#< me making posts for a niche annoying audience (me)

[cuntylestat]

you know how every time you watch titanic (1997 dir james cameron) and they first see the iceberg you hope every time that they won't hit it even though you know it will? that's me with claudia's death

[palukoo]

to be clear the real reason i don’t post a ton historically is like a blend of embarrassment and a lack of energy to put things into words resembling coherent thought. but also the real reason i don’t post a ton historically is because whenever i do ill be like teehee making a little flop post just for me lol a little no note post! and then five minutes later ill be sitting here like why is no one telling me how cool and right and smart and funny i am. what the fuck.

[arthur-lesters-middle-c-key]

I’ll forever be annoyed that Malevolent doesn’t stop to recognize the significance of a PIANIST choosing to bite off part of his PINKIE FINGER. No matter the hand, the pinkie is maybe the second most important digit for piano playing, behind the thumb. (Second and third fingers, SIT BACK DOWN.)

Your pinkies are hyper-attuned to hit the right notes in a root chord, pick out an overall melody while the rest of your hand is playing a harmony, hell, it’s the start of most scales. As a pianist, I’ve put years of procedural memory into training just my pinkie fingers to do their jobs and if I lost part of one I would be devastated, even as a hobbyist.

There’s so much symbolism potential there, too! I love that John in general has control of Arthur’s left hand, which on piano controls the low notes, the accompaniment to the melody, and the root and stability of almost anything you play. It mostly supports, though can sometimes intertwine with the right hand or branch off into cello-like melody of its own (chopin does this a lot it’s great). That conceptually fits John SO WELL. Not to mention the idea of Arthur being so guilt-ridden with Faroe’s death that he distances himself from being a pianist at any opportunity, only to be reeled in by an Eldritch force that explains EVERYTHING to him as piano… the possibilities make me scream.

…Unfortunately though, I don’t buy the ‘the symbolism is there’ argument for this one, it’s FAR too niche to expect the average audience to know what exactly a professional pianist would value (besides the ~oooooo no don’t break my hands~ beat that every pianist character in a thriller/horror/action story ever seems to have gone through at some point), and malevolent goes out of its way so often to explain symbolism.

I think my frustration is that Arthur having trauma surrounding piano, losing direct control of his left hand, and losing/replacing his top pinkie joint, doesn’t have many narrative consequences. (Didn’t even talk about how a wooden pinkie would probably fundamentally change the sound/timbre of your playing, which would be cool to see reflected.) Arthur seems to be able to play piano fine even with John controlling his hand, and enthusiastically does so at several points post- starting to process Faroe’s death in the dreamlands. It’s fine as a narrative choice, there’s a story to tell after all, but I’ll always miss the character intricacy that could come from exploring these consequences and backstory specifics.

[acuar-io]

Advice on how to achieve aesthetically pleasing gameplay photos!

UPDATED: 4/22/2024

I made this post earlier today and people were interested in the comments! Which made me more excited to make this post~

this is just some advice from me! this isnt a tutorial or anything of that sort, but I will be linking some things that could be helpful for editing gameplay! :D

First things first, I want to say that I use a graphics overhaul, lighting mods check my resources page for what reshade i use if ur interested.

I use these lighting mods & graphics override specifically:

sunblind

graphics overhaul

Lotharihoe's ootd* curseforge download :)

Northern siberia winds in-game better lighting mod (bright base)

these are some other lighting mods you can try out as well!

Luumia's NoBlu & NoGlo

these are some other lighting mods like sunblind

how to install lighting mod

I just wanted to add these things in since we're talking screenshots + I wanted to share for the no reshade ppl <3

Now we can move on to the advice!

I love the simple style of gameplay editing so much, but for me I love creating an ambience with my posts and put the audience inside of my gameplay. I also enjoy storytelling with gameplay more than just the "usual" gameplay post (when it comes to me). I am currently playing the globetrotter challenge with my sim Daichi. I really went all out with the editing for that gameplay. For this one its very much a virtual collage of my sim doing things. Trying new things and getting inspired by others is always fun and cool! Remember when u do take inspo: link to the inspiration and @ the simmer that inspired u!!

In my other save (my cozy save) I also take creative liberties there.

its more of a cozy vibe & silent story-telling (storytelling w/o the dialogue). for my cozy save i take inspiration from @/stellarfalls. er gameplay really helped me find my niche thing in the way i play the game tbh!

Angles/Screenshots

When you're taking your screenshots, angles are important. Depending on the shot, you're putting emphasis on a specific thing. This post is very helpful and talks about different types of angles/shots and what they mean. Check it out especially if you want to play around with the way you take screenshots!

Here’s some editing tips from @stellarfalls !!

simmingstars editing tips

Reshade

If I want to create a moody or dreamy ambience I can use reshade. Looking for a reshade that will fit the overall vibe is a must or you can make your own~

i know not everyone is able to use reshade because they're not on windows. I highly recommend using photoshop actions to create that ambience you're looking for.

*These can be used in photopea, but it cant read topaz clean. If you want to achieve topaz clean in photopea, check this post out! just something i'd like to add in case people are new to all of this + dont use photoshop. Lastly, I want to say if you decide to edit photos on photopea, it does tend to crash if you upload a big number of photos and slows down. I usually upload like 6 or 8 and then save and repeat the process. Its kinda annoying, but ive been using photopea for a while now so im used to it. My mac users, use early-grapes butter action if you want things to look cleaner and less harsh!! + the other ps actions down below. I used these a lot when I was a mac user. Of course, that comes with extra steps, but I feel its worth it in the end.

I like these photoshop action packs bc theres tons of stuff in here that can help create a reshade like look:

intramoon's ps action dump

wooldawn's ps acton dump

smubuh's photoshop actions

early-grape's butter action

hazelminesims's ps actions

Templates!

I loveeeeeee templates so much!! theres so many out there to use for gameplay. It really adds more to gameplay posts! This can be dust/dirt, film burn, that cute camera template etc etc. templates are really fun to use and play around with~

I usually go on deviantart to find templates to use! if you want to check out my deviantart account you can find it here! I favorite a lot of things I can use for gameplay screenies.

Gifs

making gifs is cool because it brings the gameplay "to life" ~

EZgif is a free website that converts videos to gifs. You'll need a recording program like OBS (which is also free).

i like making gifs when i want to capture a (cute) moment (kisses, hugs, cooking etc etc). Its also cool to capture the weather in game like when its snowing or raining.

Little details

Some people really go all out on editing gameplay posts like adding hair strands and adding more details to sims faces (catchlights, tears, blushing, etc). You dont really have to do this, but I want to mention it anyways! I want to try doing this at some point because I enjoy editing my gameplay posts/photos in general and adding tiny details is fun to me lol. It adds realism to posts, but it isnt necessary!

Procreate is a really good program that you can get if you have an ipad. its 10$ and thats, that. You dont have to make any payments. You can also animate on procreate too if you're down for that!

Find inspiration in other simmers!

the sims community on tumblr is filled with such talented people! Theres lots of gameplay simmers who dont do your typical gameplay posts that you can check out and learn from!!! Ive always struggled with getting the right angles when taking screenies. I looked at other simmers and how they take screenshots & it was really helpful for me since I noticed I would take too many over the shoulder photos on my sims lol.

I think thats all the advice I have! I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions please send me an ask or dm! :D

[poppitron360]

tbh i find you annoying but thats just my opinion. you're allowed to do whatever the fuck you want. good for you. my own opinion - based on petty standards and prejudice and a bit of jealousy - is not a reflection of reality and should not affect you. keep having fun.

also please don't block me because you're posting about something i like and it's not very well known and i just needed to get this out because id explode

… Okay?

This ask is fascinating to me and I have SO MANY QUESTIONS. Imma disect your comment like a lil bug real quick, if that’s okay with you?

If it doesn’t affect me why did you tell me? Like what was the purpose of telling me that you find me annoying? What validation does that give you?

Like you took all that time and effort to 1) seek out my blog 2) read enough of my posts to come up with a REALLY REALLY GOOD BURN LIKE WOW THAT IS SO CLEVER 3) Click on the ask button 4) write this comment 5) CHANGE THE FREAKING FONT- Like you went through the whole process of highlighting that line of text, clicking the “minimise” AND the “strikethrough” buttons and THEN 6) pressing send and you didn’t stop to think ONCE “hey… why the hell am I doing this?”

It always baffles me when people tell me these things like they think I’m not already painfully aware of it. Like I know that I’m annoying to some people THAT’S WHY I’M HERE!!! I have found the one community of people that find what I’m saying interesting!

I’m not posting for YOU I’m posting for THEM. You think I give a shit what you think about me? Are you THAT self-centred? Maybe my posts aren’t tailored to you, and that’s fine! Not everyone is making content specifically for your consumption, and might just be marketing to a different audience. If you’re not pickin’ up what I’m puttin’ down, that’s okay. Maybe I’m just not putting it down for your specific needs.

You know, before I joined Tumblr, a comment like this would have sent me SPIRALLING. But now I’ve realised that there is actually a place and a people to whom I am entertaining. I just gotta find the right audience.

One of my favourite inspirational quotes ever is by Einstein and it’s that “everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree, it would think itself an idiot” or words to that effect. Yeah- my talent for spinning Leo Valdez round my brain like a candy-floss machine until it eventually turns into content isn’t necessarily “fun at parties” or useful for getting a job or good for… y’know… anything applicable to the Real World™️ but here I’ve found where I CAN put it to good use! And a year ago I didn’t have that.

Before Tumblr, my lil fishy body was struggling ‘er way up that tree. Here, I’ve found my ocean!

Not sure where this metaphor is going in relation to the topic of you finding me annoying… I guess fish me doesn’t feel like such an “idiot” now that I’ve found where I belong? Like I know that my talents are niche but SOMEONE likes ‘em. Actually quite a lot of people like ‘em, judging by my follower count. And I didn’t get this far by just having a cute cat pic as my pfp, but by actually building my skill and working hard! And I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. SO FUCK YOU!!! HUZZAH!!!

I’m aware of how much of an asshole I sound like, but honestly? I am proud of myself. And my girl deserves her moment.

I feel a little bad responding guns-ablaze bc your hate comment was legitimately kinda nice and considerate?

But Also- how weird is this as a hate comment? Like you’re being insulting but you’re also saying you like my stuff? Geez, it says a lot about you that you can’t even send anon hate correctly.

If you wanna keep reading my stuff, go ahead! You just either gotta power through whatever weird complex you have about me, or just don’t read it. I don’t really see what good sending me this ask will do. Whatever gripe you have, put it aside. Like how I put aside your lack of capital letters in that comment, knowing that my stupid obsessive thing with Grammar shouldn’t affect how I treat other people, and that that is my OWN problem to deal with.

I’m being silly here. I’ve just never had the confidence to roast my haters before. I’ve never had haters to roast (online, anyway) so forgive my overzealousness. If you couldn’t tell- I was a theatre kid and still am…

In all seriousness, I like how self-aware you are that you’re being prejudiced and jealous. And I’m kinda curious as to what specifically you’re jealous of? But that’s just to boost my own ego.

I’m aware that I can be a little intimidating sometimes, particularly in a written form of socialisation. I like grammar, okay? I like rules and guidelines and careful, creative choices to show emotion and how you can break the rules in certain ways to give depth and nuance to the character and find the pattern of letters and characters to communicate what you’re feeling over a written format and-

If you couldn’t tell by all the fanfics I write- I also have a passion for writing.

Also, what specific prejudices? I’m genuinely intrigued. Is it specifically based off of one of the protective characteristics (under the 2011 Equality Act)? Or is it more just the way I behave? Or is it something I said? Like don’t be shy I don’t want vague I want DETAILS!!

And I realise that me writing a whole freaking dissertation on your comment just PROVES your point that I’m annoying but I. Don’t. Care. I’m having fun. I can’t help that I have a lot of Thoughts And Feelings about things. It’s just how my brain works. Also, it is currently 1:23am where I live, so brain go brrr. If you made it this far, anon, I salute you! Thank you for taking the time to hear me out even though you think I’m annoying. That’s honestly a good quality to have. Here, have a sweet 🍬

And I know that that was… intense, to say the least. Oh BOY do I know that I can be intense. But genuinely- GENUINELY- I’d love to sit down and have a discussion with you on this because it truly fascinates me how other people perceive me. And, if you’re comfortable coming out of anon (if not, that’s fine) I’d like to learn more about why you think these things. Not necessarily so that I can change- but it’d be a great opportunity to see what I can learn about myself through what you think at me. I know it seems like I’m mad- I’m really not! I’m just captivated by the world and how others look at me.

Anyway, thanks for hearing me out, and I hope to have good conversations with legitimate constructive criticism in many posts to come! Never stop being passionate. Just maybe direct your passion to something more positive. Thank you so much for the ask, this was a really good thought experiment for me.

[urdreamgirls-dreamgirl]

I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SAY really importantly abt murray’s character in the context of the duffers falling into the hollywood propaganda machine is that they begin to play on the trope that equates critical analysis and questioning political doctrine as unhinged conspiracy theory and niche annoying guy who lives in a bunker without any kind of human connection

WHEN IN REALITY true leftist critics of the political machine are basing said criticisms off of the historical record/historically based evidence, historical materialism, and efforts toward community building…

the cia&fbi have admitted to committing some of the worst and most blatant crimes against humanity and assassinations of leftist leaders. leftists aren’t just pulling shit out of our ass. we’re observing the world around us and drawing conclusions based on the connections we make. and a lot of leftist organizing and leadership is based on creating community and rejecting the individualization that capitalism pushes to the forefront of american culture.

and let’s be abundantly clear. murray is certainly not a leftist and i’m not saying that the show ever really claims that he is (he and erica are the two most vocally anti-communist characters in the show) BUT what i’m saying is that the duffers are playing off of tropes that equate to shorthand communication that frames leftist thought and individuals as crazy conspiracy theorists in western/american consciousness.

SO by making murray somewhat annoying and insufferable and borderline insane, what the duffers are doing is positioning murray in a space where he is simultaneously RIGHT but also crazy. and this allows for the audience to feel no real attachment to him, because even the other characters seem to dislike him, even as he’s on their side. he’s too crazy EVEN FOR THEM, who have literally seen with their own eyes monsters from another dimension and have witnessed themselves the lengths the american govt have gone to to continue to lie and cover up their own actions.

and in this way, sam owens and murray actually become foils of each other. the sympathetic govt agent who actually seems to care abt these kids (in the cases of el and will at least) and murray, the crazy guy who’s on our side but who we don’t even actually like (and who doesn’t like any of these people actually either!!!)

and so these two seemingly unrelated side characters who don’t even really share any screen time together, become integral to the messaging of the show and creating a propaganda piece for devaluing leftist theory and analysis.

this is really just me rambling but LET ME COOK i’m getting to it

(btw continuation of this & this post)

[iinryer]

Hey! I’ve recently been trying to transition into doing more freelance work. I was wondering if you had any advice or suggestions on how to get noticed and build more of a network. I feel like I’ve built a decent portfolio and I definitely feel qualified but networking ur work can be really difficult. Like I know nothing lol.

man yeah marketing and networking is a slog, but it’s an important endeavor 😭😭

unfortunately, a lot of it is individual and is going to be trial and error, but social media is where you’re going to get your best reach. post often, reblog/retweet/repost even more, use an absurd number of hashtags and keywords, BE ANNOYING!! because the truth is? you’re not annoying anyone, and if you don’t feel like you’re being annoying you’re not doing enough to push your stuff. no one is ever going to be online at the same time as you so YOU might feel like you’re doing too much, but most people probably won’t even see your work until the third time you’ve reposted it.

do some cursory research into best practices on different platforms, whether they favor comments or reposts etc etc and do your best to feed the machine. your goal is to get eyes on the things you make! a lot of freelancing for me personally is Being The Product. im in a weird spot where my work is also being a person on camera and being social and making myself available to an audience, so i have to sell myself, but that’s honestly pretty useful across the board for freelancing from scratch. social media can be kind of soul sucking but it really is the key to spreading your work to those who are going to want to work with you.

do a trend, make a gimmick for your commissions on occasion, post imperfect stuff, post unfinished stuff, post stuff you’ve posted before, post teasers and sneak peeks and close ups and things you like and redraws of things you didn’t. you just have to get up off the ground, and then it gets easier, but starting is the hardest part and the only way to start is to just do it. you’ll find your niche! but you have to go digging until it finds you too. people who get you work will be the ones to get you more work, either by hiring you again or by recommending you to others they know. keep good relationships, be kind, engage (to your comfort level) with people when they engage with your work, and value yourself.

i don’t know how helpful any of this will be for you, but maybe you’ll be able to pull something useful from it!! put yourself out there! you just have to get started!

[fitzrove]

I sometimes wish I had a proper theatre review blog or youtube channel or instagram account or whatever, if for nothing else then for the sake of finding other ppl online who have seen the same (sometimes niche) prods I have and making more Stuff about them!!! But there's so many obstacles to this hahahaha:

- I'm really difficult to please and prone to rather critical takes on even things that I genuinely like. In the non-anonymous blogosphere there's a big chance the people involved in the production will see it (and if you're aiming to blog professionally/get free tickets etc. you have to tailor the reviews to be at least a bit marketablecore)

- I hate the idea of my face or IRL personal identity being tied to it, I don't need random classmates or coworkers even accidentally discovering my authentic self, interests and opinions 😭

- Related to the first point: You generally need to operate within a specific area AND see as many things as possible from within that area. Ie. Finnish theatre bloggers see Finnish shows, German theatre bloggers see German shows. I think a lot of theatre shows have devastatingly boring concepts (which I'm bad at tolerating, I don't like seeing theatre just for the sake of seeing theatre, the work itself and the way it's executed matters a lot to me) and my interests are too narrow (namely: dramatic/societally critical musical theatre in the traditional musicals sense 😭).

Not that I would run out of things to write about: people with blogs like that often post tallies of everything they saw, and mine is not too bad in comparison! (Between August 2023 and July 2024, I've seen 11 musicals, 2 theatre plays with music included, 1 opera and 1 ballet, in nine different cities in three different countries. I also had two additional tickets to operas and four to musicals that I resold or couldn't see due to illness. Some of the bloggers see up to 30 shows a year, but for many it's because of extensive repeat views, so I do think I already get decent variety.) But I do think a scattered area is a problem in terms of audience interest. If I made a blog, to be even remotely popular it should either be a general Finnish theatre thing (which would lead to me having to come up with nice things to say about stuff I don't care about - omg the choice of shows is so atrocious in most theatres nowadays), a DACH/euroshows thing (which has more competition and also lots of stuff I don't care about xD), or a local thing focused on one city/area (same problems as focusing on Finland, plus I'm moving around a lot rn lol). So yeah idk it's annoying... sometimes I wish I could be an Influencer or part of those tight-knit IRL fan communities that seem to form around specific prods, but then again, there's so many things I don't like about that (and chances for Drama) and things that prevent me from doing that (lol geography). Idk I'm just rambling haha

[ben-the-hyena]

Quick little rant y'all can ignore (I just love ranting too much)

Unpopular opinion : it is NOT to be a hipster or to be like "I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS~" but very often either I will hate or just not be interested to watch at all the newest Tumblr fandom. I really feel like a Tumblrite but sometimes it feels like I just can't enjoy or be hyped by whatever the others are hyped with without doing it on purpose, as if we have nearly no common taste. I mean sure we all are unique and loving everything others we do is boring and impossible and would prove the person is shallow and can't be true, but just, absolutely nearly every big Tumblr fanfavorites annoys me

Superwholock ? Sherlock was nice but not THAT nice and the others never interested me. HH/HB ? Loathe the characters and story. Lackadaisy ? Don't understand the hype. Nimona ? Don't care. She-Ra ? Hated it. The Owl House ? Can't stand the posts on my dashboard nor the charadesigns. Centaurworld ? I know it is one of those things that look lame in the trailer but from what I got gets deeper, but I saw it being so much overhyped I can't. Green Eggs and Ham ? Ugh couldn't it have just been the old cartoon ? Arcane ? The more people said it was revolutionary the less I wanted to check it out. SU ? I used to love it but then it betrayed me with how badly written it endes up to be. SVSFOE ? Except one or 2 arcs it was not my type and the ending infuriated me. Ducktales ? Only season 1 was good to me. Miraculous Ladybug ? It broke my heart so fuck you show. Encanto ? "Narcissic families are ok and misunderstood if they are pretty". Wendell and Wild ? The demons did look interesting and I was curious for them but sadly the main character is insufferable and Idgaf she is sad she is still an asshole but gets away with it. Wednesday ? Tim Burton understood NOTHING avout the Addams Family and flanderized Wesnesday. HtTyD ? Should have been a standalone. LOK and to be fair ANYTHING coming after ATLA books comics and upcoming series included ? Burn em to the ground. Rise of the Guardians ? Seriously the animation is gorgeous but you have the blandest plot and characters ever but everybody calls it original and groundbreaking wtf ?! Arlo the gator boy/I Love Arlo ? Ew it looks ugly as fuck and I am VERY wary of titles that self congratulate (coincidently the Lou! franchise became very shitty when it was renamed into I Love Lou Very Much so it ticks me off) makes me wanna do the contrary and hate Arlo. Carmen San Diego ? Didn't care. The Cuphead Show ? Only season 1a is good 1b and 1c are shit but because "gae devil" everybody loves it holy shit the game is better. Frozen 2 ? Admit it, you liked it ONLY because you see Elsa like a lesbian and wanted to go "HAHA GET FUCKED" to Let It Go. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON LIVE ACTION REMAKES

Some I even actually just didn't dislike it or care at first but it was seeing all the excessive posting and love for it despite 1) not wanting to watch (I love Arlo, never I wanted to kill a gator child so much force of seeing him on my dash) and/or 2) seeing legetimate problems and flaws and yet everybody ignoring it (Encanto, I hated the end but I did like the movie itself but seeing everybody justifying the end made me loathe it) it turns into hate. But some I hate from the start but seeing everybody love it anyway makes me wonder if at that rate the problem is me and I nitpick too much or of course like everyone I just have my own tastes and what pops up on my dash is not a reflect of universal taste ?

But I often call it a curse because everybody seems to have fun and it's as if I am doomed not to like and it looks like what the audience usually loves is just not my type, which sucks because I don't have many people to vent about it, not many people to gush about the obscure things I love because I am cursed to really invest myself in old fandoms I only find about now or stuff that don't even interest much people but fit my specific niche tastes, dashboards flooded with "OMG GUYS WATCH IT IT IS *SO* IMPORTANT AND THE BEST EVER" making me want not to whereas only 3 likes on posts of franchises I love that are barely known or loved... Probably why I have so many obscure fandoms actually. I am SURE it is subconsciously why I wanted to give a chance to Elemental and Avatar 2 since nobody talked about it in good or at all here !

I am not even sure and just like me those who love these franchises and are part of these fandoms must just have their own specific intersts peaked of course and if so it is absolutely alright ! But often I see they all have a pattern and I feel like, like when I ranted in my posg that defends Elemental, that they will love it and adore it just for ONE element not matter the rest hence why they only talk about that one element that irritates me when I am flooded in posts praising it but really it is just that element. "Omg so much representation" ok cool what is the plot "it is a trans allegory" yes but more precise ? "it is so GAY (affectionate) and girl power !!!" yes but ? The characters ? "Oh the characters are minorities some are LGBT half are POC and some even have a disability and they fight heteronormativity and traditional beauty standards" ok ok I GOT it but what are they like as people !?! "there is a canon gay ship in it I love them little blorbos" I DON'T GIVE A SHIT DAMMIT WHAT IS THE PLOT AND HOW ARE THE CHARACTERS "also it has a varied cast and is made by minorities and women !" Ok bye now I won't be able to help but see it being loved only because of those and not for its story and it will make me bitter about it as if there is nothing else but that to defend because it implies the scenario itself isn't that special for people to only talk about the Christmas present package rather than the content

It is very occasional I will actually get curious because it IS my type thanks to Tumblr : WOY, Pinky and the Brain Undertale, Good Omens, TDC : AOR. It needs to strike a sort of special chord in me to go "uh !?! A modern cartoon that feels like an old cartoon with funny designs and animation and funny characters !??! Uh !?! 2 gay mice that were probably not meant to be gay but they accidentally cracked many eggs in their portrayal and to think I was not interestee when I thought Brain was bidimensional and didn't give a shit about Pinky like I thought ??! Uh !?! Fun skeletons and a macho fish woman with cute pixel style !? Uh !?! Angel and demon are friends and were on Earth for years looking for a kid !?! Uh !?! In that prequel it shows one reformed Skeksis being actually good helping Gelfling and in a relationship with his Mystic ??!" And other Tumblr favorites I loved like idk FNAF, MLP FIM, Spiderverse, Puss in Boots 2, The Bad Guys and usually in general most popular big studios block buster animated movies I loved and others did were stuff I found by myself which Tumblr just coincidently did too so it doesn't count. Some I even discover them years later when the hype died down and nobody speaks about it anymore (reinforcing my idea that IS probably wrong that they don't even really love it but just go "OO SHINY" when something is new and pretty) that I can notice and love years later or at least late a franchise, like I don't wait on purpose I just really discover it at this moment or something peaking my interest only happened recently or peaked my attention now

Those aside most of the time I will really not be interested, a third of the time because "I am told to so I don't wanna" and it has to be myself or it will feel like a chore like when I am recommended stuff IRL I will actually postpone even if if I had not been recommended I would have started watching it earlier (I heard from a friend this looks like a symptom in a type of neurodivergence but I AM NOT SURE), a third of the time it really doesn't look or sound like my type of story at all and I keep wondering why there is nothing new for me and why everybody is so hyped by it, and a third I actually give a try and I end up straight up hating it or just finding it meh and overrated. I just need to find my own fandoms myself, even if they are obscure, that spark my interest, hoping they don't become bad in the end (SU, Ducktales, the Cuphead Show, Miraculous Ladybug etc. Sigh) which happened too many times already and makes me even more wary force of experience about what is popular since even when I myself find it becomes shit people still love it. And of course they totally HAVE the right to never would I harrass and police what people have to like and dislike, but it kind of feels lonely at times and sometimes it makes me think if something is wrong with me not to enjoy what seems to be enjoyed by everyone else and if it is my fault ; and thinking that even makes me anxious and guilty feeling like I am ranting for nothing and people will think I am an attention seeker making me even more gjulty and so on which becomes a vicious circle with my anxiety

[aesethewitch]

#OcculTea - Conclusions

What are some topics of conversation I’d like to see more of in our community?

I do think that there’s a lack of intermediate to advanced content in the public eye. And I understand why, of course. Beginners find posts they don’t understand and ask a million basic questions: “How do I raise energy?” “Should I cast a circle first?” “If I don’t have this ingredient, what can I substitute? But I don’t have that either, what about this?”

And if they don’t get answers, or if the wrong person finds a post that speaks just a little too authoritatively, they get pissed. Tumblr’s hatemail game is, indeed, unreal. It’s hard sometimes to want to publish something personal or talk about something that the General Audience might disagree with or that’s more advanced than what can usually be found out there.

It would require beginners to recognize when something isn’t really for them (yet). It would also require people to give the benefit of the doubt and actually read a whole post before jumping to the replies or into the poster’s ask box to complain about their wording or tone or “how could you leave out such and such specific detail” or other annoying, disrespectful nonsense like that. Alas, this is the piss on the poor website.

What are my community needs?

My top priorities in a community are somewhere to ask questions, somewhere to have casual, low-stakes conversations, and somewhere to share and vet resources (books, PDFs, shops, materials, websites, blogs, etc.). I sometimes fall off the face of the earth and go hermit-mode for mental health reasons, so communities that require constant participation and look down on declining invitations are no-gos for me.

For the most part, I do think my community needs are being met! I wish I had an in-person place to go, hang out, buy or make things, and just exist as a witch without worrying about conforming to love-and-light ideals and/or cultural appropriation. I’ve been thinking about starting meet-ups at our local library, but the idea of no one showing is… well, it sucks and is scary. So. We’ll see how that goes.

Where would I like to be held and supported?

It really depends.

In this space (Tumblr), the greatest supports are reblogs. Liking a post does little for me in terms of exposure and connection. A reblog spreads my work to new eyes while also showing me that yes, the thing I’ve written is useful in some way. Replies are also good, but reblogs are really where it’s at.

Direct interaction with my work encourages me to write and publish more. I stopped putting up my research into digital divination (which has continued, by the way) because it wasn’t getting any notes. To me, that says that no one’s reading it. If no one’s reading it, I shouldn’t spend so much time cleaning up my notes for presentation, because that’s time I could use better elsewhere on work that will get attention and perhaps pay the bills.

Which kinda sucks! Research into theory and the history of these niche topics are very much passion projects of mine. I’ve got all sorts of notes dissecting Pick-A-Card tarot culture and clickbait tarot YouTube/TikTok videos that may never see the light of day, because it just… doesn’t get noticed. No one cares. I care, obviously, and that’s why I’m still doing it for myself. I’d love to share it, but… again, who cares, aside from me?

Basically, just… interact with stuff, lmao. Tip if you can, still interact if you can't. If you enjoy someone’s work, reblog it. Likes do nothing for creators on this platform. And as someone who relies on this platform to spread my business, reblogs really do make all the difference. (PS: Everyone who has ever recommended my services to someone else, either here or elsewhere, is literally an angel. Word of mouth does more for small businesses than any amount of advertising I could possibly do. You’ve got no idea. Ily.)

Where do I feel like I’m not truly being seen by my community?

I get a lot of attention for my free tarot stuff that I do every Friday. And that’s fair. People love a freebie. There’s a whole subculture of tarot readers here on Tumblr who just do different kinds of free readings for people, often for fun.

But again, the stuff I’m actually proud of tends to get less notes than the throwaway shitposts. It’s rough. I have a feeling that all the hours I’m sinking into writing out these questions and editing the posts will go to waste.

How can we help each other in removing the external peer pressure and grow in community?

Be the change you want to see. Here on Tumblr, there’s a sort of fear surrounding judgment. In the interest of never being judged, receiving hate, or otherwise being “called out,” we avoid publishing work that’s anything close to controversial. Even if it isn’t controversy, if something isn’t being talked about, it’s scary to be the first one to break into the topic. Because what if it’s terrible to talk about?

When you see something you don’t understand or disagree with, don’t instantly jump into OP’s replies or ask box with vitriol or basic questions. Try to find resources first. Check their tags; maybe they’ve talked about that topic before and have a more basic or detailed explanation on the topic somewhere.

Unless it’s actively harmful (bigotry, appropriation, etc.), if you can’t respectfully interact with someone’s post, leave it alone. The important thing to remember is that we don’t need to (and perhaps shouldn’t) form opinions on absolutely everything we see. Some things aren’t for us, and that’s okay. I see things I disagree with and dislike all the time as I peruse the witchcraft tags. Just scroll.

The other part of this is acknowledging that some people just aren’t going to learn how to act right. They just aren’t. We, as a community, need to learn how to ignore those people. There’s an age-old adage that I think we need to bring back into the public eye: Don’t feed the trolls.

How can we, as a community, come together more with constructive criticism without it seeming shady/passive aggressive?

The absolute first step is to learn the difference between hatemail, constructive criticism, and being fucking rude. Tone can be hard for some folks, especially when written out, but it’s critical that you either learn how to decipher it or find people who can help you do so if you’re not able to do it yourself before making assumptions about someone’s meaning.

Hatemail is direct nastiness written and designed to make someone feel bad about themselves, their work, their circle, their practice, or something else. The idea is to make the receiver uncomfortable. This would include attacks on someone’s character. This category includes sending people slurs, telling people they’re stupid for believing something, demanding that someone prove their worth, and unsolicited and harsh criticisms of the work being put out.

Constructive criticism is intended to improve the content you’re seeing. That’s what makes it constructive. It’s respectful to ask the OP if they’re open to receiving constructive criticism before sending it. This category includes helpful notes on content, correcting misinformation, pointing out problems in the language used, and structure of the post in question. For example, I’ve received constructive criticism that my posts tend to be very long-winded. And, I mean, yeah — that’s a fair criticism. But I like writing long posts, so that’s unlikely to change. However, I can include shorter posts in the mix to diversify and appeal to different audiences.

The prime example of someone being plain fucking rude is adding inane, off-topic, judgy comments in a reblog of an innocuous post or send unsolicited, long-winded trauma dumps to someone’s inbox. This could also apply to giving unsolicited advice or speaking in a condescending manner. For example, assuming someone knows less than you and handing out “advice” as though it’s gospel without checking to see whether they would or wouldn’t know that information/practice differently than you. This category refers to the people who aren’t (purposely) sending hate, but their words absolutely come off that way. I find rudeness comes from a lack of self-awareness and consideration for other people. These are the folks that when you tell them to fuck off, they get very offended and don’t understand why you’re reacting badly.

The key is reading comprehension, critical thinking, and compassion. Before you send an ask, reply/reblog, or DM them, try to see where the OP is coming from. What’s their culture, what’s their background, how new are they to their path, why are they posting about the thing they’re posting, etc.? Have you read their post correctly? Are you projecting any kind of expectations or assumptions onto the OP or their post that aren’t actually being stated there?

Will what you say hurt their feelings? Has the OP stated that they’re open to feedback? If not, should you ask them first? Will the OP suffer in some way or cause harm if you don’t reach out to them about the thing you want to tell them? Are you reaching out simply to have something to say, or are you actually adding to the conversation?

If more folks come into conversations with kindness and genuine curiosity, leaving their egos, assumptions, and impulses to be “on the same level” or “better than” other practitioners aside, better interactions happen. Just… don’t be an asshole. Think before you speak. Consider the consequences of what you say before hitting send. So on and so forth.

Consider a class or guide on providing constructive criticism. Creative writing or other literary courses and guides go over this kind of thing extensively.

How can we, as a community, do better when we do receive criticism/feedback?

Remember that, in general, even unsolicited criticism is rarely about you as a person. It is sometimes, but even that can be useful. The only times I would say you ought to throw out criticism entirely is when it veers into hatemail territory. You don’t owe hateful bitches anything, least of all your time.

But in the case of actual feedback, even if it’s not worded the best or if it arrives out of the blue, it’s important to at least read it and take it into consideration.

Take a step back. Take a breath. The knee-jerk reaction to defend yourself is a powerful one. Let the sting of criticism sink in, and do whatever you need to do to soothe it.

Then, read it again. Parse what the person is actually saying. No matter how they’re saying it, what is their actual problem? Is it something you can change? Is it something you’re willing to change? Even if not, is it something you can take into account for the future?

Constructive criticism, when given and received in a positive way, can create some really beautiful moments of understanding and growth. Consider, again, a class or guide on constructive criticism. When they talk about giving it, they also talk about receiving and using it. It really is a life-changing sort of lesson.

As for dealing with hatemail, fuck ‘em. Delete that shit, block the asshole, and don’t look back.

Who are some community members I look up to that are reliable resources and aspirations?

Ohohohohoho, spotlight time!

It isn’t something I can really direct people toward, since it’s a private Discord server, but I’m part of a group of practitioners who are constantly supporting each other. We ask questions, give advice, chat about projects, and just generally lift each other up all the time. That server is, by far, the greatest resource I’ve got right now. It’s a very small community of friends whose passions are diverse and incredibly interesting. The amount of learning and collaboration that goes on… man. I really do love it. (If you’re in that server, and you read this: Hi, I appreciate you! (: )

Now, let’s tag some people (going down my following list):

@elminx — Minx is amazing. The recipe experiments, the astrology insights, the clever techniques… She’s got something for everybody.

@fernthewhimsical — Two words: rainbowmancy and hopepunk. Seriously, go to Fern’s blog and go through the witchcraft tag. So much good stuff.

@jasper-pagan-witch — Our very own TBR and Blogs Georg. I very much recommend checking out their sideblog @jasper-book-stash for brief book reviews.

@coinandcandle — Click through Coin’s pinned post for all sorts of goodies, including deep dives on deities.

@breelandwalker — Tumblr’s resident witchstorian! Check out her podcast, Hex Positive, for beginner-friendly, funny, informative content that ranges from spell techniques to the history of witchcraft.

@windvexer — Chicken answers questions of all sorts! We share the gift (curse?) of verbosity. Their answers are detailed and informative, and I aspire to that level of coherency in my rambling.

@stagkingswife — Silly! Hat! Theory! Stag’s views on spirit work literally changed my whole mind about godspousing and what makes a deity a deity. Legitimately.

@asksecularwitch — Spells Georg. THE secular witch. An icon whose gumption I respect above all others.

And… I’m so sure there are others I’m forgetting about. [gestures] All of my mutuals are lovely, follow them and throw money at their respective Ko-Fi and Patreon pages. (:

Off of Tumblr, I tend toward YouTube’s witch ecosystem. A few people I follow there are The Green Witch, the Witch of Wonderlust, Mint Faery, and Hearth Witch. Again, there are more, but these are the channels I follow most closely for their content!

Final thoughts?

This was fun to put together! I won’t directly tag anyone to respond with their own answers, because… well, this has been a beast of a project that’s taken several days to type out and more to edit. But if you’re a witchy content creator here on Tumblr, please feel free to check out the list of questions and post your own answers!

Replies, reblogs, and asks on any or all of the topics covered in this post series are very much welcome.

This is the final part of a series! Click here to view the masterpost to see all #OcculTea posts in this series. Replies, reblogs, and asks on any or all of the topics covered in this post series are very much welcome.

[ophernelia]

I’m not trying to be rude or anything, and I know a lot of you all are new to tumblr, but why does everyone want to all of a sudden give credit to people? I mean the people that everyone look up to don’t do it. It’s great that you all are doing it, don’t get me wrong, I just think it can be a lot when people think you’ve been influenced by someone and you haven’t. So what happens when people start to accuse you of copying someone that you’ve never copied? Do you get evidence and then begin to defend yourself among people who really don’t care but just want to be messy? I’m just trying to take a deep dive at things, don’t take this personal.

This is going to be long.

I'm not new. I've had a tumblr account since 2012. Had a TS3 simblr. Credit isn't a new concept in the slightest in the sims community. It is merely a form of acknowledgment. Which has long been a thing in this community. Take a peek at storytelling simblrs, particularly black ones, and many of them with tell you about Mochasims. I have seen so many of them credit Mocha with being their inspiration for getting into storytelling using the sims on this platform. Though Mocha receives no benefit from this as they have passed (May she rest.), it is still a good thing to do. It is how we pay our respects to others, their work, and their impact. CC creators regularly give credit to each other whenever they use certain assets or whatever. Be it a mesh, hair base, or color palette. Giving credit is built into the Sims 4 gallery. The original creator is always acknowledged. You can see comments on some posts stating "Hey! You stole this from this creator!" dating back to the launch of the gallery in the game.

This isn't a new practice at all. It's simply good online etiquette. Particularly in the creator space. We've seen what impact things like this have had. Hence, the entire dance credit debacle on Tik Tok when the renegade was popular. In this current age of social media, you know the importance of reach. For those who are here simply for fun, this isn't important. Those of you with other socials, be it YouTube, Tik Tok, etc. and are looking to grow your audience: this is how you grow. It is also the etiquette you should maintain as a creator which would help mitigate some of those copying comments. Additionally, it is how you foster better relationships with other creators and the community as a whole. Apart of community is celebrating and recognizes the wins and the movements of others. Though we all have access to the same content, we don't all use it in the same way. Certain creators are known for how they use certain things. No one's saying you can't use it at all, but be mindful in the way that you do. You gotta know how to navigate the space you're in.

What do you do when someone accuses you of copying someone else? Firstly, if it's in a harassing manner, block them. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone and you shouldn't be subjected to that behavior even if you were copying someone to a T. You don't need to pull out receipts. You don't have to explain yourself to anyone. Whether they were asking nicely or not. Certainly not if you suspect they're trying to be messy. Why expend the energy on them anyway? You get to tailor your online experience. (I said it before but it's a dictatorship over here. If I don't like, block, delete, remove. You'll be talking to yourself.) Hoes talk, let them. Understand though, that this isn't something that's avoidable as a content creator. It may pop up here and there. Especially within a certain niche of the community. (I.e. neutral simmers. They get accused of copying each other all the time. Though there's only so many neutral colors in a palette. It happens.) Handle your shit. Gracefully though. I get it's annoying and grating, but flying off the handle won't help. Keep it kind, make a statement to your audience and keep it pushing.

And to directly address that one comment: I don't care what other people do. I'll govern myself and my platform accordingly. Regardless of what another large creator may do, it is my responsibility to myself and to the community that I am fostering to handle myself (and my platform) with integrity. Larger creators do grimy stuff all the time. That's not my issue. I don't need them to lead. You've gotta conduct yourself to your standards, baby. What kind of community do YOU wanna create?

That's just my two cents though. You have free reign to do whatever you feel is best and brings you the most peace, boo.

[zyrafowe-sny]

What should you do if you feel like loser and absolute waste of space and garbage in the writing community? Like everyone hate you (all the talented well known people at least), your ideas suck, you'll never be popular or get request or anything like that and you'll never have the same amount of friends or support or love as others because you're stupid and annoying and your writing suck and everyone hate you and nothing you do matter? Like you'll never be successful or reach mile stone no matter how much you try like you had opportunity to but you screw it up because you stupid and annoying and dumb and now it's too late?

Hi Anon,

I don't really feel qualified to respond, but I'm going to give it a go anyway and hope that any of this is helpful.

The "writing community" is anyone who wants to try their hand at writing. It includes both the second grader putting together a handmade book during rainy day recess and the award-winning, bestselling professional author. There's no cap to the number of writers. There's no such thing as a waste of space.

"Hate" seems like an awfully strong word. I know it's frustrating when fics don't get the engagement that you want - and don't get attention from people you admire - but sometimes fics have a niche audience and sometimes people are busy. Personally, I've had stretches when I just can't read much at all or only very specific things (like stuff under 3k and nothing too intellectual). Reasons include: life being busy, general executive dysfunction, (rare) stretches when I am super-focused on writing, not wanting to read things too similar to what I'm working on, etc. For several months I just felt overwhelmed by the thought of leaving thoughtful comments and that tricked me into just not reading at all (don't be like me).

Popularity is... complicated. "Success" is complicated. If you're just looking at kudos... a not insignificant chunk is being in the right fandom at the right time (while also writing what lots of people are interested in). Here's a good overview about writing for kudos and how that doesn't relate to quality. You can have super-interesting ideas, but sometimes those ideas have a small audience (and that's ok if that's the story that speaks to you!). Honestly, I think all writers need to write at least one super-niche fic to readjust expectations about AO3 stats.

As for requests... Not all writers like getting them and not all readers like making requests? If I see that someone shared a prompt list ask game post, I'll send an ask, but that's usually it.

As for getting support... sometimes it can come from outside your fandom and from Internet strangers (or real life people in writing groups). I've been trying out this WIP Wednesday game because I wanted some encouragement to make progress, and a good chunk of people who nudge me to write don't follow me and won't ever read the final fic.

As for writing quality... That's also complicated. For one, people have different tastes (my eyes start to glaze over during long fight scenes or long descriptions, but other people eat that up). There are seemingly more-objective criteria (spelling, grammar, etc), BUT: people's knowledge of "the rules" isn't static and can be improved, sometimes it's fine to ignore "the rules" for style, lots of non-native English speakers write fanfic and that can lead to some charming (if less standard) writing, and one of the joys of fanfic is that it doesn't have to follow the norms of published fiction. If there is something that you want to work on in your own writing (for example, description and plot don't come easily to me), there are ways to practice. But only if you want to. Only if it's part of the fun. (Fun doesn't always mean easy.)

As for milestones... I don't know what milestones you're going for, but word count is the one most in your control. Getting that up isn't trivial, but the important thing is to keep chugging along.

I *know* it's hard not to obsess over AO3 stats or compare yourself to other people. I *know*. But try to remember that it's not a race or a competition. Writing is supposed to be fun (as much as writers like to complain about it sometimes). It's fine to want validation and encouragement, but stressing too much about the numbers/how much engagement you're getting can suck all the fun out of the process.

And it's never, ever too late. I took a loooong break from creative writing and sometimes I regret that, but I had other life experiences during that hiatus that help inform my writing now. We write when we have stories to tell and the life circumstances that let the words come out.

I don't know if any of my rambling was useful, but I wish you all the best, Anon. Take care and be kind to yourself. No one else can tell the same story that you can.

[princess-viola]

Whenever I see Precure fans say things like 'They should make a Precure season that's more mature or adult' or 'Precure needs to start appealing more to the older fanbase', I get so confused and annoyed and I just need to say this in big text (so people can read it):

PRECURE IS A SHOUJO FRANCHISE TARGETED TOWARDS YOUNG JAPANESE GIRLS

That is who these shows are meant for, IIRC 'officially' the target demographic is something like 5-12 year old girls but from I've seen actual Japanese Precure fans say, a lot of girls view themselves as having outgrown Precure by 1st grade (obviously this doesn't mean there's no girls older than 5 who like Precure, just as a thing to keep in mind when talking about the audience for this series)

And yes, I am aware of the whole 'Toei and Bandai also include 16-35 year old men [not 100% of those are the exact age group] as a Precure demographic' thing too (although I'll admit I've never actually seen any things from Toei/Bandai stating this is a demographic they aim Precure towards, so I'll admit I take this with a mild grain of salt - don't doubt they release some merch meant for the older fanbase) but the primary audience of this series and the one they predominantly target it towards is the young girl audience.

But the point I'm trying to say here is that wanting a Precure season aimed towards adults is basically saying that you want a Precure season that isn't Precure. (And saying you want a 'more mature' season in conjunction with saying you want a season meant for adults is basically you admitting you think children's shows can't cover more mature topics - when they very well can).

And wanting Precure to start appealing more towards the older fanbase is dumb too because we are not the primary audience here, hell we're not even the secondary audience. The Western Precure fandom is still fairly small and niche, relatively speaking. Toei isn't making the show for us! They're not trying to cater to the tastes of teenage and adult fans living in the US, the UK, Australia, wherever you live as a non-Japanese fan!

Sometimes I honestly wonder if it's insecurity more than anything else. Like there's one Precure fan on the subreddit who's made multiple posts talking about 'Precure needs to start appealing more to the teenage boy demographic' and that honestly just tells me that they are a teenage boy who's insecure about liking a show meant for little girls, so they want Toei to change it so they won't be insecure about liking it anymore. (Somewhat relatedly, I'm pretty sure this is the same person who's posted multiple times talking about their idea for a military-themed Precure season where they talk about how the Precure would be a special forces team and they'd be snapping enemy necks, using firearms, and all this other weird military fetish shit AND talked about how they could imagine Cure Flamingo spinning around on a stripper pole because of her design having fishnet stockings around the time Tropical Rouge started and, when everyone called them out for this, insisted that there was nothing wrong with what they were saying and that 'Toei knew what they were doing when they designed Flamingo' 🤢🤢🤢🤢)

But anyways yeah, just let Precure be what it is! If you want it to be more 'adult' or 'appealing to the older fanbase', just please stop I beg of you.

[kafus]

ramble incoming about indie websites, neocities, and modern web design... putting below a read more because i wrote way more than i thought i would, oops.

whenever i see posts going around about how imaginative and creative old web design used to be, and how minimalist and same-y everything is now, while i do agree and wish that modern web design was more interesting and more dense with information... it's not as simple as "let's go back to how it used to be."

most old websites did not conform to modern accessibility standards, making the internet harder to use for many people, and on top of that we live in a smartphone era now where websites have to be designed in such a way that they work on both phones and computers... phones have a much smaller space to work with - kind of hard to decorate your website in pretty graphics and lay out the information in unique ways when you're designing for tiny screens in portrait resolutions!

i work pretty hard to make sure CPG displays on both mobile devices and computer monitors in at least decent fashion, and the website is absolutely less interesting looking on mobile. the sidebars are traded in for a toggle-able menu at the top of the screen (i'm considering changing it to a button that sticks to the bottom of the screen so you can open the menu without scrolling up, but i digress) and images that would float on the right or left side of articles in an aesthetically pleasing way have to be put into their own blocks between passages of text so that the text doesn't become impossible to read, squished on the sides. i'm not perfect at accessibility, nor am i perfect at optimizing the site for mobile, but i think i do an okay job with my relatively simple layout. i do this because i want my website to be viewable to people on any device, even people who aren't enthusiastic about the indie web, or desktop browsing. this would not be nearly as easy with some of the complex table layouts of the past.

it is interesting to me that a lot of people choose to simply not make their website usable on mobile and will put a notification that the site is either best viewed on desktop or doesn't work on mobile at all on the front page... there is nothing wrong with this, mind you, i'm not making a judgement of the person or their coding abilities, some people are just chilling and doing their hobbyist thing without fretting about that, or making their content for a specific audience that would mostly view from their computers, which is fine! how other people make and run their websites is none of my business. but i do think a lot could be gained from exploring mobile design and making the indie web space more accessible to mobile users, which take up a large percentage of the population. we'd probably have more eyes on us if our spaces were more accessible for people on phones. also, personally, i actually find making my site compatible for mobile with pure vanilla html/css/js a fun challenge.

at the very least, even if a website isn't built to be mobile-friendly, making sure everything is at least visible and clickable is a good thing. my website dynamically changes the size of elements based on the device viewing it, but there is also the option of making your entire website layout a set pixel width, so that it is the same on every device, people just might have to scroll horizontally or zoom in to see/click things... which is annoying but at the very least workable. i have seen some high quality neocities sites that do exactly this and i think it's a good alternative from dynamically sizing pages.

all this being said, i'm coming from the perspective of someone who actually wants their website to be seen and be used by as many people as possible because i'm providing niche game guides/tools/resources, so again, people who are just doing their hobbyist thing probably don't care as much about how many people see their site, especially outside of indie web spaces and especially neocities. it's a bit of an insular community where everyone on there is exploring their fellow users' desktop websites. also, just because a website is not workable on mobile doesn't mean people won't see it! plenty of people still use their computers to browse the web of course, it just cuts out some parts of the population. it's complicated and i'm not an expert on the subject but i don't know, i just felt like talking about it ww

TLDR; i think the ideal would be for a less corporate, more creative internet that still is accessible for disabled people and still allows the use of smartphone browsing. maybe one day when i'm more educated on code, i can make some cooler things in this regard...

[drawnaghht]

hmm so last week i was trying to think of why it might be that ppl suddenly started shipping Rise Leo and Yuichi Usagi (a "never met" crossover ship) when the Usagi Chronicles series was teased in 2021* and I think it might just be because it's so easy to change this iteration of both the ship and characters - a lot of the appeal of fanworks these days is full bespoke fan AUs and redesigns.

so I think this Usagi was just easier to sorta project new ideas onto, since he doesn't come with 35+ years of comics history. He's like a clean slate. especially if folks don't watch/don't care to look into the series.

which I kinda get, from an artistic perspective, creative endevours are always more fun if they're new and something you can make your own, right? or at least that's one possible aspect (of both this and fanworks in general)

but from a fannish perspective, my brain is also going like, "oh noo, my blorbo..." xD

and it's also a bit sad that folks ignore the og comic completely in some cases or just, don't look into it out of interest at all lol. I guess I kinda get that too, sometimes in some areas of the world, comics are really hard to get by and maybe some are like me, who want to read them on paper. It might also just be that older comics are unappealing to younger fans (?) but that would wholly be an assumption, since we don't really know all the reasons other people don't get interested in things like comics. I doubt many Rise fans have read the og TMNT comics either (it's fine, cuz again, younger audience + that's sorta the point various animated series sometimes - to get the new audience into the old comics - and sometimes it doesn't go like that)

the other thing is also that technically, Yuichi Usagi seems to be like the Gaumont/Netflix crew's way of making like a fun fanwork in the form of Samurai Rabbit: the Usagi Chronicles. Many of the project leads were fans of Usagi Yojimbo and even some of the voice actors had read the comics as kids or had seen Usagi in the old TMNT series (from the SDCC interview with Stan and crew). Boy even has the Stan Sakai signature under his shoes, lol x3 So he is in some way already a fan-character and has a lot of those "new character" features that might be appealing to some (the hair and clothes are very "generic modern boy") and appealing to change drastically as well.

but anyway, yeah like... I've been around fandoms for a long while so I don't mind much that people are gonna have different tastes abt fanworks and how to write characters, etc. Everybody ships their niche ships differently. it's just interesting to think about, cuz there's so many ways to make fanworks in general and so many ways to define fandom or fandom ships and so on. like it's just something interesting I realized while having a bus ride.

*you can correct me on when the leochi/leochi ship became popular and when people started properly watching the SRTUC series, at least going by tumblr tags (more reliable than twitter, for tags at least) and I'll make any corrections about the timeline of tags here on tumblr xD Going back through the tumblr tag for "leosagi" and "leoichi" you can see a sort of a sharp drop in old leosagi "content" (fanart, fic, posts etc) and then the new stuff, mixed in with various fan designs for a Rise!version of Miyamoto Usagi and other designs and ideas. but I think there needs to be some sorta archive blog for this cuz honestly, going through the tumblr tags without a pages system is... so annoying xD Like I am not in university anymore so I don't feel like doing this sorta stuff (archiving by screenshots or by reblogs) but dang.... sorta feels like this would be nice to have lol

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

I really do understand what posts/tweets like this are fundamentally getting at, but I also think they're kind of -- not stupid, that's too harsh, but something like dunderheaded (a good term, underappreciated, let's bring it back).

I think people should consume thoughtful and passionately felt queer art! But how detached are you from normal human behavior if you really think Thoughtful and Passionate Queer Art is filling the same niche for people as franchise entertainment, emotionally or culturally? Watching Velvet Goldmine and My Own Private Idaho changed my life, shaped my sense of who I am and how I exist in the world, are priceless experiences that helped me understand my bisexuality and masculinity, but like -- I am not sitting down to watch fucking My Own Private Idaho when I want to watch Star Wars. And I don't want the price of sometimes enjoying Star Wars content to be stepping into a universe where apparently I couldn't possibly exist. That sucks and feels bad and is not fun, and I want to have fun watching Star Wars, in addition to the Art I consume.

All of which is not to mention the fact that Harry Potter and Disney are accessible to lots of people, children and adults, who never will or are unable to seek out fuckin pre-Code film or whatever. And just as someone who actually remembers when just the idea that "queer people exist in the real world and should reasonably be expected to exist in all fictional worlds as well" was a bonkers, radical thing to say out loud, I'm not jazzed about rolling that back and saying oh, well, I guess Marvel movies or whatever is the universe where queer people just won't exist, or maybe only barely so people don't have to notice or be annoyed by it. Seek out queer novels from independent publishers instead! No, I don't think we do have to pick one of those things. I never did think we should have to pick. I like both, and they're different, and I want both.

Obviously corporations just see queer people as a demographic that can be marketed to: that's how they see everyone, that's what an audience is. I'm an audience! I don't have a relationship with these companies, but I do have an entertainment budget, and it's deeply degrading to be told that the product I'd like to buy from them is too dirty to exist for any amount of money, which is the message I grew up hearing from the corporate entertainment industry, so like -- yeah, now I want them to make me a fuckin Star War, sorry.