#also if you follow me and see this very random post on your dash

[fatalwhims]

i am going to ramble about Heart of the Sun Warrior into the void in hopes that someone will actually browse the tags and join me because i need to gush about this book through incoherent rambles

Wow how do I put into words how this book (and duology) made me feel?? Tan had me guessing throughout the entire book about who would be endgame. Just when you think the scale tips one way, she follows it up with a tender scene with the other boy (?? ok technically man, but we’ll affectionally say boy because they are my boys). It swung back and forth so much that tbh I got frustrated at one point and legitimately thought that Xingyin wouldn’t end up with either. 

With Wenzhi’s last scene in DOTMG I had a feeling that he would be endgame. So I’m surprised that even with that feeling, I was so unsure throughout the entire book. With Xingyin + Wenzhi’s conversation before the final battle and the finality of the word “Friends” and Xingyin’s monologue: “a part of me mourning the end of something precious, that never truly had a chance to begin”, I thought that was it. I convinced myself that the “I love you” when he died was just her speaking in the moment. Yes it was a truth, but not the truth. And with Wenzhi dead I didn’t think there was any chance that she would end up with him in the end.

Unless he was reborn as a mortal. Which brings me to the ending... oh the ending. It was such a beautiful resolution. What a way to bring Wenzhi and Xingyin back together, but also involve Liwei. With his death, I thought the only way Wenzhi + Xingyin would end up together was if he was reborn as a mortal and she found him. But to have Liwei send him down so that he could regenerate his immortal self, to do this out of love for Xingyin to see her be happy...we love to see growth! And not just growth of Liwei, but also Xingyin in her decision to wait for the elixir of immorality. It’s the classic tale of an immortal falling in love with a mortal and having to watch them die and then find them again in each new life. Tbh it’s a tragic curse, but there was so much joy in Xingyin’s thoughts as she describes all the moments that they would share together, that it filled me with hope instead (that and the fact that it shouldn’t be centuries hopefully). And the resolution really comes full circle with Chang’e and Houyi’s circumstances. 

My thing with love triangles is that I feel like the author can sometimes force their resolution by just writing out the one who isn't chosen by giving them less screen time. For a while I felt like that's what Tan had done. Liwei just didn't have as many opportunities as Wenzhi here to prove himself or do something for Xingyin. Wenzhi had the pivotal role of getting the scroll from his father and then casting the enchantment, which was the key part that tethered them together and allowed for the sacrifice. Liwei was imprisoned for part of the novel. Etc. Etc. But as I thought more about Wenzhi's death and how he gave his life for her and thus his crown, I realized that Liwei could have given up his crown too. Ok yeah, it's easier for Wenzhi to do that when he knows it's a choice of life or death. Maybe if Liwei was tasked with the same decision to save her, he would give up that duty as well (tbh he probably would). BUT in the aftermath, when he still wouldn’t make the choice and help her heal... when he still believed that she would be able to live there, despite how much he could sense her hurting, that was when I knew that Liwei just couldn't choose her over everything. And he admits it when they meet for the final time. I guess all this to say that, I’m glad that Liwei did have his chances and his choices and that he wasn't just written off as shitty guy.

[mistyacorn]

you remind me of the main protagonist

sypnosis; dan heng and his odd way of saying “hey, i think i like you”

pairing(s); dan heng + fem! reader ⟿ featuring; pure fluff, really blank and super indirect dan heng, reader is compared to a female character (hence, fem! reader)

a/n; this was such a random write lol. im so sorry that it’s a bit of a mess, im still working on more clear storylines heheh . i hope it’s still enjoyable! ૮(ㅅ´ ˘ `) ♡ also i made beauty and the beast a canon fairytale here pffft u neva know

⇢ DAN HENG is the type that literally nobody expects to like anybody, and therefore neither do you.

⇢ you’d probably even think that he dislikes you because whenever it’s just the two of you he never says a word. he’s dead silent. he only ever nods or gestures and barely looks you in the eye.

⇢ occasionally you’d get slightly jealous of how he speaks whenever march is with you guys (even though they always end up fighting verbally, it’s still talking!)

⇢ so you eventually take it as a ‘hint’ and try your best to move on.

⇢ though let’s be real, it’s not easy to move on from a crush if you see him almost everyday. especially when he has the most perfect emerald eyes and soft black hair….

⇢ one day, you’re in your room on the astral express and you’ve just finished the book you had borrowed from the express library recently.

⇢ you did borrow it without telling anyone though, so it kinda felt like you stole it haha…

⇢ but you definitely did not want to annoy dan heng with your request so stealing borrowing seemed like the best option.

⇢ you decide to head over to his room, hoping to secretly drop the book and go.

⇢ thankfully the boy is not in the room when you get there (which is super rare, go you!). you tiptoe as carefully as you can towards the bookshelf.

⇢ you quickly find the correct slot and insert the book.

⇢ just as you think you’ve accomplished your mission, you turn around and-

⇢ at the door stands dan heng, staring at you nonchalantly (as per usual). “hi.”

⇢ his sudden appearance immediately causes you to begin a five minute long explanation about how you got there. (yes, five minutes. idk how but you drag it on and on) its mostly bullshit you’re spitting out.

⇢ “…pom pom told me that there was this super cool book…. I just had to read it of course …..and it was really cool yeah yeah ….um about robots and science and…stuff….”

⇢ does pom pom even read?? you didn’t know!

⇢ and you definitely don’t notice amidst your frantic stories, but dan heng listens to you attentively in amusement. he actually has the smallest grin on his face, very well knowing you are making everything up.

⇢ to put it simply, he finds it endearing. he’s almost in a trance, just listening to you talk and talk and talk…

⇢ after you finish your story time, he snaps out of it quick enough for you to not notice anything.

⇢ and you bow repeatedly in embarrassment before dashing out of the room.

⇢ the following day, dan heng suddenly gives you a book out of nowhere. today, his signature cold face seems slightly nervous instead, but you don’t pay attention.

⇢ you see that the book is a fairytale, one that is right up your alley!

⇢ ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

⇢ you open the book to see a post-it note on the first page, with neat handwriting on it;

‘y/n, I saw you liked fairytales and the fantasy genre. I do not. But I stumbled across this book yesterday, and I remember reading the first three chapters sometime when I was younger. It seems like something you’ll like. The main protagonist reminds me of you. I hope you’ll like it.’

⇢ your face is red hot as you read his note. he wrote to you. he thinks of you. he said you reminded him of a princess. (what the fvck.)

⇢ and secretly behind the scenes, dan heng is not as calm and collected as he seems.

⇢ after you put away the book and left that day, he took note of the book you had returned. fairytale…fantasy…

⇢ dan heng immediately started to think hard about any fantasy books he had read in his life. hours and hours of struggling later (he never reads fantasy, it’s too unrealistic for him), he finally remembers one.

⇢ he’d read the first few chapters of it before, and he remembers the main character all too clearly. she reminded him so much of you, yet he didn’t know why.

⇢ (truthfully, it was definitely because she was his first ever fictional crush. and now you were…… but he was never going to admit that to himself.)

⇢ he spends his night searching around the archives. 2am the next morning, he finds it.

⇢ dan heng goes to bed that night, heart thumping faster than usual, because now he realises just how much he likes you.

© mistyacorn do not plagiarize or repost please, just enjoy it ykwim

[puriette-archived]

appreciation for some of my mutuals & non-moots on here!

@chocospresso - i don't interact with you as much as i used to but you are the first person that i followed & we're still moots! i used to follow your mogai account and that's (mostly) what got me into coining <3

@egodoll - your flags & edits have me inspired when i don't feel like doing anything or if i don't have any ideas on what to do! you are soo nice and kind to everyone!

@phantasverie - one of my best friends on here, you've always been so kind to me 🫶 every time i talk to you, i feel so much better than before! thank you for always being someone i can talk to & also, your flags and everything you make always puts a smile on my face. you are so awesome!!!

@phaea - mostly friends on discord but you are so interesting and i love all of your edits & frames & things! i always want to use them even if i have no idea what to make. i'm proud of you tbh for making flags and doing what you want to do! keep being so cool

@daybreakthing / @revenant-coining - i LOVE your terms & seeing them always make me feel better about myself. i use a lot of them and i'm always happy when i get to see something new on my dash!

@smilepilled - i always get so happy when i see your posts & your reblogs!! you are such a nice person here & on discord! your views on thing always make so much sense to me & i love learning about new things from you 🫶🫶

@zombmelukitty - my sibby!! your flags are so nice to look at & i love talking to u on discord even if it's about random things! i love learning more things about u :3

@rwuffles - HI!!! your flags are so awesome & i love every single term you make! you're always positive and make me want to be nicer all the time :3 you've always so creative, i love seeing what you come up with!

@winecovered - omg okay so. i love using your flags & terms whenever i can! the way you use colours is always so amazing! you always come up with things that everyone loves and i have no idea how! you have such a special little brain /pos

@riamuverse - hi kolette. this is a hate post actually (joke). anyways, you are so creative, i love seeing what you make! you always bring something new & you're actually a really kind person and nothing like engagekiss (sorry not sorry)! idk if this is gonna make sense but we use a lot of similar terms & it makes me happy to see that someone else closer to my age using the same stuff!

@lunentity - also one of the people i've followed for a while! your flags never cease to amaze me! the things you come up with aren't close to anyone elses and that makes you so very unique! you are also always so kind and helpful, i'm happy to consider you my friend :3

i will probably reblog this with more people because i always forget some! anyways, love to you all, thank you for being awesome always 🫶🫶🫶 (feel free to send me an ask if you feel like i forgot you :3)

[jewishvitya]

I just wanted to thank you so much for all of your insight and generosity with your perspective as an anti-zionist israeli, something you absolutely don't owe us but I feel immense amounts of respect and admiration for. from an American jew, it's been so valuable to know there are people like you out there, it's made everything feel much less hopeless despite all the hopelessness. I've felt very alone recently, surrounded by all the Jewish people in my life who are pro-israel and don't seem to grasp the gravity of the situation and my pro-palestine gentile friends, and I've felt very alone in my grief as I've only really started to unpack and dismantle my own biases very recently. reading your posts and your perspective on everything has just made me feel very seen as a jew in this situation, especially as I try to reconcile my feelings about everything going on with my own feelings about my faith and my identity.

you've probably seen that I've gone through a lot of your posts and that I've followed you. i just want you to know that I'm not necessarily following you just for that, I know you're just a fandom blog, it's just that after looking through your posts I feel like you're just a really nice person and seeing yoi on my dash from you would be endearing coming from you even though im not into it myself.

just. thank you again for sharing your story and continuing to share. you have no idea how much it's helped me.

I'm in tears. I've been crying way more than usual over the past couple of months, but it's nice for a change to have those tears to come from being touched instead of grief. I apologize if I'm going to ramble.

You say I didn't owe you all this, but I do feel responsible. I'm watching so much destruction and seeing how comfortable people around me are with the loss of life. This is why I've been talking about what we do and not as much about the impact of October 7 on me or people I know. I did a bit of that in the beginning, but pretending it was the start of everything to keep going back to that one day, after two months of horror, as if I can't count past 7... I didn't choose to be born where I am, I didn't choose to grow up in the most extremist community this place has to offer. But since I'm here, since I'm comfortable at the expense of Palestinians and violence is being done in my name and I have the tools to highlight issues within my society, I think it's a moral obligation.

I know how I talk about things here, and that's genuinely because I don't want to minimize the severity of the racism and the nationalism in Israel. And someone perceived my words as showing hatred for Israelis. But... I love my people. I don't expect those who see or experience our violence to feel the same or even understand me, but I do. It's my neighbors and my childhood friends and my family. It's children I see playing outside and getting excited when they see I have a cat, and the random people who stop me in the street and give me directions if they think I look lost.

Even growing up in the West Bank settlements, the people were very good to me. I needed years to internalize the fact that this kindness doesn't get extended to you if you're not part of the in-group. It broke my heart. It still does. Seeing people who I know are capable of kindness and compassion, hardening themselves against the pain of other human beings. Closing their eyes and telling themselves it isn't real. It's all an act.

I told a friend I feel like I'm betraying my mom, who was deeply bigoted, but also a wonderful mother. She taught me a lot of the principles that are guiding me now - I just took down the walls she put around who deserves to be considered. She'd be horrified with seeing the things I'm saying if she was still alive. But she taught me to care about people, I just decided it means all people.

Everyone should be prioritizing Palestinian liberation, and at the same time, I care about this too. I care about the morality of my people. I need us to be better than this. I want to dismantle the nationalism that teaches us hate and violence so we can start to heal and come to terms with what we did (and still do) here. I want us to fix what we can and hold ourselves accountable. I want us to reimagine safety in a way that doesn't cause harm, and build good relationships with the rest of humanity. Every marginalized community is experiencing bigotry in interactions with every other community, that's just how these things work. But I believe healing the world, and healing my society, is possible.

And it's hard, because so much of what we learn is rooted in truth. Antisemitism is real. Millennia of persecution are real. The trauma we carry is real. If the idea of an ethnostate makes us feel safe, and the idea of losing it makes us scared, how do we differentiate between fear as a natural reaction to antisemitic violence and fear that was taught to us for the sake of nationalism? Especially those of us living in Israel, immersed in the propaganda. It doesn't matter in practice, our feelings of safety or fear don't justify an ethnostate, especially not one built on top of another nation, but it matters for the conversations I have with people.

And I said that the violence I'm seeing feels like an attack on my identity. Seeing a giant hannukiyah in Gaza, when Hannukah tells the story of occupied people fighting off their oppressors. Seeing images that echo so much of the horrors that were done to us. The Magen David being used with hate and spite. It's all so painful. And I love this land, it's the only home I've known, so seeing us destroying nature and soaking it with blood and calling that connection?

Judaism does guide me here. The concept of tikkun olam. The idea of לא עליך המלאכה לגמור ולא אתה בין חורין לבטל ממנה - doing what I can, even if what I'm able to do isn't some decisive blow that entirely turns the tide. The idea that every human being is a whole entire world, to me it means that every single person alive is worth fighting for. So no matter how much death I see, there's still worlds more to save.

And Jewitches had this post that felt just healing to read. Nationalism hijacked our culture, and it will always leave a mark for centuries into the future. But I'm not letting go, and I'm not letting that create a rift between me and thousands of years full of history I can be proud of.

I feel your grief. And I'm grateful for the anti-zionist Jews I met by talking about this, because honestly, I need you people in my life. The pain and the anger are both easier to hold together.

So, thank you for following. I might follow back, just to see you around on my feed. And thank you for sending this. Feel free to message me anytime for any reason (I promise it won't result in a lecture every time).

Also, your url gave me pjo nostalgia

[the-letterbox-archives]

about tag lists

hello, all! following off of a discussion i had with @thecomfywriter and some others about tag lists, and her decision to dissolve her tag lists, i'd like to ask your opinions on my tag lists!

firstly, allow me to define: by tag lists in this context, i mean tag lists for stories and tag games (i.e. leaving them open). i may still use a tag list for general archival news or specific content if i see fit.

on one hand, i don't know how engagement will change if tag lists go away. i don't want to chase shallow likes, but as i've said previously on here, i am not used to an audience. it's quite new for me! so shifting engagement will be very strange, if it did occur. i'm mostly considering later volumes in the archives, since i'm aware of the followings certain stories already have.

on the other hand, i don't want to flood people with notifications they don't care about. i'm very conscious of spamming tag lists, and due to my upload schedule it does happen! i feel bad about that, and if i'm being perfectly honest, i want people who really are interested in my work to engage with it without the pressure of a tag list. notifications on, check the dash, or something (i have no idea now notifications work). so if tag lists were dissolved, it would declutter the intake, if that makes sense; fostering meaningful engagement!

i've been told about a time in the writeblr community where people would get random, deep asks about their stories, and people found your work without the influence of tag games/lists. i'm nostalgic for a time i wasn't even a part of! it's really gotten me thinking. regardless, here is your poll!

i will notify the tag list for this one to get as many opinions as i can.

(also, if you select option 3 (i need to be reminded of posts), i implore you to message me privately and we can discuss how that may work should the tag lists be dissolved)

@wyked-ao3, @48lexr, @thecrazyalchemist, @moltenwrites, @yourpenpaldee,

@glassfrogforest, @the-golden-comet, @gioiaalbanoart, @drchenquill, @paeliae-occasionally,

@tc-doherty, @corinneglass, @mysticstarlightduck, @thecomfywriter, @thelovelymachinery,

@kind-lion, @leahnardo-da-veggie, @an-indecisive-nerd, @honeybewrites, @loverboyxbutch

[butscrewmefirst]

i started this blog for elizabeth march back in october of 2015 and never thought i'd still be writing her in 2023... how did i get here??? tbh it's because of all of YOU. i wouldn't still be around if you guys didn't write with me, talk to me, interact with me, etc. i thank you all so much, and i wanted to sort of further that level of 'thank you' by doing a fun giveaway of sorts! this sorta thing used to be all the buzz back in my day ( lol ), and i miss seeing them on my dash! there will be 3 giveaway winners, and the prizes are pretty badass. i appreciate you all so much, and i want you to know that. i mean it so very deeply and so very truly, so let me love you!

RULES

1. must be following me (x) 2. cannot unfollow after following! will disqualify you from future giveaways if you follow then unfollow! 3. ends august 19, 2023 at 10pm EST (check time HERE) 4. likes AND reblogs count, but do not clog your dash with reblogs! 5. will be using a random number generator (x) to pick winners 6. please give @villainsrph a follow, as he will be providing all of the amazing prizes! PLEASE ALSO NOTE, once winners are chosen it is up to YOU to message Briar (villainsrph) with your commission form! he has a life, and a few weeks after winners will be announced he will be going out of town. the longer you wait to submit your form, the longer you'll have to wait for your prize. just keep that in mind!

PRIZES

first place: gaston's bundle by villainsrph! this includes a theme code, image, 150 icons, header, promo, dash icons, and your 150 icons will be custom made/have a template. second place: tremaine's bundle by villainsrph! this includes a theme code, image, header, promo, dash icons, and a special carrd! third place: ursula's bundle by villainsrph! this includes a promo, header, dash icons, and post banners!

[mercurygray]

I've seen a couple of writers on my dash, new and old, getting discouraged about a drop in writing requests, or wondering why no one is sending them, or asking if they're doing something wrong because they feel they're being ignored.

I don't know if this helps at all, but it took a loooong time for me to get to a place where people send me prompts. I had to cultivate it and be intentional about it and I'm really lucky that now I've got a group of people who ask me things!

Firstly, the askbox is not always open. (I mean, it is, but it also ...isn't.) I'm always very specific about when I want requests, and I try to give some parameters, like a list, or a specific set of characters. I realized that as a reader and a friend when someone just said 'I need prompts!' my mind went blank and I didn't ever send anything. So I make a special post, and I give my guidelines, and a link to my character list, and I try to set expectations about what I will do and I won't do. When I do this, it helps me set up where my heart is in the moment, so that hopefully I'll get something in that moment that I really like. And it's like a little event! And people who know me and know my characters get excited!

The heart part is important. The love needs to be there, or otherwise it's just...noise.

I'm also not above asking my friends specifically for things! "Hey, I want to write X and Y today and I'm thinking about this AU. Can you help me? Here's a list." It's like a random generator with more oversight.

On a related note, I also had to give myself permission to say 'You know what, I don't think I can do anything with this' and delete some of them. It doesn't mean I value the person who sent it any less. This is a regular part of my guidelines.

I've been doing this for four years now, so regular followers to my blog now know exactly how this works but I also have a regular tag I use for this work, and there's this body of old work that new people can look at, too, to see what kind of writer I am. If I'm seeing someone new in a tag I track asking for prompts, I usually go to see what else they've written. Will I like their work? Is it easy to find things they've done before so I can see what they're like as a writer?

I also try to pay it forward as much as I can by sending requests to other people when they ask for prompts. I know that sometimes when I ask for requests, it's because I'm lonely, or I'm having a bad day, and maybe that's where that person is when they ask. I try to keep a running list of different writers and friends' characters. Maybe not all of them, but two or three that I know I've enjoyed reading before. It's a way to know your neighbors and your neighborhood.

And this is maybe going to be a spicy take, but - fandoms now seem to have life cycles, and the simple fact is that there is a sharp drop in interest after the show goes off the air. This is why cultivating community is more important than ever. The people who give me prompts are often friends who've come with me through several fandoms, not just my most recent one.

[moshieee]

Hello it is I, random anon who does not know you and has never interacted with you before, what is your opinion of your mutuals?

Oh hi @bixell-pixell I'll include you even if we're not mutuals I think you're pretty chill all things considered

That's kinda it idk you that well

Anyways

You didn't specify so I'm going to list all my mutuals in the order of oldest to newest on my following page that I remember sorry of I missed anyone and for the @ s

*inhales*

@e-the-village-cryptid (I don't have a tag for e yet but it would probably just be E)

Not only the first person who I became friends with here but also the first one I ever started sharing my stories with, even if we don't talk too much I'm glad Every time we do and I see them on my dash, (they bring some of my favorite posts and when I do send posts sometimes I mix up and send them their own reblogs) I'm so glad we're still friends, thanks for letting me ramble about stuff for 6 hours hehe

@jaqofallgenders (no tag for jaq yet either)

my in person friend and the longest friendship I've ever had with someone, love you 🫶. I'll be more specific on Monday if our ADHD doesn't kick in and make us both forget

@strawberry-seal77 (seal-berry!!!)

Hi hi hi yellows my friend ���� the person I consider to be the second ever friend I made on here, a lovely person as well and wait waaa and an amazing artist too 👀??? Love you silly goofball and the amazing posts and jokes you have we should chat more often I thinkith.

@rabid-mercenary16 (Rabid jumpscare)

Hey hey hey .... BWAMP! Hope you feel better soon

I probably have the most to say about Rabid but all try to make it a bit shorter. besides being the first artist to do art jokes and include me, with we also became mutuals and interacting around a time when my life started to get a lot better. Even if she's not the only factor in that I definitely associate her with stuff improving, and she did play a big factor in it (I already explained a lot on my Valentine's Day gift to her and the others). Also she's just an awesome person to spend time with and be goofy, amazing sense of humor and I just love being friends with such an awesome person and artist.

@dia-smthidk (Dia fren)

I'm assuming you don't want a bowl of soup

I also said a lot about them in my Valentine's Day gift, but we've become closer friends sense then even if we don't get to chat as much as I'd like to. I relate a lot and am surprised how we have so much in common. Amazing artist and person as well and I wish we could hang out more, idc if they think they're bringing down the mood when/if they bring stuff up about irl, and maybe I won't figure out their timezone but oh well, please take care of yourself gender sibling.

@bunnybunnsowo (BUN BUN BROTHER!!)

little brother 🫶🫶💝💞🫶✨👋❤️!!!

(I could have sworn we became mutuals before Dia?)

another person I shared a lot about with the Valentine's Day gift, I love you my little brother! Seriously one of the kindest people I've met and I'm so glad they have bug in his life. Bun deserves the world and they keep sending me opposum images!!! Gona die from cuteness and his kindness one of these days istg

@spookykittyzzz (greaah why don't I have a tag for you???)

A very kind person and artist I don't know too much sense we're not that close yet but love the few chats we have had so far. Hope we get to hang out more even if I'm awful at reaching out to others and saying hi.

@glitchyk (goop buddies)!!

Nooo the parallels

One of the first people who was interested to deep dive into my creations and ask about my stories and worlds They're probably competing with Rabid with how much I have to say about her/silly. Seriously it's incredible how much we have in common and now I get to share and collaborate our sonas stories together it's amazing. And as someone once said "you can yap for hours". I love how creative and clever they are, I just wish they would be kinder to herself. One day I'll make glichy see how awesome she is.

@unfunnyaceartist (Floridian disadvantage) I feel like I should change that

When I say I was shookith when ace asked to be friends I mean I was shookith first person so show up and ask that (the others kinda just happened). Amazing artist and don't believe her lies she is funny. I'm so heckn glad we're friends., love the goofy and silly idc if she's a bit of a simp they've helped me a lot start to understand slang and references I'm supposed to understand shhshsh (such is the curse of how I grew up) we need to make our mafia sonas interact at some point I can already imagine the chaos /silly

@neptunestoast (plushy slime)

Hugs hugs hugs*

Trying my best not to baby talk I swear. amazing person first person to show up and be like "hey I Wana do something for you and your friends". Love their humor and another gender sibling!!! Hugs for ever for as long as they're ok with it. I love their creativity as well and Noodle is so adorable. I just want to pick them up in a hug so much. Kibbity/silly

@ner5y (no tag woops ill figure something out)

What are you doing here??? How are we friends???

I was absolutely confused and startled when they followed me especially since it was during a spoons argument . Amazing artist like holy heck I wish I was allowed to curse on this blog. Their humor also took me by surprise when I got invited to the discord, and even if they doubt how well they're running it I think they're doing amazing. And I love our silly interactions like this one

@vexation-816 (chaotic ADHD buddy!!!)

Why did it take me so long to follow you istg

ADHD ADHD ADHD my buddy oh pal we both got that and it's driving us insane/silly. Love how creative he is and the ideas for his sona and character lore. Also one of the first people who shared a character they added to my nightlight au. This is getting twords the end and I'm tired of whiting so much and am on a timer oh no. But your amazing dude don't ever forget thag

@butlerbugbunny (anxiety bunny buddy)

This is why I didn't respond to the DM yet hshsh

New friend who I feel anxious talking to sometimes but a wonderful kind bunny who I'm also incredibly happy to be friends with. Love his art so much it's amazing (shoot shoot timer is going off) I'm glad he's their for bun and wish them the best I possibly can 🫶.

@lilithloves-you (lillith my be-loathed?) need to change that

Don't you dare bring up grilled cheese

Glitchys friendo who I'm also friends with now. We don't interact too much but I've sent her on missions to go hug glitchy (to help both of them feel better but shhh). I hope we become closer friends in the future.

[feedthefandomfest]

Hiya!

I love this blog and just wanted to ask- do you know any advice on formatting and tagging for AO3?

Or just general etiquette!!

I'm not new to AO3 (reading or writing) but I haven't interacted with the actual community much and would love to know more :)

oof, I still feel like a newbie posting stuff on ao3, and tagging is something i've always struggled with. and actually formatting is also on ongoing issue 😅 so with that in mind, here's what i try to consider:

TAGGING

relationships -> tagging the main is obvious, but i'm sometimes torn about tagging side relationships that feature in the fic, especially since it's annoying to be searching for that pairing and get a bunch of results where they're not the main focus; unless the other pairing is a prominent feature, i leave it out of the relationship tags and at most add it to the additional tags

characters -> i remember updating the character tags on my early fics every time another character popped up in the story, but now i'm of the same mind as the side pairing issue; unless the character is prominently featured, i leave them out of the tags

content warning/advertising -> if i know the fic features an element that some people might wish to avoid, i always tag it and also always fret that i've forgotten to tag something in that regard. when it's more about advertising what's in the fic, especially sexual content, i sometimes feel silly listing every flavor of physical encounter unless the fic is pwp/smut (in which case i gleefully list all the depravity); i sometimes worry that over-emphasizing the sexual content in the tags is misleading? like of this 100k fic, if 15k is spent fucking, how do i get the tags to reflect that while also tag cw appropriately? is there an established tag for that?

sometimes i see fics with TONS of tags, like an exhausting amount, and sometimes i see fics with very minimal tags... sometimes frustratingly few. i also know some writers add chapter-specific warnings in the author's notes. in the end, so long as you're making it possible for people to find or avoid your fic as needed, then you're good. Here are some good posts that dive into it more!

(i remember when people on tumblr would scold writers for monologuing in the tags on ao3 like we do on here, claiming it was a strain on the system, but i believe that's been debunked?)

FORMATTING

i've noticed some MEGA annoying quirks with copy & pasting over from Google Docs and Word, and I know there are some tricks to get around them, but i tend to just slog through the Rich Text window fixing everything manually 🙃 OKAY I FOUND SOLUTIONS LINKED BELOW.

spacing problem #1 -> pet peeve of mine, but i dislike it when the paragraphs have massive spaces between them (ditto for indented paragraphs). idk why, but it's tiring for my eyes to constantly leap the chasm between paragraphs. so whenever i copy and paste from Word, which for some reason ALWAYS appears with double spacing between line breaks, i go in and manually fix it. SOLUTION

spacing problem #2 -> when copying over from Google Doc, whenever there's a punctuation mark following an italicized word, a random space appears between them. and yep, i have to go in and fix every one because typos make me twitch. (this might not be an issue for everyone; i overuse italics and dashes like it's my job) SOLUTION

spacing problem #3 -> again probably a me issue, but i tend to include song lyrics a lot, and it's always a headache to format because when pasting from the doc, ao3 embeds these spaces between the lines that i can't remove by backspacing. only fix i've found is to copy and paste lyrics directly from a website, and then it formats fine. random and annoying and weird. (no solution 😔)

since this section has just been me whining about finding SOLUTIONS for formatting issues, i'll offer one tip that's more about general editing: i try to proofread best i can in Word/GDocs, but it's always easier to spot errors when i'm reading the draft on my phone. the typos always jump out at me from a phone screen. it's now my favorite way to edit!

every writer has their own preferences on formatting, and every reader has their own level of tolerance for formatting quirks. in the end, so long as the formatting doesn't interfere with the reading experience, you're all good.

[harmonysanreads]

i like seeing you on dash so i figured id try to send an ask for once. i hope it's not too random lol

so basically, i found your blog through other writers in the yan community but i think prior to that i read a handful of your posts through tags as well? i specifically remember seeing the interactions between you and your followers for the sumeru love hexagon au. I liked how both sides of the interactions were always enthusiastic and shared their love for this au. i haven't had the time to read everything from this au yet but ive always had it in the back of my mind (not because i love the characters per se but because i love your writing and your excitement over it). i also love your hcs/brainrots a lot and i think you have a lot of creative ideas with great potential :)

First of all, thank you so much for sending this, your words have made my day :') I usually don't respond to asks like this because I don't want them to be lost under piles of other posts, but the squeeze (positive) this delivered to my heart was too much for me to push down.

In hindsight, I get that the hexagon au is not really a ‘refined’ story compared to other aus out there but something that I did purely for fun. The enthusiastic response that I got from it back then as well as the fact that it made such a lasting impression on you — that is an incredible honor, genuinely.

The reason why I haven't posted anything about the hexagon recently though, is because I wanted to try new things and go beyond Teyvat. Also because I was worried that if I stayed within the scope of just the hexagon for a long time, I'd lose that love that makes it unique.

I've said this somewhere else I think, in the context of fandoms and these fictional worlds, our mutual love for the characters bind us. I'm not really someone super talented and this blog is very casual, but I do want to touch the heart of the readers with my silly writings, if I can. So, your message is very special to me<3

[minty-playhouse]

I'll never in a million years understand the whole "x fandom/shipper dni" because... someone who likes a ship or media you don't like engaging with your posts isn't gonna make that magically appear on your dash? And it also won't make all the fans of that thing suddenly flock to your blog/account?

For instance, I don't like Drawn Together. No shade to fans but the humor is a little too crude for me and the most annoying guy I ever met irl never shut up about how it was the best cartoon in the world so it really soured my opinion on the show as a whole.

But if DT's #1 fan found my blog and started spam liking/reblogging stuff from me it would literally change nothing in my life? Even if they start following nothing will change. They'll keep posting their DT stuff and I'll be none the wiser because it's in THEIR blog. Unless I'm following them back I'm not seeing their content on my dash.

I understand dni's when it's racists or transphobes or whatever because a blog is a very personal thing and the danger of a personal post reaching bad people is very real if you allow these people to start spreading your posts to their circle.

But someone liking a fandom/ship? Even if it's the most annoying fandom in the world, usually they are annoying among themselves! A random Homestuck blog isn't gonna go to a random Genshin blog and go "Hey by the way" just because of a liked/shared post.

[mistype360]

Hey congrats on the 800 notes on mbti procrastination!! Thats an awesome accomplishment that you should definitely be excited about! I love your content and I see that post all the time on my dash lmao. I’m already following you so please shower me with your assumptions. 🙏😩

INTP, 5w4, sx/sp

(my zodiac info is in my blog bio so no peeking lmao 😅)

-Isaac 👽

my assumptions! tysm oh my gosh you are way too sweet wahhhh

guys the quality of these banners is pissing me off 🤬 why tumblr gotta bump it down 😿

this is so random but if you were a cake, you'd be either a strawberry or carrot cake

you like going thrifting or to really niche shops. for example, antique, crafts, instrument, collectible, etc

i don't think you have an "aesthetic" (other way of saying i can't think of one LMAO). but for style, you're not the type of person who wears the name brand, but you like dressing casual simple: crew necks, jeans, shorts, flannel, sweaters, etc.

also have a feeling that you like layering clothes (what i see intp's do a lot haha)

this might be super wrong but i feel like you're simultaneously a hopeless romantic and have high standards for ppl

you listen to asmr before you go to sleep

i feel like you are very quiet and introverted but once someone gets to know you they find out that you're actually very funny

dw i didn't look at your bio 😏 idk why but i feel like you were born in the winter or fall (idk what zodiac that is :p). like cold chilly vibes ig

i'm also gonna take a risk and say you were born on the 3rd or 9th the month (6% chance i'm right?). or maybe it's the 23rd - I'M SECOND GUESSING MYSELF AHH IDK 😣

you LOVE video essays. i feel like you click on them especially when it's about shows or movies

you don't trust people immediately, but you have a small group of very close friends that you stick with

if you were a drink you would be cola

your favorite shows are: rick and morty, doctor who, parks and rec, house md, futurama

i feel like there's the breaking bad intps, the star wars intps, and the lotrs intps, but i don't really see you as any of those 🤷‍♀️

intp's are pretty accepting people, but i think you are very much against pinneapple on pizza

if you were an animal you would be a giraffe

[dare-g]

Tag Ask Game!!

i got tagged by @elliecreed and @poisonjeans Thank you both!! (sorry it took me a while to sit and do it but i appreciate it!)

last song you listened to:

last thing i listened to was this free/ fusion jazz album Weather Report by Weather Report ( I had to look to see what the last track was actually titled it's called Eurydice)

last movie you watched: Yannick (2023) the new Quentin Dupieux film i enjoyed it!

currently watching: Ill assume this means shows? Im just constantly waiting for more Gaki No Tsukai and Wednesday Downtown to get subbed but other than that Im in progress of watching though a Klovn boxset and rewatching Mission Impossible at random

other things you’ve watched this year: i watch so much stuff... tbh if you follow me then youve probably seen so many screenshots on your dash... at the end of the year ill try to do some sort of overview post in regards to films i watched this year so stay tuned for that

currently reading: A Death: Notes of a Suicide by Zalman Shneour (ill probably finish it later today)

currently listening to: taking this as in general.. mostly Robert Ashley operas , Giuseppe Andrews, and an assortment of free jazz

currently working on: I just finished my Reducto pop yesterday evening so I haven't really had time to start my next craft yet but I will soon but also I'm also pretty much always going over segments of songs for taiko (I will drum on anything) to keep them in my head/get better

current obsession: various directors/ authors work as normal but my interest in archetectrue is still going very strong

im going to tag a lot of you cause these questens are fun and id love to see it but no pressure!

@moosenaround2448 @everydaym0nstrosity @skullchicken @skatalite @arpicot @anastablack @fred-the-dinosaur @phibes @theslunch @flashbcaks @nononookytv @bimbionic @everyones-into-weirdness @stinkyofficial @terramosh @lionessboo58 @jimphelps @jacketrepresents @sleepythug @donnerpartyofone @door6 @cowhidepillowcase @lenny-kosnowski

[mcheung]

hi!! i’ve reached 1k followers like three months ago and i’m so so grateful that 1,000 people want to stick around and don’t mind seeing the gifsets i frantically make in the middle of the night, or me venting about the most random things happening in my life on your dashes. so as a way to thank you all for being here, i’d like to make a fun little (very random) ask game for everybody to participate in <333

also special thanks to melone (@ketterdam-snack-bar ) bc when i saw your post i remembered that i need to get this done ����

🧚‍♂️: send me your mbti, enneagram (wing and tritype if you’d like), 4temps, and/or big 5 personality types and i’ll make you a taylor gifset!

🌙: i shuffle my tarot cards and give you one, along with its meaning

🎸: (for moots only) i tell you what song i associate with you!

tagging some moots under the cut, i’m sorry if i missed anyone just know i appreciate and i love every single one of you <333

@rorybangs @howls-movingcastles @nothingsnews @stood-onthecliffside @thehoax @kimberly-wexler @daenerys-targaryen @gracieabramss @thisdevotion @1989tv @sadgirlautumn @iwishyouwouid @maryoliveoil @cupidfiftyfifty @dead-endsstreet @tayloralison @bougainvilea @missegyptiana @tisthedamnseasns @theneverendingsong @thingsiwishyousaid @cruel-style @fitsinthepalm @hightowres @spendforevers @actual-sleeping-beauty @speaknowworldtour @anervousmirrorball @alwaysleadstoyou @holysickdivinenights @dumdum0515 @bejeweledlive @lookingforclovers @vdunns @saturnsuv

[bubblepopsims]

Who are your favorite simblrs to follow/interact with? I’m talking cc creators, builders, cas content, story tellers, anything in the sims world

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ! I CAN GET BEHIND THIS! i will try my best not to go off topic.. but most likely it will, i apologize already now XD. number 1. YouTube wise HANDS DOWN right now is KUREHA on YouTube if you don't know .click on her name.. be blessed with a Sims series that gives you all the spice you need. FUCKING KANA HANA..... you have cute fucking sims, a great story, and some spice and sweetness all wrapped up into one. i am inspired by them. 2. Plantsimgirl... the ambient builds that they build UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH they are so cozy and amazing and ughhhhhhhh ! just go look. i have fallen asleep to their videos before because i was just so relaxed... and calm and gosh they are such an incredible creator... 3. i have watch this gal since she started XD and yes i love watching lets plays of pretty much anything. but Aurora. Og fan i love and loved all her lets plays.. i love that she loves the sims 3 the most. its honestly just great. 4. story wise i am going to have to say @rebouks (brynn and wyatt have me in a fucking choke hold dude...) , @theosconfessions (which i really want to sit down and start fully from the beginning again because mmm i love) @ you, i am enjoying seeing you, where you are taking your decades challenge honestly and I'm not just saying that because you asked me.. but because i mean it. its fucking cool i could never. I am too lazy to stay in one decade XD including doing a whole-ass challenge nope .. i could barely get through not so berry gen 1 okay XD, you are awesome. there is probably more OHHH I JUST STUMBLED UPON THEM ! @ladykendalsims i sat up all night the other night just reading XD its also so appeasing to the eye and the fact it has occults DONE. (Sorry for the random tag XD but I like what you are putting down.) 5. seeing stories and just posts of sims or oc wise fucking @fl0pera who quite frankly handles my shenanigans very well XD and joins me in it. (Ultimate choke hold) ( check out our group chat) LOL I’m sorry I am treating this like a fucking interview 🤣🤣🤣 Jesus anyway.. Just she is fucking awesome and if you don't know her you should! also look at the beautiful sims she makes, all-around panty droppers. This brings me to fucking @plumbewb THAT BEAN IS SUCH a CUTE FUCKING BEING... that beanie's sims give me life in the best chaotic way, they are outspoken and I LIVE FOR ITTTTTT! Special shout-outs of people I love seeing On my dash but don’t interact with XD I just appreciate and respect what these people are putting down, from the story, to cc, to sims showcases, to just organic.. "i do what I want, this is my page" vibe. The energy... as corny as it sounds is there for me when I look at their creative brains serving out these killer things. I respect them and truly find it so cool that there is a platform where I can watch people like this create such fucking AWESOME SHIT.. because if I remember we are all playing a life simulation game XD and LOOK how we all use it so differently so uniquely. I FUCKING LOVE IT! i love all you fucking nerds @minaevesmoths @onestormeynight @nightlifeseries @cakepopsimss @softplumbs @lowvintagesims @lazyteapot @leosims4 @simandy @thebramblewood @cuddlewhim @1-800-cuupid , Sims4Life, @simsply4 , @pixelvibes @birdietrait

[helicarrier]

If someone asks me about my issues with DNIs, I think I’ll just refer them to this post from now on.

Tumblr, as a website, is designed for quick, casual content sharing. You can follow blogs, then immediately like and reblog posts from them. New posts are even recommended to you directly on your dash, so you don’t even need to look at their originating blogs to interact with them. DNIs put a wrench in this intuitive manner of using tumblr. They force someone to stop and detour and read a page before they touch any posts from a blog they don't know, and that contradicts how tumblr is intuitively meant to be used. If you see a post and you like it, and if there’s an icon right underneath it, your first reaction is to click the icon. I’m sure most of us have instinctively clicked “like” (or “reblog”) on a post we found interesting.

DNIs prevent this kind of “casual” interaction. Their existence means you have to stop yourself before you interact (in any way) with a cool post, find the DNI page of the person who reblogged the post and, if applicable, find the DNI of the person who made the original post as well (because they’ll also receive the notification, unless they deleted the post on their blog), read it, then return to the post. Nothing about DNIs are baked into the functionality of tumblr in an intuitive way; if anything, the only real “do not interact with me” function you will find here in tumblr’s infrastructure is the block function.

Because DNIs are so antithetical to how tumblr functions, they're an inherently futile way of preventing interaction with certain groups of people, too. Most people aren't going to read my rules or my pinned post before they interact with my content. I would not expect them to, because it doesn't occur to many people, and it's a lot of wasted time. Even people with certain kinds of users in their DNIs routinely interact with posts made by those very people, proving this point. It is so inconvenient and absurd to read a page every time someone so much as likes a post by a random blog. Those people you don't want interacting with you? They're probably reading your blog; liking your posts even if they don't expressly say they're x group from your DNI. They're doing the same to my posts, too. That's just the price we pay for being in a public space focused on content sharing. And I accept this. Other peoples' behaviour is completely out of my control. I just block people when needed, because it is my responsibility to curate my space.

And that is the crux of the matter: I refuse to pass the responsibility of curating my space onto strangers. I refuse to make it someone else's problem when they are using tumblr in the way it was meant to be used. Ideologically and functionally, it does not make sense to me.

Just think about it: tumblr is a public website. Unless your blog is password-protected, people can find it anytime, and if they really want to interact, they'll interact regardless of your DNI. It’s not like most people will say, "oh, drat, I'm a racist, I should leave!". Maybe they’ll just interact because the labels you dislike are not visible on their blog, so they'll fly under your radar. And at times where peoples' labels or behaviour are visible, the good ol' block button is the golden standard. It always has been.

If I become mutuals with someone, sure, we'll agree to scratch each others' backs, and tag whatever the other person needs tagged. But that's different from expecting every stranger who comes across my content, wherever it shows up, to follow demands that are all the way over here, on this blog. If someone reblogs one of my photosets way over in the Stranger Things fandom, and people see the reblogged post, they shouldn't need to come to my Marvel/Random Shit™ blog and read my pages before clicking the stupid little heart button. But imagine needing to do this with every single person, every single post of theirs. Sure, maybe you’re familiar with the DNIs of the people you follow. But what about all the posts they’ve reblogged? Those posts have OPs. Do the OPs of those posts have a DNI that’s favourable to you, too?

DNIs aren't even optional reads now, and everyone suffers because of that. The proliferation of DNIs has made a culture where if someone accidentally forgets to read a DNI, doesn't know that DNIs exist, or misinterprets the contents of a DNI, it’s considered acceptable to harass them for it. It's anxiety-inducing.

“...Shit, I forgot to like their DNI.”

It doesn't help that I never know what "basic DNI criteria" means, or what the "etcetera" means either, because it changes from person to person. Folks, I’ve seen homophobes with “basic DNI criteria” in their pages. That aside, you can say "bigots DNI", but a lot of transphobes don't believe they're bigots, so you could still get radfems liking your posts. You could say "bullies DNI", but many fanpols don't consider themselves bullies, because they believe if someone writes fanfiction from the perspective of Hannibal Lecter, of course their reaction to it isn’t “bullying”, it's just justified shaming!

Everyone is the hero of their own story, and everyone thinks they're the exception. They will be the exception to your DNI, too. Again, this all goes back to the "you can't control who interacts with your content" thing. It's maddening to try and think of all the angles, all the ways to "catch" people, all the ways to plug up all the holes. You may not want to hear it, but you never will. You can get the broad strokes, but you’ll never get everyone, you won’t even get close. Even if you do somehow manage to fit all the exact terms into your DNI, and you end up with a DNI longer than a CVS receipt, you’re still going to run into all the people who... Simply don’t read it. Meanwhile, you look a little too preoccupied with who’s looking at your blog on a public website, and even if a well-intended person comes across your blog, they may just check out because they’re uncomfortable with the micromanaging.

...If they can read the DNI. Look, I’m all for creative formatting, but I see so many DNIs (and carrds in general) that have hot pink writing on a red background, or baby pink on baby blue, or yellow on lime green, and I can’t read any of it, not to mention it’s a migraine risk among other things. I’m not reading dozens of these pages every other day.

It doesn't help that many DNIs are rude, angry, hostile pages that tell people to kill themselves. That's not right. When someone volunteers to read an information page, they are doing that person a courtesy. It is shameful people need to read things like "kill yourself", "swallow a knife", and other verbal sewage. It doesn't matter if it's directed to them or not. Simply looking for people to follow and interact with, simply liking a post, should not be an exercise in mental fortitude. Needing to read awful threats over and over again should not be a requirement for engaging on this site. Imagine having depression, intrusive thoughts, and so on, where this stuff could land twice as hard. It's gotten to the point where my eyes immediately gloss over when I open a DNI, because my mind simply doesn't want to see any more shit and is trying to protect me. I'm at the point where I don't want to open DNIs at all.

But as you guessed, there's a problem with that. Because DNIs are almost compulsory on tumblr now, ignoring them has two possible outcomes: one, you annoy a ton of people, because maybe their DNIs say they don't want you around, but you're interacting with their stuff anyways. Maybe you get labelled as the person who ignores DNIs. Two, you stop your browsing in part, or as a whole, meaning almost nobody gets likes or reblogs from you anymore, because you’re trying to not waste your time, you’re trying to preserve your sanity, etc. And this hamstrings content creators.

One of the biggest flaws in DNIs is that nobody is obligated to reveal information on themselves. Minors can easily hide their age. Bigots can hide their bigotry. People can remove info from their description until they're clear of someone's initial "new follower vibe check", then put it back. Nobody knows you're a dog on the internet. It's naive to assume people will be honest about themselves, and adhere to a DNI.

DNIs are often so incredibly vague and their attitude so charged that people can't even ask for clarification, because the writer of the DNI could be radicalized and have very unhealthy views, and absolutely attack someone for reaching out. A DNI might say, "don't interact if you support incest", but it never clarifies in real life, or fiction. There has been an enormous uptick in moral panic over fiction lately, so lots of people might ask for clarification, but if they do, the person could say "in real life and fiction, duh!", flame them because they "didn't know something so obvious, it must mean they're sus!", then flame them again because they viewed the poor person's blog and saw lots of mature content they think people shouldn't write. It's absurd, but unfortunately, that kind of panic has spread. Many people use DNIs as extensions of their unhealthy interaction, media consumption, and browsing habits.

So I usually avoid DNIs.

All in all, I don't mind if someone politely asks other people to not interact, or if they say they block for certain stuff, if there’s a clear awareness that it's not a be-all, end-all solution, and that people will still interact. As long as they put the onus on themselves, rather than other people, to curate their space, it’s cool. For example, if someone is an 18+ blog, and they ask minors not to interact? Cool, if they don’t “punish” or otherwise attack minors who find posts of theirs on other blogs, and “like” them from there without going all the way over to the OG blog to see if they’re allowed to do like it. Because again, that’s a bit of an unfair requirement to impose on people. And whatever.

Because people shouldn’t feel like they’re playing minesweeper when they want to click a heart. Between the terfs, racists, and all the other issues, we have enough on our hands already.