#That's something I don't have a choice on because if I boycott them my only option is to starve | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

outlanderskin · 9 days

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Why are you so fucking calm????

Are you asking this in relation to the last paparazzi walk or in general😅🤣? I think that time in this fandom may give me another perspective because the only feeling I have is "I've seen this movie before." I think Sam (and Cait's) actions have no impact beyond the Outlander bubble. The fans who care about them are Outlander fans, to the general public they are unknown, at most "that actor/actress who played that character x in that filme Y". None of the people outside that bubble care if he's seen with anyone. A person outside the bubble who looks at that photo, even knowing the girl's profession, won't see anything unusual, because for that person, Sam is just a single guy who is an actor and doesn't have to live according to anyone beliefs. Mind you, he was not seen on the street beating a woman, an animal, or a child. He was not photographed or filmed committing any crime. Coldly analyzing (from outside the bubble) what you see in these articles is a single guy (that's what you find about him on social media) walking hand in hand down the street with a woman. The woman's profession would be no one's business. Those outside the bubble won't even bother to research, and even if critics, directors, and bosses in general do research or know that she works as an escort, this won't be considered a scandal. Firstly because (publicly) he is single and being single if he wants to have a serious relationship with her (regardless of her profession) is not a crime and it would be considered prejudice and puritanism to boycott someone for that. And secondly, because we are talking about the world of entertainment and let's be realistic: it is a sexist world, dominated by men and where married men involved in cheating scandals, continue to work and earn loads of money and the excuse they use is "that's his private life, not his professional life." I know the impact of these things on the fandom is huge, but it's always just here. Remember Hawaiigate? Even something so serious that it had to be handled with him making public statements (and her distracting the fandom) didn't have a big impact on his business or his career. The only impact it made was some fans who stopped following and supporting him, but those numbers were replaced in the following months by new fans and look at the numbers today.

I've said many times that I don't idolize them both and I don't expect them to make choices based on what I believe. I've also said a thousand times that I think their choices regarding this circus are terrible. But it doesn't impact me emotionally like it impacts some people in the fandom in general (on all sides). My advice is always the same: if it's causing you pain, if it's too much for you to bear, if it affects your real life, walk away. This is just a fandom. It's not your job, your family. Even the circles of friends you make in a fandom (the real friendships) can be maintained if you decide to leave. Just remember to respect the friends that remain, not to think of yourself as superior because you "found the light" and decided to leave, and friendships can continue beautifully.

As for me, so far, all their bad choices only contribute more and more to what I believe. That's why I'm here with my popcorn in hand, always waiting for the next show and remembering that the only actions and reactions I can control are my own. And, that's OK.

#outlander #samcait #shipping #sam heughan #fandom is for fun #thehardlifeofshippers #welcome to the shitshow

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kaija-rayne-author · 10 months

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It's so sad. Bioware has been a staple, almost, of RPGs for a long time.

But them laying off so many people (it's 125ish over the past handful of months) really doesn't increase confidence in the company.

Even though DA:DW is in Alpha, it's going to affect how many people buy the game. Because they'll think that many layoffs will affect the quality of the game. Average people have little idea about how games are made. Alpha means it's in primary testing, meaning the game is mostly finished.

Could they have shot themselves in the foot better if they'd tried?

Fans are pissed and swearing they're done with Bioware.

A lot of fans.

And I have a Kassandra like feeling that DA:DW is Bioware's last chance as a company.

So, their behavior toward employees = loss of consumer confidence = fewer people buy Dreadwolf = Bioware sinks and we don't get any more Dragon Age after DA:DW.

Don't execs have business degrees and such?

If so, why is my ridiculous ass better at cause/effect for economics and business than they are? I've never even taken a business class.

What exactly do the execs do to earn those obscene paychecks?

Anyway, I really think it comes down to this; if we want more Dragon Age past Dreadwolf, we'll have to ignore Bioware's behavior and buy the game regardless.

And... I don't know how many people will do that. I don't even want to do that. I've boycotted companies for far less.

Edit Saturday Aug 26, '23

I need to add some thoughts to this.

Unfortunately, negative chatter will likely affect whether they release the game at all. Which sucks for people who do want it. (It's rhetorical, but it’s almost finished, why wouldn't they release it?)

I've read that Andromeda DLCs were canceled because of that. I won't be boycotting. I'm unhappy with bioware, but there's much more to consider.

For me, I've been thinking and reading what those laid off have said. It's them that are most affected, after all. It's not about bioware as much as it's about the people who no longer work there who poured years of time, love, and passion into Dreadwolf.

I don't like bioware, but at the same time, I refuse to shat on the creatives who loved and made Dreadwolf. I know, personally, how much of yourself you pour into a creative work. I'd be heartbroken if people boycotted something I'd worked on and truly loved. Even if I were no longer working at the company. I believe the devs can't even talk about it, unless/until it's released due to NDAs. Can you imagine putting years of your life and creativity into something only to have people boycott it?

And to use your status at the company as the excuse?

Kirby has said she hopes people love it as much as she does. She's one of the most affected and she's still hoping people play and love it.

And to be calmly realistic, Bioware isn't the main source of the issue. EA demanded a layoff of 800 people across all their holdings. Corporate greed. I doubt bioware would've made such awful choices without that pressure.

So even though my kneejerk reaction is to boycott, I'll buy it and play it for the creatives who poured everything into it.

Is it right? Hell no. There's no ethical consumption in a late stage capitalist nightmare world. But I'm also not going to punish the people who loved it enough to make it.

Y'all do you, but I wanted to share my more measured thoughts on the matter.

#dragon age series #dragon age #Bioware #dragon age: dreadwolf #dread wolf #solas #solavellan

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beautifulpersonpeach · 10 months

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BPP, I'm not one to cry over the hate the boys get because I truly believe they are resilient as hell and I try to curate my space as much as possible so that I'm not subjected to it. Im so bummed though about Hobi's JITB hope edition dedication and how he was concerned that his and armys relationship wouldn't be able to get past him not releasing a physical. Im disappointed that solo narratives were able to infiltrate army spaces and convince the boys to change their mind about something. Im really sending all the love and good energy to Hobi and all the members today and I sincerely hope this wont occur again in the future. Thanks for letting me use this space to vent a little

Ask 2:

i'm honestly a bit confused about this hobi thanks to letter bpp. i went back to your post where you talked about jitb and you were right that this was his decision, but were people wrong to ask for a physical album?

Ask 3:

People on Twitter keep whining about how ppl complaining about jitb album format made Hobi feel bad and I of course feel bad he was disappointed with the feedback but it's such a mind numbingly stupid thing to be mad about he's a professional musician. It's part of his job fans dont have to like everything all the time sometimes people aren't gonna like a song or even an album or the photoshoots or artist merch or styling or if you choose to release your album as a piece of colorful cardboard with no cd and everyone just has to cope with it. Hobi is a first day million seller and we got live versions of some songs now people need to take the w and be happy and everyone who wanted a physical physical better be over the fucking moon

***

Hi Anon(s),

Anon in ask 2, since you're the only person actually asking me a question (lol), I'll work with your ask.

"were people wrong to ask for a physical album?"

Let's look at it this way. If Hobi released a song you didn't like, would it be wrong for you to say you didn't like the song, and mention instead the genre of music you'd like him to do instead?

The answer to that, is no. Obviously. As I've been saying, I think it's perfectly fine for you to not like something BTS /Hobi does, the music they make, choices you disagree with, etc, and it's not like there's a gag order in the fandom so of course you can say so and leave that feedback for the artist because they monitor fan chatter. You'd be right to do this, and it works both ways for positive and negative feedback.

Now, would you still be right if you:

Defaulted to asserting that Hoseok had no agency and that the choice of the song (or no physical albums) was forced on him by the company

Trended hashtags with your demands on him, asserting that he was a pawn the company was using and sabotaging to prop up maknae-line members

Threatened to boycott and actually boycotted his album

Review-bombed Weverse album app, Weverse shop app, and Weverse app

Reported and took down ARMY playlists for JITB that included other members' songs

Threatened to send trucks stating your demands for a physical album (or to continue the example from above, a song genre you prefer)

Became abusive to other members in the group, asserting that they are complicit in Hobi's 'mistreatment'

Took your frustration out on other members, disparaging them and their solo debuts

Threatened the other members, Bang PD, and PDogg with physical harm

Continued this barrage for months on end

Etc...

Would you be right to do this?

The answer to this, too, is no. Obviously.

Hobi akgaes who didn't get a physical album did all of the above for their 'feedback' because of what fundamentally motivates them.

The thing about akgaes is that at the crux of it, they don't actually think highly of the person they stan. Especially in the case of BTS solo stans. If you listen to akgaes talk about their 'fave' members... pick any member: Hobi, Jimin, Taehyung, etc, they all think said member is "too kind", "too humble", "too helpless" etc, to assert themselves to receive things they actually want for their careers within reason. Akgaes in general don't actually think the artists have any real say over their career direction.

They ultimately consider that artist a puppet who is supposed to bend or acquiesce to meet any demand made of them, and so when they see outcomes they don't like, the thought that it could be a choice the artist agreed to (talk less of it possibly being the artist's idea) is completely foreign to them. The only thought in an akgae's mind when they see outcomes they don't like is how to switch out who is controlling the puppet, how to force an outcome on and for the artist, an outcome that the akgae thinks is best for the artist's career in their own imagination.

They're delusional enough to believe that with their limited information of the artist's plans, resources, and limitations, that whatever they envision as goals for that artist aligns precisely with what that artist desires. They never really frame these demands as things they'd personally like or want, but as something that the artist secretly wants or outrightly deserves which the company maliciously withholds for *insert your favourite conspiracy theory here* reasons, that necessitates the akgae intervening.

So, where (some) ARMYs could look at the JITB rollout situation and think Hobi was likely involved in that outcome, even if we didn't like the outcome; where (some) ARMYs could see how even if Jimin didn't get all the MVs due to limitations unknown to us, that Jimin still has agency to effect any changes he wants in his career; where ARMYs could see how all these imperfect outcomes are still possible even while the members retain their agency.... akgaes instead default to catastrophizing any outcome they disagree with, and actively work to remove/change who controls manages the puppet artist to give them the outcomes they think is best for the artist.

As with everything else in fandom, the devil is in the details and it's unhelpful to talk in very general terms about fandom dynamics sometimes because we all know different factions could say similar things but have very different motivations. And that a lot of 'fans' are actually a bit insane. I mean, I know many of my followers are newer fans but you all should have seen by now that something like 90% of what happens in fandom is fans of various kinds criticizing things of all sorts, and that what counts as 'criticism' here covers a very wide spectrum, from abuse and slander to frankly insane irl/physical attempts and threats to change/control the artist.

Of course, ARMYs in true fandom fashion try to correct for this impulse by overcompensating, either due to

Their own guilt in joining in with mantis and akgaes at the time, or

Performative bullshit to make up for being hypocritical or to virtue signal over other ARMYs, or

As a natural consequence of how information is communicated in social systems, or

Some other reasons I can't think of at the moment.

Now the refrain from some ARMYs is that voicing any dissatisfaction with anything whatsoever is wrong. But at this point, after everything I've written above, I hope it's clear that I think fans can, should, and do express when they like and dislike certain choices, if they like. The difference between a fan and any other faction though, is that fans actually respect the artist, and recognize that even with the music industry as shady as it is, even if outcomes aren't always perfect or there are outcomes fans disagree with for the artist, that the artist is the person who ultimately knows what's best for them and has the tools to effect any needed changes. Especially in the case of BTS. BTS knows what's best for BTS and they have the ability to choose and work within their teams and the industry to effect any real changes or outcomes they want for the management of their careers. BTS does. Not Sally from Ohio, nor Jiwon from Jeonju.

In my opinion, at least.

#bts #hobi #hoseok #jung hoseok #jimin #park jimin #bts army #bts fandom #bts chapter 2 #fandom behaviour #fandom discourse #bangtan

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choicesbookclub · 2 months

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Hii! Sorry if this is a stupid question but what's the point in boycotting The Deadliest Game? Reading the other books still supports the company and its use of AI. Or am I missing something? If the other books came out now, they would have had AI covers too. Sorry, I was just really looking forward to reading TDG with the rest of the fandom.

Hi Nonny!

It's not a stupid question at all and I totally get where you're coming from. I understand both sides of this, so I'm gong to do my best to try to answer your question from both sides, but anyone else is welcome to jump on to more strongly support their side.

The point of boycotting The Deadliest Game and many of the new Choices books is to send a message to PB that users don't want to support books with AI content. The hope is that if their readership declines (and therefore their revenue), PB will listen to what fans have to say. Reading older books does still support a company that uses AI, but PB will see users are preferring to read old books and some users may be reading for the first time and spending diamonds on the older books which shows PB that users prefer these stories over newer ones and hopefully that causes them to pause and reflect. Will any of that actually happen... unfortunately, probably not. I don't have faith in PB to do the right thing which is why some users are moving away from supporting any Choices books (new or old).

Should you boycott TDG because others are, absolutely not. That is your personal preference. Based on the poll, the fandom is split pretty much right down the middle on whether they will support the book or not. I know people who are reading it right now with VIP and are enjoying it.

I was willing to host the book club. I don't support AI created content, however, I assume that there were actual artists and writers who did work on the book that we could support by reading the book, but I also understand the reason behind not reading it. It really comes down to personal preference on whether to play or not.

All of that being said, I know you said you were looking forward to reading TDG with the fandom, I don't think not having a book club will stop that at all. Old books only get more noted attention through events like the book club... but with new books, there are always people waiting to play it! I would imagine many of the people who voted for TDG book club will still play and enjoy the book. Many people may read TDG and participate in the next book club too! I'd recommend following any tags related to the book and/or its characters so you see new content related to it! You may also want to check @choicesficwriterscreations periodically for any submitted TDG writing, art, and/or MC profiles!

I hope that answers your question and makes sense! Thank you for reaching out!

💖

#choices book club #the deadliest game #choices #playchoices

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absolutebl · 1 year

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Hi!

I have seen calls by Western (mostly American judging by English accents) fans to stop using the words Tsundere and Seme or other non-English labels related to BL. Critics have stated this alongside requests to stop using terms “top” and “bottom” as they are antiquated and limiting in their use, stuck in a gender binary and the roles that come with it, and hetero-centric.

As a queer, white, American BL fan, I am hesitant to comment on any part of queer culture that isn’t mine. I don’t particularly use the words mentioned but that has more to do with being new here and not remembering them than it does any conscious boycott. I also am hesitant to criticize queerness and how it it is expressed in culture outside of my own. For example, the use of the term “wife” in Thai BL to refer to a male partner. I don’t really know about Thai queer culture so I don’t have enough info to comment.

Anywho, I’m curious what your thoughts are on the Western, queer lens and critique of BL? It seems short sighted to me in my minimal exposure. I’d love your thoughts.

Love your blog! Keep up the awesome work.

seme/uke isn't queer (sorry, but its not terminology that belongs to, applies, or even should really be used by the queers to apply to our community in any way, certainly not applied to other queers *shudder*) its narrative terminology, as in pop culture or lit crit. Which means, by its nature, it is designed to talk about characters and archetypes, not real humans. Avoid applying it to real people and it's fair game IMHO. The problem is fans conflating it (or BL characters, for that matter) to real human beings. And that's fandom's fault, not the syntax.

I really don't like the pillarization of words, (and I can’t STAND attacks within the community, like seriously don’t queers have actual - ya know - rights for fight for and non-queers to police these days, why all this infighting?) especially when there is NO alternative narrative word choice that doesn't impose a queer lens onto stories (BL or yaoi). These narratives are still, in the main, NOT queer, and not intended for a queer audience. In other words, can a critic of the terms seme/uke come up with something better than seme/uke? Until they do, I think it’s fair to apply these words to narrative analysis and discussion as long as the user defines them and knows their history.

Western queer lens critique/approach is fine IMHO so long as the critic understands their lens, bias, and cultural immersion issues (as in, limits to comprehension and socio-political, linguistic, and regional bubbles). Or makes an honest attempt.

The point of healthy dialogue around pop culture is to encourage research, linguistic and otherwise, and understanding, travel (actual, mental, emotional, or fantastical), immersion, and openness to alternate cultures, social dynamics, and ways of perceiving the world. (And I do mean perception.) So long as all that is occurring because of these narratives, then the narratives are doing their pop-culture jobs.

With the possible exception of Japan, BLs are being expressly produced for a global market (now) therefore they not only can be but should be critiqued (in the academic sense of the world) by global audiences based in different cultures (and with different lenses).

BL is pop culture entertainment intended for a global market (as, indeed, is Kpop). It’s like publishing a book and not expecting bad reviews. The thing has gone out into the world to entertain, and entertainment by its nature it is what the audience makes of the experience. The resulting pop culture phenomena IS a dialogue between creator/artist and consumer/audience. Otherwise why put it out into the world in the first place?

This goes into one of those old arguments about separating the art from the artist. Does the art itself have its own autonomy? Will harry potter always be colored by JKR’s behavior? Ender’s game by Card’s? Lovecraft by Lovecraft’s?

I am one those critics who believe that the experience of art and entertainment is what the audience makes of it, but that the origin should be taken into account as well. These aren’t mutually exclusive. The nature of intent is in play in both directions. The creator may intend one thing, but the consumer can and will end up reacting to whatever they make of that creation. They will take away what they wish from the experience. They will bring their own bias and life experiences to their enjoyment of any piece of media. Which is why no media satisfies everyone.

In other words, the creators of the thing and what they intend is in play, but so is the intention of the audience. Some viewers go into BL with the intent to find flaws and to criticize (in the online sense of the word) and many of those are queer folk.

Also, negativity always gets more online attention than positivity.

I guess all this is say sure “everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” but if certain persons feel entitled to express that option in public, I’m equally entitled not to give it any weight if it’s ill informed.

QED

#I don't know I think I lost the thread somewhere #internet discourse is a minefiled #grumbles in seme/uke

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gaythingsinstartrektos · 11 months

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I'm glad you support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, but in your post, you called for people to stop streaming which is not something helpful to the strike at this time and may be counterintuitive. There are sites that detail the current picket lines for WGA (wgacontract2023.org) and SAG-AFTRA (sagaftrastrike.org). We cannot set new lines for the unions. Only voice our support for their proposals and their fight.

Hi!

And I will continue to call for boycott. There has been people who have called to it.

It is not something I have just come up with on my own, simply something I understand to make sense.

The Union as a whole officially cannot call for a boycott. We all know the studios and streamers to be synonymus, but legally they would get into hot waters since *technically* they are differen entities, on paper. It's the whole business about who owns what under which name. It would be a secondary attack and making them vulnerable legally. So yes, someone sticking their head out is different than a whole movement being in danger by calling for boycott. Please do note that nobody but fans says 'they don't want you to'. The statement that gets shared because it is safe legally is 'it is a personal choice.' It is a choice one can make, not one that is discouraged, though.

As for the counter intuitive part. The reasons that get thrown around seem to be as follows But what about the pay? - we have all seen the checks, let's not kid ourselves, the only ones making money off off your views and subs are the studios. But the projects they will use it against the creatives? - Guys. They are saying to starve them out. Leave them on the street. Replace them with AI. They are spinning the news as if the creatives fighting for their livelihood are the villains, while all the studios have to do is give a fraction of their money to those who deserve it. Threats of broken contracts, recently. It's moot. They have worse weapons than crying 'but people aren't watching' - please also note here that a) there is a hastag, time frame and online vocality on purpose here. Make it known that it is a targeted effort. We can give or take time and money. Their move. That is what needs to be signaled. Then what does this even do? - Glad you ask! Initial turn off has already done some visual damages and the goal, overall, is to apply pressure that investors and big money sources can see and feel.

The influence of general tendencies of the strike (yes we can see Barbenheimer influence on WB, but that was to be expected). And no, that does not mean nothing needs to be done. It simply means this all does not go without reaction. It means pressure can be applied, here. Investors want money. Duh. They want to know these things will continue making money. A little side nudge at this

They have an eye on this. Very much so. Then there is this

Essentially? The studios hope to break the unions by either them starving, being replaced or everyone taking to scabbing because of the first two, so they can keep going as they have and worse. And the audience can hit them where it hurts by signaling we are not taking that and are in solidarity with the creatives. By not giving the studios money. Hurt their numbers. Make them *have* to give in first instead of hoping they will just happen to change their minds for no good reason. The reason will always be easy access to money.

Now some more statements from union members toward certain behaviors on 'oh but they didn't say-'

Vocality on those ~technicalities~ and work arounds. Breaches in solidarity.

“Don’t,” the “Better Call Saul” Emmy nominee said succinctly outside Paramount studios on Wednesday. “It’s a strike. Strike. You lose. We lose. Everybody loses. That’s tough shit.”

Then there is the side of promotion by non union people:

Some more solidarity from those who 'don't have to', since the rules would allow things and their views:

Now for those having a hard time between the line reading, but are still paying attention:

What are promotions and advertisements for? Selling you a product. What does that entail? You ending up watching the product, usually a good and desirable thing.

But right now? No. Right now watching things, old new, what have you, is giving the studios money. Is the opposite of helping them. No it is not just about the people literally putting in work. It is also about not promoting the work so people are not encounraged to watch. Are you hearing me? They have to be indirect. They have to hope someone like Talarico sticking his head out and them being so very vocal where they can be (and this is just a handful), is enough to reach people. That their livelihood being threatened and the disgusting behavior of the studios is enough to make people upset in solidarity so they stop supporting the studios.

As is their personal choice to do. As would put pressure on the studios. As not doing only serves the bottom line of those who are willing to starve out and replace those fighting for fair wages.

Starve them instead. Of your time. Of your money. Stop streaming, be vocal about the reason, make it count. Stand with the creatives.

#There is so much I probably haven't even scratched the surface but goddamn this post is long enough #wga strike #sag strike #what aren't you watching

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toastess-with-the-mostess · 3 months

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Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron: Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 35: Doom Boycotts the Space Olympics Season 1, Episode 36: Lotor's Clone

Episode 35 Doom Boycotts the Space Olympics I realized the text was hard to read in the long post so here's some color so you can tell which episode is being watched

wild that whoever made the choices for the space Olympics really thought hard and said "yes we're absolutely having it on Arus, where it's currently at war and has a weekly occurrence of giant fucked up robots fighting each other"

Is soccer actually an Olympic sport or is the world cup the biggest even for them?

Oh so doom IS actively boycotting the space olympics, I know It's for evil reasons but i have to agree just based on the fact THAT ITS ON A PLANET IN ACTIVE WAR AND ROUTINELY HAS GIANT MECHA FIGHTS

why are the boys in an army barrack 😭 the castle is right there is it not

Allura this is why you KNOCK walking in on the team showering in only towels is your fault entirely LMAO the boys are ragging on nanny for trying to make it their fault svsiodv woman just sit down and leave the food at this point

"I'm sorry I meant to surprise you!" "You did!" Keith that was adorable omg, I know you guys can't hear it, but his tone was the cutest

I love this show because in every other one it's hunk looking after Pidge, but originally it was Lance instead T-T He's currently very concerned about Pidge eating two kabobs at once, at least he isn't talking with food in his mouth

I'm sorry when did haggar get blueprints to voltrons wiring??

are they about to make a decepticon out of the beefed up bulldozer the team has outside to build the stadium?? Oh my god they are

man the only reason the team finds out about lotors plan is because one of the kids that was tagging along with hunk this entire time needed to take a leak outside 💀

haggar described her weird virus for that bulldozer as like a chip,,, it is not a chip it's a tiny robeast that takes over the entire machine just by standing onto the hardware i know they were making it easier to understand for kids but c'mon that had to be confusing for them, kids are real smart anyway

The boys: kid you were dreaming, nothing attached itself to the bulldozer (bulldozer proceeds to turn on and wreck their barrack) the boys: O-O guys please listen to the children, they're so upfront with everything they see its wild

PIDGE WHY ARE YOU JUMPING STRAIGHT ONTO THE BULLDOZER well at least he found out nobody was driving it UNTIL IT THREW HIM OFF, he's a gymnast (ninja) though so of course he lands on his feet anyway like a goddamn CAT

why do they always make hunk grunt like that? wild somehow they figured out it was lotor, i mean i feel like itd be obvious once they knew nobody was in it but still

OH SO PIDGE DOES ACTUALLY REFER TO HIMSELF AS A GYMNAST, THATS ACTUALLY SUPER COOL still doesnt make it any less insane that pidge LEPT ONTO THE ROOF OF THE BULLDOZER

WHY IS HE SO LONG IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT, IT LOOKS LIKE THE PASTED HIS HEAD OVER LANCES BODY he didnt even stop the thing i think lotor just told it to stop to lull them into a false sense of security

that same kid was yelling about not being listened and immediately punched the control panel with started up the bulldozer again 💀 I think you're old enough to know how to regulate your emotions my dude oh also he and two others are trapped inside now, dire stakes indeed

hunk and pidge got thrown off the bulldozer, how high up were they?? ft older brother lance again because he was making sure pidge was okay in the background

at last a lion comes out to actually do something NOT BEFORE THE BOY GOT BURIED ALIVE THOUGH WHAT THE FUCK THEY SHOULD BE DEAD

I don't think this is the first time lotor has told allura his plans for her, but it's good that he actually tells her so she doesn't get a worse idea

the team is free after allura creates a goddamn tsunami in the stadium ft MORE OLDER BROTHER LANCE BECAUSE HES HOLDING PIDGE NEXT TO HIM IN THE WATER

immediately after being freed the kids just sit there and do nothing UNTIL THEY GET TRAPPED IN IT AGAIN god this show makes so many characters stupid

all-scan?? Are you telling me you fuckers could've done that before, and you just haven't?? I'm gonna say you just recently learned it for my own mental health

the kids are out after Hunk bashed his way inside without a lion i love seeing scenes like these because the pilots are actually skilled outside of being inside the lions!

Ooh so I was right, it was a mini robeast who could interact with machines, and then it just combines with it to make it an actual robeast well they could've just said that earlier >:/

voltron is formed and definitely is spewing propaganda for the olympics but at least hes able to damage the robeast LMAO

holy shit easiest fight ever, they barely even did anything to the guy before pulling out blazing sword and skewering it

time to rebuild the stadium and gym using the lions my question is why they only gave one of those beefed up bulldozers to the team

/episode end

Episode 36 Lotor's Clone

Episode opens with Zarkon yelling at Lotor, this oughta be good lol

"quit sending robots to arus and destroy voltron yourself!" my guy how the FUCK is one dude gonna do that, you kind of need another big guy to help weaken him first

"you mean really lead? Like from up front?" "Where else you idiot!" LMAOO

I know they make the doomites robots so the show can skirt past ratings but do not give robots that much sentience and still say they're not people these fuckers were talking about defecting and living on Arus!

oh so this episode's robeast is just another lotor because he doesn't actually want to do the work HAHAHA

"but beware, whatever you know he will know" foreshadowing?

onto planet arus, the team is doing some lion training

Pidge: it feels like my head is on backwards! Keith: I always knew that! THE KID JUST FELL OUT OF THE SKY KEITH BE NICE LMAO

Pidge: did you know your nose wiggles when you're upset Keith: my fist wiggles too! KEITH PLEASE-

mystery power surge huh, at least we can tell that the castle actually has employees since they're running around trying to fix stuff

oh never mind the drules have an actual robeast that's fucking with the castle, the lotor clone is just so lotor doesn't have to do any of the work expected of him LOL

Keith has a plan but i can't remember the sleds/boats he mentions having used before with the team maybe they're just making it up to show that the pilots actually hang out on their off time fnvsdoi

"some of these parts are older than nanny!" GET HER ASS LANCE

it's good to know that the pilots are all slightly mechanically inclined, definitely a skill they gotta have to actually stay alive on Arus

Not lotor complaining that his clone isn't working hard enough for his hero image 💀 no wonder this man always gets his ass kicked

secrets out, keiths been fighting the clone this whole time and because of lotor having a telepathic argument with it, he knows it's not the real him anymore

Damn he was so offended by the clone calling him Lotor used the robeast to blow his ass up 😭 Keith's right, this was his only chance at winning

did they just fix up that sled thing to not actually use it?? What a waste of time oh never mind lance is using it while the others use the lions

"if you're gonna lie around the beach all day I'll come back later" i don't think any other show can replicate the absolute sass dotu lance brings

I like that hunk is the defacto leader when its him pidge and allura, I know allura has no experience so she wouldn't be but i wouldn't be surprised if they tried to pull something like this with pidge lol

voltron is formed, haven't seen lion head attack in a while so it's nice to see it back man that robeast just stoof there and took the beating, are they just giving up at this point soidns

ooh scene reuse, this is definitely from the bridge episode that i cant remember the name of, everyone is joking about how another clone of them would be good for the universe lol

/episode end

#voltron #voltron defender of the universe #voltron dotu #80s voltron #let's rewind!#toast talks #depression got hands #thats all i gotta say about my absence lol

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immortalysasims · 5 months

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Let's talk about something important

SO... I see many people who make lots/households only putting their gallery ID as a way to download the goods but I don't see nobody talking about how that's not inclusive and I will tell you guys WHY.

You may not know but The Sims 4 or EA games in general are absurdly expensive in other countries like Brazil, where I live. So the alternative that people here find to be able to have fun and play is unfortunately through piracy. Piracy here is an ECONOMIC issue, not an evil choice to boycott anything. So my current "rage" is that sometimes I want to download stuff to my game and I can't, because through piracy I don't have any access to ts4's gallery, as I play offline.

The same thing goes to when I make some content and CANNOT make them available in the gallery for that same reason, so I only make the tray files available for people because that choice not only benefits the ones that have the original game (because they can download and paste tray files to the tray folder) but also people that are just like me and only have that option.

So piracy here is not evil, not ugly, not something to be looked down upon because that can be the ONLY option for some people, ok? If you follow me and like my content, keep that in mind.

#ts4 #ts4 rant

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fairytalearista · 2 years

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If you don't want to support Amazon, that's awesome and fine, but I do want to point out one caveat if you're buying books from other platforms.

I print my books via Kindle Direct Publishing, aka, Amazon's publishing platform. A lot of indie authors do, as it's more beginner friendly than Ingram Sparks, which is the other main printing platform. I personally like the quality, and since I'm Amazon-focused in my marketing (I am also exclusive in KU), it's nice to have all of my reporting in one spot.

Here's the deal, though - if you buy my books off another platform, I'm going to get significantly less royalties, because Amazon is still going to take its cut as the printers, but now another seller platform is taking a cut, too.

And I do mean significant - the royalty sum total of all of my books bought via Amazon is nearly $46, while if you buy every one of my books elsewhere ... I'm getting less than $10. And you're spending at least $180 for the stack, quite possibly more, depending on platform (Deposit books, for instance, generally charges a few dollars more than I list, so they can cover shipping). If you wanna look at my royalty breakdown, I have a spreadsheet.

Now, it is my choice to have my books in Expanded Distribution, and I accept that I'll be getting lower royalties. If buying one of my books elsewhere than Amazon is the more accessible option for someone who reads my books, all the more power to you. BUT, if you're buying my books elsewhere as a "I don't want to support Amazon" ... you aren't succeeding. They're still getting the money, I just get left with a few dimes rather than the dollars I would have through a sale on their platform.

And, please, I don't want to get hit with a "why are you even on Amazon" rhetoric because I'm pointing this out. As I've said, it's the more accessible option for me, and it's the system I know. This is true for a lot of authors. Making fun of people who are making the best choices they can with the tools available to them isn't cool. Further this post is NOT me complaining about lower royalties - merely pointing out something you may want to know about the way you spend your money.

I don't know an easy way to tell what platform a book is sold on. Back when KDP printed through CreateSpace, sites would clearly list the seller as CreateSpace, but now it's a mere "Independent Publisher" for both KDP and Ingram, so far as I can tell. I do know how to tell the difference between the printers once I have a book in-hand, but not on the sites. (Also, I just realized that only my books published while CreateSpace was a thing are listed on B&N. All books published on KDP are not there... Interesting).

It may be best to contact the author directly, and if they print via KDP, ask if you can buy the books directly from them. A lot of authors already have that set up on their sites - I don't, but it is a goal of mine to have the option within the year. (I do need to improve my relationship with my post office, though, as I am terrible about finding my way there, because I don't drive.) Most authors who sell books directly on their site will tell you that they make the best royalties that way, period. Amazon will still get the printing costs, but it is less, I believe. (I've not personally run the math) And you'll probably receive a signed book!

Just something to be aware of in your Amazon boycott.

#amazon #authors #supporting authors #books

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antonblastdeluxe · 1 year

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Now that I've slept on it for two days, I think my thoughts are clear enough to finally formulate my words about the whole situation with a certain pig. Actual final post on this unless. Idk something worse happens but given that pizza discord was lifted up like a nasty rock I sort of doubt it.

I've been seeing a lot of takes lately given the pizza game. I agree with a large chunk of them that boil down to 'don't make playing this game a moral thing'. I don't agree with sentiments that are akin to 'this was years ago', or 'you're all just trying to cancel him because the game got popular'.

I was in that discord. I had most of the channels muted, but I'm pretty sure I left it in 2020ish. I only didn't see the grossness people are outlining firsthand because I only looked at the dev update chat at the time so I can see what he was implementing. One of my dearest friends had a very, VERY bad experience with it. It's not my right to exactly describe what happened to them, but... Yeah. It was awful. I get that all official discords become cesspits when they get thousands of people in there, but there's no excuse for what happened in there.

I can confirm that the discord was always full of redditor-like types and worse, which is why I muted all of the talk channels to begin with and didn't even glance at the fanart I was really there for. You may notice, if you're a long-timer that is, a lot of early Pizza T0wer artists didn't make fanart again when the game came out. The reason is a lot of them were treated like garbage in the discord. Sure, you had your usual types of people who stupidly make comparisons like 'oh your oc looks like (canon character)' thinking that's a good thing to say to a random artist who may or may not be ok with that, but many of them were just... Outright hostile.

Moderation was never good. I can't exactly recall how the mod team was cycled, but most of them didn't-- Or couldn't do their job because of the vast amount of people flowing in pre-release. It is legtiamately no wonder why it's had so many issues upon release. What I'm getting at here is the discord server was an awful idea. Even if it was patreon only a lot of the patreons made this sort of gross echo chamber. The reason why the stuff with pig both surprised me and didn't surprise me was because of the other half of the publishing company, Sertif.

Sertif to me is the most baffling part of all of this. Not because they did anything wrong, no, the exact opposite. They're arguably the most squeaky clean part of the team, being a far cry from whatever slop pig spewed. Which makes the fact that pig said all of that stuff lowkey worse to me? I don't know if they forgave him for that, or they were somehow unaware. Sertif is also the reason why I can't fully hate the game even with the flaws sprinkled throughout.

It's just upsetting. I can't blame people for reacting the way they have, but at the same time people have gotta stop making excuses. I think it's completely valid to say 'hey you're still allowed to enjoy the game and characters, just don't defend the stupid ass pig'. I think a lot of people put it aptly that the game has already gotten traction. It's your choice if you still want to make fan content or not, it probably won't have a heavy effect on the game's sales at this point. It's sort of people trying to boycott pkmn to a much lesser extent-- People are still going to buy it because they're not engaged with online couture or multiple other reasons.

I do indeed have zero respect for people rubbing their hands together like flies like 'finally I have an excuse to dislike popular thing'. Like, really??? That's where your priorities lie? You can dislike the pizza game. You could've still disliked it if the pig was squeaky clean. But this exact same thing happened to two fixations I heavily fell out of, that being 0mori and f//nf. They gained traction, and people dug stuff up on the creators.

I'm not going to claim that people only dug this stuff up because the game got popular. I won't assume bad faith despite many people assuming bad faith out of others becoming a trend nowadays. People have a right to know what the hell creators did before deciding to get into a game. But claiming people are a bad person for liking a piece of media...

...For the love of god, at least confirm if they do or do not condone the creator's actions.

It's very easy to say 'no media is perfect', sure, but I think most people have gone through the song of dance of 'thing I like was made by an awful person!' there are rare white whale situations where you really should drop the franchise (cough) bad wizard franchise (cough), but expecting everyone to just... Drop a piece of media like a sack of bricks?

Please think realistically. It's great that you're informing people, but expecting people to drop media... You don't know their history with it. You don't know how much comfort it brought them or anything else. Demonizing people for liking pieces of media with flawed creators is really just a waste of time.

I won't ever undermine what pig has said and done. I hope he properly apologizes and hell, takes the extra mile, adjusting those questionable enemies and donates to a few charities or something to show he gives a shit. The very little credit he's done is he admitted what he said was shallow. I know the bar is in hell, but it's good that he isn't trying to double down and go 'bluh that was funny though' (I can imagine his cesspit of a discord echochamber has tried to say this. No way in hell I'm going in there to check and I wouldn't encourage anyone to go into that place with a ten foot pole).

I know I don't need to defend myself nor am I a bad person for acknowledging the creator is a shithead and still enjoying the game and the fan content around it. I have a lot of friends who like fn4f who hate Scott. I wouldn't be friends with them if they defended him. People trying to say this and that about this stance is... Bizarre.

I understand how Pizza game can make people uncomfortable now (always have given the long running history of the bad discord), and people have their full right not to engage with me because they are uncomfortable. At the same time, they shouldn't accuse me of being a bad person because I like something made by a bad person.

A lot of music artists, or hell, artists in general are pretty bad people but people will still admire the artist's ability. A lot of people online who hostility attack people over their interests probably have one of their own pieces of media that isn't squeaky clean.

Please save yourself the mental trouble and stop making people feel 'bad' for liking media. In most cases, you can just block them and mute the tag. It's a waste of everyone's time to hunt people down over this sort of stuff.

Stay informed, don't make excuses for content creators. That's all I ask.

#kirm rambles ✨#negative /#to that one playtester still playing pick me and defending the pig by claiming people are trying to end him for 'no reason'; I gotta say #you really haven't changed a bit. I won't say names but you know who you are #long ramble ahead but yeah. I've been here since 2019 #so naturally I was in the discord for a solid second. I remember that some of my art was mocked #because I drew Peppino saying 'respect artists' or something #if that's anything to go by. I do try to separate the media from the fandom as hard as that can be though

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mothmanslovechild · 11 months

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I'm losing my mind over GO2

Okay, so I'm having a lot of feelings about Good Omens Season 2 but I know not everyone has seen it yet so I'll hide this a bit, even if I am trying not make it as non-spoilery as I can and also I need to talk to people about this

First of all, if I see anyone trying to fucking boycott or get pissed at Neil Gaiman, you can go straight to hell. Or worse, heaven. And I hope Terry Pratchett makes fun of you. Neil has said that this is act two of three (I'm paraphrasing and act three is not definite just a hope) and to leave these characters on this cliffhanger? If we don't get a season three, it will not be by Neil's choice. Boycotting will only hurt chances of getting that season three and a (hopefully) happier ending. I was bawling my eyes out and am still a mess over the end of the last episode but I also firmly believe that this is not the end. Keep it together, people. We're not going down the toxic landslide of blaming creators and causing a fuss and demonising ourselves as fans and making people hate us and destroying something we all love.

Secondly, I need to talk about that ending. I do not and will not hate Aziraphale for it. Our Angel is definitely being manipulated but it also shows the depth of religious trauma. If anyone has religious trauma, it's Aziraphale. Throughout both seasons he speaks party lines of Heaven even when he's clearly unsure about them. Even when he disagrees, he keeps repeating that god's plan is the right way and if (insert whatever monstrosity) is god's plan than it must be right. Look how far he pushed it with Job - he kept checking and double checking and questioning to be sure that Heaven was doing the right thing. And when he sided with Crowley and helped instead, he genuinely thought he was going to hell for it. Even though it was a good thing and he recognised that it was a good thing. The same goes for the situation with Elspeth to a degree. Aziraphale kept trying to take the moral high ground with her and ruin her chances until it became clear that doing bad things now meant good things later. Like god, he was focussing on the big picture instead of the small one. Not about Elspeth and her needing to eat and survive, but that humans will learn more and be able to survive better as a whole.

Someone else worded it much better than I will (I'll try and link their post later if I can!) but there's also the fact that Aziraphale and Crowley are having two different conversations at the end of the last episode. Go read their post to get the full story because I wholeheartedly agree with them and it really is worded much better, but long story short is that "nothing lasts forever" means two different things. Crowley hears that they don't last forever, that the bookshop doesn't, that nothing does and it's not worth it because what's the point (which has been in Crowley's own thoughts), while Aziraphale means that they can't continue like this forever, they can't be static, they need to adapt because what they tried hasn't worked. Honestly, just go read the post. Please.

NOW FOR NICER THINGS

I'm genuinely not sure some scenes were even real. The dance (the ball and sorry), the Bentley, just some of the lines where I just wanted to melt and live in that moment forever. Seeing their love spanning centuries and the ridiculous mischief they get into. Jim in the fucking fur coat. BEFORE the fall. The fact they all REMEMBER before the fall and the war. Bee being goals, honestly. Them and Gabriel. I just...Oh my god.

Also, you have no idea how much I lost it when I saw posts comparing to the end of Supernatural. I can't with you guys, my neighbours probably heard me cackling.

AND and that was the queerest shit I've ever watched. And there was no bury your gays, nothing homophobic, nothing like that even mentioned. And not just our three main couples, but in the background too. The magicians partner, so many generally NB angels/demons, tough bloke with grindr, it's all over the place. I love it. All I ever want is queer media that doesn't make queerness the main part of the plot. And by that I mean that it's just two people falling in love or just queer people existing without things having to revolve around traumatic/uncomfortable experiences or reactions. All I ask for is happy queer media.

And Michael Sheen's twitter picture....Boy, you're killing us. Not to mention Neil and "wait and see"

I have a lot more feelings so, anyone, feel free to message me and become internet friends because I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SHOW.

#good omens #go2 #go2 spoilers #good omens season 2 #mine #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens spoilers

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singingrainbows · 1 year

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The people bullying ppl online and declaring everyone who doesn't participate in the boycott imoral, are behaving EXACTLY like the extremist vegans that this site loves to rag on.

Really it is so eerily similar.

Vegan extremists became so hated by the general public that they tainted the entire movement of veganism and vegatarianism for a lot of ppl.

They caused so many set backs to an otherwise good cause. I support veganism and vegetarianism, though I myself am not one; but my timeline often has posts filled with hate and bad faith arguments against it.

Yet the same ppl who dunk on vegans for the extreme stances of some, are now pushing those exact same extreme stances, and seem comepletely unaware of how dangerously close they are to flirting with hypocrissy.

Trans people are VALID! They deserve safety and support and acknowlegement.

Jewish ppl are valid and derserve safety and support and acknowlegement.

There are petitions and support groups and charities that could all use a boost and support.

But rather than spotlight those, and accepting that not everyone can or will boycot the game/HP merch for whatever reason, they bully and shout and declare anyone who even slightly disagrees with them a bad ally. There has even been suicide baiting!

Now there may be many reasons ppl ended up with the game and/or won't embrace a full boycut.

Maybe they were unaware of all the shit surrounding it when they bought the game.

Maybe they don't believe boycots work and would rather spend their energy supporting the movement in other ways. Because lets be clear, giving up something you love is fucking hard. It takes so much energy and commitment and willpower. Not everyone has the fortitude for that, but dismissing their potential to help in other ways is absurd.

Maybe they've got compassion fatigue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion_fatigue (I've been there. I strained so hard to do everything right for everyone and every cause that I had a mental breakdown. It took almost a year to get back into activism again after that. I still have to pace myself.)

Maybe a million other things.

(Or maybe they're an asshole. But attacking them is not gonna change their mind. If they say something truly heinous, report and block.)

But regardless of the reasons bullying and hurtful/hateful language and statements is NOT OK!

Now I myself am in fact boycotting the game and the merch. I only engage in the fandom sandbox.

But there is a limit to how many boycots I can take. I haven't shopped in H&M or Zara for almost a decade. I try to steer clear of Amazon unless absoloutely necesscary. The list goes on.

This gets incredibly stressful, and that's not even counting the morality choices I have to weigh on every shopping trip, and even when throwing out my trash!

Sometimes I have to just say fuck it, I want that Haribo. Fuck it, I have zero energy to sort this shit for recycling, I'm binning it all. Fuck it, I'm not picking up other ppl's trash today, I'm leaving it in the road. And so on and so forth.

When I remember to pace myself and let myself have breaks from doing everything right, I get the energy to commit to the causes once more.

Now what was the point of that tangent? To illustrate that there's never just that ONE cause to pay attention to, and that not everyone can go all in on the one that's most important to you in the way that you want them to. That does not make them an enemy or a shitty ally with no value who can't be trusted!

Instead of trolling HP posts and sending JKR death threats and ranting at and shitting on would be allies, how about sharing petitions and links to charities and donating if you can.

How about making a post detailing all the things wrong with the game. Let ppl know the facts, but do NOT demand boycots or talk badly about the fans. Because if you do, then suddenly the focus in not where it should be. You will alienate potential allies, those against you will just come out stronger, and you will severely limit the amount of ppl who share it.

Now, here are some charities and petitions:

#links to charities and petitions #at the bottom

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ailelie · 2 years

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labels: vegetarian, christian/lutheran, cis woman, asexual/demisexual

I think about the labels I wear sometimes, not the relational ones (e.g., daughter, oldest child, sister, aunt, friend), but the ones I've chosen or kept over the years.

I'm a vegetarian. I wanted to become a vegetarian when I was in elementary and middle school in a bid to save the rain forests. I disliked how forests were cut down for farmland and becoming a vegetarian was my own personal boycott. I knew it wouldn't have any effect, but I wanted to show that I cared in some way. My parents, though, said 'no.' In my senior year of high school I became a vegetarian because my parents could no longer control what I did or did not eat. I intended to only do it for a month just to see if I could, just a sop to my younger self who never had the chance, but then I didn't see a reason to stop. I remained one through college until I went to Japan where I wanted to try all the food. I remained an omnivore through grad school because it was easier and cheaper. Then, a year or two after moving to Chicago, I became a vegan. I had brought an apple pie to a party and another woman, who was vegan, was about to take a bite because I told her it was safe, when I remembered, at the last moment, that the crust had real butter in it. I promised to bring a real vegan dish to the next event. I spent a month researching and started to realize that I could be vegan. It wasn't as hard as I thought. So, again, I decided to try it for just a month. But a month passed and I didn't have a good reason to stop. I remained vegan for a few years, stopping only when I realized that I was staying one out of spite and that I disliked how my dietary choices complicated going out with friends. So I became a vegetarian again.

I don't have the zeal of my youth or the need to prove myself anymore. I learned a lot of the tricks during my first bout of vegetarianism and being vegan taught me a lot more, so I don't have the rush of learning something new either. I don't have a good reason to be vegetarian. I don't buy into the idea that it is a better lifestyle. Sometimes I miss how easy being an omnivore is. But this is a label I've chosen.

I am a vegetarian. It is as much a part of me as my glasses (I could do contacts; I wore them throughout high school. I could get lasik. I chose and choose glasses).

When I decided to stop being a vegan, I didn't even consider going back to eating meat. The years I ate meat don't feel like the norm; they were my break from being a vegetarian. I made a decision in elementary/middle school to become a vegetarian and from that point onward, practicing or not, I was one. Vegetarian feels like my default setting. Maybe I stick to decisions too long out of stubbornness. I don't have a good reason to stick to this lifestyle. I also don't have a good reason to stop.

I am a Lutheran. This is a label I picked out during college, but only made a official a few years ago. I grew up Baptist and then just general Christian. I attended a Lutheran church in college when I attended church at all and after that, whenever I've moved, I've looked for Lutheran churches first.

I explored alternatives in high school and early college. I read widely on paganism. I toyed with atheism. Sometimes I still do. Sometimes I wonder whether I believe in God or if God has simply become a habit.

I like Lutheranism because it isn't Catholicism (which I have issues with; my family are black sheep on my dad's side because he switched to Protestant and raised us the same), but it has rituals and liturgy. I like saying the Lord's Prayer before communion, knowing that thousands of other people across the world are doing or have done the same. I like the tradition of it all. I also deeply appreciate that my church is extremely liberal and acts on its commitment to social justice.

That said, if I moved and I didn't have a good ELCA Lutheran church nearby, I'd join a different denomination.

I'd keep Lent, though. I started Lent in high school because I was tired of my one Catholic friend making such a big deal of it. I gave up potatoes. Horrible idea. When the year rolled around again, though, I continued to practice it. No one else in my family observed Lent, but I couldn't let it go. I didn't have an understanding of why people did Lent, so I made my own. It was a reminder. Every time I reached for or thought about that which I'd given up, I'd remember God and Jesus and what they'd given up. It was a yearly rooting in my faith.

I tried to stop being a Christian, but I couldn't. What I've figured out is that, for me, faith is about questions and doubt. If I'm not wondering, then I'm not believing. Only questions I can't answer are big enough to hold the God I believe exists.

So I am Christian and I am Lutheran. The first label is absolute. The second label is the one that fits best now and one I've liked in the past and am comfortable with now. But I'm still learning what it means to be Lutheran vs any other denomination. I'm still figuring out why it matters. (My parents church hopped a lot when I was younger. We ended up at some Baptist churches, but I don't think those were the only ones we attended. They would discuss each church with each other after the service in the car and I would eavesdrop. From them, whether they meant to teach me or not, I learned that no church and no pastor has the authority to declare what is and isn't Christian. That has been extremely important to my faith).

I am a cis woman. This is one I was born with and have kept. I have felt like a very poor example of femininity in the past. I was teased about being butch in high school by a friend who knew it bothered me. I once heard a man on the phone say "yeah, all the guys are out" or something similar and then spent half a block reassuring myself that he hadn't meant me. That was only 4-5 years ago.

I was extremely girly as a child. I cried when my parents put me in pants. I wore bows throughout elementary school and part of middle school. I got tired of dresses and stopped caring about what I wore just as my peers started caring a lot. I hate hassle, so I didn't care for make-up or trendy outfits. I wore what I found comfortable, but I still wanted to be recognizably a girl.

One year, for Halloween, I wanted to be a cowboy not thinking of that as a gendered thing. But my mother gave me a five o'clock shadow. I hated it. I didn't want to go trick or treating. I didn't want anyone to see me. I cried, but my parents didn't change my costume. I still remember that as my worst Halloween, even worse than the year my parents got worried about the holiday as a devilish thing and decided we wouldn't do any celebrating beyond some "Boo" glasses.

In elementary or middle school, I started to worry that my voice was too low. I practiced speaking in a higher tone to be more girly.

My hair is dark. The hair on my upper lip grows in dark. I hate it. I've learned to ignore it because waxing is a hassle and, as established, I also hate hassle. In high school, I practiced different smiles to try and hide the hair in the shadows.

I'm less worried now, thanks to friends playing with gender in different ways, but I used to fear someone basically telling me that I wasn't really a woman. That I haven't played the part well enough. That my whole identity was really a mistake.

I'm more secure now, but I still don't enjoy role-playing as other genders. It feels like slipping on an ill-fitting, itchy suit.

I'm demisexual. Technically, I'm biromantic demisexual. I have felt attraction and desire before. I fully believe that if I know and trust someone, I can feel it again. For the most part, though, these days I just tell people that I'm 'under the ace umbrella.' It is easier.

I used to think I was straight. Then I was told I was bisexual by a stranger online. Then I wondered about being a lesbian. Then I figured I was straight again. Then I was back to bi. I was the definition of questioning, except that I never let anyone else into my head. I've only had one real 'coming out' conversation, which led to my friend clarifying that despite her undergrad explorations, she wasn't into women. I told people at work recently and felt like it should have felt like more. That feeling when you think you should be feeling a feeling. No one else made much of a deal about it, though. Part of me wishes someone had? I don't know. I did have one girl, point blank, ask me how I was queer. I just stared at her and was like, "Um, I'm demisexual?" Wondering why it mattered to her. That reminds me, in my last semester of high school, it was apparently common knowledge that I was bi. I only learned this when my college roommate learned this fact from someone I never even spoke with but who had attended my high school. My roommate marched into our dorm room, demanding to know why I hadn't told her I was bi. I was blindsided and torn between saying "I'm not, though?" and "Why in the world would I have to tell you my sexuality just because you told me yours?"

Anyway. As defensive as I am of the queer label, I struggle with it. I pass as straight. I don't have an undercut or hair dye. I don't have tattoos or piercings. I don't do bold make-up or nail polish. I don't dress queer. I wear jeans and blouses and cardigans. Other than a sports bra and some socks, I don't wear pride colors. I'm not someone who gets noticed as part of the community even if that is a community I feel more comfortable within. And I'm ace and demisexual within ace and biromantic within that and those are all marginal identities anyway. Like, not everyone accepts that bisexuality/romanticism is a real thing. And not everyone accepts asexuals in the queer community (unless they're there as cheerleaders for the allosexuals and handing out water bottles; god I hate that post) or that demisexuality is even a thing.

Friends make me welcome, but at general queer events or things, there's a part of me that wonders if I'm taking a 'real queer's' place. It is irrational, but the feeling persists.

I tried so long to convince myself that I didn't need labels for my sexuality, but finding demisexual just made so much of my life make sense. Fuzzy moments suddenly focused. Now I worry that I'm not really demisexual, but am instead some other flavor of asexual. It has been so, so long since I've felt desire for another person. But the ace umbrella is absolutely correct.

I don't know what the point of this all was.

Labels are weird. Some are simply fact. Some need constant poking. Some I'm hyper protective of. And some I'm almost careless with and it is being careless that makes the label better fitting.

These are some of the boxes I've chosen to put myself within.

#labels #identity #ramble #insomnia

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deadlockorignalfilms · 1 year

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All right, I got to say something,

You can buy a game used.

That is an option,

if somebody wants to play a video game but not support a company.

Even if you are playing on PC

For years these game companies have despised the idea of used game markets because it means that people can purchase games without giving money directly to them, and have been trying to figure out ways to prevent that. A couple of companies have even tried suing people for selling their used games. It seems like some of their propaganda has worked because in game boycotts people no longer have the language to even remember that used games exist?

With the Harry Potter game, Ubisoft games, and whatever else has been boycotted recently, people seem to think that there are only three options:

Buy the game,

don't buy the game,

or pirate it.

Pirating it is also a good option, but you can literally just buy a used copy of THIS GAME for nearly every single video game console in existence right now

I don't know, maybe this is a silly point to get hung up on , but to me this seems like a fucking nightmare that companies have controlled the windows of our perception so much that we've completely forgotten about the consumer rights allotted to us through phyiscal media, physical PC editions, and Steam keys

If somebody wanted to play this game but not support JK Rowling they could go to their game store or eBay, buy a used copy and just play it quietly in private.

That would not support the Harry Potter franchise or the equally disgusting Warner brothers company (joking joking obviously she's worse)

My Facebook feed has been full of nothing but people arguing about whether or not it's ethical to BUY THIS VIDEOGAME NEW FROM WB as though that's the only option. People aren't even talking about piracy anymore. This is the argument that Warner Brothers wants us to have, they wanted to be framed as "buy the game or not" because they know that if people think those are the only two options long time Harry Potter fans will cave and purchase the game new no matter how bad they feel about it.

There's an unproblematic decision here , SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL USED GAME STORE, and play the game quietly at home

Now, the only group of people that don't have this option are the people who bought the digital-only edition of a next-gen console. and to those people, I don't blame you for not spending the extra $100 or $200 to get the normal Edition because of how our economic system is, but good God that was a horrible choice in your part I'm so sorry 😅 this is mostly unrelated to the topic at hand, sort of, but not only do you have to buy all of your games directly from these companies, but there was a controversy earlier last year where if you don't connect your PlayStation 3 to the internet within a certain amount of time they lock you out of playing all of your digitally downloaded games

#harry potter

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