#and well. obviously more specifically catered to me lmao

[jonny-b-meowborn]

In my Embracing my Kinks era

[eerna]

Ok Ok so I've been thinking this for. quite a while like even before Stolen Heir was released. it's kind of controversial because I might be making mountain out of a molehill but -

I think Jurdan fans border on being disrespectful to Holly Black at times... the problem isn't what one chooses to focus on even though that annoys me too, like it's not like people can control the fact that they focus more/love a character more than the other. But I'm starting to see this especially on Instagram and Goodreads, and I think I have good reason to believe HB is more active on insta and Goodreads is like, the book reviewing site, if there's any place she may look for comments or critique it's that.

and my problem lies with the language used . HB can announce she's working on something and can give hints about it and I've seen soo many people just outright tell her "I don't care about [x] and [y] just give me JURDAN!!" or anything along that vein , there's also "I'm only reading this for Jurdan lol I kind of couldn't care less about []".

It genuinely annoys me a lot !! And I wish I could say to each their own but ykw? At some point it starts to feel like if these two characters aren't involved people don't even try to make an effort to connect with the other characters, the new protagonist, etc. To be honest your page was a breath of fresh air because I don't even see a lot of folks focus on ANYTHING in TFOTA other than this ship.

There's also the irony that so many people pride themselves on loving Jude, their morally grey female rage character, but refuse to discuss Taryn with nuance. Or Vivi, sometimes. It's weird how so many people love Madoc (justified, I like him too) then refuse to think that hey, maybe Taryn's way of coping with faerie is different than Jude and that affects her actions! something something fandom misogyny

The above unrelated paragraph is just to say that a Nicasia focused book is something many people just absolutely will not be able to handle lmao and I so dearly wish Jude and Cardan's 'screentime' is few and far in between just so that it's less palatable. But oh well.

(And after Prisoner's Throne it worries me because with the implication that the Nicasia focused book might have Jude and Cardan POVs I feel like she's catering more to these people now.

If that's how things turn out that would genuinely make me really sad because I didn't pick up her books after reading TCP, I started with Spiderwick Chronicles, then Modern Faerie Tales, and I love the way she creates atmosphere, her worldbuilding, her depiction of the weird and creepy and magical. I especially think that's her strongest suit, more than characterization, so something like this that hinges more on specific characters genuinely turns me off.)

AGREED SO MUCH WITH ALL OF ITTT I too noticed the really dumb people in her comments crapping on everything that isn't a new Jurdan book... Like, the woman was writing books and enjoyed fame 15 years before Jurdan happened. She obviously has a lot to say about her world. Why the hell would you want her to stop developing it and only focus on 2 characters??? I was a big Spiderwick fan as a kid, and when I read TFOTA I had no idea it was by the same writer but I could TELL the vibes were all there. I too think that is her specialty and I'd rather get 10 stories on different characters than 5 on Jurdan.

I want the Undersea book to be about Nicasia and part of it is because I agree, I think most of the fandom would HATE it and it would fry their brains, and I want to see it. It is dumb and petty of me, but it would be sweet vindication for all the clowns screaming into my ear that Taryn is problematic actually in case I didn't notice. Ultimately I know it is a fruitless endeavor. TFOTA has the misfortune of being too good and complicated for its main audience of tiktok book fans, but also too bad and simplified to spread into more general, unspecified fantasy circles where its themes could catch the attention of people who would know how to appreciate them. That means there is only a small portion of fans who both like the books AND have the critical thinking skills to appreciate all the things they do right outside of romance/basic female wish fulfilment.

In the end, judging by TPT, we are gonna have to take the L and accept we bet on the wrong horse and minority does not make the money. But at least we will be there together to make a mountain out of a molehill!

[outivv]

can we get your top 5 twst characters

YAYYYYYY

1- my first place changes often, but usually Malleus. I’m basic I know- but I really both relate to him, and think that he’s just goofy as hell. He’s super cute in his character design and mannerisms, and he’s just like me. Autistic. YIPPEE!! And I have a weak spot for dragon characters, this blog used to be called zhonglihoe 😔 (the dark ages)

2- jade/ Floyd usually, and I’m gonna count them as one cause I like them both an equal amount. I was a preteen who loved Sebastian in black butler so of course I’ll like Jade, cause Jade is almost a more immature version of Sebastian. And I like really intense characters with sharp teeth, so makes sense why I like Floyd. Plus, I love how different they are, and how they’re both like so very close- duh cause they’re twins, and they’re both so mischievous and funny, but also just omg I have so many questions about how the mer-people work in twst and specifically how Jade and Floyd work cause they’re moray eels. Moray eels are also my favorite animals :3

3- Idia, obviously I like Idia, I feel like most twst fans like him. He’s a silly goober, and I have a thing for emo nerds cause I am one 😔. But, Idia kinda gives me like scene kid vibes which I am totally here for cause I loooove like scene kid style, that’s mainly what I’m going for with my own style- so obv I’ll like it BAVAJAHAJ. I love his character, I could fix him (/j), yada yada- would love to paint his nails and listen to music together while talking about our favorite video games cause we’re NERDS. I know that Idia can have some bomb ass discussions about video games, and character design, and etc etc and just a bunch of stuff that I’m interested in that I also think Idia is interested in too :3

4- Right now is Cater but trust my like tier list LMAO changes often. I just like him, he just seems like a good person to be friends with, so he’s just a lot of fun to me. I love a good orange character too, underrated color in my opinion. He’s just very silly, and he gives me like gyaru or ig gyaruo vibes, which I loveeee. I love subcultures and fashion a lot, and gyaru is one of my favorites, and cater just reminds me of that- I dunno why!! He’d be the guy to try some weird internet trend with, and then laugh when it fails, plus he looks kissable in the most respectful way possible.

5- usually silver always sits at fifth place for me. He’s very enjoyable, I think we’d get along well in real life. He reminds me of giyuu but like… better, because I dunno- I like knightly characters. Unless they’re the usual “blond and blue eyes/ color scheme” knight- I get tired of that pretty fast. Which is why silver is so refreshing to me most likely :}

[kg-clark-inthedark]

Has machine translation really gotten good enough to translate fiction/fanfic in a readable way? I just remember how terrible it was in my youth but technology does change... (Asking here so i dont clog up op's notes haha)

(long reply alert i am so so sorry i do not shut up lmfao)

I tend to use the integrated chrome browser webpage translator when browsing ao3 on desktop because it seems work more seamlessly than other browsers. It definitely does best when things are written in Latin script, but I’ve found its translations of Cyrillic and Hangeul to be quite understandable as well. Abjad, Han, and Kanji scripts are where I do tend to run into much more of those “translation idiosyncrasies” I mentioned in my tags though. A lot to do with commonalities between English and the other languages I believe, but I only know partial Spanish as a kind of second language and it has absolutely no issues with that one so I’m no expert.

Lmao like I said though I definitely don’t think it’s cultural erasure or anything for people to skip fics not in their language. Like the fics obviously still exist. But tbh I think maybe I feel strongly about the concept of English speakers filtering them out entirely bc there are non-english-speaking readers who’ve told me they translate my fic to read it. And idk man, I find that to be such an act of care and love towards fandom and written works as a whole (and my heart explodes every time I think about it). Fandom spaces, especially surrounding writing, have gotten so low effort when it comes to consumption lately. Everyone wants things catered specifically to them and I think that’s lame as hell, so yeah that led to me venting excessively in the tags as per usual… and now rambling excessively here 😅

(Also this little corner of the dh fandom I’ve found myself in the past few years is profoundly European lmfao so I would never want to risk missing a work were any favorite writers of mine to choose to write in their home language.)

[p-receh]

Hi! No neg to you at all but i really need to get this out so feel free to ignore :D

I feel like fandoms as a whole has started to become WAY too comfortable in telling their creators what to do. The drama, complaints, and overall neg that i've seen people spewing to monsta is disheartening.

Critics are fine here and there, especially when mentioned in a respectable way. But people seem to forget that nothing is perfect, they see a flaw and just... zero in on it

Monsta can't satisfy everyone. Heck NO creator can satisfy everyone, but complaining about the thing something is lacking and saying negative things about the creators is helping absolutely NO ONE.

If anything it makes the creators ignore you, at worse double down or get disheartened and stop creating as a whole. Other than that it creates a negative sphere that makes some people (who were fine and enjoying this thing they like) to also feel unsatisfied or be negative as well.

ITS RUINING THE FUN FOR EVERYONE

I feel like these people don't realize how HARD it is to create let alone make a show.. its actually something i've realized in media consumption over the years; people have consumed so much media that they believe they "know whats best" or "understand better how to create this and that"

Creating is not easy. It takes time. It takes skill. WRITING isn't easy. ART isn't easy. ANIMATING isn't easy.

You want a specific episode that cater to what you like and how you want the characters to be? Write it. Genuinely write it.

Thats what fanart is for, fanfiction, fananimation.

Want something? Make it yourself. People have been spoon feed with free content that includes 3 seasons worth of a show, 2 seasons of its sequel show, 2 movies, AND comics.

And again. THESE ARE ALL FREE.

People do not REALIZE how privileged they are.

Do you know how many content now that is under a paywall? Do you know how incredible and generous it is to be given free content of an animated show for years?

To be given a show that is so obviously made with passion and love?

And still having the nerve to complain that its not the way how some people want or like it to..

Write it. To those who fully believe they know how things should be created, then do it yourself. Make a script and give it to them. Make a fanfic. Make an AU. Make art. MAKE WHAT EVER IT IS YOUR COMPLAINING ABOUT OR MADE YOU DISSATISFIED

Sorry about the long rant, this is in no way directed to you, been really peeved with how ungrateful people have been (getting that much free content in anything is a privilege some do not realize). Thinking its so easy to make a free show.

Anyway can't wait to see the continuation of your AU :D

Allahuakbar—THAT'S A LONG TED TALK wwwwwwwww X'D

Lmao I was not ready for a minute with how long your ask was, so of course I couldn't ignore this! wkwkwkw

Ehem.

Truuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu 100%!

I am new to this fandom but it genuinely got me a headache. Even with the recent drama "Boboiboy is more likely a fan service franchise now!" or "Why monsta always treat Boboiboy only and abandoning their supporting characters? This is why Ejen Ali is better!" and many other drama that I don't need to know in the past.

Like... Puh-lease. Don't you guys know how much it blessed that they released their show full HD on YouTube? Both TV and movie series? Released their comic on webtoon for free?

Maybe you guys didn't realize how illogical that sound for outside of... I dunno, maybe from sea countries. Like Japan with their infamous strict rules for any franchise when they promote their products.

(and with how ridiculous what had westerns entertainment corporations did to consumers, so pirating on us and Europe almost became a norm?)

Monsta I'd say is genius. They knew they cannot apply the same way with how the Japan did, and thus they find a way to make their show release without losing any money. Even me personally still find that strategy is "somewhat" illegal. But for SEA countries? I can understand why they choose this path. Because that's how The some of franchises from my country did that too to promote their products.

Buuuut does it make the corporate go impecunious?

Now that my friend, it all comes down with the quality and the general public reception themselves.

(I can give you examples buuuut it gonna be longer and might subjective since I don't have any uh... Marketing background knowledge)

Therefor Monsta creatively managed to survive that obstacle. Their shows already big enough across the SEA nations and beyond; their comics and card battle themselves are heavily sold out, and even managed to release on theater in Japan!

Aaaaaaaaand then again, anon. This is internet.

Sometimes criticism could cause endless of drama that never ends. And it's absolutely unhealthy. Uurggh..

Yet in rare occasions, consumer criticism had their own benefits. Like the infamous Gremlin Movie Sonic before Paramount had to change because of the internet. (HUGE internet criticism If you guys don't know)

It really is a gamble to take any discourse if their take was supporting and even disowning some product. Especially on the internet where you could freely critics without hearts content.

I admit I myself have my complaints but tbf, at the of the day I don't mind with what Monsta give to their product. In fact, I respect with how much they take risk to correcting their mistakes from the very first Boboiboy Series up until now.

Nobody's perfect anyway, so I highly appreciate it they way Monsta tried to please anyone.

But that's the beauty of the Fan Art. Whether in form of music, visuals, literary, and any kind of medium to ensure that franchise still has an active community with tons of new ideas to share for their franchises. Big or small.

Fan art for me is a clarification whether the franchise is acceptable to their target market or not. If no one creates it, I consider that franchise is failure and not exist.

"The difference between fanfic and a "real" novel is that fanfic is honest about its inspiration."

-Mary Robinette Kowal

"There's a time and place for everything, and I believe it’s called 'fan fiction'."

-Joss Whedon

Tho...

Why would someone would want to waste their talents for creating fan art that they didn't even like it at first?

I specifically refer to people who made fan art clearly for hate or trigger people who liked it, not for earning money(that's another story to tell)

What a pity to waste time, ya know?

Like, touch some grass dude :/

[velkyr]

DUSK QUESTIONS MOMENT. 1, 10, 40, 52!! 👀

ON IT BOSS!!!! o7 (tysmmmm for letting me ramble mwah. I wrote more than I expected as per usual 💖)

(original ask game post here)

I've read more'd this because oops it got so long sorry orz

Why did you pick the race you did for your Tav?

the short answer is always just going to be I love tieflings, I am weak for tieflings, this is a universal unchangeable fact amen 🙏 I think 3 of the... 6(? I might be forgetting some other oneshot-only characters idk) characters I've played at a table have been tiefs or homebrew variants of them! they're very gender to me, I felt that way before I even really knew jackshit about my own gender. absolutely batshit that I still thought I was cis when I started playing d&d lmfao. also horns tails fangs and claws need I say more. I shan't, I don't have to

but yeah specifically for Dusk, I wanted to base them off of my first d&d character in particular, who was a tiefling homebrew to represent an au ra from ffxiv in our homebrew campaign based around the game. so it was important to me they were also a tiefling draconic sorcerer to match!

a lot has changed about them while I've reworked them, but many of the fundamentals have remained the same. gender, motivations, reasoning and general force of personality have been altered towards things that I find more compelling or more fitting, 6 years down the line - but race and class, the idea of them being nobility who left their home(land) and has a bunch of hangups around it, that's all as it was back then.

10. If your Tav didn’t become an adventurer, what else would they be doing?

this is an interesting one, I've been stewing on it a fair bit recently while I've been thinking about what they'd do post-bg3 shenanigans. the thing with Dusk is I've infused them with So Much raw adhd (to the point of it far surpassing my own, oops. this seems to be how I bestow love on my favourite OCs at this point), they Need enough outlets in their day-to-day life or they'll end up in an understimulated mess pretty quickly.

adventuring is obviously a solid option for that need! but without that on the table, I think it needs to be something that caters strongly to their interests and whims. I can see them working well in a profession involving enchantment and/or working with jewels and precious metals. enchanting things would be a good way to siphon off some of that raw sorcerer magic - if they don't use it often enough, there's a build up of sorts. with it being lightning based, it's a bit like having an unstable motor that runs way too fast, and it makes them incredibly irritable.

as for the crafting part of the equation, well, they're already fascinated by shiny things, they're pretty detail oriented and good with their hands, and it's the kind of skilled manual work that requires Just Enough focus to be stimulating. the only thing they'd probably end up hating about either of these would be dealing with noble clientele lmao, but I have no doubt they'd find a way to exploit that anyway. while they may not be the most book smart in the world, they're people smart by necessity. (something something insight proficiency)

and really, as an alternative or perhaps on the side, I don't think they'd be opposed to sex work if it were an environment they felt comfortable in, with a well-vetted set of clientele that they have full autonomy over.

40. What is the biggest mistake your Tav ever made?

welcome to 'pick a struggle' with Dusk, they have their fair share,,,

there's a couple of things that stick out, but I'll stick with one that's pretty fundamental to them. they deeply regret having lashed out at and pushed away the people that tried to help them when they were younger, still stuck living in elturel.

while they can't entirely be blamed for it - they were conditioned to think and feel a certain way, and those patterns were ingrained across a lifetime, all the hallmarks of the abuse they faced - at the end of the day, the friends they'd made after they started sneaking out at night were only trying to help them see how awful their living situation was.

by the time Dusk fled home, they'd burned all the bridges they'd tentatively built over the years. their best friend at the time was the one who made a sort of last ditch attempt to convince them, and it came at the right place, the right time to push them into leaving. but it was outright said that none of them wanted to see them again, after all of the vitriol.

with the distance of years and the gift of hindsight, they regret it all the more. they haven't really forgiven themselves for it.

52. What is your Tav’s worst fear?

oh you already know this one I'm sure 🤠 but I'll elaborate it into something a bit broader that pokes at the Theming more.

they fear being forced back into a gilded cage - whether that's being dragged back home to their family or pushed into a new one. they fear the loss of the autonomy they've carved out for themselves. they fear a loss of identity, and the concept of having it stripped from them, reducing them back into some (feminine) trophy to be given away for material gain.

at its core, it's a loathing of the idea of heteronormativity, really. that's what I always parallel it to, and it's pretty on the nose in that regard.

granted, it's kind of a paradoxical fear for them. they're so thoroughly weary after spending so long living with their guard up, molding themselves into someone who can take on the world alone, that in secret, there's a part of them that just doesn't want to fight anymore. that part would be tempted to give up - to let themselves be reshackled, so to speak - if the circumstances were dire, so long as there were the promise of them being safe and cared for at the end.

as a secondary but very much related thing, they've also come to fear and resent being alone, and the idea of being left behind by people they care about.

[pickypickypeak]

Is it just me who felt that the “this is how you write strong female characters, Disney/etc” and the “We don’t hate female characters, we just hate badly written female characters” takes are so piss poor? I never like it when people bring down a female character to praise another but even if we (not dudebros) have valid criticisms for how a female character is written, it’s still piss poor from the fact you put down other characters to praise her. We still have good media and female leads. It’s just you wanted media to cater to ONLY you

I just see a lot of bad takes. “Disney how DARE you not do X” but where does it say they had to do X in the first place? Because you specifically liked some ai art on tiktok about it? If we start comparing everything to our favorite movies and characters and tropes, everything will look dull lmao. I think disney is doing good with female characters. People seem to have a problem with how they are perceived, like #girlboss #don’t need a man and stuff which I absolutely understand, but I need them to understand that that’s… mostly just stuff movie companies say to keep people talking. (Just think of the unhinged change announcements they made for the atla remake just weeks before it came out)

Example: they advertised 2023 ariel to be “stronger, more independent” than her animated counterpart, “she doesn’t only want to fall in love now” and stuff, because that’s stuff people have been complaining about for forever. Obviously, people now weren’t happy with that and started hating online. But guess what, the movie came out and ariel was pretty well the same.

That said I DEFINITELY think dudebros/cinemasins did irreparable damage to media literacy because your brain now automatically thinks “I don’t like this particular choice they made for this scene of this movie = movie bad and I need to be insufferable about it”.

[hegrowth]

@vanishinq liked for a sims build [always accepting !]

me, realizing too late that you had a pinterest and a spotify I could have been using to inspire me for this build instead of just riffing. anyway, too late to go back now, have this. I know like. very little about your muse. but I got a vibe based off stuff I've seen you post to the dash, and that's what inspired this. sorry.

my idea was casper having a trophy room. stolen items, forgeries, antiques and treasures. I wanted both a very artful, modern feel but also like. cluttered. like I feel like the con artist has a very specific aesthetic and I kind of catered to that ? but casper also strikes me as the kind of person who has like. adhd and so maybe isn't the most organized, which kinda bellies the typical concept of an art thief having this museum-esque trophy room. like there's structure for arts sake, and then there's structure for purpose, and I feel like while casper may excel with the first he kind suffers with the second.

speaking of adhd. I put some records up on top of the aquarium because I was like. idk casper just strikes me as the kind of person who would be like "I don't have anywhere to put this.... so I'm going to put this in this unconventional spot and totally remember later" but then doesn't remember obviously. aka an experience I had myself recently lmao so how long have they been up there ? who knows ? has he realized they're up there yet ? does he care ? idk.

anyway. tried to put a lot of artful and antique looking stuff in the room, i.e. the statues and jewelry and vases. included some books, as well as a record player because casper seems like the person who would collect obscure vinyl records. I also figured that he may be worldly, at least theoretically (as in, hasn't traveled but knows a lot) so I tried to include some different cultural stuff as well. maybe not all are worth something monetarily, but have some sort of personal value to him.

I enjoyed the idea of casper not being a big drinker but having "acquired" multiple crates of some vintage that just kinda sits there. as well as a whole ass british telephone booth and a greek statue ??

also ngl the colors were based off your blog aesthetic.

lastly just want to say, I fucking love the wall console. I've never done that kind of thing before but kept seeing it in builds on youtube so was like. I'm gonna do the thing ! populating the shelves and figuring out the lighting was tons of fun. plus who doesn't love an accent wall ?

anyway ! hope you like it <3 sorry it's a riff more than anything.

[laurasbailey]

original anon here, i'm real grateful to you and everyone else for taking the time to respond and share your input!

i'm usually better at distancing myself from online spaces, i've just kinda "relapsed" lately and went on a self-destructive deep dive ☠️ like..."i've been checking reddit", kind of self-destructive. what a long break does to a mf, i guess

i do agree with what you've all said & I'm aware that it's basic common sense in fandom spaces and beyond - if i've been enjoying c3, there's no reason to let someone else's opinion bother me. i think one of the issues is…if there's stuff that i've been enjoying less on my own, and then i see negativity around that same stuff, my brain tends to take it as confirmation that it's true lmao and i find myself suspecting that i would enjoy a sandbox-y vibe a lot, but that's not happening with the characters and story that i've been invested in since the beginning. am i making up problems in my head? definetly, and i'm actually a bit ashamed to admit that, but hey

all that being said, i absolutely love those same things you've mentioned (the focus on the ladies, this romance, the high stakes and having ashley full-time) and more, even as i have less context for it being unusual since it's my first campaign! and i obviously agree that it's not anyone's game but theirs. i wouldn't wish for them to cater to anyone's desires but their own and i'm 100% sure that what i loved from the beginning is common in every campaign - the joy and fun we get watching them enjoy themselves

truly, the negative thoughts are more related to getting too bogged down thinking of the story itself, in a way, and wishing i could see these specific characters chill a bit and explore…so basically the ticking clock problem haha i generally worry they're never gonna get to talking or resolving interpersonal issues before the campaign's over and they're not the main party anymore

sorry for the lenght of this and for bringing it to you out of the blue haha i've been overthinking on loop and since literally no one i know watches the show and i don't want to be annoying to them, i'm annoying on the internet. again, thank you so so much!!

i think i get where you’re coming from and i think you’ll enjoy c1 and 2 if that’s the case! there’s definitely a lot more meandering, and c2 doesn’t even start tackling what i would consider “the main plot” until like 50+ eps in lmao. meanwhile c1 has the high stakes of c3 but the main plot starts early and stretches for a long time.

i think since i’ve experienced both of those campaigns already, c3’s shortcomings don’t worry or bother me enough to care too much. whether the plot “sucks” or it’s “too fast” is really not that deep to me bc i just love the show in whatever form they’re willing to give it to me. it’s still funny, emotional, well-acted, etc regardless, and that’s the reason i watch to begin with, which could be different for you! also i’ve made my peace with the fact that we probably won’t get a ton of character focus this campaign, and while that is disappointing, i think being realistic helped me be chill about it all.

for other people, it’s the opposite and they expect every campaign to be like the one they like and they throw a tantrum when it’s not. if people are content to do that, that’s on them! c3 might not be for you, or you could have more of an appreciation for it after watching the other campaigns. it seems like you’re going to keep talking yourself into not liking it, whether it’s true or not.

you could always try watching another campaign and take a break from c3 stuff? it might be helpful to engage in something else if you’re stuck in a spiral of searching for the negativity. and if you do end up hating c3, it’s not a big deal either. it’s the people who don’t shut the fuck up about hating it that are annoying as hell lmao

[unproduciblesmackdown]

speaking of scapegoating lol. evergreen but like "seemingly more open & boundless misogyny from more men?? could this be women's fault" like prommy the message of "we should cater to how men feel & reassure them" is out there as well as "b/c this is the only way to stop the violence of patriarchy from being done to people" like this is also out there already, as well as in the broader form of like, a system where particular parties are "inferior" & vulnerable to "superior" parties? practical matters of how to disrupt & rupture this system entirely, don't know her, surely the priority is convincing the "superior" to cut it out only the people doing the convincing are seen as inferior & threats to their power already & the Not Wanting To be convinced is investment in that systemic power they have, & like what, Maybe some cases Some people decide they can be Some degree nicer about it after eons like, can't imagine aiming for anything else....entire kwame ture quote "if a white man wants to lynch me, that's his problem. if he's got the power to lynch me, that's my problem. racism is not a question of attitude; it's a question of power. racism gets its power from capitalism. thus, if you're anti-racist, whether you know it or not, you must be anti-capitalist. the power for racism, the power for sexism, comes from capitalism, not an attitude." like Having to assuage someone's feelings so they doesn't start enacting & perpetuating violence against others classed as inferiors socially/materially positioned as vulnerable to their violence? obviously already that issue of power vs if a man is sexist that's his problem. not a personal feelings conversation to be like trying to Redeem or Reform or Convert someone in the position to leverage abuse & interested in / already doing so, it's a negotiation or a compromise or a very specific limited strategic effort to mitigate damage, not like the guiding light of like How To Thwart Bigotry being like, sexism? this is women's fault. feminists are too mean

like, men have power in a patriarchy & so a lot of people benefitting from that (like, many men) are invested in maintaining that power, such as: being violently misogynist. being pissed off about those who should be subject to that power having more autonomy, i.e. the reduction of their power. wanting to reinforce & increase that power. not really a mystery what's going on there or why apparent threat to / reduction of patriarchal power gets a backlash of all the more overt hostility? like what "oh damn this man totally thought of women as people until too many women were all 'men are sexist & don't think of women as people' & then he was like okay i hate women, they're not people" like well don't think he was really so Not Misogynist was he lol. "ohh i was owned by the libs online too many times so now i, up till now your best ally, am a fascist >:( you made me do this" like abuse logic lmao the Would Be / Already Victims being responsible for gently carefully strategically convincing the beneficiaries & perpetrators of what victimizes them to perhaps maybe not do that as much? & like, misogyny is the norm b/c this is already a patriarchy. white supremacy & ableism & abuse is all already the norm. toddlers absorb things like they've been absorbing Absolutely Everything & already know oh white is better black is worse without anyone having to spell that out for them, later Everyone's The Same, Don't Bully People Or Anything being as light on context / specifics as it is, like, how's that go for bullying not being so normal it's guaranteed to happen & Fine Actually & totally goes away once people grow out of it. the idea that Kids Are Innocent or certainly must be Neutral enough if nobody spelled out bigotry to them (cue everyone who Did have that happen & the universal reaction isn't actually to embrace & enact it anyway) & that ah look at everyone getting their Normal Socialization if they're just getting to interact willy nilly, like lol well that's true but racism sexism etc is normal, so. people out here just rephrasing ABA & ableist language to frame the treatment of disabled people as objective & inevitable while blaming the Deficiency & Wrongness of disabled ppl for bringing the treatment on themselves & focusing on how disabled people can stop being at fault for their own abuse by better catering to those who are Doing Just Fine, Thanks, so they Must be good at social(tm) things, just as the nepo hire has all the career advice you could want, ooh sorry autistic people uhh you just have the wrong / worse / lack of feelings & wrong / worse / lack of "skills" & wrong / worse / lack of "intelligence" & are just sooo bad at Social Things haha. & now you're being annoying complaining about that treatment >:/ of Course i must treat you even worse. if you even care

like what, i was gonna be antiracist but then someone said white people are racist in this world where whiteness is defined by antiblackness, the creation of these classes to enforce & perpetuate chattel slavery, being white is about not being black, which is inferior, so now it's like grr i hate black people then? don't think you Were or Were Just About To Be that antiracist lol. & like your feelings are a personal individual matter. if you feel unpleasant about the idea of being considered racist then the one inevitable reaction isn't "i will become even more racist then," if you do then yeah you're gonna be more ostracized also i.e. into cultier nicher us/them groups & that's not really a fault of the [them] who didn't pull you back by welcoming you & your shit. you already learned & internalized racism / white supremacy as normative shit b/c effectively Everyone Already Did; if you're white you already benefit from that norm / are afforded a position of power within it. & many people want to hold on to that power or want more of it & many people will respond to some awareness of a threat to that by only getting more invested in it. meanwhile how much actual like antiracist antisexist antiableist antibigotry education does anyone get at home or in school? certainly much less than Guaranteed this; how does like the framing of treating other people as people as only about having the correct Feelings (well-meaning, but also anything short of feeling Deviously Malicious is alright) go for, you know, everyone being so invested in equality in principle & in practice rather than all these violences being completely normative & even the supposedly frivolous Popularity Contest Try Not To Get Bullied that is like, normal(tm) school socializing (and work(tm) after that) being so far from Neutral & totally not abuse culture where the way people are treated hinges on whether they're deemed like personally Appealing & Likeable & Nonannoying enough for the supposed baseline respect for people

like when gender is all rn in the context of defining & being defined by a patriarchy, who knows if there's some redeemed actually Neutral category of Men / Masculinity like can't really imagine i think anything ever that would be prescriptive is good, but if anything it's like, the Being A Man / Masculine that is gonna be an improvement is gonna be that which is already happening with women / femininity. women who are also men & vice versa, women who are masculine, men who are feminine, of course everything queer. what is there that "reaffirms" men in their being Not Women / Not Associated With Women that isn't reaffirming patriarchy. "ah it's equally important to have gay narratives And to tell men it's okay for them to be friends with other men without anyone ever thinking they could possibly be gay :)" like that's just reaffirming homophobia lol. if there's nothing wrong with being gay then what's the problem. if there's nothing wrong with being a woman then what's the problem. just as embracing misogyny plays into / supports / is investment in patriarchy & the power it affords men, rejecting misogyny is rejecting patriarchy is rejecting being a "real" man, is embracing association with women without enough of, if any, boundary between oneself & women as inferior Other. abandoning & Betraying what being A Man is supposed to mean, b/c it's supposed to mean The Superior Class & certainly having the power to enact that, b/c patriarchy isn't just an attitude & sure doesn't want to be, probably nobody with the bigoted attitudes of being superior doesn't want to have the power that affords

& meanwhile people can reject that power they're supposedly granted, betray that class race gender [any other structures of supremacy], & be associated with the Other by betrayal of that theoretical boundary & oh you know Be Invested In & Practicing Living In A World where they & nobody else have the Power they're now supposedly entitled to, as white, man, abled, cishet, &c. or they can do the opposite & be holding on to white supremacy or their status in patriarchy or be billionaires all invested in reinforcing & exacerbating all the systems that make billionaires, What A Surprise, perhaps if people were nicer to them online? they wouldn't have gone "i didn't know you were richist >:( fine, Now i'm gonna be an asshole" & like i don't think The Answer is "how can we Convince billionaires to Really do the philanthropy & maybe stop with the exploitation & stuff" like their feelings are their personal problem & to hell with assuming a premise of "well, there'll be billionaires. how can we be nice & win them over to be less shitty to us" like why are there billionaires. why is there having to maybe, carefully, gently, strategically convince anyone to not embrace their Superior Power over you, b/c that's something they can just go ahead & do if they feel like it & you suffer the consequences even if you don't feel like it. what would interrupt / thwart the [i Can just seize this power i already have & am supposed to be all about it & More] what would interrupt / thwart the [people who just have to suffer the consequences of this] about the power not the attitude.

oh yeah & also free bingo space for anytime the idea of personal appeal to agents of systemic abuse to convince them to be nicer please / scapegoating victims of xyz for it happening to them or their failure to stop it already is framed as Just All That's Actually Realistic, oft with the bonus of being supposedly like groundbreakingly Too Edgy a concept. brave enough to say what everyone else is just too much of a pussy to face: e.g. needing to be nicer to misogynists :( like lmaooo as though catering to misogynists or the general concept of women needing to cater to men at all times / certainly not hurt their feelings or reject them is anything New that nobody's been exposed to & you're the only one brave enough to be like "ugh. the feminists are too mean to men" like i Think that concept has been floated lmaooo. as well as its logical extension that b/c of this men Must conclude women are not people & it Is the fault of bitches ruining their life lol like. it's not cutting edge Facing Facts. again, like. the US had its one foremost like representative of state power figurehead seat occupied by one black man & the response of white supremacist fascist being more open / prominent has sure been relevant ever since but like, what, that white supremacy wasn't there before? it's the fault of [the ostensible idea that a black president meant a "post racial" america lmaooo] like ooh even that obvious This Isn't Actually Game Over Racism was too far :( your fault :( like neither is that concomitantly all these other forms of bigotry shoring up this capitalist enterprise Which Were Already There & indeed already Normal, just more genteel, have become more open & elevated & yeah i'm sure people have More So become emotionally & materially invested in the systemic power they were already afforded but now feel is More Threatened. anyone & everyone being no less of a person than you threatens / denies / Betrays your power that would be supposedly guaranteed as a Superior. men who want to hold on to their superiority a) will get more invested in patriarchy & b) reward other men for doing so, always need that support & perpetuation, part of the whole point of it not really just being individual randos with that attitude problem.

anyway tl;dr not a mystery here & nobody has to turn the chair around to be like Real Talk, it's time for what nobody else is clearsighted enough to Understand & brave enough to argue: scapegoating. women being nice enough to men so men might treat them a bit more like people. trans people accepting they're being too demanding in this insistent "existing." uh oh The Left(tm) is being so antifascist that fascists hate it & are like "i'm about to fascism all over the place" so the lesson is don't say you or anyone ever are against fascism or you bring it upon yourself. & that's that on all of that always, gotta focus on personal attitudes, not the systems of power, in which case the personal attitudes of those in power matter as the only avenue to thwart that power, in which case all that those affected can do is try to make those in power feel as positively toward them as possible, in which case well let's all be as nonthreatening & compliant & nondisruptive as possible to that systemic power b/c otherwise they'll feel negatively toward us & we Must suffer whatever they choose to do with that (note also that indeed this edgy cleareyed bold & realistic strategy of attempting to comply & appeal & reassure will likely be viewed in retrospect as being a bad victim. supporting all protests except the current one)

like whoops that wasn't a tl;dr, can't make a short post. but i think if anyone's asking "damnn have we tried asking women to help men feel better :(" Yes. yeah. we have been doing that. "b/c they're responsible for how men feel & then act towards them, like [patriarchy-backed violence]" yep that has been posited i prommy

[temporarymoods]

perpetual novice

hey blog, i've thought about you every day since i made you, and i couldn't quite settle on what to feed you next, but like, whatever!

at this moment in our arena, please welcome me and my haircut (!!) and the girls on tinder and jane: an abortion service, plus the sophie lewis book on my nightstand I could practically draw "z"s above, (that's my bad.)

blog, I'd like to take the time to say that I've been feeling vulnerable when it comes to queer dating! because obviously, but also because of perceived external judgement from within the community, ow. looked in the mirror my therapist held up for me and saw that I'm much more comfortable with my gender than my sexuality, after being asked to spell it all out. this is, not in terms of definition-- we're solid there-- but praxis. and i think this is because gender is something you can do more fully alone in your bedroom. sexuality is too, but at least people can demand more than your word for it. right? haha

yeah, been falling in love with this unreal image of a gay relationship i have in my head. eye contact and shit, you know. and more 'equal' stuff, including but not limited to a kind of greater understanding and intentional kindness. still really mad about the patriarchy, who would've guessed? bunch of guys were talking with my one man professor, who is great, in class today and i started thinking about barnard, lmao. and i think that's fair--- not that i should be concerning myself with the look of the opposite*, but worth saying, i guess. it's fair to be feeling done! rahhhh (there's obviously so much more going on here re. my anger with men but I will not [yet] divulge to my baby blog) *i.e., worrying about looking like a feminist that's "unfair"

anyway, if i could make a mood board, which i cannot without getting frustrated, for my current passionspace, it would contain the following: lots of soft pinks, purples, and dark grey-blue, the end of "parachute" by caroline polachek {starting at "closing in"} (what a mother figure), splashed puddles of water, this specific capricorn-themed mug with hot tea, 'full surrogacy now', BLÅHAJ, my noise-cancelling headphones, masculine clothing, flowers of the wild variety, tissues, PLL (got such a crush on spencer), the quote "finally there's a way to be both free and safe", 'bottoms' promo art, and other elements to ensure cohesiveness.

so it's almost sweater season, team. i've gotta take my winter stuff out from under my bed-- an event which i'm already planning catering and lighting for. figured out that i'm the type of person that needs to remind themself to light candles, etc. an entailment of the great bath bomb revelation from years past. <- solid me lore

on a similar note of control: craving leadership of late. i want to run shit so bad. god i'd be so good. the dog sits in me, unbarking and chained. looked into theatre production opportunities, ended up feeling that thing i haven't quite found the right way to express yet... degrounded? fucking sucks is what it is. when you go too far up the imagination slide; a kind of altitude sickness. so maybe i won't be doing tech exactly but soon i'll have another full-time job. lol. that'll be cool. hopefully i can make shit happen. feel myself have an effect on the world.

🎶 it's time to be a big girl now 🎶

i wish i could better articulate my current thoughts on "'girl' stuff," especially as its been coming up in the dumb discourse recently... i think i'm too online. well, now I have to go finish typing up my geometry homework in an itsy bitsy coding language I've caught onto-- for extra credit!

the door? the gate? no, just kate 9/18/2023

p.s. god i fucking love caroline polachek's music

[subbyfoxelf]

[book review] forgotten realms: sojourn by r.a. salvatore (novel 1991)

this is probably my least favorite of the dark elf trilogy. like, i still like it well enough! but pretty much only because i got so invested in drizzt’s character in the first two books.

like, i get that pretty much all of the drizzt books after this prequel trilogy take place on the surface, and i’m honestly kinda excited that i don’t know what to expect from those yet? and i know that it’s something i’m going to get used to, but honestly part of what i loved so much about the first two books was drizzt dealing with drow society and the horrors of the underdark, because i’m a loser who wants to be bullied & mistreated lmao.

(yes, i liked the concept of that order of monks who go around intentionally trying to get themselves into scrapes so they could decrease the amount of suffering that existed in the world by taking more of it on themselves, but the execution was pretty meh except for that one thirsty bitch  who got drunk & tried to throw himself at drizzt like a power bottom.)

admittedly the book starts pretty strong in terms of things i’m horny for by just immediately throwing some gnolls at drizzt, but not much happens there sadly! tie that twink up, ffs! it’s like these books aren’t always catering to me specifically or something, gosh.

kidding aside, one thing i was pretty genuinely disappointed by was this book’s treatment of race in the world of d&d when comparing it to previous books? i mean, i know i can’t look at d&d novels for like expert opinions on racism & multiculturalism, but drizzt’s uncritical acceptance of mooshie’s identifying men, elves, dwarves, etc as “goodly races” & orcs, goblins, gnolls, etc as “evil races” was a very sigh out loud moment for me.

like, it’s presented as like “on average” most members of the “evil” races is more evil, and “on average” the members of the “goodly” races are more good, which is like… i know that’s a super common 90s woke lite for white people approach, so it’s not surprising that that’s what we get in these books. and for what it’s worth, r.a. salvatore himself has said that he regrets the framing in these books, so that’s nice to hear. i just, as someone reading this for the first time in 2023, would not feel right not saying something.

obviously i’m not saying to reject the books out of hand because of this. obviously that’s not what i’m doing, i actually enjoy these books a heck of a lot in spite of these problems? and i don’t want to be like the people who reject drizzt, i want to be like the people who see him for who he is. and this very much reads like exactly what r.a. salvatore said it was, a flawed but good-intentioned story by someone who knows better now, but who was always a good person underneath.

b-rank

[werewolfdays]

More emoji asks requested in DMs 💕

• 🍩 DONUT - favorite sweet treat?

Nadya’s ultimate breakfast weakness is french toast. Some days she might go for pancakes, but Jayde’s special homemade french toast is heaven on earth for Nadya. She was big on the frozen french toast sticks since she was a kid and that also became her College Snack, but now nothing compares to the real deal.

Jayde is into the sour candies. It started as a competitive thing with Skye and Toby, but she grew to really love it. The shock to the senses is really nice too when she needs a little kick that isn’t a shot of alcohol. I’d say sour skittles or warheads are her preferred cause you can just pop ‘em in your mouth real quick and be on your way. 

• 🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

Jayde is literally the product of my thirteen year old repressed homosexual ass wanting to make a sexy, badass female character that catered to my specific needs lmao. But look at how far she’s come! Her concept literally started as “character than could win any fight, but should she? well, she’s gonna try” and that’s still one of my favorite traits I gave her. 

and Nadya was my gay awakening character! I developed her as being inexperienced, but comfortable with her sexuality because I wanted to explore my identity through her and it’s helped me tremendously. Her chemistry with Jayde actually surprised me cause I hadn’t really intended for them to get together in the very beginning, but now I have this couple that I enjoy writing/daydreaming about more than anything.

• ✏️ PENCIL - is there a particular quote / lyric you associate with them?

Nadya: “A soft woman is simply a wolf caught in meditation.” 

Jayde: “I’ve spent half of my life not knowing the difference between killing myself and fighting back.”

• 🖍 CRAYON - what advice would you give them?

I don’t think I’d have any useful advice for Nadya besides grabbing her by the face, saying “You are doing amazing and everyone is so proud of you.”, and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

for Jayde I’d probably tell her to that having little self preservation actually isn’t a virtue in battle no matter how many cool scars she’s gotten. Not that she’d listen to anything I have to say, the stubborn ass.

• 💔 BROKEN HEART - what could their partner do that would absolutely break their heart?

Die. 

ok but also one of the biggest heartbreaks happens right after Jayde killed Ruben (yeah that arc isn’t finished yet, I just haven’t gotten around to writing it). That was obviously extremely traumatic for Nadya to witness, so it doesn’t end up being as easy to get over as her physical wounds. She ends up telling Jayde they need to go on a break, which is one of the worst things Jayde could hear. Nadya tries to make it clear that she doesn’t want it to be permanent, but Jayde still takes it as a breakup. In order to give Nadya the space she needs, Jayde leaves the Lodge, and that breaks Nadya’s heart right to pieces, making the whole situation even more painful for both of them. 

something happens that knocks some sense into Nadya though and she tells Jayde to come back to her, so the angst doesn’t last forever ;)

[capri-ramblings]

Hi! Can I get some hcs about Leech twins, Ruggie and Jack's S/o who have good physical health? They can outrun their lovers or catch up with the boys while running, can do parkour and stuff...

imagining their s/o just going "I'm fast,I'm real fast" 😂 was all that ran into my head while writing this lmao, anyways, I'm slow on asks atm cause some of them are long and specific so I must align my braincells properly, but in the meantime I'll work on the shorter ones! Hope you like these Headcanons! (◕ᴗ◕✿)

Jade Leech

- He's incredibly pleased

- And dare I say extremely aroused by it?

- The fact that his s/o can outrun even the Savanaclaw students means they're capable and not someone he has to look after 24/7 (although he wouldn't mind if he had to)

- With their athletic skill, it also benefits Octavinelle, so Jade sees this as an important asset

- He tends to ask for their help in catching any wayward deal breakers who thought running was a good option and of course his S/O gladly lends a hand

- Jade makes sure they take good care of themselves though, going as far as monitoring their diet and sleeping habits, and if they show signs of being slightly sluggish, he doesn't hesitate to act, which means he sets limitations for them.

- And if they're stubborn about it?

- Well, that won't be a problem. He'll just have Azul trick them into a contract, being one of his slaves is the last thing they want to end up as after all.

- "Don't think you'll be able to run from me just because you're faster,___"

- He'll laugh whenever they try to fight him into submission and often time teases them for being so easily cornered

- However, depending on his moods, Jade will some times let them have their way, pushing their bodies limits, because a little chase from time to time is good sport, isn't it?

Floyd Leech

- He's thrilled and frankly amused.

- An S/O who can outrun him and has no problem jumping over difficult obstacles with ease? Sign him up.

- He just adores how fast they are and it never fails to excite him

- "Nee, Koebi-chan, I'll give you a headstart,okay?"

- Daily games of cat and mouse isn't an odd sight at all from you both since Floyd sees this as a chance to satisfy his slightly sadistic nature and get into good shape

- He also gets a kick of seeing the other Dorm students lose to them in most physical activities

- Although unlike his brother,Floyd doesn't know limitations.

- They're tired? He'll give them a twenty minute headstart then. That's more than enough to rest and run from him, right?

- Eventually,his S/O might have to tell him directly that they're human and need enough rest which results in him getting annoyed

- Because of this, his s/o and him tend to have small episodes of fighting where Jade has to break them up and tend to his brother's partner before they end up passing out from exhaustion

- Floyd doesn't like it when Jade has to care for his s/o but surprisingly enough,when Jade gets involved, he doesn't seem to intervene.

- Afterwards, due to frustration and a hint of jealousy, the next time his s/o reaches their limits again, he'll make sure Jade isn't around to help them when he corners them.

- "Koebi-chan,since you're so tired, why not let me give you a quick squeeze? It's not like you can fight back anyways,so stay still and be a good shrimp for me,okay?"

Ruggie Buchi

- He finds it impressive but also troublesome

- "With naturally coded genes like that and their stubborn attitude,trouble is all they'll be stirring up..."

- He'll teach them a few tricks about running around small places or how to get rid of people in large spaces, since he grew up in a neighborhood where being nimble and agile were key points to survive, he makes sure his s/o has the upper hand too.

- "I'm fine with you being thick headed and all, but at least your body won't get in the way of that talent"

- He has a slight competitive attitude to it as well but it's nothing so serious, he just wished he was born as naturally fit as that since in his case he had to build his body into the same state out of pure survival instinct.

- When he overhears people compliment them for their physique, Ruggie feels a sense of joy and pride, though don't expect him to say so aloud of course.

- "If compliments is all I give you, I'll be unleashing hell on everyone.... especially on myself"

- He gets them to help him with Leona obviously, things like tracking down the second Prince and cleaning or getting the other Dorm students into one place. It helps a lot when he doesn't have to run around all by himself

- Whenever a semester ends and he goes back home and they wanna tag along, Ruggie loves it when he sees them playing around with the other kids and never fails to tease them about always losing to kids when it comes to running through the narrow alleys.

- "Heh,I guess even with your skills you still can't catch up to a bunch of street kids, huh? You keep glaring at me like that and you're gonna end up losing to me too,dummy!"

Jack Howl

- He admires it and doesn't shy away from pointing it out in public

- Especially when they're always working hard to maintain their stamina and endurance.

- With a s/o like this, Jack has them join him in his training regimen and sees it as quality bonding time because physical interaction is better than any other kind isn't it?

- When he says that he doesn't really get why they laugh at him, not really realising how most people would interpret it.

- Surprisingly enough, he isn't as agile as his s/o and whenever he sees them twisting their body and doing all sorts of risky Parkour stunts, he just has this fluttering sensation in his stomach

- Ace teases him about it and says that it's like seeing a small kid admiring some kind of epic hero, and Jack just goes, "Well, they're pretty amazing, aren't they?"

- Cue the blushing wolf boy when Ace tells Cater and Trey about it and the Heartslyabul boys taking advantage to make fun of the usually stiff Jack Howl

- Jack's reaction to this kind of s/o is similar to how he feels towards Leona, admiration minus the frustration of course

- They motivate him to always give it his best and to take care of his health along with theirs as well and whenever he feels like something is impossible his s/o becomes his focus point

- A bit cliché but with a s/o like this the relationship would probably start off with them being close friends with Jack before both confessing their feelings and becoming a couple

[waka-chan-out]

hello! i was just wondering how you started out your page, like any tips? I love your work so much 😤✋💕

well, first of all thank you very much! i’m surprised and flattered that you would ask me!

in all honesty, i don’t know how i got here. i feel like i blacked out at 300 followers and now i’m at 1.2k. but i can try to offer some tips! i know i looked at some tip posts when i was first starting and didn’t follow most of them, so i’ll let you know what’s been useful to me. obviously remember this is what worked for me and it may not apply to everybody. i acquired this audience completely by accident, so those that are actively working to build a page might give you different tips.

((keep in mind this all applies to fanfic blogs because that’s all i have experience in.))

things to do:

first of all, and this is pretty obvious: tag everything you think applies. it seems excessive in the moment but it’s the only reason anyone ever saw my stuff lmao. like for any specific character in my posts will have a whole slew of tags (and this is for my nsfw posts) like:

ushijima smut ushijima x reader ushiwaka smut ushiwaka x reader haikyuu smut haikyuu x reader hq smut hq x reader

going along with that, oh my god, come up with a tagging system. even if you don’t think you need to tag something, you probably do. so many headcanons of mine are lost to time simply because i never tagged them and now i have over 600 posts. i’m never finding that shit again. tag it.

make a masterlist. it helps you and your followers stay sane and organized. i made mine because someone requested it, so that was cool. but if you make one early it’ll make your life easier.

find one uniform way to structure your posts. i know everyone feels differently about this, but it really does make life so much easier. i’ve been doing my “post timeskip, obviously, content warnings, etc” thing since my very first post, and it just makes me feel more organized and consistent. everyone’s posts will look different, so just look at what your favorite blogs do and mush all that together. you’ll find what you like eventually.

be clear what kind of audience you want. this can change and evolve, but try to start off with some idea of what you want. don’t want minors on your page? write minors dni EVERYWHERE and keep up with blocking pages. a rules list helps with this, but of course people like to just not check those, so be firm when your rules are bent or broken.

post a variety of content. it’s so much easier to rack up notes on a headcanon or thirst post then it is anything else, especially the type of fics i write where it has a lot of banter and build up before anything else.

it pays off to have a gimmick! i acquired the most followers from my 300 follower event and that’s been so nice.

this isn’t necessarily a “blog” tip, but oh my god, learn how to structure writing. i cannot tell you how off putting it is to try to read fics when paragraph breaks are used awkwardly or there are two people speaking in one paragraph. you don’t have to be a perfect writer to write fanfiction, but please at least learn the rules of writing. if you need help, ask. google things. i’m an english major that wants to write and edit for a living and i still look shit up all the time.

write what you like. you’ll find an audience. you don’t have to cater to anyone else’s tastes or preferences. one of my first few posts was a request, and that was only after i had posted one or two things. people will find you, and it will be people that also like what you like. don’t make yourself uncomfortable just to cater to someone else’s preferences.

be patient. you won’t get followers overnight. some blogs grow quickly and others don’t. that’s just how it is. also don’t be too demanding with your followers. don’t get pouty when people don’t interact, don’t be demanding about requests. just realize that you’re a person and so are they. they aren’t obligated to read just like you aren’t obligated to write. relax and realize it’s just a blog. you’ll be fine.

edit: I ALMOST FORGOT !! be inclusive. holy shit. so many people will read your writing and though you shouldn’t write anything you’re uncomfortable with, it’s so easy to be inclusive. there are tips all over the place, but all you need to do is focus on the personality of the reader rather than their appearance. easy. i’m lucky enough to have a pretty diverse audience and it makes me so happy i could cry. i love knowing that people feel safe and included here.

what i haven’t found necessary:

making a tag list. i only made one recently, and even then i only have nine people on it. it’s not that necessary, unless you have a series that people want to see.

having a theme. seriously, don’t stress. even now i barely have a theme. it’s never been hard on me.

plugging your blog?? i don’t know if people actually do this but i saw a suggestion about it and it confused me to no end. i’ve never found that necessary, though it is nice having mutuals that reblog your stuff. still not totally necessary though. my only mutual was @tanzaniiite for the longest time and that’s literally just because i saw her follow me, saw that she was a writer, stalked her posts, and decided i wanted to follow her back. she was my 34th follower (yes i counted) and she’s still here. very much appreciated.

doing collabs. i didn’t even consider doing one until recently. they’re really not necessary.

self reblogs. another one that i think might help but isn’t necessary. i didn’t start doing these until i had acquired a larger audience. figure out what works for you, but i’ve unfollowed more than one blog just because of the sheer amount of self reblogs they do. i understand that they’re proud of their work and want it out there, but i just think there’s no way reblogging a new post every hour is necessary. obviously if you want to reblog your own content you can. but having a masterlist had made that unnecessary for me. one of my first posts had like 100 notes after it was first posted, and now it’s up to 600 when it hasn’t been on people’s pages in months. people will find your work if they want to find it.

obviously all of this is just my opinion and you should take it with a grain of salt. i started this blog randomly to post one tsukishima fic i had written for someone that i was told was good enough to post. i haven’t changed my writing structure or process since then, and i still have no god damn clue how tumblr works. it’s a lot less intimidating than it seems. i know it’s a different experience for everyone, but it’s an overwhelmingly loving community that is kind to new writers. i was lucky enough to grow fast and receive a lot of kindness, but that’s also because i put a crazy amount of effort into being kind back and posting consistently (and no one needs to be going at the pace i set towards the beginning of this blog. holy shit i was posting like every other day for a while.)

if you do decide to commit to trying to build an audience, let me know and i’d love to follow you! and if you’ll be writing (which i hope so because most of these tips are for fanfic blogs lmao) i’m always here to help with structure, beta reading, editing, etc. that’s literally what i want to do as a career so it’s never a burden on me. either way, good luck! it’s frustrating sometimes but if you have solid ideas and basic writing abilities you’ll be fine!

again, thank you so much and i’m so flattered you asked me 💞 i hope you have a lovely day darling.

[laundryandtaxes]

Hi Julia, I'm gonna push back on your post re: nyc. I grew up in another city in New York State and moved to the city at 17 for work, never going to college. I've lived in three different boroughs, and never held a lease, just for context. I think the divide of "native New Yorker" vs "transplant" is in many ways created as a way of sewing division and doesn't reflect that in every strongly-rooted ethnic group, immigrant or otherwise, there is a certain amount of coming and going. For me, every generation of my fam has come here to live for a time since immigrating, despite moving to the south or Midwest. That's super common for my ethnicity and common in many other groups here.

Many if not most of my friends who grew up here have nuanced views on this, and when it gets down to it see it beyond a binary of "native vs nonnative". I think that viewing it as a binary isn't particularly useful. There are definitely alienated internal migrants and people who move to join elite communties, but most of my friends who grew up here have lived elsewhere for a time, and if there have family or ethnic community here aren't weird about it.

This model of discourse doesnt usually talk about the strongly rooted elite/borgeiouse here, and many people who migrate to NYC internally do it for social and economic reasons. Particularly pre-pandemic, the gay and ballroom scenes were massive draws, and jobs in certain industries are concentrated here. Wealthy residents are catered to, and certain type of internal migrant/wealthy expat/wealthy immigrant is definitely catered to by legislation that favors gentrification and has made the city a playground for the rich. The city has intentionally eroded public housing, but it remains that a higher percentage of residents live in public housing, rent controlled apartments well-below market value or recieve housing subsidies here than nearly any other city in the country. People will get on public housing and section 8 waiting lists and leave the city or even country. To be here and to stay here is very tenuous for many multigenerational residents. Regardless, migration and immigrantion have been part of NYC since it began having a distinct culture towards the 1820's. Culture and social creation has never been the exclusive domain of people born here, and NYC is what it is because of born-residents, immigrants, internal migrants and being a center of cultural and social community that draws people from around the world. If it was just one of these things it wouldn't be NYC.

NYC is a place that feels disconnected from the (rest of) the USA and I think that the politicization of desire to be here will have implications exacerbated by the pandemic.

Re: nyc again:

Many wealthy people leave nyc because there isn't a great bang for your buck in the same way as other parts of the country. It's honestly a shitty and expensive place for the rich lmao.

And many poor/working class people come here bc of enviable renters protections, higher wages, and special education for disabled kids. In particular people come from within the eastern seaboard, New England and south for all of these things.

Thank you for another perspective! I am not from New York myself, so my perception of the city comes largely from the accounts of friends who are from NYC, and media, but just like with anywhere you can’t get a complete picture of what a place is like based on those two things.

I will say that a lot of what you’ve said here strongly contradicts my idea of what the city is like, some of which is based on personal experience. I considered a move to NYC at some point with an ex girlfriend (which, holy shit thank goodness that didn’t work out) and I have to say that in particular the idea of NYC as a place with “enviable renters protections [and] higher wages” specifically doesn’t square with what I saw when I researched those two things. Wages in NYC for work that doesn’t require degrees didn’t look good at all, and as far as renter’s protections go, my current understanding is that rent control is awesome but that landlords regularly engage in tenant harassment to pressure rent controlled tenants out of units and the city does almost nothing about it. The second is based more on recent articles I read and news pieces I watched about NYC, but the last time I looked at wages in NYC I was extremely unimpressed given the cost of housing alone, and when I was running the numbers for myself (this was maybe 2015ish) I came away not understanding how anyone could possibly afford to live in the city unless they 1) made a ton of money, in order to afford the outstanding rents, or 2) got into a rent-controlled apartment, which it seemed it was not easy to do unless you knew someone, like I did at the time, who was basically going to tell their landlord to hand you the lease. Obviously I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that I am very surprised to hear that anyone thinks of NYC as a place with genuinely solid rent protections and good wages, because the last time I looked it really did not seem like either of those was the case. If that is the case, that’s awesome and I am very glad to hear it. The story I was told by friends was largely one of intense, almost unbearable pressure from gentrification and jobs not paying nearly enough for the cost of living and being actively displaced by people who came to the city with an absurd amount of money to spend. So if that isn’t actually the case, that’s very very good news because I kind of had what I THINK of as contemporary NYC built up in my head as this horror story of the worst things that could happen to a city.

I also am not intimately familiar with the culture of NYC, but I have to say that I don’t think I agree with the idea that ‘ "native New Yorker" vs "transplant" is in many ways created as a way of sewing division’ because I don’t think that concept is unique at all to NYC- I certainly have a lot of a specific kind of pride in having been born and raised in Chicago, I and most other Chicagoans consider it genuinely offensive and rude when people who grew up in suburbs nearby tell people they are from Chicago, I and most other Chicagoans see ourselves, I would say, as a particular breed of people who share a particular kind of roots in this place, and I don’t think that pride is harmful or bad in any way. I would never tell someone that moving here is an evil thing to do- I consider roughly 10 years of residency to grant you the right to refer to yourself as a Chicagoan and not just a Chicago resident lol- or say that transplants to Chicago are categorically bad people. Half of that is just stupid cultural stuff, really, and shouldn’t be taken very seriously. But I don’t think the concept itself is bad. I have a fundamentally different relationship to Chicago than someone who grew up anywhere else and moved here, no matter how long they moved here, and I don’t think it is harmful at all to be open about and proud of that. I would never make the claim that transplants haven’t made massive contributions to the city, and I would assume most native New Yorkers wouldn’t make that claim about transplants to NYC.

Thank you for sharing your personal understanding of the situation there, and I am very surprised to hear that the proportion of residents in NYC who live in public or rent controlled housing is quite high, and glad to hear it. As needlessly aggressive as Chicagoans (myself included) can be when “New York” is even uttered aloud, I obviously have a lot of real respect for the city and I am glad to hear that it hasn’t just been mostly ruined in the way I had imagined it. This is a good lesson in taking any media you see about a place whose name will get clicks/engagement just by virtue of the aura of the place (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, etc) with several grains of salt. If I was only familiar with Chicago through media I’d think it was some super dangerous place when it definitely isn’t categorically.