Making this a pinned post because it won't fit in my bio -- while I don't share a lot of personal details here for privacy reasons I know there are users who have interaction limits and I respect those boundaries.
So, for the record... I am an adult and have been for a long time.
I am unfortunately inconsistent about tagging when I reblog, but I do try to be careful about content warning tags.
I haven't been able to write for years and sadly I don't see that changing anytime soon. On the off chance I do post something I've written, I'll always include a rating following the same scale as AO3, as well as tags and a summary before the cut.
Here is an article from NPR about it (May 22, 2026):
Carolina Milanesi, an independent technology analyst, said Google is trying to make its cash cow business — search — richer and more personalized, and it will make shopping easier. But there is a risk that users may have fewer choices about what to click.
"Right now it's: I ask a question, I get a bunch of answers and I feel that I'm in control as to which answer I take, or if I'm looking for something, which product I'm going to end up buying. That is going to be less so going forward," she said.
Milanesi envisions AI-enabled search and agents proposing products to consumers — perhaps even those they have requested — but with less clarity or choice around where it's coming from.
"If you're going to say: 'I want a pair of Jordans, go find them,' you're not necessarily sure what steps have been taken and whether the AI has used a source or a store that was paid for and therefore came up in the search results," she said, "or if AI actually went and did their due diligence and picked the best for me as a customer."
And here's one from Time magazine (May 20, 2026):
While Google already has “AI Mode,” the company will now power the whole search bar through its new Gemini 3.5 Flash model.
Instead of the classic list of blue links, Google Search will now also generate a custom page with an AI-generated summary of what you’re searching about, which will then trigger a conversation with AI Mode on the main page, allowing users to ask follow-up questions—similar to the kind of layout you would see when opening ChatGPT.
And a little more from Time's article on how this may affect the websites that we are trying to search for:
When Google first started implementing AI-assisted results, news publishers warned of “catastrophic” impacts on the industry, much of which relies on Google search to drive users to their websites.
Last year, news websites saw significant traffic declines as chatbots increasingly replaced Google search as the primary way to find sites and ask questions.
Small businesses also noted drops in traffic to their sites from Google, which has traditionally delivered customers.
Lily Ray, vice president of SEO strategy & research at Amsive, a digital marketing agency, warned as early as last year that Google’s planned changes to search are “going to have a devastating impact on the Internet.”
“It will severely cut into the main source of revenue for most publishers and it will disincentivize content creators who rely on organic search traffic, which is millions of websites, maybe more,” she told Technology Magazine.
Heh Fine so it’s time to stop using it completely. I hope were all serious though and they will face a decrease of use of their search at least the size of this post’s note count?
Rippling Blossoms: The Red Flame and Rafayel's mindset - Analysis and Lore (Part 1)
I talked about making an NSFW analysis of this memory, but I quickly realized, it wouldn't be complete without making this one. I have separated this more emotional and lore side of this memory as Part 1 and Part 2 is the more intimate side of this memory with more explicit details. This way if you're not interested in Part 2, you can only read this part for analysing this memory.
I'm still working on Part 2, but I will add a link to it once it's ready. It will have a mature tag on it, so make sure you can see such content if you're curious about it.
Spoilers for Rippling Blossoms, minor mentions from Intertidal Zone and Touring in Love event story.
The painting
First that I will mention is that this painting which MC finds is at least three years old, I believe Rafayel alluded that it was from the same apartment that was mentioned in Vesperine Glimmer, when MC was still a student. Of course I can't be sure about that, but it's interesting to see the connection there again and I feel that location might have something more coming up later.
Anyway, it's safe to say this painting was painted before Rafayel's and MC's meeting in the main story. This will affect to his mindset when he was painting this painting, and what he thinks now of it.
It's mentioned several times MC can't take her eyes off the painting and gets really fixated on it. She feels this painting's red is really special, but cannot tell why. Rafayel tells MC the pigment is made from Flameglow Flowers, and that they are so rare that they are considered almost extinct.
Now, often Rafayel's paintings are more about metaphors and descriptions of his feelings rather than depictions of literal things. A consistent theme around Rafayel's and MC's relationship is that MC didn't really understand his art at all, and eventually, has grown to understand it as she understands Rafayel better too. I want to make a separate post about this later (add that on the pile 😭), but I think this memory is one of those examples where this matters. I think Rafayel here is trying to say that MC only understands this painting and how special the red is because she understands Rafayel the best.
After looking a while, MC notes that it's empty, and Rafayel mentions it too, and admits that he run out of paint when he wanted to finish the painting.
I don't actually buy his excuse that he run out of paint, I think he actually left it empty deliberately.
What the flame represents
So far we know that the flame is so red, like it would burn through the painting and MC couldn't take her eyes out of it. It was alone in the painting, looking empty.
The color theme often represents emotions. Based on color theory, red usually represents love, passion, anger and/or danger (with some cultural variations).
I think the flame is a depiction of his painful feelings of love for MC and as a warning to not get too close. Rafayel describes that something was constantly burning inside of him, painful, but alive with a fiery passion. MC describes the flame like you crave it's warmth, but it burns you when getting too close.
In Touring in Love and in Intertidal Zone, Rafayel describes love as a burning sensation, but always reiterates that he's always willing to get burned for love.
My interpertation is that Rafayel painted the flame alone, because it was the only thing what was keeping him going. It was bright, hard to ignore, but if you got too close, you're getting burned by it. In a way, it was captivating, but also, intimidating, and you have to be careful when approaching it.
He eventually accepted that he needs to take that risk - eventually, he might get burned and hurt. To him, it would still be worth it.
This is why he can't really finish the painting exactly how he felt back then, because he's no longer in that mindset. His dynamic with MC has changed and love doesn't burn him anymore. He is happier, no longer needing to be afraid of being burned.
I loved the ending where it was described what he did with the painting in the end.
He made the flame less intimidating, neither is it in risk of burning anyone. It's still there, but it's being surrounded with mist that is being dispelled by sunlight's glow. The sunlight have become the prominent feature for the painting, which represents happiness Rafayel felt with MC.
“average person eats 3 spiders a year” factoid actualy just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. Spiders Georg, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted
you get a comment on tumblr. it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a DM. it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a message on instagram. its a bot trying to scam you. you're an author and you get an email telling you how much they loved your book and want to showcase it at their bookclub. it's a bot trying to scam you (and it uses bad AI to pretend it knows your story). you get a comment on ao3 saying how much they love your fic - and they made you fanart!! it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a hate comment on ao3 which insults your writing or calls you a monster for writing something "problematic". it's a bot. but at least that one isn't trying to scam you.
if I ever tell you “lmk what you think if you read/play/watch it!” I am firmly inviting you to send me a play by play minute by minute cataloguing of your thoughts about The Thing
I know "60s housewives who invented slash fanfiction" has taken on a life of its own as a phrase, but Kirk/Spock didn't really exist until the 70s and THOSE WOMEN HAD JOBS. They were teachers and librarians and bookkeepers and scientists and they damn well spent their own money going to conventions, printing zines, buying fanart and making fandom happen. Put some respect on their names.
It was women with secretarial jobs doing a lot of the heavy lifting, if memory serves correctly.
They had training in type setting, could churn things out quickly, knew how to organise mailing lists, and had easy access to Expensive High Tech like photocopiers.
Boss make a dollar, she makes a dime. That's why she's printing Kirk X Spock zines on company time.
Not to sound like a decrepit, rambling corpse about it, but back in my day Word used to be a pre installed program that came with your computer, if you were running Windows.
No subscription. Just program.
On your computer. You got to use it forever and ever and never had to worry about it going away.
Because it was physically on your computer. As a program. That you actually owned. Not because you got it separately, but because it was a standard inclusion with your computer.
I'm sorry but I'll just never get over it. I remember when companies cared about their products being usable out of the box. I remember when our things belonged to us.
Old man shaking fist at cloud, wherein the cloud is the background of the Windows 98 logo.
Basic Fandom Etiquette Everyone Needs to Remember:
Creators do not owe anyone content. Do not ask writers when they will update.
If an author did not ask for [negative] criticism , do not give criticism.
Read the tags carefully before reading a fanfic.
If you ignored the tags and were upset, that is your responsibility, not the creator’s.
Disliking a ship does NOT give you the right to attack people who enjoy it.
Do not tell authors or shippers that their ship is “disgusting,” “wrong,” or “shouldn’t exist.” Shipping fictional characters is not a moral failing.
No one is obligated to justify why they ship two fictional characters.
Headcanons are PERSONAL interpretations, not universal truth.
Dark themes in fiction do not equal real life beliefs or intentions.
Leaving kudos or short positive comments genuinely matters.
Not every fanwork is made for you, and that is okay.
Scrolling past content you dislike is better than engaging negatively
Enjoying a fandom later than others does not make someone less of a fan.
Disliking a fanfic does not entitle you to announce that to its creator. Sending hate comments to authors is NEVER justified, even if you disliked the work.
Fannish Musings @aetherial-sea - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
