Ana Valens / Anastasia Catherine Wythe / Phil Wythe / Philip Stephen Wythe / @SpaceDoctorPhD / @acvalens / @ac_valens - MtF transtrender extraordinaire, formerly a freelance "journalist" for The Daily Dot; but now works for Kotaku, SJW, professional liar and social rouser, CatParty's favorite blogger

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

He's yapping a lot right now. Some of it is in response to this new Aftermath story that he wasn't contacted for, which contains criticism of him for taking the $30:

Aftermath (Luke Plunkett and Riley MacLeod): This Was Inevitable - Waypoint 2.0's ordeal is the story of games media in 2025 (archive) (ghost) (mega) (wayback)

You can’t talk about the story of new Waypoint without noting that, despite what an obviously unpopular idea bringing the site back was, writers agreed to write there and be paid so little for their work. As former Fanbyte writer Colette Arrand wrote, “if you accept [$30] as your base rate of pay and it’s not a favor, you are actively making the material conditions for you and everyone in the field.”

https://bsky.app/profile/colettearrand.bsky.social/post/3luijrqfaes2o (archive) - "Dude I hate to sound like I’m not in solidarity with writers but..."

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lulvixsbac2j (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lulwastmpc2e (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lulxbke7v22y (archive)


https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lulxndwfrc2y (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lulxwanqbc2y (archive)


https://bsky.app/profile/lejenk603.bsky.social/post/3luly22252c2s (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3luly4bmyo22y (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lulyytgafc2y (archive)


https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lum45xxm4k2l (archive)

 

[AnOminous]

Shouldn't this ardent rape advocate just commit suicide?

Nobody likes a rapist.

 

[CrunkLord420]

Found it notable that OG soy-journo and Waypoint co-founder Patrick Klepek has said absolutely nothing about any of this. I was hoping for some delicious self-awareness, or something.

 

[Not Yet Implemented]

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lum45xxm4k2l (archive)

"merritt" is Merritt Kopas, whom I remember as an obnoxious maybe-tranny from Bluesky. I hope they beat each other to death live on Twitch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_k (A)

 

[xxs]

The fact that anyone on the Farms is in favor of censorship is fucking insane.

It's because nobody tries to place themselves as the policy making guy. If you were tasked with consolidating power and censoring the free trade on the internet, how would you go about doing it?
The answer is to start by censoring things that nobody cares about or that people actually dislike, and move from there.

 

[Maeis]

It's because nobody tries to place themselves as the policy making guy. If you were tasked with consolidating power and censoring the free trade on the internet, how would you go about doing it?
The answer is to start by censoring things that nobody cares about or that people actually dislike, and move from there.

And the processors are already fucking up. They went after "otaku dating sites" which doesn't seem to me like something nobody likes, and got sanctioned by Japan for it. It really is just a rush of power and somebody got too cocky.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

More ranting about Vice and the Aftermath article (archive):

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumhmu4l2s22 (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumivr772s2l (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumvntb74k2m (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumwa227oc2e (archive)


https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumxefh7sc2p (archive)

 

[xxs]

And the processors are already fucking up. They went after "otaku dating sites" which doesn't seem to me like something nobody likes, and got sanctioned by Japan for it. It really is just a rush of power and somebody got too cocky.

Age play is something that could be popular in other countries. Maybe some otaku cosplayed like a my hero academia character or they just put on a school bag. This could be enough to trigger the policy.
However this is just speculation as I don't know what the actual japanese website had.

 

[Maeis]

More ranting about Vice and the Aftermath article (archive):

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumhmu4l2s22 (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumivr772s2l (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumvntb74k2m (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumwa227oc2e (archive)
View attachment 7680955View attachment 7680958View attachment 7680961View attachment 7680963

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumxefh7sc2p (archive)
View attachment 7680976

So this person fucked with Kirsche and then later got fucked with by VICE? You'd think it'd just be karmic retribution but Kirsche herself made a video decrying the payment processors, so at that point it's just the greater villain fucking everybody.

 

[KRAINOS]

So this person fucked with Kirsche and then later got fucked with by VICE? You'd think it'd just be karmic retribution but Kirsche herself made a video decrying the payment processors, so at that point it's just the greater villain fucking everybody.

Can someone speedball me the payment plan drama? It looks super gay and boring so I didn't watch/read anything about it yet.

Is it just Mastercard etc. don't want people using them to buy 'Trooner Gooner Furry Incest Cafe' or some degenerate shit like that?

 

[Maeis]

Can someone speedball me the payment plan drama? It looks super gay and boring so I didn't watch/read anything about it yet.

Is it just Mastercard etc. don't want people using them to buy 'Trooner Gooner Furry Incest Cafe' or some degenerate shit like that?

it is, but the processors have an agenda that can't even be fathomed, and absolutely will come for what you like. Also it's not their business what I purchase.

The processors are getting extra cocky right now- they went from just targeting lolicon- a "safe" target- to targeting vanilla incest porn to targeting otaku dating apps. It's getting too hard not to nootice.

 

[HONKHONKTIME]

ooooooooooo trannys as jannys aint dandy
their tech skills aint handy
eat hormones like candy
pretend their bum is a fanny
trannys as jannys aind dandyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

[KRAINOS]

it is, but the processors have an agenda that can't even be fathomed, and absolutely will come for what you like. Also it's not their business what I purchase.

The processors are getting extra cocky right now- they went from just targeting lolicon- a "safe" target- to targeting vanilla incest porn to targeting otaku dating apps. It's getting too hard not to nootice.

Thank you, my reaction is:

Oy vey!

 

[TheNazgulKing]

More ranting about Vice and the Aftermath article (archive):

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumhmu4l2s22 (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumivr772s2l (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumvntb74k2m (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lumwa227oc2e (archive)

This one is a gem. Phil wrote a hit piece about a GoonTube competitor, and Waypoint pulled it on advice of legal counsel. But of course Phil knows better than some idiot who only went to law school and passed the New York bar exam.



He's also missing (deliberately or through stupidity) the key point. Even if Waypoint won a libel case, they would be doling out a large chunk of change and facing a bunch of bad publicity. This wasn't a case of Phil boldly standing up against Evil Transphobes, it was a smear piece against somebody with two things Phil will never have -- a uterus and a successful YouTube career.



"How dare you criticize me when I'm on the verge of 41%-ing!!"

Bluesky is the gift that keeps on giving.

In Phil's defense, $30 an article is about the going rate for gaming content writers. I would have expected something higher from a Vice-adjacent publication, but AI and foreign writers have driven down rates dramatically.

Looking at Phil's articles, I'd say he's getting between 0.03 - 0.04 a word. Without revealing too much of my PL, there are dozens of ads with similar or lower rates on Upwork, Fiverr, and other jobber boards for content writers. There's also a huge glut of unemployed "games journalists" and lots of gamers who are willing to write for nothing just to see their byline on their favorite website.

Edit: merged second post into original post - TNK

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

Bluesky is the gift that keeps on giving.

I have enjoyed how easy it is to view and archive compared to X, and the high density of loons. I hope their hug box lasts a little while.

In Phil's defense, $30 an article is about the going rate for gaming content writers. I would have expected something higher from a Vice-adjacent publication, but AI and foreign writers have driven down rates dramatically.

Vice could be a special case but it appears to have been driven down 90%. Phil made $300 from a single Vice article in 2016, of similar length.

 

[Necrosan]

"How dare you criticize me when I'm on the verge of 41%-ing!!"

I love how people who aren't important enough to even get fake death threats have to resort to "I was about to kill myself!".

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

"How dare you criticize me when I'm on the verge of 41%-ing!!"

Bluesky is the gift that keeps on giving.

I didn't realize how mad he was about this Gita Jackson thread until I checked the timeline. There's a LOT (archive) of reskeets of the same message from his friends scolding. It's a gold mine of solidarity (and begging) rn. We're getting a great look at the death of this kind of "journalism".

Spoiler: Thread Theme

https://mp3-128.jango.com/music/01/90/70/0190708305.mp3

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lun5gfc3wc2u (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lun6bxu42s2n (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lun7ktf64s2p (archive)


https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunaoqx4jc2s (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunbbsz2o22x (archive)


https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunbep3ujc2x (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunb3wqscc2x (archive) - The "GITA I WAS GOING TO BE HOMELESS" one
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3luncaqbrcs2f (archive)

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3luncxmuge22f (archive) - "Soil is food" meme

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunftp2skk2w (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lungy6ihuk2w (archive) - (AJ Stromberg deleted) Yes, we are getting off on it. Thank you for providing.
http://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunhi56j6k26 (archive)


https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lungf44amk2w (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3luni7j4exs26 (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3luniw3w3ec26 (archive)

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunjdffsic26 (archive) - A different kind of Aftermath.
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunjplwizc2f (archive) - Hangry sex worker.
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunjv4nf322y (archive) - PAY ME instead of taking a victory lap.
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunkervn5s2q (archive) - A better future is possible (but not likely).

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunkqv7tg224 (archive)
https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunptfogyk2w (archive)

https://archive.ph/eG6x0

https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lunwe5pflc2k (archive)


AVN (Michael McGrady Jr): Anti-Porn Group Claims Credit for Steam's Adult Game Purge (archive)

 

[Waff]

I think it's deeply ironic the only piece of real journalism about a real problem this troglodyte ever wrote is what gets him fired. Everything else was acceptable.

Yes you can be a rape euphoric creep trying to perform life ruination on random people online. But criticising banks? get ready to die!

 

[TheNazgulKing]

I have enjoyed how easy it is to view and archive compared to X, and the high density of loons. I hope their hug box lasts a little while.

Vice could be a special case but it appears to have been driven down 90%. Phil made $300 from a single Vice article in 2016, of similar length.

In 2016 Vice was still flush with cash from angel investors hoping they were going to own a big chunk of the next NBC. That venture capital slush fund dried up a while back.

Along the way AI replaced most of the low-end content writers. Why spend $0.40 a word on an article when you can generate a hundred articles a day with a $20/month ChatGPT subscription? I'm not a big gamer, but with a few prompt experiments I'm pretty certain I could create game material that was as informed and readable as Phil's in about 5 minutes of generating and 25 minutes of editing to "humanize" it. And with a bit of prompt-honing I could bring that 25 minutes down to 5.

 

[negromaschina35]

for once i welcome my new overlords

HAIL VISA!


(that's was a joke by the way)