plumbastic

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if i cut off someone reaching out for help on tumblr? i am a very anxious person. ive been on tumblr a very long time because most all other social media terrifies me as someone who grew up with the wild west internet a decade past (im in my late 20s) so i feel sometimes with how reckless and spurractic people can be online in chatroom and especially clearly public platforms where any stranger, malicious or otherwise can just archive your digital presence for personal use.

more recently as someone who has been here during the pornban and as an asexual really enjoyed the quiet with no drama farming and a slow pace to talk about more unique political topics in a measured way it is something im strangely nostalgic for and a great example of my sensibilities to people when they insist that i use other platforms like discord or twitter or whatever clone for these services comes out of the old guard introducing feature creep to copy everyone else or any other indi "were the anti corporate version" of the endless scroll apps. i just dont want it. tumblr is special because im desktop only, been here for years, and i have kept track of every single change made so i have manually adjusted the change through hacks to evade every bad decision on here and make my set up look identical to how it was in 2010. so let it be understood that i tend to be a loney person because of this stubbornness. web 3.0 is too dangerous to people with addictive tendencies that my adhd brings out and my need to wear my heart on my sleeve. so i hope i defended my personality type enough to show why someone like me would see a post about some horrible abuses they have fell victim to who also share alot of the marginalized status as me and writing depressive things in the replys of others posts as to attention seek about it.

i directly interact with this person, not only to check if they are real (but wow, modern chat bots make this part horrifying for me. we really cant ever know for sure what is real anymore. trying to find warmth on the internet feels impossible now a days) i have multiple conversations at this point both venting and just casually shooting the shit. but the begging for me to constantly repost their paypal makes me so nervous in a way that i feel so guilty for because it reminds me of all the scams that get associated with this kind of ebegging and the reminder that capitalism takes away all warmth from human interaction to make them purely transnational and conditional. but then it just has been escalating where im so scared that now its not enough that im reposing on my 8 follower, all mutual blog, they are asking me to share it on other socials. accounts i do not have i have a flip phone and a laptop and i am tinkering with a windows 7 tower that will never be connected to the internet so i can always have software sit perfectly in its time capsule for when i need it. i do not have a way to help this person outside of what i learned from collage psyche classes. a part of me is so scared to just abruptly cut them off and just delete my entire account like i tend to do often on tumblr for a multitude of reasons, its a part of what lets people survive being here this long but i worry that would crush them if i did that, i dont want to make them feel more hopeless and unwanted then they already talk about. but i am text on the internet through a screen. i can only do so much. so would i be the asshole if i just deleted my account with a "i hope you hang in there, the world is a harsh place but keep moving" to cut someone so similar to me who is struggling out of my life?

What are these acronyms?

[skarlettskwrl]

Embedding images on AO3: A Guide V2

Hi,

So, I thought I would go back and make an updated version of the A03 embedding image guide I made back in September of 2022.

This choice was mainly due to one of the options being viable.

Discord.

Due to the rise in malware distribution, Discord has set expirations on Discord links. This only applies to links that are used outside of Discord.

This short video explains this well

So, If we wanted to use the option, we would need to update the link every 24 hrs in your work.

Not great.

I know I also feel the salt.

Well, with that out the way, let's dive in.

A03 doesn’t actually allow for image hosting itself, so that’s why third-party hosting is needed.

In this guide, we will use these as possible choices to host our images

Google Drive

Tumblr

Imgur

https://postimages.org/

Other contenders:

IMGBB https://imgbb.com/

imgbox https://imgbox.com/

IMGBAM https://www.imagebam.com/

Image venue https://www.imagevenue.com/

Paste board https://pasteboard.co/

(Most if not all if these options listed require signup)

But really there are many options to choose from. If you have any recommendations, comment, and I’ll add them in.

Before we upload, you may need to compress your image(s) to shave them down to size, as some of these options upload size caps.

I recommend https://compressjpeg.com/ for this task. Or you may choose whatever your preference is.

Hosting options:

Option 1: Google Drive

In Google Drive, create a new folder with the image(s) or subfolders for further organization.

Right-click and select New Folder, and name this folder whatever you want.

Now upload your image(s)

Right-click on your image and hit share.

Hit Copy link

The link you have should look something like this

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nt17i9jx8LYffyQQew6D2x4HYxXFM0_B/view?usp=sharing

But as is it won't work! We need to modify it first!

Remove the

/view?usp=sharing

at the end of the link to work with AO3

Now, you have a working link from Google Drive that is ready to use.

Your modified link should look like…

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nt17i9jx8LYffyQQew6D2x4HYxXFM0_B

This Google Drive portion was from this guide here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132845

Option 2 Tumblr:

Tumblr is not always the best platform to use, as blogs can get deleted or URLs can change. But I’ll include it here anyway.

On mobile

Long tap the image you wish to use in a post.

You will be presented with this menu.

Tap share photo.

Then, you will be presented with another menu.

On the desktop, it will basically be the same.

Right-click on the image and hit copy image address.

Now, you have a working link from Tumblr that is ready to use.

Option 3: Imgur

First sign up for an account. I would recommend this because last year, Imgur began deleting images not tied to a user account. This means that if you upload an image without an account, the image link may eventually expire and the image will be deleted.

Create a new post

Upload your desired photo(s).

Do not hit the Grab Link button

It will not work with AO3

Instead, right, click on the image and hit copy image link or address, depending on your browser.

Now your Imgur Link is ready to use.

Option 4: Using an image hosting service like postimages.org

You can create an account for free with this one. This is pretty straightforward, so I’ll gloss it over.

Once logged in you will be presented with this page.

Upload your image, and you will be taken to this page.

Copy Direct link

Now, you have a working link from postimages ready to use.

Step 2: Inserting and fitting the image

Head over to Ao3.

Go to the new or existing chapter in which you wish to embed image(s).

HTML OPTION:

Make sure in the HTML editor view.

This is located next to the rich text button in the Worktext section, as shown.

Now, find the place in the text where the image should go...

Now, preview your work to confirm the link is correct.

As you can see the image worked but in my case the image was waaaayyy too big.

So, we can add the width and height attributes to scale the image to a more comfortable size.

First, we need to know the exact dimensions of the image.

This can be done by looking at the size in an image app or can be done with an online tool.

Record these values

In this example, the image is 1080x2400

Now divide each by the same factor; this is important to avoid compressing or stretching the image.

In this example, We quartered/ divided them by 4.

Width = 1080/4 = 270px Hieght = 2400/4 = 600px

Record these values

And update the img tag

<p> <img src="" alt="" width="" height=""/> </p>

src is the path to the URL.

alt is the alternative text for the image. This is used for accessibility as well as be a modern web standard.

width is the image width in pixels

height is the image height in pixels

You insert your values in between the double quotes.

ALWAYS TO REMEMBER:

to close your quote _

to close your image tag

to close and include your units

Here it is much better.

RICH TEXT OPTION:

Make sure in the Rich Text editor view.

Set the cursor where you want the image. Click the image icon.

Set the values in this form.

Use the URL we generated in one of the previous 4 options.

Set the Image description

The width and height may be input automatically; if you are unsure, consult the HTML OPTION to find the dimensions and how to rescale an image.

Here’s how it looks after posting

Well, that concludes my simple guide to AO3 image embedding. Thanks for reading to the end.

[ssslimyboy]

Pinned Post: Blog Info

- This blog only has one mod, @yourelost-itsokay, and it's always been just me. (I started this blog when I was 15!) I am not currently looking for additional mod applicants, but if you really really wanted to, you could contact me on my Discord @/zhyza

- The Ss at the start of my URL represent a hissing sound like a snake would make, not an abbreviation for Sanders Sides (I know some find that abbreviation to be triggering, so I intentionally don't use it)

- Shameless plug: You can also contact me on my Discord if you just want a friend who's into Sanders Sides. I am chronically online and usually respond quickly. Mod's AO3 is "PanicAtTheEverywhere (elfzhyza)"; I've been trying to get back into writing for Sanders Sides, so if you're interested, I have a lot of fun short stories over there and a couple of longer ones.

- Additions, drawings, and writing inspired by the things I post are always welcome, no need to ask. Just tag me if you post it, so I can see it :]

- Image IDs for past posts are a work in progress (once again, only one mod, a stressed college student), but all new images going forward (10/01/2024) will have an ID

- There's a bug with my desktop theme for posts with multiple images, where it shows every image twice. I'm not sure how to fix it, but it only shows the images once if you reblog it, so it's fine for now. (If anyone understands HTML coding and Tumblr blog themes and is willing to help troubleshoot, that'd be greatly appreciated.)

- Submissions are open

- All ships are fair game except for the obvious incest (however, I do tend to have a bias toward Logicality and Prinxiety, but I try to mix it up)

- All relationships, platonic or romantic, are tagged for your convenience

- All sides are sympathetic, but at the current stage, I think that's canon as well. Still, every character is tagged "[name] sanders" and "ts [name]", as well as "[name] mention" for when they're referred to but don't speak, so you can block whatever you need

- Speaking of blocking tags: current tws/cws include: #swearing, #food mention, #alcohol mention/#alcohol ment tw, #eating non foods, #kidnapping, #arson/#tw arson, #tw knife, #violence/#tw violence, #barf mention, #animal death/#pet death, #drug mention, #spider mention, #caps lock/#tw caps lock, #tw car accident

- Please do not repost these quotes on other sites such as Twitter or Instagram WITHOUT ASKING. I know that neither the characters nor the quotes are my intellectual property, but I enjoy doing this as a hobby, and seeing other people take credit for it is incredibly frustrating. However, you are your own person, and I can't tell you what to do. I can't prove anything if a similar quote pops up on another site, but I ask that you at least respect me enough not to post a direct screenshot without asking.

- Lastly, if you read all of this, thank you! I really appreciate it.

[canmom]

since this seems to be my topic of obsession for today...

turns out Bluesky internally uses content-based addressing and IPFS. I don't have a lot of use for it since it's a Twitter clone, and I've never got on very well with Twitter. Bluesky hides most of that from the user - it looks just like any old web app backed by a central server. i need to look into this more, Bluesky is taking inspiration from IPFS but it's using its own protocol, and it is doing some good things. I think its protocols could be used for something more Tumblr-like.

there's a protocol called PubSub which sounds like it does a lot of what I want, or rather gives you the low-level framework to broadcast info across a decentralised network. you could build a social network on top of that. IPFS uses it as one way of handling mutable data, like 'my website just updated'.

there's an absolute plethora of ideas, protocols, and tools for decentralised file sharing, decentralised messaging, decentralised social networks. this broad idea space is very much the hot new thing at the moment. some of them seem like they're growing. a lot of them have glossy websites with animations and stock photos of smiling people. it's hard to know in advance what's worth paying attention to. the whole field is dense with acronyms and rather abstruse concepts. which unfortunately means the current audience tends to be limited to tech nerds (c'est moi) and crypto cultists (ce n'est pas moi. merde!).

Briar is a protocol I find personally very appealing. it's security-oriented, designed to be crazy resilient, creating a mesh network through whatever protocols are available. you use it for E2E-encrypted messaging, but also you can use it for threaded discussions and blogs. right now it's only available for phones but they're working on a desktop version. the primary use case seems to be like "you're at a protest and the gov shuts off the internet", but it would be a very sexy place to put your blog. that said, I expect it would not be very fast at all.

the major encryptable, decentralised Discord/IRC alternative is Matrix. I broadly like the look of it, but we have the same problem of inertia getting people to switch from Discord, and there's still some jank I encountered when I tried it.

there's a lot of cryptocurrency in this whole area. (not surprising since the underlying tech of crypto is also hash-based, and there's ideological overlap between crypto and torrent people, because 'decentralised').

notably, there's a companion project to IPFS, a complicated scheme called FileCoin which is designed to encourage people to host data for a certain period in return for FileCoin tokens. you get FileCoins for consistently holding onto the data, and you lose a stake of FileCoins if you delete it prematurely. these FileCoins can then be used mainly to pay other people to host data for you: you pay FileCoins to a host, and pay them again to fetch your data(!). or you can trade them for other cryptocurrencies.

I'll acknowledge it doesn't seem as intrinsically environmentally corrosive as proof-of-work crypto, or even as simply 'the rich get richer' as proof-of-stake crypto. it's not filling up HDDs with random crap either. though it does sound like it requires quite a bit of CPU work to be done in all the hashing for the 'sealing' process.

I'm still not entirely convinced of the benefit this scheme brings. crypto stuff has a tendency to go belly-up very abruptly when speculative bubbles pop, so I wouldn't be super excited to rely on FileCoin for archiving some valuable bit of data. of course any offsite backup carries risk, e.g. Dropbox could go bankrupt one day. but I'm way less convinced of the benefits of something like FileCoin than IPFS. I guess it remains to be seen if this takes off.

[haloslips]

@msmargaretmurry replied to your post “now that i'm thinking about it i use discord the...”:

this is literally the first appealing description of discord i have ever read

​oh god i don't want to overpromise haha, i should i said i use it like i used aim/msn/skype more than email but

it's just like the most comprehensive/easy to use way to talk to people one on one for me? like i said in the tags of that other post i use mostly for dming, and it's easy to do short or long messages bc i can use it on my phone and any desktop if i want a full keyboard. it's also nice that from a dm i can easily go into a voice call or a video call with that person, which is again helpful as a person with an android whose loved ones all have iphones. you can pin things in messages to a pinboard, and you can reply to specific messages idk and it's so much nicer than twitter or tumblr dms which both make me want to cry trying to communicate thru them.

i do think servers can serve some functionality as well - i don't use servers that have more than like... 6-7 people in them except in very rare cases where the larger server has a limited and specific purpose and i have every one of them muted except for a specific @ notification.

but in servers with like, 2-5 friends, i've had so much success in using them instead of like a 3/4 person group chat. just being able to have like 2-3 different channels to talk about something specific in one while we just like have whatever going on in the other has made me personally feel a lot less anxiety participating in group conversation which is a personal bonus

plus it has some fun features that make me laugh when i'm talking to my pals!!

[transienturl]

tumblr live things

I assume you can't stream from a sideblog, which is unfortunate if your main is follow-only or whatever

streaming tumblr live from desktop web using OBS does work; landscape 1080p30 video is allowed (not sure if portrait works too)

there's a wrench icon -> "my details" section in the iOS app (and I assume android app as well) to set your bio that is currently missing on web

apparently there's a "guest" feature that lets a stream become effectively a group video call that is also a stream; each guest's stream is actually a separate video (they're composed responsively in the web interface when you view a group stream).

now wait a second. that's. legitimately cool? I'm sure there are other streaming platforms that can do this but I don't know of any?

I need to go make yet another full tumblr account to see if you can compose streams out of multiple people on desktop web, but if you can, that's got to be their killer app, right? like, right now you can stream on twitch with your friends (sound only) by being in a discord call, of course, and you can add their video streams by putting a discord video call on another monitor and doing a lot of manual composing work in OBS or using VDO.ninja or whatever, but this lowers the barrier of entry by a mile.

if they add/have the ability to have guests mic-only, add the ability to manually focus one user (for game streaming), and redo the entire UI to actually have labels and tooltips on the buttons, and make the discoverability aspect not suck, and tone down the monetization push, and maybe a couple of other things...

...then I can see the vision, tbh. the moment you get more than one person interacting on a stream, at least IMO, the listenability goes way up, because humans are naturally good at conversing with each other rather than speaking directly to camera (doing the latter well is a rare skill, I think).

and lowering the barrier of entry to guesting on a friend's stream down to "have phone or pc and press button," and lowering the barrier of entry to having a stream that's actually fun to listen to is "any two people doing that and talking about a fandom they share," is actually an interesting vision, if that's the vision?

because, I mean, who doesn't have at least one friend who you get talking to and go, "hah, I bet someone would actually enjoy listening to this?"

great, now I sound like I'm simping for Meet Group. to be clear, I think the current implementation of Live with absolutely no modifications, just simply the collision of cultures and codebases, is... look, see, I don't want to disparage anyone's development work, okay?

but, you know, anyway. the place I'm actually coming at this from is "I have always been interested in streaming but only if it's multiple-people-interacting," and it never occurred to me that one of those flashy mobile-first platforms would probably do that because I always figured complex setups are better on desktop. but, hey, like, I just tuned into a random stream with 4 people who seem to know each other just hanging out and, well, I do get the pitch. I'm sorry, every part of your UI around the streaming window (when placed in a tumblr context) is garbage and I get the impression that a lot of your analytics stuff is pretty questionable. but I do get the pitch.

half a week ago I said:

if I were a product manager, my giant whiteboard would have "click the square with the person's face and see ways to tip them" on the left, and "you'll make friends / you'll fall in love / you'll make enemies / you'll become unrecognizable to your friends and family" on the right, and a whole bunch of arrows and question marks in the middle.

well, one of those arrows is apparently "one-button live podcast with your friends" and that was already built-in. fair enough. one down, many to go, I guess.

[septimus-heap]

Finally got around to resetting my laptop so there aren't "parental controls" (read: spyware) on it anymore <3

[sheisraging]

A couple thoughts on the whole Tumblr/iOS situation*:

As many other wise people have mentioned: This is only impacting Tumblr’s iPhone app, beginning with version 22.5.1 (released 12/21/21)

If you don’t have autoupdate turned on, and haven’t already updated your Tumblr app, then don’t. It will still work as it did before without the update 

If you’re an iOS user and you have updated to Tumblr app 22.5.1, then you can still use Tumblr in your mobile browser, on the same device, WITHOUT being impacted by any of this. Just log into Tumblr on Safari, or whatever your preferred browser is and when it asks if you want to switch to the app, say no 

The ‘banned tags’ list (being so well tracked by the user bannedtags - currently shadowbanned, so please type their url in directly to find them ) has grown a lot and keeps growing

It’s more likely that this list is coming from some kind of algorithm, and looking for anything questionable that lives within the content posted to these tags, as opposed to being about the tag itself (ie: I don’t think Tumblr is purposefully trying to make communities unsafe by removing the ability to helpfully tag and search said tags; I do think there is likely content living in every single one of these tags, globally across all of Tumblr, that is causing them to get picked up by this algorithm) 

Given the above: Before you go and mass replace/remove tags on your posts and content, consider: 

We don’t yet know the extent of words that are impacted

Changing tags may not solve the problem if the content is the issue

Your tags still work just fine on desktop, Android, and (again) iPhone mobile browsers

Tumblr did say they’re working on an eventual solution for this, so, despite the fact that they do tend to work bass ackwards on everything, we could try to give them the benefit of the doubt

It would make sense for them to build in a similar feature to what Discord has done, where users need to visit a browser and choose to allow specific content in their app experience. If this is what it takes for them to get through Apple’s app store conditions, so be it. I just wish they would have rolled this out in one shot as opposed to creating confusion and providing only a vague ‘soon-ish!’ timeline for when a solution might come

In the meantime, iOS users can leave a review on the app store to this effect. There are a lot of either screaming and cursing or nonsense reviews on there right now, and while some of them are funny in the way tumblr heritage posts are funny, they’re also not really informative or helpful

*These are just my random thoughts and observations on this whole thing. I know as little and as much as the next person!

[writtenwhalien]

Do you have advice for new fan fic writers wanting to start posting?

hello love! 🥰 absolutely! tbh I still feel like a new writer myself considering I only started writing when I made this tumblr which is a year ago, and especially because my blog hasn’t grown as much as others, I feel like I’m still learning all this stuff myself too! 😊

this might be a little bit long bc I’ll be relating to my own experiences and what I’ve learned :) any writers please add on if you feel I’ve missed something! 😋

firstly, write what you want to write! don’t force ideas/requests.

your best work will come when you’re writing something that you’re excited to write. if someone sends a request, it’s okay to say that nothing is coming to mind, or think on it and come back at a later time (I still have requests in my inbox from like 7 months ago and they’re developing into full length fics (think 20k+) because I liked the idea and wanted to give time to it and now I’m really excited to write them too! that said, sometimes forcing ideas has worked for me (talk slow for example), but it’s how you feel in the moment. (now see how I linked my work just there, that is shameless self promo bc u might decide to check it out — remember this for my last point ;)

take your time! if you’re stuck, come back to it a few hours/days/weeks/more later.

following on from the first point, taking your time can be one of the most valuable things to do. sometimes all you need is a little break to figure out the missing piece from your work. if you’ve got writers block, work on a different wip/take requests, whatever works for you.

if you’re struggling to stay motivated, try: making a playlist/moodboard/banner for your fic or read something instead of writing!

pretty self explanatory, but sometimes we need visual creativity to come into play and help us craft our world so we can write it in words. and reading other fics can help you when you see the way another writer writes — their style/format, and I’ve noticed that almost every writer on this app has something unique in their writing that I can’t always put a finger on, but when I read it, it literally makes me go “yeah, I wanna go and work on my fic now.” — that I can’t explain 😂

make your blog pretty!

this is more to attract followers but it’s also very pleasing for you to see yourself! :) have links in your bio, a header, a theme for desktop tumblr, and most importantly, a masterlist!!!! I wish I’d done this earlier lol, my tumblr was trash for a while 😔

make friends! join networks!

this is a social app — use it to “network”. I can guarantee you’ll meet some amazing people and they can be a great motivation/support when it comes to your writing, whether that’s boosting your fics by reblogging, or encouraging you while you write, or even beta-reading for you. also, discord is always filled with wild conversations lmao.

space out your content!

say you get two fics written in two weeks and you don’t know when your next one will be/it’ll be at least a few weeks until the next one, whatever it is, I’d recommend spacing it out. post one fic first, and when the exposure on that starts going down, then post the second one. and queue your rb’s — remember we’re all on different time/schedules so at 2pm on wednesday you might be asleep while I’m awake, or one week you might be busy on a saturday but another saturday you’re scrolling through tumblr, so, my last point….

reblog your own work without shame! it’s yours, be proud of it! I’m still learning to do this myself but rb’s are important so do it :) + self promo!!! if someone is asking for recs, send your own fic! I have and I’ve been embarrassed to do it but they asked! but don’t do it if they’re not asking bc some authors don’t like it, it can feel forceful/ uncomfortable for them to say no.

I hope this helps somewhat!!!! have a lovely day anon and good luck with your writing! ❤️

[readerbookclub]

Hi! I've been lurking for the last month and read The Cost of Knowing, I just wanted to officially ask to be a member of the club! Sorry to be so late but somehow desktop tumblr won't let me send asks? And I don't use tumblr on mobile as much, but here I am now! Oh, and I've got a question: English is not my first language, so is it okay when I read a translation, if there's one available? Have nice evening/day/whatever!

Hey there! We'd love for you to join :) I'll add you to the tag list.

It's great that you read The Cost of Knowing! If you'd like to answer the discussion questions, you can check them out here. Also, if you'd like to join our discord, here's the invite.

And of course you can read a translated version!

Have a nice day too.

[onlyplatonicirl]

Hi so:

My phone and my computer were locked down again. I am unable to login to tumblr, discord, Instagram etc on browser without my parents unlocking the websites (my dad has some sort of blocking app) and the desktop version of discord is locked down with parental restrictions. On my phone, everything is in a permanent state of downtime, which means every app is unavailable to be used unless my mom unlocks it and gives me permission. I cannot check or log on even if I wanted to. I am completely cut off

I wrote this post on google docs, and I’m sending it through the “one more minute” function on my phone. For the IOS software, it basically means that when your time runs out, you can request one more minute of whatever app you are using, and it resets every day. So I have exactly 60 seconds to copy paste this message and post it.

I wanted to say that I’m completely grounded today, and am not allowed online whatsoever all day. This is because my mom put in strict rules about not using my phone after 10pm and going to bed but there were a few nights I stayed up a bit later.

I know it’s bullshit but there’s literally nothing I can do. I’ve tried negotiating in every way I can, but neither my mom or my dad ever budge. They don’t care if “I’m 18” they say that doesn’t mean anything.

But they also put in a new system for when I’m allowed to be online. They said giving me an unrestricted phone these past few weeks was something that I “wasn’t mature enough to handle” so I’m now not allowed to go online at all without their explicit permission. During the school day, I am not allowed to be on social media at all, not even during my lunch break, and I’m only allowed to request more time if I do all my homework, clean my room, and then she’s going to CHECK that I did all my homework, and is also forcing me to create a calendar and follow it religiously despite the fact that I don’t need a calendar. I’m literally at home 24/7 and my only priority in life is school.

But anyways once I’m “done with everything” I’m allowed to have my phone from like - idk 6-10pm. I’ve tried telling her that most of my friends are either asleep by then or getting ready for bed seeing as we live in the earliest timezone, but it’s not like she cares haha

Good news is she said this system will only last a few weeks, until I “prove myself” to them. So I’m just not going to complain, I’m just going to follow their stupid rules and hopefully “prove myself” that I’m a good kid or whatever.

Sorry to make so many posts like this. :/

At least it’s not as bad as when they completely cut me off for three straight months.

[heartofether]

Bonus Episode #3 - Leave a Message TRANSCRIPT

[You can listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts, or go to our “Listen” page if you’re on desktop.]

VAL

Hey there! Val here with a couple of special announcements before our third bonus episode. First off, our season two release date has been set and will soon be announced. Before then, however, we have an abundance of teasers and bonus content coming your way. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Tumblr to keep up with all of our new releases.

Second, do you want to talk to other Heart of Ether fans, either about the show or whatever else your heart desires? We now have an official Discord server! We have automatic roles, specialized channels, daily quotes and question of the day, and in the future, we may use it to host special events. The invite link is on our socials and our Carrd, and we would love it if you joined us!

Last but certainly not least: we all like tea, right? What about podcast-themed tea? That’s right, you can now buy The Heart of Ether-themed tea with the help of Adagio Teas! (not sponsored, just using the service) A portion of the proceeds will go to The Trevor Project, which helps provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth. The link to browse our tea collection will be in the description of this episode, or on our socials if you want to look there.

Right, I’m done with my rambling. Here’s another bonus fluff episode—and this time I at least 90% mean it! Talk to you soon!

AUTOMATED VOICE

Please state your message.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYS.]

[THE DIALOGUE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE EPISODE IS SLIGHTLY MUFFLED, AS IF THEY ARE SPEAKING OVER THE PHONE.]

ROSE

Hi! This is Rosemary Quinn. Unfortunately, I’m not able to return your call right now, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Have a lovely day!

[PHONE BEEP.]

IRENE

Hey, it’s Irene. I just wanted to check and see when you’d be coming over? Text me and let me know if you have an estimate.

Oh, and my dad is going to the store, so I know you mentioned wanting to make brownies? Did you mean, like, from scratch or is just a box mix fine? ‘Cause I’m good with whatever. Just text me what you need, and I’ll ask him to pick it up. See you later! Bye!

[PHONE BEEP.]

IRENE

Hey. It’s Irene. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you. Thanks.

[PHONE BEEP.]

ROSE

Hi, Irene! I’m sorry to call, but you said you were having some issues with your texts, so I thought this would be a safer bet. Are you available after school today? If you don’t mind, I could really use some help with the chemistry homework. You seemed to at least kind of understand it, or maybe you were just pretending like the rest of us were. [SHE GIGGLES.]

I also just am not super fond of Mr. Morrison. Nobody is. I mean, I try to be nice to him, nicer than most other students, and I think he likes me for that. It doesn’t mean he’s actually willing to be helpful, though. I think he sees me as some sort of air-headed bimbo, which is both misogynistic and presumptuous. Olivia told me he might be retiring, though, so fingers crossed?

Anyways, would we be able to meet up and work on it together? I’ll buy you a coffee for your time. Just let me know! Oh, and no need to call me back, we’ll see each other at school most likely. I just thought I’d call and ask before I forgot. I’ll talk to you later, bye!

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

IRENE

Hey, are you still at the school? I try to have school spirit—sometimes—but events really aren’t my thing. Maddy seemed to be into it, though, so I figured you might still be hanging out with her.

Anyways, if you decide you’re done with it, I was thinking about going to Sonic and it���d be great if you tagged along? It’s not the same when I go by myself. I’ll pay, obviously, since I’m the one inviting you. Call me back if you’re interested, and we can work something out. Alright, bye.

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

[THERE IS THE SOUND OF DISTANT CONVERSATION AS ROSE TALKS]

ROSE

Hi there, Maddy just wanted me to tell you that when you get here, make sure you go through the back door so you don’t disturb her grandparents. They’re not in a great mood tonight. You’ll have to hop the fence, but if you need help, I can go down there. I’m excited to see you! Bye!

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

[THERE IS A SLIGHT BREEZE HEARD IN THE BACKGROUND.]

IRENE

Hey there, I just wanted to apologize for leaving in such a rush. It was just a lot, and I didn’t really, well. I honestly didn’t feel super welcome there? That’s not your fault, though. It was everyone else.

It just—I don’t want to sound rude, but it doesn’t feel like our “group” actually cares about me a lot? I mean, maybe it’s because of my interests, or because I don’t dress or act like stereotypical straight girls do. I’ve known them all since freshman year, but honestly? You’re the only one I’ve ever really clicked with.

They like you, though. Everyone does. I don’t mean that in a snarky or jealous way. Just in the way that…well, you’re Rosemary Quinn. Everyone wants to be your friend, I guess. You just have that aura.

[A BEAT, THEN, EMBARRASSED] God, I’m sorry, that’s such a weird thing to say. I’m really not good at this whole friends thing, huh? I’m surprised you’ve stuck around for this long. I called you to apologize—now for multiple things it appears—but also to tell you that if you’re looking for me, I went to the park. It’s like a five-minute walk from Maddy’s house, and I have my board with me, so that helped.

I’m sure you’re not looking for me. You’re probably having fun at Maddy’s birthday party. You texted me to ask if I was okay, though, so I guess that’s why I called. You always do. You’re the one person who’s consistently cared, who’s always checked in on me when my social anxiety kicks in and I decide to leave early. Is that how you are with everyone, or…?

Jeez, I’m sorry, I’m rambling. Just, sorry for running off, I’m at the park sitting on the swings if you need me. Bye.

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

IRENE

[SOMEWHAT DESPERATE] Hey, it’s Irene. Please call me back. I— [SHE HUFFS.] I really think we need to talk.

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

IRENE

[DEFEATED] This is my third time trying to call you. At this point, I’m pretty certain you’re actually ignoring me.

I’m not mad, Rose. I promise I’m not. It was—it was nice! I liked it. Really liked it, actually, um. But you ran off to go home before we could really talk about it, and now it really feels like you. Well. Like you didn’t mean to, and now you regret it.

[SHE GROANS.] I’m not saying that to guilt trip you. I mean, maybe I’ve got it completely wrong. Maybe you’re scared that I didn’t like it, which isn’t true. Which would mean that we’re just walking in circles around each other, worried about what the other thinks. It would be funny if I wasn’t so worried about you.

[A BEAT, THEN] Do you wanna know the truth, Rose? I’ll tell you.

[SOFTER] Do you remember when we were building snowmen back in December, outside of the school? You made one named—god, I don’t remember. Was it Queen of the Valley? Some sort of royalty. You always come up with such extravagant names for things, it’s…

Anyways, you said what would make it perfect is if it had a crown to wear. By some absolutely absurd coincidence, I had a paper crown in my locker. I had learned to make them during study hall when I got bored. The school was still open, so I ran back inside through the empty hallways to go grab it.

When I came back outside, you grinned, your cheeks rosy and your hair still a mess from the wind that had only just died down. You took the crown from me, and you looked me in the eyes, giggling. You said, “I could kiss you right now.” Then you ran to give her majesty the crown.

And I didn’t say it. Of course I didn’t. I was too scared of that feeling I felt. I felt so warm, even with a blizzard on the horizon, and that terrified me. I wanted you to kiss me, though. I wished so badly that you had, it physically ached.

I gazed at you there, as you placed the paper crown upon the Queen’s head, Maddy rolling her eyes, but still smiling. In the moment, though, I hardly processed she was even there. I didn’t even process the groundskeeper glaring at us, or the cars driving past as teachers left for the day. As I stared at you, it was like you were the only thing I had ever known, and all I remember thinking was, “This is what will destroy me. This will be my downfall.”

[A PAUSE, THEN, HOPEFUL] But maybe it doesn’t have to be. Because you did kiss me, in the end. I’m glad you did.

Call me back, please?

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

[THERE IS BACKGROUND NOISE HEARD AS ROSE STANDS OUTSIDE OF HER HOUSE.]

ROSE

[SINKING INTO DISAPPOINTMENT] Hi, Irene! Just, um…just making sure we’re still going to the dance together. I’m outside my house waiting. My mom’s starting to get pretty upset with me for not being gone already, and just uh…standing here like an idiot. Won’t let me come back inside, though, because she thinks that if I’m not out here, you’ll—actually, I won’t try to understand her reasoning. I haven’t been able to for the past sixteen years.

But, um…please let me know? I’ll be waiting. Goodbye.

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

[IRENE IS HEARD DESPERATELY TRYING TO GET HER SHOES ON AND GET OUT THE DOOR.]

IRENE

Rose, I am so, so, so sorry I’m late. I promise, I’m on my way, I’m literally—

[HER DAD CALLS OUT, MUFFLED BY THE DOOR, AND SHE CALLS BACK]

IRENE

Yeah, I’m coming!

[THEN, AS SHE'S HEARD RACING ACROSS THE CARPET] I don’t wear makeup very often and I kept messing up my eyeliner and by the time I looked at the clock—I’m sorry. I have no idea how I’m supposed to make this up to you, but I’ll be there as fast as I can, okay?

[MUTTERING, CURSING HERSELF AS SHE PACKS HER BAG] First dance I get with you and it’s the only one I’m late to. Of course it is.

[SHE'S HEARD WALKING OUT OF HER ROOM, THE DOOR OPENING.]

IRENE

Okay, I’m going outside now. I love you. See you soon.

[PHONE BEEP.]

[THIS TAKES PLACE SECONDS AFTER THE LAST ONE.]

IRENE

[SLOWLY] So. I just told you I love you. I didn't mean to, but if you feel that way, too, then great. If not, then just pretend it was a slip of the tongue and we can spend the rest of the night pretending it never happened! Yeah. Um. Yeah. See you soon.

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

[THERE IS AMBIANCE OF THE CAFE AND PASSERBYS AS ROSE TALKS.]

ROSE

Hi, I’m outside of the cafe now! I haven’t ordered yet, so we can go in together.

[A BEAT, THEN, SOFTER] I brought something for you. Early this morning, when dawn was just barely teasing the sky, I couldn’t fall back asleep. I have no idea why I woke up in the first place. Maybe my muscles knew something I didn’t. I decided to slip out through my bedroom window, though.

If my mom noticed, she hasn’t told me yet. She knew I was going out today, but I’m sure I’ll still come home to her sitting on the couch intently, giving me that look she always does. I don’t care. She can do whatever she wants.

I got on my bike and I rode out to the park—not the one we usually go to. This one is in the opposite direction. It’s much vaster, less playset and more nature. There were flowers that had just started blooming. I picked some with the gentlest hand I could manage. I wish I had thought to bring scissors, but I hope the flowers will forgive me for my carelessness.

I thought long and hard before picking each one, making sure the colors matched just right, that the sweet scent they produced was in perfect harmony. I tied them with a ribbon I had around my wrist, and sealed it with a kiss, just for you. It took me all morning.

[A BEAT, THEN, SHE GIGGLES] Oh, wait, I think I just saw you pull in. Okay, I’ll talk to you in a second—

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

IRENE

Hey. Just wanted to make sure you got home safe. I love you. Call me back when you hear this, okay?

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

ROSE

[LAUGHING] God, I must have just missed you. Yes, I got home safe. Thank you for checking, dear. Sir Griffin the Third says hello!

[TO SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD] Hey, look, it’s Irene. Say hello!

[IRENE SHIFTS. SIR GRIFFIN THE THIRD IS HEARD PURRING. HE GIVES A SMALL MEOW.]

ROSE

[GIGGLING] I’ll talk to you later, I love you!

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

IRENE

[HER VOICE CRACKING] Hey, I just saw your texts about your mom. Are you okay? Do you need me to come pick you up? You’re more than welcome to spend the night at my place. My dad said you can stay as long as you need, so don’t worry about that, okay?

I wish I could do more to help. I wish I could make her stop. Have you told your aunts about some of the stuff she’s done? They sound like good people, from what you’ve told me. I know they live far away, but still, they might be able to do something.

Right, um, just let me know if you need me to come get you. I love you. Bye.

[PHONE BEEP.]

[THERE IS RUSTLING AS ROSE LOOKS THROUGH HER BAG.]

ROSE

Hi, I’m sorry to bother you. I just wanted to check, did I lose my bracelet at your house? I can’t find it anywhere. It’s the one you gave me, and I really, really don’t want to lose it. It’s like a good charm for me. Please text me if you find it. If not, it’s okay. It might just be somewhere I haven’t checked yet. Thank you, honey. I love you. Goodbye.

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

[THERE IS THE SOUND OF HER CAR ENGINE, ALONG WITH SOFT GUITAR PLAYING OVER THE SPEAKER.]

IRENE

Hey, I’m parked outside! It’s okay if you’re not done yet, I can wait. I know you like to take your time getting ready for dances, and it definitely pays off. You’re gonna look beautiful regardless, though, so just come out when you’re ready. Love you!

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

ROSE

[TIRED] Hi. I’m sorry to call you so late. To be frank, I didn’t expect you to pick up at all, but I know you’ll hear this in the morning. I hope you’re sleeping well, by the way. I— [SHE YAWNS.] I can’t sleep. That’s not unusual, but I’ve just been thinking a lot.

Do you remember when you fell in the creek? It was late autumn, and even though I pulled you out just seconds after, your teeth were already clattering. I wanted to cry, you looked so miserable, but you acted like it was hardly a big deal.

That one coffee shop was the closest warm building, so I had to take you there. One of the baristas brought out some towels for you, and even gave you a free hot coffee. I should visit them again one day, if they still work there. Maybe bring them a thank-you gift.

Anyways, I gave you my jacket, which you almost refused because you didn’t want me to be cold, but I honestly didn’t even notice it. Once we were almost certain you weren’t going to catch frostbite, we went back to your car and drove back to your house.

On the way there, while we were at a stoplight, you looked at me and said, “I’m just happy it wasn’t you.”

I laughed and said, “Well, it feels like I was in there with you. I got chills just looking at you.”

You said, “Is that how relationships work? We feel each other’s pain?”

And I said, “What happens when one of us dies, then? Will the other die, too?”

And you said, “I hope so. I can’t imagine life without you.”

“But what if you could just live your life for me?” I said. “If one of us dies early, the other should have to live double the life to make up for it.”

You hummed, and then said something I’ll never forget: “I may continue living, but that doesn’t mean I’ll like it. Life is so wonderful when you’re in the world.”

And I should have told you, then, that whatever wonder I bring is only because of you. Every time you smile, or say something stupid, or brush your hair out of your face, there’s a bit more color in the world. I think our colors bleed together, then. You are a universe in my hands and I love you more than both of our lifetimes could ever contain.

And I didn’t have the words to describe it all until right this moment. I couldn’t afford to forget.

So, I love you. In this life and the next. Goodnight, dear.

[TWO PHONE BEEPS.]

[IRENE'S DAD IS HEARD TALKING ON THE PHONE IN ANOTHER ROOM. ON THE MIC, IRENE IS HEARD QUIETLY CRYING. THERE ARE FOOTSTEPS OUT IN THE HALL. THE DOOR OPENS.]

DETECTIVE

[DISTANT] Ms. Gray, could I please speak to you?

[A PAUSE AS IRENE SOBS.]

IRENE

[QUIET, SHAKILY] Please pick up.

[PHONE BEEP.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Today's quote is: “Foul smell of the things that we do to escape There is no glamour in this. No rock and roll. This is just endings. This is just grief.”

Kate Tempest in Hold Your Own, 2014.

[OUTRO MUSIC AND CREDITS PLAY.]

[mrswhozeewhatsis]

To stop the accusation that I’m dragging this out to please the drama llamas, I’ve studied everything I got (and spent a fair amount of time searching for things on blogs), and managed to whittle things down to their bare essentials. I’ve also tried to talk to everyone about everything, which took time. I won’t address everything that everyone has said on both sides, just a few points that are either concrete, or I can’t address them privately for whatever reason.

The timeline as I’ve been able to piece it together is like this:

Vanessa made a post about more popular writers complaining about lack of feedback. 

Beka messaged Vanessa wanting to know why Vanessa had a problem with her.

Vanessa responded in a way that upset Beka.

Beka blocked Vanessa.

Vanessa got around the block and sent anonymous asks to Beka.

Beka outed Vanessa by responding to the asks publicly.

Vanessa deactivated her blog.

Friends of both proceeded to attack each other.

Claims about Beka (this is not a complete list):

Only supports her friends on her blogs and in Pond Angel Fish Awards

Although it’s been a couple of months since Beka has reblogged fics from other writers at all, by going back through her #read with me tag, I see reblogs of fics from at least a dozen different writers just in May and June. I’ve only been tracking Angel Fish Awards since February, but since then, Beka has nominated 8 stories by 8 different writers.

Ignored asks for Big Fish advice sent to her blog

If there were a way for me to prove this, then I wouldn’t be listing it here. As it is, it’s impossible to prove. As a Pond admin, I’ve experienced the weirdest stuff with asks. I spent one evening chatting with a member while they repeatedly tried to send in asks, and we didn’t get a single one. I do know that asks sent via the app seem to be more likely to be eaten than asks sent via desktop, but asks sent both ways have disappeared. 

There are other claims, this is not a complete list, but I will be addressing them with Beka personally (I have already started doing this, actually). I’m only including these two because they can be proved or disproved with facts. Some of the other claims have been leveled against Big Fish in the Pond other than Beka, as well. The Pond will deal with those privately, but we hope you will see an improvement in these areas when the Pond returns from hiatus.

Claims about Vanessa:

I’ve talked to Vanessa about these, without anything constructive coming from it. I tried. I tried to explain to her that she could have gotten further by using less provocative language and offering constructive suggestions. We ended up having the same old arguments about unrelated issues and going around in circles. The only thing Vanessa ceded was that she should not have continued to reach out to Beka after Beka blocked her. She has apologized for this. I don’t need to list the rest here, just know the conversation happened and nothing came of it.

Claims about Beka’s opposition:

Made unsubstantiated claims about Beka sending herself anon hate

I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t have a single clue how to figure out who has sent an anonymous ask on Tumblr. However, what I do know is that it requires access to the inbox the ask was sent to. In order for someone who is not Beka to say that Beka sent herself an anonymous ask, they would have had to have hacked into her account, somehow. I don’t know much about this, but it sounds illegal. Since there was proof of this offered, it’s a useless claim.

Picked apart posts on her personal blog and said they were intended for her writing audience when they were not

Beka’s personal blog was, she thought, relatively private. It was not meant for her readers to see. (There is an argument to be made about how it’s still a public blog that the world can see, but the charge is that she intended for her readers to see it and respond, and that is not the case.) Yet, someone took it upon themselves to stalk it, and then match posts between the two blogs, making it look like it all came from one blog. They then took their argument to the absurd and claimed she was using her mental health issues to drum up patrons on her Patreon. If that were the case, then it all would have been on her writing blog. But it wasn’t.

Belittled Beka’s cries for help, and then attacked her further

I don’t care if you didn’t believe her when she said she was on the edge, you just don’t do that, folks. That right there is the point where you either walk away or report her to Tumblr as a threat to herself. The last thing you do is double down on your attacks. Take a break, walk away, find a kinder, gentler way to make your point. I don’t care who they are or what they believe or have done, when someone puts the gun to their head, you do not tell them they are an awful human being.

Dissected every post, word by word, including auto tags, using intentionally provocative language

Not every post made was like this, but a lot were. This is high school stuff, guys. To rip apart words used by someone obviously in pain instead of reaching through and looking for the meaning behind it is petty and cruel. Not to mention it takes so much more energy to dig into things like that than to just respond to the meat of things. To take someone’s blog name and twist it into a degrading moniker is sickening. To attack words used in an effort to distract from the topic at hand, or to just add on to the already heaping pile of anger you’re throwing around is unconscionable and pointless. This is not what people who are coming from a place of love or kindness do. This is what you do when you hate someone, and that’s just not cool, guys.

Brought up old issues thought to have been settled a long time ago

My husband calls this “stamp collecting.” There’s a statute of limitations on things, and it depends on the thing, but my personal limit on Tumblr is about two weeks. If nothing has been said about something for two weeks, I assume it’s in the past and I try to move on. I say this because, if it weren’t settled, then we’d all still be working on it, right? If something is bothering me, and I work on it with someone, but I’m not happy, then I’m gonna keep working on it with that person. If they seem to forget (which happens because we’re all human), then I’m gonna send them a quick message. “Hey there! I’m still working on this thing. Can we talk about it again?” I do this with contractors who work on my house. I did this with clients when I worked in an office. To bring up something that happened a long time ago like it’s still an active issue is pointless, and goes against one of the main tenets of effective arguing.

Taking obvious glee in tearing down another person

Do I really have to talk about this? If you had any care for the other person, even enough to just care that they are a person, you would not gloat about how you’re going to tear them apart.

Really, all of this stuff comes down to if you are approaching the world and everything you do from a place of love or from a place of anger and pain. Even if you are angry and in pain, treat other people like you love and respect them, and you will find that everything is just better. 

If you feel like I’m coming down on one side or the other of this situation, just know that I’m not. Pretty much, I don’t like things that were done by both sides. These are just the things I feel more comfortable talking about in a public post like this.

Other stuff that’s come up in the course of all of this:

Complaining about notes/followers

So many writers, lately, are frustrated. Tumblr sucks balls on a good day when it comes to notifications and the whole algorithm mess, and that’s still being generous. In an effort to keep the porn blogs at bay, they’ve stifled all creators. Add to that how tags seem to never work when you’re searching for something, and disseminating your work is nearly impossible.

I could tell you all the different ways you can change your focus on the readers you do have, give you lists of things you can do to expand your audience, and offer advice about not comparing yourself to other writers. But you’ve already heard all of that. So, I’m just gonna say it.

If you complain publicly about a lack of notes or followers, you’re gonna look like a dick.

That doesn’t mean you are a dick. You’re just gonna look like one. You’re going to look like you’re ungrateful for the readers that you do have, which is going to turn off those readers, and you’ll end up with even fewer notes and followers. If you manage to disparage other writers while you’re complaining, you’re gonna look like an even bigger dick. So, just don’t do it, unless you don’t mind looking like a dick. 

Need to vent about it? Find a close friend and send it to them in a private message. Have a funny thought about it that you want to share? This is exactly what private messages are for. Create a group DM in discord. Heck, I think even Tumblr has a group chat option, now. Just, don’t put it on your blog, unless you want to lose followers. 

The number of admins at the Pond

Some folks seem to think that the Pond needs to add more admins in order to react more quickly when something goes down. Honestly, I have talked to Mana and Kale about stepping down as admin because I believe the opposite is true. We have a policy that we all must agree on the big things. However, we are separated by 8 time zones. There is a rare hour every few days (sometimes it’s weeks) when all three of us are awake and not occupied with caring for family members. We have a private group chat thing where we each toss ideas and questions and such into the pot when we’re doing things. When the others get to it, they add their two cents. Usually, there are two of us active at a time, and then we wait for the third to stop by for approval. Often, the third has a question or argument that then needs to be addressed, but the first or second one isn’t available. More admins would only be a good thing if we were all in the same time zone. But we’re not. We are an international group, which I believe is a good thing, but the downside is that it slows us down. Sometimes, being slow is a good thing, too. Generally, at least one of is calm and level-headed at any given time. It shifts on who that one is, but they keep us from doing anything rash.

The whole problem is that no one feels like they can tell you when there’s a problem

I’ve heard this so many times, now, but I haven’t responded to it publicly, so here goes. 

Most of you don’t know what I’m like in person, but I’m built like a linebacker. I’m tall, I’m heavy, and I have wide shoulders. I have literally scared small children. Take Jared Padalecki, add another Jared Padalecki on the side, and then take away all the pretty, and you come close to what I’m like when you see me walking down the street. 

I don’t want to be a scary person that anyone is afraid to approach. My goal in life is to be kind and fair. I will give you second and third chances, because I know how awful it feels to be written off. 

My ask box is always open. My chat windows are always open. My email address is mrswhozeewhatsis@gmail.com. I’m the same on discord and skype. I don’t care if you think your thing is stupid, if it’s something that’s bothering you, and I can help, then I want to help. I can’t always help, but I always want the opportunity to try.

If I have ever done anything that made you feel like I didn’t care, then I give you permission to tell me. I’ll hate hearing it, but I need to hear it. 

If I have forgotten to follow up on something for you, PLEASE REMIND ME. Holy, cow, I have a TERRIBLE memory. It’s really bad. I have tricks and stuff that I do to try to make sure I don’t lose track of things, but it still happens. Please, come back to me and remind me that I promised you something. I guarantee that I will not be mad or upset. I will be glad, because you’re helping me to be the person I want to be.

I think that’s about it. The Pond is still on hiatus, indefinitely. We have a lot of things we’re talking about for if/when we come back, and some of them are really exciting to me. I hope we come back. I hope we can make the Pond what we always meant it to be. We’ll need help, and constant feedback from our fishy family, but I still have hope.

[green-blooded-computer]

A Guide to RPing on Tumblr

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately, so here’s my complete walkthrough on how to create a Tumblr RP blog. 

If you’d rather view on a Google Doc, here’s a link.

Enjoy.

Create Blog

Howdy, so the first thing you’ll have to do is click ‘register’ and make yourself a blog. You also have the choice of making a sideblog instead. I’m a person who likes to have this separated, so if you are only thinking of playing a couple characters, this might be the way to go for you. Here’s the difference between main/side blogs (taken from Tumblr’s help center):

Choose any url for now (we’ll talk about that later), and go to the next section.

Please note: When you make a new blog, it won’t show up in the search/people’s notifications for a bit of time (a day or so). Make sure you validate your email address asap. 

Get xKit

If you haven’t installed xKit, I highly suggest it. Go to their blog here, and get it for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Opera.

What is it? A little toolkit to make Tumblr easier to use.

When you install it, it’ll pop up on your top bar thing next to the lightning bolt like this:

It’s that thing with the x’s on it.

When you click the x’s this pops up:

Brill.

You can click ‘Get Extensions’ at the bottom and basically choose whatever you want, but may I recommend the following:

1) Editable Reblogs allows you to edit reblogs. Right. This is good because when you are replying to RP threads they tend to get rather long. Some advice that was given to me when I started: when you add your reply, delete everything before your partner’s last reply. So you should have your partner’s post and your post and that’s all. You just click ‘reblog’ and it pops up like normal, except now there’s this little guy:

If you click that, it will make everything in your reblog box editable.

2) One-Click Postage gives you a little box if you hover over the reblog button. It lets you reblog, queue, draft, tag, and add replies right from that page. You can even choose which blog (main/side) you want it to go to.  It looks like this:

The rest I will just say play around with! They are easy to add and take away.

Decide what kind of blog you want.

Multimuse Vs. Single muse: 

Do you want to play one character or a bunch of them? If you choose one character, your blog icon and theme will presumably feature that character or something to do with them. If you choose to focus on one, you should have info about your character available on your blog somewhere. If you choose to have more than one muse, you’ll need a list of the characters you offer and some info about them. 

When choosing a url for a multimuse, choose something that encompasses the spirit of you and your characters.

When choosing a url for a single muse, I go for quotes, nicknames, something about where they are from, what they like, their name, etc. Note: if you have dashes in your url (like mine @strings-have-been-cut) these won’t work with tags. People will have to turn them into separate words or one big word.

I do not have a multimuse, but I have seen them done all sorts of ways. Some people offer characters from all different fandoms, some are just one fandom, one genre, OCs, canons, a mixture...you can do what you like. 

If your blog is not affiliated with any sort of organized game, this is referred to as ‘independent’ often shortened to ‘idie’. 

Your blog description should mention which kind it is. For example: a sci-fi multimuse blog; a Star Trek OC blog; an indie Bill S. Preston Esq. from Bill and Ted RP blog. Details help sometimes. 

Canon Character Vs. Original Character

If you decide to make a canon character, make sure you have it clear somewhere where they are from! Canon characters can be canon divergent (your own version), they can crossover into other fandoms, they can be exactly as they are in your favourite book/show/movie/podcast...each version of a canon is unique and lovely.

If you decide to make an original character, make sure you give plenty of info about them! You want to tell people what fandom they fit into or if they are fandomless. ‘About’ pages are really important for OCs because there is no fanbase for them (yet!).

What should be in your description?

When someone clicks your blog, they will first see a dash preview sort of thing. It shows a description and a small header, along with the posts you’ve made. This description also shows up somewhere on your actual blog and on the top of the page on mobile view. It’s a great spot to give all the info about your blog real quick. I always include the following:

What is it? (Independent Data from Star Trek RP blog)

Age restrictions (21+)

Who you will RP with (mutuals only is called ‘private’ and choosing who you follow back is called ‘selective’.)

Mun’s name (played by [insert your name])

Possibly a link to your about/rules for easy access on desktop and mobile. I’ll talk about this more below. I call this ‘navigation’, but it varies. Note: if you edit your icon/dash header, any html links seem to go away. I’ve needed to go back into the theme customizer and add them back in. To add a link to your description, go into your customizer, go to the description section, and add the html as follows:

<a href=”url goes here”>link text goes here</a>

So mine is: <a href=”https://data-all-in-one.carrd.co”>Indie Data from Star Trek blog.</a>

The description for my Data blog reads: ‘Indie Data from Star Trek RP blog. Click here for navigation. 21+. Private/selective. Played by Fool.

What should be on this blog?

In my experience, you need a couple of pages on your blog to get you started:

About the character - basically a biography

Rules - so people know what you are about

About the mun - so people can know about the person they are writing with

Possibly a link to your ‘ask memes’ tag - see below.

These can be organized however you like, but people tend to look for a few specific things.

About the Character

This should read like a biography. Back in the day, we used to call them ‘character apps’ and they had all your basic info about the character. Sometimes this section contains a subsection called ‘verses’ in which the mun spells out what universes they exist in. Say I had an AU where Data owns an arcade in San Francisco in the 80’s. I’d list that as one of his ‘verses’. This is extremely important for OCs, but very helpful for canons too. 

Data has four: TNG era, TNG movie era, AU where he lives after Nemesis, AU where he’s around during Star Trek: Picard. I gave a little info about both. 

Rules

Rules are usually organized into the things people are looking for before they start playing with you. Some good info to include: 

Mun age

Your policy on adult content

How you deal with tagging triggers

Your policy on following back

Your policy on writing with mutuals vs. anyone

Do you allow personal blogs (non RP blogs) to follow you?

How fast do you reply?

How does your tagging system work?

How do you deal with shipping? 

Here is a link to my usual Rules page for reference. Remember, it’s not wrong if it’s different than mine!

Note: People will look for how old you are. Many people in the RPC are adults, and they want to write with people their own age. If your age is not posted somewhere clearly, they may not follow you back. 

About the Mun 

This is really just a little blurb about you. Some people include their age here. Some people include links to their other blogs. Some people include their Discord info, as that’s really popular right now. It’s just nice to know who you are writing with.

It’s important to note that there are different ways to present all of these blogs. Some people have them as pages on their Tumblr blog itself, some people put all of this (Bio, About, Rules, etc) in a Google Doc and link it, some people use Carrd.co - there are a ton of ways. A friend of mine did this amazing post about some options out there. I personally go for Carrd.co, seeing as I am on mobile a lot and I find it very helpful, but it’s up to you. 

Now I have a blog with all the info. How do I get started?

Well there are a few things you can do to get yourself out there.

Make yourself a promo. It’s basically an advertisement for your blog. If you aren’t good at graphics, you can head to an RP Resource blog and see if they have any you can use with their permission. You can also just post a picture with some info. For me, the info on this promo matches that of my blog description - I want people to know what I’m all about as soon as they look at it. Then you can tag for your appropriate fandom RP. Your mutuals will likely reblog to help spread the word. Yay.

Find a directory for your RPC by searching in the search. This will allow you to a) reblog your info and be listen in a place where people can find you and b) allow you to find others in your RPC in an organized way. Then you can go through, find people you think you’d like to follow, and follow them. 

Make a starter or plotter call. This is, again, just a picture or graphic and some information about it. Here is one I made for Data specifically asking for Picard threads:

I asked for a specific universe and a specific character here. I also put all relative tags in case someone is just searching Tumblr (although I think it’s more for the people who follow me). Here’s a simpler one I made for B-4 that’s a lot more open. 

They don’t have to be super fancy. 

When people see a starter call, they can like your post. This is a quick an easy way to let you know they are interested in a thread. 

4. Ask Memes. Asks are invaluable. There are whole blogs dedicated to ask memes that you can post to your blog, and these can be really easy ways for people to come up with plot ideas or just to read some of your writing. I always keep a link on my blog to everything tagged ‘ask meme’ so if people want to find a meme they have choices!

It seems like there’s a certain aesthetic on these new fangled RP blogs. Do I have to do that?

No! But you can, if you want. If you aren’t good at coding and graphics, there are a lot of RP resource sites that can help you. (Can I recommend this one?) It is nice to have things like a face claim, a nice looking promo, a cool theme, etc. but at the end of the day, we all just want to write and have fun.

Advice?

Look, I’ve only been RPing on Tumblr for a couple of months and I am by NO MEANS an expert. I have gotten all of this knowledge through the help of friends and nice strangers willing to answer questions for me. Here are a few things I have picked up:

Respect people’s rules - We are all shy and all have our own thing going on. If someone says they’re uncomfortable doing one thing, just like...don’t do it.

Talk to other people - Don’t ignore the mun! Unless they really want you to. It’s better to ask questions, compliment writing, talk about your plots and stuff...it’s so much harder than trying to figure out what the other person feels/wants.

Ask questions - I’m a 6th grade teacher, and I get a million and fuckton questions every minute usually. It’s been eye-opening, because now I’m all about asking questions about everything all the time. I think knowledge is amazing. People know all different things, and the most logical way to be a productive society is to share knowledge (that’s one of the main teachings of Surak) so ask some questions! Hell, ask me some questions! Reach out to someone who seems nice!

Okay, that’s all. Good luck!

[asleepinawell]

frozen gifs on your blog? read on.

i seem to have fixed the issue with larger gifs sometimes not displaying correctly on the desktop browser version of my blog page (not dash, my actual blog page). 

when tumblr first bumped the gif size limit up there were all sorts of issues with random larger gifs (5mb and up) freezing even when other gifs of the same size or larger were not. and sometimes they froze only on web and sometimes only on mobile. it was a nightmare. it’s mostly been fixed I think, BUT, it looks like whatever tumblr did to fix the image processing they didn’t fix for the 500px version of gifs. 

tumblr dash uses the 540px version so it’s fine. tumblr mobile app is also fine. the place you see the problem is on some people’s themes on desktop (some of the standard free themes and some custom ones). 

why? a lot of themes seem to use the variable  {Photoset-500} for photosets which will force display the 500px version of the image. as far as i can tell this is the only place that size image is used*. this can easily be fixed by editing your blog html and replacing {Photoset-500} with {Photoset}. There is no {Photoset-540} variable for whatever reason.

The {Photoset} variable will shrink the image to fit the container it’s placed in. you might need to mess around with the container size (and you can expand it to fit a 540 image if you want) but that should make it load the larger gif image.

*the other place I’ve sometimes noticed this is in the preview when you hit reblog on a post on desktop browser. I think it might be loading the 500px gifs for that. idk why. it's pretty unimportant though.

just to show what i’m talking about:

a 500px gif from my blog that is frozen

a 540px gif from my blog that is not frozen

(also, in case anyone doesn’t know this, tumblr displays gifv images now, but you can get to the original gif by deleting the final v from the url. useful for saving gifs to your computer or linking them in a program where you want them to embed and animate properly (like discord). thanks, tumblr)

[gocatboygo]

tips to improve your tumblr experience

feel free to follow tags you’re interested in, but 1. dismiss posts (hit the x or “this post in particular sucks” or whatever) as soon as you see them, because tumblr will just show them to you over and over until they drive you insane, 2. blacklist tags related to that tag if you dont want to see them, and 3. block people if their posts annoy you

block people. you’ve probably heard this a million times but you can fully shape your tumblr experience by blocking people you don’t want interacting with you. even if their blog isn’t like, morally reprehensible, it’s just annoying

don’t be afraid to make dumb sideblogs. don’t be afraid to be unabashed and embarrassing. overall, tumblr has no bearing on your public reputation & an employer is never gonna ask to see your blog before they hire you so like. go for it. a few months ago i was relying on my favorite fandom to cope a lot and i decided to make a sideblog where i’d write cheesy imagines and headcanons about it, and i found the practice super embarrassing but i was like fuck it i’m gonna be unashamed and no one will follow this blog but it’s fine. and it turns out people love that shit. i have followers on there now and they’re all like, nice. do NOT be afraid to be cringe

personal sideblogs! i have a comfort blog where i just post very soft and calming things. i have like ten followers on there, it’s just close friends and a couple strangers. it is so nice to be able to exit Normal Tumblr and enter Cat Gif Tumblr at any time of my choosing

if you get into drama do not underestimate the power of logging off. nothing is worse than compulsively checking tumblr every two minutes to make sure you aren’t getting cancelled. there is no shame in leaving your computer.

also do not underestimate the power of saying “your mom suck me good and hard thru my jorts” instead of arguing with an asshole

if you have good mutuals, a mutuals discord can be really fun! i definitely recommend starting or joining one

filter tags! not just triggers. filter out fandoms you don’t like and tags like #r/adfem or #terf/spleaseinteract so you know when OP of a post is Implying Something

the mega-editor / mass post editor is a great tool that lets you add tags to and delete a large number of posts at a time. very useful if you have a super old blog and want to clean out old posts

stalkr.me and tumblr originals filter out reblogs and show you just the original posts from a blog. this is a life-saver

and of course, install the x-kit extension for desktop. there is so much shit you can do with it.