#I've also gone back and added tags to some old posts

[marlynnofmany]

Someday I'll illustrate the kids' book I wrote as a prequel to Spectacular Silver Earthling. I think kids would like it (and adults too). There will be robots in the background doing amusing things, and a main kid character you can care about.

Someday I'll look into indie publishing it, and see what options are there for fully illustrated kids' books, instead of just the text-only adult novels I'm familiar with. Someday.

(Until someday comes, it'll be a Patreon exclusive for the higher tiers. Ooh, exciting!)

[phoebe-delia]

When This Is Over

YALL I FOUND THIS WIP IN THE DRAFTS OF MY SIDEBLOG FROM *LITERALLY* A YEAR AGO!!! Honest to god, NO idea if I've posted this already; I looked at my blog and at my tagged fics at @drarrymicrofic (wrote this for the now-old prompt: wedding btw) and I didn't see it so I'm going with it. I added an ending after "pretty damn impressive," and I made minor edits to the stuff I wrote before lol. Also this is an AU.

I don't care which china patterns we use; I'm sure you'll choose something delicate and ridiculously expensive and you'll insist on keeping it forever despite the fact that you'll also never let us use it again, let alone allow anyone else to touch it except for you. But it'll make you smile, and that's enough of a reason for me.

I'm going to wear dress robes, which you'll no doubt pick out for me. I don't know or have much of a preference as to what you'll wear, but I know you'll look gorgeous because when I see you wearing that outfit for the first time it'll be when you're walking down the aisle to meet me, and it'll be the best thing I've ever seen.

All I really care about for the planning, other than inviting all our friends and family, is serving good food and dancing to good music. I want us both to know every single song that the DJ plays, and can we please for the love of Merlin ask whoever we hire not to adlib or make commentary during the songs? It's so annoying when they do that. I want to listen to the song, not some stranger stopping the music to scream "WHAT" and "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR" intermittently into the microphone. And if I hear one—and I mean ONE—strangely upbeat or techno remix of a gorgeous ballad, I'm firing the DJ and plugging in my phone and playing music myself. I was scarred from the guy at Dean and Seamus's wedding who played a remix of "My Heart Will Go On." Scarred, I tell you, which is saying a lot for someone who is literally scarred in several places, and would probably be a prime test subject for a team of psychologists.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, the wedding. As for rings, we're going to pick them out together. There's a jewelry shop in Diagon—well, there was before; I hope it'll still be there when this is all over. But if it's gone we can go somewhere else.

It's weird; everyone's talking about how we need to "make sacrifices" if we're going to defeat Him. But I don't think anyone understands that more than you and me. You sacrificed everything to show up to the Order headquarters, alone and asking for help, for forgiveness. And me—well. I haven't had much of a choice in what I've sacrificed. You did, though, and that's pretty damn impressive.

When this is over, I don't want to make a single compromise that impacts the grand scheme of my life. I want to be greedy; I want to be selfish. I want to grab happiness by the balls and never let it slip through my fingers.

I want to travel the world together. To lie on a beach until my skin grows flushed; hike up a mountain and feel my lungs burn. I want to feel my shirt stick to my skin from how much I'm sweating while we dance in a packed club, in a city where we don't speak the language; you'll move in close and grind your arse against me, throwing your head back against my shoulder to demand, through hot panted breaths, to take you home. I will, immediately, because of all the things I want for the rest of my life, you're at the top of the list.

I don't care where we are, or what we're doing, when this is all over. As long as I'm with you.

[ghost-proofbaby]

GHOST'S "OPEN BAR" 3K CELEBRATION

as a way to say thank you and show my appreciation for hitting 3k, i decided it's about time for a party around here... don't y'all? and what better way to get a party started than to get a little boozy! (haha get it? BOOzy? because ghost? no? okay i'll stop.)

THE RULES: below the cut will be a fun menu filled to the brim with delicious drinks! send me an ask with your order, and as long as it follows my general rules, i'll whip it right up for you! the idea here is each drink represents a different general trope, and you fill in the blanks with a character of your choosing (see below) as well as general ideas! below will be examples of requests. i will being doing as many of these requests as possible for this week, from april 3rd (today) to april 8th. starting april 9th, i have a different fun week planned for us to keep the party going, and will announce it on sunday <3

WHO I'M WRITING FOR: eddie munson, steve harrington, spencer reid, and joel miller. you must specify the character in your request, or i will not complete it.

EXAMPLES OF REQUESTS: "hi! can i get a filthy martini with eddie munson? maybe some overstimulation involving toys?" or "can i get a flute of champagne with joel miller? maybe what the end of the day looks like in the QZ!" you can get as specific or as vague as you'd like! these are just examples :-)

also, before we dive in, i've also filled this post with easter eggs towards just a few of my favorite fics/authors (and a couple of my own). i have added a link over each reference in case any of them catch your eye. i wouldn't have hit this milestone without all of these wonderful people who inspire and support me, and there was no way i wasn't sending a nod their way during this event. i love y'all endlessly <3

alright, onwards with the party bus, friends!

THE MENU:

🥃 WILLOW'S OLD-FASHIONED: angst

long week? a new job babysitting a rockstar that just cannot and will not behave? has that blonde coworker you just wish you could slap into the next week gotten on your final nerve? look no further! sit back and cry relax with one of our famous old-fashioneds!

🍷 ASH'S SPECIAL: hurt/comfort

whiskey and bitters not your cup of tea? be still your old heart! no worries! relax like the world's ending from your long week with a good book and a glass of our famous Sauvignon Blanc instead!

🥂 FLUTE OF CHAMPAGNE: fluff

sip on some of our top shelf Dom Perignon and get lost in the bubbles! this classic will have you feeling so good, it's almost as if you've traded bodies with your arch nemesis in a freaky friday ordeal. just don't think too hard about his... mechanics below the belt... or this drink might be a boner killer. let the good times roll!

🍸 FILTHY MARTINI: smut

feeling dirty? look no further. here at ghost's, we've got you covered with one of our dirty, downright filthy martinis. disclaimer: we are not legally responsible for you getting colorfully intimate with your friend's dad or if you end up in a 3-film-box-set porno deal. yeah, our lawyers make us put those disclaimers now. keep it in your pants, folks!

not looking to get tipsy tonight? no worries! check out our extended menu options - we've still got you covered <3

☕ CUP OF SUNSHINE: mutual pining

get it hot! get it iced! get it fresh! as long as you get it before it's gone! wake yourself up with a cup of our coffee brewed in-house. cream and sugar available upon request. (hot and dirty sex in the back room not available upon request.)

🥐 KARMEN'S CROISSANTS: exes to lovers

be sure to grab a snack during your night out! these croissants are absolutely to die for (just don't fall for your reaper, folks!). enjoy this lamented pastry in our favorite armchair by the window while enjoying one of our many books laid out for your pleasure!

easter eggs i'm unable to tag (aka banner):

the "yes" policy

and my own twenty-four hours

also, filthy martini is fully a shout out to the legend behind the man of the hour who has inspired a large majority of these fics as well as my own - mr. joseph quinn himself. may all his martinis be the absolute filthiest.

once again, thank you all. i will never know how to repay the kindness showed to me, so i will do what i do best - write. also, please keep in mind i have no idea how many requests i will receive. my hope is to complete as many as possible without driving myself to absolute madness; please be kind and patient with me <3

[random-lil-illing]

i think i've gone long enough without a pinned post - time to make one!

WELCOME TO MY BLOG !!

!! INTRODUCTION !!

hello, i'm beverly! i use they/them and he/him pronouns (i am willing to experiment with other pronouns/neopronouns/xenopronouns too!! as long as it's not she/her.) :) you can also call me: illing, everest, ayesha, meeks, star, duck, or mitchell.

i am under eighteen years old, and i would appreciate it if people over nineteen did not message me (you can interact with my posts and replies, but no private messages please! you will be ignored or blocked if you message me and are over the age of nineteen.)

i like to interact with my mutuals, but i don't often make actual connections with them or become friends - i am okay with occasional messages, though i can't promise i will respond :)

my blog is mostly an art blog, with some headcanon posts here and there, but i do sometimes reblog things and participate in tag games. i like to interact with my mutuals' posts sometimes, such as replying to their posts or adding on to them in my reblogs.

!! MY OTHER ACCOUNTS !!

my other tumblr account for reblogging only: @illings-ill-reblogs (appearance/theme of this account changes with every hyperfixation.)

my side-blog (a fan-page for whichever character(s) i am interested in): @character-obsessed-fem (theme/appearance of this account changes with every hyperfixation.)

my ao3 account: Caramel_Cannibal

my tiktok (be warned i am rarely active on here): @caramel.cannibal

!! INTERESTS !!

my interests / hyperfixations, which my blog will be mostly centered around for the time that i am into them, change all the time! each time i have a new interest, i will change it here on my pinned post :)

current interest: Sonic the Hedgehog - specifically, Shadow the Hedgehog / Maria Robotnik.

previous interest: Dead Poets Society (1989) - specifically, Stephen Meeks.

!! NOT WELCOME HERE !!

if you find yourself under any of these categories, please do not follow me as you will not like the contents of my blog, and i do not like you. i urge you to leave.

- discriminatory against any of the following groups: religions (especially jews and muslims), pocs, lgbtq+, palestinians, minorities, disabled people, neurodivergent people, homeless people, women, single parents.

- if you are a zionist, leave.

- if you are a terf, leave. (this includes supporting known terfs like JKR.)

- if you support or defend pedophilia, zoophilia/bestiality, and rape/SA (or, god forbid, belong to any of those groups), leave.

!! PLEASE STAY !!

if you find yourself under any of the following categories, then i think you will like this blog and i urge you to stay!

- if you like art, stay.

- if you like Sonic the Hedgehog, stay. (for now.)

- if you do not mind a blog that changes interests constantly, stay!

- if you are queer, please stay.

- if you are pro-palestine, stay.

- if you're friends with me in real life, stay! (at the risk of your own sanity, of course.)

- if you are not prejudiced against minorities or a group of people (unfairly) discriminated against, stay.

!! ADDITIONAL WARNINGS !!

- i tend to take unannounced breaks from tumblr a lot, especially throughout the school year. this is due to a variety of reasons, but usually comes down to me being focused on school work and exams and not having time to make anything for tumblr. this can be pretty annoying, and i do apologise.

- when i make headcanons for characters, i sometimes headcanons them as things that have no back-up evidence in the actual media (e.g. headcanoning a character as trans with no proof, or believing a character has a specific type of family with no proof.) this might bother some people, however i am just trying to have fun here :)

- i have a bad habit of making unecessarily long posts (especially when it comes to headcanons), and i know people may find this annoying... sorry!

!! MY ONLINE PERSONA !!

i do have an online persona if people would like someone / something to imagine when interacting with my posts :)

!! MUTUALS !!

unfortunately, i rarely interact with my mutuals unless i'm doing a tag game they tagged me in, or i'm adding something to their post :( i am a very low-contact mutual unfortunately.

!! BLINKIES !!

that's it!! i've seen a lot of people with pinned posts and i've decided it's time to make my own :)

[johnlauxillus]

I've been doing some housekeeping on this blog over the past few days and I realized that I did not have Kari's latest design uploaded here, so I thought I'd remedy that. A lot of my OCs have updated designs that I'll be posting as I play catch-up with all of my old art!

I've also gone back and added some new tags to a lot of my old OC art to categorize everything a bit better, now most of my OCs with shared universes have their own tags so people can see all the drawings I've done of them in one place. If you don't want to dig through tags to find them, I've added some custom links on my main blog!

[late-night-vocaloid]

tips for artists from twitter!

welcome! this is an extensive guide for new tumblr users, mostly geared towards artists, going over a few things I've learned here over the years.

(tldr at the bottom, short version of this post)

general tag usage

one of tumblr's best features is its tags. taking advantage of them will generally improve your experience (and ability to find posts later, something I think is a major advantage tumblr has over twitter)

tags on tumblr are used to help others find your post in site-wide tags and searches, to make your post findable on your own blog, and for commentary. they can use spaces.

your post will show up in the first 20 tags you use on it

if you use your main to reblog posts and post art, use one tag for all of your art. this will make it easy for people, yourself included, to scroll through all of your art at once without needing to dig through the reblogs. something as simple as "art" (if you don't use that tag for art reblogs too) or "my art" (if you do) will do, but it's also not uncommon to give the tag a more unique name with your name in it, like "[name] draws," etc.

speaking of which, some people also have a tag for talking, usually named similarly to "[name] draws," but again, it can be anything

don't censor your tags. there's no need to use "k*ll" or "unalive" here, and censoring trigger warning tags will cause your post to bypass people's blocked tags/words/phrases

sideblogs

sideblogs are additional blogs tied to your account. they work the same way your main does, except only your main can follow/block people, send asks, and like/reply to posts

there's no need to log into them, you choose which blog posts go to when reblogging/making them. going to a sideblog in the sidebar will auto-select that blog when you make a new post

people make sideblogs for different fandoms, blog types, etc., and because they're easy to manage and post to, many people make them for art! whether you use your main to post art or make an art blog is up to you, people do both

post longevity

posts on tumblr tend to be timeless. there are no automatically, immediately visible timestamps on posts, and people don't tend to think about when posts were made when reblogging them. you'll find your old posts will still get notes ages after you've made them

once a post is reblogged, there's no permanently deleting it. you can delete the original and it'll be gone from your blog, but the post as you made it will still exist on anyone's blog who rb'd it. this isn't to say it wouldn't get buried if only a few people reblogged it, just something to be aware of. same is true if you delete your blog

not about longevity, but the same is true of edits. if you need to edit a post, do it before people start reblogging it to prevent two versions of the post (the unedited original post, and the edited version) from circulating. of course, you can always tell people in the replies/reblogs of your posts to reblog/check the edited version on your blog (it's the same post, there aren't two individual posts) if it's important, but not everyone will open the notes and see that. people also sometimes use this for tricks

reblogging

considered the best thing to do if you really like a post, reblogging is for sharing posts with others, and saving them on your blog (+ being able to categorize them with tags if you'd like)

if you comment:

in the reblog: your comment is added as a part of the post itself, people are able to reblog the version of the post with your comment on it

in the replies: your comment is added under the post in the replies, people are able to reply back and forth to each other without needing to rb the whole post over and over, but can only reply with their main blog

in the tags: your comment will show up on your reblog of the post specifically without adding it to the actual post, it'll be visible on your blog and the tag viewing section of the post along with others' tags, keep in mind that the poster may read your tags on their post

people generally use tags to add little comments that they don't intend on getting a reply to when they reblog (for this reason, artists usually love going through the tags on their posts), but comments in reblogs and the replies are also perfectly fine

if you're on desktop, get the extension xkit rewritten and enable quick reblog. I cannot stress this enough. it makes reblogging infinitely faster by letting you hover over the reblog button for a little window with a blog selection dropdown, field for typing in tags, and reblog/queue/draft buttons, as opposed to pulling up the whole reblog screen (which is mostly good for if you want to comment with your reblog or type long tags and make sure they won't get cut off (tags have a 140 character limit each)

it's also totally normal to reblog your own art! at night if you posed it in the day, multiple days in a row, old art from forever ago, it's basically like quote retweeting it for people who missed it the first time. some people use tags like "reblogging for the later crowd" or "rb for the morning crowd" when they do this, but it isn't required

image descriptions

image descriptions (or IDs) make your posts accessible for those who are blind/visually impaired and use screen readers, which are software programs that read text aloud/make it readable through a braille display

to write them, give simple explanations of what the images you post are. for your art, include details like the medium (digital art, pencil drawing, etc), people/characters, outfits, hairstyles, expressions, poses, props, visual effects, backgrounds, and so on.

others may add image descriptions to your posts, but writing them yourself is the best way to ensure everything in your art is interpreted correctly, and the most notable parts are communicated

image descriptions can be put directly into the body/description of a post, right under or above the image (and not separated from the image under a read more)

there's also alt text, which is text embedded into the code of the image itself that screen readers will read like any other text when the image is hovered over/clicked. many websites have a way to add alt text when uploading images, tumblr included

examples of image descriptions are below the cut.

troubleshooting your posts not showing up in tags

new blogs may not be able to post to tags immediately (a bot prevention method). to make sure your posts show up in tags,

add an icon/description to your blog (you may have heard this is important to show others you aren't a bot so they don't block you when you follow them, but this is also a way tumblr itself determines if you're a bot)

reblog a post/posts (they can be deleted later)

wait a while before posting (maybe a day or two, it's been a while since I last checked the amount of time with a new blog)

certain things, like adding more than two links (not video links, just regular ones), can also cause your post not to show up in tags

an easy way to check if you're able to post to tags is to make a quick text post and tag it something specific, like "testingggg," and then check that tag to see if your post is in it. it can take a few seconds for your post to show up. this is a good way to test anything you think may be causing your post not to show up in tags, and you can delete it immediately after you check

sometimes, tags are just finicky. if your post isn't there, it may show up later, it may not. if it's really important that your post shows up in the tags, delete it and try again later

tldr/summary

the first 20 tags on your post will have it show up in those tags

if you reblog and post art, use a tag for your art

don't censor trigger warnings

if you want to, make an art only sideblog within your account

posts on tumblr are timeless and may still get notes long after they're posted

if a post is deleted, any reblogs of the post on other blogs will remain

editing posts does not edit already-reblogged versions

reblogging is for sharing and saving, and is very much appreciated

reblogging with a comment adds it as a part of the post

replying allows for short-ish discussion directly related to the post

tags are often used for making one-sided comments for the poster/your followers/people browsing the tags on the post to read

on desktop, get xkit rewritten for its streamlined reblogging feature

if you want to, reblog your art for those that missed it earlier

add simple descriptions of what your images are to your posts for those who use screen readers (see image descriptions section)

you may need to add an icon/description to your blog, reblog a post, and wait a bit before tumblr will let you post to tags with a new blog (bot prevention)

you can use text posts with any tag to test if you posts will show up in tags before posting the real thing

of course, none of the advice here is obligatory, and you should use your account/run your blog how you want to, but hopefully you find something in here helpful. there's a lot I didn't cover, mainly general tumblr things people have already covered as opposed to artist-oriented tips, and it doesn't get into all the features like custom blog themes (which I recommend desktop users look into), but these are a few things that aren't immediately apparent/are different elsewhere. that's all, thanks for reading and have fun!

image description examples are below the cut.

[ID: a chibi figure of Vocaloid Kaito sitting sadly on the floor, his scarf wrapped around his torso and lower face, and his arms to his sides. He has a single tear and is blushing slightly, and there's a bandage on his head. Beside him are a melty, spilled, blue popsicle and a wet floor sign with the text "caution" and an image of the popsicle. End ID.]

[ID: the cover of the Vocaloid Gakupo album “Celebration,” which features cursive text that reads “Celebration” above regular text that reads “Gackpoid V3 Song Collection,” along with digital art of Gakupo. His hair is half down, half up in a spiky bun with golden sticks crossed through it. He’s wearing an unbuttoned, white dress shirt, a black jacket, a black tie, and an earpiece with a mic. He looks to the camera with a neutral expression, his mouth slightly open, loosening his tie. There are glowing petals around him, and golden flowers that turn into feather-like shapes behind him. The background is a grey-to-black gradient with purplish-pink bars with patterns on them. End ID.]

these are a couple examples of how you might describe your art. if there's something distinct about your art, like very-saturated or pastel colors, you might specify that too. if you post comics, you might start out with text like "a four-panel digital comic," before describing what's happening in each panel. if you were posting a meme, you might specify which meme it is and give only relevant information, not describing things like shirt color, etc. like you might do with art. a good rule of thumb is to describe the images in your posts like you would to a friend who's in the room but can't see your screen.

[withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus]

Part 2 to the question about an all in visual kei movie (repost)

I know I said that posting the 2nd question would be the last time I terrorize the visual kei tags, but apparently it wasn't even visible through my adding it to the 1st's post's reblogs so I have to repost. NOW is the last time, cause I've had it with how posting works on tumblr at this point.

This is what the 2nd question I had posted under the 1st one was:

Alright this is scary, but I have to ask one more thing, cause power lies in numbers and I really want the collective's opinions. Like I am seriously shaking just trying cause like...I want you all to take this as a joke, but it's no joke for me xD. Please keep taking it as a joke cause it is indeed very ambitious.

If we had the script to at least 1 movie like that...how would you think one could possibly convince all these people work together in such a big project? Money and exposure to a larger crowd aside, I mean, cause some jrockers have money and that isn't much of an appealing reason. This question is mostly for adult fans who've had a few years in their respective fields and know how various businesses work.

It gets crazy as an idea I know, that's why I said take this lightly, but think of the just as crazy possibilities. You might ask "why, what could I possibly get out of this for helping you or throwing ideas, or even knowledge" if you are in the same field...ahm...apart from entertaintment and getting a nostalgia trip and the possibility or reviving bands that gave up because of money (cause some don't give a damn how old they are and neither should you, like, both in your own life and when pointing your fingers on people like them, we only live once, we might as well try to live how we want), well....if you are an artist of any film field you could work with your favorite artists and get precentage of the income. If you aren't an artist, well...I don't know, that's why I said it's crazy. You get to share sth that once or still matters to you with a larger crowd. You get to see "weirdness" being represented in a way that encopasses many types of people that aren't considered minorities per se but still get shat on for what they choose to wear, believe and dream. Cause like who fucking cares if you have piercings, tattoos, if you want to wear crazy clothes, a dress down the street...maybe you want people's individuality to be represented, right? Maybe you too felt pushed aside once cause of this. This is about celebrating that I mean. Being who you are no matter what.

But yeah anyway....ideas? I know btw that some jrockers have said they are into the idea of playing a role in a movie but never had the opportunity and some like the idea of being villains (Ruki and Mahiro Kurosaki being 2 examples (also in case sb wishes to bring up Mahiro's condition, no worries, every single medical condition has been taken into consideration in case this was possible, and he or anyone else agreed.).

I hear you people. All gens in, again. Any ideas, even crazy ones are acceptable. Again if such project was a thing, the bands and artists will get the most out of it. If nth comes to mind, it's ok. The answers to the first question were more than enough for science. ^^

(and yeah this is the last question, i won't be spoiling visual kei and band tags with any more nonsense scenarios after this. The reason I even made a second question was because you guys seemed interested and also because, if I take into considerations which vkei pics I post get the most notes, many of you seem to still want to see sth long gone back, even for just a little, so yeah..i think we get each other one that one. And probably so do they. Who knows.)

[vwritesaus]

There is a house on Curzon Street that James has taken a liking to.       An old dwelling, its design belongs easily to a bygone British era, yet it continues to stand strong. Four storeys high, it blends in with the surrounding houses of red, brown, and black brickwork, with countless windows trailing high to the sky and elaborate entryways of wrought iron railings and archways.       A completely ordinary-looking house for this part of London. There’s nothing truly exciting about it, at least by comparison.       And yet James can’t stop staring at it.       He allows himself to drink in every detail despite already knowing them: the rusty patch on the fence, the few steps leading to the dark blue front door, the number of windows, the pot plant in the corner of the top step, the grey curtains of what could be a living room, the golden glow of the ceiling light pouring through one of the top window panes…       His heart dances funnily as he roves over them all, as it usually does. This time, however, the yearning is so strong, James wants to go and knock on the front door, just to see inside.       But he can’t do that. That’s weird.       ‘What’s so special about it?’ Matthew asks.       ‘I don’t know,’ James whispers earnestly, shrugging helplessly. He places a hand on his chest, rubbing along his sternum over his shirt and adds, ‘It just… it’s like my heart knows it. Thinks it important. For whatever reason that may be.’       His throat closes off, a large lump forming, and a wave of remorse crashes over him. He doesn’t say anything else in fear of not being about to speak—but not that he needs to for Matthew links their arms together and gently pulls James into his side. James’s head falls on Matthew’s shoulder and the house wobbles dangerously in his vision.       This house.       This damn house.              Something shifts in the air and his head flies up. Matthew makes a stunned sound. James ignores him.       For the briefest of moments, like a glitch on a screen, James sees a woman in emerald green with tumbling red hair standing by the front door. She throws a radiant smile over her shoulder at him and James’s lips silently form the syllables of her name.       And then she’s gone.

why HELLO THERE and welcome to my biggest project to date that i've poured my blood, sweat and tears since august last year: a TLH modern/mundane au & reincarnation au set in 2013/14 London! i posted some of this back in october, but after much editing and reworking... it's back, new and improved >:3

but srsly like i said in the older posts, i’m so so excited about this story. it’s been my baby since i finished COI, and when i say ch1 is a whopping 17k... yeah. the size of this fic worries me but hey, when the brainworms hit, what can you do?

and it's only gonna get longer once i get my hands on my copy of chain of thorns, mark my words

to start with tho, here's an altered excerpt from chapter 1!! i'll be posting the full chapter on saturday night/early sunday morn AEDT so stay tuned~ ✨

and a huge shoutout to Mary (@ferrari-go-vroom-vroom) for betaing, thank you soooo much, you're the best 💜

~

tagging people who might be interested: @astriefer @drunkonimagination @melanielocke @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @livingformyself let me know if you’d like to be added to or removed from the tag list!!

also FYI i'm only tagging adults as the fic (currently rated M) will be heading towards rating E territory in later chapters

p.s. please keep the tags/reblogs/replies free of chain of thorns spoilers for the foreseeable future!! thank you <3

[kangaracha]

hey do that tag game and tag zom mom

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ♥️

sent: december 16th 2022. once again, i am the queen of finding old posts. and you all said i should tag things so i can find them later, ha.

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'NEVERMORE' we all knew would come out on top. this is THE brainworm. the piece de resistance. the swansong except i'm not quitting or dying when it's done. hopefully. i haven't told anyone but i'm very aware this could blow out to 200 or 300k if i finish it, and it's. i just love it. unfettered creativity etc. Nevermore is based on the stray kids cinematic universe, the music videos and performances that all connect to tell a story, but even if you don't know stray kids, i think you can read it - it's about a group of boys (a band? a group of musicians?) stumbling into another world that is made of music and controlled by a strict government, and their journey back home to their own time and place, and the things that are left in their wake. it's huge and it's long and it's the first time i've reached 70k and still felt like i have a hand on all the plot lines without leaving plot holes in my wake.

'The Gone And The Gathered' is a zombies fic set in an au where zombietown is treated as an internment camp by Seabrook, also based on ghettos/concentration camps from WW2. Zombies are used to run the power plant and supply electricity and water to Seabrook and have never left the town; werewolves are known wild entities, and some have been captured as they are Useful in maintenance in the power plant. The story follows teenaged Wanda and Zoey through a series of discoveries about their world and the ripple effect this has on Zombietown and the world beyond the walls that they have never seen - and it's about staying quiet and accepting your lot in life, or daring to strike out and create a better future for yourself and your people, even if it might mean sacrificing yourself.

'Turn Your Back On Mother Nature' is a MCU Eternals fic, focused on Druig and Makkari. It contains five canon compliant scenes that, given my own director's cut, I would have added to the movie - not meant to change anything, but just meant to complement the plot and the character's own individual storylines and give more depth and meaning. I feel like I really excel at working within the boundaries given by a certain media and it's one of the main things that keeps me coming back to the challenge of writing fanfiction, and I'm so proud of the job that I did on this - it's well written, my character work really stands out, and I thought the scenes really worked to capture each idea I was trying to express. mwah good job roo.

'To Go Beyond Your Borders' is my pokemon comfort fic. It follows Angie, the champion of Sinnoh but also a disgraced public figure, and a journey of self-discovery as she runs away to Galar to compete in the Gym Challenge there. I started writing this in my depression/anxiety era, and in a lot of roundabout ways a lot of the themes/Angie's struggles are based on challenges I've faced in the last few years, so this fic is. Really cool, and something I keep coming back to as I really like the story I built for it. If more mature pokemon journeys is something you're interested in, this is the fic for you - and the composition of it, with social media interlaced with traditional storytelling, is so fun, I love doing it and coming up with the different bits and where they'll make the most impact. This is just so fun to work on and more people should read it so I make it more of a priority cause seeing this finished one day is going to make me so happy.

'if only we knew (the things we know)' and it's sequel, 'and the chasm grows', two of my long zombies stand-alones, are the fics i always think of first when asked what writing I'm most proud of. The themes are big - death, and knowing that you're going to die soon (cancer related themes, though this isn't about cancer), and facing down the idea of genocide of your entire race. They're very dark, as they have to be, and they're very hopeless, and whenever the odd reader comes along they tell me that they cried, and yet I think I managed to find a little bit of warmth in each, the strings of community and family and comfort that hold on until the very end. I specifically recommend the final scene of chasms, which i wrote in a blinding flash of inspiration and will never be able to recreate - it sticks with me even now, and while I can't remember certain other scenes from these fics, I will never forget that ending, and the way it made me as the writer feel when i finished and looked back on it.

[kittyrob0t]

I used to think that I didn't wanna get anymore cats because I couldn't bare the thought of seeing them pass. And yet, Lucky's passing has only made me love him even more, more so that I want to love even more felines in my lifetime.

I remember looking for someone to come with me to Binangonan, somewhere I've never been, via commute and was so shy to tag anyone along with my personal shenanigans and possibly undiagnosed savior complex. But alas, when I saw him in person, all of my thoughts felt small. He was eagerly eating the treats I was giving him, but probably because he must've just been hungry as hell and I was just a stranger giving him treats outside his cage.

So I'm here, typing this - seemingly cheesy essay, Like a Star by Corinne Bailey Rae, as I do when one loses a pet. If you haven't jumped on the wagon, you really should save this song for future purposes. I once rode an MRT when I found out, another adopted kitten of ours died and I was crying, mask wet - playing this song in my phone, adding only to the existing agony that was already there. I have so much to do, that even when I was recommended to take a leave, am still doing things I shouldn't even do considering I just lost a child. And I can't help but feel like I'm disrespecting Lucky a little bit because I'm not even dedicating all my hours to crying and sitting still.

And I have, earlier today; as I sat in a room with his body. Imagining that his stomach is slowly moving up and down, even when I know damn well he's gone. I really thought he was gonna be with us forever. Even in looking for places to move to, I always wonder about getting one extra room just for my cats, even if they'll choose to sleep there more than in mine.

He's such a nice soul, I wished people got a chance to get to know him. And even when it got old before pretty fast about people saying that even when he looks a little unlucky, he brings luck to people and to be honest, I'm only really ruminating in that thought now. He truly made me feel Lucky to have been his home before he passed. I wish I could've given him more. And I feel so sad because I know there's so much more I could've given him.

Lucky was so nice, and funny, and sweet. And even with the months prior of him living the way he's lived with his previous owner, he still was very sweet when we got him.

I remember the first time he was making biscuits; it was in my room, on a pillow that I wished was my leg. I wanted him to trust me so badly. I also remember not wanting to get attached to him the first few weeks, because I was so worried that with the strain of illnesses he had, I won't even be able to get him out the vet. But alas, he persevered, and we did too, all because he was showing so much promise. I really thought that all of his struggles were done, and that even when he did, we were stronger enough to handle it. It was so fast, like a quick rain on a summer day, a few stations in train transit on a weekend. I even saw them as my mom carried him in the carrier on the way to the vet, what I thought would be another day of worry but with the promise of him home by dinner. It feels incredibly heartbreaking bring home an empty pet crate. I will never look at it the same again.

I love him so much, so much. So much that I understand rich people when they make a foundation over their losses, because I just know that if I was part of the 1% it's another gig I'd pull. I want him to live forever. The house feels empty without him, Ponkan and Melon have been looking for him when we came back, and they were just starting to become friends. It sucks that he's gone without me. I know people often caption their posts that they're running free or whatever, but I can't help but feel depressed knowing I won't even get to see it.

Dear Lucky,

I know you'll never know how to read, let alone even see this (I don't know how optimists do it), but by some miracle you ever get to, I want you to know how much I love you, despite me staying long hours in the office and only ever being to hang out fully on weekends, when even then I feel like I'm busy still. You're one of the best things that has happened to us. I only wish that you feel the same, and that we've been a joy to be around in your final days, that we've made you feel alot better being with us, that you feel alright sleeping and waking up in a home with us. I wish that you felt loved by us, that you felt accepted. I will always cry at the sight of your pink tent. Now I'm crying like a whale because of writing that. I want to hug it and smother myself with it. I'm happy for all the times you let me pet you, feed you and even hug you even when I feel like you're out to bite me. I never cared. I love you so much I don't know what to do with it. You were so young. I only wished you were were happy during your stay with us that it felt like a lifetime you'd never forget.

[hottakehoulihan]

Tumblr is different

I'm volatile and not in the best mood right now, so I'll avoid doing anything for a couple weeks until that settles down.

But before I got The Bad News I was musing about how Tumblr's mechanics are different.

If I spent ten hours on a forum, I'd read/skim a few hundred posts, respond to a dozen threads, and maybe I'd start one thread.

Months later, maybe I'd go back and tidy up by deleting any empty or dead threads, or any of my comments, that didn't seem needed for posterity.

I like the tidiness of this. I like reducing my internet footprint or at least putting as much of it on "darkweb" (not on search engines) as possible. (something I've avoided doing on Tumblr thus far, but it's been more than a year since the Reddit API bullshit and it's time to stop pretending I can keep 19684 alive by myself on Tumblr or that the 196 folk are still rejecting Reddit (some are, and cheers and love to you for your principles. I begin to accept that the only actions that work aren't polite ones, and that you get a lot more done with peaceful protests while holding a brick)

Anyway

On Tumblr, those same ten hours? I'll read/skim a few hundred posts--as before--and I'll maybe make a handful of original posts and add a handful of original comments and even some add-on comments on reblogs, but also I'll reblog a whole bunch without adding any information.

Those ten hours, instead of generating maybe a dozen or so in my "history", will generate ten times as many things.

And it's super inconvenient to go through and selectively modify or remove individual posts. They're more graphics-intensive, so they take a long time to load and the mass-handling tools are clumsy.

I spent more time than I should have, and well over ten hours in the last few days, just trying to pare and curate my old blogs and reblogs.

This is silly, but it's a bit of a compulsion and I don't like how untidy it is.

The obvious thing to do is

to not care so much about having a history and just leave it there.

to have less activity so there's less to tidy up.

to stop being so choosy about what I delete and just mass-delete anything I post that is older than a couple months old.

And since 1 requires a change in my personality and 2 requires a change in my willpower, it's a good idea for me to at least acknowledge that odds are high I won't accomplish either.

So I'm doing 3. With, maybe a bit of skimming important tags (wormblr, wormfic, poetry, and HHH.txt with the lattermost being whenever I start chattering about things in a confessional/revelatory way.

(I can't be "Hot Take" Houlihan without sincerity, since a hot take is--for me--flawed in that it is not a carefully considered and digested and couched view, but it is an honest if clumsy representation of what one feels in the moment) ...and sincerity has a critical mass beyond which one has to either reduce one's burden or collapse, even if one is blessed with feet that are not clay.

If any of my sincere effortposts, my casual shitposts, or my casual reblogs are dear to you, reblog them or save them or something, because I'm gonna start deleting anything older than two months gone on this account. I *might* reblog or queue favorites first.

tl;dr: In a couple weeks I'll start deleting anything I posted that is more than two months old. Just a heads-up.

[browneyesandhair]

Hey! It's ya girl! July Edition

I got no chill and a large obsession with a lot of things. So this year, I'm tracking it! Okay, so this year, is the year of recs! (you may have seen some of my posts, but I also have an extensive queue, so maybe not (check out the #recs on my page)). Very late as I was on vacation, still we persist.

Anyways, I've created a collection for this year overall and then also for each month! Let's check out July's stats -

Works read (&finished): 68

Fandoms (top 8):

1 - Harry Potter: 32

2 - Star Trek: 10

3 - Bridgerton: 5

4 - Avatar: 5

5 - The Vampire Diaries: 3

6 - Batman: 3

7 - Hunger Games: 2

8- Merlin: 2

The rest didn't make the first drop down section of AO3, so oh well! Let's check in on relationships (top 8):

1 - Spirk: 11

2 - Harmony: 8

3 - Polin: 5

4 - Drarry: 3

5 - Jily: 3

6 - Tomione: 3

7 - Klaroline: 3

8 - Dramione: 2

There were 7 fics that were reread / added to my recs list this month:

Avatar:

Embers by Vathara

Summary:

Dragon's fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world...

where the stars do not take sides by WitchofEndor

Summary:

When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them. Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

The Vampire Diaries:

At Horizon's Edge by Cupcakemolotov

Summary:

Sometimes when a girl goes on a shopping trip to pick up a new pair of boots at the local, and somewhat hostile, human space station, she accidentally aids and abets a prison break instead. What happens in the black really doesn't stay in the black.

Star Trek:

Ten Degrees Below Zero by kianspo

Summary:

After a serious incident aboard a starship, Commander Spock is demoted and transferred to a remote base where he must now serve with other "undesirables." He adjusts to his new rank and duties, and, while the future does look bleak, he is not ready to give up on himself or Starfleet yet. There is work to be done and hope to be found, especially as he begins to get to know his new colleagues, particularly one intriguing engineering officer James Kirk...

Teen Wolf:

It Takes Time (I'm Here Now) by kianspo

Summary:

Stiles has been crushing on Derek since he was 11 years old. Everyone knows about it. Derek used to tease him about his crush, though not in a mean way. Stiles is someone who has always just been there, and Derek likes being around him, more and more as time goes by. He doesn't understand why until Stiles comes back from college. Has Derek taken too long to figure it out? Now that Stiles has a career and a steady boyfriend, is it too late for Derek to tell him how he feels? Derek might have left him alone, if he didn't hate Stiles's boyfriend quite so much...

Harry Potter:

Between the Lines by A_LoveUnlaced, emmy_award

Summary:

When Hermione received her Hogwarts letter, she wanted to cry, but didn’t.

Batman:

Take It Back Now Y'all by TimTheToaster (tabletoptime)

Summary:

There was absolutely no way this sunshine was from Gotham in April. Not possible. Which meant, Tim was no longer in Gotham, in April. (In which Tim finds himself in the past, and tries to do the right thing. It's more complicated than he'd like.)

Alright, that's all folks (mostly), for fun, here are the top 8 additional tags from the stories that I read in July:

AU - Canon Divergence: 16

AU: 10

Sexually Explicit Content: 10

Romance: 9

Angst: 8

Smut: 7

Character Study: 5

Hurt/Comfort: 5

And, that's all folks (for real this time)!

[xxmolls]

Time for a pinned post! Hi! I'm Molly (technically Mariel, but my nickname has been Molly since before I was born!). she/her, in my 30's, Missouri (US).

I am a singer/songwriter, though when I was 19 and hellbent on making that my career, I got sick with late stage neurological lyme disease. My health has been a dumpster fire since then, and I spent basically all of my 20's on-and-off bedridden (You can follow that SUPER fun journey under the tag health ramble -- I have had this tumblr since I was 19 so we have gone through a lot of shit together). When I turned 30, after getting treatment for MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome), I finally started to get my life back. I have been diagnosed with Tourette's since I was 4. That has added an interesting dimension into my "medical mystery," which tends to fascinate (and befuddle) doctors AND ALSO keeps things somewhat entertaining day to day. I find a lot of humor in my tics (though sometimes they can be pretty debilitating!). I worked at a summer camp for kids with Tourette Syndrome for 4 years, so I love meeting and chatting with fellow ticcers and consider myself an advocate. I have recently begun writing kind of personal essays that explain inspirations for songs I wrote and connect them to what was going on in my life (and often my health shitshow) at the time. I've been tagging those with My Writing if you are interested in reading (or blacklisting). I recorded an album of original (mostly Americana) songs years ago. You can listen to that on Spotify at Molly Trull - "Nothing Is Enough" It's available on basically every streaming / music service you can think of (including youtube). Just search my name and the album title (Nothing Is Enough). My bandcamp is here if you want to buy and download the mp3s to own.

Some of the songs on the album are literally songs I wrote in high school, just to warn you. I feel like I have outgrown them a bit. I am still proud of my songs, though, and I think the album doesn’t sound too bad.

I have an old soundcloud account where I have uploaded some of the songs from my album as well as some home demos, and some covers I have done. You can find that here I post a lot of music that I love to listen to and that has inspired my own songwriting. You can find all that at my music tag.

I write about my family a lot because we have a lot of family lore and frequent shenanigans. You can find those posts under the tag my flamboyantly dysfunctional family

I watch a lot of tv. I am involved in several fandoms. I am a gigantic fucking nerd. Find my tv fandom-y posts under tv

I love my dogs and post pics of them a lot because I think they are super cute and ridiculous. Find those furry idiots (affectionate) under my dogs

Thank you for reading this monstrosity of a pinned post, and feel free to send me an ask anytime! I love making new friends.

xo

Molly

[mindrole]

some housekeeping!

i have revamped the blog both significantly and insignificantly. it was bound it happen. anyway, it's mostly for anyone visiting the blog, if you already follow it mostly does not matter

first, i reworked the pinned post. so go reread it. i don't think any terms of following this blog have changed, but you should do it regardless. it is somehow way less and way more obnoxious at the same time. the reason for reworking it is that the use of the blog has shifted since i started it. and such.

the biggest change is that i've gone back and slap dash tagged some posts, and i've added links to the blog description. like this:

to say i use my brain is a bit generous, but i don't like self deprecating humor so i avoided that route. (says the guy accidentally falling into it this very sentence) well i earnestly post about what i like. i just hope people enjoy it too. as i said on the nu pinned post, 𝓁𝑒𝓉'𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝒿𝑜𝓎.

by the way, "best posts" is by no means a marker of quality, more like posts i feel like should be read. they are tagged "e", for "essential".

also today i found out tumblr no longer supports underline markdown, woe. i prefer hyperlinks to have an underline, maybe that is old fashioned of me, but oh well, it being a different color works i guess...

[hellyeahsickaf]

I worded this the way I did for a reason:

"when you're in need of immediate treatment" "especially if you think your life is in danger or something could at least cause severe harm if untreated."

I didn't say make shit up. To be clear, do not make up symptoms you don't have. But if you need to cry to be believed, then fucking cry if you can.

Doctors often do not believe you if you don't appear to be in pain (many pw chronic illnesses are not looking like they're at a 7-9 when they are bc pain is their normal). Or sometimes they're unconvinced for one reason or another. This could have cost me my life on multiple occasions. I have a dissociative disorder so sometimes I can't play it up, it doesn't show because I'm so far removed from my pain. On top of that I'm allergic to NSAIDs. Sometimes addicts experiencing withdrawals say the same so many times I've had to wait hours for any sort of pain relief while they looked over to see if I seemed to be telling the truth. They often don't believe me when I do.

When I was 7 or 8, I fell off of my scooter and landed on the handlebar- directly on my orbital. Half an inch or so further and it would've gone right through my silly little brain. Had every symptom of a concussion but I didn't show the pain much. They just scolded me for not wearing a helmet (would not have prevented the injury). I told them I was in a lot of pain but it didn't show and they didn't believe me. Over a decade later I get an MRI for migraines and they pick up what they believe is a congenital defect or a sign of an old fracture. Essentially "this is probably just a defect but ask the patient if he's ever broken his face" (they didn't ask lol). Looking at the images I knew exactly the injury I was looking at. I was concussed, broke my skull, and they sent me home and told me I was irresponsible

Few days after that injury I passed out, and ate shit and paramedics had to show up. And still all they had to tell me was to drink Pedialyte.

In the post I also added, "This goes much extra if you're black, and doctors and staff have biases, sometimes awful ones. Some even still believe that black people have a better pain tolerance"

I can attest to this as I'm half black (a little less like 40%ish idk). I've been told that I should have a better pain tolerance but I must not have inherited that 🙄. I'm racially ambiguous in appearance (though sometimes if I flare up really bad I get so pale people have thought I was just white lmao) but it is a legitimate belief that some have, that black people just have a better pain tolerance. As mentioned this dates back to slavery. It was used as justification for beating slaves.

Hell my shitty ex even believed it. He was no doctor but he said he learned it in health class. Said some stupid shit about how I should have a better pain tolerance than him and he wasn't joking.

So yeah I agree with you for the most part. Be honest about your symptoms. If you think you have a stomach issue don't tell them you have chest pains if you don't. But if you're not being believed and you have reason to believe something serious is going on, you may need to cry, you may need to hold your stomach and double over. Medical neglect like this could've killed me as recent as last Summer. It wasn't the first or second or even fifth time it was that urgent and they treated me like shit.

Doctors think they know when you're lying and sometimes they're right. Sometimes they're not. I have a lot of experience with them being wrong actually and my first memory of that happening is when I broke my god damn skull. The most recent was when I was laughed at over the phone for asking for pain medication days after I was in the hospital for like 6-8 hours before I was given anything more for my pain than Tylenol

And to address your tags:

The situations I'm talking about is when you are the patient in need of life saving care. Again I'm not saying act like you're having a heart attack when your symptoms allude to appendicitis. I don't understand why you seem to have interpreted this as "pretend you're dying even tho you're clearly not lol"

Lying doesn't make doctors treat me better because I don't lie to them. They also already treat me like shit. But playing up my symptoms (when I can, sometimes I don't have the ability to) has saved me potentially several hours of traumatizing levels of pain and at times probably my life or severe consequences

It's not that I've been manipulated by the hating doctors website. It's just what I've had to do to survive or at least minimize the trauma of the experience

Play up your symptoms in the ER and urgent care when you're in need of immediate treatment. No I am not kidding. This goes much extra if you're black, and especially if you think your life is in danger or something could at least cause severe harm if untreated. Doctors and staff have biases, sometimes awful ones. Some even still believe that black people have a better pain tolerance but that was a lie created to justify American slavery.

[shinelikethunder]

seriously though, it's incredible how much of my "maybe titties again?" goodwill tumblr torched in 30 seconds through obnoxious UX alone:

i am browsing around in the android app. i see a post about disabling some new content filter. this is the first I've heard of it, even though my version of the app does turn out to have it - they put it in place before adding any mechanism to let me know it's there. strike one.

i go to settings > dashboard, the place where all the settings about what you do and don't see are supposed to live. no sign of it.

i go back to the settings menu. squint at it. see an unremarkable entry near the bottom called "Content you see" that isn't highlighted or marked as new in any way (even though i can't even visit anyone's blog anymore without having to actively tap past an FYI tooltip that can't be turned off, every single time, shilling weeks-old gift features that I've already used)

...oh, that's where my custom tag and keyword filters went. no prior indication they'd even been moved!

i have a lot of filters set up. like. a LOT. i now have to scroll past every single one of them, tag AND keyword, uncollapsed and unabridged, just to see whether there's another setting hiding underneath. on mobile! even the desktop site is more polite than this, jesus

just to recap so far: the only reason i even know to look is that i saw a random post about new content settings, and i would never have bothered with all that scrolling if i weren't crusty and paranoid about sites that hide vital settings in the depths of Menu Hell. i mean, that'd be crazy, right? surely listing all those filters with no collapse is a signal there's nothing worthwhile underneath them.

oh no wait, there they are!

it's not just one toggle, it's FOUR new settings!

all of them are set to "hide everything and never even let me know it was there"

even though there is a "blur" option that would've let me know that stuff was being hidden from me without actually showing it

even though i have, in the past, gone into every iteration of the adult content settings that tumblr has ever rolled out and affirmatively ordered it to show me the titties

THEY ARE NOT TOGGLES. EACH ONE OPENS A SEPARATE MENU SCREEN. every single one of the FOUR new settings needs like 3+ taps in the android app just to put it back to normal.

does turning on the catchall "mature content" setting cause the three more specific ones to default to "show" and let me pick restrictions as needed like a goddamn adult? NOPE, i have to go into the stupid little menu for every single one

it's almost like you didn't want me to find them and, having found them, wanted to make me pay as high an annoyance tax as possible to opt out of being nannied

the dashboard banner that eventually shows up, btw, says nothing about having been voluntold for additional filtering, and also just dumps you out in the general settings menu and leaves you to fend for yourself, with no indication of where this shit is hidden or what "this shit" even is. and that's downright friendly next to the link in the announcement post that's apparently been kicking people out of the app and onto web.

this is not how you get a rightfully mistrustful userbase to be optimistic about putting scarlet letters on their own posts. this is not how you convince anyone that it's just a courtesy, not a scarlet letter, or that it won't be used to punish and stigmatize you the instant the wind shifts direction.

in the most practical here-and-now terms, this is also not how you get people to USE the new content warnings on their posts! artists, especially, are hardly gonna jump to flag anything as mature if it means every single one of their followers - regardless of age, previous adult content settings, or whether they're in Apple's walled garden or not - has just been silently opted out of ever knowing it was there. (this goes double if it requires more than one sentence to explain how to reverse it. which this new setting seems almost deliberately designed to do.)

look, i want the titties back, okay? i would be delighted if this turned out to be the first step towards bringing them back. i know Tumblr is under duress from Apple that affects how they can do whatever they're doing here. but the way it's being rolled out sucks needless ass, and if they wanted my hope and trust, well, those are easier to muster up when I'm not going in grouchy about the frustrating UX of an app that's just taken hostile action against my prior explicitly-affirmed preferences.