laz, laza, lazae

End OTW Racism We, as fans of color and our allies, find the current state of fandom and current actions (and lack thereof) unacceptable. Fandom is our space, all of ours. We, as a fandom, have a right to a racism-free space and have a duty to our fellow fans to create that space. Unlike so much of the world, this is a space we can control and make better. It is a space we must make better. Read More → Star Wars, MCU, Mag7, The Old Guard, roughly a thousand other fandoms, social justice. Sometimes NSFW, not spoiler-free. Links: AO3 // Visual inspo blog \\ Dreamwidth // Nuclear Waste Warnings \\ Mag7 Lockscreens // Mastodon Blog links: My scraps & tumblr fic // My graphics & photography \\ Selfies // Fandom racism \\ Purity culture // Joe/Nicky discourse collection \\ Cheer up tag // Bisexual catnip

[redsixwing]

Notes on the Bandcamp post:

Someone pointed out that article's from 2023, and that's my mistake! Here is one that describes better where we are today.

Bandcamp Engineering Layoffs Raise New Concerns For Independent Artists

Bandcamp engineering layoffs renew fears over Songtradr ownership, artist support and the future of direct-to-fan music.

So.

Downloads are still available as of time of writing. If you have music you want to keep, maybe go download it.

If your favorites sell music directly, go buy it there.

Do NOT go yell at musicians for being on Bandcamp. Where, one day after this broke, do you expect them to go? Where else can we get DRM-free files?

If the new owners keep Bandcamp Friday and DRM-free downloads, I will keep buying music from them.

Think of it this way: who are we trying to help? Musicians, right?

It won't help musicians to boycott Bandcamp and I have not (as of this writing) seen a call for it that's actually from a musician.

It really won't help musicians to yell at them about being on Bandcamp.

Next Bandcamp Friday I'm going to go buy albums I'd miss if they disappeared.

(And no. I am not a fan of the new ownership. I don't have a better alternative either.)

[huliajelena]

i don’t think i can keep pretending i don’t like you anymore

[natalieironside]

I think the aversion in our society to coming up w/ utilitarian answers to ethical questions (my favorite hobby) has caused us to cede way too much ground to the assholes of the world in the vein of "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb," as Dark Helmet put it. Like.

Laypeople (and also a concerning number of scientists) have often got the idea that unethical human experimentation is some sort of ultra-effective super science that would fix all the disease and discover all of the medicine and we only don't do it because it isn't nice (see: every science fiction show ever). No! Jumping straight from abstract theory to human trials is a terrible way to do science. It produces incoherent results and useless observations and nonsensical conclusions. We have pages and pages of historical precedent demonstrating this.

And lots of people have got the idea that totalitarianism is some sort of magic super-government that does all the government stuff really effectively abd efficiently and we only don't do it because it isn't nice. No!!!! "Let's put one idiot in charge and do whatever dumb shit they say" is the worst way to organize any project at all, let alone an economy and a political machine. Fascist regimes are models of corruption, waste, and inefficiency.

And so on

[itsabear]

mengela discovered nothing. 731 discovered nothing. Residential school trials discovered nothing. Unethical medical trials are just cruelty by mediocre people. None of the doctors in these unethical trials were outstanding students or notable doctors. We dont need science fiction we just need history and honesty.

[natalieironside]

In addition to its being niceys, ethics is a form of rigor. Someone who disregards ethics is (1) Doing It Wrong and (2) just as likely to disregard any other forms of rigor they decide they don't like.

[magpie-trove]

If you’re ever wondering what I’m thinking about it’s that part in Rogue One where Chirrut is praying for the door to open and Cassian just like suddenly remembers he has a lock pick that he can use to open the door when the time is right and pulls it out and gets ready then is like “the force and I have different priorities” because he thinks the force isn’t helping them and like Sir. Sir have you considered. You are the answer to Chirrut’s prayer. You guys are The Plan for defeating the evil you think the force is ignoring. You are The Plan. Sir. You opened the door. The door is open. The force is with you buddy. Go get em.

[gorskivijenac]

“Down with the dark forces of colonialism!”, Belgrade, Serbia, 1961. Photographed by Tomislav Peternek

After the murder of Patrice Lumumba in 1961, demonstrations were held in Serbia as a sign of protest, which turned into riots. As many as 150,000 demonstrators gathered on the streets of Belgrade and 25,000 in Subotica.

Demonstrators carried pictures of Lumumba and signs saying “Death to colonialism” and “Freedom for subjugated nations”. A group of protesters broke away and attacked the Belgian embassy, ​​which they demolished and hung Lumumba’s picture on with the inscription: “Glory to the fighter for the freedom and peace of African people”, and set fire to all the embassy’s vehicles.

[maswartz]

[fractally]

This has been my main argument against "AI" from the very beginning.

OpenAI scraped the entire web. All of which had been a labor of love from humans. Wikipedia is the backbone of a lot of LLMs, and that was volunteer human labor. They stole it and now they're selling it back to us.

And worse, they're trying to destroy the free sources that they stole from. It's destruction of human knowledge on an unprecedented scale. The burning of the library of Alexandria has nothing on this.

[catsofyore]

Little boys. 💕 Postcard from my collection, unsent, 1902.

[copperbadge]

Maybe now is a good time for a summer psa about adderall increasing your sensitivity to heat!

....which I forgot about completely before blithely going out in it yesterday to walk to a doctor's appointment and then had to like, sit down with my head between my knees when I got there. I was fully hydrated, had a water bottle with me, wore a hat, walked in the shade, and still by four blocks I was feeling Unwell. It's been ungodly hot out, admittedly, but I have felt more sensitive to it this summer than previous summers and now PERHAPS I KNOW WHY. (My dose was raised over the winter.)

Remember kids: check your meds to see if they make you sensitive to heat, cold, or sun -- and heat and sun are different sensitivities, though of course they can be relational when, say, your Adderall reduces your thirst impulses and you go out in the sun already dehydrated. Know the symptoms of heatstroke -- flushed skin, rapid breathing or heart rate, lack of sweating, disorientation, nausea. Get somewhere cool, get help, and get wet!

[gothhabiba]

“Europe is literally the creation of the Third World. The wealth which smothers her is that which was stolen from the underdeveloped peoples. The ports of Holland, the docks of Bordeaux and Liverpool were specialized in the Negro slave trade, and owe their renown to millions of deported slaves. So when we hear the head of a European state declare with his hand on his heart that he must come to the aid of the poor underdeveloped peoples, we do not tremble with gratitude.”

— Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (via precarious-life)

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Feels like a bad idea maybe

[runraerun]

This but make it domestic Spirk:

[eldar-of-zemlya]

Maaan, this Ernest Chiriacka illustration has been in my K/S inspiration folder for over a year now!! Thank you for making this post—this was the push I needed to finally make it happen xD

✨ Full size on AO3 ✨

[hachinana87]

Hmmm

[actuallysara]

Hudson Williams (via by.aikaflores)

[cakepopsandcoffee]

[shanepervert]

[arthurfoxy]

Prev how dare you leave this in the tags

[partiallypearl]

Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episode 2 - "Olympians"

[alex51324]

Since it's considered by many to be wrong to speak ill of the dead, I'll take this opportunity to say that Mitch McConnell is a craven, lick-spittling sack of shit, and with his mind-bogglingly corrupt refusal to hold confirmation hearings for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee in 2016, single-handedly provided one of the necessary conditions for our country's current turn toward fascism.