#Digging through my old old asks for art inspo | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

veneerpossibly · 1 month ago

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TROLLSONA INFO!!

This is my Trollsona named Sneeby!! (The digital art was made by my friend!) This is his entire lore, his timeline, information from his younger self, his aesthetics, his relationships, and a lil stimboard!

SNEEBY INFO

Sneeby is a purple-skinned, green-haired, sleepy-ass little troll. He is literally a sleepy little guy, very jolly, and overall very loveable.

Full name: Sneeby Eeby Deeby

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Traits: Sleepy, loyal, kind, and jolly

SNEEBYS KINDA INSANE AND A LITTLE WEIRD BACKSTORY

Back when Sneeby was 15 (2015, he was born in 2000) he once slept for so long that his family thought he had passed away during his slumber. so up until he was 23, he was buried alive in a grave. Around 2016 when his parents were eaten by Bergen's and all his siblings fled from his old home, his grave was basically forgotten and completely abandoned for years to come.

HOW SNEEBY WAS FOUND ALIVE

Poppy and Branch were traveling through the forest as they wanted to expand Troll village. They stumbled upon the grave and Poppy wanted to make the grave nice and clean again, aswell as bringing the grave closer to troll village to honor him. As they were digging up the grave to transport the casket, they heard Sneeby trashing around, discovering that he was still alive. How is he still alive after not eating food or drinking water for years straight? idk man!

SNEEBYS TRAUMA

Obviously, Sneeby has trauma stemming from being buried alive and the thoughts of death. The biggest fears for Sneeby is gross icky bugs, and the worst of all is being cramped into small spaces. My guy was LITTERALLY buried alive! Cramped spaces make him uncomfortable and make him feel shortness of breath, on the brink of passing out sometimes. Bugs also really gross him out, worms even grosser to him. He remembers coming out of the grave with bugs and worms infesting his hair and ears. He's utterly grossed out by the creatures and rightfully so. Graveyards and death mentions bother him quite a lot. Graveyards cus he was buried alive, and cus his parents are dead. 👍

LITTLE INFO OF HIM IN MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL

My guy was an MMO, Tumblr, deviant art, discord, brony boy. Thats all I'm going to say until the official Sneeby middle school and high school art drops.

THE FULL TIMELINE

2000 - Sneeby Eeby Deeby is born on Dec 4th

2006 - Sneeby enters Kindergarten, hes a chubby lil troll with little chompers that stick out

2011 - Sneeby goes into middle school, he's a complete computer internet nerd.

2014 - Sneeby goes into highschool, still a COMPLETE puter nerd and dresses the same

2014 Nov - Sneeby meets his current friend group

2015 Feb - Sneeby meets Strawbella and asks her out

2015 June - Sneeby is buried alive, declared dead

2016-2017 -Sneebys parents go missing, presumebly eaten by bergens

2023 - Sneeby is found by Poppy and Branch, and brought to troll village where be reunites with his friends and girlfriend

2024 - Sneeby find where he used to live, only to find it was abandoned and he was told about his parents' death

AESTHETICS AND INSPOS

Sneeby didn't have any direct inspiration while being created if I'm being entirely honest. I'd say the characters that correlate with Sneeby is My Melody, Guedatama, Pusheen, Kirby, and Bob from Animal Crossing. I can't name his exact aesthetic. Sweets, nature, sleepy, babyish, cozy, soft, pastel, characters, and overall a cute aesthetic that I can't exactly name. Maybe some type of kawaii or something. If you have any suggestions to what this aesthetic would be called lmk!

HIS RELATIONSHIPS

Sneeby is dating one of my other trollsonas, her name being Strawbella. I plan on making a post like this entirely about her since she also has an entire backstory and timeline. He is best friends with 2 of my friends trollsonas, having a little trio!

THANK YOU FOR READING! :3

Sorry for this super long post, I just feel super passionate about my trollsonas, especially this one. I really appreciate if you read this entire thing! I hope to make posts like this for all my trollsonas as I have a ton, and they all connect. Anyways, here's the Sneeby stimboard! (Also, I am completely accepting of fanart and questions! I can provide a ref sheet.)

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screen-universe-official-thingie · 4 months ago

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Plague Doctor Cindy!

Hi, I drew this concept art sheet thing shortly after drawing the Butcher!Aurora art and I took a break after that. Sorry I didn't post this one immediately.

Edit: Some close ups and extra commentary have been added

Rambling below (TW: medical subject matter like diseases and surgery, death, delusions, and cannibalism)

Meta wise, she started out as a mad scientist for the sake of being a mad scientist by listening to Novocaine by Cree-P and GHOST, and Black Box Warrior-OKULTRA by Will Wood. I just imagined Cinderella going too hard or harsh on Lady Tremaine, her patient/ser-worker/co-star, with her research, experiments, and surgeries out of frustration, stress, and madness. Hell, I would not be surprised if she tried lobotomy at some point during her side jig/job as a doctor.

But ever since I listened to Butcher Vanity by Vane and Flavour Foley, Cinderella later grew to be more than just a plain old mad doctor as I revisited her Screen Universe para concept and explore what her deal is. From why exactly did she fall into this path, to her relationships with the characters related or relevant to her story. She became another tragic character. This time, someone who developed an obsession with finding a cure for the prions after it "ate up" her once villain co-worker friend with in-character or canon compliant delusions.

Some close ups

The other state was meant to say production as well, but I'm too lazy to fix the typo now

Cindy with the Bok-su pose is slightly cursed ngl, but it keeps living in my head rent free. The fact that they're both doctors doesn't make it any better ToT

Eldritch Cinderelly (the note says healthy because their true forms's color and brightness changes if they get certain health conditions. In this one, she should have been a bit dimmer and grayer due to the Discontinuation Rot)

Herbs and spices stuffed in the beak like a true plague doctor. Though, Cindy does this for different reasons. Instead of the original reasoning where the herbs will ward off the plague, she does this to replace the smell of burning and rotting flesh with as much fragrance as possible. It also puts her at ease

Stolen Ideas Inspo :>

How it'd look like under her apron/dress thing

Goggles stuff for eye protection

Eyes. Eye eyeballed (eh? eh?) her eye color because I can not find a good proper close up of her face and eyes in the official material and the coloring in the og movie looks a bit inconsistent at times.

Screen shots from the ID server itself again of course

OKULTRA cranking up the mad doctor inspiration (ft. Novocaine starting the whole thing prior to listing to OKULTRA)

I think this one is still pre-butcher vanity arc

meme

Typical Disney para behaviour

more Cinderella angst lore because yes

A shit ton of other paras have not so healthy relationships with their characters at this point. They include, but not limited to some Pokemon characters, and SpongeBob.

Health anxiety go brrrr

This is from when Butcher Vanity arc or obsession hit around. It expanded her lore and everything. It was a game changer for this specific para tbh. I think this is about four months after posting the past Cindy rambles shown in the previous screenshots

Ok, this one is from an ID adjacent server, but I feel like this is still a bit relevant to the whole thing

(Also from the ID adjacent server) Ok, this one is kinda complicated since I mentioned another para who had something to do with a different Disney centered subplot that somehow affected the plot and lore of the entire paracosm. Basically, Snow White helped one of her ser-workers to found a cult and... everything went downhill and batshit insane from there. Ruined or fucked over the entire government and all... you may either dig through my casual account for the answer or ask through the Screen Universe blog about it.

Bonus: A joke relevant to the whole Cinderella x Sleeping Beauty ft. prion plague debacle arc/subplot (I found this god damn image from Pinterest and I captioned it as "Cinderella and Aurora")

TLDR: 1950 Disney princess becomes a mad plague doctor, grows into another tragic para, becomes vegan as a trauma response, loses her villain patient to the plague's delusions, goes off into a deep end after burning said patient, despises cannibals, and turns into their world's equivalent to a veteran in a "has seen the origins of modern day problems and the horrors of war" way but the war is the plague from the distant past.

#screen universe #immersive daydreaming #art #paracosm #daydreaming #digital art #disney princess #cinderella #plague doctor time

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sarah-crewe · 3 years ago

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bc i am waaaaay too lazy to go through all 100 of those questions and the questions you asked me were all so funnnnn: two, six, fourteen but you don't have to answer, twenty-one, twenty-four, twenty-nine but only if you have a specific answer, forty-one, forty-two, fifty, fifty-five, sixty-one, seventy-five, seventy-six again if you want, eighty-eight, ninety, ninety-seven, ninety-nine, one hundred :D

welp. i typed a lot of these questions and then it deleted them, so i’m going to have a quick cry face down in a marsh and then i’ll brb

okay, now that that's taken care of, let me try again: hilarious and inspired choice, i will absolutely answer those, but like, under the napkin (aka the cut because i talk a lot)

2. What kind of emotions do the stars evoke for you, if any? The ocean, the sky, the moon? i think i might underappreciate the ocean a little too much. maybe because i basically grew up right by the seaside and have the most experience with like the coast and all that. i love the ocean though, especially the fully-clothed, chilling with a book and a stiff sea breeze type of ocean (absolutely hate the beach for summer beach things). all four make me feel very peaceful and thoughtful and grateful and small, but not in a bad way. i do have glow-in-the-dark stars in the shape of constellations (did i send you my star tour, bud?) on my bedroom ceiling...

6. If you have siblings, are you similar to them, and in what ways? it's kind of funny because i used to think that my sister and i were very different, but as we've gotten older, i'm not so sure anymore. in many ways we still are very different, but especially as kids we both kind of marked our territory out once we were old enough. i was always academic and introverted and nerdy and she was always athletic and extroverted and not really into fandom stuff. she took team sports and i took individual artistic sports. i stole art from her (consciously! intentionally!) and did music and theatre. she took trends and teenage drinking (not a dig, lol) and lots and lots of friends. we're still pretty different: i'm still really academic and introverted and kind of a maximalist (hoarder), she's still very into aesthetics and extroverted, and is SO in neutrals and natural colors. but we've eased the boundaries a lot. we both love soccer and have a pretty wide overlap in our music taste. she is a photographer and we both love kids (especially HER kid). i think we value in a similar way and we're both NOT ones to get like... publically emotional without REAL reason... idk, we're not as different as we thought we were

14. What are you worried about right now, if anything? i'm always reminded of the penguin comic when i talk about the two of us and worrying. when am i ever NOT worried about something?? but honestly, between maturing a bit over the last ~half decade, and been on a decent dose of SSRIs for anxiety that i caught from the pandemmy, i'm at least BETTER about working around, through, and over my anxiety. that said i'm still worried, and specifically i'm worrying about the fact that i have to wake up a little bit early tomorrow and afraid that i'm going to oversleep

21. What's the luckiest you've ever been? this was NOT how i was thinking of this question when i sent it to you, but maybe the one time in college when i was going to buy a coffee on a rainy morning before my (predawn) 6:30 am shift at the daycare and, while i was crossing the street i felt a huge truck pass literally INCHES behind me 🙃🫠 like what do you do with yourself at that point? i just bought my coffee and went to work with a haunted look in my eyes lol

24. Does your name suit you? Do you think you "look" like your name? idk, i actually asked you this question because i wasn't sure. i like my name a lot. i think sarah is a lovely name and has a good meaning and story and lots (LOTS) of other sarahs that are great to take inspo from. sadie is a good nickname. i guess maybe i don't feel super connected to it because there are just so many other Sarahs? i wouldn't change it but it's hard to say that something suits me if there are 15 other people named Sarah in the room and we're all totally different, you know? i do love my middle name (mari) and think it suits me. it has family history and i share it with my mom

29. How do you want your body to be treated after your death? i have been an organ donor since i got my license (and actually STRONGLY believe that we should be opt out about organ donation, not opt in!!). outside of that, i'm less sure. i am so not into embalming and traditional burial. i have no interest in that at all. i guess i lean towards cremation or maybe one of the much more natural burials? i'm looking for something low fuss, low chemical, i guess haha

41. Do you find it easy to ask for help? not in the slightest. well, to be most specific (do you expect anything less) the more i trust a person, the more willing i am to ask for help, or the more "practical" the problem, like if something physically is wrong with my car, I'll ask one of my dads or a professional. i do have a gay audacity problem (i think i can handle all crafts, regardless of my actual experience) and i have no emotional problems to ask for help about >.>

42. Does affection come easily to you? affection DOES come easily to me, especially for anyone i kind of click with, then it's compliment city, and then compliment super city if i get positive responses back (and i will mean every one). physical intimacy is less. i *do* want it from specific people, but i'm not great about making that known or pursuing it.

50. What qualities do you find charming? i'm such a sucker for some good wit and someone who can just make me laugh, especially by being smart and insightful. i love talking to people who are interesting, by which i mean have interests that they're passionate about. kindness is very charming too. and i always love me a dweeb and a try-hard.

55. What reminds you of your childhood? oversized sweatshirts and sunglasses over shorts, sunbleached braids, jumping in the lake, all eleven and a half hours on my nostalgia playlist, homemade dresses, fish chowder, reading in bed late at night, playing in the woods, skating and sledding at my aunt's house, hikes, wild strawberries

61. Are you a romantic person? Why? oh desperately romantic. i read too many books as a child and have never been able to correct the notion that the world should be a beautiful, kind, and just place.

75. What is your favourite fairytale? it's always Cinderella, at the end of the day. i have a book of Grimm fairytales i've read cover-to-cover and i love so many of them, but nothing ever gets me like someone who chooses kindness and strength of character and doing just one thing more, even when things are desperate and awful

76. What do you label yourself as, if anything? What subcultures do you identify with, if any? i'm a lesbian. i feel very secure in my gender, and do like the label of women, which i know isn't always true for a lot of my friends and peers. i'm thisclose to feeling comfortable calling myself Jewish but i'm certainly jew-ish by now. i love being a Mainer. i love being a librarian and a nerd and a bookworm. i love being just a LITTLE bit of a daredevil (a sport isn't a sport until you bled for it ;})

88. What's an unusual but useful trait or talent you have? idk if it's unusual, but i am very good at finding things online. it's scary how much information is out there and i know a LOT of things i didn't mean to find out, but even more that I do! and i like being able to just you know. find it.

90. What surname would you choose for yourself? i don't know exactly WHAT it would be, but i feel like i have two of the three components of the perfect last name and i'm just missing that last one. my last name is intuitive to say/spell ✅ , relatively rare ✅ , but a supremely inelegant collection of sounds 🙅🏼‍♀️

97. What is a trivial hill that you are willing to die on? god, i have taurus disease where, if you get me started, i'm ready to die on almost any hill. i'm relatively chill, but One Wrong Move and i get very "i hope you die, i hope we both die". i too asked people close to me what they thought, and basically got the exact same answer back. i'd die on an anthill but none of us know what anthill...

99. Do you enjoy "slice of life" media? ugh YES it is my FAVORITE

100. What do you want an answer to? when?

#a bitch gets wordy sorry #about me tho #love you bud!!

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alannah-corvaine · 4 years ago

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the big ‘so you’ve found my blog’ post;

So. The follow button has led you to me, and now here you are with me on your dash. I assume you’re here for one to three reasons: the ffxiv content I post and reblog, my character(s), and/or the aesthetic content. Possibly also my riveting commentary on why ffxiv hasn’t added a sidebraid hairstyle yet. You’re all valid and welcome here.

Maybe you’re curious about me and my OCs, but you don’t want to go digging through my blog and the absolute mess of tags I’ve amassed over the years. I’m here to present a half-assed solution to your curiosity instead of fixing my tags in any sort of meaningful way.

WHO RUNS THIS BLOG?

I’m Alicia, I run this circus.

she/her pronouns, I’m cis.

I’m 31 years old at the time of writing this post.

This blog is 5 going on 6 years old.

If you see @alannahcorvaine that blog is also me but I don’t use it anymore, as it’s a sideblog and I moved over to this blog years ago.

I’ve been playing FFXIV since 2015.

I also play Elder Scrolls Online and World of Warcraft and have separate blogs for related OCs, content, and aesthetics.

I’m a cat person but I also love dogs.

I have a five year old black cat named Kilala who keeps me in line.

I’m not much of a people person, I’m made of anxiety and paperclips.

I yell into the void a lot, the void being my blog.

I don’t really RP outside of spectacularly outstanding circumstances these days, but character and world building are my jam.

Even if I don’t RP, I’m always down for character connections and relationships. I’m totally up for brainstorming and bouncing around headcanons.

Most of the time in game you’ll find me either standing around my house or out in the world taking screenshots. My mailing address is gpose.

I have a full roster of 8 characters on Balmung, but currently only 3 are active. You’ll probably see screenshots of the others too from time to time.

THE OCs

A L A N N A H C O R V A I N E

Your first assumption on seeing my blog name is that it’s probably the name of the titular OC that this blog focuses on. You would be correct. All of my OCs have their own blogs, however I am infinitely lazy and just end up posting screenshots of everyone here because this is where the followers are and the sideblogs end up being used as aesthetic warehouses. Anywhoo, here’s some need-to-knows about Alannah.

Alannah has two main verses: Warrior of Light and Non-WoL.

Her non-WoLverse is actually the primary one, but with Shadowbringers I’ve been focusing more on her WoL story.

I also have an infinite amount of AU verses for her based on various media but nobody has time for me to list all of those.

In both verses she’s a White Mage, a capable healer, but focuses more on offensive elemental spells (wind, water, earth).

Alannah is my only OC with a Warrior of Light verse.

She’s 23 years old.

She has severe allergies to grass, pollen, dust, dander, and certain foods.

Her allergy reactions are largely kept at bay by a delicate chain diadem made and blessed by padjal. It also helps correct her shitty vision, magic is great.

Her deepest fears include deep water and phurbles.

She has four older brothers: Faron, Ean, Davon, and Brennan.

Family issues. Just so many family issues. That’s an entire post on its own.

Her hair is dark brown, not black. I cannot state this emphatically enough no matter what my edits look like.

The white streaks are magical scars, the cause of them vary by verse.

Non-WoL Alannah is married to Nine Outway, they have a three-year old daughter named Aislinn.

Warrior of Light Alannah (hereafter known as WoLannah) I ship exclusively with dead ghost boyfriend Ardbert.

Deep-seated anger issues buried beneath a placid and friendly exterior.

Her aether is just irreparably borked and highly chaotic and is controlled via her staff and arcane symbols painted onto her arms in aether ink.

Her childhood dream was to be a powerful thaumaturge, which didn’t work out with her aether control issues.

R E B E C C A “B R I N A” C R O S S ( @thesilentcygnet )

26 years old.

Born to a moderately wealthy Limsan merchant family.

2 older sisters: Pippa and Lacy.

Jacke Swallow (of rogues guild fame) is her best friend (and secret love) since childhood.

Her entire family was murdered when she was 16 because her father made shady deals with the wrong people and owed them money.

She’s been mute since the day of the massacre after witnessing the murders while hiding in the cellar beneath their feet.

She’s been staying with Jacke and his cohorts in the Dutiful Sisters of the Edelweiss since then, though he’s the only one that knows her true identity.

A long chain of events has lead to her being kidnapped from Kugane, shipwrecked off the coast of Othard twice, sucked into a magical whirlpool, and left stranded on the First.

Will she ever get home? Perhaps, when I’ve finally decided that her ridiculous journey has been Odyssean enough.

K H I A R N A K H A ( @khi-tastrophe )

29 years old.

An incandescent ball of unquenchable rage, probably for valid reasons.

The daughter of the khan of a minor offshoot of the Kha tribe.

Had a twin sister named Khiela, who pretended to be kidnapped by an aggressive suitor and lead Khiarna on a wild goose chase across Eorzea in an attempt to find her.

Khiela and her lover conspired to and succeeded in murdering her father.

Khiarna returned to Othard and murdered the shit out of both of them in retaliation for killing her father.

She was then unanimously chosen as her father’s successor and currently reigns as khatun to the nomadic merchant tribe.

While traveling across Eorzea in search of her errant sister, Khi was involved in a relationship with a pathological liar, which has severely damaged her ability to trust people (on top of her family drama).

Currently in a relationship with Sidirahg of the Sixth ( @sidirahg ), who has the patience of a saint with her issues and also might be a masochist.

Khi is a shaman and uses a mix of conjury and pugilism in combat.

She covers her fists and feet in a solid layer of rock and then lights them on fire, using a combination of speed, flexibility, and disorienting blows to fell her opponents.

COMMON TAGS I USE

#alannah aesthetic - aesthetic tag.

#screenshots - tag for unedited screenshots of my characters.

#edits - tag for screenshot edits done by me.

#drabbles - tag for writing done by me.

#about alannah - tag for character profile memes, ask replies, relevant quotes.

#art of alannah - tag for art i’ve commissioned of Alannah.

#commissions - tag for art i’ve commissioned that also includes my other OCs.

#lanna things - tag for posts relevant to Alannah.

#9 - tag for posts related to Nine Outway.

#familial faultlines - tag for all of Alannah’s family issues.

#benedictions]&[bulletholes - ship tag for Alannah and Nine (contains screenshots, quotes, and aesthetic inspiration).

#the gravity of guilt - sub-B&B ship tag referencing events at the ruins of Nym.

#scars of nym - another B&B tag because I don’t have enough of them.

#otp: as one fool to another - ship tag for WoLannah and Ardbert

#AU: Warrior of Light - WoLannah tag.

#AU: Gloriana - tag for the AU in which Alannah goes power mad / angry at the world and misuses her magic to become an unstoppable force of destruction.

#AU: Dark Sunrise - tag for the AU in which Nine perma-dies and Alannah sells her soul to the darkness.

#keeper’s captain - ship tag for Brina and Jacke.

#boyfriend adjust - ship tag for Khi and Sid.

#tbd - tag for me yelling into the void that I pretend I’ll delete later.

OTHER BLOGS

@eastofean - ffxiv aesthetic inspo blog for Ean Corvaine.

@aether-and-ash - ffxiv aesthetic inspo blog for Aislinn Outway.

@blacklacelullaby - ffxiv aesthetic inspo blog for Katja Iryut.

@cleric-stance - salty healer memes.

@sundownsanctuary - nsfw aesthetic inspo blog.

@lannahlearnsart - my hoard of digital art tutorials.

@halion - general World of Warcraft blog and inspo for my WoW OCs.

@veil-of-blades - ESO inspo blog for various Elder Scrolls OCs.

@theviciousnothing - my personal aesthetic blog.

PARTING NOTES

You’ve done it, you’ve reached the end of this post. All of this is just a basic overview of me and my characters, if you ever have any questions about anything please feel free to drop me an ask or a DM any time. Thanks for following. ♥

#behind the blog #pinned post

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lilhemmo · 5 years ago

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alone together - DAY THREE

Summary: A daily installment series of one shots on being in quarantine with Goku (special appearances made by master roshi and others!) Come back each night starting 3/18 for a new fic for the next 14 days!

AO3 LINK Rated: T+ (for now, ya nasties!) Word Count: 3.2k bc idk how to write anything short and sweet. Warnings: language, a lil inapproppro roshi, spicy thoughts, a lil fighting A/N: thanks to nikkisramblings for the idea and the inspo!! and also for always being down to talk about the world’s favorite himbo! let’s make this quarantine crisis bearable :) also. i am channeling my fave human @thegodbucky to try and write the best himbo there ever was to exist.my goku does NOT compare to hers but!

vegeta: day 1 | day 2 | day 3 goku: day 1 | day 2 | day 3

PREVIOUSLY...

“Well, it’s a good thing we’re teaching you how to fight,” his voice is quieter, softer now. It almost feels a little different as his thumb brushes over your shoulder. Goku rests his chin in the crown of your hair, taking a shallow breath, “I can always use instant transmission to give ya’ a hand, but I want you to know you can take care of yourself.”

You pat him on the stomach, allowing yourself a small feel of the toned muscles there, “I’m glad I have you in my life, Goku.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Goku squeezes your shoulder and you let yourself soak in the sun and the waves, cherishing a moment of closeness like this because you’re never quite sure when it might be ripped away.

You knew that the training Goku had been putting you through would hurt, eventually. However, you didn’t expect to wake up one morning practically unable to move. You had just enough energy to force yourself through a shower and brushing your teeth before you collapsed back on the bed, still wrapped in your towel with your quilt pulled up at your waist. You’re completely out of breath, muscles tightening with each gasping part of your lips.

“Hey, you okay?”

If your body could tense in embarrassment, you would, but you can’t.

You turn your cheek against the pillow, barely able to see much more than the outline of the side of his body with your blurry vision, straining your eyes as best you can. You accept defeat and close your eyes, chewing on the inside corner of your mouth before speaking, “Goku, not all of us have Saiyan muscles. Us mere mortals can’t go from sitting on the couch to fighting a super person without a little bit of pain and fatigue.”

“Pain just means you’re doing it right!” Goku giggles, scratching the back of his neck. He takes a step towards you and you allow yourself a half-second of fear at the thought of him trying to make you spar again today.

It takes you a moment, but you bunch your hands under your chest and try to push yourself upward. Your face twists in pain as you try to look at him, and the Saiyan rushes forward, knees on the floor as his palm frames your cheek. He tilts his head, “Wow, you’re really hurtin’, huh?”

“Yes,” you grunt, face in the pillow now because you can’t bear to admit your weakness. You can’t even pay attention to the fact that you’re only in a towel, the heat of his arm against you burning like a flame. The only thought that pulses in your mind is one of hurt. Your muscles cry out as you shift around under the blanket and towel to try and be at least slightly more comfortable.

Goku pinches your cheek, a bright smile on his face, “I can give you a lil’ squeeze, if ya want! Krillin and I learned how to massage out the cramps from one another when we were training with Master Roshi when we first started learning martial arts.”

The sudden reality of the thin material keeping your bare everything from view finally settles in and a blush fights its way onto your cheeks and the tops of your ears. You licks your lips and shake your head, “N-No, Goku, it’s fi-oof.”

His stocky body is settled atop your backside, knees digging into the mattress on either side of you. Goku is heavy, oh Kami is he heavy. You struggle to keep in the sharp cries of pain at his muscled form sitting on you, weighing your body down. He means well, all he’s trying to do is help you, but wow is he currently putting you in pain. Goku is laughing but your mind is far from humored, all you can pay attention to is the way the towel shift on your body, the small knot at your side practically begging to come undone.

“This is kinda in the way,” he mumbles, thumb brushing under the lip of the fabric separating his body from yours. The scraping of his fingernail against your tender skin forces goosebumps to bloom down your arms and legs, but you convince yourself it’s just the air conditioning. Your toes curl and you try to keep yourself from arching up into him so you don’t seem like a needy animal. The last thing you need is to be closed in this tiny house with Goku knowing how you feel.

You huff, attempting to regulate your voice, “Goku, I’m not about to take off-”

“What? I’m just sayin’, if you took it off, it’d be so much easier! My hands are gonna get all stuck!”

He’s whining and it shouldn’t make your stomach flip over, but you can’t control the way your body flushes at the thought of him undressing you, or how he would feel pressed against you, bare and warm. Your skin starts to sweat at the imaginary way his hips would move and how his hands might touch you.

The base of his palms roll into your shoulders and you have to clamp your mouth shut so you don’t let out a groan at the sensation. You keep your eyes closed as his thumbs travel over your spine, gently rotating in circles as he works his way downward from the top of your neck.

“Wow,” you almost moan out the word, eyes rolling around in your head as his hands work out the kinks in your muscles. You swallow the thick lump growing in your throat and it feels like you can finally breath without being in immense pain, “You really are good at this.”

“Told ya!” Goku says. He giggles and traces over your shoulder blades before digging his palms into the muscles there.

You’re practically lulled to sleep with the motions of his handles, the push and pull of his calloused fingers and palms soothing as he works your muscles. As you sit on the cusp of consciousness, you’re just barely able to withhold the gentle noises that sit on your tongue, begging to be let out.

He must be putting you under some sort of spell because your fingers move under your body just enough to reach the knot holding the towel in place. You unhook it and tug the fabric from your torso, revealing your bare shoulders and back, the towel pooling at the juxtaposition of your body and Goku’s.

“There you go, loosen up,” he chuckles, moving himself further down your body so he can knead away at the tightened muscles of your lower back.

When his hands come in contact with a specifically knotted muscle, you can’t help it when the moan escapes your lips.

Goku freezes, palms still pressed flat against your waist. His thighs tense and that sends a jolt up your spine and right back down to your belly. You grit your teeth and dig your forehead back into your pillow out of embarrassment alone.

“D-Did I hurt you?” he asks innocently. You can even see him tilting his head in your mind, the action playing like a movie behind your closed lids.

You grunt, trying to come up with a response. All you’re able to do is bark a feeble, “No.”

Goku tests the waters with his thumbs brushing over your rib cage, eyes trying to find some part of your face to gauge your level of pain. He sighs, “W-Well, then why’d you make that sound?”

And why did I want to make you make it again?

He leaves the last part unsaid, for fear of what it means and what you might do. Goku licks his lips and leans forward, his body weight shifting you on the bed. A hand presses to the mattress on either side of your head as he balances himself.

“It felt good,” you say quietly. You clear your throat and turn so your cheek is against the pillow and you can look at him over your shoulder. He’s much closer than you expected, his nose trailing down your cheek as you shift.

You try your hardest not to think of how you two might look in a mirror at this exact moment. His pelvis is pressed against the curve of your ass, palms dug into the mattress beside either of your temples. Your face is blushing bright pink, muscles tense as you curve upward into him. The thought alone of what he could do to you like this settles a weight between your thighs, a needy heaviness clawing at your thighs.

Goku huffs, his chest expanding, “Hmm, that’s weird.”

A wash of pink colors your cheeks and you take a short breath, thankful that he’s only considering it weird and not sensual. Then again, this is Goku. You’re sure he could spend a whole day reading and watching Master Roshi’s collections of media and still not understand why the girls were so scantily clad. You lick your lips, ready to defend yourself and your actions, but Goku returns to massaging your back and you’re lost in the feel of his hands once again.

It’s as if he’s trying to get you to make obscene noises with every movement of his hands. Goku is digging into you deeper, fingers finding the perfect rhythm and sinew as he touches you. His hands are roaming now, finding every inch of your skin to try and pull those noises from your throat again. You allow yourself just a moment to wonder if he felt pleasure at the mewling that parted your lips only seconds ago.

Unfortunately, all he ends up doing is lulling you back into a dreamlike state, your eyes glazed over as you fight slumber. You yawn, getting ready to tell him you need to take a nap, but your eyes are alert as soon as Goku’s body stiffens atop your own. His nails dig into your skin and your body flushes with goosebumps.

“Ooh,” you hear the grotesque sound of saliva being sucked back into someone’s mouth and you try to hide yourself behind Goku’s broad body.

“Goku, you wanna share?” The old man holds his hands up in the air, reaching towards you with grabby hands.

A frightened squeak barely has time to echo from your mouth before a resounding slap gives way to Roshi being smacked across the room. He slams into the bookshelf that houses all of his x-rated movies and dirty magazines, a couple of them falling over his head as he tries to make out which way is up and which is down.

Roshi groans, rubbing the growing lump on his bald head, “Hey, Goku, what was that for?!”

Tears are begging to fall from your eyelids but you don’t let them; you can’t let Goku knows how things like this affect you - Master Roshi isn’t going anywhere after all. And Goku has never been one to admonish the old-timer’s perverted behavior before.

“I-I don’t know, Master Roshi,” Goku admits, looking down at his hand like it might give him the answer. His eyes drift to you, watching as you squeeze your eyes shut and try to hide away from everyone even with your body as bare as it can be.

As soon as he sees the red of your cheeks and the way your face is scrunched in humiliation, Goku’s brows furrow and he glares at Master Roshi, “But I think you need to get out of here.”

The old man is scurrying away before Goku can slap him through the wall and send him skipping across the ocean. You release the breath you’d been holding, your body sinking under the pressure. Goku brushes his thumb across your jaw, tugging you to look at him. He notices the wince you make as you try to adjust your body and he finds himself trying to think of ways to make you more comfortable.

“Hey,” he clambers off of you, knelt on the ground with a hand still against your neck, “You wan’a watch a movie? We can take a break from training today.”

All you can think of is how taking a break from training is the exact opposite of everything that Goku has ever said to you. Ever.

“That sounds good,” you say.

When you don’t move, Goku tilts his head. He reminds you of a confused animal, what with his wide eyes and general blank expression. His mouth bobs open and closed a few times before he finally speaks.

“Well, why aren’t ya’ gettin’ up?”

You swallow the lump in your throat and bite your lip, “I-It hurts.”

Goku laughs, running his palm down over your bare back. He stands to his full height, “Well, c’mon, let’s go get you dressed!”

Somehow he manages to wrap you up in the towel when he grabs you around the shoulders and the knees, holding you like a child as he carries you into the closet to get a change of clothes.

“G-Goku,” you stammer when he puts you down. You clutch the towel to cover yourself, thankful that it’s big enough to keep him from seeing anything you don’t want him to, although he doesn’t seem very worried or distracted. He’s rifling through a couple of drawers, pulling out clothes that he thinks will fit you, mumbling to himself under his breath.

“Here, I think these will work for you.” Goku holds out a paid of baggy training pants and an undershirt. They’ll both fit you loosely, but at least you’ll be covered. You really need to do laundry. The last thing you need is to marvel at yourself wearing Goku’s clothes.

You go to reach for the shirt and pants, but your shoulder muscles lock up and you wince, crying out as you crumble to your knees. Goku catches you before the other parts of your body can react, gently keeping you upright by the elbow.

“Let me help you,” he says immediately. Goku is already unrolling the shirt before you can argue. You don’t take away the towel and he doesn’t argue, pulling the head of the shirt around your neck, settling it on your shoulders.

When he turns around to pick the pants up off the ground, you quickly slot your arms through the tee and you’re thankful it covers all of your sensitive parts. Even though Goku doesn’t really understand the implications behind what he’s doing and what he’s seeing, you do, and that’s enough.

Slowly, he helps you into the pants, tying them around your waist for you when he’s done. Goku is picking you up again to walk you into the kitchen and you can’t force an argumentative word out of your mouth. You relish in the moments spent close to his body, your head rested on his chest as you attempt to ignore your aching muscles. You also love the way that he can pull you around like you’re weightless, light as a feather. It makes you feel small in all the best ways.

He hands you the remote, silently asking you to choose the show. You land on something martial-arts related, with a side of romance.

You’re nodding off against his shoulder when he pokes you in the stomach, “H-Hey, what are they doing? Fighting with their mouths? It seems kind of gross.”

“F-Fighting- what?” You rub your eyes and sit up despite your aching muscles, “Goku, what are you talking about?”

He uses his thumb and index finger to turn your jaw to the television, where the two main characters are currently making out against the wall of the dojo. You chuckle, “Oh, they’re kissing.”

“K-Kissing?! What the hell is that?”

You can’t help the peels of laughter that expand your chest. You continue to giggle despite the resistance from your body. Goku pouts in response, crossing his arms over his chest, “Hey, why’re you laughin’ at me?”

“Kissing is what people do when they like one another,” you answer him, mostly out of breath. You pat him on the thigh, resituating yourself against his torso, “You lived with Master Roshi for how long and you’ve never been introduced to kissing?”

Goku shakes his head, bottom lip still jutted out like a child. He sighs, “Roshi is weird. I didn’t really pay attention to him unless we were sparring.”

“Such a you thing to do, Go’,” you reach up to ruffle his hair, “but when you like a girl, or a guy, I guess, whatever you’re into, you kiss them! It releases endorphins and makes you feel good.”

“I like you,” Goku says plainly, his head cocked to the side as he rests his hands on your hips, “Why don’t we kiss?”

If you weren’t in so much pain, you’d choke. Your eyes bug out of your head just enough for him to notice, but you try to temper yourself before you respond.

“There is a difference between friend-like and lover-like, Goku. You have to know the difference before you decide to kiss someone.” Your voice is an octave higher, but he doesn’t seem to notice, too lost in his own confusion. His eyes travel to the upper corner of the room, fingers cupping his chin as he thinks. You can practically see the gears turning.

“O-Oh,” he finally sighs, relaxing back into the couch.

Goku’s hands rest against your best, fingertips gently finding all those muscles he worked earlier, “I guess that makes sense.”

Your body relaxes into his hold when you realize the conversation is finished. You curl your arms around his waist as he settles further into the cushions, eyes completely captivated by the kissing couple on the screen as if he were memorizing their movements.

The drifting of his fingers over your body only serves to put you to sleep. Goku looks down to ask you another question, but giggles when he sees your pursed lips drooling just a little onto his gi. He brushes his thumb over your brow, the rest of his hand threading into your hairline.

Goku is focused on you, the way your body moves, falling further into him, and he wonders if this is what people mean when their spouses are built for them. He’s never given much thought to anything other than how to grow stronger, how to beat the next best guy...but, here, in this moment, you’re the only thing on his mind.

Spending an immense amount of time with you over the past couple of days has left him waiting, expecting, to have you in his life daily. He wakes up to train and the first thought he has is to wake you up to do morning push ups or jog around the shoreline.

The thing that breaks him out of his hypnosis is the very thing that lulled him under - you.

Except this time, you’re saying his name.

At first, he thinks you might be in pain; maybe your muscles are tightening again. So he starts to rub your body with the heels of his palms, working at alleviating some of the tension so you can sleep better.

However, as soon as he begins to massage your muscles, your whining intensifies. Goku removes his hands like he’s burnt you, eyes wide as he tries to understand what’s going on. He tilts his head to better hear you, tiny whimpers parting your lips as you shift around in his lap.

He leans up and the action jolts you awake, a bright red tint on your cheeks. Goku giggles, rubbing the back of his neck, “Mornin’!”

You lick your lips and try to tense your legs to keep his knee from sliding between your thighs, concealing your desire. You force a smile, “It’s afternoon, silly.”

“Yeah, I know,” he trails off, looking away from you. It takes him a moment, but he looks you in the eyes and you feel your soul sucked from your body as soon as he utters the words: “So, why were you moanin’ my name in your sleep?”

a/n: MWUAHAHAHAH!

tag list: @thegodbucky @vegetaslilboots @lokipea @nubiadethemyscira @dbzteam @hi-jess-is-here @brieffs @thotful-writing @vegetandbulmaism @dragonballwritingandnonsense @gokus-wife-and-lover @judasbeast @vegeebs @bonkers-4-hatter @cxddlyash @scenariosofcapsulecorp @cahira-the-golden-ejderhalar

#goku #son goku #kakarot #goku x reader #goku imagine #goku one shot #goku fanfic #goku fanfiction #dragon ball #dragon ball z #dragon ball super #my writing

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femslashy · 6 years ago

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2018 fic year in review

thank you so much for tagging me @homosociallyyours !! this was really fun (and also a bit hard haha) to do ^__^

1. number of stories (including drabbles) posted to ao3: 19 (6 100 word seasonal drabbles, and out of the rest 4 are under 1k and 2 are chaptered but one of those is still a WIP)

2. word count posted for the year: 142,383 which is def more than i’ve written in previous years but my initial goal for this year was 200k and then i lowered it to 150k and then decided i should focus less on word count and more on actually finishing the fics lmaooo

3. list of works posted this year in order of posting:

the tesco fic (although i didn’t make the tumblr post until recently)

three spring drabbles (100 words each)

begin again [timestamp] (my only snowbaz fic in 2018)

we’re swimming with the sharks until we drown

SPHERICAL

got me an appetite, now i can taste it

Take a Chance on Me

Getting Naked on Camera (NOT CLICKBAIT)

my favourite colour is you

louis tomlinson’s completely 100% foolproof guide to snagging the fit bloke next door (3 100 word drabbles)

no better place than right by your side

days gone by (WIP)

love the cronch

zero to sixty

where the love light gleams

4. fandoms i wrote for: mostly one direction and by that i mean i posted a timestamp for a carry on fic from 2017 and the rest was one direction lol

5. pairings: harry/louis, simon/baz (ONCE)

6. story with the most hits: Take a Chance on Me with 10975 hits :o

7. story with the most kudos: Take a Chance on Me with 426 kudos

8. story with the most comments: Take a Chance on Me with 52 comments threads

9. work i’m most proud of and why: well Take a Chance on Me was both my first time doing a big bang as well as the longest thing i’ve ever written (twice the length of the previous longest!) and i’m still completely in love with the art for it courtesy of @vulpixlou and i def don’t go back to stare at it ever nope 👀👀

10. work i’m least proud of and why: i mean i could nitpick the hell out of my stuff and i know there are certain bits i would write differently now but at the same time i created something with my brain that didn’t exist before and that’s just too cool not to be proud of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

11. a favorite excerpt of your writing:

this is from Take a Chance on Me (shocker) and i was having trouble thinking of my fave but then i was skimming through all of my fics and ngl i had forgotten about this bit but y’all i’ve been trying to work a Dramatic Airport Reunion into a fic FOR FUCKING EVER and i finally did it and i actually don’t hate it? (spoiler for the ending of Take a Chance on Me)

“See…” Louis starts. “See, there’s this guy. And, oh god, he’s an absolute twat. Wanna know what he did to me?” Harry nods faintly, and Louis, emboldened now, goes on. “So, I already knew who he was, right? I knew him, because he’d been in this god-awful boy band for years, and even if me bloody sisters hadn’t been so bloody in love with him, I’d still have known him, because he was just that famous.”

“I wasn’t that famous.”

“Don’t interrupt,” Louis chastises, and Harry mimics zipping his lips. “So this guy, I knew him, but he didn’t know me, but, fucking hell, I think someone forgot to tell him that, because there I was, minding my own business, when this kid just…” Louis giggles then, because the memory is just so ridiculous, “he just starts fucking singing to me, can you believe it?”

Harry shakes his head. “What a weirdo.”

“Right? The weirdest.”

“What happened next?”

“I fell in love with him.”

“What? That soon?”

“Of course not, Jesus, Harold. I’m not that pathetic. I waited the appropriate amount of time to fall in love, thank you very much.”

“Is that why you’re here, then?” Harry whispers. “Is it because you love him?”

“That’s part of it, yeah. I love him, and I love the way we just fit, and I adore his daughter, and our pets are friends now, and I think our sisters are best friends now, so they didn’t actually give me a choice, but do you want to know the biggest, most important reason?”

Harry nods quickly, so hard his chin bumps his chest, and Louis’ so fucking in love with him at that moment that these are the easiest words he’s ever said.

“I’m here,” he tells Harry, “because I was lying in my own bed, in my own house, surrounded by all my things, and all I wanted to do was go home.”

He’s yanked forward then, Harry’s fingers digging into his shoulders, and he barely feels the pain because it’s Harry, and everything’s good when it’s Harry. He’s babbling into Louis’ neck, and the only words he can make out are his name and “love you” and he shivers with the feeling.

Harry’s hair has grown out enough since the night Louis snuck in to see him that he can tangle his fingers in the strands. So he does, pulling Harry’s face away from his neck and pressing their lips together. Every kiss feels like an apology. Every kiss feels like home.

12. share or describe a favorite review you recieved: so this miiiiight be cheating but i received two comments on a fic i wrote in 2015 and it was kind of a surprise that something that old still held up and people still enjoy it? def made me feel better about my current writing and also anyone who quotes my fics back to me has earned my undying love and affection

13. a time when writing was really, really hard: i have adhd so p much always ahahaha

14. a scene or character you wrote that most surprised you: the entirety of “we’re swimming with the sharks until we drown” ngl because i struggled with the like… morally gray criminal-y elements? and portraying the two of them in such a different way while still staying in character which i like to think i nailed? hopefully lol

15. how did you grow as a writer this year? i don’t feel like a i have? but i’m also bias and hypercritical so maybe i did and just didn’t realize ahaha

16. how do you hope to grow next (this?) year: i want to enjoy writing again and i want to finish more fics and not let them rot in my docs because of self-doubt

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer: okay so first @amandaisnotwriting is the real MVP as she bears the brunt of my whining/complaining/drama queen moments as well as the fact that she listens (some would argue is forced to :p) and reads over fic for a pairing she doesn’t ship for a fandom she doesn’t care about 😂😂😂

@rainbowbaz always makes time to look over my fics even when she’s crazy busy and is honestly amazing and saves my fics from americanisms ahahaha

and FINALLY we met p late in the year but but @livingatthelairport ‘s comment on “the tesco fic” helped me out of a writing slump and now she’s become my cheerleader (and friend 💜) and that’s make a huge difference in my attitude towards writing! it’s also easier to write a fic for a specific person than worry about the opinion of a crowd which is def something i’ve been missing in this fandom rip

also to everyone else who has read my fics, listened to me rant about them or just helped the process along in any way at all this is a GIANT thank you!!

18. anything from your real life show up in your writing this year? i mean i can’t think of anything off the top of my head but a lot of my inspo comes from the world around me so probably lol

19. any wisdom you can share with other writers: there’s nothing wrong with feeling jealous of other writers because i’m not a fan of hiding feelings just because they’re ugly as long as you don’t let it fester and turn into resentment or make you bitter. there are a lot of factors that go into a fic becoming “big” in a fandom but honestly most of it is just random chance so don’t beat yourself up because someone else’s success is not your failure and it’s nice to get recognition for your hard work but if you’re writing solely for the feedback then you’re writing for the wrong reason and that will lead to the resentment and bitterness mentioned earlier

also if you compliment someone you say you like their outfit but if you complement someone then you complete them

20. any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I’M GLAD YOU ASKED

these are all the things i didn’t start and/or finish in 2018 that WILL be completed this year

the cat fic

the doctor fic

the final three chapters of days gone by

penpal AU

Space. Florist.

teenage fanboys who are also best friends

baking blog fic

a short follow up to tacom

twitter drama fic

80’s/’high school’/secret admirer!AU

something based on yawning grave by lord huron

part three of the alien harry series

chocolate orange holiday fic

LA fic (wtwm)

70’s fic

monkey fic

i’m also planning to do the @larryabroad challenge again because i had so much fun with it last time :D

21. tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read:

p sure everyone has done this but if you haven’t then do it now! and also tagging @cosyblack k bc you’ve had a really good year even if i have beta bias 😂

this took waaay longer than i thought it would omg but it was nice to take a look back!!

#me a writer writing all of this: i’m not good with words

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margaretbeagle · 4 years ago

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Selling on Social 101: How Blume Markets and Sells to a Gen Z Audience

As the buying power of Gen Z grows, marketers at businesses of all sizes are searching for novel ways to connect with this audience and build lasting customer relationships.

It'll come as no surprise that social media platforms are of the best ways to connect with this generation — which includes today's teenagers and those in their early 20's. But marketing to Gen Zers means much more than simply posting pretty pictures and memes.

So what does it take to stand out and connect with this valuable audience in 2021?

One brand that has mastered the art of marketing to Gen Z is Blume, a fast-growing skin, body, and period care brand on a mission to break boundaries and smash taboos.

In this interview, you'll hear directly from Janice Cheng, Brand and Community Manager at Blume, and you'll learn:

How to build a brand that connects with Gen Z

How to market and sell on social media

The key to understanding Gen Z's preferences on social media

Successful strategies to use when marketing to Gen Z

This post is part of the #BufferBrandSpotlight, a Buffer Social Media series that shines a spotlight on the people that are helping build remarkable brands through social media, community building, content creation, and brand storytelling.

This series was born on Instagram stories, which means you can watch the original interview in our Highlights found on our @buffer Instagram profile.

Tell us more about you! What's Blume all about and what's your role there?

My name is Janice and I’m based in Vancouver! I’m the Brand Manager at Blume—a fast-growing skin, body, and period care brand on a mission to break boundaries and smash taboos. I joined the team back in June 2019 as the 3rd hire and EA to our founders Taran & Bunny. Now, I’ve been in this Brand role for almost 9 months.

Why do you think your Gen Z audience connects with your brand?

Gen Zers are conscious (smart) consumers and the most connected generation ever. Growing up with social media, they want transparency, community, and look for brands that align with their values. I think Blume checks off all those boxes in a really genuine way! Since day one, we’ve been more than just our products. Blume is breaking stigma by having conversations about extremely normal, yet still taboo topics, like acne, puberty, periods, and sex ed. As I’m sure most of us know, these are “issues” that carry well into adulthood, so a lot of our audience are millennials as well.

Gen Zers are conscious (smart) consumers and the most connected generation ever. Growing up with social media, they want transparency, community, and look for brands that align with their values.

We’re also a brand that cares. We launched the thestatesofsexed.com, Future World Shapers Award (created for Gen Z change-makers), and generally produce engaging and shareable content. More importantly, we prioritize using our platform to amplify the voices of our community and speak up on issues important to us; this includes climate change, the Black Lives Matter movement, and even our pandemic response. Our audience teaches us a lot, and more than anything, they’re our friends! This is all translated through our brand voice cohesively across all channels.

Tell us about a recent social media campaign. What made it so successful?

We’re only about 2.5 years old but one of my fave moments was our in-house Blume Celebrates Skin campaign (a campaign focused on being confident in our own skin is undefined and unrestricted by our physical appearances or the bumps and blemishes on our skin). We were only about five people then (half of our team now) and it was so much fun because it came from our hearts. Quickly and organically, it grabbed the attention of Allure and Daily Mail UK. Sometimes metrics are tricky with these kinds of campaigns. Say someone comes across this campaign and finds new strength and bravery in their natural skin. Although can’t quantify feelings, the reviews and customer testimonials are invaluable to our team.

Instagram post found here.

BUT! Meltdown (our best-selling acne treatment) continues to be our top community favorite and campaigns like Celebrate Skin reinforce that. Ultimately, our social media goal is to increase engagement, and this campaign accomplished that for us. We’re about to have some of our biggest campaigns this new year! So stay tuned.

Where do you find inspiration for Blume’s social media content?

Recently, a lot on TikTok (obviously), community pages like Girlboss, and also meme pages. We have an #inspo Slack channel where we share things we see on our feeds and Explore pages and what’s circulating in our own friend's groups! Pro tip: start an #inspo channel whether just for yourself or with your team.

How does Blume leverage user-generated content to connect with its Gen Z audience?

Community is core to all we do. Beyond our products, for us, it’s about adding value to Gen Z, and user-generated content (UGC) is a huge part of that. Using UGC is more impactful than using traditional models or lifestyle images because UGC is by actual people in our community—reflecting a range of real skin. It's the best way to relate to this audience!

Using UGC is more impactful than using traditional models or lifestyle images because UGC is by actual people in our community—reflecting a range of real skin.

Also, Gen Zers are so creative because producing content is second nature to them so partnerships together are so fun. I love looking through our tagged posts every week and seeing people embrace their shelfies and natural skin. We give them full creative freedom! So rather than believing what we have to say about our products, you should believe our community through UGC, their captions, reviews, and experiences.

Instagram post found here.

How does Blume embed UGC, customer testimonials, and reviews across all its marketing channels?

We have an incredible tiny team of two that keeps the rest of the team, especially marketing, up to date with all inquiries, trends, and themes of the week. For example, our Meltdown before & after shave has always been highly effective for us because a photo equals a thousand words.

In skincare, especially clean beauty care, it's really important for us to spotlight the effectiveness of the product and how our products actually work. We’ll use before/after photos and other UGC in ads, Instagram story features, and email newsletters. With permission, of course.

On a regular week, we try to post UGC and/or testimonials about 3-4x on our social media channels.

In skincare, especially clean beauty care, it's really important for us to spotlight the effectiveness of the product and how our products actually work.

What are Blume’s most successful social platforms for selling and why?

Definitely Instagram—still cracking the code for TikTok. Ultimately, Gen Zers are the trendsetters and determine what’s next. Something can come and go overnight so we have to be quick to pivot, adapt and execute. We can plan all we want but our best performing posts often tend to be non-product focused ones. If we had a Meltdown post planned on a day where the world actually needs more empathy and love, we’ll swap it for a journal prompt post or check-in.

What advice do you have for brands that want to start selling on social media?

Make a list of brands that you love and dig deep into the “why.” For Blume, the core criterion for selling on social is based on value; we focus our marketing on educational content about our products and brand, community building through UGC campaigns and partnerships, and aesthetic shareable graphics.

Also, GET. ON. TIKTOK. Whether to start your brand page or just to get in touch with Gen Z culture, it’s worthwhile I promise you. Here are three easy things you can start right away: write copy like a human (not a robot), have fun with emojis, and start following people to bring eyes to your page!

Fllow Blume on TikTok here.

For Blume, the core criterion for selling on social is based on value; we focus our marketing on educational content about our products and brand, community building through UGC campaigns and partnerships, and aesthetic shareable graphics.

How do you stay up to date on Gen Z trends?

Personally, I follow Gen Z brands that I admire, read lots of Glossy and Beauty Independent, and ask our awesome Influencer, Lead Eman, for the 411 on what’s cool and what’s not. I also used to scroll TikTok for 4 hours a day (lol) for simultaneous entertainment and market research.

What's your favorite Blume product and why?

I’d like to say Meltdown because that’s everyone's #1 and I’ve had a lot of stress acne through 2020, BUT my runner-up is definitely Hug Me, our natural deodorant. Random fact: the probiotics, our secret ingredient, has adapted to my body so well I hardly need deodorant anymore. It’s also unscented so I recommend it to EVERYONE. I might be biased but these two are also my faves because their names are so fun to play with when copywriting. 👋

Thanks for Bluming with us, Buffer friends! ❤️

We hope this interview with Janice helps you get started with or double down on your social media efforts. You can follow Blume on Instagram here!

Have any questions for Janice? Feel free to reply with your questions to the Twitter post below and Janice or someone from the Buffer team will get to them as soon as possible.

Selling on Social 101: How Blume Markets and Sells to a Gen Z Audience published first on https://improfitninja.weebly.com/

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