#some people has questions in the notes & comments of the original poll

[stormesandshowersparttwo]

the previous poll and post it is referenced from:

[fandoms-in-law]

Manual Mood Ring

Summary: To keep up popularity and the Harrington reputation Steve couldn't show many emotions. That didn't mean he didn't feel them, only that he didn't always recognise what feelings he hid. So he wore rings, swapped them out according to his moods. And a few people noticed them.

Authors note: It won the poll by 1 vote and honestly I'm glad about it. In typing the other fic up I realised how not finished it is. This has been a great fic to procrastinate work with over the last couple weeks, but I'm glad with where I finished it.

/\/\

Steve would never say, except to Robin, but it all began because of Eddie and curiosity. If the guys he'd been friends with at the start of high school had paid attention, they could've worked it out too, but none of them thought twice when the week after he noticed, and accidentally cause some bullying over, Eddie's rings, Steve came in wearing one of his own.

The ring, or rather rings, he wore weren't expensive, just simple things he'd spotted in a shop window, but somehow everyone thought it was a wealth thing when they noticed it and so far as Steve heard, nobody realised there were 6 different rings he'd swap out. They definitely didn't question when he swapped them either, not even Nancy.

Robin did know. She only admitted noticing them when Steve dragged her out to buy more after the Russians took his original rings and none of the government agents mentioned finding them. She was the one who asked about why he needed multiple rings when he'd only wear one at a time.

It didn't help the assumptions they were dating when Robin insisted on taking his hand to check which ring he was wearing every time they met up after the explanation that he used them as an indication or self check-in of his mood.

/\/\

Eddie knew Steve Harrington wore a ring. When he started to the gossip in Hawkins High said his father insisted on it due to a tradition but if that was the case then the ring was too plain in Eddie’s opinion.

Then he noticed Harrington changing rings after getting a question wrong in class and was certain the rumour was wrong, even if he couldn't figure out the actual reason for it straight away. After he'd seen that first swap, it was too clear for him to notice the times that the ring got changed, especially since he decided to try and figure out why Harrington would do that.

Spotting Harrington's ring enough to tell the differences in it wasn't easy in school, especially outside of their shared classes, but a theory soon grew in Eddie's mind of them being some sort of manual mood ring. This was only backed up when he visited Scoops Ahoy once or twice over the summer.

Before the fire Eddie even thought he was close to knowing what emotions some of the rings might indicate, but they all changed after that, not even one remained the same as before and, thankfully for Eddie's curiosity, the new ones had more noticeable differences.

With all his curiosity over Harrington's rings, it confused him to realise the kids he'd brought into Hellfire seemed to know nothing of them. Once Mike even commented ' Steve would be cooler if he just wore rings like Eddie's.' as if he wasn't already wearing one constantly. Eddie could spot it glinting on Harrington's finger when he picked them up afterwards, not hidden at all.

From paying attention to those lifts and Harrington's expressions and reactions to the brats gave Eddie some clues on what colour or general shape of rings matched good or bad moods, even if he never saw the detailing on them.

Except for one.

Eddie saw one ring in detail once. Hellfire had an extra club meeting that apparently none of the kids Harrington gave a lift to had mentioned to him until he came storming through the school half panicked. Even after confirming they were safe Harrington made everyone move along the table so he could sit next to Eddie and listen until the end.

The ring that time was in a woven pattern, made of silver and Eddie was certain it meant fear or stress. It had to, given how Harrington only looked away from his kids to watch the door or, for some reason, analyse the ceiling for damage and suspiciously eye the lights.

Who knew getting an answer about one of the rings meanings could give Eddie so many more questions?

/\/\

Survival and fear were the only things going through Eddie's mind. He didn't know what happened to Chrissie or if it would happen to him next. He didn't know if he was trying to hide from that or from the town he was sure would blame him.

He definitely wasn't calm enough to recognise any of the voices yelling for him and dived into the boat as they got closer.

The conversation of the group looking for him was heard but barely understood as Eddie tried to get ready to jump up and fight or run through the hard jabs from an oar he thought was mentioned.

It wasn't the oar or the gaze of the man he pinned that broke through Eddie's fear when he decided to get out.

The hand holding the oar wore a silver woven ring. It wasn't polished and definitely showed signs of tarnishing in the indented areas and it echoed how he felt. He knew the ring and what emotion he was certain it meant.

And he knew that other rings were kept in the back pocket from classes where they'd get swapped out. Those are what he reached for now, still pinning Harrington with one hand which made it harder to separate the bronze ring that tended to be worn if he'd be joking when picking the kids up.

“Guess you're not here to have a go at me, or this would be worn.” Eddie mutters eventually into the silence that had fallen in the boathouse.

“I wouldn't do that. Dustin would never talk to me again if I did that. And how do you know anything about my rings?” Steve's words tumbled past each other, but seemed more confused now, instead of the panic he'd shown when first getting pinned.

“What rings?” Dustin demanded, somewhere behind Eddie.

Steve glanced over, “Forget the rings actually. What happened? We want to help.”

/\/\

Steve hadn't changed his ring in days.

Eddie glanced at it each time they came to give him supplies, came to try and talk him into staying with one of them despite how they'd need to hide him from parents, every time he got the change to.

It was still the silver woven effect ring.

He could only hope he'd live to see another ring take its place and was beginning to suspect Steve was hoping the same thing. A few times he'd been caught looking at the hand wearing the ring, but Steve never said anything, only brought his hand back to the pocket with the rest of them.

“You got the bronze ring wrong.” Robin commented on one of the few moments everyone else was distracted. “It's not when Steve's truly happy or whatever you think.”

Eddie glanced at her, gaze returning to Steve straight away. “What is it then?”

“Forced positivity. It's when he's struggling to believe we want him here so tries to reach out subtly for most of them.” She explained.

“And you?”

“Check his rings when I first see him so give him reassurance as needed. Although you might've changed its meaning now.” Her words sounded slow as if she was musing on the idea. “We'll see after Vecna's defeated.”

Eddie wasn't quite sure what to make of that but Robin was already over with Steve again, catching up with whatever they were working on. At least being in hiding gave him lots of time to think through her cryptic comments for breaks from panicking.

/\/\

“That's my ring.” Eddie stated. He'd been staring at the hand since waking up, originally cause it was clinging tightly and then as his memories filtered through the medication clouding his brain, to see if Steve was still stressed out. How was he meant to understand seeing his own ring being worn by Steve?

Steve's chuckle was watery, and there were tears in his eyes when Eddie looked up. “Yeah, mine now. Glad you're awake finally.”

Somehow that was what made him realise he had none of his rings on at all. “Where are the rest? What does my ring have the honour of meaning?” They felt like dumb questions but Eddie was scared to ask the more serious ones.

“Dustin's got them and your pic necklace. He'll be here as soon as visiting hours start along with at least a few of the other brats. Not sure which are seeing you first today other than him. Wayne's at the trailer salvaging what he can. Added me as an emergency contact so you wouldn't wake up alone.” Steve offered, thankfully guessing what he'd want to know first. “As for the ring, I don't know. I've been a mess, unable to figure out what I'm feeling so it's currently a question mark ring.”

That felt like a familiar feeling as Eddie blinked. He had no clue why things would need salvaging from the trailer at all. “What happened?”

The explanation carried on through the kids arriving, Dustin trying to push the rings onto Eddie and being stopped by nurses not wanting the jewellery in the way, and plenty of interruptions and additions. It covered how the attack that had left him in an induced coma to heal had only partly succeeded and everything that had come after and ended with Steve pushing his hair back into place sighing, “Thankfully most of us decided against sleeping through it all. Vecna is gone now and we're just waiting for people to wake up and heal.”

“And get Steve to explain how he's worn a ring so long without us knowing.” Dustin insisted, glaring at said man.

Eddie grinned, shaking his head alongside Steve. “It's not the king's fault if his friends don't pay attention to him. After all, I'd never spoken to him before all of this and I knew about the rings.”

“Lies.” Robin called, appearing in the doorway. “You spoke to him precisely 7 times as I never served you when you came into Scoops.”

Steve tilted his head, thinking before he shook his head at her. “Nope. He just pointed and handed over the money. I spoke to him before it all, but not the reverse. Such an unsociable customer.”

“You couldn't get Eddie Munson to talk to you? That board needed more tallies under you suck.” Robin teased, coming over and smiling at Eddie. “How are you feeling?”

For a moment it was silent as Eddie didn't realise the Steve and Robin show had finished with a question to him. “Oh, I'm – Honestly I feel like I died and this is a bizarre form of purgatory. Could be hell from the pain levels but you're all being too nice for that.”

/\/\

Robin loved Steve's rings. She saw them as a small rebellion against his parents rigid views of gender as well as a good idea for someone who wasn't often allowed to express his emotions.

Even before she knew what they showed, back when they were just co-workers and former classmates, she paid attention to the rings and the ways Steve swapped them out. She knew the original set of 6 almost as well as she knew the ones she'd helped Steve find to replace them.

And she knew they definitely shouldn't be in Nancy Wheeler's jewellery box, still bagged with a label from the US government stating they had been goods confiscated by the Russians.

When she saw them it wasn't sensible to mention it. They were still dealing with Vecna and trying to find out more about him, but she remembered and once everything was over, and all that was left to do was healing, she wasn't going to stay silent any more.

“You know, Nancy, I've had a question for a while.” She stated, off hand, but laser focused on getting answers.

It was just her, Steve and Nancy for the moment so seemed like the best time to bring it up without anyone else interfering.

Nancy didn't seemed concerned either, just smiling. “Which is?”

“You never had anything to do with the Russians during the Starcourt fiasco, right?” Robin didn't immediately mention the rings, knowing just bringing up any of the events was likely to get the guard up of all of them.

Guarded eyes now looked at her, and beside her, Robin knew Steve was trying to catch her eye to silently ask what she was doing. “No. You know I was researching for the paper or with the kids basically the entire time.” Nancy agreed.

“Okay. So why, when we were trying to figure out info on Vecna, did I find a bag of items labelled as things the Russians had confiscated in your jewellery box?” Robin still didn't mention the rings, but knew Steve would immediately think of them.

After being given his keys back he'd tried asking about them but been told nothing else was found. Both of them had watched the government agent then go to talk to other members of their group but assumed that wasn't regarding any other items.

Nancy narrowed her eyes, but stood, going over to the jewellery box to get the bag. “Because the government agents said they'd found them and they seemed most likely to belong to me.”

Robin nodded, holding her hand out for the bag. “So little miss reporter got handed some items she knew definitely weren't hers and instead of say, asking any of the people who had actually been in the Russian base if they knew whose they were decided to keep them for herself and never question the origins?” She challenged, reaching out to take them when Nancy showed no sign of handing them over.

“I recognised them. I've tried remembering why I recognise them so I could return them.” Nancy insisted.

“Again, why didn't you just ask me, ask Steve, Dustin, Erica, if any of us knew who these rings belonged to?” Robin challenged, Steve's hand coming to rest palm up on her shoulder although he remained silently watching the scene.

Nancy glared, “Because I should know whose they are.” She snapped. “If I could just-”

“Pay more attention to the people around you, you'd know.” Steve interrupted when it looked like Nancy would go into a rant about her memory to try and justify not asking. “The reason you'd recognise these is I was always wearing one of them the entire time you knew me.” His voice was calm, but Robin could feel the tension in him, and a glance over at him showed his current rings had been swapped. She didn't think he'd go back to using the set she held even as she put the bag in his hand.

For a moment it looked like Nancy would scoff before she narrowed her eyes on Steve's hands, as if only just realising he still wore a ring. “But why would there be 6 of them?” She asked. “Only Eddie wears that many or more at a time.”

“Because I swap them out when I feel like it.” That wasn't the explanation Robin had received and she doubted the full one would be offered right now. “Thanks for returning them finally. I'm more annoyed that even when I asked specifically about the rings those agents didn't mention them to me at all.”

“Oh.” Nancy deflated as she realised Steve wasn't going to yell at her. She seemed not to notice Robin's gaze was still hard. “Yeah, sorry I didn't remember or, as Robin rightly said, ask whose they were earlier.”

At that Robin leant forward again, knowing her smile was colder than she'd normally direct at friends. “Please do ask if this happens in the future, because Steve shouldn't have had to replace his rings for you to delay solving a mystery this long.”

Nancy nodded, “I will. Are you two sure you aren't-?”

“Best friends and protective friends at that. You might be pretty but you aren't Stevie.” Robin reaffirmed, before sighing and trying to let her annoyance go. “Shall we put a film on or something?”

Steve hopped up, going to the stairs to listen for where Nancy's parents might be. “Probably not a film. I think Ted is still watching something, unless you're about to suggest going back to mine.”

“Funnily enough, Dingus, I was.” Robin agreed, also getting up. If she hadn't wanted to get him his rings back she'd have suggested going there to hang out from the start but now that was done she would happily swap hang out locations.

/\/\

Perhaps he'd just been young, but Steve had never thought he'd have to get more rings, after finding six of them. Emotions had seemed simple to him, nothing like the tumult he'd been going through and while six rings had stretched before now he was learning that getting more was necessary.

He didn't question how, in getting those original rings back, he knew that one already meant heartbreak and grief, while the rest weren't needed any more. It just seemed reasonable; an escalation of the swap from the ring saying everything is good to saying his world was crashing before he lost them, to now having its hopefully final meaning be grief.

Then there was Eddie's ring, the mixed feelings ring, or as Steve still thought of it, a question mark ring. He hadn't meant to claim it, but when taking the rings off so the hospital didn't dispose of them he hadn't been able to let it go, even to hand it to Dustin. He'd covered by swapping it out with the stressed ring and repeating that Eddie wanted him to wear a different ring.

Honour: A word Steve had only ever heard directed to him jokingly, but Eddie used for his ring being worn. It boggled his mind a bit to realise how sincere the other was being with him. A lot of things did when it came to Eddie, like the fact he'd called Steve a good person out of nowhere and without prompting. Most people just complained about or insulted who he used to be and when he tried talking with Robin about it she'd got mad at herself before repeating how good a person he was now. That hadn't helped his bewilderment, just added another cause for it.

“Dingus, why are you glaring at your rings and a notebook?” Robin asked, draping over his shoulder and bringing Steve's mind back into Family Video and the slow work day they were trying to keep busy through.

“I need more of them but don't want to go around with even more rings in my pocket. Or know how to label what feelings they'd be for.” He grumbled.

She leant closer, forcing Steve to bend with her so she could see the notebook better. “Yeah starting from scratch is dumb. Write what you have rings for already, Your terms not mine or anyone else's, and see what you think is missing after that. Then see which stand out as unlikely to be worn often. Those could live in your car or wallet or something instead of your pocket.” Saying this she moved to his side and laid the rings out on a clear page of the notebook.

As Steve considered the idea Robin wandered off to check on the only customer. It was a pretence he knew, but one he's grateful for, even as the biggest necessity in his list becomes evident.

There's nuance, and different rings for sadness, anger, confusion, embarrassment, heartbreak, but only 'good' and 'trying to see positives' for good emotions. Good was one he barely knew how to quantify now and 'trying to see positives' didn't actually feel good to wear. But Steve wasn't feeling constantly bad, he knew that. He felt hopeful, amused, warm, and loved; like these friends were a real family.

Plus the question mark ring was where good and bad emotions were fighting in him.

“Do you think Eddie will come ring shopping with us?” He called out, settling on the four emotions he needed new rings for and looking around the store for the first time in a while.

“I think I can fit that in, yes Stevie.” Eddie replied, leaning on the counter opposite him. Robin was stood beside him looking over at Steve in amusement.

He shifted a little, looking between them, expecting to get teased. “You've been here how long?”

“Couple minutes, was going to block the page to say hi but you looked so adorably focused.” Eddie shrugged. “Are these all your current ring meanings? You've still not told me-” The words broke off as he read the list, fingers tapping over empty spots noted for new rings

Robin had started snickering, needing no words to tease once Steve met her gaze, but stopped in confusion at Eddie's reaction. “Sure they are. He's decided he needs to show more emotions than that now.”

“Like more positive ones, you mean?” He asked, a sharp gaze stabbing at her. “Little Miss Platonic, why haven't you told him to get more or change all the meanings so he doesn't only have negative emotions to show sooner?”

“What?” The demand was when Steve realised their focus might be surrounding him but it didn't currently involve him. “When did those change?”

He blinked at them, seeing a tussle break out for the notebook and wondering what Robin meant as he glanced as the ring on his finger now, bronze, looking for positivity, then back to her. “They didn't?” He asked, trying to remember what he'd told her they meant. He'd probably described situations which made him change to each ring he was replacing after Starcourt since describing his feelings isn't easy without them. “What did you think they meant?”

Instead of saying anything she snatched the pen to start writing her understanding of the rings down, Eddie's eyes getting wider as he read them. “That's – That's some difference.”

“Did I explain when I'd swap to wearing them before?” Steve asked, unable to read upside down and just getting frowned at as Robin made it clear he had and she didn't like the meaning mix-up it had apparently caused. “You still know how to help anyway.” He tried to reassure, hoping to lessen the glare.

“Just how pissed should I be at Nancy?” Robin demanded instead, angrily gesturing to the embarrassment ring. “How much didn't you say when I thought you might date her again?”

Both Steve and Eddie stepped back from her anger as Steve frantically tried to remember what he'd used to explain that ring and how it involved Nancy. “You literally said you didn't need to know that story.”

“Apparently I do now if just her visiting your workplace has you feeling embarrassed enough to change rings over it.” Robin insisted. “So, story-time please Steve. What happened with Nancy Wheeler?”

/\/\

“Did you argue with Buckley?” Jonathan asked, sitting down beside Nancy and taking in the glare levelled at them.

She looked over as well but soon looked away. “The rings were Steve's. She found them but didn't seem this mad then.”

For a moment he just nodded, before straightening to look for Steve. “I didn't imagine the rings he used to wear then? I guess between you giving them back and now we've been spoken about. Makes sense I think.”

“What does?”

“Steve's best friend being pissed when he told her what happened between us three. I did wonder if she knew anything beyond the rumours.” He explained, waving when Steve emerged from the kitchen.

Nancy stared, trying to understand how Robin's anger came from that, even as she smiled at Steve coming over.

“You two okay? Your move back to Hawkins going well?” Steve asked, relaxed, a ring shaped into a shield on his hand.

“We're good, are you?” Jonathan asked, but carried on without pausing for a reply, “Realised that we never apologised for everything during that Halloween. I thought you'd broken up honestly, until Dustin said you were taking flowers to Nance when he asked for help.”

“I'm good and thank you. It's all history now and I'm pretty sure there was no coming back from that argument. I'm sorry for everything bad I did back then too. Some fault on both sides, I think.” Steve hurried to accept the apology but followed Nancy's gaze when she looked back over to Robin. “And Robs will calm down soon enough. She just got the meanings of some of my rings wrong and is mad about it.”

“What meanings do they have?” Nancy asked, glancing back at the ring he currently wore. “Eddie too? He did the hand hold thing too today.”

His nose scrunched but he looked amused, “Yeah but also no. That's cause Henderson tried using Robin's ring checking as evidence I'm dating her and Eds wants to see if he'll insist the same for someone else doing it. I'm preparing for anything Robin does to me to get copied or escalated for a while.”

“You're cool with that?” Jonathan challenged, looking shocked at the thought and Nancy could remember their fight from years back, wondering if that was why.

“Robin would kill me if I wasn't. Plus it means my empty home is a lot noisier with laughter now.” Steve mused. “Yeah, I'm pretty happy about Eddie's game.” As he finished speaking his hand dipped into his back pocket, a practised gesture that seemed absent enough to be unnoticeable as his ring was swapped out while he looked around the gathering. “I'd better check the kids aren't causing trouble over there.”

There was silence between them for a moment as he headed away. “So that's the first time I've actually seen that happen.” Jonathan eventually commented.

“No wonder. If he hadn't just mentioned his ring I'd have missed it.” She agreed, wondering why Steve would hide the gesture but do it so openly. It was more evidence that she hadn't known him as well as she thought.

/\/\

Dustin was getting frustrated. He'd thought it was a blatant lie when Robin said she was checking Steve's ring each time she took his hands upon greeting. Then he'd thought maybe it was valid but still an excuse after noticing them was what started calming Eddie down in the boat-shed.

Now Eddie kept waiting behind Robin as she checked Steve's rings, draping himself over the side of him left free when they watched movies. It was getting honestly difficult to get a hold of either of them separately and Dustin didn't trust it.

“Why are you leading Eddie on?” He accused one of the few times Steve picked him up without the other already in the car.

“I'm not, but thanks, really flattering view of me you have there.” Steve huffed.

Dustin narrowed his eyes, “You're straight Steve.” He stated as if he was being dumb. “Why are you accepting his flirting when you aren't into him? Are you going to hurt him?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “One, that's not for you to question for me. Neither of us are going to get hurt. Two, Eddie checked and keeps checking we both know where we stand in this. Three, thanks for winning me that bet.”

“Bet? What bet?” He demanded but they'd pulled up in the trailer park and Eddie was already climbing in.

He'd clearly heard the question and leaned over Steve's seat, pulling his hand up to check the ring while asking, “Yeah Stevie, what bet are you telling Dustin about?”

“One I won cause he got in telling me off for leading you on.” He smirked, taking his hand back to pull off again. “Seatbelt.”

“As if I wouldn't follow you anywhere, Big boy. Keep leading.” Eddie remarked flippantly before swatting at Dustin, “But talk about clouded vision, Shithead. So when Robin does it they're dating but I do it and I'm being led on.”

Dustin spluttered for a moment, but Steve's smirk got sharper, “So that's me and Robin one each, you none. Lucas could be anyone's but I think you have a shot at Mike.”

/\/\

Robin helped Steve find it, the final ring he’d buy for himself hopefully. She’d helped with everything else in his realisations since Eddie’s game began and was trying to make him share his feelings with Eddie now.

The ring had been both Steve’s way to delay that admission and his hope that Eddie would bring the conversation up for him. If only because he had no intention of advertising the feeling it meant at all.

It should have worked too, except he was never wearing the ring when Eddie first arrived, never able to get privacy when the change was noticed by the other and didn’t see how it could change with their kids all wanting attention constantly. He almost felt like his crush was doomed to silence and Robin’s teasing over it but refused to accept it, adapting instead. He started swapping rings when even slightly feeling besotted, hearing Dustin raving over something Eddie had done or a song reminding him of the other. Steve even started practising demanding private moments and dragging Robin off during her greetings, just waiting for Eddie to question this new ring.

“Is it my turn to ask for a private chat, big boy?” Eddie asked, finally seeing Steve’s latest ring worn as he arrived.

Everyone else was filing through the house to the kitchen or Steve’s pool and barely glanced their way as Steve tugged Eddie upstairs, blush only noticed by Robin as they went.

“You like my ring then?” He asked only after they were alone. It was partly to delay the admission, but mostly a genuine question. When looking for this ring he’d specifically wanted something that reminded him of Eddie’s rings and the coiled serpent design seemed fitting.

/\/\

Eddie for the first time in a while didn’t know what to say. He wanted to ramble about how much he liked it and wanted a similar one for himself; wanted to interrogate Steve on this new ring when he’d been resolute on pairing rings up if he found an emotion missing from their meanings in the future; wanted to ask if it was a way to get his attention.

It was mostly the last of the list actually, but that felt too vulnerable to say.

“It’s metal, but why? You said you didn’t want to get any more after our shopping spree.” He asked, holding back all the words trying to tumble out.

Steve fell backwards onto his bed, heaving a sigh and making Eddie wonder if he’d asked the wrong thing. “Because a crush isn’t as simple an emotion to indicate and I didn’t want you to make similar errors to Robin if I paired it up with other rings straight away.” He muttered to the ceiling.

Hope flickered to light where it had dimmed at the sigh. “A crush? On who?” There was a guess, especially with how Dustin had been distracted from his questions the week before, but he wanted to hear it for himself.

“You.” Steve said, rolling onto his side and watching Eddie as he stood just beside the door, never having moved since they came in.

He moved now, taking the hand and brushing his thumb over Steve’s ring. “That explains why you weren’t wearing it when I wasn’t around at first, but not why you’re wearing it now.”

“Will mentioned you earlier, some of the chats you’ve had with him over Mike.” He hummed.

“Your love for those kids is cute.” Eddie grinned, kneeling on the bed beside him. “It also doesn’t say what you want to happen now. You seem plenty happy with me copying how Robs treats you but are you wanting more than that?”

Everything in Eddie was screaming to just ask for more, or lean down and kiss Steve, or do something other than gently prying more details out from the gorgeous boy rolling around on the bed.

“Maybe you could kiss me too sometimes, see how we feel about going further when my house isn’t full of everybody else.” Steve smirked up at him, as if reading the desires on his face. “Oh and invitations to either your band practices or performances. I want those too. Who knows maybe the Corroded Coffin boys could just fit in with this chaotic family of ours over time.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asked, leaning so their lips were millimetres apart. “Want to join our families? You already thinking of marriage, big boy?”

Steve leant up for a small kiss, “Forever with you sounds like torturous bliss. Where do I sign up?”

“I think you already have.” They both grinned into the deep kiss Eddie pulled him into then.

[electrosquash]

This may sound stupid but how do I turn off blazeable on my blogs?

And how is this bad? Again, I don't wanna sound stupid or rude. Thank you for the heads up :]

Hi! No worries, you're not the only one with these questions.

On how to turn off the option to get blazed:

On desktop you can turn it off at this link: https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/#blaze It looks something like this

On mobile it's in the account settings menu, there's a lof of screenshots in the additions to my other post like here (i haven't updated since i got a funny little bug that lets me add polls in reblogs of other people's posts so i can't screenshot anything).

Alternatively you can also log into Tumblr in your phone's browser and use the link above there. Don't forget to do it on sideblogs that you don't want to get blazed as well! You can also change the settings per-post in the post menu. I've actually enabled it for my complaint post that's circulating because it would be really funny :D

On how it is bad:

With the way it is set up, people can blaze your posts without active consent. This can be used to bully people, by digging out old or not-adapted posts that were not meant for a wider audience and putting them on blast. This can include vent posts, opinions you might have changed since then, selfies, niche things many people might think are cringe (like 2014 self-insert omegaverse fanfics and the likes ... idk if you've seen the drama that resulted from someone blazing their fic, it wasn't pretty), posts that were only meant to circulate in your carefully curated audience, and more.

Since Blaze's are registered in many minds as advertisement many people will react negatively to them so this opens up a way to bully a lot of people. As usual, people of colour, trans people, and other vulnerable groups will get the worst of it, many are already getting deactivated regularly because of coordinated reporting harassment and since people donate hate organizations all the time they will definitely use the option to make the life of a person they're targeting living hell for 10$.

Staff thought of some safeguards but there are several fallacies:

The option to cancel a blaze before it goes live: Not everyone has access to the internet every day, and staff might accept the blaze while you're asleep / at work / on a trip / in the hospital / on hiatus. Then when you're coming back to tumblr your notes will have turned into a nightmare.

The guarantee that staff will check every Blaze manually to prevent harassment: Let's take the case in which someone's old fic get blazed against their will. How can staff know whether it was blazed with friendly intent (to promote a friend's work) or ill intent (to get people to point and laugh)? They can't as long as it's not against the Terms of Service. In general there will be many false positives (Blazes that get rejected by staff despite being innocent) and false negatives (Blazes that get accepted by staff despite being malicious). After all, the people working at tumblr are only human too. But in this case, false negatives will have devastating consequences - and extinguishing a blaze after it's live will be too late.

Many people don't follow @staff, so many people don't know about this change. In fact many people on that other post commented that they didn't know what Blazes are at all! I think i've read that they will add a login banner to tell you and check your settings, but iirc they had banners like that for the original Blaze function announcement so i don't have faith this will prevent anything.

I should clarify that i don't think the feature itself is bad at all, but it should be opt-in so only people who want to participate get blazed (e.g. art blogs). Or add an active mandatory confirmation by OP instead of a veto option, this would prevent the issues above as well, i think that would be the best option - that way people could leave the option on. I know staff are currently getting bombarded with support requests / flames (please be civil to them guys!) (also sorry. but not sorry. i didn't expect my post to blow up but also i think these are legitimately troubling concerns and i won't make the other post unrebloggable). They're aware of these issues so i hope they will change to one of these options - if they add active mandatory confirmation by OP i would enable to option globally as well (Hint hint this means more money for you, @tumblr, because otherwise many people have and will turn this feature off completely) A bit more time between announcement and go-live (4/20 iirc) would have been helpful as well.

Here's the original announcement by the way:

And since i'm gonna pin the post as long as the other post is circulating: Listen to goatbed guys!

[wifegideonnav]

I'm new to Tumblr. How do Tumblr users usually engage with each other?

well first of all welcome haha. the main ways to engage with people are:

liking and reblogging. platforms like instagram and tiktok run on likes and an algorithm, but on tumblr, people almost exclusively use their dashboard and turn off suggested content, so they’re only seeing what people actually reblog onto their dash. that’s why people on this site are so adamant about reblogs, because likes basically do nothing. i saw someone say once that anything you would like on a different social media, you should reblog on here, and i totally agree. and don’t worry about how old a post is, or about reblogging something you’ve previously reblogged. there are posts from 2014 that i regularly see on my dash a decade later, so literally don’t feel awkward, it’s 100% normal to engage with old posts.

tags. there are three main ways tags are used: labeling original content so people find it in searches, internal organization systems when reblogging or posting (for instance, many people have a tag for their original posts, and will tag reblogs by fandom or character or whatever - important note that reblogs do not show up in search results), and to make sotto voce comments on a post. it’s normal for people to make jokes, add their own commentary, ramble about something semi relevant, or say something to op in the tags on posts they reblog.

reblog additions. every time you reblog, you have the chance to add something to the post, which unlike tags will be retained when someone reblogs from you. a good rule of thumb is to comment instead of tagging when it’s something you actually want other people to engage with, as opposed to tags where you’re just kind of expressing yourself lol. don’t be surprised however if you see people’s tags getting screenshotted and added to a reblog. if this happens because the screenshotter likes what the tag writer said, it’s jokingly referred to as “passing peer review.” (and of course people screenshot tags to criticize or mock them as well.) essentially, tags are like being at a big group dinner and saying something to the person next to you as an aside, and then sometimes that person goes “hey everyone listen to this”

post comments. there’s also an option on every post (unless op has turned it off) for people to comment on the post itself, not on a specific reblog. mostly this is useful for talking to people on personal posts or posts with reblogs turned off. on a bigger post, just reblog it and put your thoughts in an addition or tag.

asks. seems like you figured this one out! lmao. asks are used for a wide variety of things, but essentially it can either be a prompt for someone to make a post or a way of having an interaction/conversation with someone without dming them.

dms. these work like dms everywhere else, except the functionality is limited and it kinda sucks.

games. there are also many varieties of games that people play with each other, ranging from ask games (things like “rec me some music” or a post with prompts and people send you some from that list), tag games (typically there are questions you answer then you tag other people to fill them out for themselves) handwriting tags, follow chains, giveaways, name/url playlists, and more. with the addition of polls, brackets have gotten popular too (eg the tumblr sexyman bracket). there also used to be a lot of in-character ask blogs, where a user would set up a blog and roleplay as a specific character that people could send questions to (there still are some but way fewer and way less popular than there used to be)

to be honest i feel like i have to put “discourse” and “drama” on this list too. people on this site loveeee having the most insane arguments of all time and then everyone else memes the hell out of it. google “sonic for real justice” for an example lmao. (of course there’s also very unfunny political and fandom discourse that goes on as well. i would advise you to avoid discourse blogs as a general rule regardless of whether you agree with their position or not)

tagging people. you can also @ people in posts you think they’d like or if you feel like they have relevant input. typically this is something you would do either to people you’ve spoken to before, or a big blog with an established persona and rapport with their followers (eg if you follow a blog about snakes and you see a random post with snake info that seems wrong but you’re not sure, so you tag them to ask for their expertise).

and this isn’t a specific “mode” of communication but it’s also a thing to “interpret” (for lack of a better word) other people’s posts. for instance, people drawing a photo from the original post (i cant find it but there was a post going around recently where op posted an aesthetic photo of an egg cooking and then several people painted it), or people trying/recreating something a post was about (example). it was also a thing for a minute there where people would rewrite funny exchanges as shakespearean dialogue

those are all the ways i can think of, although im sure i’ve missed some (if other people think of any pls add on!). good luck, and i hope you’re able to meet some cool people!

[usoud-tournament]

Welcome To The Tournament!

This blog is exclusively to run the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny Tournament based on Lemon Demon's song sharing the same name! This post is to straighten out the rules and details to hopefully avoid too many questions.

How the bracket order was picked out:

I did my best to do the pairings based on the order which the character first appears in the song. All of the characters in the song are fighting against each other in the first round with the exception of Monty Python's Black Knight, as we're having a mini-round with him in order to let the two Gandalfs duke it while still keeping the number of brackets enough to make sure everyone has a match. The other exception is Mr. Rogers, as he won in the original song, and I am putting him in the third round to give some other fighters a chance to fight without his interference with the polls.

How the character versions were picked out:

I knew that there would be fights and questions with many of these characters if I left what version was fighting ambiguous, so I looked around for the most well-known versions of these characters, favoring the versions which are most popular in their respective fandoms. Believe it or not, I'm not in every fandom ever, so I apologize if you don't agree with my picks. Similarly, the strengths and weaknesses are gotten from the specific version's character Fandom Wikipedia page. I apologize if I got any strengths and weaknesses wrong. The exception to this 'only one version of the characters' rule is the Power Rangers, as the song specifies "Every Single Power Ranger" Therefore I did not want to exclude any versions. I got the help of a friend to understand the Power Rangers MO and try to balance their strengths and weaknesses to make sure they didn't roll over everyone else in this tournament.

What age are they?

Some of these characters are still living or quite old, and some characters' ages fluctuate throughout their media. Because of this, I am making a blanket statement that all of these characters are fighting during the prime of their careers.

Where are they?

Based on the opening line of the song, all of the characters will be fighting in Tokyo City Earth, they are allowed to leave this starting location as much as they are able.

Motivation?

There is no specific motivation for all of these characters, other than they were placed in Tokyo and have sufficient incentive to fight each other. For example, Superman could think that his opponent is a threat to Earth, Terminator could think his opponent is trying to stop his mission to kill Sarah, etc. However, characters with moral backbones will still follow their moral codes, and a character wins a fight if either A. They kill the other character or B. They convince the other character to not fight.

Poll Logistics

I know it will be impossible to make these fights truly unbiased, but I want for as many people as possible, for them to vote based on who they think would win in a fight, not who they like most. Otherwise, the final results will be based on who has the biggest fandom. What I want from this tournament is silly arguments about how these characters would fight each other, not a survey on who people like more. Every poll will last a day and each round will happen with every pairing going up against each other in the same day. However, the next round may not happen immediately after the last one. I'll try my best to be on top of it, communicate if and when the next round will be, etc. But I'm just a humble college student and I don't want to make this tournament a part-time job

Bias

I am not in all of these fandoms, but I am in some, and I also want to engage with people in the comments. However, I do not want to skew results. So I am not going to reblog posts encouraging people to vote for one character or the other, but if any cool fanart comes out I will be reblogging that. I will also be chatting with people in the notes, but not reblogging anyone to chat so it doesn't show up on the blog page.

Finally, every poll will be tagged with the characters in them, which means this poll will be showing up in a lot of different fandoms. It is not my intention to annoy people by popping up in their feeds when they just want to look at fanart or fan posts. Therefore I'm tagging every post of mine #USOUD Tournament and #Ultimate Showdown of ultimate destiny. If you don't want to see me ever again, block those tags.

Happy fighting!

[houseofbrat]

Submission: Continuing Questions Regarding the Wales

Brat:  If this is too long, just delete.

I am at the point where I’m wondering if William is having a mental crisis of some sort. Even if he’s not doing the ribbon cutting (that apparently he despises), there could be daily updates from KP. William, The Prince of Wales, met with blahblahblah this afternoon to discuss blahblahblah, etc., etc. As it is, there is almost radio silence. You know what? William should be doing DOUBLE the workload to make up for Catherine’s absence. Apparently, that never occurred to him. What IS the man doing with his time? The kids are in school. His wife is under the care of the most competent doctors in the UK. I will remind the Wales fandom that although the Queen was mum about her medical condition–even as it was obvious that she was battling something that was obviously fatal–she continued to WORK. She quietly shuffled off a bunch of duties to her son, the current King, but she was still visually present. I think there has been a serious breach between Charles and William, along the lines of Charles and Harry. Maybe it’s because of Harry. But not actively supporting his father during the King’s medical journey is unacceptable. (As far as I can tell, he’s made ONE comment, and that was on February 8, and it was also a twofer, mentioning his wife first). While the King is undergoing “real” chemo, the Queen and other family members picked up the slack. William did not assume his father’s duties that we can see. I find it *shameful* that William has just enough bandwidth to make rare comments about his wife but is essentially absent in supporting his father’s cancer journey as well. In fact, we can’t see much of what he IS doing.

Also, I find this chatter about Adelaide Cottage rather interesting, because I think the original move was a PR push to pad the fiction that they are just like you and me, except they are royal. Now we hear that they are, um, renovating an annex because, hello, it’s too small. No shit. I guess the push to shove Andy out of the Lodge failed, and how they are stuck with Adelaide for the near future. One look at Amner Hall will immediately dispel the fiction that they don’t have a battery of help to manage their lives. They ARE royalty. William isn’t out in Norfolk mowing the grass and clipping the hedges on Saturday mornings. This place has TEN bedrooms. Are we honestly supposed to believe that they are roaming around in this enormous mansion by their lonesome, dusting, cooking, and sweeping? I don’t think so. Do I think that Catherine is responsible and probably makes the kids make their own beds every day? Yes, I do. Do I think she’s making three meals a day? No, I don’t. If I remember correctly, Anmer Hall has two kitchens. Does Catherine muck about with the kids in the kitchen making brownies on Saturday afternoons? Sure. Is she putting forth meals every night? Not bloody likely. Again, they have a battery of staff at their disposal no matter if some fans think that Wills is washing up every night after Catherine throws together some mac and cheese at the last minute. Someone who can spend over $72,000 on clothes and accessories for ONE YEAR is not putting dinner on the table every night. Get real, people!

It would improve William’s image if he did events WITH his father. And, yes, I know the polls are showing that William and Catherine have the highest approval rating. Let’s look at those stats in a year. It didn’t take very long for the Harkles to plunge to the bottom. I don’t think that Catherine will ever hit any true lows because there is a genuine quality about her that is transcendent. She truly connects with the public, and the camera doesn’t lie (take notes, Meghan). But William seems to be using ANY excuse not to do his job (and I am serious about this; it is his *job* to be The Prince of Wales) that will, over time, deplete all that goodwill generated by Catherine’s illness. I think he’s using Catherine’s illness to shun his duties. Or not. We don’t know! I for one am not swayed by the story that William can’t do anything because of Catherine’s medical regimen. If it’s THAT serious, then it’s full-blown Stage 4 cancer. If it’s not, then what in the hell is the man doing with his time?

Out of sight, out of mind. Royalty is a visual exercise, otherwise the rabble starts to yell louder. Why are they living in these castles and spending 100,000 pounds on clothes and taking ten vacations a year and we never see them? The concept of the divine right of kings doesn’t work except in the minds of people like Andrew and Harry. It’s privilege on steroids. The one thing that the Wales fandom consistently ignores is that Charles has a tremendous sense of duty. He understands or believes that this is a gift from God. His mother believed the same. Perhaps you have to be religious–which both the King and his mother are/were–to have that sense of God’s gift and it’s accompaning responsibilities. I don’t know if William is religious, but if Charles can get his ass out there looking like shit (AS DID THE QUEEN!), then why in the hell can’t William and, yes, Catherine do the same? Unless we are being lied to about Catherine’s condition.

I continue to question this situation because it remains, IMO, murky and disingenuous. And I think all these journalists who questioned the information coming out of KP were entirely correct. It was a clusterfuck of a PR nightmare. Should they have spread those vile rumors? Of course not. But William and the KP media team are entirely to blame for the CONTINUED smoke screen shadowing William and Catherine, except now journalists feel guilty because they were shamed by her video appearance. I’m not shamed. I continue to have serious questions about what in the hell is going on with these two even as I wish Catherine and her children the best.

—————————

Oh, I’m definitely publishing this because these are some of the same thoughts I have had since the beginning of this year.

To me, the biggest clue that Kate isn’t as sick with CANCER! as Kensington Palace and everyone else believes is the honor she was awarded yesterday–Companion of Honour.

William only got Grand Master of the Order of Bath because he HAS to be given it as heir to the throne. Believe me, if Charles could give William the same honor he awarded Kate yesterday, he would. Without question. A thousand times over. 

Because if Kate was even remotely close to dying or seriously suffering with Stage 4 cancer, they would have given her The Garter because it would be befitting on death for her position and popularity. The fact that they didn’t is clue number one. Clue number two is that Charles clearly has no intention of giving her The Order of St. John, which she could easily be given three or four years from now after a few more public engagements with cancer charities & etc. Maybe she still will but I highly doubt it. Because honors like this aren’t given out every year or even every other year. She’s clearly not going to get anything else for a minimum of five years. 

And I side-eye the entire Wales/Cambridge fandom for whining about Sophie very likely getting The Garter long before Kate will. Ed & Sophie have been doing Will & Kate’s job for more than ten years. Ed & Sophie have been attending the foreign weddings and engagements that Will & Kate should have been attending a long time ago, as their preparation for being on the throne. Of course Sophie is going to get The Garter before Kate. Sophie has been and still is doing Kate’s job for her! Of course Sophie deserves to get The Garter before Kate.  

But, yes, this entire situation is very suspicious. The timelines of events don’t match up to the story KP & Will & Kate have been spinning from the very beginning. That mysterious hospital convoy from 28 December…well, we still have no clarity on that. We might not get any real details on that until a few years down the road, I guess.

[good-beans]

hi beans!!! I saw your tags on my poll and I have to ask... Murder Swap AU for milgram??? 👀👀👀👀

I am very intrigued and I don't know if you've mentioned it somewhere before but I'd love to learn more about it if that's okay!! 💜

(also random side note thank u for ur lovely comments about my ocs they make me smile so much awawaaa okay bye--)

Ahhh yes!! ☺️Thanks for asking wahh, I didn't realize people would be curious ;-; Unfortunately it's not any kind of fully fleshed out au story or anything, just something that I have one post about and personally bounce around in my head a lot. It's a fun character exercise for me, seeing what's core to a character, what's a core to a crime, and the similarities/differences between the prisoners. It was supposed to have fun art for it, but somebody keeps putting it off *gives myself a pointed look*

The original post is here, though this has nudged me to make some updates! With their new videos, I now know more to modify Shidou/Mahiru's. It was necessary because of the ages, but I wasn't satisfied with Kotoko's, so I gave her another one here. And Kazui/Haruka's changed now that I have a clearer idea of Kazui's crime. (I know Cat isn't out yet but when I wrote the first post I thought Kazui's murder had been neglect-based -- he left his wife in the path of danger and wasn't there to help because they'd drifted apart. Now that I've looked deeper into his story I see it's different...)

Doctor Mahiru is very much the same, except this time she did start her family with her boyfriend/now husband -- she has the older daughter and younger son she always dreamed of. They're like a picture out of a magazine, or her romance novels. The perfect happy family. And then the accident strikes, and she has sixteen days to make a choice to save one of them by sacrificing another. She was also taking organs from patients prior to this, but saw everything through her painfully optimistic lens. She was saving lives. She was the perfect mother, perfect wife, perfect doctor. It isn't until she does the same to her own family that she realizes what a horrible act she's been committing.

Shidou is deeply and madly in love with his girlfriend he met when moving to the city, but he still has a tendency for deception and distraction. (He mentions in one of his questions that his wife takes charge with a lot of the care at home and he relies on her) in the au, he'd be equally reliant on her but always painting things perfectly. He twists truths and hides mistakes to convince her everything is perfect, even though she's struggling with her own pain and seeing the cracks in their relationship. He hears her mention suicidal thoughts, but buries them -- and any trace of negativity -- with grand stretched truths of how perfect everything is. He ignores the signs until it's too late.

(Half the fun is the aesthetic swapping, but I realized that Shidou's also works if he was still a doctor lol. He's so caught up in monitoring her physical health every time she complains of struggling, but doesn't take into account her mental strain. He treats her like a patient, only looking at physical symptoms, misleading her and himself about the reality of her emotions)

So yeah, I originally needed Kotoko to swap with Yuno since the other girls are too young (and Mahiru was already taken). Still, it felt weird removing her drive for justice, especially seeing how Harrow/Deep Cover hints that she lives for this purpose alone. I realized she could be cool to swap with Shidou -- and she protects the weak by saving everyone no matter the cost. She believes in her heart that the ends justify the means every time. She will be the fang for those who can't advocate for themselves, that's justice to her. I've seen some theories about lost family members as the wolves in her mv, so it would be those people in her "pack" that she kills/saves to make her second guess her work.

Haruka always had trouble expressing his emotions. Though his parents weren't outright abusive, they didn't know how to deal with any neurodivergence in their children, and couldn't help him when he had trouble communicating. They force him to take up theater in school to help him open up, but it only makes him better at acting and hiding his true self. He's awkward and shy, but found that lying could save him from many unwanted circumstances. He constantly lies to his sister as he grows more distant from his family. She discovers the shocking truth to one of these, leading to an emotional confrontation. After so much time bottling himself up, hiding behind masks, the only way he manages to communicate is in an explosive way, and the accident ensues.

And okay, I said it jokingly at first, but I actually think it'd work if Es and Jackalope swapped. The knowledgeable voice of the project is calm and serious. Es remains mysterious, and tells us to take our duty very seriously. But of course we haven't 100% done that -- an anime's fandom is definitely better portrayed by the cheeky rabbit willing to make judgements for whatever personal reasons come to mind first

[mightyflamethrower]

Democrat President Joe Biden, who is 81 years old, had yet another strange moment on the campaign trail in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, on Friday, one that went viral with multiple different interpretations of what he said taking over the internet.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) originally posted a video of Biden sounding like he said to a coffee shop clerk: “My name is Joe Biden, and I work for the government in the Senate.”

But the Associated Press’s report on the moment says that Biden said: “My name is Joe Biden, and I work for the governor and the senator.”

Biden was appearing alongside Pennyslvania’s Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) at Nowhere Coffee Co.

Shortly after the clip went viral, the RNC deleted its clip. But the video is still available here:

Some reporters have noted that the RNC delated the post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, because the text of its post and the version of the comments the AP reported were different:

But whichever version of what Biden said is the truth, either way the moment is strange and even further highlights Biden’s mental state as his aides seek to downplay his octogenarian demeanor heading into the 2024 election.

As he left the coffee shop, Biden remembered his birthplace 90 minutes away. “By the way, we’re almost in heaven, we’re almost in Scranton,” he said.

Aides in recent months pleaded with Biden to make a “series of subtle shifts” to show “he still has the vigor to serve another term,” multiple people familiar with the conversations told NBC News on Friday. The shift in tactics reportedly includes speaking informally, unannounced campaign stops, more social media posts, and fewer neckties.

It is unclear if Biden’s strategy will convince voters of his mental vigor. When Biden delivers speeches, he often mumbles. When he finishes remarks, he often appears to wander off stage. Cameras catch the imagery. It goes viral on social media.

Oftentimes, Biden finds it difficult to stay upright. He tripped, tumbled, and stumbled at least five times in public view in 2023.

Polling shows Americans question Biden’s physical and mental abilities:

A majority of Democrats are “concerned” about Biden’s abilities

55 percent say Biden’s health and age “severely” limit his ability to do the job.

Registered voters have “major” concern about Biden’s age and health.

[kpoptradingguide]

How to use Tumblr! A general guide for the kpop bst community

Okay so chances are many people migrating to Tumblr from other bst platforms have never used Tumblr before, so here are some basics

This guide will only cover basics, using the app as a reference point. Features that are different on desktop exist so keep that in mind

How to make a post

The bottom bar has a few buttons. From left to right that is:

Aa: change style of typing. You can switch between 3 sizes, a few fonts, bulletin points, numbered list, and text that's "tabbed forward".

Link input

Gif input

Image/video input

Audio input (spotify and soundcloud are supported)

Polls

"read more" selection

The 2 people: community settings. Here you can set your post as NSFW. I doubt you'll ever need it in the trading community, but you never know.

Once you've written your post you can post it in multiple ways

If you click on the menu there will be a few options: (mine are in Dutch do bare with me for a second as I translate)

The first 5 are a selection on how to post

Post immediately

Add to queue

Plan specific date and time to post

Save as draft

Post privately (only you can see it)

Once you choose one of these 5, the button that was originally used to post immediately will change to whatever option you selected.

Below that you can also choose who is allowed to reblog your posts, who can Blaze is (blaze means paying so it shows up on random people's feed like an ad), and lastly mention a source in the form of a link. These mostly won't be useful for you here.

How to navigate the app

You made your posts, now you wanna see those by other people.

Below you see me using the search function. When looking up Loona, you can see it is possible to filter your results. Here I can choose to sort by popularity, or MOST RECENT! God I missed this, Instagram take notes

You can also choose what types of posts you want to see, and if you search by popularity you can also choose most popular of all time, most popular in the last year, month, week, day, ect.

In the bottom bar (below the tags) you can click Blaze if you want to pay to advertise a post. Below that you can click notes to see who liked/reblogged a post, the arrow to share it, the speech bubble to comment, the 2 arrows to reblog, and then like.

This is the VERY basic of Tumblr!

Feel free to comment questions if you have any. I'd love to help people out in understanding this app so our community can use it as best as possible.

[chronicbeans]

Iolite Hospital Feedback!

Since I have started posting some little Tales from the Iolite Hospital short stories (more like concepts, but that is besides the point), I have been loving the feedback! I'm happy that some people seem to love the idea and characters, so far!

I do have a question, however. Since those stories are more like concepts, and not the entirety of my view for the project, I would like some input for my project from the audience. My plan is to either make a web comic or web animation series once I get access to more equipment to make that possible (like an electronic drawing pad and a good computer, etc.). One part of this series has been puzzling me, however, when it comes to the execution.

I cannot tell whether or not I want to have the series be mainly a day-to-day life series, or mainly focused on the mystery surrounding the hospital. I am sure that it will end up being a mix of both, but I don't know which is better to have on the forefront.

See, the day to day life of the characters dealing with their environment and conditions is something I would love to put at the forefront. That is a big part of each character's life, since they have to work to overcome their struggles in order to be more comfortable with themselves as people and realize that they are more than their conditions. So, if it were mainly a day-to-day series, they would slowly figure out the mysteries. I also like the idea of having the series mainly focused on the mystery, but I am unsure of how I would go about it.

If anybody has any input they would like to share, you can leave them in the comments! I would make a poll, but I don't want to make it feel like anybody is on a time limit or that they are restricted to these two ideas! I am willing to hear whatever y'all have to say, since hearing from the audience is always a good idea!

As an extra add-on to this post, I remember someone asking if I have a Kofi, which I currently don't. So, if y'all think it would be a good idea for me to get a Kofi at some point, let me know. Just note that, if I do eventually make one, it would mainly be for my Iolite Hospital project, since I do not feel comfortable accepting donations for just writing fanfiction and such. If I make a profit off of donations, I would like for it to be for my own, original work, and not something mainly based off of a preexisting property.

[sillylotrpolls]

Well, this got popular. XD Lots of interesting things to say about this poll, so buckle in for a longer-than-usual results post.

Character Trends

Much as I want to properly analyze all the notes and make a lovely spreadsheet so I can see exactly how many of you monsterfuckers picked "fuck" for the Watcher in the Water, I am unfortunately constrained by personal limitations (a job, thyroid issues, re-reading all of One Piece, etc). Still, there were noticeable trends.

Many people judged on names alone. This did not work out well for Shagrat, but actually is in keeping with Tolkien's whole linguistics thing. Come to think of it, naming a baby elf must be absolutely agonizing. No wonder Elrond just gave up and named one of his kids "Elf-man."

On the other hand, even though many of the names were unknown to spinners, quite a few people looked up their character before choosing and wrote about their journey of discovery in the notes. This made me very happy. ♥

If you got a "good" character with whom sex would be dubious (an ent, the bird), you almost certainly picked "marry" and then commented about the wonderful new mode of transportation available to you.

If you got Merry, you almost certainly made a "marry Merry" joke. As it happens, there is a song about this.

The phrase "lavender marriage" is much better known on tumblr than I thought, and for some reason was used almost exclusively to describe an arrangement with Bilbo.

Many, many people were concerned about breaking up canonical relationships. I knew enough to specify in the notes not to worry about LaCE; it did not occur to me to explain that FMK is simply a game about how shaggable you find other people played when you don't feel like truth or dare.

Speaking of, quite a few people also upset there was no "just friends" option. It's FMK. "Friends" is literally never an option (especially because the game is usually about three people of the opposite sex; heaven forfend you do something so unmanly as suggest friendship with a woman) (no I do not wish to get into the heteronormativity of FMK at this time).

If you killed the Witch King, you made an "I am no man" joke. However, quite a few people still married or fucked the Witch King.

Quite a few people married not for love but for property. Fair enough.

Gender mostly wasn't an issue, which I thought was nice.

A lot more people married or fucked the spider than I anticipated. Still, Shelob generally prompted instant "kill" responses.

Also more not-killed than I expected: The King of the Dead.

It was occasionally difficult to discern a tag of #fuck as being "I picked fuck" vs "fuck I hate that I got this character."

All the characters that you would expect to be popular marriage material were, but anyone who got Eowyn was especially thrilled.

And finally, regardless of character or choice, a lot of notes were pretty funny.

Feel free to reblog with your own observations; this is but a paltry sample of notes.

Going (Semi-)Viral

First, I once again want to emphasize that I did not originate the concept for the "FMK Wheel." @pollsnatural has been using the Wheel of Names for polls for some time now, and I just happened to see one because @the-villainsandheroes occasionally inflicts my dash with Supernatural content even in this, the year of our lord 2024.

However, there's no question that between their poll and mine (both posted on June 3), FMK wheels took off. Like, seriously took off.

See for yourself

In hindsight, it's obvious why. In no particular order:

Spinning a wheel is fun.

Poll posts are short and easy to comprehend.

Everyone loves a "what would you do?" scenario.

"Fuck" option provides a bit of titillation.

Uncontroversial content (for tumblr) that everyone can enjoy.

Plus, depending on what you spin and your personal preferences, spinning the wheel elicits one of the following reactions:

Delight

Outrage

Sexy thoughts

Utter confusion

Hilarity

All of these are likely to inspire a comment or reblog, which causes the poll to be seen by even more people, and the cycle repeats.

HOWEVER.

The poll didn't remain popular forever. Much like a forest fire, it burned hot and fast, but within a few days pretty much everyone who was going to see and reblog the poll already had. In the last three days of the poll, it picked up less than a thousand votes a day (utterly paltry compared to days one and two).

Changes over time

The spread of votes for this poll changed greatly as it was reblogged. Unfortunately, it did not occur to me to take screenshots as I had no idea just how drastically it would do so. Instead, I have created some lovely artist's renditions for you.

Very early on, when the poll was only seen by terminally online followers of this blog and people who follow or frequently check the #lotr tag, "fuck" and "marry" were running just about even, with "kill" a distant third and basically no "but..." votes.

A little later, as more followers and tag-checkers had a chance to vote and the poll was spreading a bit, "marry" had a very large lead while "fuck" and "kill" were about even.

The poll then went semi-viral, and as it did the "kill" and "but..." options began creeping up largely at the expense of "marry."

This is almost certainly due to votes from people who didn't know the characters but who wanted to play the game and vote anyway.

To be fair, I generally wouldn't want to fuck or marry a stranger either.

Had it occurred to me, I might have included an option like "I don't know the character I got and don't want to look them up" but where's the fun in that? And it's not like FMK has ever been a game with objectively correct answers.

But, if you are ever running a poll and want to target a specific demographic, you should really consider adding an option for people who want to click a button even if they're not who the poll is "meant for." You can't fight human nature, so embrace it instead (and also get some extra data about who your poll is reaching).

Comparisons between fandoms

I initially entertained dreams of doing some data analysis comparing the ratios for various fandoms (aren't you interested in which fandom has the most fuckable characters?), but the number of FMK wheel polls quickly became overwhelming. Combined with my ever-fluctuating energy levels and a busy period at work, well. Still, I can't resist comparing just a little, so here we have a very small sample set to compare.

Links: Baldur's Gate 3, Dungeon Meshi, Shakespeare, Ace Attorney

These ratios are all pretty different! And if you keep digging in the polls, some are even more unbalanced than these.

Why? Most obviously, in most wheels, a main character is given the exact same weight (that is, chance of being spun) as a background character with one line. (For a weighted example, see this LazyTown poll.)

I don't think anyone would say Ace Attorney doesn't have marriageable characters; it's just that it has so many side characters and villains who are, shall we say, undesirable.

If you do any cross-poll analysis yourself, I would love to see it. (paging @poll-stats ...?) Drop a link, reblog this post with a comment, @ me, whatever. Same goes if you create a masterpost attempting to index all of the polls or whatever. I live for stuff like this.

In Conclusion

This was very fun! And if you enjoy this kind of analysis, stick around; it's kind of what I do here. But if my posts don't go (semi-)viral again for a month or two, that'll be quite alright with me.

Before voting, spin the wheel and get a Lord of the Rings character.

Not sure who your character is? You can look them up on this Tolkien Gateway character list, or just vote based on vibes.

For the purposes of the game, assume your vote is not "LaCE compliant." (That is, fucking an elf does not instantly mean marriage or death for that elf.)

Poll concept from @pollsnatural.

[esoutherngolf]

Kiva Dunes: A Gorgeous Gulfside Golf Getaway

Very few people would disagree that Alabama is the home of genuine Southern hospitality, delicious shrimp & grits, and many of today’s most talented college football players.  Believe it or not, Alabama is also firmly entrenched as one of the world’s premier golf destinations – 12 months a year.  If you question Alabama’s status on golf’s popularity poll, please visit the state – sooner than later.  One of Alabama’s must-play golf destinations is Kiva Dunes, which is located in Gulf Shores, Alabama, perched along the banks of the Gulf of Mexico.  While the Gulf of Mexico is not visible from the golf course, golfers will feel the winds off the nearby Gulf.  Those winds are at the core of the Kiva Dunes golf experience, as they are Kiva’s greatest defense, as are many of its undulating greens. Designed by 1976 U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate, Kiva Dunes is one of Pate’s finest creations.  At Kiva Dunes, when you try it, you won’t just like it -- you’ll actually love it.  Since the course opened for play in 1995, Kiva Dunes has quickly established itself as one of Alabama’s finest golf courses, alongside FarmLinks at Purcell Farms in Sylacauga; Steelwood Country Club (another Pate design) in Loxley; and Ross Bridge, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail course in Hoover, located near Birmingham. In addition to Kiva Dunes being an awesome place for golf, it also has world-class accommodations and dining options.  In other words, the Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Resort offers guests the ‘full enchilada’ of amenities – golf, salt water pool, hot tub, beach access, and the chance to eat every meal at the Kiva Grill.  Believe it or not, the Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Resort is Alabama’s only golf resort along the Gulf of Mexico.  So, if you, your friends, and your family want to combine golf with beach time in Alabama, the Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Resort is your only choice.  And it’s a great choice! In 2015, the ownership at Kiva Dunes decided it was time for a facelift.  The goal was to transform a great golf course into a spectacular seaside spectacle.  In order to maintain the integrity of the original design, Pate was involved in the process. Kiva Dunes: The course is a superb links-style golf course and has a distinctive blend of signature par 3's, challenging par 4's, and risk/reward par 5's. According to Mark Stillings, Director of Golf & Real Estate Sales Associate at Kiva Dunes, the renovation process had three objectives:  redesign the bunkers to make them more player-friendly, level the tee boxes, and replace the greens.  By November 2015, that mission had been accomplished.  Since then, Kiva Dunes has been open for business – looking better than ever.  And it still does! The sand bunkers have been rebuilt, the tee boxes have been squared and flattened, and the greens now feature Tifeagle turf. “For the first 20 years, our most negative comments were on the bunkers,” adds Stillings.  “For the mid to high handicapper, the bunkers were too tough with too many plugged lies.  And, we weren’t happy with the grass on the greens so they were completely replaced.  But, we maintained the original contours.” Also, the fairways were roto-tillered, where the organic matter beneath the fairways was removed in order to create a stronger turf with more consistent fairway lies.  Another big change was the removal of natural vegetative growth that had accumulated at the base of the trees and shrubs that border the fairways. “We raised the canopy by removing much of the scrub oak along the ground,” notes Stillings.  “It was becoming a bottleneck issue in some parts of the course.” This helped on holes where right-handed golfers pushed or sliced their tee shots to the right.  Instead of tee shots being lost in the overgrown flora, golfers were finding their tee shots which helped with player morale and the pace of play. “Overall, our course renovations have improved the pace of play by 20-30 minutes a round,” says Stillings. From a strategic perspective, the five key holes to focus on are the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th holes.  Within that stretch, you’ll play two par 3s, a pair of back-to-back par 5s, and a par 4 that can play short or long, depending on whether or not there’s a prevailing breeze out of the Southeast.  This sequence of holes will be your best chance to secure birdies. When playing from the white tees, the 1st, 4th, 10th, and 11th holes are short par 4s, which can be played in many different ways, adding to the appeal of the Kiva Dunes golf experience. At Kiva Dunes, the fairways have a more generous landing space than it appears from the tee boxes.  The greens are firm, fast, and true.  The extended closely-mown fringes around the greens give you many pitching, chipping, and putting options.  Water comes into play on seven of the holes, including the last three holes.  Make sure you bring your ‘A’ game tee-shot-swing to the par-3 17th.  At the 17th, a par three is an impressive score, especially when the pin is in the back part of the green. The proximity of the 1st tee from the driving range allows golfers extra time to fine-tune their swing until the starter calls their names.  And the breeze off the nearby Gulf of Mexico provides a cooling effect under the year-round sunshine. When Kiva Dunes opened for play in 1995, Golf Digest honored the course by ranking it as one of the top two public golf courses to open that year.  Now that the course has experienced a facelift, it’s an even more attractive venue.  Personally, I nominate Kiva Dunes for “Best Course To Play on Your Next Trip To Alabama.”  And, if you take the time to enjoy the Southern hospitality, eat the shrimp & grits, and watch some college football, all the better. For more information, please visit kivadunes.com or 1-888-TEE-KIVA. Read the full article

[yeonchi]

The Liamasterink (and friends) Fact Check

In this current year era of woke leftist mainstream media, fact-checking has become a way for people of influence to combat misinformation or cover up their lies. This post is one of those, albeit given how Sea Princesses is a niche series, fact checking things about this series isn't as controversial compared to broader subjects.

Liamasterink has recently taken to posting Sea Princesses theories to his YouTube Community page, which I practically follow daily. I noticed he's been saying some things that are not quite accurate, and rather than fact-check him in the comments (because his fans predominantly speak Spanish, the names on my YouTube accounts don't match my online identity and Liam makes so many Community posts that I can't scroll any further than a month ago for some reason), I'll be fact-checking him through posts like this on Tumblr.

How I trolled the Sea Princesses renaissance

This one's more recent than the topics I'll be covering after this, but I just had to share this first.

In my reviews of the second and third Combo Rangers reboot graphic novels, there is a storyline skit at the beginning and end of each of them titled The Interdimensional Café, and one of the plot points involved Hiroki, Sougo and Polvina fighting Polvina clones in my universe. Out of the clones are five distinct types; two of them are the regular Polvina from the animated series and the books, while the other three are the sexy variant, the zombie variant and the Lula/Bernie Sanders/Daniel Andrews variant.

Presumably from a fan finding these and sending them to him, Liam has posted the sexy and zombie Polvina variants as community posts and I have to say, it was amusing to read the reactions from his fans, ranging from "Oh no, what did they do to you?" to "How disturbing". It's honestly telling that people were actually commenting that the artist who drew the sexy Polvina was "sick" for drawing such fanart of a 7 year old girl. God, you're all a bunch of fucking prudes. It's clear that media like the movie Cuties has radicalised people against the sexualisation of children, but this is a drawing we are talking about and I think people are overreacting about this because no real children have been harmed (directly) because of a raunchy drawing of a fictional character. But whatever on that point, because I'll bet you'll shit bricks when I tell you who really drew those variants.

So, the artist who really drew those Polvina variants was, in fact, Fabio Yabu himself, and they were originally posted on his blog. Now, he doesn't really talk about Sea Princesses on it so there's not much about it in the archives, but Yabu did post the Polvina variants, which are luckily archived:

Sexyna

Zombina

Lulina

Of note, "Sexyna"'s head design ended up being used in The Makeover as a rather decent design and the point where Ester and Tubarina should have stopped, something which a commenter pointed out (well, the opposite, anyway, that it was inspired from there) and I acknowledged in the storyline skit.

Well then, feel stupid yet?

The cancellation blame game

On 25 April, Liam posted a poll asking his fans who was the main cause of Sea Princesses being cancelled. It was a question with an answer rather than a survey and the answer was "Fabio Yabu himself".

I'm going to tell you all what I told Liam on Discord about this because he brought it up to me in DMs, but there's a little extra commentary here. OK, so to be honest, the exact circumstances of the series' cancellation are unclear, but we do know that according to Flamma, there was no interest in producing a third series. I know I said on the wiki that "Flamma had no interest in producing a third series", making it sound like it was Flamma's decision, but again, the exact circumstances are unclear.

In the answer explanation, Liam claimed that Fabio Yabu "returned to work in a franchise that no one remembered anymore as the Combo Rangers" (machine translated). Firstly, production on the series concluded in 2009, not 2013, and secondly, I resent that statement as a tokusatsu fan (and as someone who just reviewed the other two Combo Rangers reboot graphic novels) because Liam underestimated how much of a phenomenon Combo Rangers was in Brazil and the background as to why it was loved by 80's and 90's kids back in the day.

Yes, I agree that the people who made the animated series didn't tap into the full potential that Sea Princesses had. Issues with the writing and character focuses aside, there are also financial circumstances to note here. The first season (I believe) had a budget of US$7 million (in 2005 money, which would be over US$10 million in current year). Animation costs are measured per half hour (which is actually 23 to 26 minutes discounting ad breaks) and the average cost for half an hour of animation is US$200,000 (according to Reynaldo Marchezini of Flamma Films in 2009), not to mention the global financial crisis that happened during the time when the second season would be in production. Also keep in mind that Sea Princesses was produced during a time when Brazilian-made animations were relatively unknown to the world (this one isn't exactly Brazilian-made entirely, but still), so if Southern Star hadn't gotten involved (out of the three or four companies that showed interest in a co-production), the animated series wouldn't have been made in the first place, let alone distributed to over 100 countries.

Also, in my correspondence with Fabio Yabu, he has said that being an artist in Brazil isn't as easy as it is in the West and so, he has to take on various projects and appeal to various audiences in order to make a living, so I think Liam was being really unfair to him here. Sure, I'd like to see more Sea Princesses content from him and I wish he did more to preserve its content on social media, but in the end, you can't really blame him because this is clearly something he has a passion for and loves to do. Plus, the guy's gotta make a living somehow.

In summary, Fabio Yabu may not be entirely to blame for Sea Princesses not receiving a third season and there were potentially other factors that all parties involved had to consider.

Errors in production

The next thing I want to talk about is another Community post where Liam speculates why there were production errors in Sea Princesses and basically, he gets a lot of things wrong because he got a fundamental thing wrong about animation production. I won't attach the whole post as an image, but if the post disappears at some point, then I've backed it up into my cloud drive folder and will make it available to anyone who's interested, though I'll try to summarise it here.

The fundamental thing of producing animated series is that the audio comes first before the animation. Southern Star, as executive producers, handled the creation of the scripts, storyboards and audio, Flamma handled the character design and approval of the scripts, then Neptuno Films handled all the animation and post-production.

Errors in production are always going to happen. In regards to the animation, mistakes like a character saying a line with somebody else's voice would probably come down to someone misinterpreting something in the script and the mistake not being caught until it was too late to change anything else in time. In The Return, Elektra mistaking Leia for Isa was most likely a script misinterpretation on Neptuno's end and not the fault of her voice actress, Meaghan Davies (also "star talent didn't have much experience" my ass, that's an oxymoron in itself plus I wouldn't expect her to be a "star talent" given her previous experience).

I can't apply this to the rest of the series, but from what little I could discern while watching Lost in both the Brazilian Portuguese and Latin American Spanish dubs, they fixed the mistakes the English dub made; I know this for certain with the Castilian Spanish dub. Dubbing usually takes place after the episode has finished production and a separate script needs to be made to have the dubbed voice lines fit the length of the original voice line (mouth movements are where people really need to stop caring so much imo). Liam blames the director of the Latin American Spanish dub, Hector Moncada, for making the dub "mediocre" with all the mistakes from the finished original episode ported to the dub; yet again, I can't say for certain with the rest of the series, but I don't think he is to blame for the mistakes that the English dub made if he wasn't warned about them. That being said, if Moncada was warned about the mistakes in the original version and he actually managed to make the same mistakes in the Latin American Spanish dub, then he's a fucking idiot.

With regards to recycling voice actors and actresses, that's not really a surprise considering that the same thing happened in the original English dub, though I haven't been able to exactly pinpoint who voiced who with references to back it up. Voice actors voicing multiple characters (or characters being voiced by different voice actors between appearances or seasons) is not a new thing and it isn't surprising that it happened here considering how little focus most characters got (or actor availability).

Moving back to the animation and Liam points out the clone issue that I've pointed out in like three episodes on the wiki. Stage Fright, The Carnival and Lunch Power were what I believe to be cases of Neptuno using up all the character models they had, resulting in them cloning models for filler, even in places where it was illogical for certain characters to be there, while in Tubarina Almighty (among other potential cases), there were clones of Jessi and Leia that could have been prevented if they just used different models instead of the same few that the production team thought kids would recognise. I would have liked to see more character models featured, but there is only so much you can do with a USD$7 million budget.

Liam also points out the Combo Rangers (or Madruga and Barriga from El Chavo del Ocho) being adapted into Drylanders and how they were recycled between episodes featuring Drylanders. He also seems to point out the appearance of Bonnie as a Drylander near the end of The Rescue as illogical, but I think he neglected to note that Fabio Yabu originally designed Bonnie as part of a generic elderly couple, the male model never making it into the series.

And obviously, there was the cuts in the Discovery Kids versions which I've pointed out so many times before. I finally decided to start documenting those cuts last month after giving up once and wondering whether I should actually do it or not, and let me tell you, it's just as much a drag as I thought it would be. It took some time for me to figure out how I would do it, but I managed to figure it out. Details of the cuts will be put onto the wiki eventually and I'll also do a top 10 list of the worst cut episodes in the series.

Basically, the animation errors were something that was always going to happen, the clones could have been resolved in some cases by using different character models and the dubbing errors were something that Liam got wrong from the start because the audio is recorded before the animation is drawn and the international dubs are recorded after the original episode has finished production.

I want to share this funny minicomic that Liam made about the clone situation and I hope those scientists are Salacian because that's important for my upcoming story. No, I'm not talking about the Polvina clones from The Interdimensional Café, but they are still relevant.

Scientist 1: Sir, the clones have escaped again. Scientist 2: Oh my. I hope those clones don't go into Salacia.

Polvina: So girls, what're we doing today? Tubarina: We can play with Delfi at her palace. Ester: Isn't she hanging out at the park?

(the joke here is that Delfi seems to be both at her palace and the park, meaning that at least one of them is a clone)

I might as well have created (the sequels to) Sea Princesses

On Twitter, there's a guy by the name of Ricardo Mita claiming himself to be a co-creator of the series on Fabio Yabu's Twitter feed. I wasn't going to call him out because his antics were boring, but I decided to speak up about this when he spammed similar comments onto one of Liam's YouTube Community posts, which led him to believe the same thing as well.

I don't need to tell you how much of an idiot Ricardo is because anyone else who believes his lies is just as much of an idiot as he is. I also don't need to tell you that the best source of information for Sea Princesses is the Sea Princesses Wiki (for character, episode and book information) or this Tumblr (for that and pretty much everything else).

Look, I can see that Ricardo's got his own takes and ideas on the series, expanding some episodes into two-parters and even having an episode list for a potential third series, but with no synopses (don't worry, I used to make episode lists without writing synopses as well). By his logic I might as well be a co-creator of the series as well with all the work I've put into it for the renaissance and my personal project. I hope Ricardo finds the strength one day to channel his energy into fleshing out his ideas and even writing out his story synopses in (neatly formatted) social media posts.

My Seafood Princesses

An amusing piece of news to round off this post. In the commune of Renca in Santiago, Chile, there is a fish shop called Pescaderia Mis Princesas Del Mar, or in my translation, My Sea Princesses Seafood or My Seafood Princesses. Considering how we see the Shark Royal Family eating fish in Big Brother, Grow Up and The True Princess, this is both amusing and harrowing.

The shopfront sign, which has been on the shop since it opened sometime between 2012 and 2014, also has images of the main three girls, including a duplicate Polvina with her book design on a seahorse. The sign has been updated between 2015 and 2022 and while it retains the Sea Princesses-style logo on the shopfront sign, the images of the main three girls seem to be no more.

Anyway, that's it for this fact-checking post. I'll do another one when Liam gets some things wrong again.

[votederpycausemufins]

Summary of the Hermitcraft Charity Livestream

Seen a number of posts of summaries but I essentially live blogged info along with some friends in a discord, so I have extensive notes that fit about 4 pages of a google doc. Since it’s so long, i’m hiding most of it under a ‘read more’

Scar started his stream a few minutes before the official start time so he was live when they reached the goal of 25k a minute before the official start time

Six minutes after the start, they changed the new goal to 75k, at which point they were already at around 60k

It was later mentioned they were planning stretch goals for if they made it past 25k and were trying to think of what they would do if they somehow made it to 50k

Mrs.Tango was originally going to swap out Tango’s hat every 1k for people to see on his facecam, 

Scar made a circle of chairs at midnight his time, aka less than 12 hours before the stream would start.

He made chairs for each participating person, two of note being one made of scaffolding and one that was a single stair

Bdubs was given the stair while Martyn was given the scaffolding chair

Martyn was a guest for the stream to read off the donations that were 100 dollars or more as there were too many to read all of them.

A number of the Hermits left donations, a few before the start of the stream. Jevin had the first donation of all, with a donation of $5 with the comment ‘First’

The list of Hermits there for the stream were Scar, who was running it, Cub, Ren, Grian, Cleo, Pearl, Bdubs, Keralis, False, Doc, Impulse, Zedaph, Tango, Iskall, Xisuma, and then Martyn as a guest.

They had another guest at the start of the stream, that being Zack from Gamers Outreach who joined the voice chat to give a short speech

The first game to be played was Total Chaos. They almost flew there before realizing Martyn was not given any gear like elytra, so they took the Nether Tunnel

Cub informed the people who hadn’t been there yet that walking on the wool was safe, which people did not do, though thankfully no one died

Before starting the game, Scar had to mute upon realizing they were almost to 125k because he was choking up a bit.

Doc ended up winning that game and they went back to the chair area right after

Etho came online and was told to join the voice call, joining the group soon after.

Martyn started reading the 100+ donations off at this point.

They reached 150k and upped the goal to 200k instead of 175k because of how fast it was moving.

Etho arrived at the group around the time one of the Hermits asked if Etho would be joining them, causing a number of the other hermits to exclaim he was there already.

Cub was assigned as game master to choose what games would be played and who would be on the teams for each game. They started by visiting Basalt Assault and Dunktank to have the rules reviewed, Grian messing around in the dunk tank water by still being in flying mode, making look odd as he spun around and making some of the hermits question what he was doing.

For Basalt Assault, the teams were Tango and Impulse versus Scar and Pearl. Dunk tank was Grian and Doc verses Zedaph and Bdubs. Everyone else was at Bdub’s horse race.

Before starting Basalt Assault, Tango managed to play an old voice clip from three years ago of his voice through a high pitched voice changer.

Scar and Pearl won Basalt Assault because they broke/exploded Tango and Impulse’s command center.

I was not watching the dunk tank perspective as bdubs was the only one streaming that game, but there were reports of it breaking.

Scar did a poll for people to pick an old skin of his to wear, those being Mayor Scar, Buff Scar from third life, or Hot Guy. Buff Scar won

Scar changed his skin while Grian was afk for about five minutes, and Grian returned to see Scar showing off the abs on his skin causing Grian to immediately complain about being gone for only five minutes and Scar already has his shirt off

They also pulled the first of their randomized stretch goals, those being for Cub to wear his old man Cub skin, Iskall to wear his pogskall skin (which he uses for the Isgall85 account)

At this point, some of the other hermits had already changed their skin. Cleo said she would change her skin when the reached 200k, which they had at that point, changing into a honey badger skin

Keralis changed into his Ker-Alice skin (based on Disney’s Alice in wonderland), Pearl was in her Double Life skin, Zedaph was briefly replaced with Worm Man before he left and Zedaph returned as they are definitely totally not the same person at all, False was in her banana costume skin, and Xisuma had transitioned from his bone mage skin to his regular skin with about 3 different skins in between as a transition.

Grian switched into his hunchback skin which freaked people out for a bit before he then changed to his sideways skin (saying the more money you raise, the worse it gets) and even later into his backwards skin.

Around this time is when Joe sent a message saying he would shave his beard later after the charity stream in a stream of his own if they reached 250k, which they did.

Cub split them into teams again for the same games, Ren, Keralis and Iskall vs Jevin and Cleo at Basalt Assault, Etho and False vs Cub and Xisuma at Dunk Tank, and the rest were sent to the Horse race.

Grian had his backwards skin on at this point and rode the horse with it, riding normally most of the way, but riding backwards to finish the race to make it look like he was facing forwards.

After the race, Scar changed to his Mayor Skin, and almost immediately Bdubs tried to be his right hand man again.

Impulse changed his skin to a buff Impulse skin before then changing to bald Impulse.

Tango and Zedaph crammed together under a trap door for some reason.

One of the donations was from someone using the name ‘EthoGirl’ making Etho hide in embarrassment while others made some jokes in good fun.

At this point they went to randomize another incentive, getting one for False to put her banana skin on. She didn’t realize she shouldn’t have put it on already, but she just kept it on and they randomized a new one, now getting one for False to put on her irl banana costume because the randomizer they had seemed to really want that with having two banana false requests in a row.

Pearl said if they reached 300k, she would put on an old man mask she had, which she did later put on.

Also around this time Pearl mentioned that the crossover between Empires and Hermitcraft would not be happening in the stream, though from Grian’s video that was posted during the stream, we can assume it’s instead happening in the hermitcraft videos themselves.

Scar showed off a Star Wars costume he had for trick or treating when he was very young. I believe he said it was from when he was seven, but I could be misremembering

They went over to False’s boat race, with Hermits debating on which boat type was best. Zedaph and Tango got in a boat together before the start of their race before getting in separate boats.

By the end of the race, Doc and Xisuma had gotten into boats that were being driven by a different hermit.

They reached 300k and pulled another random incentive prompt, that being for Doc to show how many diamond ore he had.

Doc brought the shulkers full of ore which were quickly opened and emptied by other hermits stealing the ore.

Impulse changed into this pink hair Impulse skin.

People asked for Grian to bring out the gong, and while he worked on turning off discord’s noise suppression, Ren started to explain to those who hadn’t experienced it yet about how calming it was.

He was interrupted by Grian bangging the gong loudly and yelling ‘Wawawawawawa!’ Watch a clip of this to get the full experience.

Grian then attempted to have everyone breathe in and hold their breath, but most of the hermits made various gasping noises, causing Grian to say ‘And we’re going to do that again because you all failed at breathing!’

Around this time was also when Doc threatened to blow the server up if he didn’t get his diamonds back.

They reached around 333k around the time Pearl changed to her original skin.

They were divided up into groups of four for four more games, then were told they would rotate what game they were playing after finishing their games, but that never happened.

Bdubs Tango Jevin and False played Derailed, Grian Impulse Etho and Cleo played Scaffolding,  Cub Ren Scar and Zedaph played Bucket Rush, and then Pearl Doc Xisuma and Iskall played Panda ‘Resue’ 

The hermits joked around about the misspelling of Rescue as Resue, and most people ended up referring to it as Panda Express.

Martyn joined the people at Bucket Rush to tp the players around if they died and give them the items they dropped or lost.

Martyn was also there to hit the lever to start the game, but refused to until Scar used the spyglass handed to him and said ‘A-Ha!’ instead thinging it was Ye-Haw and misreading that chat was saying Ye-Haw instead as there was a mix of people asking “ye-haw?” and others trying to correct it as a-ha, and it was a bit of a jumble.

With some of the games taking a while, after completing, they didn’t rotate and instead went back to the chairs to read off more donations.

Scar and Doc nerded out about how the helicopters from Scar’s Panda Rescue game was like a lego set they both had growing up and then went into talking about other lego sets, specifically when Doc mentioned almost getting a star wars one

Scar changed into his red double life skin before randomizing more incentives

Doc also talked about how his next project is going to be bringing the dragon to the overworld.

The incentives chosen were for ‘Landscaping Your Mind Chapter 7’ and Iskall to wear a diorite pogskall skin.

Scar read the chapter 7 snippet he was given, but had to look away from the hermits in game and hide his face cam to have the confidence for it. He also then finished the snippet and tried to make up more with little success.

Iskall came in with his new skin before being told to take the non-diorite pants off, causing him to leave to change the skin. He likely had to make a skin with diorite pants too as he was gone for a while.

Pearl changed to another old skin in this time.

Iskall also said that he was pretending that it was marble and not diorite as Bdubs calls it marble, but then False said the incentive said diorite, so it’s that. Also the addition of pants made it actually look like a dress

They moved to play Etho’s game Battle Bane, which was completed after ten years in the making. It was 4 teams of four, Jevin Cleo Cub and Xisuma on Blue, Doc Zed Tango and Impulse on Yellow, Pearl Scar Grian and Bdubs on Red, and then Iskall False Keralis and Ren on Green.

Etho stood on top of the dome in the center to watch the game, getting shot at a couple of times from players thinking he was someone on one of the other teams. Martyn, meanwhile, acted as an announcer for the game.

Impulse also changed into an exercise skin for the game.

After the game, they started to wrap things up. Grian headed off to bed, Scar got some extra oxygen, Tango and Zedaph stood on either side of Doc wearing his head to make chat call them a Doc Wither, and people returned most of Doc’s diamonds.

Almost three hours and forty minutes into the livestream, the donations reached 400k, sixteen times (16x) their original goal.

Bdubs made a joke about them doing it again the same time tomorrow which Cleo quickly shut down.

Doc saw there were still diamonds missing, causing Martyn to joke that “plot twist is I took them [the diamonds] all and I'm never coming back!” before proceeding to log out temporarily.

The Hermits then moved to leave the call and talk with their chats by themselves. Around then they were at 410k.

Doc ended up with all his diamonds back, save for exactly One (1) diamond ore, which was seen in Martyn’s inventory. He said it was his fee for reading the donations.

Martyn did not log out on his stream. He did log out as far as the Hermits could see, but he was not seen logging out on his livestream.

Instead, he made his way to Grian’s rift and got into the portal, flying into it and ending his stream the moment he flew into the portal itself

Also later when the donations were at about 417k or so, Martyn donated nearly 3k (2.8k) with the message '420 lol' to get it to 420k

[sofiadragon]

Prev tags said:

This is one of the things that got me to make the poll. In r/AO3 there was a post about "unwritten rules of AO3" and honestly 80% of them were in the TOS. No wall of tags, don't harass people, ship and let ship... all of that is very muchin the written rules.

The consensus on that thread, which had me go looking and find the other two that contradicted it, was to opt in or out and everyone was talking like that was normal. Like everyone would say that by default, that's what end notes are for (and also oversharing about all the things stressing you out in life.) A few clearly older voices pushed back, asking how anyone would know to do that - but that wasn't the first time I'd heard something similar.

I started using a boilerplate message about concrit in late 2021 because I wanted to set expectations. I searched for advice and was told about the opt-out culture shift after a Doctor Who story originally written in 2016 got multi part comments starting in 2021 and into '22 - as in they hit the max character legnth and didn't think maybe they were going a liite far so they wrote a part 2 and 3 as if this was a Twitter thread. I posted details already, it was a whole thing. The point here is: in late 2021, I was told that authors should be opting out of concrit for WIPs. Either by saying we don't want critique or that the story is fully written and just being posted on a schedule.

I'd never thought to use the notes to do that, when I started in the late 90's concrit was expected and common - and usually polite, but assholes have always existed. Someone would post a bit of something - some typos or a question about something they found ambiguous, you'd respond, and then maybe they went on a deep dive with you or maybe that was it. Fandom-specific forums with DMs were better for that, I think, as were the in-person on printed paper fic exchanges I participated in prior to finding fandom spaces on the internet. What a time, but people always had their two cents to share as a young kid learning the hobby. I never put much thought to if it was public or not at the time, but I'm sure that matters to a lot of people. Fanfiction Net also had a lot of concrit, since all "review" responses go through DMs and calling them reviews certainly encourages a lot of critique just from the connotations.

But times change. Twitter and other social media has changed how people talk to each other in writing. Nobody introduces themselves anymore, by any stretch of the definition, it's just straight to the point - and when your point is mentioning an error it's impossible to be anything but rude in a tweet-legth interaction that you don't expect a responce to at all beyond the typo getting fixed.

Even with such a vast majority of people saying to only give concrit with permission (69.8% right now, including those who think you should still keep it mostly positive even with opt-in) there are still a lot of people who will put whatever they want in the comments box and another set who will just ghost instead of mentioning that you spelled Pavel Chekov three different ways even if they really liked the fic. I'm certain that a poll that removed the opt-in and opt-out part of the conversation would just be all "don't be a dick, never leave critique no matter how minor." Another set of tags can be paraphrased as: I skewed the poll to make it look like it is alright to be a jerk if someone asks for concrit, because nobody on the internet knows how to be constructive. Well, that's a great point.

I blazed this post because I hoped that readers and people who weren't eyeball deep in the fanfiction community would participate. It hovers around 10-12% for opt-out or harsher, which is a little lower than I expected given what I have seen in the comments sections of fanfictions - but then most people think they are being gentle and nice even when they aren't.

As an author I can, even if maybe I shouldn't have to, take charge by putting something in the end notes to guide comments. Like the "I own nothing you recognize, only my OC and this plot are mine" notes at the beginning that became so ubiquitous that young authors today put it up there without knowing why Anne Rice has anything to do with that disclaimer. I ask for feedback about something specific and get critique on something I can handle, or else I drop my boilerplate about this being fully plotted and outlined then talk about something in canon and rarely get a single critical word that isn't directed at a showrunner/movie studio.

Can't critique my fic, too busy being mad about the people who wrote the plot my fix-it is fixing.

Hey fanfiction loving friend!

AO3 has the ability to turn off comments, moderate comments, restrict comments to logged in users only, or let anyone comment on your story. Most other fanfiction hosting websites do not allow comments to be turned off and in the case of some (wattpad) highly encourage comments even on individual paragraphs.

Over on reddit, someone said it is an unwritten rule of fanfiction that you should never leave a negative or critical comment on a story. This was countered most strongly by many arguments. Despite many people asserting that their stance was the one truth and that there was no debate on the topic - there was a lot of debate about what criticism even is and where the line should be for if giving concrit is alright.

So give this some thought:

If you have tea to spill, examples or an argument you want to make, please do. I have some that go both ways, but I'm going to wait for a few responses so I don't pre-empt the results. I'm not going to vote myself for a while, either, so I won't know which way the poll is leaning when I do pour my tea. I tried to cover all the flavors of debate I've seen in the many "definitive" posts I have read here and on reddit. Please reblog for a wider sample!

[kyluxbigbang]

KBB General Survey - Results!

Hello everyone,

Sorry this is being posted later than we intended. First off we want to thank everyone who filled out this survey. This will be very helpful in allowing us to improve the KBB going forward so that everyone can enjoy it.

Thank you as well to everyone who participated in KBB 2021 and who have participated in previous years. You guys make running this even possible and worthwhile, and your hard work and dedication are why we keep running the KBB.

For the exciting bit; KBB 2022 is going to be a Regular Bang! Over 75% of our survey responders have spoken! Sign-ups for KBB 2022 will likely be late May to early June, once we determine how we’re going to revamp things a bit

Which leads us to our survey results and comments. There is a lot to look over, but we encourage everyone to browse. We may have to run either another survey or a short poll to make a final decision on some of the suggestions, let us know what you think!

We had a relatively even split of people who had participated in KBB2022 compared to those who had not (49.5% had, 51.5% had not). Of those who had 75% were writers, 25% artists, 2% betas, and 1% pinch hitters.

General feedback from KBB2021 was positive. We appreciate those who shared how not being told about sharing a prompt with another writer made them feel. We really cannot apologize enough for how distressing this was for our writers. We are taking the lesson learned last year to make sure that we communicate better going forward. We also received a few comments about how communication and feedback from the mods fell off toward the end of the bang, we’ll be sure to try and keep on top of that this year as well.

We’re happy to hear that people thought the beta process was smoother this year than last year.

Overall, 69.7% of people who filled out the survey had participated in a previous bang. Of those 65.2% were writers, 43.5% artists, 17.4% betas, and 8.7% pinch hitters. To address some specific comments:

I'd really like to ask writers to send their drafts in digital form (not an image of the text written by hand), it's hard for a non-native speaker to read written language. This would have to be a request sent to the writer in question. We understand some people hand write their notes first or aren’t always near a computer during check-ins. We would suggest talking to your writer about the difficulties and see if a solution can’t be worked out, such as asking for some clarification on the notes. If something can’t be arranged then please reach out to the mods and we’ll find a way that works for both.

It was fun, but there where times my artist seemed to change the plot entirely of my work, that's fine I'm fine with it but tell me in the start not four to five chapters in.... This can be very frustrating. Communication is of course key from both sides, but it can be tough. We suggest discussing your expectations with your partner about major changes and trying to work this out before you get too deep into the project, but keep in mind that everyone has a different creative process and for some people, that idea that makes everything click just doesn’t come until they’re halfway through. Both partners should hopefully agree to such a major change, please communicate with your partner if you feel that the change is too much for you. As always, you can reach out to us mods for help, it’s what we’re here for.

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In regards to the art portion of the survey:

Of those who answered the survey 81.8% of you were aware of our writer to artist ratio. On the question of if we should broaden the scope of a completed piece of art you voted as follows;

-          No - 15.2 %

-          Yes – Crafts (paper crafts, embroidery, cross stitch, etc.) – 66.7%

-          Yes – Photographs (cosplay, photo manipulations, lego photographs) – 72.7%

-          Yes – Other – 36.4%

Here are some of the suggestions for those who voted for other:

-          Manips/pinterest board-style collages

-          Moodboard

-          Original Music or playlists

-          Animation gifs

-          Fanvids, fan music videos, fan trailers

-          Mixed media

-          Dolls and figures, bespoke pop funkos

-          Podfics

We’ve had a few comments about allowing writers to sign-up as a pair. This is an interesting idea, and one we may put to a vote, or have as an option for when an artist is bidding on prompts if they would mind working with a pair of writers.

Do stick figures count? We do suggest a little more than stick figures if you are able, but we also welcome artists of all skill levels to participate.

I don't think artwork necessarily needs to be coloured, it can be incredibly time consuming, and some pieces just look better without. This is something that we will take into consideration. It’s true that black and white, and grayscale pieces are just as complete as fully coloured pieces in many cases..

I know it's not fair to the artists to ask them to do more work, but is the option open for artists to submit multiple prompts for the reverse bang? Or allow them to sign up for more than one regular bang prompt to help even out the balance of sign ups? This is something we’ve actually had implemented for the last 2 reverse bangs. 

This could get confusing during sign ups, but maybe ask writers if they'd be okay with having multiple writers assigned to the same artist? (And vice-versa.) If we implement the 2 writers to 1 artist again in a future reverse bang, we will definitely be adding a question on whether they feel comfortable with that on the sign-up form.

A more centralized community. Might make communications more streamlined as well. Unfortunately, we can’t force everyone to use certain platforms. We do encourage everyone to join the discord server, and we have changed it so that KBB partners have first contact via email (this point at least we included as a requirement on the KBB2021 sign-up sheet so people were aware of it).

I’m new to the Kylux fandom, but other bangs have allowed for signups to both write and art (in separate partnerships) is that something you’d allow? We do try to allow artists to also sign-up as authors if they wish. There have been years where we have asked if they were okay with only signing up as an artist, but we’d prefer that they are able to sign-up as both if they want.

I already wrote some suggestions down, but one last thing would be: what about toning down the ultra-secrecy guidelines a bit? Maybe it’s just me, but it gave me so much anxiety, lol. We want the piece to be new and a surprise to everyone. We understand that participants want to share, and allow some sharing and previews, but not too much. We don’t want you to give everything away. This may also be something to ask your partner if they are comfortable with some of the projects being hinted at.

If you do a regular Bang, warn writers upfront that their prompt might not get selected, and that's not a comment on them, it's just pure numbers. As well as broadening the art possibilities (excellent idea), it might be worth reducing the number of art pieces required - one for a mini bang, two for a big bang? As a writer, having ANY artwork that goes with my fic is amazing, and it might help artists feel they can pick up more prompts. We want to avoid having any writer have their prompt omitted. This is also why we have a bidding system to ensure that every prompt gets as likely a chance as any of the others to receive at least one bid. It’s very rare that a prompt doesn’t get a bid thankfully, and always find a writer/artist that is happy to take it on.

Part of the reason we have the Mini versus the Big Bang is that it allows for writers and artists to still participate in the bang without having to worry about creating a 10k+ word piece or 4 pieces of art. While we do want to encourage more artists to join the KBB, we still also want to keep it so each partner feels like they are doing an equal amount of work.

Thank you once again to everyone who participated in the survey and shared their thoughts with us. We really appreciate it <3

Your KBB Mods