#basically my own url graphic lol

[hargrove]

「 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I resurrected this blog at the end of 2023, but in these few months, this dash has given me more happiness than I could have imagined. honestly, I came back as a means of escape when I had a major loss in my family and just didn't want to deal with irl. and y'all have been so welcoming and so amazing, that I want to take this moment to hurl my love right in your faces!

@havvkinsqueen ➠ Victoria!!! I was so excited to learn that you were still bombing around on the dash since I last left. your heather was always a treat, but your Chrissy is such a delight and I'm so stoked to have her in Billy's life. you are an absolute gem, a POWERHOUSE of kindness and positivity. you exemplify everything the rp community should be. I type this wearing the bracelet you made for me, it gives me so much good vibes. I really am serious about running around in cosplay at a con with you this coming year. it'll be rad as hell! here's to a whole new year of crazy rp and irl shenanigans!

@zoomingupthathill ➠ I cannot describe the sheer joy I feel every time you're on my dash, Bee. from waaaaay back when I was writing Klaus and you were Katherine, to now in the ST fandom, you always leave me in awe. the love you have for your own muses is infectious and in turn, makes me love them and want the best for them. you know I don't really do exclusives, but I always considered your Max and my Billy a packaged deal. whatever your Max is going through, she can always count on my Billy to have her back. likewise, I am always there for you. you're an amazing talent and an even better friend. I look forward to a whole new year of sibling craziness, as well as other muse stuff. and good lord, CAN WE GET THIS GIRL A LUCAS??? (I'm trying my best to work on it, I am lol).

@thebabysittertm ➠ dude. friendo. bruh. stark. I don't even know where to begin. my favorite kind of rp is the slow burn stuff filled with lots of character development and headcanons and background stuff, etc. it's basically the hardest thing to find but somehow from the moment we started talking, it all just clicked. the details and thought you put into all of your muses is astounding. I adore the thought process you have in your muses' reasoning behind things. and your writing is out of this world! I feel so lucky that I get to bounce hc's and au's off you all day. all of our ideas and stuff makes me so excited and has fueled me to jump back into this hobby only 10 times harder. all your talent aside, you also an incredible friend who I'm so stoked to talk to every day. here's to a 2024 filled with our two idiots!

@malka-lisitsa ➠ how do I even begin to compliment the sheer amount of talent that exudes from you, November?? from muse development, to writing, to graphics, to server maintaining, to... I don't even know what else! seems like you can do it all! I can't lie, when I initially came back to the dash, I was shying away from any and all cross overs because I have so much anxiety in this community and wanted to keep my corner of the world super small. but your Katherine broke through and I'm so glad she did. I love how you took a character that so many people (even the freaking writers of the show!) wrote off as 2 dimensional and you give her life! layers! meaning! she never feels like a self insert style oc, but she feels so much more well rounded than any version we saw on the show. it's honestly admirable the amount of work you've put in. I'm so lucky to count myself as one of your rp partners and I can't wait to see where Billy and Kat will take us in 2024.

I unfortunately don't have the time to write a seperate message to all of the people on my dash, but I still want to tag people that bring me joy every time I see your urls. all of the following has made the past few months (that should have been dark and awful) feel bright and full of hope. I appreciate every single one of you. ➠

@vitaegratis

@edhellfire

@vcnusians

@scarednotscary

@pierprincess / @nancewheelr

@hangtenn

@calistayed

@asiphon

@nexusvcrti

@multi-royalty

@helltothefire

@mhunster

and of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't list my ride or die. the people who make tumblr rp the amazing place that it is, and people that I will cherish always, whether we're writing together or not. y'all are stuck with me! ➠ @seesgood @breakthings @mysharxna 」

[koshekdev]

Storing images in mySql DB - explanation + Uploadthing example/tutorial

(Scroll down for an uploadthing with custom components tutorial)

My latest project is a photo editing web application (Next.js) so I needed to figure out how to best store images to my database. MySql databases cannot store files directly, though they can store them as blobs (binary large objects). Another way is to store images on a filesystem (e.g. Amazon S3) separate from your database, and then just store the URL path in your db.

Why didn't I choose to store images with blobs?

Well, I've seen a lot of discussions on the internet whether it is better to store images as blobs in your database, or to have them on a filesystem. In short, storing images as blobs is a good choice if you are storing small images and a smaller amount of images. It is safer than storing them in a separate filesystem since databases can be backed up more easily and since everything is in the same database, the integrity of the data is secured by the database itself (for example if you delete an image from a filesystem, your database will not know since it only holds a path of the image). But I ultimately chose uploading images on a filesystem because I wanted to store high quality images without worrying about performance or database constraints. MySql has a variety of constraints for data sizes which I would have to override and operations with blobs are harder/more costly for the database.

Was it hard to set up?

Apparently, hosting images on a separate filesystem is kinda complicated? Like with S3? Or so I've heard, never tried to do it myself XD BECAUSE RECENTLY ANOTHER EASIER SOLUTION FOR IT WAS PUBLISHED LOL. It's called uploadthing!!!

What is uploadthing and how to use it?

Uploadthing has it's own server API on which you (client) post your file. The file is then sent to S3 to get stored, and after it is stored S3 returns file's URL, which then goes trough uploadthing servers back to the client. After that you can store that URL to your own database.

Here is the graph I vividly remember taking from uploadthing github about a month ago, but can't find on there now XD It's just a graphic version of my basic explanation above.

The setup is very easy, you can just follow the docs which are very straightforward and easy to follow, except for one detail. They show you how to set up uploadthing with uploadthing's own frontend components like <UploadButton>. Since I already made my own custom components, I needed to add a few more lines of code to implement it.

Uploadthing for custom components tutorial

1. Imports

You will need to add an additional import generateReactHelpers (so you can use uploadthing functions without uploadthing components) and call it as shown below

2. For this example I wanted to save an edited image after clicking on the save button.

In this case, before calling the uploadthing API, I had to create a file and a blob (not to be confused with mySql blob) because it is actually an edited picture taken from canvas, not just an uploaded picture, therefore it's missing some info an uploaded image would usually have (name, format etc.). If you are storing an uploaded/already existing picture, this step is unnecessary. After uploading the file to uploadthing's API, I get it's returned URL and send it to my database.

You can find the entire project here. It also has an example of uploading multiple files in pages/create.tsx

I'm still learning about backend so any advice would be appreciated. Writing about this actually reminded me of how much I'm interested in learning about backend optimization c: Also I hope the post is not too hard to follow, it was really hard to condense all of this information into one post ;_;

[youre-only-gay-once]

#someone PLEASE make an addition explaining all these (via @corvoattanobignaturals)

#if someone would give me a list of all of these i would love that tho lol (via @drum-bot-brian)

Okay, here it goes, links are in bold and colored, putting it all under a cut because it is long. CW for racism, transphobia, and incest.

the one who deactivated and gave up spn because they became catholic: this is former spn blogger carrotfricker. they made all sorts of cool graphics, then got religion and left the fandom. They still have a main blog where all they post is nature art. general fandom consensus is that it was catholicism that did them in, but all I can find in the archived pages is references to an unspecified branch of christianity. maybe some other people who followed them more closely know for sure it was catholicism though.

Wincest Nancy: nancylou444. one of the the ringleaders of a particularly annoying group of wincesties. if you're on here long enough without blocking her she WILL appear in your notes unless you block her, i haven't done that because i think it's honestly kind of funny and i like complaining

the one who deactivated after writing a "diverse spn fic" that was just racist: princesshamlet, who decided to make supernatural suck less by turning everybody into different minorities whether they knew what they were doing or not. In their own words, they were "a white person writing nonwhite characters who has spoken to people of the identities they want to represent". And by "spoken to" they meant they used POC for ideas and information, didn't give them anything in return for their time and energy, and also didn't even listen to them most times. Not going into detail because it really doesn't need to be spread around again but basically everything they put in this fic was heinously racist, homo/transphobic, and misogynistic on the same level with the original show or worse. And apart from the racism, they were also just a really bad writer. After getting called out by fans of color on their racism they did not apologize or delete but tried to defend what they did in various ways. Like saying that other fans of color had told them what they wrote was fine, or bringing up that they're a jewish lesbian, or trying to claim that they were third culture. The "#down with big ph" tag became a thing since it was really clear they weren't sorry and had no intention of even trying to make up for what they did. Eventually they did give up on being defensive, deleted the fic and apologized multiple times badly, then deactivated. For awhile someone had claimed the blog url and turned it into this

but now it looks to be completely abandoned. rest in pieces princesshamlet, you sucked and nobody misses you. Sidenote: If you're reading this and going wow that's fucked up fans of color shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing, consider finding a POC's gofundme to donate to.

everyone involved with the "spirit of steve yockey" incident: oh good, i get to show you all my favorite video on the youtube. welcome to spn tumblr 2021 by jimmycoded

the one who wrote the "jared padalecki is a physical and sexual behemoth" post: Former j2/wincest blogger go-diane-winchester. This is the person behind banger posts such as "hellers have so many different ship names because they're a psychotic cult" and "misha collins is a scam artist who chose his name because it is gender confusing and he wants to use that to tap into the liberal community" but mostly for this post. I think they did have some valid points about misha collins acting way more progressive than he is but it's really undercut by the fact they think j2 is better than him and that they use their bachelor degree knowledge to write sentences like "He can barely top his wife, let alone Jensen Ackles."

whoever sent me an anon ask saying they want to fuck eric kripke: if you hang around the spn fandom long enough people will start sending you asks about how hot they find the creator of spn. or at least they will if you're me. i love the fact that someone looked at my blog and went "yeah she'll appreciate this, this is a safe space to admit i want eric kripke carnally." if you guy ever want to tell me things like that on anon go ahead, the worst that's gonna happen is i put you in a poll like this.

the prolifer who wrote fic where the winchesters homeschool jack*: prolifejackkline. a christian (protestant) prolifer who was in the spn fandom, they're still around but under a new url and they don't really blog about spn anymore, but like a true protestant they did discover zionism though. at some point they were writing a fic where the winchesters homeschool jack, i believe it was also a baby!jack fic. I know this existed and several other people have said they remember it too but i can't find it anywhere online so it may have been deleted.

'*i have searched and searched for this fic and cannot find it anywhere, they may have deleted it but i DO remember it existing

[pikechris]

she’s the only person I’ve ever met who’s even remotely like me

[mvdeanw]

Tracking tags is usually done by accounts with plenty of followers. They create tags (usually their own usernames) and people can tag it with the urls so the original poster can go through those tags and reblog posts they like. It's basically to unite fandoms and help with the reblogs! Like #spncreatorsdaily or #hallowedbecastiel. You tag with these, they find it, reblog and it helps create a network :)

Thank you for taking the time to explain so simple. 😘 I've seen these tags, but I thought they were just regular tags, lol. I do tag my own posts with my username so I can find them, Tumblr often restricts my account and sometimes I can't see my own posts. It is very frustrating and annoying. Sometimes even if I tag them, I can't see them. I usually need to see them to update my tag lists. Anyway, it's a nice future. I love to tag creators anyway and people who interact with my posts. My account is weird, so I try to help myself as much as I can in order to find posts if I need to.

So the idea is that you tag these blogs and they reblog your content? Like when you take part in a graphic challenge. How nice of them. I recall using the spncreatorsdaily tag a few times, not knowing that I bother someone in person. 🤦‍♀️ How embarrassing. 😅😌

[heybaetae]

i have the option activated that says people cant right click the gif and save it.. (sorry i dont know what was the right name of the option 😅) maybe that can help?

that’s for when people are looking at your blog from a desktop. this is a button in both the app and desktop version of tumblr when you write a post.

a while back, tumblr added that gif button which brings up a search engine where you can type in any keyword or hashtag you want for a reaction gif and the results are mostly taken from tumblr tags, which obviously includes a lot of original content from the site’s own fandom creators and it’s usually the first image from a gifset. so if you know blogs who make certain content that you basically want to steal from or even just the tags they use, you can type it in and find it. OR people have written up literal coding tutorials on how to repost/steal gifs from within entire gifsets if the first one isn’t the one they want. gifsets are not made to be picked through and broken apart like that. a lot of content creators absolutely hate this function (and some don’t mind it at all) because when someone selects a gif we made from the engine, we get a notification in our activity about it that says “[url] added your GIF to a post!” ….then sometimes it’s for the weirdest reasons like some kind of content you do not want your work attached to. even though the gif automatically has a link under it that directs people to the original post it’s from (that people already aren’t reblogging lol), some of us don’t WANT our gifs being selected and posted for any other purpose. believe it or not, i did not consent to, nor need to get a notif that someone attached my work to a masterpost of all their sexual fantasies with a kpop idol or a smutty self-insert fic I’m not interested in. no offense, but please just learn how to make your own graphics or gifs for that or ASK someone to make something for you or the very least…permission. it happens too often and there’s no option to disable letting your images appear in the search.

[kpopfanfictrash]

Do you have any fanfic resources you could recommend? I don’t really know the terminology and the last thing I wanna do is bug people but google is giving me some really random answers. And I don’t thinkle drabble is what its telling me...

Hello! I don’t know of any specific fanfic resources, unfortunately. The best advice I can give is to look at well-known fanfic authors, see what they do and then copy their format (format only! lol) until you learn. Unfortunately, I feel like most writers on this site simply learned by trial and error. Some tips to start you off!

Posting on Tumblr:

Add a read more. This is a courtesy to readers and people searching in the tags, so they don’t need to scroll for ten minutes past your giant-ass fic.

Tag your story appropriately (and ONLY with relevant tags!). I.e., if you are posting a Jungkook NSFW story, your tags might be: Jungkook fanfic, BTS fanfic, Jungkook smut, BTS smut, Jungkook one shot, BTS one shot, Jungkook, BTS... and so on. DO NOT tag as “Yoongi” unless Yoongi is a main character of the story. 

Above the read more, include the following: author (your URL), pairing (example: jungkook + reader), rating (NSFW or SFW), relevant warnings (explained further below), genre of writing (example: college!AU, enemies to lovers) and any author’s notes you want the reader to know before reading

Create a masterlist. This is a text post on your blog where you’ll give a brief description each story and link them. Place a link to this masterlist in the bio of your Tumblr page. This will allow readers to find your work more easily.

Create an FAQ. As you grow in followers, I can’t stress the importance of this enough, both to you as a writer and to your readers. Create a text post with frequent asks and answers to these questions! 

Terminology:

Drabble: a drabble is technically 100 words. Or, that’s what it used to be in the beginnings of fanfiction. Now, the term drabble has taken on a mind of it’s own and each writer seems to have their own definition of what it means. I’ve seen works with as high a word count as 5,000 tagging their work as drabble. (rip lol). Overall, a "drabble” means a shorter piece of writing.

One shot: a story posted all at once. All “chapters” are posted within the same text post. A one shot can vary in length (my longest one shot is over 40,000 words). An example would be my fic, The Art of War More.

Series: a story posted in multiple chapters at different times. An example would be my fic, Raise the Barre.

NSFW: Not Suitable For Work. ALWAYS mark a story NSFW if it contains themes which are 18+. Examples are: explicit sex, graphic depictions of violence, extremely sensitive or triggering topics. 

SFW: Suitable For Work. Does not contain the topics listed above. In terms of movie ratings, this would be G/PG/PG-13 rated.

Warnings: this varies depending on the author and can be listed as two different sections (sexual warnings and trigger warnings). Overall, these are intended to give the reader a heads-up on any potentially triggering topics. I.e., character death, self-harm, eating disorders, abuse of power, etc. Sexual warnings are a bit more loosely defined, but they are intended to let the reader know which sexual acts are performed (so they can decide whether or not the fic is to their taste). Examples might be: oral sex (male), withheld orgasm (male), dirty talk, thigh riding, etc.  

AU: Alternate Universe. This is basically any story or concept which is not reality. I.e., if you are writing fanfiction for BTS members, an AU is any story which takes place in a universe where BTS are not BTS. There are hundreds and thousands of AU’s. They can be anything from nurse!AU to college!AU to witch!AU to living Monopoly!AU (lol) 

Canon: the opposite of an AU. A piece of writing within the concepts of current reality. I.e., you are writing the BTS members as BTS members.

Idol-verse: Another (more common within BTS fanfiction) word for canon. This basically means you are writing a member as a k-pop Idol.  

Reader Insert: fanfiction where the main character’s name is either left blank (______), or written as Y/N. The reader is intended to fill in their own name as the main character. These stories are written in second person, using “you” instead of “she/her” or “I.” 

Y/N:  Your Name. Used in reader insert fanfiction instead of the main character. 

MxM: Member + Member (I’ve occasionally seen this referred to as Male + Male, but that’s not really accurate). Fanfiction written about two of the members as love interests, instead of an anonymous reader. 

I would also recommend joining writing networks and/or discord chats re: tumblr writing! There, you can make friends and meet other writers who can answer your questions in real time as they pop up. Best of luck, babe! Happy writing :)

[dead-end-street]

tag game ✨

Tagged by @cuddlybitch :DDD

1. why did you choose your url?

It’s a line from a song ‘Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad’ by Matt Dusk.

Walked together down a dead end street We were mixing the bitter with the sweet I don't try to figure out what we might of had Just two shots of happy, one shot of sad

2. any sideblogs?

I used to have some side blogs when I was in Misfits fandom and I still have access to them but they’re abandoned now. Used to run the main Simon and Alisha blog and Fuck Yeah Iwantonia, along with a few other ones for the cast. ;D

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

First signed up in 2009 I think? I migrated over here from LJ and got into the Glee fandom (cringe) but soon it shifted to Misfits and later Pacific Rim, and then I’ve just been flitting from one hyperfixation to another xDDD

4. do you have a queue tag?

Not really, maybe ‘q’?  I rarely queue stuff. I think the only time I really do it would be if I’m going away on a long trip but even then I get too lazy. If you see posts on here it’s 95% of the time me reblogging :P

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

I think LJ was sort of fizzling out at the time and fanforum was fun but too much drama and I wanted a place to post pretty things and just be in my own drama-free bubble.

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Because I love my wife, Ms. Hong Cha-young 😘

7. why did you choose your header?

Cus that underpass hug in the snow will forever be etched in my heart. It was so beautifully shot and it was the first time Vincenzo really seriously considered a ride or die partnership with Cha-young. He’d left her out of the plan and ignored her calls in an attempt to protect and shield her from his world. But the fact that she ran to him and hugged him with worry really touched him. I think he hadn’t felt cared for in a long time and her concern made him want to let her in finally and he let himself hug her back even with bloody hands. 

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

I think my Pacific Rim gifset of Raleigh deciding he wants to get back into the jaeger once he meets Mako :D It has over 45k notes, which is insane and I’m glad I don’t get notifications cus ppl still reblog it on a daily basis, 8 years later. 

9. how many mutuals do you have?

It looks like 53 but a lot of them are MIA or don’t post often :(

10. how many followers do you have?

Just over 3k. I try to block the bots but I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch and probably 400 of those are bots :P

11. how many people do you follow?

112

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

Probably in the past

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

I go through phases. I will go a year checking/posting almost every day, and then suddenly just stop for months and then go back later when a new obsession hits. Right now it’s almost daily.

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

Lol yes. Not recently tho

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

Not a fan of the “if you don’t reblog this you’re a trash person who doesn’t care about ___” cus usually I DO care about that issue, but you just made me wanna spite you and not reblog. If it’s to signal boost something important like for health/safety or something that could save someone’s life I try to reblog but sometimes I get overwhelmed by the news and some posts are too graphic that I have to keep scrolling. Doesn’t mean I don’t care, but I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with it then.

16. do you like tag games?

Yep!

17. do you like ask games?

Yes! But I’ll only get like 3 asks and 2 of them will be from my friends who I’m talking to in the group chat and the other one is from an anon so it’s not as fun :(

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I think probably Hannah @cuddlybitch for all her kdrama gifs, but I think back in the day a lot of my mutuals were tumblr famous in the Misfits fandom. We basically ran the community on here during S1-3 then we dropped the show once Antonia and Iwan left lmao

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

No

20. tags?

Gonna tag @cupcakesandtv @whataboutateakettle @graceful-exits and anyone else who feels like doing it :)

[misterradio]

I made a website at fortisarbor.neocities.org ::-) there is hardly anything there (mostly stuff done during the tutorial) so keep yar eyes peeled for updates in the coming days. if you want..!

i will write a little changelog below ::-)

Oct 17: The URL was originally “antennae” but i changed it to my name since it seemed like the artist-y thing to do...

Oct 18: added BUTTONS!! AND PAGES!! So exciting. I also changed what the buttons looked like (thanks w3schools) and added a favicon. I plan on having more diverse buttons but I don’t want to get into that now! 

Oct 18: This is more of a behind the scenes type thing but I moved the images to their own folder, and changed their links to reflect this.

Oct 19: The buttons change colour when rolled over. There are also alternating button colours and a bunch that don’t lead anywhere (yet). I’ve been focusing a lot on the buttons bc I’m very picky about them lol but I will hopefully begin adding more to the existing pages!

Oct 19: Added more pictures to the Digital section.

Oct 20: Added some more to the Sketches section, and made the Pixel Art page. I also turned the sketches into jpgs rather than pngs (i didnt realize how much larger pngs were............)

Oct 20: Added some basic stuff to the Commissions and Contact pages X-0

Oct 21: Added more to the commissions page, but it’s not done yet... I also added alt text to a few pages, including the new “Fun Stuff” page.

Oct 22: Converted some pics on the Digital page into a “gallery” but it’s not displaying how I want... I also fiddled with lists a bit.

Oct 24: Converted my digital pics back to how they were before, and added my ACNL patterns to the fun stuff page.

Oct 25: Edited the Commission page, added a little graphic to the contact page ::-) I can’t remember when but I added some commission examples of traditional stuff. Also added a little title banner image to the front page, but I’ll think about it before adding it to any others.

Oct 27: By now I’m mostly tweaking things here and there... Edited the banner image, sorted some pieces more towards date, edited my about section...

Oct 28: Drew a tiling background myself.

Oct 30: Changed the banner (hopefully for the last time!), also yesterday I added some commish examples but I need to add one more.

Oct 31: Happy Halloween!! I added a little Halloween graphic ::-)

Nov 5: I did something yesterday but forgot what. Today I added an example of a digital fullbody to the commissions page.

Nov 6: Finalized commission pricing (with the help of my mom)! yay! With that I think I am finally done with major page updates and anything else I do would be like, tweaking or adding a portfolio piece here and there. One thing I’d like to do is put this changelog on the website, so people can see the history.... But put it in one of those little scrolling containers.

Dec 29: Long time no see! I reorganized art so it’s new stuff at the top. (The digital page was already like this but I think the other pages were random.) Also added a graphic to the 404 page.

[breathingliifearc]

    get  to  know  the  mun  !                                                    repost,  don’t  reblog.

———  BASICS  !  ♡

(PEN)NAME  :  Owly

PRONOUNS  :  she  /  her.

ZODIAC  SIGN  :  gemini

TAKEN  OR  SINGLE  :  single potatoh.

———  THREE  FACTS  ! ♡

I adore and love you all on my dash and I am stunned at the amount of creativity lemme tell ya. 

I sometimes panic when I’m chatting with someone, because I suck at chatting and I say something silly or plain dumb and then the conversation stops and I panic more. lol Sorry, I think I lost my ability to decently make friends behind me at some point. But ilu   

I’m sure I’m an old soul stuck in a different time. :/ but who isn’t really? :P

———  EXPERIENCE  !  ♡

I  have written in different platforms thought I started in myspace, facebook rp, aol, then came around to tumblr to an RGP, which I loved to bits and then decided to go indie at the same time. Indie won and I think the RGP kinda poofed, so I remained around in indie blogs. And it’s been years tbh, I think my old first blog tumblr deleted haha. 

———  MUSE  PREFERENCE  !  ♡

i don’t know. LOL I started writing with canon muses, Doctor Who and Syfy Alice, then through a friend I started making my own ocs and boom, plenty of the muses I have currently came to life. Some vanished, plenty stayed lol. I just love connections you know? The way people’s life connect one way or another and how their influence, small or big, end up being such a great development in their lives and just... stories. Just like that word sonder, which I ached to use as url but not available XD And I love magic, as in magic magic or just the illusions and hopes. LIFE IS MAGICAL.

———  FLUFF  /  ANGST  /  SMUT  !  ♡    

FLUFF  :  I swim in fluff, but I fear my fluff might be too twee or cheesy. Slice of life fluff, dates going, cuddling with a cup of coffee/tea, paternal/maternal figures taking care of people they love, saying I love you with actions instead of words. AH !!!

ANGST  :  I’d like to say I’m good at angst? Hahaha but that might not be true. However I love angst and the struggles, the chaos, the push and pull in relationships. Things that go wrooong. Gimme.

SMUT  :  I  honestly think I suck at it, not against it, but I suck at it. LOL. There’s always the little voice in my head that goes, are we going too graphic, no? Should we go graphic? What’s a pretty word to slip in here that makes it less... raw? wHAT am I doiING? what are words? But I think intimacy between muses, maybe just discussed and not exactly written through, adds depth to the relationship :3 so that’s nice

PLOT  /  MEMES  :  I love complex plots, or like... the outline of one to know where things are going, to make the  juices flow. And I might even come up with arc tags for the relationship between our muses and find musings and go like OH THIS FITS THIS ARC. And such. But alas, idk why I’ve been struggling lately to approach people and shoot a nice plot idea, I’m trying. But if you ever wanna plot come at me :3 we can brainstorm together!  Memes, I love theeeem. I might be really slow at them or really quick. I find it’s a nice way to start something if we haven’t interacted. <3 If you ever send me one though and I haven’t replied don’t fret, I’m going to, I am just not fast sometimes ;A; <3  

tagged  by  : no one, I stole it bwahaha  

tagging  :  anyone who wants to steal it too :3

[wordplayfics]

Heyo! Sorry to bother you but you said to reach out in case we didn’t know how to link our fic posts to ao3 (and my ao3 link to the fic post akfnslfjskfjd)! Can you give me some general orientation? And also, do you think we should make like a header or something for our fics? Or should we use the ficfest one?

hey! not a bother at all! hopefully this is something that can help others who have questions as well.

okay! first let’s start with the question about the header! it is up to the authors to make their own headers/graphics/art/whatever you’d like to use for your fic posts. mostly because i’m horrible at it and i’m not sure you’d want to use whatever i could come up with anyway lol feel free to make whatever you’d like to show off your fic and advertise it! i just ask that you tag @wordplayfics in the fic post body so i can be sure to reblog and help spread the word about your fic!

and now, for the linking back and forth for things! ultimately, for best use of advertisement and spreading the word about your fics and such, you want to make sure ao3 links to your posts and your posts link to ao3. in tumblr it’s a lot easier to link to ao3 because html is not required. if you have questions specifically regarding layout for your fic posts etc, there are so many options and preferences and a lot of it is personal, so one great place to look is @onedirectionbigbang. all of the authors and artists have made their own posts on that page and you can definitely get some ideas for structure and formatting there! figure out what works best for you.

now, the harder part is linking in ao3. whenever you’re wanting to link anything in ao3, you need to use html. the basics of it is actually very simple once you learn it, but it can feel difficult the first time you do it. i wrote out a “how to” on my personal blog a little while ago here, but i’ll try to give a summary here as well.

okay so this right here is the actual html code. where i put URL is where you paste the url to your tumblr fic post and yes, you do need to keep those quotes! here’s a tip though, the quotes need to be straight quotes for the html and phones will often use the fancy start quote and end quote marks, which will make it so the link doesn’t work. Because of this you’ll either need to google the html code for including links and copy and paste that in, OR do this on your computer. where it says fic post in the coding above, you can have it say whatever you want the words to say that you are using for the link. haha 

so the order i myself do this is i’ll post the fic to the collection and use the ao3 link to make the fic post. once the fic is live and i have posted my fic post, then i can link it in ao3 so they point to each other.

okay. i keep getting distracted so i hope this makes sense. please please please feel free to come and ask me any further questions!

[prettytragcdies]

send  me  🍒  +  a  url  and  i  will  write  some  positivity  for  them.

rosemalice asked: 🍒impulsivcty

LEXIE. Where do I even begin? My Honey Beeotch. The Ann to my Sue Ellen. The Katherine to my Edie. The Tanya to my Donna. Basically, the bunch of stuff to my bunch of stuff, because we have way too many pairings to name. We've been friends for so long now that I don't even remember how we first met. Is that terrible lol? It was probably like MySpace or somewhere, but it's been over a decade now, and that's just wild. We're still super close, though, and that deserves to be celebrated.

If it isn't already clear, I absolutely adore Lexie. Sometimes we go a couple of weeks without talking, but we're always able to pick up right where we left off, and I love that about us. Also, when we do catch up, we do it everywhere from text messages to Instagram. We don't care about the platform or how many different conversations we have going on at once lol.

Okay, now for some positivity about her blogs. First of all, her graphic skills are incredibly insane. I mean, I don't know the first thing about how to create a Google Doc, but hers always look so incredibly professional. I'm jelly. She also writes such a creative variety of muses, a lot of which are underappreciated. I love reading her responses when they come across my dash, even if I've never seen some of the shows the characters are from before. Lexie is just such a talented writer with her own unique style and voice. It's like nothing else I've ever seen before, and I'll pretty much follow her anywhere and write with any of her muses. She has great taste.

Basically, I'm forever a fan of Lexie's, and I'm forever grateful to have her in my life. It definitely wouldn't be anywhere near the same without her. Also, she's one of the best cat mamas I've ever known, and I hope she's not working too hard these days. Oh, and we really need to hang out again at Southfork together once all of this stuff finally blows over and we're allowed to return to traveling. /endpredictablesappyramble // impulsivcty

[gaylortruther]

[11/11/11/ TAG] 

RULES: ANSWER 11 QUESTIONS, ASK 11 QUESTIONS, TAG 11 PEOPLE

[thanks to @bookenders​ for tagging me! i loved your questions, and also, i love your url! i’m putting this under a read more because i talk a lot NDJKFNKSFK]

[Q. 1] WHAT KIND OF STORIES ALWAYS GET YOU RIGHT IN THE FEELS? WHAT MAKES U CRI EVRYTIEM?

[a.1] HSJFSJSFJ the bold makes this question look very intimidating! i always fall for the sympathetic villain. NOT the severus snape, personally, but more the draco malfoy. i’m into the sun/moon dichotomy; when the characters are two sides of the same coin, i die instantly. i fall for regina mills and emma swan, clarke griffin and lexa kom trikru, kaz brekker and inej ghafa, partners who compliment each other. i also get weak in the knees for rivals who can tear each other down or build each other up given the chance.

[Q. 2] DO YOU KEEP NOTES AROUND FOR YOUR STORIES? HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE THEM?

[a.2] i keep a journal full of everything, but it’s not organized at all bhjbsjhshf, and other than that i use the notes app on my phone or text my coauthor and screenshot the texts and i keep those in a folder

[Q. 3] WHAT’S THE NERDIEST TRINKET/SWAG/ITEM YOU OWN?

[a.3] oh, god, a lot! i’ve gotten rid of a lot of my nerd stuff lately but ummm i still have a sonic screwdriver i think hahaha and i still have my dan and phil plushies and a full size camp half blood tapestry and a lot of fan themed jewelry! oh i also have two pygmy puffs one is pink and one is purple and they’re named arnold one and two, and i have the raven cycle tarot deck DDKDFSBFD i said it was a lot! but i used to have more

[Q. 4] WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST THING YOU’VE EVER WRITTEN?

[a.4] HAHAHAHAHAHAH i was like 12 so idk if it counts but it was like. fanfiction of pjo where i basically copied rachel’s character exactly and made her get with percy and made both annabeth and rachel get jealous :/ 

[Q. 5] WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE STORY/KIDS BOOK WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT NOW?

[a.5] the secret garden by frances hodgson burnett!! tbh i had to look up who wrote it because i haven’t read it in years and i didn’t care who it was by when i was a kid FSDNKJNS but i used to love it so much! i should reread it

[Q. 6] DO YOU HAVE A “WRITING OUTFIT?” 

[a.6] omg no, i just write in whatever i’m wearing when inspiration strikes lol, that sounds like a good plan to do more laundry tho KSFFNKD

[Q. 7] WHAT BOOK (THAT YOU’VE READ) WOULD YOU SAY WAS YOUR FAVORITE TO IMPRESS SOMEONE? WHAT BOOK WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR FAVORITE TO A YOUNG KID? 

[a.7] this is such a good question! to impress someone i would probably say the song of achilles and to a kid i would say percy jackson because the kid has probably read percy jackson and if they haven’t they should

[Q. 8] HOW DO YOU BOOKMARK PAGES IN A PHYSICAL BOOK? DOG EAR? ACTUAL BOOKMARK? RANDOM NEARBY ITEM?

[a.8] usually just something nearby! right now it’s a string bracelet i never tied, but i also do have an actual bookmark i use when it resurfaces 

[Q. 9] DO YOU REREAD YOUR FAVORITE BOOKS/STORIES?

[a.9] i try to! i used to do it a lot, but it’s hard for me to stay focused now with my impairments. i want to reread grishaverse soon though because i need to read king of scars and i don’t remember enough of grishaverse SFKJBSJKFS

[Q. 10] DO YOU READ LITERARY MAGAZINES?

[a.10]  i don’t read any magazines lmao but if i were to read a magazine it would be a literary magazine

[Q. 11] DO YOU LIKE GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS? WHICH ONES?

[a.11] nope! could never get into them

[MY QUESTIONS]

[1] HAVE YOU EVER HAD A WRITING JOURNAL BEFORE? IF SO, IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU THINK IT HELPED YOU IMPROVE?

[2] HAVE YOU EVER DONE NANOWRIMO OR CAMP NANOWRIMO? 

[3] WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONCRETE OC EVER LIKE? 

[4] DID YOU HAVE IMAGINARY FRIENDS AS A CHILD?

[5] HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING? HOW LONG DID YOU WANT TO WRITE BEFORE YOU STARTED?

[6] STYLISTICALLY, WHAT WRITER DO YOU ADMIRE THE MOST?

[7] HAVE YOU HAD A MENTOR THAT HAS INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING?

[8] WHAT WEATHER IS THE BEST FOR WRITING?

[9] WHAT IS THE BEST NAME YOU HAVE EVER GIVEN AN OC?

[10] SPOIL SOMETHING INCONVENIENT ABOUT YOUR WIP. IS IT REALLY INCONVENIENT? 

[11] HOW DO YOU WRITE? ON A LAPTOP, A TABLET, A PHONE...?

[TAGGING] @retroruin @vieliwrites @somuchtowrite @michellejwrites @eloquenceandemphasis @mandaetes @hazeywrites @salvadorea @divineauthor @astorsa @tyypewriter [no pressure to do it!!]

[bugheadfamily]

Graphic by: Katie ( @betty-cooper )

This week the spotlight is on Sarah ( @onceuponamirror )! Click the read more link below to get to know our member!

Spotlight by Mila, @jughead-jones

SARAH | @onceuponamirror

Name: Sarah  

Age: 25

Location: California

Any other languages aside from English people can contact you in?: alas, nope. 

Favourite Riverdale characters and ships?: I actually enjoy most of the characters, but I know I would like all of them better if the writing actually was focused on characterization, lol. But obviously I quite like Bughead. And then honestly I like all of the Veronica ships. I also like Choni but i think the writing could’ve been a lot better.

Favourite moments from S1 & S2?: Betty repeatedly saying “what’s my name” to Alice was really powerful and one of the moments that sold me on the show early on, especially in the acting from that scene, and then 1x07 was a really wonderful exploration of a broken relationship between father and son that was still fill with a lot of love despite how painful it was. The family/character moments early on were strong. In s2….the acting continued to be pretty good, and the addition of totally campy things like Papa Poutine and his son Small Fry were the wacky kind of delight I seek from riverdale. 

What are your hopes for S3?: consistent characterization, and hopefully some fun weirdo hippie moments. 

Other fandoms you’re into?: I was in the Once Upon a Time fandom for a long time. But that show has ended now. 

What are some of your favourite movies/TV?: The Americans, The Good Place, The Office, Parks And Rec, Glow, Orphan Black, The Bold Type, Queer Eye, Jane The Virgin, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Favourite books?: All About Love by Bell Hooks, A Thousand Eyes: Media Technology, Law, and Aesthetics, Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami, and Just Kids by Patti Smith. I need to find more fiction to read, but don’t really know where to start in terms of what I’m really looking for. 

Favourite bands/musicians?: FLEETWOOD MAC!! I think anyone who has visited my blog even once probably knows this lmao. 

If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?: uh, Harry Potter universe, no contest. I mean, given that I too would be a witch anyway. 

Favourite food?: mm. Probably tomatoes. Love a good tomato. 

Favourite season?: autumn!!!

Favourite plant?: oh this is hard. I do love a big split leaf monstera! 

Favourite scent?: eucalyptus.

Favourite colour?: blue.

Favourite animal?: also hard. Have you ever heard the sounds a porcupine makes tho? 

Are you a night owl, an early bird, or a vampire?: fun combo of a person who likes to stay up late who also naturally wakes up early. But on my good days, I’m an early bird. 

Place you want to visit?: Japan! Or spend more time in Scotland than I’ve had before. 

Do you have pets? If you do, tell us a little about them: I have a cat. She’s afraid of her own shadow and I love her dearly.

Tell us a little about yourself?: I am a freelancer in a creative field, I’m a big fan of analysis (show or writing or otherwise), and my interests tend to rotate around the arts and plants.

Fun or weird fact about you?: I am a very, very good whistler. Can do all the vibrato stuff. 

Asks for fanfic authors:

How long have you been writing?: since I was like 11-12, honestly. 

Which is your favourite of the fics you’ve written?: Heart Rise Above is very dear to me for many reasons, but beyond just the satisfaction of telling the story in way I’m happy with, it also represents a huge number of goals that I met. I’d never written anything multi-chapter, let alone over 100k. It helped me get over a lot of my insecurities. 

Favourite fic/chapter/plot-point/character you’ve ever written?: HRA is prob my favorite fic, my favorite chapter was probably the “water” chapter (17 i think) in HRA, my favorite plot-point is something from A Deed Without A Name so i shouldn’t say yet, and my favorite character….I mean, I’m fully aware that I basically came up with an original character in JB. She appears in most of my fics because I firmly believe that she better rounds out Jughead and my goals for him, but she’s also become a solidified figure in my mind. And I’m fond of her; or at least, my version, lol.

Which was the hardest to write, and why?: Stealing Home has been a continued challenge, just because it’s such a different universe from canon while still needing to maintain consistent and recognizable characterization. But I like challenges!

How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? (examples: Do you draw inspiration from real life? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?) Do you have an process to your writing?: I listen to a lot of music while I write in order to tap into the tonal atmosphere I want to build, but a lot of my ideas start with a vague concept, sometimes launched by a single image I saw (HRA was inspired by a set photo) and then I work backwards to a larger theme and intent. My process depends on the story, but often I make a lot of “beginning, middle, and end” notes to myself for where each character has to go and what has to happen, plot wise, at those stages.

Idea that you always wanted to write?: I’d like to one day tackle a long, multi-chapter story that spans only 24 hours. We’ll see!

Favourite character to write?: Jughead, I think. But i also really like writing Veronica, turns out. 

Best comment/review you’ve ever received?: @village-skeptic leaves incredibly detail-oriented reviews, and I eat them up. But then I’ve had some personal messages about the impact some stories have on them and it just — wow. That’s amazing. It means so much to me.

Best and worst parts of being a writer?: It’s incredibly satisfying to escape into someone else’s woes or joys sometimes. Especially when my mental health takes a toll on me, being able to work through some of my own feelings via another character is…cathartic. The worst is that it’s a vulnerable thing, sharing that side! Even if you don’t consciously put those things into your writing, any time you put anything creative out to share with others, it’s nerve wracking. Validation is a tricky thing. 

Do you have any advice to offer?: Ultimately, be passionate about why you want to do something. All other doubts and worries and insecurities will be outweighed if you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

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This is the seventh instalment of Bughead Family’s Member Spotlight series. Each week, a member’s url is selected through a randomizer and they will be featured in a spotlight post. In order to participate, please join the Bughead Discord (more information found here). Thank you.

[rpbetter]

I think a master list for long term roleplayers is such a good idea! I think if it delineates the reasons someone would do long term over short term, and makes sure to not prop up one style over another, it could go over well. I just wonder what a roleplayer would have to do to be listed. Rp a muse for over two years? Have a declaration they don't easily lose muse and keep muses for a long time by default? I think that's the hard part, because it would be easy to exclude people if done wrong.

Hey, Anon!

Well, I'll let you in a secret...I might have begun that project this weekend. So, it might (absolutely will be) be happening, and this message certainly made me feel good about it!

It also brings up some incredibly valid points I hadn't thought about, like how one would go about specifically designating RPers as long-term. As you said, it's got a potential problems for exclusion, and the only exclusion intended is simply not being a dedicated, long-term RPer.

I think the only fair way of doing it is to let the muns themselves decide. As it presently stands, the idea is to submit the answers to a form that does ask "RP experience (years and places)." I thought that might help muns field each other better, and now, I think it might be the fairest way of determining what "long-term" means to everyone.

If you feel like someone who has been RPing for two years with the same muse(s) is long-term enough, then it is! If that's not enough to hit your mark of long-term, no hard feelings even happen because you just keep scrolling the list to someone who has been RPing for ten.

I'll be rewording the question to have two parts, thanks to this ask! It'll now read something like, "How long have you been RPing (includes tumblr and other RPCs)? Has this been the same muse/handful of muses (what's your longest time RPing a muse)?"

That way, you're also not running into issues like...well, let's use me as an example. I've been RPing online for over twenty years, but have only been RPing on tumblr for seven. I've had one muse for almost seventeen years, but another one only for that seven years. If I was to answer just with my presence here on tumblr with that muse, that's far shorter than my total time RPing and doesn't include that I'm long-term enough to have had a muse for seventeen years. This way, I could customize my answer and give a fuller one.

I know we all tend to think of tumblr's RPC as rarely taking on new muns these days, but I meet them fairly often. None are new to written, online RP, but they've only just joined this RPC. I certainly don't want anyone to feel like they have to answer "six months" when that isn't entirely an accurate representation of their experience and interest.

The questions are also not overly skewed toward any single type of RP outside of the umbrella of "Dedicated." Meaning long-term, primary hobby/dedicated interest RPers who stick with threads and muses. So, while, yes, a lot of us are also into long replies, it's not excluding those who write less either. It asks your style(s) and gives the options of "sentence, para, multi-para, novella, lengthy novella." You can, obviously, put multiple answers in as to what you prefer to write!

Some additional things it asks for:

links you'd like to include (rules, promo, carrd, docs, bio, other)

types of RP concentrated on (angst, slice-of-life, canon-involved, AUs, romance and shipping, friendships, horror, etc.)

your URL(s), obviously!

blog type (single-muse, multi-muse)

muse/primary muses' names (if this is a multimuse blog with all muses in one place, if not, please designate which goes with which URL)

mun age/age range and age requirements

other things about your blog/RPing/muse(s) (hard limits, crossover friendly, OC friendly, plot-driven, selectivity, etc.)

I really want to give the widest variety possible of dedicated RPers the opportunity to put themselves out there if they desire, since it truly is incredibly hard to find each other anymore. And I believe that since such phrasing tends to be a turn off for those who are more casual RPers, that alone cuts down on the likelihood of me having to message someone and tell them that they might not qualify.

I do plan to actually look at the blogs, though that is definitely going to annoy some and take more time to get people's submissions posted. It isn't because I am remotely interested in being judgmental of anyone's blog, writing, muses, or whatever! It's...tumblr. In 2021. Leaving anything up to an honor system is asking for trouble, and as we've seen in the not too distant past, very unfortunately, no matter what one says, the effort they go to in order to not rub people the wrong way, if someone wants to misread negativity into something, they will. Any time you have the topic of types of RP or broach it being at all acceptable to have preferences, requirements, expectations, and so on, it can turn quite ugly quite quickly.

It is a serious concern that those determinedly offended parties will misuse the listing. While seeing too many red flags of harassment on a blog doesn't retroactively stop them from seeing the list of RPers, it does at least prevent them being on it. That is absolutely within the rules, too, that this is not a place that is friendly/tolerant of any manner of policing and resultant harassment.*

*There will be a harassment policy. I realize that any listing can be used inappropriately, and I realize, too, that there is a limit to what I can do to cultivate and maintain a safe place...but that needs to be done in so far as possible and taken seriously. Callout culture is absolutely not allowed, period. That won't be added to the list, if it's engaged in and I'm aware of it, it'll be a removal from the list. Inappropriate use of the list as a callout resource will result in blocking, harassing others to RP with you when you've been politely declined will result in blocking. Yes, that can be subverted, but the stance matters.

And, obviously, I'd also be looking for anything really glaring like the basic (and it's my intention to make it as clear as possible that these are variable things, we're all real people here, that it's repeat and extreme behavior only) parameters state. Things like incessant, flippant muse creation and collection when there is, right there stated repeatedly, not the time or creative energy to keep up with those already present. Or just as obvious blog/muse/fandom hopping. Again, a thousand times, if that's how you enjoy RP and engage with it as your hobby, that's perfectly fine. It's also perfectly fine that other people don't enjoy that and would like a space to find the comparatively tiny number of muns who want to engage with the hobby in the way they do. That's what I'm trying to do!

I don't have an estimate on when this might go live, as has been clear with my horrifyingly delayed responses, I'm very busy right now. Just know that it will be happening! I believe things will be slowing down, allowing me more time to do more than a couple of responses a week, roughly toward the end of October/beginning of November. So, I'm thinking it might be the first week of November.

That's a little bit off, but it does give everyone time to send in asks about it! If there's something you can think of that would be helpful (questions for the submission, the way it's set up, rules, whatever you can think of), please, do send it in. I want to know! I'm just one very busy, very tired mun trying to still be a dedicated RPer myself elsewhere lol I appreciate that sort of feedback! And the list is for y'all, you really should get to opine and suggest things!

Also, I did just think of something, opinions, anyone? Since it is a list that is open to everyone who fits the description, there will be blogs containing "dark content." While tags would catch the major, basic things muns might wish to filter, that can't possibly be expected for unique squicks and triggers. I don't want anyone getting specific on the listing, I think that could incite problems, but how about warning that the blog does contain such content, with the notation right there in the rules, use info, and posted listings themselves that it's advised to visit rules links first for details. I'd like to avoid anyone getting exuberant, clicking a blog URL, and seeing some graphic imagery they need to avoid. This way, if you do that, you have been warned...repeatedly and responsibly, and made your choices.

Obviously, that is dependent upon muns actually detailing what upsetting content might be present on the blog in their rules and not simply making a blanket statement that it exists. I haven't seen many RPers of this type doing that in recent years, but I'm sure that the increasing threat of harassment has negatively impacted this honesty and warning system. Still, at least this way, you'd be warned and could exercise your own judgment messaging the mun of the blog to ask for content specifics before you proceeded beyond rules.

Those are my thoughts, anyway!

[dangoghz]

legitimate advice for new phandom blogs

hey !! so i know sometimes posts like ‘RULES FOR THE PHANDOM XD’ are made and they’re all like “numba one. dan is a squishy bean respect this uwu” but this isn’t gonna be like that lol. im just going to list a few actual things that might help people new to the phandom learn about and become integrated into the community! of course these aren’t ‘rules’ and u dont have to listen to any of it ofc,,, im not here to control ur blog, just here to say what people normally do. feel free to rb whether u are a new blog or not, ill appreciate it either way!

(NOTE: PLS TELL ME IF ANY OF THE LINKS DONT WORK AND ILL FIX THEM PERIODICALLY!)

italicized text is defined in the glossary at the bottom!

1. be interactive! 

here, unique to our corner of timmy darn communism, we have a lot of like virtual traditions that everyone knows. these help you to make friends and also grow ur blog with some new mutuals. here are some examples.

networks: networks, or nets, are a sort of selective gc, usually with a theme or concept that it’s based around, in which all who wish to be part of fill out an application form that determines whether they get in. this is kinda the one with the most work, as u also have to make a group blog and info post, but it’s definitely worth it. i have made my closest friends in nets (such as @phleurnet which i birthed), and a lot of people on here would say the same. if you want to know more or apply, my friend diana runs an update blog @phandomnets! (examples, these are all open btw: x x x)

meetups: meetups are not in real life, don’t worry. a meetup is when someone organizes a specific time at which we all post thing around a certain theme! for instance, on halloween on tuesday, my friend milo hosted a halloween meetup. usually people post selfies but if u are uncomfortable with that, u can post art, music, or anything else related to the theme. a blog called @phandommeetupwatch keeps track of these! (examples, all happening soon/just happened: x x x)

follow forevers: a follow forever is a big celebration post when u reach a follower count milestone, no matter 50 or 5k. u tag all of the blogs you love, and they reblog it to appreciate u! it’s really positive and shows people how their work has paid off. usually people are tagged in alphabetical order, and sometimes people bold their favorites but the stylization is up to u. (recent examples: x x x)

milestone activities: sometimes people do things for their followers when they reach a follower count that involves their followers requesting something! there are many many forms of this type of thing. a common one is blog rates, in which there is a set template and the blogger rates each blog that sends in an ask using the template (info post ex: x; rate ex: x). there are also url edits (x), name/url moodboards (x), and more. u can certainly come up w an idea of ur own, being creative is great!

talk to people: that’s right dude!!! ye!!! u can message a blog u think is cool, or send an ask if u think something they made or are talking about is interesting, or add something sweet in the tags (more on etiquette later) when u rb their post. additionally, sometimes people stir up discourse, and u should participate in it if u want (past discourse examples: x x). u can also send asks when people reblog ask games, which are a list of questions with a theme (new one of mine ex: x). 

2. play around with your blog!

customizing your blog can start giving you what we call a branding, making you distinguished from other bloggers. this can include everything from as simple as using an icon to coding your own about page. 

themes: a blog can be way more appealing if it is aesthetically pleasing. admittedly, i often follow people just because of the smoothness of their mobile theme. a mobile theme is rather easy to construct as u can do it on ur own with a phone. it is how ur blog looks on a phone. although u don’t have to do this, i recommend sticking to two to four colors on ur theme and avoiding stuffing it with a lot of bright things because it can distract from content. additionally, bloggers often make their descriptions short and succinct. (my fav mobiles: x x x.) on a pc, your blog theme can be customized completely on html, meaning there is a lot of freedom. u don’t have to learn to code for this, bc u can find free themes anywhere, just search ‘free tumblr themes’ on google. once again, be creative, but u shouldn’t overload. (my fav pcs: x x x.)

about pages: in order to avoid chunky descriptions but still let people know the key deets about themselves, bloggers create about pages. sometimes these bout pages are uncoded but u can also use html code if u want to. some common things in an about page are interests, maybe personality types/horoscopes/hogwarts houses, original content, and links to other social media. (examples: x x x)

urls: urls are a key part of your blog’s brand. ‘rebranding’ is what people say if they change their url! if u are tired or bored with your url, changing it is an opportunity to change your theme and other parts of ur blog as well. (url change ex: x). 

saved urls: saved urls are basically when bloggers hoard sideblogs in order to reserve the urls used for them. if you ever encounter a blank blog that has ‘saved’ as its title, that’s probably it. sometimes people like to give away their urls, either as a constant thing (ex: x) or by doing a url giveaway (x). either way, it’s a good opportunity to change it up!

tags: in order to keep their blog cleancut and organized, a lot of bloggers have special tags for certain people, certain topics, and/or certain types of media. many people in the phandom particularly have tags for dan and phil that match (strawberries and cream, lune and sole, etc). if they have many of these tags, there can be a page for their tags on their blog. this page can be coded with special html or just a regular tumblr page, it doesn’t really matter. but it’s very useful for those who visit your blog, and makes it easy for u to navigate older posts as well! (examples: x x x)

3. learn to make og content!

producing original content helps you establish what your strengths are and why people should follow you. it also allows u to contribute to the fanbase, and gives u a chance of being noticed by dnp! and the validation is lovely. there are many options if u want to make something. 

gifs: gifs are an ART here in the phandom, and its mechanisms still perplex me to this day bc ive never tried it. u probably already know what a gif is, but if not, its essentially a short animation made in photoshop that repeats. gifmakers are often distinguished by a unique coloring (example gifmakers: x x x), such as my friend emily’s smooth dark blue tint (x). it can be a long process to learn how to gif but it is very rewarding in the end, from what i’ve heard. (tutorials: x x)

art: there is a very wide range of phanartists, all with such talents, either digital or traditional, that you can draw inspirations from for your own work. you can make cartoons, comics, realism, abstract, nsfw even, or any mix (or none) of the former. artists on tumblr definitely deserve more attention than they get here on tumblr, so be sure to show appreciation towards them! (my fav artists: x x x)

edits: edits are the Graphic Designs of our community and are usually very aesthetically pleasing. they can be centered around a certain event, like a video or something dnp made, or just for fun. the more practice you get making them, the more dexterous u’ll become. they can be a great tool if u like the design aspect of art but don’t want to actually draw. (edit makers: x x)

icons: icons are just the little profile picture that u can insert for ur blog. it’s really easy and fun to make them, kind of like a lazy version of edits. you can make them using photoshop or an app like picsart or medibang, and it doesn’t take a lot of time. more on how to use icons in section 4. (examples: x x x) (my lil tutorial: x)

moodboards: moodboards are nine pictures arranged 3 by 3 that have a certain color scheme. it’s kind of like a collage except the photo feature here separates the pictures for u. there are a lot of innovative moodboard makers that stun me w how pretty it looks or how they arrange the pics. moodboards are also an easy and fun option! (moodboard tags: x x x)

textposts: this is by far the easiest and more common form of content u will find. it’s just writing about dnp in a textpost! if a textpost isn’t very serious, people also call it a meme or shitpost. shitposting is defs on the rise here so its a good business to get into. it’s also a great outlet for ur emotions or personal connections to what dnp do! (example talk tags: x x x)

fics: by far the most famous media to come out of here, phanfiction is a popular form of phan indulgence. u have probably heard of the most scarring ones (list: x), but there is actually a really vast range of it, not just creepy smut! some other genres are fluff, angst, and slow burns. u will discover that, despite the sterotype, not all fanfiction is bad. you can find lovely fics on @phanfictioncatalogue by genre, au, or topic. and, if u need help writing something, many writers would love to help. (a few well-known fics: x x x x x)

4. tumblr etiquette!

i know tumblr might seem like a simple social media (or perhaps not after u’ve read all the above?) but there’s a lot of things that u just....u just don’t do. it’s sort of like virtual manners, and if u don’t follow them, then it’s unlikely that people will like ur blog. once again, this is by no means me forcing u to run ur blog a certain way. it just happens that the types of ppl who break these rules are who we mock in gcs :////////. so yea, here’s some advice.

credits: if u decide to use someone’s art, edit, gif, or icon on the theme of ur blog, check what they require of u before u use it. most content creators strongly ask for credit in the description of ur blog, either by link or like ‘icon/header/art by ____’. it is just a common courtesy to the person who spent time on that, and if u think credit will ruin the aesthetic of ur blog, a) u probably don’t have an aesthetic in the first place and b) learn to appreciate art, binch. 

anonymity: anon asks can be very powerful either negatively or positively depending on how u yield them, so make sure that u are careful with what u send. compliments are always welcome and criticism as well, but blatant rudeness or hate will do nothing. u will only make someone feel bad about themselves and it will not accomplish anything. also, u face the threat of all their friends turning u into a meme. 

sensitivity: a lot of people here are way too easily offended by harmless jokes, a common example in the phandom being when we insult dnp affectionately and people take it way too much to heart. please don’t start drama over something w no real meaning. however, there are times when it is indeed necessary. if u want to criticise a blogger, be respectful of them simultaneously. by all means, if u spot someone being racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynist, or the like, feel free to call them out on it. but beforehand, make sure that u have done ur research and are educated on the topic, or u could turn out to be blatantly wrong. 

adding to posts: everyone makes this mistake when they start out here and that’s totally okay, but adding to every post u reblog is incredibly bothersome. a rule of thumb would be don’t add anything unless what u say will actually improve the post significantly. if ur additions are along the lines of ‘LOL’ or ‘i relate!!!!’ or ‘philly is a smol bean XD’, learn to use the tags for heaven’s sake. they’re there for not only organization but also for commenting. some exceptions, though, would be if u are mentioned in the post or the op is your close friend. 

respecting privacy: this should already be obvious to u, but respect dan and phil’s boundaries. do not tag them or their main tags (#daniel howell, #danisnotonfire, #amazingphil), in any phanfics, phanart (like specifically with them as a romantic ship), or phan edits. do not talk to their family members, expose their personal info like address or phone number, and do consider that they are real people just like u. we may make things based around phan, but it is kept in a community for us and not for dan and phil’s eyes. this is very important.

5. have fun!

sorry if this is all overwhelming, but i tried to make it as simplified as possible. and also sorry for the sass, i’m kinda tired of all the ding dongs on here and want to prevent further ding dongs from being created. thanks so much for readin and be sure to send me an ask anytime if u have questions! welcome to hell!

glossary

timmy darn communism: me being my usual weird self and replacing ‘tumblr dot com’ with random words that start with the same letters

mutuals: someone who you follow and who follows you; usually who u interact with most

rb: shortening for ‘reblog’

discourse: when theres is intense discussion of a certain topic, sometimes phan-related sometimes not, sometimes serious and sometimes silly

branding: the word ‘branding’ kinda started as a joke, but it’s generally what we use to call what someone’s blog reminds them of, whether it be a certain color or a discussion topic; my branding, if u asked a mutual, would probably be impressionism, tea, and baguettes (dont ask ab that one)

html: a simple type of coding used for designing websites! u can learn basic html here or here, it’s way easier and funner than it looks

dnp: dan and phil; we also say ‘deppy’, ‘dip and pip’, ‘the boys’, ‘the rats’, and more

coloring: basically the stylization of a gif, shown through filters, textures, contrast, brightness, etc. 

talk tag: a tag in which all of the textposts that a person makes are sorted into

phanfiction terms

smut: porn fic :/ 

fluff: just what it sounds like, a type of fic that usually has a lot of soft stuff like cuddling, flirting, and looooove

angst: a fic with a lot of drama, usually sad or very emotional

slow burn: a fic where a pairing, in this case phan, slowly falls in love

au: stands for ‘alternate universe’, a fic in which dan and phil are written not as youtubers but in a completely different scenario (ie. bad boy and new guy in high school, university students, space exhibition, anything u can dream up really)

anon: short for ‘anonymous’

op: short for ‘original poster’, aka who made the post