#but watching it now it would be a whole new experience as a tumblr user

[passsionfish]

I now have onceler references on my desktop unfortunately

[zepskies]

hi! so I had a question, how long did it take you to build a following on tumblr? how long have you been writing for spn as a whole (I assume you started with it but I’m not sure I meant when did you start writing on the app mostly) and do you think it usually takes as long as it did for you for other people? (I hope the wuestion made sense)

Hi there, lovely anon!

Oh, these are great questions, and I'm happy to answer. I'm going to be referencing this post, as someone asked me a similar question.

I also talk a lot about my beginning fanfic/coming to Tumblr experience and building a following in this interview I did with the @idlingintheimpalapodcast.

That being said, here's how I got started in SPN fandom and on Tumblr, and 6 Tumblr Tips related to how I've tried to grow my blog:

Learn How Tumblr Functions

Create a Tag List

Posting Schedules, Announcements, and Sneak Previews

People are Visual (Use Images & Design Elements) + shoutouts to blogs I looked to for inspo

Support Your Fellow Writers! Reblog/Comment on What You Read & Enjoy

When I Do Get Engagement, I Reply to Comments and Reblogs

Deeper dive below the cut:

Writing for SPN & Starting on Tumblr

To be honest, I'm a bit late to the party when it comes to Tumblr. I've written for many different fandoms over the 15 years or so I've been writing fanfic, but I've been writing for Supernatural in particular since around 2015. I wrote on platforms like Fanfiction.net, and later I moved over to Ao3.

I dabbled with Tumblr starting in 2021 while I was working on a Billy Butcher x OC story for the Boys (And So It Goes). But after watching the last season of SPN, I got the SPN bug again, so I started dipping back into the fandom.

But I wasn't really that active on Tumblr until January 2023, when I wrote my first soulmate AU series for Dean Winchester, called Never Say Goodbye (Dean x soulmate!Reader).

That started a very fun journey for me in the Tumblr world, engaging with people and making friends here with awesome people! 💕

Now, here are a few tips on what I've learned in building my following. You don't have to do exactly what I did. This is just my advice based on my personal experience here:

Tip #1: Learn How Tumblr Functions

Everything has been a process of trial and error. I have a professional background in content and social media marketing, so that knowledge has helped me a lot with some elements I'll get into later.

But it took me time to learn the Tumblr landscape. I had to figure out:

Why it's important to reblog -- not just your own work in replying to people's comments, but what you read and enjoy. It's what makes Tumblr go 'round.

The different mobile vs. desktop views and functions.

How to format my posts and use hashtags that would best optimize my fics and posts, based on the most followed tags in the fandom I was writing for.

How to create design elements, like banners, dividers, and headers that matched my aesthetic and the fandom.

Make sure my blog is easy to read, visually, and easy to navigate, technically (links to my masterlists, series masterlists, tag list, my fic library side blog, Patreon, etc.).

I'm still adjusting all these things now and then as I figure out new ways to keep readers engaged, and make my blog as easy to navigate as possible.

Tip #2: Create a Tag List

A tag list is a list of blog users that request to be tagged in your upcoming fics. (See this post on tips for formatting tag lists and optimizing hashtags on posts.)

Some authors don't do tag lists anymore because they find it a hassle (and it can be), but even if you're just starting out, advertise your tag list -- I suggest at the end of a fic and in your bio, your masterlist, and/or navigation page. It will get more eyes on your posts, and hopefully more engagement.

I used Google Forms to build up my tag lists because it's easy to use and it creates a Google spreadsheet for you based on the responses you get (an idea I got from another writer who was doing the same thing). You can also create more sheets within the file to organize the responses by character, for example.

On my tag list, I gave readers options to choose which character they wanted to be tagged on based on the fandoms I write for. I also created tag lists for new series to go with the series masterlist. Like I said above, I created spreadsheets for each of these lists within my tag list form master sheet.

Now, you don't have to do it exactly this way. There are many ways to keep track of a tag list.

Some people may think my approach is too much work, but this was very successful for me in building up my tag lists and increasing my following. Staying organized is key! 🤓✌🏽

I have since created a side blog @zepskieswrites for people to follow with notifications on.

Tip #3: Posting Schedules, Announcements & Sneak Previews

When my blog started to gain traction from my first SPN series, I knew I wanted to post consistently to keep people's interests. For me, this meant once a week (sometimes more if the mood strikes me), to keep that momentum going. YouTube vloggers do the same thing for this reason. They have a set posting schedule and give announcements.

You don't have to post once a week. You don't even have to have a set schedule. That's just what I did last year to increase engagement, but also because I love to write, I was getting inspired, and I made the time for it!

Remember that writing and sharing your work and being a part of the fandom on Tumblr is supposed to be fun! At the same time, what you get out of something depends on how much time you have to put into it.

Basically what I’m saying is, I’ve put a lot of time and energy into my writing and my blog, but only because it’s been very fun to do it! 😉

Now, going back to being consistent. It can help you! When people know they have content waiting for them by a certain timeframe, and they see that you stick to that deadline, they're more likely to tune in and engage with your work.

Of course, real life comes first, always, and things can derail you, but on the whole I make sure that I keep my word when I say I'm going to post something. Tumblr has a scheduling feature that allows you to schedule posts ahead of time, which I use on a daily basis. That can help you as well.

To try and generate buzz around new stories, I give writing updates or announcements, often with sneak previews, and the dates when I plan to drop the upcoming story. When I'm writing a series, on each chapter I give a preview of the next one, so I can try to keep people invested and waiting for the next chapter.

Tip #4: People are Visual (Use Images & Design Elements)

A huge element of successful content and social media is visuals. The first thing people are often drawn to when they look at a web page, an ad, or any kind of digital content is the picture -- and any other visual elements. Then they look at the title/headline, followed by the rest of the story.

This is why I always lead with the title of the story/headline and a GIF or image at the top of the post for a story. Draw readers in with their eyes to the visual, and then the content. I now create my own design elements, including story headers.

When I got started here on Tumblr, I also took a closer look at how other popular blogs I admired were organizing their masterlists, formatting their stories with banners, dividers, tags/warnings, word count, creating tag lists, and more -- both to create their blog aesthetic and to make it easier for readers to enjoy their work on different levels -- the content itself, and the visual elements.

Shoutouts to some of those writers I looked to, who have a lovely blog aesthetic and organization: @luci-in-trenchcoats @deanwinchesterswitch @deanbrainrotwritings @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior

Form and function is a balance, and they should work together. For example, there are some design/post formatting elements that are getting popular now on Tumblr that I personally don't vibe with, because I think it takes away from the reader's experience.

Like making the entire post or story in small case. Readers that have trouble seeing small fonts won't want to read this.

or making everything in the story lower case. this just bothers me for grammatical reasons. guarantee i will be turned off from reading. 😂

Also, most people browse Tumblr on their phone rather than on desktop. (About 62% according to current Semrush statistics.) So certain things that are small in your desktop version will be even smaller on mobile.

If you have a custom blog design, some design elements may not transfer well visually on mobile vs. desktop, and vice versa. So you'll want to check both versions to see how it looks, and possibly make adjustments.

Now, this isn't to say you have to become a graphic designer if that's not your thing. There are plenty of people who share their lovely designs for free, as long as you make sure to credit them if you use one of their banners, dividers, etc. Check out @cafekitsune and @firefly-graphics, for example.

Some of them even take requests. Just make sure to check their bio to see if they state whether they're currently taking requests or not. (This also goes for writers on fic requests.)

Tip #5: Support Your Fellow Writers! Reblog/Comment on What You Read & Enjoy

This is part of the fun when you start truly engaging with the fandoms you love.

Likes are cool. Comments are wonderful. Reblogs with comments are awesome, because not only do they get that engagement/feedback that they can reply to, but the reblog helps your fellow writers get seen. And while they aren't obligated to, they might be more inclined to do the same for you.

You'll also start to develop relationships within your fandom community. This is how I've made many friends and gained new readers on Tumblr -- by reblogging, sharing, commenting on what I liked about the fics I read. 💜

I try my best to support my fellow writers, no matter how new or how popular they are. Just because a writer has a bigger following, doesn't mean they appreciate feedback any less.

Feedback gives us writers energy and fuels us to write more. It can lead to more inspiration, and to continue the series you might be so invested in.

So if I took the time to read something, if I enjoyed it, I'm usually reblogging it and sharing my thoughts, even if it's just a gif or a couple of lines, or a long raving review. 💖

Tip #6: When I Do Get Engagement, I Reply to Comments and Reblogs

Along with supporting my fellow writers, engaging with the lovely people who read my work is just good fun! It's the best part of sharing my work on here and on Ao3. And it lets them know that you value and appreciate them for taking the time to comment and/or comment in a reblog. 💓💓💓

I hope these tips are helpful! Now, to answer your last question...

Do you think it usually takes as long as it did for you

[to build a following] for other people?

Interesting, but the truth is, I'm not sure. My knowledge of content and social media marketing has probably given me a leg up, I think, even though it took me a while to learn the Tumblrscape. I've also been writing fanfic for a long time. Long before I ever heard about Tumblr.

I've spent years studying literature, creative writing, and screenwriting, and putting it into practice. I've spent years writing for other voices besides my own, outside of the fanfic world. Like anyone else, I can only go by what I've learned, my own instincts, my frame of reference, and what I want to write about next.

Like anyone else, I can only hope that what I put out there vibes with people and touches them in some way, enough that they feel comfortable letting me know what they thought about it. 💜

In the meantime, I'll just keep getting inspiration from this guy (and other characters):

[levyfiles]

i feel like if they just said straight up that they don't want to be youtubers cause they're "better than that" - which honestly feels like the subtext here - it would have been better than this disingenuous sentimental nonsense followed by an ask for money, the phrasing of which made it sound like we should feel guilty for consuming their art for free till now

OK, I have said this a few times but this is going to be my last time saying this on tumblr.

Youtube is a platform once built for users in 2006; the idea was for those locked out of the industry to have an opportunity to share their creations. As time went on, the very moment that content started to be funded by sponsors, the platform changed. Decades later, the platform--and believe me when I say this--is controlled by sponsors and ads. A lot of people don't realise this because we all have our ad-block on. We work tirelessly not to have to consume media peddled to us with agendas and propaganda; we pay for software so we don't get it.

We accepted Youtube charging some of us monthly so we don't see ads, so we can enjoy the platform more comfortably. If you're in your early-to late 30s then you know that Youtube crafted a whole lot of our experience online but it has not gone without changes. The ad breaks are now populated with sponsors with a big list of prerequisites and we sit there and guffaw through a straight 40 seconds of a creator peddling fast-fashion, cheap drinks with poison in them, platforms that sell $1 items off the backs of slave labour, and knives that don't even work just so we can sit back and pretend we'd rise to the occasion when an opportunity to practice socialism presents itself.

Well, here's the bad news. Socialism does not mean you sit back and get everything handed to you. That is literally right-wing propaganda. Socialism is every one taking a piece of what they have to crowd-source the things we want. It is letting artists be artists to create things that do not contribute to consumerism/corporate culture.

In the end, the internet has shown me that all these LARPING children believing in the future where shit gets handed to them off the backs of other people's hard work will open their greedy maws and scream slurs, insults, and backhanded statements at any creator who seizes control of the thing they've produced. You don't want to see artists grow; you want creators/artists strapped to the capitalism hamster wheel while they create the same trendy crap that sponsors tell you that you want until they burn out and retire.

The saddest thing of all is the irony of you calling that video sentimental nonsense when it shows you the story; it tells you that they all got started the way most of our favourite youtubers started but then Buzzfeed happened which may have opened some doors for them but if Ryan didn't fight tooth and nail, we would have had a Netflix show with some non descript white guy hosting it because that's the vision Buzzfeed saw. It's what so many of you see when you want the thing you like, that you watch them work tirelessly to make, to be free forever.

Of course they're too good for Youtube. Youtube is trash now and you're going to start to notice that very quickly now.

[cinnamontails-ff]

GET READY FOR ANOTHER INTERROGATION LET'S GOOO

For the fanfic writer ask: 5, 9, 14, 17, and 30 😁

YOU ARE SO NICE FOR LETTING ME YAP OK HERE WE GO

5. What’s something you learned while researching a fic?

That this is an official ceremonial outfit for the Surpreme Court of Canada:

Yes, I considered making Astarion wear it in MA, but I just couldn't bring myself to bully him like that :D

9. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I sort of slid into fanfiction after many years of failure in the publishing industry. I reached a point where I simply didn't have the energy anymore and I was so burnt out that I wrote very little for several months. Then my boyfriend convinced me to try this video game he was playing and well, the rest is history :D

It's interesting to look back at this now that I feel similarly burnt out with fanfiction and am ready to try my luck again with original work. Maybe I'll keep going through these cycles, but I think the bottom line is that I'll always write in some sort of capacity? And I'm happy with that. It's my favorite thing in the world, so at the end of the day, it's what I want to spend my time on, no matter how successful I am.

14. What makes you happiest? New fic comments, kudos, bookmarks, user subscribers, story subscribers, or Tumblr asks?

Torn between comments and Tumblr asks because while I reread my favorite comments quite a bit and get so much joy out of them even months and years after they were posted, there is something truly special about someone making the effort to look you up on a different platform to engage with you more directly. One of my happiest fandom moments was when a reader sent me an ask in which they inquired about a certain plot element and whether or not that would play a role later on. And somehow, the fact that this one person remembered this tiny detail and cared enough to ask about it made me so emotional that I wrote a whole flashback about it (which I wasn't sure if I wanted to include before). So I guess comments give me the most long-term happiness but Tumblr asks can feel so flattering that they end up reshaping the narrative itself?

17. What is something you recently felt proud of in your writing?

Answered here!

30. Have you noticed your style change over time?

Definitely! To me, the past one and a half years in particular have been all about finding my "style" in English. My first fic, Accountant's Guide, was such an outpouring of creative energy that I didn't even really think about things like style very much when I first drafted it. It was just a story that wanted to get onto the page, which made it a beautifully cathartic writing experience, but not something that can be easily repeated. So after that, I had to sit down and figure out what could be my "normal" modus operandi when I'm not currently riding that super intense creative high.

And now that I'm working on original material again, I definitely have to acknowledge that writing for fandom has made me lean into my overwriting tendencies. Don't get me wrong, there's value in having the creative freedom to give your story as much space as you think it needs (and MA certainly needed more pages than I originally anticipated). But at some point, there's also the danger of getting a little self-indulgent with it. Writing more rather than better, if that makes sense. So now I'm working on brevity -- trying to tell a story in a way that's satisfying and true to the characters' experiences, but also efficient. I just started watching the "Fallout" series, and I was really impressed with how they managed to set things up in the first episode. Introducing the world and the main characters while also going full-throttle on the action sequences, building intrigue and paying homage to the games without confusing newbies like me. Super strong opening. And really, writing is all about the dynamics, I find. The long, sprawling paragraphs hit that much harder if they're interspersed with snappy dialogue and efficient exposition, so this is what I'm trying to embrace at the moment.

Thank you so much for submitting these! I had a blast getting to chat about these things ❤

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: March 2024

……….FILM……….

Dune: Part Two (2024) Every piece of technology felt and looked so tangible. The baby worm too! Love the tactile nature of this whole production and I hope studios take note that CG can't be the only tool in your belt. So much bigger than I imagined and just enjoyed the whole thing.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) Ages surprisingly well and a script that lets the main quartet be both funny and layered.

……….TELEVISION……….

Columbo (1.01 to 1.03) Hey I'm starting Columbo! Love that each episode is feature-length and Columbo appears fully formed right out of the gate. The sets and costumes are all so glamorous and L.A. Very excited to keep going.

Succession (2.05 to 3.04) The Kendall play at the end of season 2 felt very much like the Kendall play at the end of season 1 and while I'm still a huge fan of this series, I just hope it's not the same going into season 3 and 4.

Delicious in Dungeon (Episode 1.09 to 1.13) Great adaptation that isn't just a straight recreation of the artwork in the manga. The more kinetic/frantic moments in the animation are a nice departure and while they don't pop up in each episode, now that I'm 13 eps deep I can appreciate how they're sprinkled throughout.

Love is Blind (Episode 6.02 to 6.13) It still amazes me that anyone goes on reality tv.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Twilight | ContraPoints by ContraPoints Yes I did watch a nearly 3-hour essay on Twilight, sexual expression, and all that comes with that. And you should too. VIDEO

Instagram fatigue and the rise of 'Resentment Reels' by Taylor Lorenz While I haven't noticed this specific phenomenon, I have noticed Instagram declining as an app (both as a user trying to see anything other than ads, and a creator trying to get my work seen in between those ads). It's a bummer. VIDEO

Saltburn: The Tumblr-ification of Cinema by Broey Deschanel Every since I saw Saltburn, I've been thinking about what wasn't quite sitting right with me. This unlocked a lot of what I couldn't describe and most of it stems from the writer/director's upper class upbringing. Saltburn isn't a "take down the rich" movie, it's a horror story from the perspective of a wealthy family. VIDEO

Why Is It So Hard To Cross The Street? (& What You Can Do To Help) by Strong Towns Accidents where drivers hit a pedestrian are going up in my area so this really hit home. And for those feeling like there's nothing you can do at ground level, consider taking their course (not a paid sponsorship I'm just in real support of community-lead initiatives). VIDEO

……….READING……….

Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock (Complete) After picking up the last book in this series (which I've yet to read) I figured I'd start at the beginning. Love the fast pace pulpy action and I can see how this influenced the creation of D&D.

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (Complete) This one would lose me for stretches but the final quarter of the book is stronger. A lot less cozy and a lot more action than I was expecting but skimming other reviews it sounds like this was written during her more...adventure-focused era. Three books deep and I have to give Christie credit that each has been a completely different experience.

Adventures of a Japanese Business Man by Jose Domingo (Complete) Always love going back to this nearly wordless epic that follows the titular Japanese business man. I love the complexity of the earliest panels and wish that could carry throughout more of the book, but it's always such a treat to discover just where each new panel will go.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 5 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Enjoying rereading this with shorter breaks between volumes as I certainly missed/forgot details on my first read. It's here that the story and tone shifts from light romp to a more dramatic and dangerous affair but it never loses its spot-on humour. Love those dryad pumpkins.

Ultimate Spider-Man HC Volume 11 by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, David Lafuente, and more (Complete) Going from some of my other comics back to this, I'm struck by just how wordy it can get. Now knowing where the story goes, it was a great idea to prime readers to the idea of Peter Parker dying even if it's not from this event.

……….AUDIO……….

Blank Check with Griffin & David (Podcast) Late to the game on this but really enjoying burning through their back catalog. Obviously started with their episode on Speed Racer as it's a near perfect film that you should watch right now.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday group just killed a mayor! So the aftermath of that is going to play out over the next couple of sessions. And the Mof1 crew is investigating the aftermath of their own district-wide catastrophe and it's all looking rather suspicious!

Spot It (Blue Orange Games) I can't recommend this game enough. It's so easy to learn, rounds last maybe 5 minutes, it plays well with small or large groups of any age, and all it requires is pattern recognition and quick reflexes. Every time I've played this someone says they're going to buy a copy for themselves.

And that's it. See you in April!

[aangarchy]

Tbh it's just Tumblr tag culture to tag all sorts of spoilers? Because we can't just assume everyone had the previlege and luxury to have had access to the internet and to consume fiction media as it came out..... Like my case may be extreme but my family was literally too busy squatting and living as ~illegals~ so we could never have an internet or cable connection for like 8 years. So I've got A LOT of catching up to do on pop culture etc and maybe one of my followers was in the same or a similar situation? Anyway that's how Tumblr works, we just tag spoilers because it doesn't cost anything and it doesn't ruin the experience of people who were too living too unstably, people who lived in rehabilitation centers, people who weren't allowed to consume certain media because of their parents, people who've put off watching a show because of a particular trauma or squick but who still want to watch it eventually etc

Okay now you're just being fucking annoying. Why are you tying your personal sobstory/trauma to something as stupid as TAGGING A POST. It's not even a tw tag either (bc if it was then i would understand) it's literally just my POV on when spoiler tags should and shouldn't be used.

Let me simplify this One more time. Tagging for spoilers on tumblr only works if everyone collectively does it. That way people can block said spoiler tag for a set amount of time, so everything tagged with #(content) spoilers will not show up on their TL. Example: new season of sex education dropped. People are tagging their posts about S4 with #sex education s4 spoilers, or just #sex education s4 because most people who don't want to get spoiled will have those tags blocked. That's how the tag system works. Everyone needs to do it, otherwise spoilers will still show up. People especially did this when avengers infinity war and endgame dropped respectively, bc those fandoms are very serious abt spoilers.

For atla there is NO USE in tagging spoilers because NOBODY DOES IT ANYMORE. This show is older than a lot of you on this fucking app. If you decide to go through the atla tag on tumblr, or follow atla blogs, you WILL get spoiled even if you have the spoiler tag blocked because i can't think of a single atla blog i follow that tags their fucking spoilers nowadays.

I'm not saying you're not allowed to tag spoilers. In fact i have never once said the words "don't tag atla spoilers". What i am saying, is that it's redundant to do so and it kind of makes you look stupid because, again, fucking DUH!

Once again you people are pretending like the internet needs to follow YOUR rules. "Oh people might not watch now bc of a trauma and might still want to enjoy the show later" ok and? Don't go following or reblogging atla blogs before you've even watched then, bc you WILL GET SPOILED. You're responsible for creating your own internet experience. I haven't watched sex ed s4 yet so i blocked the spoiler tags and for good measure i'm not scrolling the main tag either, because i don't rely on other internet users to do the work for me (even though i don't rlly care that much abt spoilers for that show). When heartstopper s2 came out i couldn't watch for two days bc of work, so i avoided everything to do with that show until i watched. That way i didn't accidentally get spoiled by someone who forgot to tag or just doesn't tag.

(Like i said this is different for tw tags, like tw flashing or tw gore or tw sexual assault. Those are things everyone absolutely must tag for the safety of everyone online. I would not want to be responsible for someone having a seizure bc i didn't tag a gifset with tw flashing)

This is my opinion on spoiler tags. It leans into my opinion on spoiler culture as a whole tbh but i digress. Once again: you can tag whatever you want. I just personally find it redundant and i'm allowed to make fun of it. I'm not making fun of YOU, i'm making fun of the concept of tagging spoilers for something that's nearly 20 yrs old. Hence the star wars spoiler joke i made, or when someone in the tags said someone got mad for spoiling fucking titanic (which is hilarious bc that's a historical event lmao).

This is the last i'll say about it bc honestly you're just pissing me off now. I'm allowed to enjoy posting about my show without having to pay mind to people who haven't watched yet but might in the future.

[courtana]

Long post about the non-con/rape fic author who harassed me by directly sending me a non-con fic. Scroll past if you are not interested.

Trigger Warning: mentions of rape, pedophilia, and stalking

I'm going to continue addressing the bullshit claims that @ns-imagines keeps on spewing after harassing me in my DMs for simply disliking their approach to romanticizing abusive behaviors and sexual assault in fanfiction. Because they continue to twist the story, and now they are @-ing tumblr users who simply said they were sorry this was happening to me. They're misinterpreting my blog and what happened two days ago when they first slid into my DMs and began this fiasco.

first, the post is totally still up on my blog. you probably cannot find it because either i blocked you or because you're an expert at lying and playing the victim. you can find it here: https://cssndra-cain.tumblr.com/post/723586418512920576/or-yall-could-just-be-fucking-normal-for-once.

Your @ was also never, ever once in the post. I did not even tag cod or Nikto. You are pulling this out of your ass to try to make me look bad and to justify sending me a non-con fic as harassment. It's not working. Even if I did name you, it does not justify doing what you did to me.

first, you're a dumbass if you think i wasn't going to see what the image you posted was about. i was confused what that picture was even pointing to, and went to your blog to see why you sent me that image. when i saw it was a non-con fic that you had directed me towards, that's when i got physically sick to my stomach and realized it was not just a funny little meme. it was you taunting me with something you know i clearly don't like and that most people would find triggering. it's why people warn each other when they see a movie or tv show that has rape, because most people—even if they haven't been raped—feel awful watching it.

i did not post my life-story on tumblr either or any of my experiences with sexual abuse because it's private. not that you would've cared anyway, because you clearly don't now. either way, sexual abuse and violence is so prevalent that most women have experienced it either way. to send a non-con fic to taunt someone, without it even crossing your mind that 'maybe a not so nice past is the reason why someone has said they don't like non-con & rape fics' shows you're not that intelligent. if i say, i don't like non-con, it's probably because i have a reason to. not just because i'm petty and dislike things for no reason.

either way, you had no reason to taunt me in my DMs either way. you could have messaged me saying, "hey, you used a screenshot of my introduction character post, and it hurt my feelings even if i wasn't your intention. do you mind taking it down? i'm still new on tumblr." and i would've been okay with doing that and apologized. hell, in this very response, i say that although i never once tagged you or included your username, i will admit that maybe using a screenshot was not the best idea. for that i will genuinely apologize. but your reaction thereafter was totally uncalled for and worse than just using a screenshot of one sentence of your post.

i did reblog a post about how people with violent kinks on tumblr need to be looked at closely because they're often proshippers who encourage rape and pedophilia. but i did not include your username. i just said something in the tags along the lines of 'last time i did this i had some freak come into my DMs' but i did not mention you by name.

I did post the screenshot of the conversation. You did not just send the meme. You sent me a whole pile of invalidating, insensitive, and idiotic nonsense.

I mentioned you in the post so people know exactly who I am talking about and what you did. You find joy privately harassing people in their DMs, but once your horrible actions see the public limelight, you feel shameful. That's your problem, not mine. I think it's fair that people in fandom spaces know when someone is engaging in harassment and using non-con/rape material as a way of taunting people, so that they can stay the fuck away from toxic folks.

Lastly, my blog does not complain about NSFW content. I do read smut, when it's consensual and well-written. What I don't like is when the smut portrays rape and abuse (like possessive behaviors and stalking, something you actually portrayed as positive in Nikto post), and other things that impressionable, young people in our fandom should not think is normal in a relationship. I do have the NSFW filter turned on, and i have non-con and dub-con in my filtered tags. But it's almost like this content is so pervasive in our fandom, that it escapes those filters anyway.

Again, genius, the problem was not that it was NSFW. You're such a master manipulator with words. Very common tactics in gaslighters. My problem was that 1) your character introduction post was glorifying stalking and possessive behavior in relationships and 2) you sent me a non-con fic in my DMs in order to further taunt me instead of simply asking me to not engage with your writing. I don't know how else to spell this out to you. You will continue believing in your own narrative, because it's very obvious you're the type of immature, narcissistic person to put down everyone around you instead of simply owning up to one flaw you committed.

Follow your own advice, babe. Read that bolded part again, slowly and to yourself, one more time. Slide into my DMs to harass me, and of course I'm gonna fight back.

Also, I never once sent you death threats. And I don't know of anybody you've listed sending you any. Post the screenshots, and I'll make sure to address that. As much as I find you disgusting and annoying, I don't condone death threats and threats of violence, even if you don't have any problem being an absolute pest in people's DMs.

[americangodstalk]

Back on the road...

...wherever it might lead me. Though now I know where it WON'T.

So, hi everybody new, hi again people from before, and I will be sad for all those that went away in between.

After a long time of just going away from all things AG related and finding back myself and my mental health and a more stable life (got two out of the three, not bad) I am finally ready to return into the whole AG business! But on a different level.

Because I will be honest with you all: if you look through my archives, maybe you'll perceive it, maybe you wont, but I had over the course of this blog a slow mental downgrade if not breakdown because of a lack of experience of what Tumblr was and all sorts of bizarre coincidences and events. For example, I was way too young for a lot of my early experiences in the AG fandom - and I was also clearly way too young to handle a Wiki.

Already let's talk about the AG Wiki. The American Gods Wiki. This lovely little Wiki that I participated in at first simply as a fan of the book and the then newly released show. I was just here and there, correcting some articles, bringing some new infos and pictures - as a regular Wiki user does. Then the people part of the staff said they needed help, asked me if I wanted to be part of the team and I said "Well yes!" and it was my first time being part of any staff or any administration team of any Wiki ever. I thought "Well I'm going to learn some new stuff, isn't that great?". And then the Wiki was completely abandoned and I was left in charge as the only active staff member on the Wiki. And this was bad.

I don't think I need to draw a picture, but a young and unexperienced person suddenly being catapulted head of a Wiki, alone against a horde of faceless people (plus there was a big wave of trolls that vandalized the articles regularly), and feeling somehow that he had the "charge" of it all and was like the last guardian of this old city that had been built by others before and that only he could prevent from sinking? Yeah no, this was bad. I poured a lot of time and effort into the Wiki as a result, and... this kind of soured my AG experience because I realized I am not a guy who likes to make Wikis. I like participating in encyclopedias, I like writing dumb little articles here and there, I like overanalyzing some trivia. But I hate having to be on the watch for everything little thing every time I read a book, I hate having to categorize and classify everything neatly (especially since American Gods is a book that precisely defies classifications and works on mystery), I hate to have to explain to other people a book I myself not fully understand (and that is not meant to be fully understood)... Plus of course, the cultural barrier of being French vs the book being about, you know, THE USA. I have enough knowledge of USA history and folklore, but that's not enough to write too extensively about it.

This is all what led me to drop it all. I still went on the look out from time to time ("like a vulture" I used to write), not actively participating but correcting mistakes, banning vandals, just overseeing things. And as time went by I just... stopped being there. I only recently took a new look, and I saw - miracle of miracle - that decent people and true fans, not trolls, were adding useful informations or making important correctings on a regular basis. Somehow, in my absence, the Wiki had not been destroyed, but people actually started taking care of it! Something that never happened while I was around. Anyway I am still on the search for someone to replace me as the "unofficial head of the wiki" - or one of the higher ups. It would be nice having someone who knows how to handle Wikis take care from now on.

On the other side, another reason I had to take a step back and refocus on something else, was of course the TV series. I was massively, massively invested in season 1. It was the first time I saw a work I adored being adapted in such a cool way, and I was all into it. And then season 2 came, and then season 3, and with each season I disliked the show more - but here's the thing... I couldn't tell at the time if I judged the show for its true worth or not. Because of how of a mess it all was. I will call it a "cursed production" indeed, because there was so much... things around it, it ended up preventing me from clearly seeing the episodes for what they were. The constant change of directions and focus for each season due to different showrunners/writers and different artistic directions ; the delays ; the allegations, accusations and behind-the-scenes drama, the actors quitting, not quitting but never being brought back, all resulting in convoluted character arcs - plus my own biases and personal appreciations as someone who loved the book and thus clung onto the book's worldbuilding to try to undertand the series' worldbuilding as it became more and more... different each season.

But after all that, I think I am ready for a fresh and new start. I am back from a pure "No AG" diet. I heard there's an Anansi Boys TV show in the works. I feel ready to do some AG stuff again. Probably look back at the TV show. I'll probably buy the DVD of season 2 (I only have the DVD of season 1 because I was bitter about season 2 not having any extras despite this season having PILES WORTH of deleted scenes and cut material). I have lot of stuff to reblog, and lot of other stuff to share. And no, I will not be working on the Wiki. All the info, concept art, interviews I collected, I feel it would be more interesting to pour them out here, into a social media, directly for people to reblog, comment, talk and share, rather than classifying them discreetly in a Wiki. Not that people do not read or use the Wiki - in fact this was one of the reasons I decided to work on the Wiki, to prevent misinformation from being shared... But I am just not cut-out to obsessively collect and then classify neatly and in an "easy to explain" way all the info about a work. I am rather the type to obsessively collect all the info about a work, share it in a chaotic way, and thus teach the most convoluted and complex lessons about a character's evolution through media or the themes treated by a novel.

All of that to say. I am back. Hi everybody. And if you still want to hit me with questions, messages, or notes, do not hesitate!

[saberlibrary]

HIYAAA, this is me, IM SO HAPPY YOU WANT TO BE MOOTS WITH ME AS WELL, so far ive finsihed most of my assignments I just a few that take a little more longer and so much more effort but after that im so taking a big break.

so true though, ive been a ghost user since I joined and that was like 2020 I totally saw the rise and the fandom of the superwholock era but I never really joined in on it as I haven't watched those shows so Tumblr was like an app that was there but I wasn't using it every hour of the day as I am now, it has now become my favourite escape from reality other than sleeping (and even that could use some improvement like lucid dreaming or maybe even shifting) >_< so ive just been a consumer on here until I see like blogs that drop posts within a minute and the next day it has more than like 10,000 notes (WHICH they soo deserve bc damn they write so majestically) and I was like man I would die if even one person liked my posts and liked what I wrote, I cant even imagine how I would react to 100 let alone 10,000. like I think I would sob. and the way blogs write their posts, you can tell they put their whole mind and soul and everything into it, its so beautiful. so this community really ignited my previously dead passion for writing and I love it for that.

I have no experience in working but I think I might have to start soon since my situation sort of demands it so I have no idea what its like but I can only imagine changing 100% of a campaign is more than stressful, I hope it goes well for you and you get more free time to yourself.

also I noticed you said mother language, i'm actually curious, what's your mother language?

also side note: I was rereading your sukuna body and soul fic (for like the nth time bc I cant get enough of it) and I was so shocked bc like I LOATHE sukuna after like everything he did ARGH I cant express how much I hate him but omg that fic, mmmh, it hit different because my hatred for him, boom, somehow became nonexistent and im daydreaming about being the reincarnated lover of this epitome of evil man. im literally catching feelings that's how good it was.

i really enjoyed your reply and I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, its honestly the first time im having interactions other than likes on here. and im so glad that I get to be mutuals with you.

hope you're doing well, >>>>3333

euorian.

I'm so happy to finally meet you, boo! <3

I hope you can finish your assignments asap and enjoy the New Year's and also a good break!!

I actually watched 2/3 of superwholock so it was... an experience!! I also get so happy when I see authors with that many notes because I know how they put their hearts into their writing and they totally deserve it. and they're doing it FOR FREE, it's kinda insane especially when we read some shakespearian level kinda thing.

and I can tell you even one interaction makes a big difference, people like you -- taking a bit of your time to write a little something -- supporting us mean the world. so, thank you again. and I assure you I'll be there to support you as well with your writing ^_^

and AHHHHHHHHH I'm so glad you liked my sukuna!!! I'm gonna tell ya I'm NOT a sukuna girlie lol. gojo is my fav jjk character (toji and megumi fight for 2nd place). BUT I think sukuna is a great villain, he's hot af and I mean-- I WOULD. and the idea of that big bad monster, the king of curses, being obsessed with a woman? A SIMP? IM DOWN.

definitely gonna write more about him.

my mother language is portuguese !!!

you can always talk to me, send me DMs, whatever u want! again, its nice to meet you, euorian. <3

[drowsinginspace]

I don't like to talk about myself on the internet. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. If I have longtime friends, I will disclose things to them and share pictures. I do tend to overshare on twitter, because those are little thoughts and they can be understood out of context as well. So talking about the media I consume is what I normally do (it could say a lot of a person! at least some of it)

You know what I also love? Internet drama. I do not participate in it, because it's annoying and I don't like to fight with people. There are some individuals that will find some drama and fight with you just for the fun of it, but I've learnt to never take that bait. I've got more important things to do in real life, anyway. But reading comments and hot takes from different people and piecing the puzzle together is pretty fun, especially when I don't know much about the fandoms anyway.

I haven't actively participated in fandom for a while, probably since Agents of SHIELD ended. I've done a few artworks for other series, but I haven't really talked with other fans about those shows. I'm not really sure how to do that these days. I guess it was easier as a 16 years old when all social media was new and the only account I had anywhere was twitter, where you could only write 140 characters per tweet anyway.

Even this whole post comes out of nowhere. It's quite meta, actually, and being it so long, I doubt it will be read by many people. I myself wouldn't read this whole thing. I come here to look at things I am interested in, like some pictures or gifsets that will stay in my likes until I'll be in the right state of mind for tagging and queuing them.

Nobody needs to know anything about my real life, even if you do know things about me. It doesn't matter, though. I do not know you.

It's interesting to find out things about people on the internet, though, isn't it? When I was 16, I never said my age anywhere, because I was afraid of people trying to scam me (honestly that would be still valid at 27, but the number might scare some people into thinking I'd see through them from my experience-tinted glasses). The first thing I said about attending high school on any social was years after I finished it.

I never posted a clear picture of my face on anything until I made an "official" Instagram account when I realised people from real life might want to search for me on the internet and I wouldn't like it if they knew about my internet aliases (for no other reason than those are my safe space and it works both ways).

The line could become more blurry with time, but growing up in a time where internet safety and users' identities were a big deal, I'm still wary, and it's wild to me to even think that now kids could make a video of themselves with their phone that - thanks to an algorithm - will reach audiences they aren't even aware of.

I honestly have no idea what this post was for. I originally opened tumblr to write about things I'm excited to watch in the near future, or things I have seen recently and liked, but then this happened and I couldn't stop it. Thanks for reading, if you did! I hope you have a lovely day :)

[this-is-not-a-slow-burn]

Traditional acrylic painting question

I tried to ask this over at r/ArtistsLounge but I am a new user to the sub and they won't let you post until you've reached some magical line, so here, have my question Art Tumblr.

Gentle note that I'm not new to art by any means, so let me start with that since I'm used to getting answers that seem to assume I'm a beginner. I'm not.

Ok with that out of the way.

I've never worked with acrylics in a large format before, and my past experience with them has been non representational abstracts (intuitive scribbles if you will) and like monotypes, so I have some questions about coverage, dry time, and how to navigate white paint opacity.

The canvas is 30"x 40" (stretched) and the previous owner of the canvas applied silver spraypaint to it for unknown reasons, so I will be covering that with gesso first. (fingers crossed that the gesso will adhere and not crack or peel off. will do a test on one of the edges to see if rubbing alcohol will remove the spray paint but I don't have high hopes)

The painting itself will only be three colors total. Red, black, and white, but mostly Pyrrole red. I have two 2 oz (59 mL) tubes of it in Liquitex heavy body that were a gift, and it's an expensive color so I need to make this amount work because I cannot buy more. (I would steal it but the only place in town is hardcore watchful) This means there's not enough to do a bunch of testing with.

The plan right now is to mix in a bit of Golden acrylic medium to extend the coverage and make the application a bit smoother, just the same as when I do smaller size work. (I also have Golden Open retarder to slow drying time)

Since the canvas is so large, would it be best to mix up a bunch of paint and use a large brush or roller like those used for home interior painting and do the whole surface in one go, or do it in smaller sections? I ask because I have a bum shoulder and doing it in stages would be best for my arm, but there's a concern that it would leave distinct demarcations where the application stopped and started. There is someone who would help me if it should be done all in one go. I could probably even do it with my other arm if it came down to it. I also have Golden Open paint retarder to slow the drying time if necessary. (wow I just wrote crying time. gods help me it won't be that hard will it?) Mostly to avoid the paint drying on the palette too quickly because I can be sllllooooowww with painting. I have covered containers for color mixtures, but they're not great.

Then comes the question of bringing white into the picture (pun intended by accident). The white bits will be about thumbnail sized details, with some a little bigger and some smaller. Would masking them off before applying the red work (so they will be gesso "blank" and then paint white over them), or doing more of a pochoir (stencil) over the red? Or do I just give in and paint them by hand and hope that they don't come out wobbly edged (i'm terrible with crisp lines ;-;)

Ok I htink that's enough questions for now. I have several other (muuuuch smaller) formats I will be making the same image in (gouache, linocut block print, screen print (paper and fabric), monotype, paper collage, possibly a quilt-ish pillow, a knit wall hanging, and an embroidery piece on a jacket and a bag) but that's for another time.

If you or anyone you know can answer even a fraction of these questions, or offer tips, I will love you forever.

Reblogs or tagging artists is encouraged! <3

[calaycay]

My boyfriend asked me what’s Tumblr? And thanks to him, I was motivated to write here today — yeah, blame his curiosity.

So what’s with Tumblr? I would say it’s a blog site. It’s like Facebook but different. It’s a platform where you are free to write anything without people judging you. I would say X (Twitter) was like that before but now, everyone is criticizing you for anything that you say or post per se—- at least for the celebrities, I am not a celebrity but surely there are people that judge me, and I already accepted that it is just how people are. Is it part of our genetics? I don’t know. Anyways, this post is not about them. This is about my first public Tumblr post in the longest time (2 or 3 years since). And I hope that Tumblr is still the same —- the artsy, weird, inspirational, and freedom platform that I know. (Don’t mind the noun among the adjectives, I can’t find the right word to describe further ksks).

So what’s the update about me? Number 1 is the second word in this post. Yeah! I got my loves after four years of tears, pandemic, and school. A reward? No. He just came at the right time. We call each other Aki — no, it is not a shortcut for Akin. It comes from a japanese word that means autumn or serenity. He is truly my serenity. My peace and my rest. He’s the best cook, I swear! Blame him for my weight increase. He’s good at singing too. Hopefully we can agree with the genre tho, he’s the Beyonce and I am the Paramore.

Number 2 - I finally got my MBA from UP Diliman! I had a long post about my MBA application journey here and I am so glad I was able to finish my studies and graduate. I graduated last July 2023. I was planning to post here last year about that but I just rarely use social media except for Twitter and I became more lazy on my writings so, I apologize to my calaycay blog.

After I graduate (yeah you can’t stop me from repeating it over and over, it’s my pride!), I was able to get a part-time teaching job (Number 3) from our affiliate school. It’s a whole lot different experience. I think I need to post about this in a separate narrative. But I am very happy to be able to do that at least for a sem. They did not give me a load for this sem. They did asked me to teach Research but I don’t think it’s my forte so I declined. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a lazy reader. I would read only if I had to. I would rather be sleepless binge watching than reading. Sorry this MBA is not a reader. Ksksks.

I traveled to Coron (number 4)! I posted my reels on my private account. Don’t worry, I will finish our long-length vlog and post it here. I am thankful to be with Aki on this trip. I crossed out one of my bucket list with him. Coron is such a treasure. Definitely one of the best beaches in the country! I wanna go back.

I got my ebike (number 5) last year. I would say it is an expensive but good decision. Luigi, the name of my ebike, gives us convenience. I drive him only once a week since I am still working onsite and only goes home on Thursdays to weekend. At least I have something that I acquired for convenience. :)

There are a lot more that happened—- my Tatay and Inay are very healthy and I pray that they would stay that way; I am now an iPhone user but I am still a big fan of Andriod; Othelo and Pepper still cannot get along.; We have a new cat named Sab because he is a substitute to Pepper’s kitten who got escaped from the cage before he was given to us; I travelled to Vietnam with my persons. Vietnam is very reach in culture —- definitely a must-visit country but I recommend Hanoi than Ho Chi Minh; and I got promoted at work (will have separate post about this). There’s a lot more!

I would try be as active as possible in writing here. I also need this to have something to look back in the future.

It’s good to be back, Tumblr!

[myonlypen]

Gosh, I get so nostalgic about the MLP fandom. I miss it. I’m going to go on a bit of a ramble, sorry:

I wasn't all that active in the fandom, having stopped watching the show at around the time season 3 aired, but I do remember I originally made my tumblr account in 2011 to follow MLP ask blogs.

I've described the MLP fandom in the past as "the last hurrah" of the old internet. It was so welcoming and full of creativity and positive energy.

There's so many differences between the fandom experience then and now that I can't think of them all, and I'm not sure how many of them were inevitable. The internet itself has become bigger in terms of population but so much smaller in terms of sites we visit and diversity of content (no more flash games :( ). While there was a "hub" for the MLP fandom found in Equestria Daily (which I followed by RSS rather than on social media) there were plenty of other sites out there. Ponybooru and later derpibooru for images; active places for discussion on ponychan, reddit, 4chan, and a load of small forums too; active communities on twitter and tumblr; people uploading a variety of creations to deviantart and youtube and soundcloud; plenty of independent blogs that posted podcasts and reviews. Heck, dedicated websites specifically designed for pony fanfic were created, separate from FF.net and AO3.

These days pretty much everything would be concentrated on social media giants. Twitter for community and discussion and following the news and artists, reddit for better formatted discussion threads. Think about it: if you want to ask a question about a cool game you just played and you find a largeish subreddit called /r/gamename you're going to ask there. If you don't like the moderation? You're hardly going to be able to found a /r/gamename2 and expect it to become popular. How would you even advertise it? But on the old internet independent forums could and did coexist without one of them sucking all of the oxygen out of the room. Not to mention those forums actually had a community. Reddit isn't the best place for building communities since the size of the website is too big. On twtter you might have a circle of mutuals but there's always the risk that a tweet will leave its intended audience and draw the ire of randos.

Another difference is the structure of internet communities. People used to share art or make videos for fun, to be a part of the community. The community structure was much flatter; except for mods or admins on forums no user was privileged over others and they posted what they wanted. These days, your posts don't matter unless you have loads of followers or subscribers. Artists were an important part of the community, but they were not structurally more important, if that makes sense. If a newbie joined and posted art a lack of "followers" wouldn't cause it to go unnoticed.

On a similar note to the above, everything is much more explicitly about money now. It's really hard to phrase this without making it sound like I don't think artists should be paid, but when there's lots of posts saying "support me on patreon" it just feels kind of... soulless? I want to see people share things due to their passion - which they can and should get money for if they are able! don't get me wrong! But once the financial incentive is there it has an insidious effect on the culture as a whole. People will get into producing the art in the first place because there's money in it, instead of producing it anyway and happening to monetise it. Or you might see artists follow the money, drawing characters who are currently popular. Artists that aren't in it for the money will draw the one character they like over and over and over again. I enjoy the second kind of artist's art more, because there's passion behind it. I sometimes rewatch youtube videos from the late 00's that I remember. There is no "like and subscribe", they aren't padded out to be be 10 minutes and 1 second long so they get more ad revenue. The videos are made because they wanted to make it, and it was just as long as it needed to be. The stuff that was created back then just feels less bullshitty. Meanwhile these days "artists" and "musicians" and "authors" are all bundled together into the sickeningly corporate phrase that is "content creator" because their work is what is valued, rather than them as people. I want my communities to centre around people, not "content".

And because money is involved, you have to make sure advertisers are happy. That's why everywhere is so sanitised now. Fewer places allow NSFW content. Places are quick to ban anything too controversial in case the skittish investors flee. There was just something soooo liberating about browsing tumblr back in the day and see porn in the same tags as the moodboards and discussions. Seeing people actively giving each other shoplifting tips. Sharing links to torrents in the open. Not only that but you could send anonymous asks without being logged in, browse people's "archive" pages without being logged in. Things like this are slowly being removed and the place slowly but surely feels much less free.

There are some causes for the change in the way the internet works that we can definitely pin down.

The internet becoming more widespread and instantly accessible due to smartphones becoming ubiquitous. It it only takes a few seconds to pop out an angry tweet you can do so, but before if you had to wait until you were home and log on to your PC first you might realise before you posted anything that it doesn't matter after all.

Apple not supporting Flash on iOS devices. Okay, Flash wasn't the biggest or most important thing online, but it was one mode of expression that no longer exists (or at least, not unless you only want to reach people like me who still like to seek that stuff out)

Google killing Reader. This happened 10 years ago. I still haven't forgiven them. This is the point where my opinion of Google went from "company that makes cool stuff that I can use :o" to "just another company that doesn't care". RSS readers still exist, but they're not nearly as widely used as they used to be. Another contributor to the decline of RSS was twitter dropping support for it at around the same time so that you could no longer follow a twitter account via RSS. Probably because they (correctly, unfortunately) thought that people would just use twitter to keep up with all the articles and artists they wanted to follow. RSS was a competitor to them.

Laws being passed. Various countries have passed laws that made hosting web content much harder to do. Whether it be copyright related or trying to stop harassment, lots of places stopped allowing user generated content to avoid liability or started being much more restrictive about what they allowed.

Discovery is now driven more by "the algorithm" than by seeking things out or word-of-mouth. Viral used to mean something that was so compelling that the people who saw it decided to pass it on. It spread between people like a virus. Now, something only needs to be promoted by an algorithm enough to be considered viral. In fact, last year I decided to check out if some of the videos I remember watching in the early days of the MLP fandom were still around. They were still there! but they only had like, 6k views. I was shocked at this. Today I wouldn't bother watching a video unless it has over 100k views because I unconsciously judge things by how many views they have on the youtube search page. Compare to 10 years ago when I discovered youtube videos not through youtube itself but from links on other websites. This is a change to the way the internet worked that was so gradual I didn't even notice it happened. And because of that, it's hard to explain to people who didn't experience the internet before what it was like. I've also seen it suggested that this is what caused people to stop curating their internet experience. Now it's something that's curated for you by someone/something else. And if someone came across something they didn't like, they were more likely to want it banned rather than just ignoring and moving on.

Politics. 2016 saw both the US and UK become incredibly polarised, and I wouldn't be surprised if other countries had similar experiences. While this may partially due to other factors rather than a factor in and of itself, it's bled into pretty much all of social media and kind of become unavoidable. "I don't want to talk politics" is seen by some as taking the "other" side in a debate. No! Fandom is my escapism! I want to talk about things and not be reminded of the horrors of reality.

Ramble over. That sure was a stream of consciousness. I just have a lot to say about how the old internet felt and how I preferred it that way. It wasn’t perfect but it was easier to avoid toxicity, I feel. Which is ironic considering a lot of changes to laws/terms of service are made in order to tackle toxic behaviour and yet we’ve been left in a much worse place overall.

the show: an all-ages fictional animated series that preaches inclusivity and freedom of expression, where the main villain is a puritanical witch hunter who fully believes he's in the right and is saving and protecting the innocent

the fandom: routinely witch hunts its own members for enjoying or creating content they personally do not like, fully believing that they are in the right and are saving or protecting the innocent

[pippenpaddlopsicopolisthethird]

Watching the new @staff and @changes on tumblr who actually listen and respond to their userbase is so bizarre to see, because I feel like I've come full circle on the site.

I joined 10ish years ago (shortly post-Reichenbach, if that dates me) and that time was still solidly in the era of David Karp. Staff communicated but were overall seen as lovingly incompetent. Everyone used Missing E to fix all the problems, and then Xkit when Missing E stopped working, but nobody thought twice about it. We mostly just joked about how often they fiddled with the shade of background blue.

I remember the sale to Yahoo, and how it took a while to notice, but the site kind of just got worse. We got ads, which everyone hated. Changes were passed down from above with little to no fanfare. But staff was still there and making some effort to reach out to users; we got some of the best April Fools jokes in that era, like Coppy and Decision 2016 that showed that someone in there knew what users liked. Features like direct messaging and rebloggable asks and stacked posts were still coming through, even if the communication with users was opaque. Bots invaded every inch of the site. And then we got the porn ban, which snapped the site like a twig.

After Verizon bought tumblr, there were a few years where staff almost seemed to vanish, or did their best to hide what they were doing. I can't even remember the last few years of April Fools jokes, if they happened at all. Ads got bigger. Changes just happened and there was no way to tell if it was intentional or glitches. If they were intentional, they seemed almost malicious. Users started talking about shadowbans and tags getting wiped out and some posts not showing up in tags or searches and user deletions happening behind the scenes. Bots got worse and worse and less was done about them. If anything went wrong, there was no confidence that reaching out to support would do a thing. Staff was spoken about in posts with the same tone as Bezos or Google, just another tech giant slowly making our lives worse for the sake of squeezing another buck out of us and then selling us to the highest bidder. If nothing else, we could be proud of squeezing the resale value out of the site for them.

I don't know exactly what happened over the last year, if it was because of the sale to Automattic or other internal changes. But all of a sudden, staff started talking to us again. And we didn't fuckin trust em an inch, and rightly so. Changes got rolled out again, and we started complaining again, because we may have no power to make any web experience better so the least we can do is go down complaining.

But the things they started changing were... stuff we wanted? We got tag viewers, timestamps, dash customization, filtering that actually worked. Most new features get toggles so you can turn it off if you don't want it. Huh, we thought, that doesn't seem right. Ideas flopped like Post+, and god did we complain. But after we did... the features... changed? Staff started testing out the ideas that the users endorsed? Like tipping posts on a per-post basis to avoid copyright issues with fanworks and an ad-free subscription model? Huh, we said.

And the final nail in the coffin was that new iOS tag-copying "feature" that we all complained about to no end... that was actually a glitch. Not some coder's whim that got passed down and we just had to deal with it forever. Sorry, staff said, we'll get that fixed right away.

Huh, we said. Huh.

Aside from being an unexpected change for tumblr, it's making me realize how weird it feels in the internet as a whole to have some transparency and communication between site developers and the userbase. When I joined tumblr, forum culture and the heyday of the early creator-run internet were fresh memories. Staff who posted like users were common, and popular demand was the actual goal of web design. But now there is no social media where the developers speak directly to the users and incorporate real feedback into the changes they make. Algorithms drive everything, moderation happens silently, and it's impossible to tell what a human has laid eyes on. Decisions are made based on what can get the most eyes on sponsored ads and drive clicks. Social media is now Big Tech, driven by Big Money Decisions and ad space.

Having a staff who talks and listens to the userbase is a direct return to tumblr's roots and also the most jarring and noticeable jump back to Classic Internet that the rest of social media has long since abandoned.

[daughter-of-sapph0]

please stop reblogging this my notification tab is dying

this post has been edited. here's the original text:

apple completely censoring tumblr to the point where you can't even say words that aren't even sexual like soap or pipe is the beginning of the end for tumblr’s usability and user experience. the process already started with the Dec 17 ban and recently with the overexposure of ads. but pretty soon, apple is gonna make tumblr unusable. it's not like virizon cared about making the site functional when they owned it, and automatic/wordpress (current owners) definitely don't give a shit about tumblr now.

everywhere else on the internet, content is heavily monitored and censored. you'll get banned if you say anything that's against tos. sometimes that's good, as it gets rid of all the nazis. other times it's terrible, when people abuse the reporting ai to ban normal people. the whole banning system is unpredictable, so to be safe, people need to censor themselves on twitter and tiktok and facebook and ig and youtube. they can't say "kill", they have to say "unalive". they can't talk about violence, so they have to sugarcoat real world events. they can't swear, talk about racism or sex or history, or even acknowledge that the world is a fucked up place, because "kids use this app". tumblr was one of the last safe places on the internet where you could threaten to kill the president without having the fbi show up to your house.

but with this new apple shit, tumblr is becoming more like every other site online. any post that contains a word on a constantly expanding list is hidden from ios users. any blogs marked as "explicit" (which is also a huge issue btw) are unaccessible by apple users. not straight up banning people, but still preventing access to the real tumblr for those users. now over a third of tumblr’s userbase is either stuck on a completely sanitized version of tumblr, has to use the web browser version on their phone, or just cut off from tumblr entirely.

the internet used to be a place of togetherness and inclusiveness and content sharing and entertainment and fun. now it's mostly corporate garbage and ads. companies love ads. and to run ads effectively, they need as many people as possible to see them. and to do that, the places they advertise have to be family friendly so everyone can use them. that's what all of these sites are doing. banning creativity and expressiveness so they can force you to watch more ads. I understand that there's server costs. I understand that the employees need to eat. but there are so many bugs that haven't been fixed in years that it seems like @staff is getting paid to do fuck all, and instead wasting their time making stupid design decisions to distract us from them selling out.

what does this current situation say about the future of tumblr and the internet as a whole? I don't really know. if things continue as they are, more people will leave tumblr for newer sites, or twitter once tumblr becomes just as unusable as it (might as well use the more popular shitty site if they're both equally shit). eventually, within 5 or 6 years, tumblr will shut down after server costs are too high, and unless users take the time to archive everything, nearly two decades of internet history will be erased forever. I'd give it until 2035 before the internet (and by extention the vr world / metaverse / matrix) becomes so riddled with ads that it becomes completely unusable. unless, of course, something changes with how advertisements work. whether that be a new law that makes it so ads have to be less distracting or optional, or even just some sites refusing to run advertisements at the cost of user membership fees. one of those seems extremely unlikely, and the other sounds equally shit.

the internet sucks ass. I just want to return to 2010 playing club penguin and browsing early tumblr and early watching minecraft youtube videos and playing flash games on newgrounds.

the world would be a better place if literally every single ceo and billionaire immediately died right now.

[keijiism]

— rime nsft alphabet

Oh my god that fluff alphabet for rime *heart eyes* Would it be p-possible for a nsfw alphabet? I love your writing, you're doing the gods' work babes xxx

note: critics still wonder how tumblr user mitskeiji took as long as she did to finish one (1) alphabet. maybe she should be cancelled (pls don't)

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

aftercare is one of the times that rime lets himself really be soft and gentle through and through

like. like when you finish and he kisses your forehead and brushes hair from your face or wipes away tears if necessary. rime's voice is soft when he asks "are you okay? let's get cleaned up,"

and then. and then he's comforting and reassuring you while he gets you water and cleans up . rime telling you "mhm, you did so well for me. i got you."

and if you're tired he doesn't complain, just makes sure to hold you up and smiles when you pout and whine about it . sorry. sorry . i love soft rime sorry

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

he loves all of himself :heart: (don't talk about the mark on his chest that's for kissing later) but his...his abs...so valid king. why else is he wearing that sheer crop top come on now

rime looks like he'd love to leave a lot of hickies on your chest tbh. and when he loves holding your waist and laying on your stomach all the time? what will i do? pass away

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically…)

would cum on or in you, take it with his fingers, then put it in your mouth to suck off

cum on his face. this is for him And for you because there isn't many sights better than pulling away to see rime looking up at you while he's covered in cum

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

if he seems a little needier or is rougher than usual it's probably because the loser woke up hard after a dream involving you the night before . he has more of those than he should

(putting this under dirty secret as if he wouldn't bring it up himself. how he dreamt of what he's about to do and how good you felt even then. ok. sorry)

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

yes. he knows about a lot, he's tried out a lot, he generally knows what works and what doesn't, he knows what dirty talk sounds a little cheesy and what doesn't,, you're in good hands and he lets you know that. first hand experience as they say.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying)

🧍‍♀️ mating press? 🧍‍♀️ smth smth having control and hitting deeper and watching the bulge in your stomach and [gets knocked out]

very close honourable mentions: cowgirl , doggy style

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

as serious as can be while still teasing them. is he smirking at mc's pout when he points out how wet they are? and can he let out a small laugh when they're trying something new? yes. is he one to Crack A Joke to make them laugh? not really

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

this is haunting me. i can tell you that he's pretty groomed,, neat enough that it doesn't get in the way. nothing crazy. i can tell you That much. please don't look at me

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

he's usually on the rougher side of things but rime can be intimate/romantic if that's what the mood calls for. he doesn't really say it but sessions where he gets to focus on you and making you feel good or vice versa are something he really enjoys

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

once he's entered a relationship he doesn't do it as much because he'd rather do something with you instead

when he Does masturbate ,, rime edges himself while imagining you're the one doing it. a menace even to himself.

i do Not think he's above using his pre-cum and spit if he doesn't have lube. he's quietly swearing the whole time and breathing heavily at the end

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

humiliation, breeding, knife play, corruption, exhibitionism, ropes/bondage, etc. etc. all giving or receiving you understand

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

anywhere really but if the chance of you getting caught is higher than usual?? yeah. risky risky he loves the thrill and watching you try to be quiet, covering your mouth while he's up against you and whispering teasing remarks

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

so much. this guy is easy to rile up

something specifically is when you try to take initiative yourself, touching or teasing him first to see what he'll do. you run your hand down his arm or trail a finger up his abs before giving him a look? he's ready to prove why you should(n't) do that

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

srsly nothing off the top of my head that he'd be against trying . i'd guess anything related to scat or...sounding..??

it's safe to say whatever You don't want to do, he won't do

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

i think he's more on the receiving end but Where do you think felix got his skill.

asshole Knows how good he is which is why he'll stay down there to the point that it's agonizing because you want him to fuck you but also you're already getting overstimulated and ?? . in general, he isn't super messy about it but he's not above purposely being loud and making wet noises to turn you on more

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

in general it's slow then fast/rough unless it's like, you two haven't had time alone in a long time. in That case you have the choice of the two options

rime is needy? pretty fast the whole time. you're needy? slow. slow until you're begging and he finally gives you what you want

you're both feeling softer that day? slow and sensual (real!) (but he might speed up when you're both getting close)

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

definitely up for them ! he'd love to take his time with you but if you want to pull him into some random room then he can still tease you about it While fucking you. the thrill of trying not to get caught or whatever they say.

if you leave it up to him he's going to do it at least a few times a week. sometimes he just starts touching you when you're busy and suddenly you're ? in his lap now ?

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

most definitely yes. as long as you want to do it too, whether it's trying something new or risking you getting caught being touched by him in public he's There. there's a lot of trust in this relationship so as long as you're both willing then why not :heart:

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

i hate him . if i had to compare it's like,, felix < rime < sage . he can go for a While as long as you still want to. one long round or multiple short ones ,, depends on the goal here. he'll usually last longer than his partner between rounds though

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

god knows where he keeps them but hypothetically yes to all 3 of these questions . it'd probably be more for his partner than himself (being able to use a dildo and his own cock on them is a sight for sore eyes) but he's not immune to how good they feel. it's just that they're not really his go-to

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

come on.

rime is relentless. he'll tease you when he knows you can't do anything about it. he'll tease you during foreplay and while he's fucking you. it's natural,, teasing is part of him atp, Especially if you're easily flustered... r.i.p. us

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

not Super Loud, it's more moaning/groaning than whining unless you've gotten him to sub or overstimulated . he isn't really one to care if someone hears him outside though

either way he sure does love dirty talk. whether it's humiliating/degrading or (teasing) praise, he's always saying things because he loves your reaction. he might not be loud all the time, but he loves when you are

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon)

listen. grabs u by the shoulders and shakes you violently like a maraca until u listen to me. rime making you sit on and grind against his thigh to cum while he doesn't help. just keeps ignoring you when you plead and cry his name until he's grabbing your face and saying something like "what? my pathetic little baby can't cum on their own? i know you can, so fucking do it" orz orz orz

btw i know he would record a sex tape if given the chance. it'd never leave the two of you but it's a good thing you can't see a view count

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

[ i know his dick is big ] longer than average and a little on the thicker side :thumbs_up: he doesn't need to be huge to know how to fuck . he is evidently successful without it

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

mad horny . sorry. it doesn't take a lot for him to want to kiss you but if you bring it up he might deny it (literally while he's running his hands down your body and kissing your neck).

he has pretty good self-control though and won't crumple until you've tested him for too long and he's tired of playing around

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

really not one to fall asleep quickly or even at all . if you decide to sleep he'll probably join you, but if you want to get up then he's alright to follow

if you managed to seriously Tire This Guy Out ,, first of all congrats. second of all he's not sleeping without you. you're going to bed