48hr tumblr blackout proposal

tumblr mobile has seadily become near unusable these past few updates. not just from a user experience perspective (which is important enough in itself) but also from an accessibility perspective.

examples include the new way the image viewer works (if you can call it "working"), the tumblr live button replacing the profile button, and that newly created blogs will be forced to have their main dashboard tab be the 'for you' page.

the demands of the protest would be along the lines of:

reverse the recent image viewer update

scrap the new users 'for you' page default setting

let us turn off tumblr live indefinitely

increase efforts against spam / porn bots

make reporting abuse and hate speech as easy as reporting as reporting spam

let us go nuts show nuts again... for real this time

commit to improving usability and accessibility, and listening to users!

(suggestions welcome!)

to protest against these usability issues, and inspired by the recent reddit blackout, i propose a 48 hour blackout (where you don't use tumblr at all). preferably of both mobile and web (since web has problems too) but mobile is the focus here.

I suggest the 48 hours between the 30th of June to the end of the 1st of July.

this marks the end of pride month (for the "queerest place on the internet") and the start of disability month (since accessibility is a massive issue here).

tumblr office is in San Francisco, USA, so the times and dates will be calculated using their time zone (PDT).

you can find out the times and dates for your timezone here.

i can't afford to blaze this post so please spread it around as much as possible! protests only work if significant numbers show up!

IMPORTANT PSA

Please share for UK residents!

The public alert will go off on Sunday 23rd April at 3PM (15:00) BST.

The decision to issue the alert was made against the advice of NGOs who warned this could put vulnerable people in danger. Please spread the message.

Ship dynamic: Character A is a recovering germaphobe who started attending therapy after realising that their phobia was taking away from their quality of life. One of the strategies that they've found most helpful is - when they're worrying about a certain illness, virus, disease, ect - doing lots of research on what to do if they or someone else gets the thing, instead of trying to prevent it from happening to begin with. This has meant that A is an absolutely excellent person to be around when you're sick, injured, or ill.

Cue Person B, A's old friend who's always getting sick, and I mean always. They haven't seen A in ages now, because as A's germaphobia got worse and worse, B's constant illnesses made A want to be near them less and less. Now, though, A feels like they can finally face up to B again, and is realising that they've missed them quite a lot, too.

As always, though, B is unwell, but this time it's different. This time, despite the years of absence, A is willing to help.

We need a name for these inverse Mary Sues.

Writers, please, please, please, I am begging you

I know we don't vibe with Mary Sues, and I know we like watching characters fail...

But if your character is the world's best assassin, they shouldn't be botching nearly every single step of every single job just because the plot demands it. If your character is one of the greatest fighters to ever live, they can't badly lose every single fight the plot throws at them and then barely win the final confrontation. If your character is a competent military strategist, they need at least a few small successes during the course of the plot. If your character is an experienced leader, they can't be constantly making the kind of missteps that realistically would cause their subordinates to lose confidence in them.

If your character is good at something. Show them being good at it.

Some fantasy element ideas that could be used in environmental whump:

Water elementals are able to hold their breath for up to 5x the amount of a normal human, because their lungs can take in and hold much more oxygen than most. However, their lungs cannot separate gases, making them extremely vulnerable to gas inhalation.

Air elementals are very light and have an impeccable sense of balance, but their bones are very brittle and easily broke.

Earth elementals are true greenthumbs, and can grow plants in seconds. However, they need the same conditions to live as their plants need to grow, and without water, sunlight and nutrients, they'll wither away.

Fire elementals can withstand extreme temperatures, but their inner bodyworks are very poor - their immune systems are very weak, which means that a cold could hospitalise them, and a small fever can give them heatstroke.

Okay seriously. Reblog if you're OLDER than 11.

ATTENTION BUFF STUDIO GAMERS

My friend is hosting their first MAP ever on their channel, and it, of course, will be about Buff Studio visual novels.

7 Days? Yes. Underworld Office? Definitely? Argo’s Choice? You got it!

If you want to join, make sure you check out the link in the description!

Reblogs are greatly appreciated :)

Nothing about us without us.  Image description: [pale purple and yellow background with dark text] This April, don’t support an organization that harms autistic people. [crossed out logo for Autism Speaks] Support one built by autistic people, for autistic people. [logos for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the Autism Women’s Network]

PLEASE BE CAREFUL FOR ANYONE WHO USES “BLUEBUFFALO” FOR THEIR DOGS!!

You live in a world where every promise you break shows up as a tally mark on your skin that can't ever be removed. Your younger sibling, who you have legal custody over, is in a hospital ward. You promised them that you'd be there, and hold there hand, if they didn't make it and died.

Today a tally mark appeared on your face.

Okay so the school whump post gave me flashbacks I wasn't ready for.

For some reason when my cusion and I played lps we always had either

And evil school

Or a normal school, with an evil teacher.

And keep in mind we were like 10...

I've thought about writing something like this now a-days but never thought anyone would go for it so thank you for posting this.

I feeled extremely validated

You're welcome :)

TW: Drugs, tranquilizers

Imagine:

• Whumpee seeing Whumper and instead of panicking, they try to keep calm, because they, under no circumstances, will ever let anyone see them like that. They have PRIDE. They didn't have that with Whumper, and they'll never lose it again. Whumpee knowing how much danger that their in, but seeing the other people that they went out with so happy, they can't bring themselves to tell them that anything is wrong.

• Whumpee thinking for a moment that they've been spotted, their breath hitching, freezing up for a fraction of a second, and walking on pretending nothing was wrong and resisting the urge to check over their shoulder.

• They think that they've gotten away this time, until they're all walking down the door and Whumpee feels a pain in their side. They lift up their arm to see a tranquilizer dart, and they realise that if they keep hiding this, they'd go back to Whumper and they can't, they can't, they can't they can't they can't bear to ever ever ever go through that again, and before they know it, their vision is swimming and they're about to lose everything again.

Hear me out. School whump. Whumper kidnapping their "Students" and taking them to some massive building or lair or mansion or actual school, and teaching them. If their students step out of line? We have a room in the basement for that. Parental intimate whumper(s) mixed with sadistic ones that rule over whumpees with an iron fist. The whumpees could be any age, any species, any background, any gender. They could be taught anything there. They could be infantilised and dehumanised, broken and conditioned before they're sold to both well-meaning members of the public and evil, cruel hellspawnish people. Multiple whumpers! Multiple whumpees! Think about it! All your favourite whump tropes, compiled into one, with the whumpees being taught that trope, and being punished if they don't obey!

Why the fuck is this girl using pizza as lipstick

Villain sighed. "Hero. You're not my enemy." Hero wanted answers. "If I'm not, then who is?" Villain looked at them, half amused, half pitying. "Your mentor."

"Why?" Hero asked, their curiosity getting the better of them. They needed to know. Villain took a breath. "Ever heard of The Illusionist?" "Yes..." Hero was sick of that name. The Illusionist had, apparently been a student of Mentor's, who'd failed and fled, unable to face what they'd done. They'd been made out as nothing, but at the same time, Hero had been told constantly that they were nothing compared to them. Worse then nothing. Well, that was something, wasn't it?

"Well" Villain said, "That was me." Hero gaped. Villain? A hero? Not just a hero, but a hero that was too weak to complete a mission? "And no, I didn't flee. Mentor tried to kill me. As you can see, they failed. As you can't see however, they left me with an eye that doesn't work and a lot of nasty scars that I've had to wear the iconic mask to hide. They're that recognizable - and an easy weak spot as well." Hero couldn't say a word. Villain kept talking. "Mentor did the same things to both you and me. I'm so, so sorry for that." "Why... Why do you have to hide the scars?" Hero asked, their voice so quiet it was more of a whisper. "No matter how strong a hero can be, someone who has strings and knows how to pull 'em will always be more dangerous. They can keep a death quiet. Mentor has those strings, and they'll pull them like their a puppeteer." "How did you do it?" Hero asked. "Do what?" Villain enquired. "Make everyone think you died. Even Mentor believes it." Villain raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?" Hero could almost hear the smirk on their face. "I... I want to do it too. I want to get away from Mentor. I don't want to be hurt anymore..." "What will you do once you've faked your death?" Villain asked in a sugary sweet voice. "Well... Maybe... I'd be your sidekick?" Hero answered, hopefully. "I mean, no offense, but I'm more well known then you. Mentor's next victim would probably trust me more if they knew we were heroes." "Were? My, Hero, you're eager! I like it!" "So we have a deal?" "Well, we could. Meet me here tomorrow. Same time, same place, okay?" Hero's face paled. "Villain, we haven't been fighting! Mentor will-" "Hero." Villain said, cutting them off. "There's a reason that they call me The Illusionist." Hero turned around, and sure enough, Hero saw themself - well an illusion of them - punching Villain in the face. "Same time, same place" Hero whispered under their breath over and over after they'd watched the battle unfold. They'd won. Then Villain had ruffled their hair, and called them Kid. For the first time in a long while, Hero thought that everything was going to be alright.

Person A and person B are dating. Person B has an imaginary friend (person C), and A, B and C are in a poly relationship. One day, A is in a car crash, and when they wake, they find an attractive stranger by their bedside. Somehow, the drugs A had been administered caused them to be on the link of two totally different universes. That stranger? That's C. Turns out, the reason that B can see C is because they're being stalked by an eldritch monstrosity planning to sacrifice them in the most painful way possible to an even worse creature that will basically end the world. Cue a strange mix between gothic horror, action and utter chaos as A and C have to save B's life while keeping B completely in the dark.

"A?"

"B? B, is that you? Where are you?"

"A... I... I'm going on a trip. A long trip. I'm... Well, I don't know if I'm going to come home."

"What? Why?"

Silence.

"B! Talk to me!"

B had to bite their lip to stop themselves saying to A that they love them. B wanted to tell A everything. Then again, it's far easier to miss someone on a trip who might be coming home then it is to miss someone who was stabbed and bled to death in a smelly ditch.

Well, bleeding.

"B. There's something you're not telling me."

Should B confess? It's not like they'd have another chance to "See ya pal. Well, actually, I'm not coming back to the apartment - probably. You can chuck my stuff if you want." "B, wait!" "A. Thanks for everything. And..." "And?" "I think it's best you move on from me." B hung up on A. The phone fell from their bloodied fingers and everything went black. Some things are better left unsaid.