hobie would hate the overpriced hot topic spiderpunk jacket

I have had it with this likescolding. “Tumblr doesn’t have an algorithm so likes don’t actually do anything” motherfucker I am not clicking that heart to give some post better ~algorithmic visibility~ I am clicking that heart to help my internet friend microdose on serotonin as god fucking intended

shoutout to Sam who gave me the idea for this one

Zel has a bunch of toy mice, and sometimes she naps with them. Happy Pride!

Lost followers after reblogging that whole thing about JKR being radicalized over the years, and that disturbs me.

Like if you think saying that people can be radicalized and manipulated into hate is somehow justifying it, yikes. And if you think that people are somehow just good or evil and that you are not at risk of buying into propaganda, have I got some very red flag news about that!

Idk if its because I am an older Millennial maybe (most who unfollowed were younger) but I watched a ton of that generation slide from one of the most progressive to the far right before my every eyes. Hell, my dad fought alongside his black friends in the Detroit race riots and now he watches Fox News 24/7 and talks about the border wall. Yet still claims he could never be racist because of how he used to be. He doesn’t even realize what he has become.

JKR isn’t a deluded old woman or innately evil, but in fact THE prime example of how well-meaning ignorance and privilege can be weaponized and encouraged down a pipeline, until it turns into a force of hate, and should be a cautionary tale about why educating and being open about these issues are necessary. Because there are those out there who will use those divisions and ignorance to their own ends. And just digging in our heels and saying “that could never be me!” is the very thing that puts you more at risk. I’ve lost so many loved ones down that pipeline and it is more slippery than most realize.

Stay alert, stay compassionate, stay humble, and make sure you move through life guided by reason rather than reaction. I love y’all and don’t want to see your passion twisted to get used against the world.

Thinking "I could never be a bigot" is the first prerequisite for becoming a bigot.

In the UK we've seen a few people ride this crazy train to the end of the line in the last few years. Perhaps because our political landscape is different from that of the US, it's easier to see it happening. There has never been an expectation here that being a conservative means you will hold insane views. It might mean you have some objectionable political ideologies, but you are still expected to be a somewhat normal human being who occupies the same planet as the rest of us.

So when we see somebody make the transition from being just a bit right-wing in their thinking, to being a full-on conspiracy lunatic, it really shows. We've seen it with a lot of our politicians and other public figures.

There's a guy called Neil Oliver who used to present historical TV. His views were always a bit weird and biased (historians and archaeologists did not like him at all), but he wasn't an actual crazy person. But he rode that crazy train to the end of the line and became a fully-fledged antivaxx COVID denier, who is now babbling about one world government and peddling antisemitic conspiracy theories. It happens.

JK Rowling's radicalisation has really disturbed people, because she was famous for books which championed ideas of equality and rights for marginalised groups. In retrospect, those books had some biases and prejudices in them as well, but they were ones that most white Britons carry without realising it. So the seemingly sudden change from that to being someone spreading hatred of trans people and seeming to consciously back antisemitic ideas was a massive whiplash. A real shock. Even more of a shock than the fact she seems to have forgotten how to write a readable book.

Now, I'm a pro-independence Scot who was active on Twitter in the years after 2014. So I already knew she was disingenuous, a bit of a troll, and had some fairly reactionary views. Perhaps her further radicalisation was less of a shock for me. But it still took me aback.

This happens. It happens to people who are too secure in their own self-concept as a Good And Progressive Person. They feel that because they are a Good And Progressive Person, all their thoughts and feelings and biases must also be Good And Progressive, because Good People don't have Bad Thoughts, and of course, Bad People never have Good Thoughts.

By painting JK Rowling as having always been a secretly Bad Person, and Harry Potter as having always been secretly propaganda for Bad Thoughts, we make ourselves vulnerable to the same kind of radicalisation. The truth is that she is just a person, a white cis woman with some unexamined biases, who wrote a series of books that were good-hearted and had good messages, and also reflected some of those biases. And now she has taken a ride on the crazy train, and it's scary to see.

Because it could happen to any of us.

Oscar François de Jarjayes portrait

And a closeup!

7 Key Insights on Self-Love

1. I need to affirm and to validate myself as it’s hard to accept validation from others if, deep down inside, I don’t believe it’s true.

2. My time is as valuable as anybody else’s so I need to prioritise what I need to do.

3. I can’t give to others, and help to build them up, if I’m not taking care of my own self first.

4. I need to remember that I’m worthy of love, of success, opportunities, and knowing happiness.

5. My opinions are as valuable as anybody else’s. It’s up to me to decide and to choose my own beliefs.

6. I don’t have to explain why I do what I do (unless you’re the police or have some authority!)

7. My past does not define me - I’m free to change and grow, to try on different “me”s, and to set inspiring goals.

self discipline is so hard like. i know the sucker who's in charge...a pushover who hates authority and loves hedonism

"There's millions of Tumblr users" to you. To me There's only about 12 and we all reblog the same five posts from each other

I am sadly not a legitimate be gay do crimes thrillseeker. the idea of getting in trouble makes my tummy hurt. Sorry

the spirit is willing, but the flesh has anxiety.

A New History of Fandom Purges

On November 24th, 2018, I posted a list of major deletions of sites or of content on sites that stripped fandom of its history. A bunch of pro-shipper blogs had just been deleted, and people were nervous. I suppose I was thinking “All this has happened before…”

On December 3rd, 2018, Tumblr’s Department of Irony announced the NSFW ban. Thanks for providing this salutary lesson to The Youth and a billion reblogs to me, I guess.

Today, we have AO3 for writing. Audio, images, and video are in as much danger as ever, yet fans attack AO3 every donation drive. For those of you who forget our past…

HERE IS WHAT HISTORY HAS TAUGHT US!

This is only a small taste of the many times that:

It’s not always malicious. It’s not always about us. But we lose every time.

Some of these purges hit everyone. Many of them hit m/m content specifically or female gaze-y material in general. This is why antis are dead wrong. This is why anti-fujoshi policies end up being anti-m/m policies. This is why we need clear labeling, not content restrictions.

This is why we need AO3.

And it’s why we need a solution for audio, visuals, and video too.

So grateful for the historical memory and the long view on a phenomenon many of us have come to late, and/or take for granted.

And this is why AO3 generates twice its goal amount in just a few days: they are irreplaceable.

There are some examples here I didn’t know about or had forgotten. Fandom just isn’t as invulnerable or disposable as some people seem to think.

every morning i wake up and make the worst possible time management decisions anyone has ever made

do u ppl say ‘etic’ or ‘eee tee sea’ when u read this?-> etc.

what the hell. what’s goign on. are you all pranking me

"Etck" or even "Eckt"

What if BD fans started glorifying France like weebs do w/ Japan

“God French ppl can draw so much better than American artists.. their culture is so much cooler than everyone else’s. I actually imported a ton of these Lucky Luke & Smurfs figures from France! *eats baguettes and French toast while they watch reruns of the 90s tintin cartoon*”

we already do

*laughs in french and blares "La Ballade des Daltons" on the loudspeakers*

Okay I’m gonna delete twitter.

So I'm going to a nerd convention this weekend and I made myself a t-shirt just for the occasion

Losing it over this twitter account

[Image ID: Three tweets from Real Jonathan Harker. The first says “Dracula took my phone. (tweet sent from Nintendo 3DS)” The second says “Dracula took my 3DS (tweet sent from Nintendo Wii U)” The third says “Dracula took the Wii U (tweet sent from LG Smart Refridgerator)” /end ID]