#restrict post for specific users

[bisexualbaker]

Why do people keep recommending Dreamwidth as a Tumblr alternative, when Dreamwidth and Tumblr are so different?

To be flat-out honest, it's because Dreamwidth has so many things that Tumblr users say they want, even if it's also lacking a lot of features that Tumblr users have come to love:

Dreamwidth has incredibly lax content hosting rules. I'd say that it's slightly more restrictive than AO3, but only just slightly, and only because AO3's abuse team has been so overwhelmed and over-worked. Otherwise, the hosting policies are pretty similar. You want to go nuts, show nuts? You can do that on Dreamwidth.

In fact, Dreamwidth is so serious about "go nuts, show nuts", it gave up the ability to accept transactions through PayPal in 2009 to protect our ability to do that. (It's also one reason why Dreamwidth doesn't have an app: Dreamwidth will never be beholden to Apple's content rules this way.)

Dreamwidth cares about your privacy; it doesn't sell your data, and barely collects any to begin with. As far as I'm aware, it only collects what it needs to run the site. The owners have also spoken out on behalf of internet privacy many times, and are prepared to put their money where their mouth is.

No ads. Ever. Period. They mean it. Dreamwidth is entirely user funded.

Posts viewed in reverse chronological order; no algorithm, opt-in or otherwise. No algorithm at all. No "For You" or "Suggested" page. You still entirely create and curate your own experience.

The ability to make posts that only your "mutuals", or even only a specific subset of your "mutuals", can see. Want to make a post that's only open to Bonnie, Clyde, Butch, and Cassidy? You can do that! Want to make a post that's only open to Bonnie and Butch, but Clyde and Cassidy can't see shit? You can do that, too!

The owners have forsworn NFTs and the blockchain in general. Not as big a worry now as it was even a year ago, but still good to know!

We are explicitly the customers of Dreamwidth. Dreamwidth wants to make us happy, so any changes they make (and they do make changes) are made with us in mind, and after exploring as many possibilities as they can.

Dreamwidth is very transparent about their policies and changes. If you want to know why they're making a specific change, or keeping or getting rid of a feature, they will tell you. You don't have to find out ten months later that they're locked into a contract to keep it for a year (cough cough Tumblr Live cough cough).

So those are some things that Tumblr users would probably love about Dreamwidth.

Another reason Dreamwidth keeps being recommended is that a significant portion of the Age 30+ crowd spent a lot of earlier fandom years on a site known as LiveJournal. Dreamwidth may not be much like Tumblr, but it it started out as a code fork of LiveJournal, so it will be very familiar to anyone who spent any time there. Except better.

Finally, we're recommending Dreamwidth because some of the things that Tumblr users want are just... not going to happen on the web as it is now. Image hosting is the big one for this. Maybe in the future, the price of data will be much cheaper, and Dreamwidth will be able to host as much as we all want for a pittance that a fraction of the userbase will happily pay for everyone, but right now that's just not possible.

Everywhere you want to go that hosts a lot of images will either be running lots of ads, selling your data, or both.

Dreamwidth knows how much it costs to host your data, and has budgeted for that. They are hosting within their means, within our means.

Dreamwidth is the closest thing we may ever get to AO3 as a social media platform. One of the co-owners is from, and still in, fandom; she knows our values, because they are also her values. It may as well be the Blogsite Of Our Own.

[fairuzfan]

hey what's an esim

Esims are digital Sim cards (as opposed to the physical Sim cards you put in your phone) that provide you regional network access. Buying esims for gaza and sudan, for example, will help people whose internet is restricted, or unavailable, connect to the regional network, thereby the internet and phone network. The esims are used specifically in Gaza because Israel consistently bombs the telecommunications areas so it acts as a substitute for regional specific communications networks like paltel (the Gaza specific communications company). People in Gaza use the esims in cases like if they're under rubble and still alive, and need people to get them out of the rubble so they call someone using the esim access. They're also used by journalists and other social media users to document instances of violence by Israel by using the electronic Sim card to gain access to internet. In other words, esims save lives and directly contribute to fighting disinformation.

I hope this answers your question. If not feel free to send in another ask.

If you'd like to learn more about esims and how to purchase them, please visit gazaesims.com

I believe there is something for sudan as well. There is currently a blackout there right now:

I don't know if there's currently a drive for Sudan as well, if someone finds something please add on to this post.

[girasois]

words for users !

ideias de palavras aleatórias para ajudar você a criar seu próprio user;

random ideas of words to help you to create your own user.

core -> aesthetic core

vlog -> daily videos

logs -> daily facts

mp3 -> audio file format

m4p -> apple audio file format

mp4 -> video file format

txt -> text format

jpeg -> image file format

jpg -> image file format

png -> image file format

gif -> animated file format

raw -> uncompressed file format

zip -> compressed archive file format

rar -> compressed archive file format

web -> internet file format

doc -> document file

pdf -> document file

vinyl -> phonograph record

film -> motion picture; photography

user -> person who utilizes a computer or network service

i2 -> "keeping it real"

self -> a person's essential being

itself -> a person's essential being

priv -> private

luv -> love's short form

tale -> a fictitious or true narrative or story

archive -> to place or store (something) in an archive

list -> connected items

tier -> a type of hierarchy

talk -> speak in order to express something

chat -> to have a conversation

post -> to announce or publish something

zone -> a subject to particular restrictions

vie -> life in french

tie -> to form a knot or bow in

on/online -> connected to a network

byte -> a group of binary digits 

bits -> a small piece, part, or quantity of something

ram -> hardware in a computing device

8bit -> computer term used to designate either color depth

pixel -> a minute area of illumination on a display screen

data -> things known or assumed as facts

series -> a number of things, events, or people of a similar kind

village -> a self-contained community within a town or city

lab -> a laboratory

lady -> a woman

miss -> a form of address to a woman

mister -> a form of address to a man

error -> something not found

art -> the various branches of creative activity

petit -> small in french

poet -> a person possessing special powers of imagination or expression

thing -> an object without a specific name

stuff -> a vague reference to additional things

vogue -> the prevailing fashion or style at a particular time

tv -> taylor's version and/or television as a system or form of media

media -> the main means of mass communication

topia -> an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect

saur -> forming names of extinct reptiles such as dinosaurs

tune -> a melody, one that characterizes a particular piece of music

deun -> melody in deutsch

off/offline -> disconnected from the Internet

gloss -> shine or luster on a smooth surface

fae -> a fairy, in modern fantasy fiction

[genericpuff]

Dillyhub is Dead.

At least, that's what it appears to be based on the bugs, lack of customer support response, and rapid decline of the site's stylesheets evidently defaulting to factory settings-

(for anyone unaware, it's not supposed to look like that LMAO it's supposed to look like this-)

Banshriek actually did some extra digging and as it turns out, this site may as well be largely abandoned, even more so than I initially suspected. What he dug up is actually very... interesting, but also incredibly confusing and weird LMAO

(p.s. i checked out that community discord and it's also been dead for years, going through it was actually really depressing because there are a number of comic creator mutuals who i know from other servers who were clearly trying to be a tight-knit community for this platform and the devs... really did seem to abandon them altogether, never returning their calls or answering their questions or responding to their feedback 😔😭)

---------------------------------

Welp, what now?

I do, ultimately, need a secondary mirror for Rekindled. It's convenient and helpful for users who don't have Tumblr accounts, and it's great for me as well because it means I can offer higher-quality uploads without all the restrictive image limits I have to deal with here.

I'm currently looking at NamiComi as the next mirror for Rekindled. I already have an account and the first episode posted there, so I would simply have to pick it up again where it left off. My other option that I can think of off the top of my head is Lemoon.

That said, if anyone has any suggestions for alternative mirrors, I'm open to hearing them. Just be aware that when it comes to mirrors specifically for Rekindled, I wanna fly under the radar. There's a reason I haven't ever posted Rekindled to Webtoons or Tapas, and I don't plan doing so now. So whatever platform I choose, it has to be something discreet. To put it simply, we need a Danny LOL

Sooo yeah! For now, updates outside of Tumblr are obviously paused until I can get another mirror up to date (and that's gonna take at least an afternoon LMAO)

I'll be doing what I can to update DH readers on the situation on that end, but I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna be tricky with the current state of the site. I think my best option is to try and edit / replace the episodes that are currently present with new images that will explain everything and redirect them elsewhere. I mean, I'm already apparently listed as a competitor to Dillyhub, may as well put that power to good use, y'know? 😆 (but that's assuming the edits will even work, that's still TBD).

In the meantime, the next episode will still be posting here on Tumblr when it's finished, hopefully within the next couple weeks or so. By that time I'll probably already have another mirror site set up anyways, buuuut let me know what y'all think about the two choices that I'm erring towards!

Until then, rest in peace, Dillyhub. I don't know if this was an intentional shuttering done quietly in the hopes no one would notice (a failure of course thanks to yours truly) or if their only 2-3 employees just forgot to renew the domain/hosting license for the year, but until the site looks and acts like itself again, I can only assume that the platform has breathed its last. It may not have gone with glory or applause, but its absence will still be felt by this community.

[romanovthinkver]

⚠️ we need to protect scarlett ⚠️

apparently it got out that scarlett has been stalked by a freak guy from LA since august 2022. the man thinks he’s scarlett’s second child real father. he knows where she lives and she left at her house letters and other items. scarlett and her lawyer asked the court a restrictive order, but they didn’t gave to her.

report and block the guy on his socials profiles and be mindful of putting specific locations of scarlett’s next events, he stalks related fan profiles and fanpages to get as much information to reach her.

im gonna link some useful posts of scarlett’s fanpage about this news and who to report.

article link

main profile of the men other profiles of him and others

what happened to scarlett pt 2 pt 3

be mindful you guys, let’s team up to protect scarlett as much as we can. spread the word and let’s take action to report this man. stay safe out there.

🚨VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE 🚨

scarlett’s publicist is asking fans for HELP. apparently everyone is so worried for this guy and this is getting too serious. people are telling he is now in NEW YORK, so we better move up. he changes his plates, phone numbers, accounts, location and everything to not be found by the police. we have to report him immediately as it’s too much dangerous. please let’s be united to make sure scarlett and her family are safe.

in case you are in new york and see him call the police immediately.

if you see something suspicious on the internet please contact the twitter user “keeping up with scarlett” as she is directly in contact with scarlett publicist, if can’t tell me and i report to the twt account.

keep blocking and report his profiles on every social. (twt, instagram, facebook, tumblr, tik tok etc.)

please he follows her on insta so we can start there to track him down, scarlett deserves better than this. he is currently in the hamptons following his last update.

scarlett’s publicist words.

the man last update.

his tumblr account.

[zan0tix]

Hi tumblr user Zan0tix, I have to say that I love that you draw Jake as big and hairy AND fem. It's such a rare combination outside of mean-spirited caricatures, every time I see your Jake I get a big smile on my face. :)

Hi tumblr user HermitCyclop ^u^ here is a jake drawing for you 🫶

The transmisogynistic demonisation of these features is so maddening!!! I agree! Im glad that the intent (appreciating these features) of my jake design reaches you c:

GOING TO PUT IT UNDER THE CUT BECAUSE I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY. But jake english gender meta because i think about it Too Much and am taking this as an excuse to infodump abt it. 😁

The alpha kids and their specific defiance of both homestucks gendered narrative AND real life societal expectations are so fun to think about to me!! but since we are talking about jake, his specific defiance of both homestucks models of masculinity and femininity in the context of his queerness is like the reason he is my fav character.

He props himself up that he wants to be the adventure "hero" in the homestuck sense (the hardheaded blue femme fatale) and the western media sense (the hardheaded action man) yet whenever pressed to actually act on what he says he always refuses or obfuscates. Because really what he wants is to just be himself! I really love the alpha kids because they all just want to be Themselves, not be restricted and defined by what is expected of them, (all the characters have this but the alphas particularly really hammer this home for me)

The heavy emphasis on their beta selves, the heteronormative archetypes they embodied and what went wrong in their lives that manifest as fears in their alpha selves... im always thinking about it. How differently society affects queer ppls choices in life and then the fact that they all get a second chance and getting to watch them live out that second chance and realize their queerness and them all caring so much abt eachother and wanting to aspire to be better FOR the ones they love!!!!!! it always tugs at my heart strings to ponder😢😢

IM SO GOOD AT GOING ON TANGENTS MY BAD but basically. The alpha kids explicit queerness and how despite the comic itself protesting, they are all shown to be deserving of love (of all kinds) And as a person who super heavily relates to jake, his experience with his own identity (and dirks unending adoration and love for him and likewise jakes belief and admiration of dirk) serves to me as a reminder that yknow! We are all worthy of love!! Even if we dont think ourselves to be (this is just the message of shrek.) and there is always hope to be found in things improving!!!!

But in a text thats explicitly queer and not shy about letting its queer characters do wrong in realistic ways i think this message is incredibly powerful and certainly one of the best things about the comic in my eyes. And i love embracing that in my art of the characters! Drawing queer (but here specifically trans) characters all getting to be proud of themselves and their appearances makes me feel proud of myself alongside them and I think its wonderful to be able appreciate other trans peoples experiences and looks through it too!!

I specifically in homestuck fandom dont really see anybody but twinks (usually dirk or eridan LMFAO) portrayed to be fem in any manner 😢 when jake is the most explicitly feminine man in the comic. (I think the transmisogyny thats kind of rampant in this fandom means people dont want to consider those outside conventional attractiveness being feminine or transfem identities outside binary transwomen if even that😭😭) I am being the change i wana see in the world 🙏 The amount of transfem fat gay bear jake in the world increases by one every time i post

[henrikvanderhussy]

How to play the original Secrets Can Kill in 2025 without game discs

oh my god I almost just wrote 2015 instead of 2025

I've successfully been playing the original SCK for the past couple hours (including "changing discs" and reopening save files), but it's possible I could run into problems later, so no promises that this is a perfect solution.

This method still requires installing the game files, so I think it'll only work on Windows, sorry Mac users. I'm using Windows 11. I was also able to install and open the game on a Windows 10 computer, but I didn't actually attempt to play it there.

All you need are copies of the game .iso files and a virtual hard disk drive program. The post got long, so details are under the Keep Reading. It's not actually complicated, but apparently I talk a lot lol

The .iso files:

.iso files are digital replicas of optical discs (CDs, DVDs, etc). You probably don't have the original Secrets Can Kill discs, so you will need to...acquire these files.

[NOTE: My personal ethics say to not pirate shit from small studios or independent creators. HeR is a small studio and if people don't buy stuff from them, they can't afford to make new games. However, the original SCK is abandonware and literally can't be purchased, so imo, it's perfectly acceptable to pirate it.

I want to strongly discourage anyone from pirating any of the other games which can be purchased. They have 50% off sales all the time (including through today, 1/5/25) and a bunch of the games are as low as $5 when on-sale. The digital downloads don't come with any kind of restrictive licenses, so if you get a new computer, you can transfer the files and keep your games forever. Pls keep supporting HeR so that we can maybe keep getting new games]

I recommend getting the SCK .iso files from archive.org. That link will take you to a software search for Nancy Drew Secrets Can Kill. As of this post, there's only 1 result that's actually for the original SCK.

Anytime you're downloading software from a site where anyone can upload stuff, there's always a possibility of viruses. Check and see if the uploader seems sketchy (Are there comments on any of their uploads warning about viruses? Is the account brand new?). You could run the files through a virus checking program, but apparently .iso files frequently throw false positives. The SCK uploader seemed legit, but I initially downloaded and installed these on an old computer that I don't use, just in case.

There will be a bunch of files available to download. You specifically need to download the "ISO IMAGE" files. There should be two of them- disc 1 and disc 2. After downloading, I recommend moving the files out of your downloads folder because you'll need to access them frequently.

The virtual hard disk drive program:

Like I said above, .iso files are digital copies of physical discs. Similarly, the way to use the files is via a digital version of a physical disk drive. "Mounting" the .iso files to a virtual disk drive is analogous to inserting a disk into a physical drive.

Windows 8 and above has a built-in ability to mount .iso files, but when I tried that, I got a notice that the file was corrupted. The internet recommended that a dedicated program might have more functionality. I chose the Elby Virtual CloneDrive program, which is free.

Installing the game:

After downloading and installing the virtual disk drive software, navigate to your .iso files, and right click on the file for disc 1. Scroll to "Open with", and choose "Mount Files with Virtual CloneDrive". It will now show up as a CD drive in This PC in the file explorer:

Double-click to open the drive and scroll to "setup.exe". Open the file to run the game installer.

The game will install in a typical way. I think the only non-default option I chose was "No, I will install DirectX myself". I didn't actually install DirectX, but everything is working fine ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ idk, maybe now it's built-in to Windows or something.

Running the game:

To run the game, just open the game shortcut like a normal program. If you can't find the shortcut or didn't create one during the install, go to your C: drive -> Program Files (x86) -> Nancy Drew -> Secrets Can Kill -> Game.exe

In order for the game to run, you need to have Disc 1 still mounted to your virtual drive. Unless you specifically unmounted it, it should still be there, but if you get a pop-up that says to insert the disc, the problem is probably that the disc isn't mounted.

I was expecting that I would have to run the game in Compatibility Mode to handle that it was made for fucking Windows 98, but I didn't have to do anything. It just worked with no adjustments. A miracle!!

Changing discs:

The original Secrets Can Kill was too big to fit on a single disc at the time it was made! They split it across multiple discs by location. The school is on disc 2, while all other locations are on disc 1. So if you need to move from the diner to the school for example, you have to change discs.

When you need to change discs, you'll get this screen:

WITHOUT closing the game program, minimize the game. Easiest way is by either pressing the windows key or alt+tab. Navigate to your .iso files, right click on the new disc, and choose Mount.

Navigate back to the game and click OK. Easy as that!

Whenever you fully exit and re-open the game, you have to open it with disc 1 mounted. So if you saved while at the school, you'll open the game with disc 1, load your save, and immediately switch over to disc 2.

And I think that's everything! Phew! This got a lot longer than I planned on. Feel free to send me questions if you're having trouble, but I may not know the answer. I'm not an expert in this stuff, I just spent some time poking around at it last week is all.

Have fun! Go manatees!

[revelboo]

Ahem, meepers here. According to my sources of a quick google search and reading tumblrs gudie and shit...

"There isn't a specific limit to the number of asks you can receive on Tumblr, but there are limitations on how many asks can be sent and what can be included in an ask. Users can send a maximum of 10 asks per hour, and only 5 of those can be anonymous. Additionally, there are restrictions on the content of asks, such as length, character types, and links.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Ask Limits: Tumblr has limitations on how many asks can be sent, not received.

Content Restrictions: Asks cannot be longer than 500 characters and cannot contain links, paragraph breaks, special characters, emoticons, or ellipses, or spaces between sentences.

Queue Limits: Tumblr allows users to queue up to 1000 posts at a time."

So there is no limit to how many asks we can send you. Since you keep generously feeding us horny cats for more transformers content, you'll receive our love for ya content. I believe you're the first user I've seen to have so many asks and followers other than tumblr themselves.

Now, with that being said, please feed us of more transformers' fics. It's what's keeping me sane at work and on my days off from working on vehicles 😭

🤣 oh no, that’s hilarious and absolutely terrifying. I kinda figured there had to be some kind of limit and I’d figure it out when my oblivious aft finally noticed I wasn’t getting spammed daily. I have to turn off Tumblr’s notifications during the day because y’all kill my watch battery if I don’t

Well, I’m not going to bother purging them again if it’s not going to stop receiving him. It’s morbid curiosity now at this point, because there’s no staying caught up. That ship not only sailed, but caught on fire and sank. Pretty sure I didn’t make it a week last time I emptied it before it had backed up over 50 or so again xD

Y’all are awesome. Terrifying, but awesome 🤣 I’ll do more of the uno reverse scenarios tomorrow since my boss is out of office and there’s not much I can actually do on Fed holidays at my job except answer the phones

[manosoutaweek]

Manosouta Week 2025

Welcome to Manosouta Week 2025! We’re hosting a week-long event to celebrate the relationship between Bronco Knight and Simeon Saint (or Horace Knightley and Simon Keyes, if you prefer the fan translation names). The event will run from February 8 to February 14 and include daily prompts to choose from. We accept late submissions, so don’t worry if you don’t finish your work exactly on time.

The rules and prompts are listed below. Feel free to contact us if you have questions about the event!

RULES

The focus of all submitted works should be the relationship between Bronco Knight and Simeon Saint, whether it's romantic, one-sided, friendship, or something else.

Including side pairings and characters is okay, but the focus should remain on manosouta.

All types of fanworks are welcome, such as fanfic, fanart, meta, playlists, videos, etc.

All submissions must be SFW (safe for work). Some level of violence and suggestive themes is fine, but nothing explicit.

Both official translation names and fan translation names are welcome!

Please tag your work #manosoutaweek2025 if you want the account to promote your submissions. You can also tag the @manosoutaweek account. For AO3 users, there is a collection.

We don’t want to restrict headcanons to any specific prompt. That means that even though we have no prompts for trans headcanons, gender swap, mental health headcanons, etc., you’re welcome to include them in all the works you create and portray the characters the way you prefer.

Please tag your work and use content warnings if your work contains elements that might upset people, such as major character death.

You may interpret the prompts in any way you want and make your works as fluffy or tragic as you prefer.

You may participate on however many days you want and post multiple works a day if several of the prompts inspire you. Multiple works for the same prompt are fine. You may freely remix and combine prompts.

Late submissions are accepted, but this blog may not be able to promote new works in a timely fashion after February.

No harassment of other participants or bashing any ships, characters or content is allowed.

P.S. We also have a Twitter account!

[goawaypopup]

Look Outside Posting Part 5: Static

If you didn't bother to go back and check the laptop regularly, you might have missed this.

You wouldn't be missing a whole lot, to be honest. There aren't many answers to be found from the news or social media. But there is something strange to be learned there.

As the weeks continue, photos posted on social media begin to appear as nothing but colorful noise. This seems to specifically happen to the photos that are posted by Witnesses, and Witnesses comment on the photos as if they were normal; everyone else is mystified.

We can rule out a few reasons this might be happening right away. If it were due to some kind of atmospheric interference coming from the Visitor, it would be happening to all data, not just images. If it were some kind of effect from trying to capture footage of the outside at all, the VHS footage and photograph of the Visitor wouldn't be useful.

Rather, I think this is censorship being applied manually on the social media site Sam is using.

With an infohazard readily visible in the sky, and a large contingent of the userbase talking about wanting to force people to look, photos of the Visitor would be a huge safety concern.

A lot of news sites are down a few days in, and I'm pretty sure social media should be no different, but it remains operational over the full 15 days. Like the electricity, and Placide's control over the building's pipes, this likely means someone is still upkeeping the servers. Someone who's already looked, and therefore isn't at risk from any unfiltered photos.

The corrupted images start to appear a few days in, and only become ubiquitous after a while, when very few people remain online who haven't somehow been turned. We don't know for sure that it's specifically and only Witnesses' images being targeted, but what we do know aligns well with that.

Most Witnesses are very visible online. They use the eye emoji to identify themselves, and post about the Witness/Coward discourse or about looking outside themselves. Manually labeling them all to apply hidden account restrictions would still be a superhuman task, but it would reduce the load massively compared to moderating images by hand.

I was pretty perplexed by Witnesses interacting with glitched photos as if they were normal. Even if most of them are kind of crazy and up to a lot of groupthink, people who are cursed are just too unpredictable for me to believe that every single one would play along and keep posting garbled pictures. I think that they CAN see them. If they're already getting flagged as Witnesses behind the scenes, it would be easy to lift the filter for them.

This is kind of an insane thing to implement at a time like this, but whoever is doing this clearly has some interesting priorities in the first place, to be working so hard just to allow people to continue to post images at all.

In a rolly chair in a dimly-lit office somewhere, or possibly entangled in the circuitry of the servers themselves, sits a passionate content moderator, steadfastly committed to the end user experience, come hell or high water.

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard - known Character Creation info Part 2

[LINK TO PART 1] <- since I hit the character limit in that post I had to make a Part 2 ^^;

This post is just another dump collection of info and snippets that came out about CC (& some related topics). if you’ve been following the news or reading posts here, it’s not new info or anything, I just put it together in one place here for convenience. ( ˶´ ᵕ `˶ )

if you notice anything missing, pls lmk. there’s a bit of repetition of info in places as prev posts (including Part 1) on the topic overlapped.

---

Although non-natural hair colors like blue and purple are available for Rook in the CC, all NPCs in the game have natural hair colors [source]

A user asked if there are instances wherein Rook will be referred to by their last name. “Yes, there are places where we refer to Rook by their last name. It’s very contextual - we don’t want to awkwardly insert a reference in where it doesn’t make sense - but it does happen, though it is going to be more common with some backgrounds than others.” [source: the official BioWare Discord]

You can have body tattoos [source: the official BioWare Discord]

A user stated “There are no restrictions on lineage/faction/class combinations other than dwarves cannot be mages”. Corinne added “Correct." [source: the official BioWare Discord]

Q. “Will the gender identity of a trans/non-binary Rook be acknowledged in game by other characters? (beyond just pronouns I mean)”. A. “There are moments when you can disclose and discuss, however, disclosure remains the right of the individual so you have to make that choice for yourself. [source: the official BioWare Discord]

Q. “Will we get the option to give our Rook more fantastical hair colors, like purple, blue, pink?”. A. “Yes” [source: the official BioWare Discord]

Q. “How about heterochromatic eyes?” A. “Yes” [source: the official BioWare Discord]

Q. ’‘Will I be able to make a short qunari and a tall dwarf or are there limits to that? Do the qunari have to be buff?“ A. ’'There are limitations, of course… but yes, you can make a Dwarf that is tall or a Qunari that is short, relative to their lineage. We stan the skinny Qunari” [source: the official BioWare Discord]

the armors mesh and mold to every body [source: the official BioWare Discord]

In CC you can customize things like shoulder width, chest size, glute size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, nose crookedness, and more [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

There are hundreds of sliders for body proportions [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

CC detail: “Features like skin hue, tone, melanin” [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

There is nudity in DA:TV, “which I learned firsthand while customizing my Rook” in CC [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

Rook’s backstory also affects “reputation standing”, along with the other previously-known things like in-game dialogue etc [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

The 4 voices we can choose for Rook each have a pitch shifter in CC [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

The devs used the DA:TV CC to make each in-world NPC, except for specific characters like companions [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

If you play as e.g. a qunari Rook, the camera adjusts to ensure larger characters like them loom over those below. The camera also adjusts appropriately for dwarves to demonstrate their smaller stature [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

If you are playing, e.g., a qunari, and you encounter elfy stuff, you might be missing unique dialogue options and an elf Rook would have more to say at that point [source: the Game Informer cover story article, DA:TV spoiler warning for link]

Twitter user: “Please please please let me make a feminine shaped body with no chest, begging for non-binary to be something I can present not just a pronoun slap”. Saira: “this will be entirely possible with the body sliders!” [source]

“Last names are based on your faction. You can customize your first name, however.” [source: the official BioWare Discord]

“In-world - Rook is a nickname you’re given before the events of the game, and it’s what everyone refers to you as. It allows for other characters to refer to you in dialogue without awkwardly having to write around not having a defined title, while still allowing for name customization.” Also, in the game, it is explained why we got the nickname Rook in the past. [source: the official BioWare Discord]

“There are specific lines and dialogue options for different lineages, as well as different backgrounds, and classes, including at least a handful that are unique to lineage/background combinations. No specifics but we wanted to make sure the game felt reactive to the choices you made in creating your Rook.” [source: the official BioWare Discord]

A user asked whether elven Rook is Dalish or City. Answer: “It’ll depend on your background. As mentioned previously, certain lineages will have variations of that background that go into more detail where appropriate.” [source: the official BioWare Discord]

“Without getting into spoiler territory - Rook’s a hero because they chose to be, not because they were chosen. Your choice of background fills in some of the details - and you get opportunities to define it further - but some things we leave up to you to fill in.” [source: the official BioWare Discord]

Twitter user: “Is Rook a nickname or their actual name?” Michael Gamble: “Nickname. The thing that people call you on the game.” [source]

“Oh just wait. The hair tech is phenomenal in this. Even I was thinking "aye is this a Bioware game!?” lol.“ [source]

“One thing I’m particularly happy about and can’t get over is how much better the hair rendering is. It might be a small thing to some but it looks incredible. It’s in another stratosphere compared to DAI.” [source]

“Everyone in the previews was gushing about how robust the CC is in Veilguard so there might be a decent chance to make some wild Qunari designs.” [source]

The 9 specs Rook can be (3 for each class) are:

Warrior - Champion, Reaper, Slayer Rogue - Duelist, Saboteur, Veil Ranger Mage - Death Caller, Evoker, Spellblade [more info here]

Update with new/further info up until June 27th:

Each spec is tied to a faction [source]. the faction each spec is tied to is as follows:

Mage: Death Caller - Mourn Watch Evoker - Shadow Dragons Spellblade - Antivan Crows Rogue: Duelist - Antivan Crows Veil Ranger - Veil Jumper Saboteur - Lords of Fortune Warrior: Champion - Grey Wardens Reaper - Mourn Watch Slayer - Lords of Fortune [source]

Magic “remains elusive” to dwarven Rooks [source]

“Lemmy from Motorhead” beards [source]

A user asked if they could see pics of the CC. Corinne: “If only I could. But hold tight, you’ll all be sharing your lovely creations with me soon enough 💜” [source]

A user asked “Please tell me we finally get black clothing and/or armor?” Corinne: “There are many gorgeous fits. Just you wait 😉” [source]

User: “Fingers crossed we can play as Qunari again!” Corinne: “You can and they are ✨💅” [source]

"SO many options and beautiful hair choices and very intricate skin details" [source]

"It really felt like they were trying to be very careful in making sure they had good representation with hair textures and not gender locking anything, it was all about choice. The devs put lot of care and thought into it" [source]

In CC we will be able to customize qunari Rook’s horn type and material [source]

There are “hundreds of options” in CC [source]

Selecting Rook’s faction is the penultimate step in CC [source]

The Lords of Fortune are pirated-themed [source]

Each faction has unique casual wear worn in specific cutscenes when the character isn’t wearing armor [source]

Each faction has 3 unique traits, e.g. for Lords of Fortune, they gain additional reputation with this particular faction, have increased damage versus mercenaries, and perform takedowns on enemies with slightly less effort [source]

“Faction selection, which ties into your character’s backstory, determines who your Rook was before, how they met Varric, why they travel with Varric instead of their faction, and more” [source]

Rook’s appearance can be changed using the Mirror of Transformation in the Lighthouse, but not their class, lineage and "identity" [source]

The unique faction-based casual wears are "very pretty” ^^ [source]

CC has sliders for width and height on pretty much every body part [source]

BioWare said “they worked with Black consultants to ensure they got hairstyles and textures right and authentic for masculine and feminine options” [source]

CC is expansive, robust, rich; BioWare’s best yet. At its heart is inclusivity [source]

BioWare used it to create most of the NPCs in the game, main chars like companions aside [source]

When browsing through the presets, the game allows for more detailed looks at each [source]

Pronoun choice is separate to gender identity choice [source]

Different body types available [source]

Before exiting CC Rook can be viewed in 4 different lighting scenes at any time, “including The Veilguard’s keynote purple hue, a bright and sunny tropical day, and a gothic night”. The team worked hard to quash the issues caused by the green lighting in DA:I’s CC [source]

Head and body presets can be selected individually and customized [source]

40 different complexions including smooth, rugged, youthful, freckled [source]

Skin hues range from cool to neutral to warm [source]

Undertones to these skin tones [source]

Melanin slider [source]

BioWare engaged consultation to represent people authentically

Vitiligo slider (intensity and amount adjustable) [source]

Sliders for forehead, brow, cheeks, jaw, chin, larynx and scalp [source]

Selectable undergarments, with nudity [source]

The “Body Morpher” involves “select[ing] three presets for each corner of a triangle and then mov[ing] a cursor within it to morph your body or head into a mix of these presets” [source]

Adjust height, shoulder width, chest size, glute and bulge size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, how visible cataracts are, the sclera color, how crooked your nose is, how big its bridge is, the size of nostrils and the nose tip [source]

Many sliders for things like mouth and ears [source]

On ears: you can adjust asymmetry, depth, rotation, earlobe size [source]

For ears you can have cauliflower ear [source]

The makeup blends modern stylings with the fantasy of DA. It has more than 30 options including eyeliner intensity, color, glitter, eye shadow, lips, and blush [source]

Tattoos are a thing. Add them to Rook’s face, body, arms, legs. Their intensity is adjustable [source]

Tattoos are customizable [source]

Scar options [source]

Paint options [source]

“Tattoos, scars, and paint are very culturally relevant to some lineages, BioWare tells me, with unique tattoos for elves, for example” [source]

Hair options: a ton. Hair can be non-traditional colors. Hair is gorgeous. Frostbite uses the Strand system to render “each style fully with physics” [source]

Select qunari Rook’s horn type and material - more than 40 options available [source]

4 voices. English masculine, English feminine, American masculine, American feminine. Each has a pitch slider [source]

[superkirbylover]

important psa

hey all. i don't normally make these kinds of posts, but it's been brought to my attention how severe this issue is. it's affected at least 25 people, and there's absolutely more that i don't know of. first, i'd like to mention to NOT contact anyone about the contents of this post. not the user i'm talking about, not the people who were victim to them, nada. i especially don't want anyone harassed over this.

second, i want to note that this story starts off mild, but slowly snowballs into something worse. please stay with me as i explain my story.

for the past two years, there's been a user in the pizza tower community named gin. i'm not naming her specific blog for privacy reasons, but if you know, you know. something very important to note is that she's autistic, much like myself. a huge part of autism is missing social cues, not understanding social rules, and various other situations.

about a year ago, gin joined the pizza tower wiki discord server. at first, she was just another member of the server, someone i interacted positively with and held minor conversations with. things took a sharp turn. suddenly, she'd be venting in the offtopic channels, and venting to me in dms. the server and gin often clashed in our interpretations of her comfort character, peppino, where we often liked his more hostile and jerky side, while she prioritized his kinder side. one discussion led to a meltdown, where she went into the server AND my dm's to vent about how she shouldn't have hope, and how she doesn't want to like somebody heartless. i was genuinely concerned, because this behavior reminded me of how i acted when i was 14 regarding sans undertale. i wasn't aware of her age yet. it was only later, if my memory serves correctly, that after me begging to know her age, she told me she was 30. i'm 22.

i suddenly became very worried. not only for her, but for myself, and other server members.

i tried setting a boundary: i don't know you, don't treat me like a friend, and please don't vent to me. she apologized, clarified she was trying to be friendly, and that was that. until like, a month later, where she did the same thing. again. at some point, i gave up enforcing my boundaries, and dropped them entirely. i figured this was just something that came with running the pizza tower wiki discord. someone being incredibly parasocial with me when i've expressed i don't know them… eventually, i realized their venting in the wiki server's offtopic channel was making other users uncomfortable. i felt trapped, not knowing how to handle it. i knew she meant well, but i hated how she was using the server like a friend server. recently, i've started enforcing a soft rule of "please, don't vent in this server." i didn't want to make it a harsh rule, because sometimes topics led to discussion of past events that weren't exactly positive and i don't like restricting conversation topics. however, she often used the server as emotional support. the server has a lot of minors in it, some of which are active. a few of the active members are 16.

i want to stress, she is NOT predatory, pedophilic, what have you. she IS parasocial, clingy, and generally disrespectful of boundaries. two months ago, a friend of mine came into my dms to vent about a stranger being really clingy. i asked if this was gin, and as expected, it was her. my friend was busy when gin was messaging them, asking for feedback on a fic. however, when a response wasn't immediately given, she started freaking out. another friend of mine was recently commissioned by gin, and recognizing this, i asked them privately if gin was harassing them too. unfortunately, this was all but confirmed. the same thing that happened to my first friend happened beat-for-beat with them, too. the first friend asked if there was a way to hide their activity on tumblr, to which i obliged.

about a month ago, another artist, i'll call A, joined the wiki server. we had a discussion about our interpretations of the characters, including peppino, and i finally got the balls to outwardly say i felt like she often sanded down peppino's harsher qualities in favor of making him to be a sweetheart. i don't want to police how people interpret characters, but i want to be able to voice how i feel about it in a discussion surrounding it. this led to a meltdown in the server and my dms, the latter of which i never responded to. she deleted her message eventually. A stepped in within the server and said that the discussion was nothing personal, that it was just a disagreement. i went into A's dms to thank them, as i had felt so uncomfortable considering this wasn't the first time. that's when i learned that this isn't A's first experience with them, and over time, i learned much, much more.

she's done this to half of my friends in the pizza tower community. not only that, but she's done this to even MORE mutuals. even worse, she's done this in a previous pizza tower focused server, venting to people OVER A DECADE YOUNGER in dms, vagueposting in servers about situations, you name it. the wiki server has members who are active that are as young as 16, and i know she's treating them like this, too.

no matter how many times one would set the boundary, "please don't vent to me, please don't be overly friendly with me," it was violated. time and time again. if you set a boundary, she would say it's fine, but melt down in someone else's messages and violate theirs. not only that, but she'd SHARE messages of people enforcing this boundary. i've seen messages of people cutting her off, sharing VERY personal information, and it felt so violating to see. this isn't just my experience, but multiple others, too. i know at LEAST 12 people she's done this to. i know there's more because of the previously mentioned pizza tower focused server she got kicked out of for doing the same exact thing in.

it's common that if you're neurodivergent, you'll often disregard your own boundaries in favor of being kind to others. but let me tell you, from experience: taking care of yourself isn't being cruel or unkind. it's kind, to yourself. it's not selfish to want space. it's not selfish to not want to talk to someone. it's human. i've let my own boundaries be trampled too long.

please, take care of yourselves. do what you need to do.

[copperbadge]

Migrating Off Evernote

Evernote, a web-based notes app, recently introduced super-restrictive controls on free accounts, after laying off a number of staff and introducing AI features, all of which is causing a lot of people to migrate off the platform. I haven't extensively researched alternative sites, so I can't offer a full resource there (readers, feel free to drop your alternative sites in notes or reblogs), but because I have access to OneNote both in my professional and personal life, I decided to migrate my Evernote there.

I use them for very different things -- Evernote I use exclusively as a personal fanfic archive, because it stores fics I want to save privately both as full-text files and as links. OneNote I have traditionally used for professional purposes, mainly for taking meeting notes and storing information I need (excel formulas, how-tos for things I don't do often in our database, etc). But while Evernote had some nicer features it was essentially a OneNote clone, and OneNote has a webclipper, so I've created an account with OneNote specifically to store my old Evernote archive and any incoming fanfic I want to archive in future.

Microsoft discontinued the tool that it offered for migrating Evernote to OneNote directly, but research turned up a reliable and so-far trustworthy independent tool that I wanted to share. You export all your Evernote notebooks as ENEX files, then download the tool and unzip it, open the exe file, and import the ENEX one by one on a computer where you already have the desktop version of OneNote installed. I had no problem with the process, although some folks with older systems might.

I suspect I might need to do some cleanup post-import but some of that is down to how Evernote fucked around with tags a while ago, and so far looking through my notes it appears to have imported formatting, links, art, and other various aspects of each clipped note without a problem. I also suspect that Evernote will not eternally allow free users to export their notebooks so if nothing else I'd back up your notebooks to ENEX or HTML files sooner rather than later.

I know the number of people who were using Free Evernote and have access to OneNote is probably pretty small, but if I found it useful I thought others might too.

[reality-warp]

A word from Rella concerning AI, binding and selling fics, and Book 3 of Rávamë's Bane

Hey folks,

I’m treating this post as a bit of a blanket PSA for all those who read my work and follow me here, but I’ll also be copying the message over to AO3 once Book 3 of Rávamë's Bane goes up. Before anyone gets spooked, all is well, I am well, and I’m still happily working on the first 5 chapters of Amabilis Insania. However there are a few glaring subjects that have sprung up in the fandom space that I can’t really ignore. The fanfic community as a whole has changed a lot in the past decade I've been part of it, and given some of the unpleasant stuff I’ve seen going on in just the past year, I wanted to cover some housekeeping points ahead of posting the next RB book.

1.) Please don’t ever bind and sell fanfics.  Profiting from fanfiction in any way is completely illegal, and puts the entire community at risk.  I’m lucky enough that I’m a relatively small fish in the fanfic pond, so no one has sold bound copies of my story specifically (that I know of). However, I know several folks who have had their work bound and sold without their knowledge, and have had to take their fics down completely to stop it happening (which royally sucks). If you see any fanfics being sold on sites like Etsy, please do report them — they are absolutely not supposed to be there. And if you want a bound copy of a fic for personal use, I'd really encourage you to learn to bind them yourself. There's a tonne of tutorials out there, it’s pretty fun and easy to learn (I picked it up in a couple of weeks) and it doesn’t take as many materials as you’d imagine. Side note: I have made typesets of LM and CM for myself and friends, but honestly, I’m reluctant to share them publicly now given all the above. That said, if you really want a copy of LM or CM for personal use only, you can message me directly on Tumblr and I can maybe look into making a watermarked version to share on request.

2.) In light of the recent news that AO3 was scraped to create a generative AI dataset, I’ve decided I’ll only be posting the final RB book to AO3 from now on. On top of that, all my fics will be restricted to users with AO3 accounts only. I really don’t want to do this as it cuts off guest users from enjoying the story too, but for now it’s the only way to protect my work from being scrapped again. I don’t believe this will be a one-time occurrence given how carelessly AI is being used right now, and I feel very strongly that no one’s work should be used in model training without their consent.

The vast majority of you in my comments, asks and kudos are genuinely wonderful, and I’m so damned grateful that you aren’t a part of the issues above. However, with all that in mind, let me be absolutely clear just for the public record…

!!TRLD: This Is The Important Bit!! You do not, and will never have my consent to: - use any of my writing in generative AI (this includes making AI-generated fanworks, or scraping my fics for training AI models) - bind and sell any of my fanfics (profiting from fanfiction is completely illegal, and puts it at risk for us all)  - profit in any way from any of my work that I have publicly shared online (this includes putting my fics on recommendation lists behind paywalls, or selling my fics in the form of typesets or bound copies)

If you do any variation of the above despite knowing the risk it poses to the entire fanfic community, I respectfully hope you spend the rest of your life in clothes that smell damp no matter how much you run them through the dryer.

To the rest of you; a genuine thank you for making the community what it is. And thank you for making the RB comments section specifically such a joyful place to be.

I promise my next post/update will be less grim.

Until then,

Rella x

Edit: Since I literally just had to deal with this happening just earlier today 🙄 You also do not and never will have my consent to:

- advertise any generative AI apps in my review/comments section (Seriously? I firmly believe that generative AI has no place in the writing and publishing world, and more often than not, using it makes you both worse at writing and is no better than stealing from people who took the time to learn to do it well. Keep all that trash out of my comments section.)

[regardstosoulandromance]

the ao3 dislike button discourse is so painfully transparent because it’s clear to be that people want the ability to harass (and control) fanfic authors without putting their name on it. The internet, ao3 especially, already has the ability to be pretty anonymous but this is just another level of anonymity. Currently, you can leave a negative review, it’s a dick move but not impossible, plus the writer can block users or restrict comments. I’ve had people post screenshots of my fics on twitter specifically to use harassment to get me to stop writing but all it did was show how mean spirited the posters were. But again, I just fucking blocked them.

You cannot convince me the desire for an ao3 dislike button isn’t only to mass harass people without restriction and with anonymity.

[genderkoolaid]

sorry if you've talked about it already, but what is it that makes KOSA's idea of online safety wrong? I don't know much about the bill, what does it intend to do?

What do you think is a good way to protect kids from things like online predators or just seeing things that they shouldn't be seeing? (By which I mean sex and graphic violence, things which you'd need to be 16+ to see in a movie theater so I think it makes sense to not want pre-teens to see it)

From stopkosa.com:

Why is KOSA a bad bill? KOSA uses two methods to “protect” kids, and both of them are awful. First, KOSA would incentivize social media platforms to erase content that could be deemed “inappropriate” for minors. The problem is: there is no consensus on what is inappropriate for minors. All across the country we are seeing how lawmakers are attacking young people’s access to gender affirming healthcare, sex education, birth control, and abortion. Online communities and resources that queer and trans youth depend on as lifelines should not be subject to the whims of the most rightwing extremist powers and we shouldn’t give them another tool to harm marginalized communities.  Second, KOSA would ramp up the online surveillance of all internet users by expanding the use of age verification and parental monitoring tools. Not only are these tools needlessly invasive, they’re a massive safety risk for young people who could be trying to escape domestic violence and abuse.

I’ve heard there’s a new version of KOSA. What’s the deal? The new version of KOSA makes some good changes: narrowing the ability of rightwing attorneys general to weaponize KOSA to target content they don’t like and limiting the problematic “duty of care. However, because the bill is still not content neutral, KOSA still invites the harms that civil rights advocates have warned about. As LGBTQ and reproductive rights groups have said for months, the fundamental problem with KOSA is that its “duty of care” covers content specific aspects of content recommendation systems, and the new changes fail to address that. In fact, personalized recommendation systems are explicitly listed under the definition of a design feature covered by the duty of care in the new version. This means that a future Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could still use KOSA to pressure platforms into automated filtering of important, but controversial topics like LGBTQ issues and abortion, by claiming that algorithmically recommending such content “causes” mental health outcomes that are covered by the duty of care like anxiety and depression. Bans on inclusive books, abortion, and gender affirming healthcare have been passed on exactly that kind of rhetoric in many states recently. And we know that already existing content filtering systems impact content from marginalized creators exponentially more, resulting in discrimination and censorship. It’s also important to remember that algorithmic recommendation includes, for example, showing a user a post from a friend that they follow, since most platforms do not show all users all posts, but curate them in some way. As long as KOSA’s duty of care isn’t content neutral, platforms will be likely to react the same way that they did to the broad liability imposed by SESTA/FOSTA: by engaging in aggressive filtering and suppression of important, and in some cases lifesaving, content.

Why it's bad:

The way it's written (even after being changed, which the website also goes over), it is still possible for this law to be used to restrict things like queer content, discussion of reproductive rights and resources, and sexual education.

It will restrict youth's ability to use the Internet independently, essentially cutting off life support to many vulnerable people who rely on the Internet to learn that they are queer, being abused, disabled, etc.

Better alternatives:

Stop relying on ageist ideas of purity and innocence. When we focus on protecting the "purity" of youth, we dehumanize them and it becomes more about soothing adult anxieties than actually improving the lives of children.

Making sure content (sexual, violent, etc.) is marked/tagged and made avoidable for anyone who doesn't want to engage with it.

Teach children why certain things may be upsetting and how best to avoid those things.

Teach children how to recognize grooming and abuse and empower them to stop it themselves.

Teach children how to recognize fear, discomfort, trauma, and how to cope with those experiences.

The Internet makes a great boogeyman. But the idea that it is uniquely corrupting the Pure Innocent Youth relies on the idea that all children are middle-class suburban White kids from otherwise happy homes. What about the children who see police brutality on their front lawns, against their family members? How are we protecting them from being traumatized? Or children who are seeing and experiencing physical and sexual violence in their own homes, by the parents who prevent them from realizing what's happening by restricting their Internet usage? How does strengthening parent's rights stop those kids from being groomed? Or the kids who grow up in evangelical Christian homes and are given graphic descriptions of the horrors of the Apocalypse and told if they ever question their parents, they'll be left behind?

Children live in the same world we do. There are children who are already intimately aware of violence and "adult" topics because of their lived experiences. Actually protecting children means being concerned about THEIR human rights, it means empowering them to save themselves, it means giving them the tools to understand their own feelings and traumas. KOSA is just another in a long line of attempts to "save the children!" by dehumanizing them and giving more power to the people most likely to abuse them. We need to stop trying to protect children's "innocence" and appreciate that children are already growing, changing people, learning to deal with discomfort and pain and the weight of the world the same as everyone else. What people often think keeps kids safe really just keeps them ignorant and quiet.

Another explanation as to why it's bad: