#alex yells at the void

[actual-changeling]

In the spirit of encouraging people to comment on fanfics while also making it easier to do so, I feel obliged to share a browser extension for ao3 that has quite literally revolutionized the comment game for me.

I present to you: the floating ao3 comment box!

From what I've seen, a big problem for many people is that once you reach the comments at the bottom of a fic, your memory of it miraculously disappears. Anything you wanted to say is stuck ten paragraphs ago, and you barely remember what you thought while reading. This fixes that!

I'll give a little explanation on the features and how it works, but if you want to skip all that, here's the link.

The extension is visible as a small blue box in the upper left corner.

(Side note: The green colouring is not from the extension, that's me.)

If you click on it, you open a comment box window at the bottom of your screen but not at the bottom of the fic. I opened my own fic for demonstrative purposes.

The website also gives explanations on how exactly it functions, but I'll summarize regardless.

insert selection -> if you highlight a sentence in the fic it will be added in italics to the comment box

add to comment box -> once you're done writing your comment, you click this button and the entire thing will automatically copied to the ao3 comment box

delete -> self explanatory

on mulitchapter fics, you will be given the option to either add the comment to just the current chapter or the entire fic

The best part? You can simply close the window the same way you opened it and your progress will automatically be saved. So you can open it, comment on a paragraph, and then close it and keep reading without having the box in your face.

Comments are what keep writers going, and as both a writer and a reader, I think it's such an easy way of showing support and enthusiasm.

[actual-changeling]

how are we all feeling? deeply mentally unwell? yeah. me too.

[actual-changeling]

i don't even know why i am still surprised

[actual-changeling]

to me the absolutely funniest part of cunk on earth is the fact that every single scientist without fail says "not as far as i'm aware of" instead of "no" whenever she asks them the most insane question possible.

i dont know how much of that show is scripted but i think their reactions are genuine (?) and like. that's what scientists are really like. it's hilarious. all my uni professors do the same thing, they word every negative response as a "well sounds wrong to me but idk bro maybe i just haven't read about it yet so. whatever".

if there is one thing we hate it's definitive answers.

[actual-changeling]

me: i want some nice, cool bg3 prints for my walls

also me: this. i want this.

Edit: I totally did not mean for more than a handful of people to see this so I didn't add the link, but now it's only right that I do.

You can find the design as various kinds of posters and prints on shirts etc. right here

[actual-changeling]

and we should all thank him for that

[actual-changeling]

opened etsy and this is the first thing they showed me. i have so many questions and one of them is how many of these does michael sheen have in his possession

[actual-changeling]

y'know if we are all still here when season 3 airs we should each make our own bingo card with our personal theories/headcanons/unlikely but it would be hilarious ideas and see how well we all did or if we just went unhinged waiting for it

[actual-changeling]

i hope david tennant knows that half the world wants to look like him. what is it about that dude that just sends everyone into the land of gender envy without a way back

i'd like a one-way ticket to "david tennant's gender" please

[actual-changeling]

even if for some miraculous reason we in fact do not get ofmd s3, at least we went out with a fucking BANG.

this matters.

this matters so much, not just for ofmd but for every single queer show out there and the ones yet to come. it's not just hbo seeing everyone's efforts, it's other studios and other execs, it's showrunners and people trying to get theirs off the ground who can now point at our flag means death and go people want this.

i remember the campaigns for b99, lucifer, warrior nun, and everything else, but i think getting fucking time square ad space and plane banners is a first. incredible. so fucking insane but awesome.

also i really hope i am right about this cause i am 99% certain that if hbo sticks with their choice, david jenkins will be getting offers from other studios that are less idiotic and see the potential.

[actual-changeling]

A small 'this is how you use tumblr' for the people that haven't been here very long. These are in no particular order, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask them!

Since I probably did not mention a lot of things, you are welcome to add to this post with your own advice.

a) Reblog posts. if you like it, reblog it. even if you have zero followers and ESPECIALLY if it's art or writing of any kind. We will see the reblog in our notifications and that alone brings joy. One reblog can start a chain and push the post onto many people's dashes.

b) Tumblr is not a very functional website, if you want to survive without losing your mind, there are two things you need: xkit rewritten and dashboard unfucker. Play around with the settings until it is to your liking. Additionally, change to firefox if you haven't already and install ublock origin to get rid of ads, tracking etc.

c) If you go to your settings (account! not blog) you can find this under dashboard at the bottom. Turn off at the very least 'best stuff first' since that will fuck up your dash and not give you posts in chronological order.

The rest are a perfonal preference but it will keep your dash tidy and easy to control if you turn them off, too.

d) Apropos settings—get a profile picture, a header, write something human in your bio, anything. Otherwise people will assume you are a bot and block you on sight.

e) Blocking! Do it generously and whenever you want, this is how you keep whatever remains of your sanity. It's not a lethal offense, it is (usually) not even seen as rude or anything along those lines. You block people and they block you and everyone is happy.

f) Under account settings you will find this:

Just like with blocking, use both options to your heart's content.

g) Tumblr is not like other social media platforms, spam liking & reblogging and going three years deep into someone's account is NORMAL and encouraged. You can search a blog by post type, tags, or even go to the archive and scroll through the posts there.

h) Lastly—interaction. We already went over reblogging (I mean it, REBLOG), but there are also replies and asks. If you add something to someone else's post please behave like a kind human being and don't be an asshole; based on my experience, that's easier said than done. On top of that, the tags are ALSO used for communication, go unhinged, ramble, leave your thoughts, or simply use them for organisational purposes. Everyone loves a good insane tag wall.

An open inbox (either anonymously or with your blog attached) is to be used! Please send people asks if they have them active, use it like DMs or a comment section, use it to recommend something, ask questions, participate in an ask or prompt game—we love asks here.

(We do not like harassment in our inboxes, same rules as above.)

[actual-changeling]

i know we always talk about fanfics that just fundamentally change you as a person but can i just say that the same thing applies to writers and comments we got on our works?

putting your writing out there and knowing it is being perceived and judged by other people is terrifying at the best of times. some comments just. take my brain and shake it because the connection between "person finds this great" and "you are the guy that WROTE THAT" can only be achieved by violently turning my brain into scrambled eggs.

[actual-changeling]

this is the reblog website, friends, if you like something, reblog it! make other people see it!

even when you have zero followers, reblog and i guarantee you it will reach at least one more person. there's reblog chains consisting of seven single people reblogging it in a row before it eventually spreads more again.

[actual-changeling]

i don't go on twitter but i am almost tempted to because i need michael sheen to see this. knowing him he'd buy 20

[actual-changeling]

not to be all sappy on main but being in the good omens fandom these last two months (TWO!! MONTHS!!! since season 2 can you believe that??) has been so genuinely good for my mental health and i'm also just having insane amounts of fun screaming and incoherently babbling about all these idiots with everyone else <3

[actual-changeling]

it's been like 20 lifetimes in four years