2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Not today Justin
Show & Tell
Three Goblin Art

Discoholic šŖ©
YOU ARE THE REASON
Monterey Bay Aquarium
One Nice Bug Per Day
I'd rather be in outer space šø

blake kathryn

@theartofmadeline
art blog(derogatory)

ē„ę„ / Permanent Vacation
ojovivo
Jules of Nature

Product Placement

Origami Around
taylor price

romaā
wallacepolsom
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@fevredayz
Dangerous ad going around on Tumblr ā ļø
For those who are unaware, there's been ads for a/i chat/bots going around on Tumblr. Specifically for "shapes.inc".
Obviously this is immediately worrying as chat/bots prey on low mental wellbeing, loneliness and someone's desire to interact, to then make them dependant and use their services more.
However, the ads themselves have stopped being quiet about that aspect. Here's one of the most worrying ads (aside the one that legitimately encourages users to make chat/bots of their friends' OCs without their consent, while also trying to claim that its "ethically sourced" - not telling us WHAT'S even sourced here - and therefore "guilt free".)
This is disgusting, plain and simple.
Not only is it directly preying on loneliness outright - it's encouraging a user to make a bot out of someone real without their consent. Not even a friend, no - a MUTUAL. It's encouraging parasocial dependency - just LOOK at what the "OP" is saying here: "RESPOND" "DID YOU DIE?" "PLEASE" "I MISS YOU".
It's not just encouraging parasocial behaviours nor just dependency overall, but encouraging users to breach the others' privacy just so they can pretend they're speaking to them.
Ads like this should not be allowed anywhere. Tumblr needs to get rid of it outright before someone gets hurt.
Also, the censoring is to avoid search exploit spambots. Thank you.
#Merry crisis
every day I learn bot comments on ao3 are stooping lower and lower
anyway if you get a comment like this, chances are that they are bot and their goal is to do whatever it takes to get you to delete your work, most certainly (from what Iāve heard) itās because they want to āsafelyā steal your work, use it to train their ai without you being able to rightfully claim ownership of your work since āthereās no proof that the work was stolen/was posted elsewhere first by youā because the original source has already been deleted.
THEY ARE ALL BOTS. at first it was āao3 is deleting fics and your entire account will be affected unless you delete the fics yourselfā then it was āthis work contains contents that are illegal and they have already reported you and your fic to the policeā (yes, thatās how desperate these bots are), and now itās this.
report their comments to ao3 for spamāin this case, specifically, I think you may be able to report them for harassment tooāand donāt pay attention to them, most importantly donāt delete your works, donāt feel discouraged by their comments. remember that they are bots and they mass comment something like this on peopleās works at random to get people to delete their works. (or even if theyāre not bot, they are still pathetic bullies who donāt deserve your time or attention.)
MORE ABOUT BOTS AND SCAMS PLAGUING AO3āS COMMENTS SECTION HERE
He didnāt like seeing his son in pain.Ā Regardless of his personal feelings, he knew they didnāt have time to dawdle anymore than he already had. Certainly, without Mundusā influence left to further the corruption, Nero wasnāt going to get worse, but leaving the armor on was absolutely out of the question. He was not about to leave Nero trapped the way heād been.Ā Vergil was far more careful in prying the pieces off of Neroās right arm. He was far from oblivious, no matter what Dante tried to argue. He was well aware of the consequences of his thoughtless actions surrounding his son. He refused to make Nero believe heād harm him out of malice again.Ā [...]
āWipe that stupid grin off your face,ā Vergil hissed. [...] āJustā¦happy to know you care about him,ā Dante said, watching intently as Vergil worked.Ā āOf course I care. [...] Heās my son.ā
I read a really good Young Justice Cartoon and Devil May Cry Crossover titled Speak of the Devil by @dragons251. These scenes are from chapter 27, a mixture of angst and fluff. I recommend it!
Also there was a part with Wonder Woman. ^.^
As more and more people are being forced to switch to Windows 11, Microsoft's most AI-malware-ridden OS yet, I've been putting together articles and links for how to undo the damage and save your battery, your RAM, your disk space, your privacy, and your sanity from this bullshit.
FIRST:
The easiest way to get rid of the majority of the bullshit that Windows is forcing on us, as of October 2025, is this one-stop-one-click debloat solution from a modern day hero:
A simple, lightweight PowerShell script to remove pre-installed apps, disable telemetry, as well as perform various other changes to customi
It's very easy, even if you're not tech savvy or get scared of pop up windows saying "ARE YOU SURE?" Yes, you are sure, I promise. This program takes maybe two minutes and will save you SO MUCH pain, time, and money (and exploitation).
Now that you've done that, here's the cleanup, to catch the little shit that the debloat might have missed (most of this will already be done by debloat, but hey, it's good to double check).
Microsoft wants to put AI everywhere on your PC, but you can take back control.
Even just reading about some of these features makes me angry. Fucking Copilot and "Discover" AI scrapers are in Notepad. NOTEPAD. And then there's this uncanny valley garbage:
No uncanny valley video calls for me, thanks! (Also, what else is it doing while it scans your face and listens to your calls? What else, microsoft? Because there was a lot of memory being assigned to this program for a simple "smooths your skin" add on).
Tired of Microsoft pushing ads throughout Windows 11? Here are the settings you can tweak to turn them off and reclaim some privacy.
The truly insane number of places they have stuck ads on your own home computer is sickening. Become Unmarketable.
Bonus:
Some background programs you probably don't need that are taking up space and how to remove them (Microsoft forums, 2024)
Your Samsung Galaxy Phone comes with 22 apps you don't need (Android Police, 2025)
How to disable the AI in firefox (still the only browser that lets you do this permanently) (Windows Report, 2025)
discord collecting data on your private messages for a yearly recap isn't good.
turn all this off immediately.
your private conversations are not truly private on discord and you should assume that any and all messages you send can be monitored or turned over to any police or government force. use signal if you need to for protected chats.
Nero
Dispatch animation! š
december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good december will be good
It's very rare when I say lol that something actually makes me laugh out loud you know⦠But this Fucking video actually had me cackling
HE STRAIGHT UP TRIED TO SACRIFICE THE GREMLIN CHILD TO THE PIT
I put this in the tags but im going to reblog it outright as well, this video was made with the new Sora ai app thats being rolled out recently. Pretty much any low-quality funny animal video that you see for the next few months will be. That includes any trail footage, security cam footage, or crunchy looking videos like the one above.
If the video is clear, other good tells are if the camera is stable and doesn't track the animals, its most likely ai (or in the case of this video, the cat and the camera stop moving at the same time), or if the animals are moving/acting in a way thats unnatural or illogical. (There's no reason for the pittie to grab the chihuahua and toss him, thats not an action that usually comes naturally to dogs.)
There's an account on Instagram that I follow called showtoolsai who makes a lot of videos going over how to spot ai in videos, and this video was actually one he used as an example. Ai is only going to get better, we need to get better at recognizing it.
Emphasis on the behavior. Most people tend to misunderstand animal behavior in popular videos online (remember that video of the crow that was supposed to be 'helping' a hedgehog across the road that was viral on here a few years ago).
When you see a video of an animal doing something outrageous, ask yourself: Is this animal demonstrating a thought process that can be reasonably expected of this animal?
It's true that a dog might stop at a perceived pit in the middle of a floor! They can see and understand the concept of a hole in the ground.
A few years ago I brought my service dog to an aquarium for the first time, which meant a lot of new experiences for her while she was working. As I stepped into the shark room, I was surprised to feel a tug back on my waist and turn around to see she'd stopped at the threshold. The floor was a literal shark tank, and she thought she was about to walk into water. So she stopped and stared at it just like these dogs. I called her forward, and she took a cautious step, realized it was solid ground, and walked on back to work.
What she wouldn't have done in that situation is grab one of the many toddlers walking by her into the room and throw them to test the floor. She might watch them walk ahead of their own volition and see how it goes for them. Dogs are smart enough to observe actions and outcomes. But a domesticated dog breed isn't thinking, 'woah, that looks dangerous. I don't want to get hurt, but let me just throw someone else into the abyss and see what happens.'
If this video had no AI tells whatsoever (there are some people point out in the comments), my next step would've been to check the page that posted it. I would expect a skilled animal trainer, someone doing the sort of animal work that's employed by film studios, who painstakingly trained all three animals to participate in this as a sketch.
It is true that every day animals exhibit behaviors that blow us away in their intelligence, uniqueness, and even their absurdity. But if you watch a pet video in which a pet appears to do something unbelievable as this, and it's not clearly a trainer's project, look closer.
Anyway here's Little Bird after I heartlessly led her into a tank of sharks
A woman asked an army general when he'd last made loveĀ
The general thought for a moment and said, "1956."
She gasped. "That long? Come with me ā I'll make your night better."
They went back to her apartment and made passionate love for over an hour.
Afterwards she cuddled up to him and said, "Well, you sure haven't forgotten anything since 1956."
The general looked at her, confused, and said, "I sure hope not, it's only 21:30."
This joke will only be good for 375 more years. Reblog now you still can.
here is a master list of great art tools that can make your workflow easier! š (consistently updating)
PSA: AO3 Bots Are Getting Worse (And Here's What You Need To Know)
Alright so if you're active on AO3, you've probably heard about the bot problem. It's been going on for years but it's gotten way worse lately, so here's a breakdown of what's happening and how to protect yourself.
What Are AO3 Bots?
Basically spam accounts that leave comments on fics. They're automated and they've been plaguing the site since like 2021, but they keep getting more sophisticated.
Types of Bots You Might See:
Praise BotsĀ - These leave super generic compliments that could apply to literally any fic. Stuff like "This is pure genius, I'm in awe of your world-building" or "This deserves all recognition." The dead giveaway is when someone praises your "heartwarming" fic when everyone literally died and the earth shattered around them lmao.
Hateful/Cruel BotsĀ - These are the really fucked up ones. They scrape REAL AO3 usernames and attach them to horrible, cruel comments. So innocent people get their names attached to hateful shit they never said. If you see a mean comment, check if the username is clickable - if it's not linked to an actual profile, it's a bot.
Kudos BotsĀ - Some authors have woken up to like 30-60 fake kudos dumped on their fics all at once, with no corresponding increase in hit counts. This completely destroys the metric system especially in smaller fandoms.
AI Accusation BotsĀ - These accuse authors of using ChatGPT or other AI tools, sometimes on fics that are literally older than the AI programs they're being accused of using. Some link to "AI detection tools" which are likely just trying to get you to feed more fics into AI training databases.
Misinformation BotsĀ - A newer type that showed up in May 2025 claiming AO3 was removing works to "conserve server space" and telling authors to delete their own work or risk being banned. Complete bullshit - AO3 has never done this and never will.
Mary Sue BotsĀ - Accuse your OCs of being Mary Sues, even when your fic only has canon characters and no self-inserts at all.
Art Commission Scam BotsĀ - Leave praise then offer to make comic/art commissions of your fic. They get you off-site to Discord or Instagram, take your payment, then either send AI-generated garbage or ghost you completely.
How Do They Work?
The bots comment as unregistered guests and scrape real AO3 usernames to attach to their comments. The username shows up but isn't clickable and has no actual profile associated with it (unless you search for that name directly, which makes it look legit at first).
The newer ones are getting smarter too - they scrape your fic's tags and use them to make the generic praise seem more personalized. So if you tagged "angst" they'll specifically mention emotions and tension.
How To Spot Them:
Username isn't clickable/has no profile
Generic praise that could apply to any fic
Comments that make zero sense for what actually happened in your story
Multiple comments hitting your fics really fast (like 7 comments timestamped over 9 hours)
Sudden spike in kudos with no matching increase in hits
Anyone trying to get you off-site for commissions or services
The Emotional Impact:
This shit genuinely hurts authors. Some don't realize they're bots at first and think the hate comments or AI accusations are real criticism of their writing. There's also concerns from neurodivergent and ESL authors who worry their real comments will be mistaken for bots because their writing style might seem stilted.
And if your username gets stolen? You might have to track down authors and explain that hateful comment wasn't actually you.
What You Can Do:
As an author:
Delete bot comments as soon as you spot them
If it gets bad, lock your comments to registered users only (Settings ā Privacy ā "Only show your work to registered users")
Report the comments if you can
As a reader/commenter:
Don't panic if your username got stolen - reach out to the author and explain it wasn't you
Keep leaving real comments! Authors need to know there are real people who love their work
Maybe make your comments a bit more specific/personal so authors know you're real
Everyone:
Spread awareness so people know what to look for
Don't feed fics into "AI detection tools" that bots link to
Why Are They Doing This?
Honestly? Probably to keep AI brands in the "fandom news" cycle and create controversy. Some are straight-up scams. Either way, they suck.
Stay safe out there and keep supporting your favorite authors with real comments. We need that genuine engagement now more than ever. š
Tagging all my mutuals @ruinationz and @turbotasticnumberone and @cartoon-cat7241 and @cru5h-cascades and @seleyaaaa and @mono-squamblo and @strayfelinez and @strangelilangel and @yukihirop and @rivertheemoo and @meatmedallion and @drownedsilverforever and @senpaipaws and @cartoonlover999 and @byronicmoron and @resolutelymadvermin and @wanka-wanky and @looksmokin and @justwatchedsometv and @oakwoodvida and @human-n0-l0ng3r and @glooberousgoon and @goddess-of-lov3 and @lucifersdog-luci and @casethecreep and @aoihibiki247 and and @klyju and @fleshistic and @golshi-sweetheart and @femmesagemoon222 and @4ggravatez and @resonanthideoutruin and @saddmyths and @homestuckyaoi413 and @blueloky and @divine-vxnity and @ace-productions7 and @fiberopticemoweeb666 and @cryptedlullaby and @3veryth1ngstays and @blossomletters and @alpheiaa and @juniizhq and @sapphicavocado and @bloodybigirl and @yanderehiro and @dnplicoricenutttt and @russkiy-american-dreams and @2catnip4me and @miracle-winkel and @mickyx-x and @biblicallyunhingedtheo and @the-only-good-ai and @prettirei and @unhinged-pink-espresso and @patchofglass
I'd also add, resist the AI bubble that companies are forcing on us. Don't use generative AI to make cute cat pictures. Actually click on a website written by humans, instead of relying on the AI summary at the top. Turn off AI features on apps you use. It's bigger than AO3. Tech companies are trying to convince us that we need shitty AI to do things it's not actually capable of doing. The AO3 scams are one part of an entire scammy infrastructure.