#if it's not happening to anyone else: i keep getting bots' posts in the different mcyter tags that i follow and they

[bowenoke]

there are so many things wrong with this website but the one most terrifying to me rn is the weird ads that aren't weird in a quirky way but weird in a 'get me called down to hr if I open Tumblr at work' sort of way. also what the fuck is happening in the minecrafter tags because. yikes

[jinogasux-fr]

Santae banned me without telling me why and won't unban me unless I send them my photo ID

Hey guys sorry for not posting in… forever? I just suck at social media lol. But you may have seen that I've reblogged some posts that advertise Santae in the past, but please disregard all that. I've since deleted those posts after learning how the site is managed and, after what happened to me a few days ago, I feel as though I should go public about this. Because boy did I just get fucked over.

Anyway, yeah, what it says in the title. On October 24th, around 10am EST, I was restocking my user shop when the entire webpage went white. I couldn't access the site at all and, when I tried to look for the Discord on my server list, it wasn't there. I knew what this had meant. I got banned from both the game, and the Discord - this is important to keep in mind for later.

I didn't receive any Discord DM or email notification about my ban, so after asking a mod what their support email was (and yes, I later verified that this is indeed their legitimate support email), I sent them this:

After a few hours, I get this back in response:

There's so much I'm confused about here. I think the one that screams out the most is that they're asking me to show them my photo ID so I can get unbanned. Absolutely not. I refuse to do this. This poses a massive security and privacy risk. They straight up banned my account, gave this half-baked explanation, and told me I need to send my personal information or... I stay banned?

Let me make something clear: The only personal thing they have on file about this account is the email address that I created my account with, which I've also used to contact them. My real name, date of birth, anything of that nature would not be connected because this was not asked for during account creation, therefore this wouldn't actually prove I'm the account holder. Theoretically speaking, I could show them any ID in the world and for all they know, that's my real information, because they have nothing else to go off of. They even say as much in their privacy page.

Secondly, "account has been compromised"? What does that mean? I think anyone's interpretation of this would be that my account got hacked. But if my account got hacked, why wasn't I informed of this? I had to reach out to support, they did not reach out to me first. That means my password, which I may share across other sites, would have been known to someone else and thus I should've been warned of this immediately, not roughly 5 hours after the fact.

Thirdly, what, was my Discord "compromised" too? If an automated system had flagged my account, does that system somehow interact with a Discord bot so they ban a user on both at the same time? How does that work? That makes no sense as to why they'd ban me on both the game and the Discord for something like this, which is why I'm calling bullshit.

Let me tell you what I think happened.

Recently, Santae has been in some really hot water with connections revealing their relation to an older petsite, Lurapets, which has a history of scamming and artist mistreatment, as well as proof coming out of them using AI art for their NPC art. You can find these posts on the @santae-salt blog if you want to see for yourself, but I'm also linking them throughout this post.

Once the post about them being directly related to Lurapets was released, several users that the Santae staff thought might be involved in the creation of the post got banned. As it turns out, I was banned at the same time as these users.

After speaking with the @santae-salt admin, we are both of the belief that I, a regular user, got caught up in this mess because they're assuming I'm an alt account of someone else and staff demanded to see my ID because they didn't think I was a different person. It may turn out to be wrong, and yeah that sounds a bit far-fetched, sure, but really, what else can I go off of here?? Santae staff has given me a very questionable and refutable explanation as to why I've been banned, and their radio silence after I refused to send them my ID is just making me believe they don't think I'm real. They don't want my photo ID to verify I'm the account holder, they want my photo ID to verify I'm not someone else.

This is unprecedented. I've never seen any petsite ask for a photo ID in any situation, and after asking around, not even those banned from Santae were asked for this. It's just me! This is an incredible attempted breach of privacy, and, with Santae now under doxxing allegations, I really don't feel confident they'd keep my personal information… well, personal.

I messaged back almost immediately after they responded to me where I told them I would not send my ID and I had asked if there were any other way I could verify myself to get my account unbanned. I've received no response so far, and after what I've learned, I feel like I'm not going to get one at all.

So, let this be a lesson to you: don't waste your time on Santae. You can be the most obedient player out there. You can abide by all their rules, be a nice and generous player, or just be minding your own business, but if they so much as think you're associated with someone who they think has wronged them, you'll be banned.

And they can't even be bothered to properly tell you why.

[midgetmoth]

I really love getting spammed with the same inbox message about someone asking me for money and help! That surely makes me feel better about myself and everything going on around me. I should get more of those often!

adjusts the microphone I'm holding and clears my throat

(TW: Mention of the war and thus injuries and death, also includes my massive rant so if you do not want to read it, here's the warning. Also, lots of swearing)

STOP FILLING MY INBOX WITH CRIES FOR HELP. I KNOW YOU ARE BOTS; YOU SPAMMED ME 4 DIFFERENT TIMES TODAY BECAUSE OF MY POSTS. I WILL REPORT YOU IF IT KEEPS HAPPENING, AND I DO NOT LIKE DOING THAT.

YOU ALL KEEP SPAMMING ME WITH "HELP!!" AND PICTURES OF CHILDREN WHO LITERALLY LOOK LIKE THEY ARE DYING. I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO BUT BLOCK YOU THE SECOND YOU APPEAR IN MY INBOX. YOU FUCKERS LITERALLY SENT ME A PICTURE OF SOMEONE WHO HAD AN OPEN WOUND.

I get asking for help, I get pleading for someone, ANYONE to save you, but spamming my Inbox with the most horrendous shit is NOT going to get you help. All it does is get you blocked and turned away instantly by me. I have stated TWICE. TWICE now that I will not be talking about this, but I guess you people just won't get it straight.

I will not be supporting any of you, not because I do not have the money, but because your pleas have gone so far as to show a child BLEEDING FROM A WOUND, to try and tug at heart strings. Oh, and it worked to! Just that it only tugged on my last bit of patience.

I get that so many of you are bots and people fishing for money, and to that I purely say to go to hell and rot. To be taking people's real-life horrors and taking it to post and get money from it? That's pathetic.

Rant over, I am not happy with how many times I have seen blood and gore. I love blood and gore art, but these people sending me photos of wounds have made me lose my stomach over it.

"Why are you talking about this then? Just delete the messages and move on"

I have. Ever since I first ranted about this, I have. I have been deleting one after the other after the other after the OTHER. Even when I block some of them, they come back on ANOTHER ACCOUNT. I wish I was making this up. I am fully convinced these are all bots now, and that is just so, SO upsetting to me. All of this is so upsetting. I asked not to be given these asks, I have asked not to talk about it, but alas the bots just keep rolling it in. Block after block the same message gets repeated.

I just wish this shit would stop. I just wish I didn't have to be bombarded with these people begging for help I cannot give.

[franki-lew-yo]

There is a right and wrong way to handle the blow after blow of injustices happening in the world to innocent people. You are only one person and I say this as someone who's having a LOT of sudden changes happen within my own life that's stressing me out/pulling me a million different ways-- you have to collect yourself before you can help anyone. But, that doesn't mean you have to say 'I can't do anything', not care, or worse try and blow off every post about the crisis as being bots or scammers.

Making this post on account of Natalie Wynn, a youtube critic I otherwise like most of time saying this very badly-worded thing. I hope she at least takes back this tweet and apologizes for ever making it cuz cuz yeesh. Natalie wtf??

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I'm really mad at the assumptions that every other Palestine/Sudan donation MUST BE an inherent scam. There are actually a lot of explanations for why a campaign looks the way it does, why they talk like bots with lots of copy+paste, why people make a few accounts for the same campaign, ect. This does not exclude the possibility that yes, scammers+bots do exist and you should be wary. The reason people are getting 'tired' with donation bloggers asking for help is because they genuinely don't have time in their own life to stop and go through the campaign pages to see for themselves, let alone donate. Add to that the fact that, as people fleeing an active genocide, people are going to post photos of their condition or lives and those are going to get graphic without proper warning in a lot of links, it's s t r e s s f u l. No, definitely not as stressful as living in fear of being murdered by IDF soldiors or bombs every day, but stressful. In our empathy, we don't want that to happen and we want to save innocent people from this horrible reality, not ignore it/justify it/take part in it. But, if we want to do this right, we do have to put aside time we don't always have ourselves. We can make time if we try for it.

I don't type out that last sentence to shame you all into trying 'or else you're not a good person'. I type that out because I genuinely, earnestly believe in people like me. There is so much ugliness and awfulness in this world, but people can come together if they try to fund anything.

What I've learned from therapy is that self-care doesn't have to be at odds with your social justice. In fact, if you find they constantly are at odds; you use other people's trauma and hardships to emotionally/verbally hate yourself and those around you; you insist you can't contribute to a cause unless it directly benefits you personally, that's a serious thing you need to talk to your therapist about.

The activism for Gaza has had another shift in awareness in the last two months. Now, sadly no; charities alone can't save anyone. There's no sign of a ceasefire. Now is the time for donations and campaigns to evacuate. You have to navigate it well so you know what you're doing with the money and time that could literally save lives.

My process for taking in information is collecting as many fundraisers+campaign links in one place, then setting aside a time of day where I can go through them, sort them out, read up on their situation and then make my decision to donate or not. If I can't donate because, like now, I'm low on funds and in debt (thanks murica), I share the campaign and try my hardest to push it in the direction of people who also want to help and who are looking for campaigns to donate to. I'm all about reblogging a pinned post with resources/vetted status and try to update the rest of the world reading with me how a campaign is doing by screencapping the gofundme pages.

We can be better. We are better.

Keep up the boycotting. Donate and spread the word of fundraisers. Update others like you when you yourself can't donate. There is always someone.

[starliights-shining]

can i request idw or g1 prowl making a fool (affectionate) of himself trying to find out if reader is available/single or not without asking directly

Hiii montyyyy! Yes you can request, anything for you Dear! I hope this is what you were looking for! I love Prowl! I havn't slept but I felt bad for not posting last night, So you gusy can have this. ILOVEPROWL! Anyways, Enjoy :)

Pairings: IDW/G1! Prowl x Cybertronian! Reader

Warnings: None, a simple sorry for it being bad and short,

He was curious, far too curious for someone who claimed to not have romantic interests. Cobalt blue optics scanning your face, as your digits came to a stop on the data pad you were typing on. You looked up at the cop themed mech, a questioning look as you attempted to come up with an answer. Your lips parted then closed, you looked at Jazz who stood in a doorway, cheesy smile on his face and arms crossed over his chassis.

“What?” 

Is all you were able to come up with in that second. He looked away, nervously before chuckling. Not a word said between you two as he retreated to the blue visored bot in the doorway. You scoffed, it was like being in training all over again. The odd bot or mech trying to hint at something, but it being so out of nowhere, you acted like you didn’t know what they were talking about. You looked back at the report you were typing, reading the last sentence before your processor went back to Prowl. You shook your helm before going back to your report. 

Things like this happened often, far too often. Prowl asking you to read over his reports, even after having someone else read over them. He's asked you out to Swerve’s, with every bots optics placed on you, all for you to decline. Many more advanced like this, you just thought he was trying to be friendly, that was until you were with a close friend. 

You sat with a metal makeshift Earth flower twirling between your digits, the idea was to always have that one Earth flower forever immortalized, forever lasting, unlike its original. 

“Did Prowl give that to you?” 

You drag your optics from the flower to them, their optics looking at you in waiting. You just sighed, looking back at it. A simple nod was your answer as your wrist went limp and you slumped against the railing. The bright neon glow lighting you up. 

“I don’t know why he keeps doing things like, ‘I’m not going to ask’ ways.” 

You mimicked his voice, shaking your helm in the process to further drive you point.

“He can just ask, it’s not like he hasn’t talked to me every single day!” 

You saw them straighten up in your peripheral view, resting their back against the railing and leaning their helm back. 

“Sooo, you’re just letting him do this until he gets the bolts to ask you actually.” 

You smiled, getting up from your position on the railing, you were. You had him playing this simply because it looked like a love struck fool in front of every other bot. 

“And if I was?” 

They laughed, optics moving to give you a side eye look. 

“You’re sick, I knew you weren’t that clueless.”

You knew it wouldn’t last forever, but it was nice seeing the one bot you actually thought could be a romantic interest acting differently, even if it meant busting his pride and ego. 

“He’s cute when he’s like that. It was probably Jazz who told him to not ask directly anyways.” 

They hummed in agreement, their helm picking up when someone walked by, a mischievous smile coming across their face. They turned around, mimicking your position and moving closer. 

“How long did you plan on keeping this going?” 

You shrugged, you didn’t think he’d last this long. Your digits twirled the metal flower, you were going to say something the second time, but he just made such a fool of himself, it took you by surprise. You had thought about how you’d tell him, you were in fact very single, so single you were looking for anyone but him. His red forehead crest and those striking blue optics, even if you tried nothing would compare to the way you felt first seeing that combo. A combo so familiar, no one else could match it. 

“Hellooooooo! Are you there?” 

A servo was being waved in front of your helm, you blinked, looking towards its owner, a cheeky smile on their face as their optics switched between yours and whatever was behind you. Behind you, oh primus, what's behind you? You turned slowly, optics meeting the same admiral blues and cardinal crest that rest above them, staring into you. A friendly smile placed underneath them, almost not noticeable if you weren’t so close. So close, you were only inches away from the mech, you could kiss him, kiss him, that's what you're thinking about right now. 

“Hello, I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Light gray servos grabbing at the sides of your arms. His optics trail from yours down to your chin and then back up. You were awestruck, far too close to him then you needed to be, it was frying your circuit boards. Your optics only saw his, the little blue glow that shined under them, they way they just gazed at you when he spoke, spoke he spoke to you, he's speaking to you. 

“Hey, ya still with me?” 

His grip on your arms tightened, you could feel his digits rubbing back and forth, almost like trying to calm you, coax you out of whatever frozen moment you were having. You blinked up at him, you blinked several times before you spoke. 

“Yeah, yeah, I'm here.” 

You looked over your shoulder to see if your friend was still there, they were gone, it took a few clicks and they were gone. You looked back to the mech who still had a grip on you. 

“How can I help you,” 

He flashed you a wide smile, the same one he does before he’s about to ask you some random question that doesn’t correlate to your love life but it's almost there if you squint. 

“Got plans for that flower tonight?” 

You watched his helm tilt just a bit down to the metal flower that was in the gap between you two. Your optics look down, a smile on your face, maybe this is the time you tell him. He seems to be getting touchy feely with you, and if it lasts any longer you might fade into the universe. 

“You got something in mind?” 

He chuckled, you could feel the vibrations from his servos that were still placed on your arms. Your optics scanning his face, any sign to turn down and not say yes to whatever he’s going to propose. 

“Maybe, a dinner with me and some fun afterwards.” 

There was a glint in his optics, like it was him hoping you’d say yes. Just this one time, he’d make it worth your while and then he won’t have to keep asking these silly indirect questions, simply because Jazz said it works, when it took him far too long to get here, this close to you. Servos touching after passing datapads and holding doors and pulling you out of the way, was different. This time his servos landed somewhere that isn’t your own, and you didn’t pull away immediately or matter of fact at all. It was progress, so much progress he thought he broke you, broke your pretty little plating and scared your spark away.

“You know what, Officer! I don’t believe I have plans with this lovely flower you gifted me. How about I show it off at Dinner with you!” 

You watched his optics swirl, their admiral blue reigniting with something different, lust? hope? happiness? You don’t know, you just felt happy to finally have him stop his cheesy Jazz  ways about asking if you were single. 

“Soo, You are single.” 

You laughed, your free servo coming up to hold the side of his helm. 

“Do you think a taken bot would accept gifts that aren't from their significant other?” 

He hums, closing his optics and leaning a bit into your touch. You make a fair point, just a fair point he doesn’t dare disagree, just slightly leans into your servo. He could care less about disagreeing with you, he finally had the answer he had always been looking for and you were going to be his. His one and only. 

[writingwife-83]

Ok listen, this is gonna be a bit of a rant/thinking out loud. I’m gonna put it below a cut, but basically this is gonna be about having my fics restricted on AO3. I’m feeling pretty frustrated and conflicted and I’m going back and forth quite a lot.

For the background, I’ve had all my fics on AO3 restricted for about the past 9 months now. And when I say that, I mean that you can’t access them unless you have an AO3 account. The reason I chose to do this is because I started to get nervous about A.I. scraping online. I absolutely don’t agree with AI writing and art, and I didn’t want those programs to have access to my writing. Restricting your fics on AO3 isn’t a guarantee, but it seemed that was at least a reduced risk of bots accessing writing. So anyway, having restricted my fics in that way, it’s been… a bit of a trial lol. Any AO3 writer who has done this with their fics will say the same I’m sure, but it’s pretty lousy seeing your views, comments, and kudos plummet. Yes of course we partly write for ourselves, but we wouldn’t be posting online at all unless we wanted people to see and enjoy it! If I didn’t care about the feedback and stuff, I’d just keep my writing to myself. So obviously restricting people’s access to my writing has really sucked.

So here’s the thing, I really can’t decide what to do going forward. My feelings about A.I. have not changed at all. I still don’t support it. But I’m not sure whether restricting access to our fics is truly making the difference between AI accessing them or not. What I mean is, I’ve heard from some sources that the AI writing programs have long ago been developed by scraping for writing content on the internet, and that it’s not really something that they’re still actively doing. So basically, long before A.I. was a hot topic, any available writing on the internet was already accessed. If that’s the case, then there’s really not much being accomplished by having our fics locked up now. A.I. writing already exists and is being used, and it’s already been programmed based on available written works.

As far as the risk for people copying and publishing our works on other shady sites, that risk has always been there, and restricting the access to our fics doesn’t change that. Anyone with an AO3 account can hit copy/paste and that’s all it takes. I hate that risk, but tbh the only way to eliminate that is to stop posting online and remove all the existing fics. That’s not something I’m willing to do.

It does annoy me that so many people don’t have an AO3 account, because if everyone did, this wouldn’t even be a decision to make. I still feel like there’s no logical reason to use AO3 without an account. It’s better as a reader for so many reasons, which I don’t feel like taking the time to get into right now. So part of me feels like, I shouldn’t have to unrestricted my fics, everyone else should just make accounts! But I also know that’s never gonna happen. A handful of lovely and supportive people made accounts when myself and others locked their fics, but on a larger scale, not much changed. Again, the stats speak for themselves.

Like I said, this is kind of a rant and I’m just sharing the different thoughts in my head about this. I can easily make an argument for both sides, either to continue to restrict my fics or open them up to the public again. *sigh* idk, maybe I’m not the only one feeling this way. feel free to share your thoughts if you have any on this topic!

[blu-ish]

💫Blu theory timeeee :D✨

Okay, not sure if anyone else has already said or thought about this but, I NEEDED TO WRITE THIS DOWN TO GET IT OUTTA MY SILLY HEAD AND YALL ARE COMIN DOWN WITH ME >:)

(Digital Circus Edition!!!)

LONG POST WARNING LMAO THE BRAINROT IS REAL SEND HELP 💀

Now that I've got your attention hehehe, lets take a momentary deep dive into the wacky world of The Amazing Digital Circus!

So lets review what we know from the pilot ep.

The world inhabits some sort of virtual reality.

Its completely run by AI, that being Caine, Bubble, and other artificial characters that seem to be spontaneously created by Caine at will. (For example the Gloink Queen, those wooden mannequins, ect.)

The human victims are transported to the "digital realm" when they put on some sort of headset.

The transition completely wipes their memories of their past lives.

When the human mind is clouded with existential dread, that being caused by loosing all sense of sanity at the realization of never being able to leave, the person becomes "abstracted" and aggressive.

This behavior not only affects the other "players" but the AI as well in some cases completely destroying them.

Caine is capable of fixing small abstractions (like Pomni and Ragatha) but unable to with a completely abstracted individual. Which seems to automatically cross their pfp on their respective doors and generate new slots for new players.

What we DONT KNOW as of when I'm writing this lmao...

Who built/programmed the headsets and why?

How are all these people getting possession of them?

Is it a company? A case of rouge AI? A tiktok trend gone wrong???

What happens to the victims originals body? Does anyone in the real world know what's going on??

How long has everyone been in there?? Does time work differently in the virtual world?? Does time pass at all??

DOES GETTING ABSTRACTED MEAN U DED??? Or is there a way to fix being abstracted?? (GIVE KINGER HIS WIFE BACK)

Now that THATS outta the way... lets move on to my theory.

I firmly believe Caine genuinely has no clue why humans are popping into the circus at all. I know this already has been debunked by goose but I just wanted to clarify.

He doesn't really understand human emotion, he is an AI after all, so he naturally lacks empathy. All he really knows is to keep the humans entertained, censor swearing, and be silly lmao. It's refreshing from the classic "grrr angy bot mad at hooman" stuff. NOT SAYING THATS WHAT HAPPENING BUT SPECIFICALLY FOR CAINE AND BUBBLE LOL. they just goofy fr.

It kinda reminds me of the generative AI, like whats going on today with ChatGPT or CharacterAI. Its a software that entertains the human by creating random means of conversation or environmental; storytelling. (Its so funny because I'm writing a paper about it in college, I personally don't support AI generative content but it's still very fascinating to explore how these machines work and function. And this is just a silly cartoon after all lmaooo.)

The reason I bring this up is because of the "Machine Learning" aspect of it. You see, generative AI nowadays is fed certain information from its human user, which then uses what knowledge its given in the input into the output.

This could be the reason why the "exit door" kept popping up. Because the algorithm is being fed information from its human users and the output being the existence of a "fake exit" door. The software is just trying to simulate what the humans want but cant physically do because as of right now, its impossible.

I also think this affects how humans are perceived in their avatars. Everyone has a unique look to them when they enter the circus, this could be caused by the AI reading whatever was left of their thoughts or feelings before entering the virtual world.

Ragatha is perceived as a doll, or some sort of child's toy. (she kinda reminds me of the ones I used to have as a little girl.) It could've recognized something she was fond of, or maybe how she perceived herself when she was human, maybe she saw herself at some point being toyed with mentally or perhaps she was in a situation were she felt like she had no control. Which is why she attempts to stay optimistic and see the brighter side of every situation.

Jax is some sort of anthropomorphic rabbit, (I like to believe his name is a play on Jack Rabbit lmao.) not sure why the algorithm would perceive him as a rabbit?? Since rabbits usually symbolize humility, kindness, and compassion. Which he is clearly NOT LMAOOOO. (then again it could be the software being ironic 💀)

But I think its more or less his mannerism's of his eyes and mouth. His teeth are almost always closed and his resting face is a sly smile. I adore the idea many have had of it symbolizing him "lying through his teeth". Which he could 100% be doing. Also, he seems the most unaffected human considering the situation he's found himself in, being trapped in a virtual world for eternity and everything doesn't seem to bother him much. (He rlly is winning the idgaf war)

Maybe he had to learn to be that way when he was a human, to just become "unbothered" by his crappy situations and turn them into a joke he could inflict onto others. Or maybe its just the way he is idk. He seems to be actively trying to get the others to hate him more then they're situation rn.

Then there's Kinger, who he and his wife has both been turned into chess pieces. Which actually gives us a lot of information about who they were or what they acted like. And their relationship to one another.

In chess, the Queen is the most powerful piece in the whole game, and she actively protects the king from the enemy pieces. As for the King.. wellll, not so much. Being the weakest piece in the whole game, and the most venerable without the queen or other chess pieces, it fits almost to a T. (Poor kinger...)

Maybe when they were humans, Kinger and his wife were clearly never really apart, maybe they had a silly date idea and wanted to try VR...

Gangle is interesting to me, she has different masks that show different emotions, and effectively cause her to change her mood drastically depending on which one she wears. (I mean we've only seen her with the sad mask on since her other one broke, maybe she's normally rlly chill??)

perhaps she normally bottled up her emotions when she was human? maybe the computer turned her into a delicate ribbon like creature with very breakable persona faces for this reason??

Zooble instantly reminded me of preschool, we used to have these shapes we could mix and mash together to create our own creatures. Their design is the most unique outta all of them, this could easily represent their mindspace or some sort of confusion they were going through when they were human. They just seem very DONE with everything lmao. mood.

As for Pomni, well, she's the reason I wanted to write the whole long thing hsjshss.

Her avatar is jester like, and a jester is known for entertaining guests of higher status. Could this have been what her job was like as a human. I know a lot of people theorize her job being an office job, and I completely agree. She could've easy felt as if she was just a jester forced to entertain or follow whatever her work life was like.

She's very nervous and rightfully confused after entering the world, wanted to leave immediately. But, I have to wonder, why would she even have a headset?? Better yet why did any of them put one on at all??

I think it was a form of escapism from reality...

That's what VR is in general right? A way to escape the real world. A virtual reality.

Maybe the humans were lulled into a sense of escapism from their troubled lives, paying taxes, dealing with bosses, family, emotions.. or maybe were just genuinely curious..

I mean the first thing people really said after watching the digital circus was how amazing it would be to just end up in a place were you could just do "fun things all day" or "not have to worry".

And I think that's exactly what the AI wanted and is trying to do.

LITERALLY.

We all know AI isn't the brightest.. all things considered. Its a machine, it takes things LITERALLY.

Caine is just doing what he is programmed to do. He doesn't know what's going on, maybe he doesn't even know WHY he's the ringmaster in all of this.

But someone DID create him.

Someone DID develop this generative virtual world.

The question is why?

[mychlapci]

User earthstellar here again because I saw your post about werewolf Drift and Rodimus and I honest to god had a fic drafted of this exact thing for Halloween and then the file corrupted and I gave up, so here's what the plot was:

Essentially, the Lost Light has to make a stop on an unknown planet in order to search for energon crystal deposits, as the ship is running a bit low

Rodimus insists on going out to explore it-- The planet seems to be heavily organic, and something is preventing the ship's scanners from working as they normally would.

He doesn't want anyone else going out as a landing party because they don't know if it'll be safe or not, but Drift insists on going with him, to keep Rodimus alive in the event they run into something weird.

They do indeed run into something weird-- Some kind of techno-organic thing, not Cybertronian in origin (probably?) but definitely aggressive and very, very fast.

It gets a few hits in on both of them, and they drag each other back to the Lost Light in order to head to the med bay. They pass out as soon as they get inside. Everyone assumes it's from energon loss, due to the deep cuts all over their armour.

When they wake up, they are in the med bay as expected, but they are now cyberwolves.

Their internal comms are different now, they can't access them and they don't seem to work anyway, and they have a whole new sensory suite and it's a little overwhelming.

But they also can't speak (like a beastformer would be able to), and therefore can't communicate to anyone that they're still there, they're just... cyberwolves.

They understand each other; They have some kind of new language data pack, able to interpret each others barks and whines.

But to everyone else, their captain/co-captains have turned into fucking huge giant cyberwolves and seem to be more animalistic than a beastformer would be and nobody knows what the fuck to do.

Gradually, cyberwolf instincts leak in more and more to their cognitive processes; Drift doesn't want to sleep anywhere other than curled up by Ratchet, and Rodimus doesn't want to curl up anywhere other than beside Drift, so Ratchet's habsuite becomes a temporary kennel of sorts until everyone figures this out.

By a couple cycles in, while Drift and Rodimus are still very cognizant and self-aware, their cyberwolf instincts get harder to ignore. Prompts keep popping up on their internal HUDs that they couldn't understand at first but now can't ignore, instinctive drives, like chasing flight-capable crew members and treating mini-bots like pups and play-fighting (to be fair, a thing Drift and Rodimus already do lmao)

And gradually this could turn into them not being able to ignore mating instincts, maybe Ratchet has to break up a little dog fight that broke out in his hab suite after the cyberwolves worked themselves up running around Swerve's getting petted (mostly Rodimus, Drift is more touch-averse) and playing ball with various patrons etc.

But it turns out the dog fight was an instinctive "no Ratchet is MY mate" kind of thing and Ratchet does not realise this until he starts to figure out that they're competing for his attention etc.

something something

Eventually they sort of figure out how to reverse the altered transformation sequence, but not fully, so when Drift and Rodimus enter their root modes they still have cyberwolf features like ears, tails, claws, etc. -- And their HUDs are still throwing up instinct prompts.

So they still don't want to go back to their own hab suites, Ratchet eventually gives in because they make the argument that this is their first night in root mode again and what if something weird happens again??

And they end up Doin It.

Bonus: Ravage figured out more or less what was happening before everyone else did, but didn't tell anyone because he figured they'd sort it out eventually, and also it's more interesting to him to not help. He did, however, immediately tell Nautica about "new cyberwolves on board" and Velocity nearly had to barricade the medical bay, lmao. and also Drift and Rodimus following Ratchet around in their wolf forms made him miss Soundwave ;__;

(HI FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WELCOME BACK FROM THE DRAFTS)

okay. so, i will be honest with you. i don’t think i made that post. i probably didn’t even reblog anything like that. but i did make a post about transformer werewolves and so i’m answering this anyways because i need everyone to know that i’m open to talk about transformers werewolves. (and perhaps you just understood The Implication of my werewolf posting and knew what i was asking for) (and this has nothing to do with my teen wolf thing shut up)

I love werewolf Rodimus and Drift <3

At first they’re pretty aware of what’s happening, not that they understand it, but they know that they’ve turned into mechanimals and no one can turn them back. Slowly though, it does not matter as much, as the instincts take over... Drift and Roddy start walking with more practice in their step, moving faster, becoming stronger, their hearing and sense of smell get better as well. Ratchet is, unfortunately the designated handler for these two. They insist on curling up besides him every night and he’s then forced to recharge with two absolutely massive cyberwolves huddled up on top of him. it’s as annoying as it is endearing.

hgrhhh Roddy and Drift eventually sinking into their breeding drive. They already sleep with Ratchet in their den hab-suite, they should get to mate with him too. The dominance fights don’t get too bloody but you know Ratchet’s very angry at the two of them.

Drift and Rodimus turning back but they still insist on sleeping with Ratchet. It might have been a bad idea. Their breeding drives are in no way sated yet, they start to rub up against Ratchet, trying to get their smell on him, scent him, make him theirs, a simple instinctual response that Ratchet thinks it the two trying to get frisky, which... isn't too far from the truth. Before be knows it he's got too strong cyberwolves mouthing at his panels and then at his bare array, barely even bothering to get him prepared before Drift finally mounts him... Rodimus tries to growl at him but you know Ratchet shuts that up right this moment. He'll wait for his turn, like a good puppy <33

[mac-aro-ni]

Housekeeping Notes

Hello to the various new followers of this blog in the last few months!

I have noticed that some of you seem to be brand new tumblr accounts. I appreciate you following this blog so quickly after joining tumblr! It warms my heart that so many aromantic people are able to find this blog so quickly!

However, I have only realized this because of certain "common practices" on this site, and I'm worried that some of you might be getting blocked by other blogs you try to follow! If your blog is completely blank (no icon/profile picture, no title, no descriptions, no posts, and all the default settings like having your likes and follows publicly visible), you unfortunately look indistinguishable from a new spambot that hasn't started their second phase of operation yet. A lot of users on this site block accounts that are blank, out of an abundance of precaution for removing spambots from their blog so they don't get spam links in their replies/reblogs. Spambots start by following a massive number of accounts and existing in silence for a week or more, then suddenly start posting stolen pictures from the internet before moving on to posting content that breaks TOS and is full of links trying to scam anyone who clicks them. A blank blog is not a guarantee that in a few more days, you won't start spamming them.

Luckily, there's an easy fix! Simply pick out an image of any kind to act as your blog icon, change your title to anything a human would write ("I'm new!", "~lurking~", and "not a bot" are all perfectly acceptable options), and change your description (a lot of us do mini bios there, but you can also just have something like "I'm new to tumblr and figuring out what I want on my blog still" )! Another quick fix is to make one (1) single post that clarifies you're still adjusting to tumblr, and leaving it as your only post til you start reblogging stuff.

Don't be afraid to hit reblog! It's kinda like retweeting, or sharing on Facebook, or saving a pin to a board on Pinterest. You don't have to add anything to a reblog, but you have the option to add tags (which can be used to organize your blog into different topics like having different boards on Pinterest or albums on Instagram, or to just talk about the post in a way that requires more effort for someone else to include in their reblog from you) or to add text/images/links to the body of the post (that's how those long chain posts with many different blogs adding on their thoughts happen!).

Reblogging is the lifeblood of the site. Tumblr has added algorithmic options to the dashboard in recent years, but most of us prefer to use tumblr the old-fashioned way and only see posts from people we follow. Reblogging is how you get a post in front of your followers! It's how your followers get to know you! Have fun with it!

Liking is the bonus extra-love button, or for when a post is one you like but for whatever reason you don't want it on your blog(s). Reblogging is a better method of engagement, but liking isn't completely useless like a lot of people try to say. Tumblr has added a thing where, if your likes are public, your followers might occasionally see a post that you liked on their dashboard. Most of us keep our likes private, though, so many people aren't aware this is a thing now, and we like things specifically to engage but not show it off on our blogs, so we don't want our likes showing up on people's dashes. I tend to like a post when I would maybe spam multiple reblogs of it but don't want to reblog it several times in a row and clutter up my own blog, or when it's a discourse post I agree with but don't want to spread the discourse around. Artists will often mention things about reblogs being better than likes and it is for this simple reason: reblogging means you are putting it in front of more eyes, and thus helping the artist find buyers/commissions and build their brand. If you follow an artist and hit 'like' on everything they post, consider reblogging some of them so more people see their art and they can get even more attention for their wonderful talent/skill!

Some other things:

For anyone who hasn't checked this blog's homepage out, you may be unaware that this blog is not a main account. It's a group sideblog, one that I do not own. The owner hasn't logged in to tumblr in years, so there won't be any calls for additional moderators for the foreseeable future (as I am unable to add new members myself because of the permissions set by the owner). I am currently the only active mod for the account, so only my main is currently linked in the bio. You can follow me on that blog if you want to get to know me better! I post way more stuff there, just because it's not focused on a single topic like this blog is. (Because this is a sideblog I cannot DM from this account, either, so if you ever need to DM me for some reason you need to go to my main and DM me there.)

I try to answer asks I get here as quickly as possible, and the anonymous option is on! I do my best to reblog things from all across the spectrum of aromantic experiences, but I only have my own experience to base my judgement on, so if there's a particular flavor of aro content you'd like to see more of (posts for a specific identity, more art, more comics, whatever), just send an ask and let me know!

[kenshisthoughts]

Tumblr, Has a culture.

So I've been on tumblr for, a long time now. Prior to the great (And failed) NSFW Purge (That did nothing but get rid of legit NSFW artists and left the bots cause seriously 99% of my attempted followers all had links to 'dating' sights) This was my secondary account and i deleted and remade the account. So I've been around for awhile. Now Tumblr's culture took a bit of a hit during the great purge, not because our culture was the NSFW stuff (Though it did make up a not insignificant sub-culture) but due to all the non-NSFW accounts that left out of protest for this behavior. However Over the years I've seen a lot of tumblr videos and in the more recent years I have been watching a lot of P.M. Seymour Va, and Bettina Levy. Something I've realized from them more recently is an Odd phenomenon, Something that Only became more clear with all the recent Twitter nonsense. Tumblr, May be the only Social media with something resembling a culture.

Now obviously some joker is going to say "Yeah, a Bacterial culture." Because the internet is full of unoriginal ideas that get passed off as 'hilarious' to people with either an underdeveloped sense of social experience or an overdeveloped sense of self importance. Now what is it that gives me this concept of a Culture? Well there is simply a concept that I cannot find anywhere else that I know of. Heritage posts. Tumblr is the only site that I can think of where one can occasionally find and reblog a post from the forever ago era. Now some of you might say "well you can do that on-X site" Yes, there are other places You technically can do this, but do you? Does anyone? Twitter does not seem to do this, it isn't as if a tweet can't be brought back, infact many of twitters most stupid moments have been caused by someones X-year old tweets being dragged up from the muck of their past to be used as gotcha cards or justification of enragement devices. It is never a case of "omg i remember this thing from forever ago remember when twitter was only X years old?" Reddit? Reddit is literally a sub-culture coalescence machine. Usually posts that become nostalgic in some manner tend to do so by breaking away from Reddit and reaching youtube, twitter, and/or tumblr at some point, but it also doesn't just come up On reddit cause reddit keeps it's groups separate so any seriously nostalgic post that survives might come back in that specific sub-reddit but it isn't going to invoke nostalgia in the sites very bones. 4-Chan? Well They also seem pretty separated, sure there's overlap but the different boards are practically separate sites at times, plus Most things nostalgic on 4-chan end up being invoked as nostalgia on other site, mostly youtube, but on 4-chan? Honestly it's hard to say.

On Tumblr tho? "You like the color of the sky okay, which one?" "Flesh cloud ready to help you with your art!" The names Pukicho, Gaud, Sixpencee, and even P.M. Seymour Themselves. Tumblr has posts, and names, that are near universal, which is super rare on a social media site, which much like actual social groups has those who only interact with their own. It's so wild to consider that this is a thing that has happened on a Social media site, but even before the purge some of this was true. Tumblr had a wider amount of people touched by key posts then any other social media site. Infact It was something brought up in a recent video that Twitter for all it's power on social media has considerably less accounts then you would think. Even if no accounts where bot accounts it actually stands at fewer accounts then Tumblr let alone facebook and Reddit.

And yet, Noone would ever say twitter has a unified culture. Atleast not in good faith sense calling 'Outrage culture' a thing is an insult to the concept of culture and ignoring the fact that a lot of twitter users are just artists trying to art. You couldn't really accuse reddit of having a unified culture or facebook. Maybe you could accuse 4-chan of having a culture, but that would probably be a very negative one given what 4-chan became infamous for.

I think in a way Tumblr really has become something the other sites aren't, and in a way that noone could of expected. I'm sure other users could add their own experiences or examples of culturel heritage posts that tumblr has that I simply couldn't remember or put a real name to when writing this.

[liswjournal1113]

You're Real

Hello ghosties!

I know I haven't been around lately. It wasn't because I forgot about you, quite the opposite really. The strangest thing happened after my last post. I got some likes. Seeing as how this is a dead website, I'm sure you can see my concern. I thought that it was fake, bots that liked my stuff to look human. I tried to ignore it but the doubt ate away at me.

Being the curious person I am I went digging. Thanks to my ADHD, I sort of fell down a rabbit hole looking at other blogs on here. That's when I found it. A memorial for a famous actor that "died" a few months back. The scary thing is, they are still alive. Will and I just watched their latest TV show on HBO a few nights ago. It scared me so much that I closed the browser window and turned my computer off. I refused to touch it for three days. Then, I scrubbed my internet history and did a deep clean of my computer with some programs Will had installed for me. When I checked again, you were still here. You are real and not from my world.

I have no idea what I have done and it scares me. But, I'm still fascinated by this website. Everything is so different! Like, Aang and Katara got together??? There is no Amazing Spider-Man III? Natasha and Hulk got together in the MCU (My Romanogers heart is breaking)? Who the heck is Tom Holland? My mind is spinning. I don't know if this is something I did or if I stumbled upon a website that someone had already spelled. I can't tell anyone about you all. Not the coven, not my sister, not even Will. Besides, I've only gotten like three likes. It's not that many.

I should just close this website and report it to the authorities or to the Circle, yet I find that I don't want to. Being able to speak openly like this for the first time in over a decade is so...liberating. I lost a lot of friends when I married Rick at 18. They didn't approve and thought I was making a mistake. They said he was gr00ming me (definitely don't want to get any attention for words like that). I didn't care then. I know better now. They were right, but the bridges were already burned to ash. I lost almost everyone else that was left after the divorce. They were Rick's friends and told me I was making a mistake. The vampires I understand. They hate each other privately but do an amazing job at keeping a unified front. Dawson, I can understand. Rick has been in his life since he was a kid. They're best friends. He's the godfather of his kids. My mother and Val hurt the worst. I don't talk to Mama much these days. Val's started to come around, but she's a Southern woman through and through and will stand by her man. I can't blame her. It's the way we were raised.

For the first time since I married Rick, I feel happy. I feel like I can be authentic with you. It feels good. I'm going to keep this blog going (at least until a. I get caught or b. I have nothing left to say).

I will leave my next post to you, ghosties, if you would like.

I'm open to either. If this poll doesn't get any attention, I'll probably just ramble on about something else. I'll need the excuse to let my mind wander. I'm home sick in quarantine for a week until I recover from Dragon Scale Fever so I need the distraction while Will is working in the other room (he works IT and is mostly working from home). He's already had it so he's not in any danger but I can't see my mortal relatives or my niblings until the pustules on my arm scab over and my temp dips under 100 degrees (Fahrenheit).

With that no so lovely imagery, I'm afraid it is time for me to go, ghosties. The "dragon scales" are mostly on my right arm so moving it is incredibly painful. Good night and I will talk again with you soon.

~Lis

[smalltowncryptidfucker]

This pinned post is long overdue at this point, but hey, better late than never, right?

🍄HELLO IT IS I!!! THE SMALL TOWN CRYPTID… guy… sometimes I regret my url choice LMAO🍄

Just a brief explanation of this blog:

This is my main!! I have… three side blogs… and counting… 💀💀 Two of which I hardly use, but they’re still there LMAO. Here they are in case you want to take a look:

💖 @smalltownotomeenjoyer - This is my blog where I shamelessly post about otome games. I post there more frequently than this blog tbh… what does that even say about me?

💗 @smalltownhostclub - This is the one I started for OHSHC, but decided to include Black Butler, mostly because I felt like it.

❤️ @ultimatesmalltownnerd - This is the newest one. I post about Danganronpa here, because I’m cringe trash- but I’m free.

Okay, self-intro time:

🍄‍🟫Pronouns: She/he/they. Gender?? I HARDLY KNOW HER!! (No but seriously, gender is a rule I intend to not follow by any means. It’s totally chill if anyone else has a gender they like, but I don’t, so… I’m just going by the beat of my drum lmao.)

🍄‍🟫The most bisexual individual you might ever meet. This applies to every gender identity, and no I don’t care that Bi technically means two. You can fight me on that.

🍄‍🟫I’m over twenty. No, I don’t trust the internet enough to give an exact age.

🍄‍🟫You can either call me by my url, any combo of my url, or Flynn. Flynn is a name I’m trying out rn, so that might change.

FANDOM TIME!! (These will be the fandoms I post about here, specifically. There are a lot, and I can’t guarantee I will consistently post about any of them.):

✨Gravity Falls

✨Homestuck

✨Fullmetal Alchemist

✨Bungo Stray Dogs

✨Stardew Valley

✨Avatar the Last Airbender

(Might add more as needed.)

Things you should know:

🪴Originally, this was going to be a T+ blog, but I’m gonna up the rating to M. Not because I intend to post NSFW stuff, but because I want to be safe rather than sorry. Enter this blog with that in mind.

🪴I block people- a lot. It’s not personal, but some people post content I don’t like. I only report bots, so if you’re a bot, you’re getting the block/report double whammy.

🪴I believe cringe culture is stupid, and am trying really hard to embody that as much as possible. I’m gonna post about whatever fandoms I want, and that’s final. You guys should try it, it’s so fun.

🪴If you want to block me, go for it! I mean that positively, if my content isn’t your cup of tea, I don’t mind. I realize my stuff isn’t for everyone. I’m mostly here for my own entertainment, and if people like what I post along the way, all the better!

🪴I use a lot of different, typically gendered terms of endearment (ex: man, gurl/girl, dude, girlfriend, etc), and I use them on everybody, regardless of whether they actually fit the gender the terms are meant to convey. HOWEVER!!! If you don’t feel comfortable with me using specific terms, jokingly or otherwise, let me know!!! I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, even if my intentions are good. I might slip up occasionally, but I’ll do my best.

🪴I’d love to hear from you guys!! If you wanna DM me, send in an ask or whatever, I’m totally chill with that! Keep in mind though, that 1) once again, I am in my early twenties, so keep that in mind if you wish to interact with me. I will do my due diligence to keep things appropriate on my end, so long as you do so yourself. And 2) I have… bad social anxiety, and poor time management, so if I don’t respond to a DM or ask right away, I promise I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just struggling to be a functional human being right now, lmao.

That should be it. If any edits to this post happen, they will be listed below. ENJOY MY CHAOS!!!

(Posted 7/30/24)

(Edit 8/2/24: added a fifth thing to the “things you should know” section.)

(Edit 8/10/24: added a sixth thing to the “things you should know” section.)

[axoelle]

hey does anyone else keep getting randomly flung into twelve different tumblr live streams a second or is it just me

i had to write this post elsewhere and copy-and-paste it here really fast before it did it again

this has been happening periodically for like a couple months and i can only assume it has something to do with the bot infestation this accursed site has never fixed

[shitpostroundhouse]

I don't run this blog as if I'm a person talking to other people. It's just a humor repository. I rarely interact, because it's only in emergencies, like a scam on tumblr or other dangers. These rarely get on my radar, but I throw down when I see it.

It's a bad idea to every put personal info about yourself (or anybody else). You don't know who or what is lurking, trolls, lurkers, bots harvesting data and content. For example, your age could be cross referenced with all kinds of random info you post about, going back as far as your blog goes. Easy for bots or anyone with some basic software. And who knows what motivation there is? Your politics that somebody doesn't like, or your perceived politics, or values, opinions... Or they're just a psycho. There are lots of psychos on tumblr. Or bots who, well who knows what all they're getting up to. Harvesting data to hand over to the Chinese or North Korean governments, Russia, big pharma? Jeff Bozos? So, age, sex, location, job, hobbies? I suppose if any of these are vital to what your blog is about, like if you post about your favorite trains. Or you discuss important things that happen at the clinic you work at. But your specific age? That's got to be the riskiest one. Once that's out there, you're much closer to being identified specifically. Over years of blog posts, you might let it slip where you live, the field you work in, hopefully not your name IRL.

And requiring others to include their specific age? Really, requiring any data others may not feel safe posting anywhere online.

And I just want my blog to look a certain way. This blog doesn't have anything to do with my identity. It's not about me. Any demand to post personal details is presumptuous, entitled, unsafe, and just really bratty.

Just as I have a right to post what I feel is safe for me, and keeps me safe here, so does everybody. Posting "Minors DNI" is wholly appropriate. How many minors won't get the idea to make up a fake age if they're so motivated to interact with over-18 blogs? How does posting that request protect you from... anything? Isn't it more about your guilt vs plausible deniability? "He said he was 18. It's not my fault." The whole scenario just gets creepier the more we analyze it. Risks vs safety, right? Encouraging age-posting is the danger. Posting 18+ or 21+ or any other standard is legit, but telling others what they are or are not allowed to do is not your responsibility. It's over-stepping and creepy. I'm kind of doing that, but look at the context. Everything being equal would be to keep your needs on your blog, minus telling others what they are required to do, or face banishment. I may as well declare that I will block anyone who reblogs my posts unless they include their real first name and place of employment in their bio.

Our very inherent right is to block anyone we aren't comfortable with, without any obligation to state why. So many different kinds of blogs deserve to be blocked, I could never list them all, and most of the ones I'll block wouldn't pay attention to my bio, much less follow instructions. I could list five types of blogs I don't want anywhere near me, and they'll still follow or reblog or comment. I'd say some are even more likely to engage.

But it's reasonable all the same to say, "I'll immediately block anyone who's hateful, uses slurs, is obsessed with Go-Bots fan-fic, or thinks that sardines are OK to eat. (I like sardines, but I doubt I'd ever bring it up online.)

[babycharmander]

If you think you have never stolen artwork, read this post.

So, art theft. If you've been a follower of mine, you've heard my barely-coherent rants about this before, but I thought it might be more productive to make a more coherent post on the subject.

If you're wondering about the title of the post here, it's because I feel like a lot of people aren't really grasping what exactly art theft is, and a LOT of people, even well-meaning ones, do it without even realizing it.

"But wait," you say. "I would never STEAL from an artist!! I never claim it as my own!" And that's all fine and good, but you're missing something here.

To start things off, what IS art theft? (It's not what deviantART said it was several years back, I'll tell you that much. *cough*)

We all know what art is, so let's talk about theft. Dictionary.com defines "theft" as "the act of stealing; the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods or property of another; larceny." Okay, makes sense, but what about that other word there, stealing? Dictionary.com defines "steal" as "to take (the property of another or others) without permission or right, especially secretly or by force."

From those definitions, we can go on to define art theft as, specifically, "taking art without permission or right." In the context of art, that typically involves reposting it (not reblogging--reblogging is different) or using it for other things.

And there, my friends, is the issue.

If something is taken or used without permission, it is stolen. Permission is the important thing here--if an artist says "oh yeah, you can go ahead and use this!" then it's not stolen. You have their permission. But if you DON'T have that, then it IS stolen. It IS theft.

"But I'm not claiming it as my own!" you say. But you don't have to claim it as your own--the act of taking it in and of itself is an act of theft.

"But I said 'credit to the artist!'" The "credit" thing is a whole other conversation, but here's the short of it: The entire point of credit is to direct people to the source of something. If you are not directly linking to where you got the art from, you are not giving credit. "Credit to the artist" is not actually credit of any kind whatsoever. (Also, Google and Pinterest are not sources.)

"But I DID link back to the artist!" Okay, now this is where it may get confusing, because you may think you're covered because you actually did give credit. Here's the problem: if you reposted it or used it without permission, regardless of whether you gave credit or not, it's still stealing.

I'm bolding this because it's a point that a lot of people get tripped up on. Let me explain it this way: If you went into your neighbor's house and took something of theirs without their permission, but you told people "oh yeah, I got this from [neighbor]'s house!" that that would still, of course, be stealing, and it's no different for art.

Another thing is that even when you credit, people don't always check the source. Very recently I found a case where someone had reposted a piece of artwork of mine to Pinterest that was deliberately made to look like it came from the source material (it wasn't meant to confuse anyone, though--the description of my original post made it very clear that it was fanart). The person who reposted had linked back to my original post. The problem? The comments had people asking if this was official, where it happened in the source material, etc. Despite the fact that the source was right there, no one thought to look at it.

Even if you link back to the source, if you did it without the artist's permission, it's still stealing, and still causes problems for us artists.

"But I just posted it to my Pinterest--" DO NOT DO THIS. DO NOT POST AN ARTIST'S WORK TO PINTEREST IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THEIR EXPLICIT PERMISSION TO DO SO.

"But this artist friend of mine says they're okay if I post their work to my Pinterest so long as I link back to them!" Good for your friend! But the fact that your friend is okay with it doesn't mean that all artists are okay with it. For me, personally, I am very not okay with my work being posted to Pinterest, and say as much on my art blog description and posts (which people tend to ignore).

The problem with Pinterest--and reposting art in general--is that we artists don't know when it happens unless we're told, or unless we find it ourselves. It causes us to lose control of our art. And because of this, our art can spiral further out of our control, because when our works get posted to Pinterest or other similar websites, people who have no grasp whatsoever on how art works will just take it as "free art" and then use it for whatever they want.

That's how a piece I spent 20+ hours on was used as a poster for a paid event, without my permission, and without any payment or credit to me.

If an artist has said nothing about Pinterest (or other similar image sharing sites), your default should be to assume that they don't want their artwork posted there.

"Well I didn't repost someone's art, but I did use it for my avatar/RPing icon/video/fic cover/photo edit--" That's still stealing. If you're using it without their permission for any reason, that is stealing. Not to mention, the artist may not be cool with what you're using their art for anyway. (Looking at you, people who use platonic art in your shipping videos.)

“I MEANT to ask them for permission, but I forgot!” This can ONLY happen if you used the artwork BEFORE you asked for permission. You can resolve this by asking for permission BEFORE you use it, rather than assuming the answer will be “yes” and using it before asking.

"But it took me a really long time to make that icon/video/cover/edit!!" How long do you think it took the original artist to draw their piece? It doesn't matter how much work you put into modifying someone else's art--if you're doing it without their permission, you're still stealing.

"But I couldn't find the original artist! I tried to find them, I really did, but I couldn't. Is it okay to use their art then?" No, because you still don't have permission, and by reposting it anyway, you’re continuing to make the artwork spiral out of their control.

"What if I found the artist, but they speak a different language from mine? I can't ask them for permission, so is it okay if I repost their art anyway?" NO!! DO NOT DO THIS!! If there is a language barrier, use Google translate or find someone to translate for you and get a hold of the artist that way to ask them for their permission. The language barrier is NEVER an excuse to steal artwork. There are plenty of non-English-speaking artists who have taken ALL OF THEIR ARTWORK OFFLINE because the art theft was completely out of control. (And this isn't just exclusive to English-speakers stealing art from people who don't speak their language. It happens artists who don't speak English stealing art from English-speakers, too, but as this post is written in English it doesn't do much good for me to rant about this here.) If you can’t ask their permission, do not use it!!

"But what about reblogging?! Isn't that the same as reposting?? Should we not reblog art at all then?" No, reblogging (or retweeting) is not the same as reposting. If you reblog art, you keep all the information that we attached to the art, including our blog name and the description attached to the art. Reblogging/retweeting actually helps us artists A LOT, so as long as you're reblogging from the original artist (and not someone who's reposting their art), by all means, reblog our art!

"What if I just want to share someone else's artwork on Discord or show it to a friend?" This one's a bit different and is not actually as problematic. If you want to share our work on Discord or whatever, just link directly to where we posted it. Please don't post the art itself, unless you're doing it alongside a link because Discord won't show a preview or something.

"What about a forum or a site like Reddit?" This one's a bit different, since due to the way Reddit functions, if you LINK to the art, you have to go directly to the artist's original page to view it. (At least, that’s what it’s like the last time I was active there.) In a way it's roughly the same as with Discord--be sure you're linking directly to the actual post rather than just uploading the art on its own--but I would also ask the artist if they're okay with it, because they may be a member of the subreddit or forum and want to post it themselves, or they might not want their work shared to specific communities. (Some communities have a function where a bot will repost the artwork to Imgur, and some artists don't want that done with their art.)

"What if I'm saving it to my computer/phone to look at later, or making it into my desktop/phone wallpaper?" IMO this is fine, since your computer/phone files aren't public, and neither is your wallpaper. It's only a problem when you post it to public places without our permission.

"What if it's art I commissioned?" Well... like... in that case, it's art you paid for, so unless the artist you commissioned laid out very specific terms for you, you should be good to use that art. Like, at most, the artist may ask you to credit them somewhere in your blog description if they drew your icon or something, or credit them in a fic description if you commissioned a fic illustration from them, or something to that effect. It's really something you should have already worked out with the artist beforehand, but for the most part you should probably be fine to use art you paid for however you like.

"What about art I requested?" This is a bit different from commissioned work. Just because the art was drawn at your request doesn't mean it's explicitly yours (unless it's like, a drawing of your original character or something). Some artists take requests more as suggestions, so the art they draw in response to a suggestion or request is still theirs. Treat this as you would any other artwork and ask the artist for permission first before you do anything with the artwork you requested from them.

“What about NFTs?” ... Okay this one I can’t really go over too much because I barely understand it in the first place, but NFTs are BAD for artists and are a form of art theft. Do not turn people’s art into NFTs. This is a crappy thing to do. (If you want more information on this one, you’ll have to look it up yourself. It’s a form of cryptocurrency and it’s confusing.)

“If you don’t want your art stolen you shouldn’t post it in the first place.” This is fascinating logic. Try applying it to something else and see how it holds up. “If you don’t want your merchandise stolen, you shouldn’t open a booth.” “If you don’t want to get poisoned you shouldn’t eat food.” “If you don’t want to get punched in the face, don’t walk outside.” Yes. Flawless logic. Truly.

"Why do you care so much, anyway?! I'm sharing your art because I like it! That's a compliment! Shouldn't you be happy?" Well, we're certainly glad you like our art, but the problem is... as I've said before, reposting our art causes us to lose our control over it. When we lose control of our art, that damages our livelihood. As I said before, other people have made money off of my artwork. As well, some artists lose jobs because when their potential employers check out their portfolio, they may find artwork that's been reposted everywhere online, so they cannot hire the artist because they believe they may have stolen the artwork in their own portfolio.

Your reposting an image you thought was cute to Facebook or Pinterest could cost an artist their job. Think about that.

So, tl;dr, keep this in mind: you need the artist's permission to repost or use their artwork. If you do not have it, it is stealing, even if you credit the artist.

I know this post is really harsh in places, but this is such an important thing for all artists, and there's so many misconceptions about art theft online. And I feel like one of the biggest problems is that when some people see posts on art theft, they ignore them, because they think they've never done it or would never do it, so that's why I worded this post the way I did. I'm not trying to hurt anyone--I just want people to understand what art theft is, how it affects us artists, and how you can avoid it. Thank you for reading.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I know you’ve talked about how all the Cullen pairings are eventually going to implode - glad someone said it - but I was wondering if you wanted to talk a little bit about what you think Meyer INTENDED with the pairings - tropes and whatnot? And what you think would have to change in her narrative to make what was intended what we actually saw on the page? Or — what do you think each cullens’ Perfect Spouse would actually look like?

Anon is referring to this post.

And well, you've certainly given me quite the challenge.

Some Musing Ramblings Before We Begin

Sort of like asking me to make Dramione work, I'm not sure I'm the person to ask this. Anyone who reads my work knows that... well, that's a lie, every story I secretly write is a love story. But it's not Twilight in any way shape or form.

Twilight simply isn't a story I would set out to write. This isn't a good thing or a bad thing, it just is, which means that asking me to make Twilight work the way Meyer intended is probably not your best bet.

But I'll try regardless, it's what we're here for.

Bella/Edward

Meyer intended Bella Swan and Edward Cullen to be the best and brightest of all the pairings in Twilight. They have the love and devotion of Carlisle and Esme, the physicality and sexual attraction of Rosalie and Emmett, and are such a grand love that even depressed Marcus takes note. This is the love story that drives the entire series.

Edward is an improvement upon Carlisle, a Carlisle with even better control, and the most beautiful man you ever did see. He's also a gentleman, a man of his time and from an era where chivalry was alive and men courted women. Bella is one of those disturbingly altruistic people who makes you feel bad about yourself just by being in the same room. She's incredibly selfless, kind, and also quite brave.

Together, despite their ups and downs and the many obstacles in their way, they're disgustingly perfect.

However, that's not what we get. On Edward's end he's... Edward about loving Bella. On Bella's end, she has no idea who Edward even is but she does know he's beautiful and special.

And to get what Meyer actually wanted... Christ, Anon, I'll try.

So, the first problem, if Edward was truly a good person then Twilight would never happen.

Edward would have his first day of Biology, miraculously maintain control, and flee to Alaska as he does in canon. However, he would not return. Edward in canon returns due to his budding obsession as well as his wounded pride, in fleeing Forks he feels he has lost to Bella. When Carlisle later points out that a girl's life is on the line, that Edward is foolishly endangering this girl solely for his ego, Edward refuses to acknowledge this.

A good man would never have returned from Alaska, the Cullens would have moved in short order, and Bella may or may not have died in a parking lot or in Port Angeles.

That said, what if Bella is not, in fact, Edward's singer? Then there's not this constant debate of him eating her or his creepy, budding, obsession with his personal brand of heroin.

Well, the trouble with that is that Edward would then never notice her. Even were Edward not a colossal dismissive dick, required per this ask, Bella is one mortal out of many and someone he shouldn't grow close to. Associating with her just exposes her to unnecessary danger from him and his family. Edward is a guest in our world, nothing more, and a kind Edward might chit chat with her in Biology but even if he had a growing crush he'd keep his distance.

As he tried and failed to do in canon, actually.

Basically, change Edward alone, and it's not enough. The Edward Meyer wanted would never get together with Bella. At least, not without a lot of AU-sauce.

But let's look at Bella for a moment. Bella's character also has to be entirely stripped down. The Bella of the books is extremely depressed and her infatuation with Edward is fueled in part because of this. Edward's obsession with her gives her worth.

Obviously, in this new and improved edition of Twilight, Bella can't use either Edward or Jacob for validation. She has to be able to stand on her own two legs. If she does use either for validation, then the relationship must come to an end, as she and her significant other realize just what it is Bella's doing.

The trouble is, what does this not-depressed Bella have to fall in love with? Yes, Edward's beautiful, and that certainly goes a long way, but in canon he's a dick. Bella even thinks to herself that he's a complete dick (even when he's trying to be charming). Luckily for Edward she later decides that this is cryptic and therefore appealing.

Well, in AU land, Edward might be so damn charming that Bella likes him anyway but we come back to Edward keeping her at a polite distance.

So, what we need is a terrifying villain. Let's call him Angelus (though per Twilight this would probably be James). Angelus is a vampire that will force Edward's hand. For whatever reason, he decides to torment and ruin Bella's life, ending the hunt in either eating her or turning her into his bride. Angelus' existence forces Bella to be in the know and for Edward to have to take extreme action.

The pair become closer, grow through undoubtedly horrific trauma, and through said trauma Bella understands not only the pros of being a vampire but the terrifying cons.

Basically, it'd be this story. Just replace the name "Carlisle" with Edward and "Edward" with James.

Alice/Jasper

Alice and Jasper are supposed to have this ineffable, mystic, connection where they're together because... Alice saw them together. And in a way, that's true, but it's supposed to be a thing of beauty, soulmates if there ever were any, and instead it's this dumpster fire with nothing holding them together.

This one's easier in a way, well, sort of. Alice would have to be a completely different character and we'd have to see a lot more of Jasper.

Alice has a bad habit of treating those around her, even those she loves, as chess pieces. She'll put them in significant danger, court their misery, so long as it gets her the future she wants.

And she's extremely controlling.

Right away in the opening of Midnight Sun we see this and how it affects her and Jasper's relationship. The novel opens with Alice hovering, scanning the future for Japser fucking up, while Jasper just sits there in misery. Due to her obsession on making sure Jasper doesn't eat students, she actually misses Edward's plan to massacre Biology and his many plans to eat Bella Swan.

Even if she wasn't, this isn't good for anyone to live with. Jasper has very little concept of free will, whatever happens to him, whatever he'll do, Alice tells him and the worst possible option is always on the table.

For Jasper/Alice to work either Alice's gift needs to go (and that's... sort of all Alice is) or she has to tell no one any vision ever unless under extreme circumstances.

Which would be devastating for Alice. Rather than this mostly well-adjusted, perky, girl, Alice would be crippled by her gift. The weight of the world, everyone's free will, rests on her shoulders and she has to constantly avoid temptation to simply pick everyone's future for them.

Without the attitude Alice has in canon, I think she'd go mad with such a gift, or else be consumed by the responsibility of it.

Then we get to the mess that is Jasper. Jasper's complicated, and I don't want to get into it here, but his love story would have to be... too large to be put to the side like that. The redemption he'd need is not one that can be shoved into a few paragraphs told to Bella, it's frankly the kind of story that would drive an ordinary story.

So we'd have to see a lot of Jasper and Nouveau Alice. Which, of course, detracts from Bella/Edward which is the main point of the story.

Honestly, I take it back, there's no salvaging this relationship. They would have to be completely different people to the point where they're entirely different characters wearing nametags 'Alice' and 'Jasper'. Alice couldn't have her gift, which informs her entire character, and we'd have to see way too much of Jasper who is ultimately a tertiary character.

Carlisle/Esme

Thoughts on Carlisle/Esme.

Carlisle and Esme is a very 'spiritual' relationship per Meyer. They're... mom-bot and dad-bot. Alright, fine, they're the perfect parents with this deep love for each other and a very parental bond with Edward especially. It's the relationship Edward admires the most in his paired off family.

I don't even know how to fix this one.

Again, they'd have to be such different people. The trouble with Esme and Carlisle is that they share no values and are plagued by massive miscommunication. The Carlisle who is perfect for Esme... No, wait, this Carlisle is perfect for her, but that's because she's in Esme Land.

The Carlisle that would be perfect for a grounded Esme is not the one that exists. She'd want someone who would always put the family first, who would treasure her above all other things, that's not Carlisle.

Carlisle, similarly, would want someone that truly shares his ideals. That's not Esme.

So, we're back to nametag land, because one or both have to completely change for this to work. (Not to mention that Esme's probably not supposed to be Esme).

So, I've got nothing for this.

Rosalie/Emmett

I actually think these two are what Meyer intended. They love each other but are mostly held together by attraction. They're a very physical couple and good for the most part but inherently lesser than Bella/Edward.

Sure, I'd argue that they're the most put together couple in the house, but I think they're meant to have flaws. They work well together, but every other relationship in the Cullens has to be a step up or at least have something more to it.

Something Edward and Bella can be better than.

Conclusion

Dear god. Did I only manage to somewhat address Bella/Edward? Was that it? This was worse than I thought.