Ravvi

We recognize Tumblr is also a place to speak freely about topics like art, sex positivity, your relationships, your sexuality, and your personal journey.

Unless, now, that journey involves actually exploring your sexuality.  You can’t eat your cake and have it too, especially when it manifests as a lazy, broad-brush solution to content that merely makes some people uncomfortable.

We are fierce defenders of free expression. We want Tumblr to be a place where people come to be themselves and engage diverse points of view through constructive dialogue.

Unless, now, your ‘free expression’ involves sex or sexual themes.  Fierce defenders only until enough special interest groups scream at you to make us all go away?  I see no defense here.

The right to expression comes with the right to express things that make others uncomfortable.  Freedom intrinsically comes with the ability for those with it to do stupid, ugly, and dark things.  Tumblr users have a ‘block’ button, which gives them the ability to stay away from people who exercise that aspect of their freedom.  Without it, there is no freedom at all. 

we have a responsibility to consider that impact across different age groups, demographics, cultures, and mindsets

Yes.  That is why they have filtering and the block button.  Safety of this type always comes at the expense of freedom, and it is always in the name of fear.  Do you stop someone from jumping off a cliff if they have a parachute out of fear that they’ll use it improperly?  Or do you provide information about their parachute and how to use it properly?  Yes, there is still danger.  You are allowing people to jump off of cliffs, and that is intrinsically dangerous.  The difference is that when you rope off the cliff and make it off-limits, it becomes infinitely more likely that people will simply fall over the edge.

it became clear that without this content we have the opportunity to create a place where more people feel comfortable expressing themselves

ALARM TRIGGER: CODE ZERO

LOCATION: CENTRAL VALLEY [34.54510; -111.85936]

RECOMMENDED ACTION: MOBILIZE IMMEDIATELY FOR COLLECTION

DETAILS: SENSOR TRIP IN RURAL AREA SHARPLY INCONSISTENT WITH BASELINE.  SATELLITE FOOTAGE OBTAINED.

A slender hand touched the ‘play’ icon on the screen.  Below the warning message, a top-down image of two tiny figures appeared, staggering northward along a stretch of highway.  One appeared to be helping, or perhaps dragging, the other beside him.

“You again,” the figure behind the screen murmured thoughtfully, touching one of the skeletons with a fingertip.  The image zoomed in, but it was much too grainy and low-resolution to make out anything other than the monster’s large, round eyesockets and permanent, skeleton’s smile before the pair of them simply…vanished.

The ride out of the city was mercifully short and unremarkable.  Papyrus still leapt off and onto the wonderfully solid and unmoving ground THE SECOND Edge stopped the engine.  Mostly on the sake of principle.

“It isn’t going to spontaneously explode, Creampuff.”

Papyrus glared suspiciously at the Inherently Unstable Vehicle, an expression that was sadly lost behind his mirrored visor.

“That may be true, but it still attracts accidents with alarming efficiency,” he grumbled, unbuckling the helmet.  Fresh air curled around his skull, cooling his forehead and the edge of his parietals where the helmet’s cushioning had started to chafe.  Another mission completed, and somehow, all of his bones were still intact.  He could only assume he’d been gifted with an extraordinary amount of luck to have avoided becoming a dusty stretch of pavement once again.  “We could always use one of the larger Windows instead of this one when you return to find Miss Pythia.  One large enough to fit a car through, perhaps?”

Edge rolled his eyes and began to wheel the motorcycle off of the road.  “We could, if you want to alert every human within hearing distance that we’ve arrived.   Larger Window, larger impact.  I’ve yet to see one that hasn’t been completely defiled by human tourism.”

“Then we go in as tourists!” Papyrus suggested helpfully, jogging to catch up to Edge.  “Humans are similar enough to skeletons that a disguise would let us slip past unnoticed.”

“Too risky,” Edge grunted.

“But we pass as humans all the time in disguise!”

“Certainly.  For a few seconds in poor light and from behind.  If the human in question is particularly dull-witted.”

“But we walked past several humans today?  In broad daylight?”

“Yes. And each of them noticed us immediately.  Hopefully, they assumed we were eccentric and not suspicious, but it was still a significant risk," Edge growled, then continued in a calmer tone.  "Speaking of which, I’m curious.  How did your Sans react when you told him that you were going on another mission with me to the Surface?”

Papyrus fell silent, looking out over the landscape.  Just ahead, a set of abandoned train tracks jutted out across a dry ravine, propped up on a twisted, blackened truss that looked as though it had been burned a very long time ago.  To either side, waist-high grass stretched out to the horizon, streaked with purple wildflowers that rippled in a hypnotic wave beneath the gentle breeze.  The sun touched the far hills in the distance, bathing everything in the rich, saturated light of sunset.   Papyrus shivered, resisting the urge to turn his face into the sunlight and bask.  There was always something about the warmth and beautiful light that felt fundamentally right.  In a strange way, it felt welcoming, as though he were being greeted by an old friend.  An old friend who, if Sans had any say in it, Papyrus would never see again.  Not that he would ever actually say so, or try to stop him.  No, Sans would just tuck all of his worry and concern into a neat little box and sit on it, letting the emotions smother and fester for the sake of not starting a conflict.  And Papyrus would know that he was upset, even if he would never admit it. He always knew.

So no, he hadn't told him what he was doing.  What else was he supposed to do when Sans wasn't willing to treat him like an adult?

“My hope is that he didn’t react at all,” Papyrus said, scuffing his boot in the dirt.

“Excellent plan," Edge said sarcastically as he pushed the motorcycle past the bridge's warning signs and out onto the broken tracks.  "I’m sure that if you continue lying to him, he will eventually come to a state of understanding.  Especially if you leave out the particulars of where you are and what you’re doing.  His sense of betrayal will surely be less painful the longer you wait."  

“Thank you for your concern about my brother’s feelings,” Papyrus replied cheerfully, placing each foot with care as the bridge dwindled to nothing but the pair of metal beams stretching out over a long drop into a rocky gorge.  “I suspect you would care more if you weren’t trying to distract me from further inquiry into a safer mode of transportation.”

Edge barked out a laugh, coming to a stop at the very edge of the tracks with the motorbike balanced precariously in front of him.  “Fair enough, Creampuff.”

The sun began to dip below the horizon.  As it fell, magic gathered in the air at the edge of the bridge, rippling along the burned-out structure in a shimmer of warmth and distorted light.  Beneath their feet, the old metal gleamed, and the ghost of a vibration ran across the bars, like a train was thundering along the tracks.  The bridge suddenly felt more rigid under Papyrus’ feet, as though it were still supported by unburned steel and concrete structures planted firmly on both sides of the gorge.

Without looking down, they stepped over the gap.

There was a slight, vertiginous sensation of falling, even as Papyrus’ foot found the solid bridge on the other side of the Window.  Reality might be thin enough to open up a path between the Surface and Skyhome in this time and place, but the laws of the universe still demanded that the action of stepping off a bridge be immediately followed by a nasty fall.  Perhaps a part of them really did fall, if only to maintain the balance of a world built so firmly on physical laws.  It would only be fair.

“Either way, I don’t think Sans is back from that mission that I know nothing about and assume is an innocuous playdate with Dr Alphys,” Papyrus mused thoughtfully.  “He did say that he would be staying overnight.”

Edge rolled his eyes with an exasperated groan as he rolled the motorcycle off the bridge.  On this side of the Window, the railroad tracks had been replaced with a paved footpath, lined with glowing lantern mushrooms and pale, blue grass that whispered softly as they walked past.  The sky glittered with stars, and a silver creek burbled contentedly over the rocks beneath the bridge.  A short distance down the path, jagged cliff walls rose up out of the earth, smooth sided with unnaturally sharp edges and crevices that were reminiscent of broken teeth.

“And by the way, I definitely don’t know that he borrows Grillby’s car for his playdates with Alphys.  Or that Asgore also has a car he would be willing to lend to me.  For playdates,” Papyrys added brightly, following Edge through the grass to the base of the cliffs.

“Playdates,” Edge sneered, as though the word was an especially dirty slur.  “That is the most stupid and unnecessary lie I’ve ever heard.  You’re both idiots, and if I had any say in it, you’d BOTH stay here while I went to the Surface to look for my Sans.”

Papyrus placed a hand over his soul with a shocked gasp.  “Stupid?  Unnecessary??  Such honesty!  It can only mean that you trust me!  Very deeply!!  No, no, do not protest, I completely understand.  I AM an extremely capable and attractIVE-!”

Papyrus instinctively tucked his chin as something slammed into his chest and shoved him hard against the cliff wall.  

"Ow?" he said bemusedly, fingering the the bone construct protruding from his chest.  It was deeply embedded in the stone behind him, effectively pinning him in place.

"Look at that.  I CAN throw you further than I can trust you," Edge chuckled darkly.  "Keep your guard up, Creampuff.  That one should have been easy to dodge."

"Ok? I guess I'll see you when you go to see Miss Pythia then?"  Papyrus called as Edge mounted his motorcycle and started the engine.

"Will I be able to stop you?" Edge grumbled.

"Probably not!"  Papyrus said brightly, but Edge had already gunned the engine and zoomed off.  

"Perhaps we need to talk about not stabbing me though," Papyrus muttered, looking down at his chest.  The shaft of the bone construct had neatly pierced the space between his ribs, giving him nothing more serious than a scrape and a bruise.  And a near heart-attack from the surprise.

“And not tearing up my poor jacket,”  Papyrus groused to himself, using both hands to snap off the end of the bone.  “Rude?"

He carefully pulled himself free, then inspected his clothes with a sigh. Leather was so hard to sew, and this would be such an awkward place for a patch.  He hoped Sans wouldn't notice, but if he did, he should have a story ready...

As though his thoughts had summoned it, Sans’ distinctive ringtone plinked cheerily out of his phone.  Suppressing a flash of guilt, he immediately answered it.

“I found the other Sans.  Is Edge with you?”  Sans asked breathlessly.

"No, he just left, but I can call him.  Where are you?"  Papyrus asked, taking off at a sprint down the road.  Edge’s Sans had been found?  That was wonderful!  And a little disappointing, since it would probably mean no more missions to the Surface, but he couldn’t be too upset about that.  Edge would be so relieved...