#/ i’ll be reblogging this a bit so more ppl see it

[safety-pin-punk]

firstly, I love your blog and it's been a great resource to have as I've been learning abt punk! I hope you're well & ty for everything you do <3 do you have any advice for finding punk communities, both irl and online? I really wanna talk to ppl abt everything I'm learning and loving, but it's really hard to find communities. besides the landmine of trying to avoid nazi punks and the like, I don't rlly drink or anything so bars/clubs can be weird -teacupqueer/persie

Thank you so much!! I’m doing pretty well!

Finding Punk Communities Online:

I’ll be honest, I can really only speak on behalf of tumblr here. I don’t use other socials all that much.

But! If you want to find a fun awesome punk community on tumblr, you are already off to a great start! Find a punk blog you like or who has similar music taste, see who they reblog from and tag in their posts. I’ve met a LOT of really cool people this way on here! (Shoutout to @polyamorouspunk and @my-chemical-ratz whose blogs you should check out simply because they are cool people). And I’ve also met people who are in bands, or involved with bands (like @necromancy-savant and @dopamineband (who don’t use their tumblr anymore 😭)). I didn’t meet these people right away, it took a while of steady interaction with tumblr to build up these connections.

There are also Discord communities too, I don’t use discord much but I *think* (?) I saw a post go around a while ago where someone was starting up a punk discord server? Honestly maybe I’ll take the time to start one up, it might make me use Discord more lmao

Finding Punk Communities IRL:

Bars and clubs aren’t the only places to find punks!!

I’d recommend checking out any queer spaces in your area, I doubt it would surprise you to learn how often these two groups overlap.

Also! If you are near a city, chances are you have an underground scene somewhere. Google and Reddit are great resources to find the places punks gather in your city. For example: in my city theres a cafe and record shop that are popular among the alternative crowd that I never would have found without the use of Google.

Otherwise, what are your hobbies? If you like gardening/are into solar punk, see if theres a local gardening club! (I’d say a 50/50 chance of punk or karens tbh with this one).

Start up a book club at a local library that focuses on books like 1984 and Brave New World.

Go to gigs that arent at bars or clubs, I went to one back in February that was at an abandoned church, that was turned into a concert venue. The place was child friendly so there was no alcohol, but there were a lot of cool people there!

And the best tip I have for you to avoid nazis is to just know their symbols and signs. Do a bit of research on it and familiarize yourself with what to avoid

As always, other suggestions for anon are welcome!!

[allyougottado]

HI Doodle! How have you been? I've been kinda meh bc of college but thats beside the point. About your reblog of sending you a character (or in this case, coach haha) I wanna see your list on either Maybel or Joshua or Lumen Brooks(I'm indecisive about those 3, they've been filling my mind lately aaaaaaa), even tho they dont have much lore, I love read others HC, so I'm eager to read yours^^(sorry if they wont fill all the list thingy:()

i’ll try to do all 3 cuz i rly like these coaches as well 😎 (i'm skipping fave line and song i associate them with because... ppl dont speak in just dance and i'm not creative enough to associate coaches with any song other than their own map LOL)

maybel‼️‼️

fave thing about them: her design is so cute!!!! i love yellow and her dress looks inspired by poodle skirts with the little line (phone cord?) spiraling down the skirt lol it’s so adorable. i especially love the alt. design cuz purple sleeveless jacket is CUTESY (also she looks like she’s matching with joshua with the sleeveless jacket hehe 🤭 very CUTE💯💯💯)

least fave thing about them: nothing to hate abt her 😍

brOTP: love you like a love song (this headcanon was subconciously created by looking at ur art btw LOL)

OTP: JOSHUA‼️‼️‼️

nOTP: i’m ngl i have never seen any other ship with maybel in it LOL

random headcanon: she’s a softie but the one thing she’s loud abt is her #LOVE!!!! i probz got this from the straightforward and aggressively-lovey vibe from call me maybe (and the dance too), but also a description from the JD twitter lol (they describe her as the sweet one hehe)

unpopular opinion: idk i’ve never seen too much opinions that i disagree with abt her

fave picture of them: it’s scrapped but this is kick ass maybel from puppet master lmao

joshua😎

fave thing about them: the fake personality i made for him in my head 😼 and also his yellow glove probably

least fave thing about them: i'm gonna be really honest this part will probably be empty for almost everyone i’m not a person who hates easily 😭

brOTP: i always thought that #thatpower extreme and sorry looked similar to him (i think everyone else did too LOL) so YEAH they’re totally bros to me. i also group epsilon with those 3 but if i explain it will totally derail :P

OTP: maybel 💛🩷

nOTP: haven't seen anything too hateable yet lol

random headcanon: kuudere lolz. basically the exact same thing i said for maybel but instead of sweet and soft (🥺) he's like cold and serious on the outside but super hype and chill when he's dancing or talking to ppl he likes

also he’s probz the most normal compared to #thatpower extreme and sorry lol

unpopular opinion: once again, i haven't seen too much opinions i can disagree with lol

fave picture of them: this screenshot i took from youtube lmao

lumen brooks!!!!!🎸

fave thing about them: ur gonna be so shocked when you hear this but i love his yellow raincoat i want it for myself. also he has TEAL HAIR! TEN MILLION CHARACTER DESIGN POINTS TO YOU UBISOFT (blue hair=looks like miku=good)

also i like rock so his map is so cool. i like how they went with a quirky weird rock map instead of a depressing dark one like the two they added in 2023 like yeahhhhh lets switch it up a little (no hate tho i fucking love evanescence BTW)

least fave thing about them: WOAH it’s a bit too soon to hate lolz

brOTP: probz p1 and p3, zephyr reef and crimson riff. i know they’re most likely not even real but i’d like to think he treats them as if they were his bros. also it would be rlly funny if he just has crazy flow powers and can make stuff he draws real harold and the purple crayon style

OTP: nothing rn

nOTP: also nothing rn… that game needs to come out so i have more brainpower to think of cool stuff to say 😾

random headcanon: when u think punk he doesn’t really look like one compared to crimson riff but he probz acts like one lol. would probably hate ppl like night swan and nithe long. and probably kids in america too (she’s falling for the propaganda… 😔 lol) also he’s loud. idk why i think that it just fits to me lol. also everyone probably thinks he’s #CRAYZAY 🤪 but don’t worry bro. i understand you 🤝

unpopular opinion: idk at first i thought he would be chill with scotty but i somehow changed my mind like scotty’s too much of a sweetie pie and lumen is too feisty (to me hehe) i still like fanworks with both of them in it tho they’re funny. like clashing personality stuff is still very entertaining to me

fave picture of them: idk he’s only existed for a couple of months so there’s not much pics of him… probz the little cartoony promo art from twitter cuz i like how huge they drew his rainboots here LOL

(also hiii mey i’m meh as well LOL when i typed the first half of this post i was out at the mall and i feel like i embarrassed myself so hard there 😭 embarrassment still lingers and it sucks cuz i love the mall but whatever… I’M SENDING MY ENERGY TO YOU SO COLLEGE CAN GET A LITTLE LESS SUCKY 🫶💓)

[puuuders]

ok hi it’s that random author of the fic u keep drawing :>

i just want to let u know how much ur art has meant to me, like genuinely i cant express it enough. i keep coming back to tumblr to look at what you’ve already done and then i stalk ur page and then somehow there’s always MORE and it’s insane truly you are so talented and i am forever grateful.

anyway i am just rambling i just wanted to say thank u for everything your art has meant more to me than you’ll ever know and i hope that the upcoming updates (i’ll try to post weekly) will satisfy the terzomega enjoyers

(one of these days maybe if ppl r interested ill do a little fun fact thing about Little Monster…… if anyone is interested that is lol idk)

ok thanks bye

I'm gonna break this response into sections bc I have a lot to say and my brain gets jumbled easily

1. This is so sweet! I get so fucking giddy when I see you responded to my drawings. Like I audibly went "hehehe" when I saw your last reblog lmfao. I absolutely love your series and have been also stalking your page waiting for part 3 to come out and low key jumped in the air and clicked my heels together when it did. It actually makes my chest hurt, but that just shows you are extremely good at conveying emotion. One of the best short stories/series I have ever read, and that is excluding the fact that I am a major fan of Ghost. You are extremely talented.

2. I borderline am going through a drawing addiction rn and your series is fueling that flame (not a bad thing at all, it's a great thing). I had horrible art block before I joined Tumblr and pumping out art like this makes me feel so great.

3. ANYTHING LITTLE MONSTER. FEAST MODE ACTIVATED. #HUNGRY. FEEDMEMORE.COM. GIMME FUN FACTS (but also you mentioned before you are having a bit of writers block, don't pressure yourself! You post when you feel like it and I'mma be here)

Sorry for typing out a whole essay. I really appreciate your interest in my art! Expect a lot more. Can't stop and I will not stop

[shuniverse]

stay with me? ,,| m.iksb

🖋️ so excited to put out my first dgrp ask, requested by the lovely anon <3 hope this was ok!

💌 gn!reader ;; reader is sick and misses mukuro so they convince her to stay instead of helping junko ;; mukuro is a bit of a softie in this <3 ;; sickness of the reader not specified but mentions of throwing up ;; cursing / swearing ;; fluff + light angst(?)

🫶 ;;

mukuro grabs her things together, stuffing her weapons and such into her roughly textured bag. she really needs to leave, or she knows junko’s gonna have her ass for dinner. she doesn’t need more on her plate, everything is stressful and a lot-

til she hears your quiet voice from the hallway, and that’s when she knows she’s really in trouble. the thing is, mukuro has such a difficult time saying no to you, but when it comes to junko? things are a little different.

don’t get her wrong, mukuro adores you and loves you to no end, but junko.. it’s a super complicated situation. she could be hanged if she slips up just the slightest, have a hand grenade thrown at her for saying the wrong thing, have a knife repeatedly attempting to stab her for not doing something right. it’s always a fine line with junko, but mukuro has had to do it for years.

it’s customary.

but she feels so genuinely despaired when you walk up to her, bare feet padding against the hard wood floor.

“mu-mu..? where are you going..?”

your sleepy voice makes her frown softly. “ah, sorry darling, did I wake you? I’m just leaving to go see junko-“

“her? mu-mu, you can cancel just one night can’t you..? please?”

she sighs heavily, and reaches out to pet your cheek with her calloused hand. “love, I.. I don’t..”

“c’mon, mu-mu she’s so dangerous and I.. I hate that you still hang around her and help her. she’s not worth your time and she’s.. she’s using you. besides.. I don’t wanna be alone tonight, mu-mu. I might throw up if you’re gone again tonight. please stay mu-mu.”

your words made her almost tear up. almost. it’s hard to get her to cry anymore, but you seem to be the only one that gets her close to it. she sighs once more, setting her bag down and turning to you. “love, I don’t.. I can’t, honey, I.. she needs me and-“

“no she doesn’t! she can do everything she wants, and you’re stuck being some loyal little puppy. mu-mu, please please stop caring so much about her, let her deal with her stuff on her own. you mean too much to me to see you get hurt, much less by her.. please mu-mu, I need you tonight, stay with me. please?”

your strong pout, the small little tears pricking your waterline. she’s teetering on the edge of giving in. but she knows there could be consequences.

but she thinks, for the first time, fuck consequences. I’ve been having to do what she says like a mutt for years on end. what can’t she do that somehow I have to do for her? she almost ended the world. she did end the world. she can do things on her own.

she nods, with another strong sigh, and a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“okay,” she says, wrapping you up in her arms, “I’ll stay with you, love.”

and at that, you’re dragging her back to bed, and she’s fast to fall asleep in your arms. but not before taking a picture of the two of you, and finally gaining the confidence to tell her sister something she should’ve a long time ago.

fuck you. do it yourself

*one image attached*

;;

hii!! hope you enjoyed 🫶

I had fun writing this, im hoping ppl send in more Danganronpa requests, I enjoy writing them! but before you do, pls read my rules!! ty 🫰

stay safe lovelies, feel free to like and reblog, it’s greatly appreciated <3

[kyojurismo]

also, i can’t really wait to finish posting everything ( which is probably gonna be impossible atm due to external reasons ) so yeah, very quick and short* announcement !

*i’ll explain under cut ^_^

i’m going to move blog in a couple of weeks ( aka whenever the new blog is all set & ready but since i’m a bit busy it might take longer so idk idk ). i won’t delete kyojurismo, nor the works i posted here since they’re a part of me and even tho i’m not a huge fan of my own works i actually enjoyed sharing them w you guys ^_^ so yeah, that’s it. this is gonna be more of an archive kinda blog, so u might see me reblog the works from my new one — at least in the beginning, bc i might get tired of the switching lol. reasons behind my choice under cut bc there’s no actual need but i want to explain myself better abt it.

1. i don’t feel comfortable posting on here anymore, i’m more and more losing motivation to open the app and come on here, so that’s like the biggest issue lol.

2. before u guys say anything, i’m forever grateful for the support and kind messages i’ve received during this time. i’m grateful for the ppl i met, for the followers i gained, for the kind and sweet messages & anons and basically being accepted on here i guess.

3. i need a fresh start — yeah, that’s it. i’ll always treasure kyojurismo and what this blog did for me, but i feel like i have a completely different mindset from when i opened it back in march & started posting.

i know it sounds more like a goodbye forever BUT IT’S NOT LOL I PROMISE — it looks more dramatic than i intended idk i’m sorry. but yeah . . . i gave some explanation & i’m going back to work ( aka finishing posting kinktober fics & writing for the old reqs i have in my inbox ).

[wizardpeebis]

dude, endos are VISCIOUS. like. i reblogged a few anti endo posts because i am a traumagen system who does not like to see their safe spaces gentrified by ppl forcing themselves into a disorder that’s ruined my life and continues to affect it in ways that are not net positive.

so then i got an ask that was p clearly designed to induce paranoia (i’m guessing they dug through my blog a bit and gathered that i’m schizo-affective) and god forbid i reply to a pro endo post that’s entirely misinformative about all systems, because i’ll be met with the most conniving, passive aggressive, and just plain mean remarks.

the real thing that gets me is that all of their oppression is entirely self imposed. they invade spaces, demand attention, and when they’re told that what they’re doing is wrong, they throw a tantrum and start linking twitter threads with cherry picked evidence about how right they are. they make up buzzwords that are just plain bastardizations of terms related to trans history and oppression, and that is not unintentional. it is a purposeful play on language to heighten the sense of a liberation front for something that simply does not exist. manipulation like that is outright disgusting, and i have no problem thinking less of people who believe that it is okay.

i am especially mad at all the misinformation that gets spread? as someone who is figuring their system out and trying to learn things, misinformation can be extremely dangerous for me and it’s more than disheartening to think i’ve learned something new only to see “pro endo” in the tags and realize that i can’t trust a word i’ve just read. i don’t get why they can’t at least keep it to themselves if they can’t just shut up about it forever and always.

i’m just. eugh. i’m so sick of people in general taking oppressed identities and tacking them on as personality traits for brownie points and endos are an amazing punching bag ❤️

[someoneihavelovedbutneverknown]

PROJECT DAYDREAM

HELLO. YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN A ROLEPLAY PROJECT BY THE NAME OF PROJECT DAYDREAM.

PROJECT DAYDREAM WILL BE A RECREATION OF THE ICONIC STORYLINE OF THE DREAM SMP, WITH YOUR OWN CHARACTER HAVING THE PROSPECT OF TAKING THE PLACE OF A CHARACTER FROM THE ORIGINAL STORY.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, DM ME [Spore] ABOUT ROLES.

I WILL BE UPDATING ROLES AS THEY ARE TAKEN BELOW AND THE CONFIRMATIONS WILL BE IN THE WEEK BETWEEN OCTOBER 1ST AND 7TH.

REQUIREMENTS:

You will commit to your role. Once you tell me what role you want there is a very little chance I’ll change it so you better be happy with your choice.

A general knowledge of the role you’re playing. If you’re playing Wilbur or Ranboo’s character, you should know that you’d be playing their ghost version and revived version if they get revived; if you’re playing Fundy you may want to make yourself familiar with his cannon nightmares.

A light attitude! This whole rp thing is supposed to be fun, and if somebody is doing anything that makes you uncomfortable or threatening you, come to me immediately.

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

We will be ideally going through the entire DSMP storyline, from the start to end. You’re welcome to change plot lines to create an alternate timeline, but it is crucial to communicate that with everybody (especially me) to ensure that everybody is on board with it. This is a great time to fuse your character making and playing abilities with your knowledge of your blorbo!

To word it a bit better, you’re creating an original character who will take the role of a specific DSMP character.

Let’s say I create this character called Elle Woods (i’m a basic bitch okay), and she’s in the role of Jack. She’s gonna go through his part of the story and essentially fill in all his role. She’ll be a part of all of Jack’s arcs, and I’d play her out. She doesn’t have to do everything by book, but that’s specified above. Also, your character doesn’t have to be exactly like the original role’s character by any means. Certain things that are species specific such as the enderwalk can be either adapted to your character or even taken out or substituted (I have my limits, but you gotta talk to me before we both know them).

When is the last time to register?

OCTOBER 1st

The rp will be starting on the 7th of October, and I will be letting you guys know your roles in that week, giving you a week to prepare. Use it.

EXTRA INFORMATION:

You need to make a new blog for this

All the role playing will be happening here on Tumblr, and you’ll be doing reblog chains

There is no Discord bc I don’t have it and idk if my parents are cool with me getting it (strict parents amirite), but if you wanna make a server that’s cool with me but please check with me beforehand seeing as I am kinda modding for it

This is open for everybody, no matter the rp experience! I’ve been in a few rps myself (though this is my first time running one), and I’d love to see some people branch out their horizons! It’s all about good fun

You’re welcome to play multiple characters if you’re willing to dedicate to it! Just DM me about it like everything else :D

In no way am I or this project associated with Dream, the actual Dream SMP, or any of the ccs involved. I am just a fan with an itch to rp and to watch ppl rp.

I am not planning on involving Tales From The SMP, but if the person playing Karl’s role or anybody else would like to organize it separately from the main project then be my guest

Oh yeah this ain’t gonna be clean by any means lmaoooooooo (if you really wanna pull a sex scene i’m not against it just please tell everybody that ur gonna do it for our collective sanity)

As a second to the thingy above, if you REALLY wanna play out a sex scene, it is highly advised you keep it to the DMs unless it’s agreed on that it’s…central to the plot ig…if everybody who’s on board with the project in the end doesn’t mind it, then cool, but please check with everybody. Better safe than sorry.

“Spore how tf do we communicate without a discord-“ if you really need to talk to everybody at once, make a post and tag everybody in it

If you have any specific needs or concerns (sex repulsed, trauma from certain topics, etc) please communicate that with me so that we can create a fun roleplay experience for everyone. We can get into technicalities when you DM me about it, but I will likely share it as an announcement to the entire group.

(@mean-gills @championofapollo @jinxneedssleep @apricityxys @medlabmech i’m just tagging y’all for signal boost and sign up bc nobody seems interested and i’m sad)

ROLES THAT ARE TAKEN (this will be updated as more people receive roles, and I’ll be linking their urls so if you wanna wrestle your blorbo outta their hands I don’t have to be the messenger. be nice kids):

Phil - me

Charlie - me

Sam - me

Techno - @apricityxys

Tommy - @mean-gills

Ranboo - @mean-gills

Wilbur - @championofapollo

Dream - @chocolate-milk

Niki - @azurecake16

Quackity - @azurecake16

Tubbo - @epicaxolotls

Eret - @x-ca1iber

Schlatt - @epicaxolotls

BBH - @chocolate-milk

Fundy - @chocolate-milk

[hedge-n-seek]

᯽ Hello! ᯽

Hi! New to posting about this, so sorry if I avoid interaction a bit! I’ll reblog from here, but won’t use my main to interact if possible

A catchall name you can use for me is Hedge, op, or you can use the name of whoever’s tagging under a post to indicate who’s posting, since I think a few ppl in our system might post some? Generally They/Them or He/Him is ok, but don’t be afraid to ask! Current poster tags include, but may be added to; #🦇.Val Posts ᯽ #🦋.Jenth Posts ᯽ #🪶.Dove Posts ᯽ and a general tag # 📺. Hedge Posts if anyone doesn’t want to specify

᯽ BYI ᯽

THIS ACCOUNT IS SFW ONLY. IF YOUR ACCOUNT ISNT SFW, PLEASE DONT INTERACT

We keep our regression pretty private, but it’s still fun to post and make art and talk to people about things we’re interested in! I’ll usually edit or doodle or something similar, but I also write sometimes. Generally I won’t post while small, but might reply to people if I know you well enough. Because of that, we might not be posting all the time, even if you see us reblogging things! It’s probably not us ignoring you, we’re just not in the space to talk at that moment. Also, Tonetags are super appreciated! They’re not required, but they’re still nice to use. I also have a hard time typing sometimes, though I try making sure what I write is legible. Feel free to let me know if you need something rewritten so it’s easier for you

On this blog, you’ll probably see a LOT of Vast Error content, as well as other Homestuck and fanworks stuff. I might Minecraft post occasionally, talk about s4m, Adventure Time, and whatever other shows I’m interested at the time! Some shows might have content not suitable for kids, but none of that content will ever be posted on here

᯽ DNI ᯽

Pr0sh1p / Z00 / etc.

Pro s/h or e/d

Endogenic or Neutral

Adult Content / Using Agere for that

Just use your brain and don’t be gross

᯽ Interests ᯽

Vast Error

Homestuck + Fanworks

Adventure Time

Minecraft

Bugs n Birds!

Whatever interest passes by for a bit

᯽ Request Stuff ᯽

There’s no guarantee I’ll get to it in a timely manner, but my requests are open unless my askbox says otherwise! Just send em in. I’ll do stimboards, moodboards, panel edits, and maybe small doodles? I might do mini fic requests too, but only if I feel motivated at that moment, those aren’t a guarantee

Request Tags! #Hedge.Request ᯽ #Hedge.Boards ᯽ #Hedge.Edits ᯽ #Hedge.Doodles ᯽ #Hedge.Fics ᯽ #Hedge.Asks ᯽

Other Helpful Tags! more to be added… #.rb ᯽ #.fav ᯽ #Hedges.Pesters ᯽

᯽ I Think That’s It! ᯽

[maaxverstappen]

I’ve been asking ppl cus im nosy. What’s your writing process like if any? Do u have a preferred place or time. Preferred device. Do u write rough drafts then edit or is it much more considered. How do u decide that an idea is worth fleshing out or pursuing if it looks like it’s plotty. Pls yap at length if u so wish — wiz

i love this question!! and would love to know other answers so if you want to reblog them i shall be on the lookout 👀.

i answered partly here so will just like build on that!!

the process is that i’ll have an idea and depending on how large it is write out some sort of outline. my preference for all planning in life is on paper so i have a little journal that ill write out some ideas in. kind of brainstorm / mind map style of just jotting down random ideas that come to mind.

however, with longer fics like my current post-as-i-go wip i have to do it digital bc so much changes and it’s too long (see pics in previous ask). that one i actually started planning in my notes app on a plane bc the idea had to come out of me someway and i was really excited about it. i then transferred it to a google doc and added onto my chapter per chapter outline (1st pic in previous ask). i felt like that was a bit overwhelming for understanding the overall plot so then i went and made a simple overview of the key plot points per chapter (the 2nd pic in previous ask) just so i felt like i had a better understanding of the goal per chapter.

now when i sit down to write a chapter ill get both the detailed notes and the main plot points and just write whatever i feel like in order to get to the goal of the chapter.

for shorter one shot fics i’ll either have no full outline or a one page idea list kind of thing. for instance, for worth the trouble i knew that it would start and end in the present time and then everything in between would be a flashback, but i didn’t know the flashbacks would be non chronological until i was writing it. same for the chewing gum aspect that ends up being quite an important part of the symbolism and that almost weaves the parts together, that wasn’t a *thing* until i was almost finished with the rough draft and i then went to add it in to previous scenes.

for my long fic i have to be a bit more calculated with the hidden messages/foreshadowing as i can’t go back and edit published chapters lmao so that is a little more thought out + i keep track of loose ends to tie together at some point.

editing is a bit of a harder one. for my long fic my overal editing is per chapter, but i do tend to go back and edit per section too. like right now I’m writing a texting scene and first i wrote the plain texting dialogue, then i went back to add the bits in between from characters’ pov. then i’ll read over it fully and edit where needed. finally when the whole chapter is done ill read over it and edit again, but at that point it’s mainly grammar and punctuation.

my main writing issues i’ve noticed so far is that i tend to switch tenses without realising so that’s something i look out for when editing. i also am always worried they don’t *do* enough so i like to think “hmm what action can i add in here to make them more human” when editing.

so far only worth the trouble has been beta read, the rest i do myself. if I’m stuck i will talk through a lot of it with my partner who will give me some ideas and just like help lmao (she’s also the one that beta read wtt!). but she’s not in the f1 fandom so it’s a little hard to have her beta read for characterisation and specific plot points so i do that myself. like when she beta read wtt she gave a few points of feedback that weren’t too relevant bc the average f1 fic reader would understand (like the significance of spa21, there is no need to explain it).

I’m a baby fic writer so a lot of my process will be redefined and refined as i go I’m sure.

as for deciding what to write, it’s really whatever captures my attention. the prompt for help me hold onto you is one i really liked and a trope i love reading myself. i was also ready to challenge myself to a longer plot fic and i was really excited about the idea so i just went for it! my main consideration is really just how excited i am for it.

i will say that i am currently really struggling with perfectionism / imposter syndrome. I’m having a hard time getting the words onto paper bc it feels like it’ll never be as good as my favourite authors anyway so what’s the point. (which is now also impacting the way i read fics bc it makes me sad that ill never write anything as good as what I’m reading lol)

i generally write on my laptop! in a google doc with grammarly activated and the word count on screen (which pisses me off bc i have to turn it back on after every refresh). i wrote my latest crafty!oscar on my phone (bc i was too excited to wait till i got to my laptop) but wouldn’t ever do that for anything much longer or plot-ier than that.

i fear this has gotten very long. i know u said yap away but …. i perhaps have yapped too close to the sun.

[gunkbaby]

do you think Tsukiyama is a vrigin

I’ll answer this quickly because an unwarranted overanalysis about Shuu and sex is coming I fear - which was not the question!

Personally, in general: no.

When I read him, when I write him, I don’t see him as a virgin. I actually have a oneshot related to his ‘first time’ sitting half-baked in my drafts, relating it to ‘ghoul hood’ and people eating - it’s maybe a bit Bones And All coded lol - I might post it idk. My main project with him has sex as a sort of key theme - using it to express passion that isn’t understood, ferality, and forms of self-destruction - I bring that up to say that maybe I don’t think Shuu is a virgin because I have been writing this thing too long, and maybe it’s swayed my answer/opinion of him. Maybe also worth noting that I headcanon Shuu as having BPD and I have BPD, and that can affect how you act sexually and I also find that the way I myself think about sex and the like can also be a bit odd. So in short: maybe I’m utterly wrong, and am horrendously projecting my experiences alone in my opinion! You tell me!

In canon though, I’m like 99% sure he has eaten sexual organs - and I don’t doubt there’s more off-screen meals he’s done like that. So maybe that adds a bit of credence to Shuu not being a virgin - if you associate the way ghouls eat with their sexuality. I certainly wouldn’t call him a prude, regardless.

I think Shuu’s virginity or lack thereof can be approached it in different ways - I feel like Shuu could be read as a virgin also. If someone said that I wouldn’t argue heavily against it, unless it was used to like. Make fun of him, or something - because mocking virginity is just really lame to me. But I don’t think him being a virgin is mischaracterisation or whatever.

Maybe virginity isn’t that big of a deal for ghouls - they eat people and I imagine they don’t differ Down There much from humans, so maybe they just think of sex differently. Maybe they experience it differently, feel it differently. I think that’s an interesting thought - how ghoulhood might affect their sexuality - something to chew on, I like that.

If I do allow myself one tangential point here about Shuu and sex in general, I would argue against is the idea that Shuu is like. A horny sex pest. I’ve seen that interpretation before, mostly on the TG Reddit - shocking to no one. Worth noting that TG Reddit is where most of the straight men in this fandom are, and that particular interpretation of Shuu feels very much like a straight man’s comprehension of pining. Like I’ve seen art of him with kinda foot fetish intentions from him and it feels so…Like people weren’t understanding why Shuu is a bit. Peculiar about the Kaneki handkerchief - i don’t read it as a fetish or anything for him, i read it as him being hyper-focused on something and needing every part of it - something like that. He might be getting a bit randy in those scenes, but I feel like it’s not in the way ppl have made out - Shuu doesn’t feel like a ‘male gaze man’ to me, and that interpretation does feel like that to me.

Sorry. I allowed myself one long tangent lmao. Maybe I’ll sound off about Shuu and sex in the reblogs - but I kinda wanna rethink my ideas of it anyways, so sorry if in like. Three days I reblog this with excess Shuu waffle. Thank you for the ask anon!

[urszn]

🍧 ˚ ⋆ ࣪. ₊ ˚ 🤍 ༉‧₊˚✧ . ˚. 🪷 ₊ ༉₊˚

HEART TO HEART from esther.

( @soov ) REI ! — to be honest i was quite surprised that you even followed me back, lowkey was scared of u maybe bc i thought u were cool and i’ve seen ur pics in my recommended all the time, your so sweet tho and super funny ! i love when we gang up on ppl (..sia and mari) absolutely love when we do tomato tomato, anyways i look forward to ur fics since ur so talented! love you rei <3

( @wonieleles ) SIA ! — my pookie oh my god! ur fics are so good like scrumptious LMAO ok but fr i remember liking ur jungwon smau and then u asked to be on my taglist and i said how i liked ur smau, i was so scared to say if we could be friend and then like a month later i think we followed each other and you sent an ask saying hi and boom we started texting, so glad u sent that hi ask bc imagine if u didn’t omg? ur so smart and talented seriously tho ur such a nerd which i love abt u ! even tho sometimes i bully u, ur writing is so good and i hope you know that!! also u give such a good advise and ur so funny, love you sia !!

( @lov3niki ) KIMMY ! — rizzy kimmy omg i remember the day you followed me, someone tagged me in one of those games and i reblogged it and then u followed me bc u also participated in the game,, tell me why i was so shocked and excited when u followed me cause i fr ate up ur smaus and i think i sent an ask saying hi and the rest is history. ok but i love texting u abt ideas and i love feeding into ur delusions abt riki and then sending u those sneak peaks of my smaus omg,, seriously appreciate u always liking all my posts and commenting, one of the best ppl on this app fr and u definitely deserve all those followers bc gosh u make such good fics,, excited for ur upcoming work kimmy, love you always.

( @aerisfy ) AERI ! — no bc seriously ur blog is breathtaking!! ur so talented? ur carrd, ur account and basically everything you do makes me happy, if i’m not mistaken i think u tagged me in the game thingy and i was lowkey really happy bc most of my moots never interacted with me ! i love talking to you? ur so relatable and fun to text with, and pretty sure ur like one of the first ppl to actually me, i love giving u advice and helping with stuff and all ur smaus sound so good like ?!???! they’re so good !! always text me when u want to, i love you <3 mwah

( @flowers4thalia ) QUINN ! — even though we don’t interact much i always see you like my stuff like fr it’s so nice and whenever you do send asks they’re always to positive and cute !!! i can’t say much rn but please definitely interact with me more <3

( @yenqa ) YEN ! — i’ll be honest i was scared of u. NOT IN A BAD WAY i just felt like reblogged a lot of ur moots posts and UR ACCOUNT IS PRETTY no seriously so pretty and i love ur riki smau omg it’s so good and i think ur in my taglist for my smau so i was like ahhh anyways thank you for supporting me!! i’ll continue to support you too ur so kind and supportive and everyone needs a yen(qa) in their life’s, love u pookie <33

( @mokiverse ) MOKI ! — THE MOST DOWN TO ESRTH SWEETEST KINDEST PERSON EVER. my little mochi <33 everyone needs to send ml a inbox message that says just positive things!!! theme is so pretty first of all, so glad we did those matching profiles with kimmy, already have a lot of respect for u even tho we texted like a little bit but seriously,, ur funny, talented, positive, gives good advise ?!? like what so sweet i’m def adding more to this later but already my little mochi, continue smiling and being urself my love <33

( @trsrina ) INA ! — now where do i start…ina my first moot my love my pookie my yunjin my 1/2 number one honestly, u and yeni my fav ppl seriously, so thankful u started texting me!! i think i already showed u that ss of when we were interacted, genuinely so happy that i’m able to see ur account grow, ur fics are so good, i’ll be ur number one supporter no matter what idc, every time we talk it’s just like a stress reliever like ur so understanding and patient everyone who’s moots with you is so lucky bc ur just so kind and lovely, and ur funny ur such a green flag like ?!?? love you so much ina idk what else to tell u,, u basically saw my account grow with me :( like i think i had barley 100 when we started texting, and i’m just super thankful for you,, my yunjin!

( @yeniiverse ) YENII ! — I COULD NEVER FORGET MY CHAEWON gosh ur so funny, make me laugh out loud 24/7 i remember meeting you omg i was taken aback bc u were funny like i’m so serious everyone go talk to my chae bc she’ll make you laugh and SHES TALENTED GUYS !!! like wtf best combo fr me you and ina my loves,, i think you followed me like when i had 200 and i was scared of taking to ppl but YOU omg so glad u said hi !! and you’ll always listen to ppl like i can’t appreciate you enough !!! the chaewon to my sakura, my pookie, my 1/2 number one, i’ll add more for you soon dw ml tbh i’m tired!! but expect there to be more later ;) stay being funny and making ppl laugh <33

( @hanniluvi ) SOPH ! — maknae of saf <33 ok so i think i told u already but u fr scared me, u were actually one of the first ppl who i followed after i saw u talked with sona LMAO no but i fr was scared to even check ur account cause like u always posted for ur smaus and they’re actually good like ?!? i was impressed cause u fr remind me to update im so serious like ajajkaka ok but now that we talk wowow most nicest, understanding, interesting, funniest person ever, ur so sweet and ofc sonas other half, u seriously deserve everything !! like u update constantly and give good advise too !!! love u it girl soph,, hopefully yk who sees this cause they’re ur biggest fan LMAO love u soph <33

( @son4taa ) SONA ! — SAFS FAKE MAKNAE AKA OLD GRANDMA AKA ANCIENT,, IM JP IM JP my fav old lady tho, even though u have L rizz and ur ancient ur actually really cool, soph other half yk, ok but… fun fact ur the first person i followed apparently,, which is cool bc we didn’t start taking till like a couple weeks but seriously so talented ,hardworking , show stopping, entertaining, funniest ppl, u also scared btw like how tf do u post consistently?!!! no but fr everyone needs a sona GO FOLLOW SONA,, love you ancient pookie <33

( @sunoksunny ) SUNNY ! — AMAZING SPECTACULAR SHOW-STOPPING, like everything evey single time u say something it’s just the facts, rei’s gf OMG !!? no but i always saw u in my other moots accounts, but did i ever say anything ?!? nope :( but it’s okay cause we talk now !! BUT UR CARRD AMAZING !!! i think i saw some videos of u in the gc of u dancing ? not sure but if yes then ur so talented what ?!?? i did ballet like for a bit BUT SERIOUSLY SUNNY IS SUNNY , my lil sunshine yk always backing me up tbh against sia LMAO but fr stay being urself and don’t let other bring u down

( @blossomnct ) MEG ! — oh em gee MEG BÆ seriously love you, ur so sweet and chaotic, everyone loves meg seriously aka i do, always will be megs cheerleader, so happy we’ve became moots, and also always interacts with me !! and when you say hi to me when i say hi in the gc >>> like meg never ignores anyone, i love meg, meg is life. love you pookie.

just a little something to appreciate my moots

more ppl to be added ! want to be added comment here !

[drawnaghht]

tag guide anyone? + differentiating between usagis (thinkpiece)

I'm really just curious now if something like a "tagging guide" would help? If you would like this, or know if anyone else has posted something like this, sound off in the comments or like/reblog to agree ^^ 

I posted a poll about this on twt and it looks like 13 so far really want one, so I’m putting a lil test post around here too. I also found while researching for this post that apparently on tumblr, the first 20 tags show up in search! so I guess they changed that from 5 to 20 at some point. huh. that’s a bit more helpful than just 5 tags!

I’ve noticed sometimes people have no idea what to tag with a show like Usagi Chronicles that is less than 2 years old and is based on existing IP, but also that ppl use a lot of tags in general, perhaps confused about what is the “main tag” or most used tag for a character in rottmnt for example. So I started writing a little tag guide, which I’ll post the draft of at the bottom this thinkpiece. The main issue around tumblr seems to be excessive mis-tagging or multi-tagging i.e when a character isn’t there. I think I’ve seen this in some other fandoms too (primarily bigger fandmos), but I’m not gonna get too deep into it. You can skip to “tagging guide” via CTRL+F to search it on the page. I’ve also included a little character “separator” part with graphics, cuz it seems some are having trouble seeing the characters differently from fanart alone. I thought it would help to post more of the “source” materials ^^

Also if you have problems differentiating between the two in general…aside from both being white long-eared rabbits they are almost as different as night and day, at least on the surface ^^;; Here is a helpful post by Freakova, about how to tell the difference between Miyamoto Usagi and Yuichi Usagi, ancestor and descendant respectively: 

https://freakova.tumblr.com/post/707461151549702144/i-made-this-for-my-besties-to-help-explain-the

But I kinda get it! Especially if characters are intentionally obfuscated a bit (e.g. there are characters in the show who can’t tell between Miyamoto and Yuichi Usagi, but it is mostly used as plot hook/humor). But they have different names and characteristics and slightly differing fanbases on a site like tumblr, so separating them in tags is helpful. I think part of it also comes from the name confusion, but I already wrote a post about that. Imo, if you have your own design already and it looks like neither of the two characters, you can just use “Rise Usagi” or “rottmnt Usagi” or other variations as tags, those are popular and used enough already that you don’t need to use the main character tags ^^

Personally, I would only like to see Yuichi Usagi in his own tags when it applies (he’s in the pic/fic), but if he’s not, well, what are you doing tagging him there?

I also get that some newer/younger TMNT fans apparently didn’t know the Usagi characters are from their own franchise for a short while last year (but ppl probably learned, right? I’ve literally only seen posts/tweets asking what the series is abt and unrelated posts exasperated that ppl don’t know) but visually they’re quite distinct, even if they are all white rabbits. I’ll post these comparisons just so I can use the tags properly and not piss off anyone else.

We have the original Usagi and his 1000-years later descendant.

Stan Sakai based Miyamoto Usagi largely on his childhood inspiration of samurai films, mainly “Samurai Trilogy” starring Mifune Toshiro playing Miyamoto Musashi, a real-life samurai who inspired many other films and adaptations. You can hear more about how Stan created Usagi here in this Portland Art Museum video where he explains and draws his Usagi. The story usually goes that he drew a rabbit with a chonmage (the edo-period top-knot) and suddenly, Usagi was born.

In the show he has a slightly older-looking design? but in the comics his look varies slightly because the series has been going for 40 years and the character has developed over the pages. so he can look slightly different cover to cover, page to page, but mostly it’s all him, the same character, just different situations, life periods and emotions. So he can look different in official material depending which publication period you start reading from, but mostly the same. 

Then we have both the Miyamoto Usagi’s in different animated mediums,

And Yuichi in different media (show itself in 3D and 2D and merch by Stan)

And then there’s also Jotaro (very important Usagi Yojimbo character introduced early on/vol 1) and Yamamoto Yukichi(introduced in later stories/vol 4), who I think people aren’t mixing up with any of the previous rabbits yet, but who knows, i don’t look through absolutely all the tags myself after all and tumblr seems to have a problem of not showing much older posts in the public tag search anymore, so I can’t find older posts I used to see anymore ^^;

More thoughts on tagging + being a fan under cut. 

This … is not really a vent or analysis post, I can't get that upset about it myself. with real life worries etc - fandom is supposed to be a fun outlet for creativity, at least for me. So I try not to feel anything about it. But tagging has always seemed fairly straight-forward to me and it’s mostly to organize a blog/find other people with similar interests. Writing non-structured non-essays is basically how I interact with a piece of media when I feel like fanart is not enough. And because tumblr posts now apparently Do Not HAve Limits, this is a better alternative to tag rambles.

-------------------

So when I saw the post about the Miyamoto Usagi tag I remembered that this was why I didn’t use the “follow tag” feature + the “your tags” tab as much myself (aside from not having it before and not being used to it on tumblr). Because usually with bigger fandoms, people do mis-tag or tag their other shows/fandoms into it without including the main character, this happens on occasion because there are a lot of people using the tag. I also don’t follow the Leosagi tag anymore for the same reason, that people can’t seem to differentiate between the characters and it becomes hard to tell what they want to post or which character they are talking about/drawing ^^;

As pointed out by Tamalinvonpineapple's post about it, people mis-tag Yuichi Usagi and Miyamoto Usagi and that’s a problem for people who would like to see just one of those characters but not mis-tagged as the other. I’m not gonna assume these are made in bad faith e.g. intentionally to piss off other fans, cuz there can be so many different reasons for people doing this. This post is also not gonna get into ship tags much because that is a contentious topic and tbh, left for a separate thinkpiece (I also already wrote smth abt tags for myself).

I tried to find out more possible reasons for mistagging in general or what the general consensus on tumblr is about tagging but it seems (or we can assume) it is a “bad practice” from how social media sites have given a slightly different use for tags tiktok/instagram/twitter - “tag for reach” - so like those social media accounts for companies that spam other tags. I do see this in anime/manga fandoms occasionally. Not just for the different spellings of characters (e.g, when a dub would give the character a new name; japanese vs western way of writing names) but specifically when 1 character is the only one there and the tags then have 30 other characters listed as well so the post/media would show up in search. But I wonder where this habit is from? Aren’t people curious to see what other tags their character/show have? I remember that on sites like blogger, we only tagged so that we could find things later, so people often made their own custom tags, i.e. "my work on the show" or "midnight doodlies". if a show got tagged, for example TMNT or Usagi, it would probably get 1-word/1-phrase tag (i.e. “turtles” “turtlies” “mutant turtles”) or just the series title tag - either the abbreviation or full name of a series/comic/cartoon depending on content. When it comes to tumblr tags, I remember getting annoyed at NOTPs permeating the tags as well. Or just posts about other seriesM multi-crossovers where your blorbo is only there to die, but then is still tagged after that; edits that have no relation to the character but they share a name or tag for whatever reason and you keep seeing these unrelated posts in the tags. I’ve seen more than enough from almost any of the fandom tags I’ve visited on tumblr. So I get how annoying mistagging itself can be.

But basically in regards to tags on tumblr itself, it seems people misuse them mainly because they don't know or don't like the tags for the other shows. Folks also like to see their posts get to as many people as possible, which I understand, I do the same on instagram, cuz that’s what I’ve learned by other artists example. Seems to make sense that more tags = more views. On tumblr, this sort of doesn’t always work this way. I could post a drawing from a popular cartoon and get maybe 5 notes total in 12 years, while a scribble I deemed too ugly to tag properly might get 54 notes on it’s first day. It’s almost like a Murphy’s Law of Tumblr that what you expect to do well, doesn’t. It’s just how it is here and I’m so used to it, it feels weird to complain about it, even on other sites with actual algorhitms and working apps etc.

Well, as a fan of the Usagi Chronicles show, perhaps what makes me more sad is that this has had the adverse effect of older TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo fans being so angry that they can’t stand the show/character itself now, even if they already disliked it before seeing other fans post about it. Which is just plain sad because some people even make up stuff about it just to discredit it as a show that Stan Sakai worked on. I understand that people have different reasons to dislike the show, most probably valid, but they also assume many things about it, to the point of stating them as fact when the opposite is true. I have… a different post about it. In general, we can say that being online seems to be the common thread between fans annoyed at fans.

In some ways, what’s even sadder however is an empty or unactive tag. Imagine that the last post you saw in that tag is still the one from 2013 you made yourself. It’s a bit annoying seeing people mistag or post unrelated fanart in it but hey, maybe this means they also read the tag? A chance to educate or get more views on your own fandom? Just a chance for communication? I know that doesn’t seem very appealing when those same fans are the ones mis-using the tag, but it just seems better than something completely empty. Of course, this is not a problem for TMNT fandoms perhaps, but from my experience in smaller fandoms, or being a fan of smaller/less popular media. And with how much there is mainly ship-related posts in almost all the Usagi Chronicles tags, this seems to be a matching experience I’ve been having so far in the Usagi tags. The comic series tag itself is also often full of other things, or only ship things, or sometimes only TMNT things for a short bit, but overall, I guess at least people use it?? But I would still like it that Samurai Rabbit, SRTUC, etc stuff gets tagged with those tags so I can actually find it instead of combing through multiple tags at a time just to see something new. While the newer “Your tags” feature on tumblr makes this a bit easier, I can see the easy annoyance at when people tag a character but then don’t include the character. and to add insult to injury, they tag a different character, but without acknowleding the first character at all.

But this is now like a joint fandom for a crossover for two franchises which have had crossovers before and now… there’s sort of a joint fandom? Sort of? So because it’s a bit bigger, it feels nice when other fans are considerate of small things like tagging. Now, on the whole, while many do still mistag and the leosagi tag is still mainly yuichi x leo for many, I’ve also seen in my own tagscrambles that not as many do this as much anymore, or going through a tag in time, the newer stuff seems to do this less. So like I’ve written in previous posts, my honest hope is just that fandom will adapt and grow into healthier online habits. Still, there are a few other things in the tags that I just can’t help but notice each time. it’s also why I don’t bother too much with repeat-viewing tags unless I’m looking for something specific.

It often feels like people just make up their own versions of any Usagi and/or write off the show as “too bad to watch”. And. idk, this just makes me feel sad about it because as mentioned above, I’ve seen it before in other smaller fandoms I’m in. In transformative works, it’s fairly normal that people make their own versions of a show or it’s characters, because that’s something fun to do with fanart and fic. But to openly hate a character? idk man, just feels weird to me personally. Like I don’t have the energy for hatedom. I know my little sibling really gets into hating one series that really disappointed her as a viewer, but even she now says that it’s an odd way to spend time, when she could be making fanart of something she likes instead. And I get that. I also spent my earlier non-internet days being more hateful of new media I disliked at the start, and while expressing that isn’t always bad (it’s just an iopinion), it became weirdly detrimental to me actually enjoying stuff in my tweens. Everything me and my friends and their friends ever talked about, was related to somehow being more above others or knowing better than others, being hateful of anything new or popular. And without quite realizing it right away, that was really tiring. Even if I spent time on things I did like, hobbies I enjoyed, that hate and childhood snobbishness sorta simmered there. I remember that for me it mainly came from “oh, I want to be a real animator one day, I should act like a real profesional adult and always be critical of the media I view, because that’s how I see adults treat real serious film.” Fast-forward 15 years, I’ve been through making comics as a tween, making fanart as a teen, I’ve been making a lot of different kinds of “cartoon art” in general as well as some actual art education, thinking, maybe I want to have some more general art schooling too. Later in my mid-twenties, I met someone with this similar mindset to my childhood self, who at first I got along with. We laughed at cartoons we didn’t like and made fun of the bad endings of those we did. At some point, I listened to them talking about getting to visit a big animation festival. And how they completely unironically expressed their hate directly at a leading crew member of a cartoon they didn’t like. And then I realized like. Wait a fucking minute. I don’t wanna act like this to other people! And this is why I don’t really “shoot the shit” about cartoons I don’t like as publicly anymore as I maybe once would have online on tumblr etc. Like I just don’t get it anymore. At most I’ll write down my thoughts somewhere private or to friends and try to understand why I don’t like the thing. And if it’s a very simple dislike, I just don’t spend time on it.

So like, I don’t get the hate the show (SRTUC) and character(Yuichi Usagi) get. Like I can understand sort of where people are coming from. but I don’t get why they gotta publicly tag it, announce it, or put it in the reblogged tags sometimes. the og poster sees that after all? so that’s like a bigger thought for me when it comes to tags.

I believe people can learn to be nice about a show they don’t like, but if they start to feel annoyed at fandom parts of the web they see online, they also start to feel hate toward a specific show, even if the show or thing itself might not be as bad. Example - I have this toward Star Wars for example, it’s a big fandom. I feel indifferent now, but in my youth, I found it annoying that everyone was talking about it as if it was the best thing ever, when it was spoiled for most of my childhood for me, and also felt like a generic movie series after all that. Something growing in popularity, or being really popular in a niche fandom can make ppl dislike it in general and that’s fairly ordinary as fandoms go. Often, people just don’t like a popular thing. Just think of series of like GoT/ASoIaF or HP. But then again those go down the cultural road so easily, I suppose in countries where western-media is really popular/common, it becomes like a cultural osmosis and fans can assume *everyone* likes it, even if not everyone does. I’m thinking about the fresh 30+ dads from 10 years ago I read about who only interacted with their kids through their own nerd interests. Pokemon is such a culturally permeated thing, it’s everywhere and everyone seems to assume everyone has played it or at least knows about it, even if at some point, some of us were big fans of Digimon instead, or some don’t like it at all. At some point, my dad gifted me a Harry Potter book, even though I (non-vocally) disliked it, but it was in the cultural osmosis here so strongly that it was everywhere and he just assumed I was into it (bless his heart, he genuinely didn’t know). HP was something that I initially disliked because it was so popular, but the idea of a “basic magic premise, but extended” seemed interesting, and it was required reading in my middle school, so at 11, I went to see the movie and thought, alright, maybe I’ll give it a chance. But reading the book I found things that didn’t make sense to me, that didn’t match what seemed like the themes of the book (the whole slave freedom plot for example) so I always sort of kept it at arms-length - not quite getting into it, but also not turning it away if I found anything, not saying anything upsetting to people who were fans of it. Everyone at my school read it though to varying degrees, or at least everyone knew things about it even if they weren’t fans or weren’t invested at all. (This was all before we knew JKR is a vocal TERF, so now I feel a bit validated in my dislike, even if I feel sad for the fans who got something positive out of the series).

So point being, fandom can have different types of people in it. A type of media will often accrue a specific type of fan and sometimes it won’t match what the show itself puts out. E.g. fans acting in ways that go squarely against what the media talks about (Steven Universe is a popular show with many fans that comes to mind), or a show having an unexpected viewership next to it’s intended demographic (us 90s kids still being cartoon fans in our late 20s/30s/early 40s). It’s slightly unpredictable in a general way. 

Of course, TMNT fandom is a bit different from those bigger properties because it was an indie comic made in the 80s that was so different and off-the-wall indie for a comicbook, it sold out and gave its creators Eastman and Laird a hefty legacy, lasting careers and actual money. Good for them! Personally I think it’s thanks to how genuinely creative and collaborative their work was then. Like Usagi Yojimbo, it’s an old comicbook/franchise now, so the “fandom” as such differs from generation to generation, from childhood to childhood. I met the turtles for the first time with the 87 series in the early 90s, then the next time w the 2003 series, which i initially hated as that angry, cartoon-critical tween, but was surprised at how much it seemed to take from the comics. I think I was initially angry about it for different reasons, mainly, “why is it so serious? why are the jokes so lame?” and also because I had invested so much emotionally into the idea of seeing something as good as the 80s cartoon again... but then found that it grew on me and now 20 years later I can look at it with nostalgia. As a result, my reaction to the 2012 series was mostly “wow another TMNT cartoon?” and “huh it looks interesting” and “oh I’ve seen this person work on another cartoon before”. My little sibling on the other hand only saw the 2003 cartoon and their reaction the the 2012 adaptation was “Wow, THEY’RE FINALLY TEENS” because as kids, we thought the 2003 TMNT looked and sounded “too much like boring adults”. But from many online fanspaces back then a lot of the more vocal reactions was around “THE 3D IS SO UGLY” and “WHY ARE THEY SO YOUNG”. You’ve probably heard similar sentiments of various degrees if you’ve been a fan or viewer of any TMNT cartoon. 

Usagi Yojimbo is unique in this sense because Stan Sakai has been the only one drawing and writing the comicbook for 40 years. Some of the visual style and writing tone change from book to book, but it’s gradual because Stan has changed as an artist and writer too. If you look at any comic series like this, it’s actually a natural part of many comics i.e. webcomics used to be a prominent example of this, as the creators were often complete novices at the beginning and graduated to a more consistent style. But even from a surface level view, lets say, reading other people’s reviews, you can see that people really enjoy Usagi Yojimbo for how consistent it is with it’s treatment of its characters, story and Edo-period culture. Stan Sakai really does his research and puts respect back into fiction inspired by samurai. Even though guides will often tell you that you can jump into the series from any point in the series, there’s just something really consistent about it as a whole. Sakai gets to do whatver he wants with his books and what he does seems to be thought-out usually. Even if the early animated adaptations were a bit incorrect, comic readers in general have a lot of respect for Stan and his work. My favourite part about this all is how Usagi Yojimbo is actually used to teach about japanese culture in a college course in the US.

Because both TMNT and UY are originally creator-owned comics (still so with UY regardless of publisher or adaptations but not so much TMNT as Viacom bought the rights in 2009), perhaps the general fan experience is more similar to original comics fandoms in Japan. Although whether a series is creator-owned varies from series to series, the manga and magazines culture in Japan seems wholly different from what US comicbooks were in the 80s and even what they still are now in that regard. Because a series will more often be written and illustrated by the same creator/artist/team, there are less variations and book-to-book differences both visually and tonally. In the US, a comicbook series can start with an artist-writer team, but then switch if the editorial decides some change is needed. This is something that often affects consistency and a story or character’s canon eventually and in a convoluted way, it’s the reason why we got “alternate earths” and “multiverse crossovers”. Which, while fun, make american comicbooks hard to read for some newer readers. Even with TMNT, once Eastman and Laird started having less time to make the comics and their other problems, it led into breaking off their creative partnership and never speaking again. But they had to continue the comic. If before the feud, they would just have fun passing the pages between each other, now they actually  so they wrote it he series became different based on who was writing it. One more sci-fi leaning and one more martial-arts and mysticism leaning. You can see this difference in the TMNT animated adaptations as well. The 2003 series namely is more based on Laird’s storylines in the comics and he was also consultant on the series. After the 2009 sale of Mirage to Viacom, we get the 2012 series, where Eastman acts as consultant, so it’s more heavy on his ideas of what the TMNT are. In 2019, the documentary series “Toys that made us” brought them together for the first time in almost 2 decades. And then we fans got to have The Last Ronin, a collaboration between the two again.

(What I’ve paraphrased here is mostly based on this video overview of how the comic became a franchise “How did a violent indie comic become a $15,000,000,000 franchise?” by matttt if you’re interested in seeing and hearing a more picturesque summary of this)

So getting back to fandom, because it’s mostly been one comicbook series, both the more avid and casual UY comics fans might not be used to there being adaptations of Stan’s Usagi. Yes, even with the visual examples I brought up above, perhaps some simply haven’t seen the animated adaptations because these are still marketed “for kids”. This is like the only reason I can think of that people who are 30+ adults, go online to complain about the Chronicles series online, even though it’s obviously for kids, meaning they probably didn’t even watch it. Folks are “surprised” Stan “let Netflix ruin his series” etc - even if it’s explicitly in a new futuristic setting to avoid affecting the comics canon. It will be interesting to know how people react when or if Sakai puts out his “Kagemusha” anthology, where the idea is about different creators telling different Usagi stories.

Even TMNT fans, many of whom don’t know Usagi beyond the animated adaptations, might jump in with this similar mindset of “different = bad”. Maybe there’s a manga/anime adaptation out there with the fans having similar concerns about their adaptations. Sailor Moon comes to mind, but as always, people’s grievances with an adaptation may have good reasons underneath. But also I’ve personally never seen an avid Sailor Moon fans be as annoying as the casual Star Wars fan. It might also depend on the age and lifestyle of the fan. Someone who is a teacher or parent, maybe they’ve met more people, put more thought into it, might feel milder about new or different things vs someone who is used to going online to see people angry and enjoys getting into arguments.

If I start to think about it, I can get a similar reaction out of myself. It was hard to look at mid-00s fanart of Usagi because it always felt a bit “extreme” like fans changed things about Usagi to suit their own understanding or image of samurai, which was always more based on popular movies or anime rather than the comic. I think this is just a general thing about fanart over the times. I still balk at some fanart, either UY or SRTUC, if for example the sides of the clothes are opposite - right over left, for burials vs left over right, like the letter ‘y’ - because it just means the fanartist didn’t bother to look up even references. Most times people just don’t know about this sort of stuff, they might be anime fans or they might even be part of a different asian culture, but it it’s not something that’s taught, of course it won’t reflect in something like fanart. But then, it’ll just be something new to learn. To me it also speaks of a wider annoyance of people liking things only for the surface-level appeal.

Usagi Yojimbo I’ve noticed has much more of a fanbase than fandom. I know fanbase doesn’t get used much as a term these days as more and more media gets an active fandom rather than staying at a fanbasem but it’s a term I’d like to use in this case. “The Wilkes Beacon” in 2014 defines the difference so: “Not everything with a fanbase has a fandom, because a fandom is a group of committed fans who are always vocally interested in their “thing,” usually expressing that on a social website such as Tumblr. Just because you’re a fan doesn’t mean the fandom will accept you.” Indeed sometimes fandom feels almost like being in a separate part of the club, only for people in the know about it. The origin for fanbase is attributed to early 20th century baseball fans. The origin of fandom, most well-known as a portmanteau of fan + kingdom, is often attributed to the original Sherlock Holmes fans who actually gathered to mourn the character when Arthur Conan Doyle decided to kill him off (bless your hearts and souls, sometimes it feels like fandom has never changed) but also from early 20th century sports fans and 60s Trekkies, who saved their show. A lot of different sources give different origins and histories for these words and many will also equate them as synonymous.

My own experiences tell me that a fanbase is more general - any fans of a thing, whether they attend conventions, buy the media or no (i.e. Sherlock Holmes readers, sports fans) and will comprise the “base” of any activity - the larger number of fans that exist for a piece of media/sport/celebrity. A fandom will be the more “active” part, more interested in being connected with each other within that fanbase. Of course, to any other person outside of fans, both of these will be synonymous and a fan will look weird and fanatical regardless of how little they invest themselves into a media. But I’’m making this distinction to describe what I see as more casual and more active “fanbase as a whole”. Fanbase as a word feels more general, while Fandom sounds more specific. So as an example, the One Piece “fanbase” might feel large and more everywhere, like with pokemon or Sherlock Holmes the book, but the OP fandom can feel more active and particitative, like the .It’ll depend entirely on what way each person interacts with the media. Do you have friends who are also fans of the series? it’s like a fandom. You just watch it but don’t participate as much? You’re in the fanbase, but you might partake in fandom activities if you feel like it. You might be a more casual fan, but you might have more avid feelings about the series as well, but you’re not that interested in making fanworks or posts or reacting to other fans at all. A fandom might be big, but more ubiquitous, more silent and conversely, some fandoms may be small, but still very active and vocal. I’ve often theorized that this is because So UY online fandom sorta feels like the latter, but more under-the-radar. Small and active but also more silent and appreciative. With the previous “big fandoms” example, it’s also the juxtaposition between Old and New that comes into play. An old Spidey fan from the 70s might have become an official Spiderman fanartist, but they might not partake in all the fan stuff they used to anymore. Still a fan, but maybe the newer and younger “fandom” as such is just not appealing to them in the same way.

The larger or more advertised a TV series or book is, the larger and more annoying its fanbase in general. If a piece of media has less popularity, it will ergo have a smaller fanbase and sometimes no “active fandom” at all. So now with the Samurai Rabbit: the Usagi Chronicles TV show as an animated spinoff-adaptation, we have a similar problem that TMNT fans have been familiar with over the decades. Thanks to the show, there’s a more active, slightly younger fandom who want to connect over the series and maybe even read the comicbook, know more about the source and origins, they might want to even know how the show was made, make fanart or fic. So fans like any other, but just that the media they’re a fan of now, is still relatively new. Maybe these newer fans act or write differently online from how older fans are used to. Maybe they even treat the original source comic differently or just don’t know anything about it. In any case, new series and new fans will generally seem annoying because culturally that’s what we’ve started to associate some of fandom with. Otaku culture etc. So it and it’s fans might get the “new thing” treatment as mentioned above with the TMNT animated adaptations.

The difference here is that Stan Sakai has been wanting his own animated adaptation for a long time (just look at the Space Usagi pilot for proof) and while many suggested projects to him before, this one actually piqued his interest bc they did something new with the characters. You could say that what people don't like abt this series are some decisions resulting from this being a netflix cartoon for kids. the decision to set it in a near-future with a new younger for example, was made in the beginning by netflix and I haven’t found any articles yet that’s found a legit reason for why it stayed this way. My guess based on interviews with Stan and crew is that Stan found it interesting as a possible new way to get more readers to the comic. Something for the younger generation. Although many readers and even parents will attest that the comic is child-appropriate (and really, it is), the TV-Y7 ratings and so on exist for a reason. And while I would love for more western studios to get funding for more adult animation in general (I’m not from the US myself and animation such a large medium, the way that genres are explored or what gets made for adults vs kids feeks so different elsewhere), I think it’s good that the first full series based on UY is this “non-violent” (your mileage may vary). Because a lot of the more vocal adult fans of UY seem more focused on the violence vs what kids might get out of it. A popular quote from Sakai is “Once, a mother asked me, 'What is Usagi Yojimbo about?' and before I could answer, her son said, 'It’s about honor.'"   (Komai for JANM, 2011). Sometimes it seems like the “older adults” or the “more casual” fans of UY sort of don’t get it.

Even the naming of the series and character has reasons, which I’ve seen some Rise Leosagi shippers make their own reasons for. So the various hate from “older fans” I see about it is strange because all evidence points to the show having Sakai’s approval and his full involvement. Of course, I could also be wrong, but watching the series, it doesn’t feel to me like an “empty cashgrab” as one angry TMNT fan put it. It feels more like something made by other UY fans, those more familiar than I was at the time, with both Usagi Yojimbo lore as well as the culture and lore behind it. In their quest to properly honor the comic series they loved, crew put a lot research hours into making sure both edo and post-edo periods got to be part of their show. Like “trips to japan during a pandemic” type of research. The show is an interesting fusion of old and modern in futuristic setting and feels wholly unique as an experiment.

Another aspect of course is also the shipping parts of fandom. I can never quite get my head behind this “arguing about ships” because it just reminds me of my Grandma and her older sister fighting over their soap operas and who should get together with who. And alright, maybe this was fun for them...? I’ve never been that invested in this myself but it can be fun to have a pairing you root for in a show, when it’s just a bunch of connected ideas over the story, there really seems like a real genuine connection between the characters or if there’s a chance to connect with other fans over it. That’s kind of what fandom is for me in general, but with crossover ships, it’s like a strange and interesting combination of “oooh what interesting similarities and differences” and “lets find out” with fanworks. 

This is the main way I enjoy making crossovers in general work, even if I’ve never finished an actual fic (I’m more of an artist) and even if the works sometimes don’t go together (it’s like a fun challenge). I wonder sometimes if the SRTUC crew also imagined crossovers with TMNT? As in this fanart post on facebook by Samurai Rabbit character designer Andry R, I wonder what that could have been like. After all, if many of the crew are fans too, it just makes sense to think about that? it’s fun to think of crossovers after all! And since it’s fanwork, I personally don’t feel as obligated to make some of the quality as insanely good as I would have in my younger days. I want to enjoy the art making process too, so putting research and sketches into a piece is sometimes my own “enough”. So I don’t really care about views either because I know even now, tastes might still just be not geared toward something sketchier that I make.

Even so, despite the experience with online sites and social media people have in general, or other artists/fans encouraging to feel a bit less worried about socmedia algorhitms, it might be frustrating that posts are not as popular even if your idea feels great.

So connecting all of that fandom talk, I can only assume people mistag between a popular and non-popular series for similar reasons. As said earlier, fans might assume everyone prefers the popular thing and that it’s better to tag that popular/bigger/older thing. Because at least that So in our case, I’ve noticed more that ppl tag Yuichi Usagi with the Miyamoto Usagi tag. From the surface, it seems like people don’t know about the Yuichi tags/show or they just don’t like it for some other reason. Now Tumblr is more a “home of fandoms” than casual fans, as most of the user-generated content is entirely by people who get much more invested in a series than a casual fan. Similarly I’ll see people tag their TMNT 2012 inspired fandesigns as ROTTMNT as well, because that is simply seen as the popular fandom at the time ergo, more attention on your post.

Maybe a solution for the mis-tagging could be smth as simple as fandom outreach, something active to unite the different types of fans into using tags correctly, but of course, something more active and social might feel more unnatural, as most of us are more wall-flower than social butterfly - working off the assumption here that most fans are shy. I used to be pretty shy as a fan and now I’m more active and out-going in general in my adult years, but at the same time, doing something socially more active is still a scary thought in my brain so I can understand that it’s easier to just tag and hope it’s correct. Or easier to make ticked off posts vs something with a different kind of effort. But then again, as brought up in my examples of other fandoms, being a fan can make people very active in taking part in similar fan activities. As we all enjoy the same thing in different ways or different media in similar ways, we are all still fans at the end of the day. Whether casual or more involved, that’s a unique experience that should unite us. So I’ll have my peace with the older cartoon-hating fans who only view Usagi Chronicles as an empty children’s cartoon etc etc. 

So, because I’m an adult, but also an artist and animation fan, this is how I’ve been approaching TV cartoons for the past 5-10 years. Against my first reaction of “oh, this is too slow for me” the way I chose to view the series once I saw more of it was “I’m an adult, and this is a cartoon made my other older adults, for kids - let me see what it’s about”. It’s more about curiosity and seeing what other creatives have done to put connective tissue between one idea to another.

Personally when it comes to tagging I try to keep to a general amount of “minimum amount of tags possible” bc I’m a bit lazy but also, I will never find anything on my own blog later if I used more than 20 tags about a simpler fanart post. So maybe like 1-2 tags for show/series, 1-2 tags for characters and my own art tags. I am lazy but I also like being considerate with other people. But also because of my previous experience with blogging, I like to keep tags I re-use as consistent as possible so I have the same experience. Of course, sometimes I forget what I’ve actually used if there are many tags i.e. many characters. so keeping the tags short is a boon for that end.

Here is the draft version for the UY and Usagi Chronicles tag guide, i'm gonna change this more but this is mostly how I've been tagging stuff (or have tried to so far) and I wrote a small guide back in march before all this, but have been coming back to it now with more general and character tags in mind. 

== Tagging Guide ==

Hello Rise of the TMNT and Usagi Chronicles joint fandom! Here’s a guide on how to tag Usagi Chronicles/Samurai Rabbit stuff! Mostly it’s my own view on how to tag things based on how I interact w the fandom stuff posted here but also from my experience of using tumblr and older blogging platforms - how I see the most common/make-sensical ways to tag characters/shows. But maybe you will find this useful too, fellow fan!

Usagi Yojimbo - the name of the original comicbook series - I decidedly reserve this for posts and reblogs ONLY about the Usagi Yojimbo comic (pages covers,, screenshots, memes), or general fanart of the comic or its characters. This helps me keep it separate so I can find posts about it later.

Usagi Chronicles - personally I use this for all content for the show, but especially the crossover stuff and my own art posts. This seems to be the most commonly used unique tag about this show.

SRTUC - acronym, good for short posts, for quick tagging. but I also use this to tag general reblogged posts about the show

Samurai Rabbit - I only try to use this if it is about the official stuff, like interviews and GIF/screenshots in bulk (more than 2). This tag gets used a lot for both the series but before that it was also used for posting general UY comics content and alternate covers by other artists, as well as for original samurai rabbits unaffiliated by UY. It is too general for me to use it on my own posts outside of text posts maybe.

Samurai Rabbit the Usagi Chronicles - mostly I use this tag for more general posts, but also reblogs if someone else has made something directly related to the series.

SamuraiRabbitNetflix - lol I only use this one on twitter, bc I saw someone from the crew use it and it has stuck for most of my more finished posts I guess ^^ Literally nobody else on tumblr uses it which is fine, but I think it’s a good way to separate the series and the more general posts people make about the comic or guest art of it (or sometimes original art unrelated to UY)

Characters:

Miyamoto Usagi - I try to mainly use it for just comic Usagi and fanart, but occasionally I will use it for fanart depicting

Rise Miyamoto Usagi - Any Rise!versions of comics Usagi. Usually these are fandesigns, but sometimes fans will adapt it wholesale (usually adapting him from his younger years). Sometimes it is unclear which version it is based on or it is a completely original version so I simply tag these as Rise Usagi.

Yuichi Usagi - pretty self-explanatory! I only use this for posts/fanart including Yuichi Usagi (but not when he is only mentioned in passing). Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between these versions however, 

Usagi fandesign/Yuichi Usagi fandesign/Miyamoto Usagi fandesign - I use all these tags to organize the fandesigns ppl make of all these characters, reserving “Usagi fandesign” when it’s really an original design based on various canon Usagi concepts or more of a “general” Usagi than a specific one i.e. meant for the Rise or 2012 TMNT crossover AUs. This counts for me in reblogs also when the OP hasn’t really decided what the character is and has tagged both characters. Lol there is a lot of different fanart of these characters and for my own sake, I tag these separately where possible so I can find the fanart easier later (especially if the posts themselves have text which doesn’t use these names, or if tumblr search is not working on blogs)

UY character - I use “UY” as the common acronym before characters from UY, but I also generally tag their names in reblogs. idk, this just makes it easier for me to find them later in my own blog and that’s all (Kenichi and Mariko for example are quite common Japanese names)

Tomoe Ame - This character just deserves her own tag, but also, I think the 03 version, while quite different, can fit in the same tag because people don’t post about them as much ^^;;

--

And now for the TMNT tags!

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - the official name! long, but good if you are tagging official stuff i.e. screenshots, gifs, concept art, tweets from crew etc

ROTTMNT - good short catch-all tag, lots of ppl use this to tag their reblogs quickly, but shorter posts can also go under here

Rise of the TMNT - Slightly longer tag than the full acronym, but more descriptive, if you wanna make sure people know it’s a TMNT show

Rise TMNT - I’ve seen a few ppl use this as a tag and it’s a valid way to tag (short and unique) but it’s not as popular as the others

2018 TMNT - again, general tag for the series. Common way to make a tag for a TMNT series - adding the year of airing before the TMNT acronym. Same with TMNT 2018. Same for the comics! I’ll use IDW TMNT as a tag for example, bc it seems widely used and understood.

TMNT18 - same as the previous one, but shorter! There are a lot of TMNT media besides the comics, (movies, animated series, etc) so it’s a general easier practice to tag via year. Ppl also sometimes use the variation 18TMNT. Anything is basically fair game with these general tags as long as the author of a blog finds stuff later.

Characters![I’m not sure about the characters yet bc I use the tags differently than other people apparently. my blog my rules i guess!]

rottmnt [character] - reserved for when i tag this character in crossovers, eg rottmnt April, rottmnt donnie. I generally use nicknames for the rottmnt boys cuz I am lazy.

Rise [character] e.g. Rise Leo, Rise April - I try and use this just for 

April O Neil (full name) - for when I’m tagging them in general and just want to see them in this tag with the other versions

12 April or 12April - for the 2012 TMNT versions of the characters. I often write the tags together bc I am just lazy but in the case of numbers, I can also forget. On tumblr I try to remember to use spaces cuz that is allowed here lol.

----

And that’s it! I have more in the list, but that is the gist of the style of it. Basically hust explaining what I’ve seen and if/how I use it on my own blog. Let me know if you have more thoughts about this. I’m curious to know what other fans of both series think!

[hyukalyptus]

i feel like younger fandom writers on tumblr are starting to feel like they have to be sort of ""influencers"" and respond to every single bit of feedback and get as many reblogs as possible but that's never been what tumblr has been about and it's sad because i've seen this idea people give themselves drive writers off the website in newer, younger fandoms. if i'm in your inbox, even if it's some big idea i'm putting down, you can just reply like a conversation. i'm not expecting a piece of writing, i really just want to tell someone and have them respond "OH MY GOD I'M FOAMING AT THE MOUTH" and maybe even "thats so hot and he'd do this too" but i feel like writers are putting a lot of pressure on themselves lately, or maybe it's just this fandom idk, to write a fic for every single idea that comes into their mailbox because they feel like "that's what writers do" or something and it's like??? you don't have to be a Public Figure here. it's just a fuckign social media website and the weirdest most fucked up one. i'm sure you get asks like "hey why didn't you write such and such" but like. you're just here to converse and share the things you make this isn't your fucking job so ignore that shit and do what feels comfortable to you. idk if this sounds harsh or not but really the point is just do whatever the fuck you want

hello!

idk if this is a rant specifically toward me or if it’s supposed to be a suggestion for others..but i feel like i have a pretty clear boundary and that is stated clearly in my guidelines. i do understand that this is something silly and meant to be fun and i treat it that way.

i’ve never felt pressured to do something i didn’t want to do. i know i posted a “i have a full time job and i go to school!” post yesterday but that’s because i have drawn that boundary and i do understand that this is a low priority and it’s for fun. if i don’t like an ask, i delete it! which i do so often tbh. i don’t rly advertise that bc i want ppl to feel like they can inbox me.

and again, i’m not sure if this is directed at me fully, but i have never said anything along the lines of “because that’s what writers do.” as i’ve said in my guidelines, i understand i am not here for you or any other reader. and i am fully comfortable deleting any ask and blocking whoever tf i want.

perhaps this in response to saying something like “this didn’t get a whole lotta notes :(“ or something? and if it’s that, that’s not meant to be taken too seriously! it’s more of a “omg why doesn’t anyone else wanna giggle about kai with me rn?” just like irl if i’m w a group of ppl and i’m sharing something i rly like and that i created and i get very little response i’ll be slightly :/ but i’m not taking it personally. i’m sorry if it came across as pressuring others to provide feedback.

perhaps this is in response to my poll i have up rn. i’m doing this because many readers have suggested us writers interact back with them. and they’ve requested that from multiple writers. which i see as a fair request to be completely honest. however, i don’t feel pressured into doing that. i want to show appreciation to my readers that leave feedback and idk maybe it’s because i’m autistic, maybe it’s because i’m old and don’t do social media well, but it can be very difficult for me to talk to people in any form (online or offline) so i wanted to know what form would be best received.

but at the end of the day- i definitely do not see myself as an “influencer”—that is actually my worst nightmare. i have never felt pressured to write a response to anything, i’ve never felt pressured to respond within a certain time frame, a certain length, or anything. i still haven’t posted half my kinktober shit! i’ve never prioritized this over work or school. i do write whatever the fuck i want or i wouldn’t write about “unpopular” things like kai smut (bc let’s face it, they’re always super unpopular), chubby!reader, or other kinks. and i make that clear in my guidelines!

and yep, i see this as something silly that i do as a hobby but that isn’t my place to dictate how other writers should feel about their blog. if they want to take it seriously bc they view as their art, that’s fine with me. if they wanna write for validation or for as many notes as possible, that’s fine w me because they’re doing whatever the fuck they want.

writers: i do encourage you to not feel pressured to write to things you don’t want to, but i don’t feel like many of you do that anyway. this is meant to be something fun and if you’re not having fun, don’t do it! but i’m still having fun with this so i’m gonna do it. and i’m sure y’all are having fun too. i ofc hope my moots stick around, but i would of course understand if you decided to never log back in again someday.

[nikadd]

a few explanations for some things that have come up!!

why a 1v1 pvp?

tumblr polls don’t have either a ranked or a multiple choice options, so this is the best next thing. if i had more than 2 in each, i wouldn’t know what is ppl’s 2nd choice unless it is the second most frequent 1st choice, so to speak. having 1v1 polls would allow me to compare more data.

also, making ppl choose between two is less choice anxiety-inducing in my opinion. yes, a bit more work for me, but choosing between two is a little less work for y’all :)

why in order?

a few reasons.

first, i think a lot of ppl have a strong association between their opinion on the season and their opinion on the episode, so i didn’t want ppl implicitly comparing the seasons themselves instead of comparing episodes. ofc besides the finale-premiere pairings but i think the fact that they are supposed to be direct cause-effect episodes neutralizes that.

second, due to the fact that the show has a weird balance of episodic and serialized storylines, the general quality of the sequences of episodes is kind of inconsistent. this led me to thinking of this quality of the show as my own kind of randomizer. there are some pairings that are rather unfair, i admit, but that’s just how it turned out to be. i do have some failsafes installed in the calculation of the future rounds, so don’t worry abt that too much.

third, i think it’s a lot easier to compare the quality of the episodes when in context with each other. it’s just easier to remember how you felt going between one episode to another, so it would allow for a more informed opinion.

tumblr fandom is not a representative sample and is very cliquey.

you’re right! but it sure is fun to see two ppl who i know for a fact are mutuals reblog the same post and tag it with “SWEEP” for opposite choices.

on a serious note, yes, there are definitely going to be polls that were heavily influenced by where they got reblogged to, but even within the same circles, opinions range far and wide.

if it makes you feel any better, i can already tell that the polls have traveled across a variety of character-girlism association - and there’s still about a week to go for a good chunk of these polls.

what’s next?

well, we’ll see. once all polls are done, i am going to analyze how each episode did in both of its contests and how each of its opponents did in their own contests as well (and, if necessary to specify even further, how THEIR opponents did, too.)

additionally, i’ll put into consideration just how wide the winning margin is. a 51% victory is obviously different from a 90% victory.

also, even though i do hope for an approximately similar voter turnout for all polls, it would obviously not be guaranteed, as some episodes are simply much more popular or people have stronger opinions about them than about others. i would then also put into consideration just how many people were very active about promoting and voting for it…. even though i do hope i get a lot of votes in all of the polls <3

the exact plan for the future rounds is not exactly clear to me right now as i have a few different options. all would be dependent on the variety and frequency of similar results. there is a chance i would just be using the first round as a preliminary round to figure out how to sort the episodes into better fitting brackets for an actual bracketed march madness type selection. or maybe i’d try to find a way to make it a very specific ranked poll, specifically using the relative results from the first round. + other ideas i have that will become a lot more clear once i have the first batch of official results.

the best thing everybody can do now is just continue voting! all of the polls are tagged with the season number (e.g. #s4 or #s10) for the ease of navigation, so i encourage everybody to vote. the earlier seasons will finish their polls sooner than the later ones, so make sure we’re voting consistently. i would also appreciate any and all promotion for any polls that have less than average number of votes.

finally, i just wanna thank all of you for indulging me in this :) means a whole lot!

[merrivia]

sorry for all the unfair hate and backlash you’re getting :( it’s not cool that people are twisting your words and causing a big hoopla over things you never even said. love your work and hope this doesn’t discourage you from writing meta and posting.

Ah thank you 💕 I honestly really appreciate that! 🌸

I mean luckily, we’re a tiny fandom and so it’s a tiny fraction of ppl who have been rude (I think like a handful? A few accounts with reblogs etc.,. It’s not a lot!). I mean unless they've blocked me and I can't see it lol. Or I've blocked them! Which is totally fine! What I can't see can't hurt me 😊 It's something which is stressful but which hopefully I can shrug off in terms of my wellbeing. Far more people have been positive than negative.

I think this is a good opportunity for me to say that I feel so many people on here are smart and perceptive and wonderful! I've seen so many great posts on here, or seen great comments. It's so nice to see people on here who love the books too.

But there are some people…not like that. It's unpleasant to have your words twisted and used against you, or yes, assertions being made that I didn't even say 🤦🏽‍♀️ but it isn’t unexpected. Even the slightest bit of commentary on race nearly always involves a backlash, right?

Ultimately, my tumblr account is always going to be pro-Damen and pro-Laurent, and their love story. People can always choose not to interact if they don't like that! How long I'll write meta for...we'll see, as this fandom isn't the most comfortable place to be in for me, but I know the CP trilogy are my comfort novels for the rest of my life and am so grateful to Pacat for writing them in the way she did which just tickle all those different parts of my brain that love beautiful writing and witty dialogue and complex characterisation and strategy and sword fights and thematic continuity and true love winning out in the end.

I’ll just do what I do, for as long as feels comfortable, and if people don’t like it, well that’s what the block button is for 🫶🏽

Thanks again! ✨ Genuinely, it helps to read nice asks like this!

[simcardiac-arrested]

Im trying to do one of those iterator ask blogs, do you have any tips? Especially for getting it off the ground? Since I’m just kinda stumped about how to be interesting and reel people in, as I supposed to post at certain times? And what kind of things should I post if I haven’t gotten any questions. I’m sorry if these are kind of odd questions lol. And a lot in advance! :)

i swear i replied to an ask with askblog tips before but i cant find itttttttttt Falls to the ground. so i’ll just answer this as it is then (i managed to ramble for a bit so i put it under the cut)

umm. i wouldn’t say i exactly. have advice. for getting your blog off the ground. Because if you ask me how my own askblog got so much attention i would say I dont know . the only reason i even started it was because someone in the tags said i should and the concept of an askblog was appealing to me So i did that. and if you go to the very beginning of the blog you will see that most of the asks are just from my friends asking either silly or serious stuff. so i guess on that front my word of advice is just …. go to your friends. and be like Dude you will never believe what just happened to me (made an askblog) and let them get interested in it. just the same circle of friends can circulate the askblog long enough to attract new people. probably ?

i mean i guess the thing i also did was reblog the intro post to my main. once. and then never again. i reblogged asks sometimes if i liked them or if they were funny but i mostly kept my main blog stuff and askblog stuff separate (i suppose i did at that point have mostly rain world fans as my following so me reblogging it to my main maybe made them interested) you absolutely do not need to post at certain times. i mean…. you Can get a schedule if you wanttt. but like it’s literally fine i just answer asks whenever and ball

another thing about asks is that. Asks Produce Asks. so to speak. because everytime you answer an ask you get at least 3 more for it. so as long as you keep answering asks you’ll keep getting asks, though sometimes people will also send you stuff even if you havent answered in a month or something. But yeah i guess what im trying to say for this uhh …. if you don’t get any asks at first either try and get your friends to ask some questions. or if not that then maybe ask yourself stuff ….??? i dont knowww but like i said when ppl see an answered asks they get motivated to send an ask of their own. so

umm if you havent gotten any questions in a while you can just post. whatever. it’s your askblog. you can lorepost or you can just post silly images relating to your iterator oc The world is your oyster man

some more general advice is to draw asks however you want. you don’t have to fully polish and color all of them, you can just color certain ones or hell never color any asks, you can even not draw at all because i know some people reply with just in-character text. either way i promise you at least Someone will be interested so. good luck ? i hope that helped at least a little bit