#I hope it’s okay to tag that idk what tumblr tagging rules are

[gender-is-fake]

Hey! I hate to do this but I’m kind of tight on money right now, so I wanted to send out a general reminder that I take commissions! For my portfolio, please check out my art Instagram at @contentiousart.

Character Portraits: $5-$20+

They’re great for tokens on Roll20, character art, sticker designs and pins for a renaissance faire act, and book covers. Sketches are great if you want me to design you a concept… or if you just want me to make you a meme. (Example: I once drew catgirl Mike Hermantrout, DM for proof.)

Sketch: $5

Lineart from waist up: $18

Full Body Lineart: $20

Flat color: +$7

Full Shading: +$10

Add Pet: +$10

Add Another Person: +$20

Add New Background: +$10

Preset Background: Free

Gradient Background: Free

Flat Color Background: Free

Transparent Background: Comes with every option in addition to background choice

Preset pose: $2 discount (excludes sketch)

Other ideas?

DM me and I’ll probably have a good idea on how to price it.

If you don’t want to commission me but do want to support me, you can also buy from my redbubble shop here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/contentiousart/shop?asc=u

Thank you so much for reading!

[megamindsecretlair]

Writing Tip #6

Navigation is your best friend.

This is a special request about building a masterlist.

Why build one? Because the goal is to make it easier for people to find your stories! Sure, people can dig but who wants to do that? Sure, people can follow your special tags but the tagging system is asssss on Tumblr.

Be a good blogger. Make it the easiest possible experience for folks and have some navigation on your blog.

This is simply the mechanics of it. Remember, you can be as detailed as want, as minimalist as you want, go crazy with graphics, or have no graphics at all. Go nuts, show nuts, my loves 😚

Step 1: Start a Post

We all know how to start a post. Put your title, name it whatever you want. Click the "Aa" to make it the biggest on the post.

Step 2: Add in your fics or landing pages.

If you're just starting out, you may not have fics. That's okay. Follow this step once you have posted a fic.

I like hella navigation so I have extra landing pages like "The Secret Terry Richmond Files" but you don't have to. You can just link directly to the fic.

This is also where you can have the rules for your blog and fics, about me section, or whatever else you want to add.

Step 3: After you post, press the 3 dots in the top right-hand corner of the post to then pin it to your blog. Pinning it keeps it at the top of your blog. So when people go looking, boom, no digging required.

Step 4: After you post your fic, it generates its own link. Press the 3 dots at the top right corner again, press copy link.

Step 5: Go back to your Masterlist. Now highlight your fic title, landing page, whatever you created, and then press the add link button.

Add in the post link you just copied. Save your masterlist and boom, you have a link straight to your fic. Or a link to a landing page that then links to your fic.

Whichever way you slice it, you now have a masterlist where people can browse what you have to offer.

Yes, this does get tedious. But it's a good way to keep your fics in one place for people when they resonate with your writing and want more.

There's so many talented artists that do dividers and navigation banners. Canva is free with thousands of templates. You can choose a theme but you don't have to. Sky's the limit. Let that imagination run wild.

Hope this helped 😚 feel free to ask about different stuff. (No seriously chuz its weird thinking about my process and idk what else to talk about fr)

If you like this tip or want more peeks into my process, then go Behind the Megadome.

[red-velvet-0w0]

INTRO POST

post status: free

Im just a silly little person with an ocean obsession who lives in your phone.

My names are Erin/Eris/Red

She/They preferred, but you can call me anything so long as it is NOT he/him (on the same note, if you call me man/dude/bro/guy I will flood your house)

Im a minor (17 years old), and am enby/trans, poly, and a Massive Lesbian, and also probably demiromantic? idk about that last one im still trying to figure that out

im definitely neurodivergent but im not entirely sure what all I have going on up in here (definitely undiagnosed ADHD, probably a lot of other things too)

American/Californian

If you're a terf, a homophobe, or a pedophile: go away please okay? Otherwise pretty much anybody is welcome here so long as you arent hurting anybody

silly DNIs: Dante Alighieri, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Wacław Franciszek Sierpiński (they know what they did)

Im pro-palestine

Im an artist, animator, and a game designer (i have a youtube and an itch.io page but neither of them have much on them) (im uh. not quite as good at finishing projects as i am at starting them)

my 2 alt accounts are @red-gamedev-0w0 and my vent blog (only for frends eyes) (dm if you want the link)

my DMs, asks, and anons are always open if you wanna be silly, and honestly it really makes my day when i get a message. boundaries and norms for talking to me are at the very bottom

i have a silly little OC universe im hoping to turn into a webcomic eventualy (hopefully)

I AM VERY STRONGLY AGAINST AI ART. (and just. generative AI in general) (yes that includes chat gpt and character AI)

I am... incredibly normal about the ocean. I have healthy and reasonable emotions I feel when i think about it. dont question why "erins ocean posting" is one of my most used tags its totaly healthy trust me (is it a religious thing? a sexual thing? a gender thing? you will literaly never know)

The fandoms im in are: Lazarillo de Tormes, Tiger Tiger, Roblox Pressure (Sebastian Solace), Aurora Webcomic, The Killers, Tom Cardy, The Mechanisms, Life Series, Hermitcraft, Parkour Civ, Mineraft, Marble Hornets, Terraria, Hollow Knight, Celeste, Hades, Camp Here And There, Murder Drones, The Art of Murder, The Magnus Podcasts, Epic the Musical, Hello From the Hallowoods, Witherburn After School News, Dont Hug Me Im Scared, The Locked Tomb, Hatchetfield, Centaurworld, Amphibia, Epithet Erased, Kid Vampire, and Bigtop Burger (+ a few more but those are the ones you'll see the most of) (Red means highly likely to post about it, purple means very unlikely to post about it often)

Id love to be friends, enemies, or really anything in between if you let me.

Tags I use (in case you want to block them):

#erins cryptic ramblings (generic tag)

#erins ocean posting (for ocean related posts)

#erin answers asks (self explanitory)

#erins tumblr ad saga (my compilation of all the worst ads this hellsite has to offer)

BOUNDERIES, NORMS, AND RULES OF THUMB FOR TALKING TO ME:

No horny/vaguely sexual messages unless 1) we are friends, 2) you are under 18, and 3) you have asked me directly in the past whether i am comfortable with that sort of thing or are otherwise aware that i am comfortable with you talking to me like that

Avoid using male terms as much as possible (ie. guy, dude, man, bro), and id prefer avoiding gendered terms as much as possible, but when you have the choice female terms are prefered (ie. girl). i may refer to myself using male gendered terms from time to time but that does not give you permision to

Do not EVER use the r-slur on me.

Do not EVER say "KYS" or anything of that nature to me, even as a joke

If you send me hate mail of any kind i will either just delete it or if ill just mock you. nothing you can say will ever be as hateful as the stuff my brain says to me on a daily basis so dont bother

If i say i dont want to talk about something, i dont want to talk about it.

Nicknames and terms of endearment (ie. dear, love, bestie) are fine from friends, so long as you have cleared with me that I am fine with you calling me that

I have a tendancy to be VERY flirty with some of my friends, but just know that i almost certainly mean it entirely platonicaly, unless i specificaly tell you i mean it in a different way. Even something like "i want to make out with you" can be platonic coming from me, so in general dont assume im flirting with you (likewise if you ARE actualy flirting with me be warned that I will not realize in the slightest and you will have to be very clear that you are actualy flirting because there is no other way i will ever know)

If i am saying something nice to you, it is genuine. period. i would never lie to you about something like that. if i tell you i care about you, its not out of pity or out of some strange malice. its because i care about you

you are ALWAYS welcome and encouraged to talk to me, especialy if you are feeling sad or at risk of hurting yourself. Even if we have barely talked, if you need somebody to talk to or rant to I am always here for you.

And that’s about it!

Nice to meet you!

[victoriaspriing]

2023 writing gif-making round up

Rules (adapted for fic, gifs, art, etc.): Share what you made this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you made or just the projects you're most excited about.

I was tagged by @swearphil! thank you sm renee <33

Hii!! so 2024 is right around the corner, happy new year yayay. Actually, if I think too much about it I think I'll start crying cause like what do you mean we're less than 42 hours from staring a new year?!! 2023 doesn't feel real tbh time in general doesn't feel real but yeah anyways I'll save that convo for another time. I'm here today to reflect on all the gifsets I've made throughout this year, which let me add, has been A LOT. I'm going to start by sharing some fun stats (yes renee I'm copying you <33), and then I'll do a fun top 5 of my fave gifsets, and to finish it off I'd also like to use this to shout out some of my fave people and creators on this hellsite cause you all made my 2023 so much better and I love you all for that <333

fun statistics:

In total I made 61 gifsets in 2023

57 are heartstopper (not surprised)

3 are 911 lone star (mostly tarlos)

1 are dan and phil

In august I made 20 gifsets, which are the most gifsets I've made in a month this year

In may I made 1 gifset, which is the month I made less gifsets this year

6 of the gifsets are song lyrics edits

3 of the gifsets are heartstopper comic edits

31 of the gifsets are scenes from heartstopper

6 of the gifsets are heartstopper compilations from s1 and s2

top 5 gifsets from 2023 (in no particular order)

that one dnp gifset: I think most people know that I was and still am a big dan and phil fan, and that I spent most of my teenage years obsessing over them and giffing them and only them. Well, they went on hiatus and they stopped having a big impact on my life util they decided to come back and ruin my life again (in a good way). This gifset was the first time I giffed them since like idk 2019/2020, and it does mean a lot to me :') it's not really about the concept and the coloring, I chose this one to be apart of my top 5 for sentimental reasons, and I think that's valid.

give your friendships the magic you would give a romance: once again, sentimental reasons. when I read this quote on loveless it just spoke to me in so many levels. One of the things I love the most about heartstopper is the importance they give to friendship and I just had to make something that highlighted that and I think it turned out super good.

I think nellie loves him: well, now I think I snapped with this one akdhjahak I just love it so much. the coloring.. the heartstopper tv scenes with the heartstopper comic scenes, like chef's kiss, just perfect. of course this is not an original idea so I'd love to thank @rose-nobles for inspiring this gifset <33

mr. ajayi loves museum dates with his grumpy bf: and just like that we are back to sentimental reasons ahdhkas. well, this was one of the first gifsets I made when season two came out and it blew up. I've never had that many notes on a gifset, and honestly I think it's well deserved cause the coloring is good and I had finally just figured out how to sharpen gifs, so yeah love that for me.

I'm bi actually: I had so much fun making this one. the amount of bi coded elements and colors I included on this, I WAS ON A MISSION. the fact I made the font wobbly hsjgdjaka, I love love this gifset.

a little shout out to my faves (I hope you all have an amazing 2024)

@swearphil ☆ @barrowsteeth ☆ @narliee ☆ @cafecdramin ☆ @heroeddiemunson ☆ @nelsonnicholas ☆ @curlyhairedprince ☆ @wylanvannecks ☆ @aimeegbbs ☆ @indimlights ☆ @jelloandsugar ☆ @perrieedwards ☆ @imogen-heaney ☆ @thatwasthenightthingschanged ☆ @klinejack ☆ @birthdaysentiment ☆ @seeleybooth ☆ @sonseulsoleil ☆ @taraolssons ☆ @immortals-malec ☆ @parissquads ☆ @rose-nobles ☆ @itwasmagic ☆ @perccyjackson ☆ @naomismcpherson ☆ @neverfindmegone ☆ @charlieisverybored

Okay I think that's it, I'm so sorry if I missed someone. I'm also tagging everyone that wants to do this, just say I tagged you in it <33

[thecynthh]

the infamous deepfake.

okay so we have all seen or at least heard of the deepfake of matt right? its been quite the up roar recently bc everyone on here is talking about it, and i know im not that popular or if i should even be addressing this because all of it ive read about.

so if you dont know the deepfake of matt was basically a nude photo that was completely fake was posted on tiktok in an edit. it was shared not posted by sturnsfilmed or whatever their tag is now who is very popular on tiktok and notorious for saying some rather sexual things about them in their captions. the original pciture and edit was made by someone else who i am not aware of their @. just a disclaimer, i have not seen the picture nor am i wanting too, please stop sharing the photo around its rude and very horrible to the triplets.

my take

i think that if people didnt make such a big deal out of this and found it weird deepfakes wouldve definitely become more poplar, and im not saying that its right that people make these pictures or post them but lets be real. deepfakes wouldve RULED tumblr if it wasnt so wrong, i feel like there would be way more apparent if it wasnt so socially unacceptable/weird asf. we are all into sum pretty freaky shit and i think at least a good heap of people would be on the hunt for shit like that.

deepfakes are weird, especially if its of a famous person, like matt, who is very much unsuspecting of its capabilities and is most likely not aware that all of this happens and i truly hope he never does have to find out about it. because if you really think about it, what if he was just a guy at your school and he got exposed and had to change his entire identity and who he was because of this.

i know that its already been taken down but like i feel like if one of them knew about it, like if nick saw it, and matt knew what weird shit this part of the fandom does it would actually push him to quit.

now im a consumer and a provider of this content that i am talking about, i write, i read and i enjoy it but the thought of them knowing about it in reality really sets me off. please dont get me wrong i love fics and i love the snaps and texts of all of them but if they even HINT towards what we do im abandoning tumblr sooooooo fast.

please take what i say with a grain of salt cus imma be real idk what im talking abt. love yalls pls stay safe and be careful what yalls post.

-syn

[barelyahumanbeing]

Hi, welcome to my sideblog for original stories of fantasy, love and creatures! 🥀

I'm Debs and I've been on Tumblr for a while. During this time my content has been 100% dedicated to fanfiction, but this is my new space for non fanfic writing. I wanted to go back to this type of content for a long time and finally I did! I'm very excited about this project and I hope you have a great experience here as well 🖤

Important info about me, the content I'll be posting here and guides below the cut 🥀

About me

Name Deborah, but I'd rather be called Debs, as my irl friends call me like this

Pronouns she/her

Age 30

Country Brazil

What I do for a living I'm a History student and work at a part time job. Though I have accounts in other social media, Tumblr is the only one I "consistently" produce content to

Other info

I'm an INFP / my instinct stacking is SP/SX

Portuguese is my first language, but I've been writing and communicating in English for years and can read a bit of Spanish

I've always loved horror, fantasy, scifi and classic literature, and all these references has leaked into the content I've produced in different phases of my life. Recently, I've started writing content for anime fandoms, so this is probably the latest type of media to enter my list of inspirations. It'll certainly appear in this blog as well, yet I'll try not to write for specific fandoms, focusing on "fantasy" and "monster love" and original stuff instead of fanfiction

Links to my content

My main blog @cafeinthemoon93

My fanfiction sideblog @cafeinthemoon

My fanfiction lists @cafeinthemoon-lists

Find my personal posts and messages at #barely a human thought (soon)

Find my asks at #barely a human ask (soon)

Find my polls here at #barely a human poll

My ao3 account

My Quotev account

My Carrd

Rules, interacting with this blog, content and other important stuff

What I write I'll be writing "monster/creature x reader" stories. In some cases I might name the characters, but there'll be explainable reasons for this, otherwise I'll keep everyone "nameless" just like in most fairy tales. I plan to bring stories with elves, merfolk, mutants, aliens, forest creatures, mythological beings and others. I also want to write for non specified creatures. Though I don't write extreme/explicit content, the characters are always adult in my stories unless I specify them differently, so my content are primarily directed to adults

What I don't write Just like in my fanfiction content, I won't write noncon, underage, extremely dark content and explicit stuff. I also won't write for werewolves, vampires and zombies, specifically. I know they're very popular in fantasy and that writing for them might help to attract a greater number of people, but I just don't want to create content with them, and I'm not worried about gaining "fame". I just want to have fun. Also, that doesn't mean I won't write about creatures that resemble them 😉

Gender and pronouns I'll be writing all female reader x male or genderless creature. This is the only dynamics I'm able to write, for I work from my particular perspective. In the case of creatures with no specified gender, I'll be using "they/them", otherwise it'll always be "he/him". If you're not okay with this, don't send hate. Just seek for writers who create content that align with your preferences. There's space for everyone 😉

Warnings and triggers Just like in my fanfics, my stories are generally SFW, but I use to include steamy content and non explicit sex, as well as mentions of violence. I use warnings in all my stories, but in case you spot something that should appear in the warning content section, don't hesitate in telling me so. I'm not perfect and I might miss some things 🥴

About the word monsterf- and how I'll tag my stories I won't use this word to tag my content, but I'm totally okay if you want to classify my work as such. I'm new to this world and Idk if this is a sensitive topic among the community, but my personal opinion is that it sounds pejorative, and I see people laughing at its use. I don't approve laughing at this type of content, of course, but I'd rather use other terms like "monster love" and "monster romance", even though they don't have the same reach and impact

Asks and requests I'm accepting asks, including anon ones, and I'm open to new ideas for stories, but I won't be taking requests for headcanons for now due to my little time (besides irl responsibilities I have my fanfic content, so...). Maybe I'll take requests in the future, but for now I think it's too soon. Anyways if you have any doubts and want to discuss important points under the theme of this blog, I'll be happy 😊

What's not accepted I won't tolerate any forms of hate and prejudice, whether towards my content or other people. Spam and harassment won't be tolerated as well. The only possible responses for this type of thing are block and delete 🚫

If you've read until this point, tysm! I'm really happy to have you here and I hope you have great fun 🖤🥀

[zorosdimples]

this is probably so silly to ask but how did you form such nice friendships on tumblr?? especially being that your blog is ‘newer’ than most, i genuinely admire how well you’ve managed to fit in? if that’s the right word. it’s so hard for me to feel at place and like im welcomed in anime fandom idk. hope you have a good day and keep being you!

hi nonnie <3 i hope you see this since i’m answering it a bit late! it’s not a silly ask at all; i understand that it’s difficult to feel like you fit in—i still feel this way at moments, even though i’ve developed some wonderful friendships. i think it’s natural, especially when you’re in a newer space, to have feelings of self-doubt. it’s just part of being human!

as to how i formed my friendships: this may sound cliché, but a big part of it was by being myself. before i started really posting at all, i reblogged a lot of posts (fanart, fics, etc.) with my thoughts in the tags. i know from personal experience that writers pay attention to the tags on their writing; any positive response, no matter how short, means the world. and writers take notice of it!

i also dmed a couple people (i would read their rules beforehand to make sure it was okay and i wasn’t stepping outside of their boundaries) to strike up conversation. i also got comfortable sending asks and commenting on text posts!

another part of meeting people and developing friendships was through my own writing. i’ve bonded with people over certain characters and tropes and ideas. i’m not sure if you’re a writer, but even if you’re an artist or a shitposter or a reader, it’s important that there’s a human element to your blog. and i don’t mean just a pretty theme; when people come to your blog, you want them to see that you’re a real person! because the biggest part of community is connecting with others, and it’s hard for people to connect with you if they don’t see what you like and what you stand for.

i hope this is helpful! i appreciate your kind words, and if you’d like to talk any further, you are more than welcome to dm me. i am the most boring, normal person in the universe :-)

[sweetfirebird]

Multifandom fic recs!

I mentioned doing a fic recs list the other day, and since I couldn't work on my needlepoint for a while (in which I feel like Mr. Thorton's mother doing her linen embroidering in North & South), I actually did one.

This is a multifandom recs list because it was more fun to just skim through various fandom bookmarks than to do a concentrated list for one show or whatever. Also.. some of these are for fandoms I read in and some are just fics I stumbled across one day, so they could be representative of their fandoms or not I have no idea. {insert shrug emoji here}

These are also all m/m and I think.... fairly cis? I did consider doing some f/f and trans and Rules 63 stuff but uh my bookmarks are a mess. The only fandom where I set aside some genderfuckery aside in any sort of organized fashion is Les Mis with Rule 63 stuff which maybe should get its own post. ? If people wanted?

Anyway, read the tags for each story, etc

Recs across the starboard bow, captain!

Star Wars Rogue One

waaay before the movie. I've recced this before. Chirrut/Baze

A Monk in Good Standing (Must Be in Need of a Bro)

The Eagle

Marcus/Esca

What Big Hands You Have

modern au, Esca is a size queen

From the Depths of His Heart

Canon-era werewolf AU

Póga

Canon-era  Esca teaches Marcus to kiss slow

Devotee

Canon-era gay farmers with some yearning

The Losers

Jensen/Cougar

The First Eight Don't Count

Jensen is a cat sometimes. Like a house cat. Yeah it’s weird for him too.

By Daybreak We'll Be Gone

werewolf AU (sensing a recurring trope here lol)

Inception

(Obv Arthur/Eames.)

Breaking and Entering

Jeeves and Wooster

Misplaced

Bertie has lost something

Voltron (the… whatever the new cartoon’s subtitle was. Legendary Defender?)

(I know that fandom is a hotbed of strife) but I am not/was not involved in any of that. Yikes.)

the electric synthesized pop ballad of why keith can’t have nice things

a/b/o au... but like... he just wants to be good

The Vorkosigan Saga

This is Ivan/Byerly because that is the only ship that matters

Twenty-Year Man

Ivan's getting older and having some realizations despite himself. Also... side note but... carefully and cynically yearning Byerly is a delight.

Original, historical

Darling and the Cinderella Club

Teen Wolf --HOWEVER! These are all Teen Wolf/SGA fusion

Why? Because the space marine vibes are impeccable

All Sterek

Show You What All That Howl is For

The Ring of the Ancestors is Not a Euphemism

Faint is a Medical Term

What We Do in the Shadows

Something Here Will Eventually Have to Explode

Guillermo/Nandor

Venom

Venom/Eddie, obviously

Heartthrob

Good Omens

Good Old-fashioned Lover Boy

Get Religion Quick (cause you're looking divine)

The Hobbit

all Bilbo/Thorin

Rations

pre-adventure sexual tension

The Subways of Men

modern au, but still with hobbits and dwarves

okay and then because idk I just love them finding each other after things

Plant Your Trees

It's Been a Long Day Without You, My Friend

(slight au)

And then one just to be sad

Hold Onto Hope If You've Got It

Les Mis

Enjolras/Grantaire because I am basic aw yeah

The Laurels of Doing is Enough

modern AU

True Love's Kiss

modern AU but with magic

Adequate

The first in a small Star Trek AU series that is cute

A Reversal of Celestial Mechanics

Canon-era, Enjolras takes Grantaire up on his offers… offers Grantaire didn’t realize he was making lol

There is one where Grantaire is fucking Courf while they both discuss/hint at his feelings for Enjolras but I cannot begin to express the chaos of my bookmarks so.... couldn't find it.

And finally...

Check, Please

Dex/Nursey

Bless This Mess and Call It a Home

Magic AU

The Most Room in Our Hearts

Dex sees Nursey holding some kids and gets Feelings about it

(there is a small nurseydex commentfic with sort of a similar bent but like so many things, it was posted to tumblr then deleted so is now lost forever.)

ok this one is uhhh read the notes and tags. It is known to me and @vashti-lives as the one we don’t talk about  aka the 1950s coal miners AU

Strange Lovers

And to finish up, a Ransom/Holster kink/getting together fic that was actually the first thing I read for this fandom.

When You Got Skin in the Game (you stay in the game)

I will post this to pillowfort too but I need to stop and eat first.

[loptrcoptr]

I’m glad people are talking about this on good ol tumblr dot com, because I swear I only took a hiatus from this site for half a year, after a solid decade or so of daily tumblr use, and in that time I can already see an enormous change in attitudes toward shipping/fandom/interests in general that kind of worry me. So for those of yall who are young or maybe not so set in your ways…

your interests are your own and you don’t owe anyone shit. That includes explaining yourself for posting about your interests. No, no, babe. It’s your blog, it’s your rules, you do what you want.

You can’t judge a person by their tastes. Not just “don’t judge”, I’m saying you fully cannot. You can tell a lot about a person, sure, but you can’t know entirely what they are like and what their “morals” are based on the media they consume or things they are into. has a friend or partner ever told you about something they did in bed and you were like “wow idk if I would do that”. Did you immediately decide it made them a bad person and server ties?? No. That’s not how life works.

To be “interested” is not automatically to condone, and you can be fascinated with something without agreeing with anything about it. That girl on your bus who listens to serial killer podcasts and reads murderer autobiographies is not the same as a serial killer. One kills people, and the other is fascinated by it. it’s okay to inform yourself about taboo things because the taboo is inherently intriguing. The point is that you’re not out there breaking the social agreement and doing Bad Stuff. It’s kind of like saying anyone who’s into rape fantasy is inherently a rapist and that the existence of the subject is an afront to rape victims. But I gotta tell you, as a rape victim: go off queen, that’s your business. My lived experience is not relevant to your fantasy. No one’s is.

And for the love of all the gods I am begging you: there is no hierarchy of queer shipping that is more or less gay, makes you more or less gay for enjoying it, or makes you a disrespecter of the internet lgbtqiap2s+ community at large for enjoying it. I have seen so much of this type of shit in the last few months, and it genuinely frightens me. Sure, ship wars and anon hate and all that crap have always been a thing in fandom. However, this escalation into some kind of Queer Ship Pyramid of Objective Goodness is at best, whack, and at worst harmful to people’s self-worth and the next generation of kids coming online and figuring out their sexualities and identities. it used to be you just defined tropes, genders, gender identities, sexualities, and sexual acts in your tags and called it a day and that’s just… that. Now I’m finding this pattern reflected from old school anti-bi, anti-trans spaces; do not ship bi couples, they’re basically straight, even if one is trans, gender fluid, or enbi; shipping two hetero men is really just for basic straight women and is in and of itself an isolating act that ignores the needs of the queer community; ships that don’t include anyone who is trans show you have no imagination and that you are a disrespectful terf on the inside; ships that are monogamous are inherently Not That Gay, regardless of any identities or sexualities therein, because polyamory is the real pinnacle of queer evolution and something every queer person should aspire to. and I want to make it very clear that absolutely none of that is remotely true.

And it worries me that there’s this sliding scale of Nothing Being Gay Enough in fandom now. Like we’ve taken a good thing so far that now people don’t know how to enjoy it and still want that oldie but goodie gay-one-upmanship from the mid 2010s on tumblr: “I’m a better gay than you are, and I know that, because look at your tastes”. And I just hope that teens and folks in their early years of adulthood or early years of discovering their sexualities and identities know that none of that shit is real, and you are gay if you decide you’re gay, and it is not a ladder you have to climb, with monogamy, same sex relationships, and pan and bi identities on the bottom and only-trans cohabitational polyamory on the top. That is not how you support people, and it is not how you support yourself. what you’re saying is “my trans friend isn’t as trans as I am because I have two partners and he is monogamous”; “I’m a lesbian but im a better lesbian than my ex because her girlfriend is cis and mine is a butch demiboy”. This kind of shit is just an extension of the age old “you’re gay, but not that gay, because you’ve only slept with one person of the same sex, and I’ve slept with loads”.

You’re queer because you say you are, and the best way to be a queer ally to others is to not project your own self hatred upward and attempt to win an “uwu more oppresssed than u” battle online. The only person you’re fighting is yourself. It doesn’t make you less poly to read a fic with a monogamous ship. It doesn’t make you less gay to read a fic with a straight ship. It doesn’t make you less trans to read a fic where someone doesn’t have the same headcanon about a trans character as you do. your fandom preferences don’t affect your queer street cred, and it costs you nothing to ignore your friend’s ships instead of convincing yourself you’re better and gayer than they are. All that kind of attitude does is hurt you farther down the road. You’re not what you consume, and fic is for you, not for what you think will somehow make others online think you’re ���gayer”.

(Sorry to bandwagon so extensively, op, this topic just concerns the hell out of me)

I really think everyone needs to truly internalize this:

Fictional characters are objects.

They are not people. You cannot "objectify" them, because they have no personhood to be deprived of. They have no humanity to be erased. You cannot "disrespect" them, because they are not real.

[bbrokenbback]

Hi! Thank you and UseYourDelusion so much for the Warhammer Kinktober prompts. I was just wondering though, what's the difference between Denial and Edging, and Sthenolagnia and Muscle Worship? The words in both pairs definitely have different vibes but I've tried to look up the difference and they seem to be the same thing, so I'm a bit confused. (It's a-ok if they are repeated prompts btw, you provided lots of options to choose from so no one has to repeat unless they want to! Just asking for my own clarification ☺️)

Hi! Sorry if I'm answering late, I was out of tumblr recently >.<

Actually, the list itself is full of options which depend mostly on how you'd like to approach them. If you want to consider those tags the same — so be it, it's totally okay.

But, if you want to write them differently, you can use your own perception of the tags. For example, I think denial might not only be about denying orgasm to one of the characters but also about not reciprocating someone's feelings, and the other side is getting off on that impossibility of getting what they want or whatever xd.

Sthenolagnia is mostly about just the fact of strength to me, not exactly muscles. To me, it's mostly about how a stronger person is umm... perceived in society? Is this the right word? Idk sorry. While muscle worship, while it can just fine be considered the same, is mostly only about appearance and not about the influence it makes on people.

Let me ask you to simply be creative if you want to use our list. There are no strict rules or particular ways we'd want you to write. Search for loopholes, write about your otp every day, studying characters' relationship from different sides, you are not even supposed to write any smut, if you don't wish to, and all of that is perfectly valid, okay and appreciated.

I hope I explained my position well enough. Thank you for giving attention to our prompt list! I wish you all the best.

[eerna]

Hey! I hope this isn’t a strange question but I’m brand new to tumblr and your’e the only account I’m familiar with on here — have you noticed it’s harder to gain interest/followers/reach on tumblr than like insta or twitter? I had to quit insta for various reasons but I noticed my account grew pretty quickly and it was easy to reach new people through hashtags and whatnot but I’m getting literally NO reach on my tumblr account even with using tags (which each tag seems to have very little followers vs for the same tag on insta? Maybe that’s just normal on here idk). Sorry for the weird question I’m just very confused about how things work on here <3

Welcome, Instagram sucks and I hope it dies! Here's a few notes.

1) Tumblr is much smaller than either of those platforms, so don't expect to rise to stardom on here.

2) On here tags work for filtering purposes, meaning you can block and search them at will, as opposed to IG's "as many as possible" tradition. Tag only the categories that appear in your post because otherwise people who find unrelated posts in the tags will be very unhappy with you.

3) When you just open your account your posts won't be showing up in the tag for a while, meaning people won't be able to find your content through the site wide search function. I forgot what the exact rule was, but I think you gotta post and reblog a certain amount of posts before your posts are allowed to show up.

4) Even if you won't be able to rise to fame using Tumblr, gaining followers is pretty easy in comparison to some other sites. My audience on here is only slightly smaller than my IG audience, and it's leagues larger than Twitter. The reason for this is reblogs- your content can boom in popularity months or even years after it's been posted if the right person finds and reblogs it, as opposed to IG and Twitter's 3-day expiration date. (This also means that reblogs are really important and you shouldn't treat this as IG and only leave likes.)

5) Tumblr's main Explore page DOES NOT work according to popularity, meaning its algorithm is way easier to navigate than other websites'. Your explore page will just as likely be filled with posts with a smaller amount of notes as they will with popular ones. Personally this is one of my fav things about Tumblr, since IG is actively not showing my posts even to my followers if I don't post Every Single Day. It's nice knowing your posts here will reach their intended audience one way or another if you use tags properly.

Okay, that's it for my top-of-my-head guide! Hope you have fun on here!

[carpisuns]

anatomy tips for anon

(someone asked me for this but tumblr ate the ask lol so I’ll just answer it here)

hi anon, I actually really struggle with anatomy so i was kinda surprised to get this ask hdjsksjs but i hope my answer is at least somewhat helpful!

first of all, there are a million methods for drawing a full body. some people like sketching out a skeleton first and building on top of it, some people start with a super loose/flowy general shape of the pose, some people use ovals or 3D boxes or cylinders—i'd recommend looking at various tutorials and trying them out to see what works for you!

unfortunately none of those methods worked very well for me,, i found them kinda cumbersome and counterintuitive so I usually end up just like. going for it lol. I don’t really have a System cause my method is honestly just “try your best, hold back the tears, fix it until it looks as passable as you can get it” DHJSKS but idk maybe it will help you to see my "process" lol

(ok i've never done a speed drawing thing before so i'm about to Expose Myself but im doing this for you anon haha)

(putting the rest under a cut bc it's long, sorry lol)

as u can see, it's a lot of trial and error for me. you may have noticed how i redrew every single thing like 50 times, how i initially made her arm ridiculously long and had to shorten it, how i general just Abused the lasso and warp tools....the list goes on haha. the point is, i make a lot of mistakes and my final products are still very flawed, but that's okay because i know i'm getting better the more i practice! if you scroll back through my art tag you will see some anatomical horrors that would make picasso cry, but at the time i was really proud of them LKJDFSKJLF

ok let me break it down a bit

i usually start with the head, neck, and like a vague indication of the shoulders lol. then i add these slightly angled lines to build the torso from and leave a little gap so i can come back for the arms

then I add the legs!

i used to be so allergic to legs lol but i've been drawing them more lately and i decided i actually kind of love them?? who'd have thought. (but not feet. dni)

here are some basic examples of how i draw legs. keep in mind that i am still learning and these are not like the best examples ever! i don't tend to put a lot of detail in my anatomy and mainly stick to very simple lines and curves, partially because i prefer a simpler style and partially bc i currently lack the skill to be fancier about it lol

i usually start with basically two lines slanted slightly inward for the upper leg and then for the lower leg i do a straighter line and a line with a bump for the calf. pay attention to what direction the knee is facing because that will determine where your bumps go

once i've got the legs, i have the basis of the pose in place, so i add the arms

shoulders are a weird struggle for me lol but i usually add like a little circle or triangle to indicate the joint so i can attach the arms. and then i build the arms kinda similar to how i do the legs—like with two slanted lines and then the bump for the lower arm

once I’ve got the whole body down, there is usually a fair amount of adjustment haha. I gotta ask, does the pose actually work? like, where is the character putting their weight, and does the pose make sense that way? are the legs and arms and torso the proper length and width? and then at some point after a lot of fiddling i give up and voila, done :)

as far as proportions goes, my advice is to pay attention but not sweat too much about it. I used to try to like Vitruvian Man it lol and count how many heads tall the character was and try to be super precise about the proportions according to one of those proportion chart things. and ofc that stuff helpful and important to know! but in the end, worrying that much about it was a hindrance for me and I ended up with really stiff and unnatural-looking poses. so I mostly just follow a couple rules of thumb:

1. The elbow should hit around the waist/mid-torso

2. The arm, fully extended, usually hits the upper thigh. like, wrist at crotch level I guess?

3. The length of the legs is like roughly equalish to the length of the the whole upper body (head to bottom of hips)

these are just basics and not very Scientific haha but that’s vaguely what I go for. also remember that proportions can be pretty stylistic too! for example, a real human body is normally like 8 heads tall, but I probably do like 6ish heads normally. that’s pretty common for more cartoony styles, and the bigger heads also make the character look younger bc kid proportions are different than adult proportions. just kinda play around with it and go with what feels natural and good for the character you’re drawing

if you feel like your pose is stiff and weird rather than natural/dynamic, it often helps to make sure the shoulders and hips are tilted slightly at opposite angles. that's a tip i picked up from this tumblr tutorial a long time ago and i always come back to it, haha

ok that's about all i have for specifics but i have just 2 general tips to end with:

1. Use!!! References!!! seriously. i use references every time i draw. i look at photos of real people and screenshots from the show and i even sometimes take pictures of myself for reference. often i'm using multiple references for one drawing, like piecing together elements of various refs to create the pose i want, but sometimes i work from a single reference. i also study my favorite artists' work pretty frequently to see how they do things. getting familiar with what good art and real life looks like will help you get better at mimicking it and noticing when things are off.

2. Be patient with yourself. You’re gonna mess up a lot. Sometimes you may even post something and realize months later that you made chat noir’s upper arm literally twice as long as it should be :/

but fear not! you don’t have to live forever in the shadow of Long Arm Chat! lol. you will get better just by trying, I promise.

Part of the process of making art you like is making a lot of art that you don't like, or art that you like at first but hate later. Your skills and your eye are developing simultaneously, and sometimes your eye passes up your skills, so that you're better at noticing your mistakes even if you struggle to fix them. that's okay! that gap can be really frustrating and discouraging, but it's still a sign of growth and your skill will catch up. just keep studying, keep drawing, and keep having fun! it gets better, seriously. when i first started drawing like two years ago, i thought i'd never be able to do a passable full-body pose. it was SO hard. and it's still hard for me! but i can do it much better now than i could then, and when i get bummed out about my limitations, it helps me to remember that even though i still have a long way to go to get where i want to be, i've also come a long way. and you will too! if your current self could see what your future self can do, you'd be so impressed 😌

P.S. just to reiterate, I am Not an expert At All and these are just some methods/tips that are working pretty well for me right now. i hope they help you out too, but my methods may not be the best fit for you, and if that's the case, don't sweat. try out a lot of stuff and see what clicks and makes sense. art is a learning process and it's so individual so i encourage you to experiment!

Good luck, and have fun!

[myork]

manny's one year + milestone celebration ♡

i’ve never really been big on celebrating anything, even on my prev blog (jimeanour) i never really celebrated any milestones, even the big ones. so i feel like this has been due for a while <3 and i also realised that i completed one year on here from when i started posting my poetry to writing ff and leaving that altogether and settling for creating visual content. whatever it was that made me stay, im glad, because tumblr has become such a huge part of my everyday life. and despite how constantly engaging on a platform online makes me feel drained, stressed and anxious every once in a while, i’m still glad i have this outlet. and you♡ now here’s how i’ve decided to celebrate-

Here are my rules/ categories ♡

‧��˚ ☆ enter request here 💌 ☆‧₊˚

now for the mutual(s) appreciation ♡ if you’re tagged, there’s a message for you! happy scrolling 🤡🤡these are things ive been wanting to say for a long time okay

@jimilter miss ashible i need to tell u how grateful i am for your support because you truly make me feel so comfortable and safe and appreciated. you’re such a gem and anyone who doesn’t believe it is LYIN!!!!!! truly one of the best people here ☹️💞ily so much thank you for being so annoying ☹️💗

@gukqi nhi i love you. thats it. thats the post. jokes aside im so grateful to have u as my internet husband you’re so talented and sweet and amazing and ilysm you’re so supportive and sometimes i just wanna run over to u to germany🥺💘 you’re truly one of my lifelines here and you make me want to open tumblr even when im discouraged to ☹️💗

@jeongcake tell i love you so much, you’re one of the best things thats ever happened to me and im so grateful to have u. we really do understand each other on a deeper scale and for that im grateful because i never have to hide from you ☹️💞from our jokes to our rare serious talks, im so happy to have u ily 🥺💞

@seokljin emma angel agenda. thats it. you’re literally like the most supportive person ive ever known how do u do it? how can all of that pixie fairy dust fit inside one angel of a human being? i feel like every time i post something esp jin related im like has emma seen this? and then i turn into a shy blushy school girl uwu. anyways if u haven’t translated it all yet- ily ☹️💗 and im so grateful for you.

@jeonqquk ivy my bby™️ you’re seriously such a whore gem ☹️💗ilysm and im so happy i have you. you’re part of my support system here and im so happy i can count on you. you’re really such a fun person. pls believe your gifs are amazing or ill punch u🥰 (dont u dare say kinky)

@joyfulhopelox maria my fav internet mother idk when you’ll see this but know that i love you and im always here for you 💗 thank you for always being there for me, youre truly such an angel. you’re so so amazing and rmr when i used to joke about you being not real? yeah, good times. sending lots of love to you and nugget and always hoping you’re okay💗💘

@usertae the bestest stella to ever exist 💀💀im kidding, i mean the sweetest, warmest, most welcoming person ever. ily celia you’re so nice and helpful and you were one of my first ever giffing mutuals even when i used to post complete trash💀idk what you saw then but just know that im grateful to have you as my mutual for so long and that you really raised in my standards in mutuals 💀🥺💗💘

@parkdatjimin MINDY BESTEST PERSON!! there, i said it 😤 ilysm and your tags JUST *squeals* *clenches fist* make my day ☹️you’re so supportive and im truly lucky to know you 💞💘💕💗

@still-with-koo lilo you call me a sweetheart when you're the biggest one there is ily☹️💖 you're so so sweet and warm and nice and just such a comfort person, im so glad we're mutuals ☹️💖💕

@itsallaboutzayn ESME SWEETEST PERSON AGENDA 😤im not even kidding, you’re so nice and supportive and i love all your asks, you always have so much love to give to people and i can only hope it’s returned tenfold because you deserve it 💕💘💕

@pjmsdior isa wifey i love you so much, you truly are one of the purest souls here and seeing u in my notifs or in my inbox makes so happy ☹️💗 ilyilyilyily

@dokyeomblr elv best elv favourite elv agenda!!!! you’re the nicest sweetest warmest person to exist and seeing u in my inbox or on my dash makes me light up like a christmas tree ☹️💗ily elvie

@jung-koook im so happy im finally getting the chance to say this, but i admire you so much sky. your dedication is commendable and everything you make is always in top tier quality and on top of all that you are so helpful and kind and i rmr getting a heart attack when you followed me 💀im so so grateful for all your help please know that💗💗

@taeyungie i know we just started talking but em, you’ve made me feel so warm and safe and i just, i feel like i could be myself with you. you’re so understanding and you love animals ☹️ the older grandma sister i didn’t know i needed, tho bullying you about it is more fun 🤡💗

@kimtaegis why so nice!!!!!!! hm?????? WHY 👏 SO 👏NICE????? jokes aside, i lurched off my bed when i saw the notification of a certain userkimtaegis-main following me one fine afternoon, and in true disney movie fashion, my life has never been the same. im just kidding ( or am i?🤨) but anyways annie you are so sO SO talented and everything you make is so pretty from coloring to quality everything. i admire you so so much and im so grateful to have you as a mutual 🥺💞💘

@marvelousbangtan sookies mom i hope i spelt that right😭 crystal ilysm your tags on my posts always make me so happy and your gifs are stunning and on top of all that youre so so so nice :(((((((((((💘💞💘im so happy we're mutuals :(

@gimbapchefs idk when you’ll see this 😭😭 nat *calls for a manhunt* but im so glad im mutuals with you ☹️you’re such a fun person, unproblematic person and i love interacting with you so much. im still so so grateful for the ptd in seoul stream, you gave me such an amazing opportunity and i’ll probably always be grateful for it and never ever forget it 💗i hope you’re doing well, hope to see you on my dash soon with your amazing gifs. imy ☹️💗

@jiminswn you’re really gonna make me repeat my giffing classes agenda huh 😔 jokes aside, miss alice im a fangirl. there i said it ☹️ you have the prettiest 16k ultra hd gifs and your colouring is gorgeous 😭😭ive been following u for so long, even before i started giffing and sometimes even now i wonder how u do it 🥺💗 any time i see u in my notifs, i get butterflies okay? ☹️💞

@min-boongie apart from being so pretty inside out *sobs* you're so nice reka and so so helpful. i meant what i said all those days ago, i look up to your content so much, your colouring is always so beautiful☹️💗💞💞💘

@heybaetae i was so scared to do this but miss kelli apart from your content that is prettiest in all the land with all the pretty colours and the highest quality sharpening, i feel like i actually screamed like a fangirl when you followed me back, more so when you rbed a set of mine with “#TALENT” yeah, im gonna get that laminated 😔

@rkivedfiles miss erl i love your gifs so much and your coloring is just so pretty and distinct i feel like i can recognise it from a mile away💗im so happy im mutuals with you :( you’re so nice and i still go back to look at that jimin set you made me ☹️💗

@hannahbee12719 miss hannah i think you’re literally nicest person ever😭 your tags make me feel so warm and appreciated and im so so grateful that im mutuals with you. i love and respect you so much 🥺☹️💗💘💕🥺

@hobeah flo ik you must be a little confused because we’ve interacted but also not too much but you HAVE to know how much i love your gifs. truly top tier content with the prettiest colouring and the quality just blows my mind even on the app 🥺💗

@userjiminie i had to tag you okay? i love love love your gifs so much miss rafa and you’re also so talented like esp your pinned post 😭 how do u do it☹️💗seeing your tags on my posts just makes my day okay? and you saying u like my content made me sob for 17 miniutes 😔🤧💕

@minieggukie apart from being the jikook™️ blog on here, miss kris i tagged u because i wanted you to know that you just have a very pretty coloring style okay? 🥺💕it just so soft and pretty and you even manage to gif lq videos so well 🤧 we don’t interact but pls know that i love your gifs so so much and i actually squealed when u followed me back *sniffs*

@sugajimin i tagged you because i wanted you to know that you have amazing gifs and your a-z with jimin is my fav thing on this hellsite 😭 and even your gfx are amazing!! you’re really so so talented, the quality of your gifs just makes me gasp sometimes, thank you for following me back 😭💞

@rosebowl miss sharika you just seem like a very cool person okay? your gifs are really really pretty and i just love looking at your 100days of seokjin series ☹️i hope you’ve been well 🤧💕

@kth1 miss maggie i know we don’t interact much but i needed u to know that i really really love your gifs <3 your coloring is vv pretty and your gifs are always in such high quality ☹️🥺💗

@sopev we’ve never interacted that much but miss daphne i tagged you to let you know that 1) idk how many times i’ve opened your blog to stare at your header 2) your gifs are stunning. stunning. period. they’re so colourful and so hq ☹️💕💘

@taechnological miss sae you’re just very cool okay? there i said it 😔 but apart from being so funny and cool i think you’re just a really great person to interact with and i absolutely love all your threads, your dedication is so so appreciated ☹️💗💕

@textsfrombangtan how does it feel to be the funniest, most iconic person on this hellsite? 😔 you have to know that i love your tags so much 🤧 and i sometimes stalk all your posts because your memes just make me really happy okay? ☹️ily hope you’re taking care of your (iconic) self 💗 or else 😤💪

@jinv my tag for you is coloring genius valeinstein💀 and rightfully so because miss val your coloring is truly something else, i got a bit dizzy when u started following me because ive been admiring you and your (amazing) content from afar for so long ☹️🥺💞💕

@cherryvmin kheer my darling, the absolute queen of moodboards i miss interacting with you but you have to know that i love your content so much and you’re really just so so nice and warm it melts my heart ☹️💗💘💕

@jiminie-and-his-pinky-finger nani my bb how are you 🥺💗i hope you’re doing okay. i tagged u to know that i love you and im so happy to be mutuals with you for so long 💗💘 anytime we interact, it fills me with so much warmth because you’re truly such a sweetheart ☹️💗

@jimijimimie pristine my darling imy okay? ily☹️💘 you’re so so talented and your tags on my posts just muah 💋 i hope you’ve been well, just know that im always here for you 💗💗

@tekootine val my baby i hope you’re okay ily so so much 💗☹️ you’re a total sweetheart whos so talented and im so happy whenever we interact because seeing you in my inbox brings the biggest smile on my face 💘💞 you’re just very precious okay? 🥺😭💕

@softbobamilktae zee i hope you know how much i appreciate you. we’ve been mutuals for quite a while now and i hope you know im so grateful for your support esp during that time in my dms 💗 you’re also so relatable in your tps omg 😳💞

@introlxv onyx bb we haven’t talked properly in so long but i just want to tell u that i love and appreciate you so much 💗☹️youre so fucking talented and amazing and im so happy i know you 💗💕💞pls never forget that 🥺💗

@moonsclover ahana my adopted bb ilysm and you're truly such a sweetheart i love love love your moodboards so much and anytime i see you in my inbox, it just brightens up my day by x323239💘💗💕

@fluffyydumplings fluffy i know we’ve completely stopped interacting but pls know that im so happy we’re still mutuals and that you’re so so talented and your voice oml is beautiful(i just remembered your narration(?) for that one fic). i hope you’ve been well 💗

@vopegist kyo dough i love u. thanks for coming to my ted talk. im just kidding, ik we haven’t talked in a while but just know that ily and am always here for you titty 💀☹️💗🥺

@rkivian miss kiri you’re such a fun person and im so glad we’ve been mutuals for so long ☹️ you really stole my heart when u dmed me all those months ago hskdjsks besides everything, i really love it when you tag me in games okay? makes me feel connected to you even tho its been so long since we interacted ☹️💗

@parkjiminxfloor jans idk when you’ll see this bb but know that ily and im forever grateful for your support🥺💞thank you for all your sweet asks and tags, they always make my day 💗💗you’re amazing 💫

@alpacaseok star we just became mutuals but know that i really appreciate you and you’re just really a very sweet, supportive person 🥺💞

@thornedswan ik we’ve barely interacted but pls know im always so so grateful for you reblogging my gifs 💗

@cosyserendipity sonjaaa you’re so so sweet and i think i already told you this but im always so so grateful for your reblogs 🥺💗 and that the fact that you tag me in games, i love those!💘💗💞

@crispy-chan jas my absolute darling favourite baby ever 🥺💗i love you so so much and i miss you and our conversations a lot ☹️💗 youre such an amazing person and on top of all that you’re literally so talented and sweet. i hope you’re taking care of your precious self (hows apple 💀💗) miss you and love you tons pls know that i tagged u last so that u could find yourself amongst all these bts blogs 😭

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Hi there! I hope this is okay, first of all I just wanted to tell you that your blog is of great help! Thank you SO much for all of your advices. Also I'm kinda new here and Idk if this have been asked before but could you give me advice on how to write a Polyamoroua relationship? Between maybe 3 to 6 people? Hope it's not much of a burden, if it's feel free to don't answer :3

Hi :)

It hasn’t been asked before, but if you’re unsure about this you could search on my blog for the tag. If there is none, it’s probably something new :)

Before I write down some advice, just a warning. I’m actually not personally familiar with polyamory, I’ve only seen it on TV (shout out to my favourite show Sense8), so I would recommend also checking out some first-hand accounts, which Tumblr is a good place for, I think.

Also keep in mind that relationships vary a lot and there are different ways on how to be polyam. There could also be all people in a relationship with each other or people having separate relationships with more than one partner.

How to write a polyamorous relationship

the basics of polyam relationships are pretty similiar to monogamous ones

most important thing: good, honest communication

having a talk before entering the relationship with everyone involved about what everyone wants and needs out of this relationship, where the boundaries of each person are and how to accomplish their relationship in the way they all want

repeating that conversation every so often to see if everyone is still happy or if there is something that needs to be adjusted

make clear what the rules of the relationship are

is it an open or a closed relationship? What would be seen as cheating? What would happen if someone breaks the rules?

do show conflict, even if you want to show a healthy polyam relationship there will always be conflict if two or more people are together

in a monogamous society it’s normal to have some kind of outside pressure and having moments of doubt

again, just focus on their communication skills to handle this conflict and reassure everyone in the partnership

show the relationship between all the partners, but also focus on the individual ones

having rituals and traditions with different partners

taking different parts in the relationship

the rational one, the caring one, the affectionate one, the goofy one, the protective one, etc.

fair division of labor, like house chores, caring, work

needing a lot of closet space if they live together

maybe having different rooms they can retreat to

not all of them sleeping in the same bed every night

having cups with their initials on them to not confuse them all the time

I hope this helps and good luck writing!

- Jana

[jellybeanforest-a-go-go]

I hope this is OK, but I've seen your posts on AO3 and I was wondering what your thoughts are concerning racism on the site. I'm not on ao3 a lot, but I've seen BIPOC users complain on tumblr about racist content on AO3 and it not being addressed. Do you think there's a way (should there be a way) to address the issues of racism on AO3? Idk, just something I'm thinking about and would like to hear someone's input. Sorry if this is vague.

This has been something I’ve been thinking and reading about for months, so this is going to be a long answer.

First off, I think it’s important to note that this is not an issue unique to AO3. Racism can be found on AO3, but it also be found on Tumblr, FFN, Wattpad, Twitter, Discord, Youtube... basically any site with a large userbase. Racism is a problem in fandom spaces, including AO3, because it is a problem in society in general. 

Secondly, AO3 is first and foremost an archive, not a social media site as some people have claimed. There are no forums for people to gather and discuss and organize, no algorithms to recommend other material based on what you have clicked on or favorited, no DMs/PMs, no personal journaling/ephemeral posts, etc. There are comments on individual works, but these are all siloed and specific to the work, and most more-general communication is done off-site on sites like Tumblr or Discord. As an archive, AO3 does not moderate content in the same way your local library does not screen its catalogue for respectability and will contain all types of objectionable content, including books by literal Nazis. AO3′s mission, which has not changed since its inception, is to host all fannish content, and they will “not remove content for offensiveness, no matter how awful, repugnant, or badly spelled [they] may personally find that content to be.” They are never going to moderate content, because once they make an exception for one thing, then people will clamor to remove additional categories of things. If they remove racism, what about ableism? Or homophobia? Or sexism? Can a fic depict these issues at all (especially considering that the authors likely to write about discrimination are likely people who experience it IRL, which I will get to later in the post)? What if it’s an element that exists in the original canon (like Gone With the Wind) or I’m writing an AU set in the American Civil Rights era? What if the fic has more subtle racist undertones instead of being outright racist? How do they deal with that nuance? Adding to all that, racism is also going to look different based on culture. How will AO3 moderate a Chinese-language fic that depicts the Japanese in a very negative light? Is it okay if such a fic is set during the historical Rape of Nanjing? Basically, how are you going to standardize it so that the application of such a rule is even across the board and sensitive to other cultures? I don’t know the answers to all these, but I do know that content moderation has basically been the slow death knell of every fannish site to date (e.g. the FFN purges, LJ Strikethrough) and was the reason that AO3 was created and has since thrived. They will host literally any fannish content that is legal in the state of New York, where they are located, because it is a clear line with actual legal standards that make this content easier to identify, remove, and report to the proper authorities.

That being said, I do believe that racism should be addressed in some way because it can become an accessibility issue for POC, where they may feel unwelcome if a troll operating in bad faith decides to flood multiple large fandom tags with shitty racist fics with slurs in the title and/or additional tags. We’ve already seen this happen with the infamous STWW fic where the author, after their one month suspension (due to death threats in the Author’s Notes, though some people have pointed out they may have also broken the TOS because their excessive tagging made the site unusable for screen readers and crashed mobile phones), came back and changed the title to a bunch of racist and homophobic slurs, updated the tags to include the largest fandoms and pairings, made the summary into a block of text where one letter was on each line to take up as much screen real estate as possible, and then proceeded to update daily for several days so as many people as possible in the multiple effected fandoms were subjected to it until it was ultimately restricted AGAIN by AO3 and then deleted by the author. (I don’t know why it was restricted a second time, but that has to count as harassment, right?) Anyway, to combat similar situations, I believe that AO3 users should have the ability to mute/block not only authors (which is in the works already) but also blacklist tags without having to type them into the Exclude filter every single time. I have also seen some suggestions for disallowing certain words in the metadata of fics (e.g. title and tags, but not the actual body of the fic), and this could work, though the database for it is going to be large to accommodate multiple languages, cultures, and sensitivities. This solution would also require discussions about what should count as a slur for purposes of metadata restriction, but I do think this is a worthwhile solution that will allow maximum inclusiveness of fic while giving users the tools to curate their own experience on the archive.

I have seen other solutions that have been suggested on Tumblr, but many of them would be impractical to implement, not have the intended effect, and/or make the situation significantly worse by increasing the potential for harassment.

One suggestion is to add a Mandatory Tag for Racism. Currently, there are four mandatory archive warnings for fics on AO3 for underage, major character death, rape/noncon, and graphic violence. There is also "Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings," which basically means the fic can have any of the above, but the author is not specifying which one applies. Generally, AO3 will leave tagging up to the discretion of the author, but if one of the archive warnings do apply and the author doesn't tag it AND they don't tag "Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings," then readers can report the fic, and AO3 will reach out to the author to change it. If the author still doesn't want to tag the mandatory warning, AO3 will add a "Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings" tag to the fic that the author cannot remove, because that is exactly what they have chosen to do. Some people have suggested that AO3 add a fifth warning: Racism. While well-meaning, I sometimes wonder if people have really thought this through, specifically what would be the steps to implement it and what a “Racism” tag would actually mean.

Before you implement a new Mandatory Archive tag, you have to consider what to do with the millions of fic already on AO3. Should they contact all of the authors to inform them of the new warning? Add "Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings" to all of them to cover all bases? Grandfather older fic in so that anything past a certain date must be warned for (similar to what they did with the new tag limit)? Wait for reader reports and assess each one by hand? (Keep in mind, everyone is a volunteer and there are millions of fics of various lengths that can be altered by the author at any time.) To assess such fics, you need to standardize the guidelines for what requires the tag. Again, how do they assess whether a fic warrants the tag? Sure, some stuff is obvious, but what about more subtle forms of racism? How would this be defined and standardized so that the guidelines can be applied evenly and fairly across the board. You may notice that the mandatory archive warnings tend to be fairly objective, because what do you think is easier to figure out: Whether a major character dies in a fic or whether something is racist? You also have to contend with bad actors who will use any type of content moderation to harass content or ships they don’t like. I’ve seen takes on Tumblr and Reddit that interracial ships are racist and/or ”harmful” to minorities because one shouldn’t ship a person with white privilege with someone that will never attain white privilege or this will be “diluting” minority culture, which is just a racist argument against interracial relationships that (poorly) co-opts progressive language. I’ve also seen (more common) arguments that some all-white ships are automatically racist because they ignore prominent non-white characters. Basically, I wouldn’t envy someone who has to shift through hundreds of reports of FinnRey or Reylo fics supposedly being racist that have little to do with content and more to do with ship wars. But let’s say that AO3 does implement a new mandatory archive tag, are able to figure out what to do with the old fic, draw up objective guidelines to judge these fics, and somehow no one uses this new policy to harass people (a huge stretch, but let’s assume for the sake of argument that everyone is on their best behavior), there are still two hurdles:

1) Like any Mandatory Archive tag, if the fic requires an archive tag, and the author chooses not to warn for it, AO3 is not going to do more than slap on a “Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings” tag on it. 

2) Used correctly, the Racism tag wouldn’t even be an indication of whether a fic is actually racist. For instance, a Tony Stark/Rhodey fic set in the late 1980's that deals with the realities of being an interracial gay couple may deal with themes of homophobia and racism and be rightly tagged "Homophobia" and "Racism," but that doesn't mean the fic itself is homophobic and/or racist. 

So, if people try to say that everything tagged “Racism” is actually racist, just know that they’re going to include a lot of work by BIPOC that deals with depictions of racism in a critical way, and if your ultimate goal is to be able to filter out racist fic, then a new mandatory tag isn’t going to work real well for that purpose. In fact, stories by minority writers are often the ones that are most often reported or flagged for such incendiary content (even compared to works with similar themes by white authors). This dovetails with another suggestion that I’ve read about: Reader-generated Trigger Warnings. Some people have suggested that AO3 allows readers to flag works as racist. AO3 wouldn’t even be the first site to implement such a feature. Storygraph (for traditionally published books) gives readers the ability to flag triggering content. 

Anyone want to guess what happened?

Anyone?

If you guessed that trigger warnings were weaponized against marginalized authors, with their books being flagged more often for content warnings and some works being flagged with triggers they don’t even contain as a form of harassment, then you get a virtual cookie. In fact, Storygraph had to implement author-approved tags (similar to what AO3 has now) to get around the issue of readers being absolute dicks and purportedly trying to discourage people from reading content by marginalized authors. If you don’t think AO3 will suffer the same problem with reader-generated tags, then you honestly have way more faith in humanity than we deserve. 

So, in closing, I think the best way to deal with racism on AO3 is to allow users to block, block, block. AO3 doesn’t have to take down content; they don’t have to give us well-meaning-but-poorly-thought-out tools that will inevitably be used to harass the people they are trying to protect, but I think we all would like to be able to remove certain users and content from our fandom experience entirely without having to use special skins or having to re-enter long exclusion filters. 

[hadeskitchen]

Update 12.29.21

Yeah, it's the middle of the week but it's been too long since I did an update on this blog, so I'm doing one now. (I'm gonna start doing shorter updates every weekend starting with the new year.)

I want to start off by mentioning that I'm working on a Twine tutorial template

I ended up making a (sugarcube) Twine tutorial template for a friend a couple weeks ago. Since then I've been turning that template into a detailed tutorial on coding and Twine that will be released very soon. Hopefully, it'll be useful to people who are in the process of switching from cog to Twine, who've decided that they want to make an IF game as their New Year's resolution, or anyone else who may be interested. I may even produce a few video tutorials to accompany it if I have the time. But until it comes out, if you have any questions or requests for specific things you'd like to see in the template, please let me know! ☺️

As a note, I'll be trying to show a variety of writing/coding styles in addition to my own and, as a general rule, would never judge or look down on someone for not doing things like me.

Okay, onto Hades' Kitchen...

With Hades' Kitchen, the first episode is fully planned and I'm about halfway through writing what will be the first demo release. I'm currently polishing up this first half and will be sending it out to beta testers soon. I'm currently aiming for a realistic and comfortably vague spring 2022 release.

Hades' Guide has a small update coming tomorrow that will include:

In-depth profiles for the olympian and chthonic deities

New MyShade profiles for Alex and Julio as well as updated profiles for the ROs

Better navigation mechanics that should make moving through the app faster and easier

Some minor bug fixes, grammar and spelling corrections, and accessibility improvements

There's also gonna be a larger Hades' Guide update coming within the next few weeks that will include:

Full lists of mortal and monstrous beings with explanations of each

The story of Hades and Persephone

More information about Underworld society, politics, and urban legends

A map of Neo Olympus with more info on the cities/regions MC can be from

Miscellaneous entries on background lore like the Trojan War, ripper surgeons + cybernetic enhancements, ECHO, prophets, wanted criminals, CirceTV + The Odyssey, and more...

Inevitable bug fixes and corrections from the smaller update

Other HK stuff I've been doing:

Making artbreeder portraits for the characters

Drawing actual portraits for the characters (but who knows if I'll ever have the guts to share them)

Playing with/improving the game's UI

Updating all the existing posts on this blog with accurate info and better tags

Getting the other short stories ready for release

Drafting lore posts and individual character profiles for Tumblr

Working on the last few asks I've yet to answer (mainly just cause they're longer)

Writing a little "which character are you"-type quiz

Coordinating with the giveaway winners

My other projects are truly on the backburner right now. My attention is solely on getting the demo for HK completed and finishing up this tutorial. (But I'm debating revealing the name of the secret IF soon, idk, let me know if you're interested in that or learning about my other projects).

That's all for now! I hope you've all managed to survive the holiday season and truly wish you the very best for this upcoming year. Thank you so much for your support, it truly means the world to me. 💜