#I used the image description function in the post I hope it works if not let me know I'll add them back in the description!

[shop5]

I spent so long on these but I'm really happy with how they turned out they look good with the Lestat I posted a while back

[aces-and-angels]

PSA: PLEASE READ ‼

verification source (no. 246) follow: @henomohammed | alt. account- @hanaajad123 image description below cut

dear hanaa + family,

thank you for sending me this message:

Hello my dear, I am Hanaa from Gaza... A friend of mine advised me to send you a message because my Tumblr account has been closed more than once. I am upset about this. I hope you can help me

i am so sorry to hear that you've run into this problem multiple times 😔hopefully, this post will help more people find their way back to your new profile.

to my moots/lovely lurkers: by now, i think many of us have witnessed the alarming rate in which 🇵🇸 accounts are suspended/suppressed with no prior warning. it's a vile, twisted trend that infuriates both us and the affected families.

losing the ability to freely message others on this platform/having your entire profile deleted is detrimental in every way. individuals are forced to start from square one with new accounts and need to undergo the arduous, time-consuming process of re-verifying themselves to others (all of which is done with minimal access to a working signal // many families must travel far distances in order obtain a strong enough connection -> the trip itself puts them at greater risk). this ultimately stalls their efforts to receive life-saving donations.

as stated above, hanaa's campaign has been vetted and is listed on el-shab-hussein/nabulsi's sheet (#246). she has also been promoted by 90-ghost*, another trusted source for vetted/verified campaigns

*= the link provided shows hanaa's multiple accounts. @/hanaajad123 appears to still be functional. @/hanaayousef has been terminated. hanaa has told me herself she has made ~5 accounts now

hanaa's family lived normal lives. her and her husband worked hard to care for their baby, youssef (who is now 2 years old). 9 months of relentless bombardment have stripped them of their jobs, home, and any valuable possessions they once owned. it is not an exaggeration when they say that they have nothing left.

hanaa's fundraiser was made in an effort to regain some sense of normalcy for herself and her family. it has only been active since june 18th and hasn't gained many donations yet.

please support hanaa's family by:

sharing this post + hanaa's from her accounts

follow hanaa's tumblr

donate to her campaign if you are able 🖤

current stats: £2,667 / £20,000

[Image ID: digital drawing of two watermelon slices. written across the image: new account, please follow @/henomohammed, #246 on el-shab-hussein/nabulsi's sheet /End ID.]

[askablindperson]

In what way does alt text serve as an accessibility tool for blind people? Do you use text to speech? I'm having trouble imagining that. I suppose I'm in general not understanding how a blind person might use Tumblr, but I'm particularly interested in the function of alt text.

In short, yes. We use text to speech (among other access technology like braille displays) very frequently to navigate online spaces. Text to speech software specifically designed for blind people are called screen readers, and when use on computers, they enable us to navigate the entire interface using the keyboard instead of the mouse And hear everything on screen, as long as those things are accessible. The same applies for touchscreens on smart phones and tablets, just instead of using keyboard commands, it alters the way touch affect the screen so we hear what we touch before anything actually gets activated. That part is hard to explain via text, but you should be able to find many videos online of blind people demonstrating how they use their phones.

As you may be able to guess, images are not exactly going to be accessible for text to speech software. Blindness screen readers are getting better and better at incorporating OCR (optical character recognition) software to help pick up text in images, and rudimentary AI driven Image descriptions, but they are still nowhere near enough for us to get an accurate understanding of what is in an image the majority of the time without a human made description.

Now I’m not exactly a programmer so the terminology I use might get kind of wonky here, but when you use the alt text feature, the text you write as an image description effectively gets sort of embedded onto the image itself. That way, when a screen reader lands on that image, Instead of having to employ artificial intelligences to make mediocre guesses, it will read out exactly the text you wrote in the alt text section.

Not only that, but the majority of blind people are not completely blind, and usually still have at least some amount of residual vision. So there are many blind people who may not have access to a screen reader, but who may struggle to visually interpret what is in an image without being able to click the alt text button and read a description. Plus, it benefits folks with visual processing disorders as well, where their visual acuity might be fine, but their brain’s ability to interpret what they are seeing is not. Being able to click the alt text icon in the corner of an image and read a text description Can help that person better interpret what they are seeing in the image, too.

Granted, in most cases, typing out an image description in the body of the post instead of in the alt text section often works just as well, so that is also an option. But there are many other posts in my image descriptions tag that go over the pros and cons of that, so I won’t digress into it here.

Utilizing alt text or any kind of image description on all of your social media posts that contain images is single-handedly one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to directly help blind people, even if you don’t know any blind people, and even if you think no blind people would be following you. There are more of us than you might think, and we have just as many varied interests and hobbies and beliefs as everyone else, so where there are people, there will also be blind people. We don’t only hang out in spaces to talk exclusively about blindness, we also hang out in fashion Facebook groups and tech subreddits and political Twitter hashtags and gaming related discord servers and on and on and on. Even if you don’t think a blind person would follow you, You can’t know that for sure, and adding image descriptions is one of the most effective ways to accommodate us even if you don’t know we’re there.

I hope this helps give you a clearer understanding of just how important alt text and image descriptions as a whole are for blind accessibility, and how we make use of those tools when they are available.

[bizarrelittlemew]

Hi. I’ve been following you for a while and I really appreciate all the OFMD gifs you make and how you add really good image descriptions. I’m pretty bad at social cues and I wanted to know if you have tips for how to thank gif makers? Do you have advice for how to word the thank you without accidentally sounding weird or rude? Is it OK for someone to thank a gif maker in their ask box if the asker doesn’t follow the gif maker? Any sort of advice like that would be appreciated, or sample scripts that are socially acceptable to send. I know gif makers work really hard and I want to say thanks without accidentally breaking unspoken social rules I don’t know about and I felt safest asking you. I hope that’s OK. Thank you very much.

hi anon 💗 first of all this is such a lovely message and sentiment, thank you 🥹 i'd say you're pretty well on your way already!

i think every gif maker i know would LOVE getting a thank you message! as you say it is hard work, and having that acknowledged will always be appreciated 💗 (no matter if you follow them or not)

here is my specific advice on how to thank gif makers:

reblog! we share the gifs we make because we want to share our love for the show/movie/actor/etc. with other people, and by reblogging, you help us do that. adding something nice in the tags, whether it's something like "this is gorgeous!" or "thank you for giffing this moment, op!", compliments on the coloring (like "love the coloring"/"wow you did such a good job brightening this dark scene!"/"these look so crisp/sharp!"), or commentary on what the gifs show (like "he looks so sad, i wanna give him a hug"/"this scene is so funny/heartbreaking/sweet"/"i never noticed this detail before"), or simply emojis (any combinations of 💖, 🫠, 🥹, 🥺, 😭, 😍 or whatever the gif makes you feel), any kind of reaction like that will be very much appreciated - for me, it's the highlight of making and sharing gifs!

as for sending an ask, i think any kind of thank you message would make gif makers extremely happy 🥹 here are some sample sentences - any variation and combination of these would be lovely to receive, i think (some ideas/options in [brackets]): "i love seeing your gifs on my dash" "thank you for [creating/posting/sharing] your gifs, they [bring so much joy/always make me happy to see]" "i love your coloring, it's so [warm/vibrant/gorgeous/bright and sharp/colorful]" "thank you for giffing [character/person/show], i really appreciate seeing gifs of [that/them]" "thank you for adding [alt text/image descriptions] to your gifs, it helps a lot!" "i really admire how [fast/talented/creative] you are at giffing" ok these are just a few ideas but i hope it's helpful! 💗

this is not a direct way of thanking gif makers (as it should be a given), but i wanna add it because it's important to me: give credit if you share our gifs in other ways than reblogging the original post. please please please do not repost/crosspost gifs without credit. if a gif maker doesn't want their gifs reposted/crossposted at all, please respect it. most, like me, will be fine with it if you credit properly. here are some ways to do that: if you want to use a gif in your own post on tumblr, you can use the Add GIF function, which automatically adds credit (and we get a lil notification), or tag the creator and/or link the original gifset in the post (e.g. "gif by @bizarrelittlemew"). if you want to post a gif to another platform, e.g. twitter, these are some examples on how to give credit: "gif by @/bizarrelittlemew on tumblr", "📸: @/bizarrelittlemew", "gif by @[twitter handle]", "gif source: [link]" and variations of these, written either in the post itself or in a reply right below. not only in the ALT text (as that is for, well, ALT text) and not by making a general note on your profile that "gifs are not my own"/"the gifs i post are from tumblr" or similar (as this won't be evident from the post itself and doesn't credit the gif maker). ok that got a bit long but hopefully it makes sense!

also, if a gifset inspires you to write meta or make your own post about what the gifset depicts, we'd also be very happy if you linked it (like "this gifset reminded me of... / made me think about...") OR simply add it in a reblog of the gifset! the exception (for me, others may feel differently) is if the meta/comment "disagrees" with the gifset, like if the gifset shows "[character] being considerate" and the comment is something like "actually, i don't think this is [character] being considerate, i think they're manipulative". then making a separate post would be more welcome (i'd personally still appreciate a link to the gifset if you were inspired by it).

something that would be rude (since you ask how to avoid that) would be somehow criticizing the gifset in the comments/tags/replies, like disagreeing with the composition (e.g. "i don't think gif number X fits with this theme"), or being negative about the editing/giving unsolicited advice (e.g. "wish these gifs were brighter/sharper" or "hey op you should make your gifs slower/faster"), or talking about how you dislike the show/movie/characters (because the gif maker will see your tags/comments and they probably made the gifs out of love for the thing). as long as you avoid that, you should be fine! 💖

once again thank you for this lovely ask and for wanting to show your appreciation for gif makers 💗

[bananasfosterparent]

@thewillowbends Hope it's okay I moved to text post, it seemed like a better idea.

First, let me be clear: People can write whatever they want and I'm not saying they can't or shouldn't.

----

"If Tav is happily evil, then we’re back to the issue of limits in the narrative functionality beyond shorter works."

If Tav HAS to be a meek, regretful abuse victim in order for a story to be lengthy and meaningful, then that is 100% a skill and creativity issue of the writer. Either them not having the ability to see the story from another perspective, or them not having the creativity level to consider other canon-friendly manifestations of the Evil Tav x Asc Astarion relationship. Those "limits" you speak of are only limits if you allow them to be and don't let yourself grow as a writer.

"As it is, game is pretty blunt about how the story of spawn Tav ends"

The game is not blunt at all. The game gives us NO ending to that. It's up to the player. The closest we have to an idea of an ending for "spawn" Tav, is this datamined title card:

(read image description for transcription)

While this was cut from the official release of the game (like all the epilogue content), it still shows what Larian had/has in mind for the direction of the Asc ending. And it's got no hints about abuse.

Astarion tells you as much if you break up with him — “I would’ve ruined your love, used your trust.”

This is called metagaming. BG3 is not like a tv show where all the little dots connect and line up. BG3 is a "choose your own adventure" novel in video game form. It works just the same. So any choices or options you DO NOT select are NOT TRUE for your character in that playthrough. So nothing Spawn Astarion says in that ending matters in regards to a playthrough with the Ascended ending. Nothing Asc Astarion says matters in regards to a playthrough with the Spawn ending. In BOTH endings, he thanks Tav genuinely, fully appreciates the choice, is glad the opposite choice wasn't made, and wants Tav to choose what their next adventure will be. Both endings have to be worthwhile and feel satisfying for the player, and the best way to do that is to have Astarion genuinely appreciate what Tav has done, in BOTH endings. And he does.

"it’s a story about cycles and the destruction of life. It’s telling you what Astarion will become because Cazador used to be in his position."

It's telling who Cazedor was and his story. That doesn't mean Astarion is doomed to repeat it. Or that a specific ending IS him repeating it. There is no warning of such. It CAN go that way, but nothing in-game says it has to. Because breaking "the cycle" isn't one specific thing. And he breaks cycles in BOTH endings.

Astarion's story is about corruption and choosing to either become more corrupt (than he already is) or try to live by the rules of society and just accept how things are. In the Spawn ending he talks about the "cycle of power", meaning the cycle of vampire culture that thrives on a pyramid of power. He is free of that headache and appreciates that. As to the quote you mention, Astarion is speculating about ascension. He has no idea what would have actually happened, he can only guess. He is an opportunistic optimist so he'd more likely see the path he couldn't take as one he shouldn't have anyway. And having him say that in-game for that ending, makes that ending feel worth it for the player.

In the Asc ending, he breaks the cycles of loneliness, living in darkness, selfishness, hunger, and wants to treat his own spawn better than Cazedor ever did. Astarion hates the word spawn and chooses to call his future ones his "children" instead. He loves the sun, it's symbolic for him. Yet, he is fully willing, without hesitation, to give up something he loves so much, so that his "children" can thrive in a world that is shrouded in fog. He also takes on a consort (vampire bride/groom) and wants to share that power, something Cazedor did not do (as far as we know).

You can break away from Larian’s story, certainly, but a lot of fanfic writers are trying to stick to what was extant within the media itself. At some point, if you pull too far away from it, you’re just writing an original story, and the issue most writers then run into is…why not turn it fully original and publish it then?

Here's the problem with this: Larian's story IS BOTH endings. There is no metaphorical build up in the game that sets up *only* the Spawn ending as his "real" or "true" ending. It's a metaphorical build up that can have TWO different solutions. One being reject the power and accept life as it is. The other being usurp power and rewrite the rules. Ascension is never shown to be a truly evil or bad thing. The worst part of it is sacrificing the 7000 spawn. But if Tav/Durge rationalizes this, there are no real negatives. The only negatives may be if one does not vibe with his confidence boost and prefers him more docile. The whole last statement you've made and way of thinking makes it seem like his Spawn ending is the real one and his Ascended ending is just some "fun and sexy" alternative but invalid thing you can do.

His story arc is BOTH endings. They are both just as bad and as good as the other, it's just a matter of what works for your Tav/Durge and for you as the player. He does not have ONE TRUE ENDING. You choose the lesser of two evils. Which one is "lesser" depends entirely on the player and Tav/Durge as individuals.

If ANYTHING, writing Ascended Astarion as an abusive, uncaring, unloving monster is just writing an original story and not sticking to what is within the game itself. Not the other way around.

Also, as a last comment... a fanfiction does not have to be a 70 chapter epic. It can be 1-3 chapters and be a complete work. Or just one chapter. Or a few paragraphs. But Tav and Astarion being happily evil together shouldn't be a reason you can't write a lengthy and fleshed out story. That's just lack of creativity. Spawn ending fans outnumber Asc ending fans, and most Spawn fans have a negative view of Asc Astarion. So that's more likely the reason why we never see many happily evil Tav x Astarion fics.

[undergoing-mitosis]

hey guys come to our death note discord server we talk about L making ur mom jokes is funny silly goofy time

"l lawliet math pickup line >>>" - rowan 2024 (when i was talking about making this post)

in this post (in order of appearance): @niightniines is Nines, i am aqua, @murderedbythoughts is parad0x, and @rowwiz is rowliet (aka rowan) :3

image ID below the cut 👇 please let me know if there's anything i need to change about the description, this is my first time doing an image ID so many feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Start Image ID

A discord text screenshot, in dark mode with a dark grey background and white text. The messages were sent at 20:33 military time.

The first user is Nines, who has a pink coloured name, saying Nines with a capital N.

The second is Aqua, whose username is light blue, and said name reads [aqua [open bracket] mello my beloved [heart emoticon] [closed bracket] end name description]. This is styled in all lowercase.

The third is Paradox, who's username is yellow, and styled in all lowercase except for the O, which is replaced with a 0

The fourth is Rowan, whose username is purple, and said name reads [rowliet [open bracket] rowan jeevas [closed bracket] end name description]. This is styled in all lowercase.

Messages read: [Start of conversation]

Nines: L made a your mother joke once while they were chained together and Light didn't say anything the rest of the day.

Aqua: YOUR MOTHER? [2x skull emoji]

Nines: light: "what are you working on L." [carriage return] L: "your mother." [carriage return] light: "what..."

Paradox: "damn shame about your dad having to work so hard lately, how's your mother coping? I can help if she needs."

Aqua: real.

Nines: he threw a masked temper tantrum and L saw right through it.

Paradox: absolutely.

Nines: L: "I'm sorry Light, I didn't know that kind of joke would upset you so much." [carriage return] Light: "like I said, Ryuzaki, I'm completely fine, it was just a harmless joke." [carriage return] L: "clearly you're distraught."

Rowan: he used it as an opportunity to fuck with him by saying "hey girl, are you a polynomial function with a degree over one? because i wanna trace the values on your curves." to misa, and light threw him across the room for the fifth time that day.

Nines: LMAO.

Nines: I'm trying to imagine L saying that in his stupid fucking voice.

Rowan: I love his stupid fucking voice, he would so say it.

Nines: musical L's voice actor for extra nerdiness

Paradox (replying to the maths pickup line): the punchline of this hit me like a sack of bricks, i do not know maths.

Rowan: i think i should kidnap both musical and dub L to live in my basement, so i can make them say these things whenever i want them to in exchange for food.

End of conversation. End of Image Description]

[piplupod]

btw artists you should maybe stop posting your art on pinterest if that's something you've been doing, i know a few ppl who have been sharing their art there

i'm not sure if this section has been updated at all or if it's always been this way but I was taking a read through their soon-to-be-implemented update to their TOS to see if they'll be adding anything with the increased usage of AI and this looks like perhaps this section exists (at least in part) for that reason 🤔 [thinking emoji]

unfortunately their report function for art theft/reposting has historically been less than stellar (an understatement) and I don't really see it improving any time soon but perhaps they will improve it with this update to their TOS and privacy policy! one can hope at least!

link to the preview of the new TOS: https://policy.pinterest.com/en/terms-of-service-preview

alt text for the screenshot below, as well as linked in the embedded image description feature:

A screenshot of a section of Pinterest's new Terms of Service. The subsection heading reads: "How we and other users can use your User Content". The highlighted text reads: "By providing any User Content on the Service, you grant us license to use, store, publicly perform or display, reproduce, save, modify, create derivative works, monetize, download, translate and distribute your User Content. Nothing in these Terms entitles you to any payments or the right to share in any revenue from any monetization of User Content."

Image description note: If you want to read the full paragraph, please visit the page I've linked in the post.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

ARIIIII HI HELLO HEY !!! i got a bit busy (i hate assessments) but I'm back and I will soon read all the things I added to my tbr that you posted !! soooo excited hehe :3 I wanted to ask how you guys are playing phanpara.... i also want to see all the fun stuff and play.. ☹☹ manifesting the banners for you so you get them easily <333 - ❄ anon

❄️ ANON MY LOVE !! welcome back!!!! :3 i hope your assessments went well…. i’m proud of you for working hard 🫂🫂🫂 AND PLS don’t feel any pressure w the tbr, my fics will always be here when you have the time !!! <3333

BUT YES . phanpara ….. i’m not gonna lie to you anon getting it downloaded on ios was a whole trial of will but 😭😭 it’s actually. fairly simple. it’s easier on android (you just need to download a bunch of apps to emulate it!!) but on ios you need to manually change your appstore region to japan. and then download a vpn app. the biggest downside w ios is that there aren’t really any good translator apps!! :(( on android you can get bubble translate which lets you translate on screen text really easily…. but you won’t get anything like that on ios. so you won’t understand what the characters are saying (unless you take screenshots and throw them into an image translator)….

buuut if you’re still fine with that!! (assuming you have ios and not android)…. then i’ll leave the instructions down below :33 i’ll try to make them as clear as possible but just ask if you have any more questions!! i’d love to help!!! phanpara is sm fun…

ok so . here are all the steps !!

1) make a new appstore account!!

this step is easy :3 … i don’t. remember how i did it tho. pretty sure you just go to the appstore browser page?? or something.., and then you obv just need to add a name and a functional email address!

when you’ve made a new account, make sure that your ios is logged into it . just go to settings -> click your profile -> click on the appstore icon -> log out from your usual account and log in on the new one!! then you just need to press ”show account” to go to the next step.

2) change your region to japan!!

this is the complicated step. it’s not really that complicated though it just took me a while to figure it out 😭😭 you can use this site for reference if my descriptions confuse you lol

when you try to change your region to japan, you’ll be forced to add your name and your address. you can use your normal name (assuming it’s made up of english letters), but you’ll need to generate a jp address!! it’s actually kinda easy. this is the website i used!! it lists all the information you need in the correct order, so just . copy and paste into the settings . (i believe you’ll need to choose the prefecture manually, so just look at the prefecture name on the website and match it with the options ios gives you!!) street name, prefecture, city, zip code, phone number… etcetc. this may or may not be an illegal process but if you’re a gacha enjoyer i’m assuming you like living life on the edge.

you’ll also get the option to add a payment method, but you should be able to skip it by choosing the option at the bottom. this is important because otherwise it won’t let you change your region (unless you happen to have a japanese credit card hanging around)….

when you’ve entered all the necessary information, click the blue text in the top right corner to move on!! if you’ve done everything correctly you should be taken to the jp appstore :3

3) download phanpara + ovpnspider!!

now you’re almost done!!! downloading phanpara should be easy, just search for it in the appstore and. well. download it. when i did this i had to click through some ios popup page..??? but just . click your way through it. trial and error. until it lets you download the app <33

while phanpara is loading, download ovpnspider!! this one is super easy and doesn’t take up much space at all. when it’s finished downloading, just go into the app, go to the ”jp” folder and connect to one of the vpns!! the status has to be ”alive”, but any of them should work :3

4) play phanpara !!

now you should be good to go <33 the only issue is that the vpn can be a little difficult sometimes. phanpara might take a bit to load, and throw you out if the vpn disconnects, but as long as you just exit the app and change the vpn there shouldn’t be any issues. could be a little bothersome sometimes but you get used to it quickly!! just make sure that you’re connected to a vpn, enter phanpara, and play :33 for me it takes up roughly 5gbs of space, so make sure your phone can handle it!!

aaaaand that’s it <333 i’m sorry if this is just. gibberish 😭😭 or if i’m making it sound more complicated than it is …. and pls let me know if it works for you!!! i’d love to be friends in game if you make an account :33 then you’ll be able to use my gojo in battle … hehehe ……..

[powdermelonkeg]

New and Genuine Tumblr Update Proposals

Bring back the corner flap that opens the post's permalink in a new window

Add a badge that changes color depending on how many bots you've blocked. Blogs with a higher "tier" of badge get priority on whether their reporting is taken seriously, to reduce spam

Add a badge to new accounts that disappears after a month, both to combat bots and to allow users to more easily identify people that don't know how to use the site yet

Bring the green mutuals mark (visible on the followers page on the current version) to the dashboard beside a person's username, for easy reference if you're mutuals with someone you're about to reply to

Make desktop dashboard configuration HTML-configurable, in the same way blogs are (Ao3 skins are a good reference for how this would work)

Make the mobile dashboard color-customizable in the settings, allowing the user to pick the color of the background and text with a color wheel

Accessibility toggle: Takes ALT descriptions and makes them appear as text below the images they're attached to

Change the notes configuration from "comments and tags, tags," and "other reblogs" to a dropdown list of toggles: "show comments," "show tags," and "show other reblogs"

Add a "replied from [username]" message beside replies in notes, to be able to determine who a reply is aimed towards. Extending from this, make this message a link to the post in the reblog chain the reply was made from

Add a "show reblogs only from [username]" box to the notes, with the [username] portion a blank space to be filled in by the person looking

Add an option to the search function to exclude tags

Add an option to the dropdown search menu to sort by most additions

Add an option to the dropdown search menu, specifically for the type of posts, to filter by asks

Add an option to the search menu to "search text only" or "search tags only" to improve search functionality. For example, if I'm searching for "witcher," I have the option to choose to see things tagged only as "witcher," rather than getting every post that says something like "I'm done with the Witcher, now moving on to Skyrim"

Add an option to the report menu for "suspected bot activity"

Add an asker-side toggle for an ask to be replied to privately. Currently, this is on the side of the person asked, and the asker has to request "please reply privately" and hope it's respected

Inform a user who asked anonymously if their anonymous question has been answered

Add a "screenshot post" button that makes a copy of the post in png form and adds it to your clipboard

Divide tags into "indexed" and "non-indexed," configurable by a symbol. For example, #i am up too late would not be indexed and therefore hidden from searches, while #real coffee hours* would be indexed and able to be searched

Add the ability to include multiple tags for search in the archive page of a blog

Add the ability to exclude tags from the archive page of a blog

Change the sideblog list in the "account" menu on desktop to a list of icons along the left side of the dashboard, each one being that sideblog's profile picture, and toggle between dashboards when each sideblog is clicked

Change "post now" at the bottom of a post to "post to [username]," to help with accidental posts to the wrong sideblog. This can be a movement of the dropdown menu from the top of the post to the bottom

Add a toggle to the settings menu for "loop video after completion." The current default is to loop endlessly

With each algorithm tab, include an information button (a question mark, for example) that explains in plain terms where it gets its data. For example "based on your likes" would say "these posts were liked by 10 people you have also liked the posts of," or "in your orbit" would say "these are people that 10 of your mutuals follow"

Add a sorting function to both the "followers" and "following" tabs, for example: "sort by A-Z," "sort by order followed (descending/ascending)," and "sort by date last posted"

Add an option to "block this post" in the meatballs menu of a post, removing the post and subsequent reblogs from your dash and adding them to a blacklist that can be found in settings

Add a search box to both the drafts and queue page, allowing users with several posts in both of these to find and edit posts more easily

These are just off the top of my head. I've purposely stayed away from "remove function that everyone hates" in terms of updates, as I'm aware that some of those have certain criteria and/or are out of Tumblr coding staff's control. The single exception to this is the first point about the corner flap, because I believe its inclusion adds functionality and ease-of-access to the site.

If any of these look good, go ahead and code them in. No permission/credit required, I'm just invested in the future of the site.

@staff

[ideatradingpost]

ABOUT THE IDEA TRADING POST

(it's a bit of a longer read, but hopefully it will clear up and confusion & provide all necessary information. thank you to everyone who takes the time to read it!)

what is the point of this blog?

this blog is meant as a collaborative, community-building project among artists, writers, and creatives. it is meant to offer new life to stories and characters whose creators can't or don't want to work on them themselves, but want to give a chance at being worked on by others. ultimately, this blog is for fun, collaboration, and celebrating each other's ideas & work.

how does credit work for submissions?

submitters may choose to identify themselves as the original creators of submitted stories or characters when sending them in, or they may submit anonymously. submissions will be made with the agreement that once they are sent in and posted, credit to the original creator will not be necessary, as the ideas will be available to anyone who wants to use them.

(NOTE: as with many public domain creative works, credit is still often appreciated by the original creators, but again on this blog it should not be expected and will not be required. in general it is a good practice to recognize others that contribute to a story / character / etc as collaborators, but this will be different in different circumstances, and will be up to the individuals who are participating in the blog to decide how to approach for themselves. in general, do your best to be kind and considerate to your fellow creatives with this in mind.)

what about ownership / intellectual property / etc?

this project is not meant to be concerned with ownership or intellectual property. the stories and characters submitted to the project would be open to anyone to use or adapt, making them more or less public domain stories and characters (though this is not an official designation; just a collective agreement). participation in the project means agreeing to the fact that, as a collaborative community endeavor, no single person would own the stories or characters once they've been submitted.

that said, what an artist or writer goes on to create with the ideas given here is still there own, as much as a piece of art using a public domain background would be—but keep in mind that anyone else can also use what's posted here as well, as two artists could both work with that same public domain background, to continue the metaphor.

how do I submit?

the best way to submit is via the submission function, where you can craft a post with as much information as you want (and images, if you so choose) to be reviewed by the organizers of the blog, and then posted. submissions may also be sent via the askbox.

what can I submit?

anything you like! story plots, general story ideas (long or short), world concepts, character descriptions, character designs, creative project ideas—the list goes on. send an ask if you're unsure if what you want to submit will fit here.

what is NOT allowed in submissions?

submissions containing hateful or discriminatory content will not be posted. mature themes and content are allowed, but will be marked and/or filtered accordingly. explicit sexual content will not be posted to the blog. feel free to send an ask if you are unsure if your submission would be acceptable for the blog.

what if I submit a story / character then change my mind and don't want anyone else to use it?

the organizers of the blog will try to be as sympathetic as possible to people who request to have stories / characters taken down, but once ideas are shared with the community, we can't prevent anyone from engaging with them, so be sure to think through the things you want to submit and only do so if you're sure about submitting. as a community, though, I hope we can be sensitive and compassionate in how we handle ideas and interact with one another, and so if such a situation does arise, we will all do our best to help each other out.

please send an ask with additional questions / if you need anything clarified!

[astridellejo]

My Voice Is Broken So I Don't Use It Anymore What is the Search Term for That?

I began losing functionality of my voice about three years ago. It would happen for a few days at a time, usually when the seasons started to change so I just assumed it was some kind of perfectly normal seasonal hoarseness. It happened to me again in September 2023, but this time it stayed way longer than a few days. It has now been five months since my voice stopped working and I don't think it's coming back. It got on a plane to Peru and said, "See ya!" I've written about my voice loss in previous posts which you can read here and here.

Now that can no longer use my voice like I used to, I've been trying to find some level of community online. Because it turns out, just creating OCs that can't speak, or have difficulty speaking, isn't as fulfilling as I hoped it would be. Curse my needs for occasional social connection! The trick to finding community online is to figure out the correct search terminology that will help get me connected to others.

I started with "spasmodic dysphonia" because that's what the ENT specialist told me I have. Found some information but very few people. I expanded to "laryngeal dystonia", which didn't really take me much further. It did inform me, however, that a panel of experts decided it is the preferred term over "spasmodic dysphonia". Then I thought since I don't talk anymore, I could try using "nonverbal" as a search term. It got me a whole bunch of information on autism, but I am not autistic so that's not going to be the right search term for me. (I am ADHD though.)

So then I thought, "Okay, what is the most generalized concept I could use that is still reasonably accurate to my issue here?" The term "mute" is an option I suppose, but it might be a little too general. Plus it has some negative connotations. Even the dictionary says it's "dated or offensive" in terms of describing someone who cannot speak. Eventually it dawned on me I could simply use "speech disorder" as a search term. I didn't use it at first because I didn't think it was accurate, but I gave it a try. Hey! Look! There's my people!

I'm Astrid. I'm almost 50 (whoa). I have laryngeal dystonia and lost use of my voice only five months ago. Yes, communication now is more challenging, but I'm finding workarounds. And ya know, I actually quite enjoy not talking. I'm learning ASL (American Sign Language) and I absolutely love it! I use my phone to write messages if needed, or good old fashioned pencil and paper whenever I feel thumb typing might take too long.

So if your ability to speak is impeded in some way and/or you use alternative forms of communication for whatever reason, from a pencil and paper, to an AAC device, to sign language, I see you! I finally found the right search term and I see you! You rock!

[image description] Hipster Ariel wears thick-framed black glasses, a green scarf around her neck, a lavender shirt, and a matching lavender starfish in her side-braided red hair. From her right ear hangs a bespoke dinglehopper earring. Ariel sweeps her hair over her left shoulder revealing on her right shoulder a stylized tattoo of a seahorse. In her left hand she holds up a pink mobile phone with text on it in large letters reading, "voices are overrated". [/image description]

[the-iron-shoulder]

back on my bullshit: bandura edition

[image description: three photos of a poorly made Ukrainian bandura, which is a stringed instrument in the zither family. It is shaped kind of like the lowercase letter “b” and has strings stretched across its entire length. On this one, the bridges are made out of a bunch of little pieces of varying sizes, which is not standard. It has a very messy appearance. End description.]

so back in 2022 I found out that the bandura exists (I don’t have any Ukrainian heritage or connection afaik, but I read an article about it in a mega old newsletter and it was a whole story that I’ll tell some other time) and I became obsessed with the idea of making one. It was the second woodworking project I’d ever tried and, while I think I did pretty well considering my lack of tools and lack of experience, it never actually turned into something I was happy with. I mean, compare what a professionally made one looks like:

[image description: a professionally made Bandura, which looks very different from the amateur one above. End description.] image credit: Julianhayda, Wikimedia commons, CC-By-SA

big difference. Also, beyond the aesthetics, it just wasn’t playable… the lower strings were sometimes okay, but the higher strings never resonated and just sounded dead, when they weren’t just slipping off the bridges in the first place. Also, the string placement wasn’t very good and it was hard to physically reach a lot of the higher strings. That’s why you’ve never heard me post a recording of me playing this thing… it doesn’t really work!

I’ve got some better tools now, specifically a router, so I’m hoping that I can redo the bridges on this bad boy and actually turn it into something functional!

so normally, many banduras are diatonic (like the white keys on a piano with no black keys), but I don’t like that because I want to be able to play any arbitrary video game music song I want on it, not just songs that don’t have chromatic notes in them. So what I tried to do (which didn’t work, to be clear) was to have each individual little bridge be a high bridge or a low bridge so that the strings would be at an angle, with the idea being that the natural notes (“white keys”) would be raised near the top of the instrument and the accidentals (sharps and flats, “black keys”) would be raised near the bottom of the instrument, thereby theoretically making it easier to tell by touch where each note is.

I think that this can still work! But instead of making the bridges out of a million little triangles, I’m going to try to make them solid pieces (two of the bridges on the existing instrument are kind of like that), but differently from how I did it last time. First, I’m going to simply make them taller, so there can be a bigger differentiation between a string’s “up” position and its “down” position. That might help them feel a little less crowded, maybe? Also instead of trying to use a drill press to punch holes in the bridge for the “down” portion, I’m going to try to use a router to carve a groove through it, leaving some posts for support. I’m also thinking that the router will let me make a more consistent point at the top of each of these, so there will hopefully be a good spot for the strings to sit and so they might not slip as much? I’ll still probably need to file little notches in for them to sit in, but one thing at a time, I guess.

I still don’t actually know what I’m doing! This may end up as a monument to my failure! We’ll find out!!

[irepostedthistweet]

On this blog, I repost the same very popular Tweets dozens of other users have also reposted. My goal is to exclusively embed those Tweets, which automatically adds the accessibility feature that is alt text + a link to the original (with few exceptions in which I write the alt text myself, if I feel like a Tweet is notable enough but has apparently been deleted.)

By doing this, I would like to make those popular posts and memes accessible to more people. I would also like to show to more people that Tweet embeds are an option, to hopefully encourage them to use them in the future.

As a reminder, in order to embed a Tweet, all you have to do is paste its link onto your post.

You can easily copy the link of Tweets on either desktop or the app. (The placement can sometimes change on mobile from update to update, but the option should always be accessible via one of the buttons around your Tweet.)

Then open your fresh tumblr post and paste the link.

(Link to my post with only this Tweet, in case you like it and want to reblog it.)

If you're sourcing your own brand new Tweet to share to tumblr for any reason, this is arguably quicker and easier to do than taking a screenshot and re-uploading it to tumblr. Please consider this option whenever possible - it's very convenient.

In my case, since my goal is to repost Tweets that are already popular on tumblr, I use Twitter's search function, which works very well (contrary to tumblr's).

If you already have a screenshot with the person's username, unless they deleted their account or changed their username, you're certain to find the original. Of course, this is only needed if you're looking for a Tweet to repost, and you won't need to do this if you just happen into a new Tweet you want to share to tumblr.

I encourage anyone to use this instead of screenshots whenever possible, because it's more convenient than having to type the alt text yourself! Even if you don't usually provide alt text, there's no reason not to let it be automatically written for you when it can be. Plus, it leaves a link to the original Tweet, which I feel like makes it more respectful to the user who wrote the funny joke.

Alt text is an accessibility feature that mostly benefits people who use screen-readers because they, for one reason or another, can't read the words on their screen. Especially when the image is the right size - so the "alt" button doesn't come in the way - as it is automatically generated by pasting the Twitter link, there's no harm in having it there whatsoever. All it does is include more people.

Accessibility isn't a one-size-fits-all. Some users may benefit more from Image descriptions that are written in the body of the post. However, alt text is a commonly accepted and convenient accessibility feature. On top of that, accessibility for the disabled can oftentimes wind up benefiting everyone - for example, being able to click the "alt" button allows people to see the contents of the image even if they have a poor connection and the image won't load. Having a text description of any image also makes it easier to find in the future, even with tumblr's terrible search function.

I hope this post can encourage more people to include alt text and/or image descriptions more often. Even if you don't have time to include alt text all the time, you should take advantage of these embeds, which do it for you. A funny Tweet repost is the type of post to become very popular, so it's sure to land on someone's feed who wishes they could know what it says but can't when it's just an undescribed image.

(PS: as of currently, there is a slight issue in that the contents of described images included in the Tweet, or Tweets being quoted, aren't copied. Now that you know about the Twitter embed option, consider contacting support in one way or another to let them know you'd like these contents to be added to Twitter embeds. It's a really great option for simple text Tweets, and it could easily include even more Tweets. I know you just found out about it, so if you just want to use the function for those text Tweets for now, it's okay - please just consider it!)

[indepth-mbti]

do you think writer's dominant functions can he seen from their writings? and do you have any recommendations of books that has, like, perhaps a Ti dom fragrance to it?

This is a pretty interesting topic, so I prepared a long answer. I want to thank you for asking me this because your question inspired me to do an instagram post about each MBTI type as a writer.

Yes, functions show in the writing style of an author, but I wouldn’t say that the dominant function is the only one that shows. Many writers have a clear style influenced by their dominant function, but then the inferior function manifests as the underlying “obstacle” of the plot. Sometimes you can even see a clear dom/aux or dom/tert tandem in some authors.

Some things that can define the functions in the writing style, the theme or the plot of a novel, as well as some examples of authors for each function. Hope you find it insightful:

Ne writer (example - George R.R. Martin or Oscar Wilde)

They usually like to play with multiple points of view, with an experimental writing style. The plot usually entails a lot of exploration, and they like open endings and unexpected turns. Ne users enjoy alternate realities as they can explore the possibilities their Ne likes to generate. Ne authors have a strong tendency to ramble and they struggle to keep the central point of the plot (the typical problem of xNxP to get to the point); that’s why many Ne users get lost into subplots.

Ni writer ( example – Mary Shelley or CS Lewis)

Ni authors like foreshadowing and building up a nuclear ideal through all the novel that will end up being the high concept needed to understand the novel. They like to write interconnections and philosophical/transgressive works. Ni users differ from Ne user in that they like to take a specific idea, image or concept and make the discussion all around this single topic. Many Ni novels are translating real-life issues (Se) to an abstract and subjective imagery (Ni). Ni authors like to create an underlying system that ties everything together through one “essence” (this is more usual in NiTi users)

Si writer (example – Emile Zola or Agatha Christie)

Si authors have that mix between being extremely self-referential and extremely realistic in their descriptions, but that’s also why they’re the best world-builders. Many Si authors use a nostalgic undertone to create their detailed recollections. They tend to be super good researchers, and their novels always have a reference to the real world with which they feel bonded – they focus on things that are specific to their interests. Si authors usually follow the same pattern through all their novels.

Se writer (example – Hemingway or Conan Doyle)

Se authors enjoy a direct and straight-forward style; they’re good at building narratives that are based on physical evidence and amusing characters. Their descriptions are on point, and they don’t have unnecessary assets, even if the descriptions are long and detailed. Se authors focus on what’s happening around the characters and are specially skilled at setting up a very good environment – they usually use short sentences, although this may depend on the literary movement/genre of the Se author.

Te writer (example – Jack London or Aristotle)

Te authors are super structured both at conducting the plot and at explaining the ideas they want to talk about. I’ve noticed that many Te authors are drawn towards writing plots about politics, success, and characters that overcome unfavoured situations. They usually focus on powerful and realistic stories, in which the characters are constructed around a powerful decision making and achieving a certain goal that will led them to success. They also like to make an acid criticism to their social/political situation.

Ti writer (example – Lovecraft or Stephen King)

Ti users usually focus on dissecting certain ideas through offering wisdom and understanding them, using personal archetypes to make sarcastic but precise takes on their personal opinions. That’s why many Ti authors enjoy writing about puzzles, mysteries, or weird/dark topics that interconnect their own subjectivity. I find many Ti authors to get lost into creepy details and they also like stoic characters, putting priority into coherence and congruency before giving life to their own characters (you can find Stephen King always making the same kind of main characters.)

Fe writer (example – Goethe)

Fe writers usually focus on relationships and humanity, even if it sounds like a cliché and stereotypical. Fe authors probably made the most coherent and consistent characters in terms of decision-making, as they focus on entanglements and the intensity of the relationships between the characters. They also like their novels to have a pretty solid moral standing, and they usually create their characters as symbols, making abstractions out of them.

Fi writer (example – Orwell or Kafka)

Fi authors have a preference for writing characters that go through a self-development journey, always focused on knowing the self and solving their inner turmoil. They focus on giving depth to the main character, and all the novels go around their personalized POV of the world: all the plot usually goes around the main character and their journey. The novels are probably full of self-inserts. Fi authors have a strong desire to investigate the self/the human mind through their novels.

[splashtailstar]

hello, potentially dumb question: i noticed you added an image ID to something i made, copying the text that i wrote using tumblr’s integrated alt text function. is writing an ID normally into the text of a post like you’ve done more accessible? i want to make sure so i can write more helpful IDs in the future. thank you and hope you are doing well :]

thank you for asking ve! while alt text is important and provides accessibility, it is not as accessible as writing the image description in the body of a post. not everybody has access to alt text. some screenreaders do not detect alt text. some people don't use screenreaders but still need ids. the background and text color combos are not customizable and it does not count as regular text, so content filtering does not work for alt text ids. the alt button can be hard to see along with resizing can make it hard to click. also alt text size doesn't always change with font size.

here is a post from a mutual explaining more about alt text: link

vi still use alt text sometimes as a supplement with the main body id, using the alt text as a very brief summary and the main body id for details. a post explaining more about this: link

thank you to the people's accessibility server for helping ve with this. you can go to them if you have any questions or need any help. you can also check out the accessibility tag on vy blog to find more posts written by other people on these topics

[ap-art-history]

hi. so i actually finished taking ap art history! my test date was in May of 2023. i originally wanted to make this blog for myself to study, but i started it too late. anyway! figured id share it for anyone else who might find it helpful when studying! (i'm probably gonna be slow to add to this btw, but so far we got 3/250 LOL)

**disclaimer: i am NOT an expert in art history and i cannot guarantee everything i say will be 100% accurate. with this in mind, i sure will try my best :,)**

How this Blog Works

each post will have the image(s) College Board provides for a piece and will contain in bold and italics: title, area of origin, culture, date the work was made, and a brief description of media used.

additionally, there will be a paragraph included explaining more in depth about a works form, function, content, and context.

each one of the 250 works will be marked with the following tags for easier navigation:

content area number

associated art movement

themes

religious/non-religious

painting/architecture/scultpure/photo/installation

also i will add a link to the khan academy article for each piece. and also any miscellaneous videos/resources that i think are worth checking out!

thanks for reading, hope this will be helpful to someone :]