#as you can see in my profile photo and header

[retracexcviii]

Sunday Moon

Hello there once more dear fellows and Luna lovers, a wild Sunday moon appeared.

Don't edit this drawing and don't post it anywhere.

I told you that when I have some more posts to come back I would, but this isn't the return of Luna.

The artist is @/wa.bbitx on Instagram.

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Do you remember in November when I said I was excited with a commission in particular because I was lucky to take a slot of this artist? Well, I finally received it this week XD

And since this was something I was supposed to post while doing the weekly Luna post (and since I really love it), I bring back the Sunday Moon just for it.

[eleanorfenyxwrites]

WIP Wednesday

So okay I don't know if this is like...a cool thing to do or not, but there's a fic I claimed from the 2022 kink meme list (I couldn't resist, in large part because Tales From Jianghu Shopping Center was listed by the prompter as one of their inspirations for the prompt) that I'm not sure when I'll actually finish writing but I have started it and I'd like to at least acknowledge that I'm doing it even if the prompter won't see this. But the prompt is something along the lines of anything highly specific and niche (like my strip mall AU lol), and I actually happen to have a growing little stockpile of very very niche knowledge about my chosen professional field, which is ceramics! I specialize in wheel-throwing (though I'm also a...passable hand at plaster mold-making/slip casting and handbuilding, I just don't enjoy them nearly as much) so I've started a little something from Lan Wangji's point of view that's a love letter to throwing ♥

--//--

As is tradition, Lan Wangji works in porcelain.

The Lan family have been respected masters of porcelain for centuries, generations stretching back, back, back nearly to the beginning of the imperial kiln production in Jingdezhen. They once produced the enormous pots that adorned emperors’ palaces – there are (very distant) cousins of his in Jingdezhen who still do so for wealthy patrons.

It’s easy to forget such a background when he enters his personal studio on the other side of the world and flicks on the lights to begin the day’s routines. It’s precisely what he wants – a quiet life like this, simple and unassuming, is much more suited to his desire than the weight of tradition that could otherwise press him and his work down into something he would never want to be.

Not that he deviates very far from tradition anyway, but it’s the principle of the thing. Lan Wangji takes quiet pleasure in simplicity, in function that is beautiful in its hard-won mastery. There are very few non-traditional ways to accomplish this that he’s interested in, but he likes having the option should he want to take it. 

Lan Wangji had learned to throw at his uncle’s knee as soon as it was possible to do so. He has continued to do so since childhood with a single-mindedness that once surprised even his uncle. All he’d ever wanted to do was to sit at the wheel for hours and hours on end, only pausing to warm the water in his bowl with a fresh influx from the kettle and to transfer full wareboards (once he was strong enough) to the drying racks in the corner of his uncle’s studio.

Lan Wangji has always struggled to find the words to convey how integral the motion of the wheel and the smooth slip of clay through his finger and against his palms is to feeling like he fits into his skin properly, but his family seems to understand just the same.

Yesterday, as the sun was westering, Lan Wangji had weighed up a few bags of fresh porcelain. The lumps are waiting for him now, tumbled together under their protective sheets of plastic, ready to be molded and shaped by hands and hypnotic motion. There’s enough of a chill in the studio this time of year that there isn’t any condensation on the plastic when he lifts it, so he folds it away neatly and settles into the easy rhythm of wedging his clay to prepare it for the wheel.

There is, in the middle of the studio, a sturdy butcher’s block workbench. He built it himself right there in the studio, the first piece of furniture that had filled the space even before he’d purchased his Shimpo wheel. It’s very likely too heavy to lift – it’s certainly too big to ever get through the door – but he has no intention of ever leaving this studio to begin another, so it suits his purposes just fine.

Wedging the clay on this sturdy, hip-height table is nearly as meditative a process as all the rest of it. A bit more of a workout than sitting at the wheel, but it’s a good way to warm up in the morning, his muscles well accustomed to the push-turn-push-turn-push-turn of spiral wedging that it’s gone beyond second nature, it simply is. His mind wanders pleasantly as he watches the misshapen lumps of pure porcelain become smooth and rounded beneath his palms. Perhaps he’ll spend the day on bowls. They’re quick and simple, suited to his mood today, and he’ll have plenty of them done by lunch when he already knows his typical solitary routine will be interrupted (and can therefore plan for it so far in advance). 

The sun is up properly by the time Lan Wangji finishes his wedging, and once he’s transferred the first batch of prepared clay to the wheel he pauses to stand in the open doorway and look out over the garden that sits between his studio and his home. The grass and the flowers are glittering fresh and dewy in the sunlight as he rolls his shoulders, stretches out his back in preparation to be seated for long hours.

When he returns, the wheel welcomes him, familiar and comforting. He fills an old bird seed bucket with warm water from the tap and arranges the small mirror at the back of the wheel’s tray to the perfect angle to watch his own hands before he settles in and takes a deep breath, sleeves rolled up and apron cinched comfortably tight around his waist as an unnecessary reminder to keep his back as straight as he can while he works.

The first ball of porcelain hits the perfect bullseye of the wheelhead and Lan Wangji leans in to begin centering, the porcelain buttery soft where it runs under his hands. Porcelain, he knows, is notorious for being difficult to work with, particularly for beginners. This far into his career, it’s simply polite and responsive to each confident press of his palms. He cones it first, hands curled around it to coax it in and up; presses it down again with the flat of his hand, every movement focused on the centerpoint of the wheel gliding silently through magnet-powered rotations. 

Up. 

Down again. 

Up.

Down.

Push.

Press.

Lan Wangji loves every part of the throwing process for what it is, but if he were to have to choose only one, this would be his favorite: the moment he can feel the clay running smoothly, perfectly centered the whole way through and ready to become whatever he will tell it to be, the possibilities – for this moment – endless.

[grilledcheeseandguavajelly]

Having the weird urge to completely retheme my blog. Now we play our favorite game: will the intrusive thoughts win??

[loveyouprongs]

are you awake?

prompt: "are you awake yet?" "no." "oh, okay sorry." remus lupin x reader

upcoming content: fluff! pls lmk if u think i missed anything. 1.8k words

authors note: despite any photos used in the header, it’s important that people of all races can identify with my work so please let me know if any of the descriptive language i use is exclusionary, i’m trying my best!

masterlist

you had no idea what time it was, your phone abandoned on the night stand atop remus' book. he had come over in a huff, one hand holding his cellphone, keys, and book all at once, the other holding a warm cup of hot chocolate he had picked up along the way.

"rem, is that you?" you called, fumbling with wrapping a towel around your just washed hair while keeping the other towel tucked under your arms. you weren't expecting to see him today at all, he had, in his own words, a fucking shitload of reading to catch up on and planned on spending the entire weekend holed up in his room.

you understood, having just finished your own finals, so you planned on spending the evening watching movies and finally removing the old nail polish that decorated your toes and repainting them. an easy, uneventful night.

“yeah, it’s me dove,” remus said, bending down to untie his laces, “sorry for just barging in on you like thi- did you just take a shower?”

he snapped his head up and drank you in, your body still damp from the hot water and the ends of the towel wrapped around your chest fell apart against your thigh revealing more of your smooth skin. your face was free of makeup or the tendrils of hair that constantly fell between your eyes that remus always brushed away.

“y’don’t have to do that every time, remus,” you said on your fourth date when his fingertips danced against your forehead once more that evening.

“you have to be able to see, darling, i don’t mind,” he replied as if this was something he was doing as a favor to you and not because he was so desperate to touch you in any way.

you looked beautiful, he thought.

“thank you, baby,” you let out, giggling at the sigh of your boyfriend still bent half over himself, looking up at you as if you would disappear if he wasn’t.

“did i say that out loud?”

“you did.”

“well, it’s true,” he had since walked over to you, setting his phone, keys, book and cup on the table and grasped at your shoulders, stamping a kiss to your forehead. in this moment, he felt all his tension wash away and reveled in the feeling of your warm skin under his and the vanilla scent of your shampoo wafting around him. he didn’t even remember why he was in such an annoyed mood earlier until you asked him how come he came over.

“ugh, i have to move out!” he exclaimed. this is something remus said maybe four times a week, seven if it was really bad. when james left his dishes piled up in the sink for too long, “i have to move out!” remus would say while ranting to you over breakfast the next day. when they went on a trip for a few days and sirius forgot to pack any underwear so he took it upon himself to borrow remus’, you woke up to a text from your boyfriend that simply read “i have to move out.” sent at 2:18 a.m. then “good morning” at 2:19 a.m. and “you better not be awake right now, dovey” at 2:20 a.m.

“what happened this time?”

“was trying to study ‘til those idiots had the bright idea of rolling bottles down the stairs, i mean who even thinks of that?”

you had to bite your lip to keep in your laughter. you had seen that trend all down your social media so you knew exactly where they got the idea from. but your sweet remus who had no profiles whatsoever, -unless you count the facebook page he made when james told him he had to have one at least-

“what do you mean it doesn’t count? you can share photos and talk to people.”

“it’s facebook! only mums use it. i’m making you a BeReal.”

“you’re making me be real?”

“oh, nevermind.”

had no idea and believed this was just another stupid activity his roommates shared brain cell came up with.

“i don’t know, remmy, people are weird,”

“right? anyway, i sat through listening to ‘clunk, clunk, clunk, smash! again, again, again!’ for about fifteen minutes before i had to get out of there so i thought to come here.”

a warmth started growing within your chest and spreading throughout your entire body. he thought to come here, to your place. your lanky, fluffy haired, nerdy boyfriend who you loved so so much thought to come to you. the smile that had spread across your face was so wide you knew remus knew exactly how you were feeling.

“don’t go all moony eyed on me now, sweetness,” he began, “i’m here because i still have a lot of work to do.”

“of course”

“with no distractions, at least for the next few hours,” he was looking down at you with a familiar look in his eye and you couldn’t even bother to feign cluelessness. the image of remus bent over a book, concentrated look on his face and glasses slowly slipping down his nose was irresistible to you and when you two studied together, it caused a lot of assignments to go untouched.

“alright, i’ll leave you be. but i expect some form of compensation for my good behavior.”

“hence the hot chocolate, for you dove,” he handed you the tall paper cup he had brought in with him and you smiled as it was still warm enough to drink.

“oh wow, my boyfriend and a hot chocolate? it’s like my birthday!” you laughed as remus rolled his eyes and started setting himself up at your kitchen table.

“you can’t say that whenever i get you something, you need to have higher expectations for your birthday silly girl, or i really will just get you a drink and that’ll be it.” he said and the last thing he heard was you laughing down the hallway.

hours had passed and your hair was dry, toe nails now a light peachy color, and one and a half movies had been watched. you mainly kept to your room, only coming out to get a drink and set some biscuits out for remus who hadn’t even looked up. you were sure a bomb could off in the building across the street and he wouldn’t notice. he was so concentrated that all you wanted to do was press your fingers to his temples and relieve his pretty face of the wrinkles, surely his eyes were sore as well, but you knew better than to bother him.

it wasn’t until it was dark out that remus had finally slumped against your bedroom door and trudged like a zombie to your bed, face planting right into your lap. his calves were hanging over the edge so you grabbed his face and shuffled yourselves closer to the headboard. remus was laughing, the feel of his lips tickling your stomach, and with that information he only began to blow raspberries on your belly button.

“remus stop i’m serious!” you let out and lifted his head up, your hands pushing his cheeks up causing his lips to reach up into a smile. he looked so soft, and happy, but obviously tired.

“‘m finished with all m’reading, dove,” his speech was slurred, surely from exhaustion.

“i’m very proud of you baby, you’re so hard working.”

he wrapped the comforter around both of you, and flipped onto his side, pressing his back to your front. he must have been really out of it because he never let you be the big spoon.

“but don’t you like being held?”

“i like holding you. besides it just makes more sense that way, i’m much taller.”

“there’s no sense to cuddling!”

“there’s sense to everything!”

“i am hard working! and they don’t care, all they care about is smashing things and making lots of noise. i have to move out.” he grumbled.

you ran your fingers through his hair, letting him mumble on, knowing he’ll soon fall asleep.

“well, you’re always welcome here, my love.”

he sighed and pressed a kiss to your wrist, “i know,” he spoke softly, the two words so full of content he could hardly stand it. he thought every day how lucky he was to have you in his life. a love full of soft kisses and hot chocolates and intertwining under moonlight. “i love you so much.”

“i love you too, now get some sleep.”

the night had come and gone, remus sleeping away in your arms and the sun was shining through your curtains. you slowly lifted your arm off him and felt around for your phone, careful not to disturb him. the screen flashed 10:15 a.m., meaning remus had been sleeping for close to twelve hours now.

it made sense due to how tired he was yesterday, but you had done nothing but relax, so your body was ready to get up and start the day. you answered a few messages telling marlene you’d had to get back to her about if you and remus could make it to brunch in a few hours and sending a rolling eyes emoji to james who sent you a number of videos of bottles rolling down the stairs.

remus shifted, unconsciously flexing his back, and you froze. it wasn’t until he began cracking his knuckles individually that you knew he was awake, you still asked though.

“are you awake yet.”

“no.”

“oh, okay, sorry.”

“mmm.”

two minutes passed, “are you awake now.”

“are my eyes open?”

“no, but you are speaking to me, and this isn’t what you usually say when you sleep talk.”

“i don’t sleep talk!” he let out, craning his neck to look at you perplexedly.

“got you to open your eyes, didn’t i?” you said with a wry smile. his look of confusion morphed into annoyance that you both knew was fake and he fully turned so you were both facing each other now.

“i haven’t slept that good in a long time,” he said lowly, his voice still rough from sleep.

“finals are over now, rem, you can sleep for as long as you want.”

he smiled and tangled your fingers together, opening his mouth to say something back when his stomach rumbled loudly.

“that wasn’t very sexy, was it?”

you giggled and shook your head, finally throwing the covers off yourself.

“nope, but that’s okay, marlene wants us to meet her for brunch in thirty minutes, so we better get a move on, sleepy head.”

remus groaned and reached for his designated dresser from the bed and pulled out whatever shirt and bottoms were on the top of the piles. the two of you got ready in comfortable silence and while you were sitting on the floor, pulling up the zipper on your boots, remus realized that he really could see himself moving in here. always doing his course work at your kitchen table, picking up a hot drink for you at the coffee shop two streets away, not because it was on his way to you, but because it was on his way home.

“ready, baby?” you asked, now standing at full height, holding your hand out to him.

i’m ready to wake up here every morning. “ready,” he said, wrapping his hand around yours.

[bluebelly-sun-serpentine]

Hello! Some info about this blog:

COMMON TAGS:

#bluebellyphotos (original photo posts)

#bluebellytalks (text posts and reblog comments)

#flora (plant and landscape photos)

#fauna (animal photos)

#arthropods (bugs and friends)*

#invertebrates (includes slugs and bugs and other critters)*

#scenes from my father's garden (a little series)

#us politics and #usa politics for your blocklist

*For spiders I also give content and trigger warnings in the tags. You can block spider posts by blocking #cw spiders or #tw spiders. I try to be responsive to reasonable content warning requests so send me an ask if there's anything else you want me to add to my tags.

FAQ:

What camera and lenses do you use?

I use a Sony A7Riv (a mirrorless digital camera) and most often I am using a 35mm prime lens (the FE 1.4/35 GM) or the less fancy but still serviceable 85mm prime (FE 1.8/85). I bought them all used off KEH, which I really recommend for anyone in North America trying to spend less money on gear. The majority of the photos posted here were made using that camera body and one of those two lenses, although I do occasionally use converters and lenses from old analog SLRs. I don't post my film work to this blog, but if you want to know about analog cameras and film photography, shoot me an ask.

Where was this photo taken?

After deliberating for a long time, I made a decision to not share geolocative information with my photos unless I was making a larger text post about the area and its history. I remember the world before geotagging and instagram, and I have really mixed feelings about – on some level – reducing the landscapes and lifeways I cherish to their aesthetics. While I do trust most of you to treat the places you visit with care, I've also seen a lot of trampled superblooms and summit queues for that one perfect shot. So if I'm going to tell you where something is, I also want to include information about why that place is so special. Unfortunately, most of the time I am too tired to write something long enough to do the place justice.

How do you edit your photos? Do you use presets, and if so, which ones?

For years this has been my workflow: I import everything into Adobe Lightroom Classic, which I like for its organizational capacity more than anything else. I built my own presets, each for specific lighting conditions, weather conditions, and landscape types, which I apply as photos come in. Then I do a second pass and make adjustments on each photo. I may share preset packages at some point – I just have to get around to it. I delete a lot of work, because the Sony a7riv files are enormous. I export everything for tumblr at or below 2000 pixels on the long edge, so the file sizes you guys see are comparatively small (want a larger file for some reason? send me an ask). I do work with photoshop as well, but generally not for the photos I post to this blog. I have been considering moving everything over to Darktable, which is open source.

NEW FOLLOWERS:

I get a lot of bot followers. If your blog has a profile pic, a header image, and some text in your info section that was clearly written by a human I’m much less likely to accidentally block you. I don't need you to list identity information or post a picture of yourself (I am glad you protect your privacy). Even just changing your blog’s colors can help signal you are human to other tumblr users, but if you get blocked it's almost certainly because you looked like a bot and I was going through the motions of clearing them out. If I notice your blog posting AI content I will block you even if you appear to be human and friendly. My only real aim with bluebelly-sun-serpentine is to encourage us all to pay attention to the world around us and to celebrate what that attention can do to connect us to all kinds of life, and I feel like ai is just kind antithetical to that, so I do my best to keep it off my dash.

[clangenrising]

i want to make a clangen blog similar to yours (documenting a clan), any tips?

Ooh, this is a really good question. I think my main tip is

TAKE

NOTES!

I have a MASSIVE Google Doc where I keep track of the things that stand out to me month by month. Here's an example of what that looks like from the doc for the Clan that I made as a test run for RisingClan:

You can see I use Headers to make it easy to travel between months and I have each point as a check box so i can mark it off once I post it on the blog. I also leave a note every time a cat changes rank of what their new Traits/Skills are since those get lost when they move to the next rank.

I also keep track of the cat's description in the Alliances tab so i can easily replicate it and once a cat becomes an adult I take a photo of their profile so i have accurate color refs since my doc is already like 4 years into the future and when a cat dies it changes their sprite colors. This has been a bit of an issue when a kit or apprentice dies but I luckily haven't had to deal with that too much.

And then I would say, my other Big Tip is to let yourself get creative with it. The ClanGen events are just a suggestion and, knowing what i do about my Clan, I've already started taking liberties a little bit to make the events feel more cohesive and satisfying. If you don't want to document sprains because they're rarely important, then don't. If you get a cat who has a specific backstory and you want to change it to something totally different, do that! The world is your oyster, do whatever you want and have fun with it. If it isn't fun, do something else.

This was so long but I hope it answered your question well enough ^w^ Good luck with your blog!

[seth-whumps]

UPDATED INTRO POST

Hello! You can call me Seth. Whatever 'nouns you fancy. I've been here for almost a year now, and wanted to update some things for 2024!

Where to find me ->

Main blog - @sethlost. You'll find lots of random fandom things, commentary on my music shenanigans, and reblogs of anything I laugh at. Come say hi!

Ao3 - @/seth_lost. Whump fics, fluff fics and anything I've got brainrot for. I switch fandoms faster than a race car and its lanes, so, chances are you may find something you like!

Also, I run the Whumperless Whump Event ( @whumperless-whump-event ) in July! Thought the prompts have just been posted, I'm already starting on next year's list. It's been a blast, and it hasn't even begun!

Preferences ->

The Likes (personal favorites):

Situational, accidental and non-whumper whump, sick fics, comfort, coughing up blood, nosebleeds, medical comfort, medical hurt, noble, knight, scientist, doctor, medic, and leader whumpees, sibling whumpees, whipping, tazing, and manipulative whumpers.

The Maybes (uncommon, but not squicks):

Severe torture, dubious consent, non-explicit emeto, BBU or pet whump, heavy gore, body horror

The Nopes (you won't see it here):

Explicit rape/non-con, child whump, explicit emeto, suicide, intentional self harm. If you don't enjoy these, you needn't worry about them here.

DISCLAIMER: I AM EMETOPHOBIC. Severely so. If by chance your header or profile picture contains someone vomiting or has vomit, PLEASE do not follow me. It is a severe trigger of mine.

Disclaimers ->

I support whump-as-kink. However, this is not run as a kink blog.

Feel free to tag me in posts, and send in asks!

I will reblog gifsets, fics, prompts, resources, and references. You will see lots of blood here.

I focus on male!whump.

I have several fandoms. This isn't run as a fandom-specific blog, but there will be fandom-related things here.

I am anti-censorship. I am of the opinion that all fiction deserves to exist. If you can't be normal about this, I encourage you to block me. Which brings me to--

This is not a discourse blog. This is not a politics blog. Do not ask me about discourse. I made this for fun, and I will continue running it for fun.

To emphasize: my personal political or discourse opinions will have no effect on the content you see. If you want a page free of news, you won't see any here.

Important Links ->

Persona 5: Yusuke Kitagawa; status effect whump. 3 fics

Fandom Masterlist here

Strings Universe (whumpverse featuring Android whump and super spies)

That's it for now, I think! Thanks for visiting! Stay awhile, if you fancy. And drink some water while you're at it!

terfs, homophobes, racists, the like, those who are pro censorship, and those who only want to talk about discourse are not welcome here. minors are welcome here. hi. i see you. welcome 👋

post dividers link here by @/saradika-graphics

profile photo is Simon Tam from Firefly in episode 7: Jaynestown (with color edits to make it fit my blog). here's the scene as gifs and here's the full screencap:

[abybweisse]

Hello! Not a kuro related ask but can i ask how can u tell if someone is a bot or not on tumblr? Also can they do any harm to your account?

⚠️ I originally expected to give a short answer, but there's actually a lot I can say about this, having become a regular target of bots. My blocked list has quite the collection! So it's kind of a long post.

How to spot bots and why they are bad

Some bots are easy to spot while others are not. And they are getting harder to spot, as whoever programs the bot generators is learning how to make them less noticeable. Or an AI that's been made is learning. 😳

Blog name patterns

You might have noticed how default blog urls here have four random words stuck together, and early bots used a similar pattern. But it has evolved. I recall seeing names that were two or three random words and a two digit number, typically from 20 to 50, presumably meant to be seen as a person's age. Like these:

Then a different pattern was used, like two or three words then a hyphen then a number. Then another, like a first name mixed in with random words, etc. Now, it's harder to see a pattern, so some bot names now look more (or less) random... more like real blogs. If you see a new follower with a random name, it doesn't mean much, but if you see more and more followers with names that seem to fit a pattern (and it's not simply the tumblr default username pattern), then chances are, they are bots created with the same or a similar program. Here's an example of getting new followers where the names seem too random to be real but you don't really notice until you get a bunch in a row, and the randomness is itself a pattern:

Profile pics that real tumblrs wouldn't choose

Often they used to have closeups of female faces. Now they still tend to have pictures of women, but not so zoomed in, and some even feature two women. Like here:

Notice that three of the above examples follow a naming pattern of what could be actual people names and a number. The fourth is like that, too, but with a hyphen tossed in.

And bots sometimes have default profile pics that may or may not be changed later, so watch out for default pfp's that later get replaced with pics of random women. Usually young and somewhat attractive. Most of the bots are geared towards attracting hetero men, hence the female pfp's of generally attractive women. The hope is we see one of these pics and think that's actually what the blogger looks like.

Truth is, Tumblrs rarely choose pfp's like that. This isn't the kind of social media platform where we typically show our faces (unless it's a personal fashion or cosplay blog, and then we are probably wearing makeup and costumes). We choose pics of plants and animals, fictional characters, historical figures, celebrities, artwork, etc. It's unusual for us to market ourselves based on personal appearance. So, when you see a blog with a pfp that looks like it's from Instagram or LinkedIn... or from a dating profile... it's probably fake. They are just random pics found online and essentially stolen from whoever originally uploaded them.

Default header images or more random women

Usually, bots have blank or default blog header images (see the examples above). I used to see a lot of bot blogs where the pic used for the header is the same as the pfp; those usually have descriptions where it's just a name and a suggestive emoji or a name and a plug for dirty pictures. Like:

More recently, they've started using images that show women who match or at least look like the women in their pfp's, but they aren't the same photos. Just like those pfp's, the header images are likely stolen from profiles elsewhere or random pics online. The ones that have header images that "work" with the pfp's also have a tendency to include links in their blog descriptions.

Sus blog descriptions or none at all

Most bot blogs lack blog descriptions entirely or just have a name or something about photos, like those examples above. But lately I've been seeing ones where there's a short description. In those cases, it's usually a link to who knows where, and it's best not to even find out. The text, whether there's a link or not, is usually an age (assume that's fake), something about the person's identity or preferences (often of a sexual nature), sometimes a reference to ranking on OnlyFans (it wants you to think any link there might take you to that sort of content), and a collection of oddly chosen emojis mixed into it.

Zero posts or sus posts and reblogs

A lot of legit blogs are created for the sole purpose of following content they want... and maybe asking questions, usually as anons. Those "don't follow me, I'm just lurking" type blogs rarely post or even reblog anything. Most bots also take this approach.

But some reblog sexually suggestive posts and some reblog more explicit content -- even links advertised as naughty games -- but the most realistic looking ones reblog a mix of sexual and innocuous, even innocent-looking content. As you scroll down through images of puppies, mysteriously inviting landscapes, and teacups next to open books... you eventually find images and even sometimes gifs of very mature content. Often with suggestive emojis and links that should be avoided at all costs. Some even just make one or two posts with links and leave the blogs untouched for years. Like this one:

This blog only has one post, and it's from 2019. Claims about some free training program that'll earn you large incomes. Notice the tags on it are kind of generic, and some don't fit, like #home #decor #gardening. But it's a link to... something.

They might try to chat, but what they say is sus

It's very rare, in my experience, but I will occasionally get a dm from a random blog that just doesn't sit right.

Sure, sometimes a new follower will contact me to let me know they found my blog and enjoy it. Even longtime, mostly silent readers/followers will occasionally decide to reach out and privately tell me they were a particular anon in an ask... or simply that they finally found the nerve to say hi. That's all fine and dandy.

But when a new follower (who doesn't seem to share interests with you or has interests that don't match your blog topic) or a random content blog that doesn't even follow you just dms with "hi" or "how are you?", I get very suspicious it's just a bot. Their blog might look default or not but lacks content. It might be full of content that simply has nothing to do with your content. And they send a random starter message, completely open to your response. You can test them by asking if they are a bot. If they ignore that and respond with something like "I'm lonely" or "what are you doing tonight?", they are definitely a bot. If they say "no I'm not a bot" (or something like that) then ask leading questions like the "what are you doing" one, they might not be a bot, but they are likely just phishing/scamming.

One of the best tests is to ask them what they think about your own blog posts. If they ignore that and act like they might be following a script? Bot. If they say something very generic, like "I like it a lot" but immediately change the subject back to personal questions or something phishy (might also be a bit scripted)? Scammer. Either way, best to report the chat as spam, which will also remove the conversation from your view.

It's often not one thing but a combination

If you get followed by a blog that looks completely default, the best thing to do is maybe dm them to ask if it's a real person/legit blog. If they don't respond within a decent timeframe, they might just be too shy, but chances are they are a bot. If they respond with something that feels too general or scripted, probably either a bot or a scammer -- some are sleepers that wait for you to contact them. But a blog just being default doesn't mean it's bad; it could be a shy lurker or it could be someone new to tumblr who hasn't chosen pics, themes, etc. yet.

However, if you see a follower pop up (either new or their blog has changed since they started following), and the blog has some combo of the traits mentioned above, chances are super high it's a bot.

What bots do

I'm not entirely certain about all the different things they can do, and some of the things are likely more harmful than others.

I've gleaned a few ideas from posts I've read about the bots, though, including a good one I saw that had been reblogged by Neil Gaiman. I reblogged it from him, though I might have moved it to @aby-off-topic.

My understanding is that the same creator (person or program) makes a whole bunch of them. And there are probably many different individual creators, each making large groupings of them. Some of the bot blogs have content, usually of a sexual nature but occasionally not, like cryptocurrency or some random-sounding business venture. Those will have links to other sites, though some might actually link to other, related blogs in the same grouping. The content blogs also tend to be full of various tags, typically reusing key tags copied from the posts they reblog. If they have "original" posts, those will probably have the same key tags. The grouped content blogs boost each other and make their suspicious content become more noticeable to users who follow certain tags. It mostly clutters those tags with useless content, annoying those tag followers. But the point of them is to lure in the occasional individual who doesn't know any better; once they click a link, they could fall victim to stuff like:

Automatic exposure to malware

Mature content that requires payment (and might steal personal and financial information at the same time)

Phishing attacks of various kinds

Cryptocurrency and/or NFT scams

Companies that sell fake products (like cheap knockoffs, items that just don't work as promised, and items that are never shipped and might not even exist in stock/inventory)

People who try to recruit for MLM (multi level marketing), pyramid schemes, and similar money pits. These days it could still include wasteful timeshare programs, but now there are AirBnB scams and all sorts of things. Something that requires a time and money commitment and promises profit or some other benefit, but it just drains your energy and funds. Someone profits, but it's not you.

The bots that have no content except links in their descriptions are just hoping someone clicks. Then the unwitting person might fall prey to the same things listed above.

Bots that just follow but have zero content? Well, that's possible but not always true. The ones that truly have zero content might want you to interact with them in messages. Other bots don't have any posts or reblogs, but they might allow you to see the posts they've ❤️'d and/or the blogs they follow. You have to check out their Likes and Follow tabs to get this information, so it makes the blogs seem kind of legit and innocent. You are snooping around their blog, after all, right? But some of the posts they "like" and some of the blogs they follow will send unsuspecting individuals down a rabbit hole that might quickly lead to content blogs with those same suspicious links and too-good-to-be-true schemes.

Harming your blog

Ultimately, their main goals are to part people from their money and steal information. But they can cause problems for your blog, too. Like:

Decreased exposure 1: By making your posts disappear in a sea of junk posts with the same tags, it might be harder for new readers to find your content that matches their interests.

Decreased exposure 2: Similarly, people who follow certain tags and typically read your content that way might stop following those tags. They might choose to follow you directly, but they might not. They might unfollow a tag and then realize they don't recall your blog name. Some will be interested enough to figure it out and others won't.

Damaging your reputation: It's not common now, and changes to the website/app might have actually helped to stop this, but some blogs used to reblog others' posts with one or more images, remove the original text, then add their own links and tags. This happened to several of my old posts, too, and the alterations made it look like I'd posted manga panels or whatever with a link to a porn site or something. I had to report the reblogs and also assure readers that my original posts didn't contain these potentially harmful links. To get this remedied, I think I had to use a special reporting method that allowed me to give the Tumblr reps specific information about what the blogs were doing to my post content. I also explained that those blogs were doing the same thing to posts from other bloggers. Were they truly bots? Idk, but possibly.

Simply put, they can decrease your exposure to readers, make the tagging feature less useful for everyone, and even cause a PR nightmare for your blog. All in the name of trying to scam the occasional person who falls into their traps.

When you decide a blog must be a bot, please report them as SPAM (more likely to get it removed) and block it.

[alma-art]

Art Comissions OPEN, info under the cut:

Payment:

ONLY PAYPAL

Prices:

I accept other currency, paypal converts them anyway

Sketch- 5$, Fine drawing- 10$, Full rendered art- 20$

You can chose the medium: digital, pencil sketch, watercolor (+3$) or ink (+3$), but you will get the digital version only, because posting it would be expensive and troublesome.

tips are highly appreciated :) after i sent the finished piece

Important, read before contacting me:

I uphold the right to deny request, before payment.

Full upfront payment

PROCEDURE: After I accept your request, I will start the comission after you sent the payment and i verified it. As soon as I have a rough sketch, I will send it back to you, to get feedback on changes or to continue the proccess. When I finished I will send you the full resulotion image file. I will not make changes after the finalisation proccess, but I will update you before that.

Send me reference photoes/ descripsion/silly sketches! The more the better. It greatly improves my proccess, and will be more satisfying for you.

NO NSFW

My strongsuits: art nouveau style, pets, header images, profile pics, decorating designs. If it needs, please send the ratio details so the image fit for you. But will accept other topics, but be considerate, that those are not in my confortzone, but will improve on my skillset.

You can post the finished piece, but give me credit, and make a link to my blog. Do not sell it. If you agree, i will post it under my blog as comission and with watermark.

After accepting the request i will expect the payment in 3 days MAX, after that i will move on to other requests.

Time:

I work quickly, when i accept your request i will say a rough estimation how much time it will take me to finish it. I will communicate with you, so to see and be part of the proccess.

The drawing itself may not be a long time, but the email excanges, or eather of our time schedules may differ, so both of us has to be patient to some degree.

Contact:

If you contact me, it means you read the information above.

alma.art.comissions@gmail.com or here at tumblr

Examples:

Sketch with colours and shading:

Fine drawing:

Fine drawings: (the dragon one, is a phone backround for phone, if you request similiar thing send the ratio details)

[spy-flair-extraordinaire]

Hi, the post you reblogged from @/blsee is a scam. They don't have any original posts and have a profile photo and header that have been used by various scam blogs.

You can take a look at my sideblog's post that I'm linking, where I document the donation scammers on here, for more details about the warning signs of the scam this user is running. https://www.tumblr.com/idocumentscammers/757399251696369664/blsee-zalka-yusuf?source=share

Please delete your reblog, and report their post for phishing. They have made lots of money off of people already, and it is imperative that they stop stealing donation money from people who actually need it. My blog has a bunch of vetted fundraisers posted, for real Palestinians and their families, if you would like to promote any of those.

My DMs are always open for questions about spotting donation scams on here, as long as you're respectful.

Ah, I see!

Thanks for letting me know! 👍

[sonicenvy]

So I was poking around through my followers list and I noticed that there are a few of you who have no title, no profile picture, no custom site and no bio who do have enough likes to make me think you might be a real person and not a bot. If you are indeed a real person, please read this post.

If I click on you and your blog looks like this:

you look like a bot, yes even if you have a substantial amount of likes.

It is very easy to make yourself look human, and because I'm feeling helpful and chatty today, I'm going to show you how to do that, with screenshots. I even went on this site in safari where I don't have dashboardunfucker set up to take these screenshots, so you know I'm feeling good today.

Step 1:

In your sidebar go to "account" highlighted in blue below:

Step 2:

Select your blog in the drop down. (There are a bunch of blogs on mine because I have multiple junk side blogs.) For the purpose of this exercise I made a brand new blank one called imtotallyabot56789.

Step 3:

Go to "blog settings" in the right hand sidebar. This will take you to a new page.

Step 4:

On that new page, select "edit appearance".

Step 5:

Get to editing! I've highlighted for you the 4 most important things you need to change to not be a bot.

Those things are:

your icon

your header

your title & bio

you banner/bio colors

Some notes:

Your banner can be a .gif, a .png or a .jpg. It is best at a 16:9 ratio. I can't remember how big mine was, but a little bit bigger is better so that it displays decently on desktop and on mobile.

Your icon/profile picture should be a square. I think it displays at 128x128, but I don't know for sure. Use a bigger image than that though. Mine is apparently 886x886 at 72 ppi. Don't pick a photo of yourself unless there's something interesting about it (ie: you're in cosplay or something) because a regularass photo of a person looks like a bot as well. If you don't know what to pick, you can head over to picrew and use an icon generator there to create an icon. There are a lot of fun options. If you want to design your own and don't have photoshop or something like that, check out photopea which is an in browser photoshop clone. Have fun with this -- pick a character you like or a pretty image. Like whatever you want just don't stick with the default one. Use either a jpg or a png.

Your title doesn't have to be that deep. Or descriptive. A lot of people use lines from books, music, poetry, tv or movies for theirs. Mine is related to Elizabeth Warren ("Nevertheless She Persisted"). I've previously used "Death Cannot Stop True Love" and "This could be a little more sonic"

Your bio also doesn't have to be long or, like describe anything super detailed about you. The beauty of tumblr dot hell is that it is one of the more anonymous social media sites out on the internet. You could literally just put something like "Fandom Lurker". Just have something.

The banner/bio colors just change the color of the border around your header image/icon "background" and the accent color.

Step 6:

Some additional basic (optional) things to do:

Enable "Custom Theme". This gives you an actual website rather than the dumb little tumblr dot com/blog/yourblognamehere thing that you get by default. The advantages to having an actual yourblognamehere dot tumblr dot com website are numerous. I made a whole post about that with instructions on how to do that. (note that the screenshots in that post were made before the tumblr layout change that was tumblr staff copying twitter's homework). A big benefit to having your own site is that it is easier to find tagged posts on a site because the default search that tumblr has on the /blog/yourblognamehere thing is hot flaming garbage and pulls posts that don't have that tag whilst also missing ones that do. with a yourblognamehere dot tumblr dot com site you can simply go to yourblognamehere(dot)tumblr(dot)com/tagged/mycooltag and see all the tagged posts. Dooo this. you know you want to doooo this.

2. Open your ask box and turn off tumblr affiliate links. Asks can be fun. They can also be terrible. You can always turn them off later if you decide that people are being mean to you. Personally I have not had that problem in the 12 years I've been here. Maybe it's just the relative obscurity of this blog? who knows. glad for that though.

3. Add some featured tags.

This is a newer setting but I think it's fun. If you make posts (or reblog lots of posts) you can add a few tags that you use very often to this as little shortcuts for people visiting your blog.

Whew! That's all for today folks! Thanks for coming to my tumblr how to for newbies talk. I'll probably post another tumblr for newbies chat at some point.

with love and light,

💚 your local internet crazy lady slash tumblr oldtimer

Be kind to yourself and someone else today!

[katmaibearfan]

Blog FAQ

Have a question about something related to this blog and can't find an answer somewhere else? Check here before you send me an ask!

This is a constant work-in-progress, and is subject to change and grow as the scope of this blog changes and grows as well.

Who are the bears in your pfp/header image?

Questions About Me:

Whats your main blog?

@caseyscraftycorner -- i mostly reblog stuff but also post about fiber arts, board games, ttrpgs (note: not d&d 5e), and various musings.

Right now, the bear in my profile picture is 806jr and the bear in my header image is 151 Walker. The photos are screenshots from the Explore.org cams and were taken by me in fall 2023.

How do you know so much about the bears?

See the media links in my new pinned post. It's all just those and the powers of autism and adhd.

When did you start watching the bear cams?

I started watching them (or highlights re-posted to youtube) occasionally back in 2019, after 435 Holly won Fat Bear Week, but it wasn't until this past year that i really got into them.

How do you find so much time to watch the live cams and post about them?

I'm unable to work due to a combination of physical, developmental, and mental illness disabilities, and I need to fill my time somehow. Also, it's good background noise to have on when I'm crocheting/knitting/making pixel art.

How many bears can you identify?

It depends on some specific circumstances, but i'd say i can generally identify about a dozen of the bears at Brook's River. This might sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that nearly 80 non-cub bears have been seen on the cams so far this season.

Can you identify this bear for me?

Nope! Your best bet is to check the comments on the live cams for an ID. That's where I get about 90% of the IDs in my posts from.

You blocked me/my friend, what gives?

if I have blocked someone it's probably because I saw something transphobic on their blog. I'm a nonbinary man, so transphobes will be blocked on sight. I also block blogs that are blank, to reduce bots. The only other situation in which I block people is when they post about hunting bears specifically, but this is really uncommon for me to run in to and as such is not likely to be the answer.

Questions About Blog Language & Topics

Why do you list most bears' ages as X.5 years?

Brown Bears are born in mid-winter, and we see them between late June and late October, so it's more accurate. it's also the terminology used by Katmai, particularly for cubs.

Why do only some bears have names, and are those official or unofficial names?

All bears that frequent Brooks Falls have numbers, but only some have names. The older bears with names (Holly, Otis, Chunk, Grazer) were largely named by rangers at Katmai. However, the NPS has moved away from naming monitored animals, due to the issue of subconscious pet-ification or humanization of wild animals by humans. You can read more about their position here. Young bears with names, like 4.5 year olds 428 Studious and 429 Social, are named by the bear cam viewers and not staff at Katmai, so their names are unofficial.

Which bears are related to who/are there any family trees/is 856 503's father/etc

Bear pregnancy is complicated. Two bears from the same litter can be from two different fathers, and both sows and boars mate with multiple partners during mating season. Therefore, any ideas about any boar being any specific bear's father is purely speculation unless we have DNA evidence.

In addition, unless we see a cub with their mother in early summer and then they separate shortly afterwards, saying that any specific subadult was any specific cub is also generally speculation (unless there is DNA evidence) due to the fact that by the time we see them, it has been 6 months, and young bears do a lot of growing and changing in that time. The guesswork we do here is more reliable than guessing fathers, but it is still fundamentally guesswork. There are DNA collection efforts every few years at Katmai, to monitor the genetic diversity of the bears in the area, but not enough bears have had their DNA collected at this point to accurately map most families at this time.

[everywebkin]

faq

tldr: eric, 18, he/him, i use paint pens to draw, reuploads ok with credit

how can i use your art?: tumblr profile pictures and headers are okay without credit. on a different website, please link back to here. edits are okay (like im ok with editing out a bi flag to replace it with a trans flag or country flag. reposting (downloading my art and posting it to another website) is okay with credit linking back to this blog (if it's on instagram or toyhouse, then please tag it with @esotericprince )

what do i use to draw: i use posca and artistro paint pens. i take a photo of my work (no fancy scanner yet </3) and digitally touch it up in medibang paint. (to erase pencil marks and smudges mostly. i'll also colour correct a little) i made a tutorial on my process as apart of a school project, so i'll link it here when i eventually post it :) )

whats my motivation... why did i start this blog: this blog is my thesis project for 3 different classes now. it started as a way to get extra credit in my digital media course, and now my teacher is letting it count as extra credit in my art courses. I almost only draw webkinz during class. my other main motivation is autism <3

what other blogs/sites do i like: i'm a big fan of @kinzvestigation 's work :) go check them out. @mspaintdex and webkinz bot inspired me to start. webkinz guide has been a great help in researching.

how do i decide what webkinz to draw: when not going off requests, i'm going in chronological order. i'll be skipping out on virtual only pets, lil kinz (if they have a normal version), and signatures for now. feel free to send in your request multiple times if you think it got lost in tumblr's shitty code.

whats the accuracy on the release dates: take every release date with a grain of salt! both the official kinzapedia and unofficial fandom website have unreliable and unsourced information) if anyone has a better source on release dates feel free to dm or send an ask

who am i...: i'm eric :) i'm 18, have been playing webkinz and collecting plushes as long as i can remember. i'm canadian (am in driving distance of webkinz hq.....) and in grade 13. i'm going to university for cognitive science. you can see my nonwebkinz art here. i also infrequently post cosplay and art to my instagram. outside of art, i'm a big fan of pirating games on my 3ds, watching wayneradiotv and jerma streams, and thrifting for webkinz.

what webkinz do i have !: far too many to list! i have about 25 plushies right now. i got back into collecting this year (they took my childhood webkinz in The Divorce) my only surviving childhood webkinz is my profile picture :) a whimsy dragon named sparky.

[mybodywillrot]

the diary of a future dead girl

!! I like horror and rb horrifying images sometimes, if u don't fw that this blog isn't for you !!

☆ tess, she/her, 17

☆ queer woman

☆ a main blog

☆ I post my own pics!! check my photos tag

☆ profile is mine. header not mine but it is a pic of me and the soulmate I'll never get to have walking into the earth when the world ends (real not fake).

☆ tag system + other

filtering: (block these tags to not see the content) tw blood, tw gore, tw flashing, tw dead animal

but also warning ⚠️ I am really bad at remembering to tag these things. so if they are rlly triggering for u I wouldn't recommend my blog.

photography/image tags:

my photos

not mine > check content source to see where it's from.

other tags:

music > talking abt music

I occasionally post/rb fandom content. all that is tagged w the correspondence thing, so it gets annoying block that tag

diary > random personal posts abt my life, can be ranting.

actually me > my face or images that include my body

ll > stands love life lmao. ranting posts relevant to that

comfort > stuff I find comforting that I can go back to later

nostalgia > things that make me feel that. (the oldest used tag on this blog lol)

inspo

save for later

interests: 

music!! favs are mitski, hole, ethel cain, mac demarco, flower face, and much much more. my spotify is tagged below :]

tv shows: arcane, yellowjackets, the walking dead, the last of us, stranger things (I have a dead blog for this @11-6-1983 it will be active whenever the next season comes out, probably)(ALSO. I don't fw that zionist shit actor)

love zombie media.

I love the horror genre: film and video games.

I also love to read!!

I'm always happy to talk abt any of these things!!

MORE BLINKERS!!!::

[foundatthemuseum]

Welcome to Found @ The Museum!

This blog is optimized for viewing on it's own page versus Tumblr's default layout. For the best experience scrolling through, I highly recommend it.

Welcome to the blog documenting the interesting and occasionally unusual things I've found at museums (or in their online archives). Alongside this are other thoughts about history that I thought worth sharing.

My ask box is open for any questions and submissions. I am sadly limited at the moment to submitting only what cool stuff I find online and in the UK, so would love to see what gems are hidden around the world, whether it's local to you or something discovered on your travels.

For more information about this blog and it's content, please see below the break.

All people's histories are to be represented here to the best of my ability. That includes the histories of people of various races and cultures as well as sexual orientation and identity.

Who runs this blog?

I am Muse (not my real name), a 21+ person from the UK who loves museums, art galleries and other places of cultural importance. My pronouns are he/they/she. This is ran as a side blog and is a personal project to be updated as and when I find things to post.

Currently I volunteer at a local museum alongside my day job. I plan on studying history with the aim to become a curator and spend my time helping put together collections for humanity to look at. (And any extraterrestrial friends too, if they're interested).

My background is in illustration and I started with art history, so you may notice a lot of paintings and sculpture on this blog alongside historical objects.

Content and warnings:

I intend this blog to be reasonably light-hearted but history is complicated and oftentimes uncomfortable and tragic. As such, historical weaponry such as swords and guns may be depicted on this blog along with outdated terms and bad language in the case of written works. Artistic nudity will also be present. In all these cases, these will be tagged to help those who wish to avoid these things and curate their space online. Nothing posted here will be any more explicit than what you may find in a museum, as that is exactly where I found it.

I found an inaccuracy on a post:

While I aim for accuracy mistakes can happen and interpretations can be proven inaccurate by new evidence. If you believe a post to be incorrect, please send an ask and I will review it and update. Where possible I will mention my source, which is often the museum housing the object.

What exactly is a "Thing" for this blog?

A thing is anything of note. Some things are tiny, like a sculpture in the eye of a needle and others are entire buildings. Some are organic like fossils and others were created by people. While this blog mainly documents things people can go to see at a museum it doesn't discriminate against non-3d images and digital media.

What's the header image/profile picture/Theme?

Currently, my profile picture is one of the many carvings in the Hintze Hall at The Natural History Museum, London

My header image is a photo of Dr Watson's Study, at The Sherlock Holmes Museum, London

My current theme is Rosemary by seychethemes

[asirensrage]

I'm really curious, do you keep notes on your WIP's? Like do you have a bulletin board with a timeline and character profiles? Sticky notes on your desk? There has to be loads you need to remember and I know there's lots of little things that make your work so good

Oh my god...if I had bulletin boards, it'd be crazy. I'd look like this:

Most of my notes are in docs, usually at the bottom of the fic, tbh. Sometimes it's well organized, sometimes it's not. In most of them , I have a ton of notes that are copied and pasted from my conversations with @vixenofcourse, but I don't have them organized tbh. The photo below is an example of 3 of my fics and what the headers of the notes section looks like. You can see where I'm better organized lol.

I also have all of the plots generally laid out. I know what's going to happen and how things are going to end. Sometimes my plot outline is rough and looks something like this first one I did for my Demon Slayer fic The Sacrifice:

For as good as it is, it's a lot of chaos in the background hahhaa. @vixenofcourse can attest to that. She deals with my ramblings and helps me figure things out for most of my fics.

Hope that answers it! Thanks for asking! I am always open to answer questions about the chaos I pretend is a process lol.