#filter block mute do whatever you want

[hunrising]

.

[maryland-no-rabies]

Tumblr (for newbies):

Reblogging ≠ reposting. You aren't stealing content by reblogging it, it's basically a 'group share' button. It also helps give artists/posts attention and you can reblog to interact with people. Reblog things you like.

Reblog bait. You can reblog it, but if a mutual hates reblog bait, you may tag it with 'reblog bait'. Or, find a tag with your mutual to put on posts they don't like, and block the tag under the 'content you see' tab in settings.

If someone reblogs your post, and you like their reblog, you just liked your own post.

(Sideblog section)

See my name? This is a gimmick. If a Tumblr says 'officially-(company/country/state)' then it's probably a gimmick! Check their content first because there are a few actual brand blogs, like Grammarly!

You can only make 250 posts (per email) on an account per day. This is called 'post limit' or 'PL'. I am currently on account 2, because I post too much. You may or may not hit post limit in your lifetime.

You can create as many sideblogs as you want, but you cannot like, follow, or send asks as a sideblog, and if you do so, it'll show up as from your main.

(Gimmicks)

Nobody can see your main from your sideblog, so you can have as many followers on your gimmick and none of them on your main

You will see gimmicks. A lot. It's fun.

You can interact with a gimmick as a non-gimmick

As a tumblr user, you have anon powers. You can turn any/most gimmicks into a pretty princess by typing something like '*turns you into a pretty princess*' into their ask box.

Nobody will be mad at you for making a gimmick. At all. There are like, 4 Jesus gimmicks. And it's great.

(General)

Tag a mutuals post with '10k to me', 'future 10k', '10k', or 'this will have 10k' for some fun chaos :3

Submit posts to PM Seymour's discord for MORE fun chaos

(General controls and understanding of Tumblr)

If you are in a youtube video online, you have broken containment

If you are getting a bunch of notifications from a post, you can hold down a notification from it or click the three dots on the post and click 'mute' to stop getting notifications (other than mentions)

You can also filter your notifications by clicking on the top left of your notifications tab and tapping 'custom'

The 'for you' tab of Tumblr is what the algorithm thinks you'll like based on your interests and stuff

The 'following' tab is blogs and tags you follow

On Tumblr, you can add not only extra notes in the tags but also regular tags. Spaces are allowed

If you get an ask from a Palestinian blogger, check yourself (you may find places where it's vetted/verified in their reblogs. You can also tell by them having no photos/story at all [no name, no information, just a donate link], and scams commonly use photos from Google images. Be suspicious if there's anything other than GoFundMe or something similar. PayPal is banned there.) or send a screenshot to me/somebody who offered to help. Then, you can answer the ask so people who can donate can see it, or donate yourself. DO. NOT. PRESSURE. YOURSELF.

Tumblr has a unique punctuation, in a way. which you will figure out on your own. An example is. periods to show a slight. pause

It reminds me of poetry

You can post whatever you want and you will find your people

Block people who make you uncomfortable and report bots for spam.

Welcome to Tumblr

Do what you want forever

[lexosaurus]

Hi uhh i have a question i was scrolling at ao3 and i keep seeing pompous pep fiction a lot but i thought it was illegal because there is at least 20 year age gap im getting confused

AO3 is a creative writing/fanfiction archive that allows anything that's legal under US creative writing law. There are some limitations, like scripting out an episode of DP would not be allowed because that's copyright infringement, and posting something disguised as a fic that's not actually one (say, posting your headcanons list or your grandma's cookie recipe) isn't allowed because that's not a transformative work. But otherwise, people are allowed to post any fictional content that they so wish so long as it's tagged properly.

The tags are an awesome feature of the site and are why many people, myself included, choose to use AO3 as their main fanfiction domain. It allows you to opt in or opt out of any tag that you do or don't want to see. For example, I read/write a ton of gore, so I often filter in tags like "Dissection" (using the sidebar) so I can only see those types of fics. But there are tons of people who get squicked out by gore/dissection, so they might prefer to filter those tags out. Maybe they just wanna read a good smut fic, so they'd filter in that tag, while for me, I'm not so interested in that content, so I almost always filter it out before I browse.

I know this seems a bit long winded of me, but what I'm trying to get at is that because fanfiction is fictional, that means that ships and tags that you or I might argue are morally gray or even morally unethical are totally allowed on the site (aka no real children were harmed in the making of said fic, so not illegal). This includes Pompous Pep, which is Danny/Vlad. And if you don't want to see that, as many people probably don't, then the site makes it extremely easy to filter that stuff out! Woo!

The DP Phandom is a really really old phandom and we've had a history of "true vs anti" ship wars back in the 00's, which while a bit different than the kinds of shipping wars you see in other fandoms today, they still happened and were incredibly destructive within our spaces. People were fighting, there was lots of bullying, angry cliques, and overall moral policing "you can't sit with us" behavior to people who frankly didn't deserve it. There's not a lot of creatives left from that era, and the ones that did come back don't have a lot of positive things to say about it.

So yeah, maybe some people on AO3 write things that might squick you out, but from experience we've found it to be far more beneficial to just do our own things. Write the content you wanna write, read the content you wanna read, interact with the people you wanna interact with, and block/mute/filter out/whatever the rest. It's honestly not worth your mental health or sanity to try to police fics/art in here. We're too old, most of us got jobs, bills to pay, maybe even kids to feed, and it's honestly not worth our time. Besides, it's much more fun to participate in phandom events and nerd out with other creatives about silly AUs and tropes and geek out over art styles and colors than it is to worry about that stuff!

[duckiemimi]

Its interesting to me how Gojo's english VA rejects or simply doesn't see the subtext StSG has but he's so open about his admiration for GJHm because he apparently pulls the same pranks on his wife like Gojo messes with Uta. And he even went as far as to say "C'mon guys, they're best friends" in regards to people being vocal about StSG relationship.

i’m gonna be honest, i’d rather listen to what the Japanese VAs have to say about anything jjk related (but especially about geto and gojo’s characters and relationship) considering the English Dub’s blunder with toji in season 2.

if u aren’t aware, the English Dub scriptwriters took liberties with a certain translation—in the manga toji says, “oh…i remember now. megumi. the name means blessings. and i’m the one who gave him that name.” meanwhile, the english dub of this scene became, “oh, speaking of blessings. that’s right, i almost forgot. i named my cursed spirit megumi.”

to twist a translation so badly that it takes away from what the actual scene was supposed to portray (toji remembering his son, megumi)—of course, whoever wrote the script is at fault here, not the actual VA, but it makes me doubt their commitment to the story’s authenticity. i’m not sure if this happened bc of lack of research or if they were trying to paint toji in a certain light.

i mean, language is fickle anyway; there’s so much cultural subtext that gets lost in translation and perhaps that could be the case here. but it could also be internalized homophobia, or just blatant homophobia.

i’m a big advocate for shipping whatever u want and respecting ppl’s boundaries! if someone dislikes or is uncomfortable with a ship, then don’t talk to them about it. in a similar line, if u dislike or are uncomfortable with a ship, filter, mute, and block! but to try and pass off ur biases as canon? bc of ur own lived experiences/personal values/trauma? c’mon now. preferences are preferences—none of our ships are canon, anyway (at least for now, but even then, that’s never stopped ppl from shipping characters in a confirmed relationship with other characters—and that’s fine!)

there is some nuance in situations like these, if we really wanna get into the nitty gritty. men can be close friends, sure! but if u bring a woman in to counter someone’s gay ship/hc, then u’re doing it in bad faith and ur obviously biased. queer subtext will almost always be ignored by a straight audience anyway, mainly bc they’re not familiar with it, and they might even be uncomfortable with exploring concepts that don’t fit their worldview.

again, if u a wanna ship gjhm, by all means, go ahead! just don’t be headass about it. don’t deny the possibility of other ships, either—specifically stsg bc that ship alone has more canon “proof” (that’s what they call it) than any other ship with their characters. don’t go and pull dumb excuses or justifications out of ur ass to dismiss other ships (or ship dynamics) bc u’re gonna look stupid. like what u like and don’t go to war with other ppl for liking different things!

(also, i’m using the universal “u/you” here, anon! i’m not accusing or addressing u in these paragraphs!)

(also also, if this VA pulls the type of “pranks” gojo pulled on utahime on his wife, i’m a little concerned. those aren’t pranks. gojo genuinely thought he was better than her in the hidden inventory arc. in gojo’s case, he wasn’t wrong bc he was and still is the pinnacle of jujutsu, so he would’ve called anybody weak regardless of their circumstance—he’s much more tactful about it nowadays, anyway. in the VA’s case? umm…but that’s none of my business.)

[chengfagshi]

I need certain people to understand that it’s okay to dislike something, or to feel disgusted by something

No really, it’s okay! Disgust is a natural response from our body that protects us from potential harm. But a disgust reaction alone is NOT EQUAL to harm!

For example, some small children think greens (veggies) are disgusting. However, the existence of veggies alone and feeling disgust doesn’t cause harm

now apply this to fandoms

it’s okay to feel disgusted by fan works

it’s okay to have squicks

it’s totally fine to have “do not wants” and “do not interact”

it’s okay to block whatever and whoever. You don’t even have to give a reason why!

it’s also okay to criticize fan works (if someone consented to it or if you rant to a friend about it or make some vague mentions about it)

But what will never ever be okay is to tell someone that their and the works they make/published are disgusting and harmful because you (general) feel triggered.

It’s also not and will never be okay to be the nastiest person to someone else either. I don’t care how disgusted you feel, but I bet most people do this because angrily beating something down they think causes harm feels good. Getting those likes retweets for telling someone “hahaha kys pedo!!” gives a sense of (fake) justice and moral superiory

But also, why surround yourself with things you dislike when you could surround yourself with the things you like? Isn’t that so much healthier? Doesn’t that bring more joy?

Stop being an asshole, stop reading the fanfic if it’s not fitting your tastes, mute and block accounts and terms, and definitely use filters to weed out things you don’t like

thanks to a robust tagging system, avoiding something has become easier than ever. The internet and social media will never ever cater to one person alone, and definitely not to you. It’s your job to curate your own internet experience and if you can’t do that, then ask your parents, other relatives, teachers etc

This 💯. And it applies to EVERYTHING online. Not just the gross "icky" stuff. I saw someone's art the other day. This character had really big boobs and really big thighs and someone felt the need to post this in the qrts, which ended up getting 100K likes.

Ok, you can hate "horny artists" if you want, but no need to announce it to the world and be a mean bully bitch about it. People do this with straight ships too. God forbid someone ships fucking JaneSeth in zzzero. People will throw a fit because they headcanon her as lesbian and that means their hc is the only one that matters apparently, despite Jane flirting with men and women in the game. I remember when headcanons were these fun little things in fandom that you had without being like "Well she's ACTUALLY a lesbian and if y'all don't agree, you're lesbiphobic". People need to learn to block and move on more. Instead of being a dickhead to ppl, curate your online experience. Commenting on something you hate all the time is actually gonna make you see it MORE often, but they're not ready for that conversation.

[rayshippouuchiha]

Can I ask your advise on something fandom related? I have mutual who recently has been posting very vague things that are basically calling people out without naming them. I have no idea what they are talking about because I either don't see it or don't think it's a big deal. Normally I would unfollow/mute/block if they don't use tags I can filter with. The only issue is that they've said a lot of people they follow have done that recently and it hurts their feelings. I don't want to hurt their feelings, but it's so freaking annoying because it makes me too introspective. What should I do?

If ignoring the stuff or black tagging isn't an option and/or isn't working then the next step depends on if you two are close enough mutuals that you can talk to them about the issue.

If it's not something you two can talk out then honestly I'd say mute them anyways. At least until they've gotten over this phase they're going through.

Cause look, at the end of the day this is just a website and your blog/dashboard is supposed to be something you enjoy. If whatever it is they're posting isn't sparking joy then you're not obligated to continue interacting with it.

[jascurka]

hey i saw ur post about being pro-ship and/or not caring about ships and that's cool and all i was just wondering if you could tag the posts with the shipnames so that folks can adequately filter stuff they do / don't want to see? like i'm not even asking as an anti or whatever, i have ships ppl wouldn't consider problematic blocked just cause i dont wanna see it lol its more like, we're not able to actually curate our experience / avoid things in a way that feels comfy for us on our end if its not even tagged yknow?

Oh, of course! Sorry if I haven't done that before. Muting tags still works if the original post is tagged with the ship name so theoretically I would not have to tag it again but I realize now maybe not every post is tagged properly so I will do my best to add tags when it's a ship post! I was a bit hesitant before because people are ready to send nasty things to someone as soon as they see the mobrei tag or whatever and I'll be honest, I didn't wanna get a bunch of death threats from the fandom of a show about kindness..

So your request is totally justified, I myself mute just ship names I'm kinda bored with, like Serirei gets muted for me. Thanks for the ask!

[steviewashere]

Let's have a quick little conversation, Stranger Things fandom. This is a conversation for everybody, including those who create the amazing things we pass around our table of stories like bowls of mashed potatoes.

A lot of you guys are fucking mean. And I'm not talking regular mean. I'm talking a rotting, moldy, dilapidating, squelching sort of mean. I should know, I've given way too many speeches about this kind of shit. So, you're gonna listen good.

The new trend I'm seeing is bullying the bodacious babes within our community, and I won't fucking stand for it. I've had my fair share of bullying, both as the victim and as a bystander, and it's exhausting to have it spread into such a tight-knit space like this.

Let me reintroduce you to some wonderful technology on here, you hateful pieces of shit (no, I'm not talking about the people who are actually nice, but please continue to read this). (And, I'm not gonna be nice to people who are blowing up babe's Tumblr inboxes and anon messages and Twitter replies and AO3 comments. Or people sending death threats and threats of sexual violence. Because you don't deserve kindness. Not anymore.)

There's a "close tab" button located conveniently below your address bar. There's also a little bar on the side of your screen that lets you scroll all willy-nilly away from things you don't like. AND there's a "block" button! Oh, let's not forget the "mute tag" button! (Explosion sound effects here.) Isn't that crazy?! You can block anybody you want. You can scroll away. You can close out of a fic you're reading or a fanart you're viewing.

Isn't that wonderful? Because then, you don't ever have to see it again.

Fandom is a space for everybody, no matter what someone enjoys. Even if it's dead dove fics or unconventional kinks or relationship dynamics that may come off as "abusive" or "toxic".

If topics that are considered unsightly to you really bother the fuck outta your soul, then just ignore 'em. Ignore them. Leave them alone. Art, no matter the form, has always been made to make a statement; art is meant to be uncomfortable sometimes; art comforts those who may have gone through the same or similar experience.

Not everything is for you. That's what's so wonderful about tag filtering and muting tags and blocking users and content. That's what's so wonderful about the internet. You can get away from things that would otherwise be triggering for you.

You don't have to read everything. Or view everything. Or like everything.

Somebody else will like that piece of art, guaranteed.

And to artists, whether you're a writer or a painter or a scrapbooker or whatever you do that pleases your senses, continue to create. Continue to create because you do enjoy it, even if sometimes it seems that nobody does. Take breaks as needed. Walk away if you have to. That's alright. Taking care of yourself is so important and nobody is allowed to tell you otherwise. But at the end of the day, you are the poet and the artist and the muser. You are the creator.

The first person you should create for, because all fan work is self-indulgent on some level, is yourself. Always create for you. Create because it's something primal. Because it's an instinct.

Not everything is beautiful. But art can be beautiful. You make it beautiful. Your minds are beautiful. Everybody is gorgeous.

Fandom is like a museum, babes. Sometimes, the creator is going to be walking the same room as you, viewing their paintings sidelong. Keep your voices down, move on if you don't like the painting they made, and find something you do like. You're allowed to do that.

But by the gods, be thoughtful, be kind, and remember that the creator is always standing behind you in the art hall. And they're sharing their craft with you. And they don't have to. And sometimes they don't want to. But they do it anyway. Because it's important to create and tell their story and reflect on what is otherwise something shitty.

Telling stories is part of human nature. We've been doing it for centuries. It's in our blood. Don't be the reason somebody's blood turns cold or their pens fall dried or their mouths clink shut. Art is an objectively subjective form of culture, it changes from where you're going to where you've been and it's always changing and not every aspect is for you.

You do it for you, though. At the end of the day, your art should matter because it's an appendage of you. You're wonderful, you're beautiful, you're talented, and you're worthy of what you do. Because you're doing it. At the end of the day, you're doing it. That's something that matters.

But what matters most?

You do. You're the heart of everything you do. You're part of the thousands of arteries in the community we've built, you are the vessel carrying life in this community. And damnit, what a good job you do. You matter. At the end of the day, you will always matter.

Always. You will always matter.

[rwconfessions]

inthink people who complain about shipping and fluffy slugcats are soooo annoying hashtag do what you want forevee and ever. the best part about the block and mute feature is being able to curate ur feed into whatever u want! u dont need to look at content u dont like just literally filter out ur shit

[willel]

Since I'm sure there will be a lot of new people from Twitter, I want to personally say welcome, but also please don't make the shipping wars any worse. Lol

You can do that by tagging correctly, blocking people you don't like, and muting tags that upset you. Tags are like folders. When people tag correctly, it's like opening a book with only the things you like on an endless school. Very handy.

Are you making a post about your favorite ship? Excellent! Tag it correctly. Do not tag a bunch of irrelevant tags as that's considered spamming. Your tags should look like:

#shipname #charactera #characterb #whatever else you want that is actually related to the post

By the way, this isn't twitter. Tags can have spaces in them. You can write a whole ass paragraph almost. It's enouraged to do so!

Also, this isn't TikTok. "Unalive" and other censored words for the "algorithm" are dumb and pointless. There is no algorithm. Use the right words so that people can filter what they don't want to see.

Are you writing a negative post about a ship you don't like? Well that's a waste of time but you do you, just tag it correctly. Your tag should like like:

#anti-ship #dont mention the ship in any other way! It could pop up in their tags when those shippers are trying to do their own thing

Don't cross post KNOWING your post can upset someone. Don't play coy. Don't play dumb. Don't start drama on purpose. If you're bored and want some action, why not get a real hobby instead of fighting on the internet?

If a tag is meant for a platonic ship, then you should find the proper romantic ship version of that name. If another character or pairing has nothing to do with your post, then keep it in your pants and don't tag them. It's rude and could earn you some blocks.

That is the proper tagging etiquette for tumblr.com. You can mute any tag you want by visiting your settings and adding a tag to filtered tags and/or filtered content.

Anon hate is a thing of the past. Grow up. You can send anonymous or faced questions to almost any blog you want. You can also turn off that feature entirely if you don't like it.

If you don't like someone, you can select the three dots on top of their posts and block them. You can save yourself a headache if you learn to curate your experience~

Here in Tumblr, there is no reliable algorithm. More than likely, Tumblr won't be showing everyone posts that are relevant to them automatically. You'll have to visit the tags yourself to see what you want to see.

If YOU LOVE SOMETHING, REBLOG IT. Likes work like bookmarks here on tumblr.com. Everyone appreciates likes on their posts, but sadly, that's all it is. A post can die in the sea of irrelevance if no one reblogs it.

You know all those cool popular posts you see with thousands of notes? They only got like that because thousands of people reblogged it.

Do your artist friends, writer friends, and normal friends a favor by reblogging their posts and spreading the good word~. If you consistently reblog good posts on a consistent basis, you'll likely find yourself some cool followers as well who have the same interests as you.

By the way, while you can be a little well known here in Tumblr, you'll never have any clout. Give up now before you even begin. Everyone is an equal here. We're all just fans being fans of whatever content we're consuming that day alright? There are famous people on here, but unless they're chill and breezy, people will tend to chase them away anyway.

Do you want separate your personal blog from your fan blog? Well no need to make a new account, you can just add a sideblog and it's practically the same thing. You only have to log in once. I have at least a dozen active side blogs for every new interest I get very invested in. Great for organization and keeping your main blog for your personal rambles and posts.

By the way, there's no need to tell everyone your name, your phone number, your address etc. This site is anonymous. Enjoy the anonymity! Let yourself be a faceless fan among other faceless fans, keep your personal details safe and private.

And finally, don't be a creepy weirdo. That's pretty self explanatory. If your are a creepy weirdo, stop while you're ahead. You know you're gonna get caught and ousted. You aren't slick, you're just a weirdo.

That is all. This is meant for the Stranger Things fandom but it can be applied to any fandom. Hope this helps.

[whateverthedragonswant]

The anti reactions from yesterday have me just shaking my head. I am by no means a professed stan of Jensen. I'm a fan of his works and I've followed his career, I appreciate his interactions with the public (like cons) as well as his public persona, but I don't worship the ground the guy walks on. He's a human being who I enjoy watching on my screen from time to time in different roles or displaying said public persona. That's it. I support him, but I don't stan him blindly, if that makes sense. Not him or any other celebrity.

That being said, I found the anti/critical reactions to something Jensen allegedly said that had been tweeted out from the Dallas Con to be very interesting and highly entertaining in some cases, especially with one particular anti blog that consistently claims to love this man and want the best for him while psychoanalyzing him and hating (and blaming everything that Jensen does/says that disappoints them) on his wife with the maturity level of a fourth grader. To put it bluntly, antis showed their asses yesterday and it is pure confirmation of what I and so many on here have been saying for quite some time now in regards to these posts/blogs.

Yesterday:

Tweet from the Gold Panel: "Jensen: 'he and I don't take on projects for the impact, we're serious about what we do.'"

Me: 'huh, you know, that wording seems a bit... Eh, you know what, knowing Jensen and how this fandom works anytime he dares to breathe, I'm going to wait to see the panel myself tomorrow and get the context of the question and his answer. If anything, he just misspoke, but I highly doubt he meant it in a bad way. Knowing him, he absolutely cares about the impact it has had on so many people and he might have thought the asker meant something else. Still, I'mma wait and see for myself.'

Antis:

and one particular blog (the one that claims to love him be in love with him):

'Jensen, you're no true actor and I would know since I'm an expert on acting! How dare you! You've hurt me so deeply!'

Today:

I watched the Gold Panel. Question was did the guys think about how massive the impact SPN would be in reference to their careers aka people knowing who they are, people following them, etc. Basically, did they know what it would become, something Jensen clarifies with the fan before answering. Jensen's actual response:

"Yeah, I don't, I mean, I guess to kind of quickly break it down, I don't think he and I go into any of these, uh, jobs or roles or stories thinking about the impact it's going to have externally. I think we go into it as...you know, they hire us to come in and do a job and...and he and I both, uh, we both take that job seriously even though it may not look like it all the time. But we also have a lot of fun doing the job because we truly enjoy doing what we do. That being said, we're not thinking 'oh let's do this because I want the effect that's going to have on a greater scale'. We're just doing our job. And hopefully, it resonates to people. Hopefully, somebody out there is entertained. And if that's the case, then we've done our job."

Me trying to see what had the antis losing their minds, especially that one blog and NOT finding it anywhere:

This is why you always watch the panels for yourself and avoid anti posts/blogs at all costs. They always claim they are there to be the opposite to AA's, to apply critical thinking, to view Jensen as human instead of a god, to be the ones with "a reality check", but they jump just as quickly as that group and crucify the guy before doing due diligence. Critical thinking should also include getting your facts straight before spreading misinformation (and in this case, more hatred). This is literally the same tool kit lawyers, law enforcement, and investigative journalists use all the time. It's good old common sense.

So block, mute, filter these people. Do whatever you gotta do, but this proves once and for all what we've all been saying. These anti/critical blogs that claim to "apply critical thinking" are full of shit.

Critical thinking is defined as "the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment." The reactions were not objective, especially the one blog that had an emotional heartbroken reaction. They were subjective, colored by their own biases. They did not analyze and evaluate the situation fully before issuing a judgement; they were missing a very crucial piece of the puzzle before they started sounding off and they knew it but they didn't care.

So the next time an anti/critical blog says in defense of their hating on/criticizing of Jensen (or anyone really) that they're applying critical thinking and you should try the same when you propose an alternative point of view (about Jensen or not), just remember it's all a smoke screen of bullshit. So again, block, mute, filter, whatever you gotta do. Personally, I think this shit's hilarious and entertaining on a Real-Housewives type level.

And that one blog that had such an emotional reaction to something that Jensen didn't even say in the way they thought he did, it's one thing for you to feel the way that you do, but spreading misinformation as you did, saying Jensen is no true performer, I don't know, maybe it's time to let go of your obsession with loving (aka being in love with) and hating this guy and move on?

[ingo-ingoing-ingone]

Would it be alright to ask you advice on curating my fandom experience? Regarding avoiding b///kshippers and the like, unfortunately. I don't know who else to ask, unless you or your followers know of someone? I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

I guess so, yeah! Would be easier if you're off anon, admittedly, or on discord or the like. I'm not sure what specific info I can give tbh?

I can give some general advice though

Block people if you don't like them, and mute/block terms you don't like. Use filters liberally.

This is the internet, things that should not exist unfortunately do, and we cannot change what others do. It's not worth your time and energy or mental health to try and change other's minds on this, i promise.

Personally, I prefer to block and mute individual people instead of filter tags or block terms. I'd rather catch and block the source, so I can keep certain people from interacting with my blogs or fics. Some people would simply rather not see anything at all, so block and filter anything associated with it. It's genuinely up to each person.

But remember this IS and will always be the internet. The unfortunate truth is that you WILL see stuff you don't want to, sometimes in the least likely of places. Sometimes people won't tag. Sometimes it'll ruin your day. But if you wanna engage with fandoms and media online, you have to know this, and you have to be able to decide when the risk is not worth it.

It sucks, it really sucks that this is how it is, but it is :(

But yeah! Know what works for you! Block people! Block tags! That's genuinely the best thing to do, and at the end of the day almost all you CAN do. At least it's a powerful tool.

Good luck anon! If you need more specific advice you can ask, though it's no guarantee i'll have an answer

(Oh, another thing I suggest is, if it's a fandom like submas that has big presences in other languages, if you cannot speak those languages find the tag for the ship or whatever it is you don't like IN THAT LANGUAGE and block it

In english, if I see ship art I don't want to see, I can easily read the tag and block the artist. In japanese, I cannot read the tags, so blocking the tags helps me not see it because as we all know, sometimes it's hard to recognize what's a ship art piece and what isn't!

It's not foolproof, but it definitely helps me avoid artists I cannot read the tags of, and find artists that don't create stuff like that! because I personally love finding cool art from all over the world, despite not being able to read it.)

[guardian-angle22]

Season 4 is finally almost upon us! I wanted to make some quick disclaimers before the new season airs for any new followers to my blog (which, hi! hello! where did you come from?).

#1: depending on my mood/schedule, I usually live-blog during the episode. If you want to avoid spoilers or just my general snark during the episode, filter/block the tag #guardian watches 911ls or #911 lone star spoilers. I do tag all of my posts so people can avoid them if they want.

#2: I also tend to make some gifs after the episodes as well depending on how much time I have and I will tag them with #911 lone star spoilers if I post them that night or the following day. After that, I tend to forget so... since the show is airing Tuesday nights now, anything Thursday or after might not be tagged as a spoiler.

#3: absolutely feel free to chat with me about the episodes/characters/whatever you feel like! But after going through three seasons of discourse on here there are certain things I don’t care to spend my time chatting about and I will absolutely ignore. The main one is screen time. Yes, Owen is on your screen a lot (the horror!).  “Where the hell is Carlos?” At home reading a magazine, not dealing with anyone’s bullshit. Unless it’s changed, Rafael’s contract makes it so he’s only available so many days which means he’s not in some episodes in order for the episodes he is in to be full of good ass shit. I personally think that’s a fine trade off, especially considering the episodes he’s not in usually focus on other characters, for instance my favorite: Paul. Don’t complain about Carlos’ screen time to me if you’re not prepared for my rant about Paul’s in response.

#4: I’ve learned to curate my experience on here as much as possible so as to enjoy fandom and not get jaded or cynical… this means I block and mute people without remorse these days. If you’re in the tag or on my posts spouting hate or general buffoonery, I will end up blocking you. Don’t take it personal; I also won’t take it personal if you block me. We all are just out here trying to live our best lives, baby. ✌🏼

[mariacallous]

The “Twitter Files” are to journalism what cosplay is to superheroism: an occasionally convincing imitation of the real thing. Though I shouldn’t insult cosplayers so: They bring joy and beauty to public life, while the Twitter Files are merely proving to be grist for the likes of QAnon and other extremely online individuals addicted to viral outrage. The latest round, this time curated by ex-New York Times editor Bari Weiss, was meant to show that Twitter did indeed engage in the dreaded “shadowbanning” of far-right imagining and discriminate against conservative accounts by completely hiding them from the general public in an act of “woke” censorship perpetrated at the highest levels.

But Weiss revealed both less and more than she wished, and in the process helped confirm what should already have been obvious after Matt Taibbi’s first round of Twitter Files posting: The confected scandals supposedly revealed by this PR-friendly access to Twitter’s internal systems offer a theatrical transparency that occludes the lack of the real thing under Musk’s leadership.

Part of the problem lies in the actual definition of “shadowban.” The term has come to mean whatever people want it to mean, with all the ideologically useful flexibility of words like “woke.” This has allowed Musk’s right-wing fans to play gotcha with an old tweet from Twitter HQ that categorically denied shadowbanning. “But, aha!” they seem to say, “Now intrepid journalist Bari Weiss has shown this is not so!” Weiss took advantage of this deliberate slipperiness when she claimed,  “What many people call ‘shadowbanning,’ Twitter executives and employees call ‘visibility filtering’ or VF,” and implied her sources said they were exactly the same thing.

But all she showed was that Twitter was doing what it had always said it was doing. First and foremost, “visibility filtering” covers everything, including user-generated filtering. If you’ve blocked or muted anyone, they’ve been visibility filtered for you, in company parlance. It also covers the way tweets from openly suspended accounts would be rendered invisible to the public. Without linking to it, Weiss selectively quotes from this 2018 Twitter blog post by former trust and safety lead Vijaya Gadde and former product lead Kayvon Beykpour where they categorically said, “People are asking us if we shadow ban. We do not.” 

The trouble for the mob is that there are more words in this post. Gadde and Beykpour set forth a clear definition of shadowbanning: “deliberately making someone’s content undiscoverable to everyone except the person who posted it, unbeknownst to the original poster.” This, they asserted, was not done—and nothing in the Twitter Files proves otherwise. Musk enthusiasts have deemed this mere weaselly wordplay. But, shockingly, there are still more words in this blog post. To wit: “We do rank tweets and search results. We do this because Twitter is most useful when it’s immediately relevant. These ranking models take many signals into consideration to best organize tweets for timely relevance. We must also address bad-faith actors who intend to manipulate or detract from healthy conversation.”

This ranking is explained in further detail with examples and an FAQ about a recent incident where some Republican politicians (along with Democratic politicos and a whole lot of other non-conservatives) were temporarily unable to be autosuggested through search. That was quickly fixed, but Gadde and Beykpour were clear that Twitter always had, and always would, engage in ranking and filtering based on a variety of factors. In other words, the thing that Weiss actually “uncovered” was something Twitter admitted to over four years ago. It’s even in Twitter’s terms of service.

In short, no one’s tweets were unfindable to the public without the poster knowing about it: If they were suspended or banned, naturally they’d be aware. De-amplification—affecting a person’s ranking in search results and the like—is rather different. Some might call it “freedom of speech but not freedom of reach.”

The people playing semantic games are Musk and his propagandists, performing a pantomime of transparency while glossing over a range of issues. Matt Taibbi revealed that the Trump administration made requests of Twitter all the time—but we know nothing about what they were, which were acted on, and why. Weiss revealed that the transphobic account Libs of TikTok was actually being given preferential treatment: No moderation decision could be made about the account without consulting higher-ups, a privilege afforded to very few on the platform and doubtlessly implemented to avoid upsetting the ever-voluble online right. Why? 

But, more than that, there has been absolutely no transparency about Musk’s decisionmaking since his arrival. Where are his emails? When can we gain insight into how he’s single-handedly made numerous content moderation decisions already? When will be allowed to verify that his public statements match his private reasoning? When will we learn how critical decisions about staffing were made? The answer is: likely never, in the absence of effective legal action. 

Musk’s Potemkin transparency is meant only to flatter him by ginning up false scandals about Twitter’s previous leadership (whom, it must be noted, he has made rather rich with his purchase). It paints a fictive image of Twitter as a dictatorship that Musk has liberated to the adulation of cheering masses. That, aside from its general utility to the right wing’s bottomless politics of grievance and self-victimization, is the chief aim of this entire enterprise. For the populist right, it offers a Zeno’s paradox of a conspiracy, where the ultimate revelation is just one more viral Twitter thread away.

It is difficult to take people seriously when they complain about Twitter having been led by a group of titled individuals with managerial responsibilities making management decisions while they simultaneously cheer the consolidation of those tasks in the hands of one man. What Musk offers is not transparency: It is caprice. His idiosyncratic whims, for which we can only take his word without any mechanism of appeal or accountability, are the content moderation policy. It beggars belief that anyone could see this as an improvement.

This mirrors the broader fiction about the takeover promulgated by Musk’s fans: that he has somehow emancipated the company and made it more democratic and accountable. But in corporate governance terms, he has simply moved from the oligarchic democracy of a publicly traded company—which, not for nothing, was required by law to disclose a great many things to the public—to a personalist dictatorship.

What he dreams of is freedom from any accountability. He’s not liberating “the people,” he’s liberating himself: taking Twitter private was about ensuring he’d not be accountable to shareholders or a board, and that he could disclose only what he wanted. In a typically brazen move, after granting ideologically captured stenographers unfettered access to Twitter’s tools to promote a message he approved of, he sent an email threatening his own staff with legal action if they ever leaked anything. Transparency indeed. Musk dreams of a world where no one tells him “no.” It’s a solipsistic dream shared by too many of his fans.

The sort of people who worship at Musk’s feet online—especially his newfound cadre of right-wing posters—are the sort whose every accusation is a confession or an aspiration. Rest assured that everything they have falsely accused Twitter of doing is what they seek to do to their many ideological enemies. Indeed, it’s already happening, with no transparency about the reasoning, no clear TOS violation to cite, and no process of appeal. His every move is a mockery of the idea of transparency. Is the public afraid that Musk’s gutting of content moderation staff and CSAM teams in particular will lead to a surge in such vile material? Just falsely imply your former coworkers of covering for pedophiles. Right-wing populists steeped in QAnon conspiracies will cheer you on, you will look revolutionary, and all the while things will just get steadily worse. 

The one potentially good thing to come out of this mess is Musk’s pledge to make Twitter’s VF more visible to end users, telling them if they’re being deranked and why. I’d actually welcome this, but it’s just another Musk promise; as with all else, one has to watch what Musk does rather than what he tweets. And what he’s doing points in an unsettling direction.

Musk’s most enthusiastic supporters lived in a delusional dystopia of their own making. Now they want revenge for the imagined slight. It won’t be pretty.

[shih-coulda-had-it]

23 ! nanahiko

23. "I want you, and only you." from 101 Ways to Say I Love You | nanahiko in @boss-the-goofball's otome isekai AU, except this is the nanahiko route. yes. i've gotten too impatient and am spinning wheels. i think we have reached the point where we should append 'homebrewed fantasy' to the au name. | wc: 1,097

//

The altar was dusty.

Set against the furthest wall of the shabby wooden structure, the waist-high stone block was unremarkable in its design. It was weathered more by time than anything else. What would have defined it as dedicated to One for All--the candles, the opalescent plates in which they sat--were missing. Whatever moonlight passed through the circular windows along the temple’s sides was muted, filtered by cobwebs and fogged glass.

Shimura dragged her fingers across the altar’s surface, a foreign kind of sadness bleeding through her usually cheerful countenance, and Sorahiko found that he was disquieted by the sight. Silently, he knocked his shoulder against hers. He couldn’t offer anything else than that quiet companionship.

The temples dedicated to One for All were few in number, but well-maintained and visited by the masses who wished for justice. He wondered why this one had been abandoned.

Probably the distant location. Sorahiko knew the general shape of the continent, and he was more aware than most of the shifting boundaries of the various villages, towns, and cities--this was the southernmost tip of the land, and civilization was sparse, justice rarer.

And that was why Shimura had come. No one had requested the presence of a paladin, or even a hero, but One for All had tugged her down south anyways.

Ghouls were rising from the oases.

“We’ll sleep here tonight, I suppose,” she finally said. “Even the ghost of the divine is better protection than mere firelight.”

Sorahiko grimaced. “If we’re speaking of ghosts, let’s refer to your possessed sword instead of the abandoned temple.”

“Possessed!” Shimura said, playing up her offense. She patted the altar like an old friend and deliberately stepped back, tugging Sorahiko along by the elbow. He went without protest. “A possessed object is totally different from a weapon imbued with the powers of a divine patron!”

“You’re right. The sword smites ghosts, and the possessed object is almost always creating new ghosts.”

She laughed loud, incongruously loud in the somber atmosphere of the abandoned temple, and it warmed him to the core to hear the sound. They turned around to head out and retrieve her horse, and their traveling packs, trudging past the cobwebbed pews. The sound of their footsteps was deadened by the swirls of dirt the breezes blew in.

“Do we have to clean up the place after we leave?”

“That would be the polite thing to do.”

“Maybe once we finish the job, the locals will be so grateful and return here to give thanks and all that,” he suggested. He held the door for Shimura while she led the roan mare from the dark into shelter. “Are we actually hoping they add One for All to their prayers? Didn’t seem like the pillars of justice your god goes for.”

Shimura tsked. “I’m a paladin, not a pastor, Sorahiko.”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘missionary.’”

Matching her rider’s temper, the mare snorted at Sorahiko and pointedly turned her head away. Shimura, as the one ushering the horse inside, stuck her tongue out at Sorahiko in a distinctly childish manner. He mirrored her on instinct, then swung the door shut, bolting it for good measure.

Sorahiko had bedded down in less secure places, but he’d be a fool to ignore the security mechanisms.

“Hey,” he said to the door, “does it ever strike you that there are bigger problems to deal with than a nest of water ghouls or some angry locals?”

His blade emanated a chill all on its own, even trapped in the sheath as it was; the ink-black steel had been a token of affection seasons ago, gifted in a period when Sorahiko was still making do with whatever he could pick off the ground. Now it was a warning.

“Well, yeah,” said Shimura, surprised. “World’s a big place, and there’s only so much we can do as two warriors, regardless of getting a power boost from One for All.”

“It’s because of you having that power boost that I’m asking this.”

“... You could take the vows too.” Shimura joined him and splayed one hand on the door. Her eyes narrowed in concentration and glowed, a bright burning blue so like and unlike All for One’s crimson gleam. And on the wall, an intricate ward scorched itself into the wood.

The welcoming heat of the ward washed over him; he closed his eyes to it and turned away, determined to look first at the sleeping arrangements. It was a real toss-up between sleeping on the benches or the floor.

She caught his hand in hers. “I mean it, Sorahiko.”

“I heard you,” he said.

“Then?”

“It’s not for me.”

Shimura cocked her head to the side. “Why’s that? You’re good at this, you know! Dealing justice, and leaping into danger to rescue those in distress… If you know magic too, then you’d have the skillset to meet the world’s needs.”

“What do I care about the world?” The joke fell flat, and Shimura’s hold tightened. Yet Sorahiko couldn’t take it back. He wasn’t the knight that patrons dreamed of, divine or otherwise.

He had no price. He had little faith in the promises of the unseen unnatural.

“Sorahiko.”

It made it worse, then, that Sorahiko knew himself capable of devotion.

“Ah, c’mon then.”

Mutely, he followed Shimura and sat next to her on a wooden pew. She let go of his hand, rested her elbows on her knees, and clasped her hands together before pressing them against her forehead.

Shimura exhaled, long and low. Tension unspooled from her spine, but Sorahiko knew it would return by the morning, as Shimura shouldered the burdens of One for All again.

And he wouldn’t be able to bear it for her, because all Sorahiko’s loyalty cared for was Shimura herself. Buckled to his side, his sword seethed with a cold-edged jealousy. The effect was blunted by the protective ward enacted on the building. But it was, in part, activating because of that ward. 

A robbed, abandoned temple of One for All. The undead rising from the waters they were sacrificed to summon. It boded ill.

“You should have gotten someone else,” he muttered.

“I want you,” she said, “and only you.”

Sorahiko’s mouth went dry. He looked at her bent head and wondered what it would be like, to swear to Shimura Nana, paladin of One for All. He could taste the pledge on his tongue, sweeter than honey but too unrefined to say aloud.

He shifted his knee to press hard against hers. It was all he could offer.

[thestobingirlie]

hey, sorry ppl are being weird to you… im a casual nancy enjoyer thats come across some of the asks you get before, and tho ive disagreed reading some of the anons you get, idk why ppl cant just scroll away like a normal person. they should really look into using the content filters to mute your blog name and move on, if they srsly dont vibe with your nancy takes that much but keep reading them for whatever reason

yeah, people have different opinions! no one is forced to agree with me. i know that i enjoy the more negative traits of characters, i think it’s fun for them to be complex and to really dig deep into why they do things and why they act the way they do. which i why i like s1 steve!! but obviously not everyone likes doing this, fair enough!

but yeah, if you don’t like it, just scroll on! you know. block me! i don’t care. there’s no need to go out of your way, and make yourself miserable, just because you want to disagree with me.