just to be clear, I’m staying here as long as this site functions. I have 0 intentions of deleting this blog, I will go down with this ship if only to see exactly how bad it gets
Since its founding in 2007, Tumblr has always been a place for wide open, creative self-expression at the heart of community and culture. To borrow from our founder David Karp, we’re proud to have inspired a generation of artists, writers, creators, curators, and crusaders to redefine our culture and to help empower individuality.
Over the past several months, and inspired by our storied past, we’ve given serious thought to who we want to be to our community moving forward and have been hard at work laying the foundation for a better Tumblr. We’ve realized that in order to continue to fulfill our promise and place in culture, especially as it evolves, we must change. Some of that change began with fostering more constructive dialogue among our community members. Today, we’re taking another step by no longer allowing adult content, including explicit sexual content and nudity (with some exceptions).
Let’s first be unequivocal about something that should not be confused with today’s policy change: posting anything that is harmful to minors, including child pornography, is abhorrent and has no place in our community. We’ve always had and always will have a zero tolerance policy for this type of content. To this end, we continuously invest in the enforcement of this policy, including industry-standard machine monitoring, a growing team of human moderators, and user tools that make it easy to report abuse. We also closely partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Internet Watch Foundation, two invaluable organizations at the forefront of protecting our children from abuse, and through these partnerships we report violations of this policy to law enforcement authorities. We can never prevent all bad actors from attempting to abuse our platform, but we make it our highest priority to keep the community as safe as possible.
So what is changing?
Posts that contain adult content will no longer be allowed on Tumblr, and we’ve updated our Community Guidelines to reflect this policy change. We recognize Tumblr is also a place to speak freely about topics like art, sex positivity, your relationships, your sexuality, and your personal journey. We want to make sure that we continue to foster this type of diversity of expression in the community, so our new policy strives to strike a balance.
Why are we doing this?
It is our continued, humble aspiration that Tumblr be a safe place for creative expression, self-discovery, and a deep sense of community. As Tumblr continues to grow and evolve, and our understanding of our impact on our world becomes clearer, we have a responsibility to consider that impact across different age groups, demographics, cultures, and mindsets. We spent considerable time weighing the pros and cons of expression in the community that includes adult content. In doing so, it became clear that without this content we have the opportunity to create a place where more people feel comfortable expressing themselves.
Bottom line: There are no shortage of sites on the internet that feature adult content. We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community.
So what’s next?
Starting December 17, 2018, we will begin enforcing this new policy. Community members with content that is no longer permitted on Tumblr will get a heads up from us in advance and steps they can take to appeal or preserve their content outside the community if they so choose. All changes won’t happen overnight as something of this complexity takes time.
Another thing, filtering this type of content versus say, a political protest with nudity or the statue of David, is not simple at scale. We’re relying on automated tools to identify adult content and humans to help train and keep our systems in check. We know there will be mistakes, but we’ve done our best to create and enforce a policy that acknowledges the breadth of expression we see in the community.
Most importantly, we’re going to be as transparent as possible with you about the decisions we’re making and resources available to you, including more detailed information, product enhancements, and more content moderators to interface directly with the community and content.
Like you, we love Tumblr and what it’s come to mean for millions of people around the world. Our actions are out of love and hope for our community. We won’t always get this right, especially in the beginning, but we are determined to make your experience a positive one.
Thalia stomps her feet against the cold and readjusts her scarf. She glances out across the pedestrian precinct of Munich, covered in a thin layer of snow that makes the rather harsh angles and grandeur of the South-German architecture look softer, straight out of a fairytale.
Any moment now, he’d be there. Tom.
Watching her breath dance in front of her, Thalia peers down the steps and tries to curb her anticipation. She came to Germany for an archeological conference three days ago and spontaneously decided to stay a bit longer and do some sight-seeing as she’d never been here before. When she mentioned it to Tom during their last phone call, he immediately latched on to the opportunity.
“Darling, why don’t I pop over there and we’ll spend Christmas together, surrounded by gingerbread and snow and people speaking in words with 30 letters?”
She laughed it off at first but found out soon enough that he was serious. He cajoled and pleaded, and finally let his voice go all low and deep.
“Just imagine all the ways in which I could keep you warm. All the naughty things I could do to you until you hear the bells chime and Santa knows that you’ve been a very, very good girl for your man.”
So she said yes, and now here she is, waiting for Tom to arrive. His flight must have landed about an hour ago, and he would take first an S-Bahn and then an U-Bahn to reach the Marienplatz square in the heart of Munich with its old buildings and shopping opportunities.
Shivering from a gust of wind, Thalia studies the church tower across the square, then glances back at the stairs leading up from the subway station. A familiar head emerges, lowered so she can only glimpse half of the man’s face. He’s dressed in well-worn black pants and a tight-fitting, soft-looking sweater in burgundy red, gloved hands fumbling to button up a black pea coat. The shoulder strap of a black knapsack is visible as his only baggage.
“Tom.”
At her words, the newcomer lifts his head and sees her standing there, his handsome face breaking into a glorious smile so she thinks for one moment she can hear angels sing. Butterflies dance in her belly as she steps closer. Tom’s long legs take the remaining steps two at a time and then he’s in front of her and whispers her name.
She feels herself enveloped in a bear hug, hears Tom inhale deeply before he nuzzles her hair. Though she’s opted for her favorite pink scarf and woolen gloves in a matching color, she’s not wearing a hat, and so he buries his face in her curls. His big hands stroke over her back. One slides higher and beneath the scarf to grasp her neck, and the somehow gentle yet possessive pressure of his long fingers around her throat makes her shiver.
******
Coming Soon!
The SEQUEL to Educating Thalia will preview in late December, featuring Christmas tales with professors Tom and Chris, and the sequel will begin posting January 2, 2019.
Chris Evans and Tom Hiddleston are rivals professors at a posh New England university and have no idea they both have taken interest in the lovely Thalia Bareo. She’s a grad student with interests in language and history; a sassy full-figured Puerto Rican girl from Chicago, The original story can be read in its entirety at:
@ladyamandapanda12 been thinking on how to work this into a scene since the moment I saw it. Our Thalia’s thicker than this… probably will need a sturdier chair…
Ouuuuu!!!! Well @avenger-nerd-mom and @devikafernando you guys could go the traditional route and have this seen in his study. While he’s grading the freshman papers. Or this could be an after thalia puts avery to sleep, and comes back to find chris still sitting at the head of the table after dinner. Nursing his stella artois. Ouu or this could be a cabin scene while chris is sitting in front of the fire(Like beauty and the beast style) And thalia comes to find him after just waking up from a long nap. It’s dark outside and avery either isn’t there or still asleep. Or this could be a beach vacation moment around the fire and he’s sitting on the sand instead… I dont know I’m just spit balling here. All these scenes have the set up for grander chairs, for thalia’s support. Use what you like! Or hopefully this gave you an idea.
@ladyamandapanda12 I will not take this blatant usage of a bratty gif, but FINE. You win. I’m writing it RIGHT NOW, so here’s a peak:
She blushes, thinking about the enthusiastic sex she and Chris shared the night before. It wasn’t a dream. The bruise around her wrist is too real, and she smiles up at the red ribbon still tied to the bedpost. She swallows again, stretching like a feline and practically purring. She hears his soft chuckle echoing from the other room in the suite. Thalia reaches into the nearest box strewn across the floor, grabbing the nightshirt and cute socks he’d given her last night. Pulling them up over her knees, she pads out softly to the dimly lit room.
@ladyamandapanda12 been thinking on how to work this into a scene since the moment I saw it. Our Thalia’s thicker than this… probably will need a sturdier chair…
Ouuuuu!!!! Well @avenger-nerd-mom and @devikafernando you guys could go the traditional route and have this seen in his study. While he’s grading the freshman papers. Or this could be an after thalia puts avery to sleep, and comes back to find chris still sitting at the head of the table after dinner. Nursing his stella artois. Ouu or this could be a cabin scene while chris is sitting in front of the fire(Like beauty and the beast style) And thalia comes to find him after just waking up from a long nap. It’s dark outside and avery either isn’t there or still asleep. Or this could be a beach vacation moment around the fire and he’s sitting on the sand instead… I dont know I’m just spit balling here. All these scenes have the set up for grander chairs, for thalia’s support. Use what you like! Or hopefully this gave you an idea.
@ladyamandapanda12 been thinking on how to work this into a scene since the moment I saw it. Our Thalia’s thicker than this… probably will need a sturdier chair…
avenger-nerd-mom 