#but it's a very rebloggable post so it makes sense lol

[kisssatoru]

PLEASE READ BEFORE

FOLLOWING/READING MY WORKS…

˗ˏˋ welcome! i won’t make this long, so dw. there are just some basic things that i need to make known, mostly as a disclaimer. this blog will contain mature themes, often explicit.

i do not, in any shape way or form, appreciate minors reading any nsfw pieces i may release. despite this, if you ARE a minor reading my nsfw works, don’t make it obvious or i will block you. as someone in her mid 20s, you can understand the discomfort. blank blogs are not welcomed here, either. pls follow my rules, that’s all i ask. ღ

BYF / RULES :

✎… i am most comfortable with she/her pronouns. syia is my pen name and no i will not give out my real name or much of my real info unless i decide to or if we are very close.

✎… i am in my mid 20s, and only write for adult characters. if you are a writer and you age up characters, that’s your prerogative. personally, i don’t feel comfortable doing that but won’t block or shame. being mutuals is fine with me.

✎… i don’t mind a little friendly banter/harmless flirting (such as: using pet names or cute jokes), but keep it friendly. i do have a girlfriend, and don’t feel comfortable going outside of that boundary, sryy.

✎… i am a black writer, and will not tolerate any kind of poc hate here. i will rip you to shreds, i can promise you that. be supportive of ALL writers on this platform, and keep it a safe place for everyone to read/write.

✎… this section of my blog will come off a bit intimidating, but i promise i am nice and super friendly to talk to! in saying this, my dms are always open for off-to-the-side chats, and/or talking about non-anime/writing topics. i am the mother in all of my friend groups, and have no problem with ppl reaching out to me to lend an ear. safe space, rmr? i’m always here if you need me!

✎… pls try not to spam like. it helps me as well as it will help you bc getting shadowbanned is not fun. for either of us lol.

✎… i will only mutual back active writers or active rebloggers. this isn’t high school. i pick and choose my friends here.

✎… if you follow me only to unfollow, i will know and i will block you.

✎… i reblog a LOT of nsfw content, so if that isn’t something you’re comfy with, then don’t follow me lolol

✎… i want to reiterate that i am a black writer. therefore, most of my work will be black reader coded. my works usually consist of a non-specified reader, but there will be times i will write a black reader. do not come and disturb my peace with “be inclusive” because i will eat you alive. don’t test me. i write what i wanna write. cry about it.

✎… i am not for the drama. do not bring any kind of discourse onto this blog, for ANY reason. i do not care what’s going on with other ppl. my only concern is this blog, and my bbs over here. if you do, i will ignore you.

✎… i write at my own pace. i work, and have a whole life outside of this platform. do not rush me, or ask for a part two. i will ignore you and if you spam me with that bs, i will not hesitate to block you (the way i be utilizing that block button chileee). just use your common sense, idk. i got stuff going on, and writing is a current hobby. i can’t make it my main focus right now, so just be patient. all i ask.

✎… i accept constructive criticism. however, if you are going to be mean about it, you can take that shi elsewhere because i will block you, on sight. i like to keep the peace here, and will not tolerate disrespect. period.

✎… as of right now, i do not take requests for fics. i DO take requests for headcannons, so send those in if you have any!

✎… when it comes to a posting schedule, i don’t have one. not currently… but i would like to have one! i just have things going on, around the clock, so it’s hard to pin down a schedule that works so for now! i apologize but i will be posting randomly (meaning, whenever i finish). a schedule is in the works tho, promise!

✎… last, but not least. i do not write incest, stepcest, a/b/o, pedophilia, rape, race-play, water sports, furries or aged up characters that are minors in their respective series. (will probably add to this later…)

side note: i’ll be writing for a dom/mommy reader so if you don’t care for that, you are not obligated to read it. ღ (not often, but here and there!)

KISSSATORU © 2024. do not copy, modify, or translate my work, and do not post ANY works of mine outside of tumblr.

[demonicgod]

[Asks from "Otherkin Ask Meme." Check my #ask game tag for the rebloggable ask meme, by user princeoframs]

This is really long so please only click the read more if you feel like dealing with a very very long post.

All art is sourced from the Grand Chase wiki.

Are you otherkin or therian?

Otherkin. I'm a fictive of Heitaros Cratsus from Grand Chase that identifies with his source in some soupy ass ways.

What are your kintype(s)?

Specifically, I identify as fictionkin of Heitaros Cratsus from Grand Chase. Related to that, I’m demonkin and divinekin/hearted. Most of those probably make sense enough, but because of my exomemories, it’s a bit more complicated to label whether divinekin or divinehearted is more accurate. My title was the Demonic God, which denoted how much power I had accrued during my time in Elyos. I literally fistfought three Goddesses and brought them to such a standstill their only option was using the last of their life force to power a magical laser bomb to kill me. Then, I spent the next few hundred years busting out of the Underworld and eating the divine reactor they slammed me with because I wanted to become a new Creator. I technically succeeded for maybe a few hours at most; so it’s difficult as a result to figure out whether I am divinehearted (that is, aspiring to divinity, but not being divine) or divinekin (seeing as I technically succeeded at becoming Creator, even if it was for a fraction of my life). I could say both, but my relationship to divinity is also fluid (especially considering my presence in a body that is not necessarily divine and is, in fact, a sack of meat appreciating the divinity of the world).

What was your awakening like? When was it?

My first awakening was when the body was in middle school. This was long before we understood that we were plural, so my awakening was muddied by a lack of clarity regarding our more-than-oneness. We came out of some religiously-exacerbated trauma with me splitting off in middle school as basically a parody of the devil. I was an asshole, and that identity kind of followed me through a dormancy to when I woke back up from it in late 2021. I still ID with that to some degree (I even mention it on my about page), but I ID a little bit more with Heitaros, because that’s the face that I found most comfortable, and it resonated with me. It was blistering at first, and the realization of a face in the context of the system made it a lot easier for me to not be so much of a rube all the time lmao.

When did you first hear about the kin community?

I believe we heard about the kin community first sometime in the middle of high school, through someone else we knew in the GC fandom, funnily enough lol.

Do you experience phantom limbs astral limbs?

We prefer the term “astral limbs” to describe appendages we don’t have that are not part of the human package. That said, I have four wings. They’re bat-like, and the bone/external membranes are a dark blue. The inner lining is a glowing bright blue, meanwhile. Both are the same color as my true body.

Do you experience any other shifts?

Yeah, I experience shifts relating to my true body (what’s my blog icon right now; I've included the full piece of art below too because it's the best official art of it). This involves a lot, including everything from my teeth to my claws. It’s just as disorienting as wing shifts considering I live in a twink’s body, lol.

What’s your favorite shift you get? Why?

Almost any of them count, but there are a few that make me feel particularly connected to my past life. My true body is one I miss a lot, but the body I took from Baldinar also has some particular meaning to me because I can sometimes use it to drag him into front lol. Also, I just like how I look wearing his features.

Tag who did it better lmao.

What’s your least favorite shift? Why?

Arguably, the same as above because sometimes intense shifts give me intense emotional pain. It's like having a head full of bees. Disorienting, confusing, and a little bit irritating, all at once. It tends to come with a little sauce side of dysphoria too, because the body's presentation doesn't match up with what I want to look like.

The only shift that makes me kind of uncomfortable is the shift I get of Kyle's body. He's in our system and comfortable around me, but it's just a little weird going from himbo to twink to sad Kingdom Hearts reject.

Can you make yourself shift?

Sometimes. Depends on who else is in front with me and what the state of the body is. With enough picrews I can kind of force a shift to my stolen body, though.

Do you have shift triggers, or do they happen randomly?

My shift triggers are usually emotional in nature, but active triggers are generally the same as my active front triggers. So, usually if I need to be in front, someone can jam me to front by engaging with those triggers, some of which make it easier for me to also induce a shift.

Do you have memories?

Yes. Practically my whole life. Some of it is just impressions, but some things are more in depth. These are also kind of front triggers for me, too, so the system will ask me to tell them more about my memories if they want or need me in front (hence me writing “fanfiction” about my source). My co-host is really good at this, and that's arguably the reason they're co-host; they'll regularly remember something about another headmate and then ask another to "tell them a story." They got like 300 pages of shit out of me by doing that lol.

What’s your favorite thing about your kintype? (The species, creature, etc)

The power. Not to sound too wild or anything lmao, but in my past life it took so much just to take me down, and the limited time I had with divinity was only better. This is a double-edged sword, of course, because I live in a chronically ill body (that is also a squishy twink), so yearning for that is kind of dangerous, but at least in-system that means no one is willing to fuck with me (at least in a “physical altercation” kind of way).

A good shift, especially if it comes with respites where I'm shifted in my sleep, leaves me feeling rejuvenated. It's like a reminder that no matter what, I still have worth and am still a force to be reckoned with. It feels like electricity, like a really good stretch after a long rest. I have no clue if anyone else can relate to this, but I hope it makes some sense.

Do you think kins are spiritual or psychological in nature?

Yes. Both. And sometimes neither. Sometimes one or the other. But for me, I’m a psychospiritual entity in a system that is disordered and engages in spiritual explanations. In other words, I don’t fucking care lol (/lh). It doesn’t matter to me, because I’m both, because my experiences can’t be boiled down to such a binary.

If you're one, the other, both, or neither, that's also not my business to pry. This shit is too queer to worry about splitting hairs.

Does anyone know you are otherkin? Friends, family, etc? If so, how did you tell them?

Yeah, most close family and quite a few close friends. Most online friends know, too.

Do you have any friends who are also kin?

Yeah!

Do you meditate?

Sometimes, but honestly at this point meditation is difficult to do in ways we like because of ADHD, dissociation, and the fact we basically dissociate all day at work and can’t easily build meditative strategies because of how that takes it out of us mentally.

Do you get kin dreams?

I actually decided to get better at lucid dreaming to try to have more, to be honest. Our sys used to be super into lucid dreaming, so I’m mostly just getting old muscles back up to snuff. It's been hit or miss all in all.

Even non-lucid kin dreams are usually really good though. Cathartic and a little bit sad to wake from, but you get over it when you're used to 'em.

Do you wish you were your kintype? Why or why not?

Depends. Would I still get to interact with my system? Would they be stuck in that body with me? If yes and no, then I would love to have my body again so I could actually squeeze the hell out of my headmates and also do the flying stim called “get up really high in the air and dive like you’re freefalling so you can parachute last second.”

Do you own any gear? If so, what items do you have and do you like to wear them?

Uhhhh skip.

Give a controversial opinion/your stance on some type of discourse.

This is purely because I’ve known a lot of misinformed kids before, but I think as a community we should be a lot better at being forthcoming about information and not being so quick to malign anyone that uses the term “KFF.” That term cropped up in my hiatus from the community (that hiatus being because people were bitching at psychological-related kintypes in all my fucking spaces), and by time I came back, no one could do anything but bitch about “KFFers” and never seemed to say anything more than the same BS I see in the plural community. It was only after almost two years back that we FINALLY found out what that’s “supposed” to mean, and it’s such a nonsense useless term that people I used to hang out with absolutely used it in a “misinformed but not bad-faith” kind of way (the “that would semantically be called a linktype but whatever” sort of KFFer). I get that there are people that want to make our community look bad, but y’all… those bitches have always been coming into our tags and spaces and planting fake blog posts to screenshot for r3ddit karma. Cringe is dead, spend your energy blocking/moving on and making otherkin dictionaries (like the cool people that finally helped me understand what the fuck y’all were bitching about lmao).

What makes you feel closer to your kintype(s)?

Just being me. I'm stubborn as Hell when I need to be, especially when it comes to things that better the system's situation, and that usually makes me feel like I'm trying to reclaim some of my old power. Boundaries are power, to be fair.

But if we want to get more specific, it's mostly front triggers that tend to get me feeling closer to my kintype, sure, but also writing about it as well. Anything that forces me to think about it and makes it easier for me to interface with headspace, basically.

What are some things that validate you?

We had a friend in college that said our voice sounded androgynous, and I know that's mostly gender euphoria speaking, but as someone who loves how I sound when I front? Yeah.

[amandakessel]

that post thats like "mens hockey is rpf womens hockey is real hockey" or whatever. perhaps i am the friend thats too woke but on tumblr most hockeyposting comes from the "gay rpf" circle......bc thats how fandom is experienced on tumblr. i dont mean that in the sense that "rpf fans dont Actually care about hockey" i mean that in the sense that all fandom, including rpfandom, on tumblr is generally transformative, eg fanfic. this is just a fact. so when you as an rpf blog say mens hockey is rpf with the implication that womens hockey is not you are using a roundabout way of saying that you dont care to discuss womens hockey. im not saying op intended that per se, idk op even a little bit, but at the very least many of the rebloggers were thinking in that sense bc you can check their blogs and theres no woho on there to be found. idk idk im not telling u to write woho rpf or whatever lol im not even telling u to be a woho fan if ur not one, just dont keep making/circulating posts about how totally cool and girlboss woho is if u dont care for it. but also u SHOULD be writing woho rpf especially the kind that examines gender in a male dominated sport and nationalism and so on. bc i wanna read it

wait can i say its rlly rlly funny how meho fans keep coming up with new inventive ways to say they dont gaf about woho but in a way that sounds feminist

[yunyin]

I posted 125 times in 2021

85 posts created (68%)

40 posts reblogged (32%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.5 posts.

I added 264 tags in 2021

#miraculous ladybug - 72 posts

#yunmusings - 54 posts

#yunreblogs - 37 posts

#yunyinart - 31 posts

#ml spoilers - 20 posts

#ml s4 spoilers - 14 posts

#commission - 10 posts

#adrien agreste - 10 posts

#sentimonster adrien - 8 posts

#ladynoir - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 123 characters

#you guys are totally welcome to do this with me but i also feel like it's easy to know a lot of what i was into already lol

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Painted sketch of Aeon from the ML NY Special! I really enjoyed her in it. I’m imagining she’s going to a fancy event. Maybe Marinette designed the dress?

It’s loosely based off her robot form.

4114 notes • Posted 2021-02-14 04:01:01 GMT

#4

When I was looking through my sketches, I found the beginnings of this Bunnix drawing and decided to color it! It's kinda rough and messy in places, but I like it and am tired of working on it lol.

4387 notes • Posted 2021-08-15 20:00:35 GMT

#3

Commission for @lady-kae-writes for a fanfic she's writing!

4530 notes • Posted 2021-04-12 00:50:38 GMT

#2

Colored version!

7737 notes • Posted 2021-05-26 03:30:59 GMT

#1

See the full post

9030 notes • Posted 2021-08-08 09:05:25 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[impassiveesper]

What was your first impression of the roleplay community on Tumblr? And what’s your impression of it now?

Mun’s Asks: RP Edition

1.) What was your first impression of the roleplay community on Tumblr? And what’s your impression of it now?

[OOF STRAP IN INTREPID]

I’ve been on this hellsite since the beginning but I really only started RPing here after a few years.  Probably in 2012 or 2013? I can’t remember exactly when but I remember being very intimidated by the idea of RP on this platform in particular. There is a bit of a steep learning curve in terms of etiquette here that is even steeper when you factor in the near requirement for tumblr-literacy.  Like you basically need xkit to RP and you need to understand what kinds of asks get eaten and when/how cuts work and what behaviors do and don’t cause notifications and how ask posts work and how the block/blacklist features do and dont work and what tags tumblr will and wont index etc etc.  When you’re a tumblr old head it’s easy to forget newcomers don’t immediately know things like that. It’s part of the reason why I tend to be very basic in my approach compared to what is popular at the moment. I was one of those fabled newcomers at one point.

I don’t really think that tumblr RPC is any better or worse now than it was back then, just different. A lot of what’s popular now was a thing back then, but now it’s more commonplace in a much smaller population of RPers. I wouldn’t say that the RPC has many new problems as much as I would say the old problems have intensified.

When I started out I was in a fandom that was very cliquey and made me feel like shit a lot and those spaces probably still exist on tumblr but the difference is I know what my boundaries are and what behaviors I will and wont tolerate on my dash.  Overall the RPC is much better at talking about things like that than it used to be imo. That same fandom I just shit on was also a lot of fun and taught me that it was okay to not take RP too seriously and not be too worried about if it looks pretty enough or was fancy enough. I’m really grateful for people who would RP with me back then even though I unknowingly broke a lot of tumblr RPC’s unwritten rules.  

That’s why it’s very important to me as a seasoned RPer to be as approachable a blog as I can possibly be. In this the lords year of 2020 I still feel myself being set in my ways and avoiding trends that are ultimately harmless, but there is an extent to which I have to participate in order to be courteous to others so I do my best to be open minded about Neo RPC Trends. I end up being of two minds just about everything that’s popular right now. 

Take for example reblog karma / I AM NOT A MEME SOURCE type rules. I think that’s shits dumb, you guys can reblog anything you want from me, in fact reblogging it from me heightens the chances of me sending you one whether you sent me one or not. I’m not gonna get mad at you for using the website as it is intended by the devs to be used, but also if somebody else’s rules say it bugs them to have memes rbed from them, then I think their feelings are more important than my opinion on the matter. People are more important to me than policies in cases like these, so of course I’ll reblog the meme from the source instead of you or w/e.  

But at the same time, that idea about feelings also includes the feelings of people who are new to RP and maybe don’t even know the etiquette well enough to know they’re messing up.  There’s a lot to get mad about in the current state of tumblr RP but even when I agree that I want this particular tedium done, I don’t really agree with the idea that I should make it a rule that forces other people to stay away from me. Yes I dont want to be ponging an ask post back and forth. Yes I want our posts cut.  But also, I wont get mad if you rb an ask instead of putting it in a new post. I’ll just put in a new post myself. I wont get mad if you dont cut a post, I’ll just cut it myself. It’s not hard to do.

Take also graphics, banners, and all manner of fancy formatting. RPC has really really leaned into that a lot more than back in 2013. On the one hand, I think that’s great. People are so creative. Their stuff looks so pretty, and I really like the work people put in. I don’t think it’s a bad thing necessarily, but on the other hand it does heighten that already steep barrier for entry imo, especially in circles that require it and judge based upon it. For me it’s more important to avoid looking like that’s an expectation of mine. Like, I can do that stuff. I do sometimes, actually. I make icons in batches of hundreds, I take commissions for RP graphics, don’t tell anybody. I’m a freelance illustrator and I know my way around the adobe creative suite-- I CAN make these things and I do for other people, but I can’t be called to do it for myself in most cases. When I see a blog with very nice graphics I immediately assume they don’t care to interact with me. In fact I still tend to unfairly think this even when they’ve shown me otherwise. If we don’t have a long term rapport and you’re a blog with nice graphics and I reply to your posts, what you’re seeing is a neurotic prey animal that is afraid of you signaling alarm.  For whatever reason I tend to interpret very fancy looking blogs as confident and happy in their own existing bubbles with no particular interest in newcomers. I know that’s not always a fair assumption to make--it’s a problem with me that I need to work on--but also I know other people deal with similar feelings. That’s why I don’t feel particularly called to make much beyond the most basic of graphics most of the time and I’m highly avoidant of anybody who seems like graphics are a requirement for interactions with them. Not everybody has photoshop. Not everybody is skilled at that sort of thing. I don’t want people to think that I will judge their style based on what my own style looks like, so I don’t invest much in it. Again, there’s nothing wrong with graphics, but it’s more important to me than anything else that I am approachable and I make other people on the dash as comfortable as I can. I’m glad that it seems like a requirement for cohesive graphics has waned over the last few years.

But, yea. I’d say this duality--the “this is cool but also I have reasons I feel I shouldn’t participate”--is how I feel about pretty much everything that’s big right now.  And like don’t even get me started on the anxiety RPC has around things like soft blocking and mutuals and multiples and “quality”. These things in particular aren’t that new, but a lot of Neo RPC etiquette and trends surrounding those types of anxieties represent a whole quagmire that I try to avoid as much as I can, often to a fault, and lately I’ve realized that in my blanket avoidance I am actually missing out on some things I really should consider doing. My icons could do with some light color retouching. I do want to get my tags together eventually. Permanent starter calls, interests checkers, banners to make asks more easily rebloggable-- these things are functional and can be fun and make RP easier and help people feel emboldened to approach. Like, there are a lot of newish things that are actually cool and I should maybe consider trying them out, but being an oldster has really made me slow to adapt.

So yeah, idk if that was clear at all lol. Take these many, many unnecessary words to say that again, I don’t necessarily think that the current RPC is better or worse in an objective sense, but I do think a lot of the anxieties and trends that were starting in the old RPC have really caught fire now in a way that makes them hard to abstain from even if you want to. Since the RPC is so much smaller now than it was in 2013, you really do have to play ball on these things more than you used to have to in order to find partners. There is a lot of etiquette and anxiety that goes unspoken in the RPC and so I often avoid fairly harmless RPC trends as a means of mitigating that anxiety and clarifying the unspoken as much as I can. Tumblr already has a barrier for entry by being a broken website that hates its rp users, I don’t need to pile on any extra factors to make that barrier to entry look any taller.

[frostyalice]

helpful? or not

since i’m currently tweaking some of my sideblogs’ themes, here’s a tip i feel like people don’t realize. this is very helpful if you change your urls a lot. 

anyway, so usually when putting a link to their blog or blog’s page, people put the whole url example: if i were trying to link you to my about page, i may put frostyalice.tumblr.com/about

(if i were to ever change my url back to tinybutmightyalice, that url would still link you to frostyalice.tumblr.com/about, instead of tinybutmightyalice.tumblr.com/about, which is a shame)

now, the “/about” part (i’m going to call it an extension) is really the only thing you need to put as the “url” (as long as you’re linking something on your blog to somewhere else on your blog)

so, in every theme when you go to ‘customize’ it, there’s usually an option to add some links like so:

(you can see none of the “urls” have the full “https://frostyalice blah blah” part). the “urls” are only the extensions. that’s because, as long as you’re on my blog and you click, tumblr will automatically just add those extensions to whatever blog you’re on (in this case mine). so if i ever change my url back to tinybutmightyalice, i now don’t have to go and change all those page links to tinybutmightyalice.tumblr.com/tags, tinybutmightyalice.tumblr.com/vibes, etc, etc..

this saves you a lot of time if you have a lot of pages with a lot of links that are set to go to other parts of your blog within your blog. so in my about page, i have a link that takes you to my character vibes page. the “url” for that, again, isn’t “frostyalice.tumblr.com/charactervibes” it’s just “/charactervibes”. now, again, if i ever change my url to whatever, i don’t need to remember to go into my about page and change that link as well

*this does/will not work if you are creating a rebloggable post (text, link, pictures, etc) because as soon as someone reblogs it and tries to click it, tumblr won’t know what to do with that extension only url now that it’s not on your blog anymore.*

i hope this makes sense and helps at least one person lol

[freudsghost]

i think i’ll post about this outside the tags because i usually post in tags because its easier and less vulnerable (they aren’t rebloggable lol) 

(not sure where to start this but...)  it’s been one year since my dad died. (feb 7th) and I’m just now starting to really process what that means to me. its all sorts of messy and involves me uprooting all this childhood trauma. he was my “good” parent because my mom was abusive and now without him here I’m left with the decision of keeping her in my life or not. as of right now we are still in contact because shes my last tie to him. and I can’t let that go right now. 

but processing all of that is now paired up with processing all the religious manipulation and emotional abuse i had in my late teens and early 20s. 

my parents weren’t religious. my dad was agnostic and my mom was raised jewish by her very religious jewish parents. i entered my early teens as an “agnostic jew” and that’s where i find myself today. some people might not understand that label and that’s fine. it’s the only one that works for me right now. at the same time i labeled myself an agnostic jew, i also knew at nearly the same time i was bisexual. i’ve never been uncomfortable with that and the only thing that’s made me uncomfortable with my own labels/truth are outside sources/people/etc. i don’t like disappointing people i’ve emotionally invested in and it hurts when i hear that something is wrong, impossible or stupid. 

my mom refuses to accept me in some ways and went to extremes to ‘punish’ me accordingly. (for reference: narcissistic parentification) I've had other influences reject who i am and try to change me to the point of a pretty extreme identity crisis. my ex husbands evangelical christian belief played a huge role in that. it’s been a really hard process trying to put myself back together after decades of trauma, manipulation and abuse. the last three years have been the hardest because I finally realized that if I wanted to find peace I really needed to unpack a lot of things. it started with a lot of childhood abuse, and relationship trauma. 2019 for me almost felt like a wash, my dad died unexpectedly, I was left picking up so many pieces mentally, emotionally and physically. It was shocking. I felt like I was at a standstill emotionally. Like I couldn’t make any progress. Very very recently i realized that my dad would want me to be happy and that to get there I not only need to work on moving into life without him, but that I need to really unpack all the religious trauma I’ve been through. Accepting that it even happened has been rough.

Now I don’t believe in fate. Not even a little bit. As much as I like the mysterious and the occult and spirituality, I don’t really believe in it personally. But a few months ago a friend introduced me to GMM and now, I’m here, in the midst of my own religious trauma listening to their religious deconstruction that not only involves the same branch of Christianity, but the same organizations that I was involved with via my ex-husband. I don’t really want to go into all the trauma that happened during that time. (you can read my previous post, TWs are at the top)

I don’t even know what I’m trying to say here, but it’s so helpful to hear that I’m not alone in this same kind of unravelling despite our stories being so different. While they were believers and christians, I never was. I never said I was. I never had a ‘come to jesus’ moment. And I never wanted one. But I still managed to end up traumatized by evangelical christianity. I was young, vulnerable and coming out of a manipulative and abusive home and I found someone that I thought cared about me (red flags everywhere, in retrospect) At seventeen I thought I knew what love was, and it was mostly a reflection of my toxic relationship with my mother. So it makes sense that I found something similar in my ex-husband and my involvement in CRU. Breaking free of that has been hard, painful, nut ultimately freeing. 

listening to these EB eps has been difficult for me but also really really helpful. beyond helpful. they’ve been healing in a way i can’t properly express in words. i know r&l have said they are open to hear other peoples stories and I wish i knew how i could share mine with them, but it feels like it would be too much. I’m not sure how i could fit this into 120 characters, i’m way too verbose. (and also I don’t use twitter) maybe someday I’ll be able to find the words. but for now I’m just putting it all here (and unedited as a stream of consciousness rant) 

[ohkimani]

kimani with hot takes only

i’m just like....lol this shit is literally what made me stay offline for so many months. like literally just saying “what if you didn’t depend on taylor’s existence and validation for your healing? what if you didn’t base your almost clinical need for taylor’s attention to make you feel alive?” and would get a zillion anons telling me that i need to shut the fuck up because i’ve met taylor and ive had her attention etc etc etc like do y’all remember this????? the fact that i would say small things like “just unfollow self rebloggers” and would get messages saying i had no right to speak on things that happen in the fandom because of how many times i’ve interacted with her or met her. this very severe hatred is and always has been on this site. just like so many other things that suddenly cause a commotion in this fandom, this shit ain’t new lmao like these things are the reason i do feel like a small blog sometimes because people are only over here when taylor likes a post but hardly ever when i’m getting my forehead peeled off for providing some common sense sometimes lmao

[thechekhov]

how would you recommend an artist make themselves better known on tumblr and in general? ive been drawing and painting almost my whole life but its hard to get people to notice me, any advice? thank you, you're my fave artist

Thank you so much! That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside…

As for your questions… hmm… it’s for sure a good one. 

I’m going to get a bit… strategical on that one. Hope you don’t mind this approach. 

Tumblr and real life are definitely alike in a lot of aspects, while in others they’re polar opposites. For the sake of keeping things neatly shelved, I’m going to focus on tumblr in this post.

＊*☆HOW TO GET ART NOTICED ON TUMBLR☆*＊

by chekhov

1. We have to understand how the tumblr sharing system works. 

I know this sounds a bit too obvious. I mean, we all know HOW. It’s by reblogging! 

I know that there’s a BIG opinion on tumblr that we should share and reblog art as much as possible to help artists get noticed. And that’s TRUE. It’s absolutely correct.

One thing I don’t agree with on that front is the guilt-tripping factor of it all. Like somehow people are responsible for the downfall of less popular artists because they didn’t reblog stuff enough. People are really quick to point at their followers and say “I GOT 100 OF Y’ALL HERE AND ONLY 3 ARE REBLOGGING ANYTHING”. 

I get it. It’s frustrating!

But the fact of the matter is, you can’t force people to reblog stuff. 

Instead, I recommend we harvest the power of the sharing we already have. We have to be smart about this. What I’m going to go into is a bit less concrete. We have to think about the PEOPLE who are doing the reblogging. 

Artists aren’t the ONLY ones with motivations for getting their stuff seen. And because they create media they are, for lack of a better word… a vendor! The buck STARTS with them, but it doesn’t stop with them. 

They have to also think about what the people are going to do with their product once it’s reblogged. Once someone buys from the vendor, they don’t just keep it forever. They distribute it to the others. And sometimes, those others distribute it again. We have to think about the bigger picture, and think about how FAR your art has the potential to go!

So, to get started we need to know… WHO are the ones buying from the vendor… and why?

What kind of rebloggers ARE there? 

I’m going to give my own opinion here, and feel free to disagree. But the 3 biggest rebloggers most important to the artist are these:

1. The Pleaser

Sounds sexy, right? In fact, the pleaser comes in many different forms. But essentially their goal is the same - they reblog stuff like aesthetic posts, and other pleasing things. They themselves tend to like a lot of stuff and reblog mostly beautiful photos, nice designs, and lots of fanart of whatever they’re into at the time. Comics and story-like posts are good here (although if they’re too long, people tend to lose interest.)

How to get reblogged by a Pleaser?

Appeal to their fandom, their interest, and make something that moves them. Pleasers are most active around the time when the new episode of their favorite show comes out, or when their favorite holiday comes around. Drawing fanart during its peak popularity will usually catch a Pleasers’ attention, as will drawing aesthetic Halloween posts around, well, Halloween. 

2. The Teaser

The Teaser is the class clown and the shitposter, and they reblog memes and jokes voraciously. In the Teaser’s audience are other teasers - and they also tend to be very generous rebloggers. The fact of the matter is - memes sell reblogs faster than any aesthetic art will. We’re social creatures and getting a laugh out of our followers is worth a LOT of fake internet points.

How do I get reblogged by the Teaser?

Memes. I mean, you knew this was coming, right? During the height of some new tumblr joke, people usually welcome any unusual spin, or any funny variation of an old joke. 

My meme redraws have consistently been popular and have ‘boomed’ very quickly. For example, this redraw of sapphire from Steven Universe doing ‘the scroll of truth’ jumped to 5k almost within a day. 

Many people peek at my page ‘for the lols’ but end up staying for the art, or because there’s another thing I post they’re interested in. Either way, memes are a gateway drug… to your blog. 

3. The Librarian

The Librarian is a bit more rare, but they’re still important, because they tend to reblog a lot. They’re a bit unusual in the sense that they do this for themselves, instead of for an audience. The blog of the librarian is mostly just a replacement for bookmarking interesting stuff. These people tend to reblog tutorials, reference posts, and things they want to read later on. 

How to get reblogged by a Librarian?

Make things that people want to keep around. Charts, references, tutorials. Chances are, the librarian will snag it up eventually. 

Of course, these 3 aren’t the ONLY type of tumblr blogger. In fact, many of them are a mix of these 3. But the main point is…

2. What do most of these (and other) people on tumblr have in common?

Just like you, many people (although not all) want to get their stuff SEEN. You might be creating the original product, but they choose whether or not to distribute it to their audience. 

Everyone is playing the same game, no matter which part of the chain they’re on.

You, as an artist, have the biggest responsibility to think about this long-term. Not only 1 reblog down the line. 

For example, let’s return to one of my meme-posts that I did about wrist pain (carpal tunnel). When I made this, I had a vague idea of who would consume it. Obviously… other artists. But the reason that this got so popular? Is not only because fellow artists follow me. It’s because the artists that follow me also have followers who are also, conveniently, artists. That’s why despite the fact that many people reblogged the post directly from me - even MORE of them reblogged it from @sergle​ (shoutout to sergle! u rock) who is also a popular artist and also has an audience who were prone to want to reblog the post.

See that orange dot? That’s me. See that bigger blue dot? That’s sergle. 

In a way, this is a game of chance. Will something you reblog be seen by someone with a large enough audience to keep it going? The thing is, we don’t know until it happens. And oftentime, the only way to achieve this is to keep trying. Stubbornly. 

But you can’t just headbutt the wall in the same place and hope it eventually crumbles. You have to look for a door. 

3. So what’s the door? 

Take a look at your art. Is it consumable BEYOND the surface level of your followers? 

Sometimes people get discouraged because their fanart is way more popular than their original art. Although I share their frustration, there’s a good reason for this, and your followers aren’t to blame.  

The thing is, fanart is consumable at deep reblog levels. If you post fanart, there’s a good chance that even 3-4 reblogs down the line, there’s going to be a person who sees it and thinks ‘hey, I know Steven Universe. My followers know Steven Universe. I’ll reblog this!’ Fandoms are efficient because they already have a lot of context for the consumption of the art. They have a story (humans love stories), they’re invested in it, they’re interested in it, and there’s a good chance that sharing more stuff about it will get them more interaction with their mutuals, even if they’re not consciously thinking about all this as they reblog. 

Unfortunately, that’s just not true for your original art. Many of us have beautiful, wonderful stories - but they’re not available to a wide audience. They’re not easily consumed, they’re not easily accessed (in comparison to being on netflix, for example). If you post a picture of your OC - maybe your immediate pool of followers who know that OC will reblog it. But their own followers who aren’t directly following you will not have any connection, emotional or otherwise, to that character. They simply don’t have a reason to care, and they don’t have any means to. Even if they visit your blog - will it be easy to find similar content? Have you got your links available on desktop AND mobile? Is it easy to find the beginning of your story? Is it free of mistakes and easy to read? 

Large companies that make shows or comics funnel tons of money into making their media consumable. There’s a LOT of effort that goes into advertising, too. You, as an independent artist, simply don’t have that kind of manpower. That’s not your fault - but it’s also not your followers’ fault. Why are they supposed to reblog things that their own followers will never understand and connect with? 

4. Back to square one: how do I get noticed? 

I’m gonna keep this short and sweet because I feel like I already took up a lot of your time. After everything I’ve said, hopefully this will make sense:

Make content that has a connection to your audience somehow. Make it relatable to their life. Make it relatable to what’s currently going on. Make it worth their while to look at it. 

Make content that’s easy to understand. Super detailed drawings, with nothing to focus on are difficult to digest. Simpler, sharper drawings that someone can understand within 3 seconds of looking at it are the most digestible of all. This isn’t a museum.

If you’re creating content that goes with a story, MAKE THE STORY. I know it’s tempting to create just a whole bunch of character sketch sheets and leave it at that, but you can’t complain about not getting an audience when your audience doesn’t have anything to consume in the first place. 

Make the story AVAILABLE. Organize your tags. Make sure those tags are easily accessible. People will never like 100% of your art, so many it easy for them to find what they WILL like. 

Don’t be afraid of fanart. Fanart gets you connected with people who like stories and content similar to yours. 

Don’t be afraid to follow and reblog people that you want to connect with. Don’t be afraid to make them stuff and @ them. 

Post your stuff to a LOT of places! Your audience is somewhere out there - probably not only on tumblr. You have to spread yourself thin sometimes, but make sure the account can all lead back to your main hub. 

And last but not least…

Critically re-evaluate your art at least once a year. (I’m personally working on this.) Just because you’ve been drawing for years, and just because your art might be incredible doesn’t mean it’s appealing to people. Sounds weird, right? But think about it - there’s TONS of people who are not that amazing at anatomy, or coloring… but they still have a huge audience, and people connect with their art. A lot of times, it’s because their art is straightforward and easy to read/understand. 

Ask a friend to critique your art. Ask them if they understand your work, or if it’s difficult to make out. Ask them what your work inspires in them. Ask them what they DO like about your work - and exaggerate that!

There’s a LOT that goes into art… no matter it’s a whole industry! Doing it all on your own is HARD and it’s a bit unthinkable how much artists have to do to compete with industries. But it’s not impossible, and it’s definitely worth it. :)

Hope I didn’t bore any of y’all who made it down this far. 

Thanks!

[lovemesomesurveys]

1. When was the last time you had an argument with one of your parents? It’s been awhile since we have an argument, but we often bicker about things concerning me and health stuff. They get frustrated and they worry about me, which I get, but it’s just hard. I know what I need to do, it’s just actually doing it.

2. Do you still live at home or with a guardian of some sort? If so, when do you plan on moving out, if ever? If you have moved out, how did your relationship to your parents change after that? I do still live at home with my parents, younger brother, and our dog. I don’t have any plans for the foreseeable future to move out. It’s best for me to live at home at this time and I’m fine with it. 3. When was the last time you were diagnosed with something? Are you concerned about anything regarding your physical or mental health at the moment? I haven’t been diagnosed with anything new in awhile. I’m just dealing with ongoing, chronic stuff. I’m very concerned about things regarding my physical and mental health. It’s not good right now. 4. What’s the longest you’ve gone without talking to other people? How did this affect you? Some days I’m in an extra moody mood and I just keep quiet and to myself, saying little to anyone and when I do it’s short. However, outside of my immediate family that I live with, I haven’t spoken to friends and family for a long time. Some in almost 2 years.

5. What is one blanket judgment you tend to make about people (like, you judge all people who live at home, all people who drink, etc)? Does this judgment come from a particular personal experience? Ha, well I definitely can’t judge people who still live at home with their parents cause exhibit A here. I guess a blanket judgment I might make is when people just don’t own up to their faults or hurtful behavior and just sit there and try to lie to your face instead of admitting to their issues or justifying it in some way. It’s frustrating with people like that. 6. What is something seemingly small and inconsequential that will cause you to avoid a person? Uhh. I admit to distancing myself from people, particularly guys that I’m interested in, because I don’t want to bother them and I want them to reach out to me cause then I know they really do want to talk to me. It’s so completely stupid and childish, though. It also always backfires because then neither one of us will message the other and then more and more time passes by. It hasn’t worked in my favor at all. I don’t know if that quite answers the question, but it’s what came to mind. 7. Does it bother you to see certain traits of yours in others? Do you know why you have this reaction? I don’t like seeing other people be hard on themselves and put themselves down like I always do to myself. I don’t like when others are hurting.

8. What was the last meal you skipped? Do you skip meals often or do you try to avoid that? I pretty much always skip breakfast. it’s quite rare that I ever have it. 9. How do you react to other people yelling or slamming doors? Is this something you ever do too? It’s not pleasant. 10. Is there anything you rely on someone else to do for you, or anything someone else relies on you to do for them? Yeah, there’s a few things. Some things I need help with and can’t do on my own. 11. What was the last thing you had for breakfast? I will say that now and then there are two days a week that my mom has the opening shift at work and she’s up getting ready when I’m still up, so she’ll make me some eggs or oatmeal. That happened Monday and she has the opening shift today. 12. Do you tend to eat the same few things all the time or do you vary your intake? Would you consider yourself to be a picky eater? Are there any commonly enjoyed foods that you don’t like? Yeah, there’s a small amount of foods that I eat and most days I have some of the same things. I am a picky eater, but there’s also some other factors that contribute to my weird eating habits and the certain foods I eat. I used to be such a foodie until a couple years ago. As for foods that are commonly enjoyed by others that I don’t like, I don’t eat sushi or any seafood. I feel like everyone else loves sushi. 13. Do you have a favorite stuffed animal or anything that you sleep with? Where did you get it and what makes it a favorite? I don’t have any I sleep with, but I have a TON of giraffe stuffed animals. I’ve gotten them from various places over the years. 14. Do you have good body image? Do you feel more confident about your body or your personality? What is one thing about yourself about which you do feel particularly confident? Noooope. I’m very self-conscious about my body and my looks. Especially nowadays. I don’t like much of my personality either, except for my sense of humor and I consider myself to be understanding. The only thing about my appearance that I like is my hair after it has recently been colored and layered. Until the roots start showing and the color fades some, it looks nice. 15. How likely are you to compliment other people? How do you react or respond when you receive a compliment? What are your favorite types to receive? I often will think like, “Ooh I like that shirt” or “I really like their hair” or something, but I don’t often say anything unless I know the person. Like people I don’t know will compliment me on my hair or my purse, but I’m not one to do that. I’m too shy for that. Compliments are nice, but I’m so awkward about it.

16. Describe the last thing you reblogged? How many posts do you tend to reblog during a day? Some photos of Alexander Skarsgard from the new show he’s in, The Little Drummer Girl. I like more stuff than I reblog, but it really just varies. Like if there’s new photos of Alex and my dash is like full of stuff, I’ll reblog a lot. And like on Wednesdays for example, I reblog a lot after American Horror Story and Riverdale air. 17. Do you tend to reblog or make your own personal posts more often? On my main blog, I’m a reblogger. I haeven’t made a personal post on there in quite some time. This side blog is all personal posts. 18. When was the last time you felt like you had no one to talk to? When you can’t talk to anyone about your problems, what are some ways you cope alone? I feel that way a lot, even though I do. I know I could talk to my mom and I have friends who would be there for me if I let them, but... I tend to just keep to myself or vent and ramble on here. 19. Who in your life do you get along with best? How about the least? How often do you have to interact with these people? There isn’t anyone in my life that I don’t get along with, but I’m definitely closest to my mom and younger brother. 20. Have you ever lost your cool at work or somewhere else important? What happened as a result? No. 21. What was the last important event or holiday celebration you attended? Was this something you wanted to be a part of, or did you only go begrudgingly? The last important event I attended were a few graduations last year. 22. When was the last time you did something you knew was wrong? What about the last time you did something right just because it was right? Hmm. I guess by not doing some things that I should be doing, and I know I should be doing, regarding my health. 23. When you do good things, do you do them because you want some sort of reward or recognition or do you do them just for the sake of being good? I like to do things for others because I genuinely enjoy it. 24. When was the last time you felt especially appreciated? What about unappreciated? I don’t feel I’ve done anything to be appreciated for in a long time. 25. When you fill out social media bios and such, how do you typically describe yourself? Is describing yourself something you have a difficult time doing? I hate doing that cause I never know what to say. I’m just like, “Hey, I’m Steph” or I’ll just be like Steph|29|CA. lol. 26. Do you feel like you have a good idea of who you are as a person? What you like, what you stand for, what you feel, etc? With some things, but there’s also a lot that I don’t understand about myself or am still trying to figure out. 27. What is one unusual belief you have? Has anyone ever made fun of you for your beliefs? Hmm. I don’t know. 28. What is something that brings you a lot of comfort? I don’t know. 29. When was the last time someone apologized to you? What about the last time you apologized? Are apologies easy or difficult for you? I don’t recall for either one. I certainly have some apologies to make, though. :/ I can admit when I’m wrong and am quick to blame myself anyway, but I just don’t know how to explain to certain people that I need to apologize to what is going on that or even what to say. I don’t feel an apology is good enough at this point. 30. What was the last thing someone else bought for you? My brother bought me Starbucks and lunch a couple days ago.

[k-poplegs]

howdy yall

Man, it’s been a minute or 4 hasn’t it. Yep I made a 4minute reference cuz I’m old as fuck, deal with it.

I just wanted to say I’m still alive and doing well. I am very sorry for stepping away from my blog for so long. 

I had something I wanted to say but now I’m not sure exactly what or why … I can’t explain it. So I guess I’ll just try to make sense.

I never thought this blog would be as big as it is. It’s not huge or the most popular, I’m not a content creator, just a reblogger/reposter but still 15k followers is pretty impressive. And I only repost like, my taste, my followed content. Imagine if I followed twice or black pink or … like other groups that were big on top of what I already post. Man. Sorry I don’t but it was already overwhelming posting stuff I was invested in. So it was only more time consuming to look for stuff I didn’t really follow. Anyways, I guess that’s what it comes down to. Investment. Interest.

I’m growing older and I was already an older K-pop fan when I was fully following K-pop back in the glory days when snsd and 2ne1 reigned supreme. K-pop helped me through a lot and it made me a better person. These days I just don’t have the time, or the same connection and it hurts me to say the need to go all in like I used to. I would watch every show every bit of content regarding any group I followed. Secret, fx, t-ara, snsd, miss a, whatever I was getting on that fan site I was checking YouTube, Vimeo, daily motion, downloading episodes to my HDD in case the channel or content was taken down for copyrights lol. And now… now I say I’m a red velvet fan and I follow them but I’ve watched like a few snippets of content compared to what I used to. I always say, yeah I’ll finish level up project… and I never do.

I always say I’ll check my likes and reblog content… and here I am years later.

However, I don’t want to be like that anymore. Maybe I’m nostalgic or having a midlife crisis. Im going to seriously get on my old HDD and post anything I never posted from my ““post to klegs” folder. So seriously seriously be prepared for some last generation idol spam within the coming week

[shimmerjjang]

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Writing this post without drafting and proofreading. If some parts seem like they do not make any sense, then it's probably because of that. Okay well, it's not like I'm totally gone. I'm still all over Instagram and Twitter (kinda). But as you can see, this very pink blog which you guys know as "Shimmerjjang" for the past 7 years, didn't have a new post for the entire month of August. I'm not even sure if my July post is even a valid justification that I did not miss July, at least. But well, I still consider it fortunate, managing to squeeze one full write-up (and a video) during a very difficult month. I do not wish to dive in to the full details of my drama because believe me, it's boring. 

Anyway, all drama aside, one reason why I haven't been updating our blog as much as I used to is because Tumblr is starting to die on me. Yep, if you guys came here after shimmerjjang.tumblr.com happened, then here's news for you. My entire blog (shimmerjjang.com) is hosted on Tumblr and the platform is starting to get annoyingly glitchy. My photos were resized without mercy and the codes were kinda messed up. Even the dashboard loads forever! Well, it seems like the rest of the world is moving forward and my granny blog isn't having it lol Because seriously, who uses Tumblr these days? For now, I have backed my posts up and started moving everything to Wordpress.

At this point, I'm still not sure about the moving and all. For some reason, I'm kinda sad of the thought of leaving Tumblr. This is where my blogging life began. I used to be a notorious reblogger and to be honest, I've gained most of my Tumblr following because of that. Like, when you search for 'Bigbang', 'Ulzzang' and 'Uruha', you will most likely land on my Tumblr blog. Then I started sharing photos of my K-beauty hauls there + short snippets of my reviews which eventually led to my "Ask" section flooded with messages from strangers asking for K-Beauty recommendations. I even made friends in the process and the rest is history! 

But yeah, it feels like Tumblr isn't going to be here much longer. Or maybe it won't go anywhere, but the glitches will annoy the shh out of me. I'll carry on posting here since I still have a year more under my custom domain. I'll be importing everything to Wordpress though, so if things fail here, you know where to find me (shimmerjjang.wordpress.com) 

Ah and also, I've been working a lot. Like, A LOT. I've been enjoying my work more and more so I tend to spend more time for it more than ever. It really makes a huge difference if you're in love with what you do, yea? I'm gearing up for new things ahead so, wish me the best please. :) See you in my next review. Meanwhile, let's catch up on Instagram!