#I do not come on tumblr hoping to gain followers or to use people to gain followers

[iguessitsjustme]

I will choose true violence... because I already know the answer, lol.

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

21 .part of canon you think is overhyped (tropes in general)

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

You said you’re choosing true violence and you did.

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

I want to preface this by saying that I don’t like calling people annoying. I find that word is most often used to belittle and bully neurodivergent people and I don’t like it. So I’m not going to say the person is annoying but I will say that *I* was annoyed by this so I blocked them. I even made a post about it because it happened twice and I wanted to just put it out there that I didn’t like it and I’ll start blocking people that do it.

I was tagged and performatively thanked for participating in a fandom even though that person never interacted with my posts ever. I was also getting very tired of being tagged by people who never talked to me and only seemed to tag me in a weird way that felt like clout chasing (on tumblr of all places and using me of all people). It felt like people forgot that I am a person behind the url and that they can talk to me about what I’m personally comfortable with before just deciding for me. I could really go into this a whole lot more but I’ll spare y’all the long essay. This is long enough already and I still have two questions to go.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped (tropes in general)

Sing your love. I hate it. This might be surprising to people who know how much I like music but I despise this trope. I always get secondhand embarrassment from it and I feel awkward. The amount of fast forwarding I do when someone whips out a guitar. Very, very, very few actors can pull off this trope and make it enjoyable and yet it keeps appearing in shows. I hate it here.

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

KinnPorsche. I’ll say nothing else about this.

Choose Violence Ask Game

[addledmongoose]

Best of 2023 Good Omens Fanfiction

This is my list of the 20 best Good Omens fanfiction works I've read in 2023.

A few notes:

These are all complete works; there are no WIPs in the list.

Please feel free to let me know if a link stops working

It's not an ordered list. That would be far too difficult.

You'll probably recognize some of the most popular ones. They're popular for a reason, after all, but I hope you find something you haven't yet read.

The majority are full-length works, but there are definitely some shorter pieces.

These are certainly not the only good works I've read, but they are the ones I'm most likely to read more than once

Click the Keep Reading to see the list

If you're the author of one of these, first off, thank you! But second, if you want me to add your tumblr name to your story, let me know, and I'll edit.

This first section, all the stories are canon-compliant or canon-adjacent. In other words, it's at least somewhat set in the Good Omens universe.

a lighthouse (burning) (108K; Rated M)

This one is canon-adjacent and set in the 19th century. Aziraphale goes to a lighthouse to figure out where all the lighthouse keepers disappeared to, and Crowley follows along. This one is a bit of a spooky mystery along with the romance, and the writing style is simply beautiful. You really get a sense of being trapped in this lighthouse in the middle of nowhere.

***

The Grindr Logo Doesn't Even Have a 'G' In It (79K; Rated E)

It's honestly hard to remember that this one isn't human AU, but they're still just as angelic/demonic as ever. Aziraphale joins Grindr and starts texting (and then sexting) with a charming young man. It's no secret to the reader who this new hookup is. This story is genuinely funny at times. I like the funny ones.

***

The Whole Damned World Seemed Upside Down (103K; Rated M)

This is one of the best reverse omens stories I've read that isn't technically a reverse omens. Crowley wishes things were different after leaving the bookshop, and the universe gives him his wish. He finds himself in a world where Aziraphale hates him, Death has trouble taking lives, and basically everything you knew about the world of Good Omens is upside down. It's very funny. It uses inline footnotes (which is good, because it has a LOT of footnotes), and Death is hilarious.

***

it's a new craze (5K; Rated T)

Another one that seems like it should be human AU but isn't. Crowley and Aziraphale start up a podcast after the Notpocalypse and gain a loyal fanbase who can't figure out if they're a couple or not. They often forget who their audience is and often reference events in their shared history that make no sense to the humans listening.

***

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a demon in possession of a mobile phone, must be in want of attention (6K; Rated G)

And yes, that is the entire title. Another funny short story where a couple of podcast hosts receive a call from a certain angel whose demon trapped himself in his phone and won't leave.

***

In Mixed Company, or the Corporate Retreat of Heaven and Hell (52K; Rated M)

I've read this one at least three times, and it's probably my favorite of all. Every 300 years, Heaven and Hell share a company retreat on Earth during which angels and demons surrender their celestial powers and hold retreats. It has a great new angel friend of Aziraphale's; Hellish Powerpoint presentations; Gabriel being annoyingly chipper; and Aziraphale and Crowley sneaking around like teenagers trying to find some alone time.

***

How To Woo A Demon (24K; Rated T)

Aziraphale researches demonic courtship rituals and starts implementing them in order to convince Crowley he wants to take their relationship to the next level. Crowley is very confused by Aziraphale's actions. Another cute, funny one.

***

Factory Settings (107K; Rated T)

This one is famous for coming out practically as S2 dropped, making people think whoever wrote it (the author is anonymous) had something to do with the production of the show.

This is the only one I'm going to say anything negative about. There are a lot of spelling errors and typos in it. It needs a hard editing pass. Despite that complaint, I devoured this story as fast as I could scroll. It's that good, and even knowing all the errors are there, I'll probably still re-read it. I'm usually pretty picky about errors like that, so for me to overlook it and even recommend it, means I really liked it.

Crowley gets reinstated as the angel, Raphael, with no memory of his time as Crowley, and Aziraphale struggles to return him to his demonic self. It's heart-breaking and wonderful and I absolutely loved it.

***

One Night In Bangor (And the World's Your Oyster) (17K: Rated E)

Much like In Mixed Company, Heaven and Hell come together for a corporate retreat on Earth. In this one, some totally random demon who's name definitely doesn't rhyme with Bowley created a wager in Hell to see which demon could bed an angel first.

Another funny one. This time, a lot of the humor comes from the demons doing their best to pick up the angels with really bad pickup lines.

***

We Only Said Goodbye with Words, I Died A Hundred Times (9K; Rated E)

If I could learn to write even half as good as this, I'd be ecstatic. The emotions the author packs into this story are mind-blowing.

Crowley receives a cursed amulet that creates an ever-increasing need for the person he wants the most and goes to see Aziraphale.

***

To reveal my heart in ink (29K; Rated E)

Aziraphale starts writing letters to Crowley by mail. The letters they exchange slowly get more and more explicit.

***

Pray For Us, Icarus (66K; Rated G/T)

The author wrote this one as a series, so each one varies in chapter count and rating, but they tell a single, contiguous story.

This was the first long-form GO fanfiction I read, and it was way too close to the ending of S2. I really should've waited a while, because holy cow, is this one heartbreaking.

For three hundred years, Crowley has been reincarnated over and over as a human with no memory of his past. Aziraphale has spent those three hundred years trying to restore him to his true self.

The author, Atalan, is probably one of the best writers on the site. This story is stunning in the quality of its writing, in the pacing of the story, and in the emotions evoked. I normally don't like being sad (like I said, I like the funny ones), but I've saved this story off to make sure I always have it.

***

Pretend For Me (53K; Rated E)

In a panic, Aziraphale tells the archangels that he survived hellfire due to his soul mixing with Crowley's because they're in a romantic and sexual relationship, but now they want them to prove it.

I'm a sucker for fake relationship stories, and there aren't a whole lot of them where the characters are still angel/demon, but this one is. It's another fun one, though a bit more angsty than some of those I listed above.

***

The following are all human AU. Good chance you'll recognize all or most of these.

Married At First Sight (147K; Rated T)

One of the most recently completed stories in the list, this is a fake relationship story where Aziraphale and Crowley join a reality show that marries complete strangers off to each other. Their new marriage starts off on a less than idyllic foot and they decide to fake it for the show. The author is a master of making you want to scream "for fuck's sake, just talk to each other, you walnuts!"

Probably one of my favorite fake relationship stories.

***

Postcards From Paris (12K; Rated G)

The author, ghostrat (@mrghostrat), is a fantastic writer of human AU, and it's worth going through his entire backlist (and read his current WIPs, too).

Crowley moves into his Mayfair flat and starts receiving postcards addressed to the previous tenant from one A.Z.F., who is in Europe hunting for bizarre bibles and rating wine. Sweet and fluffy and the perfect antidote if you've just been on an angst binge.

***

Or Be Nice (151K; Rated E)

I stayed up until 6:30 in the morning reading this one, crashed for three hours, then read until I finished it. Then that night, I started it again.

This is, without hesitation, my all-time favorite human AU. It's funny. I love the author's version of the characters, and I will probably end up reading it again in just a few months. I probably already would have if it wasn't for the length of my Mark For Later and Subscription lists.

Crowley and Aziraphale are neighbors who get into a noise war. They both have their reasons for their actions, though to be honest, Crowley is a bit of an ass at first. Once they really start talking, though, they are absolutely wonderful together.

Even if you've never read a human AU, I recommend at least giving this one a try.

***

What We Make Of It (Shotgun Wedding) (213K; Rated E)

This is the third charlottemadison work on this list. 15% of this list is just this one author. That's how good they are.

Aziraphale works as an English teacher. Crowley is the guardian for his nephew, Adam, and works for a school testing company. Crowley can't risk his job dating his nephew's gorgeous and charming teacher. Unless...

Crowley comes up with a crazy plan. Now he just has to convince Aziraphale to go along with it.

Again, another very popular human AU. One thing I love about this story is how there's a lot less angst between the two characters, and how they both really care for Adam.

***

Slow Show (95K; Rated E)

The very first human AU I read. Didn't even think I'd like that specific genre until I read it. Now, as you can see, it's about half of my reading list.

This is an actor AU. Aziraphale (named Avery here) and Crowley are actors working together on a new show. Avery is an award-winning, straight-laced, well-respected actor; Crowley is a mess who immediately falls head-over-heels for him and somehow has to get through the show without letting his (apparently straight) costar realize that.

***

South Downs (76K; Rated E)

Another actor AU. This time, Aziraphale is an openly-gay actor, well-respected for his period drama work. Crowley is a once-blackballed actor who jumps at the chance to star in a gay Regency romance with Aziraphale in the hopes it can restart his career. The trouble is, Crowley is struggling to play the romantic lead opposite a man.

I love the growing friendship between these two as much as the romance. I love how comfortable and confident Aziraphale is here; and how caring he is toward Crowley's growing awareness of his sexuality.

***

This one doesn't really fit either category, so I'm putting it here.

The Rose and the Serpent (56K; Rated M)

By the same author as Pray For Us, Icarus comes a GO retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Aziraphale is sent off by his older brother, Gabriel, into the forest to be held hostage by a giant snake in a cursed castle. Turns out, neither the snake nor the castle are what he was expecting.

Light-hearted and with very memorable characters, the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale is simply stunning. I love how Newt and Anathema are used here. The quality of this one is as good as Icarus, and I loved this one so much I could easily have read 300K more words.

***

And bonus: mine!

The Beginning of the End (Again) (79K; Rated M)

The first fanfiction I've ever written and the first book I've written in a decade. I had the first two chapters in mind after finishing S2, and the story grew from there. I actually have a sequel in mind after I finish another, separate fake relationship story.

Crowley spends months drowning his sorrows after Aziraphale accepts the Supreme Archangel position, until a group of demons shows up one day and tells him the Second Coming is nearly upon them, and they want him to stop it. Turns out being a demon isn't much fun if there are no humans left to tempt.

Aziraphale has spent these last months in Heaven looking for ways to stop the Second Coming while mourning the way he and Crowley left things. After discovering that Hell's minions have been tasked by the Metatron to escort the son of God on a tour of Earth in preparation for his Second Coming, he hurries down to see what's going on, fearing the worst.

Instead he discovers Crowley escorting the Messiah around Earth. Is his demon taking the son of God on dates?

[thebibliosphere]

I saw your post about ingram, and out of curiosity, is there some advantage to going through the whole self-publishing thing with retailers when you're just starting out? like I mean the way that fandom zines work is that they don't even bother going through ingram or amazon or whatever. they just set up a social media site (usually twitter) to gain followers, open preorders (usually 1-2 months in length) to generate the costs of printing upfront, and then sell anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred copies of their books (usually artbooks, but anthologies exist too). I've seen some zines generate over a thousand orders. they're kind of like pop-up shops, except for books. maybe the sales numbers aren't so impressive to a real author, but the profit generated is typically waaaay more than the $75+ apparently needed for Ingram Spark, so I still feel like new authors could benefit from this method too, especially if they just need some start-up cash to eventually move to ingram if they want to for subsequent runs of their book. I think authors would also have to set aside some of the pre-order money to buy an ISBN number to have printed on their book, and I'm not really sure what other differences there are, but I just wanted to ask about it in case there's some huge disadvantage I'm missing!

So, popup zines work well for some people, and I know some authors who kickstart their work successfully. But for a lot, it's just not feasible as a long-term stratedy. Or even as a means to get off the ground.

Fanzines succeed primarily because an existing fanbase is willing and ready to throw money at something they love. They’ve got a favorite writer or artist they want to support. Supporting all the others is just a happy by-product. They also take a HUGE amount of short-term but intense planning that just doesn’t always jive with how some of us work.

I, for one, would never offer to organize a fanzine. I’ll take part in them as a creator, but I’d rather throw myself off a cliff than subject myself to wrangling that many people and dealing with the legal logistics.

When it comes to authors doing anthologies, it'svery much the same. The success of the funding often hinges on having other big-name authors involved whose existing fans will prop up the project. Or having a huge marketing budget.

Most self-pub authors have zero marketing budget. I’m one of them, and I’m under no illusions that my work would not be as popular and self-sustaining as it is if I didn’t have a large Tumblr blog.

When I thank Tumblr in my forewards, I am utterly sincere. Tumblr brought fandom levels of enthusiasm to an unknown work and broke the Amazon algorithm so hard, that Amazon thought I was bot sniping my way to multiple #1 spots and froze my sales rankings.

That’s not the norm. And while I could probably kickstart my own work as an indie creator, that’s because I’ve put literal decades into building up a readership. I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and realized people thought I was funny. I didn’t know what to do with it or if I’d ever actually write anything, but it meant the groundwork was already there (thank you, past-me). I basically fell upward into my success by virtue of never being able to shut the fuck up and wanting to make people laugh. Clown instincts too strong.

New or first-time authors trying to sell their work without that will find it infinitely harder.

All of that aside, even if an unknown author somehow gets lucky and manages to fund their work, there’s still the question of shipping and distribution logistics. Are you shipping everything yourself? Better hope you’re able-bodied and have the time for it. (for reference, it took me months to ship out 300 patreon hardbacks because of my disabilites. It damaged my back and hands. I couldn’t type for several weeks after I was done.)

Are you going to sell primarily at conventions? Better hope you’re able-bodied, have the time and don’t have cripling anxiety about being in large groups...

Also, will selling a dozen to a few thousand copies in one burst be sustainable in the long run as a career? Not for me. Doing things via Ingram and Amazon means I earn a steady trickle of sales for the rest of my life provided the platforms remain and so long as I keep working and can generate interest in the series, not just when I have funds to pay for physical copies to sell. The one-time (in theory) cost of $75 to distribute through Ingram gets paid off pretty quick that way. And it doesn't require the same logistics as doing the popup/crowdfund.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you are capable of but also the type of work you’re doing. If you’ve got an extended network of fellow creatives who will back you or you’ve got a large following elsewhere, doing it like a popup might work for you.

If you’re an exhausted burnout who can’t fathom the short but intense amount of organization that sort of thing requires, not to mention doing it over and over and over... Ehhhhh. No thank you.

[ratboyy-withtheexistentialdread]

Nevermore Chapter 97

Spoilers ahead, lads. Skedaddle if you don't fast pass. EDIT I guess I’ve said too much in this post and need to pull it back a little. So imma gonna edit it so it doesn’t say too much about this chapter.

Alright, first my reaction cause HOLY HELL those last few panels really got me like

I really had to put my phone down and talk myself through them. Now, lets talk about what I gained from this chapter and the infamous Annabel Lee. I've noticed, at least in the comment section, the fandom really doesn't care for Annabel's character and its difficult to know where the animosity has come from. Tumblr obviously loves her but us heathens support women's rights and wrongs (Don't we gents?) Many call her a sociopath or what’s happens in the last few panels. Annabel is indeed ruthless, calculating and stone cold but she obviously cares. She cares for Lenore above everything. It can be easy to see this as obsession as we really haven't seen her care about much else or even herself. But one comment on the Webtoon brought up a very valid point which I've also picked up on.

Annabel and Lenore in life were very isolated and broken people when they met one another. Annabel, broken and then rebuilt into a prim and proper lady. Lenore, broken physically and mentally and closed off from the world.

Meeting each other saved them. They were no longer alone. There was an understanding between them at least that we know of.

Their differences though is what divides them in death.

Annabel played games, and masked her true self around her father and family connections. She now makes games of situations to retain what little control she had in life over a society she knew she could never break the rules of. A Game that was always rigged against her.

Lenore rebelled against society. She fled the estate to escape a suitor, was bound to the attic and ostracized by her family, she then faked her death and posed as man to court Annabel, the one person who cared for her.

Lenore wants to break the rules of the deans Death Game. Annabel wants to follow them.

It’s all they’ve ever known.

Before it was only them that mattered. Now Lenore has so much more to fight for and Annabel still only has Lenore. Both are right in their own way of playing the game but it pains the other to witness.

Annabel, I’m sure is aware that the Deans are not all they seem to be and won’t simply allow the students to turn the tables on them if they played how Lenore wants to.

And playing Annabel’s way means the callous death of many many people that do deserve another chance at life.

Now. I do have to agree with Annabel in the sense that Lenore forgets

This is a Death Game

Right now the “villainous” characters show their true face with pride and the “hero’s” are charming and true but as we get down to the wire, it’s going to get grey. There are no good or bad at the end of these games, only survival.

Could Annabel show some restraint and more tact when speaking strategy and making plans with Lenore? Absolutely. She’s little too giddy about sweeping some pieces off the board.

Lenore also needs to stop being so naive. She saw first hand what exactly the Deans are capable of in Dreamland, it put the fear of god in her.

In fairness to both characters though they and we are still missing big pieces of what happened between them and what their causes of death were. Which could hold big aspects of their characterization.

Maybe Lenore was originally very callous about others. In life, aside from Theo and Annabel, we’ve never really seen her interact with others. Perhaps this is the Lenore Annabel speaks of.

Anyway, I’m rambling. In conclusion, I’m a bit disappointed in Nevermores comment section. I enjoy Annabel’s character although some parts do worry me a bit but I have hope Red and Flynn have plans to curve this to a satisfying reason and conclusion.

That cliffhanger, boy howdy, what the fuck is Lenore gonna do…

[shego1142]

Okay so… I don’t really want to make this post, mostly because I feel like I’m always the one wearing tin foil hats on tumblr

But listen… I understand being upset and sad and afraid right now

But yall some of these posts are going beyond doomerism

Some of these posts

A lot of these posts, actually

Look quite a bit like demoralisation

So many of these posts I’ve seen look very much like purposeful targeted demoralisation

And I do hope everyone can understand very quickly how bad demoralising people right now is.

I do hope everyone can very quickly understand just how much people in power stand to gain from demoralising us.

I mean, you know, not that I’m saying that there’s a psyop taking place on the website that has routinely had multiple proven right wing/conservative/white supremacist psyops take place or anything

You know, that would be bonkers.

But all of these blogs out here saying that everything is hopeless and nothing will ever get better and we are all doomed and we should just tear each other apart and play the blame game?

That’s a little fishy.

Especially given that now more than ever is a time to stand with one another and hold on to hope and start organising together.

All of these blogs just blind faith accepting the election results as they are and not even considering any bad acting is at play? Just rolling over without any hint of a fight and implying that everyone else has to as well?

That’s a little fishy.

Especially given that:

The election results are not certified until December 25th and the House and Senate do have the power to object to the electoral college votes (especially if enough pressure is put on them to do so)

Especially given that it took a long time before we were sure who won in the last presidential race and it looked like Trump had won that first week back then too

Especially given that Kamala Harris’ Concession speech is not legally binding, and if it is found out between now and December 25th that she has won, then that will still be considered a legal win.

Especially given that many states, including battleground states, are already doing a recount and many more states are presumed to follow (So far Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada are recounting the ballots and Arizona and Texas are considering)

Especially given that there has already been proven minimal forms of tampering with the election process including multiple burnt absentee ballot boxes, bomb threats at polling places, as well as just plain human error whether malicious or benign.

So… you know… anyone posting on here saying that hope is dead and that we should all hate each other and everyone should just fuck off and stop caring about everything and stop supporting each other?

That seems a little bit fishy, doesn’t it?

That seems a little bit fucking sus, doesn’t it?!

Especially given that, even after all is said and done, even if he 100% did win and there’s no doubt that it’s legitimate

He’s still being sued for multiple charges and violations of conduct, he could still end up in jail

Especially since even if he doesn’t, even if he is sitting as acting president one January:

We have 2 and 1/2 months to mobilise

2 and 1/2 months to organise

Sure would be convenient for Trump and the 1% and the right wing pundits to make everyone feel like everything is hopeless and tragic and to pit leftist against democrats and what not

Sure would be useful to them if we were all just sad and hateful to each other these next coming months

Like I’ve seen many posts tying to do.

You can feel your feelings but if you start advocating for us to attack one another, for women to fight and hate leftist men who voted for Kamala, for black people to fight and hate other people of color, for leftists to hate democrats for not “going far enough” and for democrats to hate leftists for “going too far”

And all this bullshit in-fighting

I’m just going to assume you’re a bad actor and block you

This isn’t the time for the blame game, there’s no fucking one to blame other than Trump and most likely Elon Musk’s money.

Now isn’t the time to give a shit about why the election results are what they are.

Now is a time to stand together, united, to make our communities better, safer, sanctuaries.

Now is the time to talk to one another, to not strive for perfection but for safety.

Call your representatives

Get your passport

Print out as many copies of books (especially banned ones) as possible and fill your local little libraries with them, fill it with zines about community building too,

Check out these links:

Talk to the queers and the people of colour and the disabled people in your community

Book a meeting room in your local library

Talk to your librarians, talk to your teachers and health care workers

Talk to your local conservationists.

Don’t just talk to leftist spaces either, remember:

There is Power in Making Friends, Not Winning Battles - reach out to your community and find out what the real issues are, it’s very rarely actually just hate, it’s usually fear and poverty.

Do nice things for your community in the name of Queerness - in some places you can adopt a road and make it beautiful, so this with a group of queer friends and get a plaque that says “This Road Was Adopted by The Queer Community”

Get together with your minority friends and figure out how to open a soup kitchen (easiest than you think and registering as a non profit is actually a great way to stay safe for many reasons)

Have your community see you as a part of it, not a threat to it.

Speak at schools

Fundraiser for the library

If you’re included to do so, you could partner with different religious groups as well, especially since there are in fact religious groups that are inclusive and welcoming and supportive.

Make your community know that the “threat” of the “lgbtqia” is non-existent

Don’t make yourself less queer, less a person of colour, less disabled, etc, don’t fade into the background

Become a shining beacon of positivity and goodness that everyone in your community can see as an asset to the community.

Give back more than you e ever gotten.

I know how difficult that can be but trust me, it will be worth it. Work with the leaders in your community to lobby for more rights just in your town and then you can lobby for more rights in your state.

Just like how many states have now said that if Trump tries to do mass deportations they will stop him, work to create that solidarity within your own communities.

Do not sit quietly in fear doing and saying nothing but hopeless things for the next two months.

Do not let anyone convince you that it’s over.

Do not become another statistic.

[midnightbears]

✿ tell 'em how the crowds went wild! tell 'em how i hope they shine!

⎯ in which you look back on how grateful you are for the opportunity bestowed upon you. aka: you joined the opla's cast!

#STARRING. iñaki godoy, mackenyu, jacob romero, taz skylar, emily rudd ft. fem!reader [elle fanning 4 faceclaim but u can imagine y/n anyway u wish!].

#TAGS. sfw, kind of context, a bit of smau but its tiny. mentions of covid just in case it's triggering?

#NOTE. pardon my rusty writing but i really wanted to get this out!!! i added an oc from one piece for the sake of the story but she's barely mentioned so uuuh yuh! timeline may be wrong but i work with what i'm given please bear with me. let me know if you would like more fics of this y/n??? ALSO IGNORE THE WATERMARKS ON THE PHOTOS I NEEDED TO MAKE THEM NEATER

© midnightbears on tumblr, apr 2024. please do not repost to another platform, plagiarize, translate, use for AI-related purposes or claim as your own.

In the past, if someone were to come up to you and tell you that you’d be a part of the One Piece Live Action main cast in the future, you would’ve probably laughed in their faces despite your wishful thinking.

At that time, you were content with your work, doing short theatre plays with companies or gaining minor roles in musicals. Everything changed when you landed the role for the one-woman show Fleabag for a limited time on London’s West End after the leading actress underwent emergency surgery for an appendectomy. You only acted as the sex-obsessed mess of a woman for about three weeks, but it was enough time for people to notice you, to really see you.

You believed your career had reached its pinnacle when you were cast as Katherine Howard in Six: The Musical in London. Your name had become somehow well-known in the musical theatre world, and you had a small but dedicated fan base who liked uploading edits of you being a dork during the Megasix on YouTube and TikTok. 

Months later, you were bound to play as Fantine for Les Miserables when COVID abruptly struck, and you were dismayed that your job was ripped from you so abruptly. Your best friend, the sweetest person on earth, insisted on you moving in with her in fear that you’d be evicted from your apartment.

Months passed, and you eventually found a small way to help your friend pay rent by offering singing and acting lessons online to musical-aspiring teenagers. Since you had gained many followers from your earlier work on social media, it didn’t surprise you when the classes became sold out.

Your friend also convinced you to create a YouTube channel for you to upload videos of yourself (sometimes joined by her) where you watched and commented shitty movies, followed DIY tutorials just for the fun of it, performed covers of your favorite songs, and just generally vlogged your life (along with reactions to Taylor Swift’s (From The Vault) songs).

At first, you thought it was pretty stupid, but you were delightfully proved wrong when your videos harbored over 200k-300k views on a bad day, so you found no reason to stop as COVID-19 continued, growing to gain a little over five hundred thousand followers. Your reactions were often used for TikTok audios or clips, so you found your popularity growing and evolving during that year.

You believed yourself to be a general, simple woman. People liked you because you were elegant and levelheaded, although you could sometimes be chaotic. You also had a subtle sense of humor that many found charming. But mostly, you grew a steady fan base because your videos and presence comforted countless young adults and teenagers.

You were an optimist and a reassuring one, so during the times when COVID was so prominent, people sought refuge from the monstrosities of the world in your videos, where you seemed to connect with them even though you were on the other side of the screen.

However, everything changed somewhere in 2020-2021. That evening, your best friend got home from work with excitement practically oozing out of her every pore. You and your best friend were avid anime watchers and manga readers, so you couldn’t help the face you made when she told you that One Piece was getting a live-action.

Although you were skeptical, your friend practically insisted you send an audition tape. You grimaced at that. It was well-known that live anime actions were almost always corny and cringeworthy compared to the original work, and people never liked them. You had learned that much from Death Note and a couple of others. However, your best friend convinced you with this argument:

“If it’s that bad, then at least you’ll gain more followers out of the memes that people will make, and if it’s good, you’ll still get famous anyway!”

Eventually, you sent a video of you performing one of the lengthy monologues from Fleabag to your agency and simply hoped for the best. Your friend was practically rooting for you to get the role of Anastasia, one of the first integrants of the Straw Hat crew, joining before Sanji and after Usopp. You adored her as she greatly reminded you of your late mother, although you would be happy with any role.

Somewhere in November 2021, you remember a lot of screaming and crying. When you try to look back on it, all you remember is the happiness you felt when you received confirmation of the role of Anastasia. You were practically over the moon, and you and your friend celebrated inside your small apartment. You were entirely alone, just two drunk girls dancing and cheering, until one of the neighbors knocked on the ceiling with a broom.

liked by inakigo, emilyrudd and 574,949 others

yourusername actually lost for words and filled to the brim with gratitude...... i cannot express how excited i am to play my girl anastasia and bring her to life. from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has supported me. your faith in me means everything. congrats to iñaki, emily, jacob, mackenyu and taz, thank you to onepiecenetflix, thank you to my best friend for convincing me to audition for the role, and thank you, oda sensei, for putting anastasia's heart in my hands. love u all <3

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November 10, 2021

y/nsfanclub.02, AAAAAAAA SO EXCITED FOR THIS I ACTUALLY CANT BELIEVE IT

⤷ starl6ighwnb, LIKE FR IM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE THIS IS INSANE

user8392y3r927y, HELLO YOUR GRACE ANASTASIA

inakigo, Congrats!!!!!!!!

taz_skylar, 🔥🔥🔥

The One Piece fan base dearly loved the character of Anastasia, a well-mannered, bubbly, upbeat, fashion-loving duchess who always spoke in a Transatlantic accent but also had a quick wit and a bit of a sweet tooth. Anastasia’s dream was to become the most dangerous pirate to ever grace the seas and prove everyone who doubted her wrong.

Of course, with a big character came a big responsibility.

Sometimes, insecurity nearly got the better of you. You had to fill huge shoes, and there were many people to convince and impress. However, your love for this project was bigger than the gnawing uncertainty on the back of your neck, so you continued strongly until the end of Season One, finding comfort in your cast mates and the countless people who counted on you and, most importantly, believed in you.

Oda handpicked you, and that argument alone was enough to shoot any insecurities away.

Well, needless to say, people loved you!

Critics acclaimed your portrayal of the character, as well as the commendable chemistry you shared with the rest of the cast. The fans found it incredibly funny that your character was the complete opposite of how you actually acted in real life, and you often found yourself blissfully immersed in the fan base's love and praise.

Your channel and social media suddenly grew tenfold. Although you had stopped uploading videos every week due to the recording of season one, your followers were more than happy to wait for your return, and as one would expect, they were thrilled to have you back once you did upload a vlog explaining everything.

Over the course of the six months, you had been recording from time to time for a YouTube video in the set. Previously, you had asked the producers for permission to record some behind-the-scenes for your channel and your usual interactions with the rest of the cast with your personal Sony camera, as you felt it would be a nice way to bring the fans and the cast closer.

The producers gave the okay on the condition that you would wait until the first season aired on Netflix. You happily agreed and carefully began recording some scenes of your dressers and hairdressers as they prepared you, a few shots of your instructor showing you how you were supposed to use the guns that Anastasia employed... simple things.

Back in the day, you were still getting acquainted with the other cast members, and you didn't want to seem rude by forcibly making them appear on your videos, so you waited for a few weeks until you could properly call yourself companions. Then, you invited them to appear in the videos.

Iñaki, Taz, and Jacob liked to take advantage of the little free time they had between scenes they didn't appear in to innocently steal your camera and use it to their heart's content. One day, you got home only to find the memory card was completely full. It was an extensive video of them walking around the set, with Taz recording while Kiki and Jacob pointed out random stuff to the people who lived inside your camera, as Jacob liked to call them.

Mackenyu, being more reserved and introverted, mostly liked to act as a cameraman for you as you showed the props you used and other things, often making comments or turning the camera around whenever you referred to something.

Meanwhile, Emily had a natural knack for being in front of the camera. Whenever you asked her to join in, she effortlessly slipped into the co-host role, bantering with you and adding her own insights into the behind-the-scenes world of the show.

With the first season out of the way, you took the time to carefully pick what videos you wanted to use in the final tape, and it took you a little over a month and a half to properly edit it and turn it into a wonderful thirty-minute-long behind-the-scenes. You even sent it to the producers and your co-stars in case there was a scene they wanted deleted. Fortunately, they all gave you the okay.

You teased the video a bit on your Instagram before uploading it a few days later, and the support it received was out of this world. It gained over two million views and hundreds of thousands of likes.

You were kind of expecting this. While some BTS had already been uploaded on YouTube, yours was different because you were showing it from your perspective. The fans loved every second of it, and even started asking for a second or third part. You even saw new videos on YouTube of recompilations from your video with the titles being silly things like The One Piece Cast Being Chaotic for Seven Minutes.

At that moment, your life felt so full. You were getting contacted by industries who wanted you to appear on their videos and their stages, thousands of fans who loved you, and a feeling so peculiar that this would be eternal.

liked by taz_skylar, morganlogoff and 1,523,199 others

yourusername missing my wig and my gang hours ☹️

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November 10, 2023

morganlogoff, love love love you💗💗💗

curlikaqy, NO ONE KNOWS I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

emilyrudd, GIRL I WANT TO SEE YOU COME BACK TO AMERICA

bookofjacob, missing your camera hours💔

[croissantlover24]

My (Final) Stance on the SolarMoon Ship

Hello, Internet! I know I start a lot of my posts with that. Because I don’t know who I’m going to meet. When I joined Tumblr, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know who I’d get along with or who I’d avoid. I didn’t know what kind of experience I’d have.

I did not expect to gain so many mutuals, friends, followers, and the like in under a year. Thank you to everyone I met on here either through ask blogs, similar fandoms, or the Sun and Moon Show. I appreciate each and every one of you.

However, on the opposite side of the coin, I didn’t expect to get put on a list of people who “harass” others (which, if you know me, you know is not true). I did not expect to have to block so many people. Call me naive, but I thought I was going to have fun on this platform.

Before I get into the deep and personal things, if you’re one of the “big blogs” and you’re reading this, look away. Scroll past, please. This is not for you. This is for my friends and my mutuals. Maybe even people who don’t know me.

Everyone gone? Let’s start.

I hated the ship at first because it reminded me of where I was as a younger child in school. I used to be shipped with my family all the time. I was deeply disturbed by it and uncomfortable with the notion of kissing someone who I spent the lot of my life with. I was appalled by the idea. When I saw the same thing happening with SolarMoon, I ignored it at first. I supported blogs who disliked it as much as I did. I didn’t harass anyone, nor did anyone I know harass others.

I was satisfied with sharing my opinion publicly and blocking those I did not agree with.

Today, coming home from the hospital, I saw a list with my name on it claiming I support harassment. If you know me, you know instantly that this is not true. I have not harassed a single person in my life and nor do I plan to. I built my blog as a safe place for victims of any kind. I put ships in my DNI that made me uncomfortable. I curated my experience as one is supposed to on this platform.

So what I saw took me aback.

I’m shaking while writing this. I have naught but a block of incoherent thoughts of what to do. Should I delete this blog and start over while risking the loss of my beloved friends and mutuals? Do I truly wish to say goodbye to the writings and drawings I posted here? Is this what I want?

Reader, that is not what I want. But I fear that the big blogs have put me between a rock and a hard place. I don’t think I’m stable enough mentally to handle any harassment towards me.

I am unsure of what I truly yearn to do. I have been slandered by lies in the very first fandom I ever joined. Throughout this whole experience, I have been asking myself, “Is this what fandom is like? Do people spread lies about others as commonly as they do here? Is this truly what people enjoy?” Of course, I have realized that none of these inquiries are true. However, it still hurts me to think that I may have to abandon my progress here. It hurts me to think I may never interact with fandom again.

I sincerely hope the big blogs are happy. I hope that slandering random children online who have been sent gore and other horrific things makes them satisfied. I hope they find joy in what they have done. I hope they enjoy ruining many people’s experiences and even lives.

Because I don’t.

Following my religion, I pray that they will one day see the light ahead and realize the shadows their lies have casted.

However, I find it likely that this is not a reliable possibility.

In case I do leave, I would like to say my thanks for the people I met on here. You all are amazing.

To anyone who I may have wronged accidentally: I’m sorry. I never meant to cause anyone harm.

I came, optimistic and joyful, and I may soon leave, depressed, lost, and silenced in a sea of falsehood. Have a great day. I know I won’t.

[birdmitosis]

alright kit one voice of the paranoid pretty please with cherry on top 🥺

[ask game here]

(Thank you for re-sending this ask, IDK why Tumblr hated my last attempt so much-- 🥺💕)

HELL YEAH MY #1 BLORBINA!!!!!

First impression

Haha, okay, that vocal delivery is great and I love that paranoia of the "what if He hears us?" followed by "shit!" Paranoid characters can be really hit-or-miss, though, and this particular shtick could get old really fast; I hope it doesn't.

Impression now

My favorite darling who I love and adore, my most beloved of current blorbos, the reason my STP hyperfixation is so so strong, bird of my heart 💖

Favorite moment

This is such a hard call! I'm especially torn between two moments: Of course the initial "Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves." is amazing and holds a special place in my heart because it's the moment I knew I absolutely adored her. But also, despite loving absolutely everything about both the Wraith and the Moment of Clarity and the transitions into both of them… "Oh right, yeah, fuck this guy. Don't trust Him." all by itself makes me love freeing the Nightmare in her Chapter II just as much. (Not that there aren't other great lines in that path, like the delivery of "I thought you needed me to run the autonomic nervous system?" which is just hysterical to me! But that line… It just won me over even more.)

As an honorable mention, let me pour one out for the cut Paranoid moment in Apotheosis:

I carry this moment, and Paranoid's thoughts about listening to others' lies having value, in my heart forever. It's just such an interesting touch and I'm incredibly sad it's gone!

Idea for a story

I have so many unbaked, half-formed idea snippets and NO details to go with them:

Paranoid running into trouble when her overpreening habits leave her without the ability to fly in a key situation, when she'd been able to (with increasing difficulty) up to that point since getting out of the Construct.

The world outside the Construct being some post- or mid-apocalypse survival horror situation and somehow Paranoid's body winds up warping in ways that remind her unpleasantly of Nightmare, primarily a bunch of eyes beginning to open up all over her body, especially her wings.

Either post-Construct or a mundane AU, bird-people or human or just human-looking, where Paranoid figures out she's trans (and slowly gains in confidence) due to drag.

Something that explores the idea of the beta voices actually turning into some of the current voices (Doubting becoming Skeptic, Flinching becoming Cheated, Meek becoming Paranoid, and Obsessed becoming either Stubborn or both Hunted and Stubborn -- and Smitten splitting off from the beta's Hero too actually!). I actually do really like the idea of the beta voices being their own individual people out there somewhere, but Paranoid reverting to Meek for a while under some circumstance could be fun to play with! And only Hero, Broken, Cold, and Contrarian would even possibly remember Meek…

Unpopular opinion

Paranoid really is not helpless and I think some people forget that sometimes! She's also got wonky morals. I'd argue that the voices you can get in other voices' Chapter IIIs often says something about them; while getting Paranoid in Apotheosis is more her going "That's Enough" and getting Skeptic in both Eye of the Needle and Den is kind of the same, the way Cold and Opportunist both show up in Wraith-from-Nightmare feels more… simpatico with how Paranoid operates? Paranoid can be fucking ruthless and also seize any opportunity she spots, especially if she doesn't trust a person (and the only people she trusts are the Long Quiet and the other voices).

She is also totally willing to abandon or murder a woman and the only one she seems to feel at all bad about at any point to any degree is the Wounded Wild. She's also also super dedicated to coming out unharmed and surviving, but she will do things like advise slitting our own throat when she thinks it's a good idea, and she is prone to panic but also remarkably self-aware about it and knows her own paranoid tendencies aren't always good, and both of those things can be easy to forget but I love them!

Finally, I want to note that people sometimes seem to forget that she doesn't actually get along as badly with Opportunist as you'd think she might! Maybe it's because when you get Opportunist in Wraith, it's specifically via doing exactly what Paranoid is advising (or would advise) you to do in that situation. Cheated and even Hero are more snippy with and disparaging of Opportunist -- even Smitten is to some degree -- and Paranoid is more snippy with Hero and Broken, and Skeptic is the one who seems most disparaging of her. The dynamics being different from what you might think fascinates me, really, and I'm curious about how both new and old dynamics might end up looking in the Pristine Cut.

Favorite relationship

I MEAN…

Much like last time, romantically speaking I love her dynamic with Cold. But platonically, I'm fascinated by her dynamics with Broken, Opportunist, and the Narrator, love her dynamic with Hero, and would be interested to see more (or any) of her dynamic with Hunted, Skeptic, and/or Smitten in the Pristine Cut.

Among the vessels, I also think she'd have interesting dynamics with Damsel, Prisoner, Spectre, Stranger, and Thorn, and would actually love to see more of her dynamic with Nightmare, Wild, and Wraith. (Looking forward to those new Chapter IIIs, too, and I'm very curious about the expanded Apotheosis chapter!)

Favorite headcanon

Well, hands down my favorite headcanon is transfem Paranoid!

But I am also super attached to her having major difficulties with getting her own body: She overpreens to the point of not being able to fly, she has all sorts of trouble sleeping (nightmares, night terrors, insomnia, even sleepwalking), and worst of all she has a harder time trusting the others to the same extent that she used to, at least at first. They're still parsing as us but they're also parsing as other and it fucks with her a bit. She also can panic due to not being able to protect the others or sense the pain/injury/illness/etc. of the others the way she'd have been able to if they still shared a body...

Like, overall she does like having her own body, it's quieter and she has more control over herself, but there's a lot that's difficult about it for her too.

[hidingoutbackstage]

Still in shock that they took all the songs down BECAUSE??? IT JUST LEAVES US WITH MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS???

I KNOW?? Like okay here’s everything weird about the situation because it’s only 7 am I feel like I need lay it all out to process this. So, timeline time I guess! (I combined several images into one a few times bc of Tumblr’s 10 image per post limit but I hope everything still makes sense)

Starting January 5, the Ever After High Spotify (and Apple Music I guess although I was only checking the Spotify) began posting songs as singles. The first was called “Can’t Get Me Down” which had a screenshot of Raven from the episode “Rebel’s Got Talent” as the album cover.

Following that, two weeks later, on January 19, we get a song called “Unbreakable” which also has a screenshot of Raven from the show, from the “The Tale of Legacy Day” episode. At this point the songs are gaining attraction because what the heck, Ever After High content in 2024? Is it coming back?

People are also pointing out that Mattel renewed their licenses for some Ever After High stuff, but also companies do that all the time and I think they did it specifically for their webisodes so that they couldn’t be reposted/reuploaded to YouTube or whatever by a party that wasn’t them. It makes sense (Also I can’t actually verify which if any things they did actually renew because all I heard was people claiming that I never saw any proof)

Also at this point, both songs have given Allison Bloom composing credit, which fans thought made sense since Allison Bloom was also a composer on Ever After High content before

ONE week after “Unbreakable”, instead of two like last time, on January 26, we get the third song, Destiny, with a screenshot of promo art for the Epic Winter storyline of Briar, Crystal, Ashlynn, and Rosabella. Once again, composing credit to Allison Bloom. People are so confused, lots of people are reaching out to Mattel’s social media trying to make sense of it all. Also this song in particular had the trademark misspelled as “Ever Aftert High” which could be the reason for something happening later

Actually, before Destiny was released, someone on Reddit apparently got in contact with Bloom and asked if she had any insight as to what was up with the songs, and Bloom said, “I honestly don't know because I am not currently working on the project. Your note was the first I had heard of it. Wish I had more to tell you!” which led people to suspect Mattel was making AI generated songs but using Bloom’s name to release them, possibly because they still had a contract with her (though that is purely speculation)

Same Redditor also emailed Mattel customer support, who gave a very corporate response, but in their email used the phrase “AI-generated songs uploaded to the EAH Spotify list” blatantly calling the music AI generated in this email

One week after “Destiny”, on February 2, we get “Brand New Day” which is another single with another screenshot from the show as the cover, this time of Crystal Winter from the Epic Winter episodes

Three days after “Brand New Day”, on February 5, people realize that “Destiny” has been taken down, but ONLY Destiny. Some speculate this is due to the typo in the trademark upon release. The rest stay up

One week after “Brand New Day”, on February 9, the song “Forever Friends” with art of Raven and Apple as the cover is uploaded

Later that same day on February 9, “Forever Friends” and all the other remaining songs, “Brand New Day”, “Unbreakable”, and “Can’t Get Me Down” have all been taken off the Spotify (and Apple Music) list

[daughter-of-sapph0]

the reason this website works while others fail is because the main dash is in reverse chronological order and only shows posts by people you choose to follow.

algorithms never work. a computer will never know what someone wants to see more than the actual person. it might give you some content that people can turn off their brains and consume for a few hours. but tumblr doesn't have "content". it doesn't have family friendly short form tiktok videos for people to scroll through for hours. it doesn't have arguments about petty internet drama where people tell each other to kill themselves for disagreeing like twitter does. like, sure those things can exist on tumblr but they aren't the main point of tumblr.

tumblr isn't content. it's conversations and art and writing and music and pictures and movies and experiences and people's lives being shared with their close friends. the reason this website works is because of the fact that their is no algorithm.

algorithms do not work for a website like tumblr. I only want to see the posts and reblogs from people I follow. the people I follow share similar interests to me and share and create posts that I know I will enjoy. even if there's a blog that posts one thing I really like, if the rest of their blog is stuff I have no interest in, I won't follow them.

staff says that the current model unfairly rewards popular blogs.

first of all, rewards them with what? clogged notification? that hardly seems like a positive, and I should know.

secondly, so what? no one cares if anyone is popular or not. follower counts aren't public. blogs don't get popular. certain posts get popular.

also thirdly, their solution to the "popular blogs" issue is to introduce an algorithm which will either:

just promote the posts of blogs with lots of followers, therefore making the "problem" they're trying to fix bigger

recommend posts from smaller blogs who do not want the attention and will end up getting "ew why am I seeing this garbage" on their personal vent posts

completely ruin the whole reason people follow tags and tag their posts in the first place and will end up thinking that non-fandom posts that aren't tagged from fandom blogs should be shown to people in that whole fandom (see point 2)

show posts to people who have no interest in them, such as showing posts about photography to people who only use tumblr to talk about video games, or vice versa

will end up promoting posts by fascists and terfs that staff still will not ban

the whole idea of an algorithm is a fucking stupid idea to implement on tumblr, and I hope that all the executives who decided to push for the idea get fired.

@staff @wip @changes @support this as a warning. no one on tumblr wants an algorithm. you can check the notes on your recent post, and it's all unanimous. people will leave this site en mass if you implement it.

you will not gain more users with an algorithm. anyone who would ever use tumblr has already jumped ship from twitter and reddit and tiktok. all those websites are currently failing because of poor executive decisions, and trying to make tumblr like them will be a death sentence. the only reason people join tumblr is because it isn't like every single social media website.

if new users wanted something similar to twitter, they'd join one of the dozens of twitter clones that will be shut down in a few weeks, like threads or bluesky or whatever the fuck they're called. people don't come here because they want twitter. people come here because they want tumblr. and an algorithm will fundamentally change and ruin what tumblr is

you will not gain users from an algorithm. but you will certainly lose them. it is a terrible decision that no one will like.

[kimmiessimmies]

Make this night count...

"Look at all the colours! Isn't it pretty, James?"

"Very. The view is great from up here."

"It was a good idea to book this room for tonight."

"I'm full of good ideas."

"We have made things difficult for her this year, haven't we, James?"

"For whom, lovely?"

"Our author. This. Us. It was never part of her plan, was it?"

"No, but, haven't we also made things great for her?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Well, we've made things great for us, either way, Sade."

"Cheers to that, lovely."

"Sade..."

"Hmm...?"

"You wouldn't let me kiss you under the mistletoe because of where it might lead, but... since we're here now... Will you let me kiss you for New Year's?"

"Umm... No, I don't think so...

"Oh... Sorry..."

"I'm not going to let you kiss me for New Year's, James, because I'm going to kiss you first."

"Wha..."

"Happy New Year, you."

"Happy New Year, my girl..."

......

....

...

"James?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think she'll let us be together in the new year?"

"We'll have to see, love... Let's make this night count while we're here..."

My dear followers,

This year has been very... intense... for me. I already wrote a long post about my mental health struggles, which put a huge stamp on my year. However, 2023 will also forever be the year I went back to my Sims, back to my stories, and back to Tumblr.

I spent five years away. Both because real life took over and because I had gotten into a rut with my Sims and the story. I never forgot them, though, and never stopped loving them. And suddenly, somewhere in February, it clicked. Everything fell into place, and I knew where I wanted to go with it all. In fact, it was this boy up here, my dearest James, who pulled me back. His story was suddenly clear as day to me. But how to begin? So, in March, I decided to just start writing. Then, I dusted off my game, found that all shortcuts and cheats were apparently in my muscle memory, and started shooting pictures to go with what I had written. And once I got going, I didn't stop. Everything I wrote in 2023 (and that's a lot!) even if it seemed unrelated, was geared towards James's story and the big moment that still lies ahead. However... As I've emphasised several times by now, I didn't account for this girl... So now it's like James said, "We'll have to see."

Coming back to my story brought me so much this year; I went from gameplay-based to story-based and found out how much I truly LOVE writing and how much it helps me, especially now that I'm going through rough times. Encouraged and inspired by someone dear to me, my story gained a title and came to Tumblr in full. I learnt to not only accept the benefits of poses, but how incredibly enhancing they can be to bring my ideas to life when used right. I reconnected with old contacts and made new connections too, some of whom proved to be true friends outside of this Tumblr/Sims world too. I've loved getting caught up on the stories I used to follow and discovering new ones. I've been amazed at how good CC has become in five years and pleasantly surprised to see there's still a good crowd playing TS3 in addition to the great things some of you are doing with TS4. All of this has been bright spots in my darkness.

And now we're entering 2024. I hope it will be light and bright for all of us. May the good days outnumber the bad ones and may we continue to feel the joy these little pixel-people bring us. Happy New Year to you and yours.

Much love. ❤️

-Kim

P.s. I know, I know; Some of you are now very disappointed you didn't get to see James and Sadie "making the night count." Just for all of you filthy animals I have one more post in this non-canon series set to go. Be forewarned; this one is very NSFW (And Not Suitable To View At New Year's Parties With Lots Of People Around) and will be labelled mature. I also have a sneaking suspicion it'll take Tumblr about 3 seconds to take it down, so I have an alternative post with Pillowfort link waiting in the wings. Going live as the the New Year hits where I am, at midnight GMT+1. See them making the night count by clicking here!

[princess-of-morkva]

For the wip game: 1. break of mind control s3 morgana bracelet

so this is the third time I'm trying to answer this and hope tumblr doesn't delete it all again 🥲

essentially, my personal headcanon is that the bracelet Morgause gave to Morgana is some sort of mental influence. Even canonically, it dampens her ability to see the future, which is already some kind of meddling with her mind. Morgana sees it as a good thing at the time - not being plagued by visions of Camelot's destruction every night. But isn't that suspicious? As soon as Morgause enters the story, first thing she does is cut off Morgana's visions. Visions that would usually warn her of ploys against her own kingdom and her friends. While Morgause is actively planning a full blown attack on Camelot, using Morgana in her plan without her full knowledge.

But then, the bracelet does nothing against the dream of Gwen's coronation. Yknow. The thing that Morgause uses to convince Morgana to turn on the only person in Camelot she had previously no qualms with?

And who's to say this is where the bracelet's influence ends?

Already in season two, we start seeing Morgana's views radicalise after episode 8, where she first obtains the bracelet. It's subtle and not as noticeable as in s3, and that's the thing.

To be clear, I don't think that Morgause directly controls Morgana through the bracelet or that it has full control over her mind. I do think, however, that it influences her emotions and perhaps even memory. Not in a way that changes it completely, but rather subtly and overtime latches onto certain feelings and infuses those, changing the emotional significance of a memory or idea. It latches onto already existing ideas and feelings, and blows them out of proportion.

That is to say, i absolutely don't think it's the only way Morgana was influenced. She spent over a year with Morgause, directly after a very traumatic event and betrayal of a friend, leaving her extremely vulnerable and easy to influence. I don't even think Morgause ever told her what actually happened with the poisoning - the way she talks to Merlin about it in ep1 of s3 paints a picture as if she believes he did it out of assumption that her magic was somehow to blame, with her denouncing magic in front of him and talking of it's evil, when trying to gain his trust. And why would Morgause tell her? This was a perfect opportunity, to tell Morgana how no one in Camelot is to be trusted, and even those she believes to be her friends would turn on her without hesitation the second her magic comes up. It is a thought that canonical Morgana definitely held, coming up multiple times in s3 and s4 before the imprisonment made her lose all the last shreds of rationality she had (at the end of season 4 she's angry and she's afraid, but she's still human and still has her beliefs and her voice shakes when she tells Arthur as did I and you made it perfectly clear how you feel about me and my kind. in season 5, it's I want him dead).

I think that Morgause had the most perfect opportunity for indoctrination during that year. Planting hate and distrust and fueling anger in Morgana's mind. Solidifying the belief she's the only one Morgana can trust (Morgause clearly wasn't above such manipulation. We're talking about a woman who uses the figure of a dead mother to drive a person into killing his own father).

I believe that the bracelet only helped intensify already existing feelings and help Morgause's teachings settle in, taking precedence over Morgana's own preexisting beliefs.

As in, when she thinks of Arthur, she doesn't see the boy she grew up with and who constantly risked his life to save their people. But she sees all the times she got angry at his inaction, when he didn't stand up against Uther or dismissed Morgana's warnings and now to her, he's simply Uther's obedient son, one who will follow in his steps.

As in when she thinks of Camelot, she thinks not of it's people and servants and children in the streets whom she always thought to protect, and who loved her in return as they would love a princess. But she thinks of fire and smell of burning flesh and gallows and paralysing fear and dungeons and red capes and people chased out of their homes and she's angry and rightfully so, and she wants to bring change and damn the consequences, as she once said.

And she will not remember happy afternoons with Gwen and flowers on her bedside table and smiles, for that is of no consequence when her anger is so much larger now than any happiness she may have once felt.

This is the idea, in short.

So by now, I actually have a few drafts which explore the idea of the bracelet losing it's hold on Morgana somewhere during season 3, for multitude of reasons. In one, she has a mental breakdown and manages to accidentally tune it out for it's duration, because of overflowing emotions of different kinds and confusion that they bring. In other, the bracelet falls of her wrist during the accident with her head injury. In the last one, it was during an argument with Gwen (remember that time she very rudely dismisses her in s3? I decided to expand on that a little). Maybe I'll post one of them some day

this little fucker

[gisellecnz]

Hello everyone, I just want to confess something... I just felt like I did the most worst crime ever. (I'm sorry if how I'm writing this whole thing looks immature? and also on how I've been using wrong words to use. 😭) And it is something I want to start avoiding from now on.

As you can see, I am a minor. Yes a minor, probably way younger than you think... 😭 (but not too young though. I just don't want to tell my actual age.) (And also please continue reading before you do anything)

Ever since pandemic, its where people have been quarantined inside their homes for like, 2-3 years, right? And because of that most people do then was just be on their phones all the time.

I also did that–and now I've been exposed and influenced to a lot of things especially on social media. (I had unrestricted internet access ever since I was a kid)

I currently think about it a lot of times now, and it's actually so bad about how I got exposed by a bunch of things...even though I was so young. (like dirty jokes, etc.) And I think I have grown up way too fast... You can see it in how I typed in my other posts, and it's now how I naturally type. 😭

(Okay, I don't know how to explain this part well... Generally, I'm very bad at explaining. But I hope you guys somehow understand 😭. ) (Please ask me questions if there are things you don't quite understand, I don't really elaborate well when it comes to these stuff)

That was also the time i grew an obsession over anime. And I also had crushes on anime characters to the point I figured out people wrote fics about them. Like, "[character name] x reader" and then boom I figured about smut.. Pls 😭 I really didn't care about the "mdni" warning back then. (I don't know if I'm using this term right, but it's something like I got hypersexual? I'm sorry, but I think it's just something similar to that.)

And now I've become a writer as my hobby, I downloaded tumblr almost a year ago so that I could post my works and also read others fics.

And ever since yesterday i had realized something 😭. And I am so sorry about my behavior on this. Even though I'm not in the right age yet, I still readed smut. And smut is like.. Considered porn right? And most of the authors I follow, or people ive talked to in tumblr are like around 19+. Others are even in college and have their own jobs too. And one of my favorite authors is like 12 years older than me. And some authors I follow also write smut. I also ignored mdni parts in their works. 😭

So this is basically what happened (because I am very bad at explaining so I just put it like in a story way):

I am a minor who reads smut, which are only intended for adults. I knew it wasn't appropriate for me but I just brushed it off.

And then one day when I realized I was talking to older people, something clicked in my mind 😭. They are ADULTS. They are in the appropriate age to read smut. (I mean, of course, but I just brushed it off back then.) Then they had "mdni" in their bio. So, that realization made me uncomfy 😭. It's like I made a really huge crime. And I've also become an author on this app, I can't just go on without telling the truth. From now on I'll try to avoid reading smut. Guys it's basically like you're an toddler who suddenly gained consciousness

Again, I am very very sorry for just brushing off the mdni back then 😭. But I'll still continue to read the sfw ones only.

To the other authors there who write sfw and nsfw, please I promise you that I will only read the safe ones now and not the nsfw anymore. 😔 

But it is definitely okay if you want to block me. Thank you for reading this whole explanation! I've learn my lesson now 😭

I just readed this whole thing again and I realized how messy it looked... But either way I can't change it because its the most best way I explained this 😔

[aiartshaming]

What's your problem? What will you gain by doing this? You don't have to like or rb, but encouraging others to block is shameful. 😡

So, obviously I feel zero shame about encouraging people to block content thieves, and it's extremely funny to get lectured by one about what constitutes shameful behavior. But "what do I gain by doing this" is an interesting question.

When I was traveling recently I got to do some gardening, which was really nice and something I don't get to do often. Most of that time was spent digging and pulling out weeds by hand. It was kind of exhausting, hurt my hands after a while, and honestly a lot of those damn roots broke off, so I know the weeds will come back eventually. So what did I gain by doing it? Removing a few weeds from a corner of a garden to make room to plant something else to grow, until the weeds come back and we need to do it all over again?

The thing is, before we started that garden, the soil there was dead. No worms, no bugs, not much growing aside from this awful grass that choked everything else out. But after 15 years of work, a little at a time, that garden is FULL of worms and snails and spiders and bees etc etc etc. It's bursting with life because we kept at it, pulling up those weeds and planting things that would help the soil become more alive. Bugs came back, and birds, and bigger animals that like to sneak in and eat the flowers when our backs are turned. We gained a thriving ecosystem. We gained mornings drinking coffee, watching the garden fill with life like a garden is meant to be.

That's what I'm doing when I call out spammers, ai posters, and content thieves so people can block them. These kinds of blogs spoil the ecosystem here by flooding it with fake and stolen art, taking attention away from real creators who are strugging to find an audience. I only have a few followers, my posts aren't going to purge tumblr of this kind of content anymore than I can fully remove every weed in a garden.

But maybe by pulling enough weeds in my little corner, I can make room for a few real artists to thrive. By encouraging people to block stolen and fake content, I'm reducing the amount of garbage in their feeds. I'm reminding them that real art is made by actual people. I'm asking them to look for real art instead, to find the sources of the art they like and support those creators. I'm trying to direct some attention toward people who rely on their art for a living and hopefully grow their audiences a little. What I gain is making life more livable here in the hopes that artists will keep coming here and posting their work and connecting with people who love what they do. That makes tumblr a nicer place for all of us.

tl;dr I'm making my little corner of the internet a better place, and I wish more people were trying to do that instead of stealing and spamming to get as many like and reblogs as possible.

[xiabablog]

@hezalife I wanted to make a post about this because my answer was longer than what I could put in a reply comment! The comment was about this post I made about the project ideas I have saved in my notes app on my phone!

Okay to answer the question, I get a bunch of ideas from literally everywhere. Here are some of the ways I come up with ideas:

Hobbies/interests I have and think of a way to make a web app/program/web page out of it. E.g. I like playing Minecraft, Pokemon, Stardew Valley, The Sims etc so I would thing of ideas around those games and create a programming project out of it.

Get the stereotypical “beginners” project ideas and expand on that. Calculator? How do I make it better, more advanced! To-do list? Don’t like basic, add more and more features to it. Text-based RPG console game? Make it more complex. Stuff like that.

Same with the other point above but add a theme to it. Hello Kitty version (my go-to theme since I started programming…)

I follow people on GitHub and Twitter that share their projects and I think of something similar or get inspiration from them and think “Okay, how do I make myself and better?” Sometimes not even better but how would I tackle that project myself.

What would make my life a little bit easier - I made TumblrTextTint generate the code needed for formatting colours in text for me. I coded it and I use it. Don’t care if someone in the past did it already, I sat down and coded my own one. It’s all experience and a good feeling in the end~!

Since I’m all for experimenting and gaining experience with programming, I also follow some tutorials on YouTube and from that’s programming blogs online. I don’t like following the instructions exactly, I like to add my own twist!

Get stuck? Use those online generators to give you a prompt on a theme or a whole idea for a next project.

I have a blog and I like to add pages and changes to the theme a bit so I make a whole ass project out of it. “Build a navigation page”, “Build an About Me page” etc.

Things I use a lot and create a project idea from it e.g. I have a lot of Tumblr-related project ideas because I use Tumblr a lot. Find something you use and do a lot and create an idea from it to work on.

Hope this answers your question!! Sorry, it’s a long post!

[britts-galaxy-brain]

I’ve written and rewritten this a dozen times. I’m not sure if it will get through to you, or if anything will at this point. But something has to give.

I fell down the Lily rabbit hole in 2018, and over the years I’ve seen you become more toxic, paranoid, and tribalistic. Courtney joining the community just made you ten times worse. It’s been a distressing transformation to watch, because you were my go to for anything Lily related for years.

The community as a whole has suffered from this too. You encourage your followers to assume any criticism of you or Courtney is Lily playing 4D chess. You used to discourage interacting with Lily, but in the last year I’ve seen you turn a blind eye to it. Both you and Courtney use your followers to attack former allies over petty beefs. Again, it’s been distressing to watch a community dedicated to archiving and awareness become a personal army for yourself and Courtney.

Your refusal to accept any criticism of yourself and Courtney has had major consequences. As it turns out, Lily was just giving Courtney enough rope to hang himself. All those comments that people warned you about were used to discredit Courtney. Lily’s community has rallied behind her, and her Patreon has grown. Her YouTube channel has suffered no real losses. The KP video should have been her death blow, but it barely affected her. She’s even back on Tumblr.

If you had just held Courtney accountable for the child sized coffin comment, odds are that things would never have gotten this bad. I’m not saying you had to abandon her or cut her off. But stubbornly defending that comment, and all of Courtney subsequent actions, set a precedent.

Please do not take my message as only blaming Courtney, because the truth is that you also gave into your worst impulses. What was gained by publicly fighting with Courtney during your fallout? I understand your fear of being a doormat, but the solution is not to act toxic. The solution is not to silence people upset with you by saying “your helping Lily”. The solution is not to allow your followers to do this in your stead.

I truly don’t know if the Joon the King video is going to be Lily’s death blow either. The well has been so poisoned, that it may just make her community double down harder and put more money in her pocket. Forgive me for being blunt, but I hope you get your shit together before then.

...Genuinely how have I become more paranoid? Maybe I'm too close to the situation to see it, so I'm asking you or anyone else to give some examples. Because in my mind, I'm approaching things with the same level of hesitancy and skepticism I always have based on the information I currently have.

I haven't "turned a blind eye" to people directly interacting with Lily. I still don't condone it, but the situation has changed drastically since 2018. A LOT more eyes are on her now. Many of those eyes aren't just coming from Tumblr anymore. If someone comes to me directly saying they sent Lily something, I'm going to encourage them to not do that. But the reality at this point is constantly repeating not to send things to Lily is pointless. Most people aren't even going to see it, and I can't control what people do on the internet. I shouldn't have to constantly repeat it over and over for people to know I don't condone or participate in it even though it's not going to do anything materially. I've never encouraged people to interact with her directly. What people choose to do is not my responsibility.

I haven't defended ALL of Courtney's comments or actions. I stand by my defense of that ONE comment because I understand the context and intended meaning behind it. I don't think that's something Courtney should've ever said publicly, but once again, the fact that he did is not my responsibility. I wouldn't have been able to get him to retract it if I tried. And believe me, I had tried to get her to retract or refrain from quite a bit when we were speaking.

"Please do not take my message as only blaming Courtney, because the truth is that you also gave into your worst impulses. What was gained by publicly fighting with Courtney during your fallout? I understand your fear of being a doormat, but the solution is not to act toxic. The solution is not to silence people upset with you by saying “your helping Lily”. The solution is not to allow your followers to do this in your stead."

Okay this part right here is actually starting to get on my nerves. I've had numerous people come to me acting like I'm the one who keeps bringing personal fights and drama in public. Am I supposed to just not respond when someone starts throwing around public accusations without trying to talk to me about it or just keep it private? Was I supposed to not respond when Courtney started publicly blaming me for her choosing to shut down her first server? Was I supposed to just not respond when Milena started publicly posting about our private disagreements? Was I supposed to not respond to a former friend making a public post about a problem I didn't even know about because they hadn't even tried to talk to me about it? How is me responding to OTHER PEOPLE making private issues public MY fault?? I don't see people going to them saying maybe they shouldn't have made those issues public. I'm the one who gets shit for responding. Make it make sense. People make shit public that shouldn't be, I either find out or get people asking me about it directly, I respond, and now suddenly it's my fault that I'm "publicly fighting" with people?

I also don't "have my followers" do anything. I'm usually surprised when people take it upon themselves to stick up for me. I'd never ask them to. This mentality that anyone with even the slightest bit of a following is automatically solely responsible for everything their followers do is nonsensical. The only thing I've ever directly encouraged over the years is not directly interacting with Lily or her inner circle. Whatever else people who happen to follow me do is their own responsibility.

If you've been around since 2018, then you should remember that this year has been the biggest blow to Lily's reputation by far. Up until now, she's been able to throw her fits, pull her narrative distortions, and lie her way out of things until it blew over. She hasn't been able to do that this time. People haven't forgotten about Stockholm. People haven't forgotten about the sockpuppets. People haven't forgotten about the trail of abuse she's left in her wake. She hasn't been able to weasel out of it like she has over the years. Her reputation isn't just contained to Tumblr anymore.