(sigh)

Personal blog for fandom, feels, and the occasional serious post. Pronouns: they/them/their, and/or her/she. dreamwidth: mere_vanilla; AO3: Mere_Vanilla

[devinellekurtz]

My Neighbor Demon-Tiger

[ignorethisatyourperil]

[dirtandspace]

Tl;dr how you can personally make Neil Gaiman lose money (and not be a jerk to others.)

I see a lot of folks upset that NG will financially benefit from residuals and other compensation surrounding his involvement in the adaptation of Sandman and Good Omens (and he will.) But the answer isn’t “rage at the fans who are so emotionally attached to their blorbos because they grieve differently, and then somehow NG will be financially punished.” That’s lower-class/middle-class thinking. NG is too rich and financially diversified to really be hurt by little boycott or a couple of show cancellations (though said cancellations can cause life-changing poverty to the little guys who signed contracts and turned down other opportunities before all of this came out. Boy does NG love women in poverty 🤮)

So if you want to substantially reduce the wealth of someone at NG’s financial level—you need to do it with professional services fees.

Details below the cut:

The firm that NG has apparently engaged for online reputation management (ORM), called edendale, was once paid for their professional testimony in an unrelated slander lawsuit, which was delivered in the form of a report (2) outlining the strategy ORM firms use and (2) just how ludicrously expensive those professional services cost. (Credit to horrornobody77 for digging up the report.) We’re talking hundred of thousands of dollars for a small potatoes case, where NG’s could easily get into the millions for ORM and associated legal fees.

Reddit - Dive into anything

It’s not that long of a read, but to summarize the key action items you can take:

📆 -ORMs wait for the discourse to die down, because active discourse is much more expensive to counter. Wanna cost NG money? Talk about the accusations over time. Set a quarterly calendar event in your phone to remind yourself to post (and otherwise engage on other people’s posts) about the Vulture article. This needs to happens for years, so that NG has to pay for more comprehensive ORM and for longer.

✅-Make discourse that is Google-friendly. Use the words edendale will find concerning (they’re already running fluff pieces with the terms Neil Gaiman Uncovered to try and bury the similarly named subreddit.) If you just post a link without much comment, it’s not gonna be prioritized by search engines. Similarly, if you make a low effort post and then no one else engages with it—it’s not going to make it to the top ten search results. Engage with each other, for heaven’s sake!

🦾-Don’t let the fluff sit unaddressed. If you see random bot posts sharing NG quotes captioning random fantasy art (possibly AI or misattributed /stolen) with the comments turned on? Respond! Make it hard for the bots to understand your comment but easy for humans. “Nice quote! Mega bummer about what NG did, I used to really like him,” is hard for a bot to auto-delete. “Fuck NG,” is practically doing the bot’s autodelete command for it.

✍️ -If/when you post fan works for properties strongly related to Neil Gaiman, leave a lil callout in the author’s notes. Nothing that will get you sued, just a few words like: “I would definitely personally choose to not ever meet Neil Gaiman at a comic con.” Maybe throw in a link to your fav tumblr summary.

Anyway, to the person being paid hundreds or thousands of dollars per hour by Neil Gaiman for professional services—you’re welcome for the extra billable hours 😘

Also Edendale sounds like a law firm in a Good Omens legal AU fic, and I can’t believe it’s real.

[unsolicited-opinions]

“you’re not immune to propaganda” applies to you too

Yes, it absolutely does!

Propaganda is baked into our daily reality so seamlessly and thoroughly that it mostly feels like common sense.

It's why we defend brands like they're old friends.

It's why we discuss celebrities we've never met and who don't know we exist as if we know their hearts, defending or condemning them based on how talented their publicists are.

It's why we confuse relatability for trustworthiness

It's why we mistake emotional resonance for moral principles.

It's why we think our opinions are purely self-generated despite being nudged by countless carefully curated narratives which have more (and more subtle) ways of reaching us than at any time in human history.

It's why we treat people's lives, public policy, and geopolitical matters like team sports.

It's why we need to constantly interrogate our own assumptions, habitually subjecting them to fact checking, methodical scrutiny, and cynicism.

It's why we need media literacy and media ecology to be taught to kids of all ages.

It's why everyone should read Orwell, Huxley, Neil Postman, and Marshal McLuhan.

It's why we should all study logic, rhetoric, and ethics - so we can understand and apply moral reasoning based on principles.

The point isn't whether or not we're affected by propaganda, because we all are.

The point is whether or not we know we're affected...which ironically is the exact blind spot that makes people think they're immune.

The moment you assume you're above that influence? That's when it's working best.

That's why, Anon, the post you're responding to didn't say "you are not immune to propoganda."

It said:

If you think you're immune to propaganda, that means the propaganda is working.

Hope that helps!

[unsolicited-opinions]

About an hour after posting, I got another Ask which I think is from the same Anon:

That was what...500 words? So Anon's problem is aliteracy.

That's ironic because aliteracy makes one much more vulnerable to propaganda.

[daughterofstories]

"You're not immune to propaganda"

"You're right! No one is! That's why we all have to put constant effort into identifying and resisting harmful propaganda!"

"OMG, I didn't, like, mean it. I just thought it was a quippy way to call you stupid."

[unsolicited-opinions]

Reblogging solely because I love how @daughterofstories words this.

[saywhat-politics]

Flesh-eating screwworm returns to U.S. after 60 years, threatening cattle herd

The case of New World screwworm was confirmed in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said.

Flesh-eating screwworm returns to U.S. after 60 years, threatening cattle herd

The case of New World screwworm was confirmed in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border, Agriculture Secretary Br

[soloorganaas]

every june I get extra defensive about being jewish simply because the queer community and antisemitism are now so inherently intertwined. it's a time of year where we're all supposed to gather and hug and dance in collective joy and unite in our care for each other but that's now impossible when the vast majority of the community explicitly hate jews. I'm not going to write the 10000th post detailing how and why. we've been doing that for years and the community still don't care. all we get is anger and denial and being pointed to tokenistic antizionist jews and being told be more like them. accept it and be quiet. we will not tolerate your existence otherwise

[soloorganaas]

and honestly I don't wanna hear any well-intentioned apologies or stories of allyship. if you're not demanding from a queer org why someone is allowed to sell 'globalize the intifada' art at their pride event then nothing is going to change

[gayalfredprufrock]

antisemite thought they could hide in the comments

[northstareclipse]

There's a recurring online tendency to aestheticize consensus itself. The imagined future village is full of emotionally compatible people who enjoy communal gardening, conflict resolution circles, acoustic folk music, mutual aid potlucks, and repairing bicycles together at sunset. Which is nice for the people who genuinely enjoy that lifestyle. But plenty of humans are solitary, prickly, obsessive, urban, nocturnal, sensory-seeking, technologically attached, contrarian, novelty-seeking, private, or just plain difficult. Those people do not evaporate after the revolution. They do not get Left Behind while you are Raptured into the Utopia. They become your neighbors.

[just-the-salt]

Didn't think that I'd have to post this exact comparison again, didn't even think I'd have to post it once, and yet I stand disappointed again.

On the left: a sign in German on a street in Bavaria, reading: "Jews are unwanted here." Photo taken by an American in 1937.

On the right: a message from a hotel in Bavaria, Zum Hirschen, sent to Israelis who tried to book a stay, reading: "Sorry, there are no Jews allowed in our hotel." June 2026.

Again, the incident has been "handled": Booking.com took the hotel off its platform and the hotel itself was contacted by the Israeli consulate in Munich. The hotel at first denied sending the message, but later stated that it was indeed one of its employees that sent it. It is yet unclear if the case will lead to formal proceedings.

Let me point out that one small detail. They didn't said Israelis weren't allowed, they didn't say Zionists weren't allowed. They said Jews. Now Bavarians aren't new at the scene of antisemitism, in fact they are very experienced, but nowadays, we don't say Jews when we're being discriminatory, no, we say something else. You're not supposed to say the quiet part out loud! (For those in my comments who don't understand sarcasm, that was it.)

This joins many concerning cases across Europe and the UK (not to mention the US!) that reenact the nostalgic scenes of the 1930s and 1940s. (Again, sarcasm). I haven't yet made a post about the spa in Spain that refused a Jewish woman on entry on account of her Magen David necklace. And here Europe strikes again, in the very place the Nazi party rose to power. All those woke westerners that are so proud to chant about punching Nazis, and where are you now? Aren't you ashamed? Wouldn't even recognize one if it was saluting in your face.

[silvermoon424]

[jewreallythinkthat]

Today I went to the Nova exhibition in London.

It was overwhelming. They said it would take 60-90 minutes to go around it. I was there for two and a half hours, and I didn't see everything.

The design of the exhibition invokes the carnage and chaos of the day - it's a masterclass in exhibition/museum design.

Some of the clips of footage shown in it I remember seeing, lying in bed, on the 7th October 2023 as I tried to work out what was happening in Israel where one of my best friends was currently visiting for a wedding.

I stood by the burnt out husks of cars wondering if this was where people had died, or had they managed to miraculously escape and get away without being mowed down by gunfire.

I started to read the Dinah Project report before realising I couldn't do that in a museum - I needed to be somewhere I felt safe if I wanted to expose myself to that level of horror.

It's been 14 years since I was last in Israel.

I'd never seen a roadside bomb shelter before today but they had either bought with or built one at the exhibition to talk about what Hamas did to those inside. They aren't big. I cannot imagine being trapped there, pinned behind 40 others as terrorists fire bullets and grenades inside. I spent most of the exhibition on the edge of tears, or actively crying.

That was just the first room.

The memorial wall for the hostages has a video of an interview with Rachel and Jon, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. They're wearing masking tape with the number 165 written across it. Rachel speaks with such optimism about her son - they've already seen a hostage release so why would Hersh who was confirmed to be alive not be coming home. I watched that video knowing what those two incredible people would have to go through again just five months later.

The memorial room for the dead had images and words written for almost all those killed at Nova.

I read every name across the three walls.

The interviews with survivors tell of stories of luck. Luck, and deep unadulterated horror at the way so many survived while hearing their friends' final moments. The bar littered with the bodies of all those who tried to hide behind it; the portaloos riddled with bullet holes; the woman who hid in a skip under bags of garbage to survive while others died all around her.

The processing room where we learnt of the foundations set up to help provide heal included videos from the creators of the Nova festival on how they have danced again. I'm proud that Glastonbury in the UK (despite everything) had had memorials for Nova for the past two years and are planning this year's one at the moment.

I was privileged to be there when a Nova survivor was visiting and he shared his testimony. We must bear witness and refuse to let people rewrite the history of this slaughter, this massacre. We know in horrifying detail what inhumane actions were inflicted on innocents that day and this exhibition refuses to let them be forgotten.

To be remembered is to live forever and we will never forget what happened.

If you are UK based, I urge you to go. It's not easy, but it's important.

[fandomdoestzedakah]

Read more at our tumblr and dreamwidth!

Copyable alt text: A warm tone background with blue, black, and green text. Header reads "Fandom Does Tzedakah 2026 / 5786." Angled text reads "get hype!" The heart magen david with secret magen david necklace butterfly chain logo is almost-centered. Centered text reads in all caps "pan-fandom, Jewish, open to all; fanwork auction" with hederas and tildes to separate words. Bottom left reads "creator signups 8 - 22 May; bidding 10 - 15 June; fanworks completed by Rosh Hashanah (11 Sept)." There is a sideview and top view of a butterfly decorating the square flier.

[ratsquinks]

olive in her favourite spot having a ponder

[ratsquinks]

me showing olive all the lovely things everyone wrote about her in the tags

[powersimon]

The carrier of carriers. A tribute to Terry Pratchett

[vivitur-moritur]

the sewing machine is a delicate breed of horse

[vivitur-moritur]

update: i’ve made it through the user manual and have sewn myself a cravat. the sewing machine is a delicate breed of horse with anger in its motion and spite in its heart.

[mayakern]

found a giant chicky nuggy on my couch

[unsuspectingfish]

Every time I see someone say something like “this person wants Palestinians dead” anymore, they’re talking about A) someone who expressed support for Jewish people and/or spoke out against blatant anti-semitism amongst pro-Palestine groups, or B) a Jewish person.

[theres-a-hole-in-my-wall]

funnily enough they never hate on the people that actually want Palestinians dead (neo nazis) like genuinely when's the last time you saw a pro pali talk about Neo nazis (without shoe horning in Jews)

[jewishgay4il]

or the tens of terrorist groups who don't care - and are happy to have - more dead palestinians

[theres-a-hole-in-my-wall]

!!!

A palestinian man just filled an international claim against hamas and its radio silence from them

[heron-knight]

Vampire girl explaining that vampires don’t necessarily have to kill someone to drink their blood, but she did kind of kill a lot of people back when she was all depressed pre-transition: “when I was an egg I ate four dozen lads”