#does not guarantee it will be so in the future

[the-mpreg-guy]

read someone say something along the lines of "why would dean presume castiel wouldn't be down for a relationship especially after meeting multiple angels that desire relationships" while examining why dean never acted on his feelings for cas. and i think the answer is that i think "the end" and hester's dialogue about him corrupting castiel, might lead to him believing (someone who truly believes that he's poison to everyone around him) that castiel becoming human-like would be devastating to castiel (this is wrong, cas loves humanity! and as long as he's still got some mojo he seems fine with becoming more and more human emotionally. at least imo).

and there's the fact that the only time castiel seems to desire sex is when he's human and afterwards he shows very little interest in any sex, so i dont blame dean for presuming that castiel's desire for a romantic relationship was only a result of him being "corrupted" with humanity.

also like. dean said "i need you" and castiel left immediately on his own and implied/outright stated he didn't trust dean. idk man if i was dean i'd assume castiel wouldn't desire a relationship but would be happy to still be his friend.

like am i making sense

Oh, great observations here.

Like, Dean's best friend is an angel. Which is a species which Dean has observed being either incredibly adverse to having sexual/romantic relations with humans, or break their own minds and/or die trying to have sex/romantic relations with humans. The first angel he had a good interaction with was Anna, and then a few months later she was trying to kill Sam and his parents. And this is before we even get into the Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets.

So there's the whole angel-shapedness of it all, but then there's the whole "what does Dean and Cas' relationship actually look like" of it all. From Dean's perspective, caring about Dean breaks Cas. Hester saying that he corrupted him, Cas rebelling for him, etc etc. Also assuming Endverse was real (or at least a plausible future), then being loyal and staying with Dean pretty much guarantees Cas going off the rails and dying. And Honeybee Cas is just Endverse Cas repackaged, confirming these fears.

And then there's the fact that Cas never once indicates that he's sexually interested in Dean. Or men in general. There is not indication from Cas's end that sex with Dean is something that he wants, or a romantic relationship for that matter. And sure, you could put some of that on Dean for brother-zoning him at the end of S12 (I have my own thoughts about why that conversation occurred and why Dean repackaged their relationship in a brotherly context), but even before that conversation took place Cas hadn't shown an interest in men, or Dean.

So that pretty much covers the whole "will Cas have sex with me" portion of Dean's observations, which pretty much seems like a resounding no. But I really think that the reason Dean assumes that Cas doesn't want him that way has to do with Cas' lone wolf behavior. Because the way Dean shows love is to grab onto the people he cares about and never let go and be around them as much as possible and always be within arms-reach. But how Cas shows love is by excluding the people he loves from difficult choices to protect their peace. Neither of these actions are compatible with each other.

Dean gets vulnerable with Cas, and Cas unpacks that by deciding that Dean needs protected in a specific way. Dean has horrific trauma from hell and the apocalypse? Great, Cas is just never gonna ask Dean for help with the civil war in heaven. Dean is trapped in purgatory with him right after he tells Cas that he needs him to "nut up" and have his back? Perfect, Cas is going to lead all the monsters away from Dean so that Dean will be safe (mind you Cas does not know about the portal). Honestly I could sit here and list every single instance in s9, s10, s11 and so forth where Cas leaves Dean or makes choices without Dean to protect him, but we'd be here all day. And Metatron phrased it better with his "you draped yourself in the flag of heaven to save one man" iconic speech.

From Cas' perspective, all of these decisions make sense, but from Dean's? All Cas does is leave him. He knows that Cas cares about him, and even though Cas never calls him his best friend, he knows that he's that to Cas. Like there's just no question there. But from the way Cas never hangs around or asks Dean for help, he just has no way of assuming that Cas wants him the way he wants Cas.

I don't blame either character for the miscommunication. If they had less on their plates, maybe it would be less understandable, but given they're juggling back to back apocalypses and Lucifer plot armor every other day, it's not like getting into a relationship with the other is their main priority. They just want each other to make it to the next day.

[whumpster-fire]

Apropos of nothing in particular I just remembered the whole "Inherently Evil Fantasy Races" discourse and thought of a point I didn't before (possibly because my previous posts of the subject were before relevant current events I don't remember):

"Orc" is literally in common use as a slur right now against one of the parties in a war by the other party and by internet users in numerous "not technically in the war but not neutral either" countries. To everyone's credit, as far as I've seen the internet has mostly had the restraint to used "Orc" to only describe the Russian armed forces and not the people of the country as a whole, but still: this is a real, non-hypothetical example of a widely known fictional species of evil subhuman barbarians being used in actual war propaganda to portray real people as evil subhuman barbarians.

However accurate the comparison of Putin's army to Saruman's may be (may Putin die horribly when the floor collapses under the weight of his comically long Insecure Dictator Conference Table), this is a pretty clear counterexample to "fiction doesn't affect reality" here. A culture being saturated with fictional narratives that portray dehumanization of The Enemy as objectively correct/justified conditions people to dehumanize The Enemy in real life more easily, because people's minds do make the connection.

[kit-screams-into-the-future]

wanted to try my hand at a fake screenshot thing with a scene from one of the bttf fics of all time, Time Is a Flat Circle by @fourth-dimensional-thinker! i set in to draw only the "little canary" line but. as you can tell. my hand slipped and fell down a 6 story building

if you haven't read it already please check it out PLEASEEE it's very good. i read the whole thing in basically one sitting. the vibes are perfect for the spooky season too!

versions without the filter/subtitles under the cut:

[solmesia]

i bought it ∠(ÒωÓ๑ゝ∠)_

[xserpx]

Genuinely think "Leo is NOT Glokta 2.0" is the hill I'm willing to die on in the First Law fandom.

And like, I am also willing to admit I could be wrong about this, if Abercrombie decides to literally turn Leo into Glokta, like some people suggest, then fine. I shall eat my words with grace. But I don't think he will and I certainly don't think he should.

I think it's so cheap and easy to look at Leo's disabilities, to read the line about stairs (having to go down sideways) and "click, tap, grunt" and draw those comparisons to Glokta, but if you think about it for two seconds the differences between them are stark and nigh insurmountable (not gonna go over it tbh, it's a whole separate post).

Worse is people who say "well, he obviously can't physically fight anymore, so he can't be a warrior". It's that same thing as annoyingly interpreting "strong female characters" as "women who fight". Someone who is in hospital fighting for their life is a warrior. Someone who stands up against oppression is a warrior. You don't need to physically swing a sword to be called a warrior, because it's a state of mind rather than an objective truth.

I also find the 'warrior' vs 'thinker' dichotomy as it's presented in the series interesting because it's sort of gendered in that warriors are considered to be strong men while thinkers tend to be weak and feminine. Ever since the Heroes, the term "warrior" comes with a whole ton of toxic baggage about manliness and respect - Stour, Scale, Leo, Gorst. "Thinkers" tend to be more representative of marginalised groups or odd ducks - Finree, Glokta, Calder. So when people call Leo a thinker, to me it strips him off his entrenched beliefs about masculinity, as if gender doesn't matters to his character, as if it's purely an analysis of their approach to problem solving rather than a worldview that has a knock-on effect into every aspect of their lives. Likewise, it uncouples his bigotry from that warrior mindset, when his bigotry, in turn, is turn a symptom of his ignorance and desire to see the world in oversimplified black and white terms. Thinkers don't think like that. In fact, I think Leo almost has to be a warrior purely on that basis. Not to say Glokta and Calder are perfect social justice warriors by any means - they're both sexist as fuck - but their bigotry is not indelibly linked to their identity the way Leo's is. If Leo isn't obsessing/angsting over his manly status - of which being a warrior is a massive part - he's not Leo.

He also doesn't want to be smart. Leo repeatedly ignores facts and rationality in order to feel more passion and anger. He enjoys pain to a certain extent, he experiences the world through physical sensations. He's at his happiest when everything is very simple and he doesn't have to think - yes, even in TWOC!

On a different note, get a similar feeling about the Leo/Glokta comparisons as I do when people cite TBI's "Questions" as their favourite chapter in the whole series. Questions, as in the third chapter in the first book in a 10 book series? If that's your favourite you're essentially saying it's all downhill from there, and if that's the case then the series must've been pretty damn disappointing.

Likewise, as much as I like Glokta I think this desire people have for Leo to literally become him betrays Abercrombie's progress as an author. My gripe with TWOC is that it's too Glokta-centric, I wanted Abercrombie to let the new characters shine but I think ultimately he leaned too heavily into reiterating LAOK that it took away from the brilliance of the new characters & plot. Add to that the fact that the contingent of hardcore first trilogy stans are desperate to find something good to say about the new trilogy, people reach for Glokta comparisons because it makes the incredibly hateable Leo more palatable, and it makes them like AoM more. I'm sure that's quite assumptive, not everyone thinks that, but that's just how it comes across to little old, cantankerous, Leo-obsessed me a lot of the time.

[yeonban]

What element do you connect with based on symbolism?

TOBIAS: fire as passion.

passion is fire’s most recognizable metaphor, though it takes many forms: rage, destruction, lust, love, energy, power. Fire, here, is less about light and more about heat. Sometimes you make choices you know will ultimately turn out bad for you, because to you, almost anything is worth feeling something real. You are nostalgic for times when your feelings were more vibrant—but in reality, they weren’t more vibrant then, they just caught your attention more because they were new and shiny. Keep in mind that periods of anxiety or restlessness in your life aren’t proof that you need to cling harder to what used to make you feel things. Doing the necessary work of creating routines and taking care of yourself may feel boring, but just because something’s not immediately satisfying doesn’t mean it can be put off forever.

TAGGED BY: @lustraveil THANK YOUUU! 😙 TAGGING: @cinderlynx, @sortilegii (Lucian), @antinomos (Minoru), @hunting-songs, @pocketmedicine & everyone else who wants to do this!

[arolesbianism]

Doodle I did of my girl Juliet earlier

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

but 👀👀👀👀 suguru huh……… i was kinda entertaining that idea too LMAO. i think gojo and riko would shut it down immediately but it’s fun to think abt…. i’m honestly not sure how suguru would handle this kind of scenario!! a part of me feels like he would be even more adamant on rejecting you… bc of his steady morals…. but then again. i also see suguru as being more emotionally driven/less logical than satoru, so maybe he’d go for it if you both loved each other? hmmm..

is it because i'm older but i really don't think there's a big deal in dating someone who's four years older than you?? especially later down the line

it’s not exactly the gap itself!!! four years isn’t a big difference, but when they first met, satosugu were 18 and reader was only 14 — and that’s a huge gap mentally. which is why it’s very important that satoru never liked them back!!! obv that difference in age becomes less important as they grow older, but it still sets a kind of ”tone” for their dynamic that i think they’d both take seriously. they grow up viewing reader as a child that they need to protect in a brotherly way, so catching feelings for them would for sure feel super weird, even if it was later in life. that’s what i mean by ”morals”. :>

[sentienceisoverrated]

I have a really weird and specific desire for what happens to my body after I die. Every part of it should be donated to people/science. If that is not possible, the flesh must nurture the trees and the skeleton must be preserved and hung in my friends' house. Or a museum. I want someone to look at my bones and think 'oooooo awesome' like I do. That is my life goal.

[pa-pa-plasma]

people are so weird about stopping for animals on the road. sorry but if you don't have the ability to see that the squirrel standing on the side of the completely straight 40kph road 10 houses ahead is going to bolt in front of you, you can't do that with children either & should not be driving. it is literally a skill issue.

[fireinmoonshot]

darling | robert reynolds x reader,

THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR MARVEL'S THUNDERBOLTS*.

Pairing: Robert 'Bob' Reynolds x Reader Summary: You always call Bob darling in private... until you accidentally slip up and use the nickname in front of the rest of the Thunderbolts. Warnings: Mentions of food/drink, reader is mentioned to not be mentally ready for a relationship and has a bit of a moment at the end struggling with their thoughts/struggling mentally in general. Word Count: 1.3k A/N: Thank you all so much for the amazing response on my first Bob fic 🥹 For my second one, this was actually the first idea I had for Bob but it took a bit of workshopping to get right. I ended up being really happy with it. I love writing the Thunderbolts team dynamic. I also put a little easter egg in there for anyone that's read all my other Joaquín fics since February this year. I hope you all enjoy! 💗

Bob had been called many different things in his life. There had been a series of insults from his family and people he’d hurt during his time as an addict. Walker always called him Bobby, which he hated. Valentina called him by his full name, Robert. He had other names like Sentry and Void when he was using his powers. But none of those could ever come close to his favourite from you.

Every time he hears the word darling come from your mouth, directed at him, he thinks it might be the closest he’s ever come to true happiness. He wishes every time that he could bottle that feeling up and keep it for when the days are especially tough.

“Darling, can you pass me that book?”

“Darling, how are you doing after that mission?”

“Darling, do you need me to do anything for you?”

The only bad thing is the fact that you aren’t his. It’s a mutual decision, though, so he can’t be mad. You’ve been in mutual like for a while now. But both of you have known that entering into something serious when neither of you are mentally ready for something like that would just be foolish and end up with one or both of you being hurt. Your friendship always mattered more than the possibility of your futures together.

But the nickname still stuck and Bob was glad for that.

He never cared that it was just in private. In fact, he rather enjoyed the fact that it was just for the two of you. That, whenever he was alone with you, it was almost a guarantee that he was going to hear your voice speak that gorgeous word.

He cared for the rest of the team so deeply, but the moments when it was just you and him were his favourites. When you’d be laying together on the couch, both of you reading the same book and having to wait till you’d both finished the page before turning to the next one. When you’d be in the kitchen together, Bob washing the dishes as you plated up some kind of masterpiece for dinner. The quiet times, when everyone else was asleep and you and Bob would stay up trading memories like they were the worlds greatest secrets. 

The level of comfort he got in your presence surprised him, but he accepted it quickly.

It’s why, when you enter the room, he knows that you’re there. He relaxes almost instantly, just from sensing you getting closer. You reach out to rest a hand on his shoulder before you stop yourself, resting it on the top of the chair that he’s sitting on instead. 

There’s still a little hesitation when it comes to touch between the two of you. Both because neither of you want to cross the invisible line you’ve both drawn, but because of Bob’s powers too. He still isn’t fully in control.

“Morning, darling,” the word slips out before you can stop yourself. It’s so normal these days to refer to Bob like this, but always in private. Never in the dining room of the Watch Tower where every other member of the team is having breakfast.

Bob is none the wiser to your blunder. He gets that same starry look in his eyes as he always does when he looks up at you, standing behind him. He wants to reach out, wrap an arm around your waist and tug you onto his lap, though he wouldn’t have the confidence to do such a thing even if his powers weren’t an issue.

He always melts a little when he hears you call him darling. 

Across the room, you hear a groan.

“Oh, hell no,” Walker says, dropping the spoon back into his bowl of cereal. “You two are not doing that. Whatever is happening here, I don’t care, but we are not listening to you two call each other darling. Especially over breakfast.”

“What’s so wrong with a bit of young love?” Alexei exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air as he looks at Walker across the table. “This is good! Love heals the soul, there is nothing wrong with love!”

You frown. “Okay, who said anything about love?”

Alexei and Walker ignore you and continue to bicker.

You catch Yelena’s eye from across the room where she’s sat by the window, but she just shrugs her shoulders and goes back to staring out at the skyline.

“I would’ve thought you’d be all right with seeing affection, Walker,” Ava says, entering the room behind you. She’d obviously overheard the noise from the hallway. “You are married, even if you’re not together right now. Are you telling us you never called your wife something like that?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t make everyone else listen to me!”

Bucky, who has been watching everything the whole time from the corner of the room where he’s sitting, coffee in hand, huffs out a laugh. “You guys think this is bad? You should be glad you’ve never spent time around Joaquin Torres when he’s away from his girl.” He shakes his head and takes a sip of his coffee, not bothering to explain any further about the new Falcon. 

You take advantage of the moment of silence that Bucky has caused to attempt to fix the situation. “Okay, no more talking about love or who is and isn’t allowed to call each other nicknames. Can we just drop it? It was a slip of the tongue!”

“Only if you explain why you said it,” Walker says.

“No,” you reply, pulling out the chair next to Bob’s and sitting down in it. It’s all you offer in way of an answer to Walker and he seems to surprisingly give up on fighting you on it. 

You glance over to see that Bob is still looking at you, his eyes glistening and a small smile on his lips. The sight of it makes you smile as well. “I am never calling you that in front of the others again… even if it was just a slip of the tongue, that was mortifying.” 

Bob smiles again and nudges a drink that’s sitting in front of him over towards you – he’s prepared your favourite and had it waiting for when you arrived. You try to ignore the feeling that rises in your stomach at the small act of kindness. 

“But when it’s just us?” He inquires.

“You know it’s different then.” 

You pick up the drink and take a sip of it before leaning back in your chair. Walker and Alexei have started bickering over something else. Yelena is still looking out the window, Bucky is in the corner with his coffee and Ava is exiting the kitchen with a drink of her own. It’s a fairly mundane kind of morning for a group of people meant to be the ‘New Avengers.’

There’s a sudden feeling that rises in your chest at the thought of your new status as an Avenger. It’s uncomfortable, unwelcome. You still don’t know how you feel about it, even many months later. It should be a good thing, but then why does it fill you with dread?

Bob can see the change in your expression and he’s quick to act. He reaches over and taps the table in front of you to get your attention. You pull your eyes away from the window, where you’d been staring, and meet his eyes instead. They instantly help to calm you.

“Quiet time?” Bob asks, nodding towards the door that leads into the hallway.

It’s like a code word between the two of you. When one of you needs to get away from the others or you start to get a little too wrapped up in your head. Two words that put you instantly at ease. 

You nod and Bob wastes no time in standing up from the table. You follow him, leaving your drink in the dining room and walking out of the room with him, ignoring Walker as he calls out, asking where you’re both running off to. 

“Thank you, darling,” you mutter, once you’re just outside the room.

Bob turns to you with a small smile on his lips. “Always.”

[carebearbussy]

ᥫ᭡ imagining heian era! sukuna tending to his pregnant wife, and slowly warming up to having a child.

౨ৎ when he finds out you are pregnant, he goes full 'nonchalant, but worried husband' mode. he did not want kids. he thought they were lousy and annoying, and they would not bring any use to his bloodline. he told you that this would just get in his way, and that you should find a way to get rid of it. but the way you looked up at him with your adorable dazzling eyes? eh, he could make it work, just for you. but he found it hard to warm up to the idea of having children.

౨ৎ hires the best of the best to guarantee your health is in tact. doctors? you will have daily checkups, which included the doctor coming to the estate, and keeping track of your daily prgress while you are bedside. such as seeing if the baby is kicking, how large your stomach grows, and even recommending you a special diet to hold the nutrients for your baby. he is doing all of this for you, not that pesky baby. handmaidens? they will double in number. you are more fragile than ever, and in his eyes, you need all of the female support you can get that he cannot provide.

౨ৎ would host a grand babyshower. there would be hundreds, even thousands of guests at your babyshower. it would be hosted somewhere with a large, outside venue, bustling with people coming to support you. people would give you their blessings, hoping the best for the newcoming ryomen. gifts for the baby such as clothes, furniture, etc. and for you? people will gift you a plethora of things. jewelry, trinkets, and everything under the sun. the citizens of the nearby villages will bow to your feet, wishing you the best. your pregnancy will be treated as an event. around the villages, it will be talked about.

౨ৎ makes a extravagant nursery for your child. it will be in a large room, making extra space for your baby. sukuna will notice you spend alot of time there, watching you decorate the nursery to your pleasing day by day. liked seeing you struggle to put the furniture together, as you are forced to ask him for help, as you watch his assemble a bassinette. you could tell he was starting to get used to the idea of having a child around the estate. as you list off all of your ideas for how you would decorate, he liked to think you might be a suitable mother.

౨ৎ you held a giant journal of names, keeping track of each one as time goes by. you wrote in the journal with an ink pen, sometimes even letting sukuna in on the name choosing. as you sat on his lap in his large office, he would suggest 'little roach', or 'annoying brat' for some of the names, which was quickly shut down. you will think intently upon each name, asking sukuna on his opinion. sukuna thinks he should be the one naming the child, but with his suggestions, that will not be happening. you'd be better off asking some of your handmaidens for advice.

౨ৎ would ask any ladies in the estate for advice as well. this is something he thought he would never have to do. but he finds it difficult to ajust to your pregnancy, due to your influx in hormones, making you seem emotional all the time. would ask your handmaidens why you become so emotional, but they seem offended with the way he worded it. but they realize that sukuna is naturally brash, so they help him by giving him tips and tricks for fatherhood. he tries his best, mostly caring about what he thinks is best for you, not so much your child.

౨ৎ liked looking at your stomach more often than he thought he would. he never knew you would look so goddamn cute swollen with his child, but here he was, watching as you lay in bed, reading a book of poems, as he sees his future child kicking inside your uterus. you child was larger than an average one, he noticed, due to his abnormal genes. placing his large hand over your stomach, he could feel every single kick, asking you questions as it happens. "why does this brat kick so much? tell him to stop." "kuna, hes a baby..." "i do not care, he needs to learn to stop being so restless."

౨ৎ your delivery will send him into internal panic. he demands that he is in the room with you, holding your hand. but your large group of handmaidens by your side strongly disagree, reccomending that he let you be. but making sure you were okay was his top priority, so he stayed in the large bedroom where you gave birth. your head and body would be covered in towels, your hands tightly cuffing your handmaidens. it was extremely painful, as your screams could be heard from afar. but with the way sukuna had rubbed his thumb on your cheek, it made you feel slightly better. after you, he would be the first to hold your child, demanding so himself.

౨ৎ he wants a boy, 100%. he is hoping for a strong heir that can add onto his legacy, even though it isnt entirely necessary. if he ends up having a son, he will teach him the ways of manhood. teaching him how to hunt his own humans, how to properly court a lady (in his mind), and how to become as strong as him someday. and most of all, how to take care of his mother. he will not tolerate any disrespect towards you. he will call his son names like 'ryomen 2.0', or 'annoying rat'.

౨ৎ but if he gets a girl? he will be upset when he finds out. but he will come around to love her after quite a while. will go from calling her a nuisance, to hosting mini tea parties with her stuffed animals which were gifted by her auntie handmaidens, squeezing himself into a small chair at a small dining table with fake tea and pastries. he will truly care for his daughter, and will become extremely overprotective over her. he will call her 'little princess', or 'spoiled brat'.

౨ৎ enjoys watching you tend to your children. he secretly enjoyed the fact that he could call you 'the mother of his children'. being domestic with you is something he had never imagined in his life, but here he was, burping your small newborn over his shoulder with one hand. he likes to see the way your eyes light up when your child walks for the first time, or when they say their first words. he doesnt think it is important, but since its you, he doesnt say anything. "woman, what are you freaking out over?" "come quick! he just said 'papa'!" "i knew it, thats my child alright."

౨ৎ but he will absolutely refuse to change the babys diapers. do not ever ask him to do that, he will very rudely decline. bu dont worry. like everything else, he will come around to do so.

[ana-bananya]

Help Israa and her children survive

£915/£20,000

@naseranam225 is Hanaa's sister in law, confirmed here. Hanaa is 246 on the vetted fundraisers list.

Israa and her husband Muhammad have a 2 year old son named Nasser and a 2 month old daughter named Inaam. Israa gave birth to Inaam during the genocide and suffered from malnutrition and the lack of healthcare throughout her pregnancy. On top of all the unbearable conditions Israa was forced to endure, she also had to go through childbirth without Muhammad there to support her.

Muhammad was forced to miss his daughter's birth because he was aducted by the IOF 5 months prior. Israa still does not know the fate of her husband. She has spent these past months fearing for her husband's safety and struggling to provide for her children alone during a genocide.

Like any mother, Israa wants her children to be able to grow up and live in safety. This future is not guaranteed to them in Gaza. To save Nasser and Inaam and give them the future they deserve, Israa has no other choice but to evacuate.

Israa and her family will not be able to evacuate without your help. They need our support to cover the costs of evacuation from Gaza to Egypt. You can help Israa's family get to safety by donating and sharing so they can reach the £20,000 they need for evacuation.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

FYI artists and writers: some info regarding tumblr's new "third-party sharing" (aka selling your content to OpenAI and Midjourney)

You may have already seen the post by @staff regarding third-party sharing and how to opt out. You may have also already seen various news articles discussing the matter.

But here's a little further clarity re some questions I had, and you may too. Caveat: Not all of this is on official tumblr pages, so it's possible things may change.

(1) "I heard they already have access to my data and it doesn't really matter if I opt out"

From the 404 article:

A new FAQ section we reviewed is titled “What happens when you opt out?” states “If you opt out from the start, we will block crawlers from accessing your content by adding your site on a disallowed list. If you change your mind later, we also plan to update any partners about people who newly opt-out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.”

So please, go click that opt-out button.

(2) Some future user: "I've been away from tumblr for months, and I just heard about all this. I didn't opt out before, so does it make a difference anymore?"

Another internal document shows that, on February 23, an employee asked in a staff-only thread, “Do we have assurances that if a user opts out of their data being shared with third parties that our existing data partners will be notified of such a change and remove their data?” Andrew Spittle, Automattic’s head of AI replied: “We will notify existing partners on a regular basis about anyone who's opted out since the last time we provided a list. I want this to be an ongoing process where we regularly advocate for past content to be excluded based on current preferences. We will ask that content be deleted and removed from any future training runs. I believe partners will honor this based on our conversations with them to this point. I don't think they gain much overall by retaining it.”

It should make a difference! Go click that button.

(3) "I opted out, but my art posts have been reblogged by so many people, and I don't know if they all opted out. What does that mean for my stuff?"

This answer is actually on the support page for the toggle:

This option will prevent your blog's content, even when reblogged, from being shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models.

And some further clarification by the COO and a product manager:

zingring: A couple people from work have reached out to let me know that yes, it applies to reblogs of "don't scrape" content. If you opt out, your content is opted out, even in reblog form. cyle: yep, for reblogs, we're taking it so far as "if anybody in the reblog trail has opted out, all of the content in that reblog will be opted out", when a reblog could be scraped/shared.

So not only your reblogged posts, but anyone who contributed in a reblog (such as posts where someone has been inspired to draw fanart of the OP) will presumably be protected by your opt-out. (A good reason to opt out even if you yourself are not a creator.)

Furthermore, if you the OP were offline and didn't know about the opt-out, if someone contributed to a reblog and they are opted out, then your original work is also protected. (Which makes it very tempting to contribute "scrapeable content" now whenever I reblog from an abandoned/disused blog...)

(4) "What about deleted blogs? They can't opt out!"

I was told by someone (not official) that he read "deleted blogs are all opted-out by default". However, he didn't recall the source, and I can't find it, so I can't guarantee that info. If I get more details - like if/when tumblr puts up that FAQ as reported in the 404 article - I will add it here as soon as I can.

Edit, tumblr has updated their help page for the option to opt-out of third-party sharing! It now states:

The content which will not be shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models, includes: • Posts and reblogs of posts from blogs who have enabled the "Prevent third-party sharing" option. • Posts and reblogs of posts from deleted blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from password-protected blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from explicit blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from suspended/deactivated blogs. • Private posts. • Drafts. • Messages. • Asks and submissions which have not been publicly posted. • Post+ subscriber-only posts. • Explicit posts.

So no need to worry about your old deleted blogs that still have reblogs floating around. *\o/*

But for your existing blogs, please use the opt out option. And a reminder of how to opt out, under the cut:

The opt-out toggle is in Blog Settings, and please note you need to do it for each one of your blogs / sideblogs.

On dashboard, the toggle is at https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/blogname [replace "blogname" as applicable] down by Visibility:

For mobile, you need the most recent update of the app. (Android version 33.4.1.100, iOs version 33.4.) Then go to your blog tab (the little person icon), and then the gear icon for Settings, then click Visibility.

Again, if you have a sideblog, go back to the blog tab, switch to it, and go to settings again. Repeat as necessary.

If you do not have access to the newest version of the app for whatever reason, you can also log into tumblr in your mobile browser. Same URL as per desktop above, same location.

Note you do not need to change settings in both desktop and the app, just one is fine.

I hope this helps!

[moonsnqil]

aftg au where neil/nathaniel died in baltimore and andrew knows he's dead, he didnt stop fighting until he had autopsy reports and a closed casket in front of him. andrew knows he died that night but a week later, a week spent rotting and shoving everyone away, he sees neil. blue eyes clear as water, his hair still glows in the sun, when andrew reaches out he knows none of this is real. neil josten is dead, matt has an empty dorm and someone is already adding nathaniel wesninski to a true crime podcast. he knows none of this is real but it's easier to accept a hallucination than it is to accept that he failed, that another person has been snatched away from him. so andrew goes to practice and sometimes he misses balls because neil is on the court aiming left but aaron shot right. he goes to edens and can feel neil's weight behind him as he carries the drink tray back to their table. he watches nicky play games on the xbox and he hears all of neil's commentary. when he's alone, he talks to neil. andrew had always been great at being silent but never with neil. and he knows none of this is real but it's easier to confide in neil now that he's so intimately familiar with his absence. they trade truths and secrets and neil tells him about oklahoma and andrew knows they never talked about oklahoma and he's just remembering a conversation he heard on disney channel when he was eleven. he lights two cigarettes and sees neil smoke it but doesn't dwell on how quickly the flame dies out. he only mentions it once, to bee. when he says "i keep seeing neil" and bee says she understands, people leave traces of themselves all around us, he never brings it up again. it's not like she's wrong on that front either. neil's locker still has an unwashed jersey inside, the phone charger he never used is still shoved somewhere underneath the passenger seat of the maserati, all the clothes andrew bought him are still in a drawer. matt doesn't spend a lot of time in his room anymore. when andrew says "i hate you" and he truly means it, neil says "i know" and his cheeks dimple. andrew knows this isn't normal, nothing about this is okay, his mental stability is a far cry from being good but he thinks maybe having neil beside him, haunting him like this, is better than a reality where andrew is alone. so they follow each other around like ducklings and wymack looks at him like he's a ticking time bomb because in no world does neil josten die and andrew simply moves on. andrew's nightmares have shifted from being seven and begging to watching neil fight for life on a grimy basement floor but it's okay because when he wakes up he gets to hold neils hand and it's a little cold but the divots between his knuckles feel the same as before so he can blame it on the weather. andrew watches neil's banner go up next to seth's on the court and andrew almost wants to laugh because seth is dead but neil is right here, neil is talking about being court, but no that's not right either. neil is dead, andrew knows this. but then how could neil be dead when he's still buying andrew ice cream and pushing all his buttons? they sit a little too close to the edge of the roof nowadays and neil tells him that they could fall but they might not die because it's only four stories so really it's no guarantee. neil tells andrew he has to be careful because what about aaron, what about kevin, his deals and his promises. he keeps his promises, it's what he's good at. he's pretty sure kevin knows something is wrong but is trying to pretend like it's not. they're the same in that regard, really. andrew knows neil is dead, abby's files label him as deceased, but he thinks he likes being haunted. if it means neil is still there, still planning a future and running his mouth, andrew thinks he could convince himself baltimore never happened. maybe neil was never something tangible to begin with.

[skitskatdacat63]

Just did big thing, very scary, but we persevere and move on 🫡

I love when I do extremely vital high stakes at terrible hours in the morning/night, like yeah sure let me do this thing that affects my future when I'm grumpy and tired, that'll work out !