#long post but important

[kafkaesquegf]

Hey, everyone. On February 24, 2022, Russia commenced their illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine following six years of conflict between Russian-backed separatist groups and Ukrainian forces in Crimea and Donbas. one year later, the Russian offensive has not stopped, and Ukraine continues to face shelling, rocket fire, and bombardments on both military and civilian infrastructure. the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian people are on the line as Russia descends further and further into fascism and military dictatorship. 

Russia has continually used the excuse of “denazification” in Ukraine to justify their criminal and imperialist war in Ukraine. As a Ukrainian-American Jew whose grandparents fled a Ukrainian shtetl in Podillia during the 1920s, I say that this is a disgusting, perverse, and wholly cynical manipulation of Ukrainian-Jewish historical trauma for the gains of an imperialist power. My relationship to Ukrainian nationalism is complex, but I know one thing for sure: Russia doesn’t give a shit about Jews. If they did, they wouldn’t be using the Neo-Nazi-infested Wagner PMC, and they wouldn’t be shelling Jewish heritage sites. Hundreds of years of Jewish culture and history are in danger of destruction by Russian artillery fire. In March of 2022, the memorial at Babyn Yar ravine outside of Kyiv, which was the site of the single largest massacre of Jews during the Holocaust by the Nazis and their collaborators, was hit by Russian artillery. 

Russia does not care about Ukrainian Jews. Russia does not want Ukrainian Jews to see themselves as Ukrainian at all; it wants to undo the decades of bridge-building that have taken place between non-Jewish and Jewish communities in Ukraine. In the end, Russia wants to see the complete annihilation of both groups.

To every Ukrainian, Jewish and not, I wish you strength, hope, and courage in the beginning this second year of invasion. And to every Russian government official, vatnik and Z-fascist who supports the war, I wish you nothing more than oblivion.

If you can, please consider donating to the following charities:

Come Back Alive

United24

Ukrainian Recovery Funds

Jewish Relief Network Ukraine

World Jewish Relief

Слава Україні! Нет войне!

#long post but important #war in ukraine #ukraine #invasion of ukraine #stand with ukraine #stop war in ukraine #ukrainian jews #russia is a terrorist state #tal.txt

[sarifel-corrisafid-ilxhel]

My Opinion on AI Art

I am going to put this on my main blog where everyone can see it, because I have seen a lot of different takes about AI generated imagery and I wanted to share my take. Do what you will with this information, but keep in mind it is only in relation to the state of AI generated imagery in 2022. If you come back to this in 2025 and scream at me about some controversy that has occurred after this was posted, I will hit you with a brick.

Okay. First things first, is an AI generated image art? Well, let's look at it. As of this writing, there are no sentient AIs, and all pictures made by an AI are made at the behest of a human*. The human involvement in these images is significant: humans start the projects, come up with the ideas, run as many iterations as they want, make changes to the inputs as they need to, and decide what the final product is. Humans may take the images the AI generated and edit them, modify them, paint over them, etc. The AI, much like a spirograph or a bucket of paint dangling from a rope, is just an algorithm to create images with.

In this regard, because most of the conscious decisions are being made by a human and it's being done recreationally (as opposed to being a survival tool), it is art. Full stop. What kind of art it is, the quality of it due to visual artifacts, and whether it should be in its own category away from art created with more traditional tools are all separate questions from the intent that drives it, which is that a human wanted to make something for fun. That's the only criteria needed for it to be art.

*Human here is used to mean "Living thing that thinks", and can include H. sapiens, elephants, aliens, time travelers, crows, and members of the family Hominidae that don't belong to the species H. sapiens

Now, onto the second part. The way most of the AIs we have seen so far have been trained is just wrong for a product that's being released as an art tool. For our own reference, let's look at how websites use art. When an artist joins an art website, they give that website permission to store the image, distribute the image to other computers which request access to the image, and make alterations to the image (e.g. make tiny versions of it to use as a thumbnail). That's part of the Terms of Service for every art website, and if you didn't know that you should go read the TOS again. However, the artists did not give the same permission to the groups that run these AIs, and they did not give the website permission to transfer permissions. That means when the AI makers scraped the internet for images to train the AI with, they did so without getting anyone's permission. This is the part people should be upset about.

Now, we've all downloaded images to our hard drives, shared pictures we like with our friends, and even studied other artists to figure out how they do that fiddly thing we don't know how to do yet. Individually, that's okay. We're not claiming the picture is ours. But these groups are creating AIs that will regurgitate pictures they have been trained with and then people attribute those pictures to the AI, not to the original artist. That's basically the art version of money laundering. At this time, that means the only ethical AIs to use are the ones that were trained solely on public domain works or had permission from the original creators of the works being used. And as far as I can tell, no AI image generator that meets those criteria exists yet. The people who made these tools made them without any consideration for the people who may be impacted by these tools, and that's not cool.

Now, the third part. Some artists are freaking out because they think AI art will replace them. I personally do not share this opinion. As we have seen from various other industries, such as the jewelry industry or furniture industry, people will pay a premium for the artisanal stuff even though mass produced alternatives exist, even if the mass produced stuff is equal in quality. I believe that tendency will also occur in the art world, and there will always be a place for independent and professional artists as a result. Photography did not end the career of the landscape painter, nor did CGI destroy the job of the set designer. There were periods of upheaval, yes, but at the end of the day things settled into a new normal and those jobs continued to exist.

Furthermore, we already have hobbyist artists who do great work for next to nothing, and that hasn't driven independent or professional artists out of business either. One only needs to look at the sheer disparity of prices in the Furry Fandom to see that independent artists can compete even in a market saturated with low cost artwork.

So, that's my opinion, and I look forward to giving AI generated imagery another shot when they come out with an AI that was created with informed consent and input from artists.

#not animorphs #ai generated art #ai #long post but important #long post

[disteal]

So I haven’t talked about this on main before, but the situation in South Gaza has gotten so horrifying that I’m p much throwing caution to the wind to desperately plead for eyes on this. I’m raising awareness about stories from activists in Gaza right now, including one of our own.

My lovely, wonderful friend Swin (aka tumblr user @combaticon) was deployed as a volunteer medic to a Gaza hospital on the 9th.

When the bloodshed started, she heard they needed extra hands in Gaza, she spoke Arabic and had the training, and she went.

I’ve been in contact with her throughout. She’s so incredibly brave it takes my breath away. My heart bleeds for these children she’s taking care of and how resilient they are is… astonishing.

Swin and these poor people have been under siege for so long, and they’re in desperate need of critical supplies. They have to filter water through their clothes, and it’s getting dangerously cold. Foods finally been getting through, but there’s not enough blankets and jackets to go around and there’s no fuel for the generators.

Their comrades in the West Bank have been completely pushed out by settler thugs. It’s incredibly unsafe to even be doing humanitarian work for Palestinians. Remember this the next time a Zionist tells you they’re doing this to ‘feel safe’. The IOF is arming lynch mobs.

On a personal note, this has been the most gut-wrenching week of my life. Every day when I wake up without a text from her I feel so much fear. I fight back the grief but I don’t know how to help or what to do. It’s terrifying.

Swin has asked for nothing, absolutely nothing other than something it can show the people around it to make them feel like they’re not going to be abandoned. To make sure they’re not forgotten in some pit praying Rafah opens before Israel decides to slaughter them all.

Today was a bad day. She’s alive but beyond worrying about her privacy now; she’s asked me to share this and to beg that we not lose steam and forget about them. Please share this, and please keep being fucking annoying and loud and digging your heels in with fury because we cannot let these people die silently.

[Times of Gaza] [QUD network] [Eye on Palestine]

[link to GCC registration website as the link in this picture is broken]

Please keep in mind that the Global Conscience Convoy is NOT soliciting donations, and registration is to sign up for attendance to the actual event in Cairo. There’s a list of other actions you can do to boost awareness for their protest at Rafah on the website.

#palestine #world news #gaza strip #israel #dis.txt #long post #psa #important #i just want her to come home man #i’m so so so so proud of her

[super-firepaw119]

Another KOSA update:

Sadly, it is true that today, 04/10/2024, KOSA has been introduced to the House BUT! That doesn’t mean it’s game over just yet!

Proof:

Friendly reminder that there is much less support for KOSA in the House than the Senate. And even if it does pass the House—God forbid, it’s not over until the President signs it.

Here is the phone number for the Committee that’ll be holding the hearing on April 17th (Use the top number), and of course keep calling your Senators & House Representative.

I know this is scary for a lot of people, but we have to keep fighting. Please spread this around & don’t give up!

Don’t lose hope.

KEEP FIGHTING.

#long post #stop kosa #kids online safety act #bad internet bills #us politics #important #stay strong y’all

[shadowtraveled]

"mithrun is the only real monsterfucker in dungeon meshi" is objectively the funniest bit you can get out of his everything, but in all seriousness i think his attraction to his love interest is deliberately overstated—and that makes sense, because romantic jealousy is a classic and digestible motive, which is explicitly what kabru was aiming for in condensing mithrun's backstory, and also because until chapter 94, mithrun wasn't willing to admit to the true nature of his desires.

but because romantic envy is both classic and digestible, it probably isn’t a unique enough or complicated enough desire to tempt a demon’s appetite. mithrun’s wish, as far as we can figure from kabru’s reduced retelling, was to have a life in which he had never become one of the canaries, and that carries like 3857 implications and desires within it. that’s delicious. his love interest acts as sort of a red herring to his motivation for making it, though. (side note: i'm saying "love interest" here because, keeping in mind that i barely speak japanese on a good day anymore, "想い人" is something i'd usually take as just kind of an old-fashioned and romantic way to refer to a lover, but in context i wonder if both the connotation of yearning and the vagueness are intentional, and i think this phrasing gets those aspects of it more effectively. anyway.)

mithrun considered his love interest to be untrustworthy. there was a minute where i thought that comment might be about a similar-looking elf (yugin, one of his squad members), but comparing the two…

the "sketchy" arrow is definitely referring to the elf we know as his love interest—the bangs go toward her right, she only has the one forehead ornament, and, most notably, her ears aren't notched.

every time she’s given a full-body depiction in his dungeon, she’s drawn as a chimera, with the body of a snake from the waist down. (side note: the “what if a dungeon has chimeras before reaching level 4?”/“then the dungeon lord is unstable” exchange just being mithrun grilling his past self alive is so funny. he’s so. but anyway) there are a couple things about this.

first, the snake part of the chimera appears to be modeled after some species of coral snake mimic

which, in the biology-for-fun manga, i… doubt is a coincidence, especially with the added context of the “untrustworthy” comment. the dungeon’s conjured illusion of mithrun’s love interest was a harmless copycat of a venomous original. for whatever reason, he felt this person was a threat and made up a "safe" version of her to be in a relationship with, and while it’s definitely possible to be attracted to or even love someone you find to be toxic and/or intimidating, when you take that into consideration alongside the configuration of her body, you get some interesting implications.

which brings us to our second point: if we assume that mithrun was not in fact fucking a snake, then sexual attraction, at least, was so far removed from his idea of a relationship with this person that he did not even bother to keep her dungeon copy human enough to maintain the illusion of the option of a sexual relationship. this is somewhat echoed in the depictions of their interactions, which also imply a frankly unexpected romantic distance. she kisses his cheek and he doesn't seem to react; she's at the edge of a narrow bed with only one set of pillows, on top of his blankets while he's underneath them.

the kiss is particularly interesting because it seems to contrast the text. kabru's narration tells us this was everything mithrun could have asked for, but mithrun is there looking unreadable to pensive, likely because this is right before the panel that makes it clear things in the dungeon are beginning to go wrong.

walking through this backwards for a minute, we have the physical barrier of his bedding and the spatial separation inherent in a bed made for one person, the emotional barrier of his mounting anxiety getting in the way of his ability to enjoy the affection he sought, and... the snake, which historically carries the connotation of temptation, yes, but also mistrust, barring physical intimacy. okay. ok. if a dungeon reflects the mentality of its lord, all of this might suggest that mithrun was not able to have any real desire for a relationship with this person. his unwillingness to be vulnerable or let another person in was insurmountable. but in that case, why was she such a focal point that she remained to the end, after his dungeon had stopped creating iterations of his friends to come and visit him? why would he get so upset over her meeting with his brother that he became lord of a dungeon about it?

well. mithrun's brother was also interested in her, probably genuinely. and mithrun had to win.

you have an older brother who your parents completely ignore, probably in part because he is chronically ill/disabled and almost definitely in part because he received a ton of recessive traits that resulted in rumors that he was an illegitimate child. you are aware, most likely because those same parents fucking told you, that you actually are an illegitimate child. but they keep you around because you had the good fortune of looking just like your mother. what can that possibly teach you but that you, like your brother, are disposable?

it's utterly unsurprising that mithrun, under these circumstances, developed a pathological need to be better than everyone around him. people don't keep you otherwise. i'd argue this is also why he says he looked down on everyone he knew while milsiril claims his dungeon reeked of feelings of inferiority—he sought out people's worst traits and prioritized them in his mind to protect his already extremely fragile sense of self-worth, and all the while he tried to be as likable and high-performing as he possibly could be. his parents disposed of him anyway, but even then he tried to keep up the performance. he was kind to everyone. he never once lost to a dungeon.

when he saw his "love interest" meeting up with his brother, what he saw was himself being replaced by a person his parents had always treated as worthless, and if that was what they thought of the child they'd kept, what value could anyone possibly see in the bastard they'd given away to die? mithrun and kabru tell the story like he wanted to win this unnamed elf's heart, but it was never about being with her. it was about cementing his worth, proving that he didn't deserve to be thrown away.

and so it's particularly cruel that his demon discarded him, too. but maybe it's also particularly gentle that, in the end, there was someone who refused to even consider giving up on him.

kui laid it out in three panels better than i could hope to.

yeah. it's love. you wanted to be loved, even when the only way you were able to understand it was through the desire to be wanted, and you wanted that so badly that the idea of being consumed felt like the promise of finally mattering to someone.

#dungeon meshi spoilers #mithrun #dungeon meshi #this has been rotating for a while but i wanted to check my evidence before getting into it thanks user angelspenance for posting that meme #half of this is just the text and the other half i'm sure has been said before but it's making my brain [radio static] so here this is #someone did for sure mention this but i do find it very cute that in his fucked up conjured world meant to portray his ideal reality #his teammates came to visit him. like part of the fantasy was then explicitly that they cared about him and were his friends. even though #he says he tried to see the worst in them. #hm it does feel important to note that i do also believe 100% in mithrun suicidality--his desire to be eaten does seem to focus a lot on #wanting it to be Over. wanting not to be left incomplete and empty anymore. #but that loops back around a bit to the hole in your heart that appears when you feel unloved. it's many things and the same thing at once #snakes #long post #severe problems #meshy

[wearenotjustnumbers2]

This news surfaced yesterday and I just want to say this isn't new. This happened and has been reported more than once. There are also the Yemeni Jewish children who were kidnapped from their mothers by Ashkenazi "nurses", who claimed that the baby is dead, and diagnose the mother with hysteria/mental disorder after.

The lack of regard for people of color in Israel shouldn't come as a surprise at all. How many poc do you see in the government/ knesst despite the number of Ethiopian and Yemeni jews?

They're creating an all white country, this is colonizer behavior 101, the world just turned a blind eye.

#many of these stories are happening or happened sooo long ago #palestine #gaza #israel #important #current events #ethnic cleansing #free gaza #free palestine #gaza under attack #gaza under genocide #israel apartheid #people of color #black women #black tumblr #racisim #free palestine 🇵🇸 #gaza strip #text post #usa #america

[cipheramnesia]

Tumblr stop recommending me horny sapphic blogs that all say men dni in the pinned post, go back to sending me posts from the one that's just horny all the time please, I want the fat furries and the queer freaks that are way less respectably normal about me and my body.

#long post #feels weird to have this tagged important although I'm glad it resonates with many different trans people #dni lists are generally useless and rarely seen but i see all the saph ones bc I'm checking they're not terfs and its weird #but its just always weird bc they always are trans inclusive binary exclusionist and its like what are you doing #anyway its pretty much all an online thing but weird insight into the whole neoliberal gender politics #trans inclusive politics that still fundamentally are binary exclusively in action

[kyra45]

How to spot a scam blog

A very simple guide to figuring out if the blog messaging you is a scam:

Was you sent an ask within some time of sharing a specific type of post such as a trending topic or subject? - Usually scam accounts target particular posts and will spam asks to everyone who shared it. The ask may relate to certain events going on or more. These asks are always sent to many users all at once so it’s suggested to tumblr search part of the ask and see if its been sent by other accounts labeled as a scam or accounts with similar style.

Is the account relatively new? - More often than not, the accounts sending the asks are about a week old or even newer. They haven’t been made too long ago and often send asks within hours of being made. If you have timestamps turned on, you’ll be able to see the date something was posted. A fresher account is usually not going to be one who’s finding you unless they are searching tags and saw your blog.

How many posts are on the account? - Scam accounts rarely have many posts on their blogs beyond the initial pinned post. All their posts, being very few are very little, are most often just posts from a trending topic they looked up or a popular tag they decided to look through. They will share only a few and then make no further posts. This is to pad out their blog to make it look used but it’s easy to see how new the blog is if you scroll to the end.

Are the shared posts fitting a theme? - Scam accounts try to share posts based on the scam they’re trying to run. This means they’ll share posts related to the topic of their choosing and then stop once they’ve shared a few. Most of these posts come from the OP themselves and not from someone the blog is following though in rare cases they’ll find a person to reblog from so they don’t look suspicious.

Are the reblog dates accurate? - If you use timestamps, find a post the blog shared and check ‘Other notes’ and see if the reblog date matches the date that is listed on the blog itself. Often, scammers will backdate posts to make them look much older then they really are in an attempt to deceive people into thinking they’ve used tumblr for months or years.

Is the url auto-generated? - Not always seen from a scam account, but scammers often just use auto-generated usernames because it’s quick and easy to do. But real accounts may have these too. It’s just a thing to keep in mind.

Is the url familiar or similar to one you’ve seen before? - Scammers often try to copy their older accounts by using usernames based around previous scam attempts. It becomes obvious after about a while and usually makes it easy to figure out the scammer is back again. This isn’t always from scam accounts as regular accounts may do this for reasons.

How often do you get asks? - If you barely get asks and suddenly keep getting mutual aid asks it’s very likely you’re just a scammers latest target and they’ll keep spamming asks. This means you’ll consistently get the same style of asks from a brand new account that shouldn’t know you unless they found you in tags. You will keep getting these asks on a daily basis. You will eventually always get these asks.

Did they request you to message them directly? - On rare occasions a scam account will want you to send them a direct message and then they’ll just ask you for thousands of dollars on the spot.

Does your bio say no mutual aid asks? - Scammers don’t read/don’t care they will ignore that and send you asks anyway that won’t stop them.

Short version: More often than not the blog asking you for money is a scam if you don’t usually get asks for money from brand new accounts.

#scam #how to spot a scam blog #psa #scam alert #scam warning #important information #long post #longpost

[appalachianapologies]

There are many new friends on the archive, and many are young and have only known social media, which is why I wanted to say something!

Ao3 does not have an algorithm! It isn't a social media site, it's an archive.

Posting fics on Tumblr isn't the same as posting fics on Ao3

Ao3 is like a giant virtual bookshelf, and everyone is able to add their own stories to the bookshelf, all stored with different tags and different fandoms. Works are automatically sorted by newest to oldest, but filters, looking at bookmarks, and using the search function can change that.

Certain works are not pushed to the top like social media posts. More kudos and reads don't push a single work to more viewers by some algorithm. Unless otherwise filtered, works will be at the top of the page based on how recent it was posted.

Smaller fandoms get less views, less kudos, less bookmarks, and larger fandoms get more simply because of the number of people inside the fandom.

Ao3 is a giant virtual bookshelf- there is no algorithm, and there is no man behind the shelf pushing certain books forward.

Happy reading, and if you'd like to have more people notice a fic, why not share it with them! Send a dm to a fandom friend and it might turn into one of their favorite fics!

#ao3 #archive of our own #organization for transformative works #i have admittedly only been a member of the committee for a couple of years BUT ive been a member on ao3 since i was much younger #and it took me a hot second to understand how ao3 works; so i wanted to write a lil post about it after seeing this comment #no shade or blame to the person who wrote this by the way! #after being on social media so much it's a completely understandable mistake and i totally get it #and in fandoms populated by younger ppl typically it's even more understandable! #so absolutely no hate no shade no passive aggressiveness #but i do think it is important to learn how the archive works #so if you'd like to share this it would be greatly appreciated! <3 #okay have a good day sorry this post/tags became so long haha

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 3: Enveloping Feelings.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 4 (soon))

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #lan wangji #Yungmeng Jiang training arc AU #I wanted to try out a different paneling style for this one - sorry I'm a day late! (there will still be a post tomorrow to keep on track) #The original 3 panel comic idea was fine but the point of this new schedule was to take time to push myself a bit more. #I was taking a look back through some comic artists I felt inspired by #and I really loved how Lynda Barry fills her gutters with patterns and doodles! #Obviously I'm not going as absolutely wild with it as she does but it was a great exercise! #I truly think the gutters are the most important and most overlooked part of any comic. There's lots going on in that space. #It's the same with timeskips. The implied movement between moments that we don't see changes depending on how wide that gap is #You're here for the funny tags so here's some that ties this time talk together: #I think LWJ was thinking about that second note from day 2 but it took him 7 days of hazing to commit it to paper. #I think he sends it a day later and immediately regrets it. Chasing down the messenger and everything. #You know if something actually happened to his brother he would never ever forgive himself for putting the bad vibes out there. #Third time skip was the hardest because there was so many possible flavours of jokes here. Day 8/9 was a personal favourite. #day 14 was also funny (week by week). I think the debate on 'how long does lwj take to catch feelings' is more or less: #'how long does it take for him to arrive at a particular stage of grief and yearning (and awareness of it all) #This is a symphony. There is an act by act structure. Every day he is fighting to keep his old sensibilities. He is losing so badly. #(I'll be returning to the main comic soon but there is more of this AU to come!)

[gejnialnie]

hi I don't think this duo gets enough love, so here are my fave screenshots of Raph and Leo mirroring each other! :D

+bonus:

look at this frame! don't their poses look similar, even though they're in totally different places?? well, there's a simple reason for it! we can see raph in the driver seat, his left hand on the wheel, while the other one's searching for someting, it's symbolising his active role as leader, while leo stands alongside him, his left hand on a handhold while he gestures with the other, showing him being less active and more of a passive presence, but he's ready on his feet, it's symbolising his potential as raph's co-leader but also him not yet being ready, still gripping the safety rails instead of the driving wheel-

(nah i'm kidding- like, was it just artists drawing similar poses in one scene? oh yeah most definitively! will that stop me from over-analysing? nope! :D this basically wrote itself!)

#there're so many examples of them mirroring each other and im sure i don't have em all!! #don't you think it's interesting every time leo and raph team up they end up in similar poses/expressions A LOT?? because i do!! #writers and animators really said they're co-leaders from the start 🤧 #i mean theres probably a lot of duos trios etc where theyre in the same/similar position but. well. im biased. #also can we talk how they are the only ones to canonically mind-meld?? can we please do that??? ITS REALLY IMPORTANT #brothers of all time ;;;;;;;; #raph is leo's favorite i will die on this hill btw! #rottmnt #rise leo #rise raph #magnet duo #long post

[corvusthecryptid]

y'know what? fuck it! shout out to all my fellow "stereotypes!"

shoutout to my fellow autists who do feel like a kid in an adult’s body because their mind works differently. shoutout to my fellow systems who have alters that lash out, and/or alters of fictives from popular media. shoutout to my fellow bpd folks who get clingy and have abandonment issues. shoutout to the autists who act "robotic" and love trains or dinosaurs. shoutout to the people with OCD/OCPD who do get obsessions with cleanliness and orderliness, who do wash their hands over and over, who do lock and unlock the doors a specific number of times. shoutout to the people struggling with intrusive thoughts that do get the violent ones and the sexual ones, not just the self-injurious ones.

shoutout to my fellow flamboyant gays. shoutout to the lesbians who wear flannel and have buzzcuts. shoutout to the aces who like space and cake and dragons. shoutout to the aces who are stoic and don't have an interest in bonding with people even non-romantically. shoutout to the nbs with neopronouns and names like "star." shoutout to the queers(or otherwise lgbt+ folk if you don't use that term for yourself) who have dyed and cut hair, wear a shitload of pronoun pins, wear a rainbow binder that can be seen, and love talking about how much they love being part of the community.

shoutout to my fellow activists who yell and get mad. shoutout to my fellow activists who bring up the problems in things, even if it means "always making it political." shoutout to the feminists who don't wear bras or shave, and don't get along with men.

shoutout to the men who struggle with emotions. shoutout to the men who love blue and camo and trucks and fixing things and sports and hunting. shoutout to the women who cry easily. shoutout to the women who take hours getting ready. shoutout to the women who love pink and shopping and shoes and cooking and taking care of kids and cleaning.

i'm very white so i'll summarize the next one: shoutout to all the BIPOC fitting into "stereotypes" as well. if anyone who is BIPOC wants to give specific shout outs, go for it!

to anyone who fits these or any other "stereotypes":

You are not a stereotype. You are a person with traits and qualities. You are not doing anything wrong by being true to yourself, whether that means fitting expectations or not.

Anyone who hates whatever group you are in for these "stereotypes" would hate your group regardless; anyone who accuses you of "giving your group a bad name" is deflecting the hate onto you because it's easier to pretend that it's nothing they are doing that gets that hatred; the truth is, bigots are bigots and they will always find a "reason" to be hateful. You trying to avoid "stereotypes" will never change that.

(do not fucking clown on this post. you will not get a debate from me, you will get blocked.)

#long post #important #autism #systems #did #osdd #bpd #borderline personality disorder #ocd #ocpd #gay #lesbian #ace #asexual #nonbinary #neopronouns #queer #lbgt #feminism #activism #anti transmed #stereotypes

[soulren]

Go spend some time on male pattern baldness or male(AMAB) balding forums/subreddits and such. I did after realizing it is happening to me and the ammount of people who truly don't realize how BRUTALLY it tanks people's confidence and mental health is insane.

There's no cure to baldness by the way, and it can start at any time and there's no way to predict how fast or slow it will go. The only real working option is a daily pill that usually just halts it, but it can stop working or just slow it down or cause major side effects. To regrow you have to use a daily topical solution, or use a roller to wound your scalp. None of these are surefire by the way, and if you stop them you'll just lose your hair and whatever you regained. It's a daily involved thing that might not work and often at best just retains. The best drug, the one that occasionaly gives regrowth, also causes shedding at the start, and can have side effects from growing breasts to brain fog to EDsyfunction(sorry, censoring cause tumblr). Now, those are INCREDIBLY rare and almost never happen but it weighs heavily on the mind of those already spiraling.

But that's just background. What I'm here to talk about is the pure woe you'll see on those forums. People speak as though their lives are over, as though they've lost every chance of finding a woman(predominantly, there's a running idea in such places that women don't like bald men or like them less) or doing anything. You can read countless stories of people who describe that they no longer go outside, are now filled with anxiety and self-hate, have gone from extroverted to never showing their face. And some of these people are kids who lost their hair in high school or even before, or are holding as best they can to a very receded hairline and feel like there is nothing they can do.

And then there's something touched upon far less in those communities, but is important to bring up here; baldness and masculinity. There's the horror of knowing so much of society sees a bald guy as a very masculine guy, at seeing that the best advice for being hot and bald is "grow and beard and big muscles bro". Imagine now you're AMAB balding and nonbinary, or a trans woman who doesn't want to be on hormones.

Just genuinely take the time to look at those forums no matter who you are. Understand what these people go through, what I am currently going through. It is soul-crushing, spiraling, brutal. I have the dream of one day being like Brennan Lee Mulligan or Matt Mercer and starting to lose my hair made me feel like I could never. I felt like and still feel like I would have to be masculine, have to be a bro-y dude, have to look older than I was(I'm fuckin 22). It was the feeling that I could never dress feminine again, never present as a woman when I wanted to again, that I'd always be viewed as a bald guy before anything else.

This is an incredibly vulnerable post for me, and I hope it reaches you all as well in a kind and understanding mood. There's a tendency online for people to joke about baldness, to make fun of it, to treat it as a playfull silly thing but it fucking ruins lives, and it shouldn't. It happens to half the population's sort of bodies and very often. It should just be a neutral thing. You don't need long hair to be feminine, you don't need hair to be feminine. You don't need hair for anything. I guess I'm just saying in general that everyone should be kinder about balding, more understanding, and view it with as much import as they'd view the pixels between this sentence and the next. None at all, I mean.

And for those like me, very feminine guys who wanna keep that and don't want a beard and are terrified of balding, here's some names and I do hope others that see this will add more; Mr. Bruce (also in The Correspondents(band) Alex Ward in LA By Night Jason Carl in LA By Night Cecil Baldwin of Welcome To Night Vale Bob The Drag Queen RuPaul(in looks alone, I know about the whole fracking stuff but this post is about looks) tananasho on instagram Also your mannerisms and style of dress will convey femininity far more than your hair. Yea sure a front-on neutral shot of you may not and maybe you need makeup and stuff, and hell maybe a lot of people might reject you more but it'll just filter down to the people for you.

And to all you artists and writers and creatives; make more bald characters. Try it out. Feminine ones, masculine ones, all sorts. None of the copout nonhuman sort, just dudes and girls and mates and individuals who are all sorts of things and also bald. It might make a few of the people going through the various vortexes of pain that balding causes feel a bit better.

And to those noticing I did not adress female hair loss much here, that was intentional. I am AMAB and currently a nonbinary guy who goes by any pronouns but often likes to present as fem. I learned I was possibly losing my hair and lost two months of my life, no work or going or anything, to male hair loss forums and research and spiraling. Checking my hair twenty times a day, unable to sleep, unable to eat, unable to think. And my situation was NOT unique, but it also did not give me any experience or understanding of female hair loss and what AFAB people may go through with that, so I don't feel knowledgeable enough to speak on it. Also living with baldness WILL get easier and you will find something that works for it, by virtue of simply living with it. Things get easier with time.

#bald #balding #hair loss #hair #hair care #minoxidil #dermaroller #baldness #bald and feminine #bald fem #using a lot of tags due to this being triggering for many and cause I want it to be seen #and because I want those who went through what I did to be able to find it #mpb #androgen alopecia #also I know this post is long but I'm not sorry cause it's important. If even one person has a bit less stress then that's good. #feminine bald man

[deanmarywinchester]

ify nwadiwe and vic michaelis......you are everything to me

#my posts #dropout tag #very important people #dropout #sorry. for just posting dropout. it has been a long day

[dressupbastard]

Sharing this here, because that's where i saw people sharing about this "free link to click" -> PLEASE STOP CLICKING IT AND SHARINGIT. IT'S A SCAM, AS SAID BY THE UNRWA ITSELF (see photo of the screenshoted mails here)

(For reference, the UNRWA is the organisation where this free link site said the money was going!)

PLEASE SHARE AND RB

(if you have any questions, please use the comments so i can answer in one place)

Edit: the "/fr/" in the url is because of the language settings (french being my native language). It's not a different website... There's only one. (please look how urls work if you're not sure 🥲 /nm)

Edit 2: so i found out that people were reblogging a rb that called me a liar out of nowhere, and claiming the screenshots are fake...

Here's my last reblog on the subject, in which i posted all the emails one by one.

As i said in the last comments, i'm personally gonna take unrwa's word as is, and not click or share that shitty link anymore. Better safe than sorry. You do you. But whatever you do, i DO NOT appreciate being called a liar behind my back and people getting misinformations on the issue. I'm an honest person. I don't know what more i can do here, but i've done all what i could. Peace out. Bye.

#IMPORTANT #palestine #ceasefire now #gaza #free palestine #free gaza #global strike #ceasefire #unrwa #donations #scam alert #scam #beware #psa #donation scam #please share #please reblog #long post

[royalarchivist]

Quackity: These past days I've been in many calls, and I'm not done yet. I've spoken to a lot of people and creators. I've read your comments and I'm well aware of what needs to be done to carry out this project. I want to tell you all, beforehand, that for me the team's well-being is fundamental. I'm very involved in this topic to sort it out and I want to make that very clear. I want to tell you something... I want to tell you all that the administrative staff responsible for so much harm to the project has been fired. Specifically, those who made decisions without my permission, affecting the administrative and financial area of the project. Consequently, after this, I was in charge of doing a financial analysis that's carrying out for the QSMP.

Guys, to be really honest, it was not going to last. Therefore, I've had to make deep drastic structural changes that have lead me to reduce the performance of the server down to the most essential, and this is in order to ensure the well being of everyone involved in it. Having said this, I want to give a very important update: I want to let you all know that the QSMP will have to slow down temporarily. This is to ensure this new structure adapts to the project, because it's a restructuring that's taking place. I'm letting you know, and I reiterate, there are no voluntary positions inside the QSMP.

At the moment, there will not be any more individual update accounts of all 5 existing languages in the project. In any case, during this transition, there's going to be a temporal absence of all Eggs and NPCs. I know these are difficult changes, and I repeat, it's temporary until we adjust to these new conditions that will improve the performance of this new structure that's being made from scratch, both in the administrative and financial part. I'd like to reintegrate people fro the QSMP as time goes by if a financial viability can be found for the project Taking advantage of this update to tell you guys that within the changes of the server as it is, creators will have full control of their lore and stories. The team will not intervene in the way that it was being done. Moreover, efforts will be made to change the competitive dynamics inside the game so as to ease up the game style for the creators. Like I'm saying, all of these changes, and more, are being carrying out to have the project as best as possible, and they're being done little by little. This is a whole new structure that will ensure the best continuity and experience for the creators, the community and the team behind.

Guys, I want to make very clear that this is restructuring process, and again, it's not a fast one. The server being open does not mean everything's perfect, I understand that very well. Conversations will keep taking place, communication will continue and the constant improvement of the project as well. I ask, please, for everyone's patience and understanding regarding all changes. Please do wait for official announcements since a lot of incomplete and incorrect information is being spread. I want to tell you all something- if you don't trust in these changes or have many doubts about it, and don't want to consume any more of the project's content, I understand 100%. I have a personal commitment with the QSMP and I will work until it functions in the way it is supposed to do.

Lastly, I want to let you know that it was being worked on for months on finalizing the integration of Korean creators to the QSMP. For that reason, tomorrow we will be welcoming the new Korean creators of the QSMP, of course, taking into account all the changes I've just mentioned. I hope you can give the new Korean members warm welcome to the project. And as you know, their schedules are earlier. For everyone who would like to watch, they will be joining at 11am Mexico time and at 9am US time. Basically, I wanted to give that update regarding everything that's being done within the project. Again, thank you for your patience and understanding- these are necessary changes and I'm glad they're being done now. And many more things will keep being adjusted.

via @QuackitySubs

#Quackity #QSMP #QSMP Official #Translated #This is very long and I bolded parts to make it easier to read #but if there's a way to make it more accessible to folks lemme know! #I personally find the bolding thing helpful but I know everyone is different #Edit: got rid of the additional ''Quackity:'' bolded parts since that's unnecessary #since. you know. he's the only one speaking here #Quackity Subs also missed a few words in here so I added those in but otherwise this is exactly what was posted #Minus the part where they said ''fro'' #I don't know if they meant for or from but that's a very vital difference so I'm leaving that as-is #IMO: It's reassuring hearing the full statement #''Please do wait for official announcements since a lot of incomplete and incorrect information is being spread'' #is an especially important reminder #There has unfortunately been a lot of misinformation and catastrophizing / doomposting going around #I understand it's a very scary stressful time for many people #and it sucks being told to be patient #but we actually DO need to be patient if we want to get actual accurate information