#not deleting because i do think it's a relevant question but adding the tags for posterity lololol

[skinsort]

Hello, I've been thinking about code and selling code and sharing code in the rpc because someone posed the question to me of what I'd want to happen if someone was heavily editing a skin I sold, and to be honest, my first instinct was 'take my name off it'. That was met with some surprise, but let me explain why.

Code, to me, is a largely democratic landscape. If you want to learn, hundreds of thousands of people and websites have come together to teach you. Masses of people share open source work on codepen, stack overflow etc. Code as a skill is like assembling an especially abstract puzzle where you can only think about the pieces, not really see them. But most puzzles have similar strategies to solve- start with the corner pieces, then the edges, then the most recognizable patterns etc etc etc working your way down to the more and more difficult details. Most of code- most of my job writing code- involves minimizing the amount of time working on those shared strategies so we can have more time to work on the the interesting bits, the hard bits. the bits that make the site we're working on unique and useful. Frankly, jcink is the easy part of code, by and large. Your data is already structured and provided to you in a very particular way. It is inefficiently, but largely documented. Many other people have solved all the problems you are likely to have trying to build a skin. Skinning is html and css for the vast majority of items. It is the easy stuff. If I sell code, that code is now the property of the person I sold it to. It is not shareable or redistributable. You can't take my code and resell it as your own, but as far as I'm concerned you can do whatever you want with it. If I solved problems that might otherwise feel difficult (accessibility and responsiveness come to mind) cool. You can solve the easy ones, like styling and colors and fonts you like. You can add or subtract things that vibe with what you want that code to do. Once it is sold, it is yours to do with what you like when it comes to personal use. This is true of almost all coding contracts that exist in the entire world. If it weren't, no one would ever hire external contractors to do any work for their company, and I can tell you now, even companies which could fully afford to do all their tech in house absolutely do not in 99% of cases if their business isn't selling their own tech. The rule is generally- you may do anything you like with this, except resell it to someone else. So why take my name off it? I don't endorse how other people code. Even in my professional life, I've taken projects off my portfolio because the client took a project I worked on and broke it (imo), often with other professional developers doing the breaking. If a prospective employer were to go look at it, I'd be embarrassed by what it looks like today. Tell me why I (and my team) created a website that was fully responsive, and they went back to make it adaptive in the year of our lord 2022 because they preferred to have pixel perfect views at 3 specific breakpoints rather than a responsive site. I don't know, it's infuriating. I can't cite that project as an example of my work anymore, because it isn't. I would never leave a site in that state.

So, my first instinct with the idea of people using a skin i sell them as a base is 'take my name off it.' I don't want to be associated if responsive/accessible features are lost due to others working on a skin I wrote. But at the same time, where is the line between using something as a base, and editing a few small features? I certainly don't want to be an arbiter of that, or have to field questions or navigate feelings about it. In fact, personally I would not feel upset at all if someone used a paid for skin as a base, and inviting that kind of discussion is the only way I possibly could get upset since people have weird attitudes about a lot of this stuff. So I think the more practical standard is just to put credit, but make it explicit that the work has been heavily altered. Don't resell or redistribute, and you're golden, imo. Anyway, those are my feelings as someone who writes code for a living. I'm interested to hear counterpoints - constructively of course.

[thatfeanorian]

20 Questions for fic writers!

Thanks for the tag @spiritofwhitefire!!! I love these <3

1. How many works do you have in A03? I just hit the 50 mark with my most recent oneshot!

2. What is your total word count? 285,059 and that's just the stuff I've published on ao3 I'd estimate it's closer to 350-400,000

3. What fandoms do you write for? It's all the silmarillion. that's all that exists. save me.

4. My top 5 fics by Kudos: ahh yes it's plug time:

Make You Mine (the way you should be) is an older Kidnap Fam fic featuring E & E having prophetic dreams about M & M (very fluffy)!!

All The Ways To Love is a completed russingon longfic of mine featuring an arranged marriage AU with Bad Dad Fëanor. Normally I love Fëanor but he just worked so wonderfully as a villian here lol.

The Difference Between You and I is a kidnap fam fic centering around the first night E & E spend with M & M. I love this fic so much and I'm so glad it's in my top 5!

And We Begin Again is my current WIP longfic with modern AU russingon. I am super proud of this fic and it is being updated slowly but consistantly due to the fact that I am a disaster nursing student.

Guide You Softly Slowly Towards The Light is another kidnap fam fic (very super fluffy with only a hint of angst) featuring Mae's love language being cooking/baking and lullabies.

Please check these out and leave me comments if you can I will love you forever!

5. Do you respond to comments? Every single one. They keep me writing and I am in debt to anyone who has ever said a nice thing about my fics. I also often take requests in the comments for what people want to see in the future chapters of long fics because ultimately I am writing a story to share!

6. Fic with the angstiest ending? OOOOH... honestly it's easily When Stars Sing, one of my favorite things I've ever written which has (imo) sinfully few reads. It made me cry while writing it and the TRSB art I wrote it for is stunningly beautiful. It's a Russingon fic (again oops) exploring Maedhros and Fingon's relationship in Beleriand.

7. Fic with the happiest ending? Perfect For Me. I am on my body diversity elves campaign and this is one of the fluffiest things I've ever written. I will def write more stuff like this whether or not there is an audience for it because it makes *me* happy.

8. Do I get hate on fics? I have indeed and it was on the ones where I have written chubby elves. Honestly, I just feel bad for the people who feel like they need to hate on bigger bodies and tell me that "you're slandering Tolkien's idea of what elves are." I simply delete and move on, so don't bother leaving them because they will not stop me from publishing what I want.

9. Do I write smut? If so what kind? I do indeed write smut. Most of it is plot relevant but I do have a few pwp oneshots. So kind of everything.

10. Do I write crossovers? Nope.

11. Have I had a fic translated? I have not but I would be beyond honored if anyone ever wanted to.

12. Have I ever co-written a fic? I did a long time ago with a friend in high school but there is nothing published that was co-written. I'd love to do it again though so if anyone wants to co-author a fic with me (ahem @last-capy-hupping, @arofili, @spiritofwhitefire I'm eyeing all of you intensely) I'd adore that.

13. All time favorite ship? Russingon. All you have to do is look at my AO3 to confirm that.

14. WIP I want to finish but don't know if I ever will? This isn't published but I have a longer Russingon fic about Valinor flirting/getting together that someday I'd like to publish but at this rate I think it might be years and probably a hundred thousand words away.

15. Writing strengths? world building and imagery because I can sit there for hours and describe a setting without adding to the plot even once.

16. Writing weaknesses: writing action scenes and arguments, I always feel like they come across choppy and unrealistic.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language? I've never done it but I would be open to trying it... the closest I've gotten is writing phrases/words in Quenya and Sindarin in my fics.

18. First fandom I wrote for? I actually have no idea it might have been Percy Jackson with my classy self-insert or possibly Lord of the Rings.

19. Favorite fic I’ve written? That's hard I'm stuck between my current WIP and When Stars Sing (both linked above) although I also really love Your Face, So Sweet, another modern AU Russingon fic about adopting baby Gil-Galad.

Did I miss a question somewhere?? I don't think so but if y'all have any other questions or requests for fics my askbox is always open even if I'm a slow writer at the moment.

Tagging: @last-capy-hupping, @arofili, @i-did-not-mean-to, @jaz-the-bard, @secretlythranduil, and anyone else who wants to, make sure you tag me because I want to see everyone's answers!!!

[squarebracket-trickster]

holy fucking shit, did I just cut 6009 words down to 1726????? WHAT THE FUCK

and I thought my edits from yesterday were ruthless...

Turns out I did not end up combining the scenes I thought I was going to earlier. I did combine two scenes together but not those ones. I ended up cutting out nearly all of the one scene I was originally going to combine. I left like six sentences when it was original eight paragraphs or so.

The worst part was though, I had to kill one of my favourite darlings:_(

Have no fear though! I did not delete it. I merely stuck it in a comment on the side of the document so that I can try to shove it in somewhere later where it might fit better. (My writing process abuses the hell out of the comments bar.)

The line in question:

This part of me that wants nothing more than to lose every sparring match with this man because losing means getting close to him...

RIP I shall do my best to revive you.

I should probably go to bed because it is after 2am, so my update for today:

I only added 1728 words... because I cut out 4281 and that took a lot of time. My total word count is 22 168, my page count is 38, and I am 27% to my word goal. The word count at this point during my first draft was 35 292 words, so I have cut 13 124 words total so far. Oh my god.

Maybe I will end up under my word goal. That would be first... It would also be nice because then I would have room for more descriptive writing. I have really kept things sparse so far and I still have yet to decide what any of these characters look like hair colour, skin tone, and eye colour-wise. I just know their genders and agabs, how muscular they are, their heights, and their fashion senses -- the plot relevant details, ya know.

I would say my cuts are about 50% the narration rambling on about the main character's thoughts even though her dialogue has already implied everything more concisely in subtext (partially because the author did not know where she was going with the story at the time and just kept putting sentences on the page until it figured itself out), 20% stuff that was already said earlier, 15% needless backstory, 14% needless exposition, and 1% random dialogue and action tags that do not add anything.

Also, let it be known that today was the day I realized that in draft 1 Adris never actually learns that Sorin is betrothed. The first time it is mentioned (when they almost kiss) she somehow already knows. I had to fix that for draft 2.

Today was also the day I realized how much the FUCKING MOON shows up in this story. I think I am going to have to do a separate edit of the whole novel just to make sure the phases of the moon are accurate. GOD

The moon shows up so much I think I am going to make it deliberate symbolism. For what, I do not know yet. I will just keep writing and see what happens.

Tomorrow, the plot thickens as the first line I shall be starting on is when the army shows up.

[tormie-tormie-chopper]

Hey, I'm Tormie!

You can also call me Tor. Whichever. I'm an artist! I also write.

I intend to post a variety of different things for One Piece -- ship art, general/non-ship art, fluff, memes and shitposts, sfw, nsfw, whump, gore/body horror, blorbo appreciation, and so on -- so hopefully there'll be something here for everyone! I may also post things for other fandoms or for original characters, but I have a separate blog for ocs so I probably won't post too much of that here. I will always try to tag my posts and artwork accurately, especially when it comes to potentially triggering subjects. I have a sideblog specifically for reblogs @grand-line-tormie and an account for ocs/personal art and writing @tormentum-ab-intra.

Do not repost any of my artwork or use it for AI. Reblogs, however, are welcome and greatly appreciated!

Here there be freaks, and here freaks are welcome. Let's be weird and fucked up and into weird and fucked up things together <3 (This should go without saying but I'm gonna say it anyway: Me writing about, talking about, or drawing something does not mean I endorse it in real life. Cool? Cool 😂) My blog is not intended for minors.

My pronouns are it/its. I won't smite you if you use he/him for me, but it's not really my preference lol. However, both gender neutral and masculine gendered terms are welcome! Feminine gendered terms are also fine but better saved for silly or joking contexts.

Bigotry, hate speech, and so on are NOT welcome. TERFS are not welcome. I'm not interested in starting or engaging in discourse, so racists, homophobes, transphobes, bigots, zionists, and the like will be blocked expeditiously. Like just be chill and I'll be chill back.

Commissions: open! you can find my info post for them here. You can also find my Ko-fi page here!

Look below the cut for askbox info and info on my tagging system!

Some common general tags I'll be using: -#tor draws for anything with my own artwork in it -#tor thinks for original posts just talking and sharing my thoughts, whether fandom or unrelated. -#tor answers for answered asks. -#tor speaks for announcements. -I will usually tag fandoms where applicable, characters in the post, ships in the post, and any other relevant aspects.

Some common CW tags to look out for or block according to need: -#nsft for explicitly nsfw posts and artwork, or for posts with links to explicitly nsfw fics or artwork (because I expect tumblr won't let me post certain things and I may have to share links to those things instead) -#suggestive for posts and artwork that are risque or mildly nsfw in nature but don't describe or depict anything explicit. somewhat hit or miss whether i actually use this one ngl -#nsfwhump for posts and artwork that are nsfw and depict noncon -#gore for all posts and artwork with excessive amounts of blood or graphic depictions of severe injuries -#cartoon gore for posts and artwork with excessive amounts of blood or depictions of severe injury that are described or drawn in a cartoonish way -#body horror for posts and artwork with body horror, particularly when depicted in intense or grotesque ways. I won't be using this tag for the canon-typical body horror that's often seen in One Piece -- for example, Luffy's rubber powers or Buggy's chop-chop powers -- unless I am specifically talking about or drawing them in ways intended to invoke disgust, discomfort, or horror, with the main focus of the post or image being on the body horror in question. -#blood for posts and artwork with excessive amounts of blood in them. I probably won't use this tag for posts that only have small amounts of blood in them unless the blood is somehow the focus or part of the focus. -Additional tags for relevant triggering subjects will be added when applicable.

Askbox rules: -Just don't send me bigoted shit and we're most likely good 👍🏾 Asks and anons containing hate or bigotry will just be deleted. -Don't ask me to write or draw anything suggestive or nsfw about characters who are minors. -I will do my best to answer asks and anons quickly! But if I don't get to it right away, I'm not ignoring you, I'm probably just busy.

I will try to make sure my artwork has image descriptions in the alt text. If I forget to add an ID somewhere and you'd like me to add one, please let me know! I'll either edit my original post or add a description in a reblog.

[interact-if]

Welcome to Mod Appreciation Month!

This event is a lowkey one, designed for us to take some time to catch up on asks, rec lists, and other blog pages that happen mostly in the background such as the masterlists, database, and post tagging.

This blog is a lot of work! And we're happy to help out with promoting authors and exposing readers to new and interesting stories based on their interests!

That being said, we need a break!

This is why we are closing the inbox for July.

Please refrain from sending asks for rec lists through submissions. We’re leaving that line open specifically for new authors to submit their projects.

We are going to utilize this time to try and clear out our inbox--we have over 100 messages, most of them asking for rec lists, which take a few weeks at a time to properly curate, tag, and put in the queue.

We will also be working behind the scenes on other projects we hope to show off soon!

We're thrilled y'all are eager to read more, and we'll be back in August for sure. For now, if you need to get in contact with us, feel free to reply to posts, DM one of the mods, or get in contact with us over on our discord.

[Discord] [FAQ] [Ko-fi] [Reddit]

Below the cut are our rules, guidelines, and FAQ for recommending or suggesting games as well as general practice and etiquette.

We'll be back in August! <3

Now, to get into some of the details. (This applies regardless of the event to every ask sent, even if the inbox is currently closed.)

RULES WHEN SENDING ASKS

If you can and it is relevant, please tag your asks with content warnings in the beginning. Such as (cw violence) or (cw death), this is an extra precaution to keep both our mods and our readers safe and well-advised. This will also make tagging easier!

Please keep your asks as brief as you can! Any asks that are more than two asks long may get eaten by the Tumblr machine and/or may not be answered due to length.

If your ask hasn't been answered, it may be because it already has been! Be sure to search the tags and FAQ before sending in an ask.

Please don't spam! We won't respond to inappropriate asks or asks that have already been answered.

Recommendation lists

If you are submitting an ask for a rec list please be aware that these lists take a lot of time and effort to make! In average, it might take us up to two weeks to fully finish and queue a rec list, sometimes even longer. We’re happy to put them together but we ask for patience and understanding.

With that in mind, here are some guidelines:

Please look through the #interact-if asks and #if: rec list tags before sending and ask.

Constantly looking out and keeping track of IF projects takes a good chunk of our time among our other responsibilities as mods. For this reason, we came up with a tagging system that makes it easy for our audience to look through the blog. Unfortunately, it gets overlooked most of the time.

And for this reason, we get repetitive asks, which we ignore and delete.

The tagging system is there for your and our convenience. If you’re not sure whether you’re asking for a rec list of the same theme/genre that has already been posted, please consider looking through the aforementioned tags before sending an ask.

As much as we love entertaining the rec list asks, it does tend to be bothersome having to constantly reblog and link new asks to the posted rec lists, as well as reminding people to use the tagging system.

Please make your ask neither too broad nor specific.

This isn’t to sound finicky we promise! If an ask is looking for fantasy IFs without specifics we cannot properly curate a list of what you’re looking for. Is it modern fantasy? Medieval? Non-Eurocentric? Do you want fae fantasy? Supernatural? Fantasy is one of the most popular genres and asks like this example we cannot properly answer.

This is why we ask for rec list requests to be not too broad.

As for narrow–too narrow an ask will likely return a very short or non-existent list! At the end of the day there are only so many IFs and very specific niches may not be filled. We will try our best to answer, but likely your list will result in games adjacent to your request that we think best kind of sort of fit your request. We’re doing our best with the IFs that are out there.

Please be patient!

We often spend several days working on a single list. If your ask hasn’t been answered yet it may still be in the works or in our queue! If it’s been a long while and it still has not been answered, it may have been ignored for a variety of reasons including: Too broad an ask, too similar to previous rec lists, contains NSFW or offensive materials, etc. Please refrain from sending multiple check up asks

On the topic of NSFW asks/content…

We have received some inquiries regarding NSFW (like smutty scenes) recommendations in IF recently, and believe it best to clarify the stance Interact IF has on the matter.

We will be refraining from answering questions about explicit sexual content in IF. We as a team do not feel we have the expertise to help with this, nor have we been on the lookout for explicitly sexual IFs.

As well, it is not entirely suitable for the blog, as Interact IF is for all ages and there may be minors following it.

We would like this blog to remain as SFW as we can manage, with games properly tagged for their age groups and limiting asks and rec lists to non-sexually-explicit content.

With that in mind, feel free to get in contact with us anytime and we’ll do our best to find what you’re looking for!

Game Recommendations

Before sending in a game, please keep these aspects in mind:

DO

The game must be interactive fiction–the reader plays a character (either customizable or pre-determined) and makes choices that influence the game in some way.

The game can be text-based or a visual novel.

The game does NOT violate copyright (i.e. A published for-profit IF that is using the Star Wars universe. If it is not-for-profit (it’s free to play) then this is fine)

DON’T

If you play a character and can physically move them (walk, run, jump, attack), we consider this a video game and isn’t currently a niche we are supporting.

Recommend a game produced by a company–we are here to support individual authors or games written collaboratively by a group of authors/artists/etc.

Don’t recommend games that glorify violence, sexual violence, racism, sexism, and so on. Or which has (an) author(s) who also have a history of having engaged In aspects like these.

If your rec is good to go, here’s what you have to do! If you are able please provide a link to the post to reblog - this makes it a lot easier on us!If the game is 18+What language/program the game is in (Twine, Choicescript, Ren'py, etc.)If the game has a currently playable demo. If you would like your game reblogged/recc'ed, let us know with the same info/more if you like!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can you recommend games that are finished or complete?

We have a tag for that! Check out #status: complete, though you can also check out COG, Hosted Games, and search for complete games on Itch.io.

I can’t find a game and can’t remember the title, help!

If you’re struggling to find a beloved game and can’t remember the title–go to our Reddit and see if it’s there at the Lost & Found! If not, you can ask our community on the Reddit to help find it, or join our discord and ask there!

I noticed you failed to include x game on a list, so I will inform the author about it.

Please, don’t. The mods here are nothing but human, so we do our best to include as many games as we can remember, and frequently ask other people for help. However, this doesn’t mean we will include every single game in existence. We will forget, things will slip, so the least we ask of you is to leave a reply or send an ask and we will add it in. We promise we always keep a close eye on those.

The extra step of informing the author about this is unnecessary. The only thing you’re causing is either making the author feel left out or having them reach out to us to be added, which is essentially the same thing we ask of you to do. There’s no need to get a third party involved within something that can be easily tackled, so please respect us instead of putting our blog in a bad light.

The only suggestions we ignore and might erase are the ones we realize don’t fit the theme of the ask, or ones that don’t fit the guidelines specified in the question right below this.

What we do not promote.

Trans-exclusive radical feminism

Gratuitous sexual violence (This includes pedophilia, domestic abuse, r*pe, etc.)

Racism, including cultural appropriation, stereotyping, whitewashing, brown face, etc.

Any and all versions of sexism

Religious phobic rhetoric (Islamophobia, belittling indigenous religions, etc.)

And so on.

We also do not promote authors who have aligned themselves with these rhetorics, whether or not they are exhibited in the author's playable content.

[shoezuki]

This is a post on the cheating accusations around dream mostly surrounding his response video.

If you don’t want to see this or any of these posts then blacklist the tag #discourse

SO I’ve been doing a lot of digging into what dream has said in his response to Geosquare’s original video and report, which was compiled and conducted by the Minecraft Java mods on speedrun.com. 

I won’t talk about that original report in detail, but basically: the mods came to the conclusion that Dream had a 1 in 7.5 trillion chance of getting the pearl bartering rates and the blaze drop odds that he did within the 6 streams he did. As in, someone would need that luck to replicate what dream got. Therefore, he cheated. 

I’m going to put this into a sort of ‘point form’ in according to topic, attempting to put it in chronological order.

Dream’s Initial Tweets

Ok so first like. these are bad. these tweets are what he said (on twitter, excluding in the speedrunning discord) directly after the video was Uploaded to Geo’s channel. 

worth noting he did apologize later, although i wanted to talk about these two instances so i felt the need to include it. 

there’s a lot of interesting wording in the apology tweet itself too. I personally find that when he apologizes he tends to still be very subtextually angry in them with the tone, but more specifically. where he says ‘although i have reason to be upset’, that’s kinda weak and really unneeded. Alongside the ‘intense criticism’, it reads as him trying to say he’s still in the right. kind of like “im sorry i was rude even though I had reason to be rude’. Its an apology sure but he’s not saying sorry for how he really reacted; its justified to him.

Dream’s Response Video

Dream posted a response on his side channel DreamXD on the 22nd, along with the report he had a supposed astrophysicist conduct. I’m going to talk about the report separately from the video for reasons I’ll explain. 

Frankly, the video doesn’t really summarize or explain the report in a meaningful way. At most, it takes some points from it but tends to twist the numbers around, misunderstand the probability and math, and also what the report itself concludes. 

Essentially, dream’s video insists that the numbers found by the mods are wrong and therefore he didn’t cheat at all, yet the report concludes that the numbers found by the mods weren’t entirely accurate, however they’re still extremely unlikely. This is also all under the assumption that the report is entirely correct (ill say how its not next)

His first point is that only his 1.16 run (that was at 5th place two months ago, would have now been 16th) was deemed cheated. This is true; the mods have said that he isnt banned outright and theres no reason to question the legitimacy of his 1.15 runs. 

He also concludes that Geo’s statement that Dream didn’t cooperate with them, and that he deleted 1.16 mod folders, was false. This one is a little more complicated. It could more be chalked up to a miscommunication, although it’s relevant. Geosquare posted screenshots of the specific conversation they had:

Essentially it wasn’t entirely clear, i can understand how geo and the mods interpreted it in such a way. Altho April added in a quote retweet thread that dream didn’t supply the folder she asked for, so he didn’t supply everything they asked for like he states in the video

Essentially: yeah, misleading and weird on both ends. I dont think this is really anything quantifiable, although dream talked about this in the video heavily. 

Out of this though, Geo DID correct himself in the description of the mods’ video. Dream shows this in his own response, but it crops out some of what geo says. here’s from dream’s video

that Update 2 is where he corrects himself. literally why the fuck would you crop it like this and put it in the video i mean this looks so weird and genuinely doesnt provide anything. Here’s what geo actually said

Dream specifically cut it before the line where geo mentions how he said he deleted his specific 1.16 speedrun profile. This one is just so dumb to me. I’d say ‘why not include that’ but either i feel its a) so there’s no potential for people to say what he had actually said could be interpreted otherwise easily or b) doesnt want people to know he got so upset he deleted files (ego wise yknow). Again, I dont think this is definitive of anything but god. it feels scummy lmao

The Video: Incorrect Representation of His Own Report

Dream straight up doesnt present the report’s numbers properly. In fact it makes the entirety of his visuals forfeit, i.e. the gold block analogy that goes on for like 20 minutes. 

The mods said his luck was 1/7.5 trillion. Dream’s report says its 1/10 million (with the addition of 5 other streams) or 1/100 million (only the 6 streams).

I’ll only consider the 1/10 mil odds, since its all dream really brings up. but Basically; there’s not much difference between 1/10 million and 1/7.5 trillion. 

Dream says that the difference is 7.5 trillion minus 10 million, aka 7.4999 trillion. This is what his entire visual with the gold blocks is based on. This is absolutely incorrect, i cant stress that enough. 

You can’t find the difference of fractions by subtracting only the denominators. Like. this is elementary school math. it just doesnt work. 

It’d actually be calculated as: (1/10 000 000) - (1/7 500 000 000 000) = (74999/7 500 000 000 000)

If the mods are wrong, they’re only wrong by 749999/7.5 trillion. that’s literally only  0.000000099999866666667. 

Dream no doubt saw the numbers, considered 10 million vs. 7.5 trillion, and used these big numbers to hold his own point. PROBABILITY DOESNT WORK LIKE THAT. I really think he was just taking advantage of the seemingly big numbers here and wrote it out in a way that favoured him. The gold block analogy in the video played throughout the entire video practically, jokes were made on it, and he made a point of it being ‘so big the game crashed’. 

It’s just plain wrong. even so a difference in the odds doesnt prove shit. He’s downplaying his own odds that he found too. 1/10 million isnt a small number. Even though the legitimacy of that calculation is in question, it is still significant enough to proclaim he cheated. 

Some quick points before I move onto the report; these aren’t as significant in my eyes but it adds to the picture

there’s been criticism of his joking manor throughout the entire video, very specifically the Bill Nye joke. Considering he doesnt actually have a name to provide for his astrophysicist, this joke doesnt feel right

the mod he had a voice clip from (willz) even believes that he cheated and has agreed with the mod team the whole time. 

Dream never has a name for the mod who is apparently on his side (more understandable), the minecraft developer he quoted, or the astrophysicist (most damning)

Dream states that fabric is used by most speedrunners which is true, but fabric and fabric API are different; dream also had the latter installed. my knowledge of how theyre different is limited, all i really know is the API is what can enable editing of the code while fabric is more a modloader. im not entirely sure on this

Dream has said at the end of the video that all funds will go to the mod team so they can make a client that will regulate cheaters. this has been noted as feeling manipulative or like a ‘bribe’, but it definitely puts the mods in a bad position. 

either they accept it and look like they ‘gave in’ to dream and therefore acknowledge him in the right

they deny it and look selfish/taking dream’s kindness for granted

geo said they would insist it goes to a charity instead

Dream constantly disregards the mods as young, inexperienced, ‘just volunteers’ etcetcetc, despite the fact that theyre analysis has been discussed by people with confirmed PhDs without much criticism

Dream’s Report

The report itself is extremely interesting, in that it’s very questionable, but even so it doesn’t come to the conclusion that dream didn’t cheat. The tone between the video and the report is drastically different. 

This is from the “3. What are the goals of this document?” section:

It essentially says this isnt intended, from the very beginning, to completely exonerate dream of cheating. Also note that the author says the mods’ report was mostly correct. 

This is at the end of “9 Conclussions”:

It does notably say cheating isnt the only explanation, but it doesnt actually go as far to say that it’s not possible that he cheated. 

But this can be argued to not matter if we consider the validity of the report as a whole

Dream’s Report: Criticisms

Possibly the first and most known debunking of the report is by u/mfb on reddit, although there’s been much more such as this programmer criticizing the code provided at the end of the report (partially due to how the author of it stated that piglins barter 4-7 pearls, which is incorrect: it’s 4-8), Andrew Gelman, an actual statistician professor from harvard, commented on the original mods’ report as ‘impressive’ while Dream’s report is being regarded as something funny in the comments, and even analysis of dream’s behaviours and his argument by a law student

But what u/mfb posted is what i’ll focus on. Some background into the user; he’s a particle physicist, is moderator in subreddits like r/cosmology and r/astrophysics, he’s regarded as a reliable source on r/askscience and r/askreddit. Basically, multiple other people have vouched for him and before all this he had many posts in these fields. 

that’s already better than the unnamed astrophysicist. 

The post is better speaking for itself but here is a few exerpts from it;

Essentially, the report’s methods are debunked by u/mfb-, alongside that a moderator of r/statistics regarded the report as ‘nonsensical in its application of statistics’ and linked to u/mfb-’s comment. 

i’m going to end this here. Partially because severe backpain or whatever,.

but I want to say at this point its practically definitive that dream cheated, that he lied to us, and that he continues to do so. Much more could be said on his video such as his tone, intentions, the overt emphasis on the ‘biases’ of the mods. 

I havent even mentioned that the ‘astrophysicist’ themself may be a scam; they are sourced from a website that is extremely sketchy, has no names attached to it, and was created less than a year ago (with practically no traffic on it until maybe a month ago). 

But i hope this is coherent. I have interest in this so if theres questions im always open. 

[worldbreakhlvrai]

ABOUT

Welcome to WORLDBREAK, a HLVRAI AU narrative askblog! You’ve probably seen blogs similar to this, though it’s a little bit different than some. WORLDBREAK Follows the story of BENREY. He is a normal human, living a normal life, in a normal world. There is nothing special about him. Until one day, he begins to hear voices speaking to him. You, dear AUDIENCE, are the voices. You can speak to him by using the ASK feature. You, the AUDIENCE, are the driving force of this blog. Your questions, suggestion, and input influence how BENREY thinks and behaves, and how the very world itself will respond. So what will you say, dear AUDIENCE?

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Hello! My name is Rhi or Bees, and I’m the author here! My pronouns are they/them and she/her. You might know my from my general HLVRAI blog, @black-mesa-slut-voice. I just wanted to add a few big OOC notes, warnings, and rules for this blog!

Firstly, the thing above is a complete lie. I can guarantee you this blog is going to get super weird. This blog will contain unreality, body horror, some blood and minor gore, and other brainfuckery in later chapters. I will post current content warnings as they arise and tag everything appropriately! If you need anything specific tagged, I’m more than happy to oblige.

If you have any questions for me, please specify that your question is out of character by adding ‘OOC’ to the beginning, or addressing me by name!

Fanart and fanworks are not only allowed, but encouraged! You're welcome to tag either this or my other blogs, put it in the #worldbreakhlvrai tag, or message/dm it to me! I would LOVE to see!

I also have both formatted and mobile friendly pages that should be linked properly, but if you have any issues with viewing anything I’m willing to help.

Kinnies and such are 100% allowed. All I ask is that if, for some reason, you decide to kin from this au, just be respectful and concious of the source material and whatnot.

CURRENT CONTENT WARNING:

None

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ RULES:

I have the right to delete any asks that make me uncomfortable.

This blog will contain darker and more mature themes, but will NOT contain anything explicitly NSFW. At most, there might be mildly nsfw jokes (dilf jokes, etc), but nothing more than that. Despite that, I still recommend that you’re 16+ because of the themes mentioned above.

Please try to avoid anything overly fourth-wall breaking. You’re allowed to say things Benrey might not know (asking about unintroduced characters, speculating, etc)- but please don’t say that you’re an anon on an ask blog. As far as you know, you don’t know why you’re in his head either (because, really- you don’t)!

If I don’t get to your ask, please don’t send it again! I either haven’t gotten to it yet, or I deleted it because I already have a bunch of super similar asks, or something about it broke a rule.

Do not interact with this blog if you're an NSFW blog, truscum/transmed/TERF, racist/n4zi/anti-blm/pro-cop, antisemetic, MAP/Pedophile, ableist, homophobic, lgbt+ exclusionists of any kind, and/or supporters of cringe culture. I can't beleive I have to say this stuff but like, literally don't even look at me or my blog. Go away.

I would like to ask that people don't make major AUs/Ask blogs that are DIRECTLY versions of this AU (if anyone's familiar with what happened with Y2KVR... yeah, please don't). You are 100% allowed to make content inspired by this AU, and even just.. one-off posts of what-ifs and generic AUs (you can draw roleswaps if you want and such!) but PLEASE don't turn it into a Big Thing or a whole askblog without consulting me first.

Be respectful and have fun! Yeehaw!!!

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

TAGS:

The general catch-all tag is #worldbreakhlvrai

All main plot-relevant posts that I think should go in the general reading will be tagged with #plot.

All in-character asks will be tagged with #voices.

All out of character asks will be tagged with #ask.

All fanart/fanworks will be tagged with #gifts

All announcements or things I post out of character will be tagged as both #ooc and #rhi says things

All potentially triggering things will be tagged as their respective trigger, in the #____ tw format.

[jokertrap-ran]

(未定事件簿) 莫弈 [剧情: 第2章] [Tears of Themis] Mo Yi Private Story Translations (Chapter 2-7)

*Tears of Themis Masterlist / Mo Yi’s Masterlist / Mobile Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Mo Yi’s Private Story tag is #Tears of a Personal Psychiatrist. *Chapter 1 can be viewed here!

Location: Mo's Mental Health Research Center

After confirming Li Yu's identity, Mo Yi rejected my request to continue taking part in the investigation.

MC: Why!?

MC: It wasn't easy for us to get this far, Dr. Mo! There's no way I can just give up on this so easily!

Mo Yi: …...

But Mo Yi only continued staring at me in silence, a thoughtful look on his face.

Mo Yi: ...Before we put this discussion on the table, please answer me this honestly: Have the PUAs come to you for revenge?

MC: Oh...No… They haven't; why do you ask…?

His sudden question caught me by surprise. I hurriedly avoided his eyes, pretending not to understand his question.

Mo Yi: I'm supposing that the "spam message" you received the other day was actually an SMS they'd sent as harassment.

Mo Yi: And recently, the actions that these people have been taking have been getting more and more aggressive; essentially having even affected your daily life to a certain extent.

Mo Yi: That's why you said they were "arrogant"; am I right?

MC: !!!

MC: ...Nothing gets past you after all.

I couldn’t help but to sigh, deciding to come clean about everything that I’d been hiding from him recently.

MC: Yeah. Some PUAs have been verbally harassing me with threats lately.

Mo Yi: When did this start?

MC: Probably not long after the “Anti-PUA” Club turned into a mutual aid group. Someone had suddenly added me as a friend one day.

MC: They asked if I was the Lawyer who’d helped Lin Yunyun, and I thought that they were also a fellow victim, so I replied in the affirmative; but in the end...

I couldn’t stop all the many different sorts of harassment messages that I’d received recently from popping back up in my mind at the thought of it.

Those messages, not fit to be shown to anyone at all, were always sent to my phone at fixed timings. There were countless, so many that I could never delete them all even if I tried. It gradually became a personal living hell of nightmares.

MC: There were only a few people who did it sporadically at first, so blacklisting and blocking them worked like a charm; but then the number of people doing it increased...

MC: Why do they always choose to bombard people during sleeping hours!? Don’t these people need sleep too!?

However, I’d failed to notice how Mo Yi’s face was twisting itself into an increasingly unsightly look at this moment in time.

Mo Yi: ...Why didn’t you tell me? How were you planning to put up with this alone, if I hadn’t asked today?

MC: Well… It wasn’t anything big at all. They only sent me a couple of unpleasant texts, and it didn’t really cause a big impact on me or anything like that.

MC: Anyway, let’s not talk about this anymore and get back on the topic of how to continue our investigation. I—

Mo Yi: I apologize, but my stand is still the same; it’ll be for the best if you don’t take part in the upcoming course of action.

MC: ……

Mo Yi: ……

That was how Mo Yi and I faced each other in a stand-off; neither of us saying anything, neither of us willing to back down.

The air came to a stand-still, the damning silence that would make anyone hold their breaths accompanied by the faint scent of “gunpowder”, as figurative sparks filled the air.

MC: Then, could you tell me a reason why I should not? I can’t give up on this just because you tell me to, Dr. Mo.

Mo Yi: ……

Mo Yi: I have three reasons for this.

Mo Yi: Firstly, although Li Yu’s story was created from one big patchwork, Wang Chen is still an experienced PUA, from what we can glimpse from the credible parts of her story.

Mo Yi: I cannot allow you to interact with him alone, considering how you’ve not received the relevant training.

Mo Yi: Secondly, although our actions have not been fully exposed yet, the fact that the other party retaliated against you means that they’ve already got their eye on you.

Mo Yi: If this goes any further, it will only escalate; and when the time comes, it won’t just be merely verbal words of threat.

Mo Yi: They will attempt to break through your psychological defenses from all angles, thus, endangering your very life itself.

Mo Yi: And lastly…

He placed the teacup in his hands down, his gaze dropping to my face, an inexplicable emotion within his golden orbs.

Mo Yi: Just what’s in your mind, as you do these things?

Mo Yi: Is it to uphold justice? To deter the other members of the PUA Group? Or is it to save all of the girls who’ve been harmed by it?

Mo Yi: Can you really do all of this?

Mo Yi: Even if we did settle this matter with Li Yu along with all the other people backing her, there’ll still be other PUA Groups in this world who lurk in the dark.

Mo Yi: They’ll continue hunting girls, and even go so far as to treat you as a right thorn in their side, using various methods to retaliate against you to no ends.

Mo Yi: And at the very end of it all, not only will you fail to protect others; You might also very well be unable to protect yourself.

Mo Yi: This fairness and justice you seek might not be able to see the light at all.

Mo Yi: Now, with all that considered; are you still willing to continue on?

He waited quietly for my answer after finishing.

He had a look of utter seriousness on his face, so focused he was. However, the corners of his eyes and his eyebrows still presented the same calm he’d always displayed. Hence, I couldn’t tell just what exactly was going through his head.

But none of these mattered anymore. I don’t even need to think to answer this question of his.

MC: Of course. Even so, I still wish to continue as usual.

Mo Yi: Why?

MC: You just asked me what’s in my mind as I do this, right? I’m actually not thinking of anything at all; no thoughts, head empty.

MC: I’ve never held onto any pipedreams, nor have I ever thought of using this PUA Group to go fight against the other PUAs.

MC: Granted, trying to rescue all the girls who’ve been victimized is an even bigger delusion.

MC: I’m only trying to do what I can as one, ordinary, Lawyer.

MC: That being said, there’s one thing that I know for certain. And that is that I cannot ignore the crimes that appear before me.

MC: I cannot allow the group that’s backing Li Yu to go scot-free, let alone allow them to challenge law and threaten justice as they so wish to.

Mo Yi: You...

MC: Secondly, you said that I “cannot protect others”; but there isn’t only just one fixed way of protection.

MC: Don't all the girls in Lin Yunyun's mutual aid group learn a lot about all sorts of things pertaining to PUA?

MC: All that's requires is for one of those girls to understand these through what I've done; so that they'll keep their guards up and watch out for these things.

MC: If so, then everything I've done up till today have already served some sort of purpose in protecting them.

MC: And lastly, about their cars if revenge…

I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes at the mere thought of those less than savory messages I'd received.

MC: I've already been prepared to face all sorts of people, who come up with all sorts of retaliation methods, since day one of being a Lawyer.

MC: But if really does come down to the point where it gets as serious as you've described, then that's when I'll wield the Law as my weapon and protect my own rights.

MC: The road to justice will always be a rocky one, but no one can stop me so long as I refuse to give up.

Mo Yi: ……

I blurted out everything that I had in my mind, even forgetting to check just what sort of expression Mo Yi currently wore.

It was only until I had regained my bearings that I looked back up at him. He was still looking at me with a serious look on his face, yet his eyes were like that of stormy seas.

Mo Yi: You… You’re really different from everyone else.

He suddenly laughed.

MC: What are you laughing about, Dr. Mo?

Mo Yi: Nothing. I’m just feeling slightly fortunate, and a little happy.

MC: Fortunate? Happy?

Mo Yi: Yes. Fortunate, that I chose to stay back then; and happy, because… I met you.

Mo Yi: You always never fail to surprise me.

MC: ……

He spoke slowly, but that didn't fail to impede the strength and impact that each word brought.

It was almost as if he had just conveyed some sort of inexplicable feeling to me through mere words. It was hot, yet full of possessiveness, almost engulfing me whole.

MC: Does this mean that… I can take part in the continuing investigations?

I hurriedly changed the subject upon seeing how the air around us was starting to turn increasingly warmer.

Mo Yi: Do I have any other reason to be denying you?

MC: Great! Then let’s hurry and get started!

MC: Do you need me to contact Wang Chen? Are we still going to be using our previous tactic?

Mo Yi: Don’t rush, for starters. I’ve got even better ideas.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Previous Part: (Chapter 2-6) | Next Part: (Chapter 2-8)

[costellos]

update!—

     hi friends! I have a gift for u: a very quick update. this one isn’t nearly as serious as the last one, it’s just a few things I wanted to note about the progress of this blog! so w/o further ado, let’s get started. __________________________________________

i. GOING BACK TO SUGGESTIONS.

     omg I’m so sorry that this has to be an update at all _(:3」∠)_ I’ve spent the last couple weeks focusing on my own prompts / ask games but now it’s time to get back to suggestions. there are currently eight suggestions in the inbox, which I’m hoping to pound out this next week and a half.

ii. SAVING WORD PROMPTS FROM TWO WEEKS AGO.

     I posted an ask game for word / phrase prompts about two weeks ago. I haven’t forgotten about these, I promise! I’m just saving them for when I’m in the mood to write a fic, so you’ll see me posting these periodically as that urge kicks in. there are about ten of these left that I’m interested in, but I might delete them if I can’t think of anything.

iii. FRIDAYS WILL NOW BE RESERVED FOR ASK GAMES.

     you’ve probably noticed me doing this already ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ these are great opportunities to send me something when my askbox is closed for suggestions. ask games will consist of sentence prompts, miscellaneous headcanons, or questions about me (though it’ll mostly focus on the first two). as a sidenote, I miiiiiiight not do one tonight just so I can catch up on suggestions and officially open the askbox again.

iv. ASKS WILL NOW BE COMPILED INTO ONE POST.

     here’s an example! this is just so I don’t clutter your dashboard. depending on the influx of asks I get, I’ll either answer weekly or biweekly (Monday and Thursday).

     edit: HAHA PSYCH. ok I’m rescinding this because after further thought, I realized that it takes away my ability to be personal with you. idk, things don’t feel as genuine when I compile asks into one giant post? also I realized I have no self control over waiting to answer asks so!! forget about this update :’)

v. TRIGGERS WILL NOW BE ADDED DIRECTLY ONTO A POST.

     relevant triggers will be added at the top of a post now, whether it’s a headcanon, scenario, or fic. some of the triggers that I already tag are: death, blood, cigarettes, drugs, knives, injuries, and implied not sfw. if there’s something that’s not on my current list that you’d like me include, please let me know! I won’t judge you.

vi. GOING BACK TO JOB HUNTING.

    homegirl has a degree.... but no money....... I’m not sure how much time job hunting is gonna suck up, but I just wanted to throw that out there in case I’m gone for a while! I promise I’m not dead, just pretending to be an adult on LinkedIn.

vii. START THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT FOR THE NEXT MILESTONE.

     we’re about to hit a milestone, yaaaay! it’s not a huge one but one that I’m proud of nonetheless (●´∀｀●) that said, I want to give back to the community! I’ve had such a blast writing for this blog and I hope you’ve had as much fun reading it. here are some ideas that I’ve thought of:

temporarily go back to requests, where I open the askbox and answer everything (given it follows my rules).

a face reveal.

a raffle / fic giveaway.

opening commissions.

not sfw headcanons on a private blog (which you’ll have access to granted you’re 18+).

      obviously we don’t have to just stick with these. I’m open to most anything, but I’d prefer to stick to one or two ideas. we can hold a vote as that gets closer, but in the meantime, feel free to message me / reply to this post if you have any ideas! __________________________________________

     and that’s it! thanks for sticking til the end! please let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be around (°∀°)b

[leafbladie]

For all your complaining about complaining about Madoka in the Madoka tags - could you please not post jokes about suicide in the Precure tag?

I believe anon is referring to the 4th image in this post specifically

I’ll comment on that in the last two paragraphs of this post, but first I’d like to clarify something with regards to your claim that I’m “complaining about complaining about Madoka in the Madoka tags” (you can skip down to the end if you do not care).

You can have criticisms or complaints with the series, that’s totally fine. You can even share them within the tags, that’s fine too. I’m complaining about people taking needless antagonistic attitudes towards the series and its fans within the tags. It’s good fandom etiquette to not post things within tags that promote negative discussion. And there’s a difference between negative thoughts and negative discussion. The former can promote people to think further about the things they love and why they love them, in spite of certain flaws and negatives people point out. But the latter is never productive. It just takes away from you, and makes everyone involved feel bitter and angry. At best it can be a source of catharsis for some individuals, but the benefits of it for some people never outweigh the negatives for everyone else involved.

Let me just illustrate with two sentences which seem to say the same thing, but the way they’re framed makes it clear that one will likely not promote any positive discussion. Just to be clear, these are entirely hypotheticals, and they are rather simplistic. However, even if they were fully fleshed out arguments to support their statements, what I say going forward will still apply.

1. “Personally, I could never get into Precure. I felt like it was a bit too childish my tastes, and I’m not sure why it motivated such a strong response from so many people.”

2. “Precure is infantile in its view of the real world, and the fandom’s obsession with media aimed at children is rather disturbing.”

Now, both of these takes are bad. But just being bad, in and of itself, isn’t a reason for why something shouldn’t be in the tags. However, something akin to the first is something I’d be much more okay with in the tags as opposed to the latter, despite the fact that both mention an issue with Precure being childish and the fandom’s liking of it.

The first makes it clear enough that these views belong just to themselves, and are due to their own biases and conceptions. The second displays their own lack of knowledge about why people might enjoy it.

This way of speaking leaves room for positive discussion about the series. It can allow people to speak about why they don’t think Precure is childish, or why they think it is, but that’s actually a good thing. It allows people to discuss their own reasons for liking to address the person’s questioning of its success.

The latter in contrast leaves no room for positive discussion by coming from an antagonistic position. It projects an absolute view of Precure, and the people who consume it. You can refute the points to argue in favor of it, but it’s clear from the get-go that this person isn’t interested in discussing these things. They want to complain about Precure and shame the people who enjoy it.

Now, imagine you’re scrolling through the Precure tags. You’re enjoying the art people are creating, the fanfics people are writing, the jokes people are making. Then suddenly, something along the lines of my 2nd sentence pops up in the tags. It’s like a brick wall to your fun, just stops you from what you were doing and now you have to go around it to get back to your fun. Then, boom! Another brick wall from the same person. Again and again it keeps popping up. It would be rather annoying, wouldn’t it?

And just to be clear, you can hold absolutist beliefs about a piece of media and the fandom associated with it. But I think the fandom is well within their rights to tell you to get lost without engaging with it. Because they aren’t here for discussion. They are here to insult and shame.

And while “block and move on” might seem like a reasonable suggestion for many people. They are many people browsing through the tags who aren’t aware of what they are doing. So I want to make sure they aren't sucked into these negative discussions, that generate negative emotions, that will then be brought up when they’re searching through the tags.

Anyway, as for your request. I’ve seen a few Precure fans joke about Cures doing violent acts to misogynists, and other annoying people, so I viewed mentions of death as something permissible within the tags. If any individuals felt offended by my actions, I apologize. I added trigger warnings for the relevant topics to the original post.

It seems quite a few Precure fans did enjoy the jokes though, so I do not think I should delete the pictures wholesale. However, I’ll make an effort to not make such jokes in the tags in the future. I hope you will accept this apology.

[lesmiserabby]

Tag Meme

I was tagged by both @asd-n-me and @autie-jake, thanks for the tag!

RULES: Answer 20 questions, then tag 20 bloggers you want to get to know better.

1. NAME: Abigail

2. NICKNAMES: Abby/Abbie/Abi/whatever spelling of that you want to use, Abs, Les Miserabby, a few funny ones a friend in high school came up with that never got used, ie Abby of the Wind (wind being a pun on the “gail” part of Abigail)

3. ZODIAC SIGN: Aries sun, Libra moon, Scorpio ascending, I know other things from the zodiac birth chart stuff but I’m going to leave that at enough information (Astrology is more my sister’s thing, I swear)

4. HEIGHT: Around 5′5, thought I was 5′4 for the longest time then I gained confidence and stopped slouching so much

5. LANGUAGES: English, semi-fluent in German (studied it as a minor), WAY too many on my duolingo account and I keep adding them like a fool

6. NATIONALITY: Canadian

7. FAVOURITE SEASON: Fall, winter close second, I love the changing colours of the leaves

8. FAVOURITE FLOWER: Red roses

9. FAVOURITE SCENT: The cherry scents from Bath and Body Works are sooo nice, I also like the smell of the rain and fresh cooked fish, and I super miss the smell of the conifers back up in Northwest Ontario, that smells like home

10. FAVOURITE COLOUR: Red and black (I say black counts), purple is not far behind

11. FAVOURITE ANIMAL: Wolves, cats close second, also foxes. Also owls, they’re cats that can fly

12. FAVOURITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER(s): Elsa (Frozen), Abed Nadir (Community), Amy Santiago (Brooklyn 99), everyone from Lord of the Rings, Zuko and Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender), everyone in Les Miserables, internal screaming as I try to remember all of my favourite characters because there are so so many I can’t

13. COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Tea

14. AVERAGE SLEEP HOURS: I am currently alternating between no sleep and 10-12 hours of sleep and it’s Bad.

15. DOG OR CAT PERSON: Major cat person but my mom is allergic so we have a dog and my boyfriend is a major dog person so.... yeah.

16. NUMBER OF BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH: That depends on how hot or cold it is and whether or not I kick them off entirely in my sleep, I’ve fallen asleep with four of them and woken up with all of them on the floor so... yeah.

17. DREAM TRIP: Europe, big focus on Germany and Austria because I minored in German and I want to get good practice in with the language, and go to Paris because Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera. London, England was a big destination for me until last year but then Cameron Macintosh decided to mess with Les Mis and replace the classic staging using the turntable stage with the new stuff from the 25th anniversary and ruin it so... slightly less priority but still a lot of cool history stuff I’d love to see.

18. BLOG ESTABLISHED: I do not remember when. I first joined tumblr back in high school, then I deleted it, then I made this one sometime in uni. Been on here for more than three years though, I think around maybe 2016? Already had it before I got the ASD diagnosis and started posting more about neurodivergence than anything else

19. FOLLOWERS: 106 apparently, that’s pretty cool. More than I thought!

20. RANDOM FACT: My boyfriend and I are both absolutely terrified of spiders and regularly disagree on who will have to fight them if/when we move in together. If this was meant to not be a fact about me then there is literally a chapter in Les Mis where Victor Hugo goes on for multiple pages about the landscape of the battlefield for the Battle of Waterloo all to establish one small detail in character backstories that doesn’t become relevant at all until many, many, MANY chapters later. 

I’m tagging @asobsesions, @elsasflower, @bb8-boppity-boo, @queen-paladin, @empirehayley, @marshedmallow19 and anyone else that wants to do it

[ask-jumblr]

New blog policy below the cut. I’ll facilitate the FOR stuff by adding relevant guidelines below each post for a while so folks can get comfortable with it gradually.

I have some asks I was holding onto until the policy conversation was over and will start releasing those that fit the guidelines and building an “asks that won’t be posted” list with the rest below a cut.

The intended purpose of this blog is to take questions that benefit from the participation of lots of jumblrs. That said, you’ll see a pretty broad array of asks and submissions on this blog. The vast majority of asks/submissions sent during the history of this blog meet these new (2019/08/24) requirements.

If you’re concerned about whether an ask is appropriate, send it non-anonymously (side-blogs that can be deleted after the ask is posted here work fine for this!) or send a message. If I’m concerned about a non-anonymous ask I’ll message its blog or reply to the ask privately. Non-anonymous asks that are appropriate will be posted without further mod interaction. Messages asking about ask-appropriateness will always be replied to (eventually).

Askers are strongly encouraged to include at least one question in their ask; asks that don’t have a question will be posted at mod discretion. (See “Non-question asks”)

Because this blog was intended to foster interaction from all corners of jumblr, it, as a whole, is a pluralistic space. That said, it also provides space for some narrower conversations. (See “What’s an ‘FOR'?” below)

All posts are tagged thoroughly when initially posted. Reblogs are tagged “#reblog” and are tagged less thoroughly. (See “Content warnings and other tags” below)

---

Non-question asks will generally be posted if they:

do not concern jumblr

request support or advice rather than telling others what to think/do

complain about actions, not solely groups/people

For example “I’m tired of [group]” would not be posted whereas “I’m tired of being missionized by [group]” would be a more appropriate version. That said, asks will be posted at mod discretion with tone being a factor. Asks that will be accepted after are more likely to be described as “statements” open to input than “rants.”

All asks without a question will be tagged “#not a question.”

---

Halachic questions will be posted if they meet at least one of the following:

do not concern safety issues

are clearly speculative (e.g. are unicorns kosher?) or are stated to be hypothetical

the asker specifies that they are asking a rabbi in parallel (e.g. is curious what answer other perspectives would yield)

When asking or answering halachic questions, participants are advised but not required to give a relevant ‘FOR’ (see below). If an FOR is stated, unless the asker specifically requests otherwise, it’s encouraged that answers only be given from the asker’s FOR. (See “What’s an ‘FOR'?” below)

Halachic questions will be tagged “#halacha ask” when originally posted.

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“Am I Jewish?” or “I’m X, can I do Y?” questions are frequently received by this blog. If you’re wondering whether you’re Jewish, I encourage you to do some research (see the resources page that I’ll be adding soon). That said, these questions will generally be posted. For those who want to avoid some or all questions of this nature, the asks will be tagged:

Questions about whether someone is Jewish will be tagged “#who’s Jewish?”. 

Questions asking about appropriateness of a practice for someone with a given Jewish/non-Jewish status will be tagged “#Jewish enough?”. 

Questions asking about the appropriateness of a practice for someone of a given denomination, gender, etc. in which the asker’s Jewishness/non-Jewishness is not brought up as a factor will be tagged “#whose Judaism?”

When an ask fits in more than one of the above categories, it’ll be tagged according to both categories. Most of these asks will also be tagged “#jewish identity”, but the “#jewish identity” tag also covers a wide variety of other topics.

---

What’s an “FOR”? Popular in Jewbook, “FOR” or “FoR” stands for “Frame of Reference.” It succinctly explains the participant’s relationship with Judaism as relevant to the issue. FORs are most relevant when it comes to direct halachic questions, but can be used in many types of asks. Here are some example FORs:

denominational or movement: Reform (Liberal), Conservative (Masorti), Orthodox, Modern Orthodox, Sephardic, Chabad, Reconstructionist (Reconstructing), Haredi, Hasidic (Chasidic), Open-Orthodox, Humanistic, Karaite, Beta Israel

perspective on Judaism: atheist, agnostic, halacha is binding, egalitarian

life experience: JOC (Jew of Color), chronically ill (spoonie), rural, small community, Israeli, adoptee, survivor,

Words in parentheses will be tagged with the non-parenthesized approximate synonym. This list will be expanded as new FORs come up on this blog; the ones above are just what I could think of off the top of my head 

If FOR is given in an ask and identified as an FOR (e.g. 

“FOR: ___”, “frame of reference: ___”

“___ FOR”, “___ frame of reference”

“seeking FOR: ___”, “seeking ___ frame of reference”, etc.

“my perspective is”, ”from [] perspective”

) AND the asker has not specified that they would like answers from outside their FOR (e.g.

“My FOR is ___ but would like other perspectives”

“all perspectives welcome”

) please only provide responses from that FOR. Asks of this type will be tagged in the following format:

Example: #FOR #FOR:Reform #Reform

When an FOR is alluded to (e.g. asker’s synagogue), it will be tagged with the alluded FOR but will not be tagged “FOR.” Posts of this type are not restricted to responses from the same FOR, but respondents are still encouraged to give their own FOR and/or reasoning. Asks of this type will be tagged in the following format:

Example: #Reform

---

This blog also tags with content warnings and other tags. Starred tags are tagged on both the initial post and on the reblog. Unstarred tags are often only tagged in the original post. Here are some common tags:

“#antisemitism”*, “#philosemitism”, “#racism”*, “#misogyny”,  “#homophobia”*,  “#transphobia”*,  “#cultural appropriation”

“#violence”*,  “#rape”*,  “#abuse”

“#jewish identity”,  “#reclamation”,  “#conversion”,  “#conversion student” (for those actively working with a rabbi), “#prospective converts” (general term)

“#tefillah”,  “#prayer”  “#jewish prayer”

“#advice”, “#opinion”, “#suggestions”, “#recommendations”

“#jewish women”

“#kippa”,  “#tichel”,  “#tallit”/“#tallis”,  “#tzizit”,  “#shteitel” 

“#LGBTQ” (Outside the umbrella “LGBTQ, posts will be tagged according to the identity language used in the ask, so you may have to search multiple tags when identity terms overlap: “#lesbian”/“#wlw”,  “#gay”/“#mlm” ,  “#queer”, “#transgender”/ “#trans”, “#bisexual”/“#pansexual”,  “#ace”/“#aro”/ “#aspec”, “#nonbinary”/”#nb”)

“#jewish culture”, “#jewish heritage”

“#food” “#recipe”

“#chesed”, “#tikkun olam”,  “#tzedakah”, “#tzniut” (for tznius, modesty)

Posts don’t generally include slurs, but “Jewish American Princess” will be tagged as “#J.A.P”*, “#jap”* and “Jewish American Princess”*. Any other slurs will be tagged thoroughly and listed here as they come up.

To request that a tag be added to this list or or request that a currently unstarred tag be also tagged on reblogs, send a message.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, December 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across since the October report, although some may be older than that.

I am also missing a lot here, but pared it down somewhat to make more readable. The lead up to the holiday shopping season was a lot crazier than I expected 🙃

Given the time of year, please do not expect another report until January. However, I will do brief posts of important news/blog posts in the interim as needed.

There are going to be big changes to this report coming in 2020. Have any suggestions or feedback?  Leave a comment below, email me through my website, or send me a message on Twitter.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

You are going to need to add Etsy’s tax ID to customs forms on New Zealand orders as of Dec. 1. Etsy’s ID is: 122-669-18.

FTC issues huge fines for selling fake likes & followers on social media, and for posting fake reviews online. “The [likes and followers] case could pave the way for further legal action on the same grounds, using the Devumi case as precedent. Indeed, shortly after the initial finding by the NY Attorney General, Facebook announced that it was moving ahead with legal action against several providers which it had found to be dealing in fake social media engagement.”

Everyone should read this article, if only to learn what not to do: Using “priming” to convert more buyers/users is a crucial marketing tactic.”Priming works by using associations made in our subconscious, and are almost always unnoticeable to the subject.” Example: “During a study, researchers approached customers in an electronics store, who’d entered to buy a new laptop.Half of the customers were asked what their memory needs were, and the other half were asked what their processor needs were...The group who were asked about memory, bought computers with higher memory and the group who were asked about processor speed, bought computers with much higher processor speeds.”

Etsy removed the word “Bugs” from the Bugs forum, & admits they will only will be monitoring it from 9-5 Etsy time (ET) Monday to Friday. They won’t be replying, but expect “hundreds of sellers” to do that job for them, unpaid. If you have an issue, you will now need to email through the Contact page, use the new 24 hour live chat, or phone them. [Note the parts they aren’t mentioning - Support is taking over a week to reply to emails right now, live chat will only be able to help with the simplest of questions (e.g., how do I change my email address?) & it is possible to spend over an hour on hold when you phone. You could spend quite a bit of money on long distance fees, especially if you are in a country that doesn’t have its own phone number, all for something you used to be able to get for free in the forum, sometimes on the same day. This is Etsy’s definition of “major improvements”.]

Check out this proposed US legislation, which wants large internet companies [yes, Etsy fits their definition] to reveal their algorithms & offer visitors a version with no “filter bubble.” You might not like Etsy search now, but I can guarantee it would become impossible if they removed all of the algorithm factors. [This editorial is a bit over the top, but does cover some of the key questions.]

ETSY NEWS

Items have been disappearing from a small number of Etsy searches since July, & Etsy still won’t tell us what is going on. If you discover you are affected, please let me know.

There have been a few threads on Etsy sending threatening emails about shops being below Etsy’s customer service expectations, often for just a few bad feedbacks or cases, which has shocked many long time sellers (even though they have been sending them for years; it appears they have decreased the number of “problems” you need to have to get an email.) Without announcing anything, Etsy released a page of “seller service level standards” that can help explain what they are looking for, namely cases & 1-2 star reviews, as well as the exact formula they use. I started a discussion thread here, & in case Etsy deletes comments in the thread, here is the dashboard showing your score. (Some people cannot make that link work; Etsy says only shops that received a warning can see it.) My blog post is here.

I summarized the 3rd quarter report here, and Etsy summarized it here. The stock market is not happy with management at the moment, with Morgan Stanley this past week stating that they expected Etsy’s 4th quarter to be worse than originally predicted, due to state sales tax laws and Etsy’s reduction in its Google Shopping ad buying. Note Etsy removed the “priority placement” for US free shipping about a week after the 3rd Q report, without any announcement, probably due to the blowback about it reducing first page conversions. (They didn’t announce anything; it just disappeared.)

Cyber Week traffic on Etsy was more than double what they saw on the average summer day.

They did a Q & A thread on the new stats, which wasn’t particularly useful. They admitted they intentionally removed the keyword & other data prior to November 2017 because “older data periods are less comparable to current stats”. [I believe that is code for “we’re too cheap to pay for the storage; investors need their payouts.”] They did finally add YOY comparisons back in a few weeks ago.

Etsy has again changed a few category & attribute options, including more baby stuff.

They did a holiday gift shopping promotion where people could call Etsy & get suggestions for gifts on Nov. 5. All gifts shipped free, so non-free shipping shops were not included. “It could also be a case study for personalization efforts to come from the long-running handmade marketplace.”

You’ve probably already noticed that Convos are now called Messages, but here is the announcement with the details just in case.

Etsy ran an Etsy search critique thread on November 13; the thread wasn't particularly useful, as almost all the staff who do the critiques aren’t experts in search. Basically, they say to use all of your tags, avoid repeating words in tags & titles, have 3-4 short phrases in your title, use commas in your titles (”Buyer research shows that using commas instead of dashes helps titles appear more clean and readable”), offer free shipping, and use all of your photos. The big takeaway for me was - they think we all have unlimited photography budgets, models, and time to do different modelled photos for every listing (including at the beach! LOL), photos of each of our different pieces in progress, photos of us working, & photos of each type of packaging. Needless to say, none of those things are bad if you have gobs of time or the money to pay someone to do all of that. But if you are like me and are a one-person business, live in a small condo, don’t have the strength to take photos all day, don’t have an abundance of people to model when I am taking photos (i.e., people I know have real jobs & aren’t around when I work on photos), and don’t have anyone to take photos of me making things, then this is pretty laughable. I wouldn't even consider doing all of this for my 5 best selling listings, never mind all 430+. YMMV. [The repeated mentions of process photos makes me worry they will be requiring those for everyone at some point …but I am sure I am just being paranoid.] One notable error was telling someone to use “color” (the US spelling) instead of “colour” (the proper English spelling) because the shop’s language settings were US English - Etsy currently treats these both the same, so there is no issue at the moment. Are they trying to give us a hint about something?

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Introducing BERT: Google’s new technology to help organic search process natural language better. This isn’t likely a change you can optimize for, but it should help searchers get more relevant results for complicated queries. “Here is an example of Google showing a more relevant featured snippet for the query “Parking on a hill with no curb”. In the past, a query like this would confuse Google’s systems. Google said, “We placed too much importance on the word “curb” and ignored the word “no”, not understanding how critical that word was to appropriately responding to this query. So we’d return results for parking on a hill with a curb.” Moz’s Whiteborad Friday covered the basics. [warning - some bits are advanced. Just skip those if you need to.] A study said BERT still isn’t very good at understanding “not” and other negatives. The NY Times may be one of the sites that is affected.

If you were disappointed when keyword research tool Keywords Everywhere became a paid tool, a new alternative has been released. Note that Keyword Surfer is still in beta. I’m going to try it for a bit and write up a short report if I think it is worth using. (The traffic estimates are way off, as in almost 10 times too low, for the sites I have info on.)  If you try it, let me know what you think!

While we are on the topic, here’s 13 keyword research errors you don’t want to make. Short takeaways - not every high volume keyword phrase will work for your specific product, don't ignore long tail, and make sure you look at the search results for any keyword before you decide to use it.

Here’s another keyword and topic research tool that compiles questions people search along with a relationship tree so you can see how ideas are connected.

More common SEO problems with ecommerce sites.

If you code your own website, check out the new Google instructions on writing your organic search snippets. Note this is supposedly only about display & not about ranking.

Improve your Instagram traffic with 8 SEO tips for your profile and posts.

Which is better for SEO - Squarespace or WordPress? The results are likely skewed by the fact that “platforms like Wix and Squarespace tend to attract less SEO-savvy people than WordPress.” They agree with what I have been saying for a while: if you know what you're doing, Squarespace sites can rank just fine.

Excellent tips on how good SEO also helps you comply with US disability access laws.

The latest on Google updates - there was apparently one around November 7. This one may have hit affiliate websites more than other types.

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article claiming Google manipulated search results to favour its interests & those of its advertisers, including eBay. [The original article is behind a paywall; the link is in that news coverage.] However, many in the SEO community - most of whom are not usually reluctant to criticize Google when they are behaving poorly - feel the article is way off base, & demonstrates a fundamental lack of knowledge of how Google works. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land & Search Engine Roundtable even did interviews with t WSJ staff for the article, and was amazed at how much they got wrong. “Even a basic understanding of the difference between organic listings (the free search results) and the paid listings (the ads in the search results) eluded them…[Glenn] Gabe told us that not only were his conversations with the paper off-the-record but also that he was misquoted”

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Here’s something I don’t see discussed much: using templates (& other consistent branding) in your social media, blog and website posts.

Content hubs are a very useful way to increase your search engine traffic for a core topic while providing a landing page for social media, ads etc.

Good primer here for beginning social media marketing for your business. You’ll need to do more research depending on your target market and what platform/s you choose, but it is definitely a good overview of getting started.

If you think influencer marketing is right for your business, here are 10 places you can find influencers to work with.

Your email subject lines can change the open rates; here are 19 tips to make them more clickable.

Instagram started testing hiding “likes” on posts in the US as of November 11th, & then announced plans to try it out globally. A study on previous tests showed that there may be some effect on influencer engagement.

Facebook has introduced its own payment system, currently in the US only, for limited situations only at the moment.

Reddit is an often overlooked social media platform to use for business but the traffic is strong, so check out these tips on asking it work for your business. [infographic]

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Pay for online ads (outside of Etsy) but don’t know what negative keywords are? Here’s how to use them with Google.

Hubspot continues their massive rush of “ultimate guides” with everything you wanted to know about Amazon ads.

Facebook now allows you to have different text in the same ads, which can be adjusted for different groups of users.

Amazon is predicted to continue cutting into Google’s online ad dominance through 2021; Google currently has 73% of money spent on online ads in the US.

If you are interested in long term brand building in your advertising, you might be interested in this article, where Adidas admits it was ignoring brand ads & pushing instant returns for too long.

Just in time for the holidays, Google Merchant Center rolled out a bunch of upgrades.

Buying TV ad time is losing popularity; it will be less than 25% of all advertising spend in just a few years, while digital spending is now over 50%.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Facebook changed how they count page impressions.

Everything you want to know about the Google Search Console. Oh, and also everything you want to know about the Google Search Console. Which one do you like best? [If you have your own website or freestanding blog and are not using the Console, you probably should be reading both of those. Seriously, just set the darn thing up, then learn how to use it later.]

Also, the Console now features a speed report, and has changed how they send you messages.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Trend alert: many struggling or failed retailers sell clothing. “This sector is saturated with supply and is arguably over-stored.” … “For younger shoppers, as they choose which apparel brands do get their attention, sustainability and other cultural issues are often at the forefront.”

US sellers can now get discounted UPS rates through Shippo.

A bug is keeping suspended Amazon sellers from being reinstated.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Don’t use these common customer service lines. ...“there are studies that support the use of positive language in customer service. Instead of focusing on what you can’t do for a customer, focus on what you can do. No one likes to be told no.”

Another article on the psychology of colour; beware that some of this is a bit simplistic, as there are always exceptions.

Holiday shopping will push further into December this year, with half starting around Cyber Monday (Dec. 2). 62% of “high spenders” (over $2100 spent on the holidays) will shop on their smart phones. 25% of respondents to this survey said they already started shopping in September. It turns out most people want gift cards, among other stats. Nearly half of US shoppers are more likely to shop with companies that are socially responsible. Mobile shopping is expected to beat desktop shopping for the first time this season. And yes, most Americans expect to add to their credit card debt before January, men more than women.

US retail sales fell 0.3% in September; online sales fell the same amount.  

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Trend alert - apparently Generation Z is not big on makeup, and it is affecting large companies’ profits.

Google’s co-founders hand the parent company Alphabet over to the current CEO. They still work for Google and will focus most of their time there.

Google Webmaster spokesperson John Mueller tackles the controversial question - is a hot dog a sandwich? [humour]

[gold-from-straw]

Writing Ask Game

A little while ago I was tagged by @stardustloki to answer these questions about fanfic, and decided they'd be quite good questions to write about my original stuff as well, so here you go! (Some questions were deleted because I gave the same answers, or because they weren’t relevant to original stuff)

At what age did you start writing?

I think ALL children write stories at some point or another when they're very young, but the first story I remember finishing (that wasn't for school) was about two stowaways on a big tanker ship who find a girl who's been living in the bowels of the ship, sneaking around and making her home in the hidden corners where nobody can find her. I think I was 14 or so when I wrote it, and I can't remember how it ended - and it's one I don't have any more because I used to hand my stories around school and it sort of never came back to me!

What is your favorite book?

Oh god… OK, I can’t choose just one! So here’s a bunch! Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, I just love literally everything about this story, and I can't really talk about my favourite part without spoiling a major plot point. But Aled Last deserves the world, and Francis' mum is the mum I want to be - she supports her daughter, and even helps her in a way that literally never happens in YA books! You SO RARELY get a parent helping their child against another adult, but they SHOULD.

Also The Trees, by Ali Shaw, which is wonderful and creepy and disturbing. And The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Makenzie Lee, which is sweet and bonkers. And Marian Keyes' books - This Charming Man was traumatic and I can't read it again BUT it was SO clever and I loved the resolution - women working together ftw! Things by Kate Atkinson are always brilliant but I can't choose a favourite, and also anything in the Discworld series! OK, I'm going to stop now, or it'll get silly...

What stories do you avoid like the plague?

I can't watch horror movies, and I find creepy books very hard to deal with as well. The pictures in Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children was about my limit, and without the story that went with them I think I would have had nightmares! I've tried reading Mills and Boon books but I found it REALLY hard to believe in the romance at all, it was like they ended up together because... reasons? But one of them had the guy allow this girl to believe that Tara was his wife back at home, she got insanely jealous and really bitchy (like dude... you're not even together, chill?) and then it turns out Tara was his dog. Why? Why would you do that to each other? Do you LIKE each other? Are you SURE??

Ahem.

(Read Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro instead. Their relationship was cute. Or If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern! So cute!)

I also tend to avoid those books about abused children. Triggery!

What story do you wish to write but feel like you won’t manage?

I have SO MANY novel ideas, and I'm really precious about most of them (I WILL get to them, just... it takes me a while, OK?!) But one book that I've wanted to write and been too scared to attempt is called Morningstar. It's actually inspired by a fanfic I wrote where Loki and Jesus are good friends (and no, it's not religion bashing, I may be a pagan but I think Jesus is a pretty great character) called Happy Birthday, Jesus! (It was written on Christmas Eve, and it's really silly and fluffy!)

The thing is, I wanted to write a prequel about how they became friends. And then I ended up going to church with a friend and reading the bible (it was a book and it was RIGHT THERE don't judge me) and noticing a lot of references to punishing the children of the devil for the actions of their father. Distressing, for a start, but also reminded me of the Lokasenna.

So it turned into an idea where Lucifer decides to come and visit this so-called Son of God, and finds him at age 13, when he's annoying the hell out of all the priests by being a little too well-informed. Lucifer joins in and spreads discord and actually quite likes the kid, and over the years, he keeps in touch with him. Then, when Jesus is an adult, Lucifer's children are killed, and he's trapped (similar to how Loki was, with the snake venom) and Jesus comes to help him get out. Lucifer starts hanging around with the disciples. He annoys the absolute hell out of Peter for laughs, because Peter's really pious, he gets on really well with Mary Magdalene and Levi, the ex-tax collector. Jesus is just kind and happy to everyone, and while he listens to Lucifer ranting, he always argues with him - they just never let their very opposing views get in the way of their friendship. When Jesus goes out into the desert, Lucifer tempts him because he's worried about him, and angry, and eventually Jesus tells him to leave him alone because doing this is important to him.

It would change nothing about the story. Jesus still dies and is resurrected. It's just that Lucifer's around the whole time, being a twisty, sarcastic, bitchy arsehole, with fundamentally different views to Jesus, and still be his friend on a personal level. There would probably also be some natural disasters when Jesus dies.

However, I'm terrified of doing this story wrong! I would end up insulting a large group of people and aaahhhh! Maybe I'll write it when I'm an old woman and don't give two shits what people think of me any more...

What has been your favorite story to write so far?

Hmmm... probably Zero Degrees - it involved a lot more research than any of the others, because I decided to use references to so many different gods, but it was also one of the most visually creative things I've ever done! I was able to just go crazy, imagining dragons fighting giant spiders in a magical library, and rituals where the hair of a summer god is woven into gloves. It was so much fun! And I have no idea where most of it came from, but it made me realise I enjoy writing magic and magical realism way more than I thought I would!

On the other hand, The Forest Hotel is the only book I've ever written where it turned out pretty much how I wanted it to, practically on the first draft! I did like 7 edits anyway, but they weren't huge plot edits, more adding things in, and I'm still happy with how it turned out!

Why did you start writing? Why are you still writing?

…I really wanted to. That’s basically it? It seems like the more I write, the more ideas I get, and I love that feeling of creating something that I would want to read. These characters live in my head and I get to just peer into their world every now and again to see how they're doing, and it's just so enriching to me. I love it. I write because I want to, and I publish because it brings in a little bit of money and therefore justifies me writing a bit more ;)

Tagging anyone else who writes original fic! Off the top of my head I can think of @chronicintrovert , @focusdumbass, @deborah-writes, @luninosity, @nano-writer, @elizabethhollowswriting and @mosellegreen! If you also write original fic and I haven’t tagged you, please feel free to do this and tag me! I want to know!!

[go-diane-winchester]

Are Misha and Danneel aware of Misheel?  And how does it impact Jensen?

A doll face just sent this monstrosity to me.  There are a few things that need to be factored in here.

Hellers lie.  Its par for the course with them.  I have had many hellers approaching me with claims that Jensen is fine with destiel because he ''told them so during photo ops and autos''.  But he bashes the same people on stage.  It makes no sense, unless you factor in their habitual lies.  That was what I thought as well, until I realized that this heller was bold enough to tag Misha and Danneel in the tweet.  Only someone who knows that they wont get told off by the tagged individuals, will make such a confident move.  That means Misha and Danneel must know about this.

Before Danneel fell in my eyes, I had no real issues with her.  I was not a fan of hers because I really didn't care for her work.  I didn't hate her.  I don't know her well enough for that.  She was just somebody's wife.  The only thing that really irritated me about her, was that she regularly argues with her husband's fans on social media and over issues related to Jensen himself.  That means she reads tweets sent to her.  One gossip monger masquerading as a journalist, claimed that Jensen and Jared were in love, and that Danneel was a beard and a PR device to cover what Jensen really was.  Danneel took it upon herself to deal with this guy online.  As a PR person myself, I can tell you that what she did was a PR nightmare.  Any communication online never truly gets deleted.  If a two bit journalist says something, the general SM public won't care.  But when a celebrity starts fighting back, people will sit up and take notice.  Not only did she fight with the guy online, she even did a podcast with the journalist, about Jensen's sexuality.  In other words she was adding more fuel to the fire.  People who were not even aware of the rumor, were now fully invested in it, because she drew so much attention to it.  Danneel should never have done that.  Jensen has a voice too, and he didn't use it, even once during this whole online battle.  Danneel is very quick to fight Jensen's fans, but recently she has been very quickly to respond to pro-Misha tweets and leaving a like on the tweets.  There is no chance she didn't read this.  I know what her motivation is, and a job is a job after all.  What baffles me, however, is how she can be ok with this.  She is supposed to love her husband, but she seems fine about bonding with fans who threatened her husband's life.  How can this be an acceptable career move?  And for what?  To carve a niche for herself?  How is being seen as Misha's side whore ''carving a niche for yourself''.  And the fact that the heller wrote ''misheel confirmed'', makes me realize that Danneel must know about this.  Misheel, for those of you who are still unsullied and innocent, is the tinhat name for Misha and Danneel.  It is a derivative of Cockles tinhat theory.  Cockles involved just Jensen and Misha as a tinhat couple.  Because that didn't make sense, they came up with JDVM which involves Jensen, Misha and their wives have orgies, because Misha was vile enough to share his bedroom situation with everyone.  And the tinhats assume that this must be the kind of sex Jensen and Misha are having.  They segued into Jenmisheel, completely leaving out Vicki, because unlike Danneel, Vicki stays out of the limelight so they know very little about her.  And Misheel tinhats leave out Jensen perhaps because Danneel gushes over Misha, while Jensen remains disdainful towards him.  Anything to keep Misha relevant, I suppose.  Even saying that he is having an affair with his co-worker's wife, is acceptable.  So long as Misha is part of a narrative, that narrative is celebrated.  There are so many ever changing narratives to their tinhatting because there is not credulity to their tinhat theories and they know that.  Misheel only emerged after Danneel started overdoing her fangirling of Misha.  And by heller logic, if you are a fan of someone, it must mean you want to sleep with them.  Hence, Dr Sexy being proof that Dean is bisexual.  The fact, that she might be okay with Misheel, shocks me.  So she is willing to fight a journalist online and do a podcast because she doesn't want to be seen as one man's beard, but she has no problem being seen as another man's whore?  I don't understand her logic.  How hungry could anyone be for fan approval, that they are willing to embarrass their husband and disgrace their marriage in public.  I don't think Jensen knows any of this, because unlike Misha and Danneel, Jensen actually has a full time job, and is not fandom savvy [like Misha] nor does he engage his fans online [or fight with them, like Danneel].  If she knows about Misheel and is going behind Jensen's back with this, then she is horrible human being and Jensen deserves a better wife.

I wouldn't be surprised if Misha did say this.  But it still shocks me.  It is almost as if Misha's ethical and moral threshold is nonexistent.  And he doesn't seem to fear that Jensen will find out.  He doesn't seem to stop and think that what he is saying is terribly damaging and inappropriate.  Sure, he and Danneel may have a laugh over fans thinking they are having sex with each other, but I can't see Jensen laughing alongside.  After all, this is his wife.  Which man is going to find humor in people thinking his wife sleeps with another man?  If Jensen knows about this, then its going to shock me more anyone else.  I think, personally, that Misha know about Misheel and he is enjoying this.  Perhaps he does like the idea of being with Danneel.  Unlike Destiel, which he forces for leverage, this pairing is something he can totally be enthusiastic about.  After all, he is a straight man, and Danneel may be pretty to him.  He might push this pairing because its a welcome change from pushing himself with a dude.  Not that he will stop pandering destiel or cockles.  Destiel and cockles are what he considers his money makers.  This pairing is for his own enjoyment and amusement.  Misha and Danneel have a history because they worked in the TSA short film project, and are now on the Random Acts board of directors.   Perhaps Misha isn't as enthusiastic about his marriage.  Maybe he likes Misheel because his marriage seems like a open arrangement, a social justice stunt and not like a proper marriage.  From the wedding [where Misha wore a wedding dress and Vicki wore a suit] to the sexual activity in their home [where Vicki's friend is regularly invited into their bed], everything seems to be done for shock value and not from the heart.  Misha is the cuckold in his marriage.  Misha and Vicki know each other for a long time, and I think they just got used to each other.  But they seem more like friends rooming with one another.  They are a couple around their children.  I can understand why Misha was ok with the bedroom arrangement initially.  The idea of watching two women have sex in front of you, is exciting to any straight man, but after a while, you start to realize that unless you are knocking her up, you are essentially the third wheel, and she doesn't necessarily need you, just your sperm.  She can get that anywhere.  If Danneel and Misha pre-arranged this Misheel thing, then I am incorrect about Misha, and they are both merely attention mongers, and Danneel has no respect for her unsuspecting husband and their marriage.  Because the day Jensen finds out, she is serious trouble.  He is leave her in a heart beat.  But if Misha is doing this of his own volition, for his own morbid pleasure, and Danneel is just an enthusiastic minion, then he is a complete leering scumbag that Danneel needs to stay away from.  And, if this is the case, Jensen won't break his ''epic friendship'' with Misha.  He will clock the pervert right between the eyes and break his nose. 

Lets see how or if Misha and Danneel respond to this tweet.

PS:  I need to point this out because some people always get the wrong end of the stick.  I am not a tinhat [not that there is anything wrong with that].  I am not a wife hater.  The wives are very seldom in my thoughts.  I am not impressed by them, but I am not jealous of them for marrying their husbands.  I am not out to ''get'' Danneel.  I am merely questioning what her motives are.  If her husband shows her the threats and abuse he is getting online, why is she going out of her way to impress his abusers.  Don't say my words are uncalled for.  Danneel, like anyone else on earth, is not infallible.  She is just a person.  If you can tolerate criticism towards Jensen, Jared and Misha, then you can tolerate this as well.  I am not hating.  I am critiquing. 

[kmp78]

DISCLAIMER AND RULES

These are the UPDATED directions/guidelines for all who want to participate/contribute to this blog. Our topics of conversation revolve mostly around 30 Seconds to Mars/the Leto Bros, but we have been known to also discuss various other current events around the world.

By reading, and especially by contributing, on what goes on around this blog, you are willingly agreeing with all guidelines and directions I have mentioned below - no exceptions.

I am willing to give a space to those who wish to discuss Mars (or other topics), and I am washing my hands from any and all fuckery that may ensue from other people´s opinions.

Also worth mentioning: I am fully aware that some people who publicly and very vocally denounce any interest in either this blog or Mars gossip lurk around this blog and then spread shit elsewhere on the internet. 

By doing that, you are essentially outing yourself as a quiet kmp78 admirer, so to speak. 

Or a fangirl, if that suits better. 🤗

Alright then... READ.

1.  This blog is laced with sarcasm, jokes, stupid and often very dark humor and PERSONAL OPINIONS - both mine and the people who participate in our conversations. This is not CNN, BBC or even Fox News - this is a personal blog run by a (sort of) fan. Not someone with inside information, and not someone whose opinions and views should be taken too seriously, and definitely not as gospel. I have no direct access to anyone in the Mars organization, and I do not work for them.

2. Nor do I work for YOU. This may be a blog which is mainly used for discussions about all things Mars and all opinions and topics are welcome, but the only one in charge is ME. I decide if a message gets published, if a message gets edited, if a message gets deleted - and if the sender gets blocked.

And not that it really needs to be said, but here goes anyway: I do not work for any Leto troll either.

3. And speaking of blocking: 

those who send threats or offensive messages will be blocked, as will anyone who I deem block-worthy. Rest assured, I never block anyone without a reason, so if you should discover that you have been blocked, that means I had a reason. I may or may not inform publicly when a person has been blocked, depends on my mood.

4. Everyone who sends messages is responsible for their own words - I do not accept any blame for other people´s opinions. Misunderstandings by accident or on purpose are not my headache. If I suspect a message will potentially cause unnecessary problems or annoyance for me, I will not post it (or will edit it), and  I don´t owe anyone any explanations as to why I´m not posting it. I may explain, or not - that´s up for me to decide. 

In any case, as I said: I will not take responsibility for anyone else´s words other than mine, and screaming at me over here or elsewhere online regarding comments someone else made and I posted...

Well, that´s just infantile. 🙄

5. All opinions are welcome, positive AND negative. A positive opinion does not automatically make you a sheep, and a negative opinion does not automatically make you a hater. 

Readers to this blog should be adult enough to handle both sides.

6. Calling women sluts or whores is not ok here. 

You also need to be able to tell the difference between calling a woman a whore and calling a Leto a whore. If you can´t understand the difference, then get out immediately.

SPECIAL CLAUSE:

the term “YACHT GIRL” when used in connection with an actually legit model who YOU ARE JEALOUS OF BECAUSE SHE GETS TO BONE A MAN YOUR FLABBY LOINS BURN FOR, actually is the equivalent of you calling her a whore, so kindly DO NOT.

Use whatever brain cells your parents genes bestowed upon you and make them at least somewhat proud. That should hopefully partially make up for the disappointment they most probably are already feeling knowing you actually read and participate in this shit.

7. What is also not ok is accusing people of crimes, calling them psychopaths, or threatening others with physical violence etc. - not even sarcastically or as jokes.

Think of it this way: 

when typing your message, if at any point you think that what you are writing might come across differently or more seriously to the person reading it than to you while writing it - then do not write it. Any innuendo about people´s potential “social diseases” is not welcome either, and neither are accusations of “obsessions” and people “stalking” the men this blog is focused on. Be VERY careful when using these terms. 

YOU are responsible for your own words. I cannot stress that enough.📣

8. We use a lot of initials and nicknames in our conversations - for a reason. 

Do not use people´s real names in messages. 

If you do not know who a particular person is, please come ask via chat (directions on how to use the chat feature can be found here). I may or may not blur out a name in a message if I think it´s necessary.

9. I post a lot of pics, gifs - and most of them are found from Google using various search terms, and sadly have no tags or indications as to who is the owner/maker. I don´t own any of the pics or gifs, or videos for that matter either (except the ones I have made and labeled as my own). If you find something of yours posted and prefer not to have it up or to have your name added as credits, please let me know and I will remove it.

As for links to either newspaper articles, IG accounts, other blogs or the like: you can find credits to the sources by either clicking on the links, or if I have decided to post screen caps, in the pics themselves. Again, I do not write articles or make videos and very, very rarely post anything other than other people´s comments - after all, this is prominently a discussion blog now. Opinions/messages from other people represent THEIR views and thoughts, my views/thoughts can be seen in my answers (in case of submits or multi-part messages, you will find my contributions to the message after this sign: ***).

To make this very clear: we don´t make news here, we discuss them.

10. When sending submits, if you are unsure of others potentially seeing your “ID”, please mention in your message that you want to remain anon and I will post it anon. Also please remember tho that there is no such thing as complete anonymity - so be careful when writing down your thoughts. Censor yourself if necessary - don´t make problems for me or others, or yourself.

11. I use Statcounter on this blog, which means I can see IP addresses from people visiting this site. However I choose to use that information is up to me, so if you are scared shitless of being outed due to your own actions/words, then DO NOT COME HERE.

If I out your IP, then there is a reason for it.

Don´t give me reasons if you want to remain in the shadows.

(And same goes for chat messages btw: don´t pretend to be my friend in private, but then turn your back and stab me in it in public. More often than not I WILL find out, and if I choose to then out your bullshit by posting private messages, THAT´S ALL YOUR OWN DOING, KIDDOS.

Play nice with me and you have nothing to worry about.

Start kicking dirt in my face and...🤷‍♀️

12. If you are addressing your message directly to someone (= other than me), please say so CLEARLY in your message, for example by starting your message with “For anon who said...”, or something along those line. I have had it with misunderstandings and unnecessary messes due to unclear messages! BE SPECIFIC!

13. ONLY write either in English or Finnish. I won´t waste my time on Google Translate, I have enough on my plate as it is and your weirdo mongrel lingos are boring as hell anyway.

14.  DO NOT SEND MESSAGES WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF STIRRING UP SHIT - OR TO INSULT OTHER COUNTRIES OR NATIONALITIES. That would rank quite high the PATHETIC categories...

15. I won´t post content from so-called private/non-celeb accounts such as Leto trolls (= VK for example IS a celeb so whatever she posts is most deffo getting posted, but anything posted by Lesser´s harem probs won´t be).

16. READ PREVIOUS MESSAGES! READ PREVIOUS MESSAGES! READ PREVIOUS MESSAGES! READ PREVIOUS MESSAGES! READ PREVIOUS MESSAGES! 

I´m beyoooooooond bored answering the same questions over and over again, sometimes in the space of just a few hours! The archives and search option are available on my blog for a reason! USE THEM. 😠

17. When sending messages containing info or “receipts” or whatever it may be that you think we should be made aware of, either clearly state WHERE that info can be found and WHO you are talking about. Do not simply send a message a´la “VK can be seen on Monica´s/Richard´s/Beatrice´s IG”. We don´t know who these people are! You may, but we don´t! I do not follow a single model or fashion industry creeper on social media so FIRST NAMES mean fuck all to me. GIVE FULL DETAILS OR SHUT THE FUCK UP. 

18. IF I SAY A TOPIC IS OFF-LIMITS, THEN YOU WILL RESPECT THAT.

19. I usually try to post messages in the same order they have been sent - with a few exceptions: 

If a situation arises which calls for “immediate attention” (new troll pics or other sudden Mars-related activity, for example), I may leave older messages for later and focus on newer ones first. Also when I am operating on my mobile, I am often unable to post certain messages (videos etc.), so those will be left for later when I am back to an actual computer. 

20. More often than not, tumblr fails to deliver messages to my inbox. If you suspect that yours has not been delivered, please send it again. I don´t mind getting duplicates.

21. If I feel that a message offers no relevant or needed content, I won´t post it. For example, a message such as “JL & XX in Japan bang bang” is unnecessary and pointless and not worth posting. I only have 250 allowed posts per day, and on busy days I have to make judgments on what is worthy of posting and what is not. I apologize if I therefore have to skip some messages. 

When I run out of allowed posts here, I will let everyone know that I am switching over to use the secondary blog which can be found at @kmp78secondaryblog

(PLEASE NOTE: That blog is ONLY used when we run out of room here, and I never go there unless I have to so please don´t send any messages to that blog unless I inform we have to move there!)

AND FINALLY PLEASE REMEMBER:

THIS IS A FANDOM FOR A BAND. NOT A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. ACT ACCORDINGLY.

Creating hater accounts dedicated to POSTING PICTURES OF MY BLOODY EYEBALL (that btw actually happened because of course it did! This is the echeLOOOOOON after all! 👍) won´t make me quit this blog, so...

Yeah.

Anyway, for further information, please contact me via private message here, on my IGs, or at kmp78@yahoo.com.

Thank you. 🙏

PS: In case you run into accounts/comments made under my tumblr “identity”, or otherwise unauthorized “kmp78″ activity outside of tumblr which you recognize as being linked to this blog in any way (such as my posts being tagged with JL´s tags etc.), please report them immediately, both to the admins of the sites you found these accounts on, and to me directly so I can take appropriate action, thanks.

Any of my personal pics taken from this blog have been taken without permission and I have never and will never give permission to post them anywhere. And when I say I “appropriate action”, I mean just that. If need be, I will be contacting the authorities, like I did when I received public death threats. 

Be very aware that my tolerance for that is less than zero - and also be aware that these guidelines and my rules may change whenever I feel the need to change them.

#DEAL ✌️