stay the course

saw this on Insta and the idea that people who are anti-AI are just using it anyway like... willing to give it up? I ACTIVELY AVOID THAT SHIT BUD! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?

ALSO

from the second video:

But building on that essay [first video], and what we’ve discussed today as a prime example of a narrative born from the “homophobes are secretly just gay” trope, I want to examine why it’s so resistant to correction, and why people that are otherwise usually media literate and concerned with truth over comforting myths might grab onto this with both hands and refuse to let go. And I'm including myself in this. The first time I heard the Grindr crash thing, I laughed. I'm not coming to you from moral superiority. I'm coming from a position of "I also fell for this and then felt annoyed about it and made it everyone else's problem in the form of a video essay because I think the truth is actually a more effective political weapon than a lie." So why does this work? I think there are four main reasons, ranging from "understandable" to "I'm not sure that's healthy babe." The first reason: yo, it feels good. Queer people are constantly on the receiving end… Of right-wing politics in a material, tangible way. These aren't abstract disagreements. These are people who've campaigned on the premise that your love is invalid, your identity is a disorder, your existence is a threat to children. And when the power imbalance is that stark, there is something extremeeeelllly satisfying about the idea that the oppressor who thinks they are so much better than you is nothing but a fraud. They can’t even meet their own bar for “deserves rights.” It's the political equivalent of "the bully has a crush on you." We're told that story from childhood. So when someone offers an adult, political version, "they're homophobic because they're secretly homosexual", we’re already primed and lubed, and it slides right in to how we understand the world. And suddenly, the power dynamic feels more manageable, they’re just pathetic self-hating gays, I’m not scared of that. It feels good, and it feels true. And that’s the exact kind of story that goes viral, regardless of whether it’s based on evidence.

The "Republicans crash Grindr when they gather" claim has every quality of what misinformation researchers call “sticky”, as in, it’s sticky. It’s sticks to your brain. And it does so, even after you learn the truth. Researchers call this The Continued Influence Effect (CIE). It’s a cognitive phenomenon where misinformation continues to influence a person's reasoning and beliefs even after it has been clearly and credibly retracted. The paper posits that people continue to use misinformation because, on some level, they still feel it is relevant or useful, even if they know it's false. This paper frames this not just as a problem of forgetting the correction or new information, but as a problem where the feeling of familiarity and narrative coherence from the original misinformation overrides the factual knowledge of its retraction. We believe, because it feels true.

It can also be found on Google Drive here and on Bluesky here.

so, all athletes should immediately stop playing sports. construction workers, anyone with jobs that put them at risk, they need to find different employment. people with uteruses shouldn’t ever get pregnant, either. actually you know what? don’t enter a car or vehicle at all! and don’t even get me started on old people. what age do we think they should just give it up & throw in the towel? 50? 60? after that they become way too burdensome. it’s a problem.

Paypal

Cash app

I'm extremely angry this is happening NOW. I need to make hours at work so I can afford my bills in the next few weeks but :') I guess my body has just decided it's time to short out.

It's literally too dangerous for me to go to work today. I've had two crashes. tomorrow I'm going to go in and work 12 as well as Friday but ... God damn

PayPal is here

Cash app is here

Posting because I genuinely don't know what to do

My paycheck isn't processed until Monday. My deadline for being able to split rent and keep my apartment is Sunday night.

I'm selling every character in my TH, which you can find here

I need to somehow make 500 dollars in 48 hours.

Every single one is available. Literally even Jack. Some of them are going to be pretty expensive.

Even if you don't want to buy a character or anything just share this and circulate it, anything helps, I dont know what I'm going to do I can literally see the paycheck about to clear. It's in my upcoming transactions but nobody fucking cares.

If it isn't in by the fifth it doesn't matter. I'm so tired . I'm going to fucking lose everything because of this if I can't come up with the funds.

If someone wants to pay and be reimbursed I can do that too once my check comes in. Just

The Updated Help Post

First: Payment / donations can be sent to HERE (cashapp ) or HERE (paypal) ; I figure it's best to put those up front.

What's Going On, Red?:

The long and the short of it is this. In Late September, 2025, I made a decision to help a friend of mine out by giving him over 1500 (and honestly, over 2000) dollars to keep him off the street. The details of that I don't feel comfortable sharing, but they were verified. He has a wife, and he has kids. To me, it was simple. He said he'd pay me back by November.

What happened next?

He didn't pay me back. Not only that, but the government shutdown happened -- and worse, bills have kept piling up. He has said, over and over, that the money is coming. He has paid me back some of it, but the remaining money he owes me isn't, ironically, even enough money at this point to pay off the negative he's left me with. He's also requested more money from me in the meantime, while continuing to make excuses.

As of today, april 16th, he owes me over 800 dollars out of the over 2000 I wound up giving to him to save him from being homeless, from his kids not having meds, etc.

I have been unable to make up the defecit because of ... obvious reasons. I had to take out loans to survive and keep my roof over my head. I am drowning in bullshit, all because this single guy lied to my face.

What now?

I have the following goals I need to make:

55 USD --> by april 21st --> to pay my insurance.

62 USD --> by april 22nd --> to stop a loan from being accelerated; if I cannot pay this by this date, they will begin to sue me/take me to court.

100 USD --> by April 28th --> to stop Allstate from canceling my policy.

140 USD --> by April 26th -> to pay my car bill. after this date, they will repo my car.

for a total of, with just these amounts, needing 357 USD ; that is not counting the potential additional 590 I may need to make rent in May. that 357, plus an additional 400 dollars, is what I need to make it "even" with this stupid goddamn gap of money that I cannot overcome.

What Happens In May?

In May, I will be getting regular checks again. I have been taking highly reduced pay, it turns out, because my manager was not allowed to give me paid leave. I'll repeat, my manager was not allowed to give me paid leave. However, we have begun the work to change that and it is from what I understand that on Friday, April 17th, I will be put in the system as getting at least this last paycheck as paid leave, which means IF THIS IS APPROVED I will be able to pay my rent in may. Things will not be perfect in may and I will still need help, however, I will be in much less danger and can probably make the way out of this pit on my own after that.

THE EXCUSE LIST:

Excuses this guy has given me in the last week:

his basement mysteriously flooded overnight (i googled the area he lives and couldn't find any flooding signs or recent rains, but it could have been a burst pipe or something)

his paypal has been held/cancelled so he cannot use that.

his bank has "released the funds but not actually sent them" (which he's used three times)

he has had to be off of his phone for a period of time because of real life issues (which i'm sorry but I dropped everything for this guy when he messaged me that he was in urgent need of help)

he cannot get zelle/venmo because ???? his accounts have been cancelled.

he has a mysterious cash app glitch that is keeping him from being able to send me money.

his lawyer is talking with his bank about the issue, they said it should be resolved (... three days ago). he still has not given me any contact information for any of these people.

upon asking Cashapp support, they have been unable to verify activity on the account he has given me over there.

Needless to say: I am not seeing a cent of what he owes me.

The Updated Help Post

First: Payment / donations can be sent to HERE (cashapp ) or HERE (paypal) ; I figure it's best to put those up front.

What's Going On, Red?:

The long and the short of it is this. In Late September, 2025, I made a decision to help a friend of mine out by giving him over 1500 (and honestly, over 2000) dollars to keep him off the street. The details of that I don't feel comfortable sharing, but they were verified. He has a wife, and he has kids. To me, it was simple. He said he'd pay me back by November.

What happened next?

He didn't pay me back. Not only that, but the government shutdown happened -- and worse, bills have kept piling up. He has said, over and over, that the money is coming. He has paid me back some of it, but the remaining money he owes me isn't, ironically, even enough money at this point to pay off the negative he's left me with. He's also requested more money from me in the meantime, while continuing to make excuses.

As of today, april 16th, he owes me over 800 dollars out of the over 2000 I wound up giving to him to save him from being homeless, from his kids not having meds, etc.

I have been unable to make up the defecit because of ... obvious reasons. I had to take out loans to survive and keep my roof over my head. I am drowning in bullshit, all because this single guy lied to my face.

What now?

I have the following goals I need to make:

55 USD --> by april 21st --> to pay my insurance.

62 USD --> by april 22nd --> to stop a loan from being accelerated; if I cannot pay this by this date, they will begin to sue me/take me to court.

100 USD --> by April 28th --> to stop Allstate from canceling my policy.

140 USD --> by April 26th -> to pay my car bill. after this date, they will repo my car.

for a total of, with just these amounts, needing 357 USD ; that is not counting the potential additional 590 I may need to make rent in May. that 357, plus an additional 400 dollars, is what I need to make it "even" with this stupid goddamn gap of money that I cannot overcome.

What Happens In May?

In May, I will be getting regular checks again. I have been taking highly reduced pay, it turns out, because my manager was not allowed to give me paid leave. I'll repeat, my manager was not allowed to give me paid leave. However, we have begun the work to change that and it is from what I understand that on Friday, April 17th, I will be put in the system as getting at least this last paycheck as paid leave, which means IF THIS IS APPROVED I will be able to pay my rent in may. Things will not be perfect in may and I will still need help, however, I will be in much less danger and can probably make the way out of this pit on my own after that.

THE EXCUSE LIST:

Excuses this guy has given me in the last week:

his basement mysteriously flooded overnight (i googled the area he lives and couldn't find any flooding signs or recent rains, but it could have been a burst pipe or something)

his paypal has been held/cancelled so he cannot use that.

his bank has "released the funds but not actually sent them" (which he's used three times)

he has had to be off of his phone for a period of time because of real life issues (which i'm sorry but I dropped everything for this guy when he messaged me that he was in urgent need of help)

he cannot get zelle/venmo because ???? his accounts have been cancelled.

he has a mysterious cash app glitch that is keeping him from being able to send me money.

his lawyer is talking with his bank about the issue, they said it should be resolved (... three days ago). he still has not given me any contact information for any of these people.

upon asking Cashapp support, they have been unable to verify activity on the account he has given me over there.

Needless to say: I am not seeing a cent of what he owes me.

This motherfucker apparently has reached out to his bank and is trying to charge back some of the old stuff he gave me. It didn't work but I got alerted to a fun fraud charge.

The good news at least is that I only need 160 more dollars to cover my cats new medicine + my medicine + the insurance.

The really bad news is that I may not be able to get my paycheck like it was meant to be on Saturday. If that happens I'll go over the cost of what I'll need here.

The Updated Help Post

First: Payment / donations can be sent to HERE (cashapp ) or HERE (paypal) ; I figure it's best to put those up front.

What's Going On, Red?:

The long and the short of it is this. In Late September, 2025, I made a decision to help a friend of mine out by giving him over 1500 (and honestly, over 2000) dollars to keep him off the street. The details of that I don't feel comfortable sharing, but they were verified. He has a wife, and he has kids. To me, it was simple. He said he'd pay me back by November.

What happened next?

He didn't pay me back. Not only that, but the government shutdown happened -- and worse, bills have kept piling up. He has said, over and over, that the money is coming. He has paid me back some of it, but the remaining money he owes me isn't, ironically, even enough money at this point to pay off the negative he's left me with. He's also requested more money from me in the meantime, while continuing to make excuses.

As of today, april 16th, he owes me over 800 dollars out of the over 2000 I wound up giving to him to save him from being homeless, from his kids not having meds, etc.

I have been unable to make up the defecit because of ... obvious reasons. I had to take out loans to survive and keep my roof over my head. I am drowning in bullshit, all because this single guy lied to my face.

What now?

I have the following goals I need to make:

55 USD --> by april 21st --> to pay my insurance.

62 USD --> by april 22nd --> to stop a loan from being accelerated; if I cannot pay this by this date, they will begin to sue me/take me to court.

100 USD --> by April 28th --> to stop Allstate from canceling my policy.

140 USD --> by April 26th -> to pay my car bill. after this date, they will repo my car.

for a total of, with just these amounts, needing 357 USD ; that is not counting the potential additional 590 I may need to make rent in May. that 357, plus an additional 400 dollars, is what I need to make it "even" with this stupid goddamn gap of money that I cannot overcome.

What Happens In May?

In May, I will be getting regular checks again. I have been taking highly reduced pay, it turns out, because my manager was not allowed to give me paid leave. I'll repeat, my manager was not allowed to give me paid leave. However, we have begun the work to change that and it is from what I understand that on Friday, April 17th, I will be put in the system as getting at least this last paycheck as paid leave, which means IF THIS IS APPROVED I will be able to pay my rent in may. Things will not be perfect in may and I will still need help, however, I will be in much less danger and can probably make the way out of this pit on my own after that.

THE EXCUSE LIST:

Excuses this guy has given me in the last week:

his basement mysteriously flooded overnight (i googled the area he lives and couldn't find any flooding signs or recent rains, but it could have been a burst pipe or something)

his paypal has been held/cancelled so he cannot use that.

his bank has "released the funds but not actually sent them" (which he's used three times)

he has had to be off of his phone for a period of time because of real life issues (which i'm sorry but I dropped everything for this guy when he messaged me that he was in urgent need of help)

he cannot get zelle/venmo because ???? his accounts have been cancelled.

he has a mysterious cash app glitch that is keeping him from being able to send me money.

his lawyer is talking with his bank about the issue, they said it should be resolved (... three days ago). he still has not given me any contact information for any of these people.

upon asking Cashapp support, they have been unable to verify activity on the account he has given me over there.

Needless to say: I am not seeing a cent of what he owes me.

I am offering the following:

45 USD painted pixel icon (100x100 pixels or smaller if you want a Furcadia Icon; can negotiate sizes for different websites). examples:

70 USD "painted" references:

(note that this first one isn't actually done; I'm including a wip to show mid-process work because for some reason the finished one got an AI accusation???)

(note: an animal pixel reference is 30 usd, I just. wasn't sure where to put it lmao)

50 USD Pixel Scene --> 1 fullbody human and 1 fullbody nonhuman OR 2 fullbody nonhumans included at base price.

WORLD OF DARKNESS DISCOUNT: