#but it’s just kind of disheartening to see someone reblog my post and I think they’re talking about my little guys

[iceeericeee]

When I see someone reblog my fandom-specific post with a fandom not mentioned in said post, I have to hold myself back from reblogging their addition and asking ‘who??’

[leafofkudzu]

Hello and happy endless January! Despite how long this month may have seemed, it is almost over - and that means it's soon time for another art party hosted by my guild, Verdant Shield [VS]! We're taking a little tour of the cozy size of the jungle this time, over at Mabon Market in Caledon!

For those who aren’t familiar with art parties, they’re a concept carried over from Final Fantasy XIV - in-game get-togethers for artists/writers/creatives of all types to hang out, chat, and create together! Get your favorite character/look together, head to the location, find someone that catches your eye, and create! Afterwards, everyone posts their creations in a shared tag (ours is #VSArtParty) so others can see, interact, and share! Tl;dr: the ‘goal’ of an art party isn’t to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Time and /squadjoin information is under the cut, but will also be posted again via reblogs as the squads go up on the day of the party!

Location Information:

Caledon Forest is a nice easily-accessible map for everyone, and Mabon Market even has its own dedicated waypoint (that is, Mabon Waypoint)! I imagine we'll kind of scatter out across the market and beach, so don't take my exact location in this screenshot too seriously!

Time & Squad Details:

As we always do, we'll be having two parties - one on EU servers and one on NA ones - with an hour break in between. People tend to arrive early and/or jump between accounts as soon as the break comes up, so don't be surprised to see tags and announcements going up ahead of schedule!

The first party will be on EU servers and begin at 9pm Central European Time (aka 3pm Eastern Standard Time or 4 hours before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting on my EU alt account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Aemryn of Dusk for an invite.

The second party will be on NA servers and begin at 7pm Eastern Standard Time (aka 1am Central European Time or at in-game reset). I’ll be hosting this one on my main account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Kirslyn for an invite.

Closing Words:

A few days ago some nasty info came to the surface about various GW2 sources being scraped for AI purposes, with tumblr tags specifically being mentioned. Though I certainly wouldn't blame anyone for being discouraged and not wanting to draw at all (even this post was delayed because of it), I think at the end of the day, even if you don't post anything publicly, you still shouldn't deny yourself the company and community of your fellow creatives! If you'd like to make this art party have more of a focus on screenshots, or even just hang out and not draw at all, please feel free - your presence is what makes these parties...well, parties, after all!

If you are still interested in posting your artwork though, please check out Glaze and Nightshade as potential ways to protect yourself (and hurt AI datasets) if you haven't already! And even if you don't do that, make sure to slap signatures/watermarks/etc wherever you can. This may be a disheartening time for us, but it doesn't mean we have to stop doing what we love.

So, whether you're coming to create or just to hang out, I look forward to seeing you all this Saturday. Take care, stay safe, and see you soon! ♥

[foibles-fables]

This is a little rambly, but: Do you have any tips for people who are trying to re-learn media literacy skills? It’s kind of disheartening to see the number of people I’ve seen in the arcane fandom on high horses doing the point and laugh at someone else for missing the deeper meaning/metaphors/symbolism. It’s alienating to be humiliated like that you know? (Maybe I’m just still fresh jn my post-election grief but it just reminds me of how, when someone becomes open to new viewpoints and new perspectives, we should meet them halfway and encourage these new questions and developing skills, instead of antagonizing them back in the other direction. Does that make sense?)

Hi nonny!!!!

First of all, I wanna say that these are some great questions and I'm truly flattered to have been asked! I can't say I'm a total expert here, so if anyone reading has other tips, please leave them in the reblogs or comments.

Second, you're also so right that nobody should be pointing or laughing at someone who doesn't "get it," if the person who didn't "get it" is giving their genuine analysis and is open for discussion and other viewpoints. It's when folks on either side of whatever the divide is slinging start insults that conversations become unproductive--which in and of itself is not conducive to media literacy. I am so sorry you've felt alienated by any of the back and forth happening; that doesn't feel good for anyone.

There are four pieces of advice I'll give. (and this is NOT assuming you're not doing these already, nonny!)

First, consume a lot of media. Read/watch/play with abandon. Consume things that are easy, consume things that challenge you. Reflect on them. Nothing fancy needed there. Ask questions--what is this trying to show me, and did it work? How could it have been seen differently, and why do I disagree with that view? Having a bigger reservoir of experience helps you evaulate everything you consume thereafter!

Second is pretty simple--pay attention. If you're planning on actively engaging with a piece of media, of course you've gotta actually immerse yourself in it! I'm guilty of being a phone-scroller while watching some things, but it's a detriment to getting the full picture of what you're watching or playing or reading. To be able to ask the questions, you have to do the work.

The third tip I'll give is to familiarize yourself with craft, whether that's writing, cinematography, etc. It helps you recognize the hows and whys of technicality, and allows you to evaluate what was attempted and what succeeded, or did not succeed. This also helps you take genre expectations into account as you assess the story's/creator's intention versus execution.

Finally--and this ties in with your concerns--allow yourself to think about other viewpoints, even if your own evalutations don't change.

One thing I'll say about Arcane in particular is that the long (and necessary!!!) development cycle led to folks having a close-held ideal of what the next season would look like--and when reality falls short of what they built up, that hurts. Such an impactful show means a LOT to people and it's unsurprising that it's bringing out a lot of strong convictions.

[echo-sigh]

Hello, Echo. I’m sending this as Im fend up with my friends treatment by k9 and his staff. Im sending this myself as I do not wish for my very close friend to be sent death treats by k9s awful dickriding community. Yes I said it but its true and they was trying to be civil and respectful to him and his staff team by talking about their concerns but was brushed off and banned cause k9 cant handle accountability. They were a person who has been directly impacted by k9s horrible attitude and personality.

I have thorough evidence of the whole conversation within the ticket and how they was treated along with a message that they were typing up that they didnt even get to send cause i was banned.

See message below along with screen recordings of everything talked about on my account in a post as videos cant be sent in asks:

“I quite frankly think I need to be blunt to get my point across as honestly as possible, so I apologise in advance for the tone moving forward, because this genuinely concerns me as a fan of your artwork. I need to honestly express my frustration about how things have been handled today especially as a minor myself. Instead of addressing the issues head-on, it seems like there’s a pattern of enabling behavior that ultimately reflects poorly on all of us. This isn’t just about you k9; it’s about fostering accountability and growth, and right now, that’s not happening.

Moreover, the way this has been approached has made me feel undervalued and disrespected. I’m here trying to support and advocate for what’s best, but instead, I’m being met with defensiveness and disregard. It’s disheartening, and I believe we all need to be on the same page if we want to create a positive environment.

The way you and your staff team are handling your mistakes is not just hurtful to your reputation and community but also wildly ineffective. All it is doing is making this more incriminating. By enabling the notion to avoid hard conversations just because they are *hard* to deal with isn't okay and all you are doing is subconsciously teaching yourself and your fan base that it's okay to hide from reality just because it's uncomfortable and not at all how to real world works.

I have noticed many instances and have given proof of them where these mistakes were brushed aside or excused cause it was uncomfortable to face the truth. Putting a metaphorical veil over your errors and pretending they don’t exist may seem in the moment the best thing to do but this is actually a genuine disservice. It’s time to own up and recognize that making mistakes isnt a disease and is a part of life just like discomfort is as we are only human. If you keep shielding yourself from discomfort you are setting yourself up for a harsh reality check in the future and from experience it wont be pretty.

The reality is that life is full of challenges and if you don’t teach yourself to face them now you’ll struggle even more down the line. You as someone who has a platform, a large one at that should be promoting resilience, critical thinking, self awareness, and ownership of your actions.

Im not only saying this cause i myself am upset but because i genuinely care about this community and its future and believe its time you start being more honest and changing your approach to these kinds of tickets and it starts with the uncomfortable and unavoidable trusts. lets focus on faces our own actions head on rather than suffocating and coddling them. Making mistake are normal and i wasnt trying to make you out to be a bad person for it.”

See videos reblogged before this for context.

[wisdom-devotee]

just came across one of your posts about being a worshipper with ADHD, and I'm the same. I've been in and out of my practice and faith for the past four years, mostly due to life situations but partially due to my ADHD (and additionally as I was raised atheist and have no point of reference for any religiousness haha). Do you have any tips for someone trying to remain consistent with their worship? <33 hope college is treating you kindly

Omg! First of all, thank you so much for the ask! College is treating me fairly well, and much better than it did last year-

I relate to this ask a lot oh my. The being raised atheist part is also SO true. Being raised athiest affects so much of my worship I think.

This is just what works for me and it may not work for you, so please trust me when I say that if this list doesn’t work, it doesn’t mean nothing will. I know sometimes when resources don’t work it can feel very disheartening but I promise something will.

So for me, having all my prayers and info I want to remember about my deities written down in a google doc has been really helpful, because my memory is VERY unreliable. You can keep this as a physical thing instead of digital but I have google docs on my phone, so it’s always with me. I have a lot written on there - epithets, prayers, lists of potential offerings, myths I want to remember, etc. this isn’t even strictly an ADHD thing, im sure many people do this and it might be obvious to some but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Next, try making worship into part of your routine. This makes it so much easier to be consistent in it! I don’t mean saying good morning/goodnight to deities (that’s awesome and so valid, but I can NEVER make it a habit, then I feel bad after not having done it for a while). Personally, I devote showers to Aphrodite because of her association with water and the fact that it’s a self care thing. Whenever I remember, I offer food to my deities if I’m eating something I associate with them. I listen to music on my way to college, so if I’m listening to a song I associate with them, I’ll think about them while listening to it. Since I’m a student, I offer a lot of my college stuff to Athena (flash cards, annotated books, etc) and invite Her to study with me. Things like that are a lot easier to remember to do than trying to remember to take specific time out of the day for worship if that makes sense?

So far this blog is also helping me stay consistent! Talking about my deities so much on here, and finding stuff to reblog, means I’m thinking about them a lot more than I would otherwise.

I haven’t done this yet myself but I thought of it while writing this out. Maybe centre aspects of worship around any current hyperfixations you have? If there’s a show you really like, invite them to watch it with you. If you’re getting into a new hobby, maybe it comes under a domain of a deity you worship, and even if not you could still dedicate it to them (like making crafts and offering them to Athena or Hephaestus for example? If it’s a sport, dedicate it to Ares. Etc)

This last one, I can’t stress this enough, and it’s something I forget too - be kind to yourself. We aren’t perfect. We are going to forget. We aren’t always going to be consistent. I truly think our deities understand and expect this of us, and that as long as we aren’t outright disrespectful they won’t hold it against us if we aren’t always able to fully devote ourselves to them, y’know? We’re people. We have busy lives. Our brains don’t work that well sometimes. But we love and respect our deities so much and they definitely see that!

If there’s typos in this I’m so sorry, I hope it makes sense

[blackberry-s0da]

It's really disappointing to see so many people making comments about you "copying" canisalbus. As someone who's followed you both for a significant amount of time, it honestly just feels kind of ridiculous?? You didn't adopt a completely new style to start feeding off of their OC success - you've both had your general styles for a while now. Hell, I followed you both because you both have those styles and it's something I like.

Also, Mercy is an existing OC? I reblogged a Mercy piece two years ago that still had that general style.

I've been really excited to see you posting more OC art, and I hope you continue!! I would like to think an artist like canisalbus would be excited to see other artists doing more OC work, so please don't let the random anon hate drag you down. If anything, it might be time to just start blocking the randos and continuing on with what makes you happy.

I really hope to see more Mercy and Machete on my dash. There's plenty of room here <3

I'll probably follow your advice. I don't tend to ever block people as i think a head leveled dialogue about these things are perfectly possible, I even made a post explaining why my art might look similar and the specific inspirations both behind the oc and his pieces so "come clear".

It would be disheartening if canisalbus thought I was trying to copy them, I doubt that would be the case as they have seen my art in the past, I drew a picture of one of their ocs and sent It to them, which was welcomed in a positive way (besides, canisalbus follows and appreciates other artists with an aesthetic that is similar to their own)

[psychedelic-ink]

I wanted to comment on your post, as well as the reblog by @toxicanonymity but didn't want to get hated as a fan/reader/commenter of the fics by all of you lovely writers... But just to add, it's ALMOST as if... Joel Miller is *canonically* a contractor/construction/maintenance worker... 🥴🥴🥴 And no individual fanfic writer can claim to own that character/trope or publicly get mad when other people write similar things... 🤦🏻‍♀️

There seems to be so many attempts to create unnecessary "RULES" for fic writers AND readers recently... Where writers saying "We appreciate ANY interaction, likes or comments! Thanks for reading 😊" has somehow turned into "Wow, why bother liking or commenting if you're not going to reblog too. That gives us no exposure. 🙄" This has made me, as a LONG TIME fic reader - longer than some here have been alive, want to not read or interact even less. Because I'm not "doing it right". When I LOVE SO MANY stories/writers on here! We are literally all here because we love a fandom and want to have fun in our Delulu Lands. Like WTF? It all just seems very unnecessary, tacky, and disheartening. Just sayin. But I'm so glad you pointed that out 🖤

I just wanna start off by saying that I do not condone taking direct plot points, dynamics or direct dialogue, the post has gotten kind of out of control so I wanted to repeat that first

Ever since I made that post I have been hearing insane things about this discourse that I didn't even know existed. You cannot own tropes, characters or aus or literally porn tropes. And it saddens me to see writers with "less" followers get extremely worried they are going to be called out just because they are writing the same au. I tend to stay away from discourse and mind my own business but that is taking it a bit too far

Also sometimes you jsut get similar ideas. Months ago I had an idea with a selective mute reader x joel fic where she was a baker and it was set during the jackson era. Pretty specific right? NOPE, apparently someone already wrote that on ao3 for game joel and I haven't even heard of it but somehow we still managed to get a very similar idea

As for the reblog thing, I do think that if you like it you should reblog but of course, I am not entitled to anyone's reblogs. The only thing I do get really peeved about is people commenting "PART 2" and then not even reblogging because we put a lot of work into it and it just comes across very demanding.

Like I said stealing direct plot not okay, but writing for the same au is fine, its fanfic, every writer has their own personal touch and different ways of telling a story.

[maybege]

may's candid and personal take on fandom

On a more candid note, I’d like to talk more about my experience as a writer in fandom. I spent a long time thinking about this (a better part of the last six months, on and off) as I am usually trying to keep my opinions to myself due to events that are long ago now.

I really need you all to be kinder to writers.

I have been here since sometime around May 2020 and I think it is telling that the fandom circles around the same problems again and again and nothing ever changes.

Interaction is really low and I am not the first writer to lament this, nor will I be the last one but maybe I have this naïve hope that if enough people read the same thing again and again, it will finally stick. I know I haven’t put out content on a regular basis for a long time now but while it is not directly related to the level of interactions these works get, that rhythm will for sure not improve if interaction stays as low as it is. It can be really disheartening to know you have over a thousand followers and the reblogs/comments on your works do not even exceed 50.

Obviously, the way tiktok and fast paced social media work have influenced how we interact with things on all kinds of platforms. But I really need you all to understand that a like on tumblr does not count the way it does on Instagram or maybe even tiktok. That is a bookmark at best. Do I mind if you serial like an entire series of mine? Of course not, I am happy to see that someone is actively reading something of mind and enjoying it. But please have the courtesy to maybe comment on the masterlist or the most recent part.

Fandom is taking and giving and I think it is unfair that it is somehow is expected of writers to pump out story after story without having to give them something (comments, asks, reblogs) for it. And when someone complains about it, suddenly we are deemed as ungrateful to the few that actually read our stuff.  

Back in lockdown, there was more of a balance for obvious reasons. But now that I see that writers cannot post as much due to real life or maybe other reasons, it is like the number of notes has diminished across the board. Writers in fandom are people who are not (and cannot be) paid for their works. (Side note: If you accept fanfiction commissions or money for fanfiction, I will find you quicker than the mouse mafia because you will not ruin this for us.) On one hand, the expectation seems to be that writers should update ever single week without fail. On the other hand, it seems too big an ask of readers to actually comment/reblog the things that they read.

(Waiting for a new chapter for weeks, months, hell, even years, was never unusual in fandom spaces and I need this to be more common knowledge.)

Then again, the negativity in fandom has really fucking increased. It comes and goes in wavesand I will not pretend to be affected because I was so inactive this last year. (This is simply a side note but it is something that I think needs more attention: The way I see poc creators treated is despicable and while I do not write for PP characters anymore because of all the drama, people really need to reflect how they see Pedro Pascal as a human being instead of a sex object.)

For me, personally, I have noticed that if I get genuinely angry at something happening on tumblr, it is time for me to log off and really focus on real life and I think it is something that we all should take to heart. Sadly, the more time passes, the more I am convinced that this fandom might not even be worth it anymore and I genuinely understand many creators who decide to leave permanently. It often feels like people are just there to create drama or to vague or that important and serious posts about how we should treat each other and the actors we admire are simply ignored in favour of the “I don’t like drama.” line. Which, like, one is drama and one is not. (Spoiler alert: Discussions on fandom inclusion and racism within fandom are not drama.)

Anyway, Readers need to be more mindful of the power they have over writers and if you want to complain that so many creators have deactivated or become inactive, I would like to ask that you reflect on when was the last time that you commented on someone’s fic.

[corvidcall]

its so disheartening to work really hard for a long time on a creative work and get basically no response. it drives me crazy when you see posts where people are trying to guilt their followers into reblogging their stuff more, because obviously no one is ENTITLED to an audience. i know that!!! and i know that people who dont read my stuff arent doing it because they dont like me as a person. or maybe they are, idk. it doesnt make a difference one way or another. but i don't think it's necessarily personal if someone doesnt want to read my fic, and it would be hypocritical for me to say it is, considering how rarely i actually read fanfic. and i mean, im writing for a very small fandom, and on top of that, the thing im writing is a... lets say, somewhat heterodox take on canon (the things that are most beloved by the fandom are either entirely absent or presented somewhat negatively, and the things i show in a positive light are things that are frequently dismissed by the fandom). so it makes SENSE that im not getting a huge groundswell of support on this. and the few people that have read it seem to like it well enough

it's just kind of discouraging to work so hard on something and release it to such staggering indifference!!! i started posting new chapters in the hopes that seeing people read it would inspire me to finish book 3, but its actually having kind of the opposite effect.

ah well!!! so it goes. i wish i didn't get so hurt by these things, but i do, and theres nothing for it one way or another. i'll keep posting chapters until i run out of them, whether people actually read them or not. and i should try to frame the fact that almost no one wants to read it as a good thing, because then no one gets to complain about how much of this fic talks about communism. (its a lot) (i didnt even do this on purpose i just have a problem) (that problem is capitalism)

[aroaceconfessions]

cw not quite shipping, but fandom/headcanon discourse

so i recently saw a post with character headcanons for a series I like and it was super cool, op gave everyone diverse body shapes and skin tones that the canon content didn't have, and it listed queer headcanons for them too like 'cis male', 'trans male', 'agender', 'genderfluid', etc.... and it was kind of neat, and they did sexualities too, but it was always.... ''gay'' or ''bi'' or ''pan'' I think there was one single character they headcanoned as straight. and one asexual that I was actually surprised to see at all by that point. it seemed like they didn't really consider the SAM at all except to make the asexual character also gay. wasn't even specified if it was homoromantic or angled/oriented... idk. like I wanna be clear I'm not upset at seeing someone having fun making headcanons for characters they like, I don't think they should be ashamed or anything, and I'm glad they had fun making a thing even if I don't like it, it's just kind of disheartening and sad to see queer headcanon content and feel like headcanoning them as aro or ace is just kind of....an afterthought. and it wouldn't be so bad normally but like... a few of my aro and ace friends in this fandom reblogged this post so I guess I was kind of expecting more from it. it just kind of felt tokenish and reductive to just have the one alloace headcanon, I almost wish they had just all been allo because it felt like they didn't even want to fully commit to an ace headcanon (I'm alloace myself so I know very well that being alloromantic doesn't make you "less" ace, but in only having the one ace headcanon (out of like. 20 characters) it felt like they thought ace was ok to headcanon only if they could be gay as well. like that classic aphobic "it's ok at least you can still feel X type of love so you're not completely worthless!" comment is what I felt upon seeing it).

I don't even think I would call this aphobia?? but it definitely feels like aro/ace ignorance/unawareness at best, maybe internalized passive aphobia at worst, idk. really reminded me how much I treasure people that put aro and ace headcanons into fandoms. ......i think maybe i will go throw some of my own headcanons to the internet fandom void about this. if i feel this way i bet there are other aspecs in the fandom that do as well.

[roosterbruiser]

saw you reblog another writers rant about a bunch of writers leaving and I just wanna ask why aren’t writers focusing on the positive? I write here n there myself so I get the want for a “pay on the back” but also what about the people who get literally none? It’s not to compare or make anyone feel guilty or invalidate anyone’s feelings it’s simply an anon making a small suggestion which is to try and focus on the positive and remember that you’re writing bc you love to not to gain recognition (even though it’s nice) or for reblogs, likes etc it’s simply an outlet

understand where you're coming from kind of.

but as someone who only writes "here and there", I feel like we probably do not have the same experience. as someone who was updating up to four fics every week, it was not only disheartening but also disappointing to watch the engagement go down every single update.

I don't think it's a matter of writers not "looking at the positive". if you look at all your favorite writers posts/profiles, you'll see them geeking out over long comments or reblogs. I have yet to see a writer on here NOT profusely thank commenters and rebloggers!

and you say "not to compare or make anyone feel guilty or invalidate anyone's feelings" but how else are people supposed to interpret "what about the people who get literally one?" I don't like that some people get zero engagement at all. and I feel that people who have gotten zero engagement have also probably reblogged that very same post that I did. and as they should1

for me, I completely understand that there are some things that people don't want to reblog. that's fine! it's your blog! but if you're enjoying something, sending an ask or leaving a comment literally changes everything for that writer.

for example, during my hiatus, I've gotten a slew of asks and/or comments. on one hand, I have really lovely people who are re-reading old work and screaming about it in my asks which tickles me! and that makes me want to get back up on the horse! but then I have other people who just send an ask saying "where's the next update?" and that does not inspire me at all--it just gives me anxiety.

so, you asked why writers aren't focusing on the positive. we are! we appreciate the love and the comments and the loyalty. but when in history has anything ever been solved by complacency? never.

[wri0thesley]

hi Nat! hope everything is well!🥹 I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but how do you get people to interact with you? i have quite a big following if I say so myself but it feels like there’s barely any interaction 😭 mostly it’s my fault as well to contribute to that, but I’ve been more active nowadays and when I try to interact by posting stuff so my lovely followers can interact, nobody really does. do you know the best way for interaction?🥹sorry for bothering you with such a question :(

i do not mind at all anon!

i actually have absolutely no idea. i am INCREDIBLY lucky that my beloved followers interact with me so much (to the point i feel AWFUL i have so many unanswered asks), especially because the usual advice for getting interaction is usually 'give interaction yourself' and aside from reblogging and sometimes replying, i get too nervous to send asks and such (if i do i usually send them anon even to moots fgbkjnbgnj).

if it helps give any sense of interaction vs follower count, i have about 15k followers (i have been writing on tumblr for a LONG time and writing reasonably consistently). i do think that the fact i've been around for a while helps too to be honest; people kind of see me as a safe person to come to with asks! i also try very hard to be friendly and open which i think helps; i want to be a positive force without being an UwU Toxic Positivity Force! i also generally try not to get involved in drama any more (i was involved in a little bit a long time ago when i just wrote jojo); again, i think that's a thing people do think about with interaction, because it can be scary to interact for the first time and fear that the blog is going to laugh at you!!!

i also try and treat the anons i DO get like they're my friends and mutuals instead of making a big divide between 'this is my friend group of mutuals and these are my Less Important Anons'. i know i personally get scared of interacting with blogs who seem to have a very defined friend group and do not really venture outside of that; it can feel cliquey even when it's not!!!

so yeah gbfdjnkfgbnk. not helpful i'm sorry! lots of my advice is honestly just 'stay on tumblr and write what you like and enjoy and people will come to you'. being friendly always helps! reblogging and commenting and sending asks (i send ask prompts when i can when they're reblogged because that's easier for me than speaking off my own head! i also try and practise ask prompt etiquette - if i reblog it from someone i try to 100% send them an ask from it too, that's polite!) helps too. treating anons like your friends* (*obviously in a non parasocial way; like friends you're seeing at a party as opposed to your bff forever) helps!

i hope that any of that helps!!! it can be hard and disheartening to not base your worth as a writer (or whatever fan-content you make!) on your interaction but i promise as long as you are having fun and being nice eventually people will notice and will give back what you give out!!!! <3

[stardust9905]

💔😓

Is it bad that i am still bothered and sad that i was blocked by an account who i'm relatively sure used to be a mutual, and whom -- regardless of being a mutual or not -- i used to (and still do) admire?

I genuinely STILL haven't a clue what i'd done wrong.

We're both in our 20s, and both love Star Wars, TBB, and pretty much the same favourite main characters (including Crosshair).

Is it bad that i wish i just had a chance to ask them what i'd done wrong? I have never intentionally meant to harm or offend them.

It makes me wonder if i said or did something wrong while i was first still getting used to and figuring out how Tumblr works. Because i hadn't really understood at the time how Tumblr worked, so i would definitely not have realized i said/did something wrong :(

Because i could've sworn we were mutuals for a while, or even if we weren't and it's only my following list i am remembering seeing their username on, it just shakes my core amd disheartens me to think i did something so wrong that i got hard blocked by someone i'm genuinely so similar to (at least in terms of shared interests, age, and mutuals since i still see there name/account/posts pop up in other people's reblogs of whom i follow or are mutuals with; which is what spurred on these thoughts and brings us here to my feelings).

I don't want this to become a mess or to drag anyone in as a "middle-man", or for this to come across the wrong way or to seem like petty drama, or any kind of drama at all. That being said, any and all advice is appreciated right now please.

It just upsets me that i may have unintentionally, unknowingly hurt or offended someone. I've been blocked for a while now but i actually hadn't fully realized i was blocked right away until i could no longer find their username and whenever i clicked it from someone else's reblogs it just kept loading without ever fully loading... :((

It could be that i did nothing..??? Perhaps they just didn't see the age in my bio right away and thought i was a minor? But if that's the case, why couldn't they have unblocked me by now??? Idk idk idk. :((((

[sergeant-spoons]

hey all - just wanted to put up a quick post about my Band of Brothers multi-chapter fics. I haven’t updated several of them in months and though I don’t think I’ll be abandoning any of them, it’s going to be slow-going for a while. I’ve been focusing more on my original novel lately, as well as other creative pursuits, and my fanfics have kind of fallen to the wayside.

to be completely transparent, one of the main reasons I’ve had less and less creative energy to spare for my fics is that, from what I can tell, nobody wants to read them anymore. my last update of DCAW has 1 note and it’s from me reblogging it tonight in the hopes someone - anyone - might see it. I’ve seen it happen over and over again to many of writing mutuals and now to myself and it’s more than��disheartening. for months now I’ve felt like there’s this outside pressure that’s actually opposed to me continuing to write my fics because of how painfully empty my notes have been. not even the bots will like my posts these days.

anyway, all this to say I probably won’t be updating any of my fics regularly (if at all) other than Destiny Carries a Wrench. I’m hoping to revisit Cobblestones soon as well but this week has proven much more stressful than anticipated, so it might be a little while before a new chapter of that comes out. It’s an important one, too (D-Day) so I want to make sure it ends up the way I want it to. Same goes for There Goes My Flight. I have many plans for that fic but not much time to work on it and even less motivation to start.

thank you to all those who read before and to my mutuals who probably haven’t seen much from me lately other than BoB and LOTR meme posts. love u 💕

[garoujo]

hey emmie! Ok so I hope this isn’t too long and boring and like wtf but you’re my favourite author on the app so I think I’ll just ask you though anon. im not entirely new to tumblr, been on it for slightly over a year but all I do I read fics, like I don’t interact with people (kinda scared to in a way💀). Anyways, so id been reading without an account for a long time and recently made one to simply keep a tally of my fav fics and follow people I like, so my page is like... blank?? Yea. Then I commented on someone’s post for the first time ever recently, asking, along with other people, for a part 2 of what they posted. tell me why they literally blasted me in their next post because my page is blank?? And a lot of people have been saying the same stuff about blank blogs so like long story short, is there some kind of beef with blank blogs or something? Like my age and gender and pronouns and all the important stuff are in my bio so like what am I doing wrong??😭 I felt so sad when they posted that like I was showing appreciation to their content then got slapped in the face man😭 so like yea, I hope what I’m saying is making sense? You’re Literally so bbg and kind so I rly want to know your take on this. much love and I hope I’m not to late to say happy 1 year anniversary for your account <33

hiiii nonnie !!! to put it in as short an explanation as i can there’s always been a sort of ‘problem’ with the ratio of likes vs reblogs when it comes to fanfiction ! a lot if not all writers always urge writers to reblog their work because it helps to boost it, it lets us know you enjoyed it, you can leave tags letting us know you enjoyed it & all that other good stuff !

so alot of writers when they see a blank blog in their notifs (having an age in ur bio aside) it can be disheartening esp if you’re asking for things like “part 2?” for example because if you’re not reblogging, it can come across like ‘i didn’t like this enough to reblog but i’m also not satisfied with just this so can you write more?’ which is why a lot of people can get upset about it even if you’ve not meant it in a malicious sort of way !

it’s been a long standing sort of discussion / fight because writers put a lot of time into their craft etc. and all we really want is just someone to tell us it was worth it yk? esp when like you said you just want to have a way to bookmark your favourite pieces, that is when reblogging can come in handy so i can understand where that writer is coming from because it does upset alot of people to be sort of seen like a ‘content machine’ of sorts !

i hope this makes sense because it is sort of like an ongoing problem in the fandom i guess you could say, a lot of writers just want to know you enjoyed their stuff because it motivates them to write more ! as much as most write for themselves, we post for the readers so it just makes us feel a lot better if we know it’s not just a waste of time yk? <3

[bookshelf-dust]

how did you gain traction with your fics? You and others have inspired me to get back into writing again, and I’m feeling a little disheartened bc I haven’t received any feedback… do you have any tips?? You don’t have to answer, love your work angel x

i won’t lie this made me kind of emotional?? you have no idea how much i appreciate you asking me this or saying that i’ve inspired you. me?? are you sure??

also i’m gonna try my best to answer this for you :)))

i started writing on wattpad before on here, and i did that purely because i wanted to. that’s why i write here too! i’d been writing stories in the notes on my phone and decided i’d revise them and give sharing them a shot. there isn’t a lot that’s made me as happy as writing does, so i guess my main piece of advice is to write because you enjoy it and write what you want. then all the other stuff will come later.

my blog is little and i quite like it that way, but there’s a set of billy headcanons i wrote that have a thousand and some odd notes? which might not seem like a lot to some people but it is to me. honestly i get scared to post so i tend to post things and then go to sleep. but that one is the most notes i’ve gotten. and it’s shocking because i posted that and didn’t think anyone would read it (i have very low expectations for myself).

so really i just write things i’m happy with and i post them and i completely understand the disheartening feeling that comes with a lack of feedback. i really appreciate comments and reblogs because they tell me if someone likes something and then that gives me motivation to write more. i have something i wrote that was the longest thing i’ve ever written, and it’s got less than twenty notes i think. and likes don’t tell me anything, you know? so i try to leave feedback on everything i read because i know what it feels like to not know if anyone is enjoying your work.

as for tips, i have noticed that there seems to be a time zone thing? like if i post at a certain time, no one sees it, but at another time it gets a little more attention? it’s odd. i also try my best at getting loads of tags in there. but honestly i didn’t start using tumblr until 2022 (almost said this year) so i’m still new and learning as i go. and i’m not totally sure about traction, i suppose? i think it depends on the characters too. my gareth work doesn’t do as well because he isn’t as popular a character. my eddie stuff does well right off the bat because he’s more popular, but then it sort of calms down after that. billy does well over time. i think sometimes people might be shy to share their feelings about billy. idk. maybe that’s bullshit and sounds silly.

so i’d say: do it for yourself. if you enjoy it, then write whatever you want for whoever you want. but i know it sucks to not have feedback. sometimes i post and it’s radio silent and it can hurt. and i think there is a definite problem with the lack of responses on here—i’ve seen people compare it to things like instagram where likes mean everything, and that’s not the case here. but really, if you enjoy it, keep at it. i think the good stuff comes later, if that makes any sense. sometimes i feel like quitting, but if i take a step back, i realize that i enjoy it and it doesn’t matter if no one reads it, because i had fun making up this little escapist world.

i don’t know if that was helpful at all, but again i really appreciate you asking me. thank you for reading my crap and for being here :)))