#Is it cringe to do fanart of your own book? Maybe so. But I DON'T CARE! :D

[mayasynth]

My beautiful unhinged daughter, Mary Elizabeth Frankenstein <3 I know this was not at all how the scene actually went, but humour me

(Pssssst everyone please read Our Hideous Progeny, pleaseee 🙏)

[mars-starr-rantz]

HEY YOU!

Yes, I'm talking to you!

The one with the face uncomfortableably close to your phone/laptop?

Thought so.

Do you feel like your life is lacking whimsy? Like you're addicted to your phone and your ipad, nought but a zombie to streaming services and crappy apps like Shein and Temu?

You probably do if you've ended up here. I know I do. So here are some tips to help you disconnect from the rat race that I've been seeing more and more people do recently (maybe because I'm on the physical media side of TikTok).

1) PHYSICAL MEDIA, PEOPLE. Streaming services are using ads now. UNSKIPPABLE ADVERTISING. On the Netflix you pay *monthly* for? If you buy a DVD, CD or book one time, you own it for as long as you want, no monthly fee, no unskippable ads after listening to TWO SONGS ON YOUR SPOTIFY PLAYLIST, and you can enjoy it as many times as you want! The power is quite literally in your hands.

2) Burning CDs. Upset your favourite artist doesn't release their music in physical form but you want to listen anyway? Fear not my friend, I have just the solution- piracy! (Joking, it's only piracy if you sell burned CDs - as long as you aren't making a profit, it's perfectly legal). I won't go into detail on how to do it right now because I will yap for days but it's easy enough if you have a disc drive, blank cds and some time to kill.

3) Get yourself a library card. I'm serious. "But Mars", I hear you cry, "I don't like to read books!" Well, my dear, do I have news for you. Libraries can also rent out movies, video games, CDs (including CD audio books) cooking/sewing supplies, and host social clubs to get you out and about and talking to people (obviously depending on the library you go to, but those are the ones I've seen). Plus, it's not just fiction books they have there, you can find a book for pretty much any skill you want to learn and any interest you may have.

4) Thrifting. You've probably heard this point a million times, but I'm going to say it again: cheap clothes, eco friendly shopping practices, and you literally never know what you'll find.

5) Delete apps that bring stress. Im talking Duolingo (fuck that stupid green bird and its AI "employees"), Snapchat (snapstreaks are the bane of my existence istg), anything that makes you feel tethered to your phone. If it's not productive or it doesn't bring you joy, then axe it.

6) make friends with old people. I mean like elderly people. That will automatically bring your life more whimsy because they have such amazing stories about their lives, and people usually ignore them or overlook them unfairly. This also ties in to getting involved in your community and just generally knowing people, recognising faces, building a connection to the place you live.

7) grow flowers. Flowers bring joy, it doesn't get simpler than that. I recommend lavender because it smells amazing, encourages sleep and is pretty resistant to any and all attempts of killing it.

8) Be unapologetically cringe. You like cartoons? Good. You write/read fanfiction? At least you're reading or developing skills. You draw fanart? You're stretching creative muscles in your brain. Like what you like and don't feel the need to repress it just because some people are too afraid to express themselves. It's not your fault they're insecure.

So yeah that was my ramble of things to do to make your life a little less dull and repetitive. Bring some whimsy to the world. Dress how you want girl you only live once and that's not enough times to give a fuck about other peoples opinions.

Bye for now!

[whereistheonepiece]

I keep thinking about some anti fandom OC person I saw. Luckily I don't see this sentiment often, but I do know this person had a lot of people who agree with them, and their argument reminds me of an opinion a high school friend had.

So their argument was you shouldn't make an OC for the fandom you like. You should make your own series with its own characters. It reminds me of a high school friend who was against fanfiction for the very same reason... Until he ended up changing his mind and writing a fanfic of his favorite character from his favorite cartoon getting buff and getting together with a character he shipped him with. Funny how that works.

Anyway, I've been turning this thought around in my head. A lot of people in fandom will say the fanfic argument is stupid and unreasonable, but will agree with the fandom OC thing.

Why? Probably because OCs are "cringe" and inaccessible. Some people haven't gotten past the Mary Sue/Gary Stu/Marty Stu discourse (although let's be real here - it's mostly Mary Sue discourse) that somehow refuses to die. They see an OC and think they're all Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way. But you know, I think we need to let go of the fear of overpowered and super special unique OCs in certain fandoms, like cartoons and anime and certain genres. We are not dealing with realism in these instances, where overpowered and super special unique characters abound. Also I think, for the most part (unless the OC creator invites it), it's kind of frowned upon to treat a smaller creator's OC as your own character, with headcanons and projecting yourself onto them. It's not good form to treat a smaller creator's OC like your doll, like we all do with our blorbos. (Where the limit is, I don't know. It's something I've been turning around in my head for years.) I have seen several people say they'd rather read a self insert OC fic than a fic with a regular fandom OC. Why get to know a new character you assume is going to be poorly written when you can project your qualities and interests onto a barely there avatar?

And like. If we're going to argue we should make our own characters, because the series we create fic and art for are not our intellectual property, I think we should take this argument to its logical conclusion. Why are we creating art for our fandoms at all, be it fanfic or fanart. After all, it's not our series that we created. And all of us have ideas and interpretations for characters that are odds with the creator's original vision by virtue of us being completely separate people, never mind headcanons and AUs that are often completely at odds with canon portrayal. We all do it, don't lie. And even if you can argue a piece of fanfic or fanart, aka transformative art, is completely in line with canon and the creator's vision, why don't you just create your own world and characters, hm?

And on the "official" side of things, why do we have so many reboots and reimaginings and spinoffs of legacy properties? Think Scooby Doo, TMNT, comic books, sequels to movies that came out decades ago, anything with Star in the title. If it's not being helmed by the original creator (or maybe with their input and blessing, but I'm not feeling very generous because the original argument isn't), that's just someone playing with characters and a world they didn't create. Is it okay because it's done by professionals for profit?

Probably.

Anyway. People create fanart and fanfic because the original work has moved them in some way, good or bad. I just think we should extend that level of understanding to people who want to create OCs for their favorite fandoms.

[jsuislfrost]

hey, idk how to say this without seeming slightly creepy, since i have no idea what your stance is on being associated with the username moonshroom420 (i hope i got that correctly, otherwise this will be a very awkward and misdirected ask. it took a bit of searching through tumblr reblogs and even then, i'm still not sure if it's right).

(and i'm sorry for bringing it up if you have negative memories with that username)

but like,, 9 years ago or something? i'm pretty sure you kick-started my entire journey into fandoms with "brace yourself, hogwarts". no, this is not a request for you to update that fic /srs. as much as i enjoyed it i do not want to pressure you about it, but i do come back to it from time to time to reread it. i would be lying if i said it didn't inspire most of my writing style back then.

ever since then, fandoms were such fun communities for me to thrive in, and i've met some of my best friends because of them. i don't write anymore, but i do love drawing fanart of anime (current favourite is bungou stray dogs ahaha shameless recommendation).

so i kinda just wanted to thank you for writing that fic and existing, because i wouldn't be who i am today without it, nor would i have met the people who i treasure so much in my life.

and you don't have to answer this question but, looking at myself and how much i changed in 9 years, i'm sort of curious what your journey was like? does it feel strange to learn how you've impacted people's lives (or at least mine)?

sorry if this sappy and horribly written ask made you cringe so hard, i mainly just wanted to thank you and maybe see how you were doing now.

hey!! i’ve got no problem at all with moonshroom420 lol, i changed my user mostly because my friends started teasing me about it being a weed thing (it wasn’t, but would be funny if it was #legalise it). sorry the change turned you around so much, but i’m honoured you put that much effort into finding my tumblr.

i don’t really know what to say except thank you 💛. i’m always a little surprised when people say any if my stories touched them in ways that ended up shaping their lives, because i was 15/16 when i wrote most of them and i wouldn’t exactly call them great writing. it started as a way for my friends and i to escape and then became its own beast entirely, but i also wouldn’t be who i am today without them.

i’m always thankful to you and everyone else who encouraged me. i still get reviews on lots of my stuff today if you can believe it, it’s always funny to me that folks would bother. it’s strange in a way to know that i’ve impacted people in ways i never intended, but i love it. i screenshot some of the reviews that really meant a lot to me and have them as my screensaver. i think the readers impacted me the same as my stuff impacted them tbh.

as for me, i work in publishing now making books for kids who don’t have easy access to them, like in combat zones and underprivileged countries. hilarious to think that i wouldn’t have this dream job and wonderful friends if it weren’t for fanfic.

[thegeminisage]

🎤 for the fic meme!

🎤 - what’s a strongly-held opinion you have about fics?

geez what ISNT a strongly held opinion i have about fics...let me see if i can narrow it down to like a top 5 or something lol. in no particular order:

there really is not any such thing as "writer's block." i know i say this all the time but there literally always is a particular reason the words aren't happening and waving it away as a "mysterious block" like the power to type fiction in a google doc is an ability given to you by the gods on high & you just have to wait for them to bless you again is like. not actually going to help you get anything done. it's not magic and it doesn't happen on its own! figure out the problem, the EXACT problem, and then you can fix it.

ambient sounds/the right music will always make it easier to write. i have a whole list

fics and books aren't the same thing. they're 2 different forms of media that are just similar on a surface level, like tv & movies. saying fics aren't as good as "real books" is like saying tv isn't as good as "real movies." tv isn't trying to be movies & fics aren't trying (or shouldn't be trying) to be books so shut the fuck up. (also, fic is better <3) relatedly, if someone wants to file off the serial numbers then just let them & leave them alone, that's literally their own business. it's kind of unfair that fanartists can get paid and we all accept that as normal and not cringe but fanfic authors can't even SUGGEST they should be paid without getting roasted and in fact have to jump thru hoops (said serial numbers) if they ever wanna see any cash. i don't really wanna get paid for writing fanfic bc i do it for fun and that's an instant way to take the passion out of it but i do believe you should be able to commission a fic/set up a patreon the way u can for fanart cuz that's only fair. you know?? like in this unsympathetic bitch of a capitalist hellscape im not gonna judge most people for trying to monetize their shit. Bad Opinion but there it is

fic writing is for fun and if you are stressing a lot about your stats or if comments are the only reason you write it is not a good way to live. i won't elaborate in order to respect privacy but i have had not one but TWO former-ish friends have literal actual nervous breakdowns about this. if you can't separate fic writing from the need for it to be personal validation you're never going to enjoy it for its own sake and you should maybe work on some personal stuff instead of your fanfic. idk i'm not your mom

DO NOT DO THAT THING where you like. put "idk how to summarize" or a fic excerpt in your summary. AND THEN PUT THE ACTUAL SUMMARY. IN YOUR NOTES. i can't see the author's notes from the browsing page! if you can summarize it in the author's notes you can move that text to the box that i actually can see! excerpts are great for tumblr but they're very bad at getting me to click on a fic on AO3 unless the tags are both very descriptive and very up my alley. if you really like excerpts you can put that AND the summary in the summary box but for the love of god don't hide the summary behind something i have to click on bc i'm so sorry but i will not do it.

[ask meme]

[jenovacomplete]

I mean like. Yeah u can hyperfixate on yuri but once uve read all the manga volumes like..its over....i mean ive had periods where i was hyperfixated on yuri in general but theres no like. Specific yuri series that lots of people make fancontent for that you can consume for months on end??? theres so much fanart for mdzs, and its specifically a danmei. and theres more than just fluffy romcoms....!!!!!!besides citrus..!!!!!!!! I have a manga on my desk rn called "killing me!" abt a vampire hunter and a vampire or "after hours" which is abt adults and one of them gets the other into DJing, and even series with "fluffy" romance can be a lot more nuanced than ud think and tbh i think its a lot healthier to have mostly fluffy stuff than mostly sexual content (gay teens deserve wish fulfillment stuff, also not saying mdzs is sexual i mean ? I dont know if it is? Just yaoi in general) but i agree the worship of """""" purity """"""" is gross but the difference is that its made mostly by wlw. Also i wasnt being accusatory, like i know ur gay, its just funny bc idk like. i feel like everyone got into chinese bl of a sudden and I dont rly get the appeal even tho theres more to it, its kind of like the three kingdoms (i assume theres like politics and battles ?) but magic and gay thats nice!!! That sounds sarcastic its not i swear. i cant watch series that have 50 min long eps but I'll take ur word for it that the untamed is good

hyperfixation has nothing to do with fandom and as someone who's hyperfixated on obscure shit for years at a time if there's no content you can make your own. like I completely get what you're saying but that's really not how that works

ofc there's more than fluffy romcoms -- however most wlw content tends to be of that type bc of the obsession w women being "pure" n shit like that. it's the same reason why most content of gay men tends to become hypersexualised -- it's just another manifestation of homophobia. that kind of content doesn't appeal to me, so when it comes to yuri I often have to look harder. I don't even like romance as a genre (generally hate it actually) which is why I've been going on about tgcf so much -- it's the first romance-centric media that's made me Get It

I get what you mean about how gay kids deserve better n I agree!! hypersexualisation fucking sucks and I wish we didn't have to grow up in a world where we're seen as commodities. however mdzs and tgcf are both what I'd consider 18+ books and any adaptations remove most sexual elements. I really don't think you should pass judgement on them without knowing anything about them. that's not a case of "uh you haven't consumed it so how can you judge!!" but instead hey maybe you could like, ask me what they're about... do a basic bit of googling... also BL isn't yaoi. BL and GL stand for boy's love and girl's love respectively and there's nothing inherently sexual about either of them. I get the feeling you've gotten confused on some terminology

honestly no idea where you're getting "everyone is into danmei now" from bc the group of people I know who're into it are VERY small lmao your social circle is not the entire internet. it's okay to feel confused by the changing tides of fandom and it's okay to feel left out but it's really not anything deep mate. it's okay to not be interested in something other people like, you don't have to justify it. although your concerns about the sexualisation of LGBT people are a legitimate discussion and I'm interested in having it within this context it's just not working bc (as you've admitted) you don't even know the media you're using as a springboard. what I'm hyperfixating on is none of your business and it's not something you should feel comfortable going on anon and basically telling me I should feel cringe for, holy shit. your argument is lost bc you are approaching this as if you have any right to the media I consume! I'm sorry if this sounds mean but I just woke up and I'm really tired and stressed and you're projecting ideas onto me that I have no way to deal w because They Have Nothing To Do With Me