#TikTok is just 2012 Tumblr with video

[thewitchoftheweed]

i’m on tiktok (i know i know boo hiss) and it is often fascinating to see how two different generations raised on social media (largely Millennials and Gen Z) respond to each other.

right now, it’s a big Thing amongst Gen Z to make fun of Millennial qUiRky rAnDoM humor. This can be anything from exaggerated facial expressions to slang that originated with Millennials to “Millennial cringe” compilations of Youtubers just…doing their schtick.

(and of course some Millennials make it worse by taking great offense to being told they’re 30 and a 17yo thinks they’re uncool/cringe/whatever they’re calling it now, but i digress)

the type of humor these kids are making fun of isn’t necessarily what I would call “Millennial” humor. it’s early Youtube era humor. the facial expressions. the video editing. the content. it’s all very reminiscent of a brief era of social media—

the exact era most of Gen Z would’ve been logging onto Youtube for the first time. and in fact a lot of folks in that age bracket will be able to list their former favorite YouTubers and they tend to be from roughly 2010-2015.

some of them will even make their OWN Millennial Cringe videos where they dress up as a “Millennial furry” or “POV: you talk to the Millennial who dresses weird” and they do this whole character that is…pretty transparently who they want to be. but you can’t unironically be cringe. you have to be making fun of someone else, and THEN it’s ok to indulge in the humor or weird hobbies.

they’re literally just going through that Phase where you feel you have to reject everything you enjoyed as a teenager/child in order to be an adult. i feel like Jane Goodall sitting in the bushes writing down notes on juveniles trying to fight their way into the social hierarchy. and i’m sending field reports to my dumb little blog as i hide in my blind.

[inkskinned]

they want to talk about mental illness and acceptance and how everyone is a little ocd it's cute and quirky and their "intrusive thoughts" are about cutting their hair off and you say yours are about taking a razorblade to your eye and they say ew can you not and everyone is a little adhd sometimes! except if you're late it's a personality flaw and it's because you are careless and cruel (and someone else with adhd mentions they can be on time, so why can't you?) and it's not an eating disorder if it's girl dinner! it's not mania if it's girl math! what do you mean you blew all of your savings on nonrefundable plane tickets for a plane you didn't even end up taking. what do you mean that you are afraid of eating. get over it. they roll their little lips up into a sneer. can you not, like, trauma dump?

they love it on them they like to wear pieces of your suffering like jewels so that it hangs off their tongue in rapiers. they are allowed to arm-chair diagnose and cherrypick their poisons but you can't ever miss too many showers because that's, like, "fuckken gross?" so anyone mean is a narcissist. so anyone with visual tics is clearly faking it and is so cringe. but they get to scream and hit customer service employees because well, i got overwhelmed.

you keep seeing these posts about how people pleasers are "inherently manipulative" and how it's totally unfair behavior. but you are a people pleaser, you have an ingrained fawn response. in the comments, you have typed and deleted the words just because it is technically true does not make it an empathetic or kind reading of the reaction about one million times. it is technically accurate, after all. you think of catholic guilt, how sometimes you feel bad when doing a good deed because the sense of pride you get from acting kind - that pride is a sin. the word "manipulation" is not without bias or stigma attached to it. many people with the fawn response are direct victims of someone who was malignantly manipulative. calling the victims manipulative too is an unfair and unkind reading of the situation. it would be better and more empathetic to say it is safety-seeking or connection-seeking behavior. yes, it can be toxic. no, in general it is not intended to be toxic. there is no reason to make mentally ill people feel worse for what we undergo.

you type why is everyone so quick to turn on someone showing clear signs of trauma but you already know the fucking answer, so what's the point of bothering. you kind of hate those this is what anxiety looks like! infographics because at this point you're so good at white-knuckling through a severe panic attack that people just think you're stoic. even people who know the situation sometimes comment you just don't seem depressed. and you're not a 9 year old white kid so there's no way you're on the spectrum, you're not obsessed with trains and you were never a good mathematician. okay then.

mental illness is trending. in 2012 tumblr said don't romanticize our symptoms but to be fair tiktok didn't exist yet. there's these series of videos where someone pretends to be "the most boring person on earth" and is just being a normal fucking person, which makes your skin crawl, because that probably means you are boring. your friend reads aloud a profile from tinder - no depressed bitches i fucking hate that mental illness crap. your father says that medication never actually works.

you still haven't told your grandmother that you're in therapy. despite everything (and the fact it's helping): you just don't want her to see you differently.

[emj4yart]

Calling all Oncelings! I need your help!

Greetings, Onceler fandom! Tis I, MJ, just a little guy who wants your help on a big project I'm planning!

Here's the rundown: I want to do a deep-dive video on the Lorax, from its origins to its adaptations, to the cultural phenomenon that it has become, including a HUGE dedicated section to the fandom and its history! And I need your help with it! Keep reading if this interests you :D Rough outline of topics that I'm plannning on addressing:

THE CONTENT:

The Original 1971 Book

The 1972 Short

The 2012 Illumination Movie (And what went WRONG, the cut content, analysis)

The 2015 Musical

THE IMPACT:

The Onceler Fandom's Beginnings and Early Years (2012)

Shipping (Oncest, Normaler, the like)

Onceler OCs and aus! (Possibly an OC feature from those in the fandom!)

The Lorax in Meme Culture

The Resurgances of the Fandom (2015, 2021, 2023 Tiktok Boom)

Where's the fandom at now?

It's a huge project and that's why I want you all to help me with it! What do I want your help with? At the moment this is my list!

Research and Fact Checking on the "Content" Section, especially on lesser known topics like the musical or the cut content! (Pspspsps calling the five of you who actually know what the musical is)

RESEARCH AND FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCES OF THE ONCELER FANDOM'S EARLY DAYS!! I joined this place in 2023 so I don't know much about the early days of the fandom, and I want to know SO much more than I do! I want to know the scope, everything from the in-jokes to the aus to the deoncelerization. If you've been in this fandom since 2012 I would LOVE to hear from you!

Last but not least, I want the end of this video to be a love letter to this community, sharing firsthand experiences of what the Onceler as a character and the fandom means to you! I want to conduct interviews with people over discord (which is going to be a lot less fancy than it sounds so dw, it's not going to be an interrogation LMAO)

Specifics are subject to change but one thing will stay, I want to end the video to be made out of raw Love and Appreciation for this fandom, showcasing the side of this little corner of the internet that people who brush it off as mindless cringe don't see. All I've seen from this community is love and support and I want to be the video essayist who shows it for what it is!

At the moment I don't really have much of a plan (I'm not a very good planner lol), but if enough interets garners I know it'll help me streamline my motivation and come up with a game plan!

Feel free to leave me suggestions for where to go from here, maybe give out my discord? Make a Discord Server? Maybe there's something I can do solely on tumblr? I don't know! I don't know at all how Tumblr works! Help Me! Am just a little guy!

Alright that's all from me for now gamers, if this project interests you all in any capacity or you want to help out, please reblog/reply/message/ask/howeveranythingworksonthissite to let me know! Feel free to ask me questions or whatever as well! Peace out for now ✌️

[fallloverfic]

"Nimona" fandom informational rundown

New to the fandom and a bit confused about things? Hopefully this will help!

Nimona was a webcomic by Nate Diana Stevenson/ND Stevenson that was first shown on tumblr on December 14, 2011, and Nate later launched it as an official webcomic on its own website on June 19, 2012. It was contracted for publication post-completion as a graphic novel sometime before November 1, 2012. The webcomic finished online publication on September 30, 2014. Shortly afterward, most of the webcomic was taken down as part of the contractual agreement for publication as a physical graphic novel, leaving only a short bit of the opening as a preview. The website for the webcomic later went down entirely, and is no longer accessible.

The comic was published in entirety as a single graphic novel on May 12, 2015. The movie adaptation rights were sold to Fox in 2015, as well, and the project was given to Blue Sky Studios. The comic was later adapted into a full cast audiobook on October 4, 2016. The graphic novel is available for purchase in paperback, hardcover, and as an ebook, and the audiobook is also available for purchase. (The link has international seller links). The graphic novel has been translated into 16 languages. It is also available in a special edition English hardcover via Illumicrate. They only ship from the UK, but ship internationally, and you don't need a subscription to buy the book. As the standard graphic novel and audiobook are ~7+ years old now, if you have a local library, you can see if either of them are available that way.

Disney bought 20th Century Fox Animation (later 20th Century Animation, the purchase completed in 2019), but later shut down Blue Sky Studios in 2021, cancelling the still-in-production movie. Crew worked on shopping the movie around for a new home after talks with Disney. The movie was later picked up and completed by Annapurna, DNEG, and Netflix, premiered June 14, 2023 in France, showed in select theaters starting principally on June 23, 2023, and released to general audiences on Netflix for streaming on June 30, 2023. I have more info on this here.

In English, Nimona is voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz, Ballister Boldheart is voiced by Riz Ahmed, and Ambrosius Goldenloin is voiced by Eugene Lee Yang.

If you're looking for official merch, the movie soundtrack is up on multiple platforms, including YouTube, iOS, Spotify, and Amazon, and a vinyl version of the soundtrack was sold by iam8bit. There is an official humanoid Nimona plushie, a whale Nimona plushie, and a shark Nimona plushie, available via Gee and Hot Topic, as well as a variety of official shirts available via Hot Topic and Amazon (just search Brand: Nimona). Nate also still sells "Nimona" comic art on his INPRNT store.

Netflix released a free-to-read digital-only multimedia 358-page artbook for the movie (but took it down in March 2024). (It's also been released at least for crew/friends of crew(?) in physical release, so maybe it'll get mass release as a hardcover). Outside of this, a lot of the crew for the movie from both Blue Sky and DNEG have been releasing a ton of concept art and development stuff, and the cast and crew have been doing a lot of promotional interviews and videos going back through like April 2023, so there's a lot of material to look through on YouTube, tiktok, tumblr, twitter, Instagram, Facebook/Meta, and Vimeo, as well as various news and media sites. Nate is active on tumblr, his personal blog, twitter, and Instagram. Annapurna, DNEG, and Netflix also have multiple accounts on many platforms, including their own websites, YouTube, Facebook/Meta, and Twitter, and have been sharing clips and behind the scenes stuff.

Nimona actually has been added to a video game: Nimona was included as an event companion in SharkBite 2, a Roblox game.

If you're looking for fanworks, the fandom is active on most platforms, and has been ever since Nate started posting early art of the characters. Nate's talked at length in multiple places about how big the fandom was during the webcomic's publication. Mostly back then folks were very active in the Disqus comments on pages, which are a bit harder to find these days. There's a lot of the older comic fanart still circulating in different places (particularly tumblr, where the fandom was most active), some of which Nate reblogged. There is crossover between the comic and movie fandoms, as many fans of the comic love the movie and vice versa, and both fandoms are quite active. There is at least one active subreddit and fanwiki (and many others on assorted fantasy, comic, movie, and non-English language sites), as well as TV Tropes pages for both the comic and movie adaptation and a number of Discord servers.

For fanfiction, there are a ton of fics on Archive of Our Own in the comic tag and in the movie adaptation tag. There are also a number of fics on tumblr, some fics on fanfiction.net, and some on Wattpad. There are fanvids on tiktok, Instagram, and YouTube. There is fanart on tumblr, twitter, deviantart, instagram, and pixiv. There are cosplayers, meta analysts, roleplayers, music makers, and many other fanworkers

Some tags to use/browse for posts on tumblr and other sites:

Nimona

Nimona fanart

Nimona comic

Nimona movie

Ballister Blackheart

Ballister Boldheart

Ambrosius Goldenloin

Gloreth

Meredith Blitzmeyer

Ballister x Ambrosius / Goldenheart / Boldloin / Boldenloin / Blackenloin / Blackloin / Goldheart

Will update this post as I come across new things.

[b3nnyrabb1t]

So there's this person on here @funnyshapedpuddles who did a "reblog with two or more fun facts about you and I'll give you a Sanders sides character" thing and I got Remus (understandably so) but I so. So. So badly want a thorough review from MORE fanders because suddenly I want a popular vote decision here.

SO

Fun facts about me are as follows (I'll start with the two I used for that person's post)

1. I spent around a year fixated on Jeffrey Dahmer in increments of 4ish months and 7-8ish months over the span of two years

2. I spent an entire total of over 24 hours tallying up how many new "Say No To This" bowigi videos I saw on tiktok when that was trending. I kept track by saving them all to a collection that has since been transformed into just bowigi stuff in general with most of the "say no to this" videos deleted (I kept the ones I liked most)

3. During that time period of my fixation on Jeffrey Dahmer I wrote not one, but two essays about him. Because I felt like it.

4 I named myself after a character from a Canadian show that aired on Disney in 2011-2012 called My Babysitter's A Vampire that also has a movie as the prequel (but I believe the movie did come out first so I think technically the show is a sequel/spin-off of the movie but wtv)

5 The last two summers (this one current and last year) I live(d) in a camper a few hundred feet from my house because I hate my grandfather and love being able to be independent while also having a stable fallback (like if it's too cold some night and I can just go into the house and sleep, or if I run out of my groceries in here)

6 I am a Scorpio.

7 The things I do most in the day are scroll Tumblr, scroll TikTok, and write porn with my best friend on Snapchat.

8 I dislike every pop tart except the cinnamon ones.

9 I own the Dan and Phil and Cats calendar and I cross off every day on it so I do not forget what day it is. It is the only calendar I have ever ACTUALLY used despite owning SEVERAL calendars that I picked out myself before. I have only ever actually used one. And it's Dan and Phil.

10 I spent somewhere between 45-55 dollars only on pink men's dress clothes then promptly actually cried when I put on an all-pink outfit and realized I did not have pink shoelaces, only purple. Even my socks had pink. My shoes did not.

11 pink is my favorite color as of literally the day I bought the dress clothes, which was 5 days ago as I write this (June 16th).

12 I saw a video on TikTok about a guy named Nik (judyhoppslovr69) being dead and promptly sobbed for two hours. It has been three days and he has revealed he is still alive. I cried seeing the video of him alive.

13 I dislike ever flavor of Gatorade except orange and lemon lime.

Thank you everyone for your cooperation.

Edit: please reblog for more traction and more votes. Thank youuu

[foxes-that-run]

Can you confirm Benjamin Button was a gift from Harry?

Hi, Taylor adopted Benji on the set or Me! there’s a special BTS just for him.

However, his role/scene is a reference to internet speculation which Taylor has acknowledged that Olivia was a gift from Harry.

Olivia Benson Swift(-Styles?)

Olivia was adopted on 18 June 2014. Harry and Taylor had started dating again after the red backstage haircut, writing Style around Valentine’s Day 2014 and the anatomical heart tattoo. The date is a potential anniversary:

15 June 2011 Taylor had temper trap arm lyrics in St Paul, 1D in America, Harry MIA and on the 17 June she wrote she was blissfully happy in the lover journal.

16 June 2012 Harry got lyrics from the same temper trap song tattooed on that anniversary.

18 June 2014 Taylor adopted Olivia wearing pink. model Steph Smith was there, posted to IG and started following both Harry and Taylor. Harry MIA but seen in Europe the day before and after.

What led to speculation that Olivia was a gift was that Harry can be heard laughing in the first video Taylor posted of Olivia a week later. This TikTok has Harry laughing and this laugh. Harry’s sister Gemma liked this post and later named her own cat Olivia also.

Olivia is a Scottish fold so it’s unlikely she was able to be adopted same day, my guess is the “first roar” where Taylor wears black, Harry laughs and Olivia looks slightly smaller was before she was picked up where Taylor wore pink. That tracks with clothes and how purebred cat adoptions work, famous people probably have options but kittens new all the time “first roar” means first met. This first roar video is still in Taylor’s instagram stories under “Ladies and Benji”

Harry also wrote Olivia the same year and famously said “Is Olivia even a person or is Olivia an emotion” Olivia being something that sounds like “I love ya”, a response to Say don’t go’s “I said I love you and you say nothing back.

Tumblr went with it which Taylor was aware of as keen user of Tumblr then and she has hinted of Harry as Olivia’s dad on the Reputation tabloid, in the End Game video (black/rep cat rather than Olivia) when she sings she doesn’t want to be just another ex-live you don’t wanna see.

And it was seemingly confirmed in the me! When Brendan presents Benji as a gift while Taylor wears a pink dress

(Side note on the Me Video: Brendan wore Harry’s Live on Tour Suits throughout, she called Olivia and Meredith young daughters (in French, Harry was dating Camille) and the paint at the end match’s the unreleased Two Ghosts video)

And finally on his birthday hits from the streets called Harry a cat daddy in 2019, the year Me! Came out. Well he is a Cat daddy in a double meaning, 🍉 and also Olivia’s real father.

[fabuloustrash05]

Before I openly ask for you to talk with me, because, I quite frankly feel like you’re the godmother of the tmnt fandom. Your opinions, headcanons, arguments, theories, and etc. are all really well-put, and most importantly fair. As in, I feel like anybody could completely understand and agree, or disagree, but respect the fact. ‘Cause I know you’re not dumb enough to bluntly put out some argument without real proof or evidence backing it up. (I’ve watched enough of your tiktoks to know you know how these things work) I am also not trying to call you dumb or insult you or the sort - but being aware of your own opinions and feelings, as well as the other side.

Okay, haha, rant over, I love flaunting and over complimenting the people I like watching and reading. So, I have a very good mutual who I just started talking to recently, who is fixing apriltello; and your tumblr account was the first thing I noticed. I also have noticed that you’re really onto the ship, too, and your way of thinking is pretty sound, and I really love the ideas you had/have. It took some time for me, to really like and understand the ship, itself, because of how god forbidden it’s written. So, may I ask or pop in your DMs and we could talk?

I would really love to sit down and just start picking your brain on tint topics, especially 2012. I got a few headcanons I’ve shared on here, and some more I haven’t yet, alongside two Donnie analysis’. Although, that’s not important, all I really am trying to say, is that I’d really like to talk with you.

:)

First off thank you so much for the kind words! Always a pleasure to hear from a long time fan! <3

I will happily take the crown as the Godmother of TMNT lol

Now regarding your question I do have boundaries when it comes to communicating with me, but I’ve never really brought them up cause no one’s ever truly mentioned it or asked so I appreciate you asking me beforehand :)

Personally I don’t usually like talking to someone through DMs unless it’s someone I’ve grown quite familiar with or know personally. The people in my DMs are 90% either people I know in real life/done video calls with or I’ve know them for quite a long time and grew comfortable with them over time. I rarely talk to people on DMs that I barely know and when I do it’s short conversations or people just asking if they can draw fanart of my fanfics and such.

I am a legal adult (as my bio states) and in truth I don’t feel comfortable talking to potential minors through DMs online. Replying to a comment/reblog or an ask like this one, I’m total fine and comfortable with but my DMs is just too personal and I’m not comfortable with that. I hope you can understand.

If you have any thoughts/headcanons/theories you’d like to share with me, feel free to send me an asks! Thats where I’m most comfortable chatting.

[g-kat423]

Rant under the cut

That whole Cassie Reffel author drama just goes to show that some people don’t know how to separate reality from fiction and then it gives other writers who touch on dark topics a bad name.

For those who don’t know, Cassie Reffel is a self-published author who writes dark romance. She recently got some heat for using real life killer Wade Wilson (not Deadpool) who was recently sentenced to death for the brutal murders of two women as a way to promote one of her books. Her video was so tactless with 0 respect for the victims, showing a photo of Wilson with a caption along the lines of “if you like him you’ll love this” followed by a picture and description of her book. Don’t have the exact quote since she’s deleted the original, but I’m sure screenshots are floating around. Instead of apologizing, she doubled down, turned off all comments where she was able, and made a bunch of unhinged TikToks in a row absolving herself of all wrongdoing.

If you’re going to write about serial killers maybe don’t do so in a way that glorifies a real murderer?? It’s bad enough Wade Wilson already has fangirls making thirst traps of him and trying to contact him in prison. Absolutely disgusting. No one would even know who she was if not for this controversy. Her self-published books read like a teenager trying to be edgy on Wattpad, complete with mistakes like “strole” instead of “stroll” and one of her characters being a “collage” student. An actual publisher wouldn’t touch her middle school writing with a 40 foot “poll.” That and with the way she can’t take any criticism shows she’s not cutout to be an actual author at all.

My favorite thing though? Her little blurb on her Amazon author profile starts with “welcome to the darkness of my mind” literally not too far off from “welcome to my twisted mind” which I’m sure she probably wanted to use, but couldn’t because it’s been meme’d to shit. 2012 tumblr ass behavior.

This could go into a longer discussion about how true crime and booktok have further contributed to this ongoing brainrot of not honoring victims while glorifying murderers, but I’m already fuming lol.

I once got into it with someone on TikTok because they said I was glorifying murder by posting about Lady Dimitrescu, a fictional villain. I told them to save that energy for the true crime girlies selling serial killer merch on Etsy. Lady Dimitrescu isn’t real, no actual living person has been harmed by her actions. Enjoying an interesting villain from a fictional world is in no way and never has been on par with people being fans of actual murderers. I don’t condone Alcina’s actions, yes, even when I write a fic that involves those in character actions. These pathetic serial killer simps make excuses for actual murders that have happened because ~their poor little baby was misunderstood~ barf. Even being a fictional villain fan, I hate the woobification of said fictional villains and then these bitches are out here doing it with real people 💀 get fucked.

[hairbrush9]

tumblr is the last social media that feels remotely social... remember when it was only our primary school friends? then outer circle, then university, then the whole world practically. I think after i lost contact with so many people irl I realized there was nothing pulling me back to those social medias. facebook , my first sm, was abandoned after early high school as I latched onto weird twitter to post jokes with my buddies and classmates. tumblr was a medium i originally joined to post gifs of pokemon and dbz, ended up making some good e friends over time - sad that most of them are moved on but hopefully for the better. Instagram was a part of my social media journey probably from 2012 - 2021 & IG was abandoned because of a combination of fomo & disinterest in my academic peers, and a lack of engagement with my posts. I honestly still wish I was as avid about taking photos/videos with my phone but now that I drive everywhere my hands are always busy. In 2014 I got really into media/politics twitter and it consumed my time & morale - ended up deleting for a few years and then remaking around pandemic times, only to abandon it again late 2021 after i realized the soul suck was still ever so obvious. snapchat wasn't a part of my life for a very long time on account of I don't really love taking selfies or communicating via images of random shit so I left that around the same time I ditched facebook for twitter. Peach was small and insular and was a fun place to go for a break from tumblr back in like...2018 or something? Anyway people talked shit about me for literally just being myself and hurting nobody so I don't care to return there (and my current phone doesn't support the app so whatever!). I've purposefully stayed away from tiktok and twitter alternatives because I don't really think adding to my social media is going to bring me any more meaning/joy at this point. just want to build on relationships that already exist because I don't feel insatiable on this front right now

[kedreeva]

I’ve been on tumblr since 2012 and following you pretty much that entire time and have never reblogged or posted a single thing under my name. Before that I was on LJ for years and never posted anything. I send (nice) asks to people on anon, and leave (nice) comments and kudos on ao3. I used to interact some on LJ when anon kink memes were a thing. I am a part of fandom and have been for close to 20 years, I’m just not comfortable having any kind of public persona online that people can see, even if it has no attachment to my real name.

I know that the influx of new, young fans and the way they treat fandom the same as other online content creation/consumption is a problem. But fandom has always had lurkers. I do my best to positively interact in the ways that I am able to within my comfort zone, and I follow the rules of fandom etiquette. There’s so much pushback against lurkers now that was never there before, and I just don’t understand it.

It's a difficult line to walk, but there's a difference between going to a blog that has zero posts, zero likes, no header, no icon, not even a note that says "just lurking," and a person that's here to look at stuff that displays at least enough humanity to say "hey don't block me I'm just looking."

And look... yes there's always been lurkers. And there probably always will be. And it wasn't an issue for you or for creators or fandom in general, because it didn't hurt anything before. In just my living memory, fandom spent a while just being mailing lists- so creations/discussion went to everyone. There wasn't really anyone else to pass stuff on to, so it didn't matter if you just signed up and never said a word. Webrings based the spread of creation in the site itself, because everything was small back then. Livejournal had public and private communities that were searchable and creation was based inside of those communities, and interaction was based on commenting - what you're used to doing, and okay doing - meaning community was based in the comments and people linking to various communities. Back when places like deviantart and ff.net were pretty staple major sites for everyone, community formed in comment sections there as well.

And as much as I do love social media and the advent of community messaging systems... it's changed the face of fandom in ways that make lurking - and I do mean straight up no interaction, if you're sending messages and commenting, you're participating - break the links of community.

Look at it this way:

Back on LJ etc, it didn't matter if you, personally, lurked. Or even if 100 people lurked. Creations and community were centrally located. People all gathered to the same stable location (a post, or a community feed) to look at the things, and comment etc so if you commented or didn't, they could still find the creations. Sites like that brought people together. Now? *shakes head* Social media sites have divided us, and AI/Bots/Algorithms are conquering us because we disseminated too far.

Where do you go, on twitter, if you want to find fic? How do you find a conversation about something? Where do artists go so you can find groups of them and their galleries? You can scroll a tag, but anyone can put anything in that. I have literally no idea how tiktok works because every time I go on it, things just start scrolling past and playing videos for me that I didn't click. It's kind of horrifying. Instagram is... god, I don't even know how to classify that mess, but it's not a community. it's a museum. don't touch anything.

Tumblr is... it's not livejournal, it's not deviantart, it's not mailing lists or webrings but... it's people touching real people still, or it has the ability to be that if we continue to fight for it. As much as there are shitshows around here on occasion, it's still largely neighbors passing notes over the fences separating us.

But for as much community potential as it has, with the way it can function - with the way it USED to function, the way I REMEMBER it functioning a long time ago - it still separates us. There's tags, like on twitter, but anyone that tag dives (like me) knows what a hot fucking mess the tags can be, and there's no other central collection.

Tumblr's saving grace, though, is the ability we, the users, have to interact like humans. To share what we can with one another. To create networks that still kind of resemble the webrings of old, where you can come to one location (someone's blog) and find gateways to other blogs the way one page/site used to lead to the next so the separate, divided things spread across the world WIDE web don't get lost.

Except the link gets broken here, when folks just have empty blogs. There's (thankfully) no algorithm deciding what we should look at, but the trade off is that we have to be responsible for that step in fandom again. The way we used to be.

Not to mention that... there was never really a point for bots back in the LJ days. It would have been hard for them to survive because everyone knew at least some of the people. Not that there weren't, but it was harder and not rewarding for them to exist en masse. Now? Now bots use social media sites and users. Here, on tumblr, they follow accounts to make it look like they're legit to search engines. Whatever central account they're using to scam people, it collects the bots and the network the bots make, and uses them to look legit, so they can scam people, so they can spread viruses, advertise porn or whatever they're doing. They're exploiting users here, and they do this by following us.

And the ONLY recourse we have? is guessing that they're bots and blocking them. Because reporting a blank blog won't get tumblr addressing the issue. So, when someone lurks in a completely faceless, anon way, a way that makes them look like a bot, then the people who are being followed are going to learn to treat them like the bots that are trying to exploit them to do bad things.

And that's not on you! It's not your fault that they're doing those things, or that people have to react the way they have to react to curb that nonsense. And it's not your fault that social media wants to separate us so it can sell us whatever it wants and keep us from communicating and forming communities where we can entertain ourselves instead of feeding on their ads or whatever. It's not your fault that the way community functions on a human level has been backed into a corner by algorithms/bots.

But that IS the lay of the land these days. You and I have both been here long enough that we've watched the landscape shift. It's not the net we knew. And that's unfortunate. But it's probably not going to go back to the way we knew once upon a time. So people are pushing back against folks being quiet, because the alternative is to let algorithms win and do the talking for us. To let bots use us to hurt others. To let fandom founder because it's being directed by whatever AI is in charge of telling us what to look at.

I'm not going to tell anyone they can't be in fandom if they don't reblog stuff or make stuff or whatever. Just... that fandom is going to have a LOT harder time existing in this new breed of divided space if we don't reach out and connect and help one another connect to others, too.

[mercuryonparklane]

Some quick thoughts on SNTV:

“I Can See You” is Tayliz

“Electric Touch” is either Tayliz v Taymily (requited v unrequited) or Swiftgron v Tayliz (more likely the first option considering the clear references to “Breathe”)

“When Emma Falls In Love”, “Foolish One”, and “Enchanted” could be about her unrequited crush on Emma S.

I’m very happy that she brought Liz (and Caitlin) back for this one, but I expected she would since she had already brought her back for Red TV. I still wish we could get an actual feature, though (“Better Man” was so close), their voices sound amazing together (maybe even more so now than they did when Liz was in the band).

I do not believe in late stage anything, including Tayliz. I think the rerecording process (which probably began to some extent before the pandemic in 2020) had her reflecting a lot on the past and previous relationships/situationships. That’s why there seems to be a lot of reminiscing about and references to older songs and past relationships on folklore, evermore, and Midnights.

I haven’t felt like posting as much about Tayliz, hence why this blog has become essentially inactive, because I noticed Liz seemed like the type who would manage to stumble across the theories (not this blog in particular, just all the Twitter and TikTok stuff) and I didn’t feel like adding much more to that discussion. And, in fact, I deleted and archived some of my previous posts for that reason.

I have seen tweets the last couple days about Liz watching Tayliz stuff, so I’m not super comfortable with that (that’s just a personal thing, not an admonishing or strong judgment on anyone who feels comfortable doing so). I’ll stick to my once in a blue moon tumblr posts, where I actively avoid using last names haha.

I do think they may have had something in the past and that Taylor has possibly written songs about her and vice versa, but neither one of them have made a clear statement on their sexuality and Liz seems to be currently dating one of her longtime close friends.

I think Taylor and Liz, for whatever reason, had a little bit of a falling out around fall 2012, but are on good terms now and likely have been for many years. Liz is one Taylor’s oldest friends at this point and she (and Caitlin) was there to see first hand the transition from playing small shows in bars to selling out arenas. She’s one of her few “industry” friends who knew her and admired/supported her before she blew up, so I do hope they are at least friends at this point.

I still think Tayliz is way more likely Taylor/Martin or any of the alleged public boyfriends, slightly less likely than Taylianne, and moderately less likely than Swiftgron and Kaylor.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m like 90% convinced that they had a situationship, and at the bare minimum had a very strong romantic friendship, it’s just that I am always skeptical about everything, so unless one of them confirms it, I can’t be fully on board. At this moment, I do believe they had a situationship and that both have written multiple songs about the other and have referenced each other in music videos. I am not convinced that they ever had any kind of defined, serious, committed relationship. I definitely find Tayliz far more convincing than any of the men we are meant to believe Taylor has been attracted to.

[hashtag-girlblogger]

how to live like it's 2014 again

If you're anything like me, you're nostalgic for everything. I am constantly wishing to be somewhere else or in some time else. I'm nostalgic for the 60's (I was born in 2001), nostalgic for the early 2000's (pop is just not the same), and most of all–I am nostalgic for 2012 to 2016. I think it is widely agreed that these years, especially on Tumblr, were the last best years many of us have ever had. I was a baby, still in middle school and just 15 years old in 2016. But wow, what a time to be alive. Music, movies, TV, pop culture, fashion, the internet–the world was a better place.

I have been toying with the idea of exiting mainstream society (as best I can) for sometime now. I've been thinking, "Is it possible to live in another era while stuck in the constantly evolving 2024?" Can I abandon social norms or things of "the time" and just live like it's 2014 again?

I've thought about what this would mean, what it would look like. Only listening to Halsey, Calvin Harris and Marina. Splurging at Victoria's Secret and wearing the iconic Tease perfume at all times. What's TikTok? You don't use Valencia on your Instagram posts? I'm obsessed with WeHeartIt. Look at my new Penny board!

Alternatively, I could take the Arctic Monkeys, soft grunge, American Apparel and Marlboro cigarettes route. All black, watching AHS Coven and wondering if I have secret witchy powers too.

I think where all these feelings come from is that the current state of the world is just not feeling so good (to put it nicely). The world is accelerating at a speed I do not want to keep up with. Social media and technology are great but it has literally become this crushing weight. "Just delete social media then." Yeah fair. I guess I just feel so disconnected from my life. From my real life. Like I spend so much of my time venturing into other worlds I've made up in my head. Like 2014 Tumblr. It's not here anymore, it's gone, but I live there. A part of me is still there.

I'm like 12 or 13 years old. Was still a competitive cheerleader, which I regrettably quit when I got to high school. I spent everyday after school with my friends, making video stars or doing gymnastics in the field. We would walk around our neighbourhood, talking about god knows what and enjoying every minute of it. I looked at the future and it could be anything. I could be anyone and do anything I wanted. I feel like that's what I really want. Maybe I miss the music and clothes and vibes of that era buy what I'm really craving is how purely simple and free I felt, how connected I felt to my own life.

Now I'm 22, soon to be 23. Graduating college soon, heading into my big girl job, big girl career. Totally terrified and also excited. But I spend my time alone, so much time alone. My social battery is always empty, I rarely catch up with friends. When I do, we always have to be doing something. Dinner, drinks, movies, parties, dancing, classes. It's never, just come over let's hangout. And I get it, we're young adults, we are supposed to be doing stuff, we are meant to be out and about living our best lives. I guess I just want it to feel different. I want it to feel like it used to.

Okay sooooo.

This is how to live like it's 2014.

Talk to your friends, often and without any agenda. Create the ultimate playlist, this one's pretty good:

Binge CW shows and trashy reality TV. Totally freak out when someone says you look like Violet from AHS (this actually happened to me at work the other day and I couldn't stop smiling). Say screw the trends and wear some skinny jeans and those Alexander McQueen ankle boots, Alexa Chung approved. Get off your phone and be alive now. It's 2014, you don't have a worry in the world.

[xxwhiskeyxx]

Ghost Mutuals Tag Game 🦇 Send this to the last ten Ghesties in your notifications, then reply here with ten facts about yourself! Let's get to know each other!

Wow thanks, I haven’t gotten one of these in awhile!

Well..let’s see

1. I’m a college sophomore and an Anthropology major! I plan on being an archeologist and hopefully working in/with a museum

2. I once owned around 14 cats at one time, a combo of inside and outside. Sadly that number has dwindled to 5 due to us moving house and natural situations, but we are very grateful for the ones we have!

3. I am the child of a single mother who manages to overcome nearly dying and then became a nurse in her 40s. She’s the strongest person I know

4. I just got into the Ghost fandom early 2022, around..June ish? Partially thanks to my ex but mostly to TikTok and Tumblr

5. I own a 2012 Nissan Titan 4x4 that I named Jacob after Jacob Seed from Far Cry 5. Simply because my Jacob is a grumpy old man who manipulates me into thinking he’s working just for SOMETHING ELSE to go wrong with him. He’s had his engine replaced (OG locked up not even a month after I got him), starter replaced (about a year later), his transmission went out about July, and lately his AC has been acting fucky wucky because TURNS OUT there’s a hole somewhere in there so the Freon leaks :) so basically I love my shitty old man but he’s such a money pit

6. I’m what you can call a Jack of all trades: I can weld, do woodworking and carpentry, or do minor household repairs; I can write, slightly draw, and do makeup; I’ve been learning guitar for the last year (not going amazing cause i have small hands and this makes it hard to to cords/reach notes), can play a little piano, along with euphonium and tuba thanks to being involved with band in school for..9ish years

7. I was a state level powerlifter and was the strongest female competitor in my high school mainly due to my squat

8. I’ve played video games for a majority of my life, it’s how I bonded with my brother, and I adore them. I’m currently playing Baldurs Gate 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition!

9. I have made two amazing friends thanks to Ghost @switchplate-2 and @chaos--reincarnated, simply because I commented on their works and we started messaging on tumblr then Instagram, and now I’ve been friends with them for about a year each. It’s possible to make friends, just reach out even if it’s scary! Btw you two need to do this

10. Uh I guess a final fact about myself is I currently only have my tongue pierced and one tattoo but I plan on getting a shit ton more!

[bashsbooks]

An Abundance of Katherines Book Review

★★★☆☆ ~ 3 out of 5 stars

Like most tweens and teens in 2012, I read The Fault in Our Stars and loved it. It was always my intention to go back and read more of John Green’s books in the future, which I only managed with a little success over the past decade, despite coming across John Green himself everywhere - at school via Crash Course, on TikTok and Instagram where he posts funny personal videos, and here on Tumblr, where he has long been the butt of a rather vicious bullying ‘joke.’ After running across him online once again at the end of 2022, I resolved that in the new year, I was finally going to get back to that goal and read more of his work. 

Enter An Abundance of Katherines, a book I had long been intrigued about from its title alone. What did that mean? I knew from skimming a synopsis that it had something to do with a teenage boy who only dated girls named Katherine - nineteen of them, to be exact - but otherwise, I had little concept of what was going to happen in this book.

To give a more comprehensive summary, An Abundance of Katherines is about a former child prodigy named Colin Singleton, who worries that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a true genius and that he will never find love after Katherine XIX dumps him. Colin and his best friend, Hassan, take a roadtrip to a small town in Tennessee where they meet a girl their age, Lindsey Lee Wells, and her mother, Hollis, who offers the boys a summer job interviewing locals about their lives. In the downtime between navigating this new job, town, and burgeoning friendship with Lindsey, Colin is trying to figure out a theorem that perfectly predicts the trajectory of any relationship - how long it will last and who will dump who. This last part means there was more math in this book than I’d hoped for, though, as Green points out in the footnotes at one point, not more than absolutely necessary. 

An Abundance of Katherines was written in 2008, and in some ways, it feels like a product of its time (most glaringly through Lindsey’s sporadic use of the r-slur). In other ways, it feels defiant of this time, though: Hassan is a Muslim who speaks Arabic regularly throughout the book, and Colin notes how his theorem will work for gay couples. This tension of succumbing and overcoming its time are a great microcosm of the messiness that it is deeply entrenched in every layer of the novel - from the clash of Chicago-natives Colin and Hassan with the small town folks of Gutshot, Tennessee, to Colin’s obsession with being a genius against Hassan’s satisfaction with not doing much of anything, there are a lot of differing ideas rubbing shoulders in this book.

Overall, this works well for An Abundance of Katherines. It is messy in a realistic way; the characters are far from perfect, but they’re not the worst people in the world. This is something I particularly enjoy about Green’s writing - he has an amazing ability to humanize his characters. There were points throughout the book where I thought each member of the main cast was being annoying or irritating, but this was not so pervasive that it kept me from rooting for them and ultimately wishing them a happy ending. 

I must confess, though, that while I found this messiness interesting, I found most of the book ultimately boring. Not bore-me-to-sleep boring and not I-can’t-finish-this boring, but it just did not feel like much happened. Its problems, at times, can be a little too mundane - interpersonal teen drama and the threat that a financial crisis can pose to a small town. That is not to say these aren’t important issues to cover, just that they are not the most exciting things in the world to read on their own. And personally, I find advanced math to be a bit boring, so when it was necessary to read about the theorem and how it functions, I found myself yawning. 

Additionally, though I like footnotes in fictional texts (House of Leaves rights), and generally appreciated the layer that An Abundance of Katherines’ footnotes added to the narrative (as these footnotes competing with the main text for attention also adds to that nice messiness I mentioned), I did not like them in a digital format. If you give this book a read, I highly recommend picking up a physical copy, unless you want to keep clicking back and forth between the page you’re on and the accompanying footnotes. I understand this is not a fault of the text itself as much as the medium in which I chose to read it, but it compounded my boredom with a certain tediousness that made most of this book a slog for me. 

Ultimately, this book was a solid 3 out of 5 stars for me. It was fine. Not the worst, not the best. I really don’t have much else to say about it. Read it if you like. I think it makes for fine leisure reading. But don’t expect anything terribly exciting or revelatory.

[arrow-dodger]

I have been spending increasingly less time on social media. I basically don't even use Twitter anymore and haven't for like at least this entire year so far. I mostly open Facebook to look people up for things or keep track of events, and I basically never spend time scrolling on there because videos autoplay with sound enabled and that's fucking insane to me.

I'm on here sometimes, if this even counts. I kinda don't think so. I only have TikTok so I can view things people send me, but I actually legitimately hate being on there for more than a video or two at a time. It gives me anxiety.

When I open my phone for mindless scrolling I actually typically end up on reddit now. And I was a reddit hater in the past, believe me. But the idea that I can follow pages for all the different things I'm interested in, and those pages are what make up my entire feed, is so novel amongst all these other sites that constantly push OTHER shit in my face. I know there's an algorithm there, but it's kind of fine? I mean I'm still just seeing fandom discussions, posts of cute animals, uhhh kinda everything tumblr was for me in like 2012, if I'm being honest.

One thing I do that is probably actually bad for me though is read those "relationship drama" kinds of subs. There are a lot of those and I kinda can't get enough of them. They definitely make me think deeply about human relationships and how complicated that shit is, and playing thought experiments like that is fun for me I think.

And man, I used to think that the people writing posts on those subs were the people with issues, but the people who frequent those subs and COMMENT on those posts are the ones with the worst issues, I'm finding. Every single post has at least a couple of people very concernedly explaining to OP some variation of "your boyfriend is an abusive narcissistic sociopath and is going to murder you and you need to get out YESTERDAY," no matter the conflict. It's actually wild to me to see people talking so confidently and prescriptively about the lives of strangers they've only read a few paragraphs about. It's like they're trying to explain to the poster what that person's own life is sometimes. The lack of nuance and critical thinking often startles me, but the patronizing tone REALLY does me in.

It reminds me of the black and white thinking of a teenager (which I was guilty of a thousand times over, as evidenced by this blog), except it's way worse because everyone these days fancies themselves some kind of psychology expert because they've read and watched things on the internet. They've read all the pop psychology "facts" and articles, they listen to true crime podcasts, they watch youtubers and TikTokers spew psychology jargon with the confidence of someone with a PhD even though they're like 22 and probably work at like, Target. So now everyone knows all the big fancy words and uses them freely.

But I personally can't get past the idea that being overly clinical and pathological about every human interaction or characteristic just leads to a lack of real empathy, self reflection, and accountability. If everything everyone else does that is bad or harmful is because of some disorder you are deciding they have that makes them Evil, then they're irredeemable and you can write them off entirely. You can take yourself completely out of having contributed to any conflict you had with that person. And if you have some self-diagnosed disorder that is an untreatable innate part of who you are that you can use to attribute any bad behaviors YOU have to, that means you may get trapped in a cycle of feeling like you never have to grow or work on yourself ever again. Which is... bad!

I dunno, it's like, sometimes people just suck. There doesn't have to be anything deeper to it. They're selfish, maybe, or a bad communicator, or they have trauma they've never worked on, or something "ugly" like BPD, or maybe you and them aren't compatible honestly, or in VERY few cases in my personal opinion, yeah, they're just vindictive. I think less people are truly cruel and vindictive than we like to think. People aren't sitting out there in armchairs with their fingers steepled, plotting evil plots about how they're going to next ruin your life. And if you think they are then consider that you're not the main character. They're usually reacting to things moment to moment just like you, and they're the hero of their own story, even if they're a shitty hero. A Game of Thrones tier hero. Hot take, but even people who are abusive are usually not evil fucking masterminds.

We should, uh, cut each other more slack. In general. We're all out here learning how to person, together, in a world and a society that is constantly trying to crush us. So yeah. Also, existing systems of classification are not the end-all-be-all and are not meant to be. Those evolve over time, and I truly think we're seeing at a rapid rate these days how a lot of our current ones are broken as fuck.

[snsl0530]

Is Blogging still relevant in the age of TikToks and Instagram

Is blogging still relevent in today's fast-paced digital world when attention spans are shortening and visual material reigns supreme? It's natural to ask if conventional blogging has lost its place in the digital world as services like TikTok and Instagram acquire enormous popularity for their short-form videos and appealing photographs. The response, nevertheless, could surprise you: blogging is still important and is an essential tool for businesses and content producers. In this post, we'll look at why blogging is still popular and how it works with today's dominant social networking platforms.

Blogging is a Long-Form Content

As we know, TikTok and Instagram excel at providing instant amusement and interaction, but they fall short of providing in-depth knowledge. In contrast, blogs offer a venue for long-form content. Furthermore, this is crucial for authors who wish to go deeply into complicated subjects, give extensive lessons, write in-depth reviews, provide in-depth instructional material, or an in-depth introduction of a persona. This is because some topics may not be fully addressed in a single image or a movie that lasts for 60 seconds. For example, CEOs or business executives want to express themselves to the public, long-form content is important because they may share their ideas, goals, and plans for the company through long-form writing, which gives them the chance to display their personalities. (Attie, 2023) This enhances the organisation and helps them gain a better reputation among their staff. As a result, the firm gains more clients and prospers.

Blogging is a Diverse Content Strategy

The most prosperous firms and content producers frequently use a multi-platform strategy. Blogging may support your entire content strategy even though TikTok and Instagram could be your main venues for visual content and interaction. It enables you to recycle material, modify it for new forms, and speak to diverse target segments. In this way, blogging may strengthen your online presence by acting as a cornerstone of your content strategy.

According to Blagojevic (2023), about 36% of marketers create images mainly for blog articles and it is more used than short videos media platform such as Instagram, which means blogging is still used on content creation for marketing because marketing needs long-form content to introduce and promote the details of marketing contents which can be complicated to understand for the viewer to know even more understand about the marketing content.

Blogging can Express Personal Views and Gaining Insignful Feedbacks

Blogs offer a platform for independent thought and creative expression. Instead of being limited to brief video snippets or image descriptions, blogging enables you to find your own voice, express your views, and do it in depth and subtlety. According to Reeve (2016), Pizza, a 16 years-old blogger obtained the URL IWantMyFairyTaleEnding in late 2010 after joining Tumblr, a social media platform that had just become three years old at the time. Pizza occasionally created her own humorous one-liners in addition to reblogging jokes and alternating between fashion and comedy. She experimented with many aliases and personas and changed her URL a few times before going completely into humour after a few years. She had garnered 90,000 followers by the end of 2012, which is a good number for a Tumblr and evidence that she had gained some notoriety among the teenagers who reblogged her jokes. Adding a personal touch helps deepen your connection with your audience.

While social media sites are great at generating immediate likes and shares, blog readers frequently give articles a deeper level of engagement. They engage in meaningful conversations, ask insightful questions, and make comments on your blog, fostering a sense of community. This greater level of participation encourages close relationships with your audience and can be very helpful for developing a devoted following.

Why Blogging is Still Better than TikTok and Instagram in Search Engine Optimization

The symbiotic relationship between blogging and search engine optimisation (SEO) is one of its key benefits. Blog entries that have been optimised well may perform well on search engines like Google. As a result, your blog's material may eventually serve as a reliable source of free traffic to your website. While blog entries might continue to draw readers and offer value for years because to their evergreen nature, TikTok and Instagram postings may only last a short time in users' feeds. By establishing your website as a pertinent response to your clients' inquiries, blogging helps improve SEO quality. Blog entries that employ a number of on-page SEO techniques can increase your chances of ranking in search results and improve the user experience on your website. (Coleman 2022) Well-maintained blog material matures like good wine, unlike social media updates that swiftly disappear from consumers' feeds. Blog postings may draw readers, drive traffic, and offer value for years after they are written. A clear benefit of blogging over platforms with ephemeral material is its endurance.

In conclusion, blogging is still relevant in the TikTok and Instagram era. The depth and permanence that blogging offers cannot be replaced by these social media behemoths, even while they present distinctive potential for visual narrative and rapid participation. By implementing a multi-platform strategy that combines the benefits of blogging with the reach of social media and video sharing, many content producers and businesses achieve success. Understanding your target audience's preferences and information demands can help you select the platforms that will best serve your content and communication objectives.

The following time you doubt the continued value of blogging, just keep in mind that it remains a key component of a strong and efficient digital content strategy, complementing the quick-paced worlds of TikTok and Instagram with its depth, length, and engagement potential.

Reference

Attie, I 2023, '4 Essential Benefits of Long-Form Content and How to Create it', Design Powers, viewed 2 October 2023, <https://designpowers.com/blog/four-benefits-long-form-content#:~:text=We%20recommend%20websites%20use%20this,and%20establish%20a%20core%20audience>.

Blagojevic, I 2023, 'Visual Content Marketing Statistics 2023', 99firms, viewed 1 October 2023, <https://99firms.com/blog/visual-content-marketing-statistics/>.

Coleman, B 2022, 'Blog SEO: How to Search Engine Optimize Your Blog Content', viewed 2 October 2023, <https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-search-engine-optimization>.

Reeve, E 2016, 'The Secret Lives of Tumblr Teens', New Republic, viewed 1 October 2023, <https://newrepublic.com/article/129002/secret-lives-tumblr-teens>.