#and the algorithm choosing who you interact with

[sheepintheastralsea]

you guys have got to get better at talking to strangers

I don't even mean like. being more skilled at it. i mean you have to do it. you have to talk to your cashier, to the old woman you cross on the pavement, to the guy waiting in the queue for the gig in front of you, to the teenager deciding between books at the bookstore.

not all the time; you don't have to constantly be talking. but you have to speak to the people around you i am begging you

[jessiarts]

I've been curious about this for awhile now, and with a re-surge of the "hey you know you tumblr doesn't have an algorithm and you need to reblog things here if you want to see more of stuff and/or support creators" posts I think I'll finally make a poll to test a theory, Which is that: 1) Where you came from before tumblr has a heavy influence on if you reblog posts or not and 2) That the decline in reblogs has come from a influx of users from other social media over the recent years who were conditioned to interact with 'content' in a "more passive consumption, less community-interaction" way. So, whether you reblog posts or not- I want to know where you came from before tumblr

[Clarification: For the purposes of this poll, "do reblog" refers to if you often reblog the posts that you enjoy. This doesn't mean that you reblog every single post that comes on your dash- just that you reblog posts more than you hit the Like button and/or you regularly also reblog posts that you hit the Like button for. If you rarely reblog (i.e: you exclusively hit the Like button on more posts than you reblog, and/or have an empty blog), then please choose "don't reblog"]

Also, obligatory, "Please reblog for larger sample size" Because: science

[thegalleonsnest]

OK since I haven't seen too many people talk about this since twitter news usually strikes pretty fast over here whenever e'usk does anything ever, let me give ya'll the run down on two things that will go live on NOVEMBER 15TH and why people are mass migrating to Blue Sky once more; and provide resources to help protect your art and make the transition to Blue Sky easier if you so choose:

The Block function no longer blocks people as intended. It now basically acts as a glorified Mute button. Even when you block someone, they can still see your posts, but they can't engage in them. If your account is a Public one and not a Private one, people you blocked will see your posts.

They say because people can easily "share and hide harmful or private information about those they've blocked," they changed it this way for "greater transparency." When in reality, this is an extremely dangerous change, as the whole point of blocking is to cease interaction with people entirely for a plethora of reasons, i.e. stalking, harassment, spam, endangerment, or just plainly annoying and not wanting to see said tweets/accounts. or you know, for 18+ accounts who do not want minors interacting with them or their material at all (There is speculation saying these changes are specifically for Elon himself so he can do his own kind of stalking, and honestly, with the private likes change, it lowkey checks out in my opinion)

Also, this straight up goes against and may violate Apple and Google's app store policies and also is straight up illegal in Canada and probably other countries as well.

If this ACTUALLY goes through, twitter will only be available in select countries, probably exclusively in the US, which would collapse the site with the lost of users and stock, and probably be the last push it needs to kill the site. And if not, will be a very sad and exclusive platform made for specific kinds of people who line up with musk's line of thinking.

2. New policies regarding Grok AI and basically removing the option to opt out of Grok's information gathering to improve their software.

And anything you upload/post on the site is considered "fair game" with "royalty-free licenses" and they can do whatever they please with it. Primarily using any and all posts on twitter to train their Grok AI. A few months ago, there was a setting you can opt out of so they couldn't take anything you post to "improve" Grok, but I guess because so many people were opting out, they decided to make it mandatory as part of the policy change (This is mainly speculation from what I hear).

So this is considered the final straw for a LOT of people, especially artists who have been gripping on to twitter for as long as they can, but the AI nonsense is too much for people now, including myself. Lot's of people are moving to Blue Sky for good reason, and from personal experience, it is literally 10x better than twitter ever was, even before elon took over. There is no algorithm on there, and you can save "feeds" to your timeline to have a catered timelines to hop between if your looking for something specific like furry art or game dev stuff. It's taken them a bit to get off the ground and add much needed features, but it's genuinely so much better now

RESOURCES

Project Glaze & Cara

If you're an artist who's still on twitter or trying to ride it out for as long as you can for whatever reason you have, do yourself a favor and Glaze and/or Nightshade your work. Project Glaze is a free program designed to protect your art work from getting scrapped by AI machines. Glazing basically makes it harder to adapt and copy artwork that AI programs try to scan, while Nightshade basically "poisons" works to make AI libraries much more unstable and generate images completely off the mark. (These are layman's terms I'm using here, but follow the link to get more information)

The only problem with these programs is that they can be resource intensive for computers, and not every pc can run glaze. It's basically like rendering a frame/animation, you gotta let your pc sit there to get it glazed/nightshade, and depending on the intensity and power of your pc, this may take minutes to hours depending on how much you wanna protect your work.

HOWEVER, there are two alternatives, WebGlaze and Cara

WebGlaze is an in browser version of the program, so your pc doesn't have to do the heavy lifting. You do need to have an account with Glaze and be invited to use the program (I have not done so personally so I don't know much about the process.)

Cara is an artist focused site that doubles as both a portfolio site and a general social media platform. They've partnered with Glaze and have their own browser glazing called "Cara Glaze," and highly encourage users to post their work Glazed and are extremely anti-ai. You do get limited uses per day to glaze your work, so if you plan on doing a huge backlog uploading of your art, it may take awhile if your using just Cara Glaze.

Some twitter users have suggested glazing your art, cropping it, and overlaying it with a frame telling people to follow them elsewhere like on Bluesky. Here's a template someone provided if you wanna use this one or make your own.

Blue Sky Resources and Tips

So if your a twitter user and your about to realize the hellish task of refollowing a massive chunk of people you follow, have no fear, there's an extension called Sky Follower Bridge (Firefox & Chrome links). This is a very basic extension that makes it really easy to find people on Bluesky

It sorts them out by trying to find matching usernames, usernames in descriptions, or by screen name. It's not 100% perfect, there's a couple people I already follow on Blue Sky but the extension could not find them on twitter correctly, but I still found a huge chunk of people. Also if your worried that this extension is "iffy," they do have a github open with the source publicly available and the Blue Sky Team themselves have promoted the extension in their recent posts while welcoming new users to the platform.

FEEDS and LABELS

OK SO THE COOLEST PART ABOUT BLUESKY IS THE FEEDS SYSTEM. Basically if you've made a twitter list before, it's like that, but way more customizable and caters to specific types of posts/topics. Consolidating them into a timeline/feed that exclusively filled about those particular topics, or just people in general. There's thousands to pick and choose from!

Here's a couple of mine that I have saved and ready (down below). Some feeds I have saved so I can jump to seeing what my friends and mutuals are up to, and see their posts specifically so it doesn't get lost in reposts or other accounts, and also specialized feeds for browsing artists within the furry community.

The Furry Community feeds I have here were created by people who've built an algorithm to place any #furry or #furryart or other special tags like #Furrystreamer or #furrydev. They even have one for commissions, and yes you can say commissions on a post and not have it destroyed or shadow banned. You are safe.

If you want, and I highly recommend it to get visibility and check out a neat community, follow furryli.st to get added to their list and feeds. Once your on the list, even without a hashtag, you'll still pop up in their specialized feeds as just a member of the community there. There are plenty of other feeds out there besides this one, but I feel like a lot of people could use one like this. They even got ones for OC specific too I remember seeing somewhere.

And in terms of labels, they can be either ways to help label yourself with specific things or have user created accessibility settings to help better control your experience on Blue Sky.

And my personal favorite: Ai Imagery Labeler. Removes any AI stuff or hides it to the best of it's abilities, and it does a pretty good job, I have not seen anything AI related since subscribing to it.

Finally, HASHTAGS WORK & No need to censor yourself!

This is NOT like twitter or any other big named social media site AT ALL, so you don't have to work around words to get your stuff out there and be seen. There are literally feeds built around having commissions getting and art seen! Some people worry about bots and that has been a recent issue since a lot of people are migrating to Blue Sky, but it comes with any social media territory.

ALSO COOL PART,

you can search a hashtag on someone's profile and search exclusively on that profile as well! You can even put the hashtag in bio for easy access if you have a specialize tag like here on tumblr. OR EVEN BUILD YOUR OWN ART FEED FOR YOUR STUFF SPECIFICALLY!

So yeah, there's your quick run down about twitter's current burning building, how to protect your art, and what to do when you move to Blue Sky! Have fun!

[olderthannetfic]

I keep being baffled by the amounts of readers who seem to have fits whenever a fic doesn't have chapters. How do they deal with all the Real Literature TM that doesn't have chapters?

Apart from the very simple "don't like, don't read" approach, if it's because you lose your place because the browser reloads, several options have already been suggested, and I sincerely hope it helps whoever feels that was the big problem.

I am one of those who post all in one go, regardless of the length, so I don't see the point of chapters. Yes, I know, "Post chapter by chapter anyways to improve readership and max your comment count and be more popular" or whatever the equivalent of "Game the algorithm" is on AO3. It feels like cheating to me; it's already all written down, and I am not here to play a numbers game. I crave feedback and interaction, of course; that's why I'm posting, but I don't want to use that kind of trick if it's already, well. All there already. Readers can take breaks whenever they want if they like breaks; I'm not their parent.

I also don't like reading WIPs because I will not have the immersion I prefer, or will forget half of what happened before, and I don't have time to reread everything each time I pick it up again, so I guess I don't see the appeal. You do you, etc. To each their preferences. (As a reader, I am team finished work + full_work or, more often, just download it all. That's how *I* roll; it doesn't mean *you* have to do the same, you know?).

I did try to post chapters a few times. Once, I inverted two of them while posting (still smarting over that years later), and another time, I was posting once a day to follow a daily prompt list… which gave me Big Angst because what if I dropped dead partway? (Yes, someone had access to my AO3 to post the drafted chapters if I croaked). Each time, I was really anxious about where to put the cutoff, or change the POV - at this point it makes the chapters more balanced length-wise, but it would be more interesting to have this scene from X's POV! This scene ends a chapter's subplot, but thematically goes with the next chapter's prompt! It might be stupid, but it is what it is, and I don't see why I should choose to torture myself for something I, as a reader, couldn't care less about.

I just… don't know when to break things up. I write linearly, and while I know the rough idea of where I'm going, I don't have a definite plan and sometimes things will be shaken up as I write. I use visual markers for scene changes and POV changes (not the same markers, actually), but sometimes a scene or POV will be much longer/shorter, so it would all make chapters super unbalanced, so??? Choices? I have to make choices? Nope. Visual marker it is, and I can breathe.

If that's grounds for muting/blocking me, then go for it, I guess? I just don't get the virulence of some of these anons on the topic - it's a you do you situation, and sometimes we just don't get why people do things differently, but that's how it's like sometimes. No need to be mad at people for not doing things the way YOU like.

--

I don't care about maximizing readership, but chapters are the norm in many styles of writing. I prefer to divide a longer work into them instead of using anemic little section dividers. I save those for a sub-chapter division, should I need one.

Honestly, genre fiction is mostly divided into chapters. Yes, there are famous authors who don't use them, and I'm sure you're about to pull five out of your butt, but I think their work reads more poorly than the many, many authors who do use them. Yes, even Mr. Extra Famous And Loved By Fandom, whomever he is this time.

I don't particularly care about non-genre fiction, but plenty of multi-POV literary fiction does use chapters to divide the points of view.

It is common for chapters to be different lengths—desirable even. If a writer can't figure out how to divide something, I think that's a failure of skill... but no, I don't think it's that big of a deal in fic, and I'll read whatever has my blorbos and looks good even if it's formatted poorly and/or in a way I don't prefer.

[naneun-no]

You guyyyysssss (fandom rant ahead)

I was off X/Twt for a long time because I switched over to bsky and have generally found it to be a much more positive, small space (like I actually have regular, positive interactions with mutuals rather than just shouting into the void and observing dumpster fires, imagine)

But I hopped back on X these last few weeks to keep a closer eye on the discharge stuff, and because army Twitter still pops off sometimes with HILARIOUS memes and takes and content even if generally it’s a hellscape.

But like.

Good GOD is it a hellscape 😫

Do you guys go on there?? Do you see the crazy?? Has it always been like this??

Like I knew tkkrs acted crazy cause I would get their asks in my inbox, but I guess I’m even more delusional than them cause I really thought the taennie “cosplayer” pics combined with AYS and the enlistment would be a wake up call. Guess not 🙂‍↔️🤣

The other ships are fine because I find it cute and funny — it’s a little weird because I’ve spent so much time in my jikook bubble that I forget that there are genuinely vmin and minimoni and namkook and poly truthers out there and that is so funny and odd to me? But like in an amusing, interesting way. They’re not being dicks about it.

But the solos??? THE SOLOS. That’s the worst part maybe?!?! I went down a rabbit hole y’all and they’re out here talking about Jimin like “he gives too much love to the members, they don’t deserve him, I will never respect them” you mean his best friends?? Like I’m not saying he doesn’t have other friends who he’s closer to and who I’ve never seen, and I’m glad he does! And obviously he doesn’t have the same level of connection with every single BTS member at every single moment! But like… he would choose them over you every single time? And every single member would choose Jimin over their solo stans every time? Like what

There are people out there who really try to protect him from six of his closest connections in the world? Ppl who take it upon themselves to be like “get behind me” to a grown man they’ve NEVER MET in order to protect him from HIS OWN FRIENDS. How do they say it with a straight face??? I’m laughing as I write this???

I dont even mind people being solos. Like. I think the forced-OT7-ication of all BTS fans is kind of silly. Why should we expect every single person who stumbles upon BTS to be equally obsessed with each member, or even value them all? I wish they would, but for some people, they just will never click with all 7 — they find a member they gel with, and they support them alone. Fine. Whatever. But then to go out of their way to hate on the others? To craft narratives where the members hate each other and hold each other back when they so clearly are the happiest as a team? Bro how? Why? What? BTS could have disbanded years ago and they didn’t. They didn’t have to renew and they did. Maybe don’t assume you know more about a literal stranger’s life and situation than they do???

And the crazies hide in plain sight. Because I watched AYS with my IRL friend who is 1) an extremely sweet, clever person and 2) a taekooker (she was targeted as a baby army by the bad algorithms and now she’s sucked in) and watched her say “aw they have such a sibling relationship” when jikook cuddled in bed and then watched her squeal and get butterflies when Tae forced JK’s head onto his shoulder (and I’m not saying anything negative about taekook in that moment but it was far from a cutesie coupley moment, even amongst other AYS taekook moments). I just say that to show how wild perspective can be because she truly saw alllll the jikook antics and chalked it up to friendship and saw 3 moments of taekook coexisting platonically and saw it as a grand romance.

And same for me! Like I ship/support/whatever you want to call it jikook, so that’s the lens through which I viewed AYS and the enlistment and the discharge live and all of it. And sure there are so many people who think I’m crazy for being a real person shipper but at least I’m not denying multiple levels of reality to do so?? And I have a healthy sense of self-doubt?? Idk if jikook are anything more than friends, I *think* they are but they could just be friends and I would be like “ah, okay” because I DON’T KNOW THEM.

Sorry this is such a random rant I’m just… I’m in such shock after doomscrolling on X for like an hour. I need one of those eyeball-washers that’s in a chem lab. I need a juice cleanse. I need to spring clean my brain because what in the anti solo fuck did I just read 😭😭😭

I know this is nothing new. I know if any of my followers read this you’re gonna be in the comments like “Nico it’s always been like this where have you been” but idk I guess I had time away and forgot how bad it was. Stay safe out there for real 🥹

[ultred]

if your sp is not treating you the way you want to be treated, i beg of you, please, do not argue with them and send those damn paragraphs and pitiful text messages. 🙏 i promise you, no amount of “you should treat me better” will change anything. if you truly think you deserve better, you’ll just leave that mf or not care that much about that version of them but you’re still here. still arguing with them. still trying so hard while they keep doing the same shit over and over. obviously they will not take you seriously because you do NOT take yourself seriously. eiypo ? right ? why is it that when you’re in an undesirable situation, you completely forget that. here is the thing, the more you react to something in the 3d, the more it will show up. it’s exactly like an algorithm. the more you interact with certain topics, the more they’ll show up to you. whether positive or negative, it doesn’t matter. the algorithm doesn’t know the difference. it just gives you what you interact with. what you accept. what you choose to be aware of over and over. for a second, say, fuck that sp. i choose myself. i choose to have the best version of anyone because i deserve the best treatment. ask yourself, do people who TRULY believe that they deserve the best treatment and get everything they want in life sit anxiously on their phone waiting for someone to treat them well, begging them while crying on the floor to give them what they deserve ? send those text messages ? waste their energy writing those paragraphs ? hell no. so, why can’t you be like that too ? what makes them more special than you ? what makes them more worthy than you ? it’s just a matter of how you view yourself and others and what you select to experience. that’s it. you want to get what you want ? understand the law and stop going against it. stop doing what everyone is telling you not to do. i don’t care. if you feel the urge to react or argue with them, have the self-discipline to not do that. you can do anything else. cry. let it all out. do something you enjoy. do breath work. meditate. go to the gym. do pushups. do a cartwheel on a table. do absolutely anything but NEVER lower your value or self-esteem for anyone !! never beg anyone for anything. never tell anyone how to treat you. never ASK for ANYTHING from anyone. you do not ask for what you are worth, it simply just comes to you because it is YOURS. here is what i do. when people in my life are pissing me off, i close the lights in my room, lay down on my bed, put on my airpods, open youtube, listen to self concept vids from my favorite manifestation coaches as reminders or neville goddard’s audiobooks (listen to whatever you want, that’s just what works for me), say fuck the 3d it is not real, and completely live in my imagination as if it’s already actually happening. and guess what, that never fails to work. it always works because yes, imagination is the true reality. i want y’all to become so lazy and careless that you don’t care about reacting to the 3d anymore. stop putting so much effort. stop wasting your energy. stop doing too much. they will never change if you keep on selecting and reacting to their bullshit over and over. they’ll “change,” once your inner world does. once you finally accept that nothing out there matters. just you, how you react, and what you select to experience in imagination.

[aethelwyneleigh27]

Our Throne of Ruin

Chapter One: Blood-Stained Hand of a Royal

Plus-size/Chubby afab! fem! Princess!Reader x Villain!Simon

Warnings and Disclaimers: Violence, Assault, and Attempted Sexual Assault?? (Not by Simon, it is disgusting and uncomfortable so please do not continue if you have a faint heart), Gore, Severed Body Parts, Decapitation.

Genres: Romance, x Reader Insert, Alternate Universe, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy AU, Royalty AU, Villain AU, Arranged Marriage, Dark Romance??

Throne Of Blood and Ruin Playlist <3

My CoD Masterlist and Series Masterlist <3

If you prefer to read it in Wattpad's format (Please leave comments) <3

A/n: A repost of this in hopes that the Tumblr algorithm is just fucking with me because I'm so heartbroken about the lack of interaction. Unfairly odd for you guys to ignore sum like this. I'm sorry to those expecting a new chapter. Whichever one does better will be included in the Masterlist. If this and the first one doesn't work then I'm quitting writing and Tumblr istg.

"My lady, these appear to be exceedingly valuable," Leticia, your young handmaiden, exclaimed breathlessly as she held up the ruby-encrusted silver earrings against your ears to see how they would look on you.

"I'm certain the lord who dispatched it desires a royal womb for their heirs," you said with a scoff, rolling your eyes, as you favored jewelry received as genuine gifts over bribes.

Leticia offered a simple smile, setting aside the jewelry she held into the untouched box, and instead, she searched for the ones you favored most… gold, diamonds, and pearls.

Earrings that match the pearls and gold details on the bodice of your dress perfectly, complemented by a crown crafted from the same materials as the jewels dangling from your ears.

Your senior handmaiden, Agatha, attempted to kneel and place your walking jewelry on your feet.

"Agatha! What are you doing?" you exclaimed, though the answer was clear to you. Before she could reply, you interjected, "No, please. I appreciate your willingness to serve, but don't kneel; it could injure you."

With a sigh, you stood from your vanity seat and helped her to her feet. She responded with a smile brimming with thankfulness.

"As kind and caring as ever, Your Highness," she said, lifting the small basin filled with rosewater to wash your hands, then gently wiping them with a white cloth dampened in the scented water.

The gods are aware that the woman has aged gracefully, yet there's concern she may injure herself with the relentless demanding tasks handmaidens endure. You slip on your shoes while Leticia unravels your hair from the curling cloths.

"What would you like done with your hair, my lady?"

"Pearls, Leticia…" you murmured, gazing into the mirror.

Once your handmaidens had finished preparing you, Leticia suggested a leisurely walk. She knew you might use this as the perfect opportunity to have an encounter with those vying for affection.

With a light melody on your lips, you wandered the castle's ramparts with an air of freedom.

You turn to a corner to find a man, only you could assume was a contender as well. Dressed in whatever garb their nation was to consider fashion, he had two knights along either side of him. The way he held himself, you could already tell. How arrogant.

You walked past him without much care to greet him, a test to see how he'd take rejection. He commands his knights to leave him be, striding next to you.

"I must admit I wasn't expecting to be graced with your presence so soon." He said you didn't respond verbally. Instead choosing to raise a brow at his statement, clearly not realizing that he's talking to you far too casually for your liking.

He scoffs, trying to wrap his arm around your shoulder to which you shrugged his hand off. "You reek of ale and brothels" you whispered to yourself as you subtly waved off the smell of his breath from your face.

You felt an almost cracking pain on your wrist as you were yanked back, your eyes widened, he had heard you.

You tried to free yourself but instead, he pulled the clasp and chain of your necklace, effectively choking you with the decorative metal against your skin. You pried your hands between it and your neck, desperately trying to claw his grip off.

The pain was unlike anything you had ever experienced, burning intensely. Your breaths were shallow and frantic. Tears welled up uncontrollably, spilling over.

It felt as though the muffled choking sounds were yours alone as your body convulsed. Your windpipe seemed to be caving under an unyielding grip, with every attempt to breathe met by an impenetrable barrier.

A wet, sloppy tongue dragged across your cheek, leaving a slimy trail that made your skin crawl. The unexpected touch was cold and clammy, like the lick of a serpent, and the stench of sour mixed with the pungent smell of fermented bitterness in his breath lingered in the air.

Your stomach churned with disgust as your body flinched away from his chest which he forcibly pressed against your back. Disgusting bastard, his chuckling fueled your nerves with more anger and fear.

"Pretty, defenseless little princess.." You attempted to protest, but it emerged as nothing more than a feeble whimper.

Someone, help me. Please...

You prayed for the air, for someone...

It wasn't until he was yanked away that you heard a thud, and you began to violently cough, the pressure on your throat finally easing. Collapsing to your knees, you groaned from the sudden pain, crawling away before turning to see what had transpired.

The man who just attempted to assault you on the ground and unconscious as an unrecognizable but broad figure retreated to the shadows out of the corner of your eye, just observing.

All your life, you've felt like s prey to the disgusting eyes of men older than your father, this wasn't new.

"My lady!" The scream of your handmaiden, Leticia, echoed as she rounded the corner in search of you. Panic etched her features, tears brimming at the sight of the redness on your neck.

You deemed it unwise to inform your king of the incident, especially since he was the one attempting to auction you off to a man who fancied himself a god among men.

You dusted your gown off as you instructed Leticia to ask for a tonic at the castle's apothecary, your throat nearly giving out at the soreness.

You had opted to seek solace at your place of worship before continuing through the not-so-exciting festivities your father arranged, despite your attempts to distract yourself, you cannot shake off the feeling of being watched.

Something waiting to pounce at you from within the shadows..

Prayer beads, it wasn't in your pockets.

You continue to pat around your body. "My lady, you seem troubled. Is something amiss?" Leticia asked, concern never leaving her tone since the events that transpired.

"My prayer beads, I must've misplaced or dropped them earlier," You mumbled.

"Oh.." was all she could respond, she knew how cherished that item was to you, being passed down from your mother.

"I'll make sure to find them later on, I swear that on my own mother," she lifted her palm, and a small smile broke from your lips at the promise.

You get up from your knees to set the candle you've lit down on the foot of the monument of the goddess of marriage and fertility, payers inclined to help you find a husband, unlike your father. Hoping your mother will also hear your prayers in the afterlife.

"Leticia, my shawl please" You sighed. She slipped the thin fabric over your exposed shoulders and replaced your colored veil with your earlier embellishments.

...

You composed yourself as well as possible, attempting to breathe steadily and keep your eyes open to avoid flashes of the experience from just a few hours before by picking the skin next to your nails.

Gripping your aching neck, you felt the imprints of the recent assault. As your gaze shifted to the entrance, the massive doors groaned, pushed open by the servants outside.

From the comfort of your cushioned throne, you surveyed the assembly, noting how the sound redirected their attention to the entrance, just as your eyes had done moments before.

The usual commotion and conversation that overlapped one another at such an event died out faster than poison could kill a rat, all sounds replaced by the clanking of metal... most can recognize the hollow sound of armor and the sharp end of a sword scratching the stone floor.

There a familiar broad man stood. You can't quite put your finger on it, but his face is like something out of your dreams, masked with a knight's great helm.

The silence was defending as he left the people speechless or much rather afraid to speak of anything, covered in blood and some flesh stood a stranger.

He made his way in, the crowds of nobles making a path for him as he did. The carpet beneath him somehow cushioning his heavily metal-cladded steps.

Your eyes widened at the sight of the stranger as he got closer, only now seeing what he had by his side while he hastily threw his great helm on the ground to pay his respect in court.

The severed head of the noble who tried to lay a hand on you, holding it by the fistful of hair as the blood from the neck stained the fur carpet below it.

You hear the king beside you as he chokes. He could not control his breathing, seeming to be on the verge of a heart attack.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! YOU INSOLENT BASTARD, YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" One of the nobles in the crowd screamed with much anger, must be his father or a figure of some sort.

The man attempts to lunge at the man in armor but is held back by three of the palace knights. Loud clanking as the lord hit the armored men over and over.

Oddly enough, you weren't terrified after the initial shock. The man that stood before you severed the head of the same man who tried to commit an unforgivable act on you, it was almost poetic in its own way... satisfying even.

He knelt before you instead of your father, much to your surprise. Gasps and murmurs emulated from the nobles and royals present, apart from the screaming guardian of the beheaded suitor.

He had no respect for the head he held as he threw it on the side, having it roll to the king's feet who had no words of offense as he was too shocked to utter anything but silent stuttering.

On one knee the man with blood-soaked presumably light hair remained, his head down, eyes still on the floor. You stood up from your throne, head held high as you walked towards the armored fellow.

The intricate precious metal encrusted with priceless jewels hung on your ears and swayed along with the ones in your hair. The train of your silk gown flows effortlessly behind you.

Your eyes on him at every step, he lifted his gaze from down below onto you, his hand shifting. Uncertain of what to anticipate, you watched as he extended his hand toward you, palm open, the callouses on his fingers beckoning you closer.

You care not for the blood that stained his hand and caked under his nails, so you hesitantly slipped your fingers in his, heart pounding out of your chest as the stranger bathed in blood grinned at seeing your hand in his.

He gripped your hand in the most gentle way you've ever had anyone touch you. He lightly tugged on your arm and let you naturally step closer with his guidance as he brought the back of your hand up to his lips.

You felt his dry yet warm lips on your knuckles, eyes up on you as he looked for approval. You blinked, and for a moment your eyes drifted to the severed head.. its own open but soulless before you reverted your gaze back to the man who has your hand.

With another kiss on your ring, he releases your hand. You gaze at it, noticing how the blood has stained it in an effortlessly abstract pattern.

Breathlessly staring at your hand, now tainted with the filthy blood of one of the bastards who hurt and wronged you. Staring back at you, presenting an opportunity on a silver platter, all just for you...

Series Taglist: @wishesforyou @puff0o0 @simping4konig @simp4konig @blingblong55 @azereus @rustic-guitar-notes @callsignsnowpunisher @anonymuslydumb @skeletalgoats @icarustypicalfall @connorsui @capuccino192 @miss-gms-and-the-rotten-womb @celestialhole @the-second-sage @starryylies @duck-a-doodle @everlastingmoonlightsworld @keiva1000 @drewsmusee @sommii @sleep101 @blueladys-world @myspaceisra @bumblebeesfromvenus @penumbrie @nicolebarnes

[astronomodome]

Astronomodome's 2024 US Presidential Election Liveblog

First of all I want to say I have other stuff to work on today so I might not be super up to date with stuff but I'll try my best to give my thoughts as to what's going on.

So first, how do we tell who wins?

In the U.S., the popular vote doesn't decide who wins the presidency. Instead, we use the (much hated) electoral college. Here's a helpful visual.

Every state (and DC) is given at least three electors, usually more based on population (which is why states like California and Texas have so many). There are 538 in total. To win, a candidate needs more than half of these- half of 538 is 269, so a candidate needs at least 270. (Interestingly, it is possible for both candidates to receive exactly 269 electors, in which case the universe corrupts and we all die infinitely the House of Representative chooses who wins, with each state getting one vote.)

The national popular vote may not matter, but the popular votes of each of the states do. Whoever wins the popular vote in each state (except Nebraska and Maine bc they're weird but that's not too important) wins all the electors for that state. It's very all-or-nothing which is why a lot of people don't like it.

This is a map from election forecaster 538, one of many such organizations that use polling and algorithms and election magic or something to predict who is likely to win each state. They have a lot of good graphs and stuff to look at on their site if you want to learn more about the stats of everything. As the key notes, we can see which way each state is expected to vote, as well as a few states highlighted in bold as likely swing states.

Swing states are basically wherever the election is close and the number of electors is high enough to 'swing' the election. Basically, while all the other states are mostly decided based on precedent (though surprises are possible), these states could reasonably go either way. This is why both candidates hold so many rallies in Pennsylvania, for example- it's competitive, and they want to boost their chances of winning those electors by currying favor directly with those voters.

One thing this map doesn't show is what I lovingly refer to as the Bar. It looks like this. I bring it up because if you follow the election news you'll see it. A lot.

The arrows in the middle point to 269.5, the exact midpoint. Whoever reaches that midpoint by filling up the bar wins (the beige in the middle are the tossup states who could go either way).

For example, let's look at 270towin. (the forecast websites love their special numbers.) They have a fun interactive map where you can make the votes go wherever you want to see what would happen.

^ Here's their prediction based on consensus.

^ Here, I changed Florida so it votes blue. Not likely unless I can bribe enough officials to make it so my ballot is the only one that counts (fair and just). We can see that the Bar has shifted, and the blue side has almost reached the arrows. Let's see what happens if we add another blue state. Let's say... Georgia, for example.

Wow! If the states were to vote this way, the Democrats would win, even if all the other undecided states went red. Is it likely? No. But, well, how do we know that?

In short, we don't. But we can guess, and that's what polls are for. There are several different types, but the most important ones for right now are exit polls. They'll start coming out soon, I think. I'm not sure if they have to wait until all the polls close (so people don't see them and decide not to vote or something because of it) but I think they do, at least in some states. Exit polls are conducted right outside of voting locations as voters exit, which makes them more accurate than other polls. They're not free of bias, though, so as always take them with a grain of salt. They're the first indicator we'll have of how it went, but they're not the final numbers.

One ray of hope I want to point out is the currently infamous Selzer Iowa poll (not an exit poll but still relevant). Ann Selzer is a really trusted pollster, known for a long streak of accuracy. She published a poll a day ago that indicated that Harris was beating Trump (!) in Iowa (!!) by 3 points (!!!). Iowa is... not considered a Democratic state; it went for Trump last election by 14 points. So this is really surprising (understatement). And yes, it could mean absolutely nothing... but it certainly shocked a lot of people, including Trump, who tweeted angrily about it.

States count their votes in different ways. Some results will be out within the day, others might take weeks. But usually most states can be 'called' for a candidate before every vote is counted. This is because the leading candidate will have more votes than can be overcome by the other one, even if every vote counted was for them. The important thing is that, as polls close over the next couple hours, they'll be counting. I saw one report that said election officials in Idaho, for example, plan on counting every vote "before they go to bed that night," which I thought was kind of a cute way to put it. Most states will release vote counts in batches or by county, which means that other batches or counties might still be counting as others submit their counts. That last sentence had a lot of 'count' related words in it, huh.

One thing to note about vote counting is that absentee or mail-in ballots often take longer to be received and counted than in-person votes. This can cause a phenomenon called "blue shift"- basically, a lot of mail-in ballots are cast by college students (like me!) or people who live overseas, and those groups tend to vote more Democratic than in-person voters. That means that late in the counting process, totals will often shift more towards the Democratic candidate. Famously, this is how Biden ended up winning Georgia in 2020- initially it was forecasted to remain red, but it inched over slowly as mail-in ballots were received.

So, in short, that's how we figure out who will be president. I'll be keeping track of what happens tonight, but it's very possible we won't know who wins until tomorrow morning or even later. Let's hope for the best :)

[maxdibert]

Hi Max, how do you personally view fandom etiquette, and what's your prefered way to engage with fandom spaces?

Some people might say your "antagonism" and critical opinions bring negativity to fandom, which goes against some people's idea of fandom etiquette. (Not mine) Do you agree with them?

No, I don't agree with that sentiment at all. Suppressing critical opinions in the name of "fandom etiquette" only serves to reinforce echo chambers and groupthink. When we stop expressing dissenting views, we risk cultivating an environment where conformity is rewarded over genuine discourse, much like how political regimes have historically silenced criticism to maintain control.

Consider the political sphere: throughout history, many significant social and political movements—from the civil rights movement in the United States to the protests during the Arab Spring—were driven by people who dared to voice unpopular opinions. These critical voices challenged the status quo and paved the way for meaningful change. Similarly, in social debates, it is only through open, critical dialogue that we can challenge prevailing narratives and encourage a more nuanced understanding of issues.

By being openly critical, even if it means facing backlash or being labeled as antagonistic, we promote a culture where ideas are contested, refined, and improved upon. The problem isn't with having strong opinions; it's with an environment that discourages debate, thereby stifling progress. In fandom, just as in any other community, fostering diversity of thought is essential to prevent intellectual stagnation and to ensure that no single perspective dominates without scrutiny.

In short, true engagement—whether in politics, society, or fandom—demands that we embrace the discomfort that comes with honest critique. Only by challenging ideas, regardless of how unpopular they might be, can we hope to build a more robust and dynamic community.

In other words: Those who complain that I'm "bringing a bad vibe" aren't really upset about the atmosphere itself—they're upset because my polarized, confrontational opinions threaten their carefully maintained stance of neutrality or centrism on controversial topics. It forces them to choose a side, and that pristine image of people who don't get involved and who supposedly "respect everyone" starts to crack because, deep down, they actually have clear opinions—they just don't want to reveal them. I've seen people insinuate things about me, and it's funny how my opinions always trigger the same reaction: these people are more interested in keeping the fandom "united" than in acknowledging evidence—like, for example, that a character is an abuser or a crappy bully.

I don't like centrist people at all; I'd rather have folks with opinions that are completely opposite to mine, expressed openly, than those who never commit to a stance out of fear or because they need to preserve an image of unbreakable morality.

As for "fandom etiquette," honestly, I don't give a damn. I don't care if people come to argue with me, insult me, or hurl hateful comments my way because it doesn't affect me. I'm publishing my opinions in a public space where the algorithm might expose them to anyone, and I have comments and reblogs enabled. Why should I complain if someone responds? Wouldn't it be a bit cynical and absurd on my part to leave the door of my house wide open and then complain when people come in? If you don't want people entering your house, then close it. If you don't close it, why complain?

That's my mindset. If I didn't want to interact with certain people, I'd simply block or ban them, or restrict interactions only to my mutuals or followers. And honestly, I appreciate people who have the guts to speak their minds directly—there's nothing worse than folks who clearly can't stand you but won't say it out loud because they're too concerned about their public image.

[gemisreading]

IS THE BOOK COMMUNITY BEING RUINED BY SOCIAL MEDIA?

Getting into the habit of putting down the phone and picking up a book.

The link between reading and social media is becoming, and has become, more and more of a prominent conversation over the recent years. Particularly with the rise of social media platforms and the varying types of content that we get to view on them. But is it true that social media is ruining the way we read?

Well my answer to this is... yes. And no. Social media like anything else is completely what you make it. The algorithm will go off your interactions. And sure, with for you pages these days, sometimes we see things we wouldn't necessarily have chosen ourselves, but those can also be adapted with a little work. It is frustrating that we have to go to so much effort just to make the content shown to us what we want it but unfortunately that's how it works now.

When I hear people say things like "TikTok is ruining reading." I have to think to myself. On the surface I completely understand what people are saying. But I think the divide here is between readers and what I'll call 'social readers'. A social reader is someone who picked up reading because of social media. A 'natural reader' is someone who naturally has an interest in reading. I want to be clear, a social reader is not a bad thing. I am a supporter of people getting into reading, however that may be. But getting into reading because of social media, your book recommendations and influences are probably going to be a little different to the ones who naturally are into reading. But one is not better than the other.

I think that reading should be celebrated no matter the reading preference. At least people are taking time to get off of their phones. And that in itself should be encouraged. And yes, not everyone is going to read the same taste in books as yourself. But people weren't doing that before social media anyway. It's just now you can see it. And I believe that part of the frustration of social media's influence on reading, particularly TikTok, is the fact that, books 'natural readers' gravitate towards, read and discover, are barely mentioned. But is that the fault of the girls in their twenties reading Emily Henry books? Or is it the fault of your algorithm? And is that the case for everyone?

Now I'm not going to pretend my algorithm doesn't feed me videos of people reading Emily Henry, Laurie Gilmore, smut and spice, because it does. All the time. But it also feeds me a lot of recommendations outside of those that I personally would not like to read and do not fit into my reading taste. Yes, I'm talking about the fantasy and thriller genres. It's not for me. I will consider them but I do not naturally gravitate towards them. I think as well something a lot of us can be guilty of is, choosing creators for the creator and not the recommendations. Now that sounds like a very obvious thing to say. Of course we will follow creators because we like them and the content they make. And we should still do that. But that will probably also be the reason you are getting the same recommendations fed to you all the time. Because everyone is in the same repetitive circle.

I try to do my best to follow a diverse range of book creators. Especially because I like to read within multiple genres. And not all single creators are going to talk about all of those genres. Therefore different genre recs come from different creators. It's like song recommendations. Your friend who only listens to pop music has probably never heard of the rock band you like to listen to. But you can both give recommendations of songs to listen to because you interact together. And you are also open to the fact they might not like it because it's not their preferred genre. So why is reading any different?

Lately I have fallen into the trap of getting the same book recommended to me pretty much every time I scroll on TikTok. But it's probably not the book you would expect. I was also pleasantly surprised that the book being recommended was actually one I currently have on my bookshelves waiting to be read. And therefore the recommendations have worked because it has made its way slowly up my TBR to a higher position. The book in question is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Probably not the book you were thinking it would be when you think of recommendations from TikTok.

So do I think that social media is completely destroying reading? No. Is it influencing it? Yes. But we have to be more conscious of the algorithm (unfortunately) if we are going to use it to our advantage when looking for the book communities we'd like to be a part of. And we need to get rid of this high standard we hold around reading that blocks us from interacting across the differing communities within the book community because, that right there, is how we destroy reading.

[anistarrose]

I hope tumblr staff knows that if they try to force an algorithm on me, then I, as a person who lurked on here for like two years before making an account, have already built up the patience to refuse to engage with the algorithm by any means necessary. I've routinely opened individual blogs manually and scrolled through them like different pages of the morning newspaper before, and if they replace Following with For You on the dash, I'll go back to doing it again.

I'm completely immunized against mildly inconvenient ways of interacting with social media as long as I get to choose the form of mild inconvenience and staff doesn't. you cannot force me to perceive algorithms in any way that matters

[bellobambino]

i refuse to interact with manipulative content.

my media diet is extremely strict to protect my mental and emotional health.

i won’t let the algorithm show me what some corporate entity wants me to care about.

nor will i let strangers online tell me what i should care about. online gossip and discourse is only meant to inflame others, provoke, or tempt you into contributing your precious emotional energy.

endlessly scrolling through social media is poisoning your brain. how can you ever be in control of the car when someone else is telling you where to go?

become picky with who/what deserves your attention. the entire internet does not need access to you. stop seeking out the opinions of people who don’t give a fuck about you.

stop passively consuming content that’s always trying to evoke a response from you.

when you consume content deliberately and with intention, you get to choose who you’re being influenced by.

this is how you truly protect your creative energy and emotional bandwidth

[third-time-charmed]

I actually came to your blog to send you another ask regarding your work and I saw your latest post so I am putting that on hold.

Instead I want to say that freezing is honestly really valid. Compliments and positivity can be hard to respond to especially when dealing with self worth issues. But I am very glad you got back into writing, not just because I personally thoroughly enjoy your writing but because I'm glad you get to enjoy it for yourself. And I'm glad that the community has taken to it so well, I hope it remains encouraging and not too pressuring to have people that love your work. Your writing should always be for your own enjoyment first and for others only if and when you choose to share it. And I for one- don't mind the yapping- I find it nice hearing the voice and impact you have. To me that will always be one of the positives of online spaces- getting to come together and hear each others' stories. Even if just small snippets

🥹 I really, really appreciate the encouragement! Fortunately so far I do not feel the least bit pressured. Just a little overwhelmed maybe lol. It's just more than I'm used to. Like I mentioned, my other fandom is also really big, but it's also really saturated with OCs. Which is a great thing, because it fosters a lot of open and welcoming behavior toward OCs and creativity in general by default (think a game with a character creator, basically everyone has one and it's prebuilt into the fandom itself). But just by nature, OCs in any fandom require just an extra touch of investment from both creator and audience, and on top of that the fraction of the fandom busy with their own creation is higher. That coupled with the move from twt to platforms with no algorithm (here and bsky both) meant that interaction kinda tanked, which also happened to correspond to a nasty depressive/self-doubt episode, and it just kinda spiraled into bad burnout that drove me to sort of give up for a bit.

I feel the need to clarify that I always have told the stories I want to tell. But I am also a chronic sharer, I like to share my thoughts and experiences with other people. And working with an OC meant that I sometimes felt that telling the stories I wanted to tell would require some extra legwork and telling of stories I still felt were important but were less motivating at that exact moment in order for everything to make sense. Only for a lot of that work, or what I found to be the more interesting work, to just fall flat and go unnoticed. So it got into this weird place of "well if nobody cares, then I just shouldn't post it" and then "well if I'm not posting it, why bother with the work of writing it down? It can just live in my head forever." (Generally I have a really bad habit of not wanting to take up more space than I'm due, and feeling like my worth is tied to what benefit I can offer to other people. I'm kinda of a mess lol.)

I used this analogy to explain to someone else why I was switching fandoms a while back, but it's like... with my depression, I was just too tired to cook my own meals. And nobody else was making the meals that I wanted/needed because I was the only one with the ingredients. So I found another table that was serving food that would fill me, where I could partake without any additional expectation of participation for a while. I genuinely spent several months just reading other ratiorine fic and doing basically nothing else. These two idiots were a literal lifeline keeping my sanity above water for so long. And then once I had been reasonably sated and had some of my mental and emotional energy back, I stopped lurking and started participating again. Leaving comments, posting on social media a little bit. And then I was finally in a place where I could start writing again, for the first time in six months.

And I dunno, like I guess I was just expecting similar treatment to what I had in my old fandom. Which is for people to just not really know who I am and therefore to not bother until I'd been around for a bit, had a few more fics posted as a portfolio of sorts, and had built up something of a reputation. I literally finished the first chapter of Golden Regrets, set it up on AO3, and then left it in drafts for 24 hours nervous about the crash of getting nothing in response, and I only posted it once I had made my peace with that being the likely outcome. Truly a "I wrote this for me and I am posting it for archival purposes and not expecting a single thing more than that."

And that was very much NOT the outcome I got, so I'm still just reeling a little bit from it lmao. It is... gratifying, validating, uplifting to see that not only is there an audience for my work, it is an enthusiastic audience and a much larger one than I ever anticipated. That people want to talk to me about the story, the characterization, my thought process, speculating about the plot, picking apart the nuance of my writing... Though I probably should have had better expectations considering that I'm writing for an fandom and a ship/characters that have investment prebuilt in rather than having to build that up for myself. It's just been a long time since I've been in a fandom space like that, and I have to recalibrate a little. I will always write for myself first and foremost, but I put in the work to polish and post because I want to share what's in my head and make a connection. And this is the first time in many years I have felt this significant a return on that act of reaching out. It makes me want to keep reaching out, in various different ways.

[ophernelia]

big simblr vs small simblr anon, you've been blocked. not interested in disingenuous questions about the same grating ass conversation. people reblog what they like. idc if it has a thousand notes or two, if i like it then i reblog it. i'll see posts with low notes and be surprised they don't have more for sure. it's just the luck of hitting the algorithm or not. so again- if i like it then i reblog it. some of us are here for the community, to just genuinely have fun, and to interact with the friends we've made in the community be it big or small. the notes and attention aren't the sole focus. whining about not having access to someone else's platform just so you can grow your own is so goddamn entitled. we have access to the same audience. curate your content, use good seo, utilize other social networks if you're seeking growth. i started all my stuff at literally 0. celebrated when i got 10 subscribers on youtube. was grateful when i had 20 followers on tumblr. majority of my growth came from my own merits, not larger accounts or attention seeking. just like so many of the other folks here- we were not handed a platform. i was talking about lykaia to a wall for the longest and eventually other people came to listen too. y'all hate the aesthetic girls down for their semblance to traditional influencers, but then exhibit similar behavior as said group. regardless of your follower count, you're still a valid part of the community. focus on that more.

and the meanest thing i'll say about this is: sending this to a black creator, especially one that uses alpha cc, knowing damn well how hard it is for black creators to grow an audience in general is outright crazy. not to mention- my shit is fantasy based so my niche is real fucking niche. starting out i have had to delete so many comments and block so many people who felt the need to tell me they were repulsed about how i choose to do shit. it wasn't just a lack of engagement, it was negative and hateful engagement. and despite that, i've been able to find and connect with other people. get a fucking grip.

[moderatelyquicksilversposts]

Witchy Slop: Horoscopes, Taroscopes, Interactive Readings

Some weeks ago I got asked why I only present readings I did for myself or others, and don't do interactive readings which may be useful to more people. The question was asked in good faith and in good faith I answered. But I thought it made for a nice article. As usual, I will be brash and abrasive, because I'm not an easy person, but I mean no disrespect to any particular individual.

Horoscopes. In reality, horoscopes are more the invention of journalists than of astrologers: astrologers just unwittingly lent themselves to the farce. Horoscopes are predicated on the fundamental misunderstanding that the place the Sun occupies at birth automatically has something to say about us. This is a relatively modern invention in the long history of astrology, and anyone who thinks about it seriously for even five minutes must conclude that, in order to say anything at all about one twelfth of the world population purely based on their month of birth, one needs to water down everything one says to the point that nothing is said at all except playing into the belief that everyone is adorably quirky (oh those Aries boys who ram through everything, oh those Gemini girls always being nutty). That some astrologers, realizing this, feel the need to add Moon signs, Rising signs etc. into the equation does not improve matters at all: a fundamentally silly idea multiplied by itself remains silly.

Taroscopes. Taroscopes are an even more modern invention. They substitute or complement the reading of a sun sign chart with a broad card reading (usually tarot, hence the name). They started popping up on social media some ten years ago as a way of feeding the sludgeflow of nonsense that is required to keep the algorithm satisfied. I am pretty sure they started out as a silly game, then some saw that it was good for business. I am even aware of established readers who haughtily denounced taroscopes for the travesty of divination that they are, only to bend the knee once it was clear the current flowed in one direction only.

Interactive Readings. Interactive readings are the height of silliness, and the perfect exemplification of the word 'slop'. Choose between Deck One and Deck Two and listen to why he doesn't deserve you because you are such a special, intuitive an free-minded queen. Choose between the butterfly and the butter knife and listen to why all the narcissists in your life hate you for being such an authentic empath (somehow those buying into this nonsense are always surrounded by narcissists, yet they are never narcissists themselves). That's the essence of interactive readings as a further development from taroscopes.

The reality is that divination is already hard as it is, being an imprecise and complex art due to the amount of factors to be considered and the fallibility of humans in considering them. Trying to extend it to a whole swath of people who randomly happen to bump into your video or post is beyond ludicrous.

In attempting to justify this travesty to themselves, some readers are eternally caught between two stances: "if you bump into it, it is meant for you" and "if it doesn't resonate it's not the right message", logic being the first thing to fly out the window once someone decides to be a brave and empowered little witch. Of course you'll always find someone who responds to an interactive saying "I chose the butterfly. That's exactly it, that's me to a T". And those are the unlucky ones, because they get roped into a world of self-delusion and meaningless hype (the universe seems to be constantly cooking up something big for you, according to interactive readers).

So yeah, that's why I stick to traditional readings

MQS

[mariacallous]

A few years ago I wrote about how, when planning my wedding, I’d signaled to the Pinterest app that I was interested in hairstyles and tablescapes, and I was suddenly flooded with suggestions for more of the same. Which was all well and fine until—whoops—I canceled the wedding and it seemed Pinterest pins would haunt me until the end of days. Pinterest wasn’t the only offender. All of social media wanted to recommend stuff that was no longer relevant, and the stench of this stale buffet of content lingered long after the non-event had ended.

So in this new era of artificial intelligence—when machines can perceive and understand the world, when a chatbot presents itself as uncannily human, when trillion-dollar tech companies use powerful AI systems to boost their ad revenue—surely those recommendation engines are getting smarter, too. Right?

Maybe not.

Recommendation engines are some of the earliest algorithms on the consumer web, and they use a variety of filtering techniques to try to surface the stuff you’ll most likely want to interact with—and in many cases, buy—online. When done well, they’re helpful. In the earliest days of photo sharing, like with Flickr, a simple algorithm made sure you saw the latest photos your friend had shared the next time you logged in. Now, advanced versions of those algorithms are aggressively deployed to keep you engaged and make their owners money.

More than three years after reporting on what Pinterest internally called its “miscarriage” problem, I’m sorry to say my Pinterest suggestions are still dismal. In a strange leap, Pinterest now has me pegged as a 60- to 70-year-old, silver fox of a woman who is seeking a stylish haircut. That and a sage green kitchen. Every day, like clockwork, I receive marketing emails from the social media company filled with photos suggesting I might enjoy cosplaying as a coastal grandmother.

I was seeking paint #inspo online at one point. But I’m long past the paint phase, which only underscores that some recommendation engines may be smart, but not temporal. They still don’t always know when the event has passed. Similarly, the suggestion that I might like to see “hairstyles for women over 60” is premature. (I’m a millennial.)

Pinterest has an explanation for these emails, which I’ll get to. But it’s important to note—so I’m not just singling out Pinterest, which over the past two years has instituted new leadership and put more resources into fine-tuning the product so people actually want to shop on it—that this happens on other platforms, too.

Take Threads, which is owned by Meta and collects much of the same user data that Facebook and Instagram do. Threads is by design a very different social app than Pinterest. It’s a scroll of mostly text updates, with an algorithmic “For You” tab and a “Following” tab. I actively open Threads every day; I don’t stumble into it, the way I do from Google Image Search to images on Pinterest. In my Following tab, Threads shows me updates from the journalists and techies I follow. In my For You tab, Threads thinks I’m in menopause.

Wait, what? Laboratorially, I’m not. But over the past several months Threads has led me to believe I might be. Just now, opening the mobile app, I’m seeing posts about perimenopause; women in their forties struggling to shrink their midsections, regulate their nervous systems, or medicate for late-onset ADHD; husbands hiring escorts; and Ali Wong’s latest standup bit about divorce. It’s a Real Housewives-meets-elder-millennial-ennui bizarro world, not entirely reflective of the accounts I choose to follow or my expressed interests.

Meta gave a boilerplate response when I asked how Threads weights its algorithm and determines what people want to see. Spokesperson Seine Kim said what I’m seeing is personalized to me based on a number of signals, “such as accounts and posts you have interacted with in the past on both Threads and Instagram. We also consider factors like how recently a post was made and how many interactions it has received.” (A better explanation might be that Threads has a rage-bait problem, as this intrepid reporter learned.)

What scares me most about this is not that Meta has a shitbucket of data on me (old news) or that the health hacks I’m being shown might be completely illegitimate. It’s that I might be lingering on these posts more than I realize, unconsciously shoveling more signals in and anxiously spiraling around my own identity in the process. For those of us who came of age on the internet some 20 to 30 years ago, the way these recommendation systems work now represents a fundamental shift to how we long thought of our lives online. We used to log on to tell people who we were, or who we wanted to be; now the machines tell us who we are, and sometimes, we might even believe them.

As for Pinterest, I granted the company access to my account so they could investigate why the app recommends ageist, AARP-grade content to me in its emails. It turns out I hadn’t actively logged in to the app in over a year, which means the data it has one me is, ironically, old. Back then I was researching paint, so the app thinks I’m still into that.

Then there’s the grandma hair: Not only had I searched on Pinterest for skincare products and hairstyles in the long-ago past, but Pinterest gives a lot of weight to data from other users who have searched for similar items. So perhaps those other, non-identifiable users are into these hairstyles. The company claims its perceived relevance for recommendations has improved over the past year.

Pinterest’s suggested solution for me? Use Pinterest more. Un-pin stuff I don’t like. Threads also suggested I can fine-tune my own feed by swiping left to hide a post or tapping a three-dot menu to indicate I’m not interested. It’s on me, young buck. In both cases, I’m supposed to tell the algorithms who I am.

I’m supposed to do the work. I’m supposed to swipe more. I’ll be so much better off if I do. And so will they.