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@unlikely-ualentine / unlikely-ualentine.tumblr.com

The night just got darker, but it can't last forever.
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image

Okay cool revamping this old thing as a main, where I can have a sploon exclusive side blog and not have to switch accounts because I’m lazy

Splatoon mutuals I had on the previous blog,,,sorry for moving I'm gods most indecisive cretaure 💖

Abby | 22 | she/him | SFW but might have mildly nsfw text shitposts now and then

main blog -> @unlikely-ualentine

splatoon side blog -> @whatdascallop

fallout side blog -> @blind-betrayal

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stuckinapril

Do people realize that Israel is so unrestrained that it’s now launching attacks in Lebanon and Syria as well. Do people realize how little Arab people mean to these genocidal maniacs that they are now killing people in three Arab countries. Can genocide apologists pause their pure hatred for Arabs to at the very least admit this. Or are we going to pretend that Israel has a reason to be intensifying attacks in Damascus right now

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The wrong Dodo went extinct

Wait, why???? The dodo is so cool.

So this is kind of a complex issue and there are far more qualified people discussing why the Dodo is problematic (see this excellent write up by @why-animals-do-the-thing https://blog.whyanimalsdothething.com/post/148060308477/please-let-trusting-the-dodo-as-a-source-go)

One of the main problems with the Dodo is something that is sometimes hard for people without a background in zoology to pick up on, and that is the extreme anthropomorphism of wild animals in their content. Anthropomorphism happens when we erroneously apply human behavior and morals to animal interactions, which might not sound like a big deal at first but is actually incredibly dangerous for both humans and animals. I have seen an article from the dodo claiming that a pet alligator “loves hugs” from his owner. Reptiles do not experience or exhibit emotions the way humans do, and to posit that any alligator loves hugging humans is an absolute recipe for disaster. This is far from an isolated incident in their content. They infamously posted a “heartwarming” video of a polar bear “petting” a sled dog with its paw and suggested that even polar bears can’t resist patting an adorable dog. They later had to pull the content because it turned out that the bear had killed and eaten the dog later that night. Polar bears do not see dogs as cute companions; this was an example of a predator/ prey interaction. If a viewer doesn’t have much background in the behavior of alligators or polar bears, they might accept the Dodos captions as fact, and walk away with a dangerously false perception of how these animals behave.

When we look at animal behavior through the lens of our humans experiences only, we do these species a huge disservice. We have to think critically when viewing animal content online, and do our best to try understand what the behavior actually represents. It’s also incredibly important to educate people and arm them with the knowledge to identify and call-out dangerous anthropomorphism in the media! It’s absolutely okay if you thought of the Dodo as sweet wholesome content- they’ve worked hard to cultivate this image for animal lovers. Now that you have some more background you will definitely start to see the troubling content more and you can work to educate others as well! I love videos of stray puppies finding loving homes, but until the dodo stops producing other videos with dangerous wildlife encounters I can’t in good conscience enjoy their channel.

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ring ring... pick up the phone... be a part of something more :)

HEHE fanart of @toldentops lovely splatoon oc Agara!!! im obsessed with her feral-girlness

A better look at the memcakes of his other ocs as well >:)

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valeroyeaux

if you play video games long enough you see the fandoms treat black characters the same way over and over and over again (wyll ravengard, felix iresso, preston garvey, vivienne de fer, etc etc etc)

"they're boring" "they're annoying" "they're useless" "I never use them" begging you all to take 3 seconds to examine why you hold black characters to such high standards

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rad-roche

playing more brotherhood of steel. if you play as cain (the ghoul) and enlist the services of ruby, a sex worker who hangs out in the bar you pick up quests in, this exchange occurs

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stuckinapril

Every mainstream media outlet imaginable wants you to know that Israel has just re-opened the Erez border, thereby allowing aid through it for the first time since October 7. The White House released a statement saying that it’s delighted to hear this news. It’s a great improvement from previous arrangements, reports state.

What they fail to mention is that now 30% of all Palestinian children under 2 in Gaza are malnourished, that the death toll has surpassed 33k, and that the US—the same superpower that’s telling Israel to protect the civilians—has signed off billions in weapons to Israel not even a month ago.

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fiercynn

on ao3's current fundraiser

apparently it’s time for ao3’s biannual donation drive, which means it’s time for me to remind you all, that regardless of how much you love ao3, you shouldn’t donate to them because they HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY AND NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH IT.

we’ve known for years that ao3 – or, more specifically, the organization for transformative works (@transformativeworks on tumblr), or otw, who runs ao3 and other fandom projects – has a lot of money in their “reserves” that they had no plans for. but in 2023, @manogirl and i did some research on this, and now, after looking at their more recent financial statements, i’ve determined that at the beginning of 2024, they had almost $2.8 MILLION US DOLLARS IN SURPLUS.

our full post last year goes over the principles of how we determined this, even though the numbers are for 2023, but the key points still stand (with the updated numbers):

  • when we say “surplus”, we are not including money that they estimate they need to spend in 2024 for their regular expenses. just the extra that they have no plan for
  • yes, nonprofits do need to keep some money in reserves for emergencies; typically, nonprofits registered in the u.s. tend to keep enough to cover between six months and two years of their regular operating expenses (meaning, the rough amount they need each month to keep their services going). $2.8 million USD is enough to keep otw running for almost FIVE YEARS WITHOUT NEW DONATIONS
  • they always overshoot their fundraisers: as i’m posting this, they’ve already raised $104,751.62 USD from their current donation drive, which is over double what they’ve asked for! on day two of the fundraiser!!
  • no, we are not trying to claim they are embezzling this money or that it is a scam. we believe they are just super incompetent with their money. case in point: that surplus that they have? only earned them $146 USD in interest in 2022, because only about $10,000 USD of their money invested in an interest-bearing account. that’s the interest they earn off of MILLIONS. at the very least they should be using this extra money to generate new revenue – which would also help with their long-term financial security – but they can’t even do that
  • no, they do not need this money to use if they are sued. you can read more about this in the full post, but essentially, they get most of their legal services donated, and they have not, themselves, said this money is for that purpose

i'm not going to go through my process for determining the updated 2024 numbers because i want to get this post out quickly, and otw actually had not updated the sources i needed to get these numbers until the last couple days (seriously, i've been checking), but you can easily recreate the process that @manogirl and i outlined last year with these documents:

  • otw’s 2022 audited financial statement, to determine how much money they had at the end of 2022
  • otw’s 2024 budget spreadsheet, to determine their net income in 2023 and how much they transferred to and from reserves at the beginning of 2024
  • otw’s 2022 form 990 (also available on propublica), which is a tax document, and shows how much interest they earned in 2022 (search “interest” and you’ll find it in several places)  

also, otw has not been accountable to answering questions about their surplus. typically, they hold a public meeting with their finance committee every year in september or october so people can ask questions directly to their treasurer and other committee members; as you can imagine, after doing this deep dive last summer, i was looking forward to getting some answers at that meeting!

but they cancelled that meeting in 2023, and instead asked people to write to the finance committee through their contact us form online. fun fact: i wrote a one-line message to the finance committee on may 11, 2023 through that form, when @manogirl and i were doing this research, asking them for clarification on how much they have in their reserves. i have still not received a response.

so yeah. please spend your money on people who actually need it, like on mutual aid requests! anyone who wants to share their mutual aid requests, please do so in the replies and i’ll share them out – i didn’t want to link directly to individual requests without permission in case this leads to anyone getting harassed, but i would love to share your requests. to start with, here's operation olive branch and their ongoing spreadsheet sharing palestinian folks who need money to escape genocide.

oh, and if you want to write to otw and tell them why you are not donating, i'm not sure it’ll get any results, but it can’t hurt lol. here's their contact us form – just don’t expect a response! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i didn't put this in the original post because i hope it will reach at least some people who like ao3 uncritically despite evidence to the contrary, but here are some reasons ao3 also doesn't DESERVE your money!

  • otw has a long, long history of racism and anti-blackness within the organization: search “otw” or “ao3” on stitch’s media mix, or check out @end-otw-racism
  • this includes racism towards volunteers of color: see @fandomantiracism for how their chinese and chinese-speaking volunteers have been screwed over, as well as dhobi ki kutti’s account of speaking out about racism within the org as a volunteer of color
  • they have also mistreated volunteers who work to try and keep the site clear of child sexual exploitation material: see synonymous for a detailed account
  • and, more recently, they have censured volunteers who put “from the river to the sea, palestine will be free” in their slack statuses, even while supporting rampant zionism from other volunteers: see dhobi ki kutti again on that

the fact that they did all that and are continuing to fundraise for money they do not need during the genocide of palestinians is honestly abhorrent. and yes, while they are hiring a diversity consultant now, i have little confidence in their ability to make change after the proof of otw’s zionism even while they were hiring the consultant – and even if i'm wrong, the fact that otw’s surplus could carry them for years means it’s perfectly valid to wait to see any results before donating.

no one has linked me to their mutual aid requests in the comments but please don't be shy, i want to share them! you can also submit them to my asks if you'd prefer to submit anonymously. i will do my best to determine if requests are a scam or not before reposting