to work (in fact, I used it to help me figure out a firing last year), with all the intrigue and gawking you get with an advice column.

Other blogs that are safe for work. So, not The Bloggess because language and stuff that people wouldn’t like in my workplace, but Cake Wrecks and Epbot and Book Riot (maybe not technically a blog, but whatevs) are OK for me.

(IDK about anyone else, but once I’ve read enough recent stuff to know I like a blog, I then try to go back and read things in chronological order. I’ll skip/skim boring stuff, but otherwise, this is a good way to make blog-reading last a while.)

Ebooks! In your library, or Project Gutenberg’s online HTML pages, or through the Internet Archive, etc.

Fanfiction, but probably only if you’ve checked its tags/warnings/visual ahead of time. Like, save a direct link to a fic that’s the equivalent of PG. Start curating a SFW list. When in doubt, don’t browse or search for new fics at the desk. You’d hate for someone to come up behind you just as you scroll past something that’s warned for fisting.

Webcomics–most are colorful so this is really only if it’s completely okay for you to be obviously (to someone who can see the screen) not Doing Work-Work. There are ones like Hark! A Vagrant and XKCD (along with Explain XKCD, and the What If? blog) that are black and white, but most have color. You’d have to decide about contents and propriety. FWIW, I enjoyed reading Hyperbole and a Half (blog/comic combo, inactive), Adventures of Superhero Girl (complete), Girl Genius, and Gunnerkrigg Court (ongoing).

I hope you’re allowed to do something, Anon! Does anyone else have any suggestions?

#I have no idea what I'd do if I wasn't allowed to be on the computer--which I have to use when I have work--but probably I would die or just #links #working in a library #tumblarians #link #good information #website #webcomic #ask

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micahss · 5 years ago

Text

how micah looks down at his line before snorting it up (warning, drug mention, parental neglect)

here’s some statistics !! just a lil ..

full name: micah abel jeon nickname(s): doesn’t like nicknames,have to be named rosie to nickname him age: 22. date of birth: january 12th 1997 hometown: dallas, texas current location: milan, italy ethnicity: korean gender: cis male. religion: agnostic. sexuality: bisexual. education: has a high school diploma, no college. language(s) spoken: korean & english hair colour: light brown eye colour: brown piercings: ears, both, left double helix piercing,

✞ FAMILY LIFE .....

easy bullet points for my friends, the brat muns ... also bc im typing this while i have a cold and im too tired from work to rly be ArtSy,

micah abel jeon, MAJ if you will, was born to two loving parents..

SIKE, THEY’RE DEMONS, like his dad was a HUGE director, very respected in the business and heavily awarded, an award winning director, like oscars big. his mother was a socialite / model, think like naomi campbell but not that iconic,

no one really thought the socialite and the director would last, considering how much shit that came out about them, (cheating scandals, public fights, being absent from each other for so long,) but they did ? they oddly worked with each other and lasted, god knows why, the media still loves them till this day,

fast forward from their problems, sinclair jeon and valentina jeon had one son and he is their only son, micah abel jeon.

parents are supposed to be warm, loving, kind, supportive - you would think so right ? to have them support you in whatever way shape or form but nah, since micah was in diapers he was forced into acting, and since their big names in the world getting him his first diaper gig wasn’t so hard,

micah’s parents wanted a child prodigy, they got him involved in his toddler years in as many activities as he can but there was nothing more perfect than having a child that grew up knowing how to act and actually being good at it, like you have your bad child actors and then you have your first and only child prodigy that won his first award at 8, like that was big on them

they continued to push him into acting roles he did not, no matter how much he pleaded with his parents that he doesn’t want to do this anymore, he wants to be quote on quote.. normal, like he just wants to live his life but up until he was 15, his parents had full control over him,

what to eat for roles, what roles to take, how to present yourself in the media, to seem like a picture perfect family but what was so perfect if you’re the puppet of the worlds two biggest stars who only birthed you to use you as a piece in their selfishness?

come the age of 15, micah has had enough that he wants to emancipate from his parents and at that point they had complete control of his assets, everything he ever made never came to him but his parents, so what does he do?

hires a lawyer, steals some of his own money, takes his parents to court

it was on national tv, headlines everywhere addressed “MICAH JEON SUING PARENTS VALENTINA & SINCLAIR JEON ! “ “MICAH JEON DIVORCING HIS PARENTS OVER MONEY” “HAS MICAH BEEN NEGLECTED ?” paps swarmed him, his parents, his home, his street for days and at that point he was on the outs with his parents. but he didn’t care, he’d show up to court expressionless and explained he had nothing left to do with his family anymore, and that they have ruined him since he was a baby,

of course, he’s an actor and he’s such a good actor too like a blessing and a curse on behalf of his parents but karma is like that huh val n sin ? but in court that boy MILKED EVERY SECOND, it was just another role, playing an estranged boy who hates his parents

he won the sympathy of the jury, the judge and the public and his names was everywhere when he won the case, micah hasn’t talked to his parents since. so he packed up, moved out, once the money was transferred over, he with nina & rosie, searched for his first home independently, like he only has nina & rosie as family, and his pr team thts it

all micah ever wanted was to disappear from a very young age, have his own cafe somewhere vacant, somewhere where no one would recognize him like call it a cliche but he really just wants to have a little bird inside of a cafe and to deal with just customers, that was it from a young age and go to school but he was robbed of that and resents it everyday..

✞ MICAH JEON’S LIFE AFTER THE CASE

see, now you would think the boy would stop acting and go pursue something else but his life was literally never gna be normal, he was recognized everywhere he went and he hated it, but also it was a good source of income

he gets the title, hollywoods devil because he literally is such a pain in the ass to work with, if he doesn’t like the littlest thing about you or what you’re doing he wants you fired and his PR team has been with him since he was a baby so tehy understand him better than his own family did

he was called for roles after roles into his 20′s that he became hollywoods biggest actor, from blockbuster films to small cameos like his fanbase is so big its ridiculous and people know, like they know if micah is in the movie even for a split second the ratings would be higher than what they’d expect

after the show he put on in court when he was 15 ? that gained him A LOT of sympathy and since then he grew as an actor, and at this point he’s indifferent to his job, he still hates it, still wants a cafe somewher quiet in like sicily or something but being recognized day after day makes it harder

✞ WHO IS MICAH ?

micah is a frail fragile child without a childhood, he never had one, never wasoffered one, most kids had toys, he had scripts, red carpets, like this boy has grown up and not grown up at the same time

because he never really had a childhood, he acts out in the most childish ways, if he doesn’t like you, he will call in for a rumor, if you’re bothering him on set, he’ll fire you and the thing is they can’t fire him because they know they’ll lose money, and hollywood and money, we know how a capitalistic society works !

he manipulates a lot of situations for his benefit and if you call him out on it, he’s like huh?

one hobby he stayed with was playing the piano, it’s really soothing for days he wants to have a panic attack over his life, like he has a piano at his home in malibu / shared apartment w his friends, he’s probably gna order a whole ass piano for their new place in milan like good morning MY piano don’t touch. he likes playing it when he’s sad, a lot .. its his fav thing to do is hum and play :/ he has kind of a childish aura when he does, like part of who he was is there when he’s in element... :/

he developed an addiction to cocaine when he was 17, he went to a party and someone told him to try blow, it wouldnt harm him just get him high, so he did, and it was the happiest he ever felt like cocaine gives him this rush weed / alcohol doesnt like when he needs an energy / mood boost he turned to cocaine, at first it was a few times every few months but now he has a problme he won’t even address it

sometimes at 3 am on the dot like don’t ask me why 3 am specifically but he just has a full on breakdown and thats it, crying is good for teh soul and he does it a lot KFMDG, hes such a mess he needs help but refuses help

personality wise he’s absent a lot when you talk to him, like kind of like talking to a void ? like even on twitter people tweet about their day and this man is tweeting about his grocery list hes unreal and has two brain cells but yeah i think.. that’s it, for now .. that’s micah .. my dumbass <3

✞ BRAT PACK

you know, people ask him how does he feel under that title and he justlooks at laughs because till this day he just thinks its one running gag that someone really sat there and associated him with other people

#bratsintro #bratintros #?? i froget #drug use tw #about micah.#if u dont plot w me im bullying u

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spellboundinks · 6 years ago

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11/11/11

Rules: Answer the 11 questions of the tagger, create your own 11 questions, then tag 11 people. Enjoy!

Thanks for tagging me @godofdiverseinterests! I’ll be answering for The Ichor Lineage characters.

1. If your character(s) lost all their memories but could choose one to keep, what would they choose?

Oh like one specific memory? Shit. It would have to be a memory that had her dads and Kirt in it. Her family is incredibly important to her and there’s no way she would let herself forget them. I’d like to think that she would keep a memory of them celebrating First Turn with the community. If she ever had to search for her former life Wolverine style it’d be a detailed first clue.

2. If all of them were forced to fight in a battle royale of sorts, who would come out on top?

The teens are all super powerful omg. This would have to be in an alternate universe where they had to fight and didn’t know each other at all and had no moral resistance to do so. Keeping in mind that all of them have a partner with the exact opposite powers to counteract attacks... Ellody is the oldest, with the most experience, and a huge grasp on strange and complex shadow abilities and Kirt has very powerful super speed and lightning abilities so I think either could win. I love my mc Harmony to death, but her time abilities are not entirely useful in combat situations.

3. (For a character who speaks only one language) What language would they want to learn first?

Alright so their world actually has a universal language. It’s a small world with really one main religion with multiple deities. So all of them speak Caelan. However, each province is devoted to one deity and there are languages specifically created for communication with that deity, so many of them would know Caelan, and their specific element’s patron’s language.

4. Biggest pet peeve?

Harmony- When someone wears too much cologne/perfume/any axe Kirt- When people invade his personal space or try to give unsolicited advice. Winic- Bad grammar or when people don’t listen to him. Anny- Slow walkers and people who block the path. Claron- People who eat food off your plate without asking. Lina- People who can’t seem to take care of their plants. Ellody- When she’s sitting in the dark and someone turns the light on. Troy- Hearing sounds that should not exist: loud chewing, ticking clocks, etc. Jasper- Uncomfortable chairs. Miles- Rain.

5. Which character would probably be the first to get a verified tick on Twitter?

Miles probably got a YouTube channel that became big and started Tweeting on the side.

6. Which character has a diet of only caffeine?

Not Kirt cause he would drive everyone nuts. Probably Ellody or Jasper.

7. What song can they never get out of their head?

Our songs don’t exist in their world. Harmony and Kirt definitely have songs from musicals or animated films in their heads though.

8. Where are they on an alignment chart?

Harmony- Lawful Good Kirt- Lawful Good Winic- Lawful Neutral Anny- Neutral Good Claron- Chaotic Good Lina- Lawful Good Ellody- True Neutral Troy- Lawful Good Jasper- Chaotic Neutral Miles- Chaotic Good

9. What game/book/film always makes them cry?

Uggggh none that we know exist I am sorry. For Harmony and Kirt it was prob a musical or some heartwarming documentary.

10. What emoticon do they ue most often?

That technology does not exist. Sorry not sorry.

11. Why did it take me so long to write these 11 questions?

Because questions are hard whether you’re answering them or asking them.

My Questions: 1. Would any of your ocs accept immortality? 2. Can any of your ocs cook? What kinds of foods are they capable of making? 3. Do any of your ocs have strange hobbies? 4. How would your ocs react to finding out they have a clone? 5. What bores your ocs? 6. Who is the fastest oc? 7. Where would your ocs want to live? 8. Which oc is wrong most often? 9. Which Hogwarts houses do your ocs belong in? 10. Which oc is most likely to do something stupid on a dare? 11. Name a fun fact about one of your ocs.

I’m gonna tag @jade-island-lives, @the-crafty-fox, @kalis-scribbles, @soul-write, @rachywritessomething, @minnymoon, @queenmirabelle, @maple-writes, @writerofwriting, @oheoo, and @fantasiesescape

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whittlebaggett8 · 6 years ago

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Pakistan’s Undeclared Censorship | The Diplomat

Pakistan People’s Celebration Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, when addressing a ceremony on Planet Press Freedom Working day in Karachi, claimed that Pakistani media is facing undeclared censorship. Sadly, the journalist community agrees with him.

Pakistan’s media houses are doing work less than a local weather of worry, which is influencing their protection and operations. Journalists are ever more practising self-censorship to help you save the two their jobs and lives they are bullied on social media, kidnapped in broad daylight, and threatened for reporting details.

The federal government is managing commercials for information channels in an attempt to silence them. It is a really sorry condition for media homes that intensely rely on government adverts. The most current example is the country’s most-browse English language newspaper, Dawn, and its Television set channel, whose commercials were being banned on Press Liberty Working day. Mubashir Zaidi, a senior journalist affiliated with explained channel, broke the information in a person of his tweets.

Having fun with this article? Click on right here to subscribe for total accessibility. Just $5 a month.

So @pid_gov has banned commercials for @Dawn_Information on #PressFreedomDay Naya Pakistan? PM @ImranKhanPTI ? @PTIofficial

— Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) May possibly 3, 2019

Pakistan ranked 142nd out of 180 nations around the world – falling three sites from 2018 – in Reporters With out Borders’ 2019 Entire world Press Flexibility Index.

“The red line has expanded. The institution is interfering at just about every doable amount. There are no totally free converse shows. Information and articles or blog posts are censored. It is extensive censorship,” columnist and analyst Imtiaz Alam said.

The “red line” now includes criticism of the highly effective armed forces of Pakistan and the new Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) governing administration, protection of rights-based mostly alliance Pashtun Tahaffuz motion (PTM), and reporting on previous Primary Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is at the moment in jail.

Journalists who cross these crimson lines confront a selection of threats, from reduction of livelihood to reduction of life. A distinctive report of the Pakistan Press Foundation unveiled that at least 48 journalists ended up killed in specific attacks in the final 17 yrs. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are deemed the most dangerous provinces for journalists in Pakistan.

Lawful motion is also utilized to preserve the press silent. According to a report on the condition of Pakistani media in 2018 posted by the Pakistan Push Basis, 7 journalists and a single media business proprietor confronted legal steps in 2018.

This calendar year, senior journalist Shahzeb Jillani was accused of cyberterrorism based mostly on his reviews on the lacking individuals difficulty on a speak exhibit. Jillani is dealing with rates underneath Sections 10(a) (cyberterrorism), 11 (dislike speech), and 20 (destructive code) of the Pakistan Digital Crimes Act (PECA), 2016.

Cyril Almeida is going through treason charges and vacation limitations right after he released an interview with Nawaz Sharif, in which the a few-time prime minister of Pakistan accused the Pakistani military of aiding the armed group that carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The report also mentions that there have been at least 31 occasions of journalists, anchorpersons, and tv channels remaining issued demonstrate-result in notices, anchorpersons remaining suspended, web-sites currently being blocked, and disruptions to the distribution of newspapers.

And the authorities is transferring to tighten its handle over media retailers even further. The federal cabinet accredited the formation of Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PMRA) – a single system to regulate all varieties of media — on January 25, 2019.

Journalists condemned the choice and named it an endeavor to suppress independence of the press. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists launched a assertion afterward calling the transfer in violation of the constitution.

“This is in violation of Article 19 of the Structure of Pakistan, which guarantees freedom of expression as a elementary human ideal. Establishment of a federal institution to regulate printing and publication — which is a provincial subject following the 18th Constitutional Modification — interferes in the domain of provinces and is, hence, also in violation of the Constitution,” the statement reads.

At this time, the Pakistan Digital Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the Push Council of Pakistan (PCP) regulate electronic and print media respectively. There is no separate system to regulate or observe electronic media platforms. It is considered that the PTI govt created this body primarily to management electronic media platforms.

In the meantime, the Pakistani miltary’s Inter-Services Community Relations (ISPR) issued a notification on April 16, which contained names of 26 retired officers of the armed forces who can appear on media as defense analysts.

“Their views/remarks/views on media shall remain own/independent expression and not attributable to the institution,” the notification reads.

In another notification dated April 4 and released by PEMRA, Television set channels have been directed to search for prior clearance from ISPR right before inviting retired military officers to share their sights on protection and stability-associated issues.

Internet websites have also been shut down for their vital reporting and extensive protection of challenges the authorities would somewhat not be protected. The Urdu web-site of the United States’ Voice of The united states was shut down in Pakistan in December 2018 allegedly for masking PTM rallies. VOA reporters claim that the Pashto web page was blocked months prior to that.

Then-Minister for Info Fawad Chaudhry experienced commented that the websites have been blocked for wrong and prejudiced reporting. Nonetheless, VOA English wrote in a information tale that Pakistani authorities were scrutinizing media protection of the PTM, blocking VOA internet websites, and submitting law enforcement situations from journalists masking its general public gatherings.

Even now, internet websites are the most common platform between journalists in Pakistan as they give them room, which is shrinking in mainstream media.

“Earlier we experienced one particular PTV, now we have a lot of,” Ammar Masood, a senior columnist and analyst said, referring to the point out-owned Pakistan Tv community, which is the mouthpiece of the authorities.

Masood writes a column for a leading Urdu newspaper. Usually his columns are rejected for publication he sends these to an on-line website operate by his colleague, Wajahat Masood.

“It’s not about my column only it is the overall circumstance of media in Pakistan. Whoever talks professional-democracy, his voice is shut down. All those who feel in different ways are out of a work this time. Talat Hussain, Matiullah Jan, Murtaza Solangi, and I are illustrations,” Ammar Masood explained.

Journalists are transferring to social media platforms soon after acquiring sacked from their employment. Some have made their personal YouTube channels, where they publish their evaluation on diverse political happenings.

“Social media penetration in Pakistan is very outstanding. You can receive a enormous response on your content material there, which displays that there exists an data hole. Folks want to get data but they are not acquiring it,” Masood mentioned.

At the end of final 12 months, lots of journalists like Mubashir Zaidi, Taha Siddiqui, and Gul Bukhari complained of getting email messages from Twitter about an “official correspondence” concerning some of their tweets.

When Fawad Chaudhry was questioned about individuals Twitter notices, he mentioned that the authorities was not sending any requests to Twitter.

On the other hand, Twitter unveiled a transparency report on Friday which stated that involving July and December in 2018, the PTI government sent requests for the removing of 193 accounts and noted 2,349 profiles to the micro-blogging web-site.

A amount of senior journalists have begun their personal information and impression-based websites. Imtiaz Alam has also announced the launch of two news internet sites – 1 for South Asia in English and the other in Urdu especially for Pakistani viewers – aside from a YouTube channel. He introduced the news in a tweet on his personal twitter account.

Before, Alam wrote in a tweet that a discuss display producer who had invited him as a guest analyst canceled his invite just a number of hrs ahead of the display.

In truth, I resigned from GEO and really do not really feel to appear in any Television set exhibit. Most are scared to invite me to their reveals and other people invite and terminate it. So, please don’t invite me, I don’t like your Tv set reveals. They are not truly worth it.

— Imtiaz Alam (@ImtiazAlamSAFMA) April 25, 2019

“No television channel can air systems which are in violation of directions from Rawalpindi [the Pakistan army]. If another person does this they are blacklisted and not invited in the exhibits. If they get invited, their invitation can be dropped [at any moment],” he claimed.

What if his new websites get blocked? Alam mentioned that he would not cease.

“We will hold attempting. We will hold exploring platforms but we will in no way do anything which is ethically completely wrong. They could have differences with our editorial policy but that is all proper,” he claimed.

Tehreem Azeem is a digital media journalist based mostly in Lahore, Pakistan. She experiences on human legal rights violations, conflicts, and censorship. She tweets @tehreemazeem.

The post Pakistan’s Undeclared Censorship | The Diplomat appeared first on Defence Online.

from WordPress https://defenceonline.com/2019/05/17/pakistans-undeclared-censorship-the-diplomat/

#Pakistan censorship #Pakistan journalists #Pakistan media #Pakistan media freedom #Pakistan social m

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king-layney · 6 years ago

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the tea on Krist (i guess)

okay so im trying something new - i recently found some stuff about the krist situation and wanted to share it all in one place in the most un-biased way that i can bc i kind of reached out several times and no one wanted to give me any pointers so here i am, giving the wondering public some pointers

i got this info through having already followed bl-phillip and this post came up showing receipts brought to you by heukheuk

the first issue is this tweet saying that krist “called a fan a stupid bitch for shipping gun and him together” - i found that specific tweet from krist and an explanation saying that he called the fan a “stupid idiot” for confusing him saying he liked a tag “Penfangun” as him confirming his relationship with gun (fan in thai is gf/bf and gun obv is Gun)

now, if thats what he said, i understand that from the explanation, krist was completely out of line and that he should not be calling other people (ESPECIALLY his fans, good lord) that without a REALLY good reason (and i mean really good) - hes in the public eye, he should know better - however, as an english person who can’t read thai, i can’t really assess the situation much further than that and the original tweet krist was replying to is now unavailable, making it all hearsay on my part

next issue, is the instagram story post (the link is a thread on twitter w/ the screenshot and discussion about the ig story that i do reference below but i want to provide the picture as well bc i cant type emojis lol)

the picture is pretty self-explanatory, he was asked if he was gay and he replied with vigor that he was “absolutely not (insert mass angry emojis here)” - this could be taken many different ways: he’s joking, he’s a homophobe etc. in my personal opinion i know im not supposed to give my own opinion if you’re faced with this type of question, just answer as “no, no im not, nope sorry boys, etc” there’s no need for all the anger. but, on the other side, he does get this question ALL THE TIME, he gets shipped with other guys ALL THE TIME, he’s always tagged as singto’s wifey or whatever other things us fans like to toss at him so i can understand how he might be saying “NO IM NOT JEEZ STOP ASKING” (because im sure he’s said more than once that he’s straight) but he may have taken it a little too far (you know how we all get carried away with emojis sometimes...) all in all, he chose to answer that question when he could have deleted it, and he chose to answer in that way with that look on his face nonetheless so take it as you will

thirdly, the tv interview about ourskyy (@ 9:06) where krist is asked “were you jealous? (seeing singto getting intimate with his partner from friendzone) how did you feel when you watched it? did you think ‘ohh, singto you’re so hot!’ ” to which he replied “no, i think it’s common for guys (gesturing towards the male mc) that we don’t really prefer to see something like that. I just scroll to see... another male-female couple instead.”

now, this can be taken apart and looked at, for example, why did he have to say “common for guys” or, how come he said “something like that” is he throwing shade???? but in all honesty, i can’t pick apart wording because im only reading translation and that is never as accurate as the native language meaning. so other than that, you can look at his overall meaning as many different things, he prefers to watch straight couples on shows, he is a homophobe, or you can take it as the male mc does and say that krist is simply just jealous that his man is intimate with another man on the screen (to which krist replies in defeat with “fine”) - in my eyes, you can’t really drag him for skipping certain scenes in a show, i do it all the time and simultaneously don’t hate the people im skipping. in most bl shows i will skip the straight couples’ scenes or even bl couples that i don’t like (that was a little necessary in love by chance). that doesn’t mean i hate straight people or im a homophobe for not wanting to see a bl couple’s scenes, i just don’t want to want to watch those scenes, i would rather see the people i came to see. i even searched up a version of kiss me again with just petekao scenes so that i didn’t have to drag through the rest of the show - and i was able to find those videos which means im not the only one who does that or feels the same way. i can agree that his wording was like he was tiptoeing around saying “i don’t like watching gay shit” but you cant drag him for simply preferring something that isn’t gay

in the end, that’s the tea i was able to uncover with my evaluations of it (however unwanted they may be), i referenced every person and source so don’t @ me and if you found some more tea or issues you want me to add, feel free to hit me up, if i find anymore tea on anyone else (on godd i hope; is that his name idek maybe thats why i cant find tea bc i cant spell his name lmao) i will do the same if you guys want - or if you want my opinion on another topic lemme know i have no friends, give me something to do lmao please

-layney

#singto prachaya #krist perawat #singtokrist #sotus the series #sotus s #homophobia #the tea #sorry this is soooooo long #i wanted you all to get the full story #and all the sides of the situations #i can also do recordings of my opinions if yall would prefer that #bc i love talking a lot #its my talent #friendzone the series

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nyfacurrent · 6 years ago

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Creative Careers | Tools for Creative Activism from Curatorial Organizer La Tanya S. Autry

“My real talk: Believe in yourself. You have a right to be there.” - La Tanya S. Autry

As a cultural organizer in the visual arts, La Tanya S. Autry focuses on social justice and public memory in her work. In addition to co-creating The Art of Black Dissent, an interactive program that promotes public dialogue about the African-American liberation struggle, she co-founded the #MuseumsAreNotNeutral initiative, which calls for an equity-based transformation of museums, and the Social Justice and Museums Resource List, a crowd-sourced bibliography. Autry can be found online with the project name Artstuffmatters on WordPress, Twitter, and Instagram.

We spoke with Autry about her vision for the future of museums, the power of social media for artists, curators, and organizers, and the ways in which we can all lead and push for change.

NYFA: What prompted you, along with Mike Murawski, to launch the "Museums are Not Neutral" campaign?

La Tanya S. Autry: Our #MuseumsAreNotNeutral initiative grew from a shared concern about the dominance of the neutrality claim in the field. In my own experience, I have encountered art museum professionals, with advanced level degrees, making statements such as “the museum has to be neutral” or “we can’t be political” to deflect calls to address racism. Those assertions are false because they decontextualize the origins and practices of museums. While Murawski and I do not suggest institutions adopt partisan views, we wanted to make a clear stand against the myth of neutrality. We also wanted to encourage more people in the field, as well as visitors, students, educators, and others, to acknowledge the truth. Since August 2017, when we launched our campaign which supports community-centered social progress, hundreds of people in the U.S. and abroad have joined us. As all the profits from sales of our “Museums Are Not Neutral” shirts go to charitable organizations, our global initiative has raised over $13,000, while sparking much needed public discussion about the histories, functions, and possibilities of museums.

NYFA: How do you use social media in your activism and career?

LSA: Years ago I participated in a workshop on public engagement strategies at the University of Delaware, where I am completing my doctorate in art history. Through that program, I started using social media as a means for sharing my research beyond academic spaces. That role is still important to me; however, I quickly found that these digital networks are useful for thinking and planning in public. For me, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms have been instrumental tools for expanding my knowledge and collaborating with various artists, educators, museum professionals, and others who are committed to the arts, the humanities, and social progress. The Social Justice and Museums Resource List, an open crowd-sourced bibliography of over 40 pages, is one of the collaborative projects that I have developed through engagement with social media.

For inspiration, I’d like to share some of my favorite initiatives, makers and thinkers, and organizations. You can refer to this Twitter list to find those who are active on that platform. Many of the accounts that inspire me are present on Instagram as well as Twitter, though some are only present on Instagram, like Bisa Butler, Delphine Adama Fawundu, Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Black School, and Erykah Antiy Killmonger. Additionally, you can follow the hashtags #BlkTwitterstorians, #1960Now, #SlaveryArchive, #MuseumsRespondToFerguson, and #MASSActionMIA.

NYFA: What kind of museum space should the cultural sector work towards?

LSA: There are important measures underway to make museums more welcoming spaces to broader demographics. I’d love to see more of a central focus on equity, which calls for structural change. An equity-based approach would identify and dismantle the power relations that have created inequalities in museums. This focus addresses root causes, not only the symptoms.

I believe that having more museum board members and executive staff who are committed to anti-racism and anti-oppression could promote deep change and foster caring environments. Here, I'm thinking of hiring practices and training opportunities, as well as functions related to collections, exhibitions, programs, interpretation, conservation, editorial, accessibility, development, and security. Also, the field would experience substantive positive change if more museum professionals and philanthropic organizations recognized and financially supported the longstanding anti-racist, anti-oppression work that many ethnic-specific institutions have done over the years.

NYFA: You’ve said on the podcast Museopunks that if we see ourselves as creative agents for change we can make that change happen in many small ways, and can encourage other people to do that work. What are some ways to make change and mobilize others?

LSA: Yes, I think individual efforts are just as vital as institutional changes. Each of us can educate ourselves by engaging with the histories of the field, reading literature about current practices, social justice histories, theories, and practices. Listening to, citing, and supporting the perspectives of Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian, LGBTQ, and disabled communities are important pathways. Collaborating and building solidarity across racial, ethnic, class, gender, and other social forces is necessary for seeing beyond existing frameworks. No matter our status level, we can each be a leader of change, and we can share our experiences with others through public presentations, publishing blog posts and articles, and posting reflections and resources via social media. While “going public” helps us find collaborators, we also learn more about the field and methods for generating social change. It empowers us.

NYFA: What's your advice for those entering the curatorial field, especially if they identify with a group, or groups, widely underrepresented in the field?

LSA: When I started taking classes in museum studies and working in the field, no one mentioned the difficulties I might encounter as a Black woman from a working class background going into the predominately white and economically-privileged world of art museums. So I am always happy to assist others entering this arena.

I don’t use the word underrepresented as it’s misleading. Instead, I use the term historically excluded as Simone Austin, an MA student in history at the University of Delaware, suggested in a tweet last spring. The problem has not been that people of color and other groups have not shown up. We’ve been excluded from the field for a long time. In addition to being mindful of the language we employ because it shapes our thinking and actions, it’s crucial to study the history of museums. We need to know what came before, what’s happening now, what the visions for museums are, and who’s shaping the field. People who are from groups who have been excluded need to brace themselves for racism and other biases. These things shouldn’t happen, but they do.

My real talk: Believe in yourself. You have a right to be there. Connect with people across the institution in various roles and in the broader community. Analyze biases so you can both deconstruct and address them. Spend time dreaming about what you’d like to create. Strategize the steps needed to actualize your vision. Figure out who can help you get there. Value your relationships with people. Search for respectful and kind mentors who care about your well-being and professional development. Always remember your communities. Find ways to welcome them and others in the museum sphere.

- Interview conducted by Mirielle Clifford, Program Officer, Online Resources

This post is part of a regular blog series, NYFA Creative Careers. Find new and exciting career and artist opportunities on NYFA Classifieds. To read more articles on building your professional artist career, visit the Business of Art section of NYFA’s website. Sign up for NYFA News and receive artist resources and upcoming events straight to your inbox.

Images: La Tanya S. Autry and Mike Murawski, Museums Are Not Neutral, August 2017, composite Instagram image, August 2018, Courtesy: La Tanya S. Autry; and La Tanya S. Autry and Gabriella Svenningsen, The Art of Black Dissent, 2017, Institute Library, New Haven, CT, featuring works from left to right: Eric Etheridge, 1961 Freedom Riders, 2010, print; Ricardo Levin Morales, Trayvon Martin, digital print, 2013; Ricardo Levin Morales, We Are the Mainstream, digital print, 2014; Photo Courtesy: La Tanya S. Autry.

#creative careers #creativecareers #nyfacreativecareers #business of art #businessofart #conversations #la tanya autry #latanyaautry #mirielle clifford #instagram #museumsarenotneutral #museums are not neutral

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surflove808 · 7 years ago

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Do you think this cast is problematic and insensitive? Gather around the fire with me, you delicate tulips. Let me tell you a story.

There will be potty language. And there will be no straddling the fence to appease both sides. So, read at your own risk. But, absolutely always feel free to respond and engage in discussion!

When I got into this show, I fell down the rabbit hole like everyone else, and watched con footage and interviews and became more invested than I ever have in a show because of all the (perceived) incredible positivity and kindness reflected from the cast to the SPN Family and vice versa. I had never seen anything like it. And I was so impressed with this fandom and proud to be a part of it that I do something I rarely do - I gushed about it to friends. Even though I knew they'd give me shit. Because we think we're too cool for school or something. I don't know.

My love for this show and fandom eventually led me to Tumblr and the actors Twitter feeds. I went full fangirl. I thought, "Yay! Other people who enjoy this amazing show. Gifs! Funnies! Fanfics! Art! Support!" And there is that, undoubtedly....but there is also this seedy underbelly that gets far more attention that it merits. And I have become so disillusioned and angered by the shit I see here on the regular, not to mention Twitter.... that I feel like I need to disengage from following both (SPN-wise), so I don't burst a fucking capillary.

Before I do that.... to the handful of "fans" that have caused a Twitter uproar and instigated shortsighted and nasty smear campaigns regarding:

1. Jareds inappropriate joke

2. Mark Pellegrino and William Shatner defending Jared over some other Twitter bullshit. They didn’t cause the initial offense, they merely defended their buddy against all the flamers....which, apparently is not allowed for these specific individuals. They’re so evil. How dare they have a human response to seeing their friend get charbroiled online. It’s like they think they’re real people....

3. Jensen supporting his FRIEND JDM when he was harassed and lambasted on Twitter and Instagram for wearing a Blue Lives Matter t-shirt. *Also, see #2*

4. Jensens retweet of Pellegrinos very nice message welcoming India to the SPN Family (flooding Jensens feed with demands that he not support his castmate and friend because Mark stood up to them or because they don't agree with Marks ideology. Way to take something positive and turn it ugly, BTW. Sorry, India. Truly. I'm secondhand cringing over here.) *Also, see #2*

5. *See previous rants on this page*

Can you please fuck off already? I hear Antarctica is nice this time of year, and that knitting is a great way to take your mind off things and meditate. I might follow my own advice, in fact. But stay the hell away from my yurt. I am stabby when it comes to you people.

There are always going to be people who feel compelled to stir up a lot of shit over anything these guys say and do, and they generally also apply that rule to most things in life, I'm guessing. And I know opinions are like assholes (everyone's got one), but really, there seem to be a handful of folks that LIVE for the drama around here. Get a grip. Be useful. Because what you seem to enjoy doing - Tearing down public figures in order to promote your own agenda, and making threats and accusations and spreading them like cancer? It's not productive. It's toxic. With regards to THE JOKE:

I don't want to tell the joke. TELL IT! No, my jokes are all inappropriate. TELL it! Nah... TELL IT ANYWAY, WE DON'T CARE! *Tells joke* *Sees personal integrity torpedoed and potentially damaged career/legacy due to an influx of online articles based on a handful of tweets by reactionary "fans" who probably weren't even there* Nice set-up, people.

Neither one of these guys is or has ever been anything but gracious to fans, not to mention caring and supportive. That's why fans from all over the world come to see them and share their personal stories of hardship with this cast. And they are certainly not proponents of rape culture.

These conventions are for adults, by adults. And if you bothered to even watch a sampling of con footage of these guys, your delicate sensibilities would probably be overwhelmed by the sexually charged and deeply inappropriate things that get said BY some fans TO these guys. But here's the thing, these actors take it in stride and treat their fans like friends. And these cons are very intimate and personal, open and extremely funny. Is content inappropriate sometimes? Yes, thank Chuck. THAT'S USUALLY WHAT MAKES IT FUNNY.

Have you ever watched a comedy routine? How do you handle dark humor? Can you? If you can't? Don't watch. Don't play Cards Against Humanity either. In fact....turn the internet off and spend time around real people. Build up some tolerance. Take your newfound tolerance to a domestic violence shelter and volunteer your time. Immerse yourself in a new culture. Read a few books. Educate yourself a bit and grow wiser. Pick your battles and fight for what's right. Not for what you "think" is right for Twit hits.

And you know what? If you're the type of person who is going to go on a witch hunt that results in these guys having to share the same platform with guys like Weinstein and Spacey, with potentially irreversible damage done to their professional and personal lives over something like THIS? Congratulations. You've become the thought police. You're demonizing people who have done a tremendous amount of good in the world around them via campaigns that stem from a desire to reach out to their fandom and support of people in crisis, particularly women, over a lame joke that Jared and especially Jensen, didn't feel was appropriate to share in the first place. These are genuinely kind and decent men, maybe do some more background research and check your motivation before you irrevocably damage someones well-being and livelihood.

And because I don’t know any of your names or whereabouts, I can’t actually fuck up your life, can I? And even if I could? Why on earth would I?? Anonymity’s great, though....isn’t it? We can go online and sit on our own virtual Mount Olympus, raining down accusations, judgments and sentences with minimal effort, foresight or concern for the ramifications of our actions.

And Jared is a prime example of that sometimes. I’m sorry to say, because he is a good dude, but he’s guilty of some of the same flamebroiling of people that you excuse yourselves from in the name of self righteousness. The difference is - you can hide behind your anonymity. He can’t. And I’m down with calling people on their bullshit behavior (clearly), and Jared has had it coming a few times, but THIS? This is ridiculous.

Since you seem to be fond of extreme responses, I could make the comparison that encouraging, no....demanding that someone do something that they don't want to do, and then shaming them for it when they do what you've asked? That's REAL textbook abuse. Chew on that for a minute.

Congrats again, because when you search either of their names, that's the FIRST thing that comes up. "Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles made a rape joke". The joke in and of itself doesn't and shouldn't negate all the good they've put out in the world, but in the eyes of the general public outside the fandom? NOW it does. THAT'S what people now see.

It's amazing how a 7 word joke can lead to online character assassination that tears down over a decade of good works. And I wouldn't blame them one bit for shutting down future cons and/or reducing their conversation with fans to subject matter that strictly pertains to the show.

And if you have stated any iteration of "I will no longer be a fan or watch this show because of these horrible meanies"... GOOD. FUCKING. RIDDANCE. It would make the SPN Family a much better place to be if ya'll and your other easily offended brethren who can dish it out, but can't take it, would fuck off to parts unknown to fixate on something else and leave us in peace.

#SPNFamily #easilyoffended #supernatural #Jared Padalecki #cw network #creationcons #Jensen Ackles #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #Misha Collins #castiel #lucifer #mark pellegrino #william shatner #akf #you are not alone #random acts

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