Future SOLDIER

“I heard the rumors, but who’da thought that you’d be this hot~” 

“DIE!!” 

So I want to talk about Cloud’s individual Memorable Scenes that have specifically to do with the romantic nature of his bond with Tifa. First and foremost, let’s end the LTD.

Today we announced some big updates to our Community Guidelines and what kind of content is permitted on Tumblr. Adult content will no longer be allowed here. While we do not judge anyone for their desire to post, engage with, or view this stuff, it is time for us to change our relationship with it.

We expect you may have some questions on how this will affect you, and we’re here to make sure those questions get answered.

When does the new policy take effect?

Our new Community Guidelines will go into effect on December 17, 2018.

Newly uploaded content flagged as adult will no longer be allowed on Tumblr. We’ll also begin flagging and removing existing adult content with the ultimate goal of removing as much of it as we can.

What is considered adult content?

Adult content primarily includes photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts.

What is still permitted?

Examples of exceptions that are still permitted are exposed female-presenting nipples in connection with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth moments, and health-related situations, such as post-mastectomy or gender confirmation surgery. Written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art, such as sculptures and illustrations, are also stuff that can be freely posted on Tumblr.

What about Safe Mode?

Our new policy negates the need for Safe Mode so this feature will no longer exist. These new policies are the same regardless of your age. Read more here.

My content was flagged, but I don’t think it should be. What should I do?

If you feel that we have categorized your post incorrectly, you can appeal this decision with the form that was sent to you via email or use the button on the post in question. Please note that this process is only possible to complete on the web or with Tumblr app version 12.2 or higher.

Read more about how to review your content and appeal here.

What goes into classifying content as adult?

This work requires a mix of machine-learning classification and human moderation by our Trust & Safety team—the group of individuals who help moderate Tumblr. We’ve been expanding the team to handle the increased workload, and we will continue to expand as needed.

Computers are better than humans at scaling process—and we need them for that—but they’re not as good at making nuanced, contextual decisions. This is an evolving process for all of us, and we’re committed to getting this right. That’s why when you appeal a post we’ve marked as adult, it gets sent to a real, live human who will look it over with their real, live human eye(s).

Will I see any adult content on Tumblr after December 17, 2018?

Due to the technical challenges that come with moderation at scale you may continue to see some adult content. This is true for all types of content that might be in violation of our guidelines. At any given moment, millions of people are posting to Tumblr. To review everything and to get it right is complex, but we’re committed to continuously improving.

As always, if you see a post with adult content that you don’t want to see, you can report it directly to our Trust & Safety team. Learn about how to report content here.

What will happen to my adult content already on Tumblr?

Starting today, we will begin sending out email notices to members of the Tumblr community whose content has been flagged as adult. This email will provide a link to the post(s) in question and a form to appeal our decision if you think we have made a mistake. Starting on December 17, 2018, any post(s) that have been flagged will be reverted to a private setting viewable only by you. If you want to learn more about how to see those posts, please visit our Help Center.

As always, please make sure the email associated with your Tumblr account is one you use regularly. It’s how we get in touch when we need you!

You can also download the contents of your blog(s) before these policy changes take effect. Find out how here.

What if my blog (not to be confused with posts) was marked as “explicit” before December 17, 2018?

Blogs that have been either self-flagged or flagged by us as “explicit” per our old policy and before December 17, 2018 will still be overlaid with a content filter when viewing these blogs directly. While some of the content on these blogs may now be in violation of our policies and will be actioned accordingly, the blog owners may choose to post content that is within our policies in the future, so we’d like to provide that option. Users under 18 will still not be allowed to click through to see the content of these blogs. The avatars and headers for these blogs will also be reverted to the default settings.

You can check and see if your blog is marked as explicit per our old policy in your visibility settings. If you think your blog has been erroneously marked as explicit, please send an appeal here.

Will I get kicked off of Tumblr if I’ve uploaded adult content in the past?

We’re removing content, not people. However, those who repeatedly and deliberately post new content that violates our updated guidelines may have their account deactivated per our Terms of Service. If you feel you’ve been incorrectly suspended, you can appeal here.

What if I reblogged adult content?

The original poster of the content will be notified of its removal, and it will no longer be on your blog.

What if I have more “What if” questions?

We got you. You can review our updated Community Guidelines right over here. If you still haven’t found an answer to your question, you can ask our support team.

The One Silver Lining about this bullshit that Tumblr is doing, that I am seeing less and less of y’all being shitty towards “The Fandom Olds” on this site.

Seems like a bunch of you are starting to realize what we meant when we said things like “AO3 Is Important” , “Know your Internet History”, “Why Censorship is a Slippery Slope and why you should only report things that *are*actually illegal, and opt to just filter/not interact with legal subject matter you don’t agree with”

Because all of us Fandom Olds have gone through this…over and over. We’ve lost friends, we’ve lost safe spaces, we’ve lost countless hours of work - fannish and personal- everything gone in an instant and without warning.

Every time a fandom space is deleted or censored to the point where people are forced to migrate, it’s like another burning of the Library of Alexandria.  You may think I’m being dramatic because y’know are things like Bowsette or Superwholock, things we want to be remembered about ourselves…and I would say yes, because humans *are* weird and we do need these cultural touchstones to know where we were and where we are headed…but the bigger point is- we can’t let censorship of legal things become a precedent. Because if this works for Tumblr, then we’ve lost the original culture of the Internet. We can’t let blanket censorship under the guise of “Family Friendly” social media spaces become standard.  Because today it’s “ban all the lewds”, which may be fine to some of you, but tomorrow it could be “ban all blogs that discuss trans people’s transition journeys” “ban all pages that discuss birth control and body autonomy”. 

But I digress.

The point is, a lot of you have only known microblogging sites like Tumblr for fandom and internet interaction, and you’ve never had something like a blanket ban and censorship affect you.  You’ve never had to think about things like mirroring posts, figuring out where your friends are going en mass.  You’ve made home here- yeah we all joke about the shittiness of Tumblr, the purity police culture that was prevalent here - but for better or for worse, Tumblr worked for a lot of us - it brought so many of us into spaces we never had before and reunited a lot of us who were effectively homeless after being run off sites like Livejournal.

If Tumblr becomes a virtual graveyard after Dec 17, it’s going to suck to suddenly decentralize where you go for your safe internet space/fandom/friend interaction.

But I’m here for you, and I hope that a lot my fellow Fandom Olds are there for their younger followers.  Fandom Olds, we know the way out - we’ve done this before (unfortunately). So please be there for your followers-  don’t knee-jerk delete your blogs, provide communication of where you’re going even if it’s just to Twitter or a Discord for a time being.  Help people back up their posts - if they can’t post to sites like AO3 (due to country bans or whatever), offer to post their stuff for them on their behalf there.  Start post libraries - even if it’s physically downloading images and text posts/stories, with the OP’s permission of course- to hard drives.

Hi, you may or may not know me. I go by Tyramir, and I’m an author. Mostly I write fanfic, but I have also published a book at some point. (Yes, that was a subtle plug – don’t feel obligated to click the links, they’re there to justify to myself why I’m doing this so I can say this wasn’t 100% altruistic because I’m a crusty old troll)

So, recently, Tumblr has made something of an announcement regarding what kind of content they will and will not host in the future. And you know what, that’s okay. It’s their site. They can do what they want. Just like I’m free to say, “Hey, @staff, go fuck yourselves with some sandpaper, you masochistic fucks.”

Ah, that felt good. You know what else feels good? Moving to Pillowfort. I’m in no way associated with them, beyond that I am now a user. I just bought a key. More than one, actually. I bought a whackload of them. I am not rich. See: author. Very poor profession if you’re not ultra-successful. However, what I am is angry, and disappointed with the direction this site is taking. 

This site is home for the marginalised, for the outcasts, for the misfits. It’s also the home for a lot of fellow artists, like myself. Ones that might not have a little extra cash in their wallets. So, as a Christmas gift (and as a way of sharing that link up above advertising my book, see self, you’re not totally altruistic), I’m making this offer.

Reblog and like this post. You don’t have to follow me. You don’t have to buy my book. You don’t have to tell anyone it exists. You don’t even have to click that link. Just like and reblog. Anyone who likes it will get one entry for drawing for a key. Anyone who reblogs it will get one. Anyone who does both will get two. And on December 17th, the Day of Ignominy, I will draw ten names, and I will gift ten keys. I’ll even wear a Willy Wonka hat while I do. You won’t be able to see it, but the spirit will be there.

If you want to get the word out, but don’t want to get an entry (say you already have a Pillowfort account), just reblog and tag the post with “no entry,” or some variation thereof. I’ll exclude you from the draw, but thank you (in my mind, I’m not gonna actually thank people, but that requires effort, yo) for helping others learn about this opportunity.

replying is how you make friends! reply to anything you want and be friendly. don’t make rude jokes if you’re not friends already though!

quote retweeting is a no-no. when you “retweet with a comment” it’s not liked by content creators because it makes a new tweet out of their tweet and they don’t get the likes and retweets they would get if you’d just retweeted it straight up. if you want to comment on a retweet, reply to it or post a new tweet starting with “LRT” which stands for “last retweet” (it’s fine to quote retweet dumb memes and so on.)

you can make your tweets private. this means no one but your followers will be able to see what you post and no one will be able to retweet your content.  you can switch back and forth between private and public at will. some people make a separate private account to tweet personal stuff and let mutuals follow it only. it’s a good way to keep things separate.

what is privatter? privatter is a third party web app that content creators can allow to be attached to their twitter. it lets them tweet content that they can make exclusive to logged in users, followers, mutuals, or a specific list of users. as long as you are logged in to twitter and fall into the intended category, you’ll be able to see it. 

you can mute people you follow. (and those you don’t, ofc.) you can also mute words and phrases and entire conversations. if you mute someone you follow and they reply to you, that reply will still show up in your notifications. it’s a good way to keep the peace!

you can limit notifications to people who follow you or to mutuals. (notifications from people you follow will still show up regardless of which option you’ve selected.)

miscellaneous tips and warnings: if you accidentally unfollow and refollow someone, it won’t show up in their notifications as long as it’s within a couple minutes. no more accidental stuff. everyone can see who everyone follows so watch out. people will know if you unfollow. if you want to report someone and want them gone forever, report a tweet where they used a curse word. screenshotting tweets for harassment is a no-no and can get you banned. don’t be lame. don’t be a dick. vaguing others is generally really bad form and so is complaining about content within a fandom you’re in. use the mute tools at your disposal and don’t be a spoiler. you won’t come back from a rep like that and everyone sees everything.

[Image Description: Tag reading “you can go fuck yourself”]