#the dam has been burst etc etc

[astrobei]

concept: lumax goes on a roller skating date. and at first, max thinks she’s going to be so good at it, because skateboarding is basically the same thing, and she knows how to move on wheels and every time lucas had tried to use her skateboard he fell and totally ate shit. she shows up feeling pretty good about herself— “don’t worry,” she keeps telling lucas, “if you fall i’ll catch you.” and lucas doesn’t say anything, and max just gets more and more smug until they finally step out onto the rink and my girl’s legs go flying out from under her, and she’s so confused as to what’s happening because she skateboards all the time, but she’s not used to having wheels actually on her feet, and she’s not used to them being able to go in two different directions. meanwhile lucas, basketball king of hawkins high and coordinated student athlete extraordinaire, is completely fine. and max keeps telling him to stop laughing— stop laughing, lucas, this isn’t funny!— even though it totally is. and he catches her the first couple of times she falls, and it’s no big deal, but then she falls hard and takes him down with her, and they land on top of each other and they’re laughing so hard that their chests hurt. and then lucas grins and says, “nice one, zoomer,” and max turns so, so red.

(@elekinetic thank u for the rollerskating lumax brainrot)

[ghoultrifle]

Pissboy Chronicles Part 5 - Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures (Chapter 1/3)

WC: 1.5k

Summary: Phantom struggles to hold it during a road trip.

Notes: guys it's piss again, yippeeeee. this is chapter one of a three chapter fic, no unusual warnings for this chapter but tags will be updated as they come out.

CWs: piss, wetting, desperation, etc. and semi-public masturbation but it's just the other ghouls

ahahah i haven't written in ages please be nice and reblog it and leave nice comments about our little pissboy <3

Read below the cut or on AO3

Phantom sits in the backmost seat of the van, bladder aching. He knows he shouldn’t have had that extra Mountain Dew when Swiss stopped to fuel up but it was such an exciting colour, how couldn’t he? Between Mount and Cirrus up front, having a deadly serious conversation about the feasibility of space travel; Aurora, Cumulus and Dewdrop in the middle playing what has to be the world’s most heated game of uno; and Swiss and Rain on either side of Phantom, both staring wistfully out their respective windows, he thinks he’s safe. 

Safe from the prying, vulture-eyes of his packmates. He reaches to subtly clench his dick, reaching to pull his hoodie down as his hand wraps around his crotch, squeezing tightly. He almost doubles over at the sensation, bringing both relief and a sense of urgency that wasn’t there before. He can’t ask Cirrus to stop again, he’s pretty sure she’ll leave him at the gas station if he does. The poor ghoul has lost track of how many times he’s made the pack stop. Each time he sheepishly raises his voice from the back of the van, it’s met with a litany of groans and occasionally a travel pillow being thrown at him. But it’s never been this bad before. He can normally ask to stop before he’s on the verge of wetting himself. Yet here he is, dick threatening to spurt with every bump Cirrus not-so-gracefully drives over, at full speed. Alas, they’re running late because of him already.

He’s wrestling with his thoughts, plagued with the decision of what, if anything, to say. Will his next words be asking for permission or forgiveness? Begging the ghoulette to pull over, even if it’s just on the side of the road; or admitting to his entire pack that he’s pissed himself like a petulant child who swore he didn’t need to go when they left. The quintessence ghoul’s brain can’t handle either of those outcomes and before he can settle on a third choice, he’s interrupted by a suspiciously damp sensation on the pads of his fingers. He brings them up and inspects them in the sunlight, glistening. Shit. 

“Hey bug, whatcha looking at?” Swiss probes. Even bigger shit.

“Uhh just checking my nails,” he replies, keeping his eyes down at his crotch, noticing the wet spot that’s outlining the head of his dick.

Phantom thanks Satan his feeble excuse seems to satisfy the multi ghoul, returning back to staring at the horizon. Good news considering Phantom’s dick is now spurting in quick, irregular intervals, his basketball shorts turning a dark shade as he clamps his legs together to abate the stream. He can get away with it - the seats are separated and no one’s paying any attention - but only if he doesn’t drip onto the floor. So he relieves himself in small bursts, allowing his boxers, shorts, and the upholstery to soak up his release before relaxing his muscles again to piss some more. It’s painful each time and he struggles to dam the flood. Not only is it painful to deny himself the relief his bladder is screaming for, but he would be lying if he said it wasn’t turning him on. Many times, he’s suffered at the hands of another ghoul, being filled up with water only to beg them for release. But this is a different experience entirely. It’s a distinctive type of shame that only comes with a true accident, and boy is it getting him hot and bothered. This is what all the fantasies he’s played out with Rain have been leading up to, an honest-to-Satan mistake, a misjudgement with very wet consequences.

Several agonising minutes pass, counted by Phantom’s continual contraction and relaxation of his muscles. His core is aching from his efforts to keep still, not to squirm like he so wantonly would if this was a scene. This time, there is no punishment, just the shame of knowing he can’t control himself. It’s with Cirrus’ unceremonious approach to a rather large pothole that lets Phantom release the last of his stream. He’s soaked, the entirety of his shorts a darker shade than he’d left the abbey with; holding just enough liquid that they shouldn’t drip when he stands, the seat definitely got the worst of it, he thinks.

The other problem with basketball shorts? They do a terrible job at hiding his ever-growing erection. Forgetting he’s sharing a van with seven other ghouls, his mind wanders to how wet he is, feeling the fabric clinging to him and basking in the warmth provided by his release. Completely lost in his thoughts, he ponders the scenarios in which he’s found out. It’s not that he wants to be called out but if Cumulus were to find him all wet, red hot and embarrassed and tease him about it, press her hand against his soggy clothes then maybe jack him off in the bathroom, he wouldn’t be opposed to it.

He’s brought out of his daydream as Cirrus slams on the brakes, muttering something about a jackass who needs to learn to drive. Phantom squeaks as his hand is pushed right onto his aching dick. Despite his state of saturation, he feels the unmistakable sensation of his cock leaking, making the inside of his boxers sticky. He’s in too deep now, there’s no way he’s getting out of the van without cumming. Looking around, everyone still seems occupied; most notably Swiss is playing on Phantom’s switch (he’ll be having words when he can form a coherent sentence) and Rain is asleep, that ghoul can and will sleep anywhere.

So Phantom subtly reaches his hand into his hoodie pouch, dragging it over the tent in his shorts. He grasps around his dick as much as he can through the layers and has to hold back a whimper at how sensitive he is; for better or worse, he’s sure this will be over quickly. Swiss shoots him a glare as he shuffles in his seat, near-groaning at the renewed wetness engulfing him, “Oh- um- what are you playing?” Phantom asks, desperate to divert attention off him.

“Quit moaning, it’s not like you were gonna play it mister carsick, and you can see it’s minecraft, kid, come on.”

“Yeah- sorry, think I should maybe- um get my eyes checked,” he chuckles, a poor alternative to moaning as he realises he hasn’t stopped jacking himself for this conversation. Immediately he looks away to signal to Swiss he’s done, not sure he’d be able to keep it together for many more words without a whine sneaking out and giving him away.

With the focus back on his cock, Phantom strokes himself from root to tip, feeling the squelch as he compresses the material. He feels his dick leaking with each pass of the soaked fabric over himself. He thinks about the mess he’s going to have made at the end of it all; walking- waddling- to the bathroom, peeling down his shorts, then his boxers and looking at the sticky mix of piss and cum coating them. What if Mountain walked in on him, cautious not to leave the bug behind, only to see Phantom with his shamefully wet shorts around his knees, hard cock leaking against his belly?

The thought is too much and before Phantom has time to react, his orgasm is creeping up on him with a force almost as explosive as his bladder. His whole body shivers as he paints the inside of his underwear with a streaky white. He screws his eyes shut as his cock spurts what feels like an endless amount of cum, coating his cock with nowhere to go in the fibres of the saturated fabric. The quintessence ghoul fights to keep his breathing even and his throat closed as he strokes himself through the orgasm, slightly disappointed no one even batted an eye, although it’s probably for the best, lest they find out why else he’s wet.

Minutes pass and thankfully it’s Dewdrop that calls a stop this time, one too many iced coffees Phantom suspects. Regardless of the reason, Phantom is just glad to have a chance to clean up. He makes his way to the bathroom with his travel bag slung conveniently around his waist. He’ll change his bottoms and then sit on his hoodie to keep the new ones dry.

Rain catches up to the ghoul despite his slightly hurried pace, “Hey Rainy, how was your na-” he’s interrupted by the water ghoul bringing his hand down to slap Phantom’s ass.

“Don’t think you’ve gotten away with this, bug,” Rain threatens, bringing his now wet hand up to hold Phantom’s chin, turning the younger ghoul to look at him. Phantom gulps, “You’re not as subtle as you think, baby,” he pauses, “and don’t you dare think I’ll let this slide.”

[neonravengames]

Let’s talk about MCs magic. Since they have such an inhumane affinity for magic how does that come to play if MC chooses to focus on combat studies rather than magical studies ?

I’ve read fantasy IFs that also mentioned the extra ordinary magic their MCs had just to sit there and say that MC won’t even be able to open a jar with magic unless you choose that as their main skill. That’s never made ANY sense to me because if overpowered magic levels is a SET trait for MC then no matter what they choose it would make more sense for them to be better than the average person just not on some archmage level. I get there’s a difference between people with a lot of potential and people who have REFINED said potential but having such levels of magic would imply certain things that are difficult for others is simply second nature to MC, as easy as breathing.

Sorry for the rant this isn’t targeted at your IF 😂 this topic is just something I am very passionate about so I just went a little hard 😂.

Also is there going to be an implementation of like sword aura ? (Idk if you read webcomics about things like this)

No thats totally valid! I dont know what sword aura is but my basic idea is that there are different forms of magic that can be divided into 'internal magic' (increasing your strength or endurance) and 'external magic' (fireballs, summoning, etc).

MC's focus is on internal magic since they don't have the chance to study formally until later; you'll basically use this to help you fight better. This is always a thing no matter what (but I mean, you do not have to use it). For example MC can fight much longer than Rhiannon, and raise their strength to match hers, but (especially early on) its like trying to build walls out of jello. Only good for short bursts.

If you focus on magic, that's where you start to go into external magic and refinement with Morgan.

If we compare Morgan to MC, she is, by and large, the stronger magic user. HOWEVER, if MC had been taught from day one, they would have been the better spellcasters. It's very much that whole talent vs. refinement thing. Morgan has probably the largest magic reserves of any human mage. She's a beast, but she's also had time and dedication to the craft since she was about 6 years old. Morgan's whole identity is wrapped around being powerful and using that to her advantage.

You can think of it kinda like Morgan as an industrial water-cutting machine, while MC is a dam with a firehose.

[hauntedjohnny]

julie has walls up to protect her and believes if she is always the light then she will never experience the dark. it seems like she wears her emotions on her sleeve and she does but only to an extent. she gets very emotional about things that overwhelm her with happiness. she cries at every wedding she's been too. she cries when someone does well on an exam. she cries over family reunions. etc. etc. she'll always be the shoulder for others to cry on and would hate for them to hold in any negativity and lest it fester. she always wants the best for her friends and if she has to carry their burdens she'll do it without second thought.

i, however, dont think she ever CRY cries. she doesnt let anyone see her fears and grievances. she doesn't allow herself to feel negativity and whenever she does she tries to find a way to douse it in positivity. that's why she's nice to everyone and everyone's nice to her. she tries to find the positive in every situation. she tries to curate a positive space for herself because if she does then she will never experience the negative emotions she doesn't like feeling... except that only works to a certain degree. a flashlight can lighten a room but it wont brighten an abyss. "you'll get out of here julie. you will." is her desperately trying to cling onto that mindset but the flashlight is running out of charge and the darkness is beginning to encompass her. her repressed anxieties come to the forefront and she can't help but let the dam fall.

her friends know she has deep anxieties as they slip through the cracks. it's in subtle actions like how her eyes will glaze over for a moment if she's on her own before someone approaches or the way the skin around her nails has been picked at. it's why she likes to be surrounded by people; it's harder to distract yourself from the thoughts if you're surrounded by people you love. and i think that's why her voicelines in game are more heart-wrenching. it's just proof that this girl isn't what she makes out to be. she spent all this time spreading light to block out the dark only to be thrown into the darkest corner of hell. what was it all for? what was the point in being happy-go-lucky if this is what is gets her? the high-pressure situation is her boiling point as all the emotions she's ever tried to hide behind a confident facade burst out and she becomes hysterical. it's only when she's with the others that she calms for a moment and the negative thoughts get buried by a glimmer of hope. but when she looks away and around the room she becomes panicked and jittery again. she doesn't know how to deal with these emotions like the other characters who can talk themselves through it. her repressive nature is what makes her so emotional in game. she's feeling every negative thing she's never felt for the first time in a long time. 

[drpeppertummy]

god im so sorry if this is too much, but 🥺📅🥘👕🫄🕴️💭 for dan. i love them

OIHUGH thankyou i am makin shit up rn

🥺 How do they feel emotionally when they eat too much? - honestly Not Great . they feel pretty stupid since its usually their fault. but as long as jesses there to make them feel better its fine

📅 How frequently do they get into tummy shenanigans? - ALL the dam time they are SUCH a snacker they have No self control. jesses the only thing keeping them from eating until they pop

🥘 What's the most they've eaten in one sitting? How did they feel afterwards? - thats a tough one bc theres been a lot of times shes eaten Way beyond her capacity & generally does Not feel good afterwards bc her bellys so tight it hurts so the Very most shes ever eaten would probably be like, legit-ready-to-burst shedding-some-tears level discomfort. would have to think more on how much she could take before getting to that point

👕 Have they ever had a belly-induced wardrobe malfunction? (popped button, shirt riding up, etc) How did they feel about it? - i think usually she wears pretty safe clothes if she anticipates eating a lot but im sure theres been some time when she made the mistake of wearing something a little too snug & had her belly pop out at some inopportune time. i think shes the type who can laugh it off tho

🫄 Has there ever been a time when their belly was so bloated that it got in their way/made a task difficult? - almost certainly. shes tiny & her belly sticks out pretty far when she overeats so if she has to like Reach for something her bellys gonna be pushed up against somethin. or if shes like sitting with a laptop her bellys gonna be gettin in the way. & if shes trying to button her pants with an already-too-stuffed belly Forget It

🕴️ Is there a certain type of situation that frequently results in tummy shenanigans for them? - snacks. they have NO self control when it comes to snacks. if theyre eating & theres still more snacks they will continue to eat the snacks regardless of how full their belly is. jesse has to stop them sometimes

💭 Have they ever had a memorable tummy shenanigans incident that other people still bring up to this day? - she overeats so frequently that its hard to pick one single event but i think there was a time when she was so completely stuffed & like way too full but she couldnt burp even tho she really needed to & jesse, who is a nervous individual when it comes to that sort of thing, was like Oh My God Oh Fuck Shes Going To Explode What Do I Do & dan is the one who brings it up bc looking back on it is funny

[skyhighsundae]

Everything is making a lot more sense, I have to admit. It's almost like a dam burst. The voices, the personality shifts, the dissociation, etc. It's just... so weird how I never managed to catch this before. I do realize how discreet this type of disorder can be -- especially the particular subtype I may have. But. I can't help but feel like this is so... much.

I'm trying to get acquainted with everyone here so far. I've discovered at least 6 of us, but time will tell if there are more. Forever grateful for everyone who's been kind to me & offered me guidance during this.

If anyone else here has advice for someone who just newly discovered they may have a complex dissociative disorder, do let me know

[stitch-n-time]

Principle 1: OK, yeah, that’s fair. It needs work.

Principles 2 and 3: This whole “algorithm” thing has been in the works with the “for you” suggestions. There’s already a problem with that. You know what has been suggested more often than not? I’d be happy to tell you. TERFs. White supremacists. Nazis. MRAs. Some of the worst dregs of society, because nothing has been done to ensure an actual safe space.

The long-term userbase of tumblr is long-term because we can choose whether or not we want to see posts from those dregs. The ability to self-curate our spaces is one of the most important features available on this website. We long-term users have demonstrated that we are more than willing to show/tell newcomers how to find people and do that curation. Look at the number of former redditors who have stated very clearly that they feel welcome, have found new communities, etc. if you need proof. Those same people have also figured out how to have conversations on the site. So much for your “Principle 3″ problem.

Principle 4: This whole “algorithm” thing has been in the works with the “for you” suggestions. There’s already a problem with that. You know what has been suggested more often than not? I’d be happy to tell you. TERFs. White supremacists. Nazis. MRAs. Some of the worst dregs of society, because nothing has been done to ensure an actual safe space.

Principle 5: No. Don’t do it. It has become impossible to ensure the userbase can permanently opt out of “features” already. (Having to opt out of porn bot live weekly, anyone?) The last thing anybody here needs is a dozen notifications going off every hour or two because “oh your tumblr is lonely” or some other cutesy nonsense. Y’know, since the higher ups here have been leaning into that uwu for a while now. I don’t know that many of us would believe that we could permanently opt out of push notifications if it became a bigger part of the “experience” on tumblr. I also know for a fact that many people have stopped using other sites/apps/whatever because of the sheer number of push notifications and emails.

Principle 6: Well, since tumblr mobile has always been too glitchy for me to use, I can’t speak to this. But I can say that a large number of people have already left the site because “updates” have broken the features necessary for them to be able to access the site. If things are so bad that something new breaks every couple of days, it may be time to scrap the entire mobile platform and start from scratch. Build a new dam downstream instead of putting a plaster cast on the part of the dam about to burst. Maybe a better platform that puts the needs of disables people back on the table, for a start. 

*sigh*

Look, y’all, I know it’s very likely only a couple of people who want to turn this place into the next tiktok or whatever. But those people are just plain wrong. They do not understand that what they’re trying to get rid of is exactly what keeps the userbase coming back. All they’re seeing is dollar bills. We’re not people to them. We never have been. We never will be. So they just don’t give a flying leap. Which means when they push these changes through they’ll lose the people who have made this home for years.

Tumblr’s Core Product Strategy

Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. We’re publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr’s future.

The Diagnosis

In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience. 

Tumblr’s competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content. 

To guarantee Tumblr’s continued success, we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.

Our Guiding Principles

To enhance Tumblr’s usability, we must address these core guiding principles.

Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Retain and grow our creator base.

Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Improve the platform’s performance, stability, and quality.

Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Tumblr has a “top of the funnel” issue in converting non-users into engaged logged-in users. We also have not invested in industry standard SEO practices to ensure a robust top of the funnel. The referral traffic that we do get from external sources is dispersed across different pages with inconsistent user experiences, which results in a missed opportunity to convert these users into regular Tumblr users. For example, users from search engines often land on pages within the blog network and blog view—where there isn’t much of a reason to sign up. 

We need to experiment with logged-out tumblr.com to ensure we are capturing the highest potential conversion rate for visitors into sign-ups and log-ins. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages. We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. Our current logged-out explore page does very little to help users understand “what is Tumblr.” which is a missed opportunity to get people excited about joining the site.

Actions & Next Steps

Improving Tumblr’s search engine optimization (SEO) practices to be in line with industry standards.

Experiment with logged out tumblr.com to achieve the highest conversion rate for sign-ups and log-ins, explore ways for visitors to “get” Tumblr and entice them to sign up.

Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to the user’s diverse interests during each session. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault lies with the product.

The default position should always be that the user does not know how to navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure that when people search for content related to their interests, it is easily accessible without any confusing limitations or unexpected roadblocks in their journey.

Being a 15-year-old brand is tough because the brand carries the baggage of a person’s preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts have to convey the value of Tumblr: it is a vibrant community with lots of untapped potential. We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant. 

Actions & Next Steps

Deliver great content each time the app is opened.

Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are. 

Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds. 

Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Part of Tumblr’s charm lies in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the clever remarks found within reblog chains and replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless.

Unfortunately, the current way that conversations work on Tumblr across replies and reblogs is confusing for new users. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the inability to easily follow threaded conversations make it difficult for users to join the conversation.

Actions & Next Steps

Address the confusion within replies and reblogs.

Improve the conversational posting features around replies and reblogs. 

Allow engagements on individual replies and reblogs.

Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths within a reblog thread. 

Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads. 

Explore the feasibility of removing duplicate reblogs within a user’s Following feed. 

Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.

Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we haven’t always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing our creator base.  

Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. We need to ensure that we have the expected creator tools and foster the rewarding feedback loops that keep creators around and enable them to thrive.

The lack of feedback stems from the outdated decision to only show content from followed blogs on the main dashboard feed (“Following”), perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform.

It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should never feel like a punishing experience.

Actions & Next Steps

Get creators’ new content in front of people who are interested in it. 

Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.

Build mechanisms to protect creators from being spammed by notifications when they go viral.

Expand ways to co-create content, such as by adding the capability to embed Tumblr links in posts.

Principle 5: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase user engagement, improve user retention, and facilitate content discovery. Our strategy of reaching out to you, the user, should be well-coordinated across product, commercial, and marketing teams.

Our messaging strategy needs to be personalized and adapt to a user’s shifting interests. Our messages should keep users in the know on the latest activity in their community, as well as keeping Tumblr top of mind as the place to go for witty takes and remixes of the latest shows and real-life events.  

Most importantly, our messages should be thoughtful and should never come across as spammy.  

Actions & Next Steps

Conduct an audit of our messaging strategy.

Address the issue of notifications getting too noisy; throttle, collapse or mute notifications where necessary.  

Identify opportunities for personalization within our email messages. 

Test what the right daily push notification limit is. 

Send emails when a user has push notifications switched off.

Principle 6: Performance, stability and quality.

The stability and performance of our mobile apps have declined. There is a large backlog of production issues, with more bugs created than resolved over the last 300 days. If this continues, roughly one new unresolved production issue will be created every two days. Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Improving performance, stability, and quality will help us achieve sustainable operations for Tumblr.

Improve performance and stability: deliver crash-free, responsive, and fast-loading apps on Android, iOS, and web.

Improve quality: deliver the highest quality Tumblr experience to our users. 

Move faster: provide APIs and services to unblock core product initiatives and launch new features coming out of Labs.

Conclusion

Our mission has always been to empower the world’s creators. We are wholly committed to ensuring Tumblr evolves in a way that supports our current users while improving areas that attract new creators, artists, and users. You deserve a digital home that works for you. You deserve the best tools and features to connect with your communities on a platform that prioritizes the easy discoverability of high-quality content. This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldn’t be more excited about our current strategy.

[delta-lethonomia]

for the fic writer ask game! ✅ 🎶 ⛔️ 🦉

thank youuuuu alrighty time to procrastinate 😅 ( be warned it's long, as always.)

✅ list one or two favorite lines you’ve written and explain why they’re your favorite

oh man... what an intense question... both of these are from Stinging Nettle Wine just because that's the freshest in my head rn:

With a clear yet quiet voice, she’d asked that the shutters be closed before the sun set enough to burn her, and given Tav a fright so sudden she’d jumped like a spooked animal, whacking her kneecap on the underside of the desk with enough force that she’d nearly spilled her tea.

The comedy of the scene just gets me. Dalyria being a creepy lil vamp and not breathing in the corner, terrified but mustering the courage to speak up before the sun burns her to cinders, and scaring Tav so thoroughly she whacks herself on the desk? Love it. Tav's so... unsettling and brutal in this fic, though I imagine it feels a bit softened from her perspective. It's the only bit of levity between them but also neatly encapsulates how unimportant Dalyria is to her.

“Because I knew who I was!” Dalyria shrieked. Her eyes were glassy, her breathing ragged, but the dam had burst—Tav released the Command entirely, but she kept talking, confessions pouring forth like a waterfall in the crypt-like stillness of her home. “I knew what to expect, what was expected of me—I had a routine, brothers, sisters—they’d hurt me but they couldn’t kill me, no one could, the master would not allow it—all I had to do was to be nothing, and pray that one day I could be myself, but I can’t be myself anymore—because—it was all a fantasy, a lie, I’m no longer the Doctor Dalyria—I’m not anything, I’m no longer a part of anything—”

ok that is NOT a sentence but I love it and want to talk about it 😂 I really wanted to capture the feeling of hysterical crying through Dalyria, and I think this dialogue neatly conveys that. It's incoherent but all the points are there, conveying all that she's feeling and what it ties back to. There's also a mention of the "crypt-like stillness of her home," i.e. Tav's tower, which is a seemingly cozy place, but not. I've been feeling very gothic horror about it - it's meant to look cozy and homey, but it's also very cold and misshapen. The whole place is freezing cold and the wind howls through the cracks, phantom noises everywhere, and with only Tav and Astarion around, both whom are working on solitary activities, it's usually completely silent and crypt-like. It's like if a gothic castle and a wizard's tower had an ugly baby, but something went wrong midway through, which really is what's happened to Tav and Astarion's relationship here, even if it's (on the surface) "functional." Yeah, Astarion has things now - he picked the furniture, the art, the sheets etc - he gets an office, but it's in the living room, while Tav has 2-3 dedicated workspaces. Szarr mansion vibes, middle-class edition. There's a lot of little nuggets like that if you pay attention.

🎶 do you write with music? does the music you’re listening to influence your writing?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no! I do have a writing playlist (dropping the link here 👀) but I also do a lot of writing super late at night and forget to put my headphones on, so it's completely silent. Most commonly though, I tend to put on let's plays of horror games. I re-watch Markiplier's "At Dead of Night" playthrough a lot haha! So I guess, yeah, most of the things I want to write have a lot of tension and some horror to them, and horror let's plays or obsessive music helps with that. If I do listen to music, it's usually the same song on repeat for hours.

⛔️ whats something you try to avoid in your work?

Classic m/f cisgender heteronormativity/gender roles

Ok I do realize the irony of that statement. I guess I'm trying to avoid classic romantic tropes: male domination, male "predator"/female "prey", "good" female protagonist who's always right/moral/ethical, female aversion/inexperience with sex, stuff like that. I wrangle with myself every time I make Tav cry or act over-the-top emotional except in her case, it's usually in anger, and tbh as someone who has that "I'm utterly furious but my body has decided crying makes me look more sympathetic and therefor you won't kill me"-gene, I think it's interesting to play with. And tbh I make Astarion cry too so it balances out 😅

Although Tav seduces Astarion, he's the one doing a lot of the emotional labor that keeps them together, and that's the sort of anti-heteronormativity I like. I do admit though, when he hugged her a few chapters ago to calm her down, that got me in the feels a little. We can have a little classic romance as a treat.

🦉 give yourself a piece of writing advice

🙏 my brother in christ please stop with the semi-colon and regular colon abuse. Put the em-dashes down. Short sentences are valid. TAKE A BREATH

Also - repeats. It's the first thing I have to edit every time. I write an unusual word in one sentence and then repeat it in the next, or rephrase the exact thing I just wrote. I'm even conscious of it nowadays but it still keeps happening!

[bopinion]

2024 / 01

Aperçu of the Week:

"He who breaks a resolution is a weakling. He who makes one is a fool."

(Frederic Lawrence Knowles, US-American poet from the 19th century)

Bad News of the Week:

Flooding in Central Europe. Extreme continuous rain has caused a variety of dangers in Germany and France. The consequences of simply too much water in too short a time range from overflowing river beds to washed-out roads and burst dams. In Lower Saxony alone, 10,000 helpers from the fire department, technical relief organizations and even the military are working to prevent the worst.

Nowhere did the rain fall as snow because it was simply too warm: in the course of last week it was plus 12 degrees Celsius in southern Bavaria - and that at the beginning of January. In the new week, however, we have 12 degrees below zero. The experts disagree as to whether the frost is beneficial to the stability of the softened dykes or not. And if we humans are already having problems coping with the change in temperature with all our resources, what must it feel like for nature?

Sweden, for example, is experiencing record sub-zero temperatures. This is pushing fauna and flora to their limits. I dare not even imagine that this will once again be used as an argument by people wearing aluminum hats that there is no global warming.

Good News of the Week:

For a change, there is some good news from Israel. No, Benjamin Netanyahu has not resigned. Even if he in particular will see this as bad news: Israel's supreme court has declared a core element of the so-called "judicial reform" illegal. As a reminder, the far-right executive has been engaged in a trial of strength with the judiciary for a year now. In principle, the government's aim is to disempower the judiciary, for Netanyahu also out of personal self-protection against prosecution. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets against this for months. Then stopped not by sensible government action, but by the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.

But the Supreme Court still has its powers. And it uses them. By rejecting an amendment to the law that would have prevented it from taking action against "inappropriate" decisions by the government, the prime minister or individual ministers. Critics had already warned that this amendment could encourage corruption and arbitrary appointments to important posts, among other things - in other words: it was simply undemocratic.

This is an important victory on points. However, it remains to be seen what effect the decision will have on the government's other so-called "reform projects", all of which are directed against an independent, strong judiciary. But have been on hold since the Hamas attack. Evil voices say that Netanyahu's creeping loss of authority is also on hold only because of the Gaza war. After all, no nation likes to change its government in times of crisis. All the more reason to hope for an early end to the conflict.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Saturday was Epiphany. A holiday on which children in rural Bavaria dress up as the three holy kings and carol singers and go from house to house. And bless the house for the new year. A collection is made for a good cause: a children's home in Puerto Rico. A touch of normality and hope for 2024.

I couldn't care less...

...about royal news. Even if, as a Bavarian, I recognize their historical significance (Ludwig II, Sissi, etc.), I think they are simply outdated these days. Even if my daughter, in her current student job, is trying to keep the Wittelsbachs alive on social media. In this respect, I welcome the fact that Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced her abdication at the end of the week. Unfortunately, she is not abolishing the monarchy at the same time, but handing over to her son. Sidenote: British King Charles III is still the official head of state of Canada. Ridiculous.

It's fine with me...

...that my favorite newspaper (which I rarely get to read in detail) "Die Zeit" is headlined this week: How does peace work, Immanuel Kant? I think it's extremely valuable that journalism doesn't limit itself to daily news tickers, but instead asks questions, looks behind the scenes and thinks about things. It is not for nothing that in democracies it is called the "fourth power in the state" alongside the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Bravo!

As I write this...

...I discover the music of Keith Jarrett. The exceptional pianist has not only excelled in remarkable recordings of classical music (especially Johann Sebastian Bach), but above all with jazz. I would have loved to experience one of his concert evenings with only improvisations (!) live. I don't know many musicians whose performance makes you realize how much fun they are having doing music. It's also charming that you can hear Jarrett humming along from time to time, or even beatboxing. My favorite albums are the ones he recorded with bassist Charlie Haden. Thanks to excellent headphones with noise canceling, they provide a relaxed oasis of quiet ("piano") music enjoyment even after a long working day on a packed commuter train.

Post Scriptum

My "symbolic thinker" for 2024 - after Goethe, Cicero, Freud and Aristotle in recent years - is Friedrich Nietzsche. Who stares at the elephant in the room. Fascinated? Disgusted? Surprised? In any case, observant, analytical and critical. And an allegory that I am really proud of. In the 19th century, the classical philologist and philosopher broke the mold with both his thinking and his style and did not allow himself to be assigned to any classical discipline - but created new ones, of which my wife understands more than I do due to her interest and a corresponding university degree. In the first semester, Nietzsche wears the ancient Greek symbol for democracy on his lapel. And the elephant has blood dripping from its tusk. Perhaps it is no coincidence that it is the heraldic animal of the US Republicans. But let's hope for the best...

[wreckedregent7]

Regent’s Ramblings - Aatrox’s VGU

Another day, another pointed thought-spill, this time about something I have in the back of my brain about 90% of the time. Riot has a reasonably good track record with VGUs - Sion, Warwick, Dr. Mundo, Udyr, etc. - oftentimes when they take the time to hash out and reinforce the core identity of a Champion, they manage to nail it pretty consistently.

However, there’s one Champion that wound up in a particularly poor state of balance following his VGU, and that state has been kept in constant flux ever since, with him very frequently crossing the line of dominance and needing to be pushed back down, and with his core fantasy being poorly expressed in gameplay. And man, do I have a love/hate relationship with Aatrox.

Before I talk about his VGU, I need to talk about what Aatrox was before it. In appearance, he was strikingly alien - tall, slender, with ragged banner-like wings, prominent horns, a jagged, segmented sword, and a posture of unusual refinement despite his trademark being unbridled violence. He made for an impressive character as one of a rare species known as Darkin, and his lithe form helped sell the aggression of his Diver playstyle.

His passive allowed him to store up energy in his Blood Well, and when it was full, he was given a revive a la Guardian Angel, being temporarily put in stasis as his health regenerated from the well. His Q fired two converging blades of energy to slow opponents at a range, his E allowed him to dive in, knocking opponents airborne if he landed on them, and his W allowed him to toggle his weapon between Blood Thirst - giving him minor burst heals every third hit - or Blood Price - sacrificing his health to boost the damage of every third hit.

And his Ultimate, Massacre, had him siphon the health from enemies nearby, giving him boosted movement speed and attack speed, making him a living single-target blender who could either sustain himself in combat or go full HAM to murder someone at great risk to himself.

When Riot planned their VGU for him, they initially wanted to keep him as a Diver - a Fighter who has strong engage tools and high consistent damage output with modest durability. They wanted to keep his drain-tanking mechanics, but reinforce his thematic identity as a warlord and war-deity.

And then when his VGU arrived, he became a Juggernaut - having lower average mobility, being easily kited, but having staggeringly high damage and durability to compensate - with some drain-tanking mechanics. His gameplay went from aggressive, risky plays to crowd control and masterful positioning, which, while not a bad thing in and of itself, but coupled with his other mechanics, does make for a bad combination.

So, covering his current kit real quick; His passive has him periodically empower his next basic attack to deal extra damage based on the target’s %max health, and heal him based on the post-mitigation damage, reduced against minions. Hitting enemies reduces the cooldown, and landing his Q sweet spots reduces it even more.

His Q is a three-part ability, where he slams his sword in three unique patterns, each with a sweet spot that deals extra damage and knocks the target airborne for a moment. The first is a narrow line with the sweet spot at the end, the second being a broad cone with the sweet spot at the outer edge, and then the last being a point-blank circle area with the center of the circle being the sweet spot.

His W launches a projectile that damages the first enemy hit, and if it’s a large jungle monster or a champion, it creates a trapezoidal field with the narrower section closer to Aatrox, with a chain linking the Champion to the center; if they remain in the area for a few seconds, they take additional damage and are dragged back to the center.

His E passively heals him for post-mitigation damage dealt to Champions, and also allows him a short dash, which he can use to adjust his positioning mid-Q. And finally his Ultimate fears nearby minions, grants him bonus Attack Damage, Movement Speed, and self-healing, with its duration resetting on Champion takedown.

His Ultimate used to grant him a one-off revive like Blood Well where he could move around while reviving, but they removed it some time after the VGU went live.

Now, you may notice that, despite having a kit that encourages drain-tanking and consistent damage output, Aatrox gets no attack speed steroids or anything like that. Meaning that the bulk of his healing is going to come from landing his Q, and especially the sweet spots. They don’t have too awful long of a cooldown, but the problem becomes much more apparent in practice.

Remember how I said his gameplay went from risky aggression to masterful positioning? Yeah, I meant it. Surviving as Aatrox means that you need to land your Q sweet spots; the 60% bonus damage matters, and on top of that the momentary knockup helps stall your opponent from landing hits in the trade - but Aatrox’s Q has windup, and the pattern is set, and thus becomes predictable.

Your enemy will start to dodge your Qs better, and then it becomes even more imperative that you get better positioning, catch your opponent with W, read their movements, feint, readjust, etc., just to get reasonable sustainability from a Champion whose mechanical identity is “drain tank”.

Comparing him to another drain tank for a second; Vladimir has a similar means of sustain - it’s all in his abilities, namely his Transfusion and Hemoplague. But he doesn’t rely so much on positioning; he can heal consistently off of minions since it’s a flat heal per rank, and he only gets a more effective boost during his Crimson Rush - it’s not tied to his damage, it’s tied to his ability rank and AP scaling, and a small reward for aggressive positioning and timing.

His Hemoplague, similarly, heals for a flat amount per Champion, with a reduction for subsequent Champions after the first. There’s no finnicky damage math - just “did I hit an enemy”. Sanguine Pool heals him as well, but notably for pre-mitigation damage; meaning, once again; your healing is not dictated by the enemy’s defenses, but rather your ability to stay aggressive and leech off of them.

Meanwhile Aatrox is a drain tank who can’t do his job well without a significant investment in items - and since his healing is tied to post-mitigation damage, he winds up being extremely janky as a Juggernaut whose first item is Lethality - Eclipse. Without the effective flat armor penetration provided by Eclipse, Aatrox doesn’t do any actual draining, despite being, again, a “drain tank.”

And I’m sure someone out there’s wondering; “why all this fuss over sustain?” - and the simplest answer is, because sustain is Aatrox’s identity, and it doesn’t mesh with his current mechanics. It makes him highly intensive to play, and also somehow manages to tie his ability to perform not just to player skill, but also specific, rigid itemization that runs counter to his mechanical design.

The standard Juggernaut fare as far as Mythics go are items that blend durability with damage - Goredrinker, Stridebreaker, Divine Sunderer, Riftmaker, etc. - and here we have a Juggernaut who has extreme difficulty functioning if his first item isn’t a Skirmisher Mythic. It lacks in effective durability (no, the shield doesn’t mean shit) which only increases the pressure to perform and exhibit the aforementioned masterful positioning.

And with Aatrox’s success so inextricably tied to specific itemization, he winds up being nerfed when his core gameplay becomes too effective; as seen with his semi-recent nerfs towards his sustain.

I’m gonna close this one out by saying, something I would love to see for Aatrox is to get his Deathbringer Stance changed; instead of periodically making his next basic attack give him a small burst heal, make it crush a portion of the target’s armor. Sacrifice one of his healing sources in exchange for giving him the power to make his healing actually function without needing high damage, low-durability itemization to come online.

It would bring back some of his risk/reward gameplay and still encourage skillful trades, as an enemy who gets their armor crunched is going to be far more wary of Aatrox’s predictable attack patterns.

I’d also love to see his revive effect come back, but I’ve given up hope on that one, no matter how many limitations could be put on it.

[homo-house]

Hello it's me again in May 5th, 2024. (reblogging from a post with date of the original post for reference - thank you for adding that!)

It's now been six months since I made this post. I sadly can't do a full run down of what has happened to Rio Amazonas in the meantime as I am not from the region and haven't kept a close eye on the matter; I can say the drought period is over and the river is running "normal" again, though still a few meters lower than what would be ideal, and that the local economy is getting ready for an even worse drought this year (more out of fear than anything). However, it is a little early to say for sure, as we have been expecting La Niña to come for a while now (El Niño has been unusually long; back in November we expected it to last until April but recent analysis says it should end now in May instead) and when/if that happens the yearly drought period in the Northern region could be alleviated in 2024.

Is that good news? No, actually.

As is the case with climate change, an extreme event happening in one place means another extreme event in the other end of the spectrum happening somewhere else. Earth climate is a sum zero system, so extreme heat and drought in one place means extreme cold and rainstorms in another.

In my original post I mentioned we had been dealing with the exact opposite of drought in the Southern region of Brazil, and guess what, it has gotten much, much worse.

I am, as are my friends and family, thankfully safe - my location wasn't hit by this event. But deeper south, bordering Argentina, the entire state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) - a state that is bigger in area than the UK and which has a bigger population than Portugal - is underwater right now. That's not an exaggeration: in the past week, 341 out of 497 cities have been hit by severe rainstorms and over 100 have registered severe flooding that has caused irreparrable infrastructural damage. Meteorologists are expecting another half week of rain. Three days ago, a hydroelectric power plant's dam burst and flooded multiple cities. A second dam is still at risk of collapse.

It is estimated 844 thousand people have been affected in some way including days-long power outage and lack of water, with 115 thousand having lost their homes and 78 confirmed deaths. That is 76% of RS population affected!

What's worse, governing bodies HAVE FAILED TO HELP. The people are left to save themselves; saying the public funds & forces directed towards relief has been insufficient would be an understatement: compared to how much has been lost, anything the state has done so far amounts to NOTHING.

I HATE posts that ask for donations. Reading hundreds of them every week hurts my heart so much. I don't think anyone likes them. I HATE reblogging them and I cannot tell you how much I hate writing this right now. But considering the reach of this post I would feel guilty to not add this here and ask once again that you help people of Brazil affected by climate catastrophes if you feel it in your heart to do so, if you have the money to spare. Anything helps. It's fine if you can't.

To donate directly to the State of Rio Grande do Sul, official state social media has shared these international bank accounts:

However, as I have said before, the state has been ineffective, insufficient in how they react to things. So, I again recommend donating directly to individuals and civil organizations which act more quickly and effectively.

Ação da Cidadania, a group that has been active since 1993 helping Brazilians in extreme poverty and vulnerability, is one of the civil groups that have been helping a lot there. They accept donations through PayPal, so you can make an international donation.

GRAD Brasil is a group oriented towards helping save animals in disasters like these which is also accepting international donations via PayPal. Often, animals have to be left behind because they are too scared to be grabbed and put into boats, etc in the heat of the moment so they need specialized help - which GRAD offers. Their team is made up of trained veterinarians.

Instituto Vakinha, the go-to crowdfund platform in Brazil, has set up a huge relief fund. You can also donate directly in USD, GBP, and EUR there.

I know so many people need help in so many different parts of the world right now and there is only so much the people can share with eachother but I felt the obligation to make this post since I made one for Amazonas before. If you can't donate - I sure as hell can't, I haven't a dime to spare - and if you don't want to share, which I understand, I just ask that you remember that this is happening, climate change is happening, global boiling is happening and will not stop happening for a while. Just keep that in mind for every time you take a political decision and choose where to stand regarding environmental issues. This is what's coming if we don't force those in power to change and adapt, if we don't force the state machine to be shaped in a way that will always help the people who need it.

hey uh so I haven't seen anyone talking about this here yet, but

the amazon river, like the biggest river in the fucking world, in the middle of the amazon fucking rainforest, is currently going through its worst drought since the records began 121 years ago

picture from Folha PE

there's a lot going on but I haven't seen much international buzz around this like there was when the forest was on fire (maybe because it's harder to shift the narrative to blame brazil exclusively as if the rest of the world didn't have fault in this) so I wanted to bring this to tumblr's attention

I don't know too many details as I live in the other side of the country and we are suffering from the exact opposite (at least three cyclones this year, honestly have stopped counting - it's unusual for us to get hit by even one - floods, landslides, we have a death toll, people are losing everything to the water), but like, I as a brazilian have literally never seen pictures of the river like this before. every single city in the amazonas state is in a state of emergency as of november 1st.

pictures by Adriano Liziero (ig: geopanoramas)

we are used to seeing images of rio negro and solimões, the two main amazon river affluents, in all their grandiose and beauty and seeing these pictures is really fucking chilling. some of our news outlets are saying the solimões has turned to a sand desert... can you imagine this watery sight turning into a desert in the span of a year?

while down south we are seeing amounts of rain and hailstorms the likes of which our infrastructure is simply not built to deal with, up north people who have built everything around the river are at a loss of what to do.

the houses there that are built to float are just on the ground, people who depend on fishing for a living have to walk kilometers to find any fish that are still alive at all, the biodiversity there is at risk, and on an economic level it's hard to grasp how people from the northern states are getting by at all - the main means of transport for ANYTHING in that region is via the river water. this will impact the region for months to come. it doesnt make a lot of sense to build a lot of roads bc it's just better to use the waterway system, everything is built around or floats on the river after all. and like, the water level is so incomprehensibly low the boats are just STUCK. people are having a hard time getting from one place to another - keep in mind the widest parts of the river are over 10 km apart!!

this shit is really serious and i am trying not to think about it because we have a different kind of problem to worry about down south but it's really terrifying when I stop to think about it. you already know the climate crisis is real and the effects are beyond preventable now (we're past global warming, get used to calling it "global boiling"). we'll be switching strategies to damage control from now on and like, this is what it's come to.

I don't like to be alarmist but it's hard not to be alarmed. I'm sorry that I can't end this post with very clear intructions on how people overseas can help, there really isn't much to do except hope the water level rises soon, maybe pray if you believe in something. in that regard we just have to keep pressing for change at a global level; local conditions only would not, COULD NOT be causing this - the amazon river is a CONTINENTAL body of water, it spans across multiple countries. so my advice is spread the word, let your representatives know that you're worried and you want change towards sustainability, degrowth and reduced carbon emissions, support your local NGOs, maybe join a cause, I don't know? I recommend reading on ecological and feminist economics though

however, I know you can help the affected riverine families by donating to organizations dedicated to helping the region. keep in mind a single US dollar, pound or euro is worth over 5x more in our currency so anything you donate at all will certainly help those affected.

FAS - Sustainable Amazon Fundation

Idesam - Sustainable Developent and Preservation Institute of Amazonas

Greenpeace Brasil - I know Greenpeace isn't the best but they're one of the few options I can think of that have a bridge to the international world and they are helping directly

There are a lot of other smaller/local NGOs but I'm not sure how you could donate to them from overseas, I'll leave some of them here anyway:

Projeto Gari

Legião da Boa Vontade

Caritás Brasileira

If you know any other organizations please link them, I'll be sure to reblog though my reach isn't a lot

thank you so much for reading this to the end, don't feel obligated to share but please do if you can! even if you just read up to here it means a lot to me that someone out there knows

also as an afterthought, I wanted to expand on why I think this hasn't made big news yet: because unlike the case of the 2020 forest fires, other countries have to hold themselves accountable when looking at this situation. while in 2020 it was easier to pretend the fires were all our fault and people were talking about taking the amazon away from us like they wouldn't do much worse. global superpowers have no more forests to speak of so I guess they've been eyeing what latin america still has. so like this bit of the post is just to say if you're thinking of saying anything of the sort, maybe think of what your own country has done to contribute to this instead of blaming brazil exclusively and saying the amazon should be protected by force or whatever

[scorpioracha]

Dating Felix

Hey guys! This one ended up being longer and a bit less lighthearted than my bang Chan one. I hope you guys still enjoy and leave a comment or reblog! I’m so grateful for the love my Bang Chan one received and my heart is full ♡

Felix 필릭스

-Felix is definitely a sweetheart in love, your situation was a love at first sight kind of thing. He’s a big believer in vibes and initial feelings so this boy trusts his gut. From the moment you first met he thought you were a person he could fall in love with, and he was right. Speaking to you was easy, hanging out was easy so falling in love with you was easy as well. He’s the type to give so much of himself and get so little in return, but meeting you changed that.

-every little piece of himself he offered to you, you matched that in earnest. He didn’t have to worry about spilling too much too soon and having that used against him—you never even gave him the chance to worry in the first place. Loving Felix was easy and being loved by him in return was nothing short of beautiful.

-the early part of your relationship was honestly just spent sitting and talking. Whatever activity you two had planned usually fell into the background in favor of deep conversations from anything about your goals, your fears, the world, etc. I can not stress how easy communication is with him. Not to say that you never bump heads, but you guys don’t argue, you talk. This relationship is definitely a safe space for differing opinions,annoyances,insecurities, etc. Because as long as you talk about it, you will be okay.

-And although you guys are chatty, Felix is our little loverboy. He is definitely going to take you on some fun dates. He is definitely going to pull out all the stops for you.

-your first official date was a picnic in a garden and he came ready to impress. Cute little wicker basket, picnic blankets, pillows, cutlery, doilies made of ribbon and lace. He wanted only the best for you. The weather was beautiful—he had double checked the night before—and you guys were there during a lull in the day so not many people out and about. You guys sat and ate and talked for hours, loud laughter turning into hushed whispers as the sky faded into sunset. He brought you home that night and kissed your forehead as a goodnight.

-Even though the communication was amazing he really didn’t know where the boundaries were physically. Usually with his bandmates he has no problem stretching himself across someone’s lap or blatantly just asking for attention, but he was still holding back around you. His hand would jerk wanting to hold yours or he’d space out in conversations thinking about how your lips felt against his.

-You were the one who initiated the first kiss. With a soft “can I?” you leaned in and you could just feel his body melting against yours like a dam bursting. You had no idea how long he’d been holding back on touching you simply because he didn’t want to ruin things. He knocked his forehead against yours in pure excitement and couldn’t keep the kiss for long since he was grinning teeth and all. Touches were still hesitant from that moment on but he was getting better at initiating.

-Felix is possessive in love—I know this sounds bad but hear me out. This man cherishes you deeply, you’re high on the list of his favorite people. He isn’t the type to shelter or be overbearing, he doesn’t even border on jealous really all that often.

-If he loves someone he is possessive over them, period point blank. This extends to family, friends, lovers, etc because if he’s going to love you he’s going to do so fully and our boy feels every emotion so deeply. He’s not going to let this suffocate you though, because first and foremost you are your own person and he respects that fully, encourages you to do things on your own and be apart from each other.

-but it is the little things when this possessiveness creeps in. You’re his baby, his darling, his love and honestly his heart flutters and his cheeks scorch when you use the same language to him. He doesn’t want it to be domineering and one way, he wants to belong to you just as much as you belong to him.

-A better way to describe this was reverence, he simply adores you.

NSFW

-I would be bold face lying if I said sex with Felix was anything short of intense. It can be daunting to have his full attention on you—this boy gets tunnel vision the minute you get naked—but fucking with Felix feels like worship. He can be overstimulating himself without even trying to be, since he’s giving you his full attention he wants yours on him in return.

-He’s big on eye contact, he wants to see you, really see you. He wants to know what makes you tick, what makes you gasp, what drives you absolutely insane. This is a test and he’s going to ace it.

-This first few times you two fuck feels like a storm. His eyes locked on yours, the room dim and nothing but the sound of your breathing and skin on skin.

-The best way to describe him would be frenzied, he wants to touch you everywhere, see everything and ends up overwhelmed rolling his hips into you with tears in his eyes. You feel so good around him and you sound so pretty that his brain kind of short circuits and the only thing he can think about is making you cum as hard as he can.

-but as well know, Felix is a man of duality. Once the newness of the relationship wears off, it leaves something softer in its place, something more comfortable.

-Felix is a giver, but he’s also a taker. His wants vary by the day or even sometimes by the hour.

-In the morning you’ll have him on his back, arms above his head begging to cum for you and by afternoon you’re being bent over the countertop, cheek pressed against the cool surface and being told to take it like a good little slut.

-He’s one our true switches with no lean. As long as you’re both feeling good, he doesn’t really care if he’s domming or subbing. It’s usually a good system for the both of you, no structured scenes and honestly just going by the vibes of the day. He does what he feels like. But sometimes you butt heads and you butt heads hard. Both of you feeling submissive is never really a problem.

-It’s when you both feel like domming. Moments like this are very much ‘may the best dom win’. This has led to many nights of mutual aftercare, cleaning scratches, applying ointment and cuddly baths together debriefing what you guys liked and what you didn’t.

-when you’re both feeling subby the room is filled with whimpers, wet kisses and soft pleas of wanting to cum and begging each other as you rut against each other’s thighs Felix is a crier and a hair puller

-Felix also gives experimentalist vibes so if something sounds interesting, he wants to try it. You two end up with a few new shared kinks and a toy chest.

-Yes this boy definitely takes the strap, he’s as self involved in his pleasure as he is yours. He’s not going to miss the opportunity to get railed over a little toxic masculinity. And if you don’t top, that’s fine. He’ll fuck himself on a dildo and make you watch him thighs quivering and all.

-Sex with Felix doesn’t always have to be penetrative. He doesn’t mind sitting between your legs cooing as he wrings orgasm after orgasm from you with a wand.

[tanoraqui]

#nearly choked on my own spit reading that last part #tolkien# but also to make the crack sad #there's something poetic about Maglor the last Feanorian #his family destroyed by fire #feanor burns alive #Amrod (potentially) burns in Losgar #Maedhros casts himself into flame #and destroyed by darkness #the oath eating them alive #all of them being doomed to the void #and then Maglor the only Feanorian to escape the fire and the darkness #to instead haunt and be haunted by the sea #falling in love with a being of fire and darkness #looking his family's destruction in the eye and saying I forgive you I forgive you you can be more than what you were #and perhaps in the doing so he can learn to forgive himself #and have hope for his family

@erai-crabantaure​ is out here making my crackship in a crack au poetic and giving me feels, while I’m over here like, 

double-date where Dave (the Balrog) is determined to passive-aggressively show Gorthaur that he, Dave, is actually way better at finding and keeping a pet Fëanorian, and also he could totally take Gorthaur in a fight he’s just choosing not to right now; and Annatar is maintaining the pretense of still being Evil and pretending to be above such petty competition, but is 100% rising to the bait because a) nobody out-passive-aggressives the Lord of Gifts and b) his Fëanorian is FAR superior to that beach hobo who could barely even forge a dagger; BUT Annatar is also avoiding eye contact with Maglor because the last time they met was toward the end of the War of Wrath when Maglor technically, arguably, beat him in a Duel of Song (Sauron tried the Tol-in-Gaurhoth Special, ie, grief, guilt, and existential hopelessness, and Maglor was like, “Honey, I live here,” and then Maedhros stabbed Sauron and their backup arrived and Sauron GTFO’d until Eonwë found him.) Celebrimbor is getting increasingly annoyed at a) this whole “pretending to be evil(ly suborned)” gig as well as at Annatar bragging about him (it’s embarrassing and he does it far too much already), and keeps accidentally making eye contact with Maglor while seeking someone to be like, Maiar, amiright? with, then quickly looking away because Evil Uncle, then darting a glance back because he’s increasingly, against his will, a little concerned about Maglor. Maglor meanwhile is quietly eating while 100% convinced that he’s hallucinating; the only question is if it’s all a hallucination or if he really has been captured by a Balrog. Either way, his life is already so terrible that this might as well happen.

(This is like...1/3–1/2way through the 105-minute romcom. About 60% through, Maglor realizes that none of this is a hallucination and immediately tries to rescue Celebrimbor from his entirely content marriage bed what is obviously a fate worse than death. This is how Maglor finds out, though Celebrimbor yelling at him indignantly, about the marriage and also Sauron [allegedly] not being evil anymore, and shortly thereafter has a moment of, “wait, is that an option?” Possibly Dave is simultaneously having the knock-down drag-out brawl with the old Lieutenant of Angband that he’s been itching for, maybe finally incited because he figured out that Sauron was lying to him about still being evil, clearly he’s gone weak, etc etc. That fight definitely ends with Annatar pinned down but baring his teeth in a grin and saying something like, “Yes, you Úmaiar always had more power then I. But do you know what you still lack? The sense of where to apply it.” Then he like snaps a twig and the massive dam they’ve been fighting in front of, which Dave (and Annatar, but mostly Dave) have both been hitting, BURSTS and Dave gets totally quenched.)

...Oh my god at the end Dave has to run through the Grey Havens like they’re an airport to catch Maglor before he gets on a ship sailing West. 

(Will Dave join him on the ship, so that they may both seek healing together? Will Maglor stay, and they’ll both join Celebrimbor&Annatar’s ongoing mission to better mortal-occupied Arda through invention and fair-and-open global trade? Either way, it’ll be covered in the sequel: My Big Fat Fëanorian Wedding! please god let that already be a fic title somewhere)

(Original movie: When Dave Met Maglor? Pretty Balrog? Awake in Eriador? I’m just going through a Top 50 list of romcoms here and spitballing.)

[bendthekneetobangtan]

We finally have the names of all the victims who were slain in the Atlanta shootings.

Soon Jung Park, 74

Hyun Jung Kim, 51

Suncha Kim, 69

Yong Ae Yue, 63

Xiaojie Tan, 49

Daoyou Feng, 44

Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33

Paul Andre Michels, 54

Ever since the coverage of the shootings began, I’ve been obsessively checking the news for updates on the victims. The name and the image of the shooter were plastered EVERYWHERE, but nothing about the victims. It took THREE DAYS for us to learn all of the victims’ names.

Something like a dam burst inside me once the final names were released and I couldn’t stop crying. 6 of the women were Asian immigrants. They were somebody’s mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, grandma. They could have been MY mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, grandma. I see their names and I think of how much they must have given up to come to America and how much xenophobia and racism they endured, just like my own parents. My parents didn’t immigrate just for fun, they were escaping communism and they desperately wanted better opportunities for themselves and their families. These victims suffered so much to earn a place in American society and now it’s been cruelly taken away.

Unfortunately, their families will continue to feel pain and suffering despite the victims’ best attempts to provide them better lives.

I don’t want to put qualifications as to why anyone should care about the pain the AAPI community is in right now. (ex. If you like kpop or anime or Asian cultures, you should support AAPIs!) Honestly, if you are a human being capable of basic sympathy and/or empathy, you should care. But the fact of the matter is, I see very, very little being shared about the shootings and I’m greatly disappointed in the kpop fandom. I know tumblr is not the place to be getting news, everyone is dealing with pandemic exhaustion, maybe people are trying to give grace to AAPIs and not talk over them, etc.

But like....just 2 days before the shootings, everyone was chatting about how racist the Grammys were by using BTS fans to get their ratings up, but refusing to give BTS an award (which is also a valid discussion). Where did everybody go?? You don’t have the ability to reblog a few support links here and there? You were ready to fight over the Grammys, but not for racial equality?

I’m truly astounded by the stifling silence and genuinely hurt by the kpop fandom. You guys know BTS is Asian, right? Or do you only view Asians as a source of entertainment and not actual people in your community??

To be honest, I’ve been struggling with processing my feelings with these recent events. Growing up, I was taught to suffer in silence. My parents would give advice like if you ignore the problem, it will eventually go away. Keep your head down, work hard, and you’ll get by just fine. Someone else always has it worse than you so don’t complain.

But at what point do we allow ourselves to acknowledge our pain and suffering? I’ve been called slurs and hit on by gross men with Asian fetishes and all I could really do was keep my distance so that they wouldn’t hurt me. In the back of my mind, I always knew something worse could happen to me than these seemingly minor incidents, but I never felt I had a “right” to be upset – you know, since I was still alive – until now. Until members of our community started dying. It’s unfortunate that the conversation about anti-Asian racism is only starting now, when we’ve been dealing with aggressions for the past 150+ years.

To my fellow AAPIs, I want you to know I am here for you and I acknowledge your pain. Thank you for reading this.

[k-l-bryan]

H.E.L.M is supposed to be like a war room setting . . . but it feels like it could be super domestic too, and there are so many story options.

Osiris is working late, so Saint brings him dinner and the two eat together and finally talk.  Crow and Wolf could watch from a distance and comment about how it took them long enough to get their act together.  Glint and Ghost would share a look; because pot/ kettle.

Crow comes back to the H.E.L.M late after a mission, not expecting to find anyone there, and finds Wolf awake with tea/ coffee going over reports or cleaning their weapons.  They’ve been having trouble sleeping (nightmares/ stress, take your pick), and the two of them talk about it.

Crow has a small room aboard, because Osiris refuses to let his son sleep in a hole in the wall of a dam.  He gets up one night and sees light coming from under a door.  Assuming someone has snuck in, he draws his gun and bursts in, only to find himself in Wolfs room.  Ghost asked Zavala to make a space for them aboard, because he’s worried about them and thinks they need a place to rest and relax (refers to it as the Wolf’s Den).

Wolf falls asleep at the war table.  Osiris doesn’t wake them (Ghost asks him not too, because his Guardian needs rest).  Crow comes in as Wolf starts talking in their sleep (angsty points if it’s about Cayde; or a romantic moment with him).  When Wolf wakes up, Crow asks them who Cayde is and if he was special/ important to them.

Not domestic, but I’m a sucker for the Fake-Out Make-Out trope.  Wolf and Crow are having some dinner (maybe Ramen, because neither of them can cook), and Crow forgets his mask in his room.  Zavala comes in and Wolf kisses Crow to hide his face.  Zavala sees the moment and leaves, not wanting to disturb them.

Glint/ Ghost going on their equivalent of a date.  Crow and Wolf fuss over them before hand like proud parents.

Not long after Wolf’s room is discovered by Crow, gifts from people start showing up outside their door.  A knitted blanket from Zavala, books from Ikora and Osiris (Wolf finds the fact they gave the same gift amusing, but doesn’t dare mention it to them), a tea pot; cup and some tea from Elsie, a (very) large container of sweets from Saint and other things from Drifter, Eris, Shaxx etc.  Someone leaves them a leather bound journal embossed with a feather motif and a pen with the note ‘For your thoughts’.  They suspect it’s from Crow.

Those are just a few options/ scenarios.  Feel free to use them, or add your own to this as a thread. :)

[sepublic]

The Shadowed One AKA the evil velociraptor crime boss that likes to gaslight his employees.

Source material below for reference;

TSO was a lot of fun drawing and adapting! This design is both part of my personal headcanon and YaBr; I’ve chosen to interpret TSO as having a velociraptor-esque build, a dinosaur standing as far up as possible with digitigrade legs. I think the actual combiner’s design translates surprisingly well towards this take, so I have to wonder if this raptor body shape with the prominent haunches was intentional by the designers, who were limited by the sets they were working with; TSO’s even got the sickle-like claws!

I took inspiration from both the combiner and artwork, trying to incorporate as many details from the former as possible; For the latter it mostly influenced TSO’s staff and shoulder pads. I wanted TSO’s staff to be unique, since there are already a lot of prominent weapons with the same exact blade piece; I dig how the World artwork stylizes it into something new, especially by incorporating the Rhotuka cord. If you’ve noticed, nestled within the orb at the head of TSO’s staff is a crystal.

According to legend, this crystal is alive; Once a mere Knowledge Crystal, it was exposed to energized protodermis and began to rapidly grow and consume all in its wake, calcifying without regard, until it was barely contained within this incredibly small yet durable sphere. Either the heart of this crystalline cancer had been cut out, or the entire mass magically shrunken and compressed by pressure, like the formation of diamonds. The orb keeps the crystal contained; But the staff supposedly transmits the power of this confined crystal, allowing it to generate crystalline structures at will. If its containment orb was broken, the crystal within might come flooding out like the waters held back by a bursting dam...

TSO’s species have a long tail for balance, but TSO rebuilt his to also function as a third leg, adding in a joint and an additional foot; I ran out of space to draw that third foot, but it’s the same build as the other two so you’re not missing out on much. TSO mostly uses this third foot for stability, to ground himself, to lift himself by his tail to surprise enemies, etc. I can see TSO lowering himself to assume a more raptor-like pose as he rushes forward, a sleek and powerful predator on the hunt, circling around victims in an uncomfortably close way.

I also suspect his throne has a hidden slot to fit his tail through, so he can sit properly as shown in artwork... I’m happy with how the tail/third leg turned out; If you look at it one way, it’s a long raptor tail. But if you look at it another, the way the tail curves down with its extra foot; TSO has an almost centaur body shape to him, he’s just missing a hind leg; Like the combiner, I can definitely see the giraffe in him and I’m honestly pleased.

When adapting characters, my design philosophy is that I want them to retain at least the most distinct and interesting elements from the original, while smoothing out the less important aspects to give a more coherent body type; Keep the most visually important and intriguing stuff, the weird and memorable things, but streamline what is only clunky and limited by its medium. Take for example TSO’s thighs, or how I filled out massive gaps in his tail with inoffensively blank organic muscle.

Additional images I used for reference, when adapting as many details from the combiner as I could;

Not to brag (but I will), but I’m honestly feeling really happy with how this dude turned out! I can see him standing next to my takes on Lariska, Krekka, and Shadow Stealer, so that visual cohesion makes me really pleased and satisfied. I’m hoping to draw other members of his species (like Vengeance as I’ve headcanoned and whom I’m planning to reimagine) to bridge the link between all of them; Create more overt resemblance between TSO, Conjurer, Ancient, and Tyrant!

And honestly, I just... Had a lot of fun drawing the Shadowed One here! It was physically demanding but in a way that felt refreshing and exhilarating, weirdly enough; It didn’t hurt my back like other drawings have. Maybe it was because my posture was better this time, and since my physical comfort was improved, that meant the mental process in drawing the character was fun as well; Everything just felt like it smoothly clicked together, I wasn’t particularly frustrated, and became really excited when everything began to wrap up and come together. So not only am I proud of this drawing, it’s some of the most fun I’ve had drawing, even for something that took about five hours!