The Fire God’s Boon

I regret to inform you that Discord's new Terms of Service includes an arbitration clause. You can find it here https://discord.com/terms/#16. This clause includes an opt-out, which I have transcribed here:

discord.com

Terms of Service | Discord

Read about Discord's Terms of Service

You can decline this agreement to arbitrate by emailing an opt-out notice to arbitration-opt-out@discord.com within 30 days of April 15, 2024 or when you first register your Discord account, whichever is later; otherwise, you shall be bound to arbitrate disputes in accordance with the terms of these paragraphs. If you opt out of these arbitration provisions, Discord also will not be bound by them.

These clauses are underhanded ways that corporations seek to deprive you of your right to participate in class-action lawsuits and your right to a jury trial. (This does only apply to us users ,other people still spread the word though )

Boycott Disney. Boycott McDonald's. Boycott Starbucks. "Oh but it won't work, it won't do anything" Yes it will. Boycotts have worked before and they will again. Think of the Montgomery bus boycotts. Think about American women boycotting imported British goods during the revolution.

Why do you think popular media is so quick to discount boycotts as ineffective? Could it possibly be because they work? Could it be because major corporations understand that they work and are scared? Could it be because boycotts have historically been utilized by marginalized groups to assert their views and fight for change within a conflict in which they have no power?

Do not have give in to the apathetic nihilism of "nothing I do matters, so why bother?" That is exactly what oppressors count on. Be critical of the media you consume. Ask questions. Look to history. Boycott.

People seem to always need to attribute evil to something immutably wrong with a person or at least to some powerful force within said person that can't be just a choice (no matter how influenced by the coercive forces of society and one's own history).

The widely spread Christian notion that people act in what society currently thought of as evil was that people were sinners or possessed by an evil spirit.

Now that spiritual explanations for evil are mostly not socially sanctioned outside of circles of people that accept such explanations, we've gone from attributing evil to spiritual pollution, to attributing evil to psychiatric pollution.

19th and most of the 20th century's hysteria, the psychopath of the later 20th century, the sociopath of the 00s, and now it's the narcissist.

Have you considered that, sometimes, people choose to do fucked up shit just because it's easier, or the results satisfy them better? They're not Possessed by the indomitable spirit of a disorder. Sometimes people choose to cause harm the same way anyone would choose between flavors of a drink due to no pathology and nothing INTRINSICALLY wrong with them.

Sometimes, people are just assholes, and when you see millions of people claiming their ex was afflicted with a pathology, it starts to seem like rather than a pathology those exes are participating in harmful but socially permitted and even encouraged behaviors, especially if they play right into the rulebooks of patriarchal relations. That's not pathology, that's normalized evil, systemic evil.

Men lowering the self-esteem of their girlfriends when they feel emasculated and treating them like shit behind closed doors, even tangibly violently, is awful and deeply traumatizing, I know by experience from the two relationships with men I got to have before accepting my lesbianism. But that's not a disorder, that's just... What our misogynistic, patriarchal culture teaches men and tells men is ok to do in order to reaffirm their control over their women, it's what the people around those men have historically allowed them to get away with.

Same with abusive parents with their children; much like women under patriarchy, children are seen as possessions belonging to their parents and extensions of their parents, even into adulthood. A parent doesn't need to meet the clinical criteria of NPD in order to horrendously traumatize their child and then feel that they were in their right to do so. Society already tells parents all the time that they're allowed to horrendously traumatize their children while still expecting loyalty and deference from them.

I'm antipsych but I'm not here to discuss the validity of personality disorder diagnoses. I'm actually ceding ground here and for the sake of this conversation just briefly accepting that framework of understanding of trauma survivors.

Ceding that ground; please stop calling every horrible person a narcissist, a sociopath, a psychopath, and so on. Evil doesn't lie in some intrinsic Brain Wired Wrong condition, that's such an apocalyptic and stigmatizing view of humanity, one that absolves many of the people who cause the kind of harm being addressed here. Evil and harm are choices.

reblog from my doodle and cries-over-amazing-pixel-art side blog @lil-bloomz

Here’s my sketch to pixel art of my (now paused, leaf-babes-and-awkward-book-nerd-and-fashionable-gamer-lesbians indie game 🍁

This is my main character Leafette. So far I have her as Black, trans, loves books and sweaters. Lol that’s it. I was making this game, but I wayyy over-scoped at my current level of game development, so this game is on the shelf for a bit longer. Might try to make a basic demo by late 2023 for a cozy little fall game 🍂

Here’s my 2021 blog post if you wanna hear about my beginnings for this character and game! Yes pls I wanna read more about leaf lesbians blog link.

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[Image Description: On the left is a pen sketch of a character with a leaf for a head and a human body wearing a sweater and ripped jeans. On the right against a light brown background, is the pixel art drawing of the same character with a brown colored, leaf for a head. They are wearing red earrings with a dark green knit sweater that has light green patches on the shoulders, cuffs, hemline, and collar. They are wearing blue jeans with heart-shaped patches at the knees and red shoes. END ID]

UPDATE: Pads and Reusable Water Bottles!

These past few days, Hussam says that the temperature was quite high, going as high as 37C on Yawn Arafat (the day before Eid)! The situation for everyone continues to be tough in the middle of their continued displacement while they seek safety from bombings.

Thankfully, Hussam managed to buy 5 liter reusable water bottles and pads for the people of the camp he is staying at. Each family received a 5 liter water bottle and 3 packages of high quality hygiene pads. Your donations helped make this possible!

Please keep donating to HelpGazaChildren! This grassroots effort is helping so many people in Gaza when the world has abandoned them!

Donate to our GoFundMe which goes directly to Hussam with NO middleman in between! He also sends money to the North!

HelpGazaChildren Notion Site || #helpgazachildren tag

GoFundMe Link

ID: Video of people holding packages of pads, with a large pile of pads on the floor. Some people gather in a tented area to receive their three packages of pads.

They're done: the Forbidden Halftone Brush Pack of your dreams.

Nine free halftone brushes for Clip Studio Paint. I will not be making another set of these so grab 'em now or never. Upload instructions are included in the folder! Thanks for your support! 😭

Past Freebie Brushes | Subscriber Brushes | And My Brush Tag

Here’s the Operation Olive Branch master spreadsheet ⬇️ easy links to mutual aid providers and a huge list of families in need as well as additional resources for creators who are looking to help as we surpass 200 days of suffering

Google Docs

Operation Olive Branch

NAVIGATION <a href="https://buymeacoffee.com/operationolivebranch">URGENT: Please support our BUYMEACOFFEE for Bahrain Medical Aid and the

Here’s a link to their printable flyer