Until we meet again

Agate/El/Falin • he/ax/nya/leaf/they/bun/sun • queer as in fuck you • autistic • 20s • the scary mspec lesboy and supporter that you were warned about • multigender menace • supportive of ALL good faith identities • No longer active check out aholotte.neocities.org

[aholotte]

I'm done with this shit. I'm leaving Tumblr

It's been three years since i joined. i remember making this blog so I could express myself as a mspec lesboy after hiding my identity elsewhere. I wanted to spread information and positivity about the queer community as a whole. Since then, I have been pleasantly surprised to see more and more people become accepting towards contradictory identities, but on the other hand, things have gotten, like, exponentially worse for trans men and mascs since I joined.

Every other day, there's another viral post about how transmascs are all ontologically evil and/or whiney little girls theyfabs with blue hair and pronouns. Whenever we speak out about our experiences, we are gaslit, mocked, and threatened into silence, and also branded as bigots just for trying to talk about our issues. You could make the most benign post about issues transmascs face and some people will take it the wrong way and say that you're a "Hitlerite."

The hatred towards transmascs on this site has gotten so awful that cis people can accuse transmascs of being violent misogynists, secret TERFs, and rapists, and people will not only reblog this uncritically but clap like seals when cis people butt into trans conversations. It's gotten to the point where people are just straight up saying that "trans men have male privilege over cis women." And again, people reblog and outright praise this shit.

It would be one thing if the hate posts were just made by a couple of nobodies and got 0 notes. But transmasc hatred is spouted by super popular blogs, from Dungeon Meshi and/or Deltarune fandom blogs, to aesthetic blogs with Snoopy plush pfps, to shitpost funnyman blogs. NEVER ask a popular Tumblr user what they think about transmascs. And their posts get up to 13k notes.

I'm sick of this shit. You are not helping trans women by bashing trans men. I just can't do this anymore. I am leaving Tumblr and not returning for a long time, this site has been awful for my self-esteem. I don't want transandrophobes to win, I am just protecting my peace. Unless this site learns to stop being shitty to trans men just for existing, I'm not coming back.

I just want to say thank you to all my lovely followers and mutuals, you are all awesome, and thank you to everyone who supports the ENTIRE queer community and stands up for trans men. You are doing great work. Please keep fighting the good fight, and if it ever gets too much (like when you screenshot transandrophobic posts), it's okay to step away.

Until we meet again

-Agate

[zzoupz]

MAY YOUR DAY BE YAOIFUL ON THIS YAOI DAY EVERYONE 🥳🎉👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨💞

[zzoupz]

HAPPY YAOI DAY AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EVERY HORSE IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 🐴🦄🐎🎉🎂

[heystephen]

just a cute little fact but august 1st is also designated as the universal birthday for shelter dogs whose actual birthdays are unknown

[heystephen]

happy dogust and happy birthday to shelter dogs ❤️

[our-queer-experience]

today is yaoi day….. tomorrow is boob day…. you know what that means

[our-queer-experience]

CRAZY HOMOSEXUAL TRANSGENDER SEX DAY AT MIDNIGHT

[wizard0rb]

life in your hands

[jaubaius]

[aeforvirra]

Aw he’s just looking for love

[oarfjsh]

are you his beautiful wife? you are not his beatiful wife? sad snooting

[lady-ofthe-bayou]

Fuckboi ass snake lol

[shamebats]

"X identity queer people don't belong in Y identity queer spaces" girl what spaces??? The gay & lesbian bars that are closing down & being replaced with ✨ absolutely nothing ✨? The pride parades that are losing funding & getting smaller?? Those queer spaces???

[eel-slap]

So many people have forgotten that one of the most important components of and reasons for solidarity is numbers, not perfection, likability, 100 percent agreement, purity, or literally anything else. Most of us have seen the "organize" graphic of the small fish forming into a larger fish, but that's not just organizing, it's also survival.

To bring in an analogy from gaming, more players tend to make even the most impossible challenges manageable even WITH those players' individual problems/skill issues/whatever. The more people you have, even if some of them are the worst players possible who maybe shouldn't even be there, even if some are just riding along to show themselves doing it or for the achievement, even if some have never done the fight before, or aren't the optimal jobs for it or whatever - the more chance you have at winning rather than being wiped.

(I actually had an experience like that when I was an FFXIV noob - I was playing a dancer as DPS and barely knew my skillset or rotation at the time, was using a nonstandard opener I'd made myself - YIKES - and because I was THERE and had a crappy healing off-GCD skill that shouldn't even be in your hotbar now - in fact, I think it even got removed in one of the more recent patches, I'll need to go back and check - I used it on the tank and melee to give them just the few more seconds of HP they needed to finish off the fight.)

The more people you have with you and on your side - the better.

[climbingthefloors]

iconic moment in animanga history

[orteil42]

it's been incredibly freeing to realize that i'm entitled to never having to come up with anything original ever again because i already made cookie clicker and i can be satisfied with that. sorry this isn't meant to be relatable the rest of y'all still gotta try

[orteil42]

"hey orteil you posted a joke but someone else already made that post like a month ago" don't care. popularized a game genre

[the-kellin-under-the-vic]

omg if baby oil dissolves condoms what the fuck does it do to babies???

This may be shocking, but babies and condoms are made of different material

[joleebindo-blog]

it’s like rock paper scissors: baby oil defeats condom, baby defeats baby oil, condom defeats baby

[deathberi]

IT'S AUGUST! TODAY IS STILL AUGUST 1, 1999!

[artphobos]

[theprofessional-amateur]

As someone who has worked in a call center this is an excellent strategy.

-The people answering the phone have zero control over the policy. Don’t yell at them. The job is mostly getting yelled at for stuff you have no control over.

-Call centers have very strict rules about when and why you are allowed to disconnect a call. Being polite and confused absolutely does not qualify. They have to spend that time with you.

-In call centers, call times are strictly monitored. You have goals to get through. Slowing down those times, while being polite, and increasing wait times makes the bosses notice. The bank call center I worked for our call average was supposed to be 2 minutes. When everyone’s average went up because of something happening, management noticed. And did not enjoy it because on slow call days they could let people sign up for “early outs” so you could leave and they didn’t have to pay you. When the phones are slammed and call times up, you have to pay more. You are probably looking at overtime pay for a chunk of staff. Something they really don’t want to do.

-These polite interactions often get taken more seriously than someone screaming. Screaming can get dismissed as “irrational” or something. But “I am a customer and don’t understand this, can you explain it?” And then multiplied by thousands? That gets logged. That gets discussed. That can’t be ignored that a lot of customers are asking for answers.

-It also messes with their money making. Most call reps have a sales goal. They have to try and pitch products to callers. Hard to accomplish that successfully when every caller can’t figure out why they can’t buy stuff through previously ok vendors and also can’t get an answer. Why would I upgrade when I can’t get basic answers?

[theprofessional-amateur]

I would also add, don’t lie. Just play dumb.

“I tried to purchase and it was declined” they can see if that is true. So try and get a transaction declined if you are going to say that. Give your call, and therefore your complaint, credibility.

Or!

Go with “I saw something in the news but I don’t understand. Can you help me understand what the policy is?” Bonus say you know it is always best to get information direct from your financial institution.

[aleatoryw]

i’ve started looking at weight and health the way i look at class and income and it really puts a lot of things into a new perspective.

let me explain: in america at least, the lower class have significantly worse health outcomes, even when accounting for other factors. just being poor is enough to make your overall health worse. we don’t know that being fat makes your health directly worse, like the data just isn’t there, but for a moment, pretend it does.

imagine going to the doctor with a health problem and the doctor looking at your chart and saying well, this problem will be less severe if you go up an income bracket. have you thought about becoming rich? it would really help. start by saving a little money every month.

ridiculous, right?? very few people successfully go from working class to rich, it just doesn’t happen on a large scale in society. maybe for a time you pick up some overtime hours, spend a little beyond your means, and appear rich. but eventually you burn out, your car needs to be repaired, and you return to being working class.

we do have this data: only some people can successfully lose large amounts of weight, and only a tiny fraction of people who lose that weight actually keep it off for more than a year. telling people to lose weight for their health is just absurd because they almost certainly can’t do it any more than they can double their income for their health.

and yet i see it everywhere. a little poster in my work breakroom tells me to improve my blood pressure by losing weight! a psa on the radio says you need to take care of your heart by losing weight! we can’t even conclusively prove that weight is the cause rather than just correlated with a lot of these problems but here it is offered anyway: have you tried being rich?

[bumbledeefumble]

You hit the nail on the head. A lot of people tend to try and invalidate fatphobia as a form of oppression by saying its not an immutible quality like race or sexuality or gender. The old “you can lose weight, i can’t become white/straight/cis” argument.

That’s because fatphobia is a lot more like classism; i.e. it’s a form of bigotry that is only TECHNICALLY changeable. They’re both seen as a lot more changeable than they actually are, for all the reasons you’ve listed.

[stjohnstarling]

I hate to go through this all over again. On July 23rd, Itch.io, one of the most popular platforms for hosting queer and adult independent media, went through a large-scale crackdown on adult content.

This was primarily aimed at games, but novels and comics were hit in the process. Most adult content has been de-listed from the site's search, and some creators were banned without warning. Any funds banned creators have not been paid are currently being withheld by Itch.io.

This crackdown was done, as it always is, because of payment processors like Mastercard and Visa threatening to pull their services.

The payment processors caved to an influence campaign by Australian extremist anti-pornography group Collective Shout, who have been inundating Visa and Mastercard with calls to force video game platforms to stop hosting adult content - which, of course, includes anything queer.

Collective Shout claim to have sent in 1000 emails to get this result, but there are a WAY more than a thousand of us. We need as many people as possible to make as much noise as we can!

Below the cut are numbers and scripts, all you need to do is follow the step by step guide.

Graphic, contact info, alt text, and script by voiddebris on Bluesky, also available collected in a handy document:

Anti-Censorship Campaign

⊘Anti-Censorship Campaign ⊘ ⟡ Complaint Letter Template Customer Complaint Dept, This message is to lodge an official complaint about

Paypal:

Phone (US): 1-888-221-1161

Phone (outside US): 1-402-935-2050

Hours: 6am - 6pm PT

Online (for non-users or logged out - UK bc US site ONLY allows logged in users)

Mastercard:

Phone (US): 1-800-627-8372

Phone (outside US): 1-636-722-7111

Online form

Visa:

Phone (US): 1-800-847-2911

Non-US numbers

Online form

Script:

Customer Complaint Dept, This message is to lodge an official complaint about the ongoing rampant restrictions your company has placed on legal sales made by legitimate businesses. These restrictions are not only counter to the concept of freedom of speech and expression, but they harm consumers, businesses, and they harm your company’s bottom line. The following actions are absolutely necessary to protect the freedoms of your client base and the sustainability of legitimate business practices: 1. Remove from your Terms of Service any mention barring the use of your service for sale and purchase of legal products. 2. Contact Steam (Valve), Itch.io, and any other company you have previously put pressure on to retract your content restrictions. Put in place protections to prevent such restrictions from being put in place in the future without ample warning and time to contest them. If these changes aren't made then I, along with many others will be forced to seek other options for processing payments. Sincerely, A Concerned Customer

***

OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO

Sign this petition from the ACLU:

Mastercard: Sex Work is Work. End Your Unjust Policy.

Mastercard's new policy unfairly targets the adult content industry, making sex workers more vulnerable, especially Black trans women. It mu

Americans - contact your representatives about payment processors acting as censors! You can find your reps’ contact information on 5calls.org.

Script, from here:

Hello Representative/Senator [LAST NAME], -or- Hello office of Representative/Senator [LAST NAME], My name is [YOUR FIRST NAME/SCREEN NAME] and I am one of your constituents. I am calling today to express my concerns with technological censorship. Legal and legitimate adult entertainment is being banned in this country. These bans are not by legislators, but by payment processors like Mastercard and Visa. Mastercard and Visa are improperly creating legislation online through their user and merchant policies. They are banning creator and user access to content that is legal and legitimate. They are inciting fear and panic to encourage censorship. Please take a stand against this impermissible censorship. This is a direct attack on an adult's right to legal content. No one but the legislative branch should be allowed to create legislation. Please support the Federal Trade Commission in their stand against technological censorship to protect the first amendment. Thank you for taking the time to listen today.

[stjohnstarling]

UPDATE: Apparently it is Stripe specifically putting the pressure on Itch.io:

“The open case we have with Stripe right now is probably most critical right now. They apparently are or will be making a determination on the eligibility of our entire platform soon. Do what you want with that information”

Contact info for Stripe can be found here and here:

[phone] (San Francisco HQ)

Stripe: [email protected]

Stripe Complaint Submission Form

354 Oyster Point Boulevard, South San Francisco, California, 94080

More info below the cut!

Americans, I also encourage you to file a complains against these companies with the Better Business Bureau!

How to File a Complaint with the Better Business Bureau (and Alternatives)

In this article what types of complaints the BBB accepts, how to file your complaint with the BBB, and alternatives to the BBB.

And here is a website to help Americans contact their representatives:

#StopCensoringGames - Save your right to adult creative works before it's too late.

RISE UP, GAMERS! Payment providers shouldn't tell you what games you can buy. Let's regulate VISA/MasterCard/PayPal.

Australians can register a concern about Collective Shout's wrongful listing as a charity:

Collective shout's profile + ABN

Raise a concern with the ACNC

[bellmanbessa]

"hello avatar" - korra and pavi

[barnabybugspeopleonline]

having a 'cutesy' art style whilst primarily being into gritty or adult media literally feels like this

magical girl shows really did snap when they assigned personality traits based off the members colors

[gayhex]

pink - commander and the leader. probably really nice and sweet

blue - probably very close to pink, is either 100 iq smarty pants but shy or very tough and cool

yellow/orange - very happy and positive. can vary from being newbie of the group to be older and mature, probably known as the beautiful one

purple - mysterious, usually starts off as a rival or joins the group later, but is definitely known to the members as another MG. Probably has a softer side they don’t show

[squeezemetillipop]

Don’t forget green - more mature and very reliable

[kuramamanamahamanamana]

Red - Mad

[metaphoricalicecream]

[maybemoonbeams]

okay but this implies the existence of a lost pink teletubby. a fallen leader too painful to talk about anymore

[starwarsepisodeiv]

tubby custard.

[maybemoonbeams]

[unicornmitteneater]

where….where are the notes……

[piesandswords]

in the tubby custard with the pink teletubby

[mosticonicposts]

certified iconic post

[worldheritagepostorganization]

World Heritage Post