#to avoid cluttering people's dashes

[piracytheorist]

And thus, in order to avoid spoilers, I had to unfollow a blog I actually really liked following. And because of this stupid ass update that tumblr didn't bother asking if we wanted, they'll immediately see that we're not mutuals and I'll feel like I'll have to explain myself because I am actually sad I had to unfollow them. @staff would it even matter if I tagged you, or?

Like this would have been avoided without this notifications update that shows who your mutuals are. Bro. Less than 10% of my mutuals like my posts anyway because I barely follow anyone from my main interest because I want to avoid spoilers. So like. It didn't help at all, and only made things worse for me.

[munsonthings86]

hello, can I request a Steve Harrington fic where r working too hard for school and has been pulling all nighters frequently to keep track. R ends up being too tired and falling a little sick and not leaving the house except for when she has to go to school and her friends notice, Steve notices. Steve comes over, tries to help her and something along those lines. You can write it however you want, you can change it up if you want. Thank you :)

thank you for the request! tweaked it just a tiny bit, hope you enjoy :)

contains: cursing, fluff, overworked reader, soft!steve harrington, forgotten date, 1.0k words

School. Study. "Sleep". It was an endless, mind-numbing cycle that you were convinced was spiraling you into borderline madness. The condition of your bedroom was identical to how your brain had been feeling for the past week: cluttered and chaotic. With empty coffee cups littering your small floral desk, and your blush duvet covering more of the carpeted floor than your actual bed, you could hardly even recognize the room anymore.

The dirty laundry strewn across your floor would often trip you when you walked, but the assignments that you were practically drowning in made it impossible to shift your focus onto tidying the place.

You'd become a hermit; only leaving the comfort of your home to go to school and occasionally, the library, on the days that your room felt like more of a prison than a place of rest. Robin and Nancy, along with your boyfriend Steve, were certain you were avoiding them like the plague. They'd beg you to hangout with them, even bribing you by offering to treat you to lunch at the local diner, but the only thing you could say in return was a dry, "maybe later".

You didn't mean to be cold to them, but you were laser-focused on your agenda, determined to work first and play later. It's what led you to where you were now: head buried in your third textbook of the night, butt aching from being sat on your wooden chair for far too long.

On a Friday night of all.

From your window, you heard people, around your age you assumed, parading the streets and laughing loudly– enjoying their simple, young lives. Something you wished you could be doing too. But your work wasn't going to do itself.

You were color-coding the notes on your flashcard when three knocks sounded at your door, to which you mumbled a soft, "Come in," that even you barely heard. Your mother walked in, a mess of flour and an assortment of seasonings splotched on her apron from cooking dinner. "Honey, Steve's here," she smiled softly, though it was evident on her face that she was biting back the urge to tell you to clean your room, bless her.

The yellow highlighter you had was soon forgotten as your eyebrows furrowed, wondering what Steve was doing here. He usually called first.

Steve gave her a sweet grin when he passed her, leaving the door slightly cracked open, per your mothers request. In his hands he held a large box of pizza and a bouquet of pink roses; looking as dashing as ever with a crewneck and blue jeans adorning his body, with his hair being the perfect kind of messy.

You can't help but smile when you see him.

"Well, this is a rare sighting," he laughed, referring to you, "Should probably get this on camera." He kicked his white sneakers off where your own shoes were piled at, setting the pizza box down on your dresser.

"Very funny," you deadpanned, arms crossed on top of your chest. "What're you doing here?"

Steve approached you, something like a frown weighing on his lips. He taps the bouquet against his chest a couple times when he gently reminds you, "It's Friday."

You almost want to reach into your own body to catch your heart when you feel it completely sink. Friday's were you and Steve's designated date nights, never missing one since the two of you began dating a couple months ago. With the way you'd been so stressed and busy lately, it had completely slipped your mind. Suddenly, you felt incredibly guilty.

"Fuck," your head fell into your hands as you rubbed at your tired eyes, harshly. Your words were muffled when you continued, "I'm sorry, I'm the worst."

Steve shook his head almost instantly, gently resting the flowers down on the desk next to you. "Hey, c'mon," he started, moving your hands from your face, standing you up in front of him. "It's okay, I know you've been busy lately."

He rubbed at your shoulders tenderly and the warm touch melted you. It was the first time you truly relaxed that whole week. "You're not mad?" You asked the question in a hushed tone, looking up at him with glittering eyes that were a bit red, your nose a similar hue. You must've been getting sick. His poor baby.

"Not even a little," he gazed at you with heated, sincere brown eyes and you couldn't will yourself to look at anything else. He kissed your forehead, and it's a bit salty with sweat, but he doesn't mind. "Just worried, is all," he murmured, adjusting the pendant on your necklace that had somehow found its way onto your back.

"Can I help at all?" He nodded at the books on your table.

"Steve, no offense but it's AP Calc," you smiled, lightly scratching at his scalp when your arms found their way around his neck. You laughed when his eyebrows raised as if he was startled, slightly shaking his head. "Christ," he says through clenched teeth, though he doubles down on his offer, "well, then I guess I'm learning AP Calc today. No biggie," he shrugs, pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

"You don't have to do that, Stevie," you spoke against his lips, admiring how unbelievably sweet your boyfriend was. You knew how much he hated school, especially math, so you were more than grateful that he was willing to put himself through quite literal torture, just to make your night a bit easier. "But I want to," he kissed your nose. "Dinner first though, 'cause I know you skipped out on lunch."

Squinting your eyes, you released your hold on him. Sometimes it scared you how well he knew you. "How-?"

"I have eyes everywhere, love," he answered your question before you could even get it out. You rolled your eyes, a smile playing at your lips, already knowing that his "eyes" in question were just Robin and Nancy looking out for you.

💌 1 new message from jojo: writing this while procrastinating on like ten assignments was so funny lol. comments and reblogs are always appreciated! inbox is open!

[generationlossupdates]

GenLoss Episode 2: The Mastermind of The Warehouse

Once again I am bolding the most important bits for those who want to skim, and I am putting it all under the cut to avoid dash clutter. If I'm missing anything important/messed up a specific detail PLEASE let me know so I can fix it, thanks!

Ranboo wakes up tied to a chair, in front of a tv. There's a bucket of keys in front of him. The tv turns on and a masked figure tells them that they have an hour to find the key that will let them out of their chains. If they don't get out they'll be shocked to death. The masked figure shocks them and they pass out briefly before waking back up. They start going at the keys and manage to pick out the right key first try. He frees himself and then gets up and turns off the tv. 

He begins to explore, finding a guy on a surgery table in a new room. There's a TV in there as well, and the masked figure tells him that he needs to find a key in him. The TV turns off on it's own and the guy on the table (Charlie) wakes up. Ranboo cuts open Charlies's stomach and he's full of slime. He starts digging around in his stomach, the guy making commentary on each thing he pulls out. Suddenly the screen starts to glitch and Charlie's stomach goop turns red, simulating blood, and he begins to scream. It goes back to 'normal' and Ranboo continues to dig around in Charlie's stomach. 

The TV turns on and the masked figure says that the key was ON Charlie, not IN him. Ranboo complains about the masked figure being unclear. He digs around in the toilet right next to operation bed and finds the key. He enters the next room and finds a group of people tied to a carousel. The TV is broken and the masked figure shows up, turning out to be The Puzzler. He tells Ranboo that he must determine who lives and who dies. They also drag in Charlie from the other room. Ranboo has each person state their case. 

At one point The Puzzler places a hat (the same hat Sneeg wore during the first episode) on Sneeg and the screen begins to glitch and Squiggle pops up saying 'BAD HAT' over and over. Sneeg suddenly begins to say he needs to use the bathroom, and when they let him go he runs for it. They spin the carousel and everyone begins to wail and sob. 

Suddenly they hear yelling as Sneeg is dragged back into the room. He's dragged back in by two masked people wearing Squiggle masks. They shove him into a chair and place a Showfall branded mask on his face. Everything freezes as they place Sneeg back in place. Everything returns to normal and Sneeg makes his case. 

All the others make their case and Chat gets to pick two people to live between Ethan, Austin, Frank, Sneeg, Niki, and Vinny. Niki and Sneeg are chosen to live, and are freed from the cage. Chat has to do a pipe puzzle to help them escape. The puzzle is completed successfully and Ranboo, Niki, and Sneeg go to the next room. They've entered the 'Candy Room' and must play as game called 'Mouse Trap'. They have 2 hours to complete the game by having it run through properly, or they'll die. They begin to put the game together, though the instructions are notably not in English. Ranboo also begins to act off, seeming more out of it and uncaring. They nearly finish the puzzle before realizing they're missing pieces. 

Ranboo remembers once piece was in Charlie's body, and goes to retrieve it. They're still missing another piece and Niki begins to look though the other door before accidentally entering the room The Puzzler is in and getting shot. She miraculously survives before The Puzzler goes back and kills her. They decide to bring in another person as replacement, this time being Vinny. They complete the trap and enter the next room. 

As they enter the next room, a person with a Squiggle mask turns Ranboo's mask back on, setting him back to 'normal'. They enter a room with lots of lasers and a diamond. Vinny says to toss him into the lasers and they do so. He managed to survive this, only to be killed by a random falling anvil. Ranboo then tries to properly go through the laser trap, becoming stuck at a point. The towel he had in his pocket holding Slimecicle suddenly begins to speak, and Slime tells him to put him/the towel on the laser machine. Ranboo does so and the towel burns, but he manages to get through the trap. He collects the diamond and Ranboo and Sneeg get beamed into a large closet. 

The Puzzler comments on their missing party member and brings in the rest of the carousel guests. He tells them all to turn around and announces their only clue that 'appearances aren’t always as they seem and to ‘change your appearance’’. He tells them to turn around and leaves, and they turn back around. They take this literally, dressing up in different clothes from the closet. They bring The Puzzler back in and they show off for him, though he does say that is not what he meant.

The Puzzler tells them to turn around again. Ranboo seems off again, and begins to look around. After some more observation, the group starts noticing buttons. They press them and the lights turn into black lights, and there are arrows saying to go into a room. Everyone seems suspicious of it, saying they don’t want to go into the room. They look around, seeming unsure. 

The Puzzler shows up yet again with his rats, all dressed up. Everyone starts complaining at him, and he pulls out the detonator yet again. They’re told to turn around yet again, and The Puzzler leaves. They continue to explore, Ethan finding a spinning corridor. He gets crushed by the corridor and Austin is the only one to react to this. 

They press the buttons again, the lights going into black light mode again. This time Ranboo goes through the door, and it turns out it is in fact the solution to the puzzle. Ranboo, Austin, and Sneeg go through and in the new room, there’s toys lining all the walls. The Puzzler shows up on a TV and begins to explain his last puzzle. He explains that they must play with the toys in order of date, but before he can finish his explanation the tv cuts out. Austin is again is the only to react to this. Ranboo’s dialogue becomes even more stilted as they look around. 

They turn to look at the button that says ‘DO NOT PUSH’ and after a small argument, Austin is coerced into pushing it, revealing a wall hole that can only fit one person. Austin, Sneeg and Ranboo fight to be the one to fit through it, though Austin seems to be the only one actually putting energy into it. Sneeg seems to be holding Austin back in order to help Ranboo, and as such Ranboo winds up being the one fitting through the wall, the other two being crushed. 

He walks away, finding his way into The Puzzler’s lab. He finds a tape recorder from The Puzzler, telling him that if he’s hearing this The Puzzler’s dead. The Puzzler says to look inside the box that’s on the floor, then inside the box that’s in that box, and then box inside that one. Inside the last box is a key, but before Ranboo can do anything with it, H shows up on the tv, saying that they’ve finally been able to get in. Ranboo looks disoriented as his mask flickers on and off. H explains that ‘they’ve’ been using him as a puppet for twisted entertainment, and that none of this is real. Ranboo is still confused until H announces that he’s ‘done it’. Ranboo’s mask turns off and he’s finally able to see. He turns to stare directly at the camera, and begins to walk slowly past directors until he exits the set and turns to stand on a balcony in front of a giant poster of the Showfall logo. Ranboo exclaims ‘What the FUCK’ and the recording cuts out.

[patchs-muse-hub]

A Basic Guide to Tumblr RP Ettiquite

Install xkit so you can trim posts. It helps threads from getting too long and cluttering dashboards.

Open Starters are for any mutual to reply to. If you see an Open Starter from a mutual that piques your interest, you do not need permission to reply, just do it!

Do not jump into other people's threads without prior consent or being tagged. If two people are writing together and you don't have express consent to join in? Just watch, maybe leave a like if you enjoy watching the thread from the sidelines.

That said, if you see something on your dash and want to comment on it in character? Dash Commentary is encouraged! Just make a solo post giving your character's two cents.

If you follow someone, and they have an interest tracker form? fill it out! They make plotting so much easier! You don't have to do it, but you DEFINITELY should.

Avoid getting too involved in Drama threads/conflicts. Communicate with people, take safety precautions, and protect your mental health.

SEND PEOPLE ANON ASKS! Ask questions about their character! It's a fun exercise, and sending them to others makes you more likely to get some of your own!

• Lastly, and most importantly? always try to find and read a person's rules page before interacting. if the Rules page is a Tumblr post? Like it. Make sure they know you've seen it so that they feel their boundaries have been acknowledged.

[foxpunk]

i dont even particularly mind that there is a page to view exclusively video and gif content. from what i can see, it's not tumblr live levels of fucky privacy concerns, its just a tumblr feed that's filtered to only show video/gif posts. and like, that's fine. i'd even say it's a good thing to have available to users, since i'm sure there's plenty of people who like scrolling through videos, whether it's their primary content or just when they're in the mood.

what i do mind is the absolutely horribly clogged UI it's produced, and the fact i can't choose whether i see it or not.

you'd think tumblr would know by now that their userbase—especially their most steady and long term users—greatly appreciates customization and toggles. and generally, social media trends show that sites which allow users more control of their experience are on the rise (think of how successful and popular bsky's custom feeds and blocking/filtering systems are). it's just a smarter move to give people options, even if it means more time and work to make it possible. making something customizeable and/or toggleable creates space for established users to opt in to their own level of comfort, while still creating an interesting new feature to draw in new users. i'm not sure why they would do this the way they have, especially with the distrust and negative rep tumblr live got (not that this is the same thing, but people can and will associate that negative impression with tumblr tv and being more conscious of that would've helped this go more smoothly i feel).

and for UI/UX...5 buttons for a mobile navbar is already pushing it. now they wanna make it 6?? at least with five there was still a centered button. this is just messy. they already have different dash tabs people can customize and switch between, which scroll on both desktop and mobile to avoid further clutter. why on earth would they not make it something you could choose to add as a tab instead?? it's essentially the same as a new kind of dash feed anyways.

completely baffling experience and interface decisions all around.

[lovesickletters]

https://www.tumblr.com/lovesickletters/778498145749499904/%E2%84%AC%F0%9D%93%81%F0%9D%92%B6%F0%9D%92%B8%F0%9D%93%80-%E2%84%B1%E2%84%B4%F0%9D%93%87%E2%84%AF%F0%9D%93%88%F0%9D%93%89-%F0%9D%92%9E%E2%84%B4%E2%84%B4%F0%9D%93%80%F0%9D%92%BE%E2%84%AF-%E2%84%92%E2%84%B4%F0%9D%93%8B%E2%84%AF%F0%9D%93%88%F0%9D%92%BE%F0%9D%92%B8%F0%9D%93%80-%E2%84%92%E2%84%AF%F0%9D%93%89%F0%9D%93%89%E2%84%AF%F0%9D%93%87?source=share

Snow anon here and...uh nice writing and it was a fun read but...that's black forest cookie...but hey thats OK. Uh may I have a wedding cake cookie one though? The other one? Sorry for being picky or idk...just love that beautiful wedding planner!

Ach, so sorry! I must’ve attached the wrong ask, someone else requested a Black Forest letter and I probably grabbed a different ask by mistake. Apologies my dear! I’ll see what I can do for Wedding Cake 💔

(Also it would be nice to avoid posting long links in general since they can clutter people’s dashes and the blog, I’ll probably know what post you mean by title! 💙💙💙)

[darksonofsparda]

🔥

Send me 🔥 for an unpopular opinion || Accepting

This is something that needs to be said, because I've never seen it being said, but no filter here.

This might come as a surprise, but you know what?

Just because someone writes darker, more taboo themes in their rp writing, DOES NOT automatically mean the mun behind the character likes the same stuff IRL. Crazy, right? (The rest below the cut since it got longer than I thought and would clutter the dash without this)

I've been on this site for quite a long time, back in the earlier days, people were a little more chill about that type of thing, but as time went on and this site changed, people in the rpc have become a bit too judgmental imo. I see it all the time.

"That person proships, they must be a pedo IRL"

or

"That person writes super dark, and ULTRA violent themes, so they clearly must be a pretty messed up person IRL because no one enjoys that type of thing"

How do you know that though? Maybe that person just likes to write darker or problematic themes because they enjoy immersing themselves in rp's that test the boundary and borderline of themes? I'm not saying you can't be uncomfortable by it, but if you ask me, I don't think it's fair to judge people based on the types of themes they enjoy writing, and immediately call them a horrible person. I'm an avid reader, and quite the horror fan, I've read a lot of horror books, and let me tell you, I've read some pretty dark and messed up horror books, and some things can get pretty extreme in terms of gruesome and vile, for example:

If I'm reading a horror book about little kids being brutally murdered in horrible ways you never want to imagine, it doesn't mean I'm gonna become a serial killer and do the same. Yeah, its a brutal fucking book, and pretty damn disturbing, too. And guess what, I liked it. Because at the end of the day, it's a fictional story. No one actually died. It was a story written by an author.

The same can be said about rp themes. We are all human beings behind these screens, with emotions, thoughts and feelings. While it is perfectly okay to be uncomfortable with such themes, I still don't think it's fair to automatically assume the mun is a degenerate who likes the same thing. What we write is about characters who are just that, characters, not real people. Us, the muns, are the real people.

Now I'm not saying everyone online is a good person, there are definitely some bad eggs out there, I've unfortunately met some myself.

I still don't think it's fair to say "They write that kind of content, so they are a disgusting person who should be avoided."

I'm not gonna judge someone and criticize their entire person based on the content they write.

That's like calling Stephen King a sick-minded psychopath for Annie Wilkes in Misery(Which is a pretty messed up horror book, but a great story) or any of his other more fucked up horror books.

In conclusion,

There's way too much shade thrown at people who write darker and more controversial themes , and it's wrong to assume they are horrible. I've met some people who enjoy writing more dark and taboo themes, and they are honestly super lovely people. And guess what? They actually have moral human decency.

Mun does NOT equal muse, and people should NEVER forget that. I know it's always a gamble when it comes to meeting new people, it's just the matter of getting to know the person well enough to tell who's good and who's bad. But don't label someone a bad egg just because of the stuff they write, You'll know if the person is good or not. How? Because if you actually take the time to get to know them, and you tell them that type of content makes you uncomfortable, if they really are a good natured person, they will respect that, and won't write that kind of theme with you, and even give you the tag they use for those threads to blacklist it, so you don't have to see it.

RP is fiction. Yes you may think how your muse thinks, You may feel how your muse feels, They might feel real to you, And you may even have that muse become a part of your being if you've written them for a long time. But the fact remains, that they are not real people They are fictional characters, with fictional stories, and fictional relationships. We're telling a story together, not living a second life. So let's enjoy the stories we write together. Not ostracize others just because of the content they write. Because for all you know, they could be one of the nicest, and most friendly people you've ever met.

[hom1lly]

#𝐡𝐨𝐦𝟏𝐥𝐥𝐲 private  &. mutual only homura akemi  from puella magi madoka magica . headcanon  &. semi canon based off my own personal interpretations . est ( 2016 )  rewinded by ale ( he / they / 25 )  low activity . credit goes to @autopsiecomms

general .   as  stated this blog is   private . meaning i’m mutuals exclusive but also being selective on who i'm following .  it’s usually the reason of keeping my dash clean    &.    wanting to avoid being overwhelming myself with a clutter of things going on .   if  you  engage  in  any    of    the    following    behavior    ,    it’ll    result in an instant block    from    me.     pedophilia  ,    homophobia   ,   transphobia   , xenophobia    &.    racism ,  ( zionists do not interact . )   anything    regarding    any    of    those    topics will not be tolerated . 

nsfw content .   due to the nature of the show mature     &.     darker  themes  will  be  present   here : death , gore , suicide , & .  violence      will be tagged  properly .  however as far as sexual or suggestive content   none of it will be present in this blog  as homura is a minor . 

activity .  i'm mostly occupied with my job &.  life nearly every day of the week since i work from morning to nights with a sporadic work schedule . so i can't promise that i'll always be here or have any replies done at any time soon ! so please be patient when it comes to any unanswered prompts or threads . roleplaying is a hobby &.   i intend not to get myself ovwehelmed with something that i find comfort in .

shipping .   i'm  generally  very  open    &.   welcoming  of  shipping .  i  absolutely love making bonds for our muses , pre-established or  not . i  just  ask  when   it  comes   to  romantic   wise   that  we   have  it  developed &.   discussed  throughout   ! 

callouts . i'm neutral on callouts . being here on tumblr for almost 12 years , i've seen people throughout on &. about being outed for absolute heinous &. harmful things to other's in the community , & . i don't want to foster or condone that type of behavior here on my blog . however i'm a genuine believer that proper evidence is needed to make that decision before jumping the bullet . in all , i feel we're all reaching that age where we're mature enough to sort things out or just block people whom we don't like & .move on about our lives . i won't participate in any petty drama or needless fights . handle it like adults .

[bestofhouse]

welcome to the house md tournament

wherein we will collectively decide which house episode is the best, the cream of the vicodin crop. my overriding philosophy for this tournament is to provide entertainment, even where that might conflict with collecting the "most accurate" data. this is tumblr, not a peer-reviewed study. we can't always get what we want, but i try sometimes to get you what you need

tournament status:

preliminary polls and bracket are being designed. keep an eye out for polls that will help me design the brackets and polls in a way that makes most people happy

polls:

polls will last 1 week and the winner will move onto the next round. any poll that registers a 50/50 tie will be broken by me at my own discretion, because i deserve a little treat once in a while

live polls and results will be linked in this post while the tournament is ongoing

propaganda:

submit propaganda for any episode, any time, through this form right here. to keep posts succinct, i may trim or omit submissions at my discretion, especially if many people have submitted propaganda for an episode. depending on the amount of work involved, for episodes with a lot of propaganda, i may rotate out what's included with each poll that episode survives, or omit it altogether in certain polls to keep things as neutral as possible. i'm making this shit up as i go

i will not rb propaganda -- personally when i'm following polls, i don't want to see it. this might change towards the end of the tournament, but for now i don't want to clutter dashes too much.

be civil to the other human beings around you in my notes. criticizing an episode you don't like is fine, but keep it classy

tagging system:

i will do my absolute best to keep non-poll nonsense to a minimum. you're welcome to send in comments, questions, etc, but know that i may not answer them all (if anonymous) to avoid clogging dashboards.

polls will be tagged with:

#poll

#round [x]

the episode in the format of "season.episode - episode title"

i don't want to clog the main house tag so i will not tag every poll with #house md, though i may sporadically main tag one or two polls per round, especially toward the end

#housetournament

i don't see myself creating any posts on this blog that are not strictly related to the running of this poll, but if i do i'll use #not tournament related. every post that isn't specifically a tournament poll will be tagged #admin. i will tag non-anon published asks with the sender's url (dashes converted to spaces).

this post will be updated as i continue to get my shit together. please be patient while i do this

[distant-wcrlds]

//Okay, so, hiatus is officially ending for some of my blogs. I finished all the replies that I know of, and all of them were from Discord. There are a couple threads that involved planning from much earlier I might prioritize my continuation of with new starters for them, but as far as I know, every thread I'm involved in on here was last responded to by me. I'm not saying that to pressure others to continue, but because if there's any threads I didn't reply to, I am unaware of them and would love to be reminded! Eventually, I'll get a thread tracker set up, but for now, all I have to check such things is the ever unreliable notes section of this app. 🙃✌️

Over the next few days, I'll be updating my rules, reaching out to old rp partners I've noticed are active again, and plotting with potential new ones. Over a possibly longer period of time, I will also be migrating my asks on any active blogs over here. It's just an experiment for now, but I think the best way to get engagement for some of my less popular muses and avoid the annoyance that is reblogging ask memes or ooc posts multiple times is to keep my threads on individual blogs but everything else on my main. I used to recommend not following this blog and only following the individual blogs you were interested in, but I now suggest the opposite, or at least, I think it'll be unnecessary to follow any of my individual blogs. I believe this will be the best scenario for everyone else too, because threads can clutter dashes much more than answers, and this solution seems like a better way to appeal to those overwhelmed by multimuses. I'll reblog answers to any relevant individual blogs, so you won't miss anything except personal (not muse-relevant) ooc posts if you choose to still only follow the individual ones. Whether or not ask memes will ever be reblogged on those blogs depends on if I notice there's a large number of people that choose not to follow this one, but I'm sure it's no less annoying to my mutuals than it is to me to suddenly have to scroll past the same thing reblogged up to 9 times in a row.

That being said, the blogs/muses officially out of hiatus are Batman, Raven, Swelter, Hawke, and Lavellan. All of them except Raven have active threads or plots at least on Discord, but I added Raven because she used to be my most popular muse on an old account, and I'm hoping that utilizing this blog as an ask hub of sorts will generate more engagement with her. I will be updating her information to match her current age and circumstances in her shared universe with Batman (though asks will still default to Teen Titans era until I'm able to flesh out my version of the team getting back together to avoid too much angst and misery in her answers), but I will not be updating my DA blogs to match the current events of canon. The reason Lavellan is being brought back sooner than planned is because I did manage to finish Veilguard a few days ago, but unfortunately, I was mostly disappointed by the game. There were portions I enjoyed, and I will make a clearer post later on what I'm willing to adopt from it into the events of my own muses' canons, but Hawke will continue to default to some time in Act 2 or 3 of DA2 for his answers, and Lavellan will still default to an unspecified period post-Trespasser.

[shieldfoss]

Keyboard shortcuts

The keyboard shortcuts in actual use are clearly historically contingent and path dependent - there are no standards, which means there are no ways to avoid conflict - even if you want to!

That is - unless you know every shortcut for the operating system you are compiling for and the operating system doesn't add more shortcuts and no third party programs are installed that were unaware of your presence.

EDIT:

Post got Long, it's under a readmore now so it won't clutter your dash

But please do read it if you have software opinions.

---

Hardware thinks (shortcut) means A

Operating system thinks (shortcut) means B

Background service thinks (shortcut) means C

Browser thinks (shortcut) means D

Open browser tab thinks (shortcut) means E

---

Hot garbage!

In the interest of avoiding conflicting commands it would be great if people could agree on some standards.

I feel like, with [super] and [ctrl] and [alt] and [shift] and [Esc] and [space] and [Fn] - it ought to be possible to do some deconflicting here!

Since the operating system is in control of the keyboard, it can impose those standards unilaterally - it would be chaos during the transition but the future would be much better.

Except no! Inherently impossible!

Because the user will - once again - install third party software and even if we get excellent deconfliction between layers, if you install two different background services that both did their due diligence and ensured that the operating system didn't use ctrl+shift+q+w+g - it is functionally impossible for them to know about each other

Still, I want to sketch something.

NB: I've never used a Mac, maybe Steve Apple solved all of this decades ago for his platform, it seems like the kind of thing he would do. I'm gonna write like he didn't though.

The domain

I'm seeing two ways users interact with software - background/foreground - and two types of software they're interacting with - hosts and clients.

The terms are necessarily underspecified but think along the lines of

Background/Foreground

Is this shortcut supposed to consistently do the same thing every time I use it (for the OS or some background service) or might it do different things depending on which app I currently have focused?

This is muddled by the fact that the background modes have active modes e.g. if you have Nvidia Shadowplay running in the background, listening for input that tells it to turn on or off, you probably also have an Nvidia Shadowplay app that you can actively focus on.

In that case, the software is simply counted twice - it has a persistent background component and a separate component that might or might not be focused.

Host/Client

The difference between Host and Client is essentially whether the developer is responsible for intermediating with third party software. This is obviously recursive[1], I am going to pretend it isn't though.

Hardware

To the extent that your hardware sends messages to your operating system, those can be ignored for the purpose of this diagram. To the extent that your operating system sends messages to your hardware, the hardware can be treated like a persistent background service.

Scenario

You are writing code in an IDE.

Four pieces of software have five different uses for the key "e"

Your OS wants E to mean "Open default Email client."

Your Emoji Picker background service wants E to open the "Pick Emoji" dialog.

Your IDE is currently in focus and wants E to open the Project Explorer pane.

Your IDE has a plugin that format your current tab according to your Editorconfig file.

And finally: You just plain need the letter "e" in your source code.

Today: Any fucking thing might happen depending on how those different apps and plugins have their hotkeys set up.

But let us consider:

[super]+[e] opens the email client.

[super]+[shift]+[e] opens the emoji picker

[ctrl]+[e] opens the Project Explorer pane

[ctrl]+[shift]+[e] formats according the editorconfig

[e] inserts the letter "e" into the source code.

Enforcement between OS, Third party service and active client.

How do you prevent the emoji picker from squatting on [ctrl]+[shift]+[e] and fucking it all up? Especially if it is written by a third party who didn't get the memo?

Easy.

If you press [ctrl]+[shift]+[e] the emoji plugin never sees it. When the emoji picker event loop asks for new events, those WM_KEYDOWN events aren't on the list.

"How?"

From the perspective of the OS, there are three groups of software that may need to know about key events

First party background software (The OS and OS services)

Third party background software (like the Emoji picker)

Active focused client software (First or third party)

When you input a key sequence:

The OS reads through the keys:

If [super] is present, check for [shift]

If [shift] is present in the key sequence, the key events go into the Third Party pool. On receiving them, the Emoji Picker opens the Emoji dialog.

Else only [super] is present in the key sequence: The key events go into the OS private pool, where they are made available only to first party background services. The "default email" hook fires.

Else [super] is not present in the sequence: The key events go into the "focused client" pool, which is made available only to the single, currently active, focused client. They are read by the IDE.

Enforcement within active client

Write it correctly lmao

But it is just recursively the same problem! Please do the same thing!

When the IDE reads the key events out of the OS, it checks for the presence of [ctrl]

If [ctrl] is present, check for [shift].

If [shift] is present in the sequence, the key events go into the plugin pool. Upon receiving them, the formatter activates

Else only [ctrl] is present. The key event goes into the IDE's private pool. The IDE opens the Project Explorer pane.

Else [ctrl] is not present in this key sequence. The key events go into the active editor tab which inserts a single 'e' in the current file.

---

Expanding the shortcut configuration space

"What about [alt]?" Is that button just irrelevant? [Esc]? [Fn]?

Nah, nah. You can do a bunch with all of them. They're fundamentally the same as the shift key here. Maybe the OS reserves for itself the space of all shortcuts like [super]+[letter/number] and [super]+[alt]+[letter/number], and every other shortcut that starts with [super] is available for third party background services. Maybe clients that support plugins (browsers that support sending key events into websites) reserve [ctrl] only and everything else is fair game. However it shakes out.

Really, this is too strict, too. The purpose of the exercise is not to hobble third party background services or third party plugins, it is more to reserve a space to ensure various things don't conflict. Insofar as it can be done without leading to conflicts, you can be much more lax than this.

The two issues that brought this on are both VSCode related, because VSCode has two shortcuts.

Well, it has a lot of shortcuts. But it has two specific shortcuts that I want to talk about: [ctrl]+[b] and [ctrl]+[shift]+[e].

In the Linux keymap (VSCode has three separate keymaps for windows/linux/mac) [ctrl]+[b] opens the side pane, and [ctrl]+[shift]+[e] opens the project explorer window.

Except not for me they don't.

I am writing this text in markdown, and I have a markdown plugin installed. Somewhat reasonably, the markdown plugin feels [ctrl]+[b] should bold the selected text (that is, insert ** on both sides of the text.) And VSCode gives priority to the plugin - when my active editing pane is on a markdown document, I cannot open/close the side pane.

And the fucking IBUS emoji picker is squatting on [ctrl]+[shift]+[e]. Across the whole OS! "Yeah no matter what you're doing, you're probably gonna need emoji so we're taking first claim on incredibly ergonomic real estate for an incredibly niche use case" who the fuck accepted that pull request into my distro?

And, like, is Microsoft going to change the default key bindings for VSCode on Linux because of that insane decision? No of course not.

Are they going to change their idiocy - just to stop inconveniencing Microsoft users? Yeah that is not how I am modeling the situation unfolding I must admit.

That sucks! Shit sucks! And the only good solution is for the OS to say "We are laying absolute claim to (this namespace) for OS and background services and we are giving third parties absolute claim to (that namespace).

Which they're not gonna do but I can waste a day writing about the perfect world I want to live in.

---

[1] "My Mac hosts a VM running Linux hosting a VM running Windows running an open Browser with a tab with an open webapp with a user plugin."

[jjba-smash-or-pass]

the funny thing is that when I started this blog I told myself I'd not make too many non-poll posts as to avoid cluttering up people's dashes. oops.

[sesshy380]

Starting new thread to avoid cluttering the dash.

Tagged by @bakawitch

1. Do this uquiz.

2. Do this picrew.

3. Tag people.

Not tagging anyone, but if you see this and wanna do it, consider yourself tagged (with no pressure ofc)

[generationlossupdates]

GenLoss Episode 3: The Choice

Yall know the drill by now ^_^ I've bolded the most important bits for those who want to skim, and I'm putting it all under the cut to avoid dash clutter. If I'm missing anything important/messed up a specific detail PLEASE let me know so I can fix it, thanks!

The screen turns on, multiple error signs flashing before a drone camera turns on, showing different areas of the Showfall Media Headquarters. It switches to Ranboo, where he rips the dynamite attached to his neck. He walks up to the camera and asks the audience whats happening. As the can’t see chat, he gets no answer and suddenly we can hear H. They explain to Ranboo that they now have control of some of the facility, but still need to shut it down. They need Ranboo to get to the server room in order to take complete control.

Ranboo is panicked and attempts to take the mask off, when H tells him he can't yet, or else the entire operation will go up in flames. They also use the mask to communicate Ranboo. He begins to travel, needing to hide from Showfall agents with Squiggle masks. Ranboo peaks at different areas he'd been in, realizing that what happened was actually real. H confirms as such. He spots an exit and attempts to leave, wanting to call the police but H tells him he can't and to keep going. Ranboo doesn’t want to but H suddenly changes his story, saying the others are in fact still alive, and Ranboo (reluctantly) obliges. He goes down the escalator and when he nears a glowing blue mall room, a metal machine with a TV head runs to glass and starts to slam on it. Ranboo panics and H says its just security.

He keeps moving and makes it to the server room. It turns out he needs a keycard in order to get in. Ranboo keeps going, finding an office full of people with Squiggle masks. He seems apprehensive to enter but H says they're 'mostly harmless' as long as he doesn't do anything too entirely out of the ordinary. He has to get a keycard, a USB drive, and a code. He gets the keycard with ease but struggles to find the USB. After a few minutes of searching he finds the USB, and now has to find the code. After a bit more searching he finds 4 different codes and leaves the office.

Ranboo returns to the server room and enters with the items he collected. H says to be careful and to plug in the USB. They need to put in a code to the computer, though it’s unclear which code is correct. H gives chat the choice to pick which code to use. Ranboo is instantly unhappy with this, and instead of going with chat's pick, he chooses a different code and unfortunately it’s not the right one. The server shuts down and security gets upped, forcing H to leave. The facility blares and everything flashes red. Ranboo runs away, trying to avoid the Showfall puppets. 

Suddenly he hears voices coming from the former food court. He finds random streamers, though they cant hear him. He spots Charlie (WHO IS ALSO LIVE ON HIS OWN STREAM ON HIS OWN CHANNEL) and runs up to him. He pulls his headphones off and Charlie breaks out of the illusion, seeming incredibly confused. Ranboo screams at Charlie and tells him that they have to GO. They look for a directory, and after finding one Charlie looks behind the stand and finds a dead Showfall agent. They look over and Ranboo spots the 'security' (the metal TV head machine). They panic and run, starting to get chased by Showfall agents. They hide in a messed up props area and Ranboo picks up a knife while Charlie begs for an explanation. Ranboo says that he doesn’t have one and they go through the exit door in the room, winding back up where Charlie has been streaming. 

They leave running towards an exit before Showfall agents start chasing them. They wind up running through the rooms of the episode 2, slowing down for a moment before more agents come pouring in. They run down a hallway and turn into a small room where they find H.

H has been stabbed and tells them both that he won't make it. They explain Ranboo needs to finish the job by hitting the kill button and hands them a map. Ranboo stares at H’s body before turning and storming off, entirely in his own mind. Charlie rambles behind him, though his words can’t be made out. Ranboo walks right up to a Showfall agent and stabs them directly in the stomach before continuing the search.

Ranbooo and Charlie find their way back to the set of the cabin from the first episode, and Security jumps out, attacking Charlie. Before he dies he screams out for Ranboo to hit the kill button. Showfall agents begin to pour in as Ranboo runs for the button. He hits the button and everything goes dark, shutting off for good. Ranboo walks through the rows of deactivated agents, heading towards the genuine exit door. He opens it, and right before he goes through he does a Truman Show style bow, revealing H behind him. His mask, for the first time in this episode, turns back to a glowing red and H drags him through the door.

Everything fades to black and when we come back, Ranboo is chained up (Jesus on the Cross style), with his head being in a box, in front of lots of TVs. His mask is slightly broken as well and we hear H. H congratulates Ranboo, saying he completed the experiments. H explains that they never died and that the founder gave them a purpose to create these experiments to find people ‘worthy’ of joining the cast and living (and performing in the future shows) forever. Ranboo begs to be let go as his mask flashes on and off. H goes on to say that Ranboo’s actions we’re entirely his own, and that Ranboo can join the cast. They say that we (the audience) can even decide Ranboo’s fate. The chat gets to vote whether to let him live or die. In the last 30 or so seconds, Ranboo begins to beg and plead to be killed.

The vote ends and H flickers onto the screen, announcing that the chat chose death. The box around Ranboo’s head clamps shut, killing him, and the credits roll. After they end, the screen slowly pans out to show a tv, and a gloved hand pulling out a tape from the TV, labeled ‘TSE’ (The Social Experiments). The hand places the tape back on a shelf, where 7 other blank tapes sit, and the stream ends.

[ailec-12]

For the 50 Random Character Asks:

in an entirely none selfish way (😂😉)I’ll asl for Pippa Pentangle and Hecate Hardbroom tww 2017

although feel free to answer doe anyone you actually have an answer.

5, 6, 13, 16, 23, 25, 32, 35, 44, 50

feel free to just pick a few out of them I can’t choose xD

Thanks so much! Had a great time answering these —I'll put it under the cut to avoid cluttering everyone's dash. x)

5. Best personality trait.

Pippa: seeing the best in other people.

Hecate: loyalty.

6. Worst personality trait.

P: self-centred.

H: narrow-minded.

13. Dumbest thing they’ve ever done.

P: Giving Millie part of her power —a well meaning albeit stupid decision.

H: She'll say it's giving magic to Indigo, but it's actually being nasty to Indigo when all the girl needed after "waking up" was her support.

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves.

P: She found it hard to forgive Hecate, even though she would never have admitted to even holding a grudge during thirty years.

H: She found an odd sort of comfort in being confined to the academy.

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

P: cherry.

H: apple and cinnamon.

25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere.

P: her broom, a hair brush and Hecate.

H: a portable cauldron, a bag full of ingredients and a notebook to keep track of her experiments —sorry, Pippa.

32. Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh.

P: Hecate's surprised face whenever she boops her nose.

H: Ada's laughter.

35. Their idea of a perfect day.

I can think of several scenarios, but for both of them I think it would count as a perfect day whenever they finally figure out how to make a potion or spell work after a long research.

44. Their happiest memory.

P & H: the day they met.

50. A memory they’ve blocked out.

P: She sent Hecate a lot of letters a few months after they finished school, when she'd cooled down, but they all went unanswered.

H: the pain and shame of all the times she tried to cross the academy's boundaries after her confinement was enforced.

Character Asks

[phospadparadscha]

a non exhaustive list of things i love about tumblr that have made it the only Usable Social Media(tm), as someone who follows the maximum amount (5000) of people and has seen it All:

-the tags. every othere sm requires tags to be uninterrupted, no spaces phrases and you can write full fucking novels in the tags on tumblr. this created a completely new ecosystem for how conversations and posts are structured on here. ppl post screenshots of tags, mention previous tags, encourage other people's writing and art in the tags, all while avoiding cluttering the original post's text with every reblog when you want to comment. you can make hushed commentary that sometimes gets noticed and adds a lot to posts when its picked up on!

-the ask system. we used to have fan mail on this site a few years ago but i don't know that it was as successful, so the ask and submissions system became the main way to go. its not as common to have themed ask blogs anymore (like "ask rainbow dash" where people draw responses, i've had a few of these kinds of blogs in the past) but it really allows people to acknowledge each other, get questions answered, and interact in a way i think is really missing from the internet in the late 2020s. its abused sometimes and anon hate still shows up on this site, but i think the culture has changed noticeably in that this kind of hate is brushed off more easily in most cases.

-the longevity of posts and how everything is archived. its so much easier to find old posts on tumblr than other places and you can sort archives of people's blogs based on a lot of different types, like photos only or text only, years posted, etc. really cool especially for looking back on your blog through the years and in the age of the New Posts Only its really refreshing to be able to revisit old posts. I see posts on here that show up from 2012 and its such a pleasant surprise since so much of the internet is being overwritten

- the absurdly customizeable color palettes and appearances of the site. its so customizeable and even though desktop blog sites aren't as common of a way to interact anymore (i miss them rip blogs with no desktop versions) you can literally edit the css and html and show your own personal aesthetics as much as you want to.

-the april fool's day rebrands

-the art is so good and photosets allow for longform posts which i never see ANYWHERE else on social media. you can post like up to 30 images in a photo set i think??? which was increased from i think max 10 and its all consecutive. also that we have a read more button to give people the option to choose to open long posts or not.

-the id system. i've seen a lot of people id posts and make posts more accessible. also people providing trigger warnings which you don't get other places tbh like i've never seen anywhere online where you could straight up choose what you didn't want to see so you don't have to encounter it in the wild! its really nice especially for someone like me who has several phobias lol

i could keep going but like.....i love you tumblr as someone who has been here for literally over a decade.