#but i know that original work gets 0 attention. its much MUCH easier to use a pre-existing character('s name)

[birdkittenn]

it is an *interesting* development to see how my iterator sun and moon designs developed to go form a whole new iterator oc that isnt meant to be them

if i had a nickel every time i turned an au variant of the dca into an oc, id have 2 nickels

[raining-anonymously]

RAIN I MOVED BLOGS SO NOW I DONT HAVE ANY SILLY MUTUALS TO REBLOG MY FANART OF MY NICHE HYPERFIXATIONS AND THEY SIT THERE WITH 0 NOTES WHAT DO I DO ITS LIKE I MOVED TO A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD

genuinely? post a LOT. post all your infodumps and theories and doodles, even if you don’t think they’re that great. tag them with every relevant tag you can cram on there. (it feels obnoxious, but people WANT to see your art. as long as you’re not tagging unrelated stuff like people do on instagram, you’re good.) follow everyone who posts things you think are cool. reblog tons of stuff from other people in the fandom and leave tags/comments. interacting is scary, but listen:

do you know how rare it is these days to find people who say words on here and don’t reblog with no addition or just leave a like? if someone i don’t know leaves nice tags on one of my posts i’m bound to at least check their blog out briefly.

i categorize my fandoms by tag mostly for blacklist convenience, but this also means anyone who enjoys one post i made on the topic can click that tag and see EVERYTHING i’ve posted on it. including reblogged stuff. when other people do that and i see their blog has a lot of recent stuff for whatever i’m into, i’m likely to follow them back. of course, most people don’t follow as liberally as i do (900something people iirc. i don’t know most of the people on my dash haha). and even i don’t click on every blog that interacts with me. so if you don’t get a follow back, don’t be discouraged!

other tips- having a tag for your art or original posts can make it easier for people to find it. i have an art tag, #drawing anonymously, with what i believe is every art piece i’ve put out here. even the ones i don’t like at all. obviously it’s your right as an artist to take down anything you post, but you never know whose day might be made by what you deem your worst works. besides, this gives potential mutuals the ability to find more stuff by you that they’ll then reblog, sharing your work with OTHER potential mutuals. and boom, your network grows.

another thing that helps is joining fandom discord servers. it can be hard to find a good one, but even if you’re not getting much of a reaction, this is a place designed to drop your art, infodumps, writing, theories, what have you. use it. and if some stranger is rude about you sharing your passion, you can simply ignore them or wait for your lovely mutual to go “erm aCTUALLY that’s what this channel is for :/“ on your behalf. and that way you’re exposed to the art and ideas of people who you haven’t seen on tumblr, too!

now, i’m no expert. i’m just a neurodivergent blogger who’s had a single post consisting entirely of screenshots break 1.5K notes. but this is what’s helped me personally get attention (and make friends!!!!!) on here. and hey - i’ve got a TERRIBLY over-the-top tagging system and people still follow me back now and then so i must be doing something right.