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music-industry-updates · 3 months

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Creative Ways to Support Your Musician Friend Without Spending Money

Supporting a musician friend can be a fulfilling experience, and the good news is, it doesn't have to cost you anything. Here are some creative and effective ways to help your friend thrive in their musical journey without spending a dime.

Share Their Music

One of the simplest ways to support your musician friend is by sharing their music on your social media platforms. Tumblr is an excellent place for this due to its rich multimedia capabilities and active community of music enthusiasts.

Tips:

Reblog their tracks, music videos, and posts.

Create a Tumblr post featuring their music with a personal review or shout-out.

Use relevant tags to increase visibility.

Attend Their Virtual Events

Even if you can't make it to their live shows, attending their virtual performances and live streams can show your support and help them build an online audience.

Tips:

Share links to their virtual events on your Tumblr.

Encourage your followers to join and watch.

Post live updates and highlights during the event to generate buzz.

Create Fan Art and Graphics

If you have artistic skills, create fan art, graphics, or posters for their music. This not only shows your support but also provides them with promotional material they can use.

Tips:

Design posters or album covers inspired by their music.

Share your creations on Tumblr and tag your friend.

Encourage other fans to create and share their own art.

Write Reviews and Blog Posts

Use your Tumblr blog to write reviews of their albums, songs, or performances. Detailed and heartfelt reviews can attract new listeners and provide valuable feedback to your friend.

Tips:

Write a detailed review of their latest album or single.

Create a blog post about their music journey and what makes their work unique.

Share these posts in music-related Tumblr communities and tags.

Help with Social Media Promotion

Offer to help manage their social media accounts or create promotional content. Consistent and engaging social media activity can significantly boost their online presence.

Tips:

Schedule regular posts to keep their audience engaged.

Create engaging and visually appealing content for their profiles.

Interact with fans and respond to comments and messages.

Organize Listening Parties

Organize virtual listening parties where you and your friends can listen to their new releases together. This can create a sense of community and excitement around their music.

Tips:

Use Tumblr to invite people to a virtual listening party.

Create a playlist of their songs and share it with attendees.

Encourage everyone to share their thoughts and reactions during the party.

Offer Your Skills

If you have skills in graphic design, video editing, photography, or marketing, offer your services to help promote their music. High-quality visuals and professional marketing can make a significant impact.

Tips:

Design promotional materials such as posters and flyers.

Edit music videos or promotional clips.

Take professional photos for their social media and press releases.

Engage with Their Content

Engage with your friend’s posts by liking, reblogging, and commenting. Increased engagement can help their content reach a wider audience and attract more followers.

Tips:

Set notifications for their posts to stay updated.

Leave thoughtful comments and feedback.

Encourage your followers to engage with their content as well.

Collaborate on Content

If you have a blog, YouTube channel, or podcast, feature your musician friend. Collaborative content can introduce them to new audiences and provide additional exposure.

Tips:

Invite them for an interview on your platform.

Write a guest blog post together about their music journey.

Create a collaborative video or song and share it on Tumblr.

Provide Emotional Support

Being a musician can be challenging, and emotional support is invaluable. Be there for your friend during both the highs and lows of their career. Celebrate their successes and offer words of encouragement during tough times.

Tips:

Check in regularly to see how they are doing.

Celebrate milestones and achievements together.

Offer words of encouragement and motivation when they face challenges.

Supporting your musician friend doesn’t have to involve financial investment. By sharing their music, attending virtual events, creating fan art, writing reviews, helping with social media promotion, organizing listening parties, offering your skills, engaging with their content, collaborating on projects, and providing emotional support, you can make a significant impact on their career. Start implementing these strategies today and watch your friend’s success grow.

Share your experiences and additional tips in the comments below. How do you support your musician friends? Let’s discuss and learn from each other!

If you found this post helpful, share it with your friends and followers. Let’s spread the word and support our talented musicians in any way we can. Follow us for more tips on supporting your creative friends!

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callivich · 3 years

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Dear Gallavich fandom,

I just wanna say how much I am thankful for the amazingly talented people we have who are creating fanfic, fanart, gifsets, edits, headcanons, meta, playlists, videos, random posts - you are incredible! This is one of the best fandoms I’ve ever been in - the way people have taken the source material and run with it to explore this epic love story in all its complexities, as well as all the possible AU versions, is incredible. Creators put so much effort and time and care into their work and it really is reflected in the excellent quality of the creations. Whether you have made one creation or one hundred, you are amazing. Thank you so much! 💖💖💖💖

I also want to thank everyone who reblogs creations and shared recommendations, this is so important and it allows work to be shared. I say this as a creator and a fan, the more people share things - the more creators create. It gives them a wider audience, allows more people to consume content - this is something that keeps fandom going. If you like it, reblog it! Spread the love.💖💖💖💖

One more thing, I want to say something to everyone who is nervous or uncomfortable or who has simply never considered it - try creating something. It could be a drabble or a sketch or a headcanon or whatever you like, you don’t even have to share it, but just try. For many years I just consumed content and lurked, I felt like I wasn’t talented or creative enough to take part in fandom the way other people did. It seemed impossible. But one day, in another fandom, I just had an idea I couldn’t get rid of and I decided to try writing - just for myself - and I enjoyed it so much I felt brave enough to post it. And it was honestly the best thing I ever did. Once I started writing, I found I couldn’t stop and I am still writing to this day. I’m not the best writer, but do you know what? I enjoy writing and sharing stories and that’s basically what fandom is about - creating and sharing content no matter what level of talent you have. So, if you feel like it - go for it. 💖💖💖💖💖

And remember, if you can, create content and/or share content you love. Fandom is only as strong as the people who take part. There are so many amazing creators in the Gallavich fandom and I’m sure there are some amazing creators who haven’t started creating yet. Reblog, like, comment, send a message, recommend work - encourage and support where you can. Because the more you do? The more content is created and the closer fandom gets. 💖

Love, Calli 🥰

#gallavich #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #shameless #ian x mickey

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oumakokichi · 3 years

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About reposted fanart accounts:

Hi guys! I’ve sort of noticed an influx of reposted fanart going around in the last few days and I wanted to make this post as a reminder of the general rules/guidelines for interacting with fanart from other artists. This applies to all artists from any community, not just the DR fandom, but since this fandom is so big, I thought it would be a good idea to write this post here.

That being said, I know a lot of reposters tend to be young and it may be their first time interacting with a fandom in general, so this post is meant to be informative and is not meant to inspire any harassment or bullying of reposters.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is reposting?

Reposting is the act of taking someone else’s art and posting it to your own social media account as if it were your own post, typically without crediting the original artist. However, many artists do not want their work reposted on another account or platform even if proper credit is given, and will deny permission for reposts even if asked directly.

Why is reposting bad?

To put it simply, it’s a form of art theft that prevents the original artist from receiving the traction and attention they might otherwise have gotten. Artists may have spent several hours, weeks, or even months on beautiful pieces of art, only for a reposter to save the picture and reupload it somewhere else in a matter of seconds. These reposts take attention away from the original artist, which can be frustrating for artists who rely on commissions or freelance work to make a living.

Even credited reposts can still harm the original artist, as many of the people who will like or reblog a reposted art piece won’t actually take the time to go like, bookmark, or comment on the original work. Additionally, once a piece is already reposted, it may inspire other reposters to upload it elsewhere, starting a chain of reposts where it becomes increasingly hard to pinpoint the original artist and give credit. This is why many reposts simply have captions like “Credit to the artist! (idk who they are)”. Some reposts may even gain enough traction that they eventually surpass the original post, which can be especially disheartening for the artist who spent so much time and effort on their work.

These many frustrating reasons often add up and cause many artists to become disillusioned with fandoms. In many cases, artists have been known to delete pieces which have been frequently reposted, or even delete their entire accounts out of sheer frustration. This is especially common in eastern fandoms, where the language barrier often means western reposters are even less likely to ask for permission first before reposting an artist’s work elsewhere. That being said, even western artists may delete their accounts or move fandoms altogether to get away from fandoms which have been known for frequent reposts.

Does reposting actually give an artist more exposure?

This doesn’t work for most artists, especially if the art isn’t credited. Some artists may decide to grant permission for reposts if they’re asked for permission directly, but many artists have accounts across multiple social media sites and prefer to upload their own work directly. If you actually want to support an artist or help their work reach a wider audience, it’s almost best to like, reblog, and comment on the original piece. Tumblr is even better for this than most social media sites, since you can leave your comments entirely in the tags if you’re too embarrassed to comment on the piece directly.

I guarantee artists will check your tags, see all the nice things you said about their art, and be very, very happy.

How can I tell if an art piece is reposted?

On Tumblr, most artists tend to have a tag for their own art, whether it’s just “my art” or “art by me” or something similar. Even if they don’t, you can usually tell whether a piece seems like it was drawn by the op by going through their blog and comparing it to similar posts that they’ve made. On other social media sites like twitter or instagram, most people will specifically call their account an art account, and you can usually tell whether they draw just by checking their bios.

Artwork which lacks any personal tags, sources, or seems incongruous with other artwork posted by the same person may be stolen from somewhere else. You can usually check by using Google’s reverse image source feature, or excellent sites like “Saucenao” to see if the piece exists anywhere else, like Pixiv or Deviantart. Saucenao even has an extension for most browsers that lets you just right click an image and immediately search it for a source.

Most artwork that’s been reposted with permission will usually say as much upfront. Art-with-permission accounts often credit the artist first and then say something like “this piece was posted with permission.” Some accounts have faked having permission in the past, but the legitimate ones who actually do ask for permission usually have screenshots of DMs where they talked to the artist. Typically they’ll either link to these screenshots in the caption or on their blog somewhere.

TL;DR Please try not to reblog or share around fanart if it seems like it may have been reposted! Reposts can be incredibly harmful to the careers and success of original artists, and it’s almost always better to interact instead with the original piece. Artists provide so much beautiful, engaging content in fandoms, and it’s a shame to see so many of them packing up or deleting their accounts all because their work was stolen without permission.

I think this is a good discussion to have with people who are newer to fandom who may not be familiar with all the proper “fandom etiquette” rules, so if people want to reblog this post I don’t mind!

#text post #not exactly sure how to tag this but i hope this post can help explain how to avoid reposts #i've seen quite a few pieces i recognize from pixiv and twitter artists floating around without credit lately #so i thought i'd try and write something informative

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xjoonchildx · 3 years

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I was wondering if you had any advice or tips for someone that’s new to tumblr and wanted to write fanfics. I joined tumblr couple months ago and wanted to try out the whole writing thing since I had a few ideas.

P.S: I love your stories. ❤️❤️❤️

hello sweets!

first, let me say welcome 💕💕💕

second, it's super exciting that you want to write and share your stories here. the amazing @ladyartemesia got a similar ask not too long ago and wrote this incredible, detailed post which covers a lot of the advice that i would have to pass along to you.

but i would like to highlight a few of her points.

first and foremost: tagging your stories correctly

is the most important thing you can do to get people to find your stories. when i first started posting stories here, i had some lovely person come to me on anon and tell me that i wasn't tagging my stories correctly and that if i did tag them correctly, they thought i would be able to get them to a wider audience. whoever that person was, thank you. and i'm going to make sure that i pay it forward by singing the tag gospel to anyone else who'll listen. the first five tags on your story are given the most importance in the tumblr system and there are certain tags that are more popular than others. when you're ready to post, please DM me and we can walk through it together.

also important: using a graphic

tumblr is a graphics-heavy site. if you post a text-only story, it will get lost in a sea of GIFs and tiktoks and other graphics on the dash. make a graphic, if you can. if you can't, reach out to someone for help. but absolutely use a graphic when you file a story.

also important: responding to interaction

as often as you possibly can. if someone comments, thank them. if someone reblogs, thank them. talk to people on the dash. ask them questions about your writing, what they'd like to see. as a reader, i know that it makes me feel good when a writer acknowledges the feedback i leave them, and i want to do the same for people who've taken the time to read my stories. that's not to say that you'll get to every single comment/like/reblog but do the best you can.

-------

i think vi does an excellent and much more thorough job of explaining her points in her post, but i did want to highlight those things because i think they can help. please keep in mind that i'm not an expert, i'm not tumblr's most successful writer. i'm just someone who's had a positive experience on this site and who has really lovely readers that hang out with me on the dash.

i hope this helps! my DMs are always open if you have any more questions 💕💕💕

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ask-whitepearl-and-steven · 5 years

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In the many rereads i made, the thing that most impress me its the high quality of your writing. How do you work the narrative in your comics? How is to create a narrative for a long term history? And any sugestion for learning narrative?Keep going that you are making a fantistic job.

Thanks so much! I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

I know this probably calls for some sort of mind-blowing advice that I’m supposed to be able to give, but I feel like my way of going about things is as ‘brute-force’ as you can get.

Basically the only way my narrative Got Good™ is through having done other, worse narratives SO MUCH that it just naturally got enough exp points to level up. And that’s not necessarily encouraging I guess, because it comes back around to the all-hated advice of “Just Practice A Lot!!!” but I feel like realistically, it’s such a huge part of it that it can’t be ignored!

If you’re looking for more interesting advice, I’ll take another stab at it:

1) Read until you recognize bad writing.

I think this might be taken the wrong way, but I’ll just say - you can’t be a good writer until you learn to recognize not only GOOD writing but also BAD writing. And that isn’t to say “the more stuff you hate, the better writer you are” because I know plenty of people who make hating things into a personality, and they’re still Very Bad Writers. That isn’t the point.

But you have to consume enough material to know bad stuff from good. You have to be able to say “this stuff is great, but this part really doesn’t work and here’s why”.

And then you have to be able to recognize that in Your Own Writing!

2) Reread your own stuff. Learn to be your own proofreader.

I have this thing where I often go back to the stories I created 1 year ago or 5 years ago and reread them. And it’s mortifying but also VERY telling. Sometimes, I find stuff I like. Other times I look at it and think “what the hell was I doing??” It’s an important part of growth. It really shows you where you need to improve, sometimes even in your current work!

You need a habit of this. Instead of just doing and putting away or shredding old work, keeping it around really helps you continue to improve and build a HISTORY of improvement through habit.

And I don’t only mean long-term - building a habit of improving stuff for yourself is something that needs to be constantly happening. I am literally editing ALL THE TIME. I draft, then I rest. I go back and edit the draft. I go back and edit THAT draft. I script and I edit the panels while scripting. I am always changing stuff, because I am CONSTANTLY looking for things to improve.

3) Recognize that there is No Objectively Good Writing. Accept this.

All writing is subjective. All writing will be loved by some and hated by others.

The thing is, there is no one thing that Everyone will like. There’s things that come CLOSE because they appeal to a wider audience, but those things aren’t necessarily The Best - they’re just things with a wider appeal.

You have to decide where you want to fall on this spectrum. If you are writing for yourself, then your writing only has to satisfy you - and whatever audience will connect with the specific recipe! But if you’re hoping to have a lot of readers, if you want ‘fame’ for lack of a better word, and want lots of people to enjoy your work, then you HAVE to think about what OTHER people might be interested in instead of only focusing on what YOU think is best.

I know there’s a lot of advice that basically boils down to “Write what you love!” and that’s Good Advice! Absolutely do that.

But ALSO!

I see a lot of writers fall into this trap of “I’m writing things that I love, but for some reason no one seems to be reblogging/sharing/enjoy it!” And their conclusions are always “I’m a bad writer” or “My readers are mean for not sharing my work and I’m a victim” when in fact, NEITHER of those might be true.

You can be an excellent writer - and still write stuff that no one really connects with! If your writing is too much ‘for you’, then you can’t expect everyone to automatically know where you’re coming from.

No matter how vast and expensive your Inner World is, if the doors are too damn big to push open, no one is gonna try to come in.

In the end, it’s all about balance, I suppose!

Hope that helps!

#chekhov answers #chekhov gives advice #narrative #writing #Anonymous

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thetravelerwrites · 5 years

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Monster Match 16

The Traveler's Masterlist

For @cozycryptidcorner: “I am bisexual, but after a very rough and toxic wlw relationship I'm leaning more towards the male side of the gender spectrum. I love art, I love doing it, I love looking at it, and one day I kind of hope I can work to save it. I'm an INTJ on the MBTI, which basically translates to stubbornness, attempts to be logical, and trying to see the world as a place with a set of rules to bend follow, bend, or break.

If I see cracks in the foundation of the system, I'll try to cheat it and see how far I'll go. Even though I'm a procrastinator, I'm also a perfectionist, and don't like it when people see thing that are anything but A+ material. I'm quick to see whether or not people can be my friends, or if they'd get on my nerves after a couple of interactions, and I have a very small select group of people that I would consider close. I have one brat son, a rabbit named Huckleberry, who I love even though he is an ungrateful bastard. My life motto is "do no harm but take no shit." I love reading.

I hate nosy/presumptuous/narcissistic people. I have a bad habit of being incredibly competitive and having to drive people I don't like into the ground. I’m very angry about a lot of thing, so someone who can be calm without being condescending when faced with their and my emotions would be great. Also someone who pushes me not to be excellent in everything, but to enjoy things and take some wild chances would be nice too. One of the greatest compliments I ever got was that if Nazis rolled into the country tomorrow, I’d be out and about sabotaging tanks and stuff, so someone with an equal kind of moral compass who acts in the face of evil would also be great.”

You’ve been Matched with a Drow!

You stormed into your apartment, shucking off your bookbag, hurling it violently into a corner, and flopped down onto your couch, growling and pulling at your hair.

Your boyfriend, Seznik, looked out from the kitchen where he was painting imaginative swear words on mugs, a hobby of his. His white, shoulder-length hair was a stark contrast against his purple-black skin and dark eyes. He was shirtless, but had on a painting apron and pajama pants

“Have you died?” He asked, his head tilted curiously.

“No,” You said through your teeth. “But I might kill some people.”

“Who?”

“That bitch classmate of mine and my art professor,” You replied, flipping so that your head was dangling off the couch and your legs were up on the top. “That asshole purposefully misspelled my name on my art piece in the display. And if I have to listen to that pimple of a woman who sits next to me complain about how she hates college because she’s 35 and surrounded by a bunch of kids one more time, I’ll scream. Like, bitch, why you even here, then?!”

You turned your head to look at him while still upside down. “That’s justifiable homicide, right? Like, if I murdered them both, the jury would be sympathetic, don’t you think?”

He snickered, shaking his head, standing against the door frame of the living room with his arms folded. “Honey, you know you don’t want to kill them,” He said in an even, reasonable tone. “You obviously want to steal their tires.”

“Oh, my God,” You said, flipping right-ways up. “You are completely right. Put on a shirt, it’s date night.”

He laughed sharply and unlaced the apron strings.

“Can we stop for ice cream after?” You asked him as he pulled a shirt over his head.

“Would it be a date and a misdemeanor if we didn’t?” He asked, grinning.

You smiled for the first time that day and kissed him soundly. “I’m glad I caught you trying to put a worm in my hair when we were camp counselors. Best decision I ever made was to ask you out instead of beat you up.”

“Hey, there’s always time. Lots of worms in the world.”

You shoved him and laughed. “Shut up and grab the tire iron. We’ve got wheels to sell on Craigslist. Professor Asshole’s rims will pay next month’s rent.”

His grin widened wickedly as the two of you exited your apartment.

To get your own Monster Match, buy me a Kofi!

Since my work is no longer searchable, please do me a favor and reblog this story if you enjoyed it. Help me reach a wider audience! To help me continue creating, please consider becoming a Patron or donating directly to my PayPal.

Thanks for reading!

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

#Exophilia #Monster Match #Kofi Monster Match #Drow #Monster Boyfriend #Interspecies Romance #Relationship Goals #Cozycryptidcorner

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lilfellasblog · 5 years

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Knight in Shining Armor - Roman’s 2019 Birthday Fic!

Summary: When Thomas has an allergic reaction, Virgil’s anxiety gets stuck on high-alert. Will he have to face it alone?Hello! Despite how the summary makes it sound, this is actually a fic for Roman Creativity Sander’s birthday! Happy birthday to the dramatic, passionate Side that inspires Thomas and keeps him going!

A/N: If you like this please reblog. It is the only way for this writing to reach a wider audience. Tumblr ate most of my fics that I know I posted here, which makes me very sad for a lot of reasons, one of the biggest being that the love and comments and tags that folks showed this fic is gone into the ether.

TW: Minor allergic reaction, anxiety, feeling of breathlessness that comes from anxiety. Let me know if I missed any!

Word Count: 1741

AO3 here!

Fic Masterlist here!

Earlier that morning, Thomas had woken up at his friend’s house after a bit too wild of a night. He had groaned and stretched, trying and failing to open his eyes past the searing headache, when he felt weight drop on his chest.

His eyes slammed open and he was face-to-face with a very fluffy cat.

“Oh my goodness!” Thomas cooed as he brought his hand up. He let the cat smell his hand, then started gently petting its head and neck. The cat was a light gray color with yellow eyes and a very poofy tail.

“Aren’t you such a good kitty?” Thomas gushed.

The cat laid down on him and stretched, accepting more head scritches. Thomas couldn’t stop himself from booping the cat’s nose, but he immediately went back to petting. Soon enough, however, his immune system had something to say. He barely got his arm over his nose and mouth in time for him to sneeze.

The cat was entirely nonplussed and simply looked at him as if to say, “Why did you stop petting me?”

Thomas gently picked up the cat and deposited it on the ground. He stood up, gripping his head, and made his way to the bathroom to get some water and ibuprofen in his system. Might have to see if they have benadryl, I can already feel my nose getting stuffy.

////

Virgil was panicking. Thomas had been exposed to a cat, right after he had woken up, for an extended period of time, and was already having his airways close. Logically, Virgil knew that Thomas probably wasn’t going to go into anaphylactic shock, but what if he did?!

Virgil was keeping a very close eye on his own breathing. He didn’t feel like his airway was obstructed or swollen, but he did feel like he had to focus on taking deep breathes or else his lungs would start burning. He tried his breathing exercises, to no avail. Virgil was relieved when the benadryl kicked in for Thomas and his symptoms disappeared fairly quickly, but Virgil still couldn’t get enough air. He felt like he was constantly yawning or deeply sighing. It just felt like he wasn’t getting oxygen into his lungs!

He knew that it was going to be difficult to act normally around the other Sides. Patton was the center of Thomas’ emotional intelligence, Logan was ridiculously smart and observant, and Roman was very sensitive to how others were acting around him. Resigned to suffering alone in his room for the rest of the day, he flopped on his bed and scrolled through Tumblr. He had days like this; where he’d feel like his lungs weren’t working properly and that he’d have to gulp air just to feel like he wasn’t out of breath. It usually dissipated by the next morning. Virgil knew it was his anxiety, but knowing that only helped so much. He wasn’t going to have a panic attack over thinking he had methemoglobinemia or was going into anaphylactic shock, but his brain was still telling him that he was dying.

Virgil tried focusing on the various memes and shitposts that made up his Tumblr feed, but he wasn’t enjoying it at all. He was thrumming with anxious energy. When 3 PM rolled around, Virgil was exhausted and miserable. He wanted his anxiety to just fucking stop, to let him be a neurotypical person who could cure their sadness by walking outside or whatever shit, but no, his neurotransmitters decided that their role was to make his existence miserable. Was it so much to ask to just be able to breathe and have a normal day?!

Virgil threw his phone on the bed in frustration and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. He heard excited knocking coming from his door.

“Virgil, my Chemically Imbalanced Romance! May I request thy presence for a quest?”

Virgil took a deep breath in through his nose.

“Sorry Princey, I’m not feeling too hot today. Maybe another time.”

There was silence at his door, and Virgil was relieved and sad that Roman had left.

“A new quest then! Perhaps I can interest you in a distraction?”

Virgil considered that. He wasn’t getting much better laying here in his room, but he could barely catch his breath as it was! How could he last during one of Princey’s quests?!

Virgil let out a groan. “Fine, but only if you promise there’s little to no physical activity.”

“I swear it.” Roman said way too solemnly. Virgil huffed a silent laugh to himself. Roman’s extra dial is stuck at 300%.

Virgil got himself up, made sure he had his phone and headphones, and opened the door. Roman was looking at him as though he didn’t expect Virgil to actually come out.

“Virgil, my dark knight! How may I be of service to you?”

Virgil shuffled. “I don’t know.” he mumbled. He really didn’t know how Roman could help him.

“That’s quite alright! I’m sure I can… imagine something.” Roman said with an excited smile and waggle of his brows.

“Did you just make a Patton joke?”

“Why yes I did!”

“Not very creative.”

Roman let out an offended Princey noise and Virgil snorted. Roman led the way to his room, not touching Virgil. He had learned that when Virgil’s anxiety was acting up, touch didn’t feel very good for him.

Roman opened the massive doors to his room and Virgil noticed that it was slightly darker than usual. The only light came from candles, fairy lights, and a sunset in the Imagination that was shining through the window.

“We could play Scrabble, we could watch movies, I even have a PS4 set up in here!”

Virgil bobbed his head as he looked around. He needed a distraction, so,

“Scrabble?”

Roman swept his arm to the fireplace (that has GOT to be a fire hazard) and directed Virgil to one of the armchairs. Unlike the other armchairs, it was black with silver metal accents, as opposed to the red chairs with gold and brown accents. That little detail almost made Virgil tear up.

Almost. He had a reputation to maintain dammit.

Roman grabbed two mugs of jasmine tea seemingly from out of nowhere and set one in front of Virgil, along with a plate of finger sandwiches. They played several rounds of Scrabble, with Virgil winning the first one by a narrow margin and Roman winning the second by an equally narrow margin. They got about halfway through the third game before Virgil decided to try eating some of the finger sandwiches. They were good. Virgil ate enough so he wasn’t hungry anymore but no more than that. He didn’t want another lecture from Patton about ruining his appetite. Although to be fair, this was probably healthier than Cheetos dipped in cream cheese, right?

Virgil irritatingly brushed his fringe out of his eyes for approximately the 70th time that minute and huffed in annoyance.

“Would you like the assistance of an expert hairstylist fair maiden?”

Virgil saw excitement barely being held at bay in the royal’s eyes. His skin didn’t feel so uncomfortable anymore, and he could use some help…

“Sure.”

“Wonderful! Come into my bathroom, I have everything we’ll need in there.”

Virgil threw one more finger sandwich into his mouth, chugged the rest of his tea, and followed the royal.

Roman’s bathroom was an amalgamation of every bathroom Thomas had seen in his life that made him think “Oh pretty!”. Walking past a clawfoot bathtub that was in the exact center of the bathroom for whatever reason Virgil was sat down in a chair facing a vanity. The mirror was lined in lightbulbs.

Fit for a star.

Roman tousled Virgil’s hair, staring at it in concentration. After running his hands through it a few more times, he went to his vanity.

“Your hair has enough grease in it to make hairspray not as effective, and we really don’t have a good hair type for hair gel. I was thinking of putting some dry shampoo in and adding hairspray?”

Virgil shrugged. “Whatever you think will work best.”

“Excellent! I shall begin right away.”

Virgil let his mind drift a bit as Roman fussed over his hair. Roman had personalized his room just for Virgil’s sake and put his whole heart into doing whatever it was Virgil wanted to do. All because Virgil was being a useless puddle of anxiety on his bed and decided he couldn’t breathe and avoided the others. He had even made sure Virgil was hydrated and had something to eat, and Virgil hadn’t even gone on the quest Roman wanted to go on, and-

“Done! What do you think?”

Virgil tore himself away from his thoughts and looked in the mirror. It… looked good. For only using dry shampoo and hairspray, it was damn impressive. It had some volume and stayed out of his eyes, but was still draping down enough to keep the emo vibe alive.

Roman was chewing on his lip and staring at Virgil in the mirror with wide eyes.

“Thanks Ro. I really like it. It’s really good.”

Roman’s smile lit up the entire room and Virgil swore it got a few degrees warmer.

“I’m very glad you like it Virgil! My skills are unmatched!” he declared with a flourish.

Virgil chuckled as they heard knocking on Roman’s door.

“Kiddos! Dinner!”

Virgil and Roman began to shuffle out of his room when Virgil realized something: he could breathe again.

He felt a lump in his throat beginning to form against his wishes. Roman heard Virgil stop walking and turned around. Upon seeing the expression on Virgil’s face, his brows knitted together.

“Virgil? Is something the matter?”

Virgil laughed wetly. “No Princey, I just… thank you.” he breathed out.

Roman smiled. “Of course. It is my pleasure to help you Virgil.” he paused, looking slightly hesitant. “Would you like a hug?”

Virgil nodded and walked into Roman’s waiting arms. Roman held him tightly, showing the strength hidden beneath the prince uniform, but not too tightly. He had his face buried in Virgil hair and was breathing in the scent of hairspray and dry shampoo. After a good 30-second hug, they separated. Virgil was looking down and blushing slightly and Roman was smiling, a blush also covering his cheekbones, but instead of embarrassment in his eyes there were stars.

“L-let’s go to supper.” Virgil muttered.

“Very well. Let’s.”

#sanders sides #fanfic #virgil sanders #roman sanders #prinxiety #anxiety #thomas sanders #fic #fanfiction #ts sides

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hrina · 5 years

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hii! adding to this very necessary rant, even tho no one asked me, i think that in the last few years appreciation for art and things that people create has gone downhill. we leave a heart and feel good about ourselves, just as we snap a photo of a painting in an art gallery and feel like we got the meaning. i'd also like to add that i loved your ALEX!Harry fic so so so much that i've read it a dozen times already xx

i think you make an excellent point! i know that nobody wants to hear it, but a simple “like” doesn’t do much for fic writers. and especially since tumblr’s tagging system is all sorts of messed up, it means we need people to reblog and share our fics now more than ever! that’s the only way we’ll be able to reach a wider audience

also thank you so much for reading my writing!!! im so happy you like it 💘

#anon

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bybloemencomic · 2 years

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This week in Bybloemen: negotiations break down

Bybloemen

Hiveworks Comics

If you like Bybloemen, or any of the other excellent webcomics on tumblr, consider reblogging so that they can reach a wider audience! The tag system is busted, so a reblog is the best way to promote work you enjoy.

#bybloemen #hiveworks #webcomics #historical fantasy #devils #demons #tulipmania #labor negotiations with corvids

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longlivefeedback · 7 years

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Start with a bang, end with a whimper: the problem with fandom studies

Imagine you start talking about a new fic idea, and it’s a hit! People are excited, they’re weighing in, they’re even signal boosting. This is going to be awesome, you think, and you start writing. A thousand words, five thousand words, ten thousand words - the first chapter is a big one, but it has to be perfect. After all, so many people are interested, and you’re using a lot of ideas they gave you, so you want it to be as good as possible.

Finally, you’re ready to publish. One last round of editing, then you hit post. Look!, you want to yell. I did the thing you wanted me to do!

And... tumbleweeds.

There are a handful of kudos. Those are nice, but what do they really mean? Was it great? Was it adequate? Are they going to stay on for the next chapter? A few comments follow. Some are polite “thank you for writing this” notes - those make you smile. About half of them point out perceived plot holes or typos and nothing else.

Where are the people who thought it was cool, who sent you ideas, who talked about wanting to see what you’d come up with? Are they there, lurking; or did they just not see the notification; or did they decide it wasn’t interesting enough to bother with?

Was it worth all those hours you spent writing it?

As authors, a lot of us have been there. As readers, we can sympathize with authors who have poured time and effort into something, only to receive very little response.

And thus comes the problem with fandom studies.

During the data collection phase, everyone is very interested - on the whole, actually getting the information to analyze isn’t difficult, because users are great about signal boosting, answering surveys, and giving their own predictions about the eventual results.

Then it gets to the cursory overview. Demographics, “this many people said this,” a lot of basic factoids that are cool but not very important or relevant. A lot of time might have gone into taking the raw data and converting it to an easily digestible form, but it’s not what we’re here for. It’s just the foundation.

This gets some attention. Quite a few people will reblog it and ask questions, and some will mention wanting to see the actual answers to the questions that the study wants to answer. It’s nowhere near the level of engagement reached in the data collection phase, but that’s to be expected - not everyone who was willing to take a few minutes and answer survey questions or signal boost is really interested in the results, but they were being supportive and helping out!

We finally, finally get to the analysis, the hardcore number crunching, the hours of fighting with excel and desperately reviewing statistics textbooks and sending panicked messages to your old math teachers because wait am I actually doing this right or-

By this point, most of the engagement has dropped off. There are a fair number of likes and a handful of reblogs, but almost all of the written feedback centers around pointing out perceived errors or problems and nothing else.

This is, admittedly, to be expected. Truly math- and stats-intensive analyses are much less accessible, less fun to read, and generally harder to understand even if you’re comfortable with the methods being used. However, it also leaves the study authors feeling like they’ve put a lot of work into something that people simply aren’t interested in, despite the fact that it was the stated goal of the project since the very beginning.

As such, I’d like to make a few suggestions as to how to support fandom studies.

1. It’s okay to say “thanks!” and leave.

You don’t have to write an essay or go over every bit of math. If you’re interested, let the author know that you appreciate their work, even if you don’t say anything more than “this is cool” or “oh nice!”

2. The rules of concrit still (mostly) apply.

When it comes to data, there’s no opting out of concrit. These are facts. If there’s a mistake, it should be pointed out and addressed. However, if this comes in the form of “this should have been considered instead” and nothing else, it’s like getting a comment that only says “your protagonist was OOC.” This is especially frustrating when the author has no good way to respond to the criticism.

3. If you leave criticism or a correction, make sure the author can talk to you about it.

First of all, the author may not have enough details to make use of your crit. If you simply say “I’m not sure this was the right statistical test,” but they’re not able to reach out to you for further details, the author will proceed to tear their hair out. Therefore, this isn’t the time for anon asks, which must be answered publicly, or replies, which may not be able to tag you and group blog moderators must respond from their main blog. Furthermore, criticism is best offered in private - frankly, it’s highly embarrassing to have a mistake pointed out in front of everyone, and it’s much more polite and respectful to give them a chance to make any corrections without having to do so in front of an audience. And finally, the criticism or correction offered may not, in fact, be correct. Everyone occasionally misreads, misunderstands, or gets mixed up. If this is brought up privately, it’s easy to clear up. If it’s public, and the author has no way to respond, and there’s no “thanks for your work,” they will be screaming into the void.

4. Studies are made to be shared.

The questions a study is trying to address are generally applicable in some wider sense, and the work that goes into this is meant to spread answers as far as possible to people can find them. Therefore, if sharing and signal boosting ends at the data collection stage, the study has failed.

Reblogging is tricky, especially if it’s not to a fandom blog, but sharing it is still important. Send it to your friends, tag people who might be interested in the replies, link to it if you see related posts that could use some data support (or contradiction), and cite it if you talk about the issue. If you’re a stats-minded person, write a more accessible version of it or use it in some of your own discussions. Post (cited and sourced, tagging the author) excerpts. Use it in your fandom metas.

Creators thrive on feedback, and this includes those who conduct fandom studies. Please remember that behind every nifty little chart is a person (or several people) who have put a whole lot of effort into their work, and not number crunching machines who happily churn away and assimilate every bit of impersonal criticism.

Data analysis can be as rewarding as writing a great fic, but when it comes to practicalities, there’s no such thing as information for the sake of information.

Support fandom studies. It’s easy to get discouraged when audience interest goes from overwhelming to tepid to tumbleweeds, especially when the majority of written feedback is neutral or negative. Answering fandom questions isn’t going to help cure cancer - that’s my day job - but it will, hopefully, make fandom better.

Besides, they’re doing math so you don’t have to, which is always a good thing.

So to end this post, we want to give a shout out and thanks to @toastystats for their extensive work and analysis of ao3 tags; @ao3commentoftheday for hosting discussions about commenting culture and looking at the meaning of kudos; @dawnfelagund who has written for us and helps keep the tolkien fandom going, including studies like her look at gender in the tolkienfic community; @cfiesler for looking at fan platform use over time.

We are surely missing more, so readers, can you help us out? Link to a cool fandom study you’d like to share and/or tag someone who writes them!

#fandom studies #feedback on feedback #longlivefeedback

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death-and-bloom · 6 years

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On What I Think Y’all Like

Okay, so it’s important to me that this blog is two things: 1:) An honest reflection of me as a person, and 2:) Constantly providing content that my followers, especially my beloved mutuals enjoy "What my followers enjoy” can be broadly categorized as Gundam, Social Justice, and Cute Shit. Y’all have excellent taste, truly. The categories I think don’t do well here are NSFW Art, Aesthetic-Related, and Thirsty Memes. With that in mind, I’ve decided to make two sideblogs. This blog will continue to be where I post Gundam/fandom, Social Justice, Cute Shit, and my own personal opinions. Expect my SFW selfies to go here, and for me to occasionally reblog suitable content from the sideblogs if I think a wider audience would enjoy it. If you want to see more shit that I just find gorgeous and places I just need to be, follow @apsalus-iii !! Expect my bug-related content to mostly live here, including pictures/videos of the cute animals I find in the yard sometimes. If you want to see more, aherm, enticing posts of all variety, follow @r-jarja !! Expect my nude or risque selfies to go here, if I ever work up the courage. Asks and submissions are open on each blog, and appropriate questions should go to each. If you ask on the wrong blog, I’ll just respond from the correct one. :) --- I didn’t think that’d be so many words, so if you cared enough to read it, thanks. I love all of y’all, whether you interact or not. Thanks for bein’ out there.

#StateOfSelaine #Sideblog Shit #Please consider following them if you like them #I'm very proud of the themes on each blog #hey you reading these notes i think ur cool drop me a line

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grabthelantern · 6 years

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Champ Design Breakdown: Trundle, the Troll King

By Helmight

The Trundle has been one of the more contentious - not due to gameplay, mind you, but because of the flavor changes. Going from the runt of a plague troll clan to the king of a frost troll clan is a big swap, and a lot of players still prefer the old one. However, the new Trundle is definitely more thematically-appropriate than the old, and I believe that’s a big reason why he’s been significantly more popular.

Not troll chief, troll king. King!

Trundle is a brutal and vicious frost troll from the Freljord, who roam the barren wastes in packs led by a single chieftain. The chieftain of Trundle’s band was particularly weak and cowardly, but Trundle was unable to wrest control of the clan from him via combat. Where his brawn failed, however, his wits took over - Trundle spun a fable about troll chieftains of old gaining their station by possessing powerful magical weapons. The other trolls believed his story, and he set out to find such a weapon - or at least, find something that would fool the others.

While poking around in the Ice Witch’s domain, Trundle managed to find a massive club of True Ice that granted him powers over cold and ice. He seized the weapon, but was unable to escape before the Ice Witch herself found him. With his death imminent, Trundle’s wits once again came to his rescue - he asked the Witch if she would rather prefer a single dead troll, or an army of them? The ruse worked, and Trundle returned to his clan, seizing control thanks to his new club. However, he wasn’t just to be a chieftain - he named himself troll king, and set off to subjugate the remaining troll clans.

Trundle is a massive troll warrior who relies on both his cunning and his brutality to defeat foes. I’d expect him to play the part of a juggernaut, tanking and dishing out damage on the frontlines with that massive club of his. Guile might be hard to represent on a character like Trundle, but I would expect him to have some kind of ability that showcases his uncanny intelligence.

Time to troll!

The Troll King manages to hit his thematic notes fairly effectively. As a giant troll, you sort of want to just wade into the enemy team and start whappin’ - and that’s really Trundle gameplay in a nutshell. You want to be in the middle of the enemy team smacking foes, and the rest of his kit combines to help that happen.

But it’s the small parts of Trundle’s kit where the flavor really comes out. After all, he’s known for being as smart as he is strong, and his abilities each have small effects that help express that intelligence. Chomp (Q) steals AD from the foe it targets, Subjugate (R) allows him to steal enemy tank stats, and Frozen Domain (W) increases the healing he receives while fighting on his own turf. Pillar of Ice (E) is also a thematic win - it’s not the kind of ability you’d expect a troll to have, but it’s arguably the strongest part of Trundle’s kit.

Sure, you could play Trundle as a big dumb oaf with a club, but using the small aspects of his kit really helps you feel like Trundle must - not necessarily smart, but smarter than anyone thinks you are. The only thematic misstep he really has is his passive, King’s Tribute. I can excuse his W and E, since it’s likely that his club gives him the ability to create all that ice, but gaining health when enemies die nearby seems a bit out of flavor.

I’m troll judge, troll jury, and execu... troll

Ultimately though, Trundle manages to capture the flavor of being a big, hulking troll that’s definitely smarter than he appears. It’s an excellent showing and one of the reasons I believe new Trundle has found a significantly wider audience than the old one.

Final Grade: A. If you’re looking for a well-designed champion, look no further.

Disagree with my assessment of Trundle? Or did you want to suggest a champion for next week’s breakdown? Either way, let me know in my inbox, and be sure to like and reblog this post if you enjoyed it!

#League of Legends #Grab the Lantern #Champ Design Breakdown #Trundle

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