#a friendly psa

[avarkriss]

listen. listen to me so carefully right now. (if you're in the eclipse path/planning on viewing). please don't stare directly at the sun tomorrow. i am begging you - do not stare at it. if you got eclipse glasses off of amazon/other, please put them on in your house and make sure you can't see anything; if you can still see like regular sun glasses, they are not safe for eclipse viewing, you will burn your retinas, and we cannot fix that. eclipse glasses should be iso/ce certified, and aas (american astronomical society) approved. please make smart choices and protect your eyes. please.

[heywriters]

Everyone who was/is dedicated to tagging Goncharov as "unreality" pls do the same with AI images.

Untagged fake photos are permeating the art, interior design, and now writing prompt areas of tumblr. It gives me uncanny valley ick, so there's probably others who it stresses out more.

Please tag your auto-generated images!

[degensys]

I’ve had to deal with a devastating issue today; and I feel like us Proshippers need to have a conversation really quickly about something very important.

Drawings of real minors in sexual situations should not be created or posted. Ever.

I’ve made that mistake when I was 12, and it still affects me deeply to the point I call myself a CSEM victim because of my stupid and immature decisions. (Actually, if you knew me when I was Destroyalition, you might’ve seen my vent posts about how bad it affected me when I was younger.)

I understand if you’re a selfshipper and want to show your love to your f/o by drawing you guys in romantic situations, but drawings of real kids in those situations are risky. Sexual drawings of that nature are something we should be warning kids not to draw at all. I don’t want anyone else to feel the same pain and grief and anxiety I felt after learning what I drew was harmful and illegal.

Please, be careful. Don’t let adults draw you in sexual situations. Don’t let yourself make a dumb and immature decision. Please stay safe and be careful.

So Minor Proshippers. Listen up. There’s an alternative that is safe to this called creating OC self inserts. Please use those instead to your hearts content. Make sure they don’t look like you though, and please heal.

I just feel like this needs to be specified to the MAXIMUM. I am dearly sorry to everyone who was as immature as I was, and made the same mistake. Take this as a warning, don’t learn the same way I did. Stay safe.

[intothestacks]

Friendly PSA about the original book version of Wicked

It's very much an adult book.

For the love of sanity, don't read that to your kids or get it for them for Christmas or something!

It's a good read though, I definitely recommend it for grownups.

[dragonheartstring360]

Some notes for anyone writing a character with glasses, from someone who wears glasses everyday:

- glasses need to come off before changing a shirt, unless it has a really big collar. Otherwise, glasses will get ripped off by said shirt collar.

- weather will affect how well you can see out of them, especially rain. Raindrops will dot glasses and it’s like trying to drive a car in the rain without working windshield wipers. Snow sometimes does this too, but not as bad, and lots of dust kicking up will make glasses dirty and foggy. If it’s humid enough (talking like swampy, Deep South levels, weather app says “90-100% humidity”), glasses will fog up when you step outside. If it’s crazy windy, glasses can fly off and the character should hold onto them or take them off and put them somewhere safe. They’ll usually get dirty or break in a pants pocket, so maybe have character carry around a sturdy glasses case if needed.

- not all materials are good for wiping glasses off. Some shirt materials just make it worse.

- if your character’s glasses are super dirty or smudged, they will be able to see it 24/7 as they look around and it’s annoying af.

- although glasses can keep things from getting in a character’s eyes (like something that’s been sprayed), it doesn’t protect our eyes all the time, especially if it’s coming at an angle or there’s a large amount. For that, you’d need actual safety glasses or goggles (and yes, they do make prescription goggles, but they’re not cheap).

- speaking of waves, for the love of god, DO NOT have your character swim with their glasses on. At best, they’ll get wet and they won’t be able to see. At worst, if they’re forced underwater or an ocean wave smacks them in the face, they’ll fly off and/or break.

- a crack in glasses is actually annoying af and makes it very hard to see.

- if a character’s face is wet, like from sweat or a ton of rain, their glasses will continuously slide down their nose and they’ll need to keep pushing them back up.

- lots of liquids other than water will make glasses opaque.

- glasses should be fitted pretty well to a person’s head. So if the character’s face is dry or there’s a moderate amount of wind, the “legs” that go behind their ears should be tight enough that they don’t just constantly fly off or slip down their nose. If they do, they’re too big (but obviously something a tornado will make them fly off).

- although I hate the whole “they took off their glasses and now they’re a ✨ model ✨” trope, people do tend to look very different with glasses on vs off - especially a character like Harry Potter who constantly wears their glasses. It’s not unrealistic that people who don’t know the character well (or even those who do, but just aren’t as quick) won’t recognize them at first without their glasses.

- as far as I know (correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve never been able to do this), if a lens pops out of the frames, it can’t be popped back in by non-professionals without the right tools. The glasses are just done for.

- if your character has contacts in (or this is a psa for anyone who wears contacts), DO NOT have them rub their eyes. The contact will pop out and they’re very translucent and tiny, so trust me, it will just fall and be lost forever.

- being able to see clearly out of one eye and not the other (like with a broken/missing lens or a contact falling out) causes headaches.

- glasses are expensive af in the US (idk about other places). One time when I didn’t have vision insurance, an eye exam and two frames with lenses (I have blue eyes and very extreme light sensitivity, so have to have prescription sun glasses as well as regular glasses) cost over $900USD. If you want the special frames that become tinted and basically turn into sunglasses when you walk outside, it will cost extra.

- speaking of those lenses that become tinted when you walk outside, they take awhile to fade back to normal after you go back inside. Your character needs to be prepared to still be “wearing” sunglasses for the first 5-10 minutes after they walk inside.

- if a character is wearing contacts, they can wear normal sunglasses. If not, they’ll need special prescription sunglasses to be able to see. You cannot wear prescription sunglasses with contacts in or you won’t be able to see anything. Ever tried to look through your friend’s glasses and everything’s weird and warped and giving you a headache? That’s what it will look like.

- not exactly glasses related, but people with lighter colored eyes will always have worse light sensitivity than people with darker eyes. I have very blue eyes and looking up at the sky on a sunny day will literally make me see stars, and especially if I’m driving towards the sun while it’s setting, I have to have my sunglasses on or I literally will not be able to see and tears will be leaking out my eyes the whole way home.

- speaking of prescription sunglasses, unless your character can see pretty far without their glasses or they’re far sighted, you cannot just take prescription sunglasses off and still be able to see, especially while driving. You just have to deal with it and keep the sunglasses on and look like a Matrix wannabe if it gets cloudy or starts raining, or you have to do the super speedy Dance of Death where you’re still watching the road in front of you, taking off one pair of glasses and putting the other on super fast (which usually requires you to use your mouth to open and close things).

- GLASSES ARE FRAGILE. Seriously, a very petite person could sit in them and snap them in half. They’re not something you want your character just throwing around.

- there are varying levels of how well someone can see. There’s farsightedness and nearsightedness. Some people don’t have that much trouble and can see pretty far, so only wear their glasses as needed. But some people (aka moi) can genuinely only see a few inches in front of their face. Like if I ever lost my glasses or they broke, I’d be done for. I wouldn’t be able to work or drive or do anything around the house.

- glasses need to be replaced about once a year because of possible prescription changes or sometimes lenses losing their strength and becoming harder to see through. Trying to tough it out after long enough will give your character headaches/migraines and sore eyes from eye strain.

- some mascaras (especially thick ones) will smudge glasses when the character blinks. Same with false lashes (although they’ll brush instead of smudge). Usually less intense mascaras and shorter fake lash lengths are better.

- eye makeup is harder to see with glasses on.

- please, please, PLEASE stop using the whole “omg look how much prettier/more attractive they are without their glasses” trope. Not everyone’s eyes can handle contacts and some people prefer wearing their glasses. And it makes those of us who prefer glasses or have to wear them feel like shit, especially because there aren’t a lot of characters with glasses in media who don’t become the butt of a joke (ie the one wearing glasses is the “ugly duckling” for it like in princess diaries, or like Velma from scooby doo always losing them and patting around, or people who wear glasses will always be some sort of dorky/insufferable know it all).

- glasses come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and can be used to actually enhance a character’s style! Some of them even have magnetic frames that click in place over the simple pair, so have fun using glasses to build your character’s style.

- edit to add: no one ever purposely falls asleep with their glasses on. You will crush and break them when you roll around. However, if a character does accidentally fall asleep with them on, a love interest gently taking them off so they don’t wake them up and setting them on the table next to them can be a super cute moment.

- whoops thought of some more. Hair products, especially hairspray, can be a bitch to get off glasses and doesn’t always just rinse off with water. If they’re spraying anything, including dry shampoo, the glasses have gotta come off and get out of the line of fire first.

- hair can and will get caught in the little hinge by the legs and we do occasionally not notice till we take our glasses off and rip a hair out of our heads.

- be careful when you comb or brush, cuz if the glasses legs get caught in the brush or comb, it will be ripped off our face.

Hope this helps! May the writing gods bless your work 🤓

[blairelythere]

[iguessyouregonnamissthepantyraid]

btw i'm letting people know because i just had firsthand experience with it:

when we have long stretches of heat like this, some wild animals will overheat or dehydrate more easily, and you're more likely to stumble upon an extremely lethargic animal that looks for all intents and purposes like it's literally at death's door. it will look like it ate something poisonous and needs to be mercy killed. i cannot emphasize enough: do not approach it, because tired and dehydrated or not, it will still attack if it feels threatened, and not to mention lethargy is very much a rabies symptom. instead call your local animal control. they'll come take it away, give it a little R&R, and safely release it near a water source when it's feeling better

(this info brought to you by the groundhog i thought for sure was actively dying on my front lawn - like, barely reacted to me and my dog, lying flat on the grass with flies all over him kind of dying - until half an hour later the animal control lady went to put him in a carrier and he SUDDENLY had the energy to try and evade capture by RUNNING TOWARD ME and scaring the absolute shit out of me in the process. godspeed little man. enjoy the free food and water at the animal control center)

[frownyalfred]

hello friends :) I don’t know who needs to hear this, but when you edit a comment on a fic in ao3, the author gets an email every time with a full copy.

read that again: every single time.

so, if you leave something mean/rude in the comment and then edit it out, authors will still have an email/copy of the first comment.

If you’re going to type something you might regret, do your editing before you click “submit”!

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

sometimes i overshare on here as a form of exposure therapy to make me less afraid of talking about my feelings and my desires bc i spent so long not being able to voice them that i never learned how to do it. and even though this isn't necessarily the best place to be like "hey guys i went to Sex Therapy" it's also like. necessary to say that somewhere given that for a month after i got referred by the gender clinic i was ashamed and embarrassed to admit to mySELF that i even got the referral. so. you know. it's part of the process of unlearning shame and normalising this stuff for myself. sorry for using youse as my therapy. i will continue to do this

[chainsxwsmile]

// For those who have been going through the entirety of my art on this blog and mass-liking it— I appreciate it, I do!

But with tumblr, likes act as a bookmark. Nobody else sees them. They don’t boost a post. They don’t help the original poster. Unlike in instagram where likes actually push ‘content’ forward, likes on tumblr don’t push exposure. They sit in your likes box.

The recent reblog-likes ratios have been staggering and massively disheartening for artists (which is largely why I moved my art to instagram in the first place— a like is the most minimal amount of engagement but at least likes do something there).

If you really wanna help artists (especially growing artists) out, please opt to reblog instead of like. If you don’t wanna post all at once, throw it in the queue.

The artists of tumblr will appreciate you greatly.

- Margo

[teaandspite]

Putting all these in one place so I stop losing them. Public Service Announcements and encouragement from your friendly neighborhood Slaughterhouse Nine! They're so thoughtful that way.

Originally posted on my dA in like... 2012.

[eqt-95]

and then some days the clouds part, the sun peeks through, and rays bask into my home, onto my floor and, weakly, i'm drawn. i stand with my back to the glass, a shadow cast in your absence, and i soak up the warmth to remind myself what it felt like to be wrapped up in you.

[bearotonin-international]

Hey, I love this blog, but it does feel a bit irresponsible to be sharing a video where a human is performing extremely dangerous and somewhat sketchy behaviors with wild animals. I went looking for info and could only find that tiktok and don't have the mental energy to parse through all of that to find out if that place is even legit (the way he handles interacting with the ostrich and bears make me doubt). And looking through the tags, the video is showing the false idea of domestication of wild creatures.

I just wanted to share my concerns since I don't usually see videos like this come across my dash unless they're being critiqued cause of who I choose to follow. :c

hi friend. This person works at some kind of animal sanctuary and is a trained professional. Also, if you actually listen to the video, he explains that he doesn’t interact with the animals (the brown bears) that he didn’t raise and doesn’t fully know and trust their behavior, because it is dangerous.

also the video literally has the text in it that says clearly “Do Not Attempt” because this man is a trained professional who works with wild animals for a living and is NOT encouraging people to treat wild animals as if they are domestic and safe to touch

the team is dedicated to posting responsible and ethical bear programming, and can be trusted to vet our posts. we do not require any additional assistance, thank you.

friends, we would like to take this time to gently point out that coming into someone’s asks with unsolicited ‘advice’ or ‘concerns’ about the way they run their blog is actually an etiquette no no and generally not something that’s in any way appreciated. We’ve been getting a fair few of these types of ‘helpful suggestion’ asks lately, and would like to remind people that this is not something the team particularly appreciates, especially when there isn’t a fully factual or correct basis. While your intentions may be harmless or well-meaning, it doesn’t mean that you should unsolicitedly share your opinions directly in people’s inbox and ask them to change the content they post on their blog.

this is not an indictment of this person or this ask, but a general reminder to everyone. and we shouldn’t have to specify, but unfortunately feel we must say that there is never permission to go harass anyone involved in this ask. If you don’t agree with something, just ignore it and move on. There will be no unkind words said on or in response to this post, friends.

[thought--bubble]

If the way someone defines their characters makes you want to send anon hate, take a break

If the way someone posts positively about a character you find morally reprehensible makes you want to send anon hate, take a break

If someone writes fics with themes that distress you and it makes you want to send anon hate, take a break

If seeing someone's work perform better than yours makes you so jealous you want to send anon hate, take a break

If seeing someone enjoy fandom differently than you makes you want to send anon hate, take a fucking break.

You are letting fandom have way too much power over your emotions if you want to go into someone's inbox and harass them over differences in tastes or opinions regarding fiction. Take a step back for a minute, clear your head. Use filters and the block button to make your experience more comfortable for you.

Anon is for people who are shy or embarrassed or don't like to be in the spotlight. NOT for hate.

When you need it. TAKE A BREAK

[wetsocksinbed]

friendly reminder to make sure you’re manually saving your game, and also to do all side quests as soon as you get them, because there are multiple points of no return that will lock side quests and the game doesn’t warn you

[saturnaous]

finding a distinct lack of weed related things in fma. I got my posts back so in the spirit of 420 I’m offering this doodle from the other day ‼️ go smoke some weed