Nyahmunism☆~ @phthonos-superstar - Tumblr Blog

anarchistmemedistro

Attackers explain how an anti-spam defense became an AI weapon.

megaceros

love that energy

fox-bright

Swarovski can continue to fuck off.

In 2021, Swarovski (the company that makes the very sparkly crystals you see in certain jewelry, on figure-skaters' twinkliest outfits, on red carpet dresses), decided they didn't want the grubby fingers of small-time jewelers, clothing designers and costumers and crafters on their shiny beads and rhinestones anymore. They decided to limit their sales to "luxury" and couture creators, not girls who sell stuff on Etsy. The tenor of their press release on the subject was snide and insulting. Resellers (like your favorite bead shop) would no longer be allowed to carry their product; the average Jane on the street would not be able to purchase them. You could only get them if you had an authorized business agreement that bound you to very strict brand behavior. And those of us who still had good stock of the crystals would no longer be "permitted" to use the brand's name in our listings for sale.

Every bead shop and craft supply place and many, many small clothing makers--wedding shops, prom and dancing dress suppliers, the sort of salt of the Earth mom and pop time machines of shops that are the backbone of the field--scrambled to find something that could replace them. The last of the stock dwindled quickly, all of us grabbing what we could get while there was any chance of it, and then it was gone and we no longer had any access.

I was Big Pissed about it at the time. It was just so goddamn stuck-up, when wholesalers and indie jewelers had made them so much money, when some people I knew--when *I!*--had been brand-loyal for decades. But with no recourse, everyone pivoted fairly quickly, most of us to Preciosa Crystals. Those are Czech, quite sparkly, and considerably less expensive than Swarovski. The faceting method they use is different, but not worse; any differences are hardly noticeable when you're seeing them as a hundred pinpoints of light.

Well, out of nowhere, Swarovski just dropped this: https://www.harmanbeads.com/swarovski-brand-policy-update

"Effective June 1, 2026, Swarovski updated the distribution and brand usage policies introduced in 2021. Businesses may now purchase Swarovski Crystals without signing a Brand Control Agreement, and Authorized Distribution Partners may once again sell Swarovski Crystals to resellers, including bead stores and online retailers. Businesses may also use the Swarovski brand name when following Swarovski’s Proper Use Guidelines. Designers, manufacturers, artists, brands, retailers, and resellers are now eligible to purchase Swarovski Crystals through authorized distribution channels."

They want us back. A lot of the companies who could have kept a brand relationship with them also have swapped to Preciosa, over the last half-decade, in solidarity with indie creators and out of a sour awareness that it could be them, next. And it doesn't hurt that Preciosa was able to expand their line quite a bit now that everyone who wanted sparkle had no choice but to go to them.

And I'm not seeing nearly anyone who intends to return. The feeling is, "Y'all told us to fuck off! Off we fucked! And now, that's what you can do, too!" I'm seeing a lot of "How many of us did you stab in the back?" comments from the people whose money they're hoping to attract.

And personally I'm sitting over here all rubby hands, mean snickering, because they really thought they were going to be able to outclimb the people who actually provided all their profits, and now here they are, hat in hand.

robertreich

Hello?

stonesense

humans are believed to have arrived in thedas in about -3100 ancient, which i believeee is just under 4000 years ago from our “modern” thedas. elves and dwarves had already been there for thousands of years by this point and humans were very much the last ones to the party

we know that the dalish believe that humans—or at least the first humans—came from par vollen in the north. there’s no information on if they originated in par vollen (which is an island chain. that’s crazy. for some reason i totally thought it was just the edge of a northern continent) or if they came from anywhere before that. we’re told par vollen was home to an ancient human civilisation before the qunari ever arrived there, people who built pyramids and “vast cities”. the humans of par vollen are so disregarded now by the andrastian world that it’s interesting to think of them as probably the first defining human culture that the elves and dwarves of thedas glimpsed across the sea

i’m inclined to take the dalish elves’ word for it that the first human settlers in thedas were from there, as starting from the north does seem to geographically make sense, since the first humans settled in the tevinter region, along the coast of the nocen sea. these were a particular tribe called the “neromenians”

here’s a map for reference. the nocen sea and its coast is the dip directly south of seheron. it’s interesting to consider why the neromenians didn’t settle in seheron or rivain instead. it’s possible that a) the elves lived in those places so close to arlathan and fended off human settlement, b) the human civilisation in par vollen had colonies in those places and the neromenians were notable for being the first to fully break off, or c) it’s just tevinter-centric later history that leads us to believe the neromenians are “first” while the histories of seheron and rivain are ignored