#also i'm pretty sure most popular artists Do Not Like this comparison at all so please just stop

[i-eat-deodorant]

does this annoy anyone else or is it just me

[watercolourcritters]

How have you found so much engagement on social media? I’ve really struggled to get my art out there.

Your art is beautiful, but I’ve also seen other accounts with beautiful art with much more or less followers and engagement. I don’t really understand it and I was wondering if you had any insights. Thank you

Hi there!

So - very long reply incoming - I have a couple of thoughts on what has worked for me, but I also wanted to break down what engagement actually looks like and means, because I think it is very easy to look at a post with a couple hundred notes and think "wow, they must have a huge following."

I think it is also very easy to look at someone's art and go, "well, it's good, but why is it getting engagement when mine isn't." Which - well, more below - but isn't really how online engagement works.

1) What does well on tumblr? I think it's helpful to recognize what kind of my art, specifically, gets a lot of engagement. My art that gets Tumblr engagement - reblogs and likes - is almost exclusively my encouragement style art (simple art with an animal and some text), which hits 3 boxes: cute, animals, and text that is either funny or meaningful.

However - my more traditional art styles? Canvas art and watercolour? Rarely hits above 30-50 notes on Tumblr. The same goes for my fanart. It's just straight up not as popular.

And it varies between platforms. On Instagram, all of my art is typically between 25-50 notes. On twitter, it's only fanart that gets notes. It varies, and it depends on the community you've embedded yourself in.

Above all though - what gets notes on Tumblr is a bit of a crapshoot, and reflects little on the quality of the art. It depends on who reblogs it, how big their following is, etc. Sure, art quality sometimes helps - but I see fucking amazing art every day that has very minimal engagement. There is no sure-fire way to get engagement, and the shit that does the BEST for me in regards to sales has almost no notes here.

2) Engage in the community

I think something that I'm still learning is that for the most part, no matter the platform, people will encourage and engage with your art more if you're a part of the community. And that requires you to engage, too.

I am not always good at this one, because this is not my main blog - but I get a lot more followers and engagement when I also reblog other art & posts, because most Tumblr folks want to follow blogs that make their dashes richer on the regular in a variety of ways, rather than every so often with just art.

Reblog things. Like and comment on other people's posts. Make friends. Be a part of Tumblr's community, rather than expecting community to grow around you.

(Note: This is not me saying you don't engage, I don't know anything about your activity on tumblr. Just, y'know, engaging helps get engagement.)

3) Having a brand??

Honestly, I kind of hate this one, because I'm an artist who likes trying lots of new styles and fucking around with different things. BUT, in regards to social media, having a recognizable brand/style makes people more likely to follow you.

For example - my encouragement style art, with plain white background, an animal, and encouragement text, is my most recognizable style on IG, Tumblr, and in my local art community. Probably 95% of my followers on Tumblr are for/from that style of art. It is what it is.

My caveat to this is - while having a brand helps, don't let it limit what you do! Try new things, experiment, etc.

3) Recognize what "lots of engagement" does and does not do

So - it probably looks like I have a lot of engagement on Tumblr, because I have many posts with 500+ notes. But, honestly? I am pretty small fries as an artist. I really, really struggle to get engagement beyond this platform, and even what I get here is pretty minimal in comparison.

I don't have a ton of followers - I've had this blog for 2.5 years, and am currently sitting at around 525 followers. My encouragement art on Tumblr regularly gets hundreds of notes. The exact same art on IG, where I have a similar following, gets typically between 25-50 notes.

However - Tumblr, where I get a lot more "engagement," does not translate to art sales or commissions. Or at least, it very rarely does. On the other hand, Instagram, where I have much less engagement, gets me both more direct sales and commissions, because more people on there know me personally.

TBH, doing local craft style markets has been the most helpful thing in regards to actually making any money off my art. Engaging in my local community has also been the best for connecting with other artists, getting encouragement for my art, and validation.

4) Recognize that engagement means very little about the quality of your art

Y'know, I've gotten inbox mail before that is essentially "your art is shit how come it's getting notes." People see my art (especially my more minimal stuff), think about their own art, and get frustrated that they aren't getting notes.

And I mean, I get it! I think we've all had similar thoughts at certain points. Kind of the "my art is at least that good, how come they have such a big following and I don't"?

But it is really, really helpful to disengage the connection between "good" and "engagement" in your head. Because engagement means very little about the quality of something, and is more tied into "right time, right place, right audience" type of shit.

It's also really helpful to do as an artist, because otherwise it becomes really, really easy to do one of two things:

a) "well, I'm not getting any notes, therefore I'm a bad artist/I make bad art."

Or

b) "Other people getting notes is unfair to me, because my art is good, and I deserve more notes."

I've done it. You've probably done it. We've all had those thoughts/feelings. But they are unhelpful thoughts/feelings, and doing whatever you can to nix both thought patterns is helpful as fuck.

Because a) engagement means nothing about the quality of your art and b) other people getting engagement means nothing about the quality of your art.

Engagement is great! It's nice! I want every artist to have tons and tons of engagement! But an artist getting notes reflects nothing on your art.

And - it's really important to find ways to feel good about your own art that have nothing to do with engagement. If it's the external validation you seek, try and find one or two friends to send your art to who will tell you how much they love it. Start a spreadsheet of the tags/notes that people leave on your art. I dunno, get creative.

But find ways to validate your art that have nothing to do with other people, too. Create something that you don't share with anyone. Spend time making art that's just for you and your own enjoyement. Make something that makes you laugh or smile. Above all, set aside time to fall in love with your own art.

This got really long, but:

TLDR: Fuck, buddy, I don't know lol. What does well on tumblr varies, but people like silly, encouraging, cute shit. Build a consistent style. Engage in community. Know that engagement doesn't necessarily mean much, both in regards to art sales and in regards to the worth and value of your art.

Good luck out there!

[abuddyforeveryseason]

Today's April 27th, and this is the Buddy for the Day.

The Jetpack+Flying Saucer combo is a bit of an homage to Frank R. Paul, a beloved artist from the Golden Age of Science Fiction, whose art includes the first depiction of a flying saucer.

Truly, the world's most beloved Austrian artist. Not to be confused with the world's least beloved Austrian artist. You know the one.

There's a book by Norman Spinrad called The Iron Dream, which posits that if Hitler, instead of becoming an intelligence agent for the German army, had moved to America to pursue an art career, he'd end up with a career similar to Paul's. I don't know if that was Spinrad's intention or just a coincidence.

But the story goes on that Hitler would move from illustrating science fiction stories to writing his own, and that all his racism and general insanity would leak into the stories. What Spinrad meant by that was heroic fantasy and sci fi stories like The Lord of the Rings and Dune are also pretty racist - which is why so many neonazis and generally racist people are drawn to it.

Ironically, nazis themselves enjoyed Spinrad's book for showing the Hitler-like protagonist as a hero, missing the satire behind it. So I'm not sure if Spinrad should be taken seriously there.

Still, it's something that a lot of people discuss nowadays - is fantasy and sci fi racist? Or rather, are some tropes employed racist? On one hand, there probably are some writers who do hold racist views, either secretly, openly, or subconsciously. But there's also a lot of misaimed criticism that aims at popular entertainment because it's an easy target (and one that's enjoyed by lower class people).

Star Trek is a big example. There are different alien races there that are sometimes called examples of modern-day racism with a sci fi veneer. The Klingons, being rude, strong and with a love for violence, have the same stereotypes applied to black people. The Ferengi, greedy, sneaky and ugly, represent jews. And the Borg, emotionless and robotic, are the technology-obsessed east asians.

But that comparison is unfair. Because on one hand, greed, violence and lack of emotion are classical villain traits, and the reason minorities were accused of having these flaws was exactly to vilify them.

One episode of Key & Peele had a dialog about white guys approaching them and talking about ho King Kong was a racist movie. It is, to a certain point (the natives of skull island are portrayed like savages), but then the guy goes on to say it's racist because it's about a powerful monkey being chained and taken to America. And Peele said "that's not the movie being racist, that's on you".

It does kind of annoy me when people say pop entertainment is racist in general, because a lot of it is stuff I enjoy, and it seems like punching down at an easy target. On the other hand, nothing is stopping a racist guy from writing his own sci fi stories and just pretend it's just regular tropes about aliens. And if actually racist people are enjoying it, maybe writers should consider that before creating a random "evil race".

The rule of thumb I use is, if it's a book I like, then it's just coincidence, different values or exaggeration from the critics. If it's a book I don't like, then the author's secretly racist.

[antonblastdeluxe]

Now that I've slept on it for two days, I think my thoughts are clear enough to finally formulate my words about the whole situation with a certain pig. Actual final post on this unless. Idk something worse happens but given that pizza discord was lifted up like a nasty rock I sort of doubt it.

I've been seeing a lot of takes lately given the pizza game. I agree with a large chunk of them that boil down to 'don't make playing this game a moral thing'. I don't agree with sentiments that are akin to 'this was years ago', or 'you're all just trying to cancel him because the game got popular'.

I was in that discord. I had most of the channels muted, but I'm pretty sure I left it in 2020ish. I only didn't see the grossness people are outlining firsthand because I only looked at the dev update chat at the time so I can see what he was implementing. One of my dearest friends had a very, VERY bad experience with it. It's not my right to exactly describe what happened to them, but... Yeah. It was awful. I get that all official discords become cesspits when they get thousands of people in there, but there's no excuse for what happened in there.

I can confirm that the discord was always full of redditor-like types and worse, which is why I muted all of the talk channels to begin with and didn't even glance at the fanart I was really there for. You may notice, if you're a long-timer that is, a lot of early Pizza T0wer artists didn't make fanart again when the game came out. The reason is a lot of them were treated like garbage in the discord. Sure, you had your usual types of people who stupidly make comparisons like 'oh your oc looks like (canon character)' thinking that's a good thing to say to a random artist who may or may not be ok with that, but many of them were just... Outright hostile.

Moderation was never good. I can't exactly recall how the mod team was cycled, but most of them didn't-- Or couldn't do their job because of the vast amount of people flowing in pre-release. It is legtiamately no wonder why it's had so many issues upon release. What I'm getting at here is the discord server was an awful idea. Even if it was patreon only a lot of the patreons made this sort of gross echo chamber. The reason why the stuff with pig both surprised me and didn't surprise me was because of the other half of the publishing company, Sertif.

Sertif to me is the most baffling part of all of this. Not because they did anything wrong, no, the exact opposite. They're arguably the most squeaky clean part of the team, being a far cry from whatever slop pig spewed. Which makes the fact that pig said all of that stuff lowkey worse to me? I don't know if they forgave him for that, or they were somehow unaware. Sertif is also the reason why I can't fully hate the game even with the flaws sprinkled throughout.

It's just upsetting. I can't blame people for reacting the way they have, but at the same time people have gotta stop making excuses. I think it's completely valid to say 'hey you're still allowed to enjoy the game and characters, just don't defend the stupid ass pig'. I think a lot of people put it aptly that the game has already gotten traction. It's your choice if you still want to make fan content or not, it probably won't have a heavy effect on the game's sales at this point. It's sort of people trying to boycott pkmn to a much lesser extent-- People are still going to buy it because they're not engaged with online couture or multiple other reasons.

I do indeed have zero respect for people rubbing their hands together like flies like 'finally I have an excuse to dislike popular thing'. Like, really??? That's where your priorities lie? You can dislike the pizza game. You could've still disliked it if the pig was squeaky clean. But this exact same thing happened to two fixations I heavily fell out of, that being 0mori and f//nf. They gained traction, and people dug stuff up on the creators.

I'm not going to claim that people only dug this stuff up because the game got popular. I won't assume bad faith despite many people assuming bad faith out of others becoming a trend nowadays. People have a right to know what the hell creators did before deciding to get into a game. But claiming people are a bad person for liking a piece of media...

...For the love of god, at least confirm if they do or do not condone the creator's actions.

It's very easy to say 'no media is perfect', sure, but I think most people have gone through the song of dance of 'thing I like was made by an awful person!' there are rare white whale situations where you really should drop the franchise (cough) bad wizard franchise (cough), but expecting everyone to just... Drop a piece of media like a sack of bricks?

Please think realistically. It's great that you're informing people, but expecting people to drop media... You don't know their history with it. You don't know how much comfort it brought them or anything else. Demonizing people for liking pieces of media with flawed creators is really just a waste of time.

I won't ever undermine what pig has said and done. I hope he properly apologizes and hell, takes the extra mile, adjusting those questionable enemies and donates to a few charities or something to show he gives a shit. The very little credit he's done is he admitted what he said was shallow. I know the bar is in hell, but it's good that he isn't trying to double down and go 'bluh that was funny though' (I can imagine his cesspit of a discord echochamber has tried to say this. No way in hell I'm going in there to check and I wouldn't encourage anyone to go into that place with a ten foot pole).

I know I don't need to defend myself nor am I a bad person for acknowledging the creator is a shithead and still enjoying the game and the fan content around it. I have a lot of friends who like fn4f who hate Scott. I wouldn't be friends with them if they defended him. People trying to say this and that about this stance is... Bizarre.

I understand how Pizza game can make people uncomfortable now (always have given the long running history of the bad discord), and people have their full right not to engage with me because they are uncomfortable. At the same time, they shouldn't accuse me of being a bad person because I like something made by a bad person.

A lot of music artists, or hell, artists in general are pretty bad people but people will still admire the artist's ability. A lot of people online who hostility attack people over their interests probably have one of their own pieces of media that isn't squeaky clean.

Please save yourself the mental trouble and stop making people feel 'bad' for liking media. In most cases, you can just block them and mute the tag. It's a waste of everyone's time to hunt people down over this sort of stuff.

Stay informed, don't make excuses for content creators. That's all I ask.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

It really does make Jungkook look bad and like a joke

All big artists do remixes. Just look at doja cat and Taylor swift. Imo this is a great way for Jungkook to network with different artists' teams so that once he's out of the military he could actually collab with bigger singers.

I saw people talking about usher and JK way before the announcement, so if that came true it looks like we may be getting a katy perry x jungkook song next year around Valentines

I actually went on Taylor Swift's Spotify and she had wayyyyyy less remixes than Jungkook. SNTY alone had more remixes than all her songs I think. Plus, Taylor Swift has tons of songs. Like, 1 in every 20 songs might be a collab. Most of her biggest songs are solo. Jungkook has released, what, 13 original songs since starting his solo career, and 4 are features. Also, SNTY is another feature now, even if it's a remix. All his most popular tracks on Spotify are collabs except for SNTY and Yes or No. None of Taylor's top tracks are collabs, and two of Doja's are, but I think one of them is very recent. Also, Say So had like 5 remixes, but her other songs had 3 remixes at best, and some had none. Jungkook has way, way more remixes in comparison.

And thank you for the wonderful news! A Katy Perry collab? Not to be mean to Katy Perry, but do none of the relevant (and respected) artists want to collab with Jungkook or is Hybe just idiotic?

I'm pretty sure Jungkook is already big enough to snag a bigger, or more popular, artist for a collab. It's not like all artists are that picky and they value social media engagement a lot. Would Megan say no to a collab? Or Cardi B? Her reputation isn't the best but she's still loved from what I understand. Idk, I'm not very sure who's the most popular these days, but Katy Perry ain't it. Hopefully she makes great music. Has to be better than Jack Harlow. Like, a collab either has to be great and musically interesting or profitable, and right now Jungkook is not really doing either. Maybe he wants to collab with the artists, but... Ugh

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Thinking about that Coachella article, and somewhat tangentially related, I listen to a podcast called keep it and it was interesting to hear one of the hosts talk about both their excitement to hear Harry’s set and then their disappointment afterwards. I really enjoyed the performance and somewhat expected that to be the case for the host but what I found most interesting about their commentary was actually they wanted to hear more one d songs in the set as they felt like that the festival like experience was ripe for that. They made the comparison to Beyoncé doing destiny’s child songs because they are always crowd pleasers in (paraphrasing) an environment where people aren’t necessarily familiar with all your work.

What was even more fascinating was that they talked mostly of sign of the times being his main single and him not really having other ones that they could really name of the top of their heads which I would have assumed they would have at least mentioned watermelon sugar if nothing else. I’m not really sure what my point is here, but I just found it really interesting to hear that perspective outside of a fandom bubble where he seems so huge (and to be fair his popularity and awareness has grown exponentially in recent years) but wonder if in pop culture spaces there is a lot of name recognition but a shallower interest. And also want to include that the hosts of the podcasts actually always speak pretty positively about all the one direction members and have at least some vague awareness of their solo endeavors.

I do find it really interesting to listen to people talk about 1D members - it's interesting to hear a really wide point of views, because it helps see the world that 1D members are trying to navigate with their careers.

I think that with Harry there is this situation where he's much bigger than his music. And I find how people understand that really interesting. I might try and listen to the podcast you mention - thanks for letting me know about it.

*********

I have another thought about the review that I'm going to put out there. I think the least effective section about Harry was comparing him to other musicians:

The idea is that the former One Direction singer is the Justin Timberlake of his generation: a product who shed his boy-band assembly line past to mature into an artist capable of selling Pepsi on his own merits. The problem is that he’s closer to Robbie Williams from Take That or Donny Osmond, references surely lost on 99 percent of the relatively paltry, mostly under-25 crowd who gathered on the former polo field to listen to Styles’s set.

I'm not sure that the humour of complaining that the kids these days haven't heard of Donny Osmond is intentional and that's a bit of a worry.

But also I'm not sure from this distance it even works if you cut out the kids these days stuff. Does the difference between Justin Timberlake and Robbie Williams matter that much in 2022? Maybe it does more in the US than the rest of the world. But it's not anywhere near as cutting as it means to be I don't think.

[forestwater87]

I'm screaming. I just realized this was the legendary Forest Water from Ao3, the creator of the fandom last names Santos and Greenwood, and I didn't know all this time?! What?! I can't actually believe it. Your stuff is legendary! I really enjoy your fanfiction, and you're a great creator. Any advice for a fanfic writer who starts to write a Gwenvid longfic? Any tips on how to become a sucessful fandom memeber? Sorry this is so long, I just really enjoy your work!

These two happened to dovetail really nicely, so I wanted to respond to them in a single (very long) post. I’ve talked a little about getting started writing in the past, but specifically about writing Gwenvid? That’s a little different, and interesting to explore.

I think, anyway. But I always find Gwenvid interesting.

1. Thank you! 

I don’t consider myself especially famous or special -- certainly not anymore, when my updates to my flagship fic are annual at best -- so it’s a little weird that there are people looking at me like that. However, it’s also really touching and encouraging, so I’m at a loss for words. Not sure how to respond to such kind comments, so . . . you know, thanks.

2. Writing Gwenvid -- especially longfic

Here’s the thing: There isn’t a single fic I’ve written that I expected to become long. The first “Tigger & Eeyore” was supposed to be like 5 chapters and then ballooned into 14 and a sequel (which it’s now looking like is going to explode into its own sequel, so yikes). 

There’s a reason they’re called plotbunnies: they multiply like crazy. So if you have a single-shot idea or shortfic that you’re not sure will have legs, just start writing it. It might end up wrapping up rather quickly and you can move on to the next idea without it hanging over your head, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes something much larger totally organically.

Also, keep your plots kind of . . . vague? At least, in my experience I’ve found that helps. A generic idea of the world you want to build and a couple set pieces (i.e., major conflicts or story beats) gives you room to play around without pressure to make it “add up to” something. I’ve never written a fic that had a story in the first 4-5 chapters, and that’s how I like it. It’ll . . . just sort of materialize, while you’re exploring the world.

I mean, if you want to write a tightly-paced epic with a twisty, intricate plot, then you’re going to want to find an author who does that sort of thing. My stories tend to be a lot more meandering.

OH! Also get really flowery with your language. Eats up word counts like Wheaties.

Okay, but Gwenvid specifically: if you want to be mostly canon-compliant, the big thing is that we only see them in the context of this one improbably long summer. There are years of story before and after that point that we’ll never get to see, and I think it’s really interesting. (Especially the before part; I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone write a “prequel” to Camp Camp, but how fun is that idea???) When it comes to “fill in the blanks” fanfic writing, it’s really nice to have a story, relationship, and world with so many blanks. There’s a lot you can do just by writing about what they’re up to the rest of the year.

As for AUs: go nuts. Fucking go wild, you funky lil person. Groundhog Day. Ghostbusters. Lost in Translation. Movies that don’t star Bill Murray, probably. Find a straight couple and make them Gwenvid, and go goddamn bonkers with the possibilities. Find a world with Gwenvid-like characters and make them Gwenvid. The possibilities are literally endless. 

3. Fandom engagement and being a BNF

Huh. Not sure where to go with this one.

Like I said, I don’t consider myself much of a BNF (that’s “big-name fan,” for those of you who might have a life outside of tumblr) -- certainly not anymore. And honestly, becoming “popular” in this economy fandom isn’t . . . necessarily going to be super easy.

I mean, don’t get me wrong! The fandom isn’t dead by any means; people are still writing, and still being read. But if you look at the track record over time:

Average kudos counts of Forestwater’s fics by year:

2016: 574

2017: 277

2018: 79

2019: 60

2020: 50

(if you ever wondered why I had a serious emotional crisis about the quality of my writing and general popularity in 2018 and 2019, that drop should tell you a lot)

Now, some of this is certainly my fault. The most important thing when it comes to fandom success is engagement: the more you write, the more attention you’re going to get. If you can stick to a regular update schedule, you’re going to be on the front page and in the top of the tags, and people will see your stuff and be more likely to read it. And attention is self-generating, because the more kudos and hits you have, the more people are going to check out your work just to see what the big deal is. So getting laid off and deeply depressed, then not updating at a time when the fandom was already beginning a pretty steady downward trajectory anyway . . . was not my best move in terms of relevance.

And engagement doesn’t necessarily have to mean updates, by the way! (Though you should update regularly if you want the attention.) Sharing headcanons, answering asks, starting fandom drama and ship wars . . . that’s all the kind of thing that establishes you as an authority; even if people think you’re wrong, they’ll think you’re someone whose opinion is worth disagreeing with, if they see you mouthing off in the tags enough. 

I’m not confident this is a good call, but Snowqueens Icedragon didn’t get massive fandom success by not starting flame wars, is all I’m saying. 

If you have the spoons to answer questions, people will want to ask them. No one wants to talk to someone who won’t reply to them. The most popular artists and authors are always going to be the ones who interact with the fandom the most. Higher output, more attention, more praise. I’m not saying it’s fair -- in fact, it very well might not be -- but that’s the nature of the beast.

Also, play to the fandom. Camp Camp fans want to see dadvid. They want to see dan/vid. They want to see Max-centric content, and they probably want it to be angsty. They want to see self-inserts dating David. If you can give them some of that stuff (none of which is inherently bad, to be clear, nor is it inherently good; it’s just what’s popular, and tbh if you can cram it all in one fic that’d be amazing), you have the benefit of giving people exactly what they want. 

To be clear, don’t write about things that don’t inspire you; aside from it being a soul-crushing endeavor, it’s noticeable when someone’s heart just isn’t in it, and it’s even harder to keep those regular updates. But if the things you’re passionate about happen to be the things the fandom really wants to see at the moment, then you’re much closer to riding the kudos train, my friendo.

But here’s the thing: even if you do everything right, you might still get screwed.

Some of this is just due to the fact that Camp Camp is always a dead fandom in the off-seasons, and we don’t know how long this current off-season is going to last. Hell, we don’t have to look at me for this:

This is “How to Foster an Asshole” by emiartse. It’s one of the fandom’s most popular fics, with a whopping 962 kudos. Hot damn, look at that engagement. That’s a fucking fic right there!

This is the sequel, which has 122 kudos. Nothing to sneeze at, to be sure -- I think we’d all be delighted to have 122 kudos -- but even the general tendency of sequels to have less attention than a series debut doesn’t entirely explain such a precipitous drop. And emiartse is doing everything right! This is dadvid! And momgwen! It’s just as well-written as the first; it’s not like we suddenly experience a decrease in quality or anything. It came right on the heels of the first one ending, and the updates have been more or less like clockwork, in keeping with the previous story.

So what changed?

Well, HTFAA was first published in 2019, right on the heels of Season 4′s finale and when fandom hype was pretty high. HTAAA was published in September 2020, during this whole “world pandemic and every political disaster all at once” thing that’s got us all fucked up -- and especially, during a period where we all knew Camp Camp wasn’t coming back for the year, and maybe not ever.

It’s . . . not a great time to be a writer for Camp Camp if your goal is popularity. I mean, it’s never a great time to be a writer if your goal is popularity -- consider the tragic difference in notes between ellohcee’s gorgeous art and their equally-excellent writing just for comparison -- but it’s especially tough now. If you really want to be a huge name in the fandom, my suggestion is to travel back in time to 2016 and establish yourself as the pioneer of something (seriously, it can be anything; there was basically nothing in the fandom at that time. Every idea was a new one). 

So . . . what do we do when we can’t be popular? Maybe you don’t want to chain yourself to a strict update schedule, or write the twelve-thousandth iteration of the most popular fandom tropes, or you exist in 2021 when everything is terrible and no one cares about a web cartoon series. What happens then?

4. Do it anyway.

I know, I know -- that sounds hella cheesy. “Write because you love it, not for attention” is one of those statements that everyone rolls their eyes at, because seriously? Please. What’s even the point of sharing something you write if no one reads it?

Well . . . because you made it. Because it’s something that wouldn’t exist without you, and because even though there are such a tiny number of readers in a very small, very dead fandom -- those people still exist. And seeing what you wrote will make them happy. And if they have the spoons, they’ll let you know that you made them happy, which will make you happy.

I haven’t updated my major fic in a year -- haven’t updated any writing in several months. But what keeps me going is the excitement that my ideas bring me, and the pride I feel in watching them come to life. It’s like giving a gift to someone; I get really nervous and giddy whenever I post a sentence.

And does it suck when it feels like your present goes unappreciated? Yeah. If you write the first chapter of your awesome long-form Gwenvid fic and it gets like 5 or 3 or even zero notes, that’s a huge bummer. That hurts a lot, and it can crush your self-esteem worse than even the most vicious hate. But your fic isn’t going to just be around for the few hours or days that you’re watching the engagement. It’s going to be there, growing as you update it or just sitting happily in its tags, and someone is going to find it.

Your story is going to be someone’s favorite fic. I promise. 

And hell, let’s make it my favorite fic! 

If you post something -- you know what, even if you post something in a trope or ship I hate, or a fandom I’m not in, doesn’t even have to just be Camp Camp; times are hard right now and we gotta support each other -- send me the link in a personal message. (Don’t tag me, I won’t see it. I never see anything on this terrible, terrible site.) I’ll like it; I’ll give it kudos. I’ll probably even share it*, because we’re going through the lean times in this fandom. And we’re writers, so the lean times are extra lean; it’s the bone-and-dust times. 

*Okay, but I reserve the right to not support someone’s work that makes me very uncomfortable. I’ll share things I don’t personally stan, but I’m not gonna platform your “why Hitler was good, actually” essay disguised as a fanfic or anything. My 6 followers deserve better.

Write something that excites you, and then tell me about it. If you need help brainstorming, tell me about that too. 

I might not have the spoons to keep this up for a prolonged period of time, but I’ll do what I can and you’ll do what you can and together we’ll . . . idk, do something. I’m losing the thread of my great inspirational speech here.

Uhhhh TL;DR let’s just do the dang thing. If we fail we all fail together. Yay team!

[geckomoon]

Yuri!!! on ice as irl skaters (part 1???)

Its 2020 and I miss yoi so here are my personal headcanons about which irl skater the you cast skate &/or act like because why the hell not.

(photos at the bottom of the post because I couldn't get the format to work the way I wanted it to)

Yuri Katsuki ➡️ Boyang Jin (China)/Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia)

Yes, 2 people because PARALLELS.

So my reason for saying Yuri is like Boyang is because, his step sequences are always gorgeous and his jumping power, oofttttt, and that one scene where Yuri tries a jump and lands in the wall, you know the one. Boyang Jin is known for jumping super close to the boards and scaring the hell out of us all, seriously, just watch one of his skates, it's amazing and terrifying. Also Boyang is a bit of a nerd and Yuri is canonicaly pretty into video games, nuff said.

Boyang is a two-time World bronze medalist (2016–2017), the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2016, 2019), the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, and a five-time (2014–2017, 2019) Chinese national champion.

Evgenia however, this is more of a parallel in how her 2018/19 season went and how Yuri kinda flopped. Zhenya had a crappy start to the 18/19 season, she'd just switched coaches and mover halfway across the world, for the 1st time in her senior career she didn't make the gpf. However by the end of the season she had bounced back and won bronze at worlds and my god what a skate that fp was. Remind you of anyone huh???

Evgenia has a lot of medals (and actually made a cameo in the end credits of episode 10) She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2018 ladies' singles, 2018 team event), a two-time world champion (2016, 2017), a two-time European champion (2016, 2017), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2015, 2016), a two-time Russian national champion (2016, 2017), silver medalist at the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships and bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships. Also, she is a huge Anime fan and has a sailor moon exhibition program and its adorable.

Victor Nikiforov ➡️ Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)

I know a lot of people compare Yuri to Yuzu but I think Victor is a better fit.

Yuzuru has a legion of super duper dedicated fans, they are pretty scary at times. If you watch the 2018 Olympics, the ice literally was covered in Pooh bears after his skate. People love this man, and rightly so. Clearly Yuri isn't the only one who loves Victor, he's very popular in the yoi skating world and almost everyone loves and looks up to him.

His skates are almost immaculate every time. Not only is his technique amazing but his artistry is what really sets him apart from other skaters who may have higher bv on jumps etc. Not that he dosent have high bv, seriously he tries combos that are super wierd just for the bv (see the wierd 4t-3a combo thing he does idk). Plus he's dead set on doing a quad axel. See Victor's super high bv with all the quads and also the fact everyone goes nuts over how his skating is 'like no other'.

Also his medal collection is absolutely mad, he is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), two-time World champion (2014, 2017), four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), Four Continents champion (2020) and three times silver medalist (2011, 2013, 2017). Just like how Victor is canonicaly an Olympic champion and 5x world champion and probably many time euros champ.

Also, he's a sweetheart, he literally crawled behind Shoma Uno because he didn't want the attention taken away from Shoma. I love him.

Victor Nikiforov gives big Yuzuru Hanyu energy.

Yuri Plisetsky ➡️ Yulia Lipnitskaya (Russia)/Alexandra Trusova (Russia)

Again, 2 people.

It's canon that Yuri P was modeled after Yulia for the flexibility and artistic portion of his skates so I feel like I don't need to elaborate much in it however his determination and his wanting to back load with quads reminds me a lot of Sasha Trusova.

Sasha only started juniors the year after yoi came out (she had a Makkachin tissue box which was given to her by Evgenia M which is adorable) so she was not really that popular when the show was being made but she really made a statement when she became the 1st woman to land 2 quads in 1 program (4 salchow and 4 toeloop) at the age of 13 at 2018 junior worlds.

She has just started senior and this season she had 5 quads in one program and I think I cried. She now has a quad sal, toe, flip and lutz and is apparently working on a loop. On top of that she can land a 3 axel but has yet to do so in competition. Did I mention SHE'S 15 AND I'M TERRIFIED.

She currently holds the world record for the free skate (166.62 points). She is the 2020 European Bronze Medalist, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Skate Canada champion, the 2019 Rostelecom Cup champion, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela champion, the 2019 Russian national silver medalist, and the 2020 Russian national bronze medalist.

Her determination to win and high TES reminds me of Yurio a lot.

Phichit Chulanont ➡️ Nam Nguyen (Canada)

This one is fun.

I love Nam with all my heart, he's actually my favourite male skater and not just because of his skating. However his skating is great. He is the 2014 World Junior champion, 2019 Skate Canada silver medalist, and two-time Canadian national champion (2015, 2019). He has placed as high as fifth at the World Championships, in 2015. He's not the best skater ever, kinda like Phichit but his personality shines through so much when he skates and I love it.

My main comparison to Phichit is the fact that Nam Nguyen is a huge meme. His Instagram is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen (@ namnamnoodle). I can't explain it with words seriously just go look at it, he makes memes using professionnally taken skating photos of himself and honestly it's just a giggle. He's almost always posting on his story and half the videos he takes end up on fan twitter and everyone freaks out.

Also he's good friends with Evgenia, thought I'd mention that seeing as who I compared her to :)).

Yeah, Phichit and Nam are memes and I adore them both.

Jean-Jacques Leroy ➡️ Nathan Chen (USA)

Jj is definitely more of a technical focused skater. He tends to put all his eggs in the '800000 quads' bucket and isn't as artistic, in my humble opinion.

Just like Nathan surprisingly, though Nate isn't as egotistical (not a dig, just an observation).

Nathan is compared to Yuzu a lot, and had actually scored higher than him a few times in competition. He is an amazing jumper and is the first skater to have landed five types of quadruple jumps in competitions: toe loop, Salchow, loop, flip and Lutz. Currently he is two-time World champion (2018, 2019), a 2018 Winter Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2017 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), and four-time U.S. national champion (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).

So yeah, he's good.

However at the 2018 Olympics (he was only 18 at the time) he bombed under pressure in the team event and in the sp, only to come back with a WR free skate, but didn't medal because of his sp score,kinda like how Jj bombed at the GPF. (Ngl, I cried in school when I saw Nate bomb at the Olympics, I was so upset).

Also, Nathan is super smart and is training to be a doctor. Not related to Jj but I thought I would point it out.

Christophe Giacometti➡️ Adam Rippon (USA)/Javier Fernández (Spain)

Chris is a hard one to pin to an irl skater because he's just so... Chris.

The closest comparison I can get is Adam Rippon but dialed up to 11 because Adam is quite a bit more tame than Chris is. However he did have a point in his sp where he literally beckons the judges to him in a way that can only be described as vaguely sexual. Seeing that at the Olympics was an event I'll tell you that.

Adam was the first openly gay man to make a U.S. Winter Olympic team, and the first to win a medal at the Winter Games. (team bronze).

Plus, I'm pretty sure he owned a Chris plushie at one point or another.

However other than the obvious Chrissness, his technique and medal winning achievements most closely match up with Javier Fernández (who may I add is pretty much Yuzuru Hanyu's best friend). He is the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World champion (2015, 2016), a two-time World bronze medalist (2013, 2014), a seven-time European champion (2013–2019), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2014, 2015), a three-time Rostelecom Cup champion (2014–2016), a two-time Grand Prix in France champion (2016–2017) and an eight-time Spanish national champion (2010, 2012–2018). Javi is an amazing skater but usually ended up playing 2nd fiddle to Yuzuru on the world stage, but with euros, he literally won 7 times consecutively. Anndddd, he was the flag bearer for Spain at the 2014 Olympics and I still cry about it.

Otabek Altin➡️ Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)/ Matteo Rizzo

So it's canon that Otabek was based on Denis (rip Denis) so like Yuri and Yulia I do not feel like I need to elaborate much as you can read it on the wikia page. But Otabek also reminds me of a less talkative version of Matteo Rizzo. Matteo is the 2019 European bronze medalist, 2018 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Winter Universiade champion, and 2018 Italian national champion.

The reason he reminds me of Otabek is that they just joth exude the same level of cool and I can't explain it any further than that. That's it. Just watch him skate and you'll see.

So that's all I have for now because this post got pretty long so if this gets enough attention I'll do a part 2 :)).

[devipotato]

hey just wondering what do you use when you do your art on the computer? like what are you drawing on & what programs do you use? I'm trying to figure out what to get for a drawing tablet so I thought I'd ask what you use

i’ve got a lot of different stuff i use depending on my mood, but here’s a breakdown of what i use and what i’ve used in the past.

TL;DR:

i use a wacom intuos pro (medium size) with clip studio paint for sketching at my computer

i actually color my art in adobe illustrator cc, but i mostly use my mouse for this actually

sometimes i use a samsung galaxy tab A with S pen as a portable digital sketchbook. i’ve liked autodesk sketchbook as the app for this but there’s tons of free art apps out there. i transfer the sketches to my computer and finish them with illustrator from there.

i also have a 2-in-1 laptop with a pen that i use for art occasionally, but i wouldn’t recommend this route unless you already need a laptop

sometimes still i use a plain paper sketchbook and photograph/scan my sketches to color them digitially in illustrator. i like using colored mechanical pencils for this, with normal mechanical pencils or pens for a refining pass if i need it

i have a lot to say about my tablets specifically, so i’ve got a sort of detailed comparison of buying a wacom tablet vs buying an android tablet below the cut (in case it sounds like an appealing option to you)

as a point of interest, since i only use my tablets for sketching, this is very oriented around usability for sketching. other artists that finish their art with their tablet may have different opinions on what’s viable. overall, what sort of thing you need depends on what sort of art you want to make - vector art (which is what i make) can easily be done with a mouse, but if you’re interested in digital painting or more typical techniques you’ll probably prefer a wacom tablet since there’s more powerful software available.

first up, wacom intuos tablets. these are what most people are talking about when they mention art tablets. there’s some cheaper brands (such as Huion) that are starting to gain popularity, but i’ve never owned any before so i can’t give advice there. here’s the newer model of what i use: LINK

pros:

wacom is the gold standard most tablets are compared to. they have good pressure sensitivity, (mostly) well-behaved drivers, and feel good to use and last a while (especially if you don’t stress the cable by using it on your lap, etc)

good features - shortcut buttons, pressure sensitivity, etc. are all really nice. they feel pretty good to use

PC art software - since this hooks into your computer, you can use it with the standard art tools that people use like photoshop, SAI, clip studio, etc. in this way, it’s very flexible in what you can do with it

comes in many sizes/features/price points - there’s some expensive and huge wacom tablets but also some smaller cheaper ones. you can usually find one that does the stuff you want. i’d say you probably want a Medium size one, though, because the small tablets are quite cramped and awkward to draw on in my experience, and the large ones are massive.

older models available - you can get cheaper wacoms if you look around for slightly older models (mine is an “Intuos Pro Pen & Touch“). i don’t know how reliable refurbished ones are, but older models in general are just as good as the newest ones since the main features don’t change much from year to year

cons:

basic slate tablet - if you’ve never drawn on these types of tablets before, there’s a large learning curve while you get used to looking up at a screen while drawing with your hand

hard to use without a desk - if you use a laptop or have limited desk space, these are hard to use easily and the cables are more likely to crap out on you if you use it in your lap. the cables are always the part that breaks

pricy - for what you get, these are expensive. there are cheaper alternatives - i’ve never owned any, so i can’t say if it’s worth it, but they exist. replacement pens/nibs are also kind of pricy if something breaks

i’ve also used samsung galaxy/note android tablets (specifically, any galaxy tablet that comes with an S pen), which can’t hook up to the computer. i have one of these right now, which isn’t too pricy since it’s a few years old: LINK

pros:

basically a cheap display tablet that you can draw directly on. these can be easier to work with if you’re not used to drawing on a basic slate tablet, and are a much cheaper way to do this than buying a cintiq or full-size monitor tablet

Good Enough features - the S pen is unique in that it has pressure sensitivity, which $5 capacitive styluses on any old tablet will not. this is a key feature for natural-feeling drawing

no computer necessary - i love being able to draw on the couch or when i’m out or travelling. these work great as a portable digital sketchbook

android tablet - since this is actually a tablet with a pen as a feature, you get everything you can do with a tablet, like watching videos in bed or web browsing or travelling or whatever. in this way it’s not a single-purpose purchase like a dedicated drawing tablet is

cons:

stuck with android - you can’t use these seamlessly with your computer. there’s some tricks you can do but none of them work very well. you’re basically stuck with the art software on the app store, which is good for sketching but pretty limited for finishing artwork

can feel cramped - tablets are increasingly designed for portrait orientation so they can feel sort of narrow for drawing. YMMV here, it’s just something i’ve noticed

these just aren’t quite as accurate or Great for drawing as a dedicated drawing tablet is. it’s definitely just “good enough” but it has enough of its own benefits to be a solid choice if some of those pros sound appealing

ultimately, i feel like both of these are good choices, but for different reasons. if you want to be able to do nicer raster artwork with PC software, you’ll want a wacom tablet. if you mostly want something to sketch with, an android tablet would also work well with the benefit of being portable. if you’re not sure what sort of art you want to do, i’d recommend a wacom tablet or similar since it leaves your options more open.

that was a lot more than i planned on typing but i hope this helps you figure out what would work for you!

[justsomeoneunordinary]

For the fic questions themed around time: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, August

lol i was so confused when i saw this ask cause i never reblogged that ask game. but then i saw the addition with the "sending asks in return" and got it xD

tuesday: name a fic you have posted which you think is overrated?

i don't feel like any of my fics are overrated? maybe the old drarry one but that one was while i was still on the german server so it doesn't count. i am, however, rather baffled at the amount of kudos this drabble got? it's literally just 200 words of dumb utter nonsense but it has a hundred more kudos than "on crossing paths" which is 5k long?? it's also my first and so far only fic that got translated? of all my fics this is what someone wanted to translate?? like, i wouldn't call it overrated, it's not like it's a popular fic or smth, but it did get more attention than any of my other drabbles and i just.. don't know why? but it's whatever lol

wednesday: name a fic which you have posted which you think is underrated?

"in another time" for sure. in comparison to my other winteriron fics, this one got much less attention and i just don't know why. it's still my proudest fic but... idk. doesn't seem to resonate with others.

also some of my sarahbucky ficlets, though ngl it's mostly the lack of attention on the boards than the fics that have me disappointed. i put way more effort into those than the drabbles, i'm not going to deny it. but the secret lovers fic and the last one i posted? i'm pretty proud of those, but those are exactly the ones with the fewest notes...

oh, and this pepperony ficlet too. i know it's just a nonsense ficlet but idk, it gives me lots of comfort? and it's a bit dampening that it barely got noticed at all... but that's my curse. it's always the fics i like the most that get the least attention haha :)))

friday: most self-indulgent fic you have ever posted?

difficult to tell since everything i write is what i want to read. except for a few prompts maybe. those just happened bc the muse happened to be there. but if i think abt it, it's probably "wonderwall" which is sort of an "anti"-soulmate fic. but ironically, i never finished it and therefore never posted it either so idk how much it counts

saturday: what gets you excited whilst writing?

getting to the scene i've had in my mind all along and being able to read it!!! one of the reasons why i prefer writing drabbles and ficlets is cause most of the time i just have one specific scene in mind but don't want to think of a story around it. and getting to that scene, esp when sentences already started to form in my head, is what makes me want to write, so i can read it then. it's why i write in first place

sunday: how frequently do you take requests or prompts, if at all?

lmfao uhm. okay so i still have 12 unanswered prompts in my inbox and they're all over a year old by now xD and i don't want to take new prompts until i answered the old ones' but at the same time i am just. not doing the old ones sooo... i'm not sure how i'm supposed to answer the question xD

august: are any of your fics associated with certain genres/artists/songs/etc?

i'm a bit confused at the genre part since every piece of writing belongs to a genre? unless they meant music genre? not sure how a writing could be inspired by music genre but maybe i'm just not imaginative enough. anyway, apart from one songfic from forever ago i can't think of one, no. some of my fics have song titles but that's bc i'm terrible at titling fics and just go through my playlist to see if a title fits lol. i rarely ever pay much attention to the lyrics, i just vibe with the sound and that alone is not enough to inspire me tbh

thanks for sending these! you didn't have to but thank you anyway <3

[ohjjang]

BTS Live Interview KBS News9 2020.09.10

🐨 We're so happy to have completed our debut stage. We'll continue to do our best as BTS.

👥 Bangtan! Thank you! We'll do our best!

🐱 It's good to dream big, right? I'd like to be No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. I'd also like to be No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

🗣 The Billboard music award goes to... BTS!

(No. 1 on the Billboard Album Chart in 2018)

(No. 1 on the Billboard Single Chart in 2020)

(No. 1 for two weeks in a row in 2020)

🐥 We never expected it but we're so happy to hear that we made No. 1 on the Hot 100. We're all in awe. It's hard to express it in words.

📺 KBS News9

🐹 Hello. I'm BTS' worldwide handsome, Jin.

🐱 Hello, I'm BTS Suga.

🐥 Hello, I'm BTS Jimin.

🐨 Hello, I'm BTS RM. Nice to meet you.

🐿 Hello! I'm your hope, J-Hope.

🐯 Hello... Hello, I'm your hope, V.

🐰 Hello, I'm Jungkook.

👩🏻‍💼 I'm sure you were here for "Music Bank," but how do you feel being in the newsroom?

🐿 It's really cool here.

🐹 It's really solemn here. It has a serious vibe.

🐱 It's our first time in the newsroom.

🐨 I think this is the coolest place in KBS.

🐿 To be honest, it's quite fascinating.

👩🏻‍💼 Jimin, does it feel real yet?

🐥 Oh, it doesn't feel real. When something good like this happens, we should be meeting with the fans in person and hug, cry, and celebrate together. It's a shame because of the current situation. But it's an honor to be here on KBS. I hope the fans will be happy.

👩🏻‍💼 It's really difficult for a non-English speaking artist to enter the Hot 100, right?

👥 That's right.

👩🏻‍💼 Why do you think "Dynamite" was so successful? How was it able to have a universal appeal?

🐱 Well, the situation isn't good in Korea and overseas, right? So when we first came up with this song, we wanted to do what we're good at, what we were able to do, in order to provide strength for our fans. That was our biggest motivation. And fortunately, our fans really loved the song, which is what brought this amazing result. That's what I believe.

👩🏻‍💼 It's a really exciting and funky disco track. Did you choose that genre on purpose because things are so tough right now?

🐨 In these tough times... When you're feeling down and depressed, there are many ways to relieve that, right? We chose to go with our field of expertise. It's a disco-pop that everyone's familiar with. We wanted it to just be cheery. And we felt like we needed something that was hopeful. That's why we chose this genre.

👩🏻‍💼 Do you feel like you're world stars now? V, how do you feel?

🐯 First of all... It does feel more real than before. Friends of our families say that they're part of ARMY. And even many of our friends have become ARMY. We're really encouraged every time we hear that.

🐿 So many people cheered loudly for us when we entered the newsroom.

🐨 They congratulated us.

🐿 I think that makes us realize our popularity a little.

🐯 It makes us wonder how we are this popular.

🐱 It wasn't like this at "Music Bank."

👩🏻‍💼 From what I know, you had hard times in the beginning. I heard there were times when you'd go hungry.

🐹 Yes. Even for us... We used to catch fruit flies with a vacuum cleaner. We'd have rotten bananas that attracted lots of fruit flies. There were times we survived on chicken breasts. It's a relief that things worked out for us.

👩🏻‍💼 What has changed between then and now?

🐯 Our lunch boxes...

🐹 Back then, when we weren't earning much, there was a limit to what we could eat. But now we can eat whatever we want. We can have two slices of steak if we want. That's where we're at.

🐥 Our minds... I think we have more peace of mind. We felt rushed back then and felt we needed tenacity. But now, we can relax more.

👩🏻‍💼 Then what hasn't changed between then and now? Something you've kept all this time. Jungkook, what do you think?

🐰 We've changed a lot in terms of our appearances and personalities. But the one thing that hasn't changed is our love for the fans and our attitude towards music. I think that still remains true.

👩🏻‍💼 I'd say your teamwork hasn't changed either. This year is the 7th year for the 7 of you. Your album has "7" in the title as well. This would be impossible without teamwork.

👩🏻‍💼 Do you have a secret to your successful teamwork? Does the eldest keep everyone in line?

🐱 No, not at all.

👩🏻‍💼 Or perhaps the leader?

🐨 I think we all just really get along. I think that's how we maintain our positive teamwork. And if anything comes up, we always gather and have meetings. We're always trying to gather ideas for a positive outcome. I think that's why...

🐿 I think we respect each other and are considerate of each other. I think that's how we were able to get to this point.

🐨 I mention this comparison often. I believe we're all in the same boat facing different directions. The 7 of us grew up in different environments and we live life enjoying different things. It's impossible to be completely alike. But the fact that we're in the same boat. If we have that clearly in mind... And also, if we're too close, that can cause problems. So at times, we're like family and other times, we're like partners. We maintain an appropriate distance from each other to respect one another. I'd say that's the secret to our teamwork.

👩🏻‍💼 J-Hope, you mentioned May 18, the Gwangju Uprising in your lyrics. Suga, you've incorporated daechwita and gukak in your music too. Do those ideas come from your discussions? From sharing your feelings and thoughts?

🐿 That's right. Being able to tell the stories that we want to through music is in itself such a great honor as artists. In my case, I felt it was a part of history that we should never forget. And I thought it was good to express that through my music. Daechwita!

👩🏻‍💼 I'm sure all of your songs are precious. But is there a song that you particularly love? In particular?

🐱 "Dynamite."

🐨 "Dynamite"!

🐿 "Dynamite."

🐹 For me, it's "I NEED U." That's the first song that got us 1st place.

👩🏻‍💼 In western pop culture, it has been difficult for Asian artists to be in the spotlight. It was hard to be mainstream. But now you're right in the center and the entire world relates to you. What's your secret?

🐨 To be honest, I don't know if we're there yet. However, The Billboard Hot 100 is very symbolic. And being No. 1 for two weeks in a row is something we never expected. So I personally think... First off, the song "Dynamite" was probably more approachable because it broke down the language barrier. And as mentioned earlier, disco-pop is a familiar genre. Even for the older generation. So it's easy to listen to and at this point in time, it provides hope. It provides comfort through being simple and upbeat. I believe these factors played a big part. And more than anything, I'd say people are most curious about this. It's how we got this far. They ask us that a lot and are curious about it. But what I want to say is that we've been on the Billboard Charts since 2015. And I think we've been achieving milestones since. It's not like we had a set strategy from back then. We didn't calculate how to climb up the Billboard Charts. We were able to overcome the language barrier and other national and ethnic boundaries through the truths that we conveyed. That's what reached the many people and turned them into our fans. These things all came together and the resulting explosion was "Dynamite."

👩🏻‍💼 Don't you have ARMY to thank as well, Jimin?

🐥 We have so much to thank them for. Since the early days, I think we had a strong bond with the fans. Even when our team was really small, it's the same in our music and performances, I think it always felt like we were together. Even in this moment, we're so thankful. We want to quickly meet them and thank them in person.

👩🏻‍💼 I really studied a lot so I wouldn't get told off by ARMY. I noticed you always thank the fans whenever you receive an award. Just as Jimin said, you seem so close with the fans. Where does that tight relationship come from? Would you like to comment on that, V? That tight bond with ARMY.

🐯 First of all, it's because they were with us since the difficult times. That'd be the foremost reason. Also, our sad times, happy times, the times we were congratulated, everything was shared with ARMY. So the people that know us best are by far always ARMY.

👩🏻‍💼 To all the youths around the world that have to live with COVID-19. Is there a unique BTS challenge you can propose? (Jung Eungyeong) Who would like to answer that?

🐥 V? Since he has unique ideas.

🐨 Since you're so creative.

🐯 This is my personal opinion. Right now, there are so many things we can't do because of COVID-19. So once COVID-19 passes... Once it's completely over... Then what is... What is the very first thing you want to do? The thing you want to do the most. You could write that down or express it in some way. Perhaps draw it. That would be my challenge suggestion.

🐿 It's a dream challenge.

🐰 A dream challenge.

🐯 Dream challenge.

👩🏻‍💼 We're all spending so much time at home because of COVID-19. You guys are doing a lot of activities online. J-Hope, you made beaded wristbands. You made gimbap too. Is there anything else you'd like to try?

🐿 Yes, I did do many things, right? Well, I don't know. I'd like to do things that I haven't tried yet. I'm not very good with my hands. So I'd like to make a lot of things. For example, carving wood and making something pretty. I'd like to try a lot of those things. And share them with the fans.

👩🏻‍💼 I'm sure you have a lot more personal time now. I hear RM has started to work out. Jungkook is learning the guitar and Suga's learning to draw. What else are you guys doing?

🐱 After things became like this, we shared a lot of our daily lives through various platforms. So that's why we have new hobbies. In this day and age, I'd like to share and show more. I started learning the guitar recently too.

🐰 He's practicing really hard right now.

🐱 I really am. I'd like to continue sharing things like that.

🐥 We're working on our next album as well.

👩🏻‍💼 I hear you have a new album coming soon. Can you briefly tell us what it'll be like?

🐥 Actually... It's hard to say what the album will contain as of now. There are songs as good as "Dynamite" and some even better, so please look forward to it.

🐨 We already love it.

🐥 Also... It's great. After topping the Billboard Charts with "Dynamite," I thought that it would be awesome if the entire album could enter the Hot 100 😄

🐱 It's good to dream big.

🐥 It's always good to dream big. So I imagine that at times.

🐰 Our level of participation for this album is extremely high for each of our members.

👩🏻‍💼 Each of your albums have a unique message. Finding yourself, for example. What do you think the message will be for this album?

🐥 I think it'll contain a variety of messages. It's like... The things we feel whether that be sadness or joy. I think we added those raw emotions. I'll end the spoilers there.

🐨 Right now... It's like... BTS is just 7 young guys. Of course, we don't live your average normal life. But the sentiment we're feeling right now... And what we dare to believe that people need right now. We added songs that will satisfy that. So I just hope many people will listen to them. That's how I feel.

👩🏻‍💼 I have to ask Suga about your next objective. Everything Suga has said has come true. Is your next goal the Grammys?

🐱 Well, first off... Yes... I've been lucky, haven't I? I'd personally like to be nominated. Once you're nominated, you can perform a song at the Grammys. And so after we perform at the Grammys, if possible, It's only our wishful thinking but... I don't know if I can say this. But if we can win a Grammy... That would be so...

🐨 Of course, it's not up to us.

🐱 Yes, of course. But we can dream, right? It's okay for us to dream, right? That's our wish.

👩🏻‍💼 Please agree to be back if you win.

👥 Oh, of course!

🐨 It'd be an honor to be back here.

👩🏻‍💼 Then to end this interview, for the people that are struggling because of COVID-19. Whether that be ARMY or viewers all over the world. Could you say a word for them?

🐰 We mentioned the challenge earlier. I'm sure many people are going through hard times right now. It was really tough for us too. We had so many things scheduled but we couldn't do any of them. That's how serious it is right now. Many people are putting in the effort. And we're doing the best we can too. I hope you can find something within. I hope you find that silver lining so that you can find some kind of joy in this dark times. It's tough but I hope you fight on.

🐨 I have a heavy heart. I can't dare say that I understand those struggling right now. It's difficult for me to say that. To tell you about "Dynamite" from our circumstances, it would not have been born without COVID-19. So, I believe... I believe that with the bad, there's always the good. Though that could take a long time. At night, the shadows are long but the sun will surely rise. I know it's tough for so many people. But we'll do our very best so please stay hopeful. And I wish you all stay healthy. Thank you.

👥 We'll shout it out! 2, 3. Let's go!