#your convenience is not worth my exploitation

[mylovesstuffs]

Saying “please” while swinging a knife doesn’t make it polite. You don’t get cookies for asking before crossing a boundary—especially one you were never entitled to cross in the first place. “they even said it was for personal use” cool so is pirating, so is plagiarism—do you want a participation trophy for intent to exploit nicely?

The road to hell is paved with “but I was being respectful.” Respect means not doing the thing, not finding a softer way to justify doing the thing anyway.

Fandom is not your AI farm and writers are not raw data.

“you didn’t have to be so mad” nah we did, because apathy is how shit like this spreads. You were told no and that should have been the end, but instead you tried to gaslight. Try that shit in a courtroom and watch how fast you lose.

Your tone doesn’t erase the fact that you came here to argue your right to digital theft and you’re still crying in the corner because you got called out with words instead of coddles.

Go read terms of use. Go read an ethics journal. Go read a fucking room.

okay so i know everyone is mad at the other anon for bringing up AI, but like… isn’t it kinda fair to say that once you publish a teaser or fic, and then don’t update it for months, it’s natural for readers to want closure in their own way? idk… i feel like that anon was being really polite with you. they even said it was just for personal use and like ai exists to make life easier?? so why is it such a crime to want to see the ending if the writer isn’t giving one? isn’t that the whole point of technology? you didn’t have to be that mad at them. you could’ve just said no without cursing and yelling. i’m sorry but it just feels a bit much. and tbh if they didn’t ask and used gpt anyway, you wouldn’t even know, so what’s the point of being so aggressive?

anyway i know people are gonna lunge at me for saying this but… not everyone who disagrees with you is a villain. just something to think about

i will start with the obvious. AI models 'learn' from the content fed into it. it regurgitates and steals content from human writers, whether it's our style/voice/tone or our actual words. our work is repurposed without our permission. "not everyone who disagrees with you is a villain," yes, but anyone who enables this system is.

"they even said it was just for personal use and like ai exists to make life easier??" at whose expense? mine? i write for enjoyment and community. i do not HAVE to make fanfiction. no one does. no writer owes you ANYTHING, even if they publish it online.

i am not about to apologize for "being so aggressive," or "screaming," or "yelling." this will be the last i say on this, so let me make my stance as crystal clear as possible. anon, and to anyone else who agrees with this anon: get off my fucking blog. shit, get off fandom spaces. do not interact with any of my work, or any fanfic writer's work, ever again.

[artsninspo]

COUNTERFEIT - three

⇽ part two

➨ rio's library - good girl nbc

「 ✦ full library & archive ✦ 」

🍒 authors note: the story is starting to heat up and give you a sneak peak of whats to come.

🍒 pairing: Rio (Good Girls) X Faith (Original Character) All my characters are black women.

🍒 word count: ~1.8K

🍒 summary: A day party, unexpected guest, damsel in distress, a lot of stress. Confrontation, unexpected chivalry, back stories & unfavourable truths. This one's messy 🌪️ .

🍒 three - unnatural habitats

I try my best for courage as the city scenes change from outside my window. I can feel Char’s eyes on me. Our argument was conveniently well timed. Now, if I don't show up now to this PR activation of her’s i’ll be toast. The worst sister in the world, problem child extraordinaire. It’s not that I don't want to support Char, it's that Jasonwas invited. In order to secure the necessary funding to make things go off without a hitch she enlisted him knowing his firm's coffers are deep. Knowing Jason, he will be in attendance. It’s the root of my reluctance to attend, not some petty spat and a childish attempt to get even. Char and I didn't speak until last night when she placed the dress she wanted me to wear today on my bed. A pinterest board of context for how I needed to look followed via text along with a detailed itinerary. I reacted to the messages with thumbs up and sat in the make-up artists and hair stylists chairs when they arrived smiling, laughing and talking with them - conceding and playing the role everyone wished to be my permanent disposition.

“Where were you last night?” Char asks, drawing me from my thoughts.

I take a breath before looking over at her, “Out” 

Char rolls her eyes at me before smoothing out her dress - it’s rare vintage and gorgeous. “Out where?” she probes.

“Drinking” I respond being short with her and she sighs.

“Whatever, screw your life up. The rest of us are responsible enough to be your backup plans” she snaps but i’m not in the mood for a back and forth.

“I can act the fool during your event if that's what you want?” I threaten her knowing the social game of chess well. Char glares at me in response. She knows she doesn't have to beg me not to. She knows I'd never knowingly light a match to anything she loves.

“I don't want that - I want the best for you Faith and you're just. I don't know what you're doing!” she shouts.

“I’m 24 and you're 25 Char, what the hell! We’ve got our entire lives ahead of us.”

“How many weddings have we been to the past few summers? How many housewarmings and baby showers?” Char snaps like any one of these guys we grew up with is worth getting to claim her in any way.

“That’s where the party dies Char. How many of our friends are the same?” I ask her.

“Just because you resent Merrick-” Char starts.

“It’s not about Merrick” I snapped, tired of that narrative. “None of this shit is real Char, I don't mind playing pretend but the charade has to end at some point! If mom didn’t have Merrick we could still live the way we do. We have an uncle you know, our fathers brother.”

“Drug money” she whispers well indoctrinated. Char looks at me appalled by my suggestion.

“Because corporations are not just as exploitative and damaging to communities, and the environment?” I ask and she looks at me like I'm a mongrel. Daddy would roll in his grave. That’s the fundamental difference - our father was never self righteous. He never made his choice of employment out to be the right thing - it was just a means to take care of his family. Char was his princess and I was his shadow. 

“Our father killed people and destroyed families with the poison he pumped into the community. Merrick is nothing like that” She snaps as the car comes to a halt. I exit the car and skip photo opps heading straight into the venue I’ve had a hand in decorating - I’m not in the mood to schmooze or network. I head to the bar and get my first round as the music gets good. I throw a few shots back heading over to mingle and maintain my reputation as the ‘fun’ sister. Girls twerk around me but I spare my sisters the embarrassment of my participation. I’m on a cool down when I see Jason watching me with longing. I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself this much in his company. I want to run but I can’t because we’ve made eye contact. He looks like he’s been going through it and I can't imagine how much it hurts him to see me looking unaffected by our end.

“Hey” he shouts over the music, having cleared the distance between us.

“Hey” I responded.

“You look beautiful” He smiles with a hand on my hip. It should be familiar and refreshing but it just isn't. He pulls me in coming in for a kiss but I turn my head and step out of his hold before looking at him again.

“Thanks” I mutter, not nearly drunk enough to forget we're over.

“Babe, can we talk?” He asks, lips brushing against my ear.

“We spoke already,” I remind him.

“You haven’t been taking my calls,” he says.

“Because Jason I have nothing more to say!” I say louder my impatience growing.

“Then listen to me, I love you” he says and for a moment the declaration moves me. But then something about him reminds me of Rick and it all goes away.

“Then let me go,” I plead. Jason searches my eyes before anger flashes in his. He pulls me to him like this is a bid for attention, a game of cat and mouse - a way to spice up our relationship and not a breakup.

“You want more attention, I get it. I’m here. I'll work less hours and make more time for us Faith. I love you - stop being like this” he says confirming my suspicions. It's a testament to how well I’ve gotten to know him and how little he’s been paying attention. The whole thing makes me upset and I pull away but he grabs my arms.

“Hey!” A deep voice says in warning. I relax, relieved security is here but I turn to see D’s cousin Rio. His expression is displeased as he sizes Jason up. Jason releases my arms - caught in his below the board behaviour. He straightens and my head spins. Rio’s the last person I expected here or defending me. He gives me a reassured nod before glaring at Jason like Jason has lost his everloving mind. Jason goes to grab me again before Rio steps between us.

“She’s my girl, move” Jason snaps.

“Doesn’t look like it” Rio responds unmoved.

“Why don’t you go and mind your business?” Jason snaps.

“Faith, is this your boyfriend?” Rio asks, casting a look over his shoulder at me, all the while still using his body as a shield.

“I know everyone she knows and I don’t know you” Jason snaps.

“You can do better than this, ma” Rio taunts with a smile that’s only purpose is to provoke Jason.

“Ma?! Faith, who the hell is this guy?’ Jason snaps ready to make a scene.

“Jason, call me when you aren’t drunk” I shout, needing to diffuse the situation for Char’s sake.

“Faith, don’t walk away from me” he shouts, stepping around Rio to grab at me again and it happens so fast I’m shocked. Jason is grabbed by security and his wallet is plucked from his pocket. Another guard snaps a picture of his license.

“Don’t worry, he won’t be allowed back” the guard says. I force a mortified nod as security makes quick work of throwing Jason out discreetly. A few eyes are on us, Char among them.

Fuck, I curse to myself.

“Thanks” I mumble and Rio turns to face me.

“Let me guess, finance?” He says.

My head is still spinning. “What?”

“He works in finance so he thinks people can be bought? And has shit to lose that's why he aint swing on me for talking to his ‘girl’” Rio says with a knowing, taunting light in his eyes. It kills all of the chivalry of his actions.

“Yes, finance” I admit and he looks me over again like I can do better. 

“Well D would’ve wanted me to look out,” he shrugs cooly.

“Thanks” I respond, feeling deflated.

“I’ll tell the staff you're a friend of the family, you need anything let us know” he comments glancing around the venue.

“Appreciate it” I mutter seeing Char’s wide eyes behind him as she makes her way over.

“No worries. But don’t ever come to the bar dressed like that you hear?” He winks walking away.

“Who was that? He’s hot!” Char asks as Rio disappears. 

“D’s cousin” I answer honestly.

“How do you know him? I don’t remember this cousin.” she asks.

“He was around when I saw D” I omit the full truth and she looks in his direction some more.

“He’s hot” she repeats and I smile.

“He’s not your type”

“What?” she asks.

“I'm pretty sure he doesn’t fit your criteria” I tell her.

“What does he do?” She asks.

“He looks like he does whatever he wants.” I tell her heading back to the bar. The bartender hands me a cherry margarita before I can order.

“From the boss” he smiles and I do too. My sister watches me with a hundred questions when I don’t pay and I know it’ll be a long interrogation. I wonder if Rio’s actions are genuine kindness or flirting - either way the man is attentive and clearly dangerous. I head home shortly after the incident, skipping out on the after parties. When I wake up I see a slew of emails from Jason and roll my eyes. I see a message from char saying she’s doing hot yoga and relax until my phone rings. I check the caller ID with one eye open and see Diego’s name. Relief washes over me and I answer.

“Hello”

“Char called”  Diego says on the other end of the video call.

“Yeah?” I ask and he nods.

“Asking if you were involved with my cousin” Diego says and I roll my eyes.

“Jason was sloshed and getting aggressive instead of my sister intervening your cousin did.” I explain.

“I know he told me, then asked me if guys like Jason are your type” Diego says with a knowing expression.

“We both know he isn’t” I admit. “How's the play off season going at the bar?” I ask.

“Good. You low on money?” he asks.

“No, I've been living off the tips and saving my salary. It’s nice.” I admit.

“Rio’s out of town next weekend so if you want to work let me know” he offers.

“I’m in” I tell him.

“Good”

“Did Char tell you she thinks Rio is hot?” I ask and his eyes bug out.

“Rio isn’t her type, he has a son and two girlfriends” D says, surprising even me.

“Two” I exclaim shocked and D nods. “And he’d pretend Char’s the only one,” I add, shaking my head.

“Good at it too,” D scoffs, making me laugh.

“Then he’s exactly her type, she still believes in playing pretend” I tell Jason who swallows.

“Both of you need to stay away from him.” D says before changing the subject to something lighter.

group project - COUNTERFEIT (RIO)

authors note: checking in with readers. the first chapter did well but the second not so much. idk if you all are busy or tired with the state of the world, tired of rio or adjusting to the change in POV. Whatever the case I'm willing to pause updating this story for now and revisit updating it later.

This story is a slower burn than Forgiveless but I promise all the mess and spice you love and more is on the horizon.

Comment, Like & Reblog if you want more of this story.

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[crippled-peeper]

What's wrong with temu, friends keep recommending it

It’s sweat shop goods that fall apart in 1 wash and pollute the planet. Buying things from Temu is like hitting a “destroy a life for my convenience” button over and over

Ask yourself if paying 2.50$ for a dress is worth it if the people making it are paid pennies by the hour, they subjected to extremely long working hours (12h days, 6 days a week) unsafe working conditions (have you heard of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh? it happened in your lifetime) and workers are often abused & exploited as well

In addition Temu, just like Wish and other cheap online shops like them, steal from artists and designers and independent creators. They make knockoffs. It’s their business model

Ask yourself and your friends if Temu is really worth it, knowing all of this

[kafus]

how to connect to wi-fi services in pokemon gen 4 (DPPT/HGSS)

it's still possible to access the wi-fi services of the gen 4 games after the official shutdown of nintendo's wii/ds wi-fi in 2013 due to fan efforts by changing your DNS settings in-game - this is called the DNS exploit. this is popularly used in gen 5 which really has no complications, but in gen 4 it's a bit more complicated because the games are So old that they can't connect to the internet through modern routers due to fancy modern internet encryption. the connection either needs to have no password, or have WEP encryption, which most modern routers do not support. i had some people asking me how to do this so here's a post lol

first, it should be noted i use the pkmnclassic service, and i think you should too. this gives you access to old mystery gifts as well as pretty much every other wi-fi feature. their website also allows you to view pokemon currently uploaded to either gen 4 or 5's GTS through your browser. once you get your wi-fi set up properly, connecting to the internet will be easy, but that setup comes first. below i am going to list all the options i am currently aware of and able to explain

option 1 - phone hotspot (easy/convenient, doesn't work for every type of phone)

some phone hotspots are able to use old WEP type encryption, or be password-less. if you have access to a phone hotspot, it's worth taking off the password if it lets you and trying to connect to the gen 4 wi-fi with it before trying any other method, since if it works it's super convenient, just turn on the hotspot any time you want to do something online in gen 4 and turn it back off when you're done. unfortunately this depends on the type of phone and what OS its on and i don't have a list of what phones or OSes are compatible, so good luck lol. mine personally is not, and i have a fully updated iphone

option 2 - guest wi-fi (a little less convenient but still easy if you have access to router settings)

in the same vein as phone hotspots, guest wi-fi hotspots can also work, and this is what i personally use myself. the catch is you have to have access to your router settings, so if you're a young person using a parents' router without access to those or some other situation like that, you may have to ask for assistance every time you want to turn this on/off, which could be a dealbreaker for some unfortunately. but if you're able to do that, simply make your guest wi-fi password-less and turn it on when you want to connect to gen 4 wi-fi and turn it back off when you're done. since these settings pages are so different per internet provider, i can't really give a guide on how to do that here, though mine through verizon fios is pretty straightforward. some guest wi-fi may not work for this but i think most should

option 3 - use an old router that supports WEP encryption (probably inaccessible for most, but only has to be set up once and then you're done)

i've done this in the past but i had my dad's help with the process, i cannot walk you through buying an old router lol. but yes if you purchase an old router and set that up you can have password protected gen 4 wi-fi permanently

option 4 - save backup + emulation through melonds (works pretty much 100% of the time if you have a hacked 3DS and some sort of PC)

MelonDS is a really great DS emulator that you can find here for windows/linux/mac: https://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads.php

the basic idea is that you can backup your save file/game with a hacked 3DS using Checkpoint or TWLSaveTool (outside the scope of this guide but this is easy to do and you can walk through the steps here) and then run it through melonds, which can bypass all this WEP/encryption hell for you and simply connect to the internet. of course this is not very convenient if you have to constantly back up your saves to do wi-fi stuff but it's better than nothing if you have no other option.

unfortunately setting up the wi-fi can be a pain, and you also need DS BIOS files to run everything properly, which i cannot provide myself for legal reasons but they uh... aren't that hard to find lol, and you can back them up from an actual DS if you have access to the necessary tools for that.

if you use a windows PC, feel free to use my version of melonds which already has all the wifi shit set up, you'll just need to provide your own bios files under emu settings (it's a bit old but it works great for this purpose): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DQotaqFuBwXz1KYdQWiwxghtn3faLgj-/view?usp=sharing

edit: just found out right after posting this that the most recent version of melonds might work out the box without having to do any particular wi-fi setup? so feel free to try it instead of my version if you like

if you are using linux/mac or don't want to use my version, you'll have to use the melonDS FAQ/google to figure it out, i'm sorry!

by the way yes, this means even if you don't have a gen 4 cart and solely play over emulator, you can trade/battle/etc with people who are playing on DS - they connect to the same servers!

okay and NOW once you have one of those options set up, you can actually connect to wi-fi in game by doing the following:

(these screencaps are from my capture card, i am doing this on an actual DS, but you can also do this with melonds if you're using that option)

step 1: navigate to "NINTENDO WFC SETTINGS" in the menu where you press continue on your save file, in-game. in gen 4 you need to do it here and not in your DS settings.

step 2: tap "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Settings" and pick any of the three connections here to start the set-up. if you already have some here, i'd click "erase settings" underneath to start from scratch.

step 3: search for an access point and pick your desired access point from the list that comes up, and put in a password if needed (this assumes you have set up your wifi properly at this point)

step 4: it will attempt a connection to the internet, and may or may not throw an error. regardless, the error doesn't really matter, you can just hit "OK" whether it's successful or not

step 5: go back into your new connection (the box that previously said "None" should now say "Ready") and scroll down until you see the option "Auto-obtain DNS" - change this to "No"

step 6: change the primary DNS to pkmnclassic's DNS, which is 178.62.43.212 - in layman's terms this will essentially let you connect to their servers instead of nintendo's, which are obviously down. as for the secondary DNS, either leave it at 0.0.0.0 or change it to the same DNS as the primary

step 7: now would be a good time for a connection test. tap "Test Connection" in the top right. there should be a successful connection. assuming there is a successful connection, congrats! save your settings and enter your game as normal. you'll need to go to the basement of any pokemon center and pick up your pal pad, then try entering the wi-fi club (middle NPC at the counter) to test it in-game and get your friend code.

if there isn't, try a few more times or get closer to your access point - sometimes it's not you, the service can just occasionally be spotty. if you keep getting errors, you can use this site to look up what the error code might mean. if you still can't solve the issue, you may have to try a different method of connection as listed above.

sorry i couldn't be more in depth but frankly i'm not an expert on this stuff either, i'm just doing my best. there are a couple other options for doing this, like taking the password off your modern home wi-fi, or bridging your connection to an old laptop/computer, but the first is particularly dangerous so i didn't want to include it in the list and the second is completely out of my league, i just know people have done it before

good luck feel free to ask questions but no promises i'll have answers. if you need troubleshooting help i'd recommend pkmnclassic's discord over me, they have channels for that stuff (yes i hate troubleshooting stuff moving to discord and not forums as much as the rest of you but it can't be helped lol)

[rainbowdaisy13]

Hi, I hope you're doing ok. I was browsing down your blog to read some of the asks about what is happening in the Taylor Swift fandom and I had a lot of ideas to share.

I'll start off by saying I'm not American, therefore I'm not gonna actively take part in the 2024 elections and I don't know all the details about US politics outside of what my country media outlets say and write. Also English is not my first language so sorry for any misspelling or mistake.

To focus just on the Taylor Swift current matter: to me this situation is yet ANOTHER proof of her sheer disinterest in speaking up about anything polarizing and potentially dangerous for her net worth. And the worst part is that if she stays bland and money driven like this she'll only show how she considers everything an era. There is no commitment for her.

Lover era feels comically fake now for the stark contrast to nowadays, it was all a stunt. Where's all that activism now, especially as an "ally" for the LGBT+ community? How can we really define her as a feminist when she only speaks up when it affects her (let's not forget her radio silence on reproductive rights)?

And granted we will never know where "Taylor Swift real person" ends and "Taylor Swfit TM" begins, and I personally don't really care, what I mostly care about, and that I noticed recently, is the consequences she - and people like her - have directly or indirectly on media and pop culture: I may be extreme when I say that NO philanthropic billionaire/multi millionaire will ever do enough good for the world EVER, because the very same system that got them to that level of wealth is the faulty system that condemns the majority of the worlds population to exploitation and poverty.

Add this to the fact that most of the ultra rich and rich people don't give a damn about anything if it's not affecting their pockets, while they're also powerful and influential enough to drive politics and culture in their favour (ie. anything concerning taxes, systemic exploitation of low income countries, etc, and don't get me started on the absurdity of finance as a whole), we are in a situation where we actually are influenced by these people that have all the interest of staying out of anything for the sake of their money.

All of this to say that to expect Taylor Swift to be a source of information and potentially an inspiration to decide who to vote is very dangerous and takes away all the agency that every single one of us ideally has in a democratic system (let's not forget that Taylor herself keeps very conveniently reminding that she does not want to be a 'guiding light', that she's 'too soft for all of this' indeed).

I don't want I try not to and am not driven by celebrities in my choices but I do recognize their influence on pop culture as well.

I'm not the first to say that lately there has been a need of belonging to a community, to feel a part of something, and music has always had this power, but has been enhanced with social media and especially after the pandemic imo. For a lot of people, and I'm personally not totally immune to this as well, supporting an artist and interacting with their fanbase became a way to define who they are/want to be and it can be difficult to keep some distance from the idol, because you more likely support someone if they seem to have an affinity with you, your interests, what you stand for, etc. Sometimes it pushes us to believe we have more intimacy with what are complete strangers and sometimes it can bleed into parasocial relationships, which I don't think are healthy and can get quite extreme (respect Chappell Roan please!)

In the end, my personal impartial advice to this would be to discern the art from the artist, and detach the fields that don't concern the artist from said artist, unless they are active in those fields.

This doesn't mean that I don't think celebrities don't have the power to influence and change important events, nor that they shouldn't speak up and get more involved, but I find myself growing more and more disillusioned with celebrities and more and more eager to reclaim my agency as a commoner.

This doesn't even exclude the fact that we shouldn't criticize Taylor for her general inactivity (from the AI crap to the Democratic endorsement) when she has every mean avaible to do differently and actually have an impact.

P.S. I'm still uncertain about the whole matter with BM, and Taylor being surrounded by people with questionable opinions, because we can't blame her for the doings of others BUT she still hangs out with those people. But again it's very likely they don't talk/don't give a damn about politics.

Sorry for the long ass ask.

First of all, whenever you guys say English isn’t your first language it just blows me away—all of you read & write better English that many Americans, so please never feel weird about sending in asks! They are always very articulate and have less spelling mistakes than I make 😆

Secondly, you bring up lots of good points—for me, Taylor getting involved this election isn’t because I hope she will sway votes away from Trump and towards Kamala—I agree it would be dangerous to rely on wealthy entertainers and billionaires as beacons of the common persons best interests. Rather, Taylor speaking up would confirm for me and many other fans that she IS who we all thought she was back in 2018-2021. That the person she claimed to evolve into—a more empathetic socially conscious braver Taylor who knew that her voice does impact so many younger impressionable minds, one who wanted to stand up for what and who she believed in, someone who claimed the LGBTQ causes, the BLM protests, gerrymandering, etc were worth speaking up about, wasn’t just an era to try on until she got tired of it

Damn you have so many excellent points here, but yeah you’re right, at the end of the day Taylor and other billionaires aren’t going to stand against a system that is still actively keeping them at the top

Thanks so much for your input 🙏🏼

[datingschooldropout]

Rule 4: Don't Meet Him Halfway or Go Dutch on a Date

Men love a challenge--that's why they play sports, fight wars, and raid corporations. The worst thing you can do is make it easy for them.

We're going to stop this here. Of the three examples given, only one of those is something generally done because someone enjoys it. At least someone you want to be around. Soldiers, in addition to a number of things we can say about how highlighting and praising aggression just... causes more aggression, are deeply exploited. They are exploited during a conflict, and when they leave.

War? Is not fun. For anyone actually involved in the conflict.

When a man is trying to set up a date to meet you, don't say, "Actually, I'm going to be in your area anyway", don't offer the names of restaurants between your place and his, unless he asks. Don't say much at all. Let him do all the thinking, the talking, let him flip through the Yellow Pages or magazine listings and call a couple of friends for suggestions to come up with a a place convenient for you.

I am going to state, again, for the sake of repetition, that the point of the date he is trying to plan without your input, is so you can ignore him and pretend like he's not worth your time.

We are assuming that the increased effort here will convince this man to work harder, be more grateful for your presence, and therefore dote on you forever.

You can learn a lot about a person while making dinner plans. Is there a place you both like? A cuisine? Is there something one loves and the other has never tried? Things to turn that first date into a fun adventure.

But, fun adventure is not the point of The Rules. Emotionally manipulating a man you don't know is.

It's not that women aren't capable of taking subways and paying for themselves. It's just chivalrous, hence The Rules, for men to pick up their dates and pick up checks.

Chivalry is a series of rules that started from telling chevaliars that they couldn't trample peasants with their horses.

Language evolves, but if we're sticking to the spirit of Chivalry as something other than an in depth look at the politics and gender norms of medieval literature, Chivalry is using ones standing and status to benefit and protect those without.

I'll leave my own thoughts on the check out of this. I come from beneath the poverty line in one of the poor states.

But I will say that my first real date involved three people 'going dutch' to take a pretty girl out to a movie that she picked.

Now, our fearless pseudo-feminist authors want you to know that after the first three dates, you can reciprocate in 'your own way'. You can cook dinner or buy him a small gift. You can suggest cheaper restaurants (I assume you also can't suggest cheaper restaurants during the first three dates) and you should feel good for caring about his finances.

But remember you don't want to deprive him of the challenge of taking you out or trying to be chivalric.

How classy!

Classist.

[kaifish-pond-afterdark]

STOP counting on Black Women to save ur white asses then turn around and launch racist abuse at us. Fr fuck you. Its NOT a Black Woman’s responsibility to save white women from the mess they had a hand in creating.

White women are thee FIRST to participate in white supremacy + patriarchy by using white tears to get black men killed, black women fired from jobs, etc.

THEN yall expect Black Women to save yall from Trump when an OVERWHELMING number of yall voted for him, then realized hungry leopards would in fact eat even the porcelain white faces of yall.

Yall CONTINUE to profit from + exploit Black women, you call us roaches, ratchet, Black bitches, etc. you invite us to sleepovers and vacations, murder us (and get away with it) then BEG us to save you.

White women have BEEN stepping on the necks of Black women for GENERATIONS.

Yall claim that you’re feminists, but you don’t care about liberating Black women or other WoC, you use us as stepping stones, as pawns, as accessories. But you dont actually care about us as humans that also deserve liberation. You dont see us as people, just objects to use.

You’d talk about animal liberation before ours. You walk in your whiteness when its convenient. But the SECOND you get called out, for some fucked shit, you leverage your minority status as a woman and weaponise it against black women and fems.

Yall act like youre THEE most oppressed group in the world. You act like you are divorced completely from whiteness, while ACTIVELY benefiting and leveraging whiteness against us.

You aint slick, we see RIGHT through you. We see you when you refuse to speak up when your racist boyfriend makes jabs at us, when your family reminds you “we arent racist… but we just couldn’t bear to see you with a… *whispers* Black person”

If my white passing partner can stand up to her 80 some year old grandparents and HELP THEM GROW and change. What’s stopping you? Why is my life worth less than your comfort?

Fuck you. Do better White women.

[giddlywinks]

An Evangelical clown troupe could convince anyone to support genocide, and y'all could not even convince yourselves to get off your phones long enough to see that you MUST rectify your communication towards conservatives! You have to convince them of you through empathy and accesible communication! They hate you, and they are the majority. You really thought saying you hate them, think they're idiots, or delusional over and over to have that thrown in their face for almost a decade would make them say you were right? And CHANGE their minds???

And although many of you would like to believe your common sense makes you superior, it doesn't! You are just as uneducated as them. Do you know how insurance companies work? The stock market? The FDA? FEMA? The Fed Reserve? Crypto? International history and US Politics? The way local governments work? Etc. No, you don't, but you believe that pretending you do, while someone whom you've never met, from a pool of options you didn't choose, advocates for you about those issues, is going to produce the outcome you would like. You are not wise! You are just as exploited by your own willingness to be both angry and uninvolved.

You need to heal your trauma and communication with those who are within your network to be able to reach them in their confusion, fear, and distrust. Anger and words don't produce solidarity! Education, literal support for others, refining communication to be accessible and to be logically sound is what convinces others that your ideas are worth their time. That posturing of pseudo-superiority, both intellectual and moral, while handing the left's ass to the mouth of a shark, is why the tide has shifted devastatingly.

Do y'all know who Audre Lorde is? The master's tools of fearmongering and anger were the ONLY platform of the Democratic campaign before even Harris. Why did you all believe that you could sit at home hating and shitting on millions of people, somehow be better than them, and then be able to convince them they need to make the choice you would make in an election they barely understand in most of the geography of this country! You have got to get it through your mind that they are the majority and they always have been.

Stop being assholes to assholes like that convinces everyone to be and act differently or better. Stop wasting time on the bullshit of everything needing to be correct or appropriate and start being effective instead! It's civil disobedience, not "look at us and know we are right." Stop thinking you can only do a little march, an emotional social media post, or any other out-of-touch political action a couple times every year and change the world. You can't! Start taking actual political action on personal and community levels to dismantle the systems that privelege you in some convenient areas and plot your death in others. Stop thinking you just don't know how to get involved. Educate yourselves and make it up! Stop giving people/corporations your money when they hate you. Stop making the hatred for the left grow larger. Stop wasting your time in fear and excuses while you're wiped off the map.

This happened twice because none of you learned a thing! Grassroots movements in solidarity with rural communities NOW NOW NOW!

I wrote multiple versions of this post that Tumblr kept saying failed to post, and I clarified in those, but I'll do so here, too. It's important. I want to clarify that my criticism is towards the hypocrisy of the bitter left to project blame and assume that's a win for progress. It's not a win for anyone. My criticism is NOT directed towards the countless, tireless, emotionally brutalized, progressive activists who desperately tried to bridge solidarity while working within the awful, unstoppable fact that harm reduction is all we can do now.

[severeprincesheep]

Almost all the stuff I own these days was either freegan (I found it abandoned in the street and took it home), was bought second hand at a charity shop when it was on sale, or I bought from an outlet on sale because it was grade A or B.

But recently I've also found the wonders of AliExpress and I'm never going back. For my birthday I asked my husband to buy me 10 items (that's the limit per purchase) all of them free shipping, all of them cute jewellery for basically 1 euro because I'm trying to spruce up my appearance. It was delightful to get different packages on different days, and there was only one thing that didn't quite meet my expectations. But for those prices I can't complain. I'm so going to do this forever from now on. I never see any jewellery in shops that I like, even if I could afford it. On AliExpress every page has absolutely beautiful things for almost nothing.

I watched a documentary about how bad it is to buy stuff on AliExpress because of how exploited the workers are when compared to Western workers and because the metals they use, like cadmium, are banned from European jewellery on account of being carcinogenic.

I'm a European and I've never had a job where I wasn't exploited and screwed over and overworked, and no authority ever protected me or my rights so give me a fucking break. As for the cadmium I thought that was very odd so I googled it: turns out you can't absorb cadmium through your skin. No human being has ever died of cancer from wearing a cadmium ring so if that's against European rules then the rules are stupid. Not that European companies are following those rules, btw - that's another thing they showed in the documentary, that basically European cheap jewellery is sold all the time without specifying what metal is being used. How much you want to bet it's cadmium? You might as well buy it straight from the source, cheaper and more conveniently, online.

Listening to the woman in this video below is a sobering reminder of why luxury products are typically a scam. For instance, she complains that Red Light Therapy masks cost hundreds of dollars and never did anything for her skin.

I agree. In fact just looking at the vast array on offer on AliExpress makes you wonder how is it possible for there to be so much disparity in the prices of what has to be essentially the same product. So I bought just one small one for like 5 euros. I follow the instructions of an actual scientist specialized in that field and I think that maybe holding it against my eyes and jaw line seem to have improved slightly my eyes and my teeth (as in, less pain)? But I wouldn't swear to it. I also don't think it has improved my sun spots. But if it's a waste of time at least I didn't pay hundreds of dollars for what is just an experiment - not that I would ever have that kind of disposable income to just throw away on a frivolity.

Just buy stuff off of AliExpress, guys. Paying more is just not worth it. Every "luxury" product you hear about is just being made in China anyway.

22 Things I Regret Buying as a Former Shopaholic | I Wasted Thousands, Don’t Make The Same Mistake.

[eryiss]

[Jet x Freed] Cubicle Capers - Chapter Three

Summary: Jet was meant to do more. He was meant to do something with his degree. He was meant to have a purpose. He'd taken a job at Grimoire Pharmaceuticals to work his way up into a lab position, but found himself stuck in a cubicle. Every day the same. At least he had a new boss coming. Freed Justine. He’d be like the rest, though. Boring, outdated and.. hot as hell?

Notes: Hi all. Back again. Work hours are over, let’s see what happens. Again, this was requested by @jethro-art. Hope you enjoy.

Links: Ao3, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Epilogue

Chapter Three – The Late Night

Jet

Quarterly reports were a necessary evil, or so Grimoire Pharmaceuticals said. For the bosses and big wigs, it probably meant a better look into how big their Christmas bonuses – born from the exploitation of the sick and dying, of course – would be. For the menial workers like Jet, it meant pulling an all nighter finishing paperwork that apparently just couldn't wait another day.

The work always got dumped on Jet's desk. He'd been new to the workforce on the first quarterly report session, and hadn't known that it was always better to dawdle and procrastinate in the office. A fast worker was always given more to do. As such, five years later, Jet found himself alone in the office, slumped over his desk with the intake reports for the entire state, forced to input them into their own separate spreadsheet which would compare how their new rollout of allergy tablets were doing compared to market trends. It was boring as all hell, and he would rather be anywhere else.

An empty coffee cup, and the packaging from a convenience store sandwich cluttered his desk. He would have wanted something more to eat, but fast food wasn't allowed in the building. It was bad for the brand image, apparently.

Bull crap. Jet wondered what health benefits the BBQ Ribs, cheese fries and chocolate cake that was served in the executive canteen had.

"Jet?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning in his chair and brandishing a hole punch to throw at whoever had spoken. He had been sure he was the only one left in the office. Sure of it. But when he turned to see Freed looking down at him, it was obvious he was wrong.

"Hey, boss man," Jet said slowly. "How you doing?"

"Perfectly fine," Freed frowned. "Are you intending to throw that at me?"

Jet glanced to the hole punch. "Nah. Just like holding it. Like a, erm, fidget toy thing. I don't throw things."

"Right," Freed smiled a little. He did that a lot; smiling but not all the way. It was a good look – a little cocky, a little reserved – but it did make jet wonder what it would be like to see a full smile on Freed's handsome face. "Why are you still here? You know they won't pay you for work outside of your regular hours."

"Yeah, I know," Jet nodded slightly. It was weird. His old boss said that a few times, and it felt like he was rubbing it in his face, but when Freed said it it felt like an actual reminder. "But this has gotta be done, right?"

Freed followed Jet's wave of the hand towards the stack of papers. "That's quite a lot for one person. Shouldn't your team be helping?"

"Ah, it's kinda my thing to do the quarterlies," Jet shrugged, then glanced at the clock at the bottom right of his screen. "Eight o'clock's pretty late for you too? Get caught up in the paperwork?"

"Conference call. The board of directors wanted preliminary assessment of the figures despite the fact they're getting a full analysis at the end of the week. Entirely pointless," Freed sighed, his gaze still lingering on the paperwork. "Do you really expect to do an entire team's worth of work on your own. It hardly seems fair."

"It's fine. I'm like eighty percent done already," Jet shrugged. Freed kept looking at the stack of papers, then walked to Laki's cubicle and switched on her PC, taking half of the stack for himself before sitting at her desk. Jet watched him with bafflement for a moment as Freed logged into his own account. "You don't have to, man. I can handle it."

"You shouldn't have to," Freed dismissed. "This way, it's done twice as fast."

"Seriously I can handle-"

"If you don't do as I say, I will discipline you, Jet," Freed warned with that half smile on his face, and it made Jet's inside squirm with a desire he couldn't quite quantify. He simply nodded, forced himself to put on a grin that hid the weird effect the threat had on him, and gave Freed a salute before he rolled his chair back to his desk and got back to working again.

The next hour was odd, to say the least.

It started off as quiet, with Freed occasionally asking questions on how to work the spreadsheet in a way no other boss would have. They'd assume they knew better and mess it up, leaving more work for Jet to do in fixing it.

At some point, the quiet of the office must have gotten to Freed, because a local radio station began to play from Laki's computer, tinny and annoying but breaking up the silence. Jet hadn't thought of that. Someone had brought in a radio once with their old boss, and they'd gotten yelled at for distracting the rest of the workers. It had been a nice hour while it had lasted. Maybe Freed wouldn't mind music on a workday.

Then, the radio had a competition. One of those stupid competitions; they played a small sound clip and asked people to call in and say what they thought it was. Freed idly huffed and said the sound was obviously the clatter of a fork on a plate. Jet had gaped at him and told him he was an idiot because that was a spanner on a metal tray! That turned into a twenty-minute argument between the two of them, wherein Jet told Freed his business school degree didn't mean crap in radio competitions, and Freed threatened to make an hour-long presentation on PowerPoint on the importance of hearing checkups because Jet seemed to be going deaf.

It was fun. Really fun.

Also, the noise was apparently a spoon in a sink, and then their argument had turned into who was closer. Freed claimed he was right because his contained cutlery. Jet claimed he was right because his had something hitting metal. Neither relented, and their arguing continued as they worked.

Then, just as the working night seemed close to ending and Jet paced his cubicle to stretch out his legs before the final stretch, he actually looked towards Freed. His tie was gone, top button undone, and his sleeves rolled up again. Fucking hell he looked sexy when a little ruffled.

And Jet might have sworn Freed did the next thing on purpose just to drive Jet to a state of madness. Freed picked up a bottle of water and squirted some of it over his face, sighing as the cold water hit his skin. Jet could do nothing but watch as his boss ran a hand over his damp face and through his hair, ruffling it enough to look unkempt for the first time. Droplets of water ran down his jaw, down his throat with his overly pronounced Adam's apple, before sliding down his partially exposed and rather defined chest.

Jet had never understood the desire to lick a man until then. Christ; a dizzy part of his mind screamed to drop to his knees.

"You hot, huh?" He said instead. Freed turned to him, smiled a little guilty.

"I've been trying to get building services to fix the heating. It's ridiculous they haven't," Freed said in explanation.

"Yeah, that's not happening. We've been stuck in sauna mode for years," Jet laughed, glancing at the always-on heaters in the corner. "Gotta say though, late nights really are tough. Gonna need a drink after this."

"Me too," Freed agreed.

And Jet, for reasons he'd never understand, spoke again without thinking. "We could go out when we're done maybe. There's a good bar down the street. Not exactly fancy or anythin', and it might not be up to your rich boy standards but-"

"I'd like to get a drink with you," Freed cut in, and Jet had to take a second to understand what he said.

When he did, he just nodded, and silently digested the fact that he was going to go and get a late-night drink with his boss. His boss who was sexy as all hell, terrible at guessing sounds from radio competitions, and had just made the last hour of work better than anything he'd done in the office for five whole years.

———

Freed

The walk to the bar down the street was just long enough for the small awkwardness between Freed and Jet to return, and Freed was having none of that. That was why he walked directly to the bar and ordered them both a large pitcher of beer to share and two-pint glasses. Jet grinned at him, and they walked to a small table in the corner of the room and settled.

Despite what Jet had said, the bar was incredibly nice. Modern in a hipster sort of way, with arcade machines and pinball machines lining the walls. It wasn't where Freed would choose to go, nor did he think it was one of Jet's regular haunts, but it was nice enough for one evening.

As Freed got accustomed to his surroundings, Jet downed an entire pint of beer.

Freed knew he was wandering into dangerous grounds with this. Jet was, by and large, his favourite employee. Through the few months they'd been working together, more and more of the office had been coming out of their shells, slowly and cautiously. Jet was the outlier, the front runner in being himself, and Freed had grown accustomed to the glimmer of fire that Jet had inside of him. Freed's eyes always were drawn to Jet, and breaking down the barrier of an employer employee dynamic could be a step too far.

But, Freed could handle this. He'd known Jet was handsome from the off. Maybe not in an Abercrombie and Fitch way, but who actually liked models? Jet was sharp, pointy and had a stern resting face. He looked like he could be nasty, but chose to be cheerful. He had bright ginger hair and pointy teeth and, were Freed to let himself think such things, Freed would love to run his fingers across both. He'd seen all of this from the first time they met, and he could control himself perfectly fine. Being at a bar made no difference.

He would keep things to manageable and responsible topics, make sure not to act on those split seconds where he saw Jet as a tempting friend and not his employee, and he would be perfectly respectable. How he could do that while also having fun at a bar, Freed didn't know.

"Rule one," Jet said, cutting off Freed's internal ministrations. "No work talk. Not at all."

"Fair enough," Freed agreed. "And rule two?"

"We take turns buying drinks. I ain't a charity, and I don't like it when people imply that I am. I pay my way, and if you suggest I can't, there's gonna be trouble."

"Noted," Freed nodded. "Are there any other rules I should know about?"

Jet grinned at him. "Not a rule exactly, more like a clause."

"Which is?"

"The loser has to go to the bar, buy themselves the largest pitcher of beer this place sells, go out into the beer garden, and tip the pitcher over their head."

Okay. Freed had a habit of getting into his head from time to time, but he was certain he hadn't missed whatever would make that sentence make sense. "Excuse me?"

"I got a lot of energy, y'know, and I'm kinda tipsy and just wanna have fun. I'm competitive, and I think you desperately clinging onto your dumbass idea that it was a spoon clattering onto a plate proves you're competitive too, so I think we should have fun," Jet shrugged, looking around the room. "We play every game in here that has PVP, and whoever wins the most games by the end of the night wins. Loser does the forfeit."

"And where did the forfeit come from, exactly?"

"Well, I was drinking and I was thinking about the game and then about how you squirted that water over your face and the two things kinda mingled together and then, hey, came up with the perfect way to put my boss man in his place," Jet grinned at him, and Freed tried to push down the burning pleasure that came every time Jet called him boss man. "But you gotta drink too. Otherwise, it's not fair."

Truly, as ridiculous and out of left field the demands were, it sounded like a lovely way to end the day. It had been a long, hot, tedious and endless day, and playing video games and forcing Jet to perform his own forfeit – Freed would not lose – was the perfect way to rebalance the scales.

The second Freed's empty glass was on the table, Jet took his wrist in hand and dragged him towards the nearest arcade machine. He explained what the game was and how to play it, as if Freed were fifty years older than him and needed to be told what a joystick was, and in a rather patronising voice, asked if Freed wanted a practice go. Freed smirked at him full force and a little tipsy, saying that he'd be able to pick it up soon enough. Apparently, Jet didn't know that in every city in the world there was some form of arcade hall, and it was one of the cheapest and easiest ways to pass the time, and Freed had gotten quite good at playing them.

One hour and twenty minutes later, and their completion had been a close run thing. Jet had a natural talent for arcade machines, and also had a competitive streak which refused to allow him to lose. Which was a shame, because he had lost. By three points.

"Oh dear," Freed hummed sarcastically. "That was the last game, wasn't it? Which means you have no chance of getting any more points? Which means you lost, correct?"

"Shut up,"

"Making you the loser," Freed continued. "The loser who has to buy a pitcher of beer and dump it over his head, correct?"

"Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna do that," Jet shrugged, and his sharp little teeth made it hard for him to hide his smile. He was playing the role of unhappy loser rather than actually being one. Then Freed would play his role too.

"Oh I think you will."

"You gonna make me, boss man?" Jet jutted out his chin for that.

"I could," Freed leant in, and spoke low. The booze they'd both been drinking had an effect, and he used a voice seldom heard outside of the privacy of his own home. "But I think you'll do as your told, won't you? Even if you need a little push."

And, with a hand on Jet's lower back, Freed gave him a little push towards the bar. Jet made a show of slumping his shoulders, huffing, and walking towards the bar. Moments later he was holding a large pitcher of beer that sloshed precariously. They walked into the small beer garden side by side, Jet looking at the beer hesitantly as they did so. Freed took a seat at one of the benches and watched Jet with a patient expression.

Jet lifted to pitcher so it was eye level, then stopped. He looked at Freed as if expecting to be told he didn't have to do it, but Freed cocked a brow. "Would you let me get out of it if I had lost?"

Rather than answering, Jet sighed out a quiet 'dammit' and raised the pitcher higher. He clenched his fist, jutted his chin again, and poured the beer over himself in a quick, loud movement. A hush fell over the beer garden as everyone looked at Jet. Freed leant back, a cocky smirk on his face as he relished the moment.

It had been too long since he'd felt like this.

Jet looked at him, ruffled and wet and dripping. He was a mess, and had that look of determination that vowed a need for revenge, and that set a fire inside of Freed that he relished.

"We're coming here next Friday," Jet proclaimed, pulling his hair back in a delightfully tight ponytail. It would be fun to pull on that. Make Jet gasp just like he had when the beer had hit him. "And when you lose, you're getting two pitchers. One goes over your head. The other down your pants."

It was petulant, determined, and so entirely sexy that all thoughts of seeing Jet as a predominantly platonic part of his life died on the spot. Freed was just tipsy enough to not care in the moment. "I look forward to it.

[dapg-otmebytheballs]

Okay while i dont think that they are extremely rich, i do think their networth is well over a couple million, mainly just bc there is no way their house is worth less than a million pounds. A house like that? In london? It would not be cheap. Like they dont earn enough to live off it for the rest of their lives, but i also would not say they were struggling by any means. I mean they were able to go 5 years without many significant career endeavors and buy a house during it.

Oh yeah they aren't struggling whatsoever, they are one of the "successful" YouTubers, and they've had more steady income from other sources too, like the radio show. These guys very much are middle class (hence them making bougie jokes- bougie has always referred to middle class), being able to afford a house and all. But that's basically the point of that post, that people who aren't constantly financially struggling and people who have disposable income aren't the same as quote unquote "rich" people.

We're talking in terms of class analysis, yeah? The category of "rich" when used in such phrases as 'eat the rich' is convenient insofar as it helps us categorise the people for whose benefit a capitalist system works, whose interests are being taken into account when making policy, and who horde resources and mooch off of the labour of others. When we're just joking amongst ourselves it's understood what you mean when you call your middle class friends rich, or when you call YouTubers of this status rich (and again, they aren't even like Mr Beast levels of rich, who in turn isn't Hollywood A-listers level rich, who in turn aren't capitalist pig Bezzos level rich). But with a lot of people getting more involved in online activism these concepts are getting blurred and our perceptions of class are affected.

So while I've seen no one from like, our fandom do this, I've seen this happen to other YouTubers (and a friend and I were just talking about it today so it was on my mind) where people who haven't taken the time to understand class divides very well think that internet celebrities are genuinely hand to heart rich rich. On the same level as rich when we say the ruling class the elite the exploitative rich class. Except they aren't. They're middle class and upper middle class people. Even the millionaires amongst them are a far far cry from billionaires (we've seen the graphics explaining the massive difference between a million and a billion of course). And that skewed idea of "disposable income/being able to afford a house or good phone or bathtub or [insert item associated with Richness] means that this person is Rich" becomes dangerous when applied to clear political action in terms of class divide. Because then we're viewing these YouTubers as being the class that has their interests taken care of and are the ones exploiting people, rather than industry workers who are getting exploited by companies like YouTube.

And people very much are taking it too far, like that person who said John Boyega can't talk about class struggles and exploitation because he's also 'the rich'. He isn't. And these YouTubers aren't either but skewed ideas of what wealth looks like drives online hordes to view the wrong people as the enemy or as the exploitative class.

When talking about "the rich" we should be thinking about the capitalists. Blurring these classes is an issue precisely because people online are now engaging with artists and creators with great contempt, entitlement, and misdirected "eat the rich seize their resources" calls to action.

Btw not at all saying you should stop making jokes about them being rich lol, that's again, something we understand as "they have monies now" amongst ourselves. It's more to understand and know how to counter any misdirected rage of the sort we've seen lot of other internet celebrities and actors face. Idk how clear I've made this but feel free to follow up with me!

[retphienix]

Not to regurgitate the same "the nerfs have not been healthy or reasonably considered in Helldivers 2" talking points but man.

In isolation, just one thing among a sea of things, I hate what they've done to the Eruptor so much.

So I'm gonna vent it for my own sake and nothing more.

That thing was the shining point of success from its warbond- a warbond that has the immaculate grenade pistol of all things- and this STILL took the spotlight for me because it felt so good, different, and fun.

It was a weapon that traded ergonomics and ROF and safety (can't shoot close targets etc) for AMAZING stopping power, hitting many breakpoints that no other weapon has in the entire game!

You could one shot scouts from the front! Just tap em, no need to go around or shoot from 'slightly' above to hit their head!

You could one shot devastators TO THE CHEST!

You could take out MULTIPLE berserkers with ONE SHOT! Or guarantee a one-shot by hitting their stomach!

You could dent groups of enemies with the AOE, often wiping all the fodder enemies with one well placed explosion of shrapnel!

You could severely damage many objective style targets like turret towers!

ALL THIS- WITHOUT BEING OVERTUNED OR THE BEST OPTION! IT HAD GIVE AND TAKE IN ITS PERFORMANCE!!!!!!!!!!!

But some random exploit (that I never heard about until AFTER the nerfs, conveniently enough) let it hurt Chargers a "little too much" (reasonable, fix that then- without nerfing it to garbage). No real word on how it's pretty garbage against bugs otherwise- it hurt chargers too much, nerf it to hell I guess.

And out of nowhere the balance team starts claiming that people were "Upset about friendly fire" ??????? So they remove the unique shrapnel that did like 80% of the damage and then buffed the weak piddly baby explosion damage a tiny notch up from "nothing" to "still nothing".

The fucking thing is gutted.

It had purpose!

It was REASONABLE in its strength!

It had UNIQUE USE CASES that you PAID FOR through its various WEAKNESSES!!!!

It wasn't magically the strongest and best thing in the entire game! It just had PURPOSE!

And now it's a garbage version of the dominator, a weapon I bet they'll nerf to trash tier soon if they don't fully reconsider their balance direction.

Between the buffs they keep slapping on enemies the second we find a way to uniquely interact with them-

(like scouts- you used to be able to manage your loadout to include explosions to more easily take them out, but that's not the Arrowhead Balance Team Approved method of going around and shooting from behind so take a slap on the wrist and a buff to their explosive resist- wouldn't want weapons like the scorcher having purpose now would we)

-and the countless times anything that works better than the starting pistol gets nerfed, we just don't have fun stuff that works differently anymore.

Just "Here's the med armor pen rifle equivalent or the Sickle for fodder. Here's the autocannon. Here's the AMR. Bring your EATs." yay

Hell, this is a post about the gutted Eruptor but there's another thing- we lack variety in how to approach so many targets since every weapon that hits different break points or handles differently in an interesting way gets nerfed to shit- but EVEN THE BORING BASIC OPTIONS get nerfed if they become too reliable- like the quasar getting a nearly 20 second round turn around adjustment because they were upset people were choosing the "Slower rocket that doesn't take a backpack" over the "Backpack rocket that has such a fucking terrible ROF without team reload (a mechanic they severely need to adjust to be actually worth doing and not a built in nerf) that you might as well take the quasar even with the huge nerf because you at least get a backpack slot with that thing".

Cool >:(

At least the flamethrower is finally good. It's still a support weapon that can't take out a ton of units that our primary weapons ALSO can't take out requiring you to rely on strikes that a lot of missions will punish you for relying on through modifiers or weather effects (I like the weather but failure to let our loadouts serve themselves does shine a flaw in them) so woops to that but at least it's finally serving a purpose by taking out groups and chargers fast.

[smute]

tbh i was expecting something more insightful but i mean... yeah. thats literally what everybody is saying

first of all, i think we need to distinguish between feeling indifferent or unsympathetic to and publicly ridiculing or celebrating somebody's death.

second of all, the problem with the argument here is that there is no actual connection between the two things. people are pointing at a systemic issue to justify their cruelty against 5 individuals whose deaths won't affect our social and economic system in the slightest. it's a kind of base revenge fantasy under the guise of moral retribution. this is not some violent dictator for example whose death could be said to have a net positive effect because it represents the end of an evil regime or something. these are 2 billionaire tourists, one of whom brought his son along, plus an old french navy diver and the guy who believed so much in his shitty sub that he piloted it himself. having them pulverized in the north atlantic is not going to end capitalist exploitation. tbh i'd be surprised if it's enough to end titanic expeditions for the foreseeable future.

thirdly, and most importantly, this is one of those issues we can all agree to disagree on. even if i were to make a successful argument for the immorality of such reactions, that argument would be based on my personal moral framework, not on some universal truth, and tbh i'm not interested in policing anyone's thoughts anyway. all i'm saying is that the same way some people feel justified in joking about this event, others have a right to be upset about those jokes. no one can be objectively right or wrong about this, and thoughtcrimes are not a thing anyway. if someone's making shitty jokes that you disagree with, unfollow them. if someone is making you feel bad about your jokes, unfollow them.

personally, i'm surprised to see so many people practicing conditional empathy. take a look at the notes on this post (or any other post abt this event) and you'll find a lot of people saying things like "i do feel bad for the 19-year-old though" whether that's because of the reports that he was scared to go on the trip or because people value younger lives more or because they can better relate to someone their own age doesn't really matter.

(this last part is just my personal interpretation) but i think it suggests that a lot of us ARE IN FACT inclined to instinctively feel empathy towards human suffering no matter whom it affects, especially once we learn one or two bits of personal information about them and our mental image of them becomes a little more concrete (and lets be honest, the reporting on this event was VERY focused on the "who"). but compassion fatigue affects us all, and in this case the (often misinterpreted) "eat the rich" thing does offer a convenient excuse to block those complicated emotions before they surface. "they were evil billionaires" is an easy way to dehumanize these people, which is not a judgement. i'm just saying it helps turn these individuals back into an abstraction. similarly, the argument that "they knew about the risks" (which i am not so sure about tbh) or, as op says, paid the consequences for "bad decisions" that they made themselves, is just a rationalization. if it helps you, you can insist that their deaths were just, but i think it's worth examining all of our feelings about this event a little more closely.

this is probably the best take I’ve heard so far on the debate of people being told that they aren’t having enough ‘compassion’ for billionaires making bad decisions and paying the obvious consequences for it

[kafus]

Is there any way to play Pokémon coloseum and get the ribbons from it WITHOUT needing to buy the actual console and game from it? I really badly want to do a ribbon challenge but the financial barrier for the ones on this game are way too high

WELLLLLLLL there are ways to (cough) do it with emulation or a hacked wii (COUGH)

if you have a hacked original wii with the gamecube ports on the side, all you would need is to run colo or xd off of nintendont with a USB stick (it's an installable homebrew app), make sure in nintendont's settings the game is set to use the native controllers instead of emulating them, and then purchase a gamecube -> GBA link cable which as far as i know are still pretty cheap, especially third party ones. then you can trade between those games and the GBA games like normal. of course this requires you to uh, go through the process of hacking your wii, which also may require you to buy a cheap ass SD card adapter if you don't have a computer that is able to read old big SD cards. but even if you had to buy a wii for all this i am pretty sure all of those four things combined (wii/cable/adapter/usb) are less of a price barrier than colo/xd which are insanely expensive for no fucking reason my god. for what it's worth i own authentic copies of colo/xd, but even i play it off my wii's nintendont sometimes, it's really convenient LOL

alternatively you could do this fully with PC emulation, just "trade" your pokemon into your colo or xd save with pkhex - you can literally open your colo save and your GBA save in two separate pkhex windows and drag and drop, the pokemon's data will be identical as if you had traded pokemon. if you're starting the challenge on physical gen 3 carts you'll need a way to back up the save files to do this in pkhex though - assuming you already own an original ds or ds lite, the cheapest way to do this is buy a ds flashcart/r4 and install a gba save file manager onto it and use that with the gba slot on the ds. there's also like, specially made devices for that purpose but they're usually a lot more expensive lol. if you do all of this on emulation up to gen 4 or 5 though, you could just use the dns exploit to trade your mons to an actual gen 4/5 cart ez with wifi

sorry for the really long ass answer i just wanted to give you the most options possible. sdfksfdl

[auncerra]

Hells, continued I

Oh right, and can't even begin to reflect the insurance fraud, tax fraud, violation of privacy, violation of data, material theft, smear campaigning, image-maligning efforts. Can't compete with the educational system fraud, let's see if your offspring can even draft an essay that's THEIR OWN, let alone complete assignments and assessments ON THEIR OWN, not from your hand to a screen. Remember when you dangled the carrot of hoarding my old writing and multiple drafts on your laptop, OF COURSE THAT LIKE MANY THINGS AS YOU SELF-MARTYR YOURSELVES YOU WOULD CONTEST - I wouldn't be surprised if THAT like so many things OF MINE was somehow recycled. TO THINK OF EVERYTHING I SACRIFICED GAVE FED INTO THESE THINGS. NOT PEOPLE. PEOPLE DON'T DO THESE THINGS. SANE, HUMANE, NORMAL, BALANCED, MEANINGFUL LIVES DON'T DESTROY LIVES WITH INTENT AND PRACTICE-PRECISION. DON'T SKILLFULLY PLAY ON WOUNDS AND VULNERABILITIES DON'T CONTINUE TO POUND ON A DOOR AND QUIETLY KNOCK TO AGGRAVATE THE SENSES TO IMPLY THAT MY SOLITUDE IS UNSOUND WHEN IT IS THE ONLY SOUND THING I CAN SOMETIMES HOLD TO. BECAUSE I UNLIKE YOU AM SAFE WITHIN MYSELF, I UNLIKE YOU HAVE LEARNED TO BE CONTENT ON MY OWN TO THRIVE ON MY OWN NO MATTER WHAT HAS BEEN SLUNG AT ME, AND NO YOU DON'T MERIT CREDIT FOR THE SLINGING. YOU DON'T EXUDE POWER BECAUSE YOU HAVE NONE. POWER REQUIRES THE ABILITY TO EMOTE. POWER REQUIRES THE ABILITY TO FEEL FOR WRONGS AND TRANSGRESSIONS TO UNDERSTAND AND RESPECT BOUNDARIES AND LINES PARTICULARLY WHEN THEY ARE FIRMLY, DECLARATIVE-LY, REPEATEDLY STATED OVER PERIODS OF YEARS. YEARS. YEARS. DECADES. DECADES OF MY LIFE DECADES DEDICATED TO PROTECTING. PROTECTING IN MANY WAYS THE SAME THINGS WHICH HAVE PLOTTED AND CONSPIRED TO IF NOT ENTIRELY END MY LIFE MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE INDEPENDENTLY, TO DENOUNCE EVERYTHING I DO TO THOSE AROUND THEM, PETITION FOR MY ATTENTION ONLY WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT TO EXPLOIT, ONLY WHEN THE HEAT IN THE POT THEY MELDED FOR THEMSELVES FROM THE BELLY OF THEIR ACTIONS IS JUST A LITTLE TOO PAST FUCKING BOILING.

THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT, RIGHT? WHAT LOOK LIKE DERANGED UNSTABLE RAMBLINGS. NO, FOLKS. THIS IS THE PRODUCT. THIS IS THE REALITY. THIS IS THE CONTENTION THAT HAS BEEN SIMMERING IN ME. THIS ISN'T EVEN THE TIP OF AN ICEBERG OF COLLECTED, HARVESTED DATA. OF EVERYTHING I HAVE WITNESSED IN MY ONGOING TIME IN HELL. Hell. Yes. Hell. Yes, some purgatory-reminiscent circle of ongoing trauma, where the moment that there is any sense of reprieve or ease or peace or sigh of relief and excitement there is something to be contended with, my happiness is something to be contended with, to be argued, to be sullied, to be raked through coals, because only when it appears I AM OPTICALLY SICK, very literally overcome by some virus or physical ailment, where my body is shutting down, only when I am at the lowest of my physical, psychological, emotional low might there be some aversion to act, at first, but the knife always finds its way to plunge in when things are hardest and deepest. THESE INSIPID things DO NOT STOP AND WILL NOT STOP.

SO TO THE COMMUNITY AROUND, THE COMMUNITY I HAVE TIRELESSLY MIRRORED, CONVEYED, SPOKEN, LIFTED THE TRUTH OF THE OPPRESSION I HAVE BEEN LIVING TO, NOT PRIVILEGE - THIS IS NOT A PRIVILEGE - WHEN YOU SUPPORT IT, YOU ARE PART OF IT. YOU ARE COMPLICIT. YOU ARE INVESTED IN THEIR WRONGDOING, EVEN IF IT'S TO PRESERVE THE SILENCE IN YOUR SUBURB.

WHAT IS A LIFE WORTH TO YOU.

HOW CAN YOU EVER APPRECIATE SUCCESS WHEN IT IS SOMETHING UNEARNED AND UNDESERVING.

WHATEVER YOU MAY OR MAY NOT ACCOMPLISH DOES NOT MATTER TO ME BECAUSE YOURS IS NOT A PLACE I WOULD EVER WANT OR SEEK TO TRADE WITH. YOURS IS NOT A LIFE I WOULD RUTHLESSLY PURSUE BECAUSE I HAVE THE INTEGRITY TO FOLLOW MINE, AND THE INTELLIGIBILITY TO NOT CHOOSE SHIT.

YOU WANT ANGRY? YOU WANT ANIMAL TO THE WALL OF ITS CAGE? YOU WANT TO LURE ME INTO SOME OTHER INANE SPOUT OR CONFLICT? YOU AREN'T GOING TO GET IT YOUR WAY. ON YOUR TERMS. ON YOUR WICKED, IMAGE-MANIPULATING TERMS. YOU DON'T GET TO RECORD ME AGAIN WITHOUT MY CONSENT. YOU DON'T GET TO CORNER AND STALK ME IN PUBLIC OR IN PRIVATE WHEN I DID NOT CONSENT TO BEING CONTINUALLY HARASSED.

I DON'T CARE HOW I LOOK OR THIS DOES.

I DON'T CARE.

I DON'T CARE IF IT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE AFTER, SOME ACCOLADE OF RELEVANCE. YOU ARE NOT RELEVANT, YOU ARE SIMPLY VILE. NO MATTER WHAT YOU PAINT TO OTHERS, AS GREGARIOUS AS GENEROUS, YOUR GENEROSITY IS SELF-SERVING AND SELF-SERVING ONLY, AND THEREFORE IS NOT GENEROSITY. YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN GENEROUS, YOU JUST LIKE TO TOY WITH WHAT YOU CANNOT POSSESS OR OWN OR CARRY.

YOU CAN'T CARRY OR HOLD AN INTEGRITY YOU ARE EACH AND ALL BARREN OF.

2 13 2025

Auncerra Bohne

[smutpeddlerx]

To break you is a gift

Songwriters find their best inspiration in the words of strangers. The distance allows them to hear more clearly. The subtle way a stranger will change the meaning of a word to fit their current world view and then change it back when it is convenient. 

It’s easy to imagine this modern day troubadour sitting quietly in a cafe staring down at a plate of eggs and a cup of coffee trying to make sense of the world as it happens around him. 

I’m not much different from him really, which I’m sure you’ll come to understand in time. The path of the righteous is both a blessing and curse. One, I am sure, you will bear with beauty and grace. 

To break you is a gift. For both me and you. This is the line you say. Not out loud, but to yourself. This is where I won’t go. And then I push you past it. I give you a reason that makes it worth it. Your eyes glow at the moment and your lips swell. It’s when the breaking happens. 

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The rules of writing suggest we tell the audience where you’re headed before you take them on the journey. That makes sense when it’s a cheap flight to Vegas, but less so when I’m detailing how you’ll end up cum filled and in tears. The first step to breaking you is to notice you. The way your breathing changes as my hands move across your body. The way you squirm when I whisper into your ear the things I want to do to you when no one is around. And especially, the things I want to do to you when someone could be watching. A purpose. Too many beautiful women have lived a life without a purpose. But that won’t be a problem for you. I trace your jaw line and then slap you gently while looking into your eyes and reminding you to serve your purpose. I’m glad your beauty won’t go to waste. 

It’s easy to get wrapped up in a collar or a leash. Or being bent over my lap. To think that those are the kinks you should admit to. But you’re more complicated than that and that’s something I appreciate about you. The inspection. Your hands and knees against the cold table top. Your legs spread so I can see your cunt and asshole. My fingers touching and exploring. Looking down into your eyes. Your vulnerability spoken by the way you hold yourself for my judgment. My fingers trace your tight little cunt. I feel your wetness and continue to exploit your vulnerability. 

I love the way you say thank you for giving you the opportunity to be inspected by me. The way your cunt tightens as a slide a single finger inside it, only to pull it out and run it against your lips before you clean it off. I’m in no rush to finish, but you feel the cold air against every part of you. You feel naked and afraid of what comes next. I don’t stop touching you as I my finger tips play with your pussy. My cock hardens as you begin to moan into the empty air. I unbutton my pants and allow you to offer up your throat to hold my cock. I love the way you ask if I’d like to slide my cock into your throat. It’s pretty when you ask like that. And as I slowly fuck your throat, taking you and letting you serve your purpose, I feel your cunt get wetter. Wet enough to drip down your thighs and onto the table. When I notice the wetness pooling under you, I put the collar and leash on you before pulling my cock out of your throat. I then give you a simple task to clean up the mess you’ve made with your mouth. A tug on your collar speeds you up. I love your obedience and the way you follow my directions. So much so that even your orgasms are completely under my control. I can tell you to orgasm and without even touching you, you connect my words with your purpose and give into the orgasm that I’ve commanded. I remind you that you are at your prettiest when you are broken. That your best self is the mess of a woman you become when you’ve pushed past the point of your own dignity and you give into my desires.