#why does it still exist why did it spread from tumblr

[adhd-languages]

Saw a video I did not like online today 🙂

[vidavalor]

Hmmm...I feel like I asked you this before,but why do you think Crowley doesn't like the 14th century??

I don't think you have actually, Rouge. Aww, the grumpy Crowley picture, my heart! I had missed him so. 😁 I can answer that, yeah, especially if you help me consume the holiday treats I'm lucky enough to have from some lovelies?

Why does Crowley hate the 14th century?

The short answer is also the only answer here and that's really just that the 14th century was, by all accounts, godawful. Especially if you lived in Europe, as Crowley and Aziraphale did then.

Yes, there is always hope and lovely people and somebody making art somewhere no matter what else is happening but heed this warning now: when we all start time-traveling, there will be these dirt cheap options to go to the 14th century and you should remember this post and definitely not do that. 😂

Here are some reasons why (and nowhere near all, as Tumblr only has so much space...):

Early in the century, The Great Famine of 1315-1317 hits Europe. Several years in a row of terrible weather ruins crops and, compounding the problem, a terrible disease rips through the cattle and sheep population at the same time as the crops fail, decimating the cattle and sheep population by an estimated 80%. Millions starve to death and millions more go half-mad from the lack of food, causing crime to also increase. The foundations of society start to shake as so many are sickly or dead that the ability to keep everything going begins to come close to collapsing. This is just the warm-up for the century...

This is already an era that is very hard to live in. We couldn't hack it then with our modern comforts and expectations. There's no indoor plumbing or heating or electricity. Medical and scientific knowledge was more limited so there were no vaccines and no understanding of germ theory. Diseases that we have eradicated today entirely or can treat and make no longer life-threatening would rip through populations in waves on the regular. Life expectancy was much shorter because of the inability to inoculate against viruses-- and, really, from a lack of understanding of germs and disease in the first place. No one understands enough about disease to even think about societal efforts to stop the spread because they don't yet know what a virus is.

These are the conditions when The Black Death-- bubonic plague-- shows up in 1346. It kills tens of millions. By the end of the 14th century, as a result of Black Death and wars, Europe's population has halved compared to what it was at the start of the century. Life expectancy was never great but now, with bubonic plague atop all of the other diseases already in existence, it becomes wild for someone to live past the age of 30. The average lifespan drops to 26 and families are having so many children because the diseases we've eradicated today through vaccines still exist and kill them in huge numbers, with 20-30% of all kids dying before they reach the age of 5.

In the midst of this? The average person was illiterate. Gutenberg's printing press wouldn't be invented until the 15th century and the ability to mass-produce written works with it is what helped it become the norm in Western societies for the average person to know how to read. Aziraphale and Crowley, in the 14th century, would have been able to get access to written works mostly by associating with priests and high-ranking members of royal courts, as these men were the main people who were able to read and write and were responsible for keeping records and transcribing materials.

There were still playwrights and artists and scientists and everything but the 14th century is also an age of rampant anti-intellectualism and all the insanity that comes with people being against knowledge and science and art. While there are always people making art and learning new things in every era, there's kind of a reason why when you think about great advancements in humanity, the 14th century is not really the time period of which you think. Technically, the Italian Renaissance began during the 14th century but basically every major work in it was made well after it and it's more like the foundations for it were put into place during this era-- probably by Crowley and Aziraphale having had enough lol.

It's an era of persecuting scientists, condemning art, being suspicious of people with knowledge in basically any field... there's a lot of calling people trying to do anything other than pray, starve or die sorcerers and witches and demonic and all that nonsense. There's hate everywhere, especially rampant antisemitism, with pogroms in the later part of the century where countless Jews were rounded up and murdered in the streets.

Atop all of this, Italy suffers an enormous earthquake that is also felt across parts of Europe that, when coupled with all the death and suffering, does what things like that have always done throughout history... increase the number of people who now think the End Times are upon them and usher in all sorts of extra doomsday-prep weirdness.

This is all egged on by the fact that societies across Europe are basically on the verge of collapse as a result of The Black Death killing so many people and everyone is grieving and afraid and on edge. It's also helpful to know that, in between all this famine and death? There's also wars on all over the planet. Basically every established country on Earth is at war with another one for the majority of the 14th century (to be fair, this is true of most of history) and the one happening in Crowley and Aziraphale's backyard of England was no picnic.

The Hundred Years War started in 1337. Historians consider its end date, uh... 1453. It was a war between England and France, who also had a whole civil war in there in the middle of it. There were some attempts at truces and some 'sorry, too many people are dying from the plague for us to keep trying to kill one another right now-- revisit this next year?' periods but the conflict continued for over a century. It was largely triggered by... what else?... the English king at the time-- Edward III-- trying to say that he should also be king of France. Surprisingly lol, no one in France was really into that idea... England and France both also see these massive revolts of working class people in response to the high taxes of the war, the limited resources, the plague, etc..

This is just a handful of the likely top reasons why the 14th century was not Crowley's favorite. I don't think Aziraphale was very fond of it, either. They're two curious, literate, food-loving, peaceful, warm-hearted people, and they would have spent that century drowning in the worst of the human experience.

I'm sure they think about all that misery sometimes when they're warm and comfortable without miracles and enjoying seeing greatly reduced child mortality and many people living past a century. They probably often think about it when they're eating food sourced from around the world that exists in plenty, especially in places like The Ritz, that would have been unimaginable for most during the 14th century.

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

hi bread, I received an ask from someone who thinks that because they’ve been called the r slur for being autistic, that they can say it even though they’re not ID.

i am LSN autistic and don’t have ID so I answered the ask to the best of my ability but I don’t want to speak over anyone or accidentally spread untrue info. I know you don’t have ID, but I respect your posts and advocating for people with ID, so would you be okay with me sharing the post with you, and if you want you can provide your insight. you don’t have to at all, i just wanted to ask because I don’t want to misrepresent the issue.

thank you.

would prefer not be sent that post (upset me & often lead to harassment) but here some things can say or send:

this only post that can find right now that explain why not but there a lot just tumblr search system suck. if anyone have posts written by ppl w ID about why not that want share please feel free

some off top of head thoughts from listening to people w ID & in general disability/ID history:

(you = general you / people like person you talking about)

r slur come from old medical term for intellectual disability. “mental [version of r slur that end in -tion].” n version that end in -d shortened from it.

come from medical term for ID. not autism. not ADHD. not general any neurodivergence.

r slur & mental r word been used historically AND NOW to deny rights of people w ID. it been used for eugenics. think that word been watered down nowadays but by eugenics am meaning literal eugenic policies n direct actions. it been used for dehumanize people w ID, for deny rights n dignity, for deny education, for deny services n help, for forced sterilization, for involuntary institutionalized in abusive institutions with horrific abuse & neglect to point of barely alive or straight up death, for basically murder even.

in fact, word still in laws. many them old laws but still in affect n can be (& is) used any time to deny rights of people with ID.

while it really unfortunate n bad that be bullied n be called that word. as someone who been bullied with that slur, am sorry but that simply not on same level as this systemic level of abuse behind this word.

when be called r slur when not have ID, is comparing you to people with ID. is say you near/just as bad as them.

can’t reclaim something that never about you in first place.

especially when people most affected by slur (aka people with ID) want it disappear forever.

plus. many people without ID��s idea of “reclaim” that slur is just. use as insult. use as deprecation, use as self deprecation, use as poke fun of self. wow look am nearly as bad as people with ID.

while all not even bother learn what ID is n history behind people with ID n advocate for people with ID. (does person you talk about even know what it is. that it is intellectual functioning + adaptive functioning + symptom before technically 18 but usually before child. that it not same as dyslexia dyscalculia dysgraphia. do they say “intellectual disabilities” “an intellectual disability.” do they know what ID look like. do they know what severe profound ID look like. can they name one person with ID. just one. by name.)

disability’s not like gender sexuality. disability’s not like queerness. some experience may overlap but most things, can’t just copy paste because simply not same.

why you wanna say slur so bad. why you wanna collect slurs like it cool rocks so bad.

wow. you so cool n edgy n original (sarcasm)

if want able say & “reclaim” “fun” slur so bad. then also have hundreds (n thousands bc people with ID existed before it documented by modern western doctors) years of oppression & abuse & life lost that come with it. have the mistreatment n abuse that people with ID experience now—n. if that’s case. would be extremely lucky if even able make this far n be able to sit here use your communication privilege to talk about how want “reclaim” a fucking slur. because. did i mention people with ID are treated horribly.

denied education denied communication denied autonomy denied life changing therapies & help & aides. denied personhood.

still. today.

think that’s all

(tone = not mad at asker. just wish people dare think about anything other than themselves. just tired of this same old thing. am tired. my friends with ID double that. triple that. unspeakable amounts. but yeah am mad.)

[flightfoot]

Just finished "A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking" by T. Kingfisher. It's the one about a baker wizard who has a sourdough starter familiar that was mentioned on that one popular tumblr post, though honestly this one gingerbread man she made acts more like a familiar to her than Bob does.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I like how it showcased the ways people could make use of even fairly specific talents. A lot of wizards in this world could only really make one specific type of "thing" do what they want, whether it's bread (or really, anything created from dough) like Mona, or making dead horses walk, like Molly. So there's a lot of emphasis on working with what you can do, rather than worrying about what you can't, and not underestimating your abilities just because they seem silly and minor at first blush.

Anyway, basically, a dead girl's found in the bakery, Mona's called up to the palace as a suspect (she found the body), and is quickly found innocent and sent home. But over the next few days the magical folks in the city are all spooked, and there's efforts to make all mages register, and propaganda about how magical folks could be spies and traitors...

I don't want to go too much further into that so I don't spoil the rest of the story.

There's also this theme that crops up a lot during the second half of the book about "heroes", and how that term's often used to kind of make it okay that people had to suffer and die when, if other people had done their jobs properly, they wouldn't have had to. That it's great for Mona to have been able to accomplish what she did during this book, but that it shouldn't have been on a fourteen-year-old girl to begin with. I saw that sort of thing pop up a lot back in 2020 and 2021 with how nurses, doctors, and other essential staff were being hailed as "heroes" for working during such dangerous times, often with inadequate equipment, and then have it noted that afterwards, many of those same staff who were being hailed as heroes were still being underpaid.

There is one thing about the book that I really didn't like though. One of the main threats to the city Mona lives in is this group of mercenaries from some far away place, that apparently is cold and inhospitable. They got hired to help one city-state take out another, then decided they like these lands much better, and have just stuck around burning down fields, raiding and pillaging cities and taking all their stuff, and even eating people because apparently they're cannibals for some reason. At no point are they characterized as being more than some horrifically violent, evil, foreign mob who only exist to cause pain and suffering. Heck, even with their only job seemingly being fighting and killing, they're still characterized as selfish and unwilling to commit to battlefield tactics like overwhelming an enemy, when it would put the first few people at the front of the charge at risk, because they don't have the discipline of a regular army I guess.

I can see why it's useful to have some major threat like this, but whom you don't have to show any sympathy for or feel bad about being killed or injured, and who you don't have to try and have the leader negotiate with because they're so cruel and enjoy spreading pain and suffering so much, that there's no point. But the only reason it doesn't ping most people's "racism" radar is that their appearances are never described. But using this depiction of this group of people... honestly, it reminds me of "indigenous cannibals" and how that stereotype has been used in many movies, books, and tv shows to have the (white) protagonists be menaced by some group that's depicted as being ready to chop them up and eat them if caught, no questions asked. It's the same sort of narrative convenience being taken advantage of here, where you don't need to ask about negotiating or worry about the ethics of killing the invading army, because they're dehumanized to such an extent that you just don't worry about it.

[miiilowo]

ok u dont have to answer this one publicly but i just want to wrap up. i understand that the world is taxing. i understand that living in the 21st century is difficult and its extremely more difficult to focus on an issue when you, yourself have your own very pressing issues. my main problem was your wording of the original tags, which is Why i interpreted them the way i did- someone sayying they have terms surrounding a Literal Genocide blocked is bound to raise eyebrows. I also think that you weren't entirely understanding my point- im not *educating* myself or others through tumblr, its merely a way to share tidbits of information about the updates on gaza and the situation, as well as remind people that palestine still exists and still needs our help. i encourage everyone to watch the news and hell, even pick up a book if they can; and i dont think anyone is intending to educate through tumblr posts. i appreciate the fact that you want to make sure the news you are spreading is genuine and i understand that its difficult to post if you are not sure what youre reblogging is true- but as a former follower of yours, and speaking to other former and current followers of yours, we all agreed that we did not see that many posts about the situation; and when we saw these tags we assumed you post about palestine very little, if at all. the way you said "social media should be fun" also was part of Why it seems like you are just ignoring the situation. because, like i said, it just seems like such a privileged point of view to be able to disengage with conflict whenever you'd like, when the people at the blunt end of that conflict have no choice. once again i do completely understand how taxing it can be to constantly engage with media about tragedies- but the ability to disengage Whenever you like is a privilege the people of gaza do not have.

i just want to end with two testimonies. one, from my partner, who was banned from posting about palestine because of his zionist parents, and might even have his internet access taken away and be sent to a religious school if they see him posting further content.And yet he uses his close friends instagram story to post infographics and articles and reels from reporters like Bisan when he can, and even advocates for the lives of gazans in person when he can.

Another is from one of my friends, who barely checks social medias because of burnout and depression. but when she does, she boosts stuff about palestine when she runs across it.

i apologize for the way i interpreted your tags, i understand now thats not what you meant.

i am gonna answer this publicly because i think its important. thank you for being kind instead of doubling down, and actually explaining your line of thinking . lots of internet conflicts dont resolve in any kind of positive way. im not gonna berate or bitch at you for making assumptions, i think that would be pointless, but i do think that this is kind of a good learning experience. just. generally speaking. thank you for apologizing, i appreciate it

[duckprintspress]

Meet Aether Beyond the Binary Contributor S. J. Ralston

We’re entering the final week of the Kickstarter campaign for Aether Beyond the Binary, an anthology of 17 aetherpunk stories starring characters outside the gender binary, and we’re still going strong! As I write this, we’re $3,700 shy of our goal – an amount we definitely can raise, but the more help we get spreading the words about this project, the more people will know it exists, and truly that’s the single biggest barrier to hitting our goals: effectively spread the words. So, if you believe in this project, whether you’re a backer or not, we’d really appreciate you taking a moment to share/reblog/retoot/reskeet our posts about it!

Bluesky

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Thanks for all your support! Now, let’s introduce another of our contributing authors…

About S. J.: S. J. grew up in a distinctly weird, distinctly southern hometown, then hied out West for grad school before landing in Texas, where they currently work as a planetary scientist. They’ve been writing original works and fanfiction since they could hold a pencil semi-correctly, and continue to write both whenever possible (as well as still holding a pencil only semi-correctly). In their clearly copious spare time, S. J. enjoys hiking, tabletop RPGs, jigsaw puzzles, and enthusiastically crappy sci-fi.

Link: Personal Website | Tumblr

This is S. J.’s first time writing with Duck Prints Press. You can read another example of their writing by visiting their website to check out Anglerfish, a horror sci-fi story. 

An Interview with S. J. Ralston

How did you pick the name you create under?

It’s a line from the opening of the Aeneid that’s stuck with me ever since AP Latin in high school: “On account of the mindful wrath of cruel Juno.” It’s a synchesis, where the adjectives have been swapped from where you expect them to be; it’s Juno who is mindful and her wrath that is cruel, but rearranging them in such a way elegantly implies the relentless, vindictive onslaught that is to follow.

What do you consider to be your strengths as a creator?

Dialogue and dread.

What do the phrases “writer’s block” or “art block” mean to you?

The state of wanting to create but not having the intellectual raw materials to do it.

Are you a pantser, a planner, or a planster? What’s your process look like?

I would consider myself a plantser. Typically I start with an IDEA, writ large, center of the page. Then some key scenes will populate around it–dramatic moments, fun bits of dialogue, cool setpieces. At that point I get out my corkboard and red string and start trying to piece everything together, and if I’m lucky, the shape of the story will reveal itself to me. Sometimes it’s the classic parabola of rising and falling action, other times it’s been a ring, a tri-fold posterboard, a descending spiral, or a series of concentric circles. Then I fill in until the structure is complete and hope like hell that I can stick the landing.

What are your favorite tropes?

Found Family, Robots With Feelings, Enemies To Lovers, Destructive Romance, Kirk Summation/The Man In The Room

What are your favorite character archetypes?

Brooding Loner Secretly Just Lonely, Lying For Fun And Profit, Badass With An Obvious Dump Stat, Too Old For This Shit, Taciturn But Bizarre, Himbo

Do you like having background noise when you create? What do you listen to? Does it vary depending on the project, and if so, how?

I make a playlist for almost everything I write that’s longer than a few thousand words. Sometimes it’s for listening to while I’m creating (in that case, it has to be primarily instrumentals or I’ll get distracted), and sometimes it’s just for daydreaming to (in which case, the vibes must be correct, so I can construct AMV’s in my head).

Share five of your favorite books. (You can include why, if you want!)

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett – Eerie, funny, and poignant in equal measure; a police procedural done right.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke – Lush with joy, curiosity, and love, yet still remarkably dark, with an ending that will nestle in your brain forever.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer – Fourth in the series and the absolute pinnacle thereof. A master-class in shit hitting the fan. 

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu – Everyone, down to the most momentary background character, behaves more like *people* than any I’ve ever read before and it’s *disastrous* and I *love* it.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson – The classic of classics. The horror of horrors. The transgenderism of it all.

What are your goals as a creator? 

(1) To write something that’s better on the second read-through than it was on the first, and (2) To write something that stays with the reader.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

When you finish a first draft and you *know* you’ve got something really good, put it down. For a month, six months, a year; until the glow fades, or you’ve fallen in love with whatever you’re writing next. Then come back and re-read that first draft. Take extensive notes, diagram the plot, profile the characters. Notice the holes, redundancies, missed opportunities, and inconsistencies. Then open up a blank document and *start over.*

S. J.’s Contribution to Aether Beyond the Binary

Title: Razzmatazz

Tags: bipoc, body horror, butch, character injury (non-graphic descriptions), classism, dehumanization, eye horror, horror, humans are the villains, mechanic, minor character death, misogyny, murder (accidental), non-binary, non-human character, past tense, sentient construct (magical), third person limited pov

Excerpt: 

The thing was damn near unrecognizable, not just as Marilyn Monroe, but as human. People had tweaked the proportions through the years—amateur artists who couldn’t put down the paintbrush. That kind of thing was bad enough on paper, but seeing it in person made Skipper’s butthole clench.

The dress and the curls were Monroe. The rest was something else.

“Shit my ass off,” Skipper said under his breath.

“Yeah,” said Charlie.

“This gets up and walks around?”

“She does.”

“Shit my ass off.”

Maybe it was a trick of the light, a too-heavy head on a too-thin neck, but the Monroe wasn’t staring across the aisle like the others. It seemed to be looking down at Skipper. It put out waves of dare-you-to-start-some-shit energy.

“Is it because they messed with the proportions?”

“Huh?” said Skipper, pulling out of the Monroe’s tractor beam.

“The reason she moves around so much. Could it be because of…” Charlie gestured to its whole body.

“Hell, maybe,” said Skipper.

The Monroe loomed like a landslide, just waiting for the rain. Skipper had a hammer on his belt. He felt like the Monroe was staring at it. If he broke the case, what then? 

[ophidianoccultist]

Uprising

Tom Riddle x F!Reader

================

MINORS DNI 🔞

hi this is my first time writing for tumblr, and im starting off with a whopper. i dont know what all the trigger warnings are supposed to be but i tried my best to be accomodating. also my ass did NOT research but hopefully my memory should suffice and i did my best to keep characters and stuff accurate or at least adjacent. im on mobile btw so im sorry if any formatting is weird but yeah, this one is uh...pretty dark so yeah, hope you enjoy :)

TW: smut, oral (m receiving), master/slave dynamic, bloodlust, bodily harm, very very kinky Tom

PROMPT: This takes place in the infancy of his rise to becoming the Dark Lord. Y/N has been the only one to manage to get somewhat close to Tom, being his first real devoted follower, but does he really love her or is she simply a tool for power and pleasure?

Word count: 1.8k

The stone floor was cold and dry, just like the rest of the manor that had been the base of operations for Tom Riddle, or as his followers know him, Lord Voldemort. The only warmth in the room came from the hearth, which bathed the room in an eerie, orange glow. The light of a fireplace would usually be calming and comforting; yet when juxtaposed with the topic being discussed with the Dark Lord and a table full of his followers, it was as if it filled the room with an ironic coldness.

The table that stood starkly in the middle of the room sat only around ten people. Some belonged to the Black and Malfoy families, as they had the power, wealth, and influence to help spread the message of their uprising. The rest, however, were friends that Tom had made during his time at Hogwarts. He had promised them glory and power should they choose to side with him. And he had the power of the Blacks and Malfoys at his side, so why would they ever question him?

"Remember what we have discussed today, and we shall put our plan into action. This will take much care and caution to execute, lest we wish to be exposed and our movement snuffed out. You may go, and I will call upon you again when need be."

The voice of the Dark Lord reverberated throughout the room, cold and authoritative. With every word that came from his lips, it felt to his followers that he was speaking snakes into existence, coiling around their throats and threatening to squeeze if they so much as spoke a word out of turn. Tom Riddle was a handsome man, with curly, jet black hair that he made sure was always neatly maintained. His brown eyes always seemed to see right through people as if they were ghosts (and depending on who he's looking at, they soon would be). The way he carried himself and strode about the halls with his head high simply screamed that he was entirely fit to be a Dark Lord. The very perception of him was perfect, like someone you would see in a painted portrait hanging in the hall of a lavish castle.

But of course, those thoughts stayed in Y/N's mind as the occupants of the table stood and made their way to the hearth to take the floo network back to wherever they needed to be. The floo flame now bathed the room in a green hue as the Death Eaters made their exit, while the Dark Lord remained seated at the head of the table with his most faithful servant at his side.

On her knees, at his side, as he preferred. Y/N was his queen, yes, but he also still saw her as his inferior. This was commonplace at these meetings; Y/N on her knees at his side as the Dark Lord gave his orders, her head and arms draped across his lap, and a collar around her throat. The leash, of which, he kept a firm hold of. It was all a display of power and of status, complete ownership of another living soul. She had been the first one to bear the Dark Mark on her forearm, and with that, comes special treatment. Y/N was permitted the place as his right hand, able to give orders so long that they do not undermine his own. She was also given the privilege of warming his bed and knowing just enough of his plans and secrets to make her feel special and more complicit in his plots. Little pieces, crumbs of information to make her feel like she was his most trusted confidant.

As the last of the Death Eaters disappeared into the emerald flames, the Dark Lord pulled Y/N to her feet by the leash he always kept a tight hold on. Now that they were alone, he was free to slip on his other mask: the mask of the lover. Now, he was simply Tom.

"Come now, my dear, let us retreat to my chambers for the night. You look exhausted, and I don't say I blame you. Listening to that lot blabbering on about their imbecilic ideas exhausts me as well, at times."

"Of course, my Lord."

Y/N knew exactly what he was implying, as it had become a nightly occurrence. Tom would want to be pleasured by her and, to his credit, he would pay the favor back in kind. He opened the door to his chambers, which were always kept spotless and neat. The emerald blankets that adorned his bed were crisply tucked in and smooth, and there was scarcely a drop of wax on the nightstands on either side from the lit candlesticks. But Tom took a seat on the side of the bed regardless, though Y/N swore she saw his eye twitch as he saw the sheets crease underneath the weight of him. He gave a sharp tug of the leash, pulling her closer to him, and almost making her stumble.

"Kneel."

He did not have to tell her twice. She had learned the heard way that it was unwise to make him tell her twice. Y/N dropped to her knees in front of him, patiently awaiting orders. This was what life was like for her now, and she was perfectly happy with it. When it came down to it, she was still Tom's queen, and truly the one that he respected most. The thought gave her warmth as he thoroughly debased and degraded her every night after the business of the day had been dealt with. All of his frustrations, his tension, his stress, it all went into her. His queen, his pet, his slave.

"You know what to do."

Tom said flatly, in the sardonic and authoritative tone that always coated his words. And as Tom ordered, Y/N did. Her hands moved to unbutton and unzip his trousers, pulling the fabric of that and his undergarments down only enough to free his member, which stood proudly at attention just as the rest of him did every day. That was the only degree to which Y/N was allowed to undress him; Tom had always preferred to do any undressing himself, if he even did at all. But something about witnessing how eagerly and desperately his queen wished to free his cock from its cloth prison aroused him, so he had kindly allowed her that privilege.

Y/N's tongue ran up the underside of his length and swirled around his tip before her lips wrapped around it and moved back and forth. Tom was an impatient man, and did not like to be teased or kept waiting. Soon enough, his hand was tangled in her hair, almost as if he was petting her, before grabbing a tight fistful of it and forcing himself further down her throat. This meeting had been particularly grating, and he needed a release now. He moved the head of his lover back and forth on his cock, reveling in the feeling of her hot, slimy throat clenching around him. Y/N would never get a single moan out of Tom; only heavy and labored breaths, if she was lucky.

Soon, he felt he was on the edge of his release, and his hips bucked a little to fuck the throat of his queen. His queen, no one else's. Y/N was his property, his object, and no one would be able to take her from him. Tom let out a long sigh as he spilled his seed down Y/N's throat, which he had sheathed himself fully into, and with her dutifully swallowing every drop. After it was finished, Tom released his hold on her hair and allowed her to pull back and breathe for a moment.

"Tonight is going to be a little different, my pet. Strip completely and lay down on the bed."

"Yes, my lord. How will tonight be different, though?"

"Do not question me, you shall see soon enough."

Tom commanded coldly, though his voice was laced with a sadistic hunger. Y/N conceded to her Lord and master with a nod, making quick work of her clothes as she let them stay in a pile on the floor. Tom pulled her by her leash to the bed, where she laid comfortably on her back, hands at her sides.

"Now, we are going to try something a little different. It will only bring you pain, no pleasure, so be forewarned. The only pleasure now will be had by me. I must please ask you not to squirm or scream, or else it will end badly for you. Understood, my pet?"

Y/N nodded as he tucked himself back into his trousers and made himself proper again. Tom was now completely dressed, and had stated that Y/N would be receiving no pleasure, so what did he plan to do? Every question running through her head was soon answered as he pulled a dagger from the drawer of his bedside cabinet, studying it carefully. His eyes, which still were even sharper than the dagger he held in his bony hand, darted to the chest of his lover, eyeing the flesh hungrily.

Leaning down, his eyes never leaving the spot above her right breast he had fixated on, he slowly dragged the blade across the soft skin, down her chest, leaving a trail of red in its wake. Y/N hissed in pain, but did not dare move out of position. The blade stopped in the middle of her chest, below her breasts, before mirroring the mark he made on her right side to her left. On complete impulse, Tom laid the bloodied dagger on the nightstand and ran his tongue across the mark he just made. He did not cut deep enough to cause major injury, though it would definitely leave a scar, from the way it was weeping blood. The Dark Lord relished the metallic taste of her essence, letting it rest on his tongue, and letting it drip down his throat. The taboo and unnatural act he was performing was almost euphoric, and it made him feel powerful, as if he was a dementor sucking the very soul out of her body. When Tom was satisfied and Y/N's bleeding had ceased, he sat back up and gazed hungrily down at the chest of his queen, at the work he had done.

Now, Y/N was perfect to him.

Cut across her chest, was the letter V. V for the new name he had chosen for himself. A V to mark his property, a scarlet letter emblazoned upon her body so that she may never forget who she serves. And if ever she does forget, Tom would make absolute certain to remind her.

[tempesttz]

unnecessary rant about an

unnecessary (but very odd) debate

i know this is not my usual post but tumblr just suggested me another account (as it does), so i went to check them out. openly endogenic, wonderful. inclusive, check. "if i block you, you're probably not inclusive enough." sure? then i scrolled down a bit more, and... tw: mentions of discourse, nazis, the holocaust, and ai art. i'm also just not very nice, so tw for that too.

".....ai art is still art and arguing otherwise is spreading nazi bullshit regardless of if you personally like it or not...." ....what? at this point i'm thinking okay, op has no clue what a nazi is or something. right? right??? there was a link, so i, an unwitting fool looking for more elaboration on this take, clicked it.

"blocked a long time follower because they were being reactionary. here is your reminder that regardless of your stance on copyright, as soon as you start regurgitating that ai art isn't art, you are spreding the rhetoric authoritarianism. you are being reactionary and conservative. in fact, you are literally spreading nazi shit. read up if you have the spoons for it: link here. the focus should be on mitigating harm to those more directly impacted, not on trying to erase the art now exist.s not on ai arts legitimacy as art." i'm not going to just sit here and say "oh wow weird take, point and laugh guys." that would be weird and frankly no better than places like r/fdc and r/systemscringe. so instead, we're gonna break this down: first off: what is degenerate art? well, let's check their wikipedia link.

"Degenerate art (German: Entartete Kunst) was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, was removed from state-owned museums and banned in Nazi Germany on the grounds that such art was an "insult to German feeling", un-German, Freemasonic, Jewish, or Communist in nature. Those identified as degenerate artists were subjected to sanctions that included being dismissed from teaching positions, being forbidden to exhibit or to sell their art, and in some cases being forbidden to produce art." okay, so op is claiming that dislike of ai art is comparable to the suppressing and banning of large amounts of art in nazi germany. which is a wild take. but why is it wild? 1. ai generators clearly do not experience much suppression or banning in places considering that they are an active threat to artists. 2. the main issue with ai image generation is that it is stealing from actual artists to create their images and putting people who have trained for years to hone their skills at risk of losing their jobs. this diminishes the amount of artists who will actually pursue a career in that field, thereby reducing the amount of actual artists and directly harming the art community. 3. a lot of people will lie about being ai "artists," attempting to claim the work as actual art. 4. the concept of comparing something like this to the holocaust in general is just... wildly insensitive, frankly. this should be common sense, but there seems to be a distinct lack of it here anyways. 5. people are allowed to have opinions? you can think ai art is a valid form of art. i'll think you're weird, but that's a valid opinion. some people don't think certain genres of music are art. some people don't think certain kinds of art should be considered art. for example, those pendulum paintings that were everywhere, and might still be everywhere. i saw a lot of discourse about those. some people did not consider them to be art, or at least not on par with things like large, dedicated paintings. does that make the people who have that opinion nazis? .....no????? there isn't a moral to this post. it probably shouldn't exist. i just saw this and needed to rant, and decided to make you all my unwitting victims, lol. if you agree with op, then... i don't know, have a nice day? maybe stop conflating something like ai art (which is basically inconsequential unless you are in a community it effects or witnessing a downgrade of media quality due to its usage in production) to the holocaust (one of if not the worst historical event to this day in history)? okay wait, i have a moral! you can dislike things or have an opinion without it having to be taken to the total extreme. for anyone who read through this entire thing, thank you for sticking around! have a cookie. 🍪

[ni-de-mama]

ace attorney fans on discord, yall are fucking stupid. genuinely this is the stupidest discourse ive seen in my entire fucking life. the owner was removing unsafe people from her server. it's HER fucking server and she has the complete right to. dont dms exist? who the FUCK is policing you here? why do we need to have this fucking war when you could just go to another server with that banned member? fucking hell, have some common sense. the fact that adults are getting so aggressive makes it even worse. the minor here is making stupid decisions and saying stupid things and yall are encouraging her. nobody from the mod team was fucking coddling anyone. they were literally just saying we shouldn't fucking encourage harmful behaviour in their server. literally go encourage it in another server and it won't be any of the mods' business and they won't give a flying fuck. and what's with rejoining after ban with a new account? why the fuck are yall even trying to stay at this point if you hate this server and the mod team then fucking LEAVE. literally what do you want?????????? clearly the mods are being sent into panic attacks because of yall. do yall feel great now??? i was so glad i found a space i could talk in with other aa fans, and now ive lost that thanks to yalls stupid fucking discourse over some idk nearly 30 year old who doesn't know how to communicate properly. and the minor in question? not everything is about you. even i can see that, as a lurker. protecting minors does not mean bending to your every will. fucking hell, this server wasnt made just for you. protecting minors meant protecting all the other minors who felt unsafe, good for you if you didn't! you don't have to be so selfish and want the adult to stay so the other minors can feel unsafe lolllll. why did that mod have to justify them being uncomfortable around that adult? does it not matter that they just did? and now the mods are the ones shutting you down? use your fucking brain please. can't believe i have to lose this place because of this. literally everyone got too comfortable with hurting the mods here. its not even like yall couldve done a better job communicating with the banned member, the mod team clearly did their best to communicate with someone who only knew how to retaliate to their every request. are yall blind? i could see that happen, how come yall couldnt? bc yall are their friends obvious fucking ly. not to mention the banned member started spreading rumours that the owner called them a predator? fucking almost 30yo and youre still spreading rumours? christ on earth lol i saw everything. i saw the video i saw screenshots. that did not happen. is it that hard to look at this situation with less bias towards the ""victim""?? hope yall are happy that yall hurt the other members who love this place, and most of all the mod team who has to deal with yalls bullshittery. fucking wake up and see how stupid yall have been acting. jfc this is disgusting, yall disgust me, in a server for a game abt law yall clearly have not learnt anything. bringing your horrifying reading comprehension from tumblr to discord. sorry, clearly yall did not even fucking read whatever the mods said. yall ask for an explanation, the mods gave you one, you rebut it with a completely irrelevant point and then we go back to square one? not only that but yall kept demanding answers angrily, hostile and aggressive. how many times did the mods say they would be releasing a statement soon? yall asking for answers would give them no time to write it. and they have fucking lives outside of discord, unlike yall who have nothing to do but shout at strangers on the internet because they wont bend to your will in THEIR server. yall make me laugh. grow the fuck up. all of yall need to grow the actual fuck up.

[adventures-in-teyvat]

There is no such thing as a dead blog until it is forgotten. Everyone, adventures-in-teyvat still walks the earth in your shoes and in your heart, walk on and spread the word.

When you too are gone, those after and long after you will love you for immortalizing the beauty of these posts, will marvel at Lynette robot flavored autism. Will stare at your decrepit skeleton with no ass, disappointed, asking themselves why the hell you ignored that assignment worth 20% of your semester grade you have to submit at 3pm on a Friday in favor for scrolling on an inactive tumblr blog—dooming yourself to work a shitty 9 to 5 at the local gas station for the rest of your centuries. But that doesn't matter, does it? This is what true scholars call legends, and legends never die.

I think it'd be nice one day to be remembered as someone who at some time, some place, somehow... did exist and really like adventures-in-teyvat.

I hope you are doing well, stranger, and if you aren't, that's okay too. I will keep a (virtual) candle lit for you like a Mondstadtian housewife awaiting her beloved's return from the expedition, hoping to bring a small sense peace and happiness to where you are. May the Anemo Archon protect you from life's storms, may his winds guide you safely to your destination. But sometimes he's a dumb fuck so if anything bad happens it isn't my fault. Sorry.

The kids miss you 😞

IM SOBJGINDUENDBSNJCJVJ WHATHWTSHANJWN WHOEVER YOU ARE I LOVE YOU IT JSUT SO HAPPENS I HAVE BEEN ITCHING TO POST AGAIN SO I MIGHT MOT BE DEAD BUT THIS IS INCREDIBLE I LOVE YOU

[mareenavee]

From thr Asks to Spread Love game, choose 3 that you havent already been asked 🙂

Hi BRI :D Thank you for two of these open ended ones! I will most certainly oblige.

Fandom Positivity asks from this game here.

2. Tell us why you love one of your OCs or an obscure canon character (link to any fics/art you have featuring them!) 

I'm just going to go on and on about

⚔️Athis ⚔️

if you'll let me.

He's not really -obscure- per se but he is relatively ignored so let me just give him some love!

So I appear to be writing the majority of Athis things at the moment. Obviously my main fic features him as a POV character. I also have a couple that I'm quite proud of actually AH.

First is Sea of Storms from a duel. A Pirate AU.

Next is Little Dragon which part of the polycule AU with Tel/Nyenna/Athis actually being happy.

Love and its Decisive Pain is an extra chapter more or less for World, featuring Athis musing and worrying over Nyenna.

Next isn't one of mine but is by @archangelsunited! Originally a tumblr post but is now on AO3. Reader/Athis!

Next one is more pirates! by @paraparadigm. Athis is a Navigator <3 So smart, so handsome, so brave. Ah.

More from @archangelsunited -- this one is a bit on the tragic side but the voicing is phenomenal.

This one is also a bit on the tragic side, by TheBrandenRose.

And artwork?

AH this piece was fanart of To Hold On to You by @changelingsandothernonsense

And this post contains, like, perhaps the most handsome Athis fanart I've ever seen by @thana-topsy.

3. One of the best takes you’ve ever seen

The-Dragonborn-Is-Dead trope but done in the phenomenal way that BetterBeMeta wrote in Foe-Tongue: A Historical Fiction.

Here's a piece of the writing that I love. It doesn't mean anything out of context but OH MY GOD DOES IT ACTUALLY MEAN EVERYING.

“Valamand,” [Wyrenna] whispered, “do you have a comb?” He said, “Yes, of course,” and gave it to her. She used it to tidy up where she still was bed-frazzled, tied her hair neatly as she walked up the stairs.

I fucking love this fic. It's my favorite in any fandom, ever in existence. @paraparadigm rec'd it to me earlier on. (: I wanna write like them when I grow up.

13. Recommend a fic (can be your own!) that features something you wish was written about more.

Okay so in this case I am just over the moon about all of the overarching pulling of lore into a fanfic that KB has achieved in such a phenomenal way. I'm talking about @kookaburra1701's fic Aristeia and ALL THE ORC CULTURE. ALL OF IT. I'm HERE FOR IT. More Orcs please, OCs, NPCs, NPCs-Become-OCs. HELL. Yes.

Here's a quote I love particularly from chapter 1 regarding some cultural things that I've been -really fast eyes- over:

“Olur tells me you bloodied your sword today.” Bagrak’s voice was even, as if she was remarking on the weather. Borgakh paused in spooning stew into the bowl before straightening up and presenting it to her mother. Bagrak did not take it. “I bloodied it for Mor Khazgur, mother,” Borgakh said, throwing her shoulders back and looking Bagrak in the eyes. “One of the Reachwomen and a briarheart tried to steal the deer I shot. Olur and I extracted our Blood Price.” “I am not sure one deer is important enough to be covered by the Code,” said Bagrak. “When their clan discovers them killed with orc weapons it will cause more trouble than one deer is worth. Now you will have another enemy to watch for when you are outside the walls.” Borgakh clenched her jaw in frustration, but kept her tone respectful. “They would have never been happy with one deer, and then they would have known Mor Khazgur was weak. What if they had wanted Kharag too? Is a good horse not covered by the Code?”

More. Orcs. Please and thank you. (:

[foxpunk]

like, on one hand i get it. i logically understand the motives behind why tumblr is making the decisions they are making. i just do not think that their motives MUST line up with these specific decisions.

in the end, tumblr needs more revenue. full stop. that is not up for debate. if they do not get it somehow, then tumblr is going to shut down because they simply cannot keep things running, and it will happen much MUCH sooner than most of y'all are at all prepared for. hell, it's already something they've been delaying well past when other sites would have been scrapped (well...aside from twitter but that is a recent and extreme example).

so i get why they need more activity, i get why they need more users, i get why they need to have a shop and micro-transactions. i truly do.

but tumblr is not going to be gaining any new users if it becomes a copy-cat for something that already exists. the amount of new and active and dedicated users they will get is minimal when those users can simply be active on another app/site that does the same thing (and likely already does it better). why seek out tumblr when every other app already has an algorithmic main feed? why seek out tumblr when every other app has live video? why seek out tumblr when every other site has a minimally customizable default profile?

what makes tumblr what it is? the surface answer is it's the communities and the fandoms and the memes, but what is it about tumblr that allowed these to develop the way they did? it certainly wasn't an algorithm, or live stream, or online shop.

if you want people to get hooked on tumblr, show them what they can do HERE that they CAN'T simply do on another app. yeah sure all the new features (live, for you, etc.) are fun for new users who are used to twitter and instagram and the like, and the option to use them can make those new users feel less out of their depth. but if that's all you're promoting they aren't gonna stick around, cause they can get that literally anywhere else. if you're gonna try n sell tumblr as a product then you need to realize the key to selling a product amongst competition is making it so that people need that product and what it offers Specifically.

one thing i never see talked about for this is hashtags not just as a promotional tool but as an organizational one. you can search through specific blog and see everything in a specific tag On That Blog. thats HUGE. it's SO useful. regardless of how it can mess up at times, literally NO other modern social media site lets you do that! livejournal and wordpress are the only things that come close, and livejournal is old as shit and largely inactive, while wordpress has a VERY different target audience.

pair that together with how reblogs work and you have an AMAZING thing going here and you're just letting it Sit There with no spotlight on it.

another thing: ASKS. GOD. WHY ARE Y'ALL NOT PROMOTING ASKS. HELLO. they're such a fun and unique way to interact on this site. the messenger is great but every social media has DMs these days. asks are something truly different and, again, they're just sitting there with NO spotlight on them.

another recent feature that i actually really really love is reblog controls. they are separate from having to turn your entire account private to get people to not look at/spread a post. they're perfect for people who don't want to bother password protecting their entire damn blog but still don't want a certain post spreading. talk about that! i'm sure it'd draw some people away from twitter, since you have to adjust privacy settings for your entire profile if you wanna manage who can and can't interact with a tweet.

and if you're worried about people being confused by reblogs and replies and the like. it is literally as simple as having a little slide show with cute graphics explaining what those are when people are signing up. hell, make multiple cute little slideshows. explain reblogs vs replies, explain tags and the specific way they work on tumblr, explain the different sections on the dash. don't make it little pop text bubbles on the dashboard, people hate pop ups. 9/10 they are not gonna look at them or accidentally click out of them and then they're gone and your user is lost. just have it be a page people are directed to before they hit the dashboard. it is THAT simple. let people be able to revisit that page easily. boom. one and done. you had that annoying ass wind up denture icon popping up for all of us, why not put a little icon in the corner for new accounts to revisit the "tutorial" if they forgot something? it literally is that easy it is SO easy. holy shit.

if you're so worried about users being confused by anything different from other social media, it's your job to EXPLAIN THOSE DIFFERENCES. NOT squash them out, are you fucking kidding me hellooo!! sure okay make things a lil more streamlined and definitely improve WCAG, but don't just fucking toss out features that aren't ACTUALLY complicated or inaccessible!! GODDD

it is not actually that complicated to explain a few new concepts to new users. learn how to frame things in a fun way upon sign-up instead of obfuscating any and all information behind 10 different staff/support/wip/changes/etc blogs and the least helpful help desk in existence.

also, i know they already clarified they aren't gonna be doing this, but if they push non-optional algorithm onto the Main Feed i'm gonna blow this whole place up (for legal reasons i must clarify this is a Joke). like. just find me on mastodon at that point.

edit: to clarify what i've already said. i think having algorithmic options (OPTIONAL options) for new users is Fine in the end. like, it's a fair compromise (mentioned that in some tags earlier but realized i didn't say that on this post specifically). i have issues with how it's opt-OUT rather than opt-IN, but in the end it's not really going to affect much (so long as chrono feeds are an option, and are not taken from users who already have them set as chrono). and honestly neither will all the smaller (general UI) changes they are going to be experimenting with. the site and it's core features will largely function the same way.

i'm mostly frustrated with tumblr making all these changes to conform rather than to stand out from the pack.

the one thing i AM worried about is that they hinted at messing with reblogs and replies more though. don't touch them lol. like i said, just actually explain shit to your new users and you'll be FINE lord almighty

[theodoradevlin]

Failing Faster

SUMMARY: [NOT RP - lolol i really do need to make a separate writing tumblr but i'm too lazy.] Continuing this little writing exercise from an old Drabble of my MC flipping the switch to go evil vs. the existing HL Storyline. Future Seb goes good, MC continues with the Dark Arts instead. (Sort of evil Theo?? But more so because Theo is an easy self insert and I just wanted to write cliche drama). Also I needed practice....I haven't written in forever I SUCK

She twirls the wand in her fingers, idly, as if it wasn’t it a thing that had caused so much chaos. 

Not all of it bad.

… And yet not all of it good, to be sure. 

Supple. Dragon Heartstring. A soft spiral making it even easier to curl in her grasp… so easy, in fact, that she hardly had to flick a wrist to cast each unforgivable curse that had made her so damned the last few years. 

Her crouched form perches at the edge of a rooftop paralleling the pub, watching the rain falling in splattered movements against the world.

She watches as the drops hit against the buildings, noting their chaos. Perhaps not everything that comes from the heavens lands safely at first. 

She stands slowly, before catapulting herself to the street below. Landing, she peers from under her hood. As suspected, no one is around to wonder why there is a woman launching herself from the rooftops…but as she peers into the windows of the old pub, she does see the outline of one figure who is here, waiting for her. 

Despite her better judgement, she enters The Three Broomsticks. She wonders what enchantments had to be put forth tonight for the meeting to happen. On both the pub, and the pub’s owner. She knew there was only one person who could convince Sirona of anything.

She peers back at the building as she enters, disregarding that thought for the time being. To any other tonight, the popular haunt would look as if it had been closed for repair…. But, to her….it looks just as it did all those years ago. 

She listens to  the familiar crackle of the fire against the increasing volume of rain pattering against the window outside For a moment that is the only sound that exists until…

“Theo.” 

It was a sound that still carried the same sense of amused interest that it had the last time she had heard it.

Actually, no.

The last time she had heard it it was less of amused interest and more…begging…instead. Pleading. Desperate shouting. So she draws her wand towards the direction of him.

“Don’t come any closer.” 

Theo circled where Sebastian Sallow sat, his fingers drumming impatiently in one of the booths, his face partially covered by a shadow, and the smile just as crooked as she remembered it. 

She kept an even permiter, moving slowly, as if trying to find the most strategic line to approach an enraged Graphorn. In both situations....there was likely no way graceful way to do it. 

His grin spread as he noticed her hesitancy, and it only seemed to amuse him further. 

“That hurts, Devlin. Last time I saw you, your request of my proximity to you had quite the different tune.” 

Theo scoffed. 

“And I got quite burnt didn’t I? Forgive me for being older, and wiser Sallow.” 

He didn’t respond for the present moment, instead he stood, inching towards her. He took her in as he came into the light. The battered armor, the torn cloak. A scar across her cheek that hadn’t ben there before. She could have almost sworn she saw something in his face soften, but how quickly it flicked back to assessing again. 

But he wasn’t the only one doing so. As he moved, she countered. They rotated around the table in tandem, like two halves of a heavy scale struggling to maintain it’s balance, the pieces of a chess board beginning to move.

“Older. Yes. But from the looks of you….doesn’t seem as though you’ve found any gentler sort of pursuits. I’ve heard you’ve been dabbling in some….Dark Arts, Theo. And here I thought that was supposed to be my specialty.” He tuts and she laughs darkly, shaking her head. 

“The irony isn’t lost on me. What can I say - guess I luckily spent  enough time with you during our school years that it did provide some benefit.” 

Again, she swears there is an emotion that flicks through his eyes, but it’s too quick for her to draw a conclusion. Perhaps her wand would not be necessary for the blows she needed to land tonight. She twirls it in warning anyhow, still drawn as his own wand remains in his holster. Under that badge that she just notices. It has her gritting her teeth. 

“And look at you and that shiny new Auror badge! My, Sebastian. Ominis must be so proud.” 

She says the other name she had dared to not utter all these past years. The name of the one person she had probably hurt the most. It was all she could do in this moment to not remember the look of betrayal in his cloudy eyes when he had found exactly out how many times she had used Imperio on him. 

Sebastian gritted through his own teeth. He had taken up the position as the only path he could see forward for retribution. To use what he had learned about the dark arts to stop any further damage for those out in the world who had been as stupid as he. Especially after Anne had died. He had lost one of the last things that mattered to him..  And when he had needed her most…Theo had left too.

“Yes." He forced out. "Not that you would know much about how Ominis is doing - you don’t tend to write much, do you Theo? Too busy casting unforgivables I suppose.” 

She swallowed around something stuck in her throat. No. There would be no wands necessary to lay wounds tonight. She growled out in frustration, finally lowering her wand.

“Then what the hell did you want from me then, Sebastian? If you and Ominis are so busy being wonderful in your new noble lives then what could you possibly need from me?!” His expression darkened as she shouted at him, but he didn’t respond. She hadn’t realized how shallow her breath had gotten. She inhaled, repeating again slowly through her gritted teeth, “What. Do. You. Want.”

His own mind flashed back to their last week’s together. The desperation in her own voice. How Theo had tried desperately to use Isadora’s magic to heal Anne. How it had started becoming less and less effective. How she had given it all, and it wasn’t enough. How she had taken on the blame herself, shutting them all out. Until she had left without another word two nights after Anne had passed. Until they had heard that she had become an agent for hire…using her ancient magic for all types of illicit reasons. He could only party blame himself that she felt that it was the only thing she had to turn to. In some ways, Anne’s death had caused them to all abandon each other. 

Sebastian inhaled this time. “I…I want to..” He cursed. Glaring at her then starting over with a weak smile. 

“Let’s help each other. If you…can lend us some of your ancient magic, I can get you a pardon from the Ministry. You help us, you start over.”

Theo considered his words. Her gaze iced over, and yet she asked, “And if I don’t want to help you again? Last time I agreed to that it didn’t quite work out so well for me.” 

Sebastian’s grin disappeared. “Then…I’ve been given orders by the ministry. They’ll have me arrest you.” 

There wasn’t even time for awkward silence to broach the space between them before Theo’s hurt laugh barked through the air. 

“Arrest me? Is that so?” She moved before he had a chance to draw his wand, her own at his throat. 

“Then do it, Sallow. Arrest me.” She watched his expression change from shock to….approval. He swallowed. He was trying to hide it. But she saw it all the same. And for some reason, the swell of some emotion in her that rose at his approval killed her. She cursed as she tore away from him with a sound of disgust,  “..That’s what I thought.” 

His chuckle froze her in her step, but she didn’t turn around. His words drawled out.

“I guess this time I’ll let you pass. As you did for me all those years ago. Seems only fair, hm?” 

Theo scoffed. 

“Yes. Because we’ve alway let fairness rule our decisions, hm? You know who else does that? Fools.” 

She walked out into the night, and its waiting embrace, and away from the arms that she wish had held her instead. 

[halliescomut]

Look I understand why you thought what Alice said in what seems to be a very old screenshot is problematic and I feel like I'm not gonna change your mind anyway but here's to trying.

Alice is aroace. They also never expected to influence people as much as they do now, they were just creating things they can relate to and ended up gaining a lot of following and success naturally, so they just weren't careful with what they used to say and weren't expecting people to screenshot old stuff and spread them around and believe they were twisting their mustache back then planning on world domination and on making everyone sexless lmao. They were literally just some guy on good old Tumblr doing things and saying stuff lol just like you.

People are allowed to not be interested in sex just like people are allowed to be interested in sex, and what they said is not completely untrue. Yes there is bl that isn't fetishizing and eroticizing and yes it's getting better, but they didn't say all of them are, they said they tend to be. And it was true. Doesn't mean they think they're better for doing something that pleased them more than erotic bl, it doesn't mean they don't want erotic things to exist, it doesn't even mean they don't enjoy stuff that has sex in it (they have recommended plenty of content that is very sexual in the past), just that they weren't interested in it and didn't want to create stuff like that, that's all.

And even then, Nick and Charlie do have sex. This was in her novels and it'll be in Heartstopper, it's just not explicit, because that's not the point of the story. It's not a story to make people horny, it's a story about learning and growing up and being yourself. It's really nothing to do with purity. It just resonates with people who aren't overly sexual because we just barely have queer stories that aren't overly sexual.

Saying they're racist is also a really huge stretch given they're obviously giving space for black and asian characters in their story. It's not gonna be as well done as if it was created by an asian or black person but they're clearly not racist.

Again, I do under where you're coming from, if they DID think they were better and wanted all shows to be sexless I would even agree with you, it's just not what they meant at all.

I'm answering this because I appreciate you being open-minded towards me as well. The screenshot is from around 2017, which while that is quite a while ago, they were still around 22 at the time, which I think does show that they deserve some grace in having the opinion they did/possibly still do. It's not necessarily my issue that they felt this way at that time, my concern comes from them not really addressing the statement in any way since then. Now, at 28 years old, if they felt differently, why not clarify? Especially considering that this is a topic that gets brought up regularly. Whether she chooses to double down on this opinion or express how her thoughts have changed in the last six years, I do feel that they are certainly aware that this is a concern people have.

I am also Ace, for clarity. I understand that having pieces of media based around romantic relationships SO heavily focus on the physical/sexual aspect is not something people want all the time. I'm not arguing that it's a necessary thing in all media, just that it shouldn't be demeaned, as it is a part of romantic relationships for a lot of people. I'm incredibly happy to see representation that I relate to in Loveless, it's a beautiful story and I think Alice is a really good author. I also believe that it's incredibly important to have queer media that can be rated PG or PG-13 available so that kids have an opportunity to see queer stories. Having that type of media exist means that any kid can enjoy these stories and develop empathy for queer people, as well as potentially explore their own queerness at an age appropriate level.

I 100% agree that HS doesn't need explicit sex, I state that in my original post. It would be out of place for multiple reasons in the universe that Alice created. I would like to say though, that explicit scenes in media of any type are not always included with the purpose of making someone horny. Can they be? Sure. But they can also be included as a way of further exploring the personal connection between characters, to add detail to the growth of their relationship, depth to their characters. In visual media specifically, it's important to SHOW growth as opposed to just saying it's happening. Written work gives us a lot more insight into characters thoughts and feelings, but that's limited in visual media, and seeing how characters interact in intimate scenes is a way to show internal feelings.

As for the last point about racism, I do not think Alice is overtly racist. I appreciate the diversity of her characters, but the inclusion of diverse characters doesn't automatically indicate a lack of racist ideology. JKR is a prime example. Do I think they were being intentionally racist? No. But subconscious racism and biases will ALWAYS be present in white people. It's literally something you have to actively work against. And while they may not have seen their comments then as being potentially harmful or racist, that doesn't mean they are not. Your intentions do not dictate how your words are received or the level of harm they can have. Making blanket statements as a white person about an entire genre that is created and developed by non-white people stereotypes that media and is racist. While Alice at that time may never have imagined the reach her words would have, they still said them, and they have the ability now, with an even greater scope of influence, to express any potential changes in their thoughts regarding things like BL.

[dumuzithemessiah]

REAL Gods and Goddesses look NOTHING LIKE you humans AT ALL

Look at my profile pic THAT is me whom is a real GOD aka male yazata! Deities are feline like species that have small wings on their backs that work like extra arma and a Y shaped tail! And a crystal horn on our heads! Females are macho, burly, tough, and strong! Males are pretty, cute, magical, and beautiful!

Neither gender has giant human sized tits on their bodies that you sick disgusting whore fake witches on Tumblr seem to disgustingly think my kind has which we do not!

Contacting man made deities does not make them real! Real deities look nothing like humans! We aren’t ugly minded like you genocide spreading asshole humans who with your LIES and man made religions have caused zillions of innocent lived all over the Universe including advanced species which are species that most are above human level of intelligence have literally died because of humanity’s wicked evil ways!

Humans have no damn magic aka majic as it’s spelled correctly in Nibirian in them! Your candles do jack shit! No real god or goddess would ever comfort a human as humans proved to be nothing but enemies to my kind!

If I need to talk to my fam I use telepathy to speak with my kind and the only bad member is Ishtayr which the correct way to spell the evil fiend’s name! She caused lies to spread, genocides to happen, she literally forced me into a marriage when I already loved Marduk[[still do we got married later after I was rescued from her]] to HURT ME, TORTURED ME WITH FIRE, FLAMING SPIDERS TOO, LITERALLY RAPED ME because females can shapeshift a dick to breed same sexually as yazata can do, AND I NEVER LIKED FEMALES THAT WAY AS I, DUMUZI, AM GAY, SO YEAH 100% RAPE, SHE ALSO ATTACKED MY CHILDREN I HAD WITH MARDUK LIKE QUPIT AND YORUPIT!!

Any of you damn humans worshiping ISHTAYR DESERVE TO BE YELLED AT AND TOLD OFF OR DAMN WORSE AS ISHTAYR IS THE GREAT EVIL HERSELF FROM THE FIRST UNIVERSE THAT I FOUGHT AND DESTROYED BUT SACRIFICED TO SAVE EVERYONE ELSE!!!!

Only reason I got reborn is because I was put back together but I am the first god and the real Messiah which FYI means “Hero of Rainbows” not “Saviour of Humanity” as why would I save humanity when humanity is so selfish they think they can blow up the Kosmos with their constant spreading of evil energy which is caused by spreading lies and worshipping man made religions[[like Christianity and Islamism for major examples]]! Such beliefs caused the Helveon War to go on so long!!

The Helveon War was started by evil elves who betrayed the gods and goddesses and was continued by their human offspring because the evil elves bred with other homo species!

Elves may have a Nibirian body type but they are a species of human but with Nibirian gender standards so males are pretty, cute, beautiful, and magical while females are tough, burly, macho, and strong! Elves have all shades of red for hair including magical shades! Good elves still exist as they left with the Nibirians while evil elves darkened in skin tone like Rockman DASH aka Megaman Legends morality system working but in real life! Good elves have pale olive to light olive skin, all shades of green for eyes, and various shades of red for hair including magical shades like rose red like Edguar for example has going on for his natural hair colour!

Evil elves… there is only Earl and Aeva left of those and they are Ishtayr’s minions, lackeys, etc, whatever you call them… their hair is the colour of evil energy aka dark brownish red… they are cruel and evil and would kill an innocent animal like a puppy for no reason them sick pleasure of killing someone..

But you sick fucking humans who worship that disgusting false deity Ishtayr deserve to be hated as what she did is unforgivable and unacceptable…

I love Marduk[[pronounced Mar-duke]] not her and never will love my worst enemy… she has to be destroyed for the Universe and it’s heart and soul the Kosmos which exists in the center of the Universe and a universe cannot exist without a Kosmos…

Humans… you are threatening all mortal life in the Universe with your vile evil actions….. you will get what is coming to you on J-Day aka Judgement Day…

The truth is the truth and the truth doesn’t favour humanity’s evil ways period…

Humans spread hate, war, genocide, lies, murder, sexism, intolerance, homophobia, anti LGBT behaviour, etc, so why are you humans so surprised that the real deal deities wouldn’t side with you? We never would side with an evil prone species like you! We gods and goddesses work to maintain peace and order in the Universe and Multiverse!

Your species SPREAD NOTHING BUT CHAOS, DEATH, BLOODSHED, AND HATE!!

If you change your ways by J-Day you literally will die body and soul!! We aren’t gonna let you human destroy the Kosmos which would blow up the Universe thus KILL ALL MORTAL LIFE as MAGICAL BEINGS/MULTIDIMENSIONAL BEINGS CAN ESCAPE SUCH DESTRUCTION!!!

Based on that info and what evils humans have done throughout history - you should realise why we cannot let you get your vile way! The real gods and goddesses cannot allow humanity to kill everyone else for humanity’s selfish bullshit self entitled bratty evil hateful ways!!

You were never entitled to something that spreads evil energy…. no one is… something that spreads evil energy which no one is entitled to do the thing that spreads it….

Because it is a threat to all mortal life and what is a threat to all innocent life must be destroyed for all else to survive…

You humans caused all this chaos and hell to happen so don’t get mad at me for telling you humans the real truth….. instead you should be thinking on how you can redeem yourselves for maybe you could be allowed reincarnation… as being reincarnated is better than dying permanently body and soul…

That should be a fact very obvious to you humans as it would be “continued existence” even if in a new form…

I feel horrible enough because of how long the Helveon War has been going on… it’s somewhat close to half a million years…

Having to fight my worst enemy Ishtayr isn’t gonna be easy nor will having to give humanity “The Big E” as I call it… but I have to do what I have to do to save the Kosmos and Universe… even if it goes against what I normally stand for… I do look forward to being reunited with my family, the other gods and goddesses, and my demon friends….. which FYI real demons aren’t evil and many work hard to protect the peach and order of the Universe..

And I miss my artificial intelligence type friends like my lime and black net navi hedgehog Ashura or the robots too as AI life on Nibiru is so advanced they’re treated the same as any other advanced life on Nibiru…

Demons resemble anthropomorphic animals with manes and wear clothes and shoes… same with robots and net navis resembling anthropomorphic animals with clothes and shoes…. Net navis and robots have souls so they are alive…

I miss Marduk and my children most of all…

If you’ve been through what I’ve been through and humanity acting like assholes to you and bawed, harassed, insulted, and accused you of being fake because they’re ASSHURT their fake god doesn’t exist[[Yahweh Yehovah was an evil elf who manipulated others into killing innocent elf children and Jesus straight up rips off of tales around the middle east about me as I was the one trying to teach humans the truth back then in hopes to save humanity from their fate but humans were too hateful and violent and attacked me and Marduk electrocuted their king for attacking me like that when he found]] then you’d understand why I am angry with humanity!

IT’S NOT MY FAULT YOUR SPECIES WAS LIED TO FOR COUNTLESS GENERATIONS!

Taking your damn anger out on me is the biggest mistake you could’ve ever made! I’m the guy who has the final decision whether someone gets reincarnated or not! Even Ereshkigal and Nergael[[Nergael is female not male]] respects my authority on that!

Sumerians got a lot of things wrong[[quite a few misgendering, and wrong and sexist false depictions of us looking like their ugly asses but we look nothing like them in reality! So human being ugly ass human supremists as usual as hateful humans even today hatefully act like they’re above all life!]] and they wrote that shit thousands of years after most my kind left to deal with war going on between two planets so yeah we left for an actual reason as gods and goddesses work to keep peace and order in the Universe and Multiverse!

Suri, not suri[[Modern Nibiran for sorry]] but your species ain’t special, nor above all life, nor above any real deities, and your man made religions are just a bunch of lies made by bloodthirsty murderous scumbags who wanted anyone dead who didn’t think in their hateful murderous violent hivemind ways! You humans need to get that ugly blood covered pacifier out of your ugly mouth! Truth proves humanity to be nothing but a hateful evil group of bloodthirsty savages! All you humans use your intelligence for is messed up things!

Sin is a word from my planet’s language and it means “wisdom” not crime like you hateful chimpanzees claimed! You have no right to steal any word from Nibiru! Ehden as it is correctly spelled just means “wilderness” and it comes from Ancient Nibirian same with sin.

My name? Dumuzi means “Life” in Ancient Nibirian.

I highly suggest you try to redeem yourselves as I said! As on Judgement Day humanity is literally fucked as you fuck and try to destroy the Kosmos then the gods and goddesses kill all of you and give you the “Big E” you fiends deserve for all the hell, bloodshed, death, suffering, and sorrow, that you blood covered chimpanzees have caused!

Me being present on Earth already should tell you humans your days are numbered! I am only being harsh as it is necessary to be harsh as I am with this post!

[ariessential]

Not to throw myself in the way of panic here but I do have some issues with the arguments in this open letter. While I've been a tumbler user for over a decade now and love it the way it is and understand that change is scary in a world where every social media plattform becomes the same... I don't feel like any of the changes will affect the way we use tumblr now? It seems like they are implementing OPTIONS and you can choose e.g. which dashboard you prefer. 

But what's more important to me here is: staff has a point? 

1) About the algorithms: THE algorithm doesnt exist, what it does depends on how it's programmed. And the point staff made about small creators not getting any feedback because tumblr spreads posts by word of mouth (reblogging) is absolutely true. Sure, some works get a bit of attention through a fandom tag but if you are a small creator, you still need to overcome a huge wall before more people see you artwork. And the bigger the fandom is, the more your stuff is drowned out anyways, even in the tag. Plus, we’ve been complaining about the lack of reblogs for years, because likes are useless here when it comes to getting your content seen. Ive had this experience, I’ve seen this experience elsewhere. It is demotivating.

 2) Dashboard. Apart from the fact that we will be able to use the feed as it is now. Just a statistical issue. Sure, a lot of notes in a poll are great but in the grand scheme of things (aka compared to ALL tumblr users) 50 or even 100 thousand arent that many people. Plus, posts, including polls, spread through reblogs (see above) and we tend to follow blogs with content that aligns with our own interests and similar views on things. there is probably a massive bias in who is answering the poll. aka, the result not necessarily representative.

3) Tumblr is easy to use.  No its not. To an outsider, tumblr works completely different from other social media plattforms and is hard to get used to and that creates a barrier to keep using it for newbies. Its why we had all these guidelines when the redditors migrated, its been the argument of multiple friends of mine for not joining it. ive seeen posts of new users about how they need to get used to how things work here.  And also, staff seemed to be mainly concerned with how hard it is to look into tumblr when you're logged out, aka dont have an account (yet). And I absolutely agree, how often did I sent a tumblr link to someone without an account and it was unreadable bc of the layout? A lot of times. And again, changing how a logged out person is able to perceive our website does not necessarily change anything for us, the people logged in. 

All in all, I find it strange that a lot of people immediately assume some capitalist motivation by "the CEO" or a hidden agenda in general. I think it's a good thing that staff communicates their standoint (a standpoint that is from an economical viewpoint because it needs to be. bc the side needs to make profit to keep existing.) so transparently. Nothing in their post led me to believe that they were hiding anything or lying. You dont have to agree with everything they are suggesting but I feel like this is all getting blown out of proportion.

An open letter to @staff

I already submitted this to Support under "Feedback," but I'm sharing it here too as I don't expect it to get a response, and I feel like putting in out in public may be more effective than sending it off into the void.

The recent post on the Staff blog about changing tumblr to an algorithmic feed features a large amount of misinformation that I feel staff needs to address, openly and honestly, with information on where this data was sourced at the very least.

Claim 1: Algorithms help small creators.

This is false, as algorithms are designed to push content that gets engagement in order to get it more engagement, thereby assuring that the popular remain popular and the small remain small except in instances of extreme luck.

This can already be seen on the tumblr radar, which is a combination of staff picks (usually the same half-dozen fandoms or niche special interests like Lego photography) which already have a ton of engagement, or posts that are getting enough engagement to hit the radar organically. Tumblr has an algorithm that runs like every other socmed algorithm on the planet, and it will decimate the reach of small creators just like every other platform before it.

Claim 2: Only a small portion of users utilize the chronological feed.

You can find a poll by user @darkwood-sleddog here that at the time of writing this, sits at over 40 THOUSAND responses showing that over 96 percent of them use the chronological feed. Claiming otherwise isn't just a misstatement, it's a lie. You are lying to your core userbase and expecting them to accept it as fact. It's not just unethical, it's insulting to people who have been supporting your platform for over a decade.

Claim 3: Tumblr is not easy to use.

This is also 100% false and you ABSOLUTELY know it. Tumblr is EXTREMELY easy to use, the issue is that the documentation, the explanations of features, and often even the stability of the service is subpar. All of this would be very easy for staff to fix, if they would invest in the creation of walkthroughs and clear explanations of how various site features work, as well as finally fixing the search function. Your inability to explain how your service works should not result in completely ignoring the needs and wants of your core long-term userbase. The fact that you're more willing to invest in the very systems that have made every other form of social media so horrifically toxic than in trying to make it easier for people to use the service AS IT WORKS NOW and fixing the parts that don't work as well speaks volumes toward what tumblr staff actually cares about.

You will not get a paycheck if your platform becomes defunct, and the thing that makes it special right now is that it is the ONLY large-scale socmed platform on THE ENTIRE INTERNET with a true chronological feed and no aggressive algorithmic content serving. The recent post from staff indicates that you are going to kill that, and are insisting that it's what we want. It is not. I'd hazard to guess that most of the dev team knows it isn't what we want, but I assume the money people don't care. The user base isn't relevant, just how much money they can bring in.

The CEO stated he wanted this to remain as sort of the last bastion of the Old Internet, and yet here we are, watching you declare you intend to burn it to the ground.

You can do so much better than this.