#so clearly I'm boycotting it all

[groenendaelfic]

Faroe Gone Final Chapter Sneak Peak

So there's still lots of editing I need to do before I can post the whole thing, but with tomorrow looming I thought I'd share something "happy" and "cheerful" to distract y'all.

Have fun reading the beginning of the final chapter and hope you enjoy! 😇

Simon doesn't know if it's the sudden fog, his tears, or the fact that all he wants to do is be a fool and turn back around again—the first one, definitely the first one—but he drives back to Tórshavn at almost a snail's pace.

It doesn't matter. He has well over a day until the ferry makes its return journey to Denmark and nothing else to do except go over his time with Wilhelm again and again, replaying the good times and the pleasurable times and wondering if he could have said or done anything to change the outcome of his journey—other than realizing that all of his feelings were mere nostalgic illusion and fantasy, which of course turned out to not be the case.

Quite the opposite. Real Wilhelm was so much more than what Simon made him out to be in his head. There's so much he's missed. So much he doesn't know yet and which he desperately wants to find out.

It hurts, and yet there's nothing else Simon can do, no other choice which wouldn't hurt more sooner or later.

No. Simon tried. He did the best he could and that is enough. It has to be enough.

Simon had to leave while he still could.

The road ahead of him is empty, no one else in sight. No people, no cars, no sheep. Nothing except the wet, cold fog swallowing up everything and a rushing noise in his ears which might be the wind or the ocean or Simon himself.

Simon blinks away another tear and keeps driving, turning up the heat and hoping it will help.

It doesn't.

On the next island he passes a camper van. It's parked, and Simon thinks he can make out a brave tourist trying to take a picture, but he isn't sure. It's not as if there's much to see except an endless wall of grayish white.

Maybe that's the fascination.

Wilhelm told him that there are thirty-seven words for fog in the Faroese language, and while Simon laughed and told him to stop kidding, he's sure he's already experienced half of them, and it's only been two days.

Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but contemplating the uselessness of taking pictures of fog is a lot more bearable than lingering on the fact that he'll never get to be with Wilhelm again, never feel that satisfied ache in his muscles, not like this, and really how long can a grown man cry before he's all out of tears?

Pretty long he guesses.

Simon once stopped Ayub's baby daughter from attempting a daring escape on all fours, and Simon swears she was crying forever. Not that he blames her.

Crying is cathartic if it's anything, but if she could produce that many tears because of nothing more than a foiled plan to explore the stairway, then how many will Simon be able to shed before he's all wrung out? He’s a lot taller than her after all and guaranteed to not forget the reason for his tears even after being presented with some candy.

Simon doesn't want to know.

Simon wants to keep driving through this fog forever, because all that's waiting for him at its end is the mundanity of his never-changing life and a scandal revealing the Crown Prince to have been the victim of underage revenge porn thanks to his second cousin and presumed successor, and that is guaranteed to make it worse, to drag Simon’s name back into public awareness.

He should probably call home and warn his mom, warn Sara, but facing them will be torture of an entirely different kind, and also the investigative journalist they chose is a good one, one bound to build a case and not blindly believe her sources before going public, so there is still time.

Not too much though, as there is an impending deadline if the Royal Court and the Prime Minister are to be believed, or at least Simon would really prefer news of August’s deeds to overshadow him being taken into the line of succession.

Not that he’s so naive as to think a mere article can do more than delay the proceedings at best—although one can always hope—and ideally the journalist and whoever else gets a say in choosing the right time will see it the same way, but all of that is still more than half a week away, so why burden his family before he absolutely has to?

No, he's not going to call home yet, but maybe he should reserve a room before he gets back to the capital.

He decides to do it the old fashioned way and pulls over at the next opportunity. A viewpoint, or so he presumes the sign a few meters away from him would tell him if only it was clear enough to see.

He wipes at his cheeks and opens his phone. There are plenty of options for him to stay at. Small, privately owned places, holiday homes with kitchens and living rooms, quaint little hotels doing their best to sell their Nordic, rustic charm to tourists wealthy enough to make it there, and of course a camping ground, because unlike Sweden, the Faroe Islands don't allow one to set up camp anywhere else.

Simon doesn't choose any of them. He wants a warm but bland room, boring and inoffensive and as likely to be in Tórshavn as on the other side of the world.

Something as far from Wilhelm's colorful and most definitely handmade and expensive wooden furniture as he can get, and so he books himself a room at the first—and only—international hotel chain he can find, something he'd never do otherwise, and pretends that he's looking forward to it. The hotel has a fitness center after all and well over a hundred rooms. Simon is almost going to feel like back home in Uppsala.

Not.

He sighs and makes sure he received a confirmation for his booking, before he throws his phone onto the passenger seat and sighs again.

Somehow, magically, or rather because he's on a windy archipelago in the middle of nowhere, the fog is starting to clear. He can see a few meters of grass now, and then a cliff, and below it the cold, dark ocean pretending at being calm.

Simon wants the fog back, but when has he ever gotten what he wanted, and by the time he's back on the road he swears he can see a tiny patch of blue sky up ahead.

The hotel is on the outskirts of town and exactly as impersonal as Simon hoped it would be. He isn't hungry, and so he goes straight to his room and falls face first into bed.

The sheets are white and the pillows are white and they smell bland and clean and inoffensive, nothing at all like Wilhelm, and why would they?

Simon hates them. Simon also hates the hotel, but it's not as if he's in the mood for sightseeing, and as he isn't willing to take a shower yet—what? He's alone, no one's going to smell him, and isn't that the entire problem?—all that's left to do is turn on the TV, because he's for sure not touching his phone again any time soon.

Not when that would mean having it confirmed with every passing minute that he was a fool to leave Wilhelm his number. Wilhelm isn't going to call, but Simon would rather live in denial for as long as he can.

The TV does not greet him with an info screen as Simon expected, but an English speaking news channel, the volume turned up way too loudly, and Simon turns it off again as fast as he can.

Wallowing in self pity it is then.

Unfortunately Simon's usual answer to bouts of self-pity—angrily jerking off to thoughts of Wilhelm—is not an option right now, because Wilhelm is the entire reason for his misery, and so he grudgingly reaches for his phone after all and starts up a game which would work much better on a computer screen.

He's just about to finish off the newest boss, when a text message pops up.

If I do it, it reads. Then can we

The sentence stops halfway through, and Simon almost has a heart attack.

The delay in his reaction is enough for him to be killed instead, but it's not as if Simon notices.

Wilhelm. It has to be Wilhelm.

He taps the message, and while that makes it larger, it doesn't change the words.

He almost calls Wilhelm back right away, because Wilhelm is swaying, is reconsidering, and Simon wants that, he wants it so bad, to have Wilhelm back in his arms and his life, but also Simon already told Wilhelm that he can't be the only reason Wilhelm returns, that this is a life changing decision if there was ever any, and that Wilhelm needs to make it for himself and not for a hope of them maybe working out, and so he doesn't.

Instead he waits an excruciating minute and then another, just in case Wilhelm wants to add something or pressed send too soon, but no further message follows.

Simon curses and swears and kicks up his feet, because now he has hope again and that is great, but also torture. He doesn't want Wilhelm to get the wrong impression, doesn't want him to think that Simon wouldn't be willing to pick right up where they left off if he could—in the bedroom that is, not when it comes to fighting—and maybe they could also go on a date which has been nineteen years in coming.

Simon wants that. Simon really wants that. How can he not, now that he's had a taste, has spent time with Wilhelm, just Wilhelm, has had breakfast with him and done chores with him and played with his dog. Simon wants Wilhelm back, now more so than ever.

Simon knows he's an idiot, thinking of romance and dating when he just left the love of his life behind, and even if he hadn't, a returning Wilhelm would have much different things on his mind. He'd have to. He'd have no other choice. Things like his dying mother and the throne and the public reacting to his return after ten years in exile.

Wilhelm wouldn't have time for Simon, no matter how much Wilhelm would want him. Not for weeks and not for months. Simon would have to sneak into an assortment of palaces with the eyes of the entire nation on nothing but them if he wanted any time with Wilhelm at all, and Simon wouldn't want that. Simon doesn't want secrecy and sneaking and lies. Not that'd even be an option, what with the press and curious bystanders everywhere.

There is another option of course. The only one Wilhelm would ever consider coming back for. The one which at first glance sounds perfect because it means being with Wilhelm and standing by his side. It would also mean giving up everything else in Simon's life though, but what has he really got to lose? Why stop being foolish now?

Wilhelm told Simon that he's it for him. Wilhelm loves him. Simon's already traveled across an ocean. What's one tiny text message compared to that? Why can't he be selfish just this once and fuck the risk and the idiocy and the fear of what will be in one year? In five? In ten?

It all might end in disaster, but it might also not, and why should he be miserable if there's even the slightest chance at some fleeting happiness. After all it's not as if the email Wilhelm sent isn't bound to upend Simon's life anyway, and it's not as if Wilhelm is actually going to come.

Simon wants to be happy.

Simon wants to be happy and now there's a chance for it and so why not take it? He's done stupider things before, like coming here in the first place, so he might as well go all the way.

He doesn't text Wilhelm a yes, doesn't make any promises. He texts one word and one word alone, followed by a number, the name of the hotel and his room number, and maybe that's the biggest promise of all.

He doesn't regret it. He couldn't stay, not without making his inevitable departure even worse, but now he's done his part and the ball is in Wilhelm's court, all the balls are, and Simon is here and waiting.

For a ferry. For Wilhelm. For the life they could have had.

Fuck.

#it was editing this #or throwing myself a pity party #because for the first time ever #I could attend all the Eurovision events live #with nothing stopping me except my own morals and conscious #so clearly I'm boycotting it all #and that's the easy choice #no pity party for me #hello editing #I'm not saying Simon is staying at the Hilton Garden Inn #but I'm also not not saying that #yes Faroe Gone will have a happy ending #faroe gone #young royals #young royals fic #fic snippet #wilmon #fic update

[shiro-s2e2-erukinzu]

Anime only watchers and people who aren't caught up with the Manga, BEWARE... Cuz I'm about to discuss Spy X Family Mission 97... You have been warned...! 👌

[SPOILERS AHEAD FROM THIS POINT ON]

OMG OMG OMG OMG!! THIS CHAPTER WAS AMAZING...!!! 💗😍💗

This chapter goes into detail about Mathra and Henderson's pasts together, and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!! 😍 So without further ado, let's talk about Mission 97 shall we...? 👍

The chapter began with Henderson talking to the matron, who mentioned that she overheard that him and Mathra made quite the darling couple, then Henderson says...:

I LOVE THIS PANEL SO MUCH!! 💗😍💗 And I was like: Suuuure Henderson, y'all are "Just Friends"...!! 😏

Then it cuts to the past and we see a young Henderson watching a young Martha preform ballet at a New Year's party talent show at Eden Academy...:

...AND IT WAS THE FIRST TIME HE SAID "ELEGANT"!! IT WAS BECAUSE OF HER!! 🤩

(This is just so sweet, man...!! 💗🥹💗)

Anyway, after Martha's performance she gained friends, while Henderson lost friends, all because he called her performance elegant and got the nickname Mr. Elegant...! 👌😌 (I say it was worth it...! 😎)

Some time later, Henderson is having some tea before class and Martha comes across him. He then offers if she wants some and they start hanging out together...!! 🤗

Three years later, we see Henderson getting harassed and by these three jerks for just being who he is, when suddenly...:

MARTHA (I mean, Lady M) CAME TO HELP HENDERSON!! 😆 (She also said the "human beings ARE animals" thing that Becky said all the way back in Mission 25!! 👏😆 So that's where she got it from...!! 😌) Henderson then scolds Martha for using her ballet skills for fighting, but then she brings up that he threw a punch too and runs off to tell his teacher of his inelegance...!! 🤣

His teacher brings up that Henderson has been boycotting his military training courses and if he keeps it up, he'll get a Tonitrus Bolt... After that, Martha meets up with Henderson, who declares to fight not with his fist, but...:

In that moment, Henderson decided that he was gonna change the world with education. But in doing so, he started to push Martha away... 😔 (She even asked him if he was gonna invite someone to the graduation dance and he told her that he doesn't have time for something like that...! 🥲)

After a brief flash forward of Martha telling Becky about her past with Henderson, we go back to the past to see a nineteen year old Martha, who's now in her last year of Eden:

A new faculty member has joined Eden Academy, and it is none other than Mr. Elegant himself, Henry Henderson!! 👏😆:

AND THAT'S THE END!! 😱 Is this going to be continued in the next chapter, or is this a one and done type situation...?! 🤔 Which ever way it's gonna go in the next chapter, I ADORED THIS CHAPTER SO MUCH!! 😍

I'm a sucker for learning characters pasts, so this chapter was super enjoyable for me!! 😄 Especially since WE'RE FINALLY LEARNING ABOUT WHAT HENDERSON & MARTHA'S RELATIONSHIP WAS LIKE!! 😍

Gosh, I could probably talk about this chapter for hours, but I think I'll stop here for now...!! 😁 I really hope that there's gonna be a second part to Martha and Henderson's story because I'm so invested in them!! 😆

But anyway, that was Mission 97, I clearly loved it and I can't wait for the chapter!! 😁 So until the next Mission; take care, be safe out there and be kind to each other...!! 🤗

Also, I love that we get to see a young Donna Schlag as well:

We haven't seen her since Mission 61!! 😆 But yeah, that's pretty much it!! See you all in the next one...!! LATERS!! 👋😄

#spy x family #sxf #spyxfamily #spy x family manga #sxf manga #spyxfamily manga #spy x family spoilers #sxf spoilers #spyxfamily spoilers #Mission 97 #henry henderson #martha marriott #becky blackbell #MARTHA AND HENDERSON BACKSTORY!!! #LET'S GO!!! 😆 #My little shipper heart can't take it...!! 💗😍💗 #manga spoilers #donna schlag #We need a shipname for Henderson and Martha (if they don't already have one) PRONTO!!! 👏👏👏

[01zfan]

alright i don’t know why you guys have made me the face of ot6 briize but i’m going to give you guys my thoughts on the situation that you clearly want very badly. i have been into kpop for a very long time. i will say two main things about this boycott.

the first is that i have genuinely never seen such a strange group of toxic solo stans/akgaes that hate on the groups fans and lowkey shade members under the guise of “loving all the members/trying to protect them”.

this boycott campaign is genuinely just solo stans mad that their bias isn't being treated the way they want. if this was truly about the wellbeing of riize, we would be demanding for sm to give them better security at airports so they don't get mobbed. we would've been urging sm to take legal action against malicious comments earlier. we would be demanding better preparations for their comebacks like getting an actual mini instead of a bunch of singles. but none of that is happening.

instead, there's this weird "i don't like the rest of riize because there's no seunghan" vibe about the boycott. like why are individual member activities suffering because of this? why are we swearing at the members online, saying things like sungchan doesn't care about riize, the rest of riize are fake except for eunseok, etc. why are we bullying and bothering briize not participating in the boycott? for not talking about seunghan when there's literally nothing to talk about? these are things solo stans/akgaes do, not people who claim to love their group.

my second thing is that if you want to boycott riize be my guest. HOWEVER i think it is important to face the facts here. SM will not suffer from this boycott nearly as bad as riize will. they are a rookie group in a new generation, and they have an exceptional momentum going. but the industry is cutthroat and it moves fast. if this boycott is “successful,” then it will truthfully only sabotage riize and not SM. even if riize's members don’t end up losing profit, i believe a successful boycott could do insane damage to their confidence/psyche. it could also possibly effect future comebacks and their faith in fans. i’ve seen how fear of a comeback failing can harm members of a group mentally and i don’t want riize to go through that.

i support riize as a group so i'm not boycotting. i stream their music and watch their variety content and buy their merch because i like riize. this is going to ruffle some feathers but if you don't do any of those things SOLELY because your bias isn't involved than you're not a fan of the group! you are a solo stan! that is just a fact!

and telling me the boys would want me to boycott is literally insane. why are we putting words into their mouths? riize literally had a live recently damn near begging briize to stay with them and trust them. the words “we are closer as a group than you think” literally came from shotaro’s mouth...so i will choose to believe what has actually been expressed by the members instead of theory and hearsay spread by fans. if you want to boycott DO IT, but don’t try to guilt trip briize by saying the boys would want it.

all of the members have given up so much and have gone through so much to be in riize. sungchan literally dropped out of MIDDLE SCHOOL to train as an idol. eunseok dropped out and sohee turned down acceptance into a university to train. shotaro and anton literally moved away from their ENTIRE lives to pursue their dreams. you think i’m gonna make them suffer or let circumstances out of their control get in the way of THEIR success? i absolutely can't go for that i'm sorry.

and one last thing, i'm not trying to shame seunghan fans. i feel for y'all i really do. this may be perceived as snarky or rude, but this comes from a place of care. if it is so painful and upsetting stanning riize you shouldn't stan anymore. kpop is supposed to be fun! stanning a group is supposed to bring you little moments of happiness and it isn't supposed to cause so much turmoil or bad feelings! this isn't supposed to be this serious either!

also, i believe alot of my asks regarding seunghan or calling me an ot6 stem from me not writing for him. this is my account and i can post what i want. you guys can make your own account and post what you want. like you guys i'm a working class adult who posts little fics, lets remember that! i write for fun and to share it with people who wanna read it. i don't know why this account has gotten this crazy, or how i've made people so mad. you do not have to follow me or this account if this is an issue. i understand and i would much rather not have these asks or this energy on my page anymore.

#talkingz

[jewish-sideblog]

Wild that this post has 11,000 likes when it’s spreading such blatant fucking disinformation.

“Sabra” is word Israelis use to refer to an Israeli Jew. The "longer statement" attempts to refute the idea that Sabra was named after the Hebrew term by saying that the massacre happened in the 1980s, and the character didn't exist until the 1990s. Clearly, this person didn't do the world's most minimal amount of research. Let's get into it real quick--

Sabra's first full appearance was in Incredible Hulk #256, published in February 1981. She had a named cameo from the same run six issues earlier, in February 1980. So she was a planned and named character in development at least as early as 1979. The Sabra and Shatila massacre began on 16 September 1982, two years after Sabra made her debut in the comics.

Given her name and original design, Marvel's Sabra is likely influenced by the character named "Sabraman" by Uri Fink, an Israeli comic book creator. Sabraman's origins date back to 1978-- four full years before the Sabra and Shatila massacres.

This is a nitpicky point, but why are you following a Jewish discourse blog if not for nitpicky points? The Israeli Defence Forces were involved in the Sabra and Shatila massacres. There's no question about that. They authorized it, provided funds for it, and offered logistical support for it. But they did not carry it out. A Lebanese Christian Nationalist militia carried it out. Why lie about that? Israeli forces supported the murder of civilians! They lit up the sky for days so that the massacre could continue into the night! Why do you need to lie and say they were holding the guns? Is what they did not bad enough for you? This is what I mean when I say that you guys would rather resort to conspiracy theories and misinformation than actually accurately criticize Israel for once.

So where did I get all these facts? Did I have to do some deep dive into comics of the 1970s and 80s? Pull up niche and obscure military journals about the Lebanese Civil War? Nope! I got all that information by... looking at Wikipedia pages. I did double-check Incredible Hulk #250 to ensure that she was already named Sabra in 1980. She was. I also looked around for any articles that backed up the claim that fetuses were cut out of women's wombs during the Sabra and Shatila massacre and... I didn't find any. Al Jazeera doesn't even mention it. If you can find a reputable source for that, please send it to me! Until then, I'm gonna rule this as flat-out blood libel.

You may be asking yourself, why didn't Marvel change Sabra's name in 1982 when the tragedy occurred? Aren't they at least responsible for that? And personally, I think you'd be right. But Marvel didn't budge on Black Panther (named July 1966) when the Black Panther Party (named October 1966) was founded. It doesn't seem like they were interested in making character changes due to political pressures back then. Whether that's a good thing or not is a different story.

And finally, no, this post is not anything close to an endorsement of the new Captain America movie. I'd been planning on boycotting the movie named after an antisemitic conspiracy theory, from the company that butchers any Jewish representation they don't completely ignore, since before y'all found out about Sabra's existence. I just honestly thought the antisemitic nonsense about this character would be coming from the right, not the left.

Edit: Fixed formatting mistakes. Tumblr does not fucking like Hebrew text.

#I know I literally just responded to an ask by saying I don’t do media news coverage #but I’ve been a marvel comics fan for literal decades so I wasn’t about to take this one sitting down

[theothernads]

I don't think some kpop stand understand/fathom the situation in Palestine and why we are angry when a literal celebrity, you look up to, buys a product funding genocide.

Let me just say when a celebrity starts randomly promoting a BRANDED product right after a genocide starts intensifying, then u know they're ignorant. I'm sick and tired of ppl saying "how is a drink going to affect the genocid-"

Girl stfu 😭. Have yall seen some kpop stans- they buy stuff that their celebrities buy so when artists start buying genocide food, they're going to also buy it and then more money is given to the brand funding genocide, so therefore, the genocide continues.

And it's not like boycotting isn't working. And it shows how privileged some of yall are when you start saying things like "it's just a drink". Like I'm talking abt people's lives here.

And don't bring the "they didn't know"- yeah well, when they started getting cancelled, they stayed silent like?? At least, they can apologise (like Jake did 🫶🏽) but they CHOOSE to stay silent or they delete their story and think that's enough of an action. It irks me sm bc these people are being systematically cleansed and colonised.

And it's funny when kpop artists start ignoring what's happening bc I swear.... we all went through the same thing: Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Korea- indigenous ppl in general have a dark and brutal history of that. So, why do they stay silent/neutral/support Israhell when they clearly know colonisation is so terrible.

Anyways, that's my rant bc I'm genuinely sick of some of you choosing your faves over morals 🤡💀

#fypシ #fypage #fyp #tumblr fyp #palestine #free gaza #free palestine #gaza #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #kpop #i swear #yall are weird #dont stop talking about palestine #stop choosing your faves over morals #israel is a terrorist state #boycott mcdonalds #boycott starbucks

[saveugoodmadam]

ok i'm not sure if this headcanon is good but Crutchie kind of gives like Normal Person vibes, you know? Like all the other newsies are insane, Race is probably a flat earther, Spot probably thinks birds aren't real, Jack is the way that he is, but Crutchie kind of seems like he's at least less crazy than all his friends.

idk i was just watching livesies again and thought of this no clue if it makes sense

I think Livesies Crutchie is better at seeming collected but in WWK, Seize the Day (side note: I absolutely refuse to shorten the title of that song) and in the "so long, sucker" scene particularly, you can see the mischief beneath the surface. I do also kinda think that- while he clearly does have trauma from the Refuge and other unspecified incidents, and is very much implied to have some kind of trauma or unresolved issues relating to contracting polio and his disability- he is more emotionally mature than his friends (for a given value of more emotionally mature given as they're all teenage boys). For example, during the strike scene, he is shown to be skeptical about boycotting paper selling rather than his peers who are thinking more idealistically than realistically at that point.

Matthew's Crutchie is an absolute gremlin from the offset and probably has a collection of stolen newsie shoes somewhere in the penthouse, but he's also one of the more emotionally mature (again, for a given value, he is also shown to have trauma and unresolved issues relating to his own disability and is a teenage boy) and is a realist for the most part, even veering into cynicism when the prices of papers are raised. Unlike how in livesies Crutchie is eventually swayed to engaging in Jack's fantasy of Santa Fe, in uksies you get more of a idea that he's entertaining the idea of it the full way through. It's a nice fantasy, but he's clearly only thinking of it as that, and not as a future like Jack thinks of it as. He's sort of an older brother type- extremely chaotic, loud, steals your stuff but would also beat people up for you and has good advice when you need it.

I'm genuinely sorry about how long this turned out, I'm sure you weren't expecting a mini essay on this but in conclusion I think that you're right that he's more grounded and down to earth in his beliefs, but in his actions?

He's a mischief gremlin crime boy (affectionate)

#crutchie newsies #crutchie morris #newsies #livesies #uksies

[happilynatalieposts]

I'm really fucking confused by what so called fans think they're accomplishing by only boycotting the group they claim to love while still supporting the rest of the people under that label... im confused by what the fuck people are doing when boycotting only one group that they clearly don't love like they claim and still buying music from 🛴s other artists ...

And these questions are coming from someone who has disliked that man for over 12 years and so far I see him winning this bc his label is doing better and he gets to play victim to the media ... some of you became so control driven and hateful towards bts and fans who don't do exactly what you wanted them to that you lost sight of the cause you were claiming to help through only attacking and boycotting one group.

I've done my protesting and advocating and crying out for this genocide to end and I did it without ever needing to attack others who are innocent parties in all of this. I did it without ever needing to try and control what other fans, celebrities etc talk or don't talk about on their personal accounts. Now if you want to go after people posting Zionist shit that's a different story but funnily enough most of you seem to be leaving those people alone 🤔 and so at this point I feel like this is a way to hurt the group you claimed to love and hurt them only & that's really fucking sad

[vampirepunks]

Secret Invasion and AI Art: The Big Picture

The thing that really makes my head spin about the Secret Invasion intro being AI art... the director wanted it to look fucked up and is clearly ill-informed about the technology in question. I have to admit, it's refreshing not to see the studio saying "It looks normal and fine to us!" There's also some bitter irony in using AI to replace the work of human artists in the development of a show about shapeshifting aliens literally replacing humans in society.

Like many people, Selim says he doesn’t “really understand” how the artificial intelligence works, but was fascinated with the ways in which the AI could translate the sense of foreboding he wanted for the series. “We would talk to them about ideas and themes and words, and then the computer would go off and do something. And then we could change it a little bit by using words, and it would change.”

[source]

Now, I'm not making ANY excuses. Quite the opposite, in fact. My aim is pointing out that putting focus on "it doesn't even look good" detracts from the larger controversy. It was intended to look uncanny, so that's not an effective argument. Don't lose sight of the forest through the trees. There's a much bigger fight on our hands. (Yep, you guessed it, it's capitalism.)

Thanks to end-stage capitalism, we have a labor market in which outsourced work is being outsourced even further because of the insane production time crunches forced by media corporations. Marvel hires Method Studios for VFX, who then contract an undisclosed AI generator that's most likely trained on copyrighted art without the artists' permission. Once again, the problem stems from corporate titans of industry commodifying creativity to the point that almost all modern media (video games, films, streaming TV shows, etc) is attempting to generate maximum profit with minimal time + expense. Disney has been the face of this dilemma for years, with a reputation for overworking and underpaying creative teams in order to release multiple shows and films to maintain a constant flow of content. It's worth noting that Method Studios made a statement claiming no artist jobs were affected as a result of this practice, which is great if true, but means they know it's ethically questionable and chose to do it anyway.

Could they have directed human artists to create an eerie, surrealist, "Skrull cubism"-style intro? Absolutely. The reason they didn't is because it would have cost them more time and money. The problem is systemic. Capitalism has reduced the worth of the arts to their base trade value. The powers that be have created a society that prioritizes convenience over quality and values financial gain more than ethical acceptability.

We should criticize the show for this, but solely attacking the base aesthetic value undermines the extremely concerning precedent this sets for the entertainment industry at large. If you really oppose this practice, cancel your Disney+ membership. They don't care if you watch the show or not, so long as you stay subscribed. Boycotting Secret Invasion alone will achieve nothing and will not hurt their bottom line. USA citizens, consider going one step further by contacting your representatives to demand stronger governance of AI technology. Congress is aware of the issue and we need to push them to act soon. We have got to get organized about this, folks.

The arts are so much more than just content, so don't get swept up in "us vs. the world" attitudes--going online to talk about how bad it looks accomplishes nothing more than venting your frustration. There's a time and place for that but don't use it as a replacement for real, meaningful action. Nitpicky criticisms and refusal to watch the show only scratches the surface.

#ai artists dni! #ai art #anti ai art #stop art theft #secret invasion #mcu #marvel #mcu critical #leftism #anti capitalism #on politics #secret invasion discourse #ai art discourse #vampirepunks discusses ai art

[twopoppies]

Of course everyone has the right to choose whatever they want, but there's so much difference between the doc and dwd. Dwd was Olivia's project, it was for her vanity and the press surrounding it even other than holivia was super disturbing. It was a supporting role that Harry played and not watching the finished film didn't affect him in anyway at all. Also, holivia was two year worth of bs before the actual film.

Whereas, the doc is Louis's project through and through. It's his story, his music, his production. As disappointing as stunting is, till now it is only a couple of pictures. Of course, things could change in the next one month as we truly don't know what we're up for this time. But currently boycotting the film just based on 3-4 pictures of hand holding seems harsh (personally). This doc is a way of Louis telling us his story (whatever that might be). He has clearly put a lot of heart in it!!

I'm not trying tell anyone what to do, if anyone doesn't want to watch it, sure it's their choice. I haven't watched dwd till date. But I just wanted to say that comparing it with dwd and holivia (yet) seems unfair to me.

I hear you, love. I think people had numerous reasons for boycotting DWD. Harry having a random beard really wasn’t one of them.

The issue I’m seeing from most people about Louis’ situation is that he’s selling this documentary as a chance for him to finally tell his story in his own words, to be honest and truthful. But then he starts promo for it with this obvious nonsense. I think even though no one expected him to come out or actually tell the entire truth about anything, really, it just feels like a slap in the face. It’s just extremely stupid timing on his part, and a very weird angle to take in terms of marketing.

While I get what you’re saying about not seeing the doc being directly hurtful to Louis, I also think that as fans the only voice we have is what we choose to spend our money on.

Overall, my best advice is to take a couple of days and see how things play out. But I think we just have to respect that everyone is going to have their own reactions to things and for some people, this is just the final straw. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#lofie #stunts #aotv documentary

[ofthedarkwoods]

I apologize for the traumatic content I've shared.

I wanna say that this apology is only to the people of Palestine (or to those who are personally tied to Palestine)

I don't want many of you to be remembered in this image. Your culture is truly breathtaking and should definitely be shared. Each Palestinian has beauty and kindness that we truly do not deserve.

Otherwise, I'm not sorry to anyone else.

Before I started sharing consantly and becoming more self-aware of the genocide happening across the seas, I was doubtful at first..

I did look away, and I didn't realize at the time of how wrong I was to do so.

It wasn't until I discovered a post of childern in pieces and finally realized how corrupt and real this is.

I can't find that specific post, but I remember being in so disbelief and so traumatized.

I couldn't take back the moment I saw before seeing what I had seen.

I have certain trauma of my own before seeing those pictures but nothing in my right mind could stay silent about what I saw.

I truely couldn't imagine everyone else in that moment of time was feeling.

I discovered more and more posts every day since then and have been trying my hardest to tell others that this is not normal.

None of this is normal.

Any person with morals clearly sees that this needs to stop.

These people..these children, these women, these men and so many others were filled with so much joy, hope, compassion, culture, are now being slaughtered and labeled as if they are not humans with souls worthy of anything.

I want to apologize again to them it took me so fucking long to realize that I shouldn't be looking away from this, that this is real.

I.. we should be yelling and screaming louder that this isn't the way it's supposed to be.

Your voice can be so loud and so fucking powerful.

They might tell you "what's one voice gonna do" when really protests and million if not billions of post have stated they've been telling millions of people that...

"What's one voice gonna do?"

They know just how powerful words can be, and yes, it might seem like these are all just words on a screen... but if I know anything is that words will turn into inspiration, and inspiration turns to action.

It's still not too late to stop this.

Every one of us has the ability to stop this together.

The boycotting has been working, and I'm so proud of everybody doing their best of their abilities.

Even if it feels like nothing, it still means something because knowing that if we all come together than more and more change will come.

I will keep posting about Palestine and other important topics to focus on because if it has the ability to inspire and change to maybe make the word brighter and better for the people around, then why stop.

So what begs the question now is to those who are "not into politics" or "on neutral sides" not see someone close to you when you look at them?

Do you not feel like you want to embrace them and tell them that they are loved.

To maybe comfort that child who lost their sister, to hold that mother that saw her son being targeted and gunned, to not hold that father's hand as it shakes with grief as his family is left under the home he bought promising them that nothing bad will come to them.

Do you really not see their pain, or do you only see what you want to see.

Seeing and experiencing other beliefs can be so beneficial, but if your one to just lie there and not question anything on the only system you were ever taught I want you to ask yourself this "are you really safe?"

To which "will I also fall victim to their game, they are so desperate to win?"

Because if they can get away with this then it is only a matter of time when you will be the one grieving for the last of your comfort fades away.

This is a warning to all that this is not normal, this is real, and it's only a matter of time before it affects each and every last of us until they get what they so desperately crave.

Fight back now or at least be prepared to say goodbye.

Many of you might agree or pick a fight with me whatever but yes, opinions change, however it's hard to change the way these past months have made me feel.

Stand for Gaza or stand for nothing.

From the River to the Sea Palestine will be free.

🇵🇸

#free gaza #gaza #palestinians #gaza strip #palestine #palestine solidarity #gaza under attack #let gaza live #free palestine #free palestine 🇵🇸 #🇵🇸 #i stand with gaza #i stand with palestine #i stand with palestine 🇵🇸 #fuck israel #palestinian solidarity #palestines #free palestinians #gaza genocide #gaza israel war #gazaunderattack #rafah #gaza protests #gaza palestine #Palestinian #super bowl massacre #boycott israel #keep boycotting #boycotting

[brooklynislandgirl]

💚 That Strange Doctor, Stephen

Imagine You and Me || Accepting

{{and tagging @tangleweave for a third time}}

Oh, Nonny. Dunno if you're the same one, but do buckle in. This one promises to be extensive.

How do I love him? Let me count the ways. Aside from my first exposure to the Xmen, which got me into comics in the first place {one of my prized possessions is an in-plastic is Uncanny X-men #266. The first appearance of Gambit}. But being the person I have always been, it was magick that drew me in deeper and that's when I found, at the same time, both Stephen and Constantine.Yes, my two favourite wizards, by whatever name you wish to call them. Originally, I was so mad about Benny being cast, I almost boycotted the movie, but my gaming group decided to see it as a group and for a friend's birthday so I was obliged. I left the theatre in awe. He looked the part. He sounded the part. And for some hours {and years, clearly} later? I was a kid all over again, experiencing it like it was new. A wonder I haven't felt often in a long time. I also owe a dear friend of mine about a decade or so worth of apology because I didn't understand Benny's appeal...until his cheek bones cut the diamond of my wedding ring in half.

Prologue concluded, onto the show.

Matt's Stephen is absolutely perfect, even when he thinks he isn't. Upon us discussing plotting, I put forth the idea...which I had already sort of HC'd about 4 years give or take; that Beth *had* been at medical school to be a Neurosurgeon. That she'd gone to Columbia, and then dropped out during her residency {so technically she does have an MD, she's just not a doctor}, and I never stated why, but that this all happened around the time of Andy's 'death'. Which if we match up timelines, puts Stephen working at and lecturing for Columbia, around the time of the Chitauri invasion. Everything lined up for Beth being Stephen's student, and Matt ~gracious and generous to a fault~ agreed to let that be a case, giving them an almost instant rapport, as they would have by now known one another for years. And this is where everything becomes...complicated. Beth being who and what she is often needs time to even find someone attractive beyond whether or not they are aesthetically/artistically appealing. Check and check. She needs to bond with someone to feel the slightest bit motivated to want anything beyond friendly interaction and good heavens does that person have to be intelligent {the quickest way to a girl's heart is through her brain and/or empathy}. Again, check. She appreciates a wicked sense of humour, a compassionate or humanitarian soul, and it doesn't hurt when a person can keep up with her familial lifestyle, and her need to ditch it all for some time away from the cut-throat world of the .001% wealthy and ambitious. You can see where this is going. Stephen is, and was, literally the most perfect man on the planet. So why didn't...? Because she literally met him between the ages of 16-18, when he was already at least in his mid twenties, if not slightly older. She was also his student, and say what you like about Stephen, he isn't a predator. Yes he admired her brain. Was proud of her skill and her adaptability. Maybe even marvelled, pardon the pun, at how quickly she could pick up his wavelength, and be an extra set of hands and senses for him. The drive, the ambition, all of that maybe reminded him of himself. Stephen claimed her, when no one else would. But then she left him, without ever saying why. She sacrificed her life, her career, and any potential for the sake of not damaging his reputation, tarnishing his image, or being faced daily, hour by hour, second by second, the one person she couldn't love.

She really should have had a chat with him, is what I am saying. There is so much more I could say about this, that it could be broken into many parts of this length or longer, or go under a read more. I'm going to stop myself. In various verses, regardless of ships {respected and appreciated and loved even if the other mun doesn't know it} there really is no verse in which Beth doesn't love Stephen. As a friend, a mentor, as someone who believes in her when no one else would, with every ounce of soul she possesses. It doesn't matter the circumstance. Beautifully, tragically, I believe Stephen feels the same again, with respect and admiration, regardless of verse and romantic partner. {Some of the best ones are actually those in which say... Eddie and Beth are a couple, and Stephen is with Wanda or Sigyn and each is cheering the other on and sometimes giving unsolicited advice. Maybe especially these, like 15-Verse Stephen.} But yes. I stand by the "I love you, in every universe." {{?????/10 because I can't even}} {{I also blame Matt entirely}}

#Mahalo!Nonnymouse <333 #Tangleweave #Sphere Music|Stephen and Beth #The Flames that Burn|Dr Strange au

[yooniesim]

I've spoken about this before & have the very short explanation in my pinned post, but I've been getting multiple asks the last couple days about it for some reason- maybe people have been discussing it elsewhere? Not sure, but I'll answer it again, as well as go a little more in-depth about what I've researched since last time I spoke about it.

The question is: why am I still using Curseforge? The answer is: I'm using whatever I get from it to pay for my meds and anything left over from that goes towards my medical or other bills. I've talked about this in-depth a number of times by now, so I won't go into the same extreme detail, but my financial situation is pretty damn bad right now. I try to joke about it when I can, but despite having a job and getting a little on the side from cf/patreon, I'm in the red every month. And after my father's recent passing, I've gained an additional unexpected 6k debt. At this point, I'm doing everything I can on the side irl and online just to keep my head above water. And for now, unfortunately, that includes uploading some cc to Curseforge. Though I'm looking into other options constantly & hoping my situation will improve enough over time that I can abandon it completely.

However... I fully support anyone's desire to boycott, which is why I make sure there's alt links available and clearly marked for all my cc so no one needs to use Curseforge to obtain it. I honestly don't even want to use it myself and wouldn't be if my health and access to medication wasn't on the line. But sadly, every day many of us under capitalism are caught between a rock and a hard place. If you work for minimum wage at McDonald's to feed yourself and your family, are you directly supporting the IDF because the company does? In the US, our tax dollars fund them, against our will. Does working in general mean you personally support them? It's more of a balance game honestly, much with any other boycott or form of protest. Organizers of national boycotts know this struggle, especially for those that are disadvantaged, in poverty, located in food deserts without much choice in what they buy or where they work, etc. That's why organizations such as the BDS focus on targeted boycotts. Focusing on certain targets allows consumers to do what they can to help without being consumed or overwhelmed with the demand to boycott everything that may qualify. That is what I'm personally doing in regards to boycotting.

These images are from the BDS website about boycott targets, and I highly recommend everyone to read the entire article. A part I find poignant in regards to the Curseforge boycott is the second image is the bolded paragraph. What is the aim of this boycott, and what do we expect cf to change or do differently to end it? Overwolf, which owns Curseforge, is an Israeli company. Some will boycott based on that alone, which makes sense, but that obviously isn't something that we can list as a demand to be changed. So what should we ask for? On a surface level, there appears to have been some change so far. Since posting their original tweet in regards to the IDF that everyone has seen by now, they've followed up multiple times to say they don't fund the IDF. It's first instinct to think they're lying, but my question is... why? It isn't like being pro-Israel isn't the majority opinion in the mainstream media after all, especially in Israel and the US. So why even bother to backtrack or risk being caught in a lie?

Personally, I think it's the truth, because there's little benefit in lying to pacify what they would see as a minority opinion. I don't think they need to lie about that, and I don't think they're directly funding the IDF. I think the real problem in what they're doing is actually a bit deeper, and they know that. So their words in the above messages were easy to say to imply change without lying, but still deceitful in a different way. This the Home Support crowdfunding website, and notably the ILF is listed as a partner. I checked their website and it openly mentions Zionism as one of their "values". The ILF is also the one managing the donated money, rather than Overwolf. So at that point, the question is not whether Overwolf is donating directly to the IDF, but if you can trust the word of the ILF to donate appropriately? And the answer to that is, most likely, no. They say the money is only for displaced families and not weaponry, but the fact that the money is going to a Zionist organization to spend and Overwolf is associated with them to begin with is a huge problem.

All that being said, so I'm not misunderstood: I'm not encouraging anyone to let Overwolf off the hook or not to boycott. I think boycotting is an important default response if you are able. I just believe it would also be a good idea to figure out what the goal is and what we as a community want Overwolf to do/change in order to end the boycott. While making sure everyone involved is fully informed on all Overwolf has said/done regarding the matter so we can appropriately demand change. I feel like the boycott so far has been focused on "Overwolf funds the IDF" without further detail or research beyond the initial tweet, which isn't directly true as far as we know, which makes it easy for them to brush off/ignore these claims and never meet any demands... therefore creating an ineffective boycott. Where the demands really need to lie is in their association with the ILF through this crowdfunding campaign. I'm most interested in proof of where the donated money is going, and/or a dissociation between Overwolf and the ILF. I also think EA needs to take a bigger hit here as they are directly profiting from using Curseforge. If cc creators are considered to be funding genocide by using the site, EA is 100% doing the same at a far larger scale by promoting and collecting revenue from uploads as a developer per Curseforge's TOU. If Overwolf is a target, and CF users are targets, EA absolutely must be one as well. (And possibly developers for other games using Curseforge)

I also think there needs to be more organization and streamlining in regards to who is being boycotted. Anyone that uses Curseforge at all, just creators that upload there, or just creators without alt links? Or even focused particularly on those promoted as the official "Mod Squad" by EA/Curseforge and/or the highest earners to put more pressure on EA? In regards to boycotting creators, are you also no longer using and promoting their cc in your posts so they don't get advertisement? Are you making exceptions for certain creators and not others based on popularity, convenience, or income? What about EA in general, since they also profit from Curseforge? What is the scale and where can we apply the most pressure to make the boycott more effective and motivate actual change?

I believe the first people that need to speak out on this issue (once the community determines our specific demands) are content creators affiliated with EA, whether through the CF Mod Squad or any other official endorsement or collaboration. That means cc creators as well as youtubers and any other sims related influencers. Also, those that have the highest downloads on CF would make the biggest impact by pulling their cc from the site either permanently or temporarily depending on organizational efforts/scheduling, as that will hit them the hardest revenue wise. I think this may be a way of putting some direct pressure on EA and Overwolf. The problem with this is, of course, that we would need the cooperation of these large creators, but most have been silent through the calls to boycott. I'm sure this is because of the potential loss of income, and honestly... I believe as long as the only accepted form of protest is removing everything from the site and losing revenue, those creators will continue to be silent. I think it may be best to start by asking these creators to simply speak out about the issue, as their word and influence alone would go a long way, especially if they're closer affiliated with EA. I think creators need to speak out specifically about the crowdfunding effort created by Overwolf's CEO and the CEO of the ILF as I mentioned above, rather than solely focusing on Curseforge's revenue and where it's going. The real issue is the affiliation of Overwolf (and therefore, EA) with a Zionist organization that may be misappropriating funds through a separate campaign, and misformation on this issue is most likely why the boycott has been ineffective thus far. In my opinion, we need to use the influence of well-connected creators as a tool, in order to widen the net and strengthen the impact in the community. Even if these creators don't remove their downloads, we need them to speak on this... without a fear of backlash/becoming a target themselves. Otherwise, they'll continue to just be silent until the call to boycott fades away naturally with time without any of our demands being met.

That's just my personal opinion though, and I'm definitely welcome to more ideas on how to streamline this boycott effort. As well as any more information that can be found that I didn't come across in my research. Details on demands, specific targets, boycott scheduling, etc is highly appreciated.

#ceci speaks #nonsims #text #ceci speaks a lot more #long post #curseforge #overwolf boycott #important #the curseforge issue

[freifraufischer]

So a Gymcastic rant:

Late last night I decided for some reason I'd watch the youtube version of their LA vs Olomouc episode from about a month ago.

It was late so I didn't check some of their takes until this morning but when I did check them how little work they went into actually figuring what was on the Olomouc video is pretty amazing. For context they know they don't have all the Olomouc routines to compare phase to phase against LA so they're doing a hand wavy "the general quality of the apparatus" discussion between the rival 1984 games. Which I want to be clear I'm actually fine with. But the problem is that their answers are basically vibes. I'm not even going to bring in the 1984 code. A lot of the statements they imply about potential corruption or bad scoring can be answered by ... actually looking at the scores.

Which for the record the entire Olomouc score matrix is on wikipedia.

So first of all some context... the Olomouc footage is a mess and it was pretty clearly put together by some Czechoslovakian media person who picked whatever routines appealed to them because it's a mix of routines from optionals/all around/event finals. And they didn't pick the best version of a routine that would be good for propaganda value.

For instance take Hana Říčná's bars. I'm going to talk a bit about the gymcastic take on Říčná but they really loved her bars. Which is fair, her bars are amazing. You can find them at 4.54 in the above video and it's absolutely a modern ahead of it's time bars routine that I have absolutely no problem saying would have been competitive for a bars medal in LA and should have been.

But it also highlights a weirdness about judging quality of routines at Olomouc based on this footage. Because that was not Říčná's highest scoring bars routine from that meet which you would think the Czechoslokian film producers would have picked for the star of their own team. Říčná did optionals bars 3 times here, team optionals, the all around, and event finals.

Team Optionals: 9.90 All Around: 10.00 Event Finals: 9.50

So this routine is obviously from her optionals and she fell in event finals (or had some other kind of disaster she came last in the bars EF). Why the film producers didn't put their home star's perfect bars 10 in this I have no idea.

But I want to point out something about the people they did show in this film on bars and where these routines come from in the competition cross referenced with their scores.

Olga Mostepanova (URS) - 9.75 - This means it's her team optionals routine because she got a 10 in the AA and didn't make the bars final.

Birgit Senff (GDR) - 9.80 - This is a puzzling choice. Seniff is a good bars worker because it's hard to be an East German gymnast and be a bad bars worker but she only did optionals bars once at Olomouc in in team optionals. She was tied for 3rd best bars worker on the East German team here. Why they put her routine in here instead of Gabriele Fähnrich who got a 9.90 optionals bars and a 10.00 in the event finals I don't know. Other than that Senff has a flashy round off over the low bar mount that would later be named after Martina Jentsch at 1987 worlds. But Senff didn't make the AA or EF. I get why they can't judge how Fähnrich would have done in LA because the Olomouc footage doesn't show her.... but it's worth pointing out that she would be the 1985 World Champion and got a bronze on bars at Olomouc so I am inclined to include her in what if scenarios about an non-boycotted LA.

Hana Říčná (TCH) - 9.90 - As discussed this comes from her Team Optionals

Natalia Yurchenko (URS) - 9.95 - Team Optionals (she got a 9.90 on bars in the AA and 9.975 in the bars final).

Alena Dřevjaná (TCH) - 9.95 - Could be any of her 3 optionals bars routines here as she got the same score in Team Optionals, the AA, and the bars EF.

Maxi Gnauck (GDR) - 10.00 - Could be either Team Optionals or the Event Final but not her AA (which I will discuss later).

Now seeing that list you might go "oh so the Olomouc footage is just the Team Optionals." But no, the routines from other apparatus in the film are from different phases. This is not a representative sample of the bars quality at this event ... which is fine because the fact that we have any footage of this event is a miracle. But the thing I want to demonstrate here is that unlike what gymcastic said... it's not the case that "we don't know what phase these routines are from". It's not that hard to figure out. It's weird because it was clearly put together by someone in a studio that didn't know what they were doing but what else is new in gymnastics coverage?

Anyway I want to go back to their judging of the AA because their conclusion was that who should have won the hypothetical non boycotted games would have been Mostepanova, then Retton (they had decided that Szabo's optionals bars makes the LA results clear which ... I actually have no opinion on because i've never seen all the compulsories). But they take issue with Hana Říčná's silver here and suggest it was a corrupt gift to the host country. Now I have... issues with implying/saying that about a competition with no new life where we have a little over 24 minutes of video. I do think it's also worth saying Říčná now lives in the states (and owns a gym) and her daughter is in NCAA right now on the Stanford team so it's not like she or her family wouldn't hear this speculation. Normally I don't know that that should come into a discussion like this but ... I kind of think it's a little irresponsible when they're this far out over their skis in speculation territory.

Gymcastic takes issue with Říčná's AA medal because of her vault and beam. The 10.00 on vault with obvious errors (2.18 in the above video) is a silly 10 no doubt. But... like... all 1983/84 scoring is a bit silly. Particularly vault. The vaulter right before Říčná in that section of the film (which is from the AA) is Shushunova who gets a 9.95 with a HUGE step. I'm fairly certain in the wacky world of early 1980s vault judging they would have considered those vaults appropriately ranked even if the 10 is not a 10. Which goes back to the attitude about imperfect 10s of the era. Look at the ranking in competition not just the single routine to pick deductions. Do I like that? No. But it was how it was seen at the time by many judges.

Now Říčná's AA beam (timestamp 10.16 in the above video) also has a major leg up wobble. It wouldn't have cost her gold (because you know... Mostepanova got a 40...) but it's undoubtedly a major mistake. But ... she did get deducted. She got a 9.85 for that beam. You can argue that she should have been deducted more maybe... but that was a fairly low score for a competitive AAer in the bizarro world of 1983/84.

But I do think it's possible to tease how why Říčná won silver here. Let's start with Gnauck who came in with the second place score from compulsories/optionals but she had some sort of major bars disaster (I'm assuming a fall) and that knocks her down. It was very much obviously a much greater error than a wobble in Říčná's beam. If she had done what she had done in every other bars routine at that meet she would have won silver free and clear. 1984 Shushunova is an excellent optionals gymnast so despite coming into the AA in 5th she is able to claw her way up because of Gnauck's poor bars and Yuchenko's ding on her floor.

So why didn't Shushunova get silver? After all she'd tie for the world championship the next year and win the 1988 AA. Well remember I described her as an excellent optionals gymnast. She got a 9.70 on compulsory beam and a 9.75 on compulsory floor which in a world of an 1984 AA was a hole she was lucky to dig herself out of for a bronze (I hope Elena sent flowers to Gnauck for her fall because otherwise she doesn't win a medal in this AA). Říčná had an advantage over her from compulsories.

Like most things in pre 1989 gymnastics... in an era with both compulsories and no new life if you think something looks like corruption maybe it's just that you can't get your brain around how the competition was actually structured. Even if you take issue with Říčná's vault and beam, why she wins silver does not require a conspiracy theory and as much as this was a silly exercise in the first place I do think Gymcastic (and Jessica's) "well everything was corrupt" statements about the 1980s gives many fans a false impression and diminishes the accomplishments of the gymnasts from the era.

Some more odds and ends from their take about this competition:

They were very taken with Irina Baraksanova. Which is understandable Baraksanova is a lovely gymnast to watch she's one of my favorites. But there was a certain amount of "she was robbed" in the way they talk about her in the episode. But you see... Baraksanova had terrible compulsories. Or at least terrible compulsories for a Soviet here. The lowest on the entire team and an even a 9.55 on compulsory floor which for a Soviet is actually pretty shocking. Something bad must have happened in that compulsory floor. On a team with Mostepanova, Shushunova, and Yuchenko she wasn't going into any finals and I think anyone at the time would have found it weird to suggest she was robbed of anything. She got a team gold medal and contributed ot that result and that was what she was there for.

But there is something telling about their brief talk about Baraksanova. Jessica pronounces her name a few ways (even jokes about turning it into a combination of Obama's name). It's a little weird because it's not that hard a Russian name to say... but also it's not that hard to know how to say it because she was a very active figure in 1985/86. She was one of the two gymnasts Galieva'd out of the 1985 AA so the commentators on that worlds mention her name a lot and she was THE antagonist figure in the 1986 American Cup where Kristie Phillips is depicted as a break out star and the next Mary Lou (remember Mary Lou was the Mary Lou of 1985 American Cup). That she doesn't know how to say her name (and she does say it right at least once) tells me that they didn't look at any other routines from these gymnasts than the 24ish minutes of Olomouc footage and the LA Olympics that they had previously watched for another episode.

But you know that's Jessica and her memory is spotty (she apparently is now saying Mike Jacki was in the bar in her very fanciful version of the Marsden 1987 cheating story ... which at least is not the version from the 1988 press accounts). But Spencer, Spencer is more responsible he would have done his research. Let me tell you why I don't think he bothered either. Besides the fact that neither of them mention Gabriele Fähnrich in their bars discussion he remarks how he didn't recognize Shushunova with a pony tale. Shushunova was a dominating figure the entire next quad. She has that pony tale through not only 1984 but 1985 and 1986 and she doesn't cut her hair short until AFTER 1987 Europeans. How much of Shushunova's career have you watched Spencer? Or have you just watched 1988 a lot?

I'm sorry that this is a rant but Hana Říčná is a gymnast a lot of fans only know for her eponymous bars skill and lazily implying she didn't deserve one of the major medals of her career angered me a lot.

#gymnastics #Youtube

[oediex]

IGN posted their video review of Hogwarts Legacy. They added the following pinned comment:

"The elephant in the room with Hogwarts Legacy is Harry Potter’s creator, J.K. Rowling, whose comments about transgender people in recent years have left a sour taste in the mouths of many current and former Potter fans, both at IGN and in the world at large. This has driven some to call for a boycott of the Wizarding World altogether – including Hogwarts Legacy, though Rowling was not directly involved and there are good reasons (both in-game and out) to believe the developers at Avalanche don’t necessarily share her views. Regardless, IGN has always and will continue to champion human rights causes and support people speaking with their wallets in whatever manner they choose. As critics, our job is to answer the question of whether or not we find Hogwarts Legacy to be fun to play and why; whether it’s ethical to play is a separate but still very important question. So just as in virtually all cases, we’re choosing to expose and address the views of the franchise creator separately from our consideration of the work of the hundreds of game developers and evaluate Hogwarts Legacy as it stands, leaving behind-the-scenes context to be considered in addition to that evaluation, rather than in place of it, so that it can be weighted according to your own values."

While it's nice that they add this, it misses the fact that even if Rowling wasn't directly involved in the making of the game, she is still profiting off it. It's great that they're adding this comment, and I'm sure there are trans people working at IGN, so how could they not + the backlash they would have gotten if they hadn't added it, but clearly the stronger move would have been not to review it at all.

Anyway, the comments are absolute garbage, ranging from "who asked" to "nobody cares", "successfully ignored" to "stay out of politics". The most gross comments are obviously those that state that "some of us agree with jk" and "Rowling said nothing wrong".

I don't mean to make this post to get people depressed (though it is very depressing) but to reiterate that if you stand with trans people, then you boycot this game. I know it's Harry Potter. I know for many of us it hits that sweet spot of childhood nostalgia x self-indulging activity (gaming). But if you buy this game, then you are giving money to a very influential woman who has time and again shown herself to be deeply transphobic; who mingles with many other transphobes and homophobes, as well as people who themselves are involved with anti-abortion, far-right organisations; and don't forget that Rowling will use her money to donate to political campaigns, such as when she donated 1 million pounds to Scotland's anti-independence campaign, the side that won the referendum, with the conservative British government only last month blocking a Scottish bill that would make it easier for trans people to change their legal gender.

It doesn't matter that the makers of Hogwarts Legacy have distanced themselves from Rowling, it doesn't matter that they have included a trans background character or that you can make your own trans character in the character creator - if you buy this game, you are giving money to this woman. She WILL receive royalties from this game as it is based on her intellectual property.

"Rowling consistently makes passive income on all Harry Potter products. Multiple sources have cited that Rowling earns anywhere between $50 million to a $100 million each year from royalties. Forbes estimated she earned $95 million in 2017 alone."

Relevant YouTube images under the cut

#Hogwarts legacy #rowling #harry potter #gaming #anti jkr #anti rowling #anti jk rowling #transphobia

[tscritical]

I'm not taking Thomas' side by a long shot, I mean I'm all for the complete boycot of hp (Funny how the second jkr terf'ed it up literally every store started sellin new hp crap).

But... I guess how he sees it, is tweet vs a whole ass video, y'know? Like if you grew up with it, it's gonna be hard to get rid of old habits, like sorting ppl with a system dodgier than the horoscope 🤷 (never read hp, can you tell?)

But as I'm thinking about it more... he clearly doesn't care enough? If he did, he wouldn't tweet that.

I also went to the fitting in video to see if he had a pinned comment or something, did not, (what the fuck, he could do the bare minimum), and out of 5 months of comments, only one mentioned the jkr thing. Like I get not deleting this one cus it is kinda necessary for the plot but I am salty he hasn't deleted the butch hartman collab. That one's just filler.

So yeah... writing this one has made me more disapointed.

yeahhhh this whole ask is. yeah. agreed.

like i get that old habits die hard (i used to be a fan of hp because i bonded with my mom over it, so i sometimes think of a reference on instinct and then i have to like. mentally smack myself upside the head sjhddjfj) but he should know better than to tweet that shit man. that wasn’t just “oops slip of the tongue” he actually typed it out and pressed the tweet button

and i really wish he’d pin a comment on fitting in that’s like “hey sorry that this aged like milk” or SOMETHING like c’mon pls

and i hate the butch hartman collab so much it’s a piss poor excuse for an episode and it boggles my mind as to why it’s still on youtube (it boggles my mind that bitch shartman even agreed to it in the first place like. bruh what)

head in hands. that’s all i can say at this point. head in fucking hands

#asks #ts critical #ts criticism

[crustycantankerousgrownup]

I'm all for mercilessly critiquing media that you love but I have something to get off my chest;

You do not get to retroactively declare that something is meaningless garbage JUST BECAUSE the author is revealed to have committed Sins and Crimes ™

If it resonated with you before, it has not changed. You have not changed that much. You still got something from the thing that the shitty person made.

If Victorious made you want to audition for your school's talent show, or choir, or sign up for theatre class, then you now have skills that you wouldn't have if it wasn't for Foot Fetishist and Child Harasser Dan Schneider.

Likewise, if Harry Potter helped you become more accepting of others, more skeptical of fascists, more willing to stick up for your beliefs, etc. then you now have values that you wouldn't have if it wasn't for #1 Most Incorrect Harry Potter Fan Jo Rowling.

Don't act like the value that you got out of it was some sort of Mandela effect. Don't act like it's suddenly retroactively worthless or uniquely bad when a lot of people got real, significant benefit from it before JK had her big betrayal meltdown.

Good things can be made by people who cause great harm.

Are some people so out of touch with empathy that they're incapable of making good art? Yeah, I'd say Onision was a good example of that.

But most of the time bad things are done by ordinary people trying to do their best. The key is to be aware of the consequences of your actions, and willing to learn and change.

You know why JK Rowling has dug her heels in and continued to cause harm?

It's not because she's evil.

It's not because she lacks empathy.

It's not because she's an idiot.

It's because she won't admit to herself that she could ever become the thing that she hates, so she's unwilling to learn or change.

She has drawn a line between herself, and the people she sees as bigots-- the worst thing she thinks a person can be-- and she can't see that she herself has become a bigot.

She won't admit to herself that an ordinary person might become a bigot, so she can't see that she's oppressing people who do not deserve to be oppressed.*

You know why it bothers me so much to see people dismiss art made by bad people as meaningless?

Because if you can't see that HP represents JK's espoused beliefs better than her actions do, then you can't see when your own actions contradict your beliefs.

That's how you become the thing you hate.

That's how you become the bigot.

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Just to Clarify;

I'm not suggesting that boycotting something is wrong when the author does bad things or espouses bad beliefs, I'm suggesting that retroactively declaring that the work was never good is not helpful, and may actually be harmful. It's always best to critique works on their own merits, and HP clearly has some merit given the themes it explores, and the number and types of people it resonated with.

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*People who deserve to be oppressed include fascists, racists, basically anyone who is trying to use their beliefs to hurt others.

#harry potter #jk rowling #fuck jkr #death of the author #tbh death of the author is stupid that's not what I'm suggesting it's just a popular tag that's tangentially related #the banality of evil #watch yourself #trans rights are human rights #trans rights