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here’s some you’ve almost definitely heard:

EDIT: Georden Whitman, former creator of Nomad of Nowhere, has come out and publicly confirmed the Glassdoor reviews are true.

Original story:

Rooster Teeth’s Glassdoor reviews have recently made serious allegations against the company, with people who work for the company claiming that the company engages in practices involving heavy crunch periods, a resistance to providing benefits, eighty hour work weeks, a management team trying to justify crunch and unpaid overtime that, according to some, led to as much as a third of RWBY and gen;LOCK’s recent seasons being made effectively for free. 

Below are screencaps and exact quotes from the pages. Any emphasis made is done by me.

From May 23rd this year, as written by an employee with three years experience at RT:

Cons

Program scheduling department has no idea how to time budget for animation, has resulted in unnecessary, preventable crunch Company takes on projects that are too big for it to manage effectively Not the highest pay compared to Anim Guild standards Open office space, gets noisy

Advice to Management

Management has been using a weird method to try and deescalate hard feelings about crunch. They’re acting like counselors who are “there to talk” and to try and find “coping mechanisms” to deal with crunch. This is a terrible idea considering that none of them are trained counselors as far as I’m aware, but more-so, they’re obviously going to be biased in favor of what they want from us. It makes me want to communicate with them even less. This past review, my manager criticized me for having “negative energy” during a terrible crunch period where we were working over 80 hrs s week, and told me I should “look for the silver lining” which is just bad advice. Advice to management is to stop pretending you know anything about mental health and also be less passive - fight harder for your team.

From May 13th, an employee with a year’s experience at Rooster Teeth:

Cons

The management is terrible. Artists are lead on with the promises of “full time employment and benefits” dangled in front of them without ever being addressed and ultimately are never given, there is no paid overtime, artists had to fight for their right to time off between productions, and good luck getting any form of benefits despite them being plastered on the wall.

Advice to Management

You’re not a group of guys playing halo in your apartment anymore. Please run your business and look at what’s happened to it.

From June 11th this year, from an employee who has been working at the company for five years:

Cons

- Extremely poor management (Some of it is negligence, some of it is just accidental from the sheer amount of work. Upper management is also extreme bro/friends club.) - Insanely high expectations (animate a 10-14 min episode in 2 weeks) - Very low compensation (I’ve worked here for years and make entry pay. Some people have gone MULTIPLE years with no raise) - No overtime pay (Every season of RWBY and GL gets about 1/3 or less made for ‘free’ because no one gets paid over time and it’s not uncommon to work hundreds of hours of overtime) - Toxic work environment (there are a lot of cliques, complaining and even making fun of other people and depts here. It never gets punished so it always happens. Not professional)  - You know something is going right when after many complaints HR reminds everyone you have “unlimited” mental health doctor appointments… I could honestly go on and on like an emo on Myspace in 2007 but I’ll reign it in. I’ll leave it at this since I’ve seen many fans read these and be skeptical. It’s not great. You can deny it but there is a lot of evidence if you just accept it. And the reason you work here is cus you get stuck and are promised “It’ll get better”. The work is low quality (hard to get jobs elsewhere), pay is low (can’t save money) and life/work balance is a joke. We have a bit of balance now but it’s only for a couple months out of the year when production isn’t in full swing. Then it’s back in the meat grinder.

Advice to Management

You NEED to listen to the workers and make hard decisions and actually fight for better conditions. It’s been far far too long of “it’ll get better” or “we know what to do next year”. This isn’t sustainable and I think we all know it. But someone has to be the guy to say “no” when things aren’t good enough. If you don’t say no, hundreds of people suffer. Please.

From May 18th:

Cons

Crunch has gotten to an unacceptable level. Productions have been completed with over half of total hours unpaid overtime, especially impacting the comp and editing department. Management cares more about their ego than the quality of the work they put out— letting the crunch caused by their irresponsible decisions fall solely on the shoulders of the artists while they enjoy a forty hour work week. Pay is laughable compared with the amount of mandated, unpaid hours of labor. No career advancement, and contract workers are given empty promises of full time employment before being shown the door once production is done.

Advice to Management

Stop saying the crunch issue is “getting better” or that you’re “working on it”, and start actually owning up to your mistakes.

From May 19th:

Cons

-A lot of employees brought on, if not all, before the last development cycle were promised permanent positions after a 90 day trial period. As those dates approached those artists saw no change, asking their leads what was going on. The guidance from higher ups was vague at best, and some felt like they had been forced to lie to employees during the interview process. - A lot of processes went over-scope due to poor planning. -Lack of actual production experience in the management side of things is no longer something that can be glossed over as the company tries to take on more industry vetted employees. -Crunch is extreme and overtime is not compensated for, nor is that time given back in any fair amount.

Advice to Management

-Clear and concise communication -Re-structure your upper level management

From May 12th:

Cons

Crunch here is out of control. No Paid OT. Expect to work A LOT for free. 70-80 hour work weeks. Mandatory 10-12 hour work days sometimes with no days off. Management is more interested in telling you what you want the hear as opposed to the truth.

Advice to Management

Fix the crunch issue and stop saying 'we’re working on it’…. because you’re not. Layoffs are certain. Will layoff bad employees and good employees in the same breath, completely eliminating any reason to work as hard as you’re required to do. Fix your transparency issue and stop overworking your employees otherwise your reputation will severely suffer.

From April 5th:

Cons

-No paid overtime. -Crunch is a major problem in the animation department due to unrealistic deadlines, poor planning, and indecisiveness. (Mandatory 10 to 12 hour days for multiple months are common.) -Stress levels are often very high due to harsh deadlines -Some of the producers tend to lie. -Promotions are used as a morale booster, not actual career advancement. -Hardly any time for Professional Development -Professionalism can be a bit scarce (for example people would draw penises on the boards throughout the studio)

Advice to Management

-Management needs to seriously figure out how to deal with the crunch issue. A question was asked at an all hands meeting: “How are you going to handle crunch this year?” Instead of giving a clear answer, the head of the RT animation department completely dodged the question. If you don’t know how you are going to tackle a problem, try saying, “I don’t know. I will get back with you ASAP.” Then actually pursue a solution to the problem. Dodging questions makes you look shady and untrustworthy. -Improve production plans and make sure you have enough resources to complete your projects. If you are going to work on two shows at the same time, then you need to double ALL of your teams along the pipeline, not just one. If you can barely get one project done with your current resources, you certainly cannot finish two. If you can’t get the resources needed to complete the projects, then it’s probably best to keep them small or to simply not do them at all. Pushing your teams beyond the breaking point is not the wisest decision. If you continue with your overambitious ways, it will backfire in the long run. Telltale Games’ closure and Bioware’s Anthem debacle are examples of what’s to come if you do not improve your production practices and get crunch under control. -Get more training on how to manage people. There are plenty of programs out there that can help management understand how to work with various types of personalities. There were some situations where I noticed that some leads and producers simply did not know how to talk to a person when there was a problem. Despite all of the criticism I just wrote, I feel the majority of who work at Rooster Teeth Productions are decent people. However, the management is just terrible. Put some of that ambition you have into fixing your problems internally instead of putting it into meeting those unrealistic deadlines.

From March 25th:

Cons

- Massive amounts of unpaid overtime. All while touting the importance to the company of a life/work balance. They promise to give you the time back, but it will be impossible to take. - Management is just a joke. They can’t schedule or stay on track to save their lives. Total amateur hour. - Zero followthrough on promises made. How about a pizza party? - Pay much lower than standard. Don’t expect real raises. Promotions with increased responsibilities don’t come with comparable pay bumps. - Most promises of advancement and opportunities are hollow wishful thinking. - Almost zero followthrough with meaningful investment in employee education. You can access a Udemy account and that’s about it. - Management will blame the artists instead of taking responsibility and will even through people under the bus to cover themselves. - Internet celebs are more valuable than artists.  - Their awards are called “cockbite of the month/year” and it’s what they call their employees. You may not want to be called that but that’s too bad. It’s their culture. A few guys draw penises everywhere to be funny. - Not very much diversity in management. Feels like you need to be a straight white male to be appreciated.

Advice to Management

Hire some actual seasoned industry professionals to upper management in Animation. And demonstrate there are some consequences for them, instead of taking it out on employees.

From April 11th: 

Cons

-Overtime, and hours will cause any person to slowly become something they don’t like. -Management is typically made up of “talent” and treats other employees poorly, not to mention 0 years of previous managerial experience. -Management also blames other employees for the problems they create, and don’t show actual leadership. -Echo chambers within management. -Stress levels incredibly high -Lack of professionalism

Advice to Management

-Get rid of “talent” in managerial roles, it’s clear they’re costing the company serious problems and money. The ones who end up being hurt are the employees who knew and constantly warned about problems ahead of time that were ignored. If the company stays the same a huge incident is bound to follow. -Try to respect creatives that aren’t “talent” within the company as well. It’s clear management doesn’t and goes against the entirety of the company’s “core values.” those who have had previous industry experience should be listened to and considered instead of being shrugged off and given responses like “Well that’s just how we do things.” -Collaboration doesnt seem to exist for a majority of managment here. If this one massive change happens the company could really grow far and do much more than create crude content with a lack of care/heart for the final product. -If people are able to sleep and have a normal schedule more thoughtful input will also happen, and your content can only get better. -A multitude of people and lives have been hurt from management at this company, from in house employees being mentally abused to freelancers that are ghosted. So many immature and poor practices have taken place within the animation department I’m amazed a lawsuit has yet to happen. -Management should be leaders not bosses.

It’s almost darkly funny that most of the positives are just “They give you free food on Mondays and the people are nice.” 

But these are all from just the last year alone. Most reviews from before the start of 2019 don’t speak of crunch barring one from April 2018, one from March 2018 and one from June. This is a problem that has been affecting Rooster Teeth for at least an entire year, and since the start of the new year, the problem has magnified tenfold. Most reviews mention that the heads of departments are aware of the crunch and unpaid overtime but refuse to do anything about it beyond offering platitudes or dodging the question on what the company is going to actually do to fix the crunch problem.

Crunch is a problem plaguing many companies, especially in the western hemisphere. In gaming development there’s a story nearly every month about what apathetic upper management think they can get away with by forcing employees to spend dozens of hours every week slaving away on their product. I hoped that Rooster Teeth would not be one of these companies, but I am saddened to see that they were not. 

Crunch’s negative effects on mental and physical health have been well documented, alongside the basic fact that crunch isn’t worth it and doesn’t work. Employees forced to crunch are unable to work as well as employees who are well rested and have time to go home to their families. 

To anyone working these impossible crunch hours at Rooster Teeth right now, I hope your suffering ends soon, that eventually basic human empathy wins out and hours are lessened while you receive your just rewards for your work.

For @roosterteeth? This is appalling and a slap in the face to the fanbase you conned into thinking that you were a company that cared for everyone within as a huge family. Your entire management team should be ashamed of the environment you signed off on. No profit margin is worth the suffering you have subjected your crew to. Shame on you. 

As a fan of RWBY, it disgusts me that a product I enjoy was made through blood, sweat and tears. And as a fan of RWBY, I wish to make a public call to the fanbase, be it on Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter or Youtube. I want to make a public statement to Rooster Teeth that we are willing to wait longer for new shows if it means that they are made ethically. I can’t in good conscience support a product if it was made by putting the workers through hell. Maybe I can’t change anything on my own, maybe ultimately we’ll just be ignored, but I refuse to stand by and stay silent on the matter, maybe even get Rooster Teeth to make changes in their workflow (I won’t say “I hope they respond” because they seem to respond in-house to complaints about crunch without ever actually changing anything) 

I encourage you to share this around as much as you can. Share the accounts of the Glassdoor reviews as far and as wide as you can. We love and enjoy media, we love the people who make it- the animators, editors, writers and voice actors, and we as a community want them to not have to resort to RT’s seemingly unlimited mental health coverage or “find a coping mechanism to deal with crunch.” As much as it pains me to admit, I’d rather see RWBY die instead of seeing continue to be made on the back of crunch.

Being bi has no bearing on whether or not I want to have a threesome, and people’s assumptions are irrelevant. I don’t.

In general, I think that the concept of a threesome is WAY more appealing than the actual experience of having a threesome. They are messy, awkward, confusing. Those factors are not conducive to actually getting off. Having a long-term, monogamous partner is EASILY more satisfying every time. So there is no real motivation to throw anyone else into the mix.

I think that both men and women are attractive, but I do not need or want to experience them together. I CERTAINLY don’t I want my husband to sleep with another woman while I am present, regardless of whether I’m attracted to her. That sounds terrible. He is a straight dude, and my bisexuality is not a get-out-of-monogamy-free card. I would never want him to be in the mindset of “shopping around” for another potential partner and I am not in that mindset either. We’re not looking for other people to join us, and we’ve never seriously entertained the idea.

I think this question glorifies the act of having a threesome and disregards the reasons that we have sex in the first place, which is that we love each other. We have cultivated a healthy relationship for many years. Sex is an expression of that connection (primarily), not something we want to do randomly with whatever girl we both think is pretty. 

this is ok.

it has happened before. it will happen again. it has been lost before. it will be lost again. and again. and again. and again. art and architecture are transient, and temporary, and 850 years may seem like a lot to the individual, who will live maybe 100 if they are very lucky and very healthy, but even the pyramids at saqqara have only existed for about 6000 years and that’s still not all that much, if you consider the grand scheme of things.

yes, this is terrible. as someone who is deeply religious and literally a professional historian with a focus on art and architecture, this is terrible. im mourning. im gutted. im horrified and upset and miserable. but.

it’s not over.

victor hugo wrote hunchback because notre dame du paris was in the process of collapsing and falling apart, and revitalized the entire world’s focus and love for this church, and that was not even 200 years ago. it led to it being renovated.

the roof has fallen in. the scars of fires are on its buttresses. the rose window has fallen out. the beams and piers have collapsed. the spire has toppled. the stones have suffered, and will suffer again, but it is not gone.

renovation work is essential. sometimes things collapse and burn and break and have to come back. it’s not a terrorist attack, it’s renovation, an accident, but we have so much evidence, history, carefully documented everything on one of the most studied places in the world.

Obviously everyone is shocked but here’s a few important key facts:

The roof is completely gone. Part of it dated back from the 13th century but the rest was from the 19th. The stone arch roof under the top roof is fine.

One of the three main stained glass rose windows has fallen out. Most of the other stained glass windows are okay.

The spire has fallen down and that’s the saddest part. BUT! It was in the process of being restored and the 16 statues that were there were removed just four days ago! So they’re fine.

The main structure is still here and nothing has “burned down” unlike what some people have been saying.

The “treasure” (sacred objects) is safe.

Yes, I know, the fire is still not completely out and the damage still needs to be fully evaluated. This comment is based on the live coverages I’ve been watching all evening.

However the worst is behind us even if the firemen have been saying it’s a “difficult fire” (”un feu difficile”).

On the topic of works of art that were inside:

Apparently the fire is still going in the north tower. The firemen seem worried there’s possible structural damage there.

The fire is also still going at the back of the roof.

It currently looks like this:

Firemen at the entrance (source: REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer). We can see inside the cathedral. The stone arch roof has apparently been damaged in some places but as you can see the inside of the main structure isn’t on fire so far.

The firemen are doing all they can. One of them has apparently been wounded.

“Le feu a baissé en intensité. On peut penser que la structure de Notre-Dame est sauvée, notamment le beffroi nord”, a déclaré le secrétaire d'Etat auprès du ministre de l'Intérieur Laurent Nunez. La structure de Notre-Dame de Paris “est sauvée et préservée dans sa globalité” a précisé le responsable des pompiers. Mais les deux-tiers de la toiture seraient en revanche partis en fumée.

“The fire’s intensity has decreased. We think the general structure of Notre-Dame is saved, including the north tower,” declared the Secretary of State to the interior minister Laurent Nunez.

The fire is contained. The wounded firefighter is apparently out of danger.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a disaster, but it could have gone so much worse.

Here’s what the inside of the main building looks like after the fire on the roof.

On a scale of “is occasionally forced to bathe” to “Instagram model with sponsors to hoe for” how involved is your OC’s Skincare routine?

What are your OC’s food preferences (flavors/textures/spiciness/calories/ when and how they eat) and how did they get that way?

What’s something pointless/petty/unimportant that IRRATIONALLY ANNOYS THE HELL out of your OC?

What’s your OC’s response to being asked for money by a homeless person?

Does your OC get lost easily? What do they do when they do get lost?

What would STOP your OC from Doing The Right Thing in a tense situation?

Realistically, could your OC (in their normal circumstances- i.e. at thier own house/battlecamp/spaceship etc.) keep a small child alive for a week if they had to?  A Dog?  A Houseplant? A rock with a  smiley face painted on?

If your OC had to take the S.A.T. tomorrow with one night to prep, how would they do?  both emotionally and academically.

What would cause your OC to chose to do something petty/pointlessly cruel?

On a scale of “Complete and Justified nervous breakdown” to “Conquer The Entire Galaxy and become an Immortal God-Emperor”, how well would your OC handle being abducted by Aliens?

What song is 100% garunteed to get your OC beyond turnt and will be sung loudly and emabarrasingly, either in public or the shower?

What perfectly-normal-to-them-thing does your OC do that confuses/pisses off/terrifies thier neighbors?

Under what circumstances would your OC appear naked in public?

What thing did your OC’s parents do that your OC wishes they had a better explanation for?

How often does your OC “zone out” or do things on autopilot and how severe have the problems that have arisen from that been?

How strong or weak is your OC’s Impulse control? What’s the worst thing that happened becuase of thier Impulsivity or inability to be so?

How does your OC sabotage themselves? 

What’s the trashiest item in your OC’s wardrobe, when was the last time they wore it and why do they still have it?

How Dehydrated is your OC right now? Are they going to fix this?

MAKING AUDIO

free audio production stuff

Audacity is an open-source audio editing program. I think it’s what Griffin McElroy of My Brother My Brother and Me uses? Here’s a guide if you get stumped.

Here’s a few collections of sound effects.

As long as you credit, you can use any of this music for free.

audio production tips

How to make a pop filter (it will stop your audio from popping on B and P sounds) from common household objects

They say that munching a Granny Smith apple between takes will reduce unwanted mouth sounds

Getting better sound without a recording studio

Getting better sound, pt 2 

Make sure that dialogue can be heard over music, sound effects, etc. When in doubt, listen to your current mix with your eyes closed and see what stands out.

a relatively cheap mic, if you’re okay investing a little bit

This is the microphone the leads use for Starship Iris. It’s got a USB cable that plugs straight into your computer, and it’s under $40.

WRITING SCRIPTS

I’d recommend working in Google docs. It lets you share files quickly with others for easy editing, it saves automatically, and you won’t have a trillion different versions of your episodes floating around your computer.

Outline your whole season before you start writing. Write your whole season before you start production. I know, it will feel a little labor intensive. Trust me, though–I started production before finishing the season scripts and it kneecapped the show for months and months.

Consider keeping things simple for your first effort. We all have gigantic, sprawling narratives in our heads featuring casts of hundreds (we do, right?) but you’re gonna be learning so much in this process, it’s way less overwhelming if you can scale down. Maybe find a way to tell one aspect of the story, featuring a handful of characters, but to tell it in a compelling way.

Think realistically about the voices that will be at your disposal. If you want to just use your friends and all your friends are female, keep that in mind when creating characters. (See “if you don’t want to act” below for advice finding actors.) 

Read everything out loud. If anything feels clunky, change it until you can say it naturally.

When you think you’re done, invite over a bunch of friends for pizza (or other foods! I don’t know your life, dude) and have an informal table read. Don’t take a role. Sit back and listen carefully. You may find stuff you want to fix. Ask your friends for feedback. They may give you valuable perspective.

A good way to stay motivated is to find a friend who also wants to write a script, and then keep pushing each other and reading each other’s stuff.

IF YOU NEED WRITERS

Approach your writer friend(s). Tell them that if they write you a script, you will produce it into a radio play. It’s worth a shot.

Approach your creative writing teacher, if your school has one. Tell them that you want to produce a script, and ask them to tell their students to submit scripts to you. (Set up a gmail account for this purpose.) It’s worth a shot.

If all else fails, honestly, I’d say go through your lit textbook (or short story anthologies) and find a poem or short story you like (or say, an act of a Shakespeare play), then record/produce that. Then show it to your lit teacher. They will be confused. But maybe also happy? If it’s something they covered in class, they’ll probably feel like they Got Through To You and Made A Difference, and adults love that shit.

IF YOU NEED ACTORS

The obvious go-to is to ask your friends. If you do table reads (see writing section above) you will get a sense of who is suited to what role.

Approach your school’s drama teacher, or the teacher who directs the school play, or the forensics coach. Let them read a copy of your script so they know you’re not, like, using it to promote meth or anything. Ask them to tell their students about the opportunity, and/or ask them if you can hang fliers (first, make fliers).

As a former drama kid, I can promise you that we are always hungry for available roles.

OTHER PEOPLE TO CONSIDER REACHING OUT TO

The school paper might be looking for things to write about.

Local bands might let you feature their original music in your intro/outro, in exchange for plugging their website, etc, in your credits.

If you’re having sound engineering problems, consider asking the computer lab teacher, or the video production teacher.

If you have multiple friends who want to make podcasts, consider forming a network! There’s strength in numbers.

Just generally, if you think of someone in your life with relevant skills, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE ASKING FOR FAVORS

Ugh, it’s so scary, right?

My honest advice is to get really good at baking something relatively simple, like brownies. Now you’re not asking for favors, you’re conducting a transaction!

Also, even if they’re not available to help, like, 9 times out of 10, people will be flattered you thought of them.

PEOPLE NOT TO APPROACH FOR PRODUCTION HELP

Me

Not because I don’t care (I am seriously rooting for you) but because I probably won’t be able to give much advice. All my advice is right here. Hell, I even asked for help putting this together.

FURTHER READING

Not all of this may be relevant to you, but definitely worth checking out

“So You Wanna Start A Podcast?” by Wolf 359’s Zach Valenti

Multitude Productions has some great resources on podcasting.

I’ve been reading a lot about toxicity in fandom. It’s a real problem, but solutions are available. Here’s a quick guide to how we’ve solved some of these problems in STAR TREK fandom.

TrekFan is a STAR TREK fan club. It is run by four people, all of whom have a lot of experience in STAR TREK fandom (and me, who has worked on STAR TREK for a very long time).

Here are some statistics derived from the past 37 weeks:

Just over 10,000 people in TrekFan presently.

Average weekly growth of 31 people.

Average daily growth of 4 people.

Less than five people have left in the past 12 months.

Incoming people: Generally 60% female, 40% male.

Membership cost is free.

Obviously, we’re doing very well. Folks are joining, folks are staying. Here’s some of what we’re doing that may explain that kind of growth.

Invisible Administration

99.9% of the people that join TrekFan have absolutely no idea who runs TrekFan. That’s by design. Names are only attached to projects when it’s necessary for people to get in touch with them. For example, Michael Dugas runs TrekFan Radio One. People need to know that if they want to recommend new music for the radio station or try their hand at being a DJ.

If you’re looking for the kind of ego-boost that comes with being one of the people in charge, you’re out of luck. We don’t have that option. You don’t get credit for showing up. Your social importance in TrekFan is entirely dependent on what you bring to the table. There are no ranks. There are no titles.

Invisible Code of Conduct

We’ve all played more than enough Dungeons and Dragons to know that there is a certain sort of person that will rules-lawyer any text available, and this sort of person is very common in STAR TREK fandom. It’s a lot easier if we don’t give them anything to disassemble and discuss. We don’t have rules or regulations. We don’t tell people how to interact. When they act up (which is rare), they’re not warned.

Invisible Administrative Oversight

When someone does act up, they’re simply disappeared. There’s no warning. There’s simply immediate and ninja-silent removal. The administrators don’t flex. They don’t need to prove to anyone that they’re important and have the power to do this sort of thing. They seek neither approval or credit.

That’s Fine, But What’s The Point?

The point is to focus on the actual goal – In this case, bringing STAR TREK fans together and giving them a lot of different ways to express that fandom and enjoy each other’s company socially. Lots of people start fan clubs, and a lot of them fail because they want to build a great fan club instead of devoting their energy to fostering communication and fun for fans.

Since the TrekFan admins don’t have to focus their attention on personality conflicts or any of the petty bullshit that runs rampant through most STAR TREK clubs, they can keep their focus on the real goal. It’s working.

Embracing Change and Iteration

We have tried so much new stuff as a club. Some of the things we’ve tried have crashed and burned, gaining almost zero interest from the membership. Other things have taken off like a rocket. The one thing we’ve learned is that what works and what doesn’t is wildly unpredictable, so we just keep trying new things. We’re fortunate in that STAR TREK fans tend to be bigger thinkers, and are willing to give something a shot.

In some cases, something that crashed and burned a couple of years ago is now a fantastic thing that everyone wants. In others, previously-successful programs are now a lot less interesting to everyone, and we have to move on. There’s no way to nail this balance every time. If we could, we’d probably be day-trading or something. We need the right to be wrong, and embrace failure conditions. It seems to be working out okay.

The End Result of TrekFan Administration

No one cares. Seriously. No one in the club gives a damn about administration of the club. This is a tremendous victory condition. People in TrekFan care about each other, not about the organization. This is the way it’s supposed to be. This is how toxicity is eliminated. Establish a power vacuum. Keep it that way.

What’s With All The Women?

I know it seems strange given that a woman wrote the first science fiction novel and that if it weren’t for female fans, STAR TREK as we know it wouldn’t exist. All that being known, the conventional wisdom is that STAR TREK fandom is for dudes. It’s not. STAR TREK is for everyone. Let’s ask Anja (one of our more active people why that’s the case)

“The one time a random asshat was giving me grief, it was shut down fast. Not many asshats make appearances.”

Guess what happens? Ladies like Anja see the slight flicker from when administrative oversight happens, and feel like a protected part of the community. Ladies like Anja tell their friends.

This Is Super-Weird, Right?

You’re an artist having a wonderful day posting your art to Tumblr dot com. You don’t always get a ton of attention, but that’s okay. But then one day somebody reblogs one of your posts…

You’re super excited! Someone appreciates your hard work. Then you see the profile picture, and it’s something like this…

[Screenshot of a Tumblr notification that shows an icon that looks suspiciously like a white girl in a bikini showing off her butt, though it’s so small it’s hard to tell. “axpgthglewut reblogged your photo.”]

You’re suspicious at this point, but mildly optimistic. Maybe someone likes both T&A and your Steven Universe fan art. Then you go to their blog and…

[Screenshot of my drawing of Lapis Lazuli. My original description was replaced with the text “you want to fool around?” and a link that leads to God knows where.]

It’s happened. Again. For some bizarre reason a p/orn bot is using your completely safe for work art to get click throughs to something that’s definetly not safe for work. 

You desperately want at least your attribution back, but since Tumblr is so horrifically set up you’re very sure there’s no way to do that. 

Except you can!

Tumblr allows you to report copyright violations which includes removing your description and injecting their own link. But how to do this? 

Step 1: Report them

Go to that human icon, click it to go to the drop down, and select “Report”.

Step 2: Select “Community Violation”

This behavior is explicitly against the Tumblr terms of service so that’s where it goes.

Step 3: Select “Misuse of your identity or work”

Step 4: Select “Misattribution or non-attribution”

Step 5: Select “yes”, this is your work that’s being misattributed.

Step 6: Select “yes”, you posted it to Tumblr.

Step 7: Select “Someone reblogged it and injected a link to their own blog.”

Step 8: Put in the link to your original post, the link to their reblog, and your email. Then submit!

You can get it the link to the reblog without going to their blog directly by going to the dash view of the blog, hovering over the top right corner, right clicking and selecting “copy link address.

While all of us here on this trash website enjoy picking on staff, in my experience they take care of this kind of thing relatively quickly (usually 2-3 days). 

Ifhe’s kept in this position all the time I think he’d die beforemuscle atrophy became a problem.

Forcedimmobility to this extent- well the position is unusual but I’mpretty confident this is a stress position. The maximum ‘safe’(ie less likely to be lethal) time someone can be kept in a stressposition is 48 hours. After that victims start dying.

Essentiallythis sort of thing causes muscle damage on quite a large scalethroughout the body. As muscles breakdown the large proteins makingthem up get released into the bloodstream. If a lotof muscles die in a relatively short space of time then the amount ofthese proteins is too much for the body to handle. It causes kidneyfailure and death.

Adjustingthis to something more like hospital restraints would make it moreplausible for the character to live longer but these alsocause sudden death when used for prolonged periods of time. Which isa big part of why long term use of restraint has vanished from mostplaces.

Offthe top of my head I can remember cases of young, otherwise healthypeople dying in restraints after 3-7 days. The causes of death werestrokes and heart attacks, the patients were hospitalised for mentalhealth problems. Note that not allpeople would die within this time frame but it happens often enoughthat I don’t think choosing another form of restraint would workfor what your scenario.

Themain problem here is continuous restraint or continuous inactivity.It’s really not good for people and our bodies can’t withstand itfor very long.

Now-I know there’s a temptation to hear statements like that and thinkof that one uncle who spends all day every day on the couch in frontof the telly. But this kind of inactivity still involves movement.People shift position, move their legs and arms, lean forwards andback. These might seem like little things but they really do make ahuge difference.

Thekind of time frames I’m seeing in medical papers (I’m looking attitles I can’t actually access these) are on a scale of at leasttwo weeks. Most of them are discussing periods of 3-6 weeks.

Tomake this scenario survivable for that kind of time frame thecharacter can’t be immobilised in this position for that entirestretch of time. The immobile bed rest patients from those papers arenot completely immobile. Even those who can’t move themselves areregularly moved by health care staff to reduce injury.  

Ithink the most survivable option here is to have the character keptin the position you want for set periods every day and released andfree to move for the remaining time. If the villains want todiscourage exercise generally they can do that by reducing the sizeof the cell the character is kept in when ‘free’ to move. Ifthere isn’t physically enough room for push ups, star jumps etcthat limits the character’s ability to try and compensate.

Thiswas also a very common historical torture globally. It’s less usednow because cells that small are well- obvious to inspectors.

Thisis an educated guess but I don’t think anything more than 16 hoursa day total in the restraints would be a good idea from a survivalpoint of view.

But-I can’t actually tell you what all the problems associated with thescenario I’ve just suggested would be. Because this is somethingI’ve never seen reported in reality. I’ve suggested it because Ithink it keeps the key elements of your scenario as far as possible,while making survival more realistic.

Ithink bedsores would be likely. And I think painful swelling in thefeet due to fluid build could potentially happen. But those aren’tgoing to be the only effects of something like this.

I’dsuggest trying @scriptmedic’s tags to see if she wrote anything onmuscle atrophy that might apply. I haven’t found much usefulinformation from the NHS.

Ithink your best bet would be to look into the body mod communityonline.

Peoplewho want to amputate healthy limbs (their own, just to be clear),often bind those limbs up for prolonged periods of time. They dothings like keep a healthy arm in a sling for their waking hours forweeks at a time. This would result in the kind of inactivity you’retrying to describe, albeit in a much smaller bodily area.

Ithink they’d probably be your best bet for finding out about thekind of health risks your character faces.

Ihope that helps. :)

Availableon Wordpress.

Final Fantasy I - Four Heroes Break A Time Loop

Final Fantasy II - Star Wars Where The Emperor Dies And Then Comes Back As The Devil And Then Dies Again And Then Comes Back As God And Then Gets Killed By Obi-wan

Final Fantasy III - Four Orphans Fight A Man Who Threw A Hissy Fit Over His Inheritance

Final Fantasy IV - Star Wars But The Emperor Is  A Space Ghost On The Moon

Final Fantasy V - Evil Giving Tree And His Gay Lover Fight A Confused Harem Protagonist And His Princesses

Final Fantasy VI - Star Wars But The Emperor Is Killed And Replaced By The Joker Halfway Through, Racism is Bad

Final Fantasy VII - Eco-terrorists Recruit Man With Padded Resume, Discover Corporate Greed Has Caused Giant Meteor To Be Elected, Hold Recount

Final Fantasy VIII - A Group of Cadets Find Out They All Lived At The Same Orphanage: Amnesia To Blame, Lead May Be Dead

Final Fantasy IX - Star Wars But The Main Characters Are Either Clones Or Princesses

Final Fantasy X - Daddy Issues, the Real Sports Story, With Special Guest Christian Guilt Complex

Final Fantasy XI - Giraffe And Friends Stop The Writer From Erasing This Game

Final Fantasy XII - Star Wars But Half The Bad Guys Aren’t Actually That Bad.  Except Judge Bergan, That Guy Is A Dick

Final Fantasy XIII - Being The Chosen One Will Kill Your Dating Life

Final Fantasy XIV - Heroes Saved The World From Bad Gameplay, Bugs

Everyone is panicking over TOS-es right now as they find a new home as Tumblr gets flushed down the toilet. I don’t like those random TOS breakdowns because the analysis is always wrong. 

Anyway this is what people pay me to do and I will now do it for $0 because I’m tired of everyone spreading misinformation. This post is not a substitute for legal advice etc. Reblogs are appreciated because I literally see TOS nonsense on my dash every day. 

Any more experienced copyright lawyers please feel free to weigh in - it’s part of my field yes, but my wheelhouse is more film production COT rather than derivative works.

Google Drive (TOS)

Google doesn’t have rights to do whatever they want to files you upload to Google Drive

Their TOSes are annoyingly broad in drafting but essentially boilerplate clauses that they need to host your work, use google translate on it, make it searchable etc. They cannot steal your fanfic. They cannot modify your art and use it for whatever.

Your work MAY be threatened (that is, deleted) thanks to FOSTA/SESTA, which imo is a clown provision signed by a clown that sent safe harbour down the toilet. This and this has more information (I’ve skimmed but not perused both), but the tl;dr is: similar to Tumblr, there was a ham-fisted attempt to protect victims of sex trafficking and all it really did was make cloud based services start deleting user files whether relevant or not. 

deviantART (Submission Policy) (TOS)

Uploading work to dA doesn’t give them a license to sell it to Hot Topic. This post is incorrect. Debunked here and corrected by the artist himself here. Your art is safe. 

There’s a breakdown of the TOS in there that’s pretty much wrong on most points, if someone wants me to do a not-wrong version, ask. This may help.

All you really need to know is that like Google, I checked it over and nothing in there puts you at risk for dA asserting ownership over your work or selling it - they need those rights for thumbnails, search functions, resizing etc. 

Sexually explicit fanart is not allowed, as well as “obscenity”, which is an oddly broad term covering things like “sexually orientated commercial telephone messages”. 

I’m not aware of any content purges.

AO3 (TOS)

Yum. I like this one. Easy to read and clearly explained for most people with basic reading comprehension. Section G - What We Do With Content will tell you everything you need to know.

Basically, they have the same clauses about you granting AO3 a license to modify/etc your work, but they take the trouble to explain to you exactly what that means, and how they use it to improve accessibility etc. 

No history of content purges as far as I know. Explicit content is allowed with limits eg. no child porn. 

Wordpress (TOS)

Same deal - you’re looking for 1. Wordpress - Responsibility of Contributors, with the exact same thing as everybody else. They also do a decent job of explaining what they use the license for (though once again, it’s standard), albeit not as beautifully as AO3. 

However, images of sexual acts (including fanart) are against TOS.

I found no history of content purges.

Dreamwidth (TOS)

Same old standard licensing clause, again doesn’t let them steal your stuff.

Incredibly…open content policies…you can basically do whatever you want so long as you don’t break laws or commit fraud it seems? If I’m wrong, feel free to correct.

The above post is written by someone who claims to be a Copyright Lawyer (we say “claims” only because we have no other knowledge of them outside of this post), and we are reblogging it because it may be of use.  

We will repeat and re-emphasize one line from this post:

“This post is not a substitute for legal advice etc.” 

- don’t knee jerk delete. I know it’s tempting to peace out immediately but hang on and do the other steps first. Out right ghosting and erasing everything is how fandoms die.

- archive everything on your blog you want to keep

- tell your followers how they can archive and keep your work too. A lot of fic and art were only saved from ff.net and lj because other people saved it first. If you’re cool with other people saving your work for them to personally keep, let them know this. You can absolutely discourage reposting but I really do highly recommend you allow people to personally save fic and art they like and are worried will disappear forever. Digital Dark Ages are a real thing.

- tell people where you’re jumping ship to. Give links. Keep that info up, even if you’ve left the site.

- go through who you follow and find out where else you can follow them. Save their work if they’ll allow it. It’s tedious as hell but if you want to keep up with people on here clicking on their page to check in is the best way to do it.

Been fun, this two-ish years I’ve been lurking here. Only posted a few things of my own making, but apparently smut fics of adults in consenting context is too lewd to share here.

Article 13 is going into it’s final stages of voting. 

If this gets through, it will allow many, many companies to abuse and misuse this article to take down as many memes, fan works, and even other independent creators on sites like YouTube, Facebook, and other websites INCLUDING Tumblr. 

THE FAIR USE LAW AND SAFEHARBOR LAW WILL NO LONGER APPLY IN THE U.S OR IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 

IT HAS ALREADY PASSED IN SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES. 

WE CANNOT ALLOW THEM TO TAKE AWAY WHAT WE BUILT FOR THE INTERNET SO FAR. 

So here is what you need to do to drag this article down. 

1. Spread the word 

I can’t stress this enough. The more attention this gets the more people we can get to take this down. 

2. Make your own content 

Make your own content on the matter and make sure it is clear to others that Article 13 is bad for every internet user involved. 

3. If you live anywhere in Europe, contact your MEPs 

Ask them if they approve of the article and why. If they do approve of it, try to convince them in a clear, reasonable, and most sensible way possible that this law is BAD. 

The article itself is way to vague about what it’s conveying to its people. 

Saying that as long as the use of said internet memes or content is good as long as it’s in “good faith.” 

We cannot let some shoddy government tell us what we can and cannot post. 

FREE SPEECH IS A HUMAN RIGHT. NOT A PRIVILEGE. 

Here’s a video on Article 13 that Film Theory made on the matter. It will explain things better than I can. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GbXHrj8k7dg

Edit: I’ve noticed that some people are having trouble with getting the video to work. So here is the new link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbXHrj8k7dg&app=desktop

Plus thanks to user @rwby- 13 for giving me a link to this Change.org petition!

The title says it all really. So if nothing else, please share and reblog this post to raise awareness for those that might be caught out - both artists and followers. For a TL:DR, please look at the bottom of the post

What is happening?

Right now, there is at least one person actively impersonating multiple artists across tumblr in an effort to scam their followers into paying for fake ‘cheap commissions’. The scammer will clone a tumblr, usually using a slight change to the url/account name to look like the real deal. They will then message people directly through Tumblr with messages along the lines of “Hey, i’m doing cheap commissions right now. DM me to get one”. Naturally, this is ends up just being a way to take their money without giving anything back in return.

Who does this affect?

Everyone. Simple as that. As long as the scammer in question works unopposed, they are free to spread their influence and continue to scam more people. Even if you haven’t been targeted yet, it does not mean you are safe or immune. Several artists have already fallen victim to this scammer, and I encourage any artists that have to reblog this post with the details of their affected account(s) and the ones the scammer has set up.

How can we stop this?

Tumblr, like many other social media platforms, seems to care very little about 'minor’ occurences like this one, and despite reaching out directly to them over a week ago through multiple avenues of contact - they have refused to comment on the situation, provide a recommended response for users, or take action on behalf of those already affected. Despite this, there are still tools at our disposal that we can use to make this scam more difficult, and to increase its visibility to those within Tumblr staff that are required by policy to take action. Tumblr has the following to say on the topic of impersonation: Confusion or Impersonation. Don’t do things that would cause confusion between you or your blog and a person or company, like registering a deliberately confusing URL. Don’t impersonate anyone. While you’re free to ridicule, parody, or marvel at the alien beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch, you can’t pretend to actually be Benedict Cumberbatch. They then provide a link to this online form that you can fill out if you suspect someone’s identity is being confused. Unfortunately, this can only be filled out if you are the victim of impersonation. In other words, only the artists can fill this out legitimately. So, what about the followers and users of tumblr whom aren’t being impersonated? Our most valuable tool in this online platform is the platform itself. It enables us to spread our word near-virally across all the many sub-communities on Tumblr with remarkable efficiency for a user-driven system. We can take advantage of that effect to increase awareness of the situation. Even if you - the one reading this right now - aren’t an artist or don’t know an artist, the act of reblogging this post or sharing it directly with friends improves it’s 'ranking’ in popularity increasing its chances to be seen by more people. We don’t need everyone on Tumblr to see the post for it to be effective, just like we don’t need the entirety of the human population of the world to be immune to a disease for that disease to be rendered ineffective or eradicated. If enough people are aware, the likelihood of pulling off a successful scam increases dramatically reducing efficiency to a point that it no longer becomes profitable to continue.

Why should I care?

It disheartens me to say this, but of the many artists I contacted directly over the past week to warn about this issue many of them refused to listen or dodged the responsibility with lines like;

“I’m not being impersonated, so it doesn’t affect me”

“I’m just one person. I can’t make an impact”

“I need to take care of my community. Other people can look after theirs”

This is honestly disappointing that so many artists or art-rebloggers care so little as to intentionally wave the responsibility of keeping their followers and fellow artists safe from this, that they cannot spare 10 seconds of their time to share an informative post. I’m not here to bash artists, but it is time that everyone takes responsibility for their own communities, and of those around them. Artists: You have a responsibility to ensure that your followers and fans aren’t being abused by someone who may impersonate you. If they succeed, your reputation will be damaged, and your followers will resent you. Your followers are also almost guaranteed to be following other artists meaning your efforts can spread beyond your own circle of influence, so don’t be naive when you think you have little effect. Followers: You have just as much responsibility to be aware of those that might try to scam you or your fellow followers. Don’t just sit in silence when you see something wrong: Ignoring the issue only makes it more resilient to our efforts to stop it. You are the vocal majority if you just use your voices to be heard!

TL:DR

My sweet baby boiTeemo was my first main when i started playing league.i’ve been in league about 5 years now.So anything teemo always has my heart tbh.

Beemo is cute and fun and adorable tbh i love him

BEES! <3 <3 <3

Hey everyone! We have an unfortunate announcement. In case you didn’t already know, Band Camp Boyfriend’s Kickstarter failed. We only managed to achieve 45% of our goal in the end.

We would like to thank everyone who pledged and supported us this far. We can’t possibly put into words how much we appreciate you and how exciting it was seeing the backer number climb. When I think of our fans sharing our game and supporting us in every way that they could, my heart breaks.

However, we still see the positive in our situation. You’re never guaranteed to succeed on your first try, but you’re guaranteed to grow. This is our first time doing this and the entire experience has been a major learning process. We also picked up a greater number of followers along the way. The number of demo downloads has climbed drastically over the past few weeks. Hopefully, it will continue over time and more and more people will continue to share the game.

So what’s next for Band Camp Boyfriend?

I imagine you’re all wondering if that means the game is cancelled. The answer is…absolutely not. We are not the type to give up so easily. We love this game and its characters and we’ve put far too much into it to abandon it now. It has to be made.

Our game plan at this time is to regroup. We’re going to continue working on the game with what we have and trying to get the word out. We hope to release a more polished version of the demo as well within the next few months. If we feel we’re in a good place, we’d like to attempt a second Kickstarter in 2019. Hopefully, we’ll have more luck then. For now, keep spreading the word! This isn’t over yet!

As always, thank you so much for all of your support! <3

-Lovebird Game Studios