#if you have a subscription don't tell me

[captainofthetidesbreath]

peeking ahead on the episode list for Midst and this week's subscriber episode

The temptation to subscribe JUST to peek ahead at this episode and see whether Spahr is okay (well, he's not okay, I know this already, but you know...) is SO MUCH. It does NOT help that episode 16 looks like a Saskia episode, and I miss her.

[sixpossumsinaclownsuit]

[arcaneyouth]

i hate corporations i hate subscription models i hate confusing websites designed to keep every last cent you don't want to give them i hate web hosting services i hate "you can cancel this but you should buy this instead or else you'll be in danger" i hate not being able to find the cancellation button i hate feedback forms i hate existing in the corporate world i'd rather die

[ginkovskij]

i was like "i'm watching this series, it's called shōgun" just to make conversation that wasn't about toshirō mifune for novelty and my colleague asked me if it was on n*tflix and i was like. i don't know, i pirate watched it. and he went on "i have a subscription to any possible streaming service it must be somewhere". ok dude i just told you i pirate shit.

[tayloralisonswift]

i made these as wallpapers for my desktop, and thought i'd share :)

[astralazuli]

I need new undergarments. Which is like. My personal hell as a fat enby with sensory issues & slightly hindered mobility. Spent some time today digging through page after page of google search trying to find something &...

Look, I'm just saying. Whoever keeps deciding to list their brands as "size inclusive" & "plus size" when their largest size is a women's 14?

I think fat people should be allowed to hunt them for sport.

[fordp1nes]

thinking about my true love again (CDs)

[thedarklyblue]

ughhhh

[subzeroiceskater]

"Have you considered you're a bad writer and nobody owes you shit"

Both of my gifts got more bookmarks (meaning any) and kudos (breaking double digits) than any of my gifts

OH COME ON

Well, yes, he is the best obviously but seriously

[captainofthetidesbreath]

Critical Role Campaign 3 🤝 Midst Season 3 (but also Season 1) apparently, we're gonna blow up some crystals (on the moon)

[adventures-in-a-world-of-fiction]

I've seen a couple of comments from someone around paying Tumblr for stuff that I want to address. I'm not going to mention the person who made these comments because I'm not trying to pick a fight, but I think they're worth talking about. The comments in question are: "you think user money is anything compared to advertisers" and in a pinned post they tell people to not give money to Tumblr.

The thing is, user money can definitely be something compared to advertisers. There are multiple ways that an online company (in general, not just Tumblr) can make money, but let's break them down into three categories:

A. From the users - selling merchandise, subscriptions, premium packages, asking for donations, etc.

B. From advertisers - selling views and space on the platform to companies that use it to try and sell stuff to the users

C. From data - selling information about the user base to other companies that might use it in a whole bunch of dodgy and malicious ways, or just try to find better ways to sell stuff to us

All three of these are viable ways for a company to make money, and many companies use some combination of the above. What matters is what the company sees as their PRIMARY method of making money, because that is what drives their corporate decisions.

If none of the methods are making money, the company will shut down, and I don't want Tumblr to shut down - I like this hellsite. If option B is what makes them the most money, then they will make business decisions that make the platform look better to advertisers and this is likely to drive everything in a more algorithm-centric direction and give users fewer options to curate their own experience. If option C is what makes them the most money, then they will focus on features that enable privacy invasion and data harvesting. If option A is what makes them the most money, then they have to think about how to keep the users spending that money. Now, option A doesn't always lead to good outcomes - in mobile/online games it can end up as loot box gambling add-ins and pay-to-win options, but thankfully Tumblr isn't the sort of site where loot box mechanics would make a lot of sense. Which makes it more likely they'll go the other option: delivering the features that users want to keep them coming back and paying for subscriptions. 

I would much rather Tumblr goes for option A than options B or C because it means that Tumblr is more likely to put the user base first when making decisions instead of advertisers. We just need to show them that it's a viable option.

Tumblr is trying what online games have done for years - crabs and checkmarks are the equivalent of horse armour DLCs and cosmetics. They're trying to make the business work through microtransactions. If enough people spend a small amount, it can add up to a large amount of money. The point of crab day is to send a message to Tumblr that option A is viable so that they make the choice to focus on that. If everyone goes, "No, don't spend money on Tumblr, you're nothing compared to advertisers," then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and Tumblr will have to go with options B or C if they want to keep making money.

I'm not giving Tumblr money out of naivety or because I think they're somehow deserving - I'm giving them my money because I would much rather they make money directly from me and give them an incentive to provide features I like, than by making the site worse so that they can exploit me.

[apollosdaydreams]

Let Me In

Lando Norris x Reader

Summary: You are dating Lando Norris, you love him don’t get me wrong but sometimes he can be a bit forgetful. Lando loves to game when he's not busy with racing, often streaming while he plays. When he streams it's like the outside world doesn't exist. You were coming over and you had forgotten your keys to his place, and Lando had his phone on silent. 

Warnings: None fluff, adult language. I have no clue how twitch works so sorry if i get that wrong.  

Word Count: 590

You were currently standing outside Lando’s apartment, you had forgotten your keys and were waiting for him to answer his phone. As time went by you realized that he wasn't going to answer his phone. So you went on twitter and saw that lando was streaming on twitch. You sighed out loud and rolled your eyes. Mumbling on how forgetful he can be when you put a screen in front of his face. 

“Fucking I-Pad kid” You mummbled to you self, while slightly laughing at your situation, of course this would happen to you. It wasn't even Lando’s fault, you had forgotten the keys. 

While standing outside his door thinking what to do, you decided that you should see if he would see your comment. So you downloaded twitch and made an account. You then looked up his account and followed him, you clicked on the live and waited. Nothing happened. So you decided that the next best thing was to subscribe, so you put in your credit card info and then it went through. You then saw that you could add a message. On the screen it read “y/n y/l/n has subscribed! Please let me in Lando. :)” 

“Oh shit!” Lando said while laughing. “My girlfriend! She's on twitch telling me to open the door!” I'll be back guys. You laughed to yourself and stood there waiting. You then saw the door opening. You pretend to look mad, but that only lasted about a second before you both bursted out laughing. 

“I'm sorry baby.” He said while hugging you and pulling you into the apartment. 

“It's fine lands, it's my fault anyway I'm the one who forgot the keys.” You told him.

“But I should have been looking at my phone.” He said, while walking back to his streaming room. 

“Lando, look at me. It's fine. It's my fault, honestly it's actually hilarious.” You told him while laughing. “You better get back to you steam babe, don't want to keep them waiting for too long.” You said. 

“I'll be done soon love.” He said, before he left he kissed you and then went back into his streaming room. 

You decided to have fun watching him on your phone, as you had to pay, better put it to good use. You sat in the living room on the couch, waiting for Lando to be done streaming. 

“Sorry guys, I'm back.” Lando said. “My girlfriend was locked out of my apartment, so I had to go save her.” He said. “She had to subscribe to me!” He laughed. “I gained a subscription so I'm happy!”

You laughed out loud at this, you didn't realize how loud you laughed until you heard Lando addressing you on the stream. “Sorry guys, that was my girlfriend.” He said with the biggest smile on his face. After a few minutes of his staying on Twitch, he told the viewers that it was time for him to go hang out with you, his girlfriend. You turned off your phone and saw him walking into the living room.

“Hi baby.” He said while flopping down on the couch, his head laying in your lap. You moved your hand to his head, running your hand through his curls. 

“Hey lands.” 

“I'm sorry.”

“Lando, if you say sorry one more time I'm going to leave.” you jokingly said. “Don't feel sorry, it’s my fault I'm the idiot who forgot my keys.” 

“I love you so much,” Lando said.

“You are sleeping on the couch tonight.” You said. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this, it would be greatly appreciated if you would like, comment and repost this!! Sorry about the end it was kinda rushed. Sorry for not posting much, I'm busy with college but Thanksgiving break is happening soon, so I hope to write a lot during that time. If you guys have any ideas for me, my requests are still open!! 

Request Guidlines 

© 2023 on tumblr apollosdaydreams do not translate/remake/repost my works in any platform without authorized permission.

[ms-demeanor]

One thing that I keep seeing whenever I make posts that are critical of macs is folks in the notes going "they make great computers for the money if you just buy used/refurbs - everyone knows not to buy new" and A) no they don't know that, most people go looking for a new computer unless they have already exhausted the new options in their budget and B) no they don't make great computers for the money, and being used doesn't do anything to make them easier to work on or repair or upgrade.

Here's a breakdown of the anti-consumer, anti-repair features recently introduced in macbooks. If you don't want to watch the video, here's how it's summed up:

In the end the Macbook Pro is a laptop with a soldered-on SSD and RAM, a battery secured with glue, not screws, a keyboard held in with rivets, a display and lid angle sensor no third party can replace without apple. But it has modular ports so I guess that’s something. But I don’t think it’s worthy of IFixIt’s four out of ten reparability score because if it breaks you have to face apple’s repair cost; with no repair competition they can charge whatever they like. You either front the cost, or toss the laptop, leaving me wondering “who really owns this computer?”

Apple doesn't make great computers for the money because they are doing everything possible to make sure that you don't actually own your computer, you just lease the hardware from apple and they determine how long it is allowed to function.

The lid angle sensor discussed in this video replaces a much simpler sensor that has been used in laptops for twenty years AND calibrating the sensor after a repair requires access to proprietary apple software that isn't accessible to either users or third party repair shops. There's no reason for this software not to be included as a diagnostic tool on your computer except that Apple doesn't want users working on apple computers. If your screen breaks, or if the fragile cable that is part of the sensor wears down, your only option to fix this computer is to pay apple.

How long does apple plan to support this hardware? What if you pay $3k for a computer today and it breaks in 7 years - will they still calibrate the replacement screen for you or will they tell you it's time for new hardware EVEN THOUGH YOU COULD HAVE ATTAINED FUNCTIONAL HARDWARE THAT WILL WORK IF APPLE'S SOFTWARE TELLS IT TO?

Look at this article talking about "how long" apple supports various types of hardware. It coos over the fact that a 2013 MacBook Air could be getting updates to this day. That's the longest example in this article, and that's *hardware* support, not the life cycle of the operating system. That is dogshit. That is straight-up dogshit.

Apple computers are DRM locked in a way that windows machines only wish they could pull off, and the apple-only chips are a part of that. They want an entirely walled garden so they can entirely control your interactions with the computer that they own and you're just renting.

Even if they made the best hardware in the world that would last a thousand years and gave you flowers on your birthday it wouldn't matter because modern apple computers don't ever actually belong to apple customers, at the end of the day they belong to apple, and that's on purpose.

This is hardware as a service. This is John Deere. This is subscription access to the things you buy, and if it isn't exactly that right at this moment, that is where things have been heading ever since they realized it was possible to exert a control that granular over their users.

With all sympathy to people who are forced to use them, Fuck Apple I Hope That They Fall Into The Ocean And Are Hidden Away From The Honest Light Of The Sun For Their Crimes.

[lou-struck]

A Demonic Plus One

Mammon x reader

~At long last, your mail arrives in the Devildom. Along with it, some exciting news from an old friend that brings you and a date to the human world.

W.C. 1.9k

You have just made yourself a cup of tea in the kitchen of the House of Lamination when a weak tapping on the front door catches your attention. 

A visitor?

You think that a house guest is unlikely since everyone is home, and no one mentioned any last-minute dinner guests in your group chat. Not to mention, Mammon is cooking dinner tonight, so it's not like random demons are beating down the door to taste the Avatar of Greeds cooking. 

You set your still steaming cup on the tabletop and approach the front door with caution; you are in the Devildom, after all.

You twist the massive door knob and pull to see an exhausted-looking Little D Number 2 hunched over on your porch. He leans against a large cloth bag that he must've hauled all the way up the large stone steps. Your eyes widen in shock as you feel impressed with the little dude; the bag is nearly double its size. 

When his bright, shadowy gaze meets yours, his pointed teeth take the form of a large smile. "Mc," it pants, struggling to catch its breath. "I have some mail for you from the human world," it says with a shadowy smile.

"Mail?" you ask, your brows shooting upward. Come to think of it, you rarely get mail. You thought that the postal system was limited to just the human world. "I still get that?"

"You sure do," it beams. Apparently, Papa was supposed to give you the code to your enchanted P.O. box but never got around to it. So it's been slowly filling up with mail for the last year or so without anyone realizing it."

"Oh dear," you murmur, wondering briefly if you paid off your last credit card bill before you were unexpectedly whisked away to the Devildom. 

"Yeah, Barbatos was really mad when he found out about it. Don't tell him I told you this, but he was sulking all morning, mumbling to himself about how  he should've never trusted Papa with such an important job."

"He puts far too much pressure on himself," you say softly; guilty thoughts begin to plague your mind as you imagine Barbatos, the perfectionist, burdening himself with the weight of this minor inconvenience. "Thank you for bringing me this; please tell Barbatos not to worry so much."

"Will do; I'm sure that if it's coming from you, he will listen," he says, shucking the cloth bag off his little shoulder. 

"Would you like to come inside for some tea before you go?" you ask gently, thinking of your own cup alone in the other room.

"Thank you for the offer, but I have to get back to the palace." he declines your offer hesitantly and scampers away, his little golden horns glittering under the light of the street lamps until he disappears into the darkness, leaving you with so much freaking mail. 

You sling the bag over your shoulder and head off to your room, passing Mammon in the kitchen, who is on cooking duty. He eyes your bag with curiosity and turns away from the vegetables he had been cutting. 

"What ya got there, Mc?" he asks. 

"Lots of mail," you laugh, shooting him a teasing grin. "I guess someone forgot to tell me about a P.O. box or something when I first moved here."

He pales and casts his eyes to the ground. "I dunno who would do that to' ya, but whoever did it probably forgot and didn't mean anythin by it."

"Well then, I guess all is forgiven." you laugh, walking across the threshold of your bedroom doorway and over to your bed, where you dump the contents of your bag onto the comforter. Paper hits fabric with a thwack and you dig through the pile as Mammon curiously peeks just beyond your doorframe. Apparently, junk mail can still find its way to hell. So can the magazine subscriptions you forgot about. The pile, although initially intimidating, turns out to be fairly easy to sort through.

Nearing the end of the pile, a bright purple envelope catches your eye. There are no other envelopes that size or color, so you find yourself drawn to it. You tear it open and see that it is a wedding invitation for one of your closest friends in the human world.

Back when you last saw her, she was head over heels for her new boyfriend, who seemed to absolutely adore her. 

Apparently their relationship has only gotten stronger than that day because now it looks like they are getting married. 

Your heart drops to your stomach as you scan the invite for the wedding date.

Did you miss it?

Finally, you will find it in tiny golden font on the back of the invite. The wedding is in a few months, and there is still plenty of time for you to send in an RSVP.  Additionally, you have the opportunity to bring a date with you as a plus one.

"That letter is different lookin'," Mammon says, peeking over your shoulder. You have no idea how long he has been standing there. 

"It's an invitation. One of my friends is getting married." You smile, showing him the invitation with a smile. "And it looks like I will be able to make it.

"And what's that thing right there?" His tan fingers touch the golden font of the box you can fill out for your plus one.

"That just means I can bring a guest as a date," you explain, watching in fascination as the Demon's eyes brighten at the mention of you needing a date.

"Well, since ya seem to need one, how about ya take The Great Mammon to the weddin. After all, I am yer first. I should be the first to go with you." 

"That is some logic you have there Mammon," you smile. "I guess you should clear your calendar for three months from now."

"R-really?" he asks, his cheeks turning bright pink. "Y-ya mean it?"

You nod, "I would love it if you came with me."

He laughs. "Well then, if ya want me to go so badly, I guess I'll go with ya." his tsundere mannerisms bring a smile to your face until a thin wisp of smoke wafts under your nose. 

Someone forgot about the dinner they were cooking.

-

After months of anticipation, today is the day. Your stomach still feels uneasy from the portal Diavolo conjured up for you, but you made it to the wedding venue. Looking around, you see at least one hundred guests, and you know exactly zero of them. 

This is actually kinda nice because if you kept running into people you knew, you would have to awkwardly explain the details about your mysterious disappearance. 

Mammon, looking rather snazzy in his suit, is very interested in the large table of presents for the Bride and Groom. 

"Mc, check out all those gifts," he smiles, taking a sip of one of the signature cocktails from the open bar, "maybe we should get married. We'd make a killin'."

"Is that a proposal?" you humm, gently placing your hand on his arm and toying playfully with the golden rings that adorn his fingers. 

He shudders under your tender touch, and you see his cheeks turn a deep crimson. "I was just sayin' that I wouldn't be the worst idea I ever had."

The soft chime of a bell prevents you from teasing your Demon anymore. You look up and see a very stressed man holding a clipboard like it's his lifeline. He must be the coordinator. 

"All guests are now invited to take their seats; the ceremony will begin shortly," he says before scurrying away. 

"I guess we should find our seats," you say to the Demon, pulling him away from the gifts before he gets a bit too curious about their contents and tries to dig around.

You walk through the venue's vibrant grounds to the pristine rows of white chairs. A few people are already sitting and talking amongst themselves as classical piano music sails through the air. 

"Dang, is there gonna be a sacrifice or something up there?" Mammon asks, gesturing over to the elegant wooden archway at the end of the aisle. As you take your seats just behind the rows reserved for family. As the rest of the guests follow behind you.

"No Mammon," you say in a hushed whisper, worried that his strange questions with garner some unwanted attention from the other wedding guests. "that's where the wedding ceremony will be taking place."

"Ohh, that makes sense," he nods just as the music begins to play. 

An elderly officiant hobbles down the aisle, escorted by someone who looks vaguely familiar. You recognize him from the wedding invite as the groom. The poor guy looks absolutely nervous but there is an eagerness in his disposition that makes you smile.

Although you have been a bit preoccupied this last year or so, you still care greatly for your friends and want them to live a life full of happiness. You can tell just by looking at him that your friend has found their person. 

"Mc, are they getting married?" Mammon whispers, leaning in close to you. "The lady looks like his granny."

"Because she is his Grandmother, Mammon." you whisper back. "She is just conducting the ceremony."

"Ohhh, I see," he says, although you reckon he doesn't really know what's going on at all, but he is having a good time all the same. 

"Oi, mc?" he whispers as a little boy who looks to be no older than three years old walks up the aisle with little legs. "How old is that kid? Are ya sure he is old enough to be getting married?"

His question makes you dangerously close to bursting out laughing in the middle of the ceremony. And you have to cover your mouth to contain the outburst. "No Mammon, that's the ring bearer." you explain softly, "their job is to carry the rings down the aisle and give them to the groom for the ceremony."

He sighs in relief, "Good, I thought I was gonna have ta step in there for a second."

You shush him quietly as the music changes and the bride, your childhood friend, takes her first step down the aisle. 

You never thought you would be that person who cries at weddings, but when you see your friend looking absolutely stunning in her wedding dress, it brings a tear to your eye.

~

Mammon doesn't really get why everyone is making such a big deal about the girl in white walking down the aisle, but he assumes that she must be the bride everyone is talking about.

She just seems like a normal human. 

All of a sudden, he hears the faint sound of a sniffle coming from your seat. 

Are you upset about something?

His eyes widen in concern, and his head snaps to look at you worriedly and see that your eyes are brimming with tears. He has no idea why you are crying, but he is overcome by an almost primal urge to comfort you. He reaches across your lap to grab your hand. You take his hand almost immediately and give it a squeeze. 

He knows that you're okay, but he refuses to let go of your hand. 

How can he when there is so much love in the air?

Tagging: @sleepyyshroom, @i-need-to-go-like-mangogo, @starbby, @sarah22447, @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf ,  @ourfinalisation, @anjodedesgostoeerros, @isaacdaknight @qardasngan

[theycalledhimastar]

You guys seemed to like the last one, so here, more weird shit except with my darling dearest husband, Captain Price.

☄. *.

We all kinda knew this already, but this man snores something horrendous. Like he sounds like the tiktok audio of someone's dad snoring. You thought it wasn't possible to be kept up by snoring this loud until you slept in the same room as John.

LIKE BABY BOY YOU NEED TO GET THAT CHECKED OUT THAT IS NOT NATURAL

Sneezes equally loud too, although I'm not really saying anything the rest of the fandom hasn't already, so let's get specific, shall we?

Watches the news and reads the newspaper unironically. And the newspaper isn't even digital, mans wants to read it on paper. He seriously pays for a subscription to that stuff and reads it every morning during breakfast. Says it ain't the same with a tablet or phone despite him being fully capable of using both.

Is the type to halfway pay attention during a movie because he's distracted or doing something else and then ask questions about everything. But if you ever try to do the same, he gets irritated and tells you (lovingly) to pay attention if you want to know.

Like exsqueeze me? Rich coming from you bro. Real Rich.

The type to stock up on something if it's on sale whether or not you actually want it or need it.

"John, we have plenty of paper towels at home."

"Yeah babe, but 40 percent off, that's a damn good deal."

like boo bear it's not the pandemic, we don't need to do that.

Maybe invest in a large pantry because you will need it. For the fifty million on sale items you'll have.

good at remembering the melodies to songs, terrible about remembering the words. So he hums everything or makes up his own words to make you laugh.

Mixes all his food together when he gets it so it's all one unanimous texture. (Idk man, this one, I just feel in my soul.) Like bro mixed his vegetables with his potatoes before he ate it, and he did it meticulously to ensure it was done right. Not that he doesn't love your cooking, he just has to eat it this way or it doesn't feel right.

Smells like Febreze. Like, if he's going somewhere nice, he will wear a nice cologne and stuff, but if he's having a relaxing day off, he smells like Febreze to cover up the smell of cigar smoke. Insists it smells less intrusive. You beg to differ, but whatever, he's trying.

Hot take, he puts all his effort into his facial hair that he doesn't bother with his straight up hair. He slaps a hat on it and calls it good because like, nobody's gonna see it anyways. He has it short so he doesn't have to comb it constantly. (Unless of course, he has somewhere nice to be.)

[deconstructthesoup]

I think the reason that Dimension 20 really scratches all those itches in my brain is that it really shows what you can do with D&D---and TTRPGs as a whole.

Fantasy High, by itself, is an incredibly compelling concept. What would D&D look like in a semi-modern setting? What would a high school that's all about teaching teens how to be adventurers look like? And the way it's done is beyond inventive, especially if you look at all the encounters in the first season---we've got a literal food fight, a high-speed road chase with tiefling greasers, a nightclub brawl with zombies, vampires, and werewolves, a skating match with a bunch of dwarven middle schoolers and a concrete golem, a high-stakes game of football (ish) with undead jocks that give off major teen slasher vibes, a fight done in an arcade where characters can get trapped in the consoles, and the final battle is done at prom. PROM! How cool is that?

And then we get to the Unsleeping City, which takes the urban fantasy elements that Fantasy High already had and elevates it. The way the D&D lore and magic is interpreted in a modern New York setting is excellent, as is the whole take on the "American Dream," magic literally coming from dreams, ideas, and the imagination. I know that I need to actually finish the UC saga, but from what I've seen and experienced, it is truly fantastic.

And the same energy carries through to the other seasons---my personal favorite outside of Fantasy High being A Court of Fey and Flowers, just because I'm a sucker for any Fey Realm content and I've been raised on Jane Austen---where the genre mashups shine through in the best way possible. I'll admit, I haven't seen A Crown of Candy, purely because I know how heartbreaking and devastating it is and I don't think I can physically handle it, but the concept of Candyland Game of Thrones is so beautifully bizarre that I totally get why people love it so much. Escape from the Bloodkeep hitting that workplace comedy vibe that we love to see in villains. Misfits & Magic being a love letter to the "magical boarding school" genre while also calling out all the weird contradictions inherent in it. A Starstruck Odyssey literally being an homage to Brennan's mom and exactly the kind of madcap and unhinged energy I need from my sci-fi. Neverafter perfectly encapsulating the true horror of fairy tales. Mentopolis hitting my noir-loving heart and personifying hyperfixation in the best way possible.

I'm not even kidding when I say that, if it weren't for Dimension 20... I probably wouldn't have even started my own campaign. I'd had snippets and ideas ever since officially getting into D&D and joining a game with some old friends (and getting back in touch with them in the process), but after I saw the Mentopolis trailer, I realized just how much variety TTRGPs had to offer. I could do a time-blending, history-meets-future campaign. I could go out-of-the-box. I could have endless amounts of options available to my friends and still tell the story that I wanted to tell. And when I sat down and watched Fantasy High---and when I got that Dropout subscription so I could consume whatever I wanted---it felt like the show was actually giving me advice. It's fantastic.

Also it helps that the episodes are usually only roughly a couple hours instead of being, like, an entire afternoon long. And that each season is 20 episodes, tops. No offense to Critical Role, but the sheer amount of content literally makes it impossible for me to get into it.