#you have community labels weaponizing creators

[arcielee]

Just a note

My dev brain had been brainstorming non-stop to present a better method than the auto-algorithm Tumblr has in place. I hope to submit it to their WIP, which I know will be answered with a generic response, but I have to try. 

With the research I have done, apparently its purpose was to stop nudity from being posted like the good ol’ Tumblr days but instead this feature it being weaponized against creators. 

My blog is 18+, MDNI and I will be labelling my stories accordingly. If you follow me and like what I write, I encourage you to take the steps to ensure I will still come across your dashboard. ♥ 

Included below is how to set it up on both mobile and desktop.

For mobile, you willing click the setting cog icon and then Account Settings. 

With the new menu option, you will go to Content you see.

From there, select > and choose what you would and would not like to see on your dashboard. 

For desktop, it is easy enough. Just scroll until you see the option. Make sure to mark the Hide additional potentially mature content that still will hinder posts on mobile, despite going through the steps above. 

I hope this helps.

[echoingspectrum]

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡

☆ pairing : gamer!streamer!dan heng・character!reader

☆ synopsis : how does it feel to be in dan heng's shoes and vice versa?

☆ word count : 1.1k words

☆ cw : ooc!dan heng・that's all~ here's the headcanon!

⌗ Oh, how the tables have turned~ Instead of the usual gamer you and character Dan Heng, this time it's the other way around, with Dan Heng behind the screen and you as the newest character that developers have introduced to the game in the early version. 

⌗ I imagine Dan Heng plays Honkai Star Rail 24/7, so he knows every lore like the back of his hand. He must have a deeper understanding of the game mechanics and its attributes, creating a sense of career for this game. Like a cute nerd he is~

⌗ Not only is he a gamer, he's also a streamer. He streams moderately, sharing tips and tricks with his fellow gamers, but he is known to stream Honkai Star Rail contents. He enjoys engaging with his audience and discussing strategies, making him a valuable resource for the gaming community. 

⌗ He even streams with his fellow streamers, especially with Caelus. They often get labeled by the viewers as the chaotic duo due to their dynamic and entertaining banter during gameplay. 

⌗ Now, let's proceed to you~

⌗ With version 2.4 approaching, there was a leak of your character saying that you'd be one of the important figures of one of the Xianzhou Alliance, and everyone was suspecting that you'd either be one of the swordsmen or the arbiter-general, similarly to Jingyuan or Jingliu. 

⌗ Do you know the Silhouttes marketing drip that the HSR developers posted? There were eight of them⏤including you. Ever since the new March 7th drip marketing, everyone has been hyped for the following characters that are soon to be released. 

⌗ There are four characters hailing from the Yaoqing, others from the Zhuming, and March categorize in Luofu. One in particular that caught their attention is your silhouette banner, which illustrates your figure with your desired weapon in your grasp, bird crane origami surrounding you, and a subtle winged dragon shadow hovering in the background.

⌗ Meanwhile, Dan Heng, being one of the lore fanatics, has speculated that you may be one of the Vidyadhara species like Bailu⏤Correction. He's not just speculating; he's certain of his theory. Despite the lack of the draconic features in your character, you're somehow linked to the Vidyadhara race.

⌗ The developers dropped an animation where the five high elders of Vidyadhara are shown, and one of them bears a striking resemblance to your silhouetted character. This has sparked even more speculation from Dan Heng about your true identity and affiliation to the Vidyadhara race. 

⌗ Despite you're in a cameo, Dan Heng is captivated by your character design; it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The developers must increase their efforts to include more details about your character in future updates to satisfy the demands of players. 

⌗ Although he notices that you lack the draconic features present in the other high elders, this would mean that your hidden role must be disclosed in later updates. 

⌗ While streaming, Dan Heng nonchalantly talks about you and the design itself, even theorizing what unit you will be in the future and the most effective relics that would give you massive damage. 

⌗ Do you guys know those informative videos where content creators break down every aspect of a character's abilities, potential damage, which lightcone suits them, or what pieces of relics would give them a buff? Dan Heng is one of those, except he's quite immersive when it comes to you.

⌗ The audience quickly notices how passionate Dan Heng is, and they labeled him as a SIMP for you. He himself hasn't noticed how well absorbed he is into you, which is terrifying to say the least.

⌗ Imagine the day when the new patch was released and Xianzhou had added a recent interlude story mission, which somehow ties to you and other characters, and Dan Heng immediately logged in to the game with breakneck speed. 

⌗ Do you guys know that every time a new story is added to the game, there's the main cover of the chapter? Where are all the major characters going to be included in the story? Yeah⏤that's basically what Den Heng is seeing right now! There's a midnight-isque backdrop, and the characters are having a smile on their faces, enjoying whatever the heck they are doing. But that's not what Den Heng is focused on.

⌗ In the corner of the cover, there's a suspicious figure in a clay blue colored cloak that seems to be hanging around with several children who are all circling around the figure. Squinting his eyes, he sees a tuff of your hair out of the cloak. He's now certain that you'll be part of the story somehow. 

⌗ During the story, Dan Heng ( he's streaming the walkthrough ) secretly basks at every moment of your screen time; he screamed internally at your first appearance⏤or every time of your appearances; he would take a minute or so to glance at your expression and design every chance he gets. His fangirl moment. 

⌗ Your voice was pleasant to hear. The audience started to spam him with SIMP texts in the chats or even memes due to his not-so-subtle, flustered reactions. Overall, he enjoyed the mission story. Because you were in it.

⌗ Now, he's waiting for anyone who leaks your gameplay.⏤Who am I kidding…HE'S THE ONE WHO LEAKS YOUR GAMEPLAY AND IDLE ANIMATION. He may seem to be a reserved guy, but mentally, he's zealous. He enjoys and approves your gameplay and animation because they are appropriate to your character and your aesthetic. 

⌗ One of your idle animations consists of creating a bird crane origami and letting it fly away, watching it with awe. A unique feature of this is that for each bird crane origami you've created, different colors and patterns are displayed.

⌗ Another idle animation of yours is⏤since in your default form, you appeared to be human. Then clouds materialize and envelope your figure. With a burst of wind, it showed your Vidyadhara form. 

⌗ In your gameplay, however, before entering the battle, you were still in your default form. Following entering a battle, you've changed into your Vidyadhara form, draconic features and all. Similar mechanics with Firefly/SAM. Your author is biased when it comes to dragon-based characters. I'll let you imagine your basic attack, skills, and ult. 

⌗ Once your banner is dropped, oh boy…Dan Heng is going to E6 and S5 of you and your signature lightcone. AND HE FRICKING DID! Giving you the best relic and maximizing your talents. Every battle he encounters, he always wins, and hearing your triumphant voice line, he's proud of himself. This guy is fucking devoted y'all. If only I had money, then I could E6 Imbibitor Lunae. 

⌗ He subtly boasts you and your build to his viewers and his fellow streamers. Caelus lost his 50/50 in your banner and got Bailu instead, but at least it's also a Vidyadhara. Overall, Dan Heng adores your character and loves to see more of you in the future patches. 

[trincketbox]

Jason Todd as a Trans (ftm) allegory

Written by me, a trans man

[this edit was made by me, original picture it's Dan Mora's sketch]

TW gender disphoria, (implied) transphobia.

Im not saying his story was written with this perspective in mind, Im saying *death of the author (*the reinterpretation of artistic creations by the public both as a community and aa individuals, and how this goes far beyond the creator's original message on mind) is a very real thing.

This narrative resonated with me, a trans man, and my experience as such. Maybe out there is another transmasc person who caught themselves invested in this character the same way as I, and maybe they'll read this post and be happy to found out they're not alone on these feelings.

Without further addue, let's begin.

The second Robin, and the feeling of not fitting

Every trans person first memory of perceiving oneself as somehow different (and how) it's particular to each.

Some realize pretty young, some older. Some always have this lingering feeling of not belonging but become conscious of it later in life.

This feeling its present trough all of Jason's life. First, when he first arrives at the Manor. Later, when he starts operating as Robin. Then when Tim "replaces him", and so on.

Usually labelled as the black lamb of the family.

Tragedy is always, first, born off love

Jason's death and resurrection is written as a tragedy (no shit, Sherlock). But there, to be a tragedy, there has to be hope first. There has to be love.

Now, this varies from version to version, but a general consence is that Jason Todd was loved by Bruce Wayne, regardless of how much their relationship might change and twist on the future; Jason Todd was a good kid, regardless of how he might be portrayed as recless. He was a traumatized, angry kid who wanted to make things better. Who wished for bad guys to not hurt people anymore. Who wished to change the system for better, and took the matter on his own hands both as a child and as a young adult.

This

This right here

Was a loved, brave, bold, sensitive, mischievous, smart child who would latter come back like this:

Demanding justice, demanding damnation for al the pain he went through, demanding retaliation to the monster that set him off this world.

And all these requests fell to the ears of Bruce Wayne, Batman. The man who took him in as a scared, bold litte child that beated him in the cold of the night in the alley where his parents died. He stole his car tires, he's a child and he stole his car tires and he made Batman laugh.

That Perception doesn't change with his rise from the dead.

What changes is Bruce's view of him now.

Now, this depends on the writer, but on the start of Jason's "coming back to Gotham to fight Bruce" arc, there is the accusation of him coming back wrong.

Of him being better before

Of something being wrong with him since the start.

The implications of his physical change as wrong in comparation to his younger self.

I find Jason's body dismorphia due to The Lazarus Pit™ very interesting,but in this case Im not referring to it as a comparation with body disphoria (even through, he does get the feeling of your body changing in ways out of your control and the trauma that surrounds it).

Im talking about Bruce's view on all of this.

Luckily, if you're trans and had supportive parents, you won't know these things by first hand experience, but many, many people do.

And Jason gets it.

Jason Todd its womanhood™ coded

This is, partially, one of th main reasons why his fanbase consists on a large part of fangirls.

Repressed rage upon the injustices you go through all your life, and once the last drop falls, said rage is weaponized. Seen as dirty, as over the top, as dangerous.

Your older self being compared to your younger self, being asked (directly or indirectly) where that sweet child™ went.

Being striped away from your body autonomy (murder, torture, resurrection against his will, whatever is going on in Batman Gotham War).

Being labeled as the most sensitive. Sometimes in a good light, sometimes not.

The burning weight of still loving parental figures that hurted you.

Topping it all, it's implied through many instances he's a feminist (yes, Im aware this is also heavily influenced by fanon interpretations of the character, but you can't deny it's still heavily implied).

All of these issues almost universal (however not exclusive) to AFAB people life experience.

There is this recognition in these wounds. "He gets it", you feel, he gets it.

He gets it in a similar way transmasc individual have an undeniable insight of these issues. He gets it in a way that feels genuine, familiar, personal.

Lastly but nor least important,

He gives me gender™ vibes. That's it, that's the argument

Over all, Jason Todd its a multifaceted, complex character. He's morally grey, his temperament ranging and mutating with each reinterpretation. Some core issues stick, others don't.

I do not hold the one and only right interpretation of this character.

We can al agree, nevertheless, that even through he's not canonically trans,

Jason todd would be a great trans ally, fighting by our side, in name of our rights, our pain but also our pride.

For that's what heroes do.

[sophieinwonderland]

More on DNIs, and examples of why I hate them!

The DNI has become a weapon for bigots to harm marginalized communities. It has the illusion of setting a boundary, but in reality is meant to just give them a free pass for spreading hate and misinformation.

DNIs While Invading Spaces That Aren't Yours

As I've discussed before, the "plural" label is inherently inclusive. It was coined and popularized by nondisordered and endogenic systems.

But some have seen fit to try to take inclusive spaces from us and drive us out of the spaces we've built for ourselves. One such example is @illusions11, or the Lemon System.

They were an Aspenvader who came to Tumblr from Aspen's server with the express intent of trying to take our community from us and driving us out.

Lemon since had a falling out with Aspen, and blames Aspen for their old account getting banned. It should be noted though that on that old account, IIRC, they reblogged the infamous post calling for endogenic systems to die, and have always been a hateful person. This was likely not the reason they were banned, since Brassy unfortunately wasn't banned for posting it, but their ban was likely justified.

They've been informed that the tags they post in are inclusive, but they hide behind a DNI whenever anyone points out that they're invading our spaces.

If they actually wanted endogenic systems to not interact, it would be pretty easy to simply not post in our tags and spaces. But they intentionally do so, knowing that these spaces are ours and always have been, with the intent on causing harm to endogenic systems and driving us off.

I've likened this in the past to breaking into somebody's home, drawing a circle in chalk, calling them rude names from the circle, and then accusing them of violating your boundaries if you step inside the circle they drew in your own home.

DNIs To Protect From Being Corrected When Spreading Misinformation

This brings us to @jabberwock-islanders who claimed endogenic systems never provide resources when they say there are studies supporting endogenic systems.

This is pretty clearly misinformation, if you have actually paid any attention to the endogenic community.

There's a huge document of studies into endogenic systems and related phenomena here:

I can point to so many examples of psychologists, with various phrasings, acknowledging that you can be plural without trauma. But linking to those will be pointless when dealing with somebody who refuses to even click on your links.

So I could point to the fact that Dr. Eric Yarbrough has acknowledged the existence of endogenic plurality in a book reviewed and published by the American Psychiatric Association. I could point to how the creators of the theory of structural dissociation have said it may be possible to have self-conscious dissociative parts without trauma. I could point to the ICD-11's DID entry referring to how multiple distinct personality states (a term it uses synonymously with dissociative identities) can be experienced without a disorder. I could point to the doctor behind the Stanford Tulpa Study discussing early results of their brain scans, and referring to tulpa systems as tulpa systems.

But what would be the point when someone is committed to ignorance and refuses to even read anything that proves them wrong?

For Jabberwock-Islanders, their DNI is a shield that says "I can spread any lies about you I want, no matter how harmful they'll be to you and people you care about, and if you try to even politely correct my malicious lies, you're breaking my boundaries."

Normalizing Queerphobic DNIs

This DNI list comes from @strand-hunters, who doesn't want queer people with "contradictory labels" to interact with them

In another post, they give an explanation of what they mean to someone who asked about it.

"If you're queer in a way I don't understand, you aren't allowed to interact with me."

Most of what I've focused on has been the endos DNI up until this point, but what I want to highlight here is how the Endos DNI helps normalize telling queer people and other marginalized communities to not interact, and treat that as a valid boundary.

If "Endos DNI" is a valid boundary, then why not "bi-lesbians"? And if Bi-lesbians DNI" is a valid boundary, why not just "lesbians?" Why not "queer people" in general?

Do we want a world where it's normalized to tell people not to interact with you based on their queer identities? Because this is where DNI culture will lead.

One person with a DNI is an annoyance. But entire communities where DNIs are a mainstays means mass ostracization for not just different systems, but various types of queer people who present differently from what gatekeepers deem acceptable.

So sincerely...

Fuck your DNIs!

I will not respect hateful DNIs! If I see a post spreading hate against a marginalized community, I'm going to fucking interact with it to correct lies and combat hate! (Maybe not through reblogs since that gives the hate more notes, but at least through screenshots and tagging as I'm doing here.)

DNIs be damned!

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

do you have any opinions on the hazbin critical and vivziepop critical tags?

tw // mentions of sexual abuse and sucide

I have a personal beef with them. And not because I love Hazbin and Vivzie so much but for more presonal reasons so the following opinion won't be measured at all.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are some legit criticisms out there. Like, the show could definitely do better with body diversity and giving us more varied sapphic relationships instead of just throwing a ton of male/male couples at us. And, yeah, Vivzie's response to some of the criticism has been... questionable. (I still cringe when I think about that one time she explained that Raphielle can ship ValAngel because they are sa survivor, but Raphielle explicitly admitted to not be one).

But then, there's stuff that's just... pulled out of nowhere. Like the whole thing about Valentino being a "fetish character." Come on, the world of villains is filled with queer, flamboyant baddies. What sets Valentino apart is how his abusive behavior is shown in the open, making us rethink our love for villains. If it weren't for Mascarade, people would worship this moth daddy gangster in a dress, much like they are with Vox now. It's hard to root for the bad guy when you see the fallout of their actions. Like, Loki committed war crimes and no one was outraged when he got his own TV series and dragged creators for supporting atrocities.

Constant Valentino/Angel Dust discourse actually leads to the more serious issues I have with this "community", more harmful than just "bad media literacy" like the way they handle the topic of sexual abuse and weaponize it, without ever listening to victims. There is this constant shitstorm about Angel being a "bad sa survivor rep," that the way he's written is insensitive because "he shouldn't be horny, he's sexually traumatized." Like, do these people not understand that making Angel unable to enjoy his sexuality the way he wants would essentially mean acknowledging that it's no longer his but belongs to his abuser now? Also, the argument I keep seeing that drives me BAT SHIT CRAZY aka "I can enjoy this media that is centered around murderer, you cannot enjoy the media that treats rapist as a nuanced character because rape is objectively worse than murder." WHO THE FUCK TOLD YOU THAT? Reading this makes me feel so angry and sad and guilty because frankly, I was raped, and of course, it was horrible but still I'd choose it any time over being murdered. Because I have my life, I'm loved, and I love, I pursue my dreams, and I can still experience so many good things in my life. Painting sexual assault as this worse-than-death experience is not the feminist take they think it is and does not do victims any good.

Or accusations that Vivzie's support of fandom bullying led to someone taking their life. It's such a ridiculous and harmful claim. Honestly, this thing always makes me heated because suicide is not an easy decision, ask any person who ever faced it. It's not like "ah, this stranger told me to kms, I guess I gotta do it now." Of course, any kind of bullying and abuse adds to the suffering and can be the final trigger, but to me, it's just so disrespectful and harmful that someone could have experienced prolonged, intense suffering and all of this is omitted, their death labeled as a result of "fandom bullying" and weaponized in fandom drama. Also, it's simply cruel to put the blame for it on one, uninvolved person.

Also, it always annoys me when people hold small creators to immensely high standards while not doing the same with others. If we keep lynching and canceling every media that is not objectively morally pure, we won't be left with only perfect media. We will be left with media produced by white, privileged billionaires who might be real-life rapists, abusers, and thieves but are too powerful to be taken down by social media outrage. Hazbin's success is a major W for the underappreciated medium of animation (we saw what WB did to 90% of their animated shows), unpopular genres like musicals (Wonka creators were literally too ashamed to market it as one??), and unapologetic queer narratives that are not written for a heteronormative audience or centered around queer oppression (ofmd, the other medium I can think of in that realm has just been canceled). I can't stand people so desperate to put it down driven by their black-or-white sense of morality. Kant won't be patting your back for being the Moraliest Person because you bullied an indie creator and her fans.

Also everyone who feels the need to explain me hazbin critical agenda - save your breath. I'm very emotional about it and I frankly don't fucking care why you think you are right.

[armoralor]

Queer Coding Pt 1 | "Stop making everyone gay!!!" | Important Note: The LGBTQIA+ community is not a monolith; opinions on labels, language, and interpretations are always evolving. Queerness can take many shapes, and no one can truly quantify what it means to be authentically yourself besides you. You do not have to look or act a certain way to be queer enough. While "Queer Coding" can border on "Queerbating," and the stereotypes both draw on can be harmful, many queer folks have reclaimed and embraced the tropes that were historically weaponized against them. Additional resources and sources below. T*RFs fuck off.

Transcript: 1. HISTORY: The Motion Picture Production Code (enforced in Hollywood for decades) prohibited “perverse” subjects such as homosexuality. This led to the portrayal of "queer coded" characters that were never allowed to be explicitly queer. The subtextual way identities were previously forced to be portrayed has bled into modern interpretations of queer characters.

2. DESCRIPTION: What exactly is "queer coding" and what does it look like? "Coding" refers to the choices made when creating a character's unique set of mannerisms, traits, and external qualities. Non-Exhaustive list of characteristics that can be "queer coded:" clothing, style, family, hair, jewellery, speech patterns, behaviour, media consumption, profession, and interpersonal relationships.

3. EXAMPLES: While none of the characteristics historically associated with queerness are exclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community, when compounded and given context, they can act as recognizable markers for queer creators and audiences to find themselves represented in media. It's important to note that many of these characteristics were originally portrayed and seen as negative. Villains were commonly "queer coded" to let audiences know said characters were evil. a) Bright hair cut at untraditional lengths or styled in uncommon ways. b) Strong found family, fresh starts with a new identity, and/or choosing your own name. c) Behavioral traits like extreme empathy or aggressive assertiveness, when displayed in opposition to idealized Western gender roles, and paired with characters being othered by their surroundings, is another common "queer coded" allegory.

Sources: Hitchcock and the Censors by John Billheimer (2019); Everything but Named: Queer-Coded Characters in 19th-Century Literature by Marie Harra (2023); Queers in American Popular Culture by Jo Johnson (2010); Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis Across Two Seasons by Deborah A. Fisher PhD et all (2007); Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1980); Unrequited: The Queer History of Hollywood by James Somerton (2023); Lesbians Being Anti-Trans Is a Lesbophobic Trope by Amy Ashenden (2023); Stop Using Lesbians Like Me To Justify Your Transphobia by Sadhbh O'Sullivan (2022); Trans Day of Visibility by Just Like Us (2023); Why Queerbaiting in Marketing and Media Is Harmful and How You Can Help Stop It by Colleen Murphy (2023)

[bucky-barnes-diaries]

Dear @staff. Community Labels are killing Creators and Fandoms and you are doing nothing about it…

In theory, the Community Labels seemed like a great new system to allow more Mature Content to come back to Tumblr. It would allow more freedom for creators to post and express themselves however they wanted!

But in practice, the feature, as it is now, is absolutely awful! As soon as a post get a Label slapped on, it’s basically dead. Shadowbanned! Censored! Nonexistent!

The reasoning is that you made Community Labels a forced feature for everyone, meaning that every single blog on this platform automatically has Mature Content set to “hide.”

A lot of people don’t know that this feature exists and are missing out on a lot of posts from their favorite creators.

Now, if I understand correctly, the reasoning for why Community Labels are being implemented in the first place is because Apple is anti-porn, and there’s a risk that Tumblr will be banned from the App Store.

Fine. Let’s go from there. Tumblr needs to have this new feature in place to remain functional, but there has to be some changes made for it to still be enjoyable to continue posting on this platform.

1. Change the default for Mature Content from “hide” to “blur.” For accounts that are over 18+, of course. This way, people can still see that there is a post for them to view, and from there on, they can choose if they wish to click on the post and view its content.

2. Make it easier to change the Community Label settings within the app.

3. Make regular pop-ups to all users over 18 that lets them know that they can change their settings on how they wish to view Mature Content.

4. Now, the most important one: remove the ability for other users to suggest a Community Label. This option has 100% been proven to be weaponized and abused towards writers. People are deliberately going around and reporting all kinds of posts. Yes, even the ones that don’t contain any smut.

I would like to point out some issues and concerns with the Community Labels.

Whatever system you have in place to detect Mature Content is doing an awful job at distinguishing between what’s fluff and what’s smut. Content that has no or very limited Mature Content in them are getting flagged left, right, and center.

When you get an alert that a post requires a Community Label, do you actually double-check the post, or do you just let the A.I put one on?

Where do you draw the line of smut? Is kissing safe? Or does that require a Label? Is simple touching safe? Or does that require a Label? Is mentioning and talking about sex, but not actually doing the act itself safe? Or does that require a Label? Is showering together without there being sex safe? Or does that require a Label?

Dear @staff. We are tired. With already low engagement for all writers throughout Tumblr, this new feature seems to be the last blow to our creativity, and we are just tired. We are tired of having our creations that we’ve spent days, weeks, months, years be censored. We are tired of having everything that we put our heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into die within a few hours.

I’m hoping you guys will start listening to us, because I wouldn’t be surprised if more and more people leave this site…

@changes @wip @support @engineering

[queer-ragnelle]

What are your thoughts on what makes something fanfic instead of an Arthurian retelling? Would it be looked down on to try to get something originally written with the intention of it being fanfic published properly?

Hi anon! I don't understand your second question, but I can definitely answer your first one.

TL;DR it comes down to authorial intent and respecting the historical and cultural context of a work. If someone writes an Arthurian story and posts it on Ao3 to share with their friends and followers, referring to their writing in their own words as fanfiction, then it's fanfiction. But I don't consider my own writing to be fanfiction, and neither do I think it's appropriate to impose that label into the past, before the necessity of such a concept existed, calling the works of Sir Thomas Malory or Chrétien de Troyes fanfiction. We're all participating in a literary tradition, but not all of us are writing fanfiction. Only the creator themselves can decide that. So...

I would prefer my books be called a retelling or a pastiche.

We could argue point 5's greater relevance here as not all retellings strive to imitate the Medieval style to such an extreme, nor can it apply to other mediums which transcend the written word, such as Arthurian films, TV shows, games, musicals, stage plays, etc. But the other points certainly apply to all Arthurian works, and point 5 applies to me. (Another example of this would be Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, which adopts a poetic style emulating the epic poetry it's based on.) So I encourage others to research that concept more and appreciate how lucky we are that the subject of our interest is unhindered by licensing contracts and potential copyright strikes and the capitalistic necessity of pandering to commercial interest.

Fanfiction is, by definition, writing derivative of copyrighted material or utilization of the intellectual property belonging to someone else with ownership of the characters, setting, or other assets appearing in the fan-made work. The term exists as a means to shield amateur creators and their contributions to the fan-community under the terms of fair use from the axe of corporations who wish to monopolize and monetize the property. It likewise protects creators from having their work stolen and repurposed by others, so a small creator may have some legal recourse against a big corporate entity stealing their intellectual property. (See: Hot Topic printing indie artist's works on T shirts.) Copyright expires, unless you're Disney. So you can now write and publish works based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland or Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. That being said...

Works derivative of or inspired by mythology and literary traditions are not the same as fan-works suppressed by the weight of copyright laws weaponized by businesses in power.

Mythological and literary characters are owned by to no one, belonging only to the cultures from which they originate. It is to them a creator pays respect, not an individual or corporation or franchise, as is the case with works created within the last 100 or so years. Mythology requires no license to engage with in the same way one would require to contribute "officially" to a comic book series, or a TV show, or a video game etc.

If one intends to adapt The Odyssey, they need not copy/paste the fair use disclaimer into the description to cover their ass, because Homer has been dead for thousands of years, and even so, he did not own the character Odysseus, and merely contributed to the story-telling tradition of his era. The Netflix show Blood of Zeus can use Zagreus and Melinoë equally as much as Hades and Hades II, not because they obtained permission from some greater entity, but because authorization, or explicit mention of fair use, aren't required at all. Many of these traditions are tied to religion as well, and this should be handled with utmost care. Simurgh is a bird-dog creature of Persian mythology, derivative of an earlier bird-creature called Saēna in the Avestan-language of ancient Zoroastrian texts. She made an appearance in the recent episode of Delicious in Dungeon relating to griffons. Some translations of old Pahlavi texts I have actually refer to Simurgh as a griffon as a means of localizing the meaning of her name which would otherwise be immediately understood by an Iranian. This doesn't mean the anime or anything else referring to such mythological/literary creatures are fan-works, they pay homage to the old works. In the same vein, Paradise Lost isn't fanfiction of the Bible any more than the New Testament is fanfiction of the Old Testament. Fiction doesn't exist in a vacuum. If all inspired creation is beholden to its source, then everything ever written is fanfiction of The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Personally, I don't want to define my writing or art or any of the stories or films I enjoy with a capitalistic framework Arthurian enjoyers are so blessedly free of. There are, of course, exceptions. One can write fanfiction of BBC Merlin, as that story belongs to the BBC. But I wouldn't consider the show itself to be a fan-work. Neither would I consider Monty Python and The Holy Grail or Excalibur or the Camelot musical to be fan-works. Not unless Monty Python or John Boorman or Alan Jay Lerner say so themselves. The BBC did not invent the story of young Merlin, neither did Mary Stewart, perhaps not even the Vulgate did, as many Arthurian texts are lost to us. These are contributions to the Arthurian tradition, just as fanfiction is, all equally important and integral to keeping the legacy alive. They are derivative of Medieval literature and inspired by other retellings, adaptations, what have you, and not subject to corporate scrutiny. It's pointless to concern ourselves with it and draw lines in the sand which only exist in the fandom-space because of capitalism and the limitations borne of a franchise-conscious sanctions.

I hope this helps clear things up for you, anon. Feel free to clarify your second question in another ask so I can address that, if I haven't already. Have a wonderful day! :^)

[wip]

I get the purpose of the community label, but what steps are you taking for users who are weaponizing it?

I really love my Tumblr dashboard, specifically choosing blogs to follow and get alerts for, and they are being flagged for content that isn't even non-explicit. There is an appealing process, but some have sat unreviewed, which in turn is harming these creators and their engagement.

What are you working on to correct the abuse of community labels? How will this feature be improved?

Answer: Hello, @arcielee!

Firstly, we have to thank you for your feedback, and we are disappointed to hear that you’ve had a subpar experience. This is unfortunate, and this is something we intend to remedy. We are currently in the process of improving our labeling system so that the accuracy of labels improves and appeals are addressed more quickly.

We would encourage anyone who believes their posts have been labeled incorrectly to appeal these decisions. Real-life human eyes are checking every one of those appeals to ensure they’re reviewed appropriately. We will continue to look into this, and if there’s anything of note to update you on, you’ll find it here first.

Thanks also to @womprat00 for getting in touch with a similar question.

Best,

—Harper

[eoieopda]

apparently, this is an issue for quite a few people dealing with the “potentially mature content” flag on their blogs, which is…. incredible, given the battalion of literal porn blogs that don’t get censored whatsoever….

i digress. if this is happening to you:

1.) submit a support ticket using the “something else” option from the drop down menu.

do not bother with the “my blog was incorrectly marked explicit” or whatever because that’s an entirely different issue, and it won’t work for this (your blog isn’t marked as “explicit”.)

2.) explain what the issue is and why you’d like staff to fix it. i’ll include what i sent below (issue resolved within hours) that has also worked for others. feel free to copy/paste, tweak, ignore, whatever!

Hi, My blog has suddenly been labeled with a “may contain mature content” flag, which I wasn’t notified about (and I think that’s supposed to have occurred.) I don’t agree with this outcome and would like this issue to be reconsidered. Any NSFW content I post or share is appropriately tagged, hidden under a read-more cut, and has already been hit with your community labels. My blog itself is not inherently explicit or “mature.” This additional shield is, in my opinion, excessive. Overall, I disagree with the recent censorship efforts on Tumblr. They feel arbitrary and are, more often than not, weaponized by users with petty grievances against creators. They use this reporting feature to tank creators’ engagement for personal reasons. It’s very frustrating, especially when the content is already clearly labeled, tagged, and cut. Please let me know what, if anything, can/will be done about this.

ETA: the response you get might look something like this:

don’t panic. they sent this and still removed my flag, even though this sounds like a “hell no, brother.”

xoxo jade

[ghosting-medium]

・❥・ West ˗ˏˋ꒰ ✨ ꒱

Moodboard & Information credit: Kalmi

Looks Like:

Credit: AngeoArt on Deviant

West is gracious and regal but never harsh or untimely. She appreciates decent formality. Her eyes and hair are bejeweled with stars. There is no true “color” to her iris but I’d describe it as a black-ish purple. Her hair is long but is obviously coiled with very defined curls which are very soft. Her skin is highly pigmented to a near jet black and amongst this I can see glimpses of shimmers and glittery constellations on her body. She wears a type of tiara on her head that has 3 small silver star symbols on it. Her body moves likes water, there is no “structure” to her shape; she is extremely flowy.

She feels like a “zing!” when she touches you. Suddenly, I am highly aware of the part of my arm that I requested she touch and I seem to have stronger clairvoyance after the touch. This is just the effects it had on me, of course. What’s interesting is that she is gentle with her words, her movements, everything but the effect it has on me, personally, is still strong and powerful.

West is gender-fluid but seems to lean towards she/they pronouns and to me she presents in a feminine manner. If that is different to you then absolutely embrace it!

The 3 Stars

On her crown/tiara we see two stars on the outside which are similar to Nsoroma (Child of God within Adinkra symbols). This symbol represents the divinity of humans and faith but also represents getting through hardship and still remaining “holy”. Usually referring to having faith for the Supreme Being, The One, The Creator, The Universe (however you choose to label it).

The star in the middle is similar to the Star within Vodou Vévé that represents Ife, also known and documented as the Star of Life (seen with a snake and rod aka the Rod of Asclepius). This symbol is used within medicinal spaces! It, generally speaking, represents healing, rejuvenation, and recuperation.

To West, upon asking what the meaning meant to her, she explains that the stars are her connection to humanity as well as the divine. She elaborates that the stars are to guide herself to others who require assistance and wish to become in tune with their intuition and spiritual-selves. She usually handles very “dark” situations where a flashlight shouldn’t be given, as it is too obvious and may alert the attacker. So, stars are her choice of weapon.

Palace, Residence:

The energy of their Palace is that it's time and galactic based and inspired from, it's elegant and beautiful. Respecting her wishes I will not be detailing visuals, and symbolism. I do ask that if you want to visit, to properly and respectfully reach out, and wait West's response.

Ruling, Domain:

Correspondences:

Days of the Week:

Wednesday - The hump day. It’s the middle of the week where we are usually the most exhausted and simply want the week to be over… but it is also the day of Mercury. West can assist practitioners with communication and the idea of letting go / moving on. She is the epitome of Mercury; intellect, travel, networking, perceiving… clairvoyance. She will help you gently confront people and situations that you, perhaps, have been avoiding. The best day to devote to her is Wednesday.

Special Days:

September 13th holds a lot of significance to West. The Tower and The Death card are the best representations of this day. A day for renewal and honesty. Pure honesty. Extreme tragedies, fights, and emotions are celebrated an remembered on this day (a time where communication didn’t go so well). Historically, natural disasters, deaths and chaotic events have happened on this day (wildfires, floods, eathquakes, celebrity deaths, etc). On this day, remember and refresh.

Any day that Mercury rules!

Elements:

Air, “Darkness”

Numbers:

6, 10, 9

6 - Traditionally a solar number and is also connected to harmony, peace, truth and balance. I, personally see this number as how I see Oya (Orisha); an everchanging power that is able to be gentle (like soft rain) and fierce (like a storm).

10 - Completion! Ending a chapter but opening a new one, the transition between stages. I see this energy aligning with giving and receiving love and overall celebration.

9 - Satisfaction, the journey before completion, being almost satisfied and continuing to manifest with hope. Intellectual power can also associated with the number 9. 9, within Chinese culture, is associated with wisdom and magic since it is the same word for “long-lasting” — I personally also associate 9 with the story and woman Modjadji, the Rain Queen.

Colors:

Purple, black, deeper and darker shades, whimsical colors

Planet:

Mercury, Jupiter

Zodiac Signs:

Gemini, Virgo, Capricorn

Animals:

Otters

Whales

Bats

Crocodiles

Turtle

Grey Heron

Eagle

Vulture

Plants, Fruits, Flora:

Black mustard seed

Lemongrass

Hibiscus

Papaya

Citron

Lavender

Willow

African violet

Fern

Essential oils/incense:

Sleepy Scents

Cedar Wood

Lavender

Patchouli

Scents known to help physic abilities + clairs

Jasmine

Crystals:

Citrine

Agates

Aventurine

Mica

Pumice

Quicksilver

Zinc

Lapis Lazuli

Creedite

Sugilite

Divination associations:

Tarot:

The Tower

The Moon

The High Priestess

The Lovers

4 of Cups

Family:

History, Mythology:

She wishes any history of her known to be kept private currently

Epithets:

Wise West (epithet focuses on her wisdom and overal knowledge)

Lady Galaxias (epithet focuses on her connection to the stars and galaxy)

Miss Mutatis Mutandis / Miss Mut’Mut (epithet focuses on change, literally means “With things changed that should be changed” or “With the necessary changes having been made”)

Lady Sermitas / Sermo Veritas (epithet focuses on her connections to truth and communication)

Offering & Devotional Acts:

Studying astronomy and astrology

Meditating

Aiming to improve your clairsenses

Learning about the astral

Astral projecting

Connecting to her animals + herbs

Making sleeping remedies

Enhancing psychic ability spells

Understanding the stars/your zodiac

Meditation with West

Set boundaries for yourself

Seek out and attempt communication

Enjoy herbal teas

Silver jewelry

Coins + charms

Listening to music

Listening to the kpop band, Dreamcatcher

Looking into tragedies and extreme changes

Embracing change

Self-care

Banishing rituals

Banishing workings

Psychic workings

Healing workings

Dream work

Crossroads

Celestial water

Rain water

Smoke (incense)

Finding your family

Finding your community and true self

Spend time with your true family + friends

Attempting to leave toxic relationships

Attempting to leave toxic family

Dark feathers

Shark egg sacks

Starry/celestial images

Dark chocolate

Night-blooming flowers

Keep a dream journal

Keep an astral journal

Connect with your ancestors

Take a nighttime walk (safely)

Create art and paintings for West

Face west when doing rituals/spells/prayer to her

Explore your solo, personal, sensuality

Altar Suggestions:

Any imagery associated with her correspondences

Research devoted to West

Cloth in their associated colors I would include silver, and gray to that as well.

Have the altar facing, and pointed West

Candles in her colors, and with herbs in their correspondences list

That is all the documented information that we have on West

Signing off, Ghost ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

[woomycritiques543]

(STOP SUPPORTING AND IGNORING DISCRIMINATION OVER A CARTOON! Liking Helluva Boss does not make your superior to other human beings! Liking Vivziepop or her content does not give you the excuse to treat others like shit under the guise of being "superior for (toxic) "positivity!" Helluva Boss and Hazbin is not the most important thing in the world just because it gives you 2005-level fetishized bigotry content that most creators now refuse to make! Toxic positivity exists, and the standom using it to try to force people to like Helluva Boss and Vivziepop and using fear tactics to do so is true harasser behavior! and soon- no other fandom will want to be around said harassers as in you for your behavior, worshipping Vivziepop does not give you the equivalent of a god while everyone else are somehow "stupid anti haters that dont deserve a say, better representation, or human respect! -wanting better for minorities makes you entitled and greedy! Just ignore the bigotry and keep the representation the same so us creeps will get benefits while you basically get nothing!" like you people have been saying for the past 6+ years yet in the end- will get nothing for except being seen as a goddamn joke! -your reputations aren't going to make it past 2025, -and you can't force people to like something or someone, and the Helluva Boss fandom is now dying because of your own actions!)

"You're the exact kind of person this post is targetting."

What? People with disabilities? People who cant even move their fucking legs or have trouble in school? People with something they were born with that's outside of their control and most of which, have 100% more emotional intellegence than you have. Also, you even admitted that it was a slur and expect people outside of other creeps that are so desperate for rape porn to be normalized that you excuse bigotry as right in front of you. When that's the thing, if Helluva Boss was "so progressive!" why would it keep appealing to literal bigots and homophobes on 4chan that unironically call people a "F^^GOT!" and use every slur in the book, including anti-black ones- wow, could it be that the "progressivism!" is faaaaake?

That the slapping on "progressive!" labels and our flags is only a cover up so less minorities would defend themselves against people like you? People that jack off to abuse, and then convientally forget that representation exists and go "LOL ITS FICTIONAL YOU'RE SAYING THAT WE EXCUSE A REAL LIFE THING IF YOU DONT LIKE SEEING YOUR REPRESENTATION SHIT ON!" entirely forgetting the fact that no one said they are "excusing abuse" but tha they are fetishizing it. Something that could hurt people in the BDSM community in real life that arent yet aware of how safe words work or physical restraint work- this shit could hurt real people yet all you're focused on is shitting on minorities to defend your rape porn instead of normalizing healthy BDSM and safe words! CREEP!

You dont actually care about the lgbt+ and poc community, you are just using us and our desperation to get people to support bigoted content!

You are the exact kind of crowd that's causing Desantis, a literl transphobe, to be in office while he's trying to cause a fucking genocide towards the lgbt+ community! Stereotypes are not a joke, they're a weapon used against minorities to ruin our reputations so they can kill us off silently and barely anyone will care and are only called a "JOKE!" so more people will fall for it and unwillingly cause their own goddamn deaths!

Your normalization of stereotypes is literally KILLING US! FUCK YOU!

So really, are you on a substance? Is that why your brain isn't fucking working right now and suddenly all your morality is gone out the goddamn door?! Or are you that much of a spoiled brat that you're willing to harass minorities for five whole fucking years and waste your life when you could have been using it to help yourself and others instead of your own selfish bullshit! -and soon, once Vivziepop gets called out after Hazbin is released, oh boy, because one of the first groups of people that will be called out, lose their followers, and be left alone with their pettiness is the entire Helluva Boss standom, including you! -and the only people that will like you are other bigots, that will also soon leave you because the show you're supporting also includes things that they hate, while you will be left alone, in your own sadness, and no one will come for you because that's exactly what will happen once people see how much of a piece of shit you've been to minorities for 5+ years!

Your efforts will be in vain! You're the one that's going to end up suffering once Hazbin Hotel comes out, not minorities, but people like you that will become the laughing stock of the internet the same way the Rick and Morty and SU fandom became the same! So how about you grow the fuck up before your repuation is destoryed by your own goddamn actions! -same for the rest of this pedo supporting (YOU CREEPS SUPPORTED STOVIA! OCTAVIA IS A MINOR AND STOVIA IS STILL CP THAT'S BEEN KNOWN TO HURT REAL KIDS BY GETTING THEM GROOMED!) rape fetishizing, homophobic, racist hell hole!

You want to discriminate people with disabilities over a cartoon?

Well shit, you're the exact kind of person this post is talking about.

You're the exact piece of shit that goes "OOOOOOOOOOOH representation is so important guys!" but the moment it's trauma victims or the disabled the story turns into "LOL WHAT A RE^^^^^ haha rape and kids are so hot and is TOTALLY a fetish so imma call it "non-con" so people who arent traumatized will treat them that way and fuck those smelly victims and they're stupppppid representation! HAHAHA SLURS FUNNI!" Like- you're like 12 years old or something, why are you interacting with an adult fandom if you cant even interact more than on the level of a child? Why would an adult act like a whiny brat and want everyone to disregard their needs so they can jack off to racial stereotypes and rape scenes that are framed as a "fetish!" Why would any adult that claims to be able to handle "adult themes" not act like an adult at all?

Oh wait, that's right, Helluva Boss is secretly catered to bigots and hides bigotry to cater to people like you while trying to bank off minorities that are oblivious to your bullshit due to lack of experince as a "have your cake and eat it too!" Wow, it's almost like the creators doing that by going "BY THE WAY- representation doesn't actually matter, be a creep as much as you want and anyone that tells you to stop being queerphobic, racist, and pe^dophillic are meanies!!!!1" makes them- hypocrites or something! It's almost like saying this shit means that you dont fully care about queer or poc rights at all and only say that you do so for clout! When trying to use bullying as an attempt to force people to like HB or the fandom, is just making even more people dislike the show and the fans, which is sad, because not all of us are like you, and just want to talk about a goddamn cartoon demon show in peace yet you creeps over at Spindlehorse (the lead artists) and the fandom are trying to use force and public shaming/emotional "I accept criticism just not- criticism!" manipulation/bullying to try to force people to like everything about Hazbin and ruining the Hazbin experince for the rest of us!

-and since you, like any other ableist, are ok with treating us like shit over a slur that has an entire history of being used against the disabled by trying to make us look "stupid" as an excuse to physically abuse and discriminate us under the guise of having the "right" to do so because you're so "intellectually superior!" despite having the logic and emotional maturity of a walnut:

Never go near anyone with disabilities ever again! Never speak to any of us until you can learn basic goddamn respect! You creeps really are ok with risking your entire online reputation if it means going back to 2005 huh? That's just fucking sad. You arent going to be accepted for this garbage anymore. Stereotypes and Slurs have no place in minority spaces! NONE! I dont care if you like a cartoon or not- Being supposedly positivite (hateful!) about a cartoon gives you no right to treat minorites like shit!

News flash! Liking Vivziepop or what she makes does- NOT make you superior to other human beings!

Everyone has a say! This isn't a fucking cult!

No one is less valuable or less human for not liking almost everything about a cartoon! That's some- toxic positivity shit!

This goes for what Ignis and Vivziepop have said- actions speak louder than words- and if you cant accept criticism or be an adult yourself -barely anyone is going to like you! Especially when we get another cultural shift like we did in the 1950s but for the queer and disabled community! GROW UP! Helluva Boss is NOT going to last. -and using bullying and borderline abuse to try to force people to like Vivziepop or her shows- will just make less people want to be around you OR HB! Because the standom is THAT BAD that people are turning away from the fandom entirely and HB has been losing millions of viewers since EPISODE ONE! So really.You creeps never had the advantage. -and you definitely won't once more outside fandoms see how awful you truly are. You will get nothing from this in the end except being seen as an absulote joke! Goodbye!

[soul-dwelling]

Do you think tumblr's nonchalant way of talking and attributing neurodivergiant diagnosises to charachters or traits/behaviours is in an ironic way ableist too by turning it into a trendy chic catchphrase or zodiac-like joke? Like I imagine the people who are margenalized because of these labels feel weird seeing Crona wearing a "autism-meme" tshirt, but maybe I'm wrong

I don’t think I can speak well to this. I don’t identify as neurodivergent, I haven’t gone in for formal diagnosis--and just about any time I have been referred to as neurodivergent, it has been to insult me (for example, “I should have expected this response that I don’t appreciate from someone like you--Asperger boy!”). 

This is a wordy way of saying, I’m going to get a lot wrong below, so I welcome feedback. 

As far as I can say as someone who identifies as neurotypical, I usually assume such remarks as being said by people who are neurodivergent who are self-identifying by the content they encounter and how they want to present themselves, so I hesitate to interject with what I see or read: if it’s a for-us by-us situation, I don’t think I’m in a position to criticize, unless it becomes particularly egregious. 

In response to more specific examples that you are giving: 

Again, when it’s nonchalant, I usually anticipate the person speaking is neurodivergent themselves. 

I think attributing neurodivergent diagnosis is mostly harmless, although it still runs the risk of getting wrong traits to conditions, romanticizing those traits in the characters and by extension the risk of attempting an amateur diagnosis on real-life people and therefore romanticizing what real-life people are going through. 

The reason I think it’s mostly harmless is that it is trying to figure out those aspects of these conditions by interpreting literature and writing your own stories--to see how the aspects of characterization fit together leading to an understanding about this character and maybe about the condition itself. But even if the intentions are mostly good, if the results are perpetuating stereotypes, or misdiagnosing, or impeding on a real person’s privacy and diagnosing them, then the intentions don’t matter, the results were bad.

I don’t think anyone who is neurodivergent is using neurodivergent attributions of fictional characters to be trendy. I do see some irony in it--again, a for-us by-us approach that those within a community appreciating themselves and being self-effacing as a way to respond to what it is like being neurodivergent. And it’s a way to identify, whether to see yourself in something you’re familiar with, to have it make sense for yourself, or to show someone else, “Hey, this is what it’s like for me.”

All of this said, again, as someone who identifies as neurotypical but has had people derisively refer to me as neurodivergent as a way to insult me, I can see some remarks that I think, “Um, I’m not sure that’s cool to make that kind of a remark, regardless who the person making the remark identifies.” You can’t control who is in your audience--but you better know who is in your audience to minimize the risk that some jackass misunderstands your point and weaponizes it to further their disablist agenda. A creator can’t anticipate every last thing a bad-faith audience member will do to with their content, but they should take every precaution they can to minimize that chance of weaponization to harm. Again, you run the risk of romanticizing, or making people thinking they can make those kinds of jokes when they aren’t in the community. It’s a case by case basis. 

Generally, I try to be optimistic that most people finding neurodivergency in characters are helping normalize neurodivergency, to treat this as who this character, this person, is, jus as they would accept such qualities in the people around them in their lives. 

[average-layperson]

POST 1 - Core problems with human societies/behavior includes lack of critical thinking, unreasonable sense of entitlement, willfully blind/ignorant, weaponizing morality, labelling, finding excuses/rationalizing, lack of respect, dignity, accountability, mutual understanding, and commitment, no integrity (INTRO - rant WIP)

Problematic behaviors will continue to repeat history as long as the truth is distorted. The 2010s were a time to be alive, and those old enough knew how the first half contrasted sharply with the second half. From 2015 to 2020, life for all human beings became comedic and tragic. There was nothing unusual with large-scale crises, but the experiences were unprecedented.

No one needs to be a so-called "elitist" to know that social interactions are soured and polarized regardless of individual circumstances. Though all internet users can attest that memes are a source of entertainment and comic relief, they can also serve as a testimony of real-life situations, primarily to convey irony and shared experiences.

Mainstream media may be massively accessible. Still, they all proved, to some degree, to be unreliable sources of information due to funding, ratings, and biases. People turned to the internet for like-minded sources, no matter how credible.

A significant setback is depending on courts to establish the truth: that is a bullshit myth. Courts are overburdened by cases every day, leaving extreme levels of burnout on the part of its practitioners. It is not up to the judiciary branch to record history… individuals and communities are.

For all the reluctance towards governments: What are the other options? Anarchy? Tribalism? Do you want to revert to cavemen eras? That is your choice should you wish to separate from society, but you will be subject to the state of the natural world.

Of course, death and taxes are inevitable; they are essentials for a comfortable quality of life, dimwits.

I do not need to dive into the history of the agricultural, industrial, and green revolutions because it is common knowledge for those lucky enough to receive a decent education. Or, at the very least, heard from word of mouth or via the internet. The fact remains that no one has the time, money, and motivation to study for hours upon hours from certified scholars and noisy losers.

Nevertheless, addressing the underlying problems that will and continue to cause irreparable harm between individuals and communities of all sizes is crucial. Last Week Tonight is a good enough example of comedians and entertainment writers stating facts so that any audience can understand real-life social problems in the United States context. Every episode and monologue spoke for themselves. Content creators on YouTube and sometimes Twitch gain more followers because people listen without repercussion. From the onset, Twitter created a toxic environment that made every user miserable whenever they logged in and scrolled down numerous daily tweets. As long as free expression is actively suppressed, people will resist and find belonging elsewhere. That is how human nature functions, and humans cannot deny their very nature.

Therefore, I am compelled to compose rants highlighting humanity's flaws, problematic behaviors, and interactions. I am tired of reading countless books that cost money, repeating the same shit repeatedly. Remember that this is a Tumblr account owned by a young adult with an undergrad law and community service education, disillusioned by lies about what the world is and how it naturally behaves. No need for post-secondary education. I am a broke person with a hungry mind who wants to share notes on what reality entails in everyday life. I mean no offence to anyone who had the privilege to read my posts on a free platform. Tumblr seems the safest option as of early 2023, and I do not have editing skills. I made a previous post outlining the purpose of this account as a reference.

PS: I was thinking of YouTube content for video essays with voice AI, but AI is creepy as fuck, and I refuse to subject myself to things I do not understand. A podcast is out of the question when money is involved for equipment and streaming. My Wi-Fi is shit on a good day. What am I left with? Tumblr posting account. I take rough notes on my Discord server and am sure I'm bothering my Discord friend(s) there. Shoutout for them enabling my bullshit, LMFAO! Plus, I use Grammarly to check for grammatical errors on Word docs. I do not have the motivation to reread shit. Spent all my school and post-secondary career doing that, and I am tired of it. My motto is what I heard from my mom: "The best things in life are free."

Thank you for reading my post. I hope this finds you well~

Average-layperson (OP ig??? or is it ogp??? cannot unsee overpowered, but i am anything but that tbh XD)

[sp00kworm]

Silence (Part 1)

Part 2 - Revenant’s Ending

Part 3 - Bloodhound’s Ending

---

Pairings: Revenant x Reader, Bloodhound x Reader

Warnings: Mild Violence, Threat and Alcohol Consumption

---

Working for a living. How you hated it. Well, it wasn’t as bad as it could be since you owned your own business. The city was quiet this time of night, but the bar was the total opposite. You smiled pleasantly as you served a group of women with cocktails. They were higher class, flashing their credits like it was pocket change. You turned the money into the till before turning back to the task at hand, inventory of the alcohol. Quite a few of the bottles needed replacing and you pulled out your notepad to quickly scribble down the brands of each. The bustle continued behind you as the party of women jeered and giggled in the corner, fluttering their eyelashes at a new group of men that entered the bar. They whistled and rushed over to the bar for their drinks.

“Hey there! A round of beers!” The tallest man jeered at you, laughing as one of his companions rushed over to the group of women.

“Coming up.” You snapped your notebook and pencil onto the bar as you turned to grab the glasses from under the wood, holding them between your fingers before you started pulling the drinks. You watched the men saunter away, leaving two to collect the drinks. You stacked the pints in a line on the bar. They paid you with transfer before joining the women in the corner.

 “Rough night?” You jumped as you picked you notepad up, the pencil in your grasp dropping from your fingers as you peered to your left. There was a rogue looking man sat to your left, playing with a coin, running it over his fingers

“You could say that again.” With a small sigh you picked up your pencil, “It’s been insanely busy.” You turned back to note the last few bottles of liquor you needed for restocking. There was an expensive whiskey which you weren’t sure you had in the back.

“Let’s see how much rowdier it gets with those lot around.” The man jabbed his thumb towards the group before looking at the door, grinning over the top of the whiskey you had poured him. The rogue grinned and you looked over to the door in confusion as the lights flickered.

“Maybe there’s another storm...” You muttered as the lights flickered again before the power shorted and everyone was plunged into darkness. Silence.

 The shocked murmurs of the patrons quickly turned into upset hysterics from the women in the bar. The men seemed concerned as they continued to drink. All eyes turned on you as the lights remained out for longer than normal. Power surges were normal in this neighbourhood’s the amount of electricity that was used in the robotics plant nearby. It was a job creator but the community sometimes suffered for the privilege of the engineering potential. You looked up at the lights and looked at the bulbs just before a whirring sounded. Black and orange energy crept from the screw fittings of the bulbs, crackling and whirring with unholy noise.

“I guess this is my last stand.” The rogue man stood and flipped the coin in his hand before looking at the result under his palm. He hissed in upset, “Tails. Maybe I lose.” There was a rush of power again before two orange lights appeared outside the glass panelling of the door. The patrons screamed as claws raked over the glass, making a shrill screeching noise as they connected with the metal second.

 The metal crunched before a heavy metal foot connected with the hinges, slamming the door open to reveal a titanium covered robot. Then the panic started. Men and woman rushed for the back entrance, streaming past you and the bar, ducking low when the rogue man revealed a Wingman Pistol. He spun the pistol over his hand and snapped the ammo into place as the monstrous robot hunched and climbed into the door frame. You ducked under the bar but peered over the edge as pistons clunked and the creature ducked low. It was then that it clicked. Hammond Robotics’ symbol was stamped onto one of the fingerless leather gloves. You covered your mouth and ducked again as the Simulacrum hummed, orange optics roving over the bar to find the rogue man with his pistol drawn.

“Finally.” The Simulacrum purred darkly, “Another robotics lab-rat for my list.” His hand span into a sharp point before whirring again to reveal claws, “Scream for me, skinsuit. I’ll make it hurt enough for the both of us to enjoy.”

 A gunshot made you cringe under the bar, clutching at your head as you listened to the Wingman thunder with shots. They slammed into the walls with cracks and you heard the sound of the Simulacrum’s pistons slamming before he cackled, and his limbs twisted backwards. You looked up as his robotic body slammed into the ceiling, claws and knives slamming into the plaster and metal as he walked over your head, dodging bullets as his arms snaked and rippled in their sockets. His orange eyes peered downwards. You were caught like a rabbit in a predator’s gaze, looking back into the fiery depths as his head tilted, the orange spinning with a swirl of black as he watched you shiver and huddle further back under the bar.

“Duck, skinsuit.” The robot purred as the rogue jumped over the bar and you slid back to avoid having your hands stood on.

“Get back here you fucking monster!” The man howled, “You’re just another failed experiment!”

“Oh? A failure, am I?” The Simulacrum hummed as he detached from the ceiling, his hand spinning into a spear like appendage as he launched himself downwards with a grunt.

 The robot crashed into the floor with a great clatter and you peered up at him, crouched before you, trying to gauge whether you were going to be collateral damage as his head span, the red scarf wrapped around his head and neck fluttering as he pushed off and rushed at the rogue.

“I’m the monster? I killed for your disgusting little customers for three hundred years!” He jeered as his hands sliced towards the man, bullets pinging off the plating covering his shoulders and face. One slammed near his eye socket, leaving a dirty black streak over his bone white faceplate.

“You’re killing for fun now. Your programming isn’t…” The Wingman clicked. Empty. The Simulacrum chuckled, his hand spinning as he dashed forwards again and sliced at the man’s guts. A pained cry rang against the walls and you dared to look to your left as the Simulacrum hoisted the rogue by his neck, claws trailing down the soft skin before he dug them into the cheeks, humming before he started to tear away chunks of skin.

 “Scream for me then. Make this fun, skinsack.” He peeled away a nice chunk of skin and laughed lowly as he dragged the man across the bar, sending pint glasses flying as his legs thrashed in the air. Beer soaked the bar top as he smashed him against the levers, but the Simulacrum seemed indifference to the stench as his clawed fingers wrapped tight around the man’s throat. The rogue gave a strangled cry as he dropped his weapon and pried at the robot’s fingers in a futile attempt to be free.

“Fuck…you…” He cursed at the Simulacrum, “And fuck…that code…” He choked out as his lips went blue and his eyes ringed with red from lack of oxygen.

“Tell me where it is.” The Simulacrum demanded as his other hand’s fingers formed a sharp spear, linked together in a shining point of titanium.

“Fuck you.” The man spat a wad of spit at the Simulacrum’s faceplate. The robotic man didn’t flinch, but his orange burning eyes flicked to the saliva on his cheek before he growled and slammed the point of his fingers into the other’s gut, humming joyfully as blood poured down his arm.

 “What have we here?” The Simulacrum let go of his neck to rummage in his pocket, revealing an access card to the building labelled with the lab he was allowed into. The robotic man scoffed, “You’re barely even a coder but you have sensitive information access…Access to the source.” He hummed and slid the card into a compartment under his scarves, “Ooo.” He cooed, “Is that your spleen?” He questioned. His arm whirred as he squeezed the rogue’s organs. A scream bounced off the walls and you huddled back under the bar, covering your ears until eventually, the noises stopped, and a dead body slumped against the bar top. Silence. You breathed quietly, shaking under the counter before you swallowed and dared to crawl out from underneath the wood. Peering around, you peeked over the bar and tried to ignore the body slumped against the back of the bar beside you, dead eyes looking past you at the liquor cabinet.

“Boo.” The Simulacrum dropped from the ceiling with a snap and hiss of his legs, his weight thudding to the ground as he towered over you, orange gaze burning and spinning before the optics flickered to bright whole light again.

 You jumped, grabbing for a glass before he snatched it from your grip and slammed it back down on the bar top.

“Ah, ah, ah, skinsuit.” He waved a sharp finger in front of you, “Not a word. Shh.” The claw tapped your mouth, “Listen to me and listen quick.” He grunted at you, his fingers flaring threateningly under your chin, pointed at your jugular, “You don’t say a word about this to anyone. You didn’t see anything.” He tapped the sharp titanium against your chin once, “Not a soul.”

You swallowed against the sharp edges and nodded once.

“Good.” The Simulacrum looked at the bar and snatched the expensive whiskey the man had been drinking, his skeletal like nose sniffing at the contents before he hummed and opened his mouth. The inside was dark, but copper plating shined inside before he snapped it closed again like a trap. The whiskey disappeared, and there was no noise of liquid dripping onto the floor. The Simulacrum’s mouth remained closed as he spoke, “Good taste.” There wasn’t another word as his arms whirred and the pistons in his legs readjusted before he walked to the hole where the front door had once hung on its hinges, “Thanks for the drink.” And he was gone, past the giant glass windows and into the night, leaving you with a bleeding body as the police entered the bar.

 It took far too long for the Apex Games to reimburse you for the damages. There was though, after about a weeks delay, a fat cheque left in your post-box for you to collect. It was perhaps far more than the bar was worth, but you knew it was hush money.  Keep quiet or they take everything. That was the threat. A threat because they couldn’t keep their murderous toys under control with the money, slaughter and fame of the Apex Games alone. Revenant. You had learned his name when you watched a match, watching the Simulacrum hiss and spit at the drone cameras when they got too close. It was a slaughter until the other team found the death totem, then the entire match was won by a curious line-up of Bloodhound, Lifeline and Gibraltar. He deserved the electrocution from Lifeline’s drone you decided as you turned on the Holoscreen in the bar for one of your regulars. You had access to the sport channels with the new ariel you’d had installed, and it kept a lot of older patrons coming back weekly for the matches. Softly, you whistled as you pulled another pint and handed it to an older looking worker. He was sooty and probably had spent the day mining ore in the distant mountain. You smiled, took his money and thanked him before continuing with the rounds down the bar, not noticing as it got later and closer to closing.

 “Nice bar, skinsuit.” A robotic voice jeered before a bar stool creaked noisily under a heavy weight. You sucked in a breath as you looked into the corner of the bar, meeting orange optics as the Simulacrum seemed to sneer, “Made use of the money I see by upgrading. Nicer décor now. Much more…” He rotated a hand, “Swish, or whatever.” He didn’t seem to really care as he grunted in a poor attempt at appreciation.

With a scowl, you reached to snatch away another customer’s drink from his prying fingers, “Revenant. I learned about you and your escapades after you slaughtered a man in my bar.” You crossed your arms over your chest and looked at his chassis, “You have guts showing your face here again.”

The few patrons left ignored your anger and the confrontation that was about to occur, looking down at their drinks and ducking their heads low as the Simulacrum turned his gaze to the crowd.

 No one stood in your defence. Revenant's orange burning eyes span with processing before his metal fingers rapped against the bar in two swift pounds. He shifted back in his seat and then looked over at your liquor cabinet.

“What about if I buy a drink?” Revenant grumbled, his eyes moving over your hands as you reached for a tumbler on reflex. You slammed it against the bar a little too harshly and gave him a smile as you gestured to the liquors behind you.

“We have a new Cognac. Or would you prefer something more bitter?” You snarked as the Simulacrum hummed, once again indifferent to your attitude as he leaned around you to look at the liquors.

“Whiskey then. That one I had last time wasn’t strong enough.” Revenant complained with a snort as he reached into a pouch on his hip and flashed his wallet of chips from his winnings. Loaded was an understatement. He placed one chip out worth a thousand and hummed again.

“Yeah. That’ll pay for it.” You pulled a heavy, expensive bottle of liquor down, a malt whiskey and offered him the bottle after pouring him a shot.

 Burning orange eyes followed your hands under the bar as you reached for the ice bucket, “Don’t bother with ice.” Revenant rumbled as he rotated his hand backwards, wiggled his fingers, then rotated it back the other way, ignoring you as you slammed the cover back onto the ice cooler a little too harshly.

Your eyes turned away from him as you went back to serve another customer, “The bottle is yours by the way, bot. Try not to get too drunk before closing.”

“Pah!” Revenant scoffed as he reached for the tumbler and swirled the dark fluid inside, “If you think I can get drunk I might have to disappoint you, skinbag.” He snarled before he poured a small amount of liquor into his mouth, snapping it shut as he ran the fluid around over the sensors.

You watched him before raising your voice, “Do you even need to drink or eat? You don’t piss fluid out of your chasis so I assume you can but…”

“I can. So, I do. Just fluids.” Revenant replied shortly, his fingers moving to tuck his scarf back over his shoulder, “If you’re gonna ask if there’s any point. There isn’t. Its…a sentiment.” He hissed, seemingly disgusted with himself before he grunted against and finished the whiskey before pouring himself another one and knocking that back as well.

 You ignored him for an hour as the regulars called for their final drinks before paying and packing up to leave with lingering stares at the Simulacrum in the corner with his feet up on another stool and his arms stretching and bending at odd angles as he played with the Silencing orb. The orange and black orb crackled with energy as he threw it up and caught it between two fingers, pointing it threateningly at another patron who looked at him too long.

“Move it skinsuit.” Revenant rumbled as a man with a robotic arm lingered behind him, “This’ll get messy otherwise and I love a good mess on my hands. His fingers pointed into a sharp spear as the ball of crackling energy snapped back into the launcher. The man snorted but took his drink, drank the last dregs before leaving, leaving the bar in silence with just you and the Simulacrum perched in the corner of the bar.

 The towel was damp with beer as you wiped the side down before throwing it into the basket for washing and taking out the disinfectant spray. You sprayed down the side and made sure to catch Revenants arm in the mist.

“Watch it, skinsuit.” He grunted as he snatched his drink from the chemicals and poured the rest into himself. The bottle was still on the bar, and he took hold of that and leaned back to let you wipe down the side in front of him.

“You’re really not taking my hint, huh?” You grumbled, “Revenant, its closing time, and unlike you robots, I really do need to sleep.”

“Pah.” Revenant huffed, “I paid for this.” He held up the bottle, “So I’m going to finish it, in peace.”

You opened your mouth to protest just as the front door opened again and a heavily clothed individual stepped inside. They were strapped in belts and pouches and thick leather with heavy furs, their face covered with a pair of goggles and a full respirator. The respirator whooshed with air as they politely closed the door behind them, turning their orange goggled gaze to the edge of the bar as they tilted their head to peer around.

 “Oh goodie. They sent the lap dog.” Revenant sneered at the other person, his orange gaze dropping to find the tube of the ventilator to pull if he needed a quick escape.

“You were not exactly hard to track. Your tracks are very ...distinguishable.” A heavy Scandinavian accent was muffled through the respirator, “They want you back before the morn’. We have interviews.” They continued, ignoring you in favour of sizing up the Simulacrum.

“And what, ‘Hound? You gonna drag me home kicking and screaming?” Revenant took hold of the ball of energy, the silence threat hanging over his supposed foe.

“Yes.” The other hummed as they reached for a knife on their belt, “I will drag you back, silent, with both your arms and legs removed, bot.”

“Sure.” Revenant purred, “I’ll look forward to gutting you really slow in the next match, skinsuit dog.” His claws slammed at the bar.

 “If you’re going to gut each other, do it outside!” You shouted between the two of them. The newcomer appeared startled as you slammed the bar door up and then back down. Revenant’s optics squinted in glee as you stood between them both, “I want no more bloodshed in my bar!”

The newcomer lowered their head, “I apologise. I am Blóðhundr, you can call me Bloodhound."

Your eyes widened, “Another Legend. Wow. Its an honour to meet you. You’re the three times champion, right?”

Bloodhound nodded their head, “That I am. I am sorry for the intrusion, but I have been sent to collect a rogue maniac.” They sounded smug behind the mask.

“A maniac. That’s got a nice ring to it.” Revenant took another glug from the bottle.

“Are you inebriated, bot? You embarrass yourself.” Bloodhound snapped as they drew their knife and pointed it at Revenant, “I am sure the bartender has had enough of you.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” You rolled your eyes.

“Careful, skinsack, maybe I’ll take more than just this bottle, hm?” The Simulacrum purred, “I can think of a few things I would like more…Maybe your guts as a necklace.”

“Quiet.” Bloodhound snapped, “We go.” They pointed the knife to the door, “Now.”

 You looked between them both and took a step back, “Look. Its closing time and I want to sleep. So, again, can you please take this outside. Its cool having celebrities in here, but I don’t need another insurance claim and hush money on my hands.”

Bloodhound tilted their head, “Hush money?” Their goggles looked over at Revenant, “This was your doing then. Slátra in the ring was not enough?” They sounded simply disappointed, “You never fail to give into your programming like some primitive tool.” The insult was sharp but muffled through their respirator.

“Watch it, dog, you’re still a squishy skinbag like the rest of them.” Revenant threatened as he stood up, the bottle in hand as he walked around the bar and loomed over Bloodhound, his clawed hands held up in front of their goggles and respirators. He flicked a bead on their hat before he looked back at you with burning orange eyes, “See you around, bartender.” Revenant hummed as he headed back towards the door, tucking his scarf over the bottom of his face.

Bloodhound snapped their hunting knife back into their sheath on their chest before nodding at you and placing a hand over their heart, “I apologise for the intrusion. Pray, have a good night.”

“Thanks for clearing him out for me, Bloodhound. It’s been a pleasure to meet you.” You smiled as well as you could as you scooped up Revenant’s used glass, “Be safe. He’s… something.”

“Something is perhaps kind.” Bloodhound tipped their hat before they followed Revenant out of the door.

 A call of a Raven followed them as the door closed and you were left in peace.

 The next game was broadcast over a week later, and you tuned the holoscreen in as a crowd gathered in the bar to watch. The drones were following the last two teams, and it seemed that Revenant and Bloodhound were working together, with Caustic as their third. Gibraltar, Octane and Lifeline were the other squad left alive, hunkered down on the high ground with Gibraltar’s shield stopping the bullets from Bloodhound’s Kraber. It was setting out to be a long and slow final match though Revenant and Bloodhound possessed more rushing capabilities. Caustic was the first to move before Revenant followed, leaving his totem in the guard of Bloodhound as they continued to rain deadly shots against Gibraltar’s defences. Bloodhound span in time for a scan to see Octane moving against them, and they turned with a quick shot, downing Octane with a precise headshot as he spat profanities at them. Lifeline was too far for a resurrection and so Octane was eliminated.

“There are two left, félagi fighters, fight strong.” Bloodhound’s voice sounded over the sound system.

 “Great. One less to make a mess with.” Revenant huffed as the drone switch perspective and the cameras watched Revenant storm the shield up high as Caustic laid his gas out below. The Simulacrum slid into the shield and hailed bullets into Gibraltar before leaving a grenade inside and sliding from the roof into the room below.

“Toxic traps in position.” Caustic mused before he snorted, “Lifeline has Gibraltar back up, they haven’t taken the bait.”

“Urgh.” Revenant howled as he was sent back to the totem where Bloodhound was laid on the roof, “Back at the Totem! Caustic, move!”

“Lovely.” Caustic cursed but dropped a gas cloud as he headed towards Bloodhound.

Bloodhound made no noise as they took a shot and watched Lifeline go down, “Move! They are weak.” The other two turned heel to finish the match and the crowd jeered as they won the title of champions.

 You couldn’t help but wonder if it would have gone differently if Bloodhound was on the other side.

 “Artur, you cannot come in, you know this.” Bloodhound said from the door, their voice hushed as they held their arm outside, “Come now, do not cause me any more problems.” They cooed softly.

“Bloodhound?” You asked gently, “You’re here late?” You questioned as their goggles looked at you, “Who is Artur?”

Bloodhound carefully pulled their arm inside and showed you the Raven. It was perched on his arm and squawked curiously as its beady black eye analysed you, “Artur is my companion and friend.” Bloodhound stroked their finger over the soft feathers of the Raven’s chest, “Do you allow animals in. I’m afraid he does not want to stay outdoors…I believe he can smell the rain.”

“Sure…so long as he doesn’t shit on my floor, he can come in.” You smiled as Bloodhound ducked inside, the beads on their hat clicking as they entered and headed towards the bar with graceful long strides.

“I came to apologise for Revenant’s behaviour. The Simulacrum knows nothing else than the slátra… ah that is… he only knows killing.” Bloodhound sat and let Artur rest on their shoulder, “I know he left a mess, and you were paid for it out of his winnings. I hope that brings you some joy.”

 The tracker shifted in their seat as Artur hopped from their shoulder, over the heavy material and leather on their arms before the Raven jumped along the bar, squawking curiously into an empty pint glass.

You watched the bird before smiling and collecting the rest of the glasses from the top, “It felt like a kick in the teeth. No one cared about me, just that I kept quiet about it.” You shrugged your shoulders, “Hey, at least Revenant likes what I did with the place now, huh?” It was a sour joke.

Bloodhound looked at you curiously before their goggles shifted a little with their head, looking at the drinks and liquor behind you, “What he thinks is of little importance.” They stated before a gloved hand pointed at the drinks, “Do you have Brennivín? It is not common.”

Shocked, you stumbled for a moment before turning back to the cabinet. You hadn’t heard of the drink until a rogue group of Outlanders came through some years ago, “Brennivín…” You hummed before you snatched the clear liquid from the shelf, holding up the harsh green label for Bloodhound to see, “It’s a dill flavoured drink, right?”

 “Ah. It has been some time since I have seen it.” Bloodhound happily took the bottle from you with careful hands, spinning the glass bottle to look at the back with a small huffy laugh, “The Black Death.” They purred, seemingly happy before they passed it back, “May I have some? A chilled glass will be sufficient. It is best chilled in the snow outside, but we are far from the snow here.”

“I didn’t think you would ah…want a drink.” You confessed as you took an iced glass from the fridge and turned it up on the bar before pouring a generous shot. Bloodhound reached for their pouch, but you held up your hand, “Its on me. Think of it as a thank you for dealing with Revenant.” You smiled and Bloodhound nodded before holding the drink close.

They made no move to drink.

“Wait how are you going to…” You trailed off as they span their finger around in a silent command for you to turn around. You turned around awkwardly in embarrassment and waited, the urge to peer back strong as the respirator hissed with air and they coughed quietly.

“You may turn around.” Bloodhound’s voice was infinitely softer without the mask and you smiled at the exposed mouth and chin.

 They were pale and scarred with faint, harsh lines over the lower half of their face, but they gave a half smirk at your look before taking a careful sip of the alcohol.

Bloodhound gave a small hiss before they shook their head and chuckled again, “That is strong. Good.” They gestured to their chest, “Heart-warming.”

“Heart-warming is one word for it.” You held up the label again, “It’s sixty percent proof. I think I got it off some weird Outlands dealer.” With a shrug you placed the bottle back into the cabinet.

Bloodhound took another burning sip and looked at Artur as the Raven hopped back towards him from the glass, he had been entertaining himself with, “Artur. Do you want one too?” The tracker teased, “Can Artur have some water. We have travelled quite far.”

“Oh, sure.” You turned and then whipped back around, “Can he drink out of a bowl?”

“A bowl will be fine, but he may throw water all over your bar.” Bloodhound nodded as you filled a shallow bowl and leaned back as Artur hopped over, dunking his beak into the water to have a drink before he shook side to side and cawed loudly. Bloodhound offered the bird their arm and watched Artur walk back up their arm before taking another sip of Brennivín.

 A comfortable silence covered the both of you as you worked through your clean up routine in the empty bar, putting the empty glasses into the back room to be cleaned by the steamer bot you had installed. The robot chugged to life happily, almost like a MRVIN, before setting to work putting glasses into its stomach for washing before organising the others into stacks for the second cycle.

Bloodhound was sat with their respirator back on when you returned, stroking Artur’s soft black feathers underneath the bird’s chin. Artur cooed happily before jumping back to Bloodhound’s shoulder and regarding you with one beady black eye.

“Thank you for the drink.” Their voice was muffled and lower through the respirator once again.

“You’re welcome.” You uttered as they stood.

Bloodhound adjusted their hat before looking around again, taking in the bar one last time before they headed to the door, “Farewell, krúttið mitt.”

Before you could ask them what exactly it meant they were gone, the metal door closing with a thump behind them. You followed to the door and clicked the old school and new technology lock into place, making sure that the door didn’t open before you turned the lights off and went to check in on your dishwashing companion, curious as to just why an Apex Legend had taken it upon themselves to come and check on you.

 You watched the games for the coming weeks of the season with an interest in the two Legends that had entered your bar. Revenant and Bloodhound were machines on the field, but often grew too invested in their own kills, which lead to their failure. Bloodhound was less likely to be so focused on one person, but recently with Revenant’s goading, they were easily thrown off in favour of hunting one team for an entire match. Neither of them had a solid win for the rest of the season, they were mostly luck wins where they downed injured teams. You wondered what was wrong with them but tried not to pay much attention as your regular life settled back into place. The bar was busy on match days, and you laughed as new customers became regulars, and learned who liked what drink along with which Legend they loved as well.

“Who are you rooting for today?” Kennedy asked as he sipped his beer, “Your preference for that bot is slightly disturbing.” He laughed.

“Bloodhound is up with Mirage and Wattson today.” You hummed, “Revenant is with Octane and Lifeline. I think Bloodhound has the better option.” You laughed before the games started, wondering just who you should really be rooting for.

[tlbodine]

The Great Content Warning Debate

Horror Twitter has been aflame for a few days now with heated discourse about trigger/content warnings, and I keep seeing the same arguments and questions and points come up repeatedly so I wanted to collect all of it into one place because I feel like discourse can only get so far if people keep reinventing the wheel -- so perhaps having the full discussion laid out in one place could be helpful.

Of course, the folks arguing probably won’t see this post, but perhaps there can be some benefit from talking about it anyway. This is intended to be more of an overview of arguments and counter-arguments, collected and displayed as impartially as possible, but of course my own opinions are going to leak in and color some of this. 

NOTE: This is written specifically from the perspective of the horror book community, a genre that traditionally is associated with troubling, transgressive, risk-taking and shocking works. There are discussions to be had for content labels on other types of fiction, but as I’m unfamiliar with the norms and expectations of, say, romance, I’m not going to wade too deeply into that here. 

So without further ado, the arguments and counter-arguments and discussion points that I keep seeing hashed and rehashed and circled around when the issue of trigger warnings comes up! 

If you’re sensitive, you shouldn’t be reading horror 

“Horror is supposed to be horrifying! It’s not fluffy bunnies and kittens! You’re supposed to be made uncomfortable!” 

There are a few problems with this: 

“Uncomfortable” is not the same as “Sent into a panic attack/flashback/relapse” (ie, triggered) 

People with PTSD and other issues can and do engage with horror all the time and often love the genre for entertainment or therapeutic purposes

Many people are fine with some types of content but not others; blood and guts won’t affect them the same as rape, or they’re fine with adults dying but can’t handle child death, and so on and so forth 

Knowing what you’re getting into can help you prepare/brace yourself so you’re not taken unaware; people with the right warnings can mentally prepare themselves and enjoy a book that they would not have been able to read if they were confronted with it unexpectedly

Trigger warnings are censorship 

Some folks have an implicit/kneejerk reaction that “trigger = bad thing” and respond to the request to put warnings on a book as a moral value judgment on the book’s contents. I can see why they might fear that, especially because at a glance it’s easy to conflate the groups asking for warnings with the groups who say things like “if your characters have underage sex then you the writer are literally a pedophile.” But by and large the folks asking for warnings do not seem to be asking for folks to stop writing certain difficult themes, only to provide a heads up for readers about the type of experience those readers can expect from the book. 

There is an argument to be made that warnings could affect the sales of a book, in much the same way that an NC-17 film doesn’t get the same distribution opportunities as an R-rated or PG-13 film, and that authors/publishers will make marketing decisions to include or exclude certain types of content in order to avoid this. 

Trigger warnings will spoil the book 

While some readers will benefit from content warnings, others might have their reading experience ruined by knowing about major twists. This seems especially relevant with a warning like “child death.” It’s very important that people who have, for example, recently lost a child not be unexpectedly re-traumatized by reading about a child dying without warning. But it’s also important that people who want to enjoy the full, shocking impact of such a scene have the opportunity to do so without having it dulled by forewarning. 

Any kind of warning system needs to be opt-in for a reader. Some suggestions include: 

Placing warnings at the end of a book, where readers can flip to that page to look (not helpful if you’re ordering online) 

Placing warnings on the author’s website, where readers can search (not helpful if you’re buying in person)

Given the limitations, a combination of those strategies seems to make sense. It may also be unfortunately true that someone looking for one type of warning (ie, rape) will have their experience ruined if they spoiler themselves for another warning (child death). This may be unavoidable collateral damage. 

Authors/Publishers should be responsible for putting warnings in their books

There seems to be some debate over whether the onus of responsibility for providing warnings rests on the author or the publisher. It should be acknowledged that authors may not always have the power to make this choice -- and if the presence or absence of warnings becomes a factor for judging the quality/moral fiber of authors, those authors could be punished by the reader community for a choice that was largely out of their hands (although, there’s still nothing keeping the author from hosting those warnings externally - how successfully that is implemented is another matter). 

Additionally, the demand for warnings will be placed more consistently on small presses simply because those presses are more likely to heed the request. This could create a double standard where readers might be more forgiving of large pub works that forego warnings because there’s no expectation that they would have implemented them anyway. On the other hand, this could be a way for indie publishers to differentiate themselves on the market and appeal more to certain subsets of readers. 

External groups or communities should be responsible for warnings

There’s a line of reasoning that an author or publisher may not be sensitive to the potentially triggering/damaging things in their work, and some kind of external governing body should manage this work instead. This does sound a lot more like the censorship argument that people are worried about. 

Wiki-style sites and places where people can freely tag books (such as Storygraph) also fit this bill to an extent. They would presumably have less power over the market than a ratings board like the MPAA, but could still exert influence over how a book is received. 

Demanding warnings will negatively impact marginalized authors 

We’re already seeing some evidence that BIPOC and LGBTQ authors are affected more by user-generated trigger warnings on sites like Storygraph, and that these warnings can be weaponized against marginalized authors. Much like review-bombing a book before it comes out can affect its launch, labeling a book with inaccurate trigger warnings could damage its sales. 

Similarly, lists of “safe” and “unsafe” authors have already begun to circulate among some groups, and there seems to be a disproportionate number of marginalized creators on that “unsafe” list -- at least according to the anecdotal reports I’ve seen. 

Historically, it is true that any attempts at censorship or content moderation will be more harshly applied to marginalized groups (see: film ratings for gay sex vs straight sex). 

It’s impossible to warn for everything

One hesitancy that some authors have with tagging their work is they’re not sure what to tag for. Triggers are highly personal, and there’s no way you can possibly guess what might upset a reader. 

Here’s a list of commonly agreed-upon things that might make sense to tag for in a given work: 

Violence/gore 

Suicide/self-harm

Rape/sexual assault

Domestic violence

Child death/endangerment

Animal death/abuse

Drug use/substance abuse 

Racism/slurs 

That said, it’s still difficult to account for context. At what stage do you warn for something? If a character is drinking a beer, do you need to tag for that? Do you distinguish between the tone things are written in, such as being played for laughs vs seriously? If the rape scene is written artistically/metaphorically, does the same warning apply as if it were described act-by-act in a clinical sense? What if your blanket list of warnings gives readers a false sense of what the book will be like -- is it actually helpful at all, or is it just posturing/virtue signaling to include warnings that won’t actually be effective?  

Some would argue that this is dramatically overthinking it, but this does seem to cause a great deal of distress to authors who want to do the right thing but worry about getting it wrong. An argument could be made that trying and failing might be worse than doing nothing, especially if your attempts get you labeled as a “trustworthy” or “safe” author only for that trust to be “betrayed” by a warning you used incorrectly. 

On the other hand, many would argue that we all “pretty much know” what needs to be warned for, and that warnings are intuitive. These granular questions could be viewed as a distraction from more common sense issues. 

Readers are responsible for managing their own safety

Ultimately, because it’s impossible for every potential trigger to be identified and warned for, readers will need to remain vigilant. Of course, there are already ways to identify the content of a book without any kind of established warning system -- such as, for example, reading posted book reviews, asking a question on a book’s Goodreads page, reaching out to the author directly, asking about the book in a reading group online or having a friend/parent/spouse/trusted person read the book first and report back with their findings. 

This is the system we’ve pretty much used as readers for years, before “trigger warning” became part of the common vernacular, and it does have some distinct advantages just because you can get a lot more specific information this way. 

It is possible that if warnings become more commonplace for books that readers may become less vigilant about their own safety, which could paradoxically put them at greater risk of finding troubling content unexpectedly. 

There’s also the issue of “safe” and “unsafe” author lists. At the moment, while the discourse is hot, it’s perhaps more natural to pick sides and disregard some authors for reasons that may be unfair -- for example, marking an author as unsafe or boycotting her work because she doesn’t want to include warnings, but she wants to avoid warnings because she strongly believes they will be detrimental to a reader’s safety. A reader may or may not agree with that perspective, but it’s certainly not the same motive as an author who would do something actively malicious to a reader (like, idk, emailing a screamer to a reviewer or something. that’s a made up example.) 

In the end, trigger warnings are a good idea, but the issue is complex to implement and some people do still have reservations about their overall efficacy. 

We simply won’t know one way or another until we try to implement it. But in the meantime, I do think it’s valuable to continue talking about this, as long as everyone involved remains civil and engages in good faith. Once people’s perspectives start getting thrown out the window in the heat of the moment, or strawmen arguments are erected that don’t reflect what anyone involved actually believes, the discussion ceases to be helpful.