My mom saw this on Facebook and I thought it should be shared here.
To my coastal comrades, please stay safe.
This is true. We didn’t lose our ENTIRE house in Ivan. But you see in places the roof came off and pictures we sent on were basically reciepts for the fact that everything was destroyed anyway by black toxic mold.
Yes. Toxic mold is going to happen if you get ANY kind of water damage at all.
Here’s something NO ONE teaches you in hurricane evacuation unless you’re in Hurricane Alley:
Take ANYTHING you possibly can that was handmade(think school art projects, gifts from friends of art you can take out of the frame, knitware from grandma), stuff inherited from a relative especially paperwork like marriage licenses and family bibles that hold your history and pictures that are non-digitized. If you have insurance you can rebuild and if you don’t you can find donations of additional clothing food even housing, though it will be a struggle I know. But let look here’s the thing.
Pieces of your history are the one thing, aside from your physical safety, you cannot replace. Trust me on this ok?
The Katrina people lost everything but I come to you as a multiple hurricane survivor who was displaced and made precariously housed on the homelessness scale twice by hurricanes in less than 20 years.
My first major evacuation was when I was 8 for Opal. My mom gave me a suitcase and sent me into my room and said “Go see what you want to bring that’s just yours. We can buy new toys and new clothes but we may not come back. What can’t we buy no matter how much we want to if the house is gone when we come back. See how I’m bringing these pictures of you and your sister and this that my mommy got me for my wedding? What is like that for you?” It was heavy shit to lay on an 8 year old but she was right … I don’t remember but it took more than six months to get back into our house in any real way and at 8 the toys I brought were THE comfort items and not much else and even then? I didn’t need for much because I had the irreplaceables.
Ivan gets lost because it was right before Katrina and was not a racist catastrophe but let me tell you: we never real moved back. Not really. Same situation- photos, letters, handmades, gifts from the dead, records. And this time we lost it all in slow motion.
These two major ones don’t count the fact that I had at least one(1) evacuation every two or so years after Opal until I was 25. After more than a dozen evacuations, you learn what to take.
Hear my experience where federal officials don’t listen to what Floridans have tried to teach.
If a storm is going to make landfall at a Category 3: You are facing a very real possibility that you might NEVER go home even if the building is still standing. Take what CANNOT be replaced. You don’t know how life will be when you return – the crises, stressors and obligations of hurricane aftermath create massive restrictions you cannot predict. You may not have a chance to replace it.
Please signal boost this with my addition attached because every time I hear a report about people lamenting how it’s the pictures they regret the most I just think “Someone should have told you. You deserved to be told as part of basic evacuation procedure.” I’m trying to post this to help fix that. At least a litt.
I really … don’t know what the mom expected… I really do not
I have to say that I would pronounce it A-B-C-D-E. Not “ab-city.”
I will say its a dick move to mock the name in the kid’s earshot. Seriously, if we’re making fun of people’s names, is it too much to ask that it not be in the five year old’s hearing range?
There’s been a major development over the past 24 hours: another member of Congress just came out in support of the House Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s net neutrality repeal.
This is a big deal and could help push other lawmakers do the same, but we have to act fast because the deadline is just over a week away.
We’ve been fighting for months without seeing any movement in Congress, watching the clock ticking down to the deadline. But Rep Joe Morelle (NY-25) his support for the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution could change that.
If we act fast, we can leverage this new momentum to unleash a small landslide of other representatives coming out for net neutrality before the December 10th deadline, which will make a huge difference in the battles ahead.
Your voice matters. As part of today’s Internet-wide day of action, thousands of others are speaking out, along with celebrities, musicians, and websites like Tumblr, Postmates and Etsy.
You can join them and show your support for net neutrality by submitting an ‘I support net neutrality’ photo. We will be flooding lawmakers’ social media feeds with pictures, so if they decide to vote against the open Internet we will make them look us in the eye as they do it.
We can’t let this deadline come and go without making Congress remember that the whole Internet is watching. We’re still fighting for net neutrality. And we won’t forget if they betray us.
Tell everyone you know to take action at DeadlineForNetNeutrality.com and spread the word any way you can. Click here to find ideas on how you can use your slice of the Internet – whether that’s your Tumblr blog, a website you run, or any of your social media accounts – to help get the word out. We’re counting on you!
There’s something that I fundamentally don’t understand about Article 13.
It doesn’t simply protect copyrighted content, it will also absolutely impact the bottom line of these big businesses too. This is how I see it.
Here’s my current fandom:
How did I get into Kingsman? Was it because I saw a trailer for it on TV and thought, “Hey, I should see that.”
Nope. It was via online fandom content almost two years after Kingsman: The Secret Service was released. I never would’ve given it the time of day if not for gifsets and fanfic that I saw and read before I’d even seen the movie. But I saw those things first, so the movie then caught my interest, and I watched it. Legally. I ended up purchasing movie tickets for the sequel, I bought the movies on Blu-ray, I bought some official Kingsman merchandise (don’t judge me), and I even spent a little money on one of the official Kingsman mobile games (like 20 dolla, and I’m not proud of it).
I spend a significant part of my online time interacting in the orbit of the Kingsman fandom. I look forward to the third movie (the actual third movie, not this weird prequel thing…ugh). I will actively spend money on the movie and probably some official merchandise when it’s released too. I also have an interest in the actors from the movie and legally seek out their other work (even Robin Hood, haaaa). Meaning I intend to SPEND MONEY on things related to Kingsman because fandom content keeps my interest going long beyond its official release. Fandom content is often what will catch my interest in the first place.
My fandom before Kingsman?
When I got into Marvel/Captain America, how do you think that happened?
Did I see trailers before other movies? TV commercials? Was it because of people I knew in real life who enjoyed it? Nope. I rarely see any promotional material for things because I don’t normally take in content in the traditional way (the same as most other Millennials and Gen Z, I’d wager). I knew of them, obviously, because they’re insanely popular. But I didn’t give a shit.
I didn’t give a lick about Marvel and it wasn’t until I saw some fan commentary and gifsets on Tumblr/in fan spaces of Captain America: The Winter Soldier that I was like, “Oooh, this sounds interesting. I need to watch this.”
And I watched it. Legally. And I bought it. Legally. And I went out and legally watched everything else Marvel. I bought legal/licensed Marvel merchandise. I bought Marvel comics, ffs. Do you think I cared about comics before that? At this point, I’ve probably spent a good few hundred dollars on Marvel related content. Probably closer to $1000 than $100. And that’s mild compared to some people!
Do you think I would’ve done any of that if I hadn’t first seen fan created content that technically uses copyrighted material?
I sure the fuck would not. I would’ve gone on not caring about it at all.
My point is, Article 13 is so fucking short-sighted. Fandom and creative content made by people not associated with these businesses often makes or breaks that content. How many people do you think got into Marvel the same way I did? How many millions of dollars have people spent on Marvel related merchandise because fandom content fostered their interest way beyond “See it in the movie theatre, then go home and forget about it?”
Here’s another example for the other end of the spectrum:
Avatar. The James Cameron movie. It made $2.7 billion at the box office worldwide. That’s nice. But does anyone really give a shit about it? I’ve never seen it. Don’t have any desire to see it or the supposed upcoming sequels. The only online content I see about it? Mocks it. There is no fandom.
To compare fandoms on Ao3:
No one gives a shit. No one is looking for Avatar. Maybe the sequels will do well, I’m not a psychic. I have no idea. But my point is, there is no longevity there. No one is looking for official Avatar merchandise. No one is creating works about it that keeps interest going years after it was released. And continued interest means continued profit.
So Avatar did really, really well at the box office. Exceptionally well. And then?
Are people buying Avatar clothing? Books? Mugs, tchotchkes, spending thousands of dollars to meet the cast and creators at conventions? Special editions of the movies? Collector’s items?
Google “Avatar pop” and what do you think comes up? Pop! figures for the Avatar movie? Nope. There aren’t any. Are there Pop! figures for Avatar: The Last Airbender, which has a healthy online fandom presence? Yep.
Supernatural is an excellent example as well. A small show on a struggling network. Isn’t it on season 247 at this point? What do you think helped it last as long as it has? All that sweet network promo? The A-List status of its stars (hahahaha)?
HAAAAA! NO! It’s the fucking fan content! All the fanvids, fanfic, artwork, gifsets, commentary, discussions, meta, and beyond. All those creations get seen by hundreds, thousands of people who may have never heard of it before. But it’s that kind of content that sparks an interest. If you’re in that fandom, think of the coolest piece of art (or the best fanfic), that’s what inspires people to seek something out. That’s what cultivates an interest for years, including purchasing god knows what for god knows how much money. Terribly photoshopped ~official~ promo pictures and a couple commercials ain’t gonna do it.
Does the below image make me go “LOL WHAT? wats happening? wats going on? wat is this????”
Ya. Dark, morbid, funny. Sounds interesting…
Does the below official image make me go, “Oooh, gotta watch whatever that is!”
It sure the fuck does not. Sorry Jensen Ackles, you’re good looking and all, but nah. Can’t say I have any interest in whatever that is. WHY ARE YOU IN A CAGE? WHAT IS THAT CHAIN FOR? help me i’m scared
ANYWAY. Which content style above is going to inspire and cultivate enough of a longterm interest that people are willing to buy board games, clothing, jewelry, DVD sets, magazines, go to conventions, buy god knows what else, and spread the word about the show? For over a decade? It ain’t the second picture, I can tell you that much.
Fan content creates new fans and cultivates longterm interest which earns big businesses more money.
That is one of many reasons why Article 13 is shit. For fan content creators and for big business. It’s not a threat to the big business bottom line, it’s free promotion.
I BEG YOU. DO NOT SCROLL PAST THIS.
Need the EU’s Directive on Copyright
Article 13 explained to you or a friend in a different way you might get? READ OP’s post now and pass it on!
I mean… what keeps a fandom like Supernatural alive constantly throughout 14 seasons?
Fic, art, gifs, meta, and a thriving fandom that creates this community. This is the community that drives people to buy all the official merch, to support the charity events run by the actors, to spent big bucks on official conventions, and keeps people engaged with the show. Would a fandom like this have any hope of surviving without the fan-created content? If we were forbidden from creating this family online?
Yeah, this is important. Article 13 MUST NOT happen.
Oh yeah, that reminds me, JK went on about how Dumbledore is gay but she couldn’t put it in there openly and people defended that because of it being a kids book and at the time it was really hard to sell books with LGBT themes in them etc etc blah blah
But now, when given the free reign to write a whole movie that deals with her only two known gay characters she does not address their romance at all and they just make a blood pact.
JK lied to us, she never intended to give us this representation. She could not have had more creative control than she does in the Fantastic Beast movies, it is aimed at an older audience and there is zero reason to not show the at least tell tale signs of a love affair turned sour.
But she instead writes one of her only gay characters to be a basic Nazi, because it is literally the only big bad she knows how to do, and refuses to show their gayness.
You don’t get to sit on Twitter and pretend to be woke and get points for shit that you never ever back up when you get the chance.
Am I the only one who thought their blood pack was gay as hell? Like, there’s no reason to intertwine their fingers like that or rest their foreheads together.
Dumbledore never being openly gay during the books makes sense because why the he’ll should he be telling his students about his sex life? Plus it adds to the whole joke about Harry being unobservant.
But in Fantastic Beasts, his blood pact sure seemed pretty gay and like what and edgy teenager might do with their boyfriend so they could be “together forever” in a time where homosexuality was pretty illegal.
They aren’t edgy teenagers, they are adults and we don’t make blood pacts and she writes this world. She could say it was not illegal for wizards to be gay, they have different laws..
A blood pact isn’t gay as hell. Being gay is gay as hell. Kissing, touching, loving, smiling is gay.
And I’m also going to render a real quick “fuck you” for what you said about Dumbledore in the books. Like, are you so determined to support this shot you will act like the only way a gay man can be open and knowingly gay is IF HE TELLS HIS UNDERAGE STUDENTS SEXUAL DETAILS ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE.
Literally what the fuck is wrong with someone who throws out these homophobic talking points. Dumbledore mentioning a man he loved or having a boyfriend would be totally normal, he doesn’t even have to say a damn thing. This ain’tno a funny, ha ha Harry Doesn’t Knoooow moment. No one in the books or series ever says anything about it. Ever.
Queer bait is not representation, vague “finger entwining” during a non romantic, non sexual blood pact is not representation.
Everyone defending this is weak, and anyone who says that it would be inappropriate for Dumbledore to be open in the books because “something something children something something sex life” can go fuck themselves.
I don’t give a damn what your sexuality is, if you are defending this behaviour in 20gayteen you’re being homophobic as fuck.
Edit: apparently this asshat is straight and thinks that badly written queer baiting is good rep. I mean, I’m glad in a way that it was a het saying this, but way to be gross.
@evilauthor We know about the sex life of several adults in the series, without those adults ever saying anything about what they do alone with their partner. The Weasleys, James and Lily, for example, Tonks and Remus, Bill and Fleur, even Hagrid gets the hots for another half-giant.
Remus and Hagrid were also Harry’s teachers and we know about their sex lives without the story saying “And then Hagrid sat Harry down and explained all the things he’d like to do to do to Headmistress Maxine”. No, we knew Hagrid liked Olympe because he is bashful and shy and a little giggly and a little clumsy around her and he expresses his affection and admiration without ever talking about her in a sexual manner in front of children.
See, when straight relationships are present people don’t automatically assume we’re learning about their sex lives, because outside of sexual situations we tend to call people’s romantic aspect of their lives their “love life” which includes sex, but isn’t limited to it.
You can talk about someone’s love life, without talking explicitly about their sex lives.
The books also aren’t first-person perspective, so Harry being unobservant doesn’t hold as much weight on the narration as one would otherwise expect. We still get scenes outside of Harry’s perspective so blaming it on Harry being oblivious doesn’t hold much water.
Now, we don’t need to know the personal lives and relationships of everyone in the books, obviously, for example I don’t think we see anything of Prof. McGonagall’s love life.
I will also note as a queer kid finding out that Dumbledore was gay even after the fact made me really happy at the time when I was young. However, I also thought there were going to be no more Harry Potter books. I also thought that what we had was all we were going to get.
If you would have told that same small queer child that this burst of joy in some form of representation was never going to be explicitly acknowledged even as we have material that deals with Dumbledore’s younger years….? I would have been heartbroken. Why even reveal he’s gay if you are never going to touch on that aspect of his life? Why say it outside the narrative as word of god but even when you have the chance never actually see it fulfilled?
It’s like queer folks can’t have love lives. All we get is sex lives, apparently. And you can’t talk about sex! Especially not in front of the children! So…. yeah it’s not a great defense of the narrative choices made.
Thank you. This point makes me particularly angry because the amount of times that the existence of lgbt+ people is deemed inherently not appropriate for children is astonishing. And the fact that people who dare to call themselves allies peddle it is just… Hurtful.
The Nazi esque details about Grindelwald were hinted at in the books (what with him being a Pure-blood supremacist vanquished in 1945) but the rest of this post is 100% correct and it’s still shitty that one of two gay characters we know about is wannabe Wizard Hitler.
Reminder not to support the Salvation Army who are a bunch of bigots
It’s ironic that they think being pro LGBTQIA is a “Threat to their fundraising efforts” when the fact is I would NEVER donate a single penny of my money to any group, person or organisation that wasn’t 100% pro LGBTQIA and supportive of the rights and freedoms of LGBTQIA people
The Salvation Army’s bullshit makes certain that I will NEVER waste my money donating to their shitty little organisation because I am not going to give my money to worthless filth like them
Also sick, Apparently the Valparaiso, IN Salvation Army had Aryan Brotherhood members (in full attire) bellringing for them on Black Friday.
Here’s your annual reminder not to give to the Salvation Army, and before a single one of you says “but they do good work” here is ALSO your reminder that THOUSANDS OF OTHER CHARITIES THAT DON’T THINK GAY PEOPLE SHOULD DIE would also gladly accept your donations, often dozens or hundreds in your local region alone. Your options are never “bigots or nothing”.
Here are the top LGBTQ charities that you can donate to, according to Charity Navigator.
Keshet (a national grassroots organization that works for the full equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Jews in Jewish life)
I really wish there was an option on those Customer Service Surveys that says specifically, “The representative I spoke to was lovely and helpful and deserves all of the raises but I think that you, as a corporation, should die in a fire.”
hey as somebody who works in one of those companies that sends out those surveys, never, NEVER mention how much you hate the company in them. just talk about the representative. then, go to the company’s social media page and blast your bad reviews there
those surveys decide our pay, they decide whether we get bonuses or not, they decide if we get to keep our jobs or not. i’ve read transcripts on surveys where it’s has been praising the representative but mentioned one bad thing about the company. that fell to the representative because they should have been enough to sway the customers opinion.
Hey just to add on, if you liked the representative, and the survey is asking for opinions on a scale of 0-10… please give the rep 10′s across the board. Don’t try to be thoughtful and detailed and put down a 7 or an 8 or a 9. A lot of times anything below a 9 or 10 counts as a zero (no, for real) and guess who it comes back to? That’s right, the customer service rep.
At my job anything below a 10 is zero and our store is graded on our survey % so if anyone even puts 9s across the board it’s a 0 in the end and heavily brings down our stores score- which can lead to firings,
corporations: more horrible than i thought
Reiterate: Always score those surveys as 10s. Blast the company itself on social media.
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