#i'm sure you random tumblr user know so much better

[meowonhao]

soo crazy to me how in the last year with minghao, dokyeom, hoshi, joshua, junhui, and now woozi (idk if i'm missing someone) y'all are way too ready and eager to automatically throw them under the bus over something some random person (usually antis) said online and then like a day or two later when everyone comes to the consensus that it wasn't actually that big of a deal or even wrong/bad in the first place (which you could've figured out yourself from the beginning by just doing like. 30 seconds of research and exercising your critical thinking skills) everyone just moves on like nothing happened and goes back to being a fan/stanning them or whatever like you weren't just going with the crowd and shit-talking them 12 hours ago

[munsster]

i’m so glad u want to start writing for keys i feel like he’s pretty underrated on here </3 maybe something where him and reader have interacted a lot in the game and one recognizes the other’s voice in real life in public? idk i think that would be really cute! x

free life on earth

A/N: listennnn i consumed every tumblr fic i could find of him in one night and decided there was not enough nor will there ever be.

Pairing: Walter “Keys” McKey x GN!Reader

Summary: He thought he was just out getting coffee. But then he bumped into his cyber crush. 2.1k words.

Warnings: fluff, meet (?) cute, you know i had to put this in a coffeeshop, shamelessly awkward flirting, mutual pining, a teensy little accident kiss (unless…), cursing

He was fascinated. From the very beginning, despite how cliché and theatrical it sounds; he swore up and down he'd never go all puppy-dog-eyed again. And then you let out a whip of deafening expletives, and he swan dove right into a new obsession.

But saying obsession seemed too intense and creepy, so he's been calling it his online thing like it's a business meeting. Like he's not lovesick and doting and you have no idea he's worming himself around your little finger.

"You've gotta be—Keys! Don't fucking throw that while I'm standing right here."

The laugh rips out of him and jolts him back in his chair. To think that the limited amount of time he spends not working on this godforsaken game he happens to spend playing the game. He must have something wrong with him. He drops the flashbang back into his inventory and scuttles over to your crouched avatar.

"Sometimes I wonder why they let you graduate," you poke, swiveling in circles in the wavering shade of a big tree, blank eyes staring up at the sky.

"Hey, if I didn't graduate, we never would've met."

You chuckle. "Oh, Keys, life would be so horrible without you"—you click your tongue and your avatar's knees straighten, and his heart shouldn't skip a beat the way it does with your digital face this close to his—"because I have nothing better to do than sit at my desk all day and talk to a stranger on the internet."

"A handsome stranger," he teases.

"I'm logging off."

"Wait—"

"Nope!"

"Come on," he whines, "you know you love me."

Curse him with that sometimes confidence and all-the-time charm. And maybe that's the one thing you don't know. He smoked you out just to get at you while unassuming and lovely. You blink hard just to realize you've gone a little blurry, and the sun slices through your blinds and glares against your monitor.

"Is it light where you are?" you mumble, a songbird cooing and flapping away outside your window. His character goes still, no longer shuffling across the grass, just still. Strands of his hair animated to flow. It makes you smirk every time you think of it.

"Yeah, think so. Geez—"

"What if I was a stalker? Now I know the sun is up for you. That eliminates like... a lot of places," you say, very proudly and kind of worried. You don't rest well as it is, and now this boy might be giving out his address to random users.

"Okay, but is the sun rising or setting?"

"...Maybe it's neither," you hum.

"Maybe it's both."

It takes a second for him to laugh, and he's crazy but it's contagious. You shake your head and press your face into your palms to muffle a soft laugh. Hoping he doesn't hear you humor him. But you do, and he does.

"You're delirious, go have caffeine," you huff, definitely smiling, even with your jaw aching from wearing a headset for much too long. But you're sure the tightness in your neck is worth it when he hums softly and rustles with something on his desk.

"No," he whines, spamming the space bar, sending his character hopping down the grassy slope of the park's small hill. He sighs. "Alright, fine. Didn't feel like staying online anyway."

"Oh, hush, it'll be good for you. Plus, I gotta head out, and I don't want you missing me too much."

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbles, "but you better be on tonight."

"C'mon, baby, you know me," you say, head lulling to the side as he sprints back up the hill just to slip down once he's halfway there. He must be too tired to think about it. Because you've called him that once before, and it sent him reeling. He's glad the game wasn't designed for webcam gameplay. Not only would that be nightmarish, but you would immediately catch him beet red and fidgety.

He yawns.

"Alright, see ya."

You chirp something nice into his ear. Like a goodbye, but you'd never say it. He powers his desktop down and throws on a crewneck before heading a couple blocks north, hands shoved in his pockets the whole way. Head incessant with the thought of you. Even if he could stop it, he wouldn't. If you'd stay holed up in his noggin until the next supernova, he'd be satisfied. And the coffee shop is sticky and warm when he steps in from the chill.

But something makes him smile. Only a few tables have anybody seated there: mostly couples. Except, there's one person sitting alone. Occupying the table closest to the register, scarf draped over the back of the oaky chair, fingertips patting along a dim phone screen.

"Morning, two sugars," the barista chirps, "the usual?"

Keys hisses in a deep breath, eyes flicking over the extensive, swirly-lettered menu.

"You know what—?"

"Aw, break my heart, man—don't tell me you're switching it up on me now."

Keys chuckles with a shrug, "what can I say? I'm a sucker for a limited time offer. Gimme one of those seasonal drinks.”

"That's it, no more discounts for you," he huffs, already scribbling 'Keys' and a pouty face across the side of a bright orange cup.

"You were giving me a discount?"

"Keys," a soft voice chirps. And it's not something he could've imagined if he tried, because it sounds like you, and maybe this is some wishful thinking hat trick, but he turns to the side. And there you are. Arm perched on the back of the chair, torso twisted around to peer up at him. And he peers back. It's you. Wide-eyed and grinning.

"Hi," he pants, "it's you."

Your chair scrapes across the wood flooring, and you get real close to him like you're still not sure this is real life and not a simulator. Or you accidentally signed up for a drug-induced sleep study, and this is the desired, coma-adjacent lucid dream.

"In the flesh." You scoff, hands on your hips. He wonders if you're letting him look at you. It's a little perverted, but he's in denial, watching your mouth and the way it's so different from your in-game avatar. "I was hoping... I mean, I wanted it to be you. You sound like you."

He nods. And his hair flops into his face. Hides his soft pink forehead and the line between his furrowed brows.

"You're... taller than I thought you'd be. And you wear glasses," you say, lifting your hand like you're about to touch him. It makes him happy. He knows you—he's known you exclusively by your code and the sound of your voice, and yet your first instinct was to reach for him. And even though you drop your hand and glance away, he smiles.

"Disappointed?" he teases like he's expecting the rejection. Like you'll laugh and tell him to scram because yes, he's not what you had imagined. Maybe you had imagined him to perfection and doomed him in the process.

But you shake your head.

Decisively, a serious conclusion, borderline frowning at the sentiment. How could you be disappointed after spending days upon days doing absolutely nothing and everything with him. Just him.

You sigh, "You techies are always a wild card. To be honest, I'm just glad you're not a serial killer."

He chuckles and takes a deep breath. Letting it buzz through him because by some miracle, you're glad.

"I take it my dashing looks are just an added bonus," he huffs, raising his brows, but out of the corner of his eye, you smile. You don't laugh, but you smile. Brightly, too, sincere in the creases by your tired eyes.

"Toffee latte for... Keys?"

He scratches the back of his neck when you look away, feeling like he's sweating buckets all over the polished floor. Then you look back at him, lips only parted for a breath, mouth quirked. You look cute. Like he couldn't have imagined you sweeter. He just knows you're gonna leave him all syrupy and stuck on you after this.

"So... d'you—"

"Keys! Latte for Keys?"

"I think that might be you," you tease, nodding over to the pick up window with a grin.

"Oh. Oh, right!"

He hurries over to the disgruntled employee, grabbing his coffee and a couple of napkins and a stopper between his teeth before popping it into the lid. When he turns back around, you're not there. And his heart sinks. Frantic, he cranes his neck, spinning dizzily before catching your wave and the bell above the door. And you duck outside.

The cold smacks him into reality. It’s terrifying the way you look back at him with a smile because he’s been thinking about it since the day he first heard your voice. And now you’re letting him catch up to you, walking backwards with your arms crossed over your chest.

"Sorry for ditching. It was kinda stuffy in there—"

He chuckles, suddenly shy with the way you look right through him. And you’re right. Everything’s clearer. Crisp and frosty, but it’ll melt away with the sun.

"No, yeah, it's totally..." he huffs, "I know."

"Good, 'cause I was hoping you'd walk me home."

He shudders, not knowing whether it's the cold or the way you're so sure of him. Even with sweat rolling down his back. He doesn’t think he’ll make it as far as you plan on taking him. Not after you've flattered him enough to lay him bare on the sidewalk.

“You live around here?”

“‘Course I do. I’m not about to drive fifteen minutes for a cup of coffee,” you grumble, skipping over the cracked pavement where weeds sprout up into teensy yellow flowers. Then the toe of your show catches a jilted and offset curb, sending you teetering forward.

“Woah”—Keys catches you by the hand, too focused on the way your fingertips find their way to his, slotting down hard and curling. “I gotcha.”

“Pssh,” you scoff, tugging him close as an excuse to catch you breath. Only, you’re in the middle of the sidewalk and a biker wheels by with a groan. “White knight.”

“I prefer the term gentleman, but whatever floats your boat.”

You stick your tongue out at him when he takes a swig of his coffee and flinches away from it, fingers clenching around your knuckles.

“Hot?”

“Burning.”

“Thanks,” you say with a wink. And his tongue isn’t the only thing burning when it settles into his ears and nose.

“So, are you nearby, or…?”

“Oh! Yeah, this is my building.” You thrust a thumb over your shoulder and yeah, he’s hooked. So hooked he doesn’t realize you’re less than a block up the road from his building. He doesn’t realize he could have been yours. He could be yours, but he’s too hooked.

“Shit. Then I guess this is goodbye.” He leers up at the art deco apartment complex with a squint. Kind of disappointed before he realizes his palm is damp pressed to yours. Suffocating into the space you give him when he scuffs against the rough concrete.

“Guess so.” The sunlight beams from between the strands of his mussed hair, catching the rim of his lenses, and rendering you in awe. “At least we have the game.”

He scoffs. “We’ll always have the game.”

You shrug and tap the bottom edge of his cup. “And you’ll always have this.” Your finger traces the digits and dashes along until they’re dotted off with a heart. “Definitely didn’t slip him ten bucks for that.”

“You’re pretty desperate, huh?”

You smile. “Yup.” You squeeze his hand and tug him close to kiss the supple place his cheek dimples just slightly when he smiles. And he shifts a little. On accident. But suddenly, your mouth is pressed to the corner of his, and he’s short-circuiting when you pull away. “Sorry!”

“It’s… it’s okay, I’m not—I don’t mind,” he sputters and you laugh despite yourself, “Really, don’t worry about it, I mean, I’m not worried, it’s not a big deal, I just—”

You kiss him again. In front of the steps of your apartment building, holding his hand, and boiling him up inside. He can’t help but smile when you tongue at his bottom lip and drop his hand in favor of his waist. He thinks only you’d be so delicate with him. After all, it’s you. And when you pull away, his mouth is a little pink and a little slobbery, and you swipe your thumb across his chin.

“You better call that number,” you warn. He smirks.

“Beats talking to strangers on the internet.”

masterlist

[shadowmaat]

Open Letter

Dear @photomatt,

I am depressed. I'm discouraged. I am exhausted and burned out and so dang tired all the time. And you really aren't helping.

Look, I know tumblr is deeply in the hole and needs to make money. I know the upcoming Crabageddon isn't going to help as much as people hope it will. But watching tumblr cannibalize itself as it tries so hard to produce a blank, homogenized experience with a blank, homogenized interface just makes me want to cry.

Tumblr has been a refuge for me since 2011. It has changed a lot over the years (like, a LOT), but one thing it has always been- and one thing that has kept me coming back- is how unique it is. Sure, some things are clunky and if you kick the tires too hard they might fall off; or shower you with tubby custard; or start blasting Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, but it was still a fun hellsite (affectionate) and I was glad to call it home.

These changes you're making? The ones you claim are necessary for the future of the site? You're killing everything that makes tumblr a fun and unique experience. You may be making it "easier" for everyone else to use (¹citation needed), but at the cost of the comfort of the long-time userbase. We are here because we like tumblr. Not tiktok, not twitter, but tumblr.

I know tumblrites have traditionally screamed about every little change since the site was founded, but there's a difference between making cosmetic tweaks and trying to change the fundamental nature of the site.

This isn't about a misplaced concern regarding the reverse-chrono feed, it's about having to manually go in and turn off "tumblr live" every seven days or risk seeing random tits at the top of my screen with every refresh. It's about making the dash look like twitter. It's about disregarding folks who've expressed issues with the lack of accessibility features. And trying to force sign-ups in order to view posts. It's about taking away a safe space and turning a hellsite (affectionate) into a hellsite (despairing).

You knew tumblr was a money pit when you bought it. The site has a reputation for being a money pit that sucks in investors and spits them out again poorer than they were. Now you're using that debt as an excuse to make sweeping changes without caring about feedback from the folks who actually use the site.

So many people have articulated the problems better than I could. People who know about social media and web infrastructure and all the other elements that go into managing a site like this- and the people that come along with it. They've pointed out the flaws, the misinformation, the corporate doublespeak. Some have even suggested alternatives that would maintain the integrity of what tumblr is while still offering a chance to make up the debt. But I get the sense that no one in the upper echelons is listening. That no one cares.

A few weeks ago I was sure we'd be able to outlast you and survive, but now I'm wondering if you're going to pull an Elon and make this place so uninhabitable (at least to long-term users) that we'll feel forced out. And that breaks my heart. I've been here for so long. I don't want to leave. But if you keep pressing forward with your efforts to make tumblr into metatwit-tok, I'll leave. And I'm sure I won't be the only one.

But I guess if all you care about is money then it doesn't matter; we'll be easily replaced by kids and influencers who want everything to be the same everywhere they go.

May your choices reap the dividends you deserve.

shadowmaat

[olderthannetfic]

“Besides, thinking in terms of "clearing your name" is very black and white and self-important.” You said this on my anon about how to not care about randos blocking you, can you elaborate there?

Tbh framing it as callout posts maybe wasn’t the best choice, J agree that no one in 2023 who listens to those is very smart, I’m thinking more of where I get in a discussion about X representation with one individual and I don’t respond the way they like/respond at all and don’t 100% agree with them and bow down to their infinite wisdom since they’re part of X minority group, and then that person starts *privately* warning others in the fandom (like in discords and stuff) that I’m X-ist or “unsafe for X people to follow” or I “talk over X people” and a bunch of people who weren’t involved at all start blocking for safety reasons. (And yeah I’m not being paranoid, people have told me this is happening.) The thing is, I’m sympathetic to why marginalized people are a bit over cautious in blocking — I have been myself, too — but there are so many people now who weaponize that for mean girl shit by just saying “racist” or “homophobic” or whatever and not discussing the actual situation, since that might cause some of these individuals to disagree with them if they knew. And it bothers me so much because a lot of these people are themselves deeply bigoted in other ways: for instance, I know someone in a fandom who was slurred as antisemitic and blocked by a bunch of randos where the “antisemitism” was “disagreed with one (1) Jewish person about whether a fictional group was a Nazi analogue” and the Jewish user in question was really racist toward people from some of the groups victimized by those other proposed analogues — but of course that is left out in that person’s version of events, as is the fact that plenty more Jewish people in the discussion agreed with OP than didn’t. Situations like that and what happened to me are why I think now it just makes sense to require evidence (as in the offending posts) when someone does an “OP is a terf” or whatever, so you can make up your own mind — but I’ve seen people get accused of shit just for asking that. Someone even said in response “a trans woman asked you nicely and you can’t even just take her word for it and block the TERF, you have to ask her to do the emotional labor of finding proof for you?” Yeah? She’s a stranger? I think it’s normal not to listen to random accusations from strangers without evidence behind them????

--

I mean, I assume tons of people block me for "safety reasons", but that's both their prerogative and a them problem.

You can either placate people all the time, or you can accept that some people will find you contentious/annoying/scary/whatever.

Whisper campaigns and callouts aren't actually different here. Someone who believes the rando that you're a bigot is also not interested in doing their own thinking and investigation. Maybe they're tired and busy. I can't fault them for that. Maybe they're easily led and you're better off without them.

The situation remains the same: there are a fuckton of people in the world and you are not going to run out of people to hang out with just because some believed a rumor.

People who go "How dare you ask for evidence?!" are generally bad news, especially when they have decided to intentionally take upon themselves the labor of spreading the news about so-and-so.

If someone demands I do a thing and then throws a tantrum, it's that person who's getting blocked.

--

As for why it's black and white and self-important, my reasons were in the other post:

Yes, I'm sure some people did just believe a whisper campaign and they genuinely think you're a bigot and that scared them off...

...but to assume that's necessarily why a specific person blocked you is silly.

It's entirely plausible that they blocked you after looking at your actual tumblr/twitter/whatever and finding you not to their taste. Maybe they looked after hearing the rumors, but that doesn't mean the rumors themselves are why they blocked. It's plausible that they block everyone whom they perceive to be involved in wank on the theory that no matter who's at fault, blocking all and sundry will lead to a quieter fandom life. They may block everyone who ships something they dislike. They may block for one single annoying response on one single post that they happen to see. (I have blocked hundreds of people for this kind of reason. Maybe thousands.)

The reason it's black and white thinking is that many people block for all kinds of murky "I just felt like it" reasons that aren't as dramatic as dividing other users into Safe and Unsafe, Good and Bad.

The reason it's self-important is that you're imagining that you matter to this person. You probably don't. Their reasons may be extraordinarily petty and not this grand drama about whether you're a bigot or not.

--

I mean, sure, the pattern you describe above is a constant in fandom now from what I can tell, but who cares?

The people being hurt by this are the people who are preemptively blocking interesting tumblrs, not the tumblrs that got blocked.

I suppose it's compassionate to wish for people to learn how to do their own research and not be swayed by rumors, but it's also not my job to save them from their lack of critical thinking skills.

[qqueenofhades]

"the Twisted Soulmate Vibes are off the charts and i am only on ep 4" ohh just wait to reach the end of the season then. You would LOVE it. Specially cause we see Alina doing exactly what Aleks said she would do, not two minutes after the whole speech (and not two minutes after she swore she wouldn't, ever ever ever, do it. Ha, I think Aleksander piteous antics are contagious. I personally loved that)

LIKE. I've seen a few takes that seem to think major things like Alina literally wearing a sexy black dress when she takes off the black kefta and tells Aleksander that she won't ever wear his colors again are a mistake, or a random/stupid oversight by the writers, or something that isn't supported in the text, when once again I am begging Tumblr users to learn how television shows work for $500, Alex. The angry hatesex tension was off the CHARTS in that scene, and I have still not recovered from it! Even before we get into their dark Force bond/dream visitations/twisted-ass Hades and Persephone energy as Alina descends into doing exactly what Aleksander predicted, because he knows her and he's right about her! He's a dick and he's very far aboard the cuckoo-bananas train at the moment, but he's not wrong! And likewise, it's not an accident that Alina is literally becoming him in the name of undoing his mistakes, and just doubling down on everything he's tried to warn her about! This is all very deliberate!

One of the major reasons I was apprehensive about this season was if they were planning to just put Alina's comparatively weak character arc and the Malina hot mess on screen without attempting to challenge it, change it, or otherwise explore it more deeply. But they are doing all sorts of interesting things with it, they've already made major changes to Mal's character which means he's not a raging jealous dickhead all the time, and Jessie Mei Li's performance is phenomenal. Like, you instantly understand that she's going feral, she loves this new power too much, she's beginning to believe that she is in fact the Special Chosen One and can do what she wants, and she knows it's a bad thing and is clinging extra-hard to Mal and pretending wildly that he and a normal life is the only thing she wants, while it's obvious to everyone (including Mal) that this isn't true. Mal is actually likeable and realizing that there's this MASSIVE gulf between them while he's trying to save the girl he used to know while she's just miles and miles away from him, and it's GOOD! And this is coming from someone who was really dreading having to sit through Malina this season, if they were just going to play it straight and not acknowledge all the problems with it, and they didn't do that. So. Fair play.

Likewise, I'm not sure if this is because people think Alina should just have immediately apologized to Aleksander and admitted he's right about everything, because that was never going to happen (especially since Baghra nails it by pointing out that Aleksander had a chance to earn her love and not steal her power, but he blew it super hard complete buffoonery etc). Aleks is WAY too far gone to be rational, he's in his final downward spiral, and Alina is just starting hers. But like, we all bitched about the end of Ruin and Rising, and the showrunners really went "yeah, you're right" and threw it out with their whole pussy! I haven't gotten to the end of the season, but I've seen enough hints to be EXTREMELY Eyes Dot Emoji about it. They changed the whole thing, they did so in a way that emphasizes Aleksander and Alina's twisted, dark, desirous two-halves-of-the-same-coin, lovers/enemies/lovers/enemies Mobius strip, and it's just really GOOD. Way better and more innovative than I thought they were going to be, and not afraid to make major changes to the source material and even the main character, so like. Yeah.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

a decade later sure i'll put it into Text Post "tumblr user claims: plausibly may feasibly" form, starting with these classic screenshots i still have saved

this being dialogue from 2015's always watching: a marble hornets story, which is like hey this is a pretty well produced indie venture & you can sure like sit through it even if you then never watch it again b/c it's still kind of overly on the beaten path & "i'm not sure this choice is justified in much of anything" (see: bizarrely omnipresent thread of a love triangle just to be There; typical Mental Patient(tm) Harbinger; several real marked More Is Less instances arguably) that is still a better time than other random horror material i've seen & hated vs. only mostly been underwhelmed by but in an Overall Shrug way alone. yeah imdb's 4.7 out of 10 seems fair enough if you consider like 5 stars truly middle of the road solid if forgettable vs that anything < 7 stars is for [Bad!] or whatever

anyways the main character is named milo & indeed the creator(s) / actors / writers troy joseph & tim were involved in the production at all: tim at least by being the first step in doug jones's casting by reaching out directly (online), but troy & joseph also via Some writing, like in that slender game sequel also: not the Primary creators / writers, but still officially involved in the creative process at all. & i knew of them & they knew of me by this time & in a [source: dude just trust me] style of way, i, a tumblr user, am like "i think milo alwayswatching Could be named after me, milo unproduciblesmackdown. lol." b/c also like yeah i can take it on the chin if it's a coincidence, which is also likely. great name & it's just not being used enough in fictional & nonfictional people's names. you might also be aware that some role in tribetweIve is named milo (maybe the main guy. i never watched it) so you might also speculate it's named after that guy, which seems plausible also, But: afaik there are no other similar plausible shoutouts at all, to that series or to emh which was just as majorly like One Of Those 3 Biggest Online Series. may or may not add a grain of salt to take it with. like my own "of course, there's a grain of salt in 'milo just like me milo, and Uncoincidentally?' b/c how wouldn't there be. a name people have"

the dude just trust me argument: distilling it down to "i went to their first convention & then the same one the next year, & in these experiences i Know they knew of me from that + also online, where people knew my name was milo as well" and "it seems feasible enough it's an easter egg Not Coincidence that i first knew this character's name happened to also be milo b/c someone who experienced a clip sent me an ask about it, so they assumed it was a possible actual connection too lol." and, of course, it might be a fun coincidence after all. but i'm still like "yeah no it Could be a funny little shoutout to me specifically for real" and mean it and, again, i can endure it if i'm completely wrong. b/c who could care, and also b/c it's so funny that the character is a guy who basically just is like "i am going to have a bad attitude. b/c of the insistent tiresome love triangle thing. well now I'm insistently tiresome" and fucking everything up but like, sure. exasperating epic fail protagonists

the only relevance i think it has besides "to me, b/c i can go haha yeah. that might be like: just like me!!" is that it's Also plausible b/c yeah marble hornets Is the kind of series that might go "this could be an easter egg about some queer autistic tumblr user we know about" lmao, its Inherent Queerness both re: the material and in the creators' knowledge like yep that's how our Appreciators skew! like it's low stakes to be like [lol, Me. perhaps] b/c it's obviously of zero importance like it adds no info, i'm just some rando queer fan from back in the day, but it's this potential Fun Fact that's funny to know & it's about "yeah like they knew i was trans back then too & that it was like, amidst the MH Fans, like nobody's cishet man (shaggy rogers voice)" Gay Rights!

[fizzingwizard]

Today on things I IMMEDIATELY turned off, lol...

But first, props to tumblr for at least making sure we all knew about the change, not just silently adding it and making some random tumblr user release a psa. And for making it customizable/easy to disable.

I get how this could be fun. I hate blaze, but if you've got cash to burn and you really think so-and-so's video of a hamster in a party hat is the funniest thing ever, sure, it's your money, waste it how you want. Better to throw some coins to tumblr for hamsters in party hats than treat us to more mainstream ad content.

Of course, out of all the blazed posts that have ended up on my dash, very few have been hamsters-in-party-hats worthy. Most have just been stuff I didn't care about or something mildly insulting. But maybe the hamsters-in-party-hats crowd just don't have money.

Biggest concern is whether you get to consent first to someone else choosing to blaze your post. Tumblr says if someone blazes our post we'll be informed, and have the option to cancel it. It's an opt out instead of opt in. That's what bugs me. I hate opt out. I'd rather that if someone wanted to blaze my post, I had to definitively say "Yes." What if someone blazes my post and I'm in the hospital and don't see it before it's live? You CAN pull it after, which is great, but why not skip that whole song and dance by requiring people to opt in before the post can go live?

Lol. I don't agree. But we'll see.

Also disagree. Blazing is not the same as reblogging. I can't control what other people reblog which ends up on my dash, but I CAN choose who I follow, and if their content becomes something I'm not interested in, I can unfollow them. Only way out of Blaze is to cough up money for ad-free browsing. A while ago I tried blocking blogs that put blazed posts on my dash, but the blazed posts continued to appear. Maybe that has been fixed, I don't know.

The sticking point really is a matter of consent. I've been on tumblr for ten years. I don't freaking remember most of what I posted back then. There's probably something embarrassing someone who really disliked me could dig up if they wanted to. If this option MUST be opt-out, then I wish at least all posts made before the change were opt-in only. If the approval process before someone is allowed to blaze your post is more robust than I anticipate, I won't mind as much though. Basically just let people have the MAIN say in whether or not their post gets blazed, instead of treating the informing of the OP like it's a courtesy.

Tumblr should keep in mind that a lot of original content here is diary-like, personal, meant for a small group of followers who feel comfortable with each other. It's not a site many people use to make their BRAND. That's ALSO one of the good things about tumblr - I don't sit around worrying about how fake everyone is like I do almost anywhere else. That's why I'm not interested in this feature. I can see it being used for good - blazing a gofundme for someone in need, for example - but I just don't want to wade through even more cringe I didn't ask for on my dash. Sigh.

Anyway, hopefully everyone who doesn't want this opts out without a hitch (for side blogs too).

[gothicprep]

some loose speculation on what makes twitter specifically such a zoo of a platform, more or less related to why i don't think its problems are ones that begin & end with adjusting the moderation policies.

something about the structure of the site gives it a way shorter cultural memory, but i'm having trouble threading the needle on what exactly is causing that. take for example, twitter doesn't really have any analogue to what we call "heritage posts" here, save for maybe a few dril tweets. the life cycle of everything there is much shorter, and i'm suspicious that this paradoxically prolongs the worse social behavior you see there. tumblr feels a lot different than it did in the early to mid 2010s, but using twitter in 2022 feels the same as a user as it did several years ago, albeit this is totally anecdotal and i have no way of quantifying that in a meaningful way.

perhaps the structure of the tweet in and of itself has a way of intersecting with pre-existing issues of the 24 hour new cycle. if you think about it, a tweet is similar in length to a headline, and that's before you get into how the website is used by many media figures. i do like the birdwatch/context feature, but seeing a "readers think you should know..." annotation that's more characters than a tweet can even be seems like this implies that the medium itself has a flaw baked into it. threads exist, sure, but when they're circulated, you only see the first tweet.

i know hindsight is 20/20 here as with anything, but maybe "shaq is here and he's tweeting! come hang out with shaq" was not a good early selling point, because you're basically just telling people that they now how access to some degree of power they wouldn't have otherwise. it's true to some extent, but we were never going to get anything but mixed results from this. this overlaps with moderation a bit, but some random woman on twitter reposting other people's tiktoks and that effecting policy decisions is something it's hard to see happening with other websites. a pundit like matt walsh wouldn't have anywhere near the influence he does if he wasn't a frequent twitter user. and it has this weird knock-on effect where everything there feels more urgent, so someone is more likely to "ratio" walsh or LoTT when in reality, it's probably a better idea to just block them and not give their pages any engagement. it'd be best to remove them from the platform entirely, but i don't think twitter would have done that even if musk never bought it and maybe all we realistically can do in the face of that is to not drive up their posts' metrics. i get the feeling that the original team's decisions not to remove them was because they farm outrage, which keeps people using their app, which makes them money. it raises the question, though: is there a way to "vote with your dollar" in a way that meaningfully influences platform moderation? would a better way to influence this outcome be to put more pressure on google play and the app store?

these are all mostly opinions i have which are in relative infancy, and i'm not super committed to any of them before i develop them a bit more. but the "it's only a moderation issue" angle just seems like a very incomplete analysis here.

[ranger-kellyn]

One thing I haven't seen cross my dash is a "how to" tutorial for how to change your icon and header, and I mean. I've been here since 2011, so I'm well versed in this, but I have no clue how the website guides any new users. Maybe it's not nearly as intuitive as I think it is. Genuinely, no judgement here.

So have one I threw together while putting off an email. This is for DESKTOP. Maybe I'll make an app version as well, but I'm hoping that the app maybe guides you if you've just signed up on it.

First you go to the pencil icon in the top right corner of your dash.

It then gives you this drop down menu, and you want to hit Edit Appearance at the bottom.

From there, it takes you to this. You want to hit Edit appearance in the right corner of your blog. ( also recommend enabling custom theme, but that's a post for another day)

Once you've hit that, there's two pencils you can click. The one on the upper right, below Cancel and Save lets you edit the header.

Like this. You can play with the stretch header image toggle to see if it works better for whatever picture you choose. You can zoom in and reposition however you like.

The bottom pencil over your icon will bring up this. If you toggle Show avatar off, it just won't display your icon whenever someone clicks to preview your blog, it'll still be visible on the dash. You can change the shape to either circle or square. It's all personal preference.

Make sure you hit save and you're good!

I also recommend at least putting something in the header text. I obv have some Taylor Swift lyrics on the top, and then some very basic info about myself in the main body. You can put as much or as little as you like. You don't have to put your legal name. I know some people I follow have just a random quote or sentence there, and nothing else, and I personally don't think anything of it. But just put something to at least indicate you're a real person. Even something like "idk what i'm doing here". Yep. Sounds like the average tumblr user to me lmao (until the bots pick that up and well...if you have enough genuine posts on your blog you should still be safe)

And if I can give any other advice for newcomers: You're not here to be popular. You're not here for clout. You're here to be you. You don't have to give anyone you know IRL your url. Be free. Something something release your inhibitions, feel the rain on your skin and all that.

Also, get the XKit extension. It has a ton of handy features like the mass unliker, quick reblogs, some accessibility features, and my personal favorite: post blocker. (Goodbye color of the sky shitpost) Most of XKit, though, you'll have to play with on your own to find out what you do and don't like.

[astralis-is-typing]

5 reasons why I love @aakomii

hi hi! it was my twinny's special day a few days ago (well ex-twin bc she decided to age up😔✋) and this is a short appreciation post for the girl who kept me on this app, and can't maintain one theme for more than 3 weeks❤

1) mood maker: talking to ari really energizes me. her spirit is so positive, it's beautiful really. whenever we get time to chat she always leaves me in a better mood than she found me in. i'll never forget the day we were at it for like, 2 hours straight just sending felix memes back and forth💀💀 long story short, I'm so grateful for having her in my life. even if it's from half way across the globe yk😔 there's nothing like a 'bad day' when she's online ♥

2) great storyteller: there are aspects to ari's writing style that i just have to take this opportunity to commend. her stories are really well paced and it's almost impossible to get bored mid-read. ari's also AMAZING at smaus by the way. she manages to keep their cute appeal and at the same time make them intriguing by adding enough drama. in addition, the determination ari has towards her work, even when she's deep in writer's block or lack of motivation, is simply admirable.(can't spell admire without ari tho😻). i know it's all 'just fanfiction', but this trait speaks volumes about the awesome person she surely is even outside of tumblr.

3) AMAZING event host: any time user aakomii has an event, you just know it'll be a success. and she makes them so INTERESTING?? (i still remember the 1k followers one *sobs*) the way she builds on requests is so enticing to read, because she takes these ideas and goes crazy with them in the best way. my girl has a big brain and i'm saur proud of her for it.

4) random rants and life updates: ari's page is full of little adventures that give her blog so much personality :((( it warms my heart so much pls. sometimes i'll just search up her tag ('ari's talking') to catch up on what i missed. i think the current struggle is the insane prices for enha's concert tickets so pls keep her in your thoughts and prayers y'all💀✋

5) in love with choi beomgyu: this girl is chronically and irreversibly obsessed with beomgyu and i love how unapologetic she is about it💀💀 i honestly don't think she'd give a flying fuck if anyone tried to drag her for it bfjukslhkidi she'd probably just be like "and what about it?" and just keep living on w/ life yk😭 it's gotten to a point where i see gyu and immediately think of her lmfao

⚝⚝⚝⚝⚝

happy belated birthday ari★

thought i could make a fun tag game out of this bc she loves those ;) tagging @itz-yerin bc she's my only moot who knows ari too lmao. if you're reading this and you're her moot too pls feel free to join in on the fun and hopefully make her day ♥

[97-liners]

hi little radish i got a question for you because i have seen you talk about this before. i have been on this website for over 10 years (dont look at me) and i have sent so much feedback about new features on this website and have never gotten any responses. is this normal? i know you also work in the field so i was wondering about it. the recent changes and features like Live are so annoying to me and i have given constructive and concise explanations and reasons for why i dont think they work and have never gotten ANY responses... not sure what the point of sending feedback or questions to this website even is anymore :/ not that i will stop either lol im gonna complain if i dont like something! they better read it tho

i think it really depends on the size of the support team and the company culture towards support.... i switched jobs actually and my new company has literally billions of users and i have no idea how support tickets and forums get back to the dev teams. but in my old company, the volume of issues submitted associated w/ a certain feature or functionaity would definitely influence the priority of the dev fix, and it was customary to give each piece of feedback at least a cursory acknowledgement, even if it's vague like "thanks for the feedback, we'll take that into consideration"

still submit feedback tho bc complaining in random posts or in the notes of your reblogs from @/changes doesn't do anything. i'm like 99% sure it's not even getting looked at. because that's just not where feedback usually goes, and end-users always hate change even if it's good change, and stuff like tumblr posts just ends up being white noise.

i actually have gotten responses on my tumblr feedback before! but the last time that happened was in february of 2021. none of my more recent tickets have been responded to by a human, which doesn't mean it's not getting seen. but it's also not very encouraging :(

[gigglyramblings]

Extraordinary Attorney Woo & Representation

Okay so I first wrote this as a reply to another Tumblr user but I thought I would make to it into a post expanding on my thoughts on this subject and share it because I think it's something that needs to be said.

I don't know if I'm stepping out of bounds by saying this but I feel like I should still say it.  First I'm not autistic but I am physically disabled.  And I think we should have realistic expectations when expecting media to portray minorities. 

Like  I can name so many instances where a physically disabled character was not portrayed by an actor who is actually physically disabled and if I held that against that piece of media I would have less representation then I already have.

Yes I understand that is empowering for us to see those in our fellow communities portray these characters however I feel like it's a bit much to expect that right out of the gate.  We have to start somewhere and from everything that I've seen from this drama this seems like a near-perfect starting point because you can feel the drama's sincerity towards the subject. 

Also I really didn't want to bring this up but I feel like it is a valid point, don't forget this is Korea like it's not that progressive.  For example, they literally elected a president who is staunchly anti-feminist so it feels like a bit of a miracle that a drama like this could even be made with this much care put into it.

And before anyone that reads this thinks I'm bashing Korea I'm not. Hollywood isn't much better like I literally pointed out above. Perhaps a more pertinent example would be actor Freddie Highmore who plays an autistic doctor in the award-winning television series The Good Doctor which coincidentally is also adopted from a kdrama of the same name and I'm pretty sure Freddie Highmore himself isn't autistic.

I'm not trying to start anything or get into a fight. I think it is completely valid to hold the fact that an autistic actress isn't playing the role against this drama. However I think it's ultimately it is a little counterproductive to completely dismiss this drama or refuse to watch it solely due to this fact; as positive activism on these issues have to start somewhere and more often than not they won't have a perfect start but if we keep demanding a perfect start it may never get started because few things in life are ever perfect.

I hope I didn't overstep my bounds or offend anyone in the autistic community in anyway because that's certainly not my intention I just wanted to share my perspective as someone who is not apart of the autistic community but is a minority.

Also because I am not autistic I have been trying my best to read and take into account the opinions of actual autistics who are watching this drama. I feel like this post is really relevant in this case as an actual autistic viewer voices their opinion on the issue of representation. I have obtained their permission to share.

Lastly, I hope people don't completely write off this drama because someone that knows someone who is autistic says this is not a accurate or great portrayal of autistic individuals. Please remember autistic individuals aren't a monolith and most importantly it's always best to go to a primary source for information when possible and is definitely possible in this case as there are tons of autistic people sharing their opinions on this show. I'm not saying that relatives or friends of autistic people can't have an opinion about the show or that somehow their opinions are invalid I'm simply saying please don't let their voices overpower the voices of actual autistics.

Speaking personally I know I would be pretty annoyed if someone went to my mom or my brother or my sister asking about what it's like to have a disability because they don't have actual lived experience they may know more than a random person off the street but it's still not the same and if you take their word as gospel you're not being a good ally.

Seriously if you want to know what it's like to live as a member of a certain community simply ask them. They have their own voices allow them to use it.

[lacunasbalustrade]

your writing is so nice and i need to read more of your fics desperately. i really admire your speaking/typing style and such, it has good vibes in general. i can tell you're passionate about the things you care about and it's very contagious!! and lastly, your blog has old vibes... it's very nostalgic, i appreciate it, it's like coming home after a long day. i hope to talk to you more since i love fcbf and cfv too.

Me *blinks*.

so someone actually saw that post? *Blinks again.*

[inside head: i know very few people who love both FCBF and CFV, but I still can't guess who this is. Does that make me clueless? Or am I just.....*gasp* a cinnamon roll? Nope, that's probably quite self-absorbed haha.]

First, thank you for replying to my post- you made my day today! The Tumblr of my mutuals has been pretty inactive, so I've been rolling around on my bed like a hamster in depression ʕ⁠っ⁠•⁠ᴥ⁠•⁠ʔ⁠っ

Answering this post may be the highlight of my time here so far. Frankly, I'm a bit needy tbh - I love user engagement and knowing that someone cares to remember what I've been posting!

Although I have no idea who you could be, I can say with 200% certainty that I would love to talk to you more. PM me anytime, tag me anytime, I'm always up for it- if you're willing to drop me your username too, I'll try and get in touch with you as well!

I'm extremely gratified to hear that you like my fics! I think I reblogged a Neil Gaiman quote on this blog before that pretty much attests to how I feel.

"making art is akin to sending out bottles with messages in them into the sea."

"and now, the bottles are coming back."

Yours is the first bottle I've gotten on Tumblr, and THAT. That is a milestone for me. It's so encouraging to know that you value my writing, that someone is taking the time to flip through the online pages of rhetoric and prose I type out at random times, that someone is looking forward to seeing more of these pages.

It's almost as if I'm making a small promise with that person, that makes me feel just a little less alone. I'll do my best to continue producing fics :D

Also, I'm glad I passed your vibe check! I do try my best to reread my typing to make sure I don't inadvertently offend anyone, so I'm pretty relieved to hear that I have succeeded....to some extent. ᕙ⁠(⁠ ⁠~⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠~⁠ ⁠)⁠ᕗ

Besides that, I'm

Exultant.

To know that my passion is contagious. This is the sort of contagion that's good, right? Healthy, obsessive contagion that inspires one to spend their nighttime scrolling through Tumblr till 6 am instead of sleeping....good contagion indeed, for my mental state if not for my physical health.

That said, I'll probably try and coax my passion into a better sleep schedule too.

And last but not least - my blog brings up nostalgia for you?

Hmm. That may or may not be a product of how I constantly skate through the timeline of Tumblr, reblogging posts that are years old.

Tee-hee. 🌟

Like coming home after a long day.... I'm positively flattered to receive such a compliment. Old is gold, right? Speaking honestly, I'm truly happy that my blog brings back good memories for you.

Let's talk some more sometime soon 💕💖🥰

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

11, 23, 36, 46, 59, 88, and 96 for Dany and Robin, please?

11. Do they have a romantic interest?

not really initially bc that is decidedly Not Dany's priority at ALL and Robin isn't looking for it either, but later on, yeah, they're each other's romantic interest.

23. Do they like children?

Dany... she's basically indifferent?? she'll be kind to them if she happens to be around any, but she's not one of those people who actively enjoys kids. Robin also I think is probably indifferent but he's also *better* with kids than Dany is.

36. How is their family life?

Dany is really close with her family. they're the driving force behind most of the things she does in the story — she's trying really hard to get back to them.

as for Robin, his family was just... kinda nondescript. upper middle class, he went to a prep school and even though he always loved his parents and knew they loved him, they were never really close. he had his life and they had theirs. once he went off to college he kinda fell out of contact with them and like, it's a bit sad and maybe he wishes he'd have reached out more, but also it's not something that really deeply hurts or affects him.

46. When is their birthday?

Dany's is sometime in late autumn or early winter, I don't know exactly when at the mo'. Robin... probably around mid-summer?

59. Do they have a phrase they use over and over?

ok for Dany idk??? I feel like "i don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to" is a thing she says basically anytime she's intimidated, but like, a specific phrase that's kind of her thing??? idk maybe just that she occasionally talks like a Tumblr user lol, stuff like "go off then" or such. I don't think Robin has any phrases that stand out either tbh, they kind of bounce off each other a lot so I'm sure there's recurring jokes or comments. Dany calls him "Red" sometimes bc he referenced Tim Drake (Red Robin) when they first met. (shoutout to @called-kept and @brown-little-robin for giving me the rundown on Tim btw shdksjskshs)

88. Are they organized or messy?

Dany's fairly organized but not like, meticulous or anything. she keeps things tidy so she can find them easily. Robin prefers things tidy and will go through and organize bc he likes things clean and neat in general.

89. Can they remember a lot of information at once?

depends on what it's about. Dany and Robin have a consistent stream of consciousness rapport about various random trivia/science fiction/stories or whatever else. they both have a lot of random knowledge. I like to think either one of them could win at Jeopardy.

96. Do they have a stash of weapons?

Dany absolutely does. she carries most of them on her person at almost all times and has some more in her bag. Robin... not so much snsksjsk he's a bit clueless but Dany eventually gives him a knife and lets him carry her revolver if she thinks they might run into trouble.

the thing about Dany and weapons is that like yeah, a lot of it is just practical. it's the end of the world, basically, she needs to be able to 1) get food and 2) protect herself if she has to. but she's almost obsessive about it because she's so scared of what could happen to her, she depends a lot on her weaponry (and the knowledge that she's capable of using them) as almost as much of a security blanket as her Big Brown Coat Is. but not quite.

100 OC asks

[drheartstealer]

hi i never been diagnosed but before i had the classic bpd explosive and it switched to quiet! grain of salt because my “professional” also said i don’t freak out so i can’t have it but sometimes you read enough and well you just know yourself! anyways some symptoms ive had since moving towards that is i have abandonment issues so i don’t get close to most people because their words can influence my emotions easily, i don’t lash out anymore but blame myself quickly, suicidality that i keep to myself, i people please, i have anxiety, honestly you can still self harm even if you don’t cut so that was very naive to say (overspending, talking to people who don’t respect you, isolating so on.) usually googling quiet bpd reddit but generally it’s just a lot of keeping to yourself it manifests differently but i still have the explosive emotions i just express them better with close people or i dissociate when i can’t explain my emotions… just a random perspective i wish you luck discouraged borderline is a thing and valid also you could just have reached remission without knowing

Hi! Thanks so much for sharing!

If I have BPD, I think I'm at the age and stage where I'm in remission, because I heard Dr K say that the rate of remission is pretty high. I was in a stable relationship for years (it ended, sadly), and Im actually quite old compared to many tumblr users. I worked on myself for a long time, too. But I still have some traits.

I'm just not super sure if I have all the symptoms or have them severe enough to have BPD.

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[keepthisholykiss]

Okay it's time, here's my gtfo of Tumblr post

Since Tumblr was previously my most active social media website I figure I will make a proper post to pin about my move off-site. By Jan 1 this blog will be deleted entirely. If you want to find me elsewhere now is the time. Here's the list of places to find me and how often I'll be around them!

My new website! - This is hands down the easiest place to find me. I am creating my website from the ground up so it's a mess but in an endearing way. I've even made my first blog post here. This website will essentially function how my Tumblr previously did. I will post blogs about random things, add updates on projects, create and publish free educational resources, and more! I do not have an RSS (yet?) so the easiest way to follow me is via a neocities account.

Cohost - Of the many twitter alts out there I like cohost the best. I have fun with it, I'm slowly finding my feet there, and I think the vibes are generally good. I do not follow nearly enough folks yet so if you follow me here please let's be mutuals there! I plan to use it much like twitter with lots of one-off thoughts. I am only still on twitter to stay up to date with activism stuff so it's really not worth plugging my twitter now.

Instagram - This is one of the only "big" socials I am active on. It's best to follow me here for activism stuff, cooking, and art as those are basically the only things I post there. If you want to follow me on IG please DM me because I am selective with who I trust to follow me there as I post more IRL things there.

...and that's it! Unless another weird niche semi-old-internet vibe type thing comes out I will only be in those three places from now on. I have been a tumblr user with few breaks since 2008 across a variety of accounts and niches. I don't know that I ever thought I would leave tumblr "for good" but it's way past time. My work in activism will continue offline largely or in ways I'm not talking about here.

Since I won't have time or space to post it in the new year (and like only 2 IRLs follow me here) we are relocating to Oregon next year for probably our last major move ever unless we end up needing (and having the means lol) to leave the country. I am also leaving 4-year institution work which is very exciting for me. Our journey in moving, my journey in finding my place in alternative educational lenses, and more will be covered largely on my blog and in other places I'm sure. So if any of that interests you feel free to follow me off this website. I also have heard something about tumblr dying (again) which lol, lmao even. I truly don't care how true or not that is, please know my intention in leaving has nothing to do with that and has everything to do with being a marketable number for them.

In closing, fuck tumblr, fuck staff, fuck specifically the bitch who runs emporium and tricked all these kids into dumping funds into a website that hates them. Fuck zionists, fuck transphobes, fuck racists, fuck neoliberal apologists, and fuck anyone who is trying to shame you into shutting up about the lives of people who deserve to live. Also organize within your communities and find ways to disengage from the economy and create a better future.

My wish is that every oppressed nation of beautiful people will be free now and forever, that land goes back to who it belongs to, and that some day capitalism will not ruin art, community, and love the way it has on this website and across the world.