"Messmer Is Miquella" This "Messmer Is Melina" That, We All Know Who Messmer *really* Is

Electronic Frontier Foundation

What Reddit Got Wrong

After weeks of burning through users’ goodwill, Reddit is facing a moderator strike and an exodus of its most important users. It’s the late

The monetization creep has been evident for a while. Reddit has added a subscription ”Reddit premium”; offered “community rewards” as a paid super-vote ; embraced an NFT marketplace; changed the site's design for one with more recommended content; and started nudging users toward the official mobile app. The site has also been adding more restrictions to uploading and viewing “not safe for work” (NSFW) content. All this, while community requests for improvements to moderation tools and accessibility features have gone unaddressed on mobile, driving many users to third-party applications. Perhaps the worst development was announced on April 18th, when Reddit announced changes to its Data API would be starting on July 1st, including new “premium access” pricing for users of the API. While this wouldn’t affect projects on the free tier, such as moderator bots or tools used by researchers, the new pricing seems to be an existential threat to third-party applications for the site. It also bears a striking resemblance to a similar bad decision Twitter made this year under Elon Musk.

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Details about Reddit’s API-specific costs were not shared, but it is worth noting that an API request is commonly no more burdensome to a server than an HTML request, i.e. visiting or scraping a web page. Having an API just makes it easier for developers to maintain their automated requests. It is true that most third-party apps tend to not show Reddit’s advertisements, and AI developers may make heavy use of the API for training data, but these applications could still (with more effort) access the same information over HTML. The heart of this fight is for what Reddit’s CEO calls their “valuable corpus of data,” i.e. the user-made content on the company’s servers, and for who gets live off this digital commons. While Reddit provides essential infrastructural support, these community developers and moderators make the site worth visiting, and any worthwhile content is the fruit of their volunteer labor. It’s this labor and worker solidarity which gives users unique leverage over the platform, in contrast to past backlash to other platforms.

Hi my name is Stigmata Divine Suffering Crucifixion Christ and I have bloody stigmata wounds (that’s how I got my name) with fresh blood and a deep gash on my side that reaches my mid-back and pain-filled blue eyes like Our Lady of Sorrows’ tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Mary Magdalene (AN: if you don’t know who she is get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to Jesus Christ but I wish I was because he’s a major fucking hottie. I’m a saint but I haven’t been canonized. I have scabbed up skin. I’m also a priest, and I go to an abbey called Montecassino in Italy where I’m a newly ordained priest (I’m seventeen). I’m a catholic (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly vestments. I love the Vatican and I buy all my clothes from there. For example today I was wearing a black alb with a matching black cassock, and a black linen surplice, a red stole, and episcopal sandals. I had crimson blood dripping from the crown of thorns wounds in my head, the four nail wounds in both my hands and feet, and the spear wound in my side. I was walking outside Montecassino Abbey. It was storming and raining which made me think about Isaiah 4:6, which I was very happy about. A lot of protestants stared at me. I put up my crucifix at them.

“Hey Stigmata!” shouted a voice. I looked up. It was... Pope Francis!

“What’s up Pope?” I asked.

“Nothing.” he said shyly.

But then, I heard the archbishops call me and I had to go away.

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AN: IS it good? PLZ tell me thanks be 2 god! amen

hiiii mdms (moby dick mutuals) do you guys know about power moby dick (funny name). it’s an online annotation of moby dick that provides explanations for allusions and definitions for outdated terms/whaling jargon. it is so fun i am clicking around and exploring and learning a lot of new old-timey maritime words <3

Hey! I was wondering how everyone on the ISS adjusts to each other’s culture and language. It seems like it might be hard with language barriers and other factors, to live in a confined space with people from another country. Do others try to teach you their language? Does everyone mostly speak English, or do some people speak Russian?

Happy Holidays! 🎄🎁

list of things to ask Brandon Sanderson if I ever get a chance

1. can a Nicroboost affect other types of magic and can durluimn do the same?

2. can multiple Kandra control a very large body like an elephant

3. hoid once said he was born as "words on a page" does this mean he is the product of an arranged marriage? as in was he stipulated on a contract at some point and stole himself?

4. does playing the flute have any thematic or magical significance in the cosmere: because all of the people who are predominant characters and play the flute all fall into morally grey to dark so it just feels like it's important

5. do you intentionally start blinding moash more and more throughout the series

6. can a dead blade link up with an occupied ruby like one with a flame spren or stormlight in it and would that effect anything?

7. does opening up a perpendicularity on an uninhabited planet make it gain a subastral?

8. could they have stuck jezrien's soul back into a body through hemalurgy

9. what Original shard holders are you planning on using as the main Cast for dragon steel.

10. can Edgedancers and Dustbringers use Abrasion to increase friction, also will we get more dustbringers in book 5?

11. can Living blades form into mechanical contraptions like levers or locks?

12. what cosmere character would have the easiest time reaching the 5th ideal, and in which order?

13. do the sleepless have any Shard blades or plates of their own?

14. does Elendle have Metal-born specific sports?

15. has Hoid ever bumped into someone pretending to be Hoid?

16. Does Zellion like instant noodles?

17. can a Skaze bond a person the same as a Seon

18. who would you say is the freest person in the cosmere

19. could Raoden have united the Alethi high princes in the same time frame dalinar had?

20. on the voidbinding chart bondsmiths and truthwatchers are not attached to any surges. why?

21. how much help would Steris have been in solving the diagram?

22. can you give us other types of aether spores I assume their was a type that glowed that was part of the flare

23. what is Khriss's opinion on the existence of bone spores

24. who was hoid telling the story too

CHAINSAW MUPPETS: What are "Muppets?"

a post dedicated to me laying in bed last night lining out the rules for this stupid (said lovingly) AU

CHAINSAW MAN PARTS 1 AND 2 SPOILER WARNING!

(Credit to @wyvernslovecake for the silly drawing ideas(the white text))

A Snowy Day in Liurnia

“Mother says you’re not to be trusted,” the young girl said, twirling a finger in her red locks. The woman laughed, her large hat flopping about strangely in the girl’s eyes. It made her smile in spite of her uncertainty. The crone knelt down somewhat to meet her gaze, cold blue eyes crowning a warm smile.

“Thine mother speaks true, my dear. Trust is a thing earned, not given. Though, in time will thou too grant it?” She said, as a weathered hand reached out and pat her head, softly. The girl stepped aback, not in fright but surprise. The woman’s touch was frigid as ice. It was true then. She really was the snow witch.

“…are you the reason why it’s snowing now? The manor’s never seen a blizzard before…” the young Ranni asked, taking steps forward again. The snow witch smiled further, a spark of mischief to her grin now. 

“Tis not easy to get the attention of the Carians, dear. A full moon oft outshines a dark one, after all.” She let out a laugh, shrill as the icicles hanging from the manor’s eaves. Ranni smiled, laughing too. How had this stranger crept inside the castle’s walls though? Rennala and Radagon were vigilant as any since the war had ended, but a snowfall had drawn the attention to the now frozen lake beyond the walls and the Academy. 

A fog had crept in that morning, and with it, a stooped figure tending to the trees in the small groves tucked away in the Carian Manor. Ranni had ran out to explore the growing drifts, but had found the curious figure plucking snowflakes from the air as one might take fruit hanging from a branch. 

“Tis a good omen though, young mistress,” the hag said, finally putting away her little game. An omen indeed, a guiding light of the moon had brought her here, and the one to answer the call had surprised her further. The daughter of Rennala and Radagon themselves would be her student. 

“An… Omen?” the girl stepped back, fear tinging her voice. The snow witch merely laughed again, this time loudly and the snow gathering around them seemed to sparkle with each note of her voice.

“Oh, mine apologies dearest, tis not what I meant. A sign. A very good, sign. Thou art steeped in sorcery, thy blood calls out to it and it responds. Thine path is bright, perhaps brighter than most,” she stooped down again, this time resting fully on her heels. The odd down garb sparkled like starlight in the grove, bringing the young Ranni closer still. 

“…if you… really think so. The Academy teaches sorcery…” was all she could manage to say. The snow witch tilted her head at that, her smile going from one of mischief to something dark and bitter, as a sour taste received when sweetness was expected. She relaxed however, recalling her purpose here.

“The Academy is most equipped to turn lesser minds into vessels, ready to receive instruction from thy mother and her students. Thou, however, deserve something better than that. She will teach thou what she must, but I have a question for thee.” 

Ranni looked up as the snow witch stood, her cold, blue eyes almost glowing in the shadow of her strange hat.

“What is it?” she squeaked, feeling a tinge of fear. The hag shut her eyes, smiling that softer smile again. She tilted her head before extending a hand.

“I can teach thee not of Glintstone, but of ice and cold. Of the chill of night and starlight.” She whispered, lowering herself once more to meet Ranni’s gaze evenly. The young child furrowed her brows, a hand brushing damp bangs back from the wetness of the snowfall. 

“A chill night? It’s so cold now though!” she complained, folding her arms and pouting. The witch giggled at that. She was indeed the perfect student. 

‘Oh young Ranni, thou shalt learn beautifully,’ the snow witch thought.  

Those are Marewill flowers!