andreassengillespie08

[sentient-carrot]

I feel like we maybe need to start reblogging those breathing exercise posts again because people are so... Chronically online angry.

[straykats]

actually while im exhausted im gonna rant 🤩

[anistarrose]

You added an "image description" to my post - now what? (FAQ)

[Plain text: "You added an 'image description' to my post - now what? (FAQ)". End PT.]

While I'm literally always willing to answer (good faith) questions about image descriptions, alt text, and online accessibility writ large, I also know lots of people have social anxiety about sending DMs, doing IDs "wrong," or just not knowing what IDs are for in the first place. Hence, this FAQ.

If I added an ID to your post and/or asked you to do so, and you're confused about any aspect of that, this is where to start. You can absolutely still reach out to me, I just thought I should consolidate as many answers as possible.

"What is an ID and why does it matter?"

IDs are a description of the content of an image, and can range from a transcript of a screenshot of text, to a description of a detailed piece of art. They should be in plain text, and placed on the line immediately following the image (unless it's alt text, more on those pros and cons later).

IDs are primarily for blind and low vision people who use screen readers to navigate the internet — but help others too, including lots of neurodivergent people. Check out this post (link) and the notes for more examples (dyslexics, migraine sufferers, people who can't interpret expressions, people with slow internet...)

IDs are important because without them, the Internet really sucks for people who need them. You probably don't realize how many undescribed images circulate on tumblr every day, with no way for a lot of disabled people to engage with those posts.

A blind person talks in more detail about all of this here (link).

"I reblogged your ID, is that enough?"

It's not that I don't appreciate it, but editing it into the root post and then reblogging that is much more impactful, for a variety of reasons. It means people who need IDs don't have to dig through the notes for them, it means that Tumblr can't glitch by failing to load the notes and make the ID functionally disappear, and it means all people who find the post in the tags or on your blog will be sharing the accessible version.

To explain visually, the best thing to do is something like this:

[ID: two mock-up Tumblr posts to illustrate adding an ID from the notes to the root post. A blog named "your-blog" posts an image of text reading "something cool you posted" with the caption "check out this cool image I made!" In the notes, the blog "image-describer" reblogs with an ID, which is highlighted. This version of the post is labeled: "original post, reblogged via ID writer."

The second version of the post is from "your-blog" again, where they've added the ID directly under the image, with the same caption below the ID. This version is labeled "updated root post, with ID copy-pasted. End ID.]

"My caption/commentary first, or ID first?"

Include the ID right under the image, followed by your caption or commentary. Unless you're putting your commentary before the image itself, a sighted person will see "image, commentary" in that order, so to ensure the post flows the same way, use the order "image, ID, commentary."

Commentary frequently assumes that the reader has seen the image, after all! A person might not even realize the image is described if the ID is buried too deep, because they might lose patience and skip the post. Or, to explain visually:

[ID: two mock-up example posts with an ID, one formatted well and one poorly. They both start with an image, which is just the text "screenshot of a tweet or something." The first post includes the ID immediately under the image. Below, it continues: "commentary blah blah blah get a load of this guy can you believe it." The post is labeled "Like this!" in green with a check mark.

The second post includes the commentary first, then the ID after the commentary. It's labeled: "Reads awkwardly, deprives screen reader users of immediate context" in red with an X. End ID.]

"I want to make a change to the ID, is that okay?"

Yep! If you want me to change it on my blog too (whether it's characters' pronouns, some typo, etc), just message me.

"What if someone else adds an ID to my post? Would they also be okay with me editing it into the original post like you are?"

Almost certainly! I can't speak for everyone, but I've literally never met an ID writer who wouldn't be okay with it — because we all have the shared goal of maximizing accessibility. If you're unsure or nervous, you can always include credit, but most people are even fine with going uncredited.

"I put your ID in the alt text, is that enough?"

I will never tell you not to use alt text when the alternative is an undescribed post, but I really strongly suggest putting it in both the alt text and the post. Some people who use screen readers prefer the flow of alt text, for good reason — but it's also poorly implemented on Tumblr, and it can glitch and disappear on reblogs, in drafts, or just apropos of nothing.

Moreover, when a low-vision person or anyone else wants to read the alt text directly, Tumblr's display options aren't great. (Unless you use XKit Rewritten's AccessKit, which I will always plug, but that's not an option for mobile users.) Long alt text often extends off the page and gets cut off. Tumblr used to use a terrible eye-straining purple background for it, and could always do that again with no warning. It's just not ideal.

Here's a visually impaired person talking more about the pros and cons (link).

It seems we're in need of a compromise, so what can you do? One option is to include the same alt text as image description (placing the ID directly under the image as always, because remember, flow for screen readers is important). I like to lead with "ID from alt," in order to clarify to screen reader users that they can skip the ID, and help differentiate it from the other option I'm about to describe. This should be self-explanatory, but here's an example of a post I did in this style (link).

Option two is to include a short description in the alt text, and a more detailed explanation in-post. This can let screen reader users instantly know that the post is described, and decide whether they're interested enough in it to stick with it, but it maintains an in-post description for others to benefit from too.

Example of me doing this in a post about IDs (link)

Example of my mutual describing art like this (link)

Also, it's the style I follow throughout this exact post! Take a look!

As usual, the ID is directly below the image in all these cases. This means screen readers move immediately from the alt text to the full description, and the post flows the same way it would for a sighted person.

If you're here because I wrote an ID for you, it might be easier for you to put it in the alt text and the post body identically, and that's perfectly fine! But if you're confident writing one short sentence for the alt text and including my ID in the body, you can always go for that too!

"Do I need to keep the brackets or the words 'image description/ID' in the alt text?"

Nope, no need. Brackets are purely for the visual distinction, and most screen readers preface alt text with something like "Image" that fulfills the same purpose as the "ID" label. It's not the end of the world if they're there, but it's redundant, so feel free to remove them.

"Can I put the ID under a read more? Or in small text?"

Please don't. Read mores are glitchy, and oftentimes have to be opened in a new tab. Accessibility that requires jumping through extra hoops isn't accessibility. And worse, if you change your URL or get deactivated, that read more link is usually just gone for good, and the post is undescribed again.

Meanwhile, small text, italics, colored text, and so on aren't good for low vision people or others who read the IDs directly — such as with increased font size — for whatever reason. If you want the ID to stand out visually even more than with brackets, an indent is fine as far as I know. And remember, IDs always go immediately below the image!

"Why do you sometimes copy italics and stuff as plain text? Is that a screen reader thing too?"

Same reason IDs shouldn't be in small text, italics, etc — because of sight readers with low vision. Font in weird styles, or in a fixed size regardless of device settings (to my knowledge, this includes headings) isn't very accessible, so I try to provide an accessible transcript.

Colored text is sometimes even inaccessible to sighted people using certain Tumblr themes! If Tumblr gave individual users the option to disable small text and colors on their dash, then I'd tell you to use them to your heart's content, but as it stands, they're not very accessible.

"Okay, I want to make my blog more accessible, but I don't feel capable of writing IDs on my own. How can I get help?"

Good news, this is my absolute favorite question! I strongly recommend the People's Accessibility Discord (invite link here, please let me know if it breaks).

It was created for this exact purpose of crowdsourcing IDs (and answering questions about them). I talk about it more in this post (link), where I also describe an alternative if you're like me and have massive social anxieties about Discord servers.

TL;DR: ask in the post if someone can add an image description, and edit it in once someone does! If you've read this far in the post, you're clearly an expert on how to do that.

In that post, I also recommend OnlineOCR (link) and Google Lens to extract text from images and save you typing if it's just a twitter thread or something. I would always spot check the text, adjust formatting, and remove superfluous characters, but it usually saves you lots of time when you might not normally have the energy to describe something.

Lastly, a lot of description blogs take requests! I don't unless I specify otherwise, because I easily run out of spoons, but @accessible-art is a great example of a blog that does this for non-fandom art, and there are lots of fandom blogs out there that do similar.

"I want to learn how to write image descriptions for my posts! Do you have any resources?"

This is my image description masterpost (link). I get a little scared about linking it because it's long, and a lot of the linked posts are long, and I don't want to overwhelm people — so please, start with the first few links to get the broad strokes, and then feel free to treat the rest like a index. That is, peruse it if you're looking for answers or advice on a specific topic!

While learning, keep in mind that different ID users want different things out of IDs, and that's okay. Some people, including many blind people, care quite a bit about color, but others don't, and that doesn't mean either is wrong about the types of IDs they prefer versus ones they find unnecessary.

Blind people have a massive range of lived experiences, and all the other people who benefit from IDs broaden that range even more. Generally, no one involved wants huge walls of text, but some people prefer super-minimal IDs, while others prefer a nice handful of (relevant) details. It's stuff like the difference between "Two characters hugging in a cozy-looking house," versus "Two characters hugging with their eyes closed, both smiling. Their house looks cozy and cluttered, with warm lighting."

Neither of those is objectively wrong, and there will be people who prefer either. Nor is it wrong for you, the ID writer, to make a subjective judgement, such as on the "cozy" mood. You don't want to misrepresent things, but subjectivity is usually unavoidable on some level, and therefore fine. Likewise, you don't want to let the ID get so long it's a slog to get through (here's an example of what NOT to do), but if you're describing a complicated image like some art might be, it's okay to add some details. Just start with the important stuff and general idea first.

The purpose of an image also matters. With memes, shorter is almost always better, and excessive detail is annoying (post with examples). You don't need in-depth detail to appreciate most quick jokes. But on the other hand, art is often shared for the purpose of appreciating the details. This post goes into detail about how context matters, and how longer IDs make sense for art sometimes. It puts it better than I could, so I really suggest reading it if this is something you're wondering about! Key word: not length, not brevity, but "relevancy."

In my opinion, IDs are easiest to learn by doing, but also by starting small. If you want to build up your "description muscles" and confidence by just transcribing tweets, that's perfectly fine — and also, the path that myself and a lot of people I know have followed.

Lastly: follow some described blogs! Check out how other people do it! Writing IDs is an art, and though it has a few hard do's and don't's we've gone over, we've also gone over how it's subjective. Everyone brings a slightly different style, with a different level of lengthiness, and it's great to learn from multiple sources. Here's one list of blogs like those (link)!

"Why would this matter if I know I don't have any blind people following me?"

Consider the cycle of inaccessibility (link). If no one ever accommodates blind people, then of course you're not going to see them on Tumblr, in fandom, or in whatever internet circles! And blind people aren't the only people who need image descriptions — again, consider this post, especially this addition (link).

Worst case scenario, even if you have no one who can benefit from IDs either following you, and no people who need IDs would follow you even if you included them, you're still helping people who do maintain accessible blogs to do so — and moreover, normalizing image descriptions in general.

"I don't think blind people would be in this fandom. I mean, there's a huge visual component!"

Described comics and webcomics exist. Audio descriptions for TV shows and movies exist. Disabled people who find creative ways to play video games exist. People who watched a playthrough of a video game by a person who happened to read out the dialogue, and give descriptive commentary on the action, also exist. People who lose their vision over time, or gain other reasons to rely on IDs over time, also exist.

[morken1396]

I'm Done. Helluva Boss has officially lost me.

I finally tried to watch Apology Tour this evening. I made it to 9m58s and I just could NOT go any further in the episode. I very honestly had to close the browser because I was cringing so hard. So I have no idea what happened past Verosika cutting the Blitz cake, other than what I've seen online from y'all.

And that's saying something, considering I managed to make it through the painful, cringe-worthy Stolas/Blitz confrontation at the end of "Full Moon".

Please feel free to let me know if any future episodes are truly worth watching, but I just keep getting the absolute "Ick" from Viv and Co. regarding most of the HB/HH content in 2024.

It's odd and weirdly humbling to be in a position where I used to defend these shows and the writers (to an extent), but I just can't anymore. I'm done. The narrative in HH and especially HB is so painful for me to watch, now. You may disagree, which is absolutely, positively fine!

Power to you if you enjoy it, but I don't, anymore.

My genuine facial expression for the entire first ten minutes of "Apology Tour" that I could manage to stomach was LITERALLY this:

I'm done.

I still enjoy HB's first few S1 episodes before HB bought in so heavily into becoming the "Stolitz" show (I'm fully aware Stolas was featured from the start, but he was very villain-coded in the beginning, and I loved it, and its past potential storyline implications).

And I will admit that I find the original Fizz/Oz content from "Ozzie's" and pieces of S2 E6&7 to be enjoyable. I'm still an absolute sucker for Fizzarolli - sue me.

But let me be clear, Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel were never - in my eyes - well-done, artistic, or particularly poignant. They were fun, but that was the end of it. They weren't/aren't well-written.

They're not "important", which is fine. Content doesn't have to be important, impactful, or "well done" in order for people to enjoy it.

They were fun, and fun only. But now, they are trying to be "good", and they (HB, esp.) are not that. Because, frankly, Viv truly isn't capable of writing that way. Which - again - is fine!! Not everything has to be cinematically excellent and objectively "good" in order to be enjoyable to the audience.

We can enjoy content without it having to be important.

But please stop trying to make your fun IMP plotline into a melodrama that you, yourself, are not mature enough to write WELL, Vivienne. Stop playing HB as suddenly "important" with storylines that are complex and inward-focused when you have failed to set them up as such from the start.

Ret-conning is not good writing, and you're relying on it far too much. Particularly with your dear, sweet Stolas.

And frankly, I'm tired.

We should have a "Viv Sucks" party every Halloween, instead.

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

Tbh my HOT TAKE

is that all media should be preserved, especially shit that has extremely negatively impacted and affected people.

why? Well even the worst most horrible shit needs to be preserved,

It’s just counter productive in all aspects of life to destroy or forget these things, yeah it sucks and is genuinely disgusting or horrifying.

That’s the sad truth there’s a lot of disgusting and hateful and horrible things, but to deny the people impacted by those things their stories and experiences by destroying that media is awful.

Yeah, there’s way too fucking much horrible shit. I’ve seen it, I’m a person who’s been directly affected and impacted by that shit.

but the sad truth is that in the internet age this shit is so easily lost, and once it is? it’s gone forever.

I have so many stories and memories and all that of the brutal bullshit I’ve seen online, but I can never find it again.

yeah the worst memories I have of things that negatively impacted so. So. So. Many people are gone forever outside of a few people who downloaded those videos, saved those pictures, and put them on archives.

like, for 4-5 years minstrelsy was popular on YouTube. Straight up actual blackface, red lips and everything.

it was a thing, I remember it very well. There’s SOME videos from specific people who did it, but it was such a widespread phenomenon that lasted for way too fucking long.

eventually most of those videos were scrubbed from the internet, but the negative impacts and memories of these things still exist.

which is crazy, because it wasn’t even that fucking long ago!

yeah sometimes there’s horrible horrifying things, but they still deserve to be preserved. Shoved behind way too many warnings and paragraphs about historical context and why it’s bad, but it still deserves to be preserved.

because one day you realize that your the only one who remembers or cares, and that what you’ve been through is scrutinized because you can’t back it up.

and it sucks, because it did.

like, I think we should all be able to use this shit. In essay’s, in documentaries, in books, in everything.

to forget is to repeat, and sometimes the only way forward is remembering how fucking far we’ve come.

idk, 🤷

I’m too done with all this censorship shit, it’s literally never helped anyone but the people who want us to forget what they did.

knowledge is power, even bad knowledge is power.

idk

[neurodogical]

right obviously you can dislike something for whatever reason you like, but the way you talk about it still has an impact on the world around you? when people limply reference to Homestuck being “problematic” and Andrew being “problematic” it just evokes transphobic whisper campaign. this is how people treat trans girls on this website too, no? how many times have you seen camab trans people be avoided on “vibes” or “because they said something racist [citation needed]” like is it really necessary for you to contribute to a transphobic rhetoric in your discussion? you can just not like something you don’t have to act like there’s some deep political flaw with homestuck that makes it irreconcilably evil — people literally ONLY do this to camab trans people’s work, it’s nuts.

I understand that this means a lot to you, but my criticism of hussie and her work has nothing to do with their gender. you can criticize something while liking it, too. i agree that people criticize things harder when it's by someone whose TMA though, I've seen that happen. and I'm sorry that it's something that you need to look out for, truly. however, it's really strange to act like homestuck isn't very racist at times, though. do you not remember damara megido's entire existence? how about the manner of speaking of the condensce and other instances of them using aave in weird ass ways? people can grow and change yes, but i don't have to forgive racism and the groups she was racist against are ones im not part of.

I didn't say a thing about racism in my original posts, but somehow you knew to bring it up though... if hussies work spoke to you deeply, well, I'm glad you found something important to you even if it's something I really can't bring myself to like (speaking truthfully, "problematic reasons" aren't even my full reason for disliking it. honest! I was just in online fandom WAY too young, like 11 years old, and was the main moderator of a 15,000+ person homestuck facebook group for years, got taken advantage of by older people, etc.) I won't get further into it, but i don't like being called transphobic for just disliking a piece of media especially when I didn't even state my actual thoughts about it as a piece of literature, I just shared my broad opinion. I don't see how it's transphobic to dislike one piece of media created by a trans person. I never used the words "evil", I think that's unproductive and disingenuous when talking about literature, even if it's something i dislike more than homestuck.

if people take "I should go be transphobic now" out of "i hate homestuck and don't like the author much", that's their issue because they're not truly reading what I'm saying either and they suck. that is to say though, had i known that hussie was nonbinary before this entire thing unfolded, i would not have claimed she wasn't LGBT in my tags of that reblog. i haven't even read DTWOF and therefore don't have thoughts on it, i just had a visceral reaction to homestuck, remembered the hussie i made up in my mind over the course of 2014-2020, and said something rude that I wouldn't now. I'm sorry for how upset I've made you, but I'm allowed to have my own thoughts on a piece of media that's shaped a large part of my life.

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

really happy I'm not American. your country sucks more dicks than a kicked-out teenager forced to do prostitution to survive. also, you guys are so fucking fat and prude while we Danes and Swedes have nude beaches with children are allowed and you literally have to search to see fatties.

This seems like one of your first attempts at trolling, so I'm gonna be nice and give you some helpful tips.

Don't try to be witty. "your country sucks more dicks than a kicked-out teenager forced to do prostitution to survive" is much too long and comes off as you desperately trying to imitate the kind of quippy dialogue you saw in a Joss Whedon or Quinten Tarantino movie. If you really want to get somebody mad, stick to the basics. "Your country sucks" gets the point across clearly and has a much higher chance of provoking an emotional response.

You need a tighter focus on the specific thing I'm supposed to get mad at. In your ask, you mention two American stereotypes, that we're all fat, and that we're all prudes. Two stereotypes is probably the limit you can fit into one troll ask without seeming like you're just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, but I'd still recommend sticking to one.

Don't give your target the ammo they need to drag your ass in your troll attempt. Right after you get into the fat and prude stereotypes, you mention your country has nude beaches with children as a positive, and right there I have at least three different ways I can turn this back around on you. And that's without going for the low hanging fruit and just calling you a pedo. Which brings me to

Don't troll on main. I know you think you're being brave by not going anon, but really you're just giving your target the opportunity to amplify your mistakes. Just a quick glance through your blog shows that you probably hang around at least a few people who are very judgmental and unforgiving of mistakes. Also that you like Hackers, which is a point in your favor. Your post style indicates you write with emotion and then send, instead of taking a moment to reread what you wrote and see if it will give the impact you're looking for. I've seen this lead to many unforced errors from people on social media. Usually in the form of a slur or seven, or suicide bait, or similar things. All of these things are, of course, expected from anons, but you might not like what happens if you slip up with your actual account. Callout posts and ostracizing from friends or mutuals who want to get back at you for some real or imagined slighty may just be the tip of that iceberg. If nothing else, it makes it much easier for some nefarious individual to mass report your blog and get it taken down when you troll openly. And finally,

Put some effort in. I know I already mentioned low hanging fruit, but I never explained why avoiding it is beneficial. Chances are, anyone outside your own age group (assuming the 1995 in your blog name is your birth year, which if it is, probably not the best thing to share online with how easy doxxing is these days) has been around long enough to get a few troll asks in their day. Especially if they're right wing political blogs. The "Americans are fat and prudish" stereotypes are old and played out. We don't particularly care what a bunch of Europeans who can't even handle mild summer weather think about our eating or bedroom habits. Hell, on the right, you're more likely to find people who take prude as a compliment. If you really want to bother us, you should pounce on the issues of the day. Take the dumbest possible position on a political issue and then earnestly act like it's what you truly believe. As a European, this should come naturally. It's your best shot at actually getting us mad. Though, we are pretty used to European lefties showing their whole ass when trying to comment on American politics, so your mileage may vary on that one. (Oh, a "mile" is a unit of distance measurement. Sort of like a kilometer, but bigger and better.)

I really do hope this helped. Good luck on your next trolling attempt!

[astralartefact]

Right, I forgot to post something about Reincarnation ending for real yesterday, so. uhh. what pseudo-deep thing do I have to say about all of this...

Reincarnation is allowed to end and its contents are allowed to be ""inaccessible""* and everyone involved in its production knew it was going to end like this from the start even if they likely thought it wouldn't end quite this abruptly.

Yesterday Matsukawa literally said on Twitter that one of the first things Yoko Taro told him was to keep all the design work they did in consistent structures so they could easily publish them afterwards, they knew, they're not as stupid and helpless to corporate greed as some of you seem to think they are.

*heavy air quotes here because it's not inaccessible, there are at least three seperate fan projects documenting its content and even all of the in-game data has been publicly archived by fans - how much more accessible do you want an online game to be after it ends???

I know we love to complain about live services because that's a buzzword to do with capitalism (which is indeed bad) but like. It being inherently impermanent isn't what makes it bad. Theater plays are inherently impermanent and I have yet to see someone complain that Theaters still perform plays seasonally and then change what they're playing. What if I couldn't see Faust 1 last year and this year they're only playing Faust 2??? i dont think faust is a theatre play

Video Game Archiving is weird because yes, there's basically no downside to keeping something accessible forever aside from cost - and yet to me it has kind of started to become a little bit like hoarding in the fear that you might need it eventually. Like sure, why not store a video game in perpetuity if you could, someone in the future might want to look back on it after all - but like. Do you really need to be able to play a video game to do that, to understand what it tried to do and how it executed on its premise?

If nobody actually liked NieR Reincarnation's gameplay - which a lot of you complaining about it ending seem dedicated to point out any chance you get - then why keep it around as a game and not just as recordings or in writing? And whose responsibility is it to record that stuff? For the most part History wasn't recorded by those that made that history happen either. History can be recorded in writing, in photographs, in paintings,... so why can Video Games only be recorded as that Video Game?

I think these discussions are important to have and it sucks that it's always undercut by "Well but Corporations should do it, especially since they only don't do it because of money" - which is perfectly true and I agree with that, just for the record - and yet even in a better societal structure than Capitalism these problems would remain. If money wasn't an issue should every person ever posting anything on the Internet have to make sure it will always remain there for people that haven't seen it yet just because they could? Taken to the next step, are you allowed to remove something from the Internet if anybody finds it some amount of impactful?

The answer is pretty easy. If you care that much about it you will just have to record it yourself somehow - like a lot of Reincarnation's fans already did. And yes, video games have an interactive component that is now lost - but so what. If that was so important then write down what it meant to you! Make art that expresses what Reincarnation made you feel! All perfectly valid ways to record and experience history!!!

I feel like some of you people haven't had the pleasure of not being able to afford a certain video game console anywhere in the foreseeable future but knowing there's a game on there that you would love and so you decide to experience it through everything but playing the game itself. That game for me was Drakengard 3 on the Playstation 3 - and it was my favorite game of all time before I actually was able to play it 7 years later. And I think that's why I'm not particularly bothered by Reincarnation being taken offline, because I know you can appreciate it and everything it had to offer without actually playing it - because in Reincarnation's case a lot of people did the actual work of making it accessible online and that includes both fans and the devs for structuring their game in a way that makes it easy to do so.

But all I see is this weird insistance that Lore will be lost and that people won't be able to understand NieR 4 because they can't play NieR 3 to catch up on the Lore anymore even though

a) that hasn't been a thing for a single Yoko Taro game. The only time that ever happened is YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse and even there it didn't actually happen, people just fully misunderstood what part of the story was the actual A Plot and blamed them not understanding that on the Lore.

b) Reincarnation has maybe a handful Elements of concrete Lore and each of them can be summarized in 2 Sentences at most - case in point Noelle's RoD crystal is now part of the official timeline.

3) Drakengard's lore has never been explained once, not even in Drakengard itself, and yet a lot of people were able to love it and/or everything following in its wake - so clearly the lore is not that important, is it?

I also can't help but point out that 10H's story is literally about how she has to rewrite stories from her own memory of them because they keep being maliciously changed and that when she loses access to them completely the first thing she does is to recreate them and then she ends up giving them to someone else to experience (which ends up being herself but aah, technically somebody else)

Anyways, something completely different as a reward for reading all of this bs: Do we think Accord is a Player Insert? Is the Player Accord recording what they're experiencing for the "greater sake of Humanity"? We're always watching the Player Characters from a Third Person View - Who's to say that's not actually Accord's First Person View?

Has Accord been here the whole time?

[moonjxsung]

STAR IM DEVASTATED so i have a priv twt acc right w some irls and this stay from stayville req-ed me a long time ago and i was soooo happy that i was mutuals w someone from stayville and i THOUGHT everything between us was cool? but today they unfollowed me and removed me as a follower and im devastated i dunno why they did that :((( i don't think they had a problem w me saying nsfw stuff cuz they previously tweeted things like "cancelling someone over saying smth nsfw abt an adult is stupid" and also ive seen them interact w nsfw minsung posts so i dunno if me tweeting smth like "i wanna suck flxs cock sooooo bad" couldve made them wanna break the mutual??? i dmed them too and i was like "heyy is there a reason you don't wanna be moots w me anymore </3" and not even minutes later they turned off their message perms and im devastated. its STUPID bcs they'd barely interact w me Sure but it felt nice to have a stay be my friend on my priv twt that's usually just for my irls and i </3 it's ironic that they did that too bcs just earlier today (before they broke the mutual) i noticed that my followers went down (i have a very low amt already. like. 25. not even joking) and i tweeted "yall dont wanan be friends w me anymore </3" bcs like. my followers are QUITE LITERALLY only my irls + a skz writer so i was (i think rightfully??) alarmed that the number went down!!!! man im just Sad about it and SIIIGH i know i shouldnt care so much bcs at the end of the day they're just a person online but the least they could've done was dm me back and explain why and GHFSDDSJHFKJADDSDSAAAAA you get me!?!! also im sorry i dropped this on you randomly feel free to ignore LMAAOOAOAO can i be 💫 anon? thank yew <3

(Adding 💫 to the anon list!!! Also fun fact that’s my favorite emoji of all time. Slay)

I feel like I’m the LAST person who should be giving advice abt this bc one of my mutuals and a very good friend of mine who I’d been talking to every day randomly blocked me on everything this week after me literally being there to console this person for every little thing and playing into this pretend homoerotic friendship we had even though she was clearly looking for another boyfriend and would get mad if I even called another girl pretty (???) I wish nothing but the absolute best for her but like…. The double standard is WILD. to not provide closure to a months-long friendship is just genuinely a very mean spirited thing to do imo.

(If she’s reading this, best of luck with everything and I hope you know I cared for you a lot more than you think I did. I distanced myself because you were clearly looking for someone to fill a void in your life that I could simply not fulfill, and I didn’t want to lead you on, nor be kept around like I wasn’t allowed to talk to other girls either. Regardless, I hope you know I used to sleep with my phone on full volume in case you called, and I deleted a page worth of poetry in my notes app for you I meant to deliver on your birthday. I also deleted your number so I have zero way of contacting you, but I will always be here if you need me. Take care and I love you always, I hope you still see me when you look up at the moon)

It’s not the first time I’ve lost an internet friend to the magical world of blocking, but fortunately the attitude I’ve developed towards it is that none of this is real!!! These are people on the internet miles away you’ve never met irl and they have no real impact in your life whether they remain following you or not. I’ve lost internet friends nearly a decade ago that I don’t even remember anymore. Better ones will come along!!! Especially stays! This fandom has so many beautiful remarkable people who are actually worth following and they wouldn’t cut you off like that. Sending so many positive vibes your way and I KNOW that the universe will send you some better mutuals. In the meanwhile I will be your internet bestie and I would never unfollow you for nsfw content or without some form of an explanation. And I also want to suck Felix’s dick. 🩷🫶

(I love you, don’t be so hard on yourself!!!! You’re wonderful, angel 🩷 anyone would be lucky to be moots with you)

[chiarrara]

I don't know I just feel like....

We just watched a man self-immolate in his military uniform. And I don't want to sound like an idiot, because it's much more than this but, couldn't you say that was a very extreme form of conscientious objection?

He could not be complicit anymore, but there is literally no way out of being complicit in this genocide if you live in America. For him especially, being trapped in military service. But for all of us. All of us are trapped in complicity in some way, and we can try to counteract that sin with as much meaningful direct action as we can possibly do, but all of that action comes with some proportional level of risk.

So, a man burned himself alive in an extreme form of conscientious objection (the only form available to him - one of great violence)

And people are still on here telling people to suck it up and vote for Biden.

I just... maybe I'm really stupid and I just can't see the logic y'all are putting forward. Because the way you lay it out it all seems to make so much sense to you. I understand we're trapped in a two party system. I understand the Republicans don't have the same consciences we do and are gonna vote en masse for Trump. I understand Trump is a danger globally and domestically. I understand all that, and I don't want his second term to come to pass. I'm not ignorant of how dangerous he is.

But a man self-immolated to object to the system of complicity he's trapped in, and the most logical response y'all have to a bunch of people wanting to opt out of complicity in this election, and the next four years of horrors that will be done in their name is to tell them, you just have to suck it up and be complicit. Your only tool is to make a phone call. You can try to protest, but there's a non-zero chance you'll be beaten and arrested and have your life ruined, by the way. You can donate to try and put a bandaid on the horrors you're seeing through your phone screen everyday (and you should, but God it's sure not stopping anything). But you're not allowed to object to being complicit in the selection of the Genocider-In-Chief.

It's not going to stop the genocide. We know this. It's not going to stop the election. We know this. It's not going to change anything directly, and Trump is going to get elected (which he will either way. most people who would vote against him are doing it anyway, y'all are fighting a very very small online minority).

But a man self-immolated in his military uniform. He didn't think that act was going to directly stop aid from going to Israel, or stop the genocide, or destroy the US military industrial complex. He didn't think his one small (but extremely brave and impactful) act was going to solve everything. Everything that was going to happen is still going to happen just with one less man in uniform.

But it wasn't nothing. It didn't do nothing. It's not his fault that the military will keep on chugging. It's not his fault that things are getting worse in Gaza every day. But he's not complicit anymore and he sent a message. And he had to die to achieve that.

And y'all are telling us we can't even do the very small act of not being complicit in the presidency. It's a less effective act of protest, but I also don't have to die for it.

It's not a boycott (I've seen this strawman, i don't know why you think we think that). It's not going to "send a message to the government" (obviously, we're not ignorant). It's to the Party that runs these candidates, and makes money off of "pick us because we're not the other guy" then commits crimes against humanity. I don't want to roll over and be fucking complicit in that.

Parties and candidates look at those numbers. they see how many people voted for them last time and how many people this time.

They don't care about our voices, and our protests, and our emails. They care about donations, and they care about votes. That's it. That's all they look at. If the emails and the phone calls and the protests don't result in a drop in one of those two things, they don't fucking care.

I don't know. This is a long ass ramble, but I'm trying to work out my feelings about this. Because we can't opt out of paying taxes, we can't really opt out of the benefits of living and being born in the Global North, we can't opt out of work, we can't opt out of the military, we can't opt out of following the law without extreme violence being brought against us. We can't do a whole fucking lot besides call, email, donate, and protest in a way that doesn't get us beaten and arrested, and if you do get beaten and arrested, you'll be dealing with the legal consequences for years or potentially the rest of your life.

And a man burned himself to death to object but I can't withhold my vote???

[lunar-years]

you have really fantastic thoughts and are very insightful and well spoken! I agree with you about a lot of what you said- corporations being the number one polluter but blaming individual people as a distraction, the type of discourse you’re willing to engage with, etc.

I will say my biggest issue with TS right now is still her lack of stance on palestine. I totally get that it’s kind of odd to look to celebrities for guidance on geopolitical issues… but then I think about her impact. she is the number one artist in the world. just her instagram post telling people to register to vote was a huge deal! her voice could be soooo impactful to the people suffering from literal genocide and yet… radio silence. I guess that just really rubs me the wrong way. when does PR strategy become less important than speaking out against genocide? I just wonder what impact on the public opinion of the war she could have if she just spoke out, or even showed solidarity with the ceasefire now movement in some way!

I will also say I do agree with a lot of the criticism surrounding her behavior at the grammy’s. I love TS but like… time and place beloved. I 100% understand why people are frustrated by that as well. and I do agree that she has weaponized misogyny as a defense against critiques. it’s not misogynistic to be critical of the things I mentioned. especially when she has so much actual misogyny coming at her lol.

anyways, thank you for receiving my rant. it’s always so nice to hear your thoughts, you’re truly very smart and well informed!!!

of course, thanks for sending me your thoughts! ❤️ I think it can be understandably be very frustrating to know someone has a massive platform they aren't using to speak out on important issues. It's disappointing to know that were she to say something, it could make a big difference, yet she's choosing not to. I get that, and if that's where your line in the sand is for why you can't support her/enjoy her music/whatever, I absolutely get that too and I completely respect that standpoint.

My thoughts basically boil down to...

1) Taylor's big platform comes from being an artist/singer/songwriter/performer, not from speaking out on world affairs or political & humanitarian issues. She's an entertainer. It can really suck to come to terms with this, but in my opinion (and again, I totally understand if someone disagrees with me here), she isn't obligated to be that person. it isn't her job, and she's never claimed it to be. We can not like it (I personally would love it if she were more outspoken), but I do not demand that she speaks out, because I have decided it is something I willing to accept about who she is so as to still remain a fan of hers. A person shouldn't have to be everything to everyone just because they are famous.

2) Again people are going to disagree with me here, but I cannot express to you how much rather I would her not speak on something she isn't adequately informed on over her saying the wrong things very loudly. I have no idea how well informed Taylor is about what's going on in the world, because she is not exactly forthcoming, lol, so I don't want to say i don't trust her to say the right things, but...well. The last thing we need is misinformation being spread around by more celebrities who didn't check their facts or source their knowledge, at which point the discussion online shifts into bandwagon hating of celebrities and away from the actual issues themselves.

3) This could very well come from me running in Taylor fan circles online and therefore seeing more Taylor content that anyone elses, but from my perspective this kind of criticism is disproportionately lobbed at Taylor Swift over others high-level celebs. Many celebs haven't spoken out, many celebs fly their private jets excessively (and are in fact bigger carbon-emitters than taylor) yet don't receive the same energy in terms of widespread online disapproval. In some cases, it absolutely feels like an instance of "I already hate her and this gives me a reason to feel justified in that hatred and get more people on my side!" Again, there are people online more focused on calling out and canceling celebrities than helping the causes they claim to care about so passionately. Our effort should be on elevating the platforms of people who know what they're talking about, on the voices of the Palestinian people and the reporters and activists striving to be heard, rather then demanding people with existing platforms (from being musicians, no less, lol) speak out about things they don't the first thing about it.

The criticism of Taylor I most agree with is the stuff that involves her being a hypocrite. Like, there's no doubt that she calls on feminism when it benefits and conveniences her and largely drops it the rest of the time, which definitely does rub me the wrong way. For instance, the press article after the ratty breakup that was all, "No one would be treating me like this if I were a MAN" was deeply misguided and wack, lol, based on the (incorrect) assumption that people hated that she'd had a rebound boyfriend as opposed to the reality, which was that people hated the fact that she'd associate so closely with an undeniably abhorrent person. Like Taylor, in this case this is not about you being a woman, and you are absolutely deflecting from valid critique aimed your way. For instance, how you can claim to care about and protect your POC and black fans and then date someone who's a blatant racist? Similarly, her claiming to want to be more outspoken in Miss Americana and then never following through from that point on, it's very disappointing! She shouldn't say she wants to be more involved and then never get more involved. She shouldn't use politics for clout then drop it when she feels she no longer needs it.

Curious about what rubbed you the wrong way about the Grammys? Was it the album announcement or her alleged Celine Dion snub? My thoughts on the Celine thing are: She clearly hadn't expected to win, she was overwhelmed and excited and didn't even have a prepared speech, and whilst it was definitely a misstep in the moment, it was a human one, and it's very clear they talked backstage, Celine posted the picture of them, and there seems to be absolutely no hard feelings between the women actually involved, so to me it's a complete non-issue. My thoughts on the Grammys album announcement: It was for the fans, not the people in the room. It was also her time on a stage to say what she pleased! She was being recognized! So I don't think it detracted from anyone else's moment in the spotlight. Fans online got excited, but it's not like people stopped caring about anyone else at the Grammys or the other major performances/moments, lol. Also, it's not so different from Beyonce announcing her album during the Super Bowl. A bit wrong time wrong place? maybe, but it's all meant in good fun. It is music, the grammys are a celebration of music, we are here to have fun! A very low-stakes issue for me.

[styrofauxm]

can i just...rant about the online minecraft community for a moment here? I haven't really noticed this on Tumblr but I see it everywhere else and I really need to just fully vent. Specifically about the reaction to the updates/mob votes.

every single fucking year when there's an update a significant portion of the community becomes the most entitled shitheads ever born.

Mojang not adding a feature you want is not Mojang scamming you. When you bought the game, you bought the game as it was. You paid for that, and that only. The updates are free. You not liking the free stuff you get or wanting more free stuff is a you problem.

Furthermore, Mojang isn't being lazy by not adding every feature you want. They aren't making a mod that people can use or not use at will. They are fundamentally altering a game with a massive and diverse playerbase. Everything they add has to appeal to, or at least not annoy, the vast majority of the playerbase.

In addition, nobody owes you anything. You paid for the game. You got the game. The transaction is over. There is no binding contract or moral imperative to give you anything more than that. If you GENUINELY think you DESERVE something from any update, you are an entitled brat. Sorry, not sorry.

Along those lines, harassing employees in comment sections is trashy behavior. You have a problem? There's a feedback site. There's pages for updates too. Go write out a reasonable, well-meaning report. And don't fucking like comments that are clearly just mean.

Calling employees lazy in response any post/video they make is harassment. You want to do that privately? Go ahead. But there is no reason to put it in places they are likely to see it unless you want them to see it.

Yes, all of that applies to Caves and Cliffs pt.1. Yes, all of that applies to Caves and Cliffs pt.2. Yes all of that applies to the Wild Update. No, your comment is not the exception.

And don't forget the absolute dumpster fire that is any comment section about the mob vote.

Fun fact: someone simply expressing they they like/don't like an option is not a personal attack. Responding to "I want/don't want ___ mob" comments with "you suck" (or normally much much worse) is cyberbullying. If you do that, you are a bully.

If someone expresses an opinion you do not like there are a few options that don't involve hurting someone's mental health:

don't respond. don't do anything. move on with your day

dislike the comment. move on with your day

respectfully disagree with a phrase like "I don't agree" or "I actually see it this way" and have a civil discussion

Also, it's a game. It's literally a video game. It has no impact on your real life. You can walk away if you hate it that bad.

I know most of the people in those comment sections are children. But I watched MCYT as a child and never bullied or harassed anyone.

[sege-h]

Alright I've not stopped thinking about this all day because I'm peeved and I guess I have things to say as someone that has been here long enough that they watched the internet go 'OCs are annoying and cringe' for a few years, enough that it scared a bunch of young artists away from ever making OCs without the fear of looking """cringe"""

If you're not someone's friend/it's not an inside joke it's never okay to go 'Kill that [OC]' especially not when you go '[not joking]' at the end of it

That's someone's little guy (gender neutral) that they've made. Something creative they've shared with the world.

Yes you're allowed to find something annoying but like. When you very publicly go 'I think this is annoying' you're telling the someone that made it 'you and this thing that brings you joy are annoying'

You are not critiquing anything by doing this- No one asked you to, and Sonic OCs aren't like a show or a comic anyone can watch and give their negative thoughts on. You're just being a jerk. OCs can be so personal and you never know whose day you might be ruining by basically going 'I hate that you're having fun, I find it and your OC annoying'

Maybe it's a budding artist

Maybe it's someone whose day was already bad

Maybe it's someone whos dealing with insecurity in their work and your words will be the breaking point that makes them quit or makes them too anxious to keep doing something for years to come

Can you tell that last one happened to me once? Lmao

The Sonic OC Tournament was so civil and that's because everyone in that tournament understands what it's like to make an OC and share it with the world. Nobody wants to go 'youre annoying, your OC should get killed in this poll' to someone else, because they understand how rude that is

People are campaigning for that OC to win a general Sonic tournament? GOOD. They're having fun! What do you expect them to do? Go 'hey everyone vote for literally anyone else but my OC, i hate them'????

When you have negative thoughts on someone having fun without hurting anyone, keep them to yourself. Or hell, maybe you have a friend that's also negative, feel free to DM each other over it instead of saying it where the artists can see. Again, the artists of a personal OC, not some piece of media that's free to critique.

I've been in this fandom for a long time. And trust me, if this is you, if you find yourself acting like this. Work on it. Grow into someone better. Because you don't wanna be the person whose impact on someone's time in fandom was 'that one jerk weirdo'

Me and the friends I've grown up along with in this fandom remember all the good times- the time someone did fanart of our OCs unprompted, the times people were nice to us, the times anyones commented so much as a 'hey! I like your fanfic/OCs!' and even though it's been years, we remember the names of the people that made fandom good for us!

But we also remember the jerks. But not their names. They're just a 'hey remember that one time this weirdo said my OC sucks?' or 'hey remember that jerk that kept insisting to critique my art even though no one asked?'

They're nameless, tiny black smudges on our experiences in fandom, people we decided to stay away from going forward. And you don't wanna be that.

I guess all I'm saying is, please learn how to act around people online. We're here to have fun, not put on a show for someone else. We're people, not content machines for you to either show amusement or disdain towards. Someone/something someone made as a fan annoys you? Stay away from it then, and don't kick someone for having fun with the characters they made

[veryfruitybrazillian]

♡Introduction

● Hello tumblr! I am (kinda) new here and i really want some people to talk to! So if you're interested, stick around!

♡About me

● My name is Twig, but you can also call me Lucy!

● Though i won't say my age, i will say that i am a minor, so keep this in mind!

● As my name says, i am brazillian, with my mother tongue being portuguese - but during the pandemic i learned english and spanish (but i kinda suck at spanish, any help welcome-)

● I'm pansexual and agender and go by all/mirror pronouns

♡Likes

● Okay this will be a long one- i am not gonna list everything bc i think i am a fandom colector at this point-

- Bands & Musical artists in general:

• AJR (i love them with all my heart)

• Lovejoy (literally my wallpaper)

• IDKHOW (YES. JUST YES.)

• MARINA (my first fav artist-)

• Imagine Dragons (i kinda have to balance the weirdness of the others ig)

• Mother Mother (why do i relate to their songs so much? - 2018 me)

- Series, cartoons, animes, etc:

• FNAFHS (Oh, the memories [little me had such a crush on Fred istg])

• The Owl House (I'm the Luz Noceda from my friend group)

• Gravity Falls (how can you forget the thing that got you into creepypastas)

• Witch Hat Atelier (OMGQIFREYKISSMEPLEASE)

• Sailor Moon (whole childhood)

• B99 (thanks uncle)

• LEGO Monkie Kid (perfect)

• Saiki K (i just think is neat)

• Spy X Family (i love romcons)

• Any 1990s-2000s cartoon and anime tbh

- Books:

(I am a bookworm since birth, this was necessary)

• The Folk of Air (i got two editions of the cruel prince for some reason)

• Magisterium (I WANT TO READ IT SOOOOOOOOO BAD)

• Anything written by Holly Black (love her)

• Riordanverse in general (my siblings are mithology nerds, got it from them)

• The divine comedy by Dante (the first self-insert fanfiction of history)

• The school for good and evil (tbh kinda mixed feelings but i love Dot)

• Moomins (be gay do crime, the book series)

- Games:

• Deep Sea Prisioner (thanks online big sis for this trauma)

• Sonic (i fucking love sonic omg)

• Pokémon (i am obsessed with pkmn)

• Every single game the "weird kid" archetype is know for (yeah i was the weird kid)(still am)

• Cookie Run franchise (UNICORN CREAM MY BELOVED)

• Minecraft (thanks to this i am the person i am now)

• Genshin Impact (kinda)(just started playing)(i like kaeya)

♡Tags

● I just discovered that tags help alot so i may be using them-

- #twigtalksdsmp (i watch dsmp but got out of the fandom a long time ago, if you don't like dsmp please just block this tag-)(i will not tag lovejoy posts with this tag tho)

- #twigexplains (i know damn well i will be explaining random theories or facts so i might as well me a tag for it)

- #twighuehue (for when i speak portuguese)

- #twigocs (very self-explanatory)

♡ Finalization

● Well, that should be it. Will be adding more as i travel in this hell site. Thank you for you attention! <3

[ohii-san]

you said you wanted literally anything sooo!

i got a new bookbag yesterday from one of the administrators at my secondary school. i nearly cried, and just thinking about it makes me want to cry again. it has been well over a month since i've had anything to carry my books in. i fell ill suddenly at school one day and my bag was no longer usable afterwords. i'm so happy to be able to carry my books in a bag again instead of in my hands. i've been so anxious about dropping them that i couldn't bring myself to bring all my books and supplies to class, my computer which is necessary for my classes was one of those supplies. now that i can finally bring my books to class in a bag i feel so much happier at school. i feel like i belong, and i feel safer too. there's so much bad outsode of my small world at school, so when things are bad at school it sucks. i'm just so happy, but i don't say my age to many people online so i didn't share it until now. i hope you have a better day, doc, boredom sucks.

THAT'S SO SWEET i'm so glad you got a new bookbag nonnie !! it's insane how small gestures like that can really impact our lives in ways others will never quite comprehend .. i hope you have a good rest of your day :] this made me smile, thank you for sharing this with me !

[1kook]

ZOOM CALL

⇢ meeting one

jeon jungkook x (f) reader

⇢ series masterlist

summary: In a sea of black screens and faceless names, there’s one smiley boy that beams back at you through the dimly lit screen of your laptop, a tiny Jeon Jungkook (he/him) tacked to the corner of his window. genre: fluff, slice of life, smut (tags tba) warnings: jk is a ditzy lil nerdy sweetheart, college crushes, social distancing -_-, use of the zoom app, 1kook Builds a Healthy Relationship (Version 2.0) ratings: M (18+) wc: 3.2k

notes: well. here we are. as always i have to thank common sense (coincidentally named rumu @kigurumu​ ) for reading this over and pointing out little details <3 after much deliberation, i have decided to post our beloved zoom jk (see origin story here) in the form of short ‘drabbles’ depicting diff zoom calls with this being The Beginning™️ so please... bare with me </3 ty to all the nice ppl who have been excited for this, luv u very much 🥺

There are times in human history where words captivate their audience; times when single words or phrases wrap around the listener, melt into their bones and radiate warmth from within. But rarely does one word manage such an impact, rarely is it as revered and as cherished as the word cancelled is to most college students. 

Class is cancelled, group meetings are cancelled, the stupidly big semester final project was cancelled. You could cancel nearly anything, and in most cases, it would be beautiful. Cancelled meant more time to sleep in the morning, an afternoon free of pesky project partners, a pleasant reprieve from having to socialize with anyone. It was a glorious word with heavenly connotations that brought tears of joy to your eyes whenever you saw it appear in an email preview.

Except this one.

Spring Semester 2021: On-Campus Classes CANCELLED — Social Distance Measures as per State Regula…

Your last semester as a student in university… online? You couldn’t believe it. All these years of studying rigorously, cramming for exams, attaining a near perfect GPA— just to sit in your bedroom and stare at your computer screen for the last 15 weeks of classes? Had your friends not been there to mope with you, you’re certain a part of you would have gone on a rampage and cursed every bacteria known to mankind for doing this to you.

It was your last year, you whined in private (never in public; your friends had always considered you the mature one, the studious friend who kept everyone in order), yet here you were, setting up your desk for your last ever first day of classes with quite possibly the biggest pout on your face.

Zoom, your school had raved in an email a few weeks into the break, the desktop application that will keep us united in these trying times! As if, you huffed, giving the stupid application permission to connect to your computer’s camera and audio systems. What even was proper Zoom etiquette? Did you have to enter the meeting and greet every student cheerfully? You had always said hi to your classmates before, but something about saying it over a computer mic felt awkward.

The feeling doubled when you finally entered the meeting, only to be met with a sea of black screens save for your professor, who seemed to be clicking around his computer in a rather confused fashion. This was going to suck, you thought bitterly.

You had entered the room ten minutes earlier because, well, you always showed up to class a few minutes earlier than the scheduled meeting time. But was there any point to doing that here? Usually, the time before class was spent making small talk with said classmates, discussing the readings or the assignments, talking mindlessly about whatever came to mind. But something in your gut said it would be weird to do that now.

So you sit in silence for the next ten minutes, nervously tapping your pen against your desk as you wait for the professor to launch into whatever introductory monologue he had planned. You toy with your phone, scrolling through your twitter feed only to see a brigade of tweets from students all over the nation suffering the same fate as you. It was a trending topic.

Two minutes before the class starts, you hear the tell-tale ping of someone entering the meeting. You wave it off just like you have your other 41 classmates thus far, but then there’s the clearing of a throat, and a sweet, “good morning” filtering through your speakers. Lifting your head from the hunched over position you had assumed while glancing at your phone, you’re startled by the sudden handsome face that appears before you.

In a sea of black screens and faceless names, there’s one smiley boy that beams back at you through the dimly lit screen of your laptop, a tiny Jeon Jungkook (he/him) tacked to the corner of his window.

He’s nothing short of a dreamboat, soft and doughy cheeks that catch the hue of the screen light, highlighting his cheekbones in a faint blue color. Imploring doe eyes blinking widely at the screen as he clicks around, narrating his confusion in a low mumble (mic still on, how cute). Dark hair— was it brown? black? the pixelated screen made it hard to tell —messily pushed away from his face.

And his voice, oh his voice. It matches his gentle appearance perfectly. A soft snort. “Am I the only one here?” he says, thin lips pulled to the side in a bashful grin.

The professor laughs with him. “No, but you are the only one with your camera on,” he responds.

You’re not sure if it’s the professor’s teasing jab at literally everyone else or the need to support the cutie who smiles softly at screen, but suddenly, a handful of windows come to life. Your classmates fill up the screen, dressed in an array of styles with bedrooms (and, on the rare occasion, dorm rooms) to match. You nibble at your bottom lip, finger hovering over the button that will expose your appearance to the rest of your classmates

Eventually, the wordless peer pressure, the need to be a good student, and the supportive face of Jeon Jungkook (he/him) have you inhaling sharply before dutifully clicking the camera on. Your face appears on screen, nearly lost in the now overwhelming sea of faces. You’re one of the last ones to turn your camera on, both pages of your zoom meeting participant windows filled with the contrasting images of your classmates joining from their bedrooms. The professor claps in delight, and finally dives into the mandatory first day of classes spiel.

Syllabuses, group work, asynchronous lectures. You’ve heard these words all before, have practically memorized this class’s syllabus like the back of your hand. The pros of being an overachiever. The cons are, however, that you think every question your classmates ask is stupid. Read the syllabus, you want to scream. But it’s the first day of class. You don’t even know who your assigned study group partners (as mentioned in the syllabus) are and you certainly don’t want them to dislike you so soon. They can do that after the third meeting, but not today.

You’re not entirely surprised when your attention drifts away from the professor and the endless sea of stupid questions he’s left to answer. Even when you realize you’ve stopped paying attention, you don’t bother forcing yourself to tune back in. No, instead your focus drifts across the windows of faces.

Some of your classmates are as bored as you, glaring at the screen with disinterest, or glancing off to the side probably at their phones. So you start looking at their rooms, analyzing their decorations and posters as if you’re a professional critic on some house design show.

Jeon Jungkook (he/him) is in a rather plain dorm room. Plain light gray walls— or maybe it’s white —free of decoration. He’s sitting at the provided desk, just like you. The only reason you focus on that is because there’s a multitude of your classmates lazily sprawled across their beds, slumped over a couch. Hardly anyone is sitting at attention like you. Well, except for Jeon Jungkook (he/him). He’s practically exposing the entirety of his living accommodation with the way his camera is set up.

Above eye level, reaching just below his chest, with the room all laid out before you. A neat twin bed, sheets meticulously made. It almost looks like the decorative set at a furniture store with the way the comforter and variety of pillows are placed. He doesn’t seem to be in the crappy dorms you remember, which leaves you wondering where exactly he’s been assigned. You know certain sports clubs get fancier dormitories. Anyway, there’s a door off the side of the bed, a black guitar standing in the corner just behind it. You wonder what’s behind the camera, if maybe his desk is as organized as the rest of his room. Maybe his closet is his weakness, you muse, imagining poor Jeon Jungkook (he/him) with a tornado of a closet. But the thought doesn’t make that much sense, so you discard it quickly.

Anyway, his dorm room. It’s neat and orderly, makes you tilt your head curiously as he swivels from side to side before you. As for himself, he’s dressed in a plain white sweater, hoodie strings perfectly even. His hair has long since fallen over his forehead, but he’s pushed it over this time in a fluffy side part. He was adorably soft.

He’s paying attention to the professor like he genuinely treasures every word that comes off his tongue, nodding along understandingly. He’s even got a pencil in hand, leaning forward every few seconds to scribble something down hurriedly. Not like this is all on the syllabus or anything, you think.

But as soon as the thought crosses your mind, it’s dispelled just as fast. He’s only trying to be a good student, you scold yourself, feeling oddly mean for wanting to make fun of this sweet boy. Especially when he raises his hand a second later and asks the first good question of the day. Something about the grading scale for group projects and how much is determined by the group members themselves. You’re not too sure, the words get a little fuzzy when he starts speaking and his pink lips pull down into an endearing pout.

A couple minutes later and your professor finally wraps up the questions, telling everyone to email him if any other questions arise throughout the semester. Just as you’re sighing in relief, he utters those dreaded words: “Ice-breakers!” he exclaims, and the whole class grimaces, much to his amusement. He says something about feeling the excitement through the screen, but then changes gears. “Since it’s a little hard to talk to your neighbor, I’m going to test out the Breakout Rooms and see how that works, okay guys?”

You frown. Breakout Rooms? What on earth was that? Like most of your classmates, this is pretty much your first rodeo with the Zoom application. He was sending you all into small groups, where? The answer presents itself a few seconds later, a message box appearing on your screen.

The host is inviting you to join a Breakout Room: Group 4

Your professor is still chattering in the background when you nervously accept the invitation, his voice suddenly cut off as your computer jumps to a new loading screen. It takes a while before you’re suddenly dumped into a new room. And then you’re staring at your own face, blown up on your own screen in a rather uncomfortable way. Jeez, did you really look like this?

As soon as you get to picking at your appearance, your mirrored reflection jumps to the side, once, then twice more to fit the three new guests in your room. Silence fills your bedroom as you and your classmates all stare at each other nervously for a couple seconds, unsure of what to say. This was, after all, your first meeting.

Just as you’ve gathered all your courage to click your microphone on, the screen jumps around once more and suddenly Jeon Jungkook (he/him) is in your Breakout Room. Immediately, his surprised face melts into the most reassuring grin you’ve ever seen, and he’s practically jumping forward to turn his mic on.

“Good morning, everyone,” he says, smooth and low. It’s like the awkward tension melts away under the pressure of his pretty smile, your classmates responding back with polite hellos and good mornings to him. You barely get yours in before Jeon Jungkook (he/him) starts talking again. “So… how are you guys?”

His words, sweet and caring as they are, send the five of you into a rather mindless conversation. Talking about nothing really, just whatever comes to mind about the class, about the semester, about the remote learning. Then Jungkook— “just Jungkook is fine!” he tells the other four of you with that same too pure look on his face after someone refers to him by his whole name —starts talking about some movie he had seen on Netflix the other day, something his friend recommended to him. Truthfully, you have zero interest in the type of plot he is describing, and you can tell some of the other people in your group don’t either. But he’s absorbed in his storytelling, features lit up as he details every last plot point of the film like his life depends on it. There’s a wordless agreement to let him ramble on.

By the time Jungkook has finished his novella recapture of whatever movie he was talking about, a green message bubble appears at the top of your screen. It’s a message from your professor, who is telling you the small group meeting will end in a few more minutes.

“Aw, that sucks,” Jungkook laughs, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. And then, “oh! We haven’t answered our icebreaker question yet!”

Ah, yes. The reason for this small group was to get to know each other, not for Jungkook to recount an entire two hour movie for you all. “Oh, right,” you agree, probably the first words you’ve said in the past five minutes. You navigate to the chat box, where your professor had hastily dumped the question before sending you all off. “What’s one thing you miss most about being on campus?” you read aloud, glancing back at the screen.

Your group mates are all in various states of blissful comfort, the gaps of their nervousness smoothed over by Jungkook’s bubbly personality, and the hesitation they’d shown at the beginning is practically gone. Someone steps forward and says something about the campus dining hall. Jungkook laughs, loud and airy, claps his hands all cute too. Someone else says the library because it was a good place to study. There’s a lull and you jump in quickly. “I think I’ll miss the couches by the gym in the student center the most,” you confess, though you doubt anyone knows which ones you mean. They were a set of brightly colored couches tucked into a cranny behind the Starbucks just outside the campus gym, avidly avoided by the gym rats who were determined to ignore the sugary drinks and snacks.

Apparently, the hiding spot isn’t as secretive as you thought. “Oh, the ones by the Starbucks?” Jungkook exclaims, excitedly looking at his screen. You have this fluttery feeling that he’s looking at you for the first time. You nod, and he quite positively beams. “I love those!”

“Yeah, I spend a lot of time there,” you say, though it’s a little stilted because you’re not exactly sure how you’re supposed to react to Jungkook’s enthusiasm. Though his outgoing personality cloaks you in comfort, his pretty smile has your heartbeat acting a little funny.

Jungkook’s got these huge eyes, blinking owlishly at you. “Really? So do I!” And then you both seem to have the same realization. His head tilts to the side cutely, an amused smile on his face, “I’ve never seen you there.”

“I’ve never seen you there,” you shoot back, a little snarkier than necessary, but Jungkook doesn’t seem to notice. His smile turns goofy.

“Woah,” he says in a rather dreamy tone, “isn’t that so cool? We spent so much time in the same place, but never crossed paths before,” he babbles. He’s stopped looking at his computer, leaning back in a sort of dazed manner with this sparkly look to his eyes, much to everyone’s amusement. Except yours, because frankly, it sounds a little bit like he’s describing— “fate!” he says suddenly, like it’s truly an aha! moment. He pauses, taps his finger against his chin. “Or anti-fate? I’m not sure. But it’s like— we could’ve met so many times before and we didn’t.” Doe eyes return to the screen, flickering around until they presumably land on you again. “What do you think, __?”

And he’s just so cute, makes the rigid shield around your chest soften for the slightest moment as you nod meekly. “Uhh, yeah. Fate,” you agree, and then get to hear him laugh and giggle for about three seconds before you’re suddenly thrown back into the larger Zoom meeting.

Weirdly flustered, you hurriedly click your microphone back off, and nearly contemplate the camera too. But then the professor is asking you all to share what you talked about and you’re resigning yourself to a few more minutes of screen time while the class wraps up. By the looks of it, not everyone had as an enjoyable time as you did. Part of you is thankful you didn’t get stuck in an awkward small group. The other part recognizes wholeheartedly that it’s all thanks to one smiley boy at the bottom of your screen.

“And group 4?” the professor asks, and you blink yourself back into attention. Before you can unmute yourself and answer for your group, Jungkook is beating you to it.

“We talked about a lot of things,” Jungkook answers cheerfully. From your view, you get a front row seat to the sheer power of Jungkook’s magnetic personality, watching as all your listless classmates suddenly snap back from their daydreams to zero in on whatever Jungkook is saying. He fills in the professor about what you talked about, from the movies to the couches, and you feel weirdly mushy when his eyes flicker across the screen before settling with a soft smile.

He can’t possibly be looking at me, you tell yourself. Your hand jerks forward to turn the camera off, but in your haste, end up knocking down the water bottle on your desk. You scramble to straighten it, thanking the universe for the fact you actually remembered to screw on the cap. You glance back at the screen, and nearly die when you catch sight of a giggly Jungkook, smile hidden behind an adorable sweater paw as he laughs at something on screen. Oh no, was he looking at me? you panic.

“Alright, everyone,” your professor says in that “I’m about to wrap this class up” voice. Too close to the screen, voice a little too loud. “Good meeting today, I’ll see you all again on Wednesday. Stay safe.”

“Bye!” Jungkook sings sweetly, and everyone else follows as they all bid adieu to the professor. Still a little frazzled from the possibility that Jungkook may have watched you flail around like a total loser, you take a second longer to turn your mic on. Your classmates quickly leave the meeting, leaving only a few stragglers until the very end.

Surprisingly, Jungkook is here too, brown eyes focused on the screen. You unmute yourself. “Um,” you stammer, eyes unwillingly flickering over to Jungkook who smiles at the sound of your voice. “Goodbye. Thank you,” you rush out, and then quickly leave the meeting as well.

With the meeting over, you’re left staring at the home page of the Zoom app, heart beating a little too fast to be normal. Your face feels warm, and your fingers tremble from some unfamiliar, giddy feeling in your chest. You exhale slowly, hand coming up to rub at your chin as if that will somehow explain the weird excitement from your Zoom meeting. Maybe it was just adrenaline, or nervousness, you try to convince yourself. After all, the first day of classes is always nerve-wracking.

Except when you navigate to your class page and begin to mindlessly scroll through the class roster, there’s a weird stutter to your heartbeat when you catch sight of that Jeon Jungkook (he/him) that appears halfway down the list.

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