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From the SDCC panel: Rebecca Sugar answers a personal question • /r/stevenuniverse

fandomsandfeminism:

Question: Steven Universe has strong themes that center on women’s empowerment and LGBT themes. (Applause, cheers) Rebecca, what inspired you to include these themes in the show?

Rebecca Sugar: Well, in large part it’s based on my experience as a bisexual woman. (Applause, cheers) I think that there are a lot of ways that I – oh, I haven’t thought this… These themes have so much to do with who you are. There is an idea that these are themes that should not be shared with kids, but everyone shares stories about love and attraction with kids. So many stories for kids are about love. And it really makes a difference to hear stories about how someone like you can be loved. And if you don’t hear those stories, it will change who you are. It’s very important to me that we speak to kids about consent, that we speak to kids about identity, that we speak to kids about… I want to feel like I exist, and I want everyone else who wants to feel that way to feel that way too. (Loud applause, cheers)

I’m not crying. You’re crying.

From the SDCC panel: Rebecca Sugar answers a personal question • /r/stevenuniverse

[Free Pattern] This Adorable Kitty Will Make You Automatically Smile No Matter What – Knit And Crochet Daily

persian-slipper:

crochetmelovely:

Free crochet pattern! 🙂

http://www.dailycrochet.com/free-pattern-this-adorable-kitty-will-make-you-automatically-smile-no-matter-what/

@teaforlupin

[Free Pattern] This Adorable Kitty Will Make You Automatically Smile No Matter What – Knit And Crochet Daily

On the Anniversary of Sandra Bland’s Death, These Rallies Are Happening in a City Near You

aboriginalnewswire:

On the Anniversary of Sandra Bland’s Death, These Rallies Are Happening in a City Near You

Here’s All The Data Pokemon Go Is Collecting From Your Phone

seaththescaleless:

buzzfeed:

Like most apps that work with the GPS in your smartphone, Pokemon Go can tell a lot of things about you based on your movement as you play: Where you go, when you went there, how you got there, how long you stayed, and who else was there. And, like many developers who build those apps, Niantic keeps that information.

According to the Pokemon Go privacy policy, Niantic may collect — among other things — your email address, IP address, the web page you were using before logging into Pokemon Go, your user name, and your location. And if you use your Google account for sign-in, unless you specifically revoke it, Niantic has access to your entire Google account. That means Niantic has read and write access to your email, Google Drive docs, and more. (It also means that if the Niantic servers are hacked, whoever hacked the servers would potentially have access to your entire Google account. And you can bet the game’s extreme popularity has made it a target for hackers. Given the number of children playing the game, that’s a scary thought.) You can check what kind of access Niantic has to your Google account here.

Continue reading.

My IT expert girlfriend on this:

“The person who wrote this has no understanding of metrics work

Literally every web service to ever exist NEEDS your IP address to function,

email addresses are used to log in,

and they use “previous site tracking” to determine where they’re getting the most traffic from so they can better advertise there

Bullshit clickbait fear shit like this pisses me off so much

because it freaks people out unnecessarily while spreading misinformation for profit

Like they claim they have R/W authority over your email address, but

Google API literally just exists to use one-login functions and doesn’t authorize that sort of use”

TL/DR: Buzzfeed is fear mongering for profit Like usual.

Here’s All The Data Pokemon Go Is Collecting From Your Phone

Help Clara Survive Transphobic Abuse in Venezuela

jobhaver:

i recently have had the pleasure of becoming online friends with clara (@queerkegaard on twitter) via one of my closest friends. due to the current situation in venezuela, she has a hard time affording food and hormones.

additionally, her family situation is bad–with her parents subjecting her to transphobic and other abuse. ultimately she intends to try to move to the united states. this fundraiser is intended to help her survive and develop strategies to become more independent in the mean time.

if you could share this link it would mean a lot to me. thank you

Help Clara Survive Transphobic Abuse in Venezuela

In the aftermath of Orlando,  you can get free mental health services from United — even if you don’t have insurance

gaywrites:

UnitedHealth Group is offering free mental health services to anyone in the country who was emotionally affected by the shooting at Pulse in Orlando – even if you don’t have health insurance.

Optum will operate a 24/7 helpline, and users can speak to a trained mental health professional for as long as they need. Individuals can call toll-free at 866-342-6892. The company is also providing access to their benefits site, which contains mental health information like professional tips on how to manage anxiety.

“The helpline can be an easy, accessible way for people to reach out,” William Bonfield, chief medical officer of OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions, told The Huffington Post. “It can provide support, an opportunity to talk and help a person decide if mental health treatment may be helpful.”

Please please please take advantage of this if you need it! Mental healthcare is so important but can be so freaking expensive, and processing Pulse might take a lot out of you. That’s okay – help is out there. And if you’re looking for someone LGBTQ-specific to talk to, the Trevor Project and Trans Lifeline are available for you too. 

In the aftermath of Orlando,  you can get free mental health services from United — even if you don’t have insurance

Marvel’s latest plot twist: Steve Rogers was a HYDRA agent all along.

telaryn:

lastcenturykindagirl:

joasakura:

hellotailor:

Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 follows two storylines, the first of which is about Steve Rogers battling a modern-day HYDRA cell. The second story is a flashback to Steve’s childhood in 1926, in which his mother is seemingly recruited to HYDRA.

In the present day, the issue ends with Steve pushing one of his sidekicks out of a plane and uttering the phrase “Hail HYDRA.”

The implication is that Steve Rogers has been HYDRA since childhood, a plot twist that the comic’s creators promoted in a series of interviews.

Speaking to USA Today, Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort confirmed that this is the real Steve Rogers, saying, “We knew it would be like slapping people in the face.”

While you could argue that the post-Secret Wars Marvel Universe exists in a new continuity, the idea of a HYDRA Steve Rogers makes no sense in the context of any previous canon. There’s really no way to align this plot twist with the character’s 70-year history of fighting against HYDRA. 

[READ MORE]

(Pasting a couple of tweets here because I think they cover my opinion of this deeply stupid plot twist.)

I very rarely say this, but I hope this book tanks.

This is a slap in the face to Cap’s creators, his legacy as a character and to every fan regardless of how long they’ve admired him or what media they discovered him in.

In the best of his incarnations, Cap is an aspirational character: Steve Rogers is our better selves given form. And he’s an inspirational character- one who encourages that in those around him.

He is a Good Man.

This Steve Rogers? This *nazi* wearing the face of a man created to put down those same murderous fascists? This is not a Good Man. This is a hideous attempt at “shaking things up”, at a plot twist best left back in the USAgent days.

This is not a “green hat” move. This is a total dick move, Marvel.

And I hope you choke on it.

Notice how they also went after his mom, too, to change his origin.

Gross, offensive assholes.

Other people have brought up something that I really think needs to be a part of this discussion, and that’s the stink of White Male Christian privilege all over this move.

Women, POC, LBGT, trans folks, Jews, Muslims – we all know what it’s like when somebody you admire, love and trust turns out to be an absolute fucking monster.  The only ones who think this story is shocking are those fans who rarely (if ever) experience that level of betrayal.

To the rest of us it’s not shocking or revolutionary – it’s ‘same shit, different day’.  Captain America is supposed to be better than that.

As human beings, we’re supposed to want better than that.

Marvel’s latest plot twist: Steve Rogers was a HYDRA agent all along.

Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 and Subtractive Retcons (Spoiler Warning)

characterlikeme:

This is something I never though I’d have to be writing about. Spoilers ahead for Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, but they may save you money by keeping you from buying garbage.

In this new run for Steve Rogers (originally created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, both Jewish men) we see Steve’s backstory retconned…to make him a Hydra agent. Not on a mission to infiltrate Hydra, an actual Hydra agent from the very beginning.

Stever Rogers, Nazi.

If you are as livid as I am that they would take a character who was supposed to be a beacon of good and not only tarnish his story and make him the opposite of everything he originally stood for, but also spit in the eye of his creators, then you can tell @marvelentertainment here, on Twitter, On Facebook,  via email at

mheroes@marvel.com ,and in a physical letter(address below) that you will not stand for this. Stay civil. Don’t send threats or hate. That’s not what Cap would do. 
#SayNOToHydraCap #NotMyCap

Corporate Headquarters

Marvel Entertainment, LLC

135 W. 50th Street

New York, NY 10020

Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 and Subtractive Retcons (Spoiler Warning)

Why Is Marvel Still Promising a Black Widow Movie Instead of Making One?

whereismyblackwidowmovie:

Of course Marvel is “most” committed to Black Widow. […] Feige said two years ago
that Marvel was doing “development work” on Black Widow movie, the
meaning of which is truly whatever you want it to be. But later that
year, Marvel announced a Captain Marvel movie instead.
And here we are, two years later, still Widow-less. (Maybe there can be
only one female-fronted movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe per
decade?) Feige has mastered this variety of verbal gymnastics on his
apparent quest to let us all turn 80 before Marvel finally rolls out a
Black Widow movie.

It’s great to be excited about Feige’s Deadline interview, but also important for us to keep context in mind. Feige didn’t say they’re committed to making a Black Widow movie, just that they’re most “creatively and emotionally” (note, not contractually or fiscally) committed to one out of the four options he was given. He was given the choice among two Black men, a white woman, and a white man, and chose what he probably considered the safest option.

The Deadline quote is encouraging, but it’s not a promise.

That said, @marvelentertainment, SDCC is in two months, and I know you’re planning some announcements for then; this would be a great time to prove me wrong.

Why Is Marvel Still Promising a Black Widow Movie Instead of Making One?