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iamlostsomewhereinthegarden · 3 months ago

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Obey me brothers order in which they got introduced to the internet and how good they are at using it

I did say I was working on some Obey Me stuff lololol

Lucifer

Order

* The first to use the internet

* He has to make sure it’s safe for his brothers to be on

* Or at least have an idea of what’s going on

* He canonically was the one who introduces it to Levi and Levi had been tech insane forever so he has to be amongst the first

How good are they at using it?

* Just below average

* Much better than a Boomer parent using tech

* But still not as good as the younger generations

* I mean he can he just isn’t aware of the trends and major internet stuff

* Pretty sure he only knows a bunch of internet slang mostly because of Levi tho

* Does not understand them at all though

* “What is this Skibidi…. Toilet?”

* But he uses all tech stuff just prefers to use older things

Mammon

(Tumblr is a bitch and took away yellow saying that it doesn’t look good on white, like bitch? There are other color bg not only white? Do ya’ll even know your own hellsite?)

Order

* Fourth person to get into it

* Didn’t care much for it as an Angel

* Outside of the basics didn’t use it much tbh

* Once he was in the Devildom and incorporated into his sin he was too busy trying to hustle people for money and gambling

* For the most part outside of my top 3 of those who accessed tech I believe most of the brothers didn’t care much for modern tech as they were either busy or it just wasn’t important for them to incorporate into their lives

* Continuing on, it’s not until he heard about online auctions, gambling, betting, etc. that has to do with his sin that he got into tech

How good are they at using it

* This is what he’s in the top 3 with

* He’s number 2 in how good he is with tech

* Can use it

* Can build it

* Can take apart any piece of tech and put it back together

* Can probably make your tech even better if he tries and wants to

* Also knows how to get a top model device for cheap and how much parts are worth

* If Levi is unavailable to help with tech stuff it’s Mammon there to the rescue

* Very good with all online stuff also

* Navigates and finds stuff pretty well and easily

* Knows internet slang and picks up on new trends and phrases easily

* “Ya know I got the rizz baby gurlll”

Leviathan

Order

* Originally you’d think he’d be first

* But he’s third just like his birth order

* Only because it took Lucifer forever to understand wtf was the internet and introduce Levi to anime so another brother skipped pass him for second

* Hooked onto anime really really fast

* Also was into anime in heaven so that’s why he’s in the top 3

How good are they at using it

* Best person

* This one’s a given

* Mods, creation, destruction, recreation

* Could probably make a bomb from a device just chooses not to and doubts his ability to do that

* When they first came down to the devildom everyone was clueless and Levi was onto his Ruri-chan shit from the get go like a true stan and internet user

* Internet slang? Trends? Words? Levi straight up knows it by the heart

* Despite not participating in trends and dancing, he can do them flawlessly just had no self confidence

* Speaking of, pretty sure he accidentally created a bunch of internet slang

* Also it’s canon he speaks in Internet slang irl

* “ROFL not Mammon thinking he can rizz his way out of that situation! He can’t even mew properly!”

* You want a good deal or anything that involves tech stuff game or just anything go to Levi

* Probably taught or helped Mammon know all he knows

* Also massive streamer type energy come to him once you have the basics for streaming set up and he’ll make you amazing

Satan

Order

* He has to be the last person to know and use tech

* He’s the last born so he has to interact and know about tech last

* And even then didn’t really care for tech

* Probably only cares about tech to read online books and movie adaptations (scandalous) and to contact others especially the Anti-Lucifer League

How good are they at using it

* Is not bad tbh

* Better than Lucifer out of spite

* As mentioned before only cares about tech to read online books, watch movies and contact

* Knows trends doesn’t participate unless it’s about books, cats or a prank on Lucifer

* Doesn’t understand or care much about them though

* Better than Belphie worse than Beel

* Only knows the basics of internet slang

* “Rizz? What is that?”

Asmodeous

Order

* This is the brother who stole second place from Levi

* Because of his Asmo parties he eventually found social media and by extension the internet

* If it wasn’t for the Asmo parties and publicity he would’ve had no interest in tech and the internet

How good are they at using it

* Good enough

* Can use almost any app

* But doesn’t know much about the phone in general

* If you need help with a social media app he’s the person to go to

* A lot of social stuff online in the human realm is by his influence

* Does a lot of livestreams on the devildom’s version of instagram

* Does he know trends, slang and challenges?

* Do you even know who the heck you’re talking about?

* He created a lot of the bougie slang and phrases

* “Period Ah Period Uh-“

* “AND THAT’S ON PERIOD!”

Beelzebub

Order

* He’s the 5th to get into it and originally got into it only because his job as an angel when they went a bit tech and it was easier to get notifications on stuff

* Still didn’t use it as an Angel and still doesn’t use it much as a devil outside of ordering food and watching food videos or texting

How good are they at using it

* Average at it tbh

* As I said he uses the phone at the bare minimum outside of food stuff

* Knows all the best food apps

* And the best apps the help with workout routines

* Text him if you need food, just make sure that you get to it first and that he’s been saved some

* Also knows how to stream and does a lot of workout streams

* Come to him to help you work out how to start streaming tbh he’s good at that

* Back to him streaming tho a lot of people show up to his stream because he’s hot at tbh

* Sometimes ends up on Asmo’s streams for skin and makeup stuff or trends

* Is only into food eating and workout trends tbh and not much else

* Not that good at slang gets help from his brothers to understand (and by extension ig also helps Lucifer learn slang)

* “What is rizz? Is that some new food?”

Belphegor

Order

* Literally not the last just because Satan was created last

* Got into it in heaven because of Beelzebub and Lilith

* Actually into it because of the sleep asmrs and stuff to help you sleep and goofy shit he can learn like pranks

How good are they at using it

* Better than Satan due to spite for Lucifer and being involved in Beel’s streaming and stuff

* Also uses it often to search up stuff about where the stars are to adjust the planetarium and be a bit invested in what happens in the human world in Lilith’s honor

* Is great at slang for the sake of Beel who is a sweet oblivious oaf and being asleep or half asleep while being around Mammon, Levi or Asmo at any given time

* Knows trends, rarely participates unless he barley has to do anything in them

* Smug bastard tho

* “You know I got that sleep rizz”

#headcannons #obey me!#obey me headcannons #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #Obey me #obey me shall we date #Obey me !#obey me otome #obey me brothers #obey me boys

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qqueenofhades · 1 year ago

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thank you for your post i’m doing my best to stay informed on the conflict and i’m very young. i feel guilty being quiet as i understand to uplift voices helps prevent their silencing but this has lead me to not critically think about what i’m spreading

it’s been a long month. i’m only a kid and watching the world go to shit like this has been awful, I always wondered how millennials who lived through post nine eleven imperialism coped and god i’m still not sure how.

I am as a white gentile in a position of privilege and mostly my own person is unaffected by the uptick in violence and evil in the world right now. But my friends who i see every day are in more danger due to this conflict and i feel awful that i cannot ever fully understand or fix the deaths of people.

Right now I’m being a bit too reactionary. I’m doing my best but in the end I am not immune to fearmongering and propoganda, especially in these last couple sleepless weeks.

So thank you and everyone who is keeping level heads and desconstructing what’s happening. I’m sorry and i strive to be better. Thank you.

To anyone living in fear right now i’m so sorry. I will listen when you speak.

Once again I just want to say that I am a busy and uninformed student, and I wish that i had more teachers and authority figures that had objective facts to tell me. It’s suffocating to have fake news everywhere but feel powerless if you don’t know anything

it’s ok if you don’t respond to this

Thank you for your post

Thanks for this message and for taking the time to put it into words and to reflect on your own actions and rhetoric. It takes a lot of courage and self-awareness to admit that you were wrong and that you want to do better, and I'm not going to rip into you or blame you or otherwise shame you for it. So I hope this gives you the confidence to read on without feeling like you'll be raked over the coals for it, and open you to hear some ideas for doing things differently.

First, I do have a ton of sympathy for you as a young person who feels overwhelmed and exhausted by all the evil in the world, and is wondering how to get through it, react to it, or otherwise make some kind of moral response in the face of this soul-crushing trauma. I will say here that I am a little bit older than your average Tumblr user (the majority of this site is in their early-mid twenties), I do personally remember 9/11 and its aftermath when a lot of people here weren't even born yet, and I am an academic historian with a doctorate. That does not mean I am better or smarter or More Perfect or whatever at what I say, but it means that I do have a considerable amount of institutional, formal, and professional practice at analyzing a lot of complex information, putting it into words, breaking it down for less-specialist audiences, pointing out logical fallacies, and so forth.

That is not a skill that everyone has, and in the face of nonstop 24-hour news-cycle social media information overload, it can be incredibly difficult to parse it or understand how you're supposed to respond to it or what your moral obligation in response to this knowledge might be. I wrote this ask the other day in response to someone else asking how to improve their critical thinking skills and be more discerning about what they understood, shared, and analyzed. I strongly encourage you to read it, as it addresses a lot of what you're saying about feeling negative, depressed, panicked, angry, and all the other emotions that are naturally evoked in you from reading this stuff nonstop and feeling like the only thing you can (or should) do is immerse your brain in it at all times. In short, that is absolutely the worst environment to do actual substantial analysis or critical thinking, and it is designed so on purpose.

It has been said before, but it bears repeating: the human brain simply is not designed to be constantly aware of all the atrocities in the world and thus (thanks to social media) feeling as if the only way they can do anything about it is to then post the Correct Opinions on social media (regardless of whether these are informed or relevant or otherwise useful). Especially now, the rush to demonstrate Correct Thinking has warped a lot of otherwise well-meaning young people into becoming eager disinformation mouthpieces. There are a TON of explicitly bad-faith actors and far-right fascists who are posting pro-Palestine content (factual or uh, otherwise) because they know that's an instant way to get an audience of said young left-leaning people who will then be suckered into and exposed to their far more dangerous content and mindset, because that is how radicalization works. Even in the support of an obviously worthy cause, you and everyone else ARE NOT IMMUNE to fearmongering, disinformation, and virulently anti-Semitic propaganda, especially when it's being eagerly and constantly offered in a deliberate attempt to radicalize you further into violence and conspiracy theories, turn you against other vulnerable groups and people, and explicitly disengage you from the electoral/political process, which will harm the Democrats and other liberal establishment parties in favor of more far-right radical fascist theocrats and otherwise make everything, everywhere, many orders of magnitude worse.

I know the feeling that you need to do something, and since you're a long way from the conflict, it seems as if posting on social media is the best and/or the only way to go about it. In that environment, and especially right now, you will make mistakes. I know it is difficult in an online environment where popularity or acceptance by your peers often rests on never being wrong about anything (i.e. saying the same thing everyone else is saying), but it always helps to think about what you're doing, what you're saying, and if you actually need the approval of people who are conditioning you, implicitly or explicitly, into negative and violent ideological nihilism.

The hardest thing to understand is that yes, there is a lot of terrible shit going on in the world; no, you cannot personally fix it and you have to accept that as a limitation; yes, there are many multiple and complex causes and reasons for its existence and there is almost never a black-and-white simplistic moral solution that just hasn't been magically implemented yet; yes, it is always worth it to take the time to inform yourself and consider what you're saying, where it comes from, who it helps and who it hurts, and why you feel the need to say it in the first place. Of course you want to help. Of course you want to stop the needless suffering and death that has gone on in the world for millennia and unfortunately, as long as humans are humans, will continue to do so. But even so, take it away Gandalf:

#anonymous #ask

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pseudowho · 6 months ago

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hi haitch!!

i love love love your writing!! i think i’ve read through every piece of your work 10 times over. you have such an amazing talent and i get so excited when i see you post!! you are 100% my comfort account.

i wanted to ask if you had any advice for anyone like me as i’ve never written before but i have so many ideas and drabbles shoved in my notes app. most of all, i’m nervous about posting them here on tumblr.

how can i build up the confidence to write and post, make sure i’m not lacking in details or emotions, have a good post structure/setup, or any other tips for a nervous wreck like me who wants to put themselves out there? ((without feeling like an idiot :(

thank you for being you. i can’t wait to see what words you gift us with next!

- annie 💙

Hello! I'm sorry it took me a while...but here goes.

Firstly, that "posting nerves" gets way way way better. I hesitated for days before posting my first piece. It's like exposing a piece of your soul, sharing your writing, and it makes you feel profoundly vulnerable. This is likely why you have the nerves about it.

I have to say, it's a plaster you have to rip off. If the average account (including mine, remembering I only started in October), is anything to go by, it's normal to get barely any notes for your first pieces, unless you have a lucky break. Even the best writing often goes unnoticed. Building followers is hard work.

r.e. the lacking of details and emotions, pick a few pieces on Tumblr that you feel show details and emotions well, and take inspiration. Emulation is a totally valid way to learn to write. Remember to *show*, not *tell*. Subtle imaginative detail goes a lot further than leading the reader by the hand.

r.e. structuring posts, keep it simple. I use "+-+-+-+-" as dividers and have done since I've started, but lots of lovely Tumblr users make little dividers you can use. As well, again, copy the structure someone else uses, if you like it! I'd also say smaller paragraphs go further on Tumblr.

Also remember, I am very very happy to proofread and offer constructive feedback. It's a great way to learn, and literally nobody needs to know, I would not give permission for you to tag me in posts. I teach, and give dissertation advice as part of my job, and have proofread Mr.Haitch's work for years. I'd be happy to help if you ever wanted to message.

Thank you for loving my work. It means so much to me, it really does. I post any old stuff I wrote now with no nerves at all, but remember this is very recent for me too!

Love,

-- Haitch xxx

#pseudowho #Haitch #Writing advice #pseudowho answers you

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samuelryanlilly · 6 months ago

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In Memoriam of Social Media

Social media is dead. At least in the way we used to know it. Social media used to be an exciting idea. Using the internet to easily and conveniently connect with other people around the world. Keeping in touch with family. Sharing with friends. Meeting entirely new people. A brand new way to connect online beyond the forums and instant messaging chatrooms of old. And we quickly saw a social media boom of platforms throwing their hat in the ring with their own spin on the concept. MySpace. Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. YouTube. Twitch. Reddit. Vine. And many more! Of course, we're on Tumblr right now, aren't we? And each one had a bit of its own identity. Photos. Videos. Streaming. Blogging. Chatting. You picked your platform based on what you wanted to do and/or see. If only we knew how good we had it.

Soon these platforms began to become so successful that making an appealing space for its users fell into a lower priority. The new bottom line? Profit. Your average user isn't exactly looking for ads, subscriptions, premium features locked behind paywalls, and overall site construction that is built to promote the largest money-makers over functionality and the content we signed up to see. Sadly, it has only gotten worse with the way users have adopted the new business-like view of running their pages as well.

These days you'll be fighting ever-changing algorithms simple to be seen by other human beings just looking to connect. When you DO get seen or see something you like, it's most likely that you'll be engaging with influencers that are more concerned about their analytics than a real conversation. I understand you can't respond to 100 comments in full conversations daily, but when it's so hard to find another genuine person on such large platforms... it's a problem. It has become parasocial media at best and anti-social media at worst.

To make matters even more grim, it seems like there's not much in the realm of alternatives. As the big names lose their identity by combining text, photos, videos, messaging, and streaming all into every single platform, the more specialized competition is too small to pick up the slack yet. You can't go to an alternative and expect anywhere near the level of users to interact with. There's just no room for them. The most positive I can be about this situation is to say... pick your poison.

If you're trying to grow, make money, get famous, promote... then you're pretty stuck with the biggest platforms, for better and for worse. In sickness and in wealth. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. BUT there IS another way.

Find those smaller, niche platforms that suit you and your interests. Give them a chance. Find your flavor of social media that's more than just a reskin of the old giants. Sure, you'll see a lot of the same faces around a lot. The numbers will probably never be amazing at least for years to come. I don't think we'll have a golden age of social media again at this point. But you CAN have a great time just going back to talking with real people. No ads or algorithms or influencer bullshit. Just genuine connections with people online. For a lot of people, including myself, that's all we really want. Those places exist. It's possible. You just have to look a little to find them.

Feel free to comment or message me if you have lesser-known platform suggestions for people to check out. Personally I've been using FUZE a lot for gaming content. Or if you just want to talk on here, that's cool too.

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oleworm · 1 year ago

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@bacchanalium that's Americans not seeing foreign people as human beings. That's why they always put people to the impossible standard. Like when they tell refugees who fled extremist violence. "Co co co go back to your country where you can be killed and fix it. I am so smart!". And when people do oppose extremism by supporting education and human rightds, they are still called slurs, accused of being "not real" or "as bad as", ignored or further insulted

It's like people who come from the situations like the one in Afghanistan are doomed if they do, doomed if they don't speak about their experience or seek better life. They have impossible expectations on them to not only fit Western sensitivities, but Western imagination of them.

Hope that it's OK to reply like this, if not tell me and I'll delete it!

I don't think it's only people from the United States, though a lot of them are from there, but also those who spend too much time on social media and watch people get piled on for having a slightly different opinion than a bully.

I remember that we had a conversation once about how you could go on Reddit and find that the top comments were indistinguishable from each other, even on threads about different topics. That is, you wouldn't be able to identify any of those users because of their ideas or speech patterns because users tended to upvote those that had references they recognised or ways of writing that they identified with. And that's talking about people who use it to share a positive feeling I would imagine--you approve of the thing, you belong to the group of those who approve of the thing. On Tumblr and Twitter I've seen a more aggressive way to promote sameness, where if you don't follow the script it means that you disagree and that's bad, and then people allow themselves to talk to you in a way that would be considered very offensive if they did it in person. Some people are very hurt by this! It's also creepy because it gets to the point where you literally wouldn't be able to tell any of these users apart.

I refuse to believe that any one nationality is full of idiots. If I could talk to a regular person about the problems that people face in different parts of the world, I am sure they would understand that it's not nice to live through all of that and that no one should be punished for suffering in a way that does not fit your mental schematic of the world. It might take a moment to explain the situation but I think most people would get it.

But with a lot of what you see online, it's like they're just repeating what their cooler friend told them. They also want to be cool, so they repeat it to someone else without understanding it. It might not make any sense but they'll sure as hell say it. After all, it takes a few seconds to type. It reminds me of when I was twelve and pretended to be more familiar with certain bands that the other kids were listening to, but now they use the same dynamic to talk about what opinions are evil and racist.

It could be that we're bombarded with the real-time thoughts of twenty-one year-olds that are specifically fluent in English, with all of their cultural biases and the issues a lot of people have at that age, and because of how social media works, this is what ends up being pushed--the half-baked thoughts of the average teenager or very young adult--not the most mature, well-read, or most empathetic person in that age group, but the most average. Whatever that means. I know that at that age I was saying very messed up things. Definitely not ideas that I would like to be amplified in any way.

You see some adults acting that way, but I don't know if it's adults acting more like teenagers nowadays, more eager to impress and with a lower frustration threshold, or if it's because when I was a kid adults weren't losing their temper in front of me and when they did it was so rare that I considered it the sign of a person being very mentally unwell. I'm not a scientist, I really don't know. People definitely have always had thoughtless opinions but now you see it all the time and it continues affecting what others think and say long after the fact. I can't say I like that.

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system-of-a-feather · 10 months ago

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I'm at the very beginning of my recovery (literally was just diagnosed back in January this year), and personally I just generally present as one person in my everyday life and am only overt about my parts in online spaces. I'm worried that this means I'm faking my disorder, but I do generally struggle with dissociative symptoms a lot. How can I ignore anti-recovery sentiments and am I wrong for going by a "singletsona" for lack of a better word?

Oh congratulations on the diagnosis. I'm sure its overwhelming and it might not feel that way right now because its probably confusing and a bit overwhelming, but its such a good first step into sorting things out and recovery so, if it's been rough, just know its the start to something pretty aight. Either way, welcome to the general struggle of the online DID recovery peer group.

I'd like to start first and foremost to just hand wave at the concerns of you being "wrong" or faking or anything of the sorts. There is no wrong way to have your disorder and if you are diagnosed - I doubt you are faking; that said, I totally get the feeling. My first word of advice is to try to not worry too much about how other people present their disorder and their experiences cause the presentation of DID and what not is EXTREMELY varied and the online presentation of DID is always going to be skewed by the nature of the internet and anonymous platforms. If you are on discord servers or tumblr, the people you are going to be interacting with are likely personalities that would ALSO use discord and tumblr and my (completely unfounded beyond personal experience) opinion is that I think a lot of discord / tumblr users tend to enjoy presenting themselves as a variety of clear and overt parts more than the average person with DID does.

There is generally a large pressure (both when I was new into figuring it out and from what I've heard from other people) to have parts present overtly ESPECIALLY online and while that has some of its benefits in recovery, it can also be a bit of a redherring / distractor / put some pressure on individuals to present in a way that isn't natural to them for the sake of "looking like everyone else" and "presenting correctly".

Just know, above anything else, however you experience your symptoms is always inherently truthful and how you present your symptoms has little to do with the authenticity of your disorder and diagnosis.

If you don't align with other presentations of DID that you see online, it just means that you don't have the same experiences as the other people you are looking at, nothing more. I've seen a lot of people with DID that don't even identify as systems or don't even identify as "different people / parts / alters". Unfortunately, they are a pretty quiet group usually just because "not being a system" and "not being distinct people" is not as easy or engaging to talk / write about than the alternative.

TLDR; Don't sweat the differences you have between your experiences and those that you see online (youtube, tiktok, discord, tumblr, twitter, etc). Regardless of what differences you experience from the apparent norm has no reflection on your validity beyond a "huh interesting and wack how differently things present". Your experiences with your disorder are inherently true experiences with, ya know, your disorder.

Beyond that, I also want to say its extremely normal to present just as one person off of the internet. Whether that is "parts acting like one part", actively trying to keep the disorder unknown and private to most, or just genuinely not feeling like you can navigate your parts and identify them irl; its EXTREMELY normal and typical with DID especially in the earlier stages of recovery.

DID is a covert coping mechanism and off of the internet, there is a lot more judgement and risk posed with showing signs of mental illness and DID is a very personal and complex disorder that has very specific implications. It's important to keep it on some level of a need-to-know basis, at least when you are first figuring it out, just as a safety precaution irl.

Online I think it is ALSO still important to be a little wary, but the mostly anonymous nature of the internet and inherently dissociative-nature of socializing online makes it easier (for better or worse) to kind of navigate that complex expression and its easier to find corners where its not as risky / as much of a risk of judgement for presenting as a multiple / plural / system. Comfort, safety, anonymity, dissociation, etc play a large role in how symptoms and expression within systems present itself so both on a social level (mentioned above) and on a genuine symptoms changing level, in my experience, I find a lot of people do present a lot more overtly online than they do IRL.

As for ignoring anti-recovery sentiments, I honestly just recommend liberally blocking people and liberally taking breaks from DID / plural communities. I think being part of those communities can be extremely helpful in learning things and sharing resources and advice on navigating the complexities that come with having DID and there is a lot of good advice and good people out there + it is very helpful in normalizing living with DID and the idea that you can very much live a happy and successful life with the disorder so I really don't want to sound like I'm saying "just dont interact online lol"

But being on DID communities too much can kind of cause you to be detatched from your own experiences and blind you from recovery methods and ways of presenting that are not standard in how DID is usually depicted online. It's one of those things that in moderation can be extremely helpful in your recovery, but can also very easily become a way of getting stuck so, my best suggestion is just to take regular and liberal breaks and to like... never go an entire year without taking a solid break from the community.

This blog itself had like a year or two hiatus I think back in like 2018 or 2019. Breaks from the community, in my experience, is the best way to make sure you get the most benefit with the least harm.

#alter: fei #recovery #actuallydid #dissociative identity disorder #ask #asks #advice #did recovery

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ballsballsbowls · 2 years ago

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I suspect my insights into the new tumblr Core Product Strategy are no dumber than anyone else’s. To be fair, I workshopped an idea in my gc a couple of years ago that was nearly identical to Blaze, so while I don’t have my finger of the pulse of the youth, I have had a few good guesses what would fix tumblr.

I understand they are kind of frantically balancing the needs of Someone Like Me (a 2013 sign-on who will be here until they shut the lights off and posts a good bit if not in a way that gets viewed and reads a lot more than 25 posts on the average day AND is like 80% browser user which like...seriously, use fucking browser it’s so much better) with the kind of Line Go Up forever growth that justifies spending money on a fucking sinkhole like tumblr.

I am also very interested in seeing if they can improve their algorithmic content because I’d be interested in the algorithmic content (explore, for you, even if they added something else I’d be interested as long as I have a chronological followers-only feed as one of my options). But I don’t use these things unless I’m desperate to Look At Post because...the algorithm is either very very good or very very bad, in that it nearly always serves up posts I’ve been seeing all day (so points for guessing what I am already seeing) but had no interest in interacting with.

Please tumblr I WANT to see more posts I am not already seeing. I cannot look at the same out of context undated twitter screencaps passing as political commentary all day every day. I just also want the option to not see that shit in my chronological dash. In tumblr’s heyday I never hit my post limit but I was posting upwards of 100 posts a day, and now you rarely get double digits from me because there is simply not that much interesting content.

Unsure about the threaded comments. I think it COULD work but I’m unsure if it will depending on how it’s implemented.

ALSO pleased to see The App on their list. The app is dogshit and it’s been dogshit for a couple of years now. It’s genuinely hard to SEE more than 30-40 posts on the app in an WHOLE DAY of intermittent scrolling because of the app’s tendency to freeze/crash/only show you those 30-40 posts no matter what you do. I have mutuals who LEFT TUMBLR because they were app-only users and the app just got so unpleasant to use they quit tumblr, and I’m sure they are not the only people who did so.

I desperately would like more control over who follows me/who can interact with me/who can interact with my posts. I’d love a native mute function, especially something that would let me choose how long I don’t want to see posts for. Sometimes I just need like five days so they can get their untagged blorbo stuff out and I don’t have to see it, you know?

I’d love an option to not allow blank blogs to follow me, or blogs newer than 7 days, or blogs that have NEVER generated an original post (which also tend to be spam). You have everyone’s birthdays now, you should be able to generate a “nobody under 18 according to the account birthday can follow” (I care less about that but I also am not generating much of my own content.)

tl;dr I am not sure the issue is tumblr is difficult for new people, but I think a slow, buggy app and the lack of new and different stuff on the site is what keeps them from coming back.

#stop b think of the children

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deadeyesthickthighs · 6 months ago

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you'd be surprised by how much the philippines idolizes usamerica :) for those who don't know, yes, actually, even today, the usa is remembered as being "better than the spanish colonizers" in mainstream (this sentiment can exist along the fact that there are also many filipinos who are pretty miffed about usamerica still having its nasty imperialist hold on the philippines) because the usa tried Really Hard to perfume itself as the "benevolent savior" of the the philippines from the dastardly spanish (in university level, there's entire sessions dedicated to studying usamerican historians and (politicians of the time) and their works influencing overall philippine historiography which emphasizes the steps in which usamerican historians wrote about the spanish and american colonial philippines)

usamerican-influenced philippine history and historiography gave us things like: the still-persisting belief of jose rizal as a national hero specifically on the basis that he fought with a pen and not a sword, with words and not violence (very milquetoast take, my boy rizal was more than that, usamerica and mainstream history does him dirty); the belief that "spain was worse than america" (misleading, usamerica saw an opportunity to manifest destiny their way into philippines and blackened spain as propaganda); and more. don't get me started with the actual political landscape and the means in which history is being taught here, it's much more complicated and i'm NOT going to go digging through my bookmarks in this fine siesta time, i'm supposed to be on break from being a history student ffs

the 1904 world fair human zoo is absolutely true, we do know about that, but it's also absolutely not the first thing that comes into the head of your average filipino, or average tumblr user, what does is that usamerica is the philippines "friend" ("oh, we love usamerica, sure they colonized us, but it's not worse than spain") that is what that user meant when they say usamerica is remembered as "better", after all 333 years of being under spain is worse than measely 48 years being under usamerica... right? (sarcastic) it's thanks to usamerica's efforts

happy fourth of july to the philippines ONLY

#imperialist capitalist usamerica can go burn itself to the ground <3 #also its so funny to see my tags peer reviewed lol

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respectable-username · 3 years ago

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🔐 Why You (Probably) Don't Need A VPN

A rant by a software engineer sick of VPN ads from her favourite YouTubers

TL;DR:

Here are some legitimate reasons the average internet user might want to use a VPN:

To connect to their company's internal network

To bypass the Great Firewall of China (or other types of website blocks at country or organisation level)

To watch Netflix etc as if you were in another country

Here are absolutely rubbish reasons to use a VPN:

Privacy

And today, I'll tell you why.

Hang on, won't a VPN stop hackers from stealing my passwords?

I mean, it does encrypt the web traffic coming from your device.

You know what else encrypts web traffic coming from your device? Your browser.

Yes, in the year 2021, pretty much all websites on the internet are accessed over HTTPS. The "S" stands for "secure", as in "your request will be securely encrypted". If your browser is using HTTPS, nobody can capture the data you're sending over the internet. More detail in the "I like too much detail" section at the bottom of this post.

It's very easy to check if you are using HTTPS by looking at your URL bar. In most browsers, it will have a lock on it if secure:

(From top left to bottom right: Chrome on iOS, Safari on iOS, Chrome on Windows, Edge on Windows, Firefox on Windows, and Safari on Mac. Screenshots reflect the UI at the time this post was written. Oh gosh this has taken over 4 hours to write.)

But isn't moar encryption better? What if somebody breaks HTTPS?

For starters, nobody's breaking your HTTPS, and there isn't any benefit from double encrypting. This is because of the maths behind encryption/decryption!

Encryption works kinda like a lock and key, except the lock is maths and the key is a special number only known to the person allowed to unlock the information.

The important thing is, without the key, all the locked data looks like complete and utter garbage. Completely unusable. Barely distinguishable from random noise. There's absolutely no way to tell what the original data was.

The other important thing is that the key is nearly unguessable. As in, with current technology, will generally take more than the lifetime of the universe to guess by chance. And when technology gets faster, we just make the numbers bigger again until they're once again secure.

For any major website you use, they will use a strong encryption algorithm (ie lock) with big numbers so your keys will be strong enough to withstand an attack. This means your data is safe as long as that lock icon is in your URL bar.

A VPN will not make the existing garble any more garbled. The extra $10/month or whatever you're paying for does not buy you any extra protection.

If you want to know more about how encryption and HTTPS in particular work, see the "I like too much detail" section at the end of this post.

Something something viruses

How's a VPN going to stop viruses? It controls the path your internet traffic takes, not the content that gets sent down that path. I guess it could block some known virus-giving hosts? But if it's known to the VPN provider, it's probably also known to the built-in antivirus on your computer who can block it for you.

(Oh yeah, 3rd party antivirus is another thing that's not worth paying for these days. Microsoft's built-in Windows Defender is as good as the third party options, and something something Macs don't get viruses easily because of how they're architected.)

Honestly though, keep your software up to date, don't click on anything suspicious, don't open files from sources you don't trust, and you'll be right most of the time.

And keep your software up to date. Then update your software. Hey, did I mention keeping your stuff updated? Update! Now! It only takes a few minutes. Please update to the latest version of your software I'm begging you. It's the number 1 way to protect yourself from viruses and other malware. Most major software attacks could have been prevented if people just updated their damn software!

But my ISP is spying on me!

Ok, it is true that there are TWO bits of data that HTTPS can't and won't hide. Those are:

The source of a request (your IP)

What website that request is going to (the website's IP)

These are the bits of information that routers use to know where to send your data, so of course they can't be hidden as the data is moving across the internet. And people can see that information very easily if they want to.

Note: this will show which website you're going to, but not which page you're looking at, and not the content of that page. So it will show that you were on Tumblr, but will not show anyone that you're still reading SuperWhoLock content in 2021.

It's this source/destination information that VPNs hide, which is why they can be used to bypass website blocks and region locks.

By using a VPN, those sniffing traffic on your side of the VPN will just show you connecting to the VPN, not the actual website you want. That means you can read AO3 at work/school without your boss/teachers knowing (unless they look over your shoulder of course).

As for those sniffing on the websites end, including the website itself, they will see the VPN as the source of the connection, not you. So if you're in the US and using a VPN node in the UK, Netflix will see you as being in the UK and show you their British library rather than the American one.

If this is what you're using a VPN for and you think the price is fair, then by all means keep doing it! This is 100% what VPNs are good for.

HOWEVER, and this is a big "however", if it's your ISP you're trying to hide your internet traffic from, then you will want to think twice before using a VPN.

Let me put it this way. Without a VPN, your ISP knows every website you connect to and when. With a VPN, do you know who has that exact same information? The VPN provider. Sure, many claim to not keep logs, but do you really trust the people asking for you to send them all your data for a fee to not just turn around and sell your data on for a profit, or worse?

In effect, you're trading one snooper for another. One snooper is heavily regulated, in many jurisdictions must obey net neutrality, and is already getting a big fee from you regardless of where you browse. The other isn't. Again, it's all a matter of who you trust more.

For me personally, I trust my ISP more than a random VPN provider, if for no other reason than my ISP is an old enough company with enough inertia and incompetence that I don't think they could organise to sell my data even if they wanted to. And with the amount of money I'm paying them per month, they've only got everything to lose if they broke consumer trust by on-selling that data. So yeah, I trust my ISP more with my privacy than the random VPN company.

But my VPN comes with a password manager!

Password managers are great. I 100% recommend you use a password manager. If there's one thing you could do right now to improve your security (other than updating your software, speaking of, have you updated yet?), it's getting and using a password manager.

Password managers also come for free.

I'm currently using LastPass free, but am planning to switch after they did a bad capitalism and only let their free accounts access either laptop or mobile but not both now. I personally am planning to move to Bitwarden on friends' recommendation since it's not only free but open source and available across devices. I also have friends who use passbolt and enjoy it, which is also free and open source, but it's also a bit DIY to set up. Great if you like tinkering though! And there are probably many other options out there if you do a bit of googling.

So, yeah, please use a password manager, but don't pay for it unless you actually have use for the extra features.

No I really need to hide my internet activity from everybody for reasons

In this case, you're probably looking for TOR. TOR is basically untraceable. It's also a terrible user experience for the most part because of this, so I'd only recommend it if you need it, such as if you're trying to escape the Great Firewall. But please don't use it for Bad Crimes. I am not to be held liable for any crime committed using information learned from this post.

Sponsored Day ads or banner ads

“Premium Themes”

I'll go into depth on all of these and how tumblr could make potential changes to improve their revenue anywhere from three to six months after it implements some or ideally all of these changes.

First tumblr ads and sponsored posts, these changes are going to be contingent on tumblr allowing its users to share, like, and comment on ads much like all other media sites currently allow. Or at least giving advertisers the ability to turn that on or off as a function.

The average tumblr post gets reblogged 14 times, that number increases significantly if the ad is engaging and actually caters to the communities wants and needs. My reasoning for giving users the ability to reblog ads is to increase user engagement while maintaining their current ad vetting process and all of the nonsensical ads that are run on tumblr 90% of the time.

The other reason for allowing tumblr users to share and comment on ads, or have it be an option for advertisers to turn on or off as they'd like, is that the appeal of tumblr is the ability to propagate and obsess over the most niche things (i.e OSHA.)

All the while allowing content that gets shared all over the internet bubble up to the top through the collective hand of the tumblr community. Along with this tumblr has no way for small users to share their own products or services, every single major site has a way for users to advertise their pages or products through the site.

Tumblr is a content machine that creates imagery and memes that get shared all the time across the internet, so the ability to share and curate its own ads is paramount to improving advertising and user engagement on tumblr.

My proposal here is for tumblr to expand its advertising capabilities to all users, while charging a flat rate fee to advertise on tumblr, with additional charges for popular tags or trending tags. Tumblr currently has no self service advertising system much like Facebook does for example. Where facebook charges a daily rate on cost-per-click(CPC) or cost-per-thousand(CPM)

Charging a flat rate fee at a rate of a day, week, month, or quarterly basis with variances in prices based on the lease term and what the advertisers would want to have their ads show up on certain tags. This would open up the doors for small businesses that don't want to advertise on places like facebook, twitter, or google with their complicated CPM and CPC models. Also bringing in more small locally owned businesses with the added value of less competition for ad space on tumblr.

This would also take some of the weight from tumblrs own advertising staff from having to explain a convoluted system to potential advertisers. Creating a simplified model with the the advent of tumblrs own infrastructure able to get a single post to a large variety of users. Where the current ad model uses a “shotgun” method to hit as many people as possible, the tumblr model could encourage advertisers to curate a more personalized and intimate experience that tumblr users would love.

Why not just advertise elsewhere? Tumblr still in fact gets over 300 million views a month as of June 2021 (Statosta), and the added benefit for users to be able to like, share, and interact with ads would allow ads that the community enjoys to be talked about more. Giving advertisers more honest feedback about their ads while increasing their SEO’s.

Also small businesses that can't compete with the vetting processes that are used on other sites, would have a better chance of developing their business and increasing their clientele on tumblr whose core demographics are approximately 60% millennial and 35% gen-z. This core demographic does in fact care about being able to shop at local stores, or even a store across the US that is trying to drum up its own online sales.

These ads could be placed inline on the tumblr dash while moving other sponsored ads to the right of the site on desktop, but making them alternate on mobile between user ads and sponsored ads.

Second, the display ads should be changed to allow tumblr users to share and further interact with ads to generate more user engagement, incentivizing more businesses and companies to build their brand status on tumblr. Tumblr has a good model for creating short diaries or daily vlogs for companies that wish to show off their products on social media. This includes smaller businesses and vlogers that want to post videos or tutorials of themselves on their blog.

Tumblr is a good site for user engagement with a pool of creative potential for anyone wanting to gauge the desire for a particular subject or piece of media, maybe even an upcoming show. Having the ability to share and comment on sponsored ads would also help advertisers by allowing them to get more bang for their buck with a considerable uptick on how users engage with that content.

Third, tumblrs sponsor day ads and banner ads are inexpensive and should be highlighted as a selling point over their competitors. Tumblr 24-hour banner ads are considerably more affordable for businesses when compared to places like twitter with their 200k price point. For the same amount of money on tumblr a business could have their company at the top of the dashboard or app for 8 whole days. Much longer and much better than the competition.

Keeping this price fixed, with a change in the price CPC is still a much more lucrative and attractive selling point than any of the competition on the internet today. I know this might not be exactly what tumblr wants to hear when it is hemorrhaging money right now, but let's look at the cost for these 24 hour daily ads and banner ads. If tumblr hypes up the price point on these ads they could see a significant rise in advertisers considering the lack of competition on tumblr and past success stories of companies who did advertise on tumblr.

At the same time larger advertisers should be encouraged to make engaging ads and blogs on tumblr that will make people want to actually go to their blogs, that then link to an external site or page. Not ads that instantly try to force you to go to some other site, by rewarding or offering special discounts for people who find a special code or something off of the actual blog. Or even for giving the same code to everyone who reblogs a certain post made by the advertiser.

Seems too good to be true? Look at “Asos” back in 2015 when they held a shirt design competition on their tumblr blog. Where they had 900 submissions, four of which were picked, and were sold out of the user generated shirts in 10 hours.

This is not the only case however, but FX ran their own campaign for the show “Man Seeking Woman” where they saw a 2.8% increase in user engagement, 86% increase in their tumblr followers, and they actually saved money through advertising on tumblr.

All this leads me to believe that tumblr actually was and continues to be the best place for brands, small businesses, and artists to develop themselves through genuine user engagement.

Finally, the “premium themes” that are available on tumblr that allow for unparalleled customizations that you hardly find elsewhere on the internet anymore. Tumblrs ability to take a variety of media sources, as well as having an unparalleled level of customization, user interconnectivity, and a vibrant artistic scene shows that it is ripe with potential.

Tumblr could still use its post+ feature, but in the same way that Discord uses its subscription service. For cosmetic changes that can be added modularly to the site or individual blogs for an additional monthly fee. In conjunction with partnering with community artists to bring small cosmetic additions to individual blogs, while paying the content creator and tumblr taking a small portion of the profits over a certain amount.

To be completely honest this is probably the hardest portion of this entire pitch to make changes to in a shorter period of time, considering all the testing and “under the hood” changes that must be made. However, I think that implementing this as well as the other changes I have proposed will bring back more foot traffic to tumblr as well as increase its revenue and profitability.

In closing, I am simply working with whatever information I was able to find online and a good amount of time invested on my part to do this. I think tumblr has a ton of potential still to return as a force for good for the communities that exist and want a change from what the internet has become. Time and time again when any company or public entity dies it was because it did not change and refused to adapt and innovate, oftentimes not at the hands of the people working everyday to keep the site running. Instead at the hands of people who dont see the value in what has fallen in their laps.

If you agree and think this is something that can be done, please reblog this post and follow me for more updates. If I don't hear back or this does not gain any traction by the end of the year, then tumblr can go to its inevitable end. I will be here sinking with the ship.

@support @engineering @music @wip @changes @photomatt

#tumblr plus #tumblr post plus #tumblr staff #advertising #marketing strategy #changes #tumblr premium #post plus protest #community #automattic

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mrpenguinpants · 4 years ago

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Childe/Tartaglia: Fiancé HCs

Aww, I give major points to anyone that actually reads my tags because it’s a whole lot of word vomit and brainworms. THIS IS MY FINAL OFFERING TO CHILDE SO BUDDY 👏 COME 👏 HOME 👏 This will probably be my last fic this week since I’m going to be busy with term tests and 1.1. Can you tell how slow I am with these asks?

I need to stop tagging so much because tumblr keeps making me repost...

This isn’t necessarily a part 2 from my other Childe fic [ “Enemies” to “Lovers” ] but you can go ahead and read it that way. Not sure if this counts for tags but it doesn’t hurt. To be honest, I was planning for this to be the direct part 2 but then his character story dropped and I got slapped in the face with inspiration.

[taglist] <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@youaskedfurret @diaxfeliz @wintergreen-aix @dandelily @thegayrubberducky @lovelykittycatmeow @yuunoagivesmelife @dokidokisama @hanniejji @mikeysbike @unionwitch @musekala @twistedsunnshiii @stanzastic @akaasea

---

Childe/Tartaglia: Fiancé HCs

Your relationship with Tartaglia is unorthodox to say the least. Usually, the average length of an engagement is 13 to 18 months but you didn’t need a calendar to tell you it’s been far longer than that. You probably spent more time with your fiancé’s sister than with the man himself but that was okay with you. Tonia was a really sweet girl and you knew what you were getting into when you accepted and returned his feelings when you two first started going out.

Before he became a Harbinger you were friend’s with him and Tonia. Almost everyone in Snezhnaya was part of the Fatui, working in factories, or a devote follower of Tsaritsa. So it was a breath of fresh air to meet two people that didn’t align themselves to that mindset or become a slave to work. You slowly became closer to the two siblings until the day a stuttering and pink Tartaglia confessed his feelings to you. You think back on that moment fondly since that was probably the first and last time you’ve seen him act in such a shy manner.

The day he proposed to you was the night right before he became a Harbinger. It wasn’t anything grand and you were pretty sure he hadn’t even told Tonia he was planning on proposing that very night. He said that he was waiting for the right moment and somehow felt the right moment was when you were in-between consciousness. When you couldn’t even give him a proper answer since he popped the question right as you fell asleep, but for all intensive purposes, that was probably on purpose. You had to chase him down in freezing cold weather, coat not even properly tied, as you yelled he was a piece of shit and that if he never came back you would hunt him down and kill him yourself.

He just grinned innocently and waved back to you as the ship departed. When asked by a curious merchant who wasn’t native to Snezhnaya asked if he had some...family issues he simply waved it off and said you were his beloved fiancé. The merchant was left very confused on Snezhnaya’s customs and traditions on marriage.

You both made an agreement that only he would write to you. He said that it was because trying to get in contact with him would be impossible, considering how often he moves, plus the different names he goes under. But in actuality, it’s because he want’s to keep the people closest to him as private as possible. The Fatui know of his sister already and most likely know of your existence but as long as he remains a Harbinger they can’t do anything. He won’t let them. But the Fatui have many enemies and while he hates denying your existence, if it’s to make sure you live a peaceful life with his sister, he’ll continue to pretend he’s never heard of your name before.

While he writes to his sister that he’s taking care of trivial matters when he’s on his assignment, he writes a bit more honestly and detailed in his hidden letters to you. You make sure to keep them in a box hidden away from Tonia so she never discovers them but you have an inkling she knows what her brother is up to. She watches the way your face pinches, that your fingers clutch the paper a little tighter, and how you seem to tap the page two times in sequence.

Despite the raging winter storms that swirl around Snezhnaya, you are always warm. He thinks you’re secretly a pyro vision user waiting for the right moment to make good on your word and burn him alive. Whenever his travel’s run late into the night and he arrives home tired and cold, he seeks Tonia’s room to make sure she’s sleeping peacefully. Then to you to do the same. Sometimes when you’re lucky and you wake up early, you’re greeted to Tartaglia clinging onto you refusing to move because you’re warm. Even going through daily routine’s he always has an arm around you or some part of his body against yours. You feel that his habits is rubbing off on his sister because slow morning’s like these see’s you as the human heater. With Tonia hugging you from the front, arms wrapped around your waist, while Tartaglia support’s from behind, arms around the both of you. Your hands laced with his as you both act as a shield for little Tonia.

Tartaglia’s hands are always numb. He could be in Natlan where it never snows or facing the harsh winters of Snezhnaya, they are always numb. As if the skin of his fingertips were scalded off. Touching anything gives him an uncomfortable sensation so he wears gloves all the time except for two occasions. When he need’s to replace his gloves with a new pair or to lace your hand into his. He can vaguely feel the heat from your hand, see that you don’t have the same callouses that he has from wielding weapons, and can feel the same tingling sensation that would usually have him wrenching his bare hand away if it had been anything or anyone else, besides his sister of course. Instead he holds on as if you’re his last lifeline in the middle of the ocean, commits to memory the feeling of your hand in his, and the pins and needles that prick his fingertips fade away.

He grows restless when life is ordinary and boring so he’s always off fighting or doing something completely dangerous. He was the same before he became a Harbinger which leads to some fights between the two of you. You both handle fight’s pretty badly due to the upbringing of Snezhnaya and it makes Tonia sad when she sees her family argue. So instead you convey your inner worries through taps. One is for annoyance. Two is for worry. Three is for anger. Likewise, Tartaglia has his own system.

On one rare occasion, Zhongli managed to catch the sight of a flicker of light on Tartaglia’s clothing. It confuses him since aren’t ring’s meant to be worn on the hand? The only response he get’s from Childe when he asks why is a vague answer filled with mirth. He say’s that he’s holding onto it for someone. Zhongli doesn’t quite understand since wouldn’t it be better to keep the ring in a box if it were meant for someone else? Childe wears a ring on his pinky already but it might be a Snezhnaya tradition to wear one ring on the hand, while the other is close to the heart.

He keeps his cheerful attitude on even when it feels as if the world is crushing him. That might be why he names himself Childe. But when it’s just the two of you he takes the mask off, the armor slips off, and let’s himself relax. Time’s like this he just wants to hold you and as he puts it, recharge.

For all his confident nature in fighting he knows that a committed relationship with him is hard. That if you ever want to walk away and find someone new he won’t stop you, but that you never contact him or his family. He won’t open his heart for another person for a long while or ever. He would still give you your ring and whatever you choose to do with it is up to you.

Tartaglia’s goals won’t change. He still has his family to take care of and even if you decide to leave, that doesn’t change the fact he still sees you as apart of his family.

You don’t mind if his goal takes him away from Snezhnaya for years and years. Or if the letter’s he writes become fewer and fewer. As long as he comes home you don’t mind waiting.

It’s the middle of the night and he’s still awake. He just returned from his last assignment and Tsaritsa is already sending him across Teyvat for “business” related reasons. He just finished checking up on Tonia to see her sleeping soundly. She’s growing up really fast, he smiles slightly at the thought. She can already sleep on her own. He gently opens the door to your room, well really it’s both of yours but he hasn’t been doing a lot of sleeping there, and cringes slightly at the creek the doors give.

He takes a small minute to lean on the doorway and relaxes. He won’t have enough time to bask in your presence if he’s too make it on time. The winter storm continues outside, as if Tsaritsa herself is yelling at him to start moving. He doesn’t think there’s ever been an instance when they’ve been silent.

“I care about three things in this world. My sister, you, and my home,” Tartalia says softly as he walks over and kneels down beside your laying form, resting his hand beside yours as he places a soft kiss on temple. “When those three things are safe I can rest.”

You tap him two times. Your hand has laced around his in a loose grip to which he tightens. You both sit in silence as he wait’s for the pins and needles to stop spreading across his arm before speaking again.

“I know I already proposed but let’s elope somewhere. My next assignment is taking me to Liyue. I heard it’s quite a beautiful place. I’m thinking a spring wedding perhaps?”

One more tap but he’s learned to take your annoyance as you jesting or being flustered.

“Promise me you’ll be safe,” you ask.

“I can try but I can’t guarantee everyone else will be,” he laughs.

You tap him three times. If you weren’t half asleep you would have probably thrown your pillow at him. He gives one last chuckle as his finger’s rubs patterns into your hand.

“I promise,” he swears.

He hears you hum happily as you begin to relax back into slumber. Slowly letting the feeling of his heartbeat lull you to sleep until your grip loosens around his wrist. Even as the winter winds howl outside you can sleep so peacefully. Unlike him where in the back of his mind are restless thoughts. Tsaritsa is asking something huge of him, another test of his loyalty and strength. He silently stands up as to not wake you again, gives you one last squeeze of the hand, one last fond look, before he leaves. Closing the door as quietly as he can, he steels himself to go back out into the cold.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin imagines #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact headcanons #genshin headcanons #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin x reader #genshin impact childe #childe #childe x reader #genshin childe #genshin impact childe x reader #childe imagines #childe headcanons #genshin fluff #genshin impact fluff #genshin fanfic

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jimalim · 3 years ago

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1/2 ‘I know I probably sound like I’m whining but’ no it really is you just whining. And you’re presenting your whining as you being on a crusade against the general issues of fandom consumption in order to hide that the actual problem here is your personal entitlement. All of your recent leatin fics have bettered the 10% kudos/hits ratio that is generally accepted as being the bar for engagement. So many of your fics do. You are not hard done by

2/2 You just think you are because the fic you expected to go down well on the basis of you liking it the best and working on it the hardest actually didn’t go down well. It be like that sometimes. Suck it up. There is no requirement for people to hit the kudos button. And you having higher expectations of when people will kudos certainly doesn’t create the requirement for them to do so

ok, so anon I get what you're saying, and I wouldn't say you're entirely wrong. hell, I even agree that yeah, I did have higher expectations for this fic, and yes that higher bar does factor into why my disappointment is greater in this specific instance. however, that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to feel that way. It's a perfectly normal, human response to feel upset and/or frustrated when something you put a lot of time and effort into doesn't live up to your expectations. feeling this way and expressing it doesn't make me 'entitled'. I never compared myself to others specifically or negatively bashed anyone. I merely stated how it sucks that this fic seemingly 'performed poorly'-compared to my other fics.

you bring up my hit/kudo ratio, a metric that 1. I never brought up in my post, 2. do not even pay attention to anymore as it's a wildly inaccurate stat because it does not account for people who reread fics, multiple chapter hits, page reloadings, bots/google search hits, that you can only leave one kudo per user (2 if you sign out and leave aa guest kudo) etc. and most importantly 3. should not, and does not have any bearing over the way I'm allowed to feel about my work. just because my ratio is what some people consider 'good' or even 'better' than the typical fandom average doesn't mean I have to "suck it up" and be happy/satisfied with that. If a movie director makes a passion project that does poorly at the box office, are they not allowed to be disappointed it wasn't received as well as they liked? that kind of thinking is frankly petty and ignorant in my opinion. and if you personally take issue with me venting my valid feelings on my personal blog, then just unfollow me, assuming you do since you're complaining about a post I made with no distinguishable tags-posted at the time tumblrs tag system was broken (thankfully that looks to be fixed now!)

when I mentioned the kudo count on this fic, I said it in relation to the number of kudos I have on my other fics for this fandom. I have never written more than 5 or 6 fics for one fandom, it is a first for me having now 30 for this fandom. sure it's still a small sample size, but it's significantly larger than any body of work I've done before, and thus I have a much better understanding of when a fic 'does well' for my existing body of work. out of the 30 fics, all but 8 have over 100 kudos. the average across all my fics for this fandom is 130. so yes I am disappointed that the fic I worked the hardest on and feel is my strongest work has the least amount of kudos at 70 (at the time of the original post, now its 73) because yes, that indicates that it either wasn't as well liked or just not enough people have seen it yet, granted it is still one of my newest works (only 2 months old) so there's still plenty of time for that to grow. my mistake for not better clarifying those particular stats

my main issue being, and this is really what that post was about, the actual ratio that matters to me-the reblog/like ratio here on tumblr. take this post for example-it's the post I made when I published this fic to promote it here and hopefully drive traffic to ao3 so more people would read it. It currently has 93 notes: 59 likes and 32 reblogs. now that looks like an amazing ratio! however, if you look at those reblogs-13 of them are me trying to signal boost. so if you take me out of the equation that's 59 to 19 which is easily my best ratio on original content posts, but it still isn't moving the needle.

tumblr doesn't have an algorithm that shoves popular content in your face the way other social media sites do (and I love them for that!) so that requires organic user sharing to get any real traction. likes on tumblr do not make posts show up to new users the way you might see a tweet someone you follow like or same with a facebook post. you have to reblog a post for others who do not follow op to see it, not everyone checks the tags and half the time that shit doesn't even work.

as I said in my original post "everyone’s all for reblogging posts about how we need to support creators-but how often does that actually translate to a change in the way people consume this media?" I certainly haven't seen a change. but what I do see is the frustration from other creators who reblog those support posts to my dash, and the even larger number that then reblogs that post from me. I just want people to share the media they enjoy-and yes leaving a comment/kudo is also greatly appreciated, these things work in tandem: more reblogs on a post, the greater probability of engagement because it's being seen by a larger audience which in turn leads to more motivation for a creator to keep writing, drawing, making gifs, and videos, and edits, and so on an so forth!

TL;DR: fandom creators are allowed to be disappointed/upset/frustrated when their work doesn't get the engagement they were hoping for regardless of how 'popular' or 'well received' their other work is/perceived by people. low engagement can discourage people from making new stuff, and frankly I don't fucking blame them cause this shit hurts

#was this post too long? probably but I'm so tired of having to defend such a common sense position #you like something? please engage with it #people make these things for free and it's nice to get some validation as a little reward

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misterewrites · 4 years ago

Text

Secret Agent Bard (Welcome to the Underground!)

Hello everyone! E here with a new chapter of the underground! Woo! I hope you are all doing good and staying safe.

So I actually have more to say today! That's a trip. I’ll have an author’s note under the line.

So that's it for now. Stay safe, take care of you and your loved ones, stay out of trouble, wash your hands, wear your mask, get vaccinated if you can and push to release the vaccine world wide cuz we're all in this together. Have a great week and thanks for reading. I appreciate it and feel free to tell your friends, reblog, drop likes and feedback i love it all. Bye for now and enjoy!

If you want an easier place to read the story cuz tumblr sucks sometimes here’s a link to the chapter https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/79541746

The First Chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/68094967

and since you made it this far here’s a link to all my stories!

https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrE42/pseuds/MrE42

Byeeeeee!

Author’s note: Today’s work will be a little different as there will be singing. The chapter with the bard is gonna have singing? Go figure haha So if you see a sentence in Italics, that means someone is singing. Bold and italics represents various people singing as a group. The song in question is called twiddles. There's different versions of it but the one I chose is from the misbehavin maidens. Great group but all their work ranges from innuendos to straight up not safe for work so listen at your peril. I have now completed my responsible adult duties haha. here’s a link to the chosen song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS1-_fKF5ug

Summary: Oliver has quite the task ahead of him as the group splits to achieve their goals. Leading Sel and Flora, the young bard will have to think quick on his feet to ensure this mission is a success. Luckily he's an old hand at this. Ironically the one person who could distract him may make a surprise appearance tonight.

-----

Oliver stood quietly, arms crossed and his mind thoughtful as the group prepared to go their separate ways. While ideally nothing would go wrong, that was a childish belief: Every person and robotic being here knew safety was not guaranteed in their line of work.

Even the old man knew the risks.

Oliver hated doing nothing. He thrived when he was busy, focused on whatever task required his attention whether it be being a better bard or upholding the Choir’s values. Too many ghosts and regrets lingered on the edges of his mind and he found the best solution was to simply keep occupied.

But that was his coping mechanism, not everyone else. He knew better than to rush his team: The party would last at least another few hours and beside the goal of getting Sel to the third floor, there was nothing else to do. No information to gather, nothing to review. Let them have their moment, it was good for morale.

Terri and Flora were sickeningly adorable: Hands clasped tightly with Terri tearfully asking her girlfriend to not poison everyone. Flora gave a halfhearted promise while as they shared a tender kiss. Terri noticed her less than enthused tone but refused to press the matter further.

Tyrell stood awkwardly to the side, his face twisted in a strange mixture of sick and excited. He fidgeted with something in his pocket, seeking comfort from whatever lay within. Given the shape of the bulge and size, Oliver guessed it was a knife.

Sel stood nearby, motionless in the shadows of the alley. They hadn’t moved in some time though he suspected the automaton was simply waiting for the next phase of the plan.

“Alright” Oliver spoke up, his voice firm yet gentle “Times up. You have your assignments?”

Uneven murmuring responded.

“Let’s go.”

Oliver, Sel and Flora went down one end of the alley, Terri and Tyrell disappearing in the opposite direction.

-----

It didn’t take long for the trio to find the main streets of the Merchant Ward and make their way towards the Brambleoak banking office. The crowds weren’t as thick as they had been during the day but Oliver knew everyone out and about did so with a purpose.

“Bard.” Flora asked without warning, breaking the awkward silence “Question.”

“Answer.” Oliver cheekily replied.

Flora glared.

Oliver coughed “Yes?”

“You are a First Chair Soprano correct?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Yet you are so young. How did you manage that? I thought First Chair ranks were only reserved for experienced or particularly skilled members. You don’t seem to be very magically powerful.”

Oliver paused for a moment, trying to best answer the question.

In a way Flora was correct in her assessment: He wasn’t particularly powerful as a spellcasting bard. Unlike Flora who clearly committed herself fully to nature and thus druidic magic, Oliver had only recently thrown himself into the magical arts.

Unless you were a wizard who studied the secrets of the universe with a very intimate and well versed knowledge of magic, most spellcasters drew their power from sources of existence: Clerics from their gods, Druids from nature, Warlocks from something beyond mortal existence yet not quite a deity, sorcerers because a family member fucked around with pure incomprehensible concepts. Magic was the fabric of the universe and the more you threw yourself into a source of power, the more the source threw itself into you, guiding your hand and your spells.

Of course each, wizards exempt, were limited in their spellcasting options. Clerics were powerful holy/unholy practitioners but couldn’t command plant life to save their lives. Druids were in tune with nature and the weather and all the lovely flora and fauna but ask them to superimpose an image onto something and they’d give you a dumbfounded look. Warlocks kinda just do whatever their sugar patrons felt like lending.

Magic bards drew their power from the arts: Drawing, singing, poetry, even witty and funny satire. Bards were in tune with life, with existence. Art could heal, could hurt, could make you feel happy and sad. It could make you feel like a whole new person or perhaps take you to a time and place you’d forgotten. Bards sung the song of life and Oliver was no exception.

However, Oliver still wasn’t sure what he could do exactly. His magical muscle was average on a good day and he could only cast a few spells before needing a good night’s rest. The basic healing spells and comprehension language he cast earlier today had taken a good chunk of his energy but he relied more on his wit than raw magical strength. He discovered creative and useful ways to cast his spells like amplifying dissonance noises to distract and disorient foes or temporarily place another person’s image over himself. Magic was as much about creativity as it was skill, pushing the limits of what you can do with your particular brand of spells.

“I’m clever.” Oliver answered honestly “The whole magic of the arts is new to me but I’ve been in the Choir for a long time now. I used to be Tenor like Sel here but more fast talking than breaking and entering. I guess they carried over my old position into my new one.”

Flora nodded, satisfied “That answers much. How long have you been a bard?”

“Few years now.” Oliver checked the street sign to ensure they were on the right path “The magic part is going on 3 years.”

“I see.” Flora scratched her chin “I’ve been a druid my whole life so it is a strange concept to be so new to the spellcasting arts yet hold such a high rank.”

Oliver gave a casual shrug “Not sure what you want me to say. We’re here by the way.”

The bank looked as unkempt as Oliver had remembered: Faded, peeling green paint with gaudy gray stone pillars. Two guards in green uniforms stood in front of the massive reddish brown doors that led into the bank.

“Lea’s mercenaries.” Sel pointed out “They are not letting anyone in.”

“Correction.” Oliver brushed off nonexistent dirt from his washed-out outfit “They’re not letting nobodies in. Luckily tonight we’re somebodies. Follow my lead.”

Oliver let out a tense breathe before strolling forward, his mannerism cocky yet unsteady. He reached the top of the steps when two sharp looking blades reached out to stop him.

“Halt” The elvish woman spoke with a hint of irritation “You lost?”

“Not at all!” Oliver beamed with a smile that was too wide to be natural “I’m here for the party. There is a party inside no?”

“No” The human man spat out.

Oliver gave a forgetful grin “Oh? I could’ve sworn Brambleoak was having some sort of charity event tonight. I’d show you my invite but I think I misplaced it.”

The elvish woman sneered “Right. How convenient for you having lost your special one of a kind invite.”

“Pfft.” Oliver scoffed “Special one of a kind invite? Reiner hands them out like candy. Probably find one in a gutter nearby.”

The guards shared an unspoken understanding with one another.

“Well.” The human began “Let’s pretend that is true.”

“It is but go on.”

The human’s eyes narrowed “Why should we let you in? You dress rather poorly for someone claiming to be in Reiner’s usual circles.”

Oliver let out an exaggerated gasp as he puffed out his chest “Do you know who I am?”

“Umm no.”

Oliver growled unhappily, his fist clenched tightly within his pocket “I am rich! I AM POWERFUL! AND I DEMAND ACCESS!”

As quick as lightning, Oliver flung a handful of gold coins towards the pair. The two reeled back in surprised as the money clanked onto the smooth marble floor. A moment hardly passed before the guards were shoving the loose coins into their tunic pockets like hungry dogs. They straightened up, eyes alive with greed.

“Of course sir” The elvish woman bowed her head in apologize “Deeply sorry for that.”

“Please go ahead.”

Oliver gave a self satisfied nod before moving past the pair only to stop as he heard the sounds of swords scraping each other. He turned backwards to see the guards barring access to Flora and Sel.

Flora looked back and forth between the guards, her eyes calculating and cold. Sel stood still but clearly at the ready for any sort of trouble.

“They’re with me.”

The Elvish woman shook her head “We said we’d let you in. These two? Definitely not Reiner’s usual prey.”

“They aren’t” Oliver admitted “But I need them.”

The human turned to him, suspicion in his eyes “Why?”

“She…” Oliver pointed lazily towards Flora “Is my street doctor.”

“Street doctor? As in….?”

Oliver gave a cheery wink “The fun kind.” And for give measure, he added a weak shiver to his act “Ugggggh I feel cold, are you cold? It’s cold.”

Before anyone could say anything, Oliver began shaking. He rubbed his hands for ‘warmth’ while swaying back and forth.

“Uh oh.” Flora spoke dully, pushing past the guards and holding Oliver steady “He’s crashing. I need to give him his umm medicine.”

“Medicine?” Oliver repeated, his voice soft yet manic “Yes medicine. I need it. I NEED IT!”

Folks began to turn their way, the guards shifting uncomfortably under the sudden attention they were receiving.

“And this one?” The Elvish woman gestured to Sel.

Oliver began to rock back and forth, his voice a harsh whisper. “Guard. Guard. Guard guard guard guard.”

The human threw up his hands in defeat “Bah! Get him in there and fixed! Any trouble and I’ll personally come over to beat your asses.”

“Thank you sir.” Flora murmured through gritted teeth. She guided Oliver and Sel through the doors and into the party within.

Flora sighed as Sel cracked the tension out of their fingers. Oliver straightened up, wiping the sweat from his brow.

True to his expectations, the bank had been altered to be suitable for a charity event: Torches lined the walls, casting the building into a bright light. The desks normally found on the floor were gone as to allow a more spacious setting. Oliver counted a handful of guards scattered about, wandering about for any sign of trouble. All except for the lone guard beyond the empty elevated platform who stood in front of the stairway to the upper floors.

“What now?” Flora asked

“Split up. Sel stay close to the door, Flora and I will figure out a distraction.”

“Sounds good.”

And without another word, Oliver was swallowed whole into the crowd.

-----

It had taken an hour for Oliver to figure out what kind of distraction he would need.

The patrols themselves hadn’t been very difficult to plan for: They would move randomly about, keeping an eye on the party and each other. He counted about 6 of them total and each one of them was easily starstruck. At the sign of any disagreement, they would swarm in groups of three and quickly threaten any troublemakers into compliance. However, upon meeting anyone with even the smallest bit of fame, they would subtly motion to each other and make their way as one to the person in question, hoping for a glance or the chance for an autograph.

So the floor guards were no problem but the one standing watch over the door was much more difficult. Evidently Lea was smart enough to give the most important job to the most responsible of his idiots. The stairway guard or Stairy as Oliver labeled him, would not budge at the sign of any trouble. Loud arguments, agitated party goers, a waiter being tripped (sorry it was for science buddy). None of these would pull him from his post. Celebrities wouldn’t either. Any time his buddies motioned to a famous person, he would shrug his shoulders and stay put.

Oliver was beginning to wonder if Flora needed to poison Stairy until he noticed something about half way into his observations: Stairy was a music lover. Specifically a cute girl music lover.

His gaze would wander every time he caught sight of a pretty girl who happened to be too close to him. Oliver wasn’t sure at first so he decided to test his theory. With his pocket change lessened, Oliver noticed how often a girl would catch Stairy’s eye. His attention didn’t shift when they fell in front of him, obviously in distress, or walked slower allowing him to enjoy the view longer but Oliver caught him smiling and tapping his foot when the odd girl would sing. He even staggered away from his door a few steps at a time before catching himself and returning to his post.

So the best distraction would be a girl who could sing and have some level of fame attached to her name.

Oddly specific and Oliver hadn’t the slightest idea how he was going to mange that. He was attempting to solve this puzzle when something caught his ear.

“Get off me you mulched dirt licker!”

That rather unique set of cursing could only mean one thing: Flora.

Oliver turned to where he last spotted her and found the young druid being hassled by a tall man in an elegant uniform.

Oliver noticed the guards were looking about, not yet spotting the commutation but aware something was going on. He needed to act first if he wanted to stop Flora deciding to kill everyone in the room.

The bard quickly slipped into the crowd, darting and weaving between any and everyone he could. He saw Flora slip a small vial into her hand as the man towered over her.

“I jus wanna dance.” the man’s words slurred out of his mouth “A pretty thing like yo shou wanna dance”

Flora’s eyes narrowed angrily “For the last time you dried poop stain, LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Flora pulled back her hand, prepared to throw the mysterious vial at the drunk’s face.

“Whoa!” Oliver cried out, tightly grasping onto Flora’s wrist “What seems to be the problem?”

“Nothing I can’t solve on my own.” Flora coldly glanced towards the drunken man.

“One sec.”

Oliver eyed the man carefully, absorbing every little detail he could.

He could see the muscles strain against the fabric of his light green tunic so this man worked in something physically laborious. The sheathed sword on his belt weight seemed to throw him off balance with every step. His gaze was unsteady and Oliver could see his pupils dilating wildly.

So this man was physically fit, armed with a sword in a charity event for the rich people and wearing light green tunic while currently drunk.

“You should leave her alone” Oliver said, sarcasm dipping from each word “You are so not her type.”

“So?” The man hiccupped “What’s the big deal?”

“So she’s got a girlfriend you idiot.” Oliver gestured with his hand “Besides you should go before your boss Lea gets here. I’m betting he won’t be happy one of his undercover mercs is currently drunk on the job. Of course I could always tell your captain what’s going on. That’s him over there right?”

Oliver gestured to the closest guard making his way towards the trio. He didn’t look any different than any guards but Oliver noticed his green was a shade darker than the rest. Lea probably used different hues to signify rank in his mercenaries.

The drunk’s face paled as he fidgeted nervously. He rose his hands in surrender, eyes darting between the two “Sorry.”

“Any trouble?” The captain approached, his hand tightly held around the hilt of his blade.

Oliver beaned cheerfully, trying his best to pull attention away from the fuming Flora “Not at all my good sir. This man simply mistook us for someone else, correct?”

The drunk nodded slowly “My bad. Forgive my intrusion.”

The captain gave a cold smirk “Apologizes. Mikey?”

The drunk flinched “Yes sir?”

“A word in private. Now.”

Oliver let out a sigh of relief as the captain dragged Mikey away..

“You should’ve let me poison them.” Flora muttered darkly.

Oliver scratched the back of his neck tiredly “Night’s still young. Still might get your chance if I can’t figure a way past Stairy.”

Flora tilted her head quizzically “Stairy?”

“The asshole at the base of the stairs.” Oliver answered absentmindedly as he spotted a familiar streak of platinum blonde hair among the crowd of strangers “And I just figured it out. Can I trust you not to poison everyone here?”

“You have an hour. I get bored easily” Flora swirled the sickly purple liquid in the vial threateningly.

“You and me both.” Oliver patted her shoulder before chasing down his perfect distraction.

-----

Oliver’s heart began to thunder loudly in his ears, a nervous and uncontrollable energy overtaking his resolve. The mission was important but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy to see Maria today.

Maria Thoreau was the daughter of a powerful, influential family. The Thoreau’s were more concerned with their standing in high society than any virtuous endeavors and thus each one of their children was trained from birth to excel in their chosen field. Maria’s older brothers were an aspiring politician and merchant respectively.

Maria’s path was to be a well famous singer and patron of the arts. She wanted nothing more than to sing for the people. Unfortunately, her father only saw a chance to further the family’s good name and tied his desire for power with her passion and dream. It was bittersweet really but nothing much could be done about it.

Yet.

Maria knew Oliver as a musical rival who thwarted her group’s attempts at winning local competitions which in turned derailed her father’s plans. So needless to say she was less than thrilled when she caught him making his way over.

“Ollie” she forced a smile while her hazel eyes narrowed, peeved “I’m surprised to see they let you into this exclusive event.”

Oliver gave a cocky shrug “Well your beauty caught my attention and I couldn’t resist trying to figure out a way in.”

Maria’s cheeks burned a pinkish hue.

Maria was the same age as Oliver with short, tastefully cut dark brown hair. A single streak of platinum blonde hair hung off the side of her face, giving her such a cute look. Her clothes were practical tonight since she wasn’t performing: A simple white blouse with a long flowing dark blue skirt that went all the way down to her feet. Her shoes were sensible dark blue flats designed for comfort over style.

Maria coughed into her hand, willing her blush away.

“So.” She cleared her throat “Is this your sad attempt to throw me off my game? You won’t win the next competition. We’ll be dealing with professional judges this time.”

Oliver’s eyes widen in false surprise “There’s a competition here? Fancy that. I hadn’t been made aware of that but since we’re both in town, why not have a round two?”

“Oliver….”

“I mean” Oliver went on, pretending not have heard “You are a much better singer solo than with those harpies you’re forced to keep around.”

Maria glanced to the side timidly “Don’t be absurd, the Melodic Maidens are a perfect, well oiled machine.”

Oliver scoffed dismissively “I suppose they’re nearby, listening in. Hardly leave you alone, don’t they?”

Maria opened her mouth to respond when a shrilly voice cut in.

“What do you know you two bit hack? How much did you bribe the judges last time?!”

Oliver gave a strained smile as the rest of the ladies forced their way into view.

“Lilly, Filly, Sally. You suck.”

The triplets snarled in unison, openly glaring at the bard.

Lilly, Filly and Sally were Maria’s chains: They were as much there to further her career as they were to report back to daddy to ensure the errant daughter stayed on course.

As triplets, they all shared the same features: Three pairs of dull green eyes and long messy black hair. Even their clothing were the same with each wearing a strapless dress that showed way too much skin and skirts that were way too short. The only reason Oliver could tell them apart was due to their preferred colors: Lilly in a shade of pink that was bright for her skin tone, Filly with a pale ugly yellow and Sally in seas of dark red.

The trio surrounded Maria, their arms embracing her in an uncomfortable hug. Maria bit her lip, trying to hide her uneasy.

“Still wearing that tacky outfit huh Ollie?” Lilly eyed his faded clothing distastefully.

Sally let out an unfriendly laugh “Ollie always looks like trash. Not even prize money could buy an ounce of class.”

“Actually” Oliver brushed his shoulder dismissively “Class is cheap. No amount of money could buy an ounce of character. You can blow hot air at me all you want but nothing in this world could ever change the fact that the three of you are bitches.”

The trio clicked their tongues disappointingly, their normally plain faces twisted into unflattering visages of rage while they screamed as one.

“HOW DARE YOU INSULT US?!”

“YOU ARE SUCH A POOR TACTLESS MAN!”

“YOU FUCKER!”

Oliver casually waved his hand “All bark and no bite. I’m supposed believe you’ve gotten any better in two months? Last time I checked I won the last competition.”

“OH YEAH?!” The triplets yelled, furious.

Maria threw a suspicious glance Oliver’s way “Girls, I don’t think…”

“Come on Maria, we don’t want to have to tell daddy you backed down from a challenge.”

A shiver ran down her spine, the fight draining out of her face. Oliver felt a tinge of guilt but said nothing as the girls took their positions.

Maria paused for a moment, her breathing slow and calm. The murmur of the crowds grew louder and louder upon the recognition that the ladies nearby were the Melodic Maidens.

Maria pivoted on her heels, a bright warm smile gracing her lips. Oliver could feel his heart skip a beat at the sound of her soft, airy voice beginning to sing

“Oh you hear a lot of stories about the sailors and their sport” Maria gave a playful wink his way. His cheeks burned brightly at her playful banter.

“About how every sailor has a girl in every port”

Maria twirled, her steps mischievous and alluring as her dark blue dress chased after her. She gracefully held two fingers aloft for everything to see, her smirk cocky and assured.

“but if you added two and two you’d figure out right quick”

Maria backed up as the triplets step forward to join her, the group made whole and ready for the chorus.

“It’s just because the girls all have a lad on every ship”

Maria turned to throw a sultry look towards her rival bard but instead of finding a dumbstruck Oliver, she found a smiling one. His gaze was gentle and loving as if he was seeing utterly beautiful. A small smile was tugging at his cheeks. Maria could feel her heart thunder in her ears as, without warning, Oliver gave a thumbs up and mouthed an appreciative “Thanks” before ducking into the growing crowd.

“And it’s twiddley idle idle idle, twiddley idle aye.”

What was once a spattering of folks formed into a massive gathering. Most of the party goers and guards had come over to catch the free show the girls inadvertently given and thus all focus shifted onto them. What was an attempt to show up Oliver ended up being a very unnecessary showcase.

“It’s often times a man will leave you broken with dismay”

Boy was Maria feeling that dismay right now.

-----

Oliver’s plan worked: Stairy hadn’t been to resist the siren call of a beautiful woman and her singing. Luckily the harpies hadn’t ruined it with their imperfect pitches. Stairy hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Sel slipped in behind and began working at the door. It took a moment but one blink later and the automaton vanished out of sight.

Oliver let out a sigh when a hand gripped his shoulder tightly.

“Hello sir.” A guff, low voice in a less than friendly voice “Might I have a word? You’ve been acting rather strange all party long.”

Well fuck.

#Welcome to the Underground #My Story #Original Work #original story

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titles-for-tangents · 30 days ago

Text

I discovered what the problem is, and yup, tumblr updated and it’s part of a larger, deeply depressing problem for me.

According to Apple’s App store, tumblr’s mobile app for iOS now requires 16.0 or higher. (The listing on my screen will at first say it’s “compatible with this iPhone” but then when I actually open it up it reveals the actual iOS compatibility. PSYCH! Sucks to be you!) Not to completely doxx my phone’s age or what kind I use on here, but mine is now officially considered “vintage” by Apple and they haven’t released an iOS upgrade past 15.8.3 (the same IOS as last updated for their last iPod). To be clear, Apple KNOWS there are still users of this version out there (about 11% of their total iPhone users, last I read), but it’s extremely unlikely they’ll release an upgrade for my phone at this point.

I can’t afford a new smart phone right now. I’ve been job-hunting since August and have only gotten a few interviews, and despite interviewing really well, all of them have gone nowhere. I’ve been plugging forward but it’s been really demoralizing. My iPhone is in perfectly fine, working condition. I’ve been taking good care of it, and I even recently bought a new battery for it (the first time I’ve ever had to get a new one, in fact!). I’ve treated my phone like it the investment it was and still is, and it’s held up in kind. It’s sort of like owning a Subaru in that regard: the average Subaru driver keeps their car for about nine years and my phone’s survived two presidential administrations now. It’s outlived twice the expected lifespan of an android in the Bladerunner universe (because that’s the kind of capitalism we live under). Besides all the notes I can make about planned obsolescence, you also really can’t go without a personal smart phone these days, especially if you’re job-hunting. The only real problem I have with my iPhone right now is that its memory is at its capacity limit, and I’m pretty sure nobody can pay to get a memory upgrade at a Mac store; I’d have to get a new phone altogether and drop upwards of $100 for the maximum amount of gigabyte storage I can get. Luckily I can still get repairs for the time being though, based on leftover supplies.

(If anything, it’s my Otterbox case that’s taken the most damage and kept my iPhone in excellent working order. Otterbox don’t even make my phone’s case size anymore, and mine is kind of crumbling and tearing apart at the seams but has mostly held together all these years. I absolutely would get another Otterbox for a new phone if they haven’t gone down in quality; those things are BEASTS if you get the really durable ones and will not let you down.)

As it stands now, tumblr’s mobile app for Apple is kind of janky and kind of works/kind of doesn’t on my phone, which does not surprise me. It’s been getting better since yesterday so I can tell the staff at tumblr have been working on it; they know tumblr went down for a while. But again, it’s a crapshoot guessing what will keep the app open for me and what won’t. It’s been holding itself together while I write this as a draft, but there’s no guarantee how long it will last outside of this section. I got it to play a short video I reblogged about two hours ago and it worked fine, and I got it to play half of an older audio post before it crashed again.

Knowing there was nothing stopping me from seeing what logging in was like on Firefox on my phone, I tried just that and oh man, it is janky in different ways. Tagging is a slow nightmare, for instance. In the app, I can hold down my finger on a tag and move it around to be in a different order if I want, but the desktop version of my dash really isn’t that well-optimized for my iPhone (which again, does not surprise me; I mildly expected it). Information text boxes are on top of each other, my keyboard vertically orients whatever letters I try to type into the tag space before I enter it, there’s no way to move them around; it’s not ideal. It’s better than nothing, yes, but’s Not Great. I’m better off sitting down in front of my computer.

I think one of the most disheartening things about it is that until I get a new smart phone, the new tumblr updates will hinder my ability to keep up with the folks on here in real time. Sure, there is value in not letting social media be a time-sink when it shouldn’t be, certainly; I keep notifications off, and I can always log in later on my computer to see what’s been going on. It just means I can’t be quick on the fly about it. It’s going to be a hinderance.

It just also makes me think back to when we were all in Lockdown in March of 2020 and I had the app on my phone before then, but made it a point to not let it be a time-sink for me due to the demanding nature of my job at the time and because I didn’t have the password to my office’s WI-FI anyway. But then we were all home, and the work dried up, and there was very little to do while still needing to be on alert at all times for what work that did come in. Then I started engaging with tumblr more via the app, and haven’t looked back since. For me using the app pairs well with being able to be on my desktop, and I treat them as two sides of the same coin: there are features I can engage with and things I can more easily do on one more than the other, and it helps to have both. Sometimes it’s actually easier to copy-paste links across platforms on my iPhone than it is on my computer.

I don’t think it’s worth reporting to tumblr staff. What would I even say, “How dare the march of time and torque of life saunter on without me”? The problem is less that my iPhone is old (although it is old) so much as it is that Apple and many tech companies like it refuse to upkeep their old systems they know are still working and even carry possible security risks. That said, each new update does ask more of a device’s memory and there’s only so much memory each device has. In theory I could do a trade-in with my phone carrier right now to get a free iPhone 16 (with blood terms and conditions as usual) but I really don’t need or want a phone with A.I. features, and lackluster ones at best. Of course my phone carrier has a deal right now with Apple to get iPhone 16’s out the door; it undersold astoundingly, much less than the far more popular 15 Plus. I’m not even certain if I’d want another Apple phone or if I’d want to switch to Android; I’d have to get a feel for them in person at a store, but the iPhone SE models are at least designed with a touch button like mine is so I may look into that so long as I can get it with a fuckton of memory.

It’s just…going to get harder going forward. I hope I get a job soon.

Hey is anyone else’s tumblr mobile app crashing a lot or is it just me?

It wasn’t happening at all on Monday and was running normally, but ever since yesterday it’s been a total crapshoot guess how long I can keep the app open for before it crashes again. Sometimes it’s instantaneous, and I’m not sure if it’s a problem with loading new info too fast or if tumblr itself is just getting an update.

#personal #tumblr itself #tumblr updates #tumblr app #iPhones #smart phones #planned obsolescence #long posts

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