#checkmark discourse

[sakebytheriver]

Girl, who is this we?? 😭😭😭

[scarapanna]

hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. what websites or resources do you use while you write or develop a character/story? what do you think of them and would you recommend them?

This is a really good and interesting question!

Most of it is actually based on what I come up with on my own story whise, whenever I don't know what story or interests to give a character I usually brainstorm a few ideas I havent used yet to find what fits best.

For character design I usually take different kinds of animals and reference them for looks and color palettes (The funny fella in my pfp was based off of a bearded vulture for example), I go on Pinterest for these as there's lots of material to work with and some really nice pictures as well.

However if a character is heavily affected by something or has gone trough some form of trauma I use multiple medical websites and sources to be as accurate as possible since these kinds of subjects are rather delicate and complex to tackle, wikipedia is handy but the more correct information the better (an example of this is this silly little mossfly here)

Regarding the sources themselves id say Pinterest is good for color palettes or designs, while for stuff related to physical traits or mental health related information wikipedia is a good basis but more websites should be integrated in this kind of research to get a better understanding

[lastoneout]

friendly reminder for the new twitter refugees:

change your icon/pfp and put something coherent in your blog description or you're going to get blocked bcs people think you're a bot

this site is built around reblogs, so please actually reblog posts(especially art and fics!!)

you can set your likes and follows to private

checkmarks here are a meme and mean nothing

follower counts are private and we like it that way, so get used to not judging people by that metric

drama and discourse is boring, use your blacklist and block button liberally

DON'T CENSOR YOURSELF!! we can swear and say kill and make fun of corporations all we want, and if you tiktok-ify your tags people who have things blacklisted for whatever reason will still see them, and people who want to see that content won't be able to find it!! spell words out normally, you won't get in trouble!!

tumblr live is sketchy as hell and full of fake accounts, if you decide to use it anyway may god have mercy on your soul o7

be nice to the reddit refugees, they're our friends <3

[fuzzyfoe]

i'm seeing all these posts about boycotting the switch 2 and the 80 dollar switch 2 games because they made them so damn expensive and now i'm wondering. on launch day are there gonna start being posts about how owning a switch 2 makes you a horrible person because it's giving money to nintendo which is now an evil corporation and they could have donated that money instead. are people gonna start receiving hate anons for posting mario kart screenshots when they start playing it. is this gonna be the checkmark discourse all over again

[purpledemonlilyposting]

its so insane every single one of your replies is just deflecting, not answering anything, then calling someone a pedophile even if its not related to anything. you debate like a twitter blue checkmark that posts black people and trans wom- wait not thats too similar youre just gonna deflect and call yourself a minority again

Nonny you're frothing at the mouth spamming my inbox for criticizing two people who have openly written sexual fantasies involving children because they both happen to identify as transgender. That's the big picture here.

And whether you like it or not I am by definition in a minority demographic. What do you even think a "minority" is? You know besides an abstract concept you try to invoke as an "I win" button in your unhinged online discourse.

[qqueenofhades]

I frankly sometimes feel like social media has ultimately given a lot of people the illusion of power, while also causing them to become corrupted in a similar way to traditional forms of power, only without any actual power that goes with it. The similarities in their behavior to the latter is disturbing as hell, ESPECIALLY given the horrid behavior of online types the past few months.

I really can't emphasize enough how much of a constructed and artificial environment social media is, especially these days, and especially the Social Media Platform Formerly Known as Twitter, which is still the main avenue by which a lot of people attempt to "do" social justice. Once upon a time, Twitter was a moderately beneficial public communication service because everyone and God was on it and you could therefore get communiques directly from the source, there was a blue-check verification service that actually helped you understand who was real and who was not, and while there were serious and ongoing flaws such as there is when useful public discourse is sacrificed on the Great Altar of Profit, there was at least some attempt to monitor or ban Nazis, white supremacists, bad actors, and eventually Trump himself. All of that changed and/or was directly destroyed when Apartheid Clyde took over and turned it into a revenue-generating service for Russian propaganda, alt-right cranks, bots, and the rest of the Elon Fanclub willing to pay $8 for a meaningless blue checkmark, while trashing the site's guardrails and any other useful features. It basically exists for Elon to fanboy Putin, Trump, white supremacy, his 4chan trolls, and anything else that makes his money (while Mr. Free Speech Absolutist arbitrarily bans anyone who hurts his man-child fee-fees). This is not an unbiased, neutral, or constructive environment to start with. You don't have any certainty about who you're interacting with or who is amplifying your messages, and only a hardcore-radicalized (of whatever persuasion) base of human users remain, while a lot of casual users have left.

As such, if you're basing anything (hypothesis, claim, source, evidence, opinion) on "what everyone on Twitter thinks," that is fatally flawed data to start with. Even at the peak of its popularity, something like 24% of all American adults regularly used Twitter. That still means 76% of the country who doesn't (and the number is larger now as Chucklefuck McGee has continued driving it into the ground). If you're forming your ideas or looking for "what America thinks" just by quoting or relying on the tweets of people who already agree with you, you've done basically nothing and you certainly haven't proved it, you've stunted your own critical thinking skills, and you are selecting from a data source that is already fatally poisoned and limited in any number of ways. Adding to the echo chamber of similar opinions on Twitter is not going to actually influence public policy or make lasting change. Yes, the interns and/or public relations staff of the public figures still on there will probably check the feed every so often and make note of things that come up, but couching it as mindless vitriolic abuse and/or demonstrably nonsensical things is not going to get back to their boss. It will just be ignored and/or given less weight in the limited space available for things that are deemed important enough to actually follow up on/make policy around.

Also, a lot of people saw Trump tweeting insane things at 3am for four years, and somehow decided that was actually how US/American presidential and governmental policy was made, rather than that he was a fucking narcissistic-personality-disorder psychopathic lunatic. But uh, and it should go without saying, it didn't work. Just because Trump posted something absolutely unhinged and announced it was now policy, that doesn't mean it was. Half the time he didn't even do so much as issue an executive order, those can be and regularly are challenged in courts, and so forth, because despite all its flaws, America is not an absolute monarchy where the king can rule by fiat and have it totally done, no questions, the end. That's also why Trump's second term would be even more dangerous than his first. In his first, he was flailing around and yelling on Twitter and not really paying attention to anything. In his second, the administration will be staffed top to bottom with dedicated fascists like the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 people, who have spent the last four years brooding on revenge and drawing up detailed plans to actually co-opt and suborn all the levers, checks, balances, controls, and functions of government directly to Trump's personal will (and/or the outrageously evil people pulling strings behind the scenes, because Trump is now basically a gibbering orange vegetable and the media is still far too beholden to the Biden Old!!! narrative to accurately report this).

In short, another Trump term (God fucking forbid) would be run by the kind of methodical and careful evildoers who know that policy isn't made by tweet, and would act accordingly. That would be much, much harder to remove, counteract, or fix, it would almost certainly lead to the end of American democracy at least for most of our lifetimes, and the repercussions of that would be absolutely terrible. But because we still have people who act like Trump is somehow a preferable option, who think that it's bad that Biden is trying to work through established and long-term channels to make sustainable policy and not just get short-term chuckles from an internet dopamine approval rush, that is the risk we are running from now until November 2024. After that, either way, we'll know for sure: we'll finally have a measure of safety, or we will be comprehensively fucked for generations. We all have the power to influence which of those outcomes come to pass. I suggest we use it.

[starleska]

update from proper first day's use of Bluesky: my god i can't believe we were living like that on Twitter!!! 😭😭😭 all i'm seeing is lovely art and interesting posts. you can use hashtags there and make your own art/talk/etc. tags like you can on here. i've seen zero fandom discourse and bots, and there are no blue checkmarks. i feel zero urgency to post...it's just so, so chill!!! please, give it a shot. come join me over there and see what you think - especially if you're a Twitter user. you will be absolutely amazed 💖

[blorbocedes]

thoughts on the max press conference drama? i personally find it hysterical but people are throwing hands on twitter

he's right and he should say it are my thoughts. very sexy of him

when are people NOT throwing hands on twitter? it's so sad that site has gotten so much more shit since elon took over. the paid blue checkmarks that thrive off interactions and the for you page being the most inflammatory constant discourse. it's upsetting bc twitter used to be my most used site, and it used to have a top tier advanced search function. and now it barely works, infested with the worst people

[overmore]

Thoughts on social media/websites I've recently used because why not

All personal thoughts, nothing too serious. Mostly made this cause I've been trying to use other places more than what I'm used to.

Bluesky

New kid on the block. Supposed to be the better version of Twitter, and that is technically true. Works pretty much the same way Twitter does but without ads and blue checkmarks. Has a proper blocking feature + a possibility to make block lists that works wonders if you want specific people away from you.

The thing I've had an issue with is getting my Discover feed to actually behave how I want it to. It is almost impossible for me to get things I care about on it, no matter how many times I click "not interested in this" on almost every post. There are also some missing features like no private accounts and group chats, but that should come by at some point, this is a new site in the end. Hopefully, those features will come soon.

Spacehey

A social media like myspace. Never had the chance to use it cause of my age, but I did try spacehey now. Had an acc for almost a year, but still don't know how I feel about it. Maybe because I'm not used to socials like these, I just don't know how to use it even after a while. It does have a nice feature for blogs and posts, also the bulletin is a neat feature that lets you post smth that will disappear after 1/5/10 days, depending on how long you set it.

Issues I have is the layout-making options are disabled atm. There was an issue in the past that made them have to disable it, so for months you haven't been able to make a new layout. The issue in question seems to have gone away, so there's no reason to not allow people to make them. So you either have to code a layout by yourself or use the ones there are and while there are a lot of them, maybe you'd like something new or even post your own but are now unable to.

The other problem is that the place is still very anti filled. Not a lot of anti-harassment people still sadly. The social media is still very small, so that's probably why and I have no idea if it will grow in any way, but for now, maybe not the best to just go there and add random people. I have met a few anti-harassment people, but that's still not enough for me to justify using the place actively. There are some nice people there who don't seem to involve themselves in discourse, but due to me being to cautious, I'm probably gonna avoid the place again for a while.

Dreamwidth

Site similar to LiveJournal. Same with last place, I've never used something like this before, but in this case, I'm actually getting nice use of it. It takes a bit to get used to it, but once you figure out how to search and find communities, it becomes nice. There are many communities related to events, some fandom-exclusive and some multifandom, many are low-pressure challenges too. It's also a neat blogging platform if you want it to be. You can organize stuff really well, but it can take a bit before you understand how to use it.

My main problem for a while was actually figuring everything out. Took a while before I understood how to make tags work the way I want and show in groups rather than randomly or by how many posts each had. Still a bit annoyed that I can't easily look at communities but have to go to my profile to find the one I want (this might just be a me thing, there's probably an easy way I just haven't found out yet). But beyond this, I go there every day and look at things. I've had fun there.

Neocities

Website for hosting your website for free. Like Geocities (there's a theme of people just reviving stuff from web1 here) You learn to code, or you use a layout and you go there to make your own website. The end. Lol. I like it a lot. It's fun to just have your own website and post your things there. It's nice if you still wanna be online but not have social media or just be less on it. It's fun to find random sites and see what people do there. A lot of them are personal, so you'll find thing about people's lives, what they create ect.

The main thing is that obviously, you gotta have some knowledge of coding. I know very little, but googling Dows the job when I'm lost on something or if I want to find a code. If you want to make your own code it will take a long while since it's not as easy as it seems (I struggle with making a decent looking layout. I can't make the same boxes be where I want them to be).

bearblog dev

This is a very new one for me, like 2 days new one. A simple blogging platform with some nice layouts. It's a very basic site, but it's useful if you want a strictly blogging platform. Do keep in mind that a lot of things, like posting images and more blogs, require to support the dev since there are no ads on the site. If you just wanna say words, it's nice to have it. I found this through neocities since some people there have used it for blogs rather than making a page on their site. It's neat.

---

All of these are without ads and free, though most of these have the possibility to support the sites on a monthly basis which gives you perks and keeps the site without ads.

If I ever try some more stuff, I will post again about it. It's very nice to find more places besides what people are used to.

[mrslittletall]

At the moment tumblr is not fun. I don't have the head for the current discourse. I am still processing the trauma of almost losing my spouse to sepsis. I am still his primary caretaker. I am still mastering life without my driver's licence. And now I log on here and see discourse I can't and don't want to be a part of being reblogged by my mutuals. I see people getting mad at checkmark owners. I see the dashboard unfucker being discontinued. I don't want anymore... that was the last social media site where I felt a semblance of peace. If that keeps up I probably will only come here to update art and fics and work on the headcanon blog. At least it is time for a break. And that right before the Nier Concerto which I really looked forward to.

[theliterarywolf]

Not gonna lie, as much as Threads seems to be horrible, people on Twitter talking about how much better it is or how they NEED to use it just... annoy me

I've been in there in my own account for less then 2 months, and only follow like, 4 people, but it is the most toxic and annoying big website i even used, and i have been on Tumblr for YEARS. people just love to complain about everything, any sincerity is mocked and anything even a little "weird" turns into a harrasment campain. And since nobody uses hashtags or tags, you NEED to use the algoritm, and see even more people being awful. Really the only good part is the NSFW stuff being allowed.

And them i see people complaining or mocking tumblr... people are very annoying here too, but its like a few toxic bins next to Chernobyl itself

This is why, when one of my earlier posts about Threads was making the rounds and someone accused me of fearmongering, I was sitting here like 'come on, man!'

We all know that the major social media sites are predatory with the types of data they collect. Hell, even as I'm sitting at my laptop typing this response, there's a glowing link on the bottom of the Tumblr window that says 'Privacy Notice for California Users'.

It's the fact that Threads released with bare-bones to little UI elements compared to other social media sites in combination with the fucky-wucky elements of it being a Meta product (you're telling me that the Zuck couldn't have invested some money into QA before launch) as well as the forced Instagram/Facebook connection in conjunction with all of the privacy-botchery that makes people skeptical.

Because, yeah, let's call a spade a spade: Twitter itself is a cesspool that, in the months since Elon bought it, has been falling apart like one of the firefighters at Chernobyl.

And part of that is due to the botched way that things like 'For You' and Blue Checkmarks were handled.

Because, initially, For You legitimately was a benefit and introduced you to similar content to what your Twitter account was comprised of. However, now it just funnels unhinged discourse and Blue Checkmark accounts who KNOW that they would not have an audience if it weren't for the site forcing their batshit brainworms onto others.

Same thing with Blue Checkmarks getting priority placement (along with ads) under people's tweets.

It's one thing for these elements to be present on a site, it's another for that site to make it nigh-impossible for you to curate your experiences to avoid those elements. Because, let me tell you, I've been hearing from people on Twitter that 'oh, those Tumblr people are whinging about XYZ' and I'm just here like 'I! Am actually in those communities/fandoms and I have not seen the wank, so my curating and filtering must be working great!'

[priafey]

i'm biased against people with checkmarks or other paid badges next to their usernames. just the fact you thought giving money to this website was a good idea automatically makes me deduct -20% credibility to any opinions you espouse. -100% if i go on your page and see you actually let irrelevant online fandom discourse inform your political views

[kimtaegis]

i've been on armytwt for a long time but it's never been this bad... i had a pretty good curated timeline but with twitter's algorithm and the blue checkmark accounts and just with all the in-fandom fighting (mostly with solos) it's so exhausting. i can't even block everyone i want because blockchains don't work anymore and it's really time and energy consuming to block everyone manually.. and it just sucks because both armytwt and army tumblr were so good :( i really hate that things change... :(

I’m sorry to hear that you can’t escape the lunatics anymore…. I luckily haven’t seen vile stuff that much, only the people who are exasperated by it. maybe you can try muting certain words that usually pop up in the discourse? I know it’s not the solution to just ignore everything that’s been going on, if it fills you with a lot of dread and anxiety though, then it’s better to avoid it and do something that can help in the current events without having to interact with others, like sharing any kind of support for Palestine, spreading love for the members etc, depending on the topic (since unfortunately there’s A Lot going on right now)

[blicketdabest33]

Attention all Twitter refugees!

Hi! A friendly message from a relatively new (only a couple months) tumblrian! Here’s some tips!

You probably saw this already, but we have a bot problem. Change your pfp, reblog some stuff, edit your blog, all that. Stay safe, don’t get blocked

Reblogs carry this website. You can like posts (I often do) but try to reblog as much as possible. ESPECIALLY artists. They work really hard

We have a lot of holidays. Like, A LOT. Do some research, find some that you like, and just go along with the rest of them

We avoid drama and discourse like the plague. Please don’t bring any of that negative energy to our environment. When in drama, just block them.

Feel free to swear as much as you want. There’s no censoring here.

Checkmarks are literally just a meme. Don’t feel pressured to buy them

If you see the Destiel meme, make sure to read it. Important information and news is usually shared through it

We speak through the tags for some reason. So, yeah. Do that if ya want.

Have fun, enjoy tumblr, and to my fellow tumblrians, tell me if I missed anything!

[timesorceror]

Guys, stuff like the rainbow checkmarks and the crabs and–yes, Tumblr Premium–are part of why this hellsite (affectionate) still hasn't yet become a hellsite (derrogatory) like the Muskrat's pet project that was formerly called Twitter. There are very few spaces on the internet now that allow (mostly) unfettered fandom to just be and grow and make things and have fandom wank. Yes, I said fandom wank, not discourse. Fight me. But anyway, Tumblr is one of those few places where fans of things are allowed to be as weird as they want and be as equally weird with people just in general. It's important to continue supporting those spaces if and when we can, because there used to be more of them. @thisweekinfandomhistory is a great podcast that talks about this, which I highly recommend listening to their episode on the history of Tumblr and any of their episodes on LiveJournal about it. And also the entire podcast library because fandom history is awesome. That said, assuming this information is correct and you can't support Tumblr at that price and don't like ads, you do what you need to in order to make your experience more enjoyable as a fan in a fandom friendly space. But don't hate on the people who can and do and are going to continue to support it, because they are the ones who help keep this place a (mostly) free space to exist in fandom on the internet.

Heads up, tumblr is raising its annual subscription from $39.99 to $69.99 on November 9th, so cancel before then if you don’t want to pay that price.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Here's a fun "would you press the button" game!

Persona 4 Remake finally has the gay options (it should've had) and they're not Paid DLC or anything scummy like that

BUT

It Means P4 will once again be the series' whipping boy by being labeled as "woke" by the annoying people with the blue checkmarks

(I was going to add "the fandom will get even more toxic with discourse and crap" but lbh that's gonna happen anyway given how toxic the fandom is already, with remakes especially lol)

Damn anon just pour gas on me and give me a match why don't you? TT0TT (jk jk, you can keep them coming)

(ngl when I first read the first line, I wasn't expecting the follow up to be about romance options to be the caveat fjkdasfj I thought it was gonna be "You get a P4 remake, new content and no DLC, but they delete the PS2 ver off the face of the earth" I would not hit that button by the way, I want the PS2 ver always and forever fjdklasj TT0TT)

Anyway under the cut-

Oh.... I'm.... surprisingly not invested in this button tbh TT0TT (P3? Sure, slapping that button means FeMC gets more explicitly stated romances with the girls, and I can date Mamoru and Ryoji as P3MC? They can call P3 the wokiest game to ever woke I'll be laughing the whole way fdjsaklfj P3? Super woke? Oh that's a giggle and a half jflksa TT0TT It always felt, reputation wise that it wasn't, that's why it's a bit funny. It'd be very "oh how the turns have tabled". Oh? P5? I don't care to date any boy outside Ryu tbh uwu;; Even then I wouldn't push the button for P5. "Is it because of Go-" Yes it's because of Goro. As for P1? I'll slap the button for P1 tho, I have nothing to lose there.)

But yeah, I don't ship MC with Yosuke (shocker I know. Biggest ship in the fandom. I just never cared tbh, and having them be an option would probably be more annoying for me TT0TT To me it's a neutral ship that's gone down the "NOTP" route cause I just find the fandom annoying). Idrc about shipping the MC with Kanji (I care not for shipping this boy tbh, but I'm not against it per se). I DO like shipping with him and Teddie.

-thinking- There's Kou and Daisuke. I'd be down with them more than Yosuke or Kanji. Who else.... I gues... Naoki would be another option?

I think that's it, unless you count the Gas Station Attendant (male body until the reveal at least). Who doesn't want to date an never aging, gender shifting god (of the gas)? 8Uc

Tbh the biggest mlm ship I have for P4MC is with Sho or P3MC (after that it might be Teddie). And neither chars are in this game so. TT0TT (tbh outside the 3 I just listed for the MC, the only other gay ship in P4 I care about is RiNao and MCRiNao)

So to me it's "I can hit the button, make some people happy and ignore those who are unhappy... BUT I think the shipping culture is gonna get even more ASS than it already is and do I want that?" (no I don't want that) vs "Shipping culture is less ass, and I guess it's one less thing for people to bitch about, tho the latter I'd just ignore the bigots tbh"

Depends on the day I guess. Some days I just do not like that ship and would not push the button. Otherwise I'd be pushing it for other people's happiness. (If I could make it so Yosuke isn't included, I'd hit the button tho).

If someone starts complaining that P4 is "woke", all I can say to them is "Damn, you're either new here or a grifter." >_> It's probably the latter, bunch of dumbasses. Should just start calling those people stupid maybe then they'll get embarrassed and stop being fuckwits.