#but I need the instant gratification to post something

[moonlightandromache]

Being in love with Buck wasn’t an option.

It can’t be an option.

Because if it was, Eddie might do something stupid, like kiss his best friend.

Which is—not an option.

Eddie’s done that song and dance before, and that ended badly—leaving and being left, divorce papers, blood on hot asphalt.

But the thing is, Eddie can’t stop thinking about it. It’s been over a month since Buck came out to him, and Eddie can’t stop thinking about how Buck is an option now.

Which isn’t even entirely true, because Buck is with Tommy—Buck is happy with Tommy—and Eddie feels like his entire world is collapsing in on itself.

[semperama]

I wish someone would reblog a fic prompt list so I could have zero willpower and reblog it too even though I have approximately 3249082 fics I should finish writing instead.

[neallo]

enormous enormous problem which is that i finished my 5 x 1 but decided i should wait until end of july to post in order to give it its day in the sun (given the number of upcoming pieces i have for the meronia event and the rest of bury us both) but i am So So So Impatient

[ace-trainer-risu]

have resorted to bribing myself to work. which....is arguably what a salary is but frankly that's not cutting it anymore.

[cardentist]

hey, so people need to be aware that youtube is now (randomly) holding basic features for ransom (such as being able to pin comments under your own videos) in exchange for Your State ID/Drivers License, or a 30 Second Video Of Your Face.

not to pull a "think of the children," but No Actually. I've been making videos as a hobby since 2015 (and I've had my channel since middle school), I was a minor when I started and I'm not sure I would have understood the kind of damage something a seemingly simple as a video of your face can do.

this is a Massive breach of privacy and over-reach on google's part No Matter What, but if they're going to randomly demand a state ID or license then they absolutely should not allow minors to be creators.

google having a stockpile of identifying information on teenagers is bad enough, but the Alternative of recording your face and handing it over to be filed away is Alarming considering it opens the gates for minors who Aren't old enough to have a license.

and yes, there is a third option, but it's intentionally obtuse. a long wait period (2 months), with no guarantee of access (unlike, say, the convenience of using your phone's cameras for either of the other two), with absolutely No elaboration on what the criteria is or how it's being measured.

it's the same psychological effect that mobile games rely on. offer a slow, unreliable solution with no payment to make the Paid instant gratification look more appealing (the "payment" in this case being You. you are the product being offered).

and it's Particularly a system that (I think intentionally) disadvantages people who don't treat their channels like a job. hobbyists or niche creators who don't create regularly enough or aren't popular enough to meet whatever Vague criteria needs to be met to pass.

markiplier would have no problem passing, your little brother might not be able to. and while Mark's name is already out there there's no reason why your little brother's should be too.

something like pinned comments may seem simple, you don't technically Need it. but it's a feature that's been available for years. most people don't look at descriptions anymore. so when there's relevant information that needs to be delivered then the pinned comment is usually the go to.

for my little channel that information is about the niche series I create for. guides on how to get into the series, sources on where to find the content At All (and reliably so). for other creators it can be used for things Much More Important.

Moreover, if we let them get away with cutting away "small" features and selling it back to you for the price of your privacy, then they Will creep further. they Will take more.

Note: I have an update to this post here: [Link]

[krowbby]

craft hobbies i’m teaching the bg3 companions post game + after they finish their personal quests:

wyll: knitting or quilting. i think he would really appreciate the community aspect of it, and the grandmas at his local quilting circle would be absolutely obsessed with him. his first quilt is a lil wonky but he hangs it up on his wall because he’s proud of himself. also helps out around his local quilt/yarn store and tries to get some kids into the hobby as well

lae’zel: needle felting. you stab something a bunch. need i say more? jk i feel like she’d like something practical like leatherwork or even just basic mending, and she’d be very pleased when anyone complimented her on something she made.

astarion: embroidery baby! he loves finery and we already know he knows basic sewing from the flavor text on his camp clothes (at least that’s how i interpreted that). i think he’d enjoy making things truly his own and also enjoy seeing someone he loved wearing something he made for them. plus embroidery takes awhile and his immortal ass has the time

halsin: he already has a hobby in whittling, but i’m teaching him basic mending too. i think he’d like having it as a skill and also being able to teach the kids how to fix their stuff! (plus u never wanna be unprepared in a teddy bear injury emergency…)

shadowheart: i’m teaching her crochet bc honestly she deserves the instant gratification of how fast crochet can work up. she’d make cute little headbands with fancy granny squares and get excited about nice yarn

gale: i’m also teaching gale knitting. he’s pretty dexterous with respect to casting somatic components of spells so i think he’s got the hand dexterity for it, and i think once he made a weirdly long tube (?) awkward first knitting project he’d take to it really quickly and somehow end up knitting spells into garments

karlach: ok karlach is actually learning needle felting. i think she’d make wonky little adorable creatures and she’d love every one with all her heart. she’d go around to everyone and be like look it’s you as an animal!!!! and you can barely tell it has a face. but it’s also the most precious think you’ve ever seen. you get it

minthara: ok minthara is hard this woman is dead focused on ambition. to help her get it out of her system i’m getting her into warhammer, helping her paint minis, and then setting her loose to become undisputed queen of the local game store. sorry guys u don’t stand a chance

bonus: i’m teaching withers to spin yarn. he shows up with a ball of yarn for you and you’re like what fiber is this and he’s like hm? and you drop it but it’s the most amazing yarn you’ve ever worked with.

[starmosaics]

Shadow of natal Venus-Lilith aspects

This post is about Black Moon Lilith and i'm mainly talking about the conjunction and harsh aspects.

I have Venus conjunct Lilith in my own chart so here's some notes based off of my personal experience and observations. Sidenote: I am not shaming anyone for having these shadow aspects as they exist within me as well. Dominant Lilith folks are meant to self integrate their shadow sides to gain better awareness and to accept them to become whole. Everything I speak about are things I currently struggle with or have previously struggled with. I want this to be nothing but a safe space for Lilith dominant folks.

Sexualization and fetishization: These people are often sexualized at a very young age and throughout their lives. People often make sexual comments or gestures towards these individuals. Venus-Lilith folks may also become fetishized. People can project their fantasies onto Venus-Lilith natives, treating them as objects, only viewing them as sexual figures rather than actual human beings. People may have hidden agendas towards the Venus-Lilith person as well usually revolving around wanting to obtain something from them such as sex. People may paint Venus-Lilith people to be provocative and "sexually suggestive" when they're simply just existing.

Society: Lilith dominant people are often shamed by others. People project things onto them and create false perceptions of them. Society will stare, create assumptions, and speak behind these people's back. One of the purposes of Lilith dominance in a chart is for the person to completely leave societal expectations to follow their own unique path and to do it fearlessly. This is a huge challenge for them as they will often feel judged, unaccepted and ridiculed by others. They may have had family members project certain ideals onto them which in return they internalized and grew up trying to fit in with everyone around them. They may have been bullied during their developmental years, or got sucked into societal standards. Whatever a Lilith dominant person does that isn't deemed acceptable by the common collective, there will be talk. They must learn to disregard this and to continue to walk their own path and life their lives to the fullest; something that's true to them. They must honor the things that make them different from others.

Self image and self esteem: When/if sexualized at a young age or shamed by others, they can easily internalize this and seek external validation which in return ruins their perceptions of themselves and their self esteem. They could have an obsession over wanting to achieve perfection committing to an ideal that often is projected onto them by another. These people must work on healing this aspect within themselves as they can easily act on self hatred or create a false image of themselves, essentially creating a mask.

Control: Venus-Lilith folks may have issues regarding control within themselves and their relationships. They may resist any control that is put onto them, but can push to control their partners. They have a difficulty with being told no which can lead to acting impulsively and seeking instant gratification to get what they want; when their eyes are set on something, they do everything to get it. They also can have a hard time with compromising with partners due to their need for control. The need for control often stems from not wanting to be taken advantage of by others, especially by their partners.

Men...: Something to be mindful of is men treat Lilith dominant people weirdly. Men who are in relationships will show interest, men will stare at you wherever you go, their eyes will dart or follow your every move, men will unsolicitedly approach you, men will try to control and dominate you, men will think you're seducing them, men will project their fantasies onto you and have no shame in making it known, and men will objectify and sexualize you. I've had men suggest sex or straight up ask me for it; men who I've barely spoken to or just met. It's disgusting.

Sexuality: I have seen this play out in mainly two different ways; one being the Venus-Lilith person refraining from indulging in their sexual desires, restraining their sexuality and sexual expression, or the Venus-Lilith person discovering their sexuality earlier on and becoming sexually liberated. The shadow sides of these two scenarios is they can either be sexually repressed, usually caused by shame or guilt for having such desires, or they can overt their sexuality in an unhealthy manner, leading to debauchery or to gain or win something from another by luring them in. These people must create a healthy relationship with their sexuality and sexual desires so it's not completely dormant and kept on the backburner, or so it doesn't completely overrule their lives.

Relationships: Oftentimes relationships are complicated for Venus-Lilith natives. They can become another person's rebound, can become a third party (or what they call the other woman/a mistress) in someone else's relationship, can enter a toxic relationship, can confuse passion, limerence, and lust for love, or can repeatedly face heartbreak and chaos in one's love life. Something i've experienced in myself and have noticed in others is that there's sometimes there's a struggle with give in take in their relationships. They may want or expect their partner to fulfill all their needs, essentially wanting more than what they can give. They can have a difficult time with feeling entirely satisfied and may unconsciously ask for more than what a person can give. They may put their needs first or focus on how a relationship will serve them rather than entering something solely for love. Venus-Lilith people may be obsessive and have attachments towards potential partners OR they attract obsessive people. Even in the beginning stage of a relationship, they may find that their partners become quickly attached and possessive over the Venus-Lilith native. Jealousy is also another thing they may face within themselves or whomever they're romantically involved with. When they are in love, they're super intense; feeling love so strongly that it consumes them. Heartbreak is incredibly painful for anybody, but people with Venus-Lilith may completely rip themselves apart if heartbroken. At the end of a painful heartbreak or lesson in love, there's always an incredible transformation these individuals go through to better understand themselves and their shadows, deepest desires and fears, and others.

[yesimwriting]

Felix and lovie:

L: but... arent promise rings meant for bfs and gfs?

Felix: i mean, we made the promise to always be close so its our promise ring i think.

L: i guess youre right!

Farleigh: 🧍🏾‍♂️

i want to queue posts before i go on my trip but i also i love instant gratification ahhh

this isn’t exactly promise rings but i think it feels pretty close

His room still smells the same--faint traces of smoke and cologne blending into slightly humid air. You're not sure what you expected. Felix left for a weekend for some family function his mother wanted him to attend. Two days.

Not a significant amount of time. Not enough time to change anything, and yet you felt every second of it. You missed him. Missed him more than you think you'd ever be willing to admit.

"Did you miss me?" There's no way he knows what you were thinking about, but there's something about the slight tilt of his head and his barely there smile.

You hold his gaze for a beat before letting your attention fall to your shoes. "Maybe a little."

Felix's mouth falls open in a mock gasp. "Maybe?" And then, still completely appalled, "A little?"

You press your lips together into a firm line to keep from laughing at his reaction. Felix moves to stand, leaving his bed in favor of approaching you. In an attempt to hold your ground, you cross your arms in front of your chest. Felix disregards your feeble line of defense, continuing forward until you're within easy reach.

"I could say--" Felix places a firm hand on your shoulder. A sound between a laugh and something slightly more panicked tumbles through your sentence. "I could say I missed you a lot, but--" Another hand on your other shoulder, another clumsy laugh. "But I don't need to feed your ego."

He pulls you forward gently until your face hits his chest. You halfheartedly lift your arm in an empty attempt to push him away. You're quicker to embrace defeat, glad for the excuse to be near him, really near him.

You hugged Felix when he first got back to campus, but with his usual crowd all desperate to catch up with him and Farleigh right there, you felt a little more watched than usual. You couldn't do what you really wanted, couldn't take a beat to just absorb Felix's warmth.

"So you were being mean."

You're only half listening, more focused on wrapping your arms around Felix. The scent of his detergent is stronger than usual, nearly obscuring the scent of his cigarettes entirely. Maybe he smoked less this weekend. You try to picture Felix under some kind of authority, sneaking cigarettes out on a patio to avoid upsetting his parents. It's so normal, a part of you regrets not getting to see him like that.

His hand presses against your back. "Lovie?"

You lift your head enough to look at him. "Yeah?"

Felix's eyebrows briefly pull together. He watches you for a moment before grinning. "You missed me."

His smugness has the instinct to protest crawling up your throat, but there's something so content about his expression, you can't bring yourself to deny it the way you usually would. "I missed you. A lot."

Felix's grin broadens. He tilts his head downwards, his lips briefly brushing against your forehead. He straightens before responding, "You could have come with me."

You did meet Felix's sister during your Christmas break trip, and she was really nice, but Felix's world is still something you're vaguely wary of. Maybe you could have come around to the idea of meeting Felix's parents, but the thought of attending some event intended only for his family was a little overwhelming, especially because Felix didn't invite any of his other friends.

"It was a family thing."

Felix lets out a soft sigh. "I brought Farleigh."

"Farleigh's your cousin, he was already invited."

He pulls back slightly, his hands moving away from your back as he lets go of you. "No one cares if you bring a date to those things." It's the same argument he used in an attempt to get you to go with him. "It's to keep the night bearable."

"Bearable?" You beam. "You missed me."

From you, it's an accusation. Felix's eyebrows draw together, like he's unsure why you felt the need to say something so obvious. "I missed you." He shifts back on his heels in a way that borders on uncertain. "So much, I brought you back a present."

You raise your eyebrows at that. Felix is a thorough person. When he gives someone his attention, that person has his entire focus. When Felix gives presents, he tends to be just as generous. It's not a bad thing, but it is something the two of you have talked about. Yes, you're best friends, but that doesn't mean you want Felix splurging on you. Even if it's not splurging to him.

Felix turns, walking towards the bag that he left on his bed. With his back to you, it's a little easier to watch him openly. He went to English countryside for some charity event put on by some cousin. What could he have gotten? "A present?"

He unzips his bag. "Yes," Felix shifts through his close, "A present."

When Felix turns to face you again, there's a something small and square in his hand. The closer Felix gets, the clearer the object becomes. A box that's oddly reminiscent of a jewelry box.

With an abruptness that doesn't seem to suit him, Felix extends his arm to hand you the box. You watch Felix as you take the box, doing your best to decipher his expression. He's strangely blank.

You open the box, revealing a ring safely tucked between cushioned velvet. There's an image carved into the flat face of the ring. The carving of an arrow-pierced hand emerging from a crown is vaguely familiar. You might have cared about placing the image more if the ring was less stunning.

"You um--you wear a lot of rings, so I thought..."

You do wear a lot of rings, there are several on your fingers right now. "It's really pretty."

"My mum was going through some older pieces this weekend and it reminded me of you." The explanation is mumbled cautiously, Felix's attention shifting from you to the ring and then back to you.

Your lips part, an uncertainty you're not accustomed to feeling around him making it hard to speak. You don't know everything about Felix's family history, but you know enough to understand that when he says something from his home is old, he means it.

"Lex." The gesture tugs at a sentimental part of you that exists solely in the pit of your stomach. "That's really sweet, and it's really pretty, but I can't take some family heirloom from you."

His eyebrows pinch together in a way that feels more confused than directly unhappy. "You're not taking it, I'm giving it to you." Felix shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "C'mon, I've got loads of these, it's just been sitting in some closet."

Felix is watching you with wide, almost pleading eyes. You let your gaze fall back onto the ring. With no warning, Felix places a hand over yours. "We'll trade."

You don't fully understand what he's getting at until Felix starts to straighten your fingers. He twists the ring that's on your ring finger. It's a nice ring, a simple band with thin carvings that you picked up at a vintage jewelry shop on a whim, but it's not exactly an even trade.

Felix slides the ring off your finger. A trade is a little easier to accept. The two of you share things like bracelets all the time. "Okay," you pause to take a breath, "But if you ever want it back..."

"Yeah, I know." The words feel like a dismissal. You narrow your eyes briefly, but don't push the subject the way you normally would. You're too happy to see him to care about technicalities.

Felix pulls the ring out of the box and slips onto your finger. You bend your fingers and turn over your hand to get a feel for the ring and its size. It fits. "It's really nice."

"It suits you."

Before Felix can pull your ring onto his finger, you put your hand over his. He lets take your ring from between his fingers. You hold your thumb beneath Felix's palm, the rest of your fingers curling over his knuckles. Felix keeps his fingers straight as you place your own ring on his finger. "There."

Felix grins. "There?"

"Yeah, it's--" You ignore the warmth attempting to make its way up your neck. "It's in place."

He stretches his fingers, studying the way the band looks on him. There's something about his expression you can't quite read, but it doesn't seem unpleasant. He drops his hand before you can attempt to decipher his thoughts any further. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

You drag your thumb against the side of the ring. "Yeah, a movie sounds nice."

----

fun fact the design carved into the ring is supposed to be the catton family crest :)

taglist; @vader-is-hot @spiritofbuddha @getosangie @freyafriggafrey @ilovehyperfixating @aryiannarae @willowpains @ker0senebunny @lilyrachelcassidy @khxna @imbabycowboy

[prettyboykatsuki]

gen question tho do you wonder why the culture of fanfic has shifted to where smut is by far the most common and most popular type of fic? i stumbled upon a writer a few months ago who openly admitted to only writing what she did because it got her followers and notes on her posts and she apologized for mischaracterizing some characters in her smut pieces. it was the first time ive ever seen that as just something ppl talked about and felt comfortable to say

i have a metapost about this somewhere floating around this blog but the long and short of it is that fandom is reflecting our current cultural values around commodity and instant gratification.

it's hard to describe but the commodification of fandom has generally made some parts of it performative. people dont see reading fanfiction as just... engaging with someones work but as a kind of consumption. authors are not people but "content" creators. artists must advertise themselves to recieve any noteworthy response.

so its less community oriented and more commodified.

im a smut blog primarily so i have to clarify - there's nothing wrong with people choosing to write smut or preferring to read it. im not critiquing smut itself or its presence in fandom culture. and i never would. i literally write porn and smut itself has plenty of merit and value. and its especially important to be writing really dirty erotica in a culture that is sex obsessed yet so puritanical

the issue itself lies with how that process has ultimately dismantled the community aspect of fandom. if you've been present in fanculture prior to 2020 - you will know it was not like this. proship discourse, engagement discourse, etc - all of this happens because fandom culture itself has become a commodity

i think smut as a genre provides ease of tension and the most instant gratification in terms of writing. things like long ongoing fic that may or may not finished, or angst, or fluff - these things can, and do get popular from time to time. but people have a much shorter attention span, and getting that same type of release will take longer.

specifically it will require a reader to engage in the story more actively to see it through. that used to be the norm. but fandom itself has been commodified - so people view all of this as a passive and endless stream of content they can observe instead of a community of people in which their presence as lurkers and readers are needed. this also why i think a lot of engagement discourse can feel very misdirected

there is no longer and ecosystem in which to preserve the things that made fandom good. its reflective of the culture. the same reason smut blows up and and why netflix release 8 episode action packed series instead of 25 with better pacing is the same - the causation for these things are the same. its commodity, need for gratification, and trying to get ahold and maintain peoples attention.

its not the fault of author nor readers that this happens. theres always merit in writing your own original work. there's merit in all writing.

the increased popularity of smut is just a byproduct of the culture we're in right now. it doesn't make all smut low effort or automatically less worthy of peoples time (which is why i feel deeply irritated when i see posts talking about how the tags are only smut) . its just the genre with the quickest release of tension, and that's why people are seeking out in their media all the time right now.

fandom reflects culture, not the other way around. and right now culture demands engagement be solely to be gratified, as consumed - instead of experienced and enjoyed.

[jojo-oliver]

How to tumblr for artists… my own version

A collection of things that have been working for me, but may not work for everyone

~~~ your posts ~~~

!!!reblog your own stuff!!! you need to reblog your own stuff, there is nothing morally wrong with reblogging your own stuff regularly. in fact, it is morally right to allow the chance for more people to see your artwork.

~~~ queue it!! ~~~ my queue is 500 posts strong. maybe don't try to make your queue hundreds of posts strong in the same day omg but like… once every month or two i'll go through my whole blog and just scroll and "add to drafts" to every one of my own posts i have. then i'll use the "mass post editor" to add content warning tags. and add to queue, and shuffle. and then I write down what the date was for when I last added my posts to be reblogged on queue. this is helped by turning on timestamps for posts in tumblr "dashboard preferences" settings.

queueing is necessary and life saving for me. It takes out so much work with decision fatigue and the anxiety around posting. It also guarantees that even if I suddenly need time off or away from my phone, I don't just disappear and lose all traction. It also breaks the instant-gratification cycle that you expect when you finish an artwork. It's hard to keep creating when you post something and, when you're expecting to get that gratification, you get none... If you queue your new artwork to come out at a later time, you've separated that expectation - with time. It hurts less and contributes to a more consistent gratification thing instead of peaks and troughs.

~~~ tag ya stuff ~~~ when you're making a new post, the first 20 tags are what gets put into the searchable tags. do not feel shame for using lots of tags. shame is the mind-killer. tags are hard. hard to know what to tag a post with. hard to remember the tags. so I found some ways to help myself. maybe they'll help you too. dedicate some time towards just figuring out what tags you want to use. i have a list in my phone notes that i add tags to and reference whenever i'm making a new post. i have the phone right beside the laptop while i'm tagging so that i can just look at it and scroll. tags are the only way for people to find your artwork, other than people manually coming to your blog because they saw you somewhere. there is no algorithm. posting without tags, until you have an established fanbase, is throwing something into the void.

When I'm doing tag research, I look at what people seem to use - when you put something in the search bar, tumblr recommends you some that have a higher following, typically. Looks like this on desktop:

if you like one tag, look at what other people who use that tag also tag their posts with. Observe and learn how this tag is used. search through a bunch of them and write them down.

here's what i got in my notes, for the specific kind of art I post and look for:

these tags are sort of specific to me and the kind of art I make. You'll want to research your own tags, but this is an example of how I keep them organized to make posting more effective. I generally only write down a tag when it's got more than 2k followers. You might be tempted to use the tags with millions of followers, but I've actually found those a lot less functional for small artists. If your stuff doesn't immediately get a bunch of notifications, you're drowned out and pushed to the bottom much faster. But the bigger tags are better than no tags, so I keep them if I can't think of anything else to tag something with.

~~~ post at the right times….? ~~~

fridays and saturdays is when I post fresh new things... usually. every website has it's own peak hours, and you can find those hours in many different online articles that try to sell you social media growth services. tumblr is unique in having later hours.

here's some random graph from google images:

please don't over think this. please don't let this consume the idea of when to post, preventing you from posting at all. it doesn't mean too much - if you post during very active hours, maybe your art would just be pushed down the feed faster. if you post at the end of hours, maybe everyone's going to sleep… if you post at inactive hours, maybe there's less 'competition'… if you post at the beginning of active hours, maybe that's just more time for your post to circulate for the day, if you have enough people reblogging it once it drops....

this also is in EST. So fuck the other time zones, I guess. I'm over here in europe knowing that the "best" time to post would be like 2-3am or something. It's like this for most english-speaking majority sites - higher traffic in north american time zones.

it's also worth mentioning that this is scattered as heck, compared to other social media sites. and it's not like, the activity times of your followers. it's not the best time to post for your niche. this is just tumblr, broadly. all of tumblr.

~~~ Plan ahead for annual dates ~~~

Your artwork will get more circulation if it's posted on a celebratory day. You could just put them on your calendar and if you're wondering what to make, look on the calendar for what's coming soon. For example, asexual awareness day, trans day of visibility, location-specific holidays, etc. Here's my phone notes thing with my own recorded annuals:

I got these dates from googling and reading different articles, but I find that I still miss dates, and then I add them for next year. If you know of some I missed, tell me and I'll add them please <3

~~~ reblog other people's stuff ~~~

tumblr is sorta about ecosystems. things get passed around within groups of people that are all following eachother. to enter this ecosystem, you must engage and reblog other people's stuff too.

if you reblog other artists' stuff, sometimes they'll come over and reblog your stuff too. sometimes they'll follow you back. this is called becoming a mutual. I'll search specific tags for the kinds of people I want to follow and the kind of art I like - those are listed in the screenshot of my tag note under "Tags for finding new people".

I see a lot of blogs out there that are very clean, posts are tagless, and are only for the artists' content. like scrolling through a portfolio. I imagine this is good for people who are migrating to tumblr but already have their own established fanbase from elsewhere.

you don't need to do reblog other people's stuff on your art blog, you can do this on a separate blog. but if the two don't look very closely correlated, it's hard to tell who you are when you're interacting. and hard to make sure people know that you are the same person as your art blog. and you gotta remember to promote yourself on your personal blog.

~~~ have an art tag ~~~

make your blog easy to search!

if i go to your blog, and you've written 'artist' or 'sometimes art' in your bio, i wanna see it… it make me so sad when i don't get to see it. i want to reblog it. please let me reblog it :(

to make a tag on your own blog searchable, you don't need to repost it to add a tag. you don't even need to reblog it. you can actually just go back to the original post and edit it to add your tag. I've seen post people just have their art tag be something like #(blogname)art . you can see my own in my tags image above. if it's very unique, then it'll work tumblr-wide. I think that's good, since the tumblr search function is really weird. Otherwise it should still work if it's not entirely unique, people just have to make sure they're searching specifically your blog to see only your stuff.

I like to have a link in my pinned post where people can click to have immediately searched for my art tag. Convenience is king. Keep in mind that most people are on mobile, and if something isn't immediately clickable, they often won't find it.

~~~ be consistent and be patient ~~~

!!!this time will pass anyway!!! how many notes you have is not correlated with how good you are as an artist. wanting to earn something from your art means you essentially have two jobs. two potentially full time jobs. this shit's difficult. most of the job is promoting yourself. don't undersell how hard it is to do… don't feel bad for not immediately succeeding. I would write about how hard it's been to promote myself, but it would just be long and sad I think.

This isn't a full guide, please feel free to add more!!

I'm sure in another year I'll disagree with a lot of this, it will become irrelevant with time, and I'll have a lot of different opinions. Chip in and share what you've been doing? Teach me? This is very overwhelming. Don't do it all at once, just like, try one thing at a time, and see how it works for you. Your niche might be different. One size does not fit all. If you're confused about some of the things I talk about in here, you might be on mobile. I do most of my queueing and posting from the desktop browser version.

I will update this with more as things change, but I think you'll have to click through to see the updated post

[kyoshitargaryen]

decentring the 3D

note: this is a section of my larger post a neurodivergent breakdown of the 3D and 4D for manifesting + shifting which you can read here. someone suggested I should make this its own post, so here it is!

I came up with this idea after hearing about the feminist concept of decentring men.

what is decentring men?

the concept of decentring men is to turn away from patriarchal and male-centric perspectives and beliefs, instead turning inward and focusing on your own wants, wishes, desires, and needs. instead of looking for validation through men or other social means, you simply validate yourself. where you may have valued the social norm or others, you instead place yourself at the centre of your own life.

how can we decentre the 3D?

just like the patriarchy has taught us to seek validation from external factors like men, the world has taught us to find validation in what is right in front of us — the 3D.

like decentring men, we must learn how to find satisfaction and validation in the 4D instead of seeking instant gratification from the 3D. there are many ways to do this, including;

understanding that you are in fact in your DR / already have your manifestations

it's agreed that time is not linear, it is simply that our brain processes it as such. even if you do not personally believe in shifting or the multiverse, it has been widely agreed that time moves in all directions, not just forward. by that reasoning, you already have your desire, and you're already in your desired reality, because events exist even when our brains have not yet processed them.

take the 3D as though it were someone doubting you

have you ever expressed a dream, desire, aspiration to someone, only to be told you could never do it or it's not possible? think of the 3D as being the same way. what do you do then?

prove them wrong. brush it off your shoulders. read my post about how to do this here.

Schrödinger's Cat — understanding that you are in your DR until you allow yourself to view otherwise

Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment that boils down to the fact that we cannot guarantee an outcome if we do not experience it, i.e. a quantum superposition, which is the principal that something can exist or be represented by multiple values (or outcomes).

the cat is both alive and dead on a quantum level, until we observe an outcome. a path has not yet been carved until we align ourselves to one. you may benefit from my post on the butterfly effect and how it validates shifting and infinite realities, which you can read here.

close your eyes. you are both in your desired reality and your original reality until you prove to yourself otherwise, as in, opening your eyes. at the same time, thanks to infinite realities, you are both in your desired reality, your original reality, and infinite more until you choose to become aware of one singular reality.

when you choose to shift, you are in your desired reality until you allow yourself to come back to your original reality, by quitting. lean into that knowledge — allow yourself to truly feel that when you visualize, affirm, or try to shift to your DR, you are genuinely there. find validation and satisfaction in that. allow yourself to say I shifted whenever you do those things.

[ofmermaidstories]

Hello merms,

Quick question. I need some advice.

In the middle of planning a fic I am working on for the jjk fandom but I find myself a little overwhelmed.

I know that writing is the end all and be all but I was wondering what your planning process is?

How do you research for your works? Do you refer to your research often?

And what do you come out with at the end of a planning session?

I know I cannot write up a full chapter just after the planning. Do you have notes or bullet points detailing or skeletal of what the plot is going to be?

you absolutely can write up a full chapter just after planning. you can do whatever you want and whatever feels right, fer. 😌 there’s literally no right or wrong with this, we’re all going to have completely different approaches to writing bc we’re all completely different people. my own planning tends to be pretty extreme—i wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, tbh, especially if you’re already feeling a little boxed in about how to approach things. but maybe breaking your idea down into stages will help!!

essentially what i do is build up my idea in stages. 1) i get an idea, 2) throw some adjoining ideas for it at a wall to see what sticks 3) tidy things up into a rough outline 4) refine into a tighter outline 5) write the fic proper. Stages 1+2 are loosey goosey lmao, it’s just that like, free-for-all fun of being like “OMG i have an idea” and then the quick-grab brainstorming of pieces that’ll make it stronger. Stage 3 is more intentional, like, bullet points come into play, I start to move things around in a timeline—if there’s things that i need to research (places or things or whatever) then i’ll do that here. How I research depends on the topic—sometimes i’ll refer to proper references, sometimes it’s more casual like just asking other people about their experiences lmao. But either way the end result of whatever I’ve learnt is the same: it gets chucked unceremoniously into my outline, where appropriate (like if it’s being experienced by our Main Character), and referred to as I’m covering that part. Sometimes I make seperate notes—but I don’t tend to hover back and forth to them, because most of the time like, I’ve kinda already absorbed the important parts when I was obsessively learning about it, or whatever, LOL.

Stage 4 is probably the most subjective, tbh, bc by stage 3 I have the entirety of the fic in bullet point form—in Stage 4 i refine those bullet points into what’s essentially a rough draft of the fic chapter by chapter, like so:

Stage 5 takes the longest, because it’s the proper writing—I take what I refined in stage 4 and write the chapter proper, so that we end up with something like this:

i don’t do all the stages at once. i wish i did bc then i would wipe the floor with literally everyone forever lmfao, but they all take varying levels of energy/insanity, and sometimes ya girl here likes to lay face down in her pillows and not move for seventeen hours a pop. 😎💅🏽 when we start moving like a human being again, things might go like: i breeze through stages 1+2, start stage 3 if i’m really excited, sit on that for the first few days or week or so, and then eventually when i feel confident that the idea is sticking, move into stage 4 where i start to treat things seriously (ie, i sit there and work on it like it’s a proper project as opposed to me screaming at my friends). by stage 4, if i’ve done my job correctly, i’m straining at the leash to properly write—so once i’ve got the groundwork down i go for it. 🐎

i say this in the first post i linked, but i approach things in this way bc i like taking the ideas or whatever seriously—i have fun with each of these stages, i take my time with them deliberately because of that. its not a method compatible with instant gratification: it’s very much a system that relies on you finding your own fun in the process, for better or worse. my outlines are intensive because i need them to be, it’s the bones and flesh of the friend i am building myself, one i can pour my excitement about this project into, because the only one who cares about my ideas is me, LOL. i’m also a very slow writer, so doing things this way is like… reassurance, LOL. it’s okay that i take ages to do any one thing, because a lot goes into it, etc etc so forth and so on.

this hasn’t been advice, this has just been me telling you what i do. my actual advice, fer, for you specifically, is to make your notes for your research, hum over your idea for a little, maybe, give yourself some bullet points or whatnot if you need them—and then indeed just write that chapter. :) don’t psyche yourself out of having fun!!! just go for it!!!!!!! starting is the hardest part—so just start ferby. 🩷 everything will fall into place from there.

[male-fictioner]

Boyfriends

Pairing: DomTop!Liam Payne x Bottom!male reader x SoftTop!Niall Horan

Category: SMUT

Warnings: Gay sex, anal, blowjobs, smut, marking, overstimulation, multiple rounds, possessiveness, jealousy, DP, idk i'm probably missing something.

A/n: I hope I did just to the request. I got distracted and hence the backstory is more drawn out that the smut. I'm sorry 😭😭.

Word Count: 2.8k words

Read at your own discretion.

"Will you be our boyfriend?" were not the words you were expecting to hear from the two people standing in front of you.

You were just surprised that these two hot guys want to be with you. You did not even realise when that happened or how that happened but you knew somehow you made them fall in love with you.

But all this started when you got famous. I mean how else would Liam Payne and Niall Horan even come to know about your existence.

You still vividly remember the first time you met them. Anyone who says that they are into guys and have never had a crush on one of the One Direction members then they are probably lying because how could you not. There is a whole variety to choose from.

And you certainly had your crushes on the guys in front of you. Asking you the question you always wanted to hear and hence you said, “YES! I would love to be your boyfriend.”

**********************************************

You always loved singing and always loved music. Being a musician, a singer has always been your dream. A dream you were ready to follow no matter what. So you started to write and record music at a very early age. You submitted it to various record houses.

Once you had graduated high school, you music journey began with a call that went like,

“Hello, am I talking to Mr. Y/n L/n?” said a guy with a low deep voice.

“Yes, who am I talking to?” you asked

“Mr. L/n, I am Robert Matthews from a2z record label. You have submitted your music to us, we would like to set up a meeting with you. We really think you have potential” 

You couldn’t believe your ears, someone liked your music? 

That meeting which you attended was the best thing that had ever happened to you. They had really liked your music and they were interested to sign you. You almost signed the contract that very moment but thought it was better if you actually consulted some people who had more knowledge than you. 

You were barely an adult and this was a huge step to take. So after some careful consideration you decided to sign on with them. 

But you didn't get the instant gratification you were hoping for when you worked vigorously for a whole year just to get an album. It took time to figure out what your sound will be. How you want your music to be. You also needed a lot of help to write your lyrics and everything. 

But after this year, your debut album was released. Save for some singles released by you over the course of the year to introduce you to your audience, this was really a big step for you. 

And this is where your life turns upside down. After the release of your album, a lot of people got to know you. Of Course you were no chart- breaking success but your album did well to get you invited to music events and also get you nominated for awards. 

You had Niall Horan to thank for some of your success too. On your post about releasing your album, there was a like by NIALL FREAKING HORAN and you were literally screaming when you got a COMMENT by him that went like,

Congratulations on your debut. You sound amazing.’

And this literally got you the free promotion you could have never even asked for.

After wondering what to reply, you just sent a ‘Thank you so much.’ But not without sending him a quick dm. 

And this is how you can say their friendship flourished and your old crush that he had stuffed somewhere deep inside reignited. After this, you and Niall talked a lot. Niall was a great mentor to you and helped you a lot with the journey. 

A few weeks later you were attending the Brits as you were nominated and supposed to perform. Niall was gonna be there and you both met each other at the show. You were a nervous wreck thinking thoughts of ruining your performance, not winning the show etc.  

This is when Niall introduced you to Liam Payne. You could not believe your eyes that he was actually in front of you. You wouldn’t be lying if you said that he was hotter in real life. All those muscles looked delectable. And what you had only thought about in your dreams, was actually happening. You were sitting across your crushes and having a conversation with them. It is actually surprising how you were calmly talking with them without choking on your tongue. 

The whole night, they kept you company and talked about all sorts of things to calm your nerves. They told you about their first experience and how they felt. That helped you somehow. Even though you did not win the award, your performance was amazing. And you received some applause for it too.

This meeting led you, Niall and Liam getting closer than before. You even decided to invite them to the opening show of your tour. While it was a small tour, it was very good for a budding artist. After the show, they took you out for dinner as a celebration. 

This led to you feeling comfortable with them and so did they. And hence they told you that they were dating each other for the past 4 years. You were surprised to say the least but very supportive of them. You told them that you are gay too and they were extremely supportive too. 

You guys had dinner with each other often and the media thought this was a mentor- mentee relationship. Which it was but you had wanted more. After finding out that they were together, you did not want to ruin their relationship and so you decided to distance yourself. Not directly but emotionally.

With this, he started to flirt with other people, hookup with them just trying to get himself over a relationship he never even had.

What he didn't know was that Niall and Liam also wanted him as much as he wanted them if not more.

Oblivious to your want being matched, you continued flirting with other people. When you went to an album release party of some famous singer, whose name you couldn't remember, you were flirting with someone you really didn’t care about. That’s when you spotted Liam and Niall talking at the other side.

“I’ll be back in 5 minutes.” you told the guy you were with and went to talk to the guys.

“Heyy I did not know you were going to be here. It’s such a good surprise.” you said hugging them.

You had some small talk and parted to go back to your hookup for the night. 

Little did you know, they had been looking at you all this time. Seeing how you were talking to some guy who wasn’t them. Getting close to him, hardly any space between you. Bodies pressed together, slow and sensual movements, whispers in each other's ears, those chaste kisses and how you laughed at his jokes. They were seeing everything and the only thought in their mind was, that should be us.

Your fingers grazed his bicep and other on his neck, while his being on your waist inching lower and lower as time passed. That is when Liam and Niall decided that this is it. You were theirs and they will show you today.

When they stalked towards you, you and the guy were already making out with each other. After feeling a presence, you turn around and see Liam and Niall standing there. The look in their eyes was something you had never seen in the past almost year you had known them. It was something raw, anger, jealousy, lust? You couldn’t figure it out.

“Lets go Y/n” Liam said with an authoritative voice that sent a chill down your spine.

Without any question, you followed them despite the protests from your partner for that night. You shot him a ‘I’ll call you later look’ and left.

After going out, you finally managed to find your voice and asked in a low voice, “Where are we going?” 

“To our hotel room.” Niall replied. 

Liam did not say anything and after this neither did Niall. The ride to their hotel room was quiet and awkward. The sexual tension thick in the air. They let you enter the room first and before you could say anything, you were backed up against the wall by two taller guys and somehow they felt extra tall.

“What do you think you were doing?” Liam asked, staring in my eyes.

You gulped and replied, “What did I do?”

“Hooking up with other people when you want us and we want you. Teasing us like this. That is what you did.” Liam answered your question leaving you in complete shock to know that they want you. You looked at Niall for confirmation and his eyes said it all. He did not verbally reply but a slight nod made it clear.

You must have been blind to not see their interest in you. Lost deep in your thought, you did not realise when you ended up on the edge of the bed. When your legs felt the bed, it brought you out of your thoughts. You ended up with your back to the mattress. Liam and Niall looked at you like hungry predators who had just found their prey for the night. You gulped nervously wondering what is gonna happen to you. 

Noticing this shift in your behaviour, Niall being the sweet man he is, asked, “You want this too right?”

“Yes, yes I want it. I want you guys. Please.” You replied hurriedly looking at both of them. Niall smiled and inched closer to you.

“Look at him Niall, we haven’t even touched him and he is already hungry for our cocks. What a slut.” Liam said with a mocking smirk. His dirty talk led to an involuntary moan coming from your mouth to which he only seemed to be more pleased. 

“What do you want, baby boy? Tell us exactly what you want so we can give it to you.” He continued making you more and more flustered.

“I want you to fuck me.” You tried to reply as plainly as possible but your reddened face was betraying you.

“Come on Liam, don't tease him that much.” Niall laughed, turning to kiss you, giving you the first intimate moment of the night. His kiss was soft and inviting. It was teasing your lips making you want more. It felt different than any other kiss you hav had yet. Soft but equally dominating. Passionate but filled with love. His tongue licked your lips and you parted them to give him entrance. Both your tongues lapping each other and he let you win the game of dominance.

All this while, Liam was busy making quick work of the three of your clothes. He undressed himself and Niall first after which he moved on to you leaving all three of you in underwear. You felt a shiver once he was done with your clothes. 

You and Niall broke the kiss to catch your breath. Liam got next to you, took your face in his hands and said ,”My turn.” 

His kiss was much different than Nialls. It was rough, passionate and dominating. It was hard. He kissed you like you were his source of oxygen. You moaned when you felt lips on your neck. The source of them was Niall. This gave Liam the perfect time to enter your mouth. Your tongues fought for dominance but it was no fight at all. He had already won. 

After kissing for a while and Niall covering you in marks, you ended up with puffed lips and red spots covering your neck. You probably looked ruined already and this was only the start.

“Whose a better kisser Y/n us or the guy you were with ?” Liam asked, still being jealous about the night.

“You both. I can’t even remember his kiss. I only remember your lips.” You said lustfully. 

The answer seemed to satisfy him as he turned to Niall and asked, “How do you want to do this Niall?” He ignored your presence as he asked this like you had no input on how the night goes.

“Whatever you decide.” Niall replied. 

“I’ll take his ass, you take his mouth.” Liam said nonchalantly. 

And this is how you ended up on your hands and knees with Liam prepping your ass and eating you out while Niall takes your mouth.

Liam starts by licking a long stripe from your balls to your hole. He slowly pushed his tongue in the tight heat of your hole and you let out a moan at the intrusion. He pushes his tongue deeper at your sounds. Niall settles near the headboard taking off his underwear and bringing his cock to a semi hard state. He puts a finger in your mouth and you suck at it expertly. 

Once Liam is done with eating you out, he lubes his fingers up and enters one finger in the tight ring of muscles. Seeing the discomfort on your face, Niall tries comforting you.

“Relax for us baby, let us take care of you. We’ll make you feel good.”  he said running his fingers through your hair and kissing you softly.

Liam enters another finger and soon another opening you up for their big nice cocks.

Once he feels that you are loose enough, he and Niall enter you at the same time leaving you perplexed. Niall’s 6.5 inch dick making its way to the back of your throat is met with vibrations from your moans while Liam’s 8 inch dick enters your tight hole slowly but surely. 

After both of them have stuffed you up, they start moving. Niall keeps hitting the back of your throat while Liam keeps hammering you from behind making you choke more on Niall's length. Niall has a hand in your hair holding you firmly. And Liam has gripped your hips tight enough that they’ll leave bruises. He marks your back while drilling your hole making you moan and all the sensations go to Niall's dick.

There are praises being thrown at you often enough. You can hardly process most of them your mind being too hazy with all the sex.

You heard Niall say, "Such a good boy, taking us so well."

"He really knows how to suck a cock."

"He is so tight for us. I bet no one has fucked him like this." Liam had added.

Some other compliments that you cannot remember.

Soon enough your weeping cock comes in spurts completely untouched leaving ropes and ropes of cum on the sheets beneath you. This makes your grip on Liam’s cock tighter making his thrusts faster and sloppier. Niall's cock is close by the way he is thrusting and as if on the thought of it, he comes in your mouth filling you with copious amounts of cum which you are left to swallow. He is followed by Liam who comes in you ass and fucks you through the orgasm making you moan and wince from oversensitivity. 

After this, they took turns with Niall fucking your ass and Liam your mouth. For the last round, your tight little ass (which wasn’t nearly as tight now) was filled to the brim with both the cocks. You cannot remember how many times you came that night but it was more than you ever have in a night.

At this point, you did not have one coherent thought. You were too exhausted. You could not make out the words Niall and Liam said and neither could you say anything. All you had on your mind was dicks and sex.

After being stuffed by two big and thick cocks, you came one last time which was just watery at this point and passed out from pleasure and exhaustion.

When you woke up, you were clean on clean sheets with Niall on your right, your face against his chest and Liam on your left with your back to his chest. You drift off to sleep again and when you finally wake up, Liam and Niall were awake too.

“Hey there, Y/n. You must be exhausted.” Niall said softly. You just hummed in response not wanting to talk.

“I’m sorry if we were too hard on you.” Liam said rubbing circles in your back. You shook your head and nuzzled closer to Niall’s chest.

Soon enough the three of you woke up and had breakfast from the room service. During this time, you guys talked like you always used to and it felt like nothing had changed.

"Will you be our boyfriend? I know it must be weird for you but we just feel like it would be right since we like you so much."  They said leaving you speechless for a second. 

But of course you wanted this, how could you not.

“I would love nothing more in the world.” You answered honestly.

They smiled and you gave each of them a kiss. After this, you would need no one else.

--------------------------------------------------

I hope you liked this fic. Like and comment to let me know if you did. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Hate is not. Thankss.

[utilitycaster]

Hi!

Outside of the obvious issues within the Campaign, One point i haven't seen talked about was how 4sD wasn't really a good way to find out why characters did certain thing or thought a certain way, the what the fuck is up with that section was the closest because the players and Dani would talk and ask eachother, though i believe that they also do that outside of the game, or talked about it on cooldown, but the questions selected for the tower of the deep dive often leaned into a fanfic-y narratives (mostly Tower, but sure i guess we need to know what their favourite ice cream flavors would be, for fun i guess)

I think cooldown is the closest to what i would have rather liked from 4sD but that's behind a paywall.

Do you think the format affected the way the audience engaged with the characters? or would it be like with Molly in C2 where Tal said that he was absolutely not a good guy but the critters insisted he was just misunderstood and actually a saint (hyperbole)

Hi anon,

4SD definitely impacted how people engaged with the characters, but if it hadn't existed the sort of person who cherrypicks out of context lines from 4SD would have just made things up whole cloth to support whatever they wanted a la Campaign 2. I also don't think 4SD is like, a problem. I agree there were flaws in the format, but also...I didn't ever watch Talks for Vox Machina (I did for Campaign 2 but as I binge-watched C1 I didn't have time and I didn't bother) and I understood the story just fine. I think that if you need a talkback shows to understand a character's motivations, either that is a flaw of the text for not showing them, or you are a stupid person. A great example is Bowlgate: Talks addressed explicitly why this conflict happened, but if you had, perhaps, watched the show, you would already know that Caleb had issues with abuses of power and massive problems with trust that often manifested as control issues, and Beau had control issues from the opposite direction that were no less explained by her past, and they understandably clashed, and while I personally agreed with Beau's assessment here neither of them expressed themselves very well, and it was a great moment of conflict in a game where conflict is interesting, and I also at no point was like "oh my god Liam and Marisha hate each other" because I understand the concept of acting. I actually, as someone avoiding the fandom at the time but watching Talks each week, was stunned to hear this had even been a controversy when I tuned in.

I think there are two much bigger factors in how the fandom engages:

social media and especially algorithmic short-form social media creating echo chambers. Like, obviously I am biased but I think the reason why so many of the most rancid and incorrect opinions from this campaign are from Twitter and so many of the most rancid and incorrect people are as well is that on Twitter, saying buzzwords tends to get eyes on your post, and it's all very short so you don't have to explain yourself, and it's based on instant gratification and if you say something stupid in the past it's easier for people to move on because it's hard to find, whereas like, on Tumblr, people have longer memories and if someone doesn't explain themselves they can't point to a character limit. I think without like, Twitter, bowlgate would have been much smaller a phenomenon. I think a major flaw of 4SD is that they've addressed things brought up on Twitter that aren't even a controversy but are actually just incredibly fucking stupid (Relvin not saying the exact words "I love you" is the one I'm remembering off the top of my head but this has been a problem for a WHILE).

The biggest one: I have mentioned blorbo-centric morality and you alluded to how people thought Molly was a saint and I just think for whatever reason Campaign 3 attracted a MASSIVE number of people like that. 4SD doesn't even enter here; if it exists they'll use it but if not they'll again make shit up or cherry pick or misinterpret. The core of all C3 discourse, at this point, is that some people will defend literally anything Bells Hells do no matter what. This is why you are seeing people who insisted the gods were, as someone said, tall kings who needed to be dethroned (killed) and were colonizers and murderers suddenly pivot praising a plan that lets them live and oh how compassionate Bells Hells are. You got people who defended indecision on this topic earlier; who said there were no good options but were too squeamish to actually explore that if their are no good options their darling little angels will get their hands dirty no matter what. The No Agency crowd. It's utterly spineless and amoral; they will abandon whatever argument they had to pivot to the aimless whims of Bells Hells. So 4SD gives them more material in their endless pivoting but they'd do this anyway.

So the format was like, fun as a hangout show but not great as a talkback at times, but it really wasn't a major factor because idiots are gonna be stupid no matter what. With that said while there were things about 4SD I liked I kind of wish they could go back to a more Talks-esque format, obviously with like, a better host. I also think that it might be better to permit fan-submitted questions in real time and air the episodes a few months later, particularly since as mentioned the crew often asked questions from a while ago. I also think doing this as a big thing monthly might be easier on the schedule but meant that we heard a LOT from cast members who were frequently available even if if their characters weren't doing much that was interesting. I would ideally like to go to like, every other week, shorter and more casual, with fan-submissions through a web form collected during the week following an episode so that like. we wouldn't get Talkback Show For 119 for maybe a month but it would actually be about that.

[lemotmo]

A lot of these people are just way out of control at this point. Dear god. Do NOT spoil that moment for me.

Q. It's bizarre and a little bad for business that we're not getting any 911 bts content. I mean they want us to engage and talk about it and big it up but they're not giving us anything to feed our excitement. It's not a very good look from a business perspective. The fact is if you want excitement and engagement from your audience you have to feed the audience. What are they doing? Give us teases. Give us photos.

A. I'm going to say from go that my answer is going to piss you off. They're not obligated to give any kind of BTS content. They create a television show. Their job is to make believe. Right now real life is taking precedence over the job, as it should. Their city is literally on fire around them. They're not operating at normalcy right now. We know that Jennifer lost her home. We have no idea how many other members of the cast and crew or their family have been affected. We don't know that the social media team weren't affected. The fact that they don't feel obligated to record the cast doing an Apple dance 2.0 for you is more than reasonable. And frankly the content still wouldn't satisfy most of you because you feel entitled to everything and you're not entitled to anything. Nothing. They owe you nothing. And sorry but you all ran off the one constant, genuine BTS provider the fandom had. They had the nerve to post something TRUTHFUL that made your favorite show not look great and you ran them off the Internet. Anyone who has been around the 911 fandoms for any length of time was not and should not have been surprised to hear that the crew was still being made to work. They have a history of not so great treatment of their crew members. But you didn't like it so you attacked the messenger instead of just posting your disappointment at the situation. The bullying, the constant screaming and shouting about what the show and actors owe you has been going on for almost a year now and it's exhausting and frankly frightening. The entitlement syndrome is disgusting.

'I don't care about Brad content why is that what they chose to share'. ' Where's Ryan, he still has a beard that clearly means he's not filming'. 'Why hasn't Oliver taken any wardrobe photos and shared them with us'? 'Why don't we know what episode they're working on'? 'Why haven't we seen anything of Ryan and Oliver together on set'? 'Why isn't the crew tweeting and pic posting'?

Stop. If and when they choose to share some content they will. But you lost your most consistent access to that content when you behaved the way you did towards them sharing something you didn't like. The cast are not social media content creators. Their job is not social media. They don't owe you any kind of access to them. We have no idea what they are dealing with in their actual real life lives at this time. And it's none of our business either. It's amazing that so many people care. More people than ever are watching and are interested and invested but with that new influx of viewers has come this insistent expectation of instant gratification and access. This show has never operated like that. They engage, of course they do, but they have never done it all day everyday and it's ridiculous and unrealistic to demand that from them now. They intentionally became very anti spoiler during 8a that was always going to continue into 8b. They got tired of people guessing storylines months in advance based off of wardrobe. Don't get me wrong, that stuff is super fun and I love that we can do it but we don't need, and shouldn't want, to do it with every storyline. I don't want the Buddie moment spoiled. I have waited for too long for it to be spoiled by a BTS pic. No one should want it spoiled ahead of time. And Oliver isn't petty posting wardrobe pics because he's not stuck in a boring onscreen no chemistry situationship with a co-star he doesn't like that he's excited to be free of. Gavin is in L.A. so Ryan is clearly going to film with him. They have already scouted a location to use as El Paso from the looks of some of the pics we have seen. You're getting information. Not getting spoiler pics of Oliver and Ryan is not depriving you of content. And actually it's good for business to build the anticipation and it's working because you all are in daily hysterics all over social media. Everyone is tense right now. Things suck. I understand completely that people want to turn to their comfort shows and characters for joy, that's what we should do. But it's their job to create those shows and characters which means it's also their job to build excitement and expectations for those storylines. It is not their job to provide photos and videos to help you guess the storylines ahead of time. Stop wanting to do that. Stop badmouthing them and complaining about them for not giving you the specific bta content you want. Stop trying to tear down something you claim to love because it's not feeding you as often as you think you're entitled too.

Thank you Nonny! Sorry I got a little later at this, but I've been dealing with some lower back pain that made it hard to sit down and type. I'm taking medicin and I have regular PT sessions and I already feel so much better. So I can finally sit down again and reply to this. 🤗

Yeah, I admit that I'm also feeling the drought here, but I don't complain about it. I understand why there is little activity. Like Ali said, we cannot forget the horror some of the people working on this show went through with those fires. Some of them lost everything and that has to be absolutely terrible. It would be in very bad taste to start posting happy apple-dances right now.

I think most of the screaming and shouting is going down on Twitter though, because I don't see a lot of it on Tumblr. Twitter has always been a more 'in your face' place when it comes to fandom. Hence the reason why I mostly lurk there. I don't like the constant discourse that goes on there. It's much more quiet and 'normal' here... if you can call Tumblr 'normal'. 🤣

It's also quite obvious that ABC has the sets of its shows locked down. They enforced a strict lockdown last year and it seems that they aren't giving up on that.

I cannot lie, part of me is a little sad about this lockdown, because I thrive on speculating about the small details in bts footage. It's so much fun to talk about colour theory, clothing, pictures that have been moved, hair styles... It's just plain fandom fun. For me speculation makes half of the experience of being a 911 fan. I love the show, but I equally love being in this fandom and speculate. It's part of the package of being a fan.

And remember, I grew up in a time when all I got was a tiny blurb in a TV magazine every week. There was no bts, no extra content... nothing. So when I finally got into the online fandom a world opened for me. I'm still so grateful for it. My life would have been so much duller without the added joy of fandom and fandom friends.

All that being said though, if ABC has decided that locking down that set is what needs to be done, I'm fine with it. It's their show, they get to decide.🤷‍♀️ The upside is that we have less speculation and information to go on when 8b begins. We won't know what will happen until he moment it's happening, which is terrifying but fun at the same time. 😋

I'm also quite sure that they'll start up the promotional train back in February with the official 8b trailer and hopefully some interesting interviews. We'll get lots to talk and speculate about then. So let's just wait and see what they'll throw at us.

Most of all though, I just need it to be March already. I need 911 back NOW! I miss it so much. 😫 And hopefully it has the added benefit of quieting down the discourse, because people will have something to talk about again.

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[gloriousburden]

So much fucking AI generated content on Pinterest. It’s every single image when you search something up at this point. It’d be a lot less insufferable (albeit, still insufferable) if it were mandatory for people who “create” and post that shit to put a disclaimer/somehow sort it under AI generated so it could be hidden/filtered through by those who have no interest in it.

If AI generated content HAS to be a thing, it should be organized in a separate division from everyone else. They “create” and enjoy their AI shit amongst their own crowd, and we don’t have to see it. We need restrictions and regulations on it ASAP.

It shouldn’t be mainstream and heavily accepted especially in such an early stage where it is ever evolving, and all these apps/websites should stop pandering. Especially on apps/websites like Pinterest where human creativity and authenticity is supposed to thrive. We’re all supposed to connect due to our shared love of everything from recipes, to anime girl fanart, and AI takes that away.

AI should not replace human passion. It should not replace human creativity and human skills. Learning skills is not an inconvenience, and it is ALWAYS rewarding. Learning how to draw and getting to see your practice and hard work come into fruition is rewarding.

Writing stories/fanfiction and finally getting to start off the plot line you were most excited for after finishing writing the plot line you were becoming really bored with, is rewarding. You learn, and you grow from these experiences, Even “boring” work/practice is rewarding whether you realize it at the moment or not.

Lyrics from one of my favorite Björk songs:

“Lust for comfort

suffocates the soul

Relentless restlessness

Liberates me (Sets me free)

I feel at home

Whenever the unknown surrounds me”

You have to do things that are “boring.” You have to do things that are uncomfortable and foreign. That’s how you learn. Not every part of acquiring new skills or learning something new is going to be easy or make sense immediately.

If some experiences were not boring, then the other experiences would not be enjoyable. If you are constantly comfortable, comfortability loses its appeal. We’ve gotten too reliant on comfortability and instant gratification. (Insert Tom Hiddleston talking about delayed gratification on Sesame Street)

What would be the point if there were no challenges? It would all be quite unfulfilling, and you’d stay the same. You wouldn’t learn to look at things differently and challenge yourself.

And I saw someone selling earrings with AI generated images on them without disclosing the fact that the images were made with AI. It’s kind of a scummy thing to do when people are likely buying your shit because they value authenticity and would like to support a likeminded person with creative passions rather than supporting corporations who mass produce shit with no passion except a passion for greed.

How do corporations nowadays have more passion than someone selling something on a site like Etsy where self made items, diy, and creativity are the main focus? Why stoop that low?

Remember, you’re supposed to be the alternative to PURE greed.

Let’s bring back being passionate about creative hobbies and let’s bring back mastering skills out of love for said skill. Out of love for creativity and expressing yourself through what you created. Let’s bring back authenticity and wanting to share your own authenticity with others.

How does this not scare people? That others are no longer passionate about anything? That human beings have become so fucking lazy, that even some of the most fulfilling things you can do in life are too much work?

So lazy, that they’d be more satisfied with typing prompts into a website so a machine can generate literal internet slop made from preexisting art/images on the internet rather than them creating something themselves and getting to make all the creative choices and have every last detail be theirs to decide.

And I didn’t even get into how fucked up it is that AI has little to no regulation/restriction. It’s fucked up that images can be made depicting public figures of any kind. Anything, and anyone. Singers, Actors, Comedians, Politicians, literally everyone.

It’s fucked up that voices can be made to say anything. To sing anything. To declare anything.

But go on, keep feeding the machine because you were too lazy to pick up a fucking pencil to draw one of your OCs. See where your laziness and lack of passion gets us all.

Mind you, people used to be happy to draw their own OCs. Putting them in new outfits and such and maybe even giving them new haircuts. We have lost every plot, because people are too busy acting out those plot lines out with AI chat bots instead of with other human beings. They’re too busy feeding prompts to a machine before they could even think for themselves about how they would want the plot to go.

TL;DR: FUCK AI!!