HEY, FELLOW HATERS OF INSANELY-BRIGHT CAR HEADLIGHTS, SOMEONE HAS STARTED A PETITION TO REGULATE THEM.

The latest questions are centered around Anat Schwartz, an Israeli who co-authored several of the paper’s most widely circulated reports, including the now well-known and scrutinized December 28 article headlined: “‘Screams Without Words’’ How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7.” Independent researchers scrutinized the online record, and raised serious questions about Schwartz. First, she has apparently never been a reporter but is actually a filmmaker, who the Times suddenly hired in October. You would expect the paper to look for someone with actual journalistic experience, especially for a story as sensitive as this one, written during the fog of war. Surely the paper had enough of its own correspondents on staff who could have been assigned to it. Next, the researchers found that Schwartz had not hidden her strong feelings online. There are screenshots of her “liking” certain posts that repeated the “40 beheaded baby” hoax, and that endorsed another hysterical post that urged the Israeli army to “turn Gaza into a slaughterhouse,” and called Palestinians “human animals.” (Just this morning, more evidence emerged online; Schwartz apparently also served in Israeli Military Intelligence.) Finally, one of her co-authors on two of the reports was Adam Sella, who is her nephew.  Let’s pause here. What would happen if the Times suddenly hired a Palestinian filmmaker with no journalistic background, who had recently publicly “liked” posts that called for “pushing Israeli Jews into the sea,” to co-write several of its most sensitive and contested reports? 

[...]

There’s another related example of how the Times has botched the sexual violence story. One of the first Israeli organizations that arrived on the scene of the Hamas attack was Zaka, a volunteer group that recovers dead bodies. On January 15, Times reporter Sheena Frankel wrote a positive profile of the group; she included 3 or 4 sentences of criticism, only to quickly dismiss them. This site had already raised serious doubts about Zaka weeks earlier, pointing out that “the organization’s volunteers have systematically given false testimonies, and continue repeating them to journalists on behalf of the Israel government.” Then, on January 31, the Israeli daily Haaretz published a long investigation, that highlighted “cases of negligence, misinformation and a fundraising campaign that used the dead as props.” Haaretz cited one Zaka report that said a volunteer had seen a murdered pregnant woman, with the baby still attached by the umbilical cord — before concluding that the incident “simply didn’t happen.” At this stage, there are serious doubts about many aspects of Israel’s overall account about October 7. Only a genuinely independent and impartial investigation might some day get closer to the truth. But meanwhile, at the very least the New York Times must publicly recognize its errors, and assign new, unbiased reporters to try to clean up its mess. 

Continue reading

Hey! Lemme boost this really quickly.

hi hi everyone!

i am sorry to be doing this, it's certainly weird as i've been writing since 2020 and never done any kind of commissions or things like this before but my financial situation is changing as my job is super insecure so i made a kofi!

i'll be adding it to my big writing posts, but if you've ever enjoyed my writing feel free to give it a little love. no pressure, don't spend whatcha can't afford.

kofi link

Writing Tips Master Post

Edit: Some posts may be deleted

Character writing/development:

Character Arcs

Making Character Profiles

Character Development

Comic Relief Arc

Internal Conflict

Character Voices

Creating Distinct Characters

Creating Likeable Characters

Writing Strong Female Characters

Writing POC Characters

Building Tension

Plot devices/development:

Intrigue in Storytelling

Enemies to Lovers

Alternatives to Killing Characters

Worldbuilding

Misdirection

Consider Before Killing Characters

Foreshadowing

Narrative:

Emphasising the Stakes

Avoid Info-Dumping

Writing Without Dialogue

1st vs. 2nd vs. 3rd Perspective

Fight Scenes (+ More)

Transitions

Pacing

Writing Prologues

Dialogue Tips

Writing War

Writing Cheating

Worldbuilding:

Worldbuilding: Questions to Consider

Creating Laws/Rules in Fantasy Worlds

Book writing:

Connected vs. Stand-Alone Series

A & B Stories

Writer resources:

Writing YouTube Channels, Podcasts, & Blogs

Online Writing Resources

Outlining/Writing/Editing Software

Writer help:

Losing Passion/Burnout

Overcoming Writer's Block

Fantasy terms:

How To Name Fantasy Races (Step-by-Step)

Naming Elemental Races

Naming Fire-Related Races

How To Name Fantasy Places

Ask games:

Character Ask Game #1

Character Ask Game #2

Character Ask Game #3

Miscellaneous:

1000 Follower Post

2000 Follower Poll

Writing Fantasy

IMPORTANT. I AM BEGGING YOU READ.

i don’t normally do this but it’s come to my attention that i’m now in dire need of help and it has failed me anywhere else, and tonight, it has reached another scary conclusion.

all i ask is that you lend me an ear, just for one moment. i won’t take up much of your time.

hi, i go by the nickname ghostie, and i am 19. i live in an abusive household with my mother. my father does not live with us, and nor do i want him to as my relationship with him is strained at best due to his past gaslighting, emotional abuse, and neglect. i do not talk to my father unless it is needed and even then, it always ends with me in tears and another piece of trauma, so i try to stay away. i have tried to search and find a home for myself where i could, but the system has failed me when i needed it most, and my mother has prevented me, throughout my life, from doing things that might’ve gotten me out sooner.

if any of you have genuinely enjoyed my works and are willing, or are able, i do have a ko-fi, and a paypal and for any amount of you donate, since i am half a writing and half a music blog, i can try to write something for you or make you a playlist in return, and we can work out the details here through private messages. please understand, might take a while as i am currently walking on eggshells shells so i do not have harm come to me or any of the items i need in my daily life.

it’s not by any means an obligation for you to donate, it’s only if you can and are willing, but every amount helps, any amount brings me closer to escaping and finding a place where i do not have to sleep with my pocket knife under my pillow for my protection, my taser hidden in my shoes as a last option, or recite self defense practices in my head with every step in my own home.

if you cannot donate, all i ask is that you reblog or share however you can, as that will get this seen and i can possibly, hopefully, see a light at the end of my tunnel.

thank you for reading, for your time, and your kindness.

i love you all.

thinkin abt shoto and his alt girl. you know, the one who turns his world upside down, their lives so different yet paralleled. he was the only one in his life who wasn’t surprised when he fell head over heels for the girl with piercings and ripped jeans instead of floral perfume and tight pencil skirts.

shoto and his alt girl who doesn’t care about money or social status; she says it’s hard to care about things she’s never had much of. she isn’t enamored by his hero ranking or the people he’s surrounded by. she’s most enamored by him - pretty, strong, and kind - every bit the hero the media makes him out to be and more.

shoto and his alt girl whose face is rarely done up, and he loves her that way. he thinks she’s beautiful every day of the week; her makeup doesn’t change that, and she knows it. most days, she’d rather spend her mornings in messy braids and worn out band tees, drinking coffee next to him than on dolling herself up only to wipe it off later. shoto’s alt girl who sometimes does a little bit for him anyways because she sees the way he stares at her eyes, how he drinks in the bold lip colors that adorn her smile when she’s up for it.

shoto who listens to his alt girl ramble about the things she really cares for as he runs his fingers through her hair, whether it’s romance novels or video games, or perhaps something deeper in herself. he carefully laces up her worn out sneakers and leather boots, plays with the fraying of her jeans and the hem of her skirts when she lets him, runs his fingers along the smoothness of her tights. shoto who loves her thigh highs and short dresses because he knows they’re just for him. he helps her with those pesky fishnets so he can stare at her thighs and leave a trail of kisses behind.

shoto’s alt girl who doesn’t care what the media wants her to be - she’s unapologetically herself, and he loves that about her. even when the world tells her to be less of this and more of that, it’s rare that she truly gives in. he sees the sides of her no one else does - the soft, gentle parts she’s not always quick to show. the world doesn’t hear the way she cries out his name when he holds her close at night. they don’t see the way she clings to his frame, digs her nails into his back, turns to putty in his hands with a few tender words. they don’t know the way she loves him, wholly and completely, imperfect though he may be.

just shoto and his alt girl, the one he swears he’ll never let go of… and proves it every day for the rest of his life.

inspired by izu’s alt girl by @dcsiremc

i really think having an emotional connection is so important to bakugou sexually.

like, i think he has to be in the exact right mood in order to get off by himself at home alone. can't be too tired, can't be too stressed out, can't have too much on his mind regarding work or other things, and even if it's been a while and his body is sensitive and wanting for it—if his head is not right, he can sit there for hours and never reach his peak.

which is why i think ultimately he doesn't do it that often, because it pisses him off to waste the time and not find the release. makes him more agitated. i think porn for the most part doesn't help him because he's too picky, literature probably helps a bit more, but he's still picky, and his imagination can get him there, but his headspace has to be right.

i think he's slow to hands-on stuff, when your relationship starts, and you can tell he's going to be like that pretty quickly. he responds to your touch like it's an accident; you reach out to hold his hand and he pulls his back like your knuckles have knocked by chance, like you're too close. it's not meant to be a rejection of any kind, it's just—he doesn't want you to touch him if you don't want to. if you don't mean to.

but when he realizes that you mean to, that you want to—

it has him skyrocketing. surprises him terribly, the affect you have on his body, and how quickly, because not even he can always have that affect on his own body.

you reach up to push some hair out of his face and your fingers skirt his cheekbone and he feels like a stupid gross disgusting puddle of mush. you loop your arm through his and lean into him while you're walking and he feels like a prize, like he's yours and you're his and you want everybody to know and that gives him a rush of pride that makes his head woozy.

he's dropping you off at home after date number he-doesn't-know and you're staring up at him outside your front door and he knows he should kiss you so he does and his whole body lights up with a heat he doesn't recognize at all. just from that.

and then he finally gets it: that heart-aching, stomach turning, body shaking want he's only ever heard about, and now finally feels.

SATORU’S PRINCESS - TWITTER LINKS

He loves your cherry titties

Watching his cum drip from your pussy

Fingering his cuffed up baby doll

You’re too small for him

Wishing him sweet dreams before bed

Wanting him to do you bareback

Teasing his sweet princess

Reaching your belly from inside

Playing skateboard on your ass

He’s got your thighs shaking

Fucking you in his dorm room (let’s hope Suguru won’t hear)

Too much cum

Taking care of his school girl

Letting Suguru join in while he fucks you

Swore up and down I’d never do this but it’s too high achool Satoru coded not to… also, we’re assuming he’s 18 u guys chill

ID for highlighted portion: "turn the strip into a slaughterhouse. If a hair falls from their head — execute security prisoners. Violate any norm on the way to victory. For them to see amd be seen."