♠ Fuck your censorship ♠

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.

(via bsky)

ENHANCE

"There is an evil empire next door to you, and they keep trying to invade"

"Well, just let them? Borders aren't real, silly!"

"When they invade they want to stop you from passing down your culture, ban your language, stop you from celebrating your holidays, kidnap your kids and scatter them to the four winds."

"Well, I would just stop them, I would say no! I'd hashtag RESIST!"

"Then, they will kill you, and everyone who tries to resist."

"Well then I would fight back, I'd form a resistance movement against them, we'd train with weapons and learn to make bombs and..."

"Wouldn't it be easier if you had already trained that resistance before people were dying? Maybe, get them to learn how to hold a rifle or pilot a drone before they have to do it in secret?"

"Yeah, probably."

But the thing is, it absolutely does. People from the countries that haven't known war for decades or have always been the aggressor are equating any military with evil. Even if they say they discern between the perpetrator and the victim fighting back, there's still this underlying feeling of contempt and mistrust. And it is very much interfering with Ukraine's ability to defend itself.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, plenty of the so-called 'progressive' westerners were opposing arming Ukraine because 'weapon bad', berating queer Ukrainians posting about taking up arms to fight russia, asking others to disregard charities related to the military needs. People were willing to donate to foodbanks etc, but not to charities collecting money for the frontline needs. Which is fine as a personal preference, and we are grateful for any help, but when it turns into a stance where supporting the military is considered bad, it's equals holding a person's hands back while they're being attacked with a knife so that they can't defend themselves, and then nobly tending to their wounds.

And what's worse, it leads to complete disregard of the victims in the military. While the civilian deaths can draw at least some attention, the deaths in the army are met with indifference. And no, not in all instances it's by design of the military as a system made to kill, so the argument 'if it wasn't for the military, they'd be alive' doesn't work in Ukraine's case. In Ukraine's case, if it wasn't for the military, they'd be just as dead, and many more people would be dead as well.

And still, I remember a post of a female Ukrainian war medic interacting with the foreigners, and realizing that her fellow figters and veterans do not even make it to the list of those deserving sympathy in their eyes despite defending the others (with the adult Ukrainian civilians being far at the bottom of the list way below animals and 'great russian culture', but that's a different conversation). And the military are one of the most vulnerable groups in the Ukrainian society at the moment due to constant danger, exhausting 24/7 work and life-changing injuries. The only way they could become even more vulnerable would be if none of us were given weapons and trained in defense at all, an entire society becoming a target with zero chance of fighting back. So, you know, if there was no military.