#& i was only thinking about that site b/c i was thinking about how the tumblr ask games w/ like 100 questions were originally surveys

[winter-hoof]

It's fun to get nostalgic about the early 2000s until I remember that we used to ~*~*~*tYpE lIkE tHiS*~*~*~ and say kewl

[kimdokjas]

wait wait, what’s the change tumblr did to the reblog chains ? 🥲🥲🥲 I’m so lost

okay so basically, let's say you see a post on your dash

before the update, if you clicked on a url, you could do 3 things:

view that specific reblog on the blog you follow (A)

view the previous reblog on the blog A reblogged it from (B)

view the original post on op's blog (C)

however, staff recently implemented an update where clicking on a url no longer takes you to that specific post. now, clicking on a url just takes you to the blog itself.

this means that you now get 5 things:

view ONLY that specific reblog on the blog you follow (A) -> changed location near header. also, you will now ONLY see that post and nothing else

view ONLY the original post on op's blog (C) -> changed location near header. you will only see that post and nothing else. and ONLY if the op hasn't deleted it, otherwise it just shows an error

view the blog of the person you follow (D)

view the blog of the person D reblogged it from (F) -> option B no longer exists

view the blog of the op (E)

you might be thinking: "cool! i get more options so that's good, right?" well, no.

there are SEVERAL things wrong with this and it goes beyond the prev tags issue

1) first of all, it's counterintuitive that A and C changed locations to the area near the header, especially if your userbase was already used to the previous functions. it just seems like horrible UX design to me but let's put that aside for now.

2) as you can see, option B which allowed you to see the previous reblog of a post no longer exists.

now, if you click on the previous url, you will just be taken to their entire blog. you can no longer view the post itself.

someone asked staff about this, and they replied in this post that the change was INTENTIONAL and if you want to view the previous reblog you would have to "go through the notes view".

to borrow what someone else said:

basically, this update just killed the prev tags culture in one fell swoop.

(sure, you can still use it to reply directly to the person you're reblogging from, but it's now literally useless to use "prev tags" for everyone else involved. sure, you can choose to copy tags or peer review them, but again, if people will have to copy them then the less people are likely to use them, and not every prev lends itself to peer-reviewing imo)

now, listen. i know not everyone likes the prev tags culture, but it just seems like such a poorly-thought decision to kill a culture that like... half of your entire userbase uses (see this poll as a quick reference) and that's UNIQUE to your site and sets you apart from other social media.

but it's also not even just prev tags. let's say you want to remove an annoying addition on a post's reblog chain? you can no longer do that.

however, i feel like this is the most important point:

regardless of how you may feel about the prev tags culture, the pure UI aspect of it should remain

what i mean by this is: even if you don't like prev tags, simply 1) being able to access the reblog chain, and 2) clicking on a post and actually have it take you to their BLOG (and not just a page with that one single post) is literally essential navigation.

this update threatens to drive down user engagement (which is already critically low) by making it harder to navigate. which is actually another point:

3) even if you click on A and C now to view those specific posts, it's NOT the same as it used to be.

before, you could view the reblog directly on the blog. so you could just scroll down and see the other posts leading up to it. now, you will be taken to a page where you will ONLY see that post and nothing else.

but also, you can no longer easily navigate other people's blogs.

you know how sometimes you would see like 50 notifications of someone going through an entire tag on your blog? that's going to happen a lot less, i'm afraid.

let's suppose you want to go to op's blog because they're an artist and you want to see more of their art. so you click on C and see that the tag they use for posts with their art is "#my art"

cool! before, you could just click on that tag and immediately view ALL of their art as long as the posts have that tag.

but now, if you click on that tag, it will take you to the ENTIRE tumblr tag with literally all the posts that everyone in the history of time has tagged with that specific tag.

now, to do the same thing that just took 2 clicks before, you would have to: click on C to view the post -> look for the tag you want to navigate -> click E to view their whole blog -> scroll and look for a post that just so happens to have that tag (the search function is literally useless) and hope to god that there's a recent one or you'll have to scroll for ages or simply give up -> if you happen to find it, click on that tag to navigate their posts.

you see how this is counterproductive, right? you see how this can literally drive down engagement with content creators, right?

if you make people's blogs harder to navigate, you will literally drive down the number of likes and reblogs on their posts, which have already been steadily declining for years now.

4) options D and E to view the blogs and not the posts are literally useless because you could already access other people's blogs before. you just had to click on their url to view their blogs starting from that specific post AND you could choose to just refresh it to view their newest posts.

either way, the change just seems completely unnecessary. and again, it's not just about the prev tags culture but about basic UI.

so what can we do about it?

i normally don't advocate for flooding staff with messages but i do feel like this is one of the worst updates staff has ever done (and that's saying something) and something needs to change.

even if they don't retcon the entire update, that's fine, but staff could at least add the option to view the reblog chain as a different feature (maybe even opt-in) for example. there are better ways to go about this than just axing an entire existing feature.

also, this same issue that makes it harder to navigate blogs needs to change. i feel like content creators will be especially affected by this unless this changes because you can no longer easily navigate their tags, so it will inevitably drive down engagement.

so please, contact staff and let them know we want a change.

you can contact support here!

here's a template for a possible message you could send, but feel free to edit it. (under category you can choose "Feedback")

Hi, I would like to politely request a change to the recent update that affects the reblog chain of posts. Regardless of the "prev tags" culture itself, the UI aspect of being able to view the reblog chain of a post is essential for navigation on this website. Even adding it as a separate, opt-in feature would be a huge help. Additionally, clicking on a post and then on one of the tags now takes you to the entire tumblr tag instead of the tag on that blog, which makes it harder to navigate blogs. Both of these issues have the potential to drive down user engagement by actively making it harder to navigate Tumblr, but especially for content creators. I hope you can do something to address these issues as soon as possible. Thanks in advance and have a nice day.

also, if you can and/or want, reblogs are appreciated to help spread the word!

that's pretty much the gist of the issue from what i've seen, but if anyone else has anything to add or a different way we could contact staff to make ourselves heard, please feel free to let me know!

TLDR: it's not just about prev tags, this update affects basic functionality and content creators as well

[antimony-medusa]

One of the things that I think sometimes gets lost when we talk about what's appropriate in fandom spaces is the notion that things can be appropriate in one space, but not for another. And that doesn't mean that the thing that's inappropriate in that setting is wrong, it just means that it's rude in that space. I think people want a single set of rules that's appropriate everywhere, but the thing is, you have to be able to assess the situation, and adjust your behaviour accordingly.

So an example. I have a fairly popular text post that was me asking about c!phil and religion in all innocence, and someone said "the only thing I have to say about c!phil is that he worships on his knees, thank you and goodnight". And I reblogged it like "I can't believe I forgot about how this fandom does phil analysis", cause it was at the height of the dilfza memes.

Anyways that's obviously a phil-is-happily-married/oral sex joke, in an oblique innuendo way, and on this site, where Phil is not here, and his friends are not here, with it being clear I was talking about the block man character, and we make jokes about sex and profanity (a very popular url scheme for a long time was "[name]shugecock" (or smalldick, depending on the joke)— that's a fine joke to make. I'm an adult, I can make sex jokes about fictional characters on the sex joke fictional character social media site.

If I was to make that joke in Philza's twitch chat, a) in his face, b) with his wife modding, c) in an enviroment where people aren't prepped for sex jokes, d) with it being not clear if I was talking about the cubito or about the real guy, that would be wildly inappopriate. I would be banned in every chat Philza mods in and I would deserve it.

That doesn't mean that it's inappropriate to make the joke in the first place though, just because I wouldn't do it at a Phil meet and greet. It means you gotta learn to read the room. (And like, sometimes it's hard to learn to read the room, but you can do it by pure brute-force memorization. I did.)

This is the same theory that underlies the fact that you can call your friends a bitch in a friendly way, because you are friends and you know each other's boundaries, but if you call your boss a bitch, you will be fired. There are rules about workplace appropriateness, and there are rules about what's appropriate in front of kids (I teach teens, I do not swear in front of them, I swear a LOT in front of my roommate), and there are rules about what's appropriate in different fandom spaces. Participating in an exchange about pregnancy and babies with your favourite blorbo of the moment? Great. Showing the actor gift art you got of him pregnant? No. Bad. Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.

The thing that concerns me is that I think there are slight signs that as we get more comfortable with sexy jokes and offcolour remarks as a MCYT fandom (QSMP is the big banner example but it happens with other smps), we're taking what's appropriate in one space (tumblr, home of the brain worms, where I have seen the blog "philzaswetpussy" on my dash), and we're bringing it into places that it's not appropriate (sure, slimeariana is clearly canon, but maybe don't put the actual dicks-out fan art in the art tag on twitter that slime checks). Cause we can obviously tell that the rules twitter is going with are silly for here, so it's full speed ahead for roier/spreen etc, but the trick here is that it's full speed ahead HERE, or in fandom servers, and not necessarily in the streamer's faces.

We have a bunch of situations where creators have said that it's not their place to weigh in on shipping or nsfw etc, and people have taken that as a go ahead and that's fine, but thats still something where I'd like, caution people that just because they said "not gonna look at it not my deal", that doesn't mean that like, you should make it difficult for them to avoid looking at it. Talking about scitties is an honourable tradition, but telling scar that he makes you question your sexuality in his TTS— I made a horrified noise in real life and the cats came to look at me.

And I'm talking about the shipping, but this is also a thing with like— sometimes I see a streamer and I go "my friend you just vividly described neurodivergent symptoms" but it is ABSOLUTELY not my place to say that in their chat. It might not even be appropriate to make comments about it on my blog, with the amount of followers I have. I have to keep the "streamer just described the ADHD experience again :pensive:" comments for the group chat. And we all nod and go "yeah sounds like streamer", and we do not put it in his face, cause that's inappropriate.

We get to have fun with the fictional characters, including off-colour fun, but we still have to remember that there are real people who don't know us who are steering those fictional characters around, and it can be profoundly weird to see some of the (stuff that is appropriate in fandom spaces!) just up in your face in the regular fan art tag.

Just think about the space you're in, and who you're in front of, and if a CC notice is actually likely, and if a CC notice would be Very Bad actually with what you're doing, and keep the "world's sluttiest absent father" bracket (with associated slutty fan art) for here, not with the streamer tagged on twitter.

[sgiandubh]

Mordor says He returned only for Visa reasons. They did some math and understood that Sam had been there for almost 90 days, só It was time for a quick walk home.

Dear Visa Anon,

Which Mordor luminary came with this idea? The MENSA-level CRT Clique or Miss Marple, who thinks I know nothing (the Dimwit from Madrid is still learning how to spell, so I can't believe it's her)?

Regardless. These people should immediately stop watching Ninety-Day Fiancé on their cable network, following a severe overdose on Uzbek midgets and Egyptian gigolos 'looking for true love' stories.

Maybe they could also have checked their facts before solemnly stating bullshit, since they clearly think all the visitors to the wonderful U S of A are tourists and as such, entitled to a maximum 90-day stay at a time (and then a short hike to Tijuana or Canada and back on tracks: not EDI/GLA, FFS!).

Incidentally, may I remind these geniuses that S has been spotted only near EDI, which of course would mean for them he'd be getting his visa there. Unless...

Unless you know the US General Consulate in EDI does not issue any type of visas - LOL, idiots. And unless he'd need to be in LHR for the pre-appointed interview and then another 7 working days delay for processing and 1-3 working days for passport delivery by mail only (never in person, chickadees). Doesn't really click with timelines, Madam Expert.

Because they are all very intelligent, they also forgot everything about/never bothered to look for the new-ish ESTA system (https://www.handyvisas.com/esta-us-visa/british/), especially designed for Visa Waiver countries' citizens. So I insist: if traveling as a tourist, S does not need a visa to enter the US for up to 90 days - that is correct, but by no means applicable to S's reality. And if he knew he'd need to stay more than 90 days, he would have applied for a visa - mandatory - in London before the Summer of Sassenach tour.

But he is not traveling as a tourist and very probably not under another type of non-immigrant visa, simply because he has businesses there and he is also involved in the OL project with *** (d'oh!).

Let's unpack:

As per US current regulations, S cannot apply for a B-1 (business non immigrant visa). To understand why, kindly refer to the US Customs and Border Protection FAQ (https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/B-1%20permissible%20activities.pdf). I already munched it up for you:

He could only apply for a O-1 B immigration visa, for which his agent or employer should mandatorily petition the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. These are special visas designed for the individual who (...) has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements. This is very subjective and a contract with * should be enough - I was in a taxi when I received your ask and immediately checked with a friend from the US Consulate, to indulge you. And all this hassle just because a Tumblr Nobody has flatulent opinions, huh?

According to the USCIS's own regulations, not Dutch fantasy or Belfast sagas, the authorized period of stay and possibility of extension are as follows (https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-with-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement):

The good thing about getting this visa (and I think * sorted it out a long time ago for both of them) is that it helps tremendously with the Green Card procedures, something I bet the farm both S & C already have, by now.

So doing the maths was perfectly inane and useless.

Does that answer your question, clever Anon? Can I go back to the Quaich post I must finish (it will be VERY long, beware) today?

Thanks for asking and I am sorry for the length: this fandom being paranoid, I had to include all the tedious details. I hope we can put this idiocy to rest, now. Parochial twits.

[foone]

One of my few problems with adopting Tumblr as my social media outlet of choice is the way reblogging your own threads to comment on them means you get this slow explosion of longer and longer posts, and all previous versions still exist on your timeline.

This got long, so musings about the differences in how long-text posts work on different social medias and the trouble with writing them on ADHD continued under the cut.

So if you scroll down my Tumblr account after a bunch of writing, you see:

FOONE: A, B, C, D, E

FOONE: A, B, C, D

FOONE: A, B, C

FOONE: A, B

FOONE: A

And this is annoyingly repetitive especially as posts get long. Which is a definite risk, I can type SO FUCKING MUCH.

And you might say "this is easily fixed: posts don't have to be short (this isn't Twitter) so just put all the content in one post", which, no. I have ADHD. Coming back in the room to go "AND ANOTHER THING!" is my modus operandi, you know? I can't think of all the things I want to say and just say them in one place and go "OK DONE" and click a button and let the internet go read it now. I don't know what I am going to say until after I have said it, and especially not what I am going to say next.

And I worry that the way Tumblr compounds your threads in this additive explosion means that the threshold for "this is too much of this punk" is much lower than other social networks, and that's a real worry for someone who writes as much as I do. I am happy to write endlessly for my own entertainment but I don't want to be annoying, and having to repeatedly scroll past multiple copies of my endless threads is going to get old fast.

Also on the subject of "one long post vs many short ones in a thread", splitting a post and continuing in a reply post/reblog has a functional use: it's like a paragraph break, but moreso. So it's good for indicating a break in the thought, to shift focus, or to take a tangent. (and as someone with severe adhd, my brain is 90% tangents)

Anyway I'm thinking I might do something weird like build a private mastodon instance and then set it up to sync threads to Tumblr.

Like, collect a full thread of small posts, turn them into paragraphs, and post that to Tumblr as one big post. It will work better, I think.

Fundamentally the problem I am facing right now is that Twitter is the best site for how my brain works. Individual tweets in a thread are a close approximation for how I think, so writing a long series of tweets is easiest for me. In that format, I can write. I can be creative. I can express myself.

And don't get me wrong: I love Tumblr. This is easily one of my favorite places on the web. But the "big open white page with plenty of room to write" model is not a good fit for my brain. I look at that and I can't get started. If I can get started, I can't finish, because I get bogged down in going back and editing and rewording.

Short small snippets in a row, like IRC or Twitter, prevent those problems. I don't have to think about the whole thing I'm writing, because I don't have room to write that. I just focus on the current line, and once that's done, I move on to the next. Did I misspell something? Could that have been phrased better? Well, too bad. That line is done now, you can only move forward.

Yeah this may not result in a work of literary genius but it at least results in something. I am not a great writer, I'm never going to be a new york times best seller... But I'm not aiming that high. Writing like this, as a series of short snippets and not going back to fix and re-edit them? It's the only way I can write at all. (and if you have ADHD that gets in the way of your writing, I recommend trying it).

I'd rather write in this specific and limited style than not write at all. There's too many ideas in my head, I need to get them out.

Anyway the reason I'm thinking about this now is that this is why I've traditionally been a heavy Twitter user (though let the record show that I have been on Tumblr for longer!). It works for that style of writing, so I could flourish there.

But it's dying. Oh God, is it dying. And I'm having to think about what to do next. Where to "go".

And as an aside, it's always weird how we always phrase these things like migrations. Like people are backing up their bags from site A and getting on a train to site B.

Maybe it's just my ADHD talking, but that's never been how I've used the web. I am in many, many places simultaneously, and have been for a long time.

I'm active, to different degrees, on Tumblr and Twitter and reddit and discord and mastodon and cohost and Facebook and LinkedIn and IRC and email chains and BBSes. The only thing that change if I "move" is how much I focus on one over an another. If I have a shitpost in my head, where do I decide to post it? If I want to talk about something more serious, where do I go?

Obviously with Twitter dying I'm focusing more on other places. I joked to someone on Twitter that I'm currently sharding what used to be my Twitter posts to Tumblr and mastodon: Tumblr gets the shitpostier and transier stuff, mastodon gets the techier stuff. But that may change as I find the right balance going forward.

Or, regarding my "persona Jubilee" post, I might just stop. I have been this Foone for a while, it might be time to stop and rethink.

Anyway, the final wrinkle in this overlong post: I wrote this much on Tumblr, despite all my talking about not being able to do it. I think I'm basically doing this by channeling my "Twitter thread mood" and not going back up and editing. Who knows if that means I've actually managed to overcome my previous inability to just write free-form long content, or if this is just a limited trick that I can't keep up. Time will tell.

[gingerhastoomanyobsessions]

for a webbed site that claims to love rehabilitative justice tumblr sure has a love of vengeance huh. somehow we’ve created a digital atmosphere where literal murder is less bad than (checks notes) not emerging from the womb with a perfectly calibrated moral compass and the Correct Political Opinions

I’ve seen people on here say that, not only can people Not Change, but that people who try to change are a) lying b) manipulative and c) undeserving of the chance to change. besties…becoming a better person isn’t about whether or not you deserve to become a better person, it’s not even about becoming 100% perfect, it’s about doing damage control after you realize you fucked up. like yeah people you’ve hurt aren’t obligated to like you/forgive you/interact with you, but tumblrites seem to think that anyone who’s ever made a serious mistake should be exiled from society and/or guillotined. we’ve gone from reasonable and correct takes about how people change (ex. “it’s not my responsibility to teach you”— yes! of course it shouldn’t be up to underprivileged random people on the internet to educate the uninformed!) to utterly deranged ones (ex. “nobody with privilege will ever realize that they’re doing harm and the ones who claim to be in the process of learning are just virtue signaling and should be punished for it”— a take I’ve seen applied to men learning about feminism, cishets becoming allies, white people learning about antiracism, relatives of shooters who go on to advocate for gun control, etc)

you do realize that people can genuinely change for the better, right? I’ve seen my parents un-transphobia themselves firsthand, going from thinking that my sibling came out “for attention” to wholeheartedly believing in trans rights. my grandma’s father was every kind of asshole imaginable and she grew up indoctrinated, but as an adult she broke away from him and has spent the rest of her life working on unlearning stuff. my cousin grew up in the rural south and parroted his rural southern dad’s opinions until he was thirteen and started actually thinking for himself, at which point he did a total 180 and is now studying history with a focus on the evolution of the rights of the underprivileged

so when I see people on here say that people shouldn’t change because they don’t deserve to change it rubs me the wrong way. cause at that point it sounds like you’d rather have that person stay harmful so you can stay mad at them, instead of letting them change and gaining yourself an ally. again, you don’t need to interact with them, but. at this point it kind of feels like you care more about hating The Oppressors than about protecting The Oppressed.

[pocket-lin]

9 and 10 for the fandom asks!

hi!! thank you!! I apologize if the formatting is weird for this, I wrote half of it on my phone notes app the the rest on the Tumblr site and also I just generally don't know how to do things hahah

(i'm focussing on the sandman cuz I think that’s the biggest fandom we share!!)

9. a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy

so dreamling is my ultimate sandman ship, BUT. two other ones I love are:

dream/hob/corinthian aka hobrintheus. everyone go read @softest-punk’s fic self-abandon, and the confounding effects thereof !! hob humanizing the corinthian (calling him cori), the corinthian being so genuinely in love with hob, dream being being so very dream about the situation… pure excellence. I have a handful of other fics I can rec for this ship, too!!

dream/hob/daniel. this is 10000000% @moorishflower’s fault because their Beautiful, Strange and New series is fucking unparalleled  (tbh everything they write is like a drug to me). the main fic was so incredibly fun to read while it was a wip!!! especially when the story gets to that part (ifkyk). 

10. a blog (mutual or one you follow) that has made your fandom experience brighter

okay this question is so hard to answer because I’ve only got back into any fandom in 2022 (long and kinda sad story) and I haven’t quite gotten up the gumption to talk to many people outside of commenting on fics. so!! I’m just gonna shoutout some more fics I love from the people I talked about in the other answer!

here’s a few more @softest-punk fics that I recommend, especially if you like alternate universes, a hopelessly-in-love hob, and support the Trans Agenda:

Catching Up - human/no powers au with alternating pov. all that post-fishbowl trauma goodness with an incredibly sweet hob who just wants to take care of his dear friend (who he is also hopelessly in love with but that's nbd)

Falling - another human/no powers au! strangers to friends to lovers story with extremely hot sex. i'm remembering how much I love this one and I'm about to go reread it!!

Half sleep, half waking- this is one of their most recents fics and it's a rivers of london crossover!! 1989 fishbowl rescue au (alternating hob and nightingale pov) where hob enlists the help of his friend (and ex-lover) dci nightingale to figure out why his oldest friend (who he is hopelessly in love with) missed their centennial meeting. I love hob's whole "thing" in this one–I have a personal head canon that he would absolutely have all kinds of rizz with the potentially less than human and/or immortal components of the world.

here's some more @moorishflower fics I recommend, especially if you like alternate universes, delicious angst, and extremely well thought out world-building! I don't know the best way to word this (fiction writing isn't my strong suit), but the way that this author describes things makes me go insane. they know exactly how to describe how things taste/smell/feel and it just completely transports me into the story.

iron, glass, bones, blood - monster4monster, love but the kind of love where you want to pin them to a board like a butterfly and find out what their blood looks like under a microscope, kink as a way to reclaim trauma... I literally cannot tell you how many times I've read this fic. it feels like it was pulled from the very depths of my subconscious.

On sexual dimorphism in C. urophasianus - (if you know me irl, no you don't) very lighthearted, non-traditional a/b/o, omegas are very empowered. they've only been together one week and it's still very new between them and now dream has to "court" hob because of his instincts going all crazy. very, very sweet!!

17th Century Knife Restoration - this fic made me cryyyyyy. hob watching a restoration video on YouTube and uh oh its his knife and uh oh now he has many feelings. to be loved is to be known, and also to be changed 💜

also their Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs series' most recent fic, Basic Needs, is currently posting and is making ME have many feelings!! check this one out if you want mutual pining of the most desperate nature, down and out dream and caretaker hob (oh and hob has a gigantic dick and dream is obsessed with it)

[kaatiba]

A Look Back - August in Review

Another month has flown by! As promised in my last newsletter, here's a recap of everything I've written and done since the end of July.

New for this month (and going forward), I'll also be posting these recaps to tumblr!

In August, I wrote 10,455 words throughout 22 writing sessions and wrote for 13 days out of 31. I am not surprised my stats are down by half of what I did in July, as I've spent two weeks out of commission and occupied by a knee injury that was not only painful and stressful, but also sapped me of all my creative energy.

But any writing is good writing, and I'm glad I didn't force myself to try and create, because I also needed to rest and recuperate. So what did I write this month?

First and most excitingly: I've re-published my fable, The Peacock, The Crown, and The River! I've decided I care more about getting readers now than trying to get traditionally published, a full-time and exhausting endeavour with no guarantee of success. You can read it in full, for free, on my site!

*

I'm halfway through Chapter 5 of LofM! My whole crew is officially on the run, having committed treason (for an excellent if possibly fatal cause).

The last scene I wrote is one where everyone learns about how 1) Nilam and Ilyas first met my MC Halah and 2) how Nilam acquired her war leopard, Zsa Zsa! I love it; it’s a lighthearted moment and a group conversation that, I think, comes across as natural and real…which I struggle with depicting. Read the excerpt here.

I also shared another excerpt depicting a tense moment between Halah and Raoul and slipping in some added backstory regarding the background political turmoil. You can read it here.

*

I introduced a new(ish) wip with a new and punny title!

In reVamped Vignettes, Laika, a werewolf, lives in an old manor house that is either sentient or haunted, along with a debonair dwarf, a recalcitrant selkie, a shy orc, and a grubby cryptid of an elf. That's a lot of personalities for one house—and then one night she stumbles on a miserable vampire named Kyle, who's just been kicked out of his nest by his sire. Laika might have a bite just as bad as her bark, but she's not so heartless as to let a vampire face sunrise with only his snapback for protection...so she invites him over. These are their (mis)adventures.

See the full wip introduction here. I'm not actively working on it, just collecting ideas and inspiration for it. Still, that could change in an instant, knowing me.

*

For Oracle wip, I wrote this silly little post that speaks to the character relationships and dynamics:

Fin: I could fix him Alyss: I could break him Ro: I could indulge his every whim because it’s hilarious Sage, if he was sane and not consumed with revenge: none of you people care about me :c

I've also decided to make Fin (aka the White Rabbit) have albinism, which means I need to do research on the condition.

*

I've been sort of idly thinking about Glitch lately. It's not ready to be written yet, but here are my most recent point-form thoughts on it.

*

I've started redrafting Rivener! I'm hoping to re-publish it in 2024! Initially I was aiming for January but...that's looking unlikely. 

*

Last but most definitely not least, I wrote another fix-it fanfic! In soldier keep on marching on (waiting on that morning sun), Boromir survives the attack on Amon Hen...and the world is the smallest bit brighter for it. This fic was heavily inspired by phenomenal Boromir lives AU art by author and artist Emily B. Martin, who gave me permission to write it and then very kindly reviewed it! I am so incredibly honoured and thrilled that she did!

*

Well, that's a wrap on August. I hope this month was kind to you and that next month is kinder still.

[brightgnosis]

If another neurodivergent person with multiple mental illnesses and conditions is "anxiety inducing" to other "neurodivergent people" by having a clear cut and forward page about their own boundaries for interacting with them on their own blog ... To the point you feel the need to send them a completely random Hate Anon about "typical Wiccan behavior" instead of just moving on if it ain't for you?

Then you have far bigger mental issues (and multiple issues at that, clearly) to deal with than my incredibly limited request for literally the barest, and most basic iota of respect because I don't want to be treated like a brainless content farm by zombies who can't be bothered to interact with me like a person anymore ... In an age of social media which actively encourages everyone on the internet to treat each other as subhuman.

Like, starting with your exact participation in that system by sending Hate Anons in the first place ... Though, honestly, I literally cannot fathom how the core ideas of:

"Don't have a blank blog because it's common tumblr courtesy to show others you're not spam; actually customize your blog and I'm going to assume you're spam or just not putting in any effort to learn this site's etiquette (etc), if you don't"; and

"Actually interact with me and my original (non-content) posts or go away, because there's no point to you being on a personal blog unless you're interacting with the PERSON behind said blog", and

"I actually DO pay attention to who follows me, so I will boot you if you don't follow my rules and / or I just don't like the content of your blog and think you'll wind up being Drama"

Is so difficult for people to understand- or even "anxiety inducing" on any level ... Let alone "typical Wiccan behavior"; like oh no someone asked you to treat them like a person- and then told you exactly how to do that, and what behavior makes them feel Human online!

A. I love having clear cut knowledge of exactly how to interact with people in their spaces. It's so nice. Some people aren't like that, though, and that's cool. You don't have to be. But don't piss on others who do because you don't like "the rules" you were handed for their spaces. Especially using your own neurodivergency as an excuse to do so, oh my God ??? Grow up; you're not the only model of neurodivergency to exist.

B. Y'all are really reaching with that one, wow. Because I literally had these rules well before I was even Wiccan. It has nothing to do with Wicca. And the absolute best irony is that I got praised for this same exact set of rules before I started calling myself NeoWiccan, and told it was "so nice to have a clear set of boundaries to follow" by other Anons ... But now that I'm calling myself Wiccan, suddenly it's bad and "Typical Wiccan Behavior"; your hypocrisy's showing BIG time, y'all.

C. Though, like, frankly? At least you could've had enough respect to put your name to it so I can avoid clearly anti-Wiccan people in this shit hole. Because if you don't want to interact with me because I'm Wiccan, I'm more than happy to oblige because I don't want to interact with y'all either; I keep a permanent block list of people from the Wiccans DNI tag so I don't bother y'all. Y'all could have the same basic fucking courtesy. Good Lord.

You don't have to be here. I am not holding a gun to your head and saying "you must follow me or else" ... If you don't want to be here because you think it's too much effort to actually treat me like a human being, cool. Clearly my blog isn't for you, and I wouldn't want you here anyways.

Hate Anons are literally the last thing you need to send, however. Just move on instead of acting like a child; go back to Twitter or whatever other platform you came from where that behavior's acceptable, if that's your way of interacting with people and you're going to get big mad about someone putting their foot down and saying "not here in my personal space".

[blondiest]

ok so the invisible reader question is something i have thought of a lot!! being someone who is often an invisible reader & who has friends who interact with fic 100% passively i feel i can give at least a partial answer to this question. when ao3 first opened it was, in the fandoms i was personally part of, thought of exclusively as an archive & therefore secondary to all other modes of sharing fic. ao3 was always my last resort & i only went there to a) download fic or b) if it was available literally nowhere else. so i think in some people's minds it doesn't necessarily feel like an interactive or social space. the social norm has shifted very dramatically SO i do try to comment & kudo but tbh it often just slips my mind. bc of this context it does not feel incongruent to share something with a friend or put something on a rec list without leaving comments/kudos -- like the rec/share is the interaction, the comment/kudo is a bonus thing. there's also an incredibly large group of people who just don't think of fandom as a social space, so it would literally never occur to them to comment/kudo. ime they often feel their comments would be intrusive or overfamiliar. they're not spending any time on fandom social media so they aren't seeing any of the discussions from authors about how interaction is desirable. ime they generally do understand how hard authors work & have fics they hold close to their heart, but they're operating off totally different fandom rules. many of them also don't have ao3 accounts. they do not know how to use the site so they're unaware they can leave comments without an account (esp. since ao3 asks you for an email if you try to leave one) and they do not know what kudos are. the button imo is less intuitive than it seems bc 'kudos' as a term has fallen out of popular use. there's also been this huge push on tumblr to discourage people from liking posts & i'll bite my tongue about that whole situation BUT i do think the upshot of it is a lot of people genuinely think authors will be upset if you leave kudos, so they avoid doing so. this isn't purely speculation, i've seen people saying as such a few times & a final thing is a lot of people don't like to interact with certain kinds of fic (generally: nsfw or certain forms of h/c or whump) bc they don't want to be seen reading it. you CAN leave anon comments/kudos but they don't necessarily know that esp. bc of ao3 asking for an email. ANYWAY sorry here are all my thoughts(tm) on the matter.

KYO!!!!!!!!! this is an amazing answer & covers several things i myself have experienced (not seeing fandom as necessarily social before i started writing, not understanding how to use AO3) plus gives extra context / history for the whole thing. this is exactly exactly exactly the kind of insight i was looking for. you are the best for real (as usual) ❣️🥰

[acrossthewavesoftime]

Dear @sanguinarysanguinity, I received your questions for the ask game, but Tumblr was being mean about letting me post my full reply, so I will try again in this format:

7. Favourite historical dressing, uniform, or costume?

Hm, there are several eras of (fashion-)history that appeal to me. For men's fashion, I think the mid- to later 18th century is particularly pleasing to the eye (think 1750s to late 1780s). As for women's fashion, I have similar sentiments, with an added love for later 15th century Burgundian fashion and baroque court gowns of the late 17th/early 18th century.

A particular type of clothes that I find interesting is the riding habit, and how for the longest time, it was styled similarly to menswear. Not only do I simply like the look, I enjoy reading about how people, especially men, reacted to these outfits. Some genuinely felt threatened or offended by women donning clothes cut in a similar fashion to and inspired by male attire (and in cases of the late 17th/early 18th century, also men's wigs). I am fascinated by them, and the societal implications of (upper class, it has to be said) women adapting men's clothes to a) functional sportswear and b) a fashion statement that ruffled quite a few conservative feathers and pushed the boundaries of strictly gendered clothing.

Different eras (1670s and c. later 1770s- early 1780s), but these are both looks.

The sitter is quite famous and has featured a couple of times on my blog; though with the hint of skirts showing below the broad-brimmed, plumed hat cut off, it suddenly grows way harder to tell at first glance whether the person in the allonge wig and lace jabot is a man or a woman.

I do however sometimes dress up as a regency lady, so there's that, too. Not my all-time favourite era of (sartorial) history, but one that it was easy getting into costuming and finding events for even as a beginner.

8. What is the last thing you have read, listened to, or spoken of with historical reference?

I read a slew of ads on used book sites to finally get my hand on 1910s physical copies of Marjorie Bowen's William of Orange triology. Not very popular around these parts, it seems, alas.

I have also tried and failed to get my hands on D. K. Broster's Jacobite triology, with a similar success rate.

9. Favourite historical film?

Depending on the mood, it's either Master and Commander, or Persuasion (the 1995 film; we don't talk about the most recent adaption). Both stand out to me for the attempt at realism in trying to depict the period, the story, and great set and casting. I do however also love the not as historically faithful Le Roi Danse, which is one of my go-to comfort movies, and Das Boot (1981, not the soulless 2018 series), which will always hold a special place in my heart for having been the first piece of media set in a historical context that I recall having consumed, and which I suspect was the gateway to an interest in naval warfare that at last led me to where I am now- having an almost forgotten admiral of the American Revolutionary War as my blog icon (sorry to everyone who thought that's me! ;)).

[memesfromstuff]

A little recommendation for you all!

With this whole Beta Editor seeming to be pushed forwards for new blogs, and likely all of us as well (which you can read more about in other posts floating around in the RPC right now), I just wanted to make a little recommendation for you all.

Send FEEDBACK to Tumblr. And by that, I DO NOT MEAN you should complain to them about everything wrong about the Beta Editor. Please do not be mean or negative if sending them feedback, because one) there are real people behind the screens, as much as we tend to forget that sometimes, and two) if you’re only messaging them to be mean, then you’re really not contributing any solutions to the actual problem, nor do you make it appealing for them to hear you out if you do actually have suggestions / contributions.

So what I recommend is sending constructive feedback in a positive tone! How might that look like, you ask? Let me give you a small example of how you can format your message:

Hello! 

I just switched to the Beta Editor, and I have noticed a few things that currently makes it a bit difficult to use, and I have some ideas on what might make the Beta Editor better / easier to use. Right now, in the Beta Editor, it works like a,b,c. This makes it harder to use because d,e,f. I think a way that would solve this problem / make it easier to use is if it worked more like x,y,z.

Thank you for your time!

The reason I recommend us all doing this, is because the more feedback Tumblr gets on certain things, the more likely it is that they’ll one) actually consider changing something, and two) make it a higher priority to change said thing faster.

After all, the more something is requested, the more reason they have to actually consider it.

Now, how can you send your feedback to them, you ask? If you click your little avatar-icon at the top right of the screen, and then on the drop-down menu, you click on ‘? Help’, as shown in the image below, you will be taken to Tumblr’s help center site.

In the top right of the screen, you will see a button that says “Contact support”.

Click on it, and a sidebar will show up, with a space where you can fill in a category, your message, add an attachment if needed, choose a relevant blog, and your account email for them to message you back.

In the category dropdown menu, choose Feedback. Other than that, you don’t really need to add anything else, other than your actual feedback message, although if you think visual aid to show the problem you’ve encountered might be helpful, you can always add some screenshots and attach those.

When you click ‘Next’ Tumblr will automatically find relevant information to the words you’ve used in your message to see if they have solutions that might help you out. Just click on the button that says you didn’t find what you were looking for, and for it to send your message anyway!

[larnax]

Yes, yes, YES! AO3 is designed EXACTLY to protect people from “DISCOVERY!” Even the people you personally think are bad people! Even you! And if you think that a site that DOESN'T leave its users open to bashing, witch hunts, doxxing and harassment is a bad site, then it can only be assumed that YOU want to bash, witchhunt, doxx and harass people who don’t meet your moral standards. That is not a good thing! It is not!

And you are as free as the wind to criticize any fic you choose so long as a) you are not doing it in front of the author b) are not threatening the author and c) are not doxxing the author. Discord is a great place to do that! PRIVATELY. You are also free and encouraged to make any amount of helpful educational posts for the young and easily impressionable warning them of things that are not alright irl and what to do if you recognize yourself as a victim of one. How many such have you made lately?

And btw, anyone with any understanding of library studies will tell you that AO3's tagging system is a miracle and the envy of absolutely any such organization. There are plenty of such posts on tumblr! Look them up, maybe!

like i clearly and repeatedly explained in the post, "good archive" and "prevents users from discovering its contents" are mutually exclusive. this is the entire point of the post and ultimately irrelevant to whether or not i personally approve of the content. as i said repeatedly, assuming you could read and understand words, the problem is that a search system that CAN'T FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR or gives you almost entirely irrelevant results is a shitty search engine.

ao3 provides zero actual protection from doxxing or harrassment, it just has a shitty search engine. they didn't even let you block users until very recently. you might as well say my tumblr blog has incredible protection from witchhunts because the search bar can't filter tags.

a user who has trouble with a badly designed website isn't inherently Young and Stupid, you're just so up your own ass that you think memorizing 80 euphemisms for pedophilia makes you a supergenius. like i said explicitly in words, a library that incorrectly files or provides literally no relevant information on its contents is a bad library.

but yeah no "you can't criticize media publicly" is the kind of deranged take that would get you laughed out of town and pelted with tomatoes in any creative community except your social bubble. you being such a loser that people talking about how the romanticization of sexual assault can lead to its normalization in society, an extremely well documented phenomenon, makes your glass bones and paper skin shatter is firmly a "you" problem.

ultimately my post was making a utilitarian argument about whether or not ao3 is an effective archive. it's not. i have no problem with archives that store works by bad people that explicitly argue for awful things, and in fact i think they are vital to maintain for the reasons i stated. i just understand psychology and realize that if someone writes raceplay porn that the author should not be immune to criticism just because the archive itself is necessary.

but yes, i do think that some works should be restricted from, like, 6 year olds. some people, like elementary schoolers and you, don't have the mental capacity to understand cause and effect, so giving them propaganda for certain ideas when they don't yet have the ability to think critically can lead to them wholesale internalizing whatever they read.

and i do think that it is bad to write a book about how epic and good rape is. i think we should take that book and put it in a library so everyone can see that you think that and criticize you for it, and if that hurts your feelings you shouldn't have published it. i fully understand that authors can write books where characters espouse and even encourage ideas that the author does not hold, however it's thoroughly bad reading comprehension to assume that you can't ever read something and a) analyze what ideas the narrative itself supports while also b) when applicable, understanding that a book that endorses ideas and an author who endorses them irl are not correlation without causation.

also the 'if YOU think some people are bad that must mean YOU are the REAL bad person' is just such a stupid logical fallacy. some things are different from other things. lemonade is different from microplastics. gay sex is different from racism. the difference between me and you is that i know what i'm talking about and you're repeating bullshit slogans from people obsessed with a website that doesn't work very well.

in conclusion,

[piracytheorist]

2 and 3 please for the violence ask game (I like being nosy and the idea of airing out dirty laundry lol)

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

(I'm taking this with more of a meaning of dominant and submissive role, respectively) I don't have particular headcanons regarding Loid's sexual preferences (other than him being a-spec), though I believe that he's done both as part of his missions, carefully separating his feelings from the activity so that either role wouldn't matter to him.

So I'm going to talk about Killian instead. And I'm full on the "submissive Killian Jones" train. My argument is that he has trauma and issues over loss of control due to growing up in servitude, and allowing his significant other (Emma, or whoever else) to wield some control over him and their sexual relationship helps him come to terms with his fear. To give up control and not only be treated well by his "master", but to also be given care and support and gratification back (and through the whole thing that what happens is the submissive's choice, so he would choose how things would go but would allow his SO to handle things). I don't know if that's healthy, but the opposite (him becoming dominant to deal with his trauma) could be unhealthy and toxic as fuck because he might see it as a way of "avenging" his past self who had no control and no agency. So yeah, for me, I could never see him wielding control in a sexual relationship like that, and giving up control is what would make him feel more free and relaxed.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

As a rule I hate keeping screenshots because a) no reason to remember stupid shit people have said just to make myself angry, b) people can change and holding them on to ideas for fictional stories they had from years ago is unfair and c) I've seen people get endlessly harassed over silly tumblr fandom takes, so.

But that doesn't mean I don't REMEMBER horrible takes. Ethan Winters from Resident Evil being a bigot for some reason. Killian Jones from OUAT only wanting to "get in Emma's pants" (and the painful part about that was HOW MANY PEOPLE just outright believed it, like, tell me you haven't watched his scenes without telling me you haven't watched his scenes). Damian Desmond from SxF "never having been a bully".

Ironically, the worst take I've seen about fictional characters in EVER was on twitter, but I'm not gonna go there cause we know what a cesspit that site is and why the people who make such horrible takes do not survive on tumblr.

But yeah I think the absolute most derailed, most biased take and biggest proof of "I haven't watched the original material" is people saying Heisenberg from Resident Evil wanted to help Ethan. Heisenberg, the guy who forced Ethan to fight his way through a stronghold full of lycans hell-bent on killing him, and then fight through Urias too, apparently wanted to help Ethan and also "cared" for Rose. Because throwing Ethan into another death trap after Ethan refused to let him use Rose however he wanted to is how he showed his compassion!

And I'm not talking about people who recognize the difference between canon and fanon. I'm talking people who legit think Heisenberg would be a better romantic partner for Ethan than Mia. They're like "I can excuse using people as objects and leading them into death traps and ignoring their wish to protect their child but I draw the line at lying to your spouse about being a bioterrorist".

And there are people who legit believe that! There are people who are down to fight for Heisenberg's honour and it's the biggest proof that they completely skip the Stronghold part of the game (and most of the factory, I guess, aside from the moments Heisenberg has his monologues through the megaphones). Because I cannot believe watching an entire playthrough or playing through the entire game, with a moderate amount of reading/watching comprehension skills and reach the conclusion that Heisenberg was only "helping" Ethan and that Ethan was wrong to refuse him and kill him. Again, fanon content is different and I respect whatever people want to create. But when it comes to canon interpretations, I do believe that it's the worst, least informed and most biased take I've seen in my years in fandoms.

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

[lrgcarter]

There's something about the adverts that have been turning up on Tumblr recently that fascinate me. Trying to get my head around it by writing this.

First off, Tumblr advertises itself on Tumblr. That's a choice, I guess. Like, we, of all people, know Tumblr is here?

But they are advertising new features! So I can see the purpose of that. I didn't know what Blaze is. But now I've seen the advert. And so I *still* don't know what Blaze is. But its logo is the Tumblr T on fire. Like, the site is going down in flames? Or it's capitalising on the Hell-site thing? Either way, great job, guys, great job.

And then there's the Wordpress adverts. If you're old enough to be using Tumblr, you've heard of Wordpress. And if you're on Tumblr and you're *not* using Wordpress, then you are not using Wordpress on purpose.

Then there's so many adverts for things where I scroll past still not knowing the adverts are for. But I *think* they're for sites that could at their simplest be described as "Tumblr's competition". But nobody's going to up and move to a 'lesser' Tumblr. Too much effort, no returns at all.

So its like Tumblr is advertising itself to show how adverts work on the site. Then selling ad space to other blogging sites that, at best, are reaching people who already use their product if they were ever going to, at worst they're just never going to use your product? But either way, Tumblr wins, I guess?

And the obvious way to end this rambling would be "Tumblr, it could only happen here." But this is something I think about wherever I see an advert. I tend to think either:

a) Yeah, I already use this product, you don't need to remind me.

b) Yeah, I've already heard of you, if I needed your product I'd already be using it. But I don't, so I'm not.

c) I've not previously heard of your product. Therefore I don't need it. Therefore I'm not going to use it.

or, and this is increasingly the most common,

d) I have no idea what that was trying to sell me.

I can't think of the last time I saw an advert and thought "I've never heard of this product, but it fills a need that was previously unfilled. Thanks advert, I'll be buying that!"

In fact, seeing an advert for a product will make me more likely to *not* buy a product, because I begrudge that company wasting my time.

I'm not saying I'm immune to propaganda. That would be foolish and hubris and all that jazz. Obviously advertising works on me. I just feel that the ratio of advertising that works to advertising that doesn't is increasingly less to do with the skills of the advertiser, and more to do with the way many of us can't afford products, therefore adverts aren't going to get us to buy things.

Steal them, maybe, but I don't think that helps the lines go up?

So, there we go, my rambling, unfocused thoughts on advertising. It's a wild party in this brain, I assure you.

[piochevide]

post-montages and assessments

I am now a solid year into setting "post-montage feeds" projects. i.e. curating creative timelines of web-posts, with the purposes of : a) collecting posts of interests b) building a cohesive whole from these base elements, c) having this cohesion make the posts resonate together

And, so , I thought I should jolt-down, here, fair assessments about these creative endeavours and practice. (under a cut because it will be -quite- long)

For starter, I have redacted a forum post about the subject of web-feeds, in general, in a fandom context, and about considering post-montage and intertext in particular : https://goldensunrise.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=4319

So, yes, in short, this forum post/thread is from a POV of : "The golden sun fandom". as, actually, I ended up considering these curations/montage, due to GS communities diffusing into numerous social-media, and thus making engaging with the (GS) fandom, now, less about finding a home-community one likes, and more about having to sample and search around, for dispatched pieces of fan-content, with many communities being now more about "like minded people that happen to love Golden Sun" than about the formerly dual/reversed "collective that love Golden Sun with some affinity of heart".

... Again, to experience what I mean by post-montage, firsthand, you may have a browse at my main "keffect" tumblr blog.

And, indeed, I decided to try that because both : I had to register an account, in order to properly search and browse fan-content, around this social-site way of working, in this fandom ecosystem.

And, then, as I had to keep it active, I should as well... creatively push the envelope of what one can do, around here.

This, combined with me, wishing to archive and share, the core of fandom content I had gathered along the years, really could only result in this : Creatively curate a synthesis breadth of old and new content, putting the creative contribution into an aspect of the system, that is little to not tracked or "metric-ed" : the feeds and timelines.

The "vibes", the "funny juxtapositions of posts"... And all manner of similar seldom tracked actual intertext content.

---

In the end : It is fun to do such creative blogging/curating, really fun.

I even also started doing a similar thing on x-dot-com, i.e. the former twitter/"birdsite" (at "heggnox") -timeline archives of this birdsite!heggnox project should have their own dedicated blog posts at key times-

Anyway : I feel like the main caveat of doing post montages is that the algorithms and way for people to discover blogs, do not factor-in the collection and composition aspects of blogs, mostly revolving around the isolated posts, thus making original posts the main way to get found.

I am somewhat fine with doing my little post-composing game, like that, on my own, for my own fun of browsing it back, and enjoying it again and again. I mean, I am quite familiar with doing such, as I already do it, offline, for fan-vids/"amvs" I edit for myself. (Because, you know, the hustles of having to handle legal and copyrights, if one uploads any fanvid on any platform, as of today...)

Still, if you like the concept of post-montage, keep it in mind, sometime when you are about to share any handful of posts : Think a tad about how the posts fit together best, how they connect to what you have posted previously, maybe it also reminds you of something ?

In short : Sometime, take a step back, and revel in the collective of posts, as much as you usually consciously enjoy the isolated posts. After all, one actually absorbs these feeds, already, just don't focus much on them... So, why not mind them at time, and play with them as we do ?