#didn’t reblog the op since they didn’t post in the main tag

[shaftking]

https://www.tumblr.com/queerplatonicpositivity/685095412302036992/i-started-a-new-remote-job-last-week-and-im-the

Can’t believe how many notes this has. Not for nothing, but this person sounds mentally exhausting to work with. I mean, at least they didn’t get offended when their coworkers fumbled with their genderqueer neoprounoun stuff, but I still feel bad for these people who have to deal with this at work. And OP complaining about being lonely in the tags really doesn’t get much sympathy from me bc they actively chose to have these pronouns that most people outside of the internet and leftist college campuses would never have heard of. People have a right not to refer to someone if they don’t want to and they shouldn’t feel bad about that. Pretty sure people like this are the reason behind the anti trans policies being considered tbh.

And a lot of people in the notes are encouraging people to ask for pronouns and introduce themselves with their pronouns, like,,, idk, I feel like if they were really trans, they wouldn’t appreciate that since it seems insulting and performative. People in the notes are also saying this post makes them cry, gives them hope, and reminds them that good people exist. I think you have to be pretty fucking cynical and unstable for a post like this to instill such reactions tbh.

There are trans guys and girls reblogging the post, but I feel like there’s a difference between them and the people like OP who go by MOGAI labels.

This stuff is so cringe tbh and it’s sad the way that trans people have been browbeat and gaslit into thinking or behaving as if people like the OP are the same as trans people.

Tbh with all the stink these people kick up about their dumb neopronouns and their general main character syndrome is probably why the manager sent out a message saying for the coworkers to respect this person’s pronouns, not a genuine acceptance of their identity. I have also made a whole post saying this but the idea of normalizing asking for pronouns does a major disservice to trans people. It often forces a trans person to out themselves or misgender themselves, and gives the impression that they do not pass or are clockable or whatever. Pronouns are intuitive.

And yeah. These people are so squishy about this. Like that one girl who was hysterically crying because the bartender at the gay bar didn’t want to be “educated” about how she and the person she literally referred to as her wife weren’t women. I’m convinced a lot of them get some kind of backwards glee at getting to play act at being oppressed or discriminated against while being coddled and catered to.

Like really where is that study where it says something like trans people feel a kind of pain when they’re misgendered but self identified nonbinary people feel anxiety that they’re not getting what they want. Or something like that.

[delicatecherrys]

is there a protocol on here to talk about “last reblog”?

i don’t wanna clog their post with my opposing view in their tags. i see their point, but i kinda disagree? i think it’s great to interpret media without caring about what the author meant, and we will always continue to do that even if the author comes outright and says they meant it the opposite way. (hell, is that not what we do with “canon divergent” fanfiction that explores characters reacting differently in a situation than they did when the author wrote them?)

but i don’t think it’s fair to dismiss authorial intent like that. art DOES become more (or less) meaningful if it was put together with thought & intent, rather than being the product of accident. i DO care if the author meant to portray love that was meant to read as queer, rather than accidentally (badly!) writing brotherly love. i’ll have my own interpretation, but i want to know what they were trying to say, if i can.

it sucks that we have to speculate. it sucks that heterosexuality is the default and we have to seek validation for our queer interpretations. but that IS reality.

and i do agree it takes away from art being subtle & dynamic, which is not a good thing, but i guess…i dunno. i don’t know what the solution is. but when we get continually harassed for our queer reading of a piece of media…

it’s not my business how other people interpret art, but the heteronormativity of the spaces we exist in means that being confident in my own reading of something is not enough. it means someone is gonna hold it over my head and laugh and be bigoted, because there isn’t “proof”. is it really so unbelievable that queer people are seeking that validation? or at the very least hoping not to see heteronormativity shoved into every work that can read as queer, giving ammo to every asshole out there to act like we’re delusional for reading queer subtext in a story?

idk what i’m saying, this has been bothering me given the increased harassment & homophobia i’ve personally experienced on twitter since 431 came out. i think it’s a bit dismissive to say “just be content with what you got and interpret it your way, why do you need proof/validation”.

(which we never did, at least i didn’t. all i was asking for was there to be a space left to interpret things in a queer way without an emphasis on your typical het ship. if there really was censorship involved & author’s hand was forced, i think 431 is the kindest way it could have happened for us queer folks. but it’s undeniable that it still fucking sucks.)

nobody follows me here so i don’t expect anyone to read/respond to this lol, just needed to rant. if you did read it, sorry, it probably didn’t make much sense.

if op of that post happens to see this (i really hope they don’t), this wasn’t an attack on you or your take, you make solid points, i just happen to disagree.

anyways. good job horikoshi on going from writing a flawed but nonetheless interesting trope subversion of your main female “love interest” type character, to burying your one explicitly queer character and having her love be used as a way to push a het ship & reducing your female lead’s arc to be all about love/all about the boy she loved, ALL in one chapter. himiko’s treatment in this manga is truly a slap on the face, and i’m not even a himiko stan. can’t imagine how her fans feel. and ochako doesn’t even make sense. even if this chapter was a product of censorship and forced by editors/publishers, there were many more tasteful ways to accomplish teasing the het romance than…whatever that was.

also apparently this volume is selling a tonne which could be for any number of reasons (bonus cards, promise of bonus content, final volume, vol 1 parallel nostalgia, etc) but given its success, it really does make me feel small in my discontent. at the end of the day, as loud as our corner of the internet may be, it’s not enough. 🥲

[snowflakesincalifornia]

@luinmeriliel Hmm. Alright, I don’t think there are people who care about or get really annoyed about any solid “rules,” or if there are, there aren’t many of them, but lemme try to answer that one…

If your comment is specifically about a single post, like in your example, you should probably try to talk to the person posting it by reblogging or commenting on that one post, and “@”-adding them to the post/comment to let them know the comment is specifically aimed at them.

To add someone on a post or comment, type the “@” symbol and then, without adding a space in the middle, type the person’s blog name, and their name, along with other suggested blog names you could be addressing, should show up as you type it on the bottom of the screen, so click on that. If it’s worked, the blog name and @ symbol should turn blue, or grey, and it will work as a link to the poster’s blog when you click on it after you’ve finished your comment/reblog.

It doesn’t always work, I’m afraid. I’ve heard it works better for main blogs and not side blogs (main blogs are just the first automatically given blog you get when you create an account on Tumblr, every other blog you make after that is considered a “sideblog” by the website system), so if it doesn’t work, maybe they made this post from a sideblog. Try typing in their main blog name if you happen to know it. Maybe they have it in their blog description. If you still can’t get it to work, write it out anyway and just say “Hey OP” (OP means original poster) or something.

Comments are slightly more likely to be checked by the OP than reblogs for any questions aimed specifically at them, because of a trend that started ages ago to avoid a website problem that has since been fixed. But if you just comment, then fewer people will see your comment than they would if it was a reblog. Comments are a little more private. So for a broad question you don’t mind other people seeing the answer to about brush sizes, you might as well reblog it so other people can see if they’re curious.

Now, if you want to talk to someone who didn’t make the post but who’s commenting/reblogging on it, then do the same thing, but type their blog name. Generally follow their lead— if the person had left a comment on the post, reply with your own comment, and if the person reblogged, you can reply with your own reblog. Remember, though, reblogs are more public, so if you’re replying to their reblog by pointing out a mistake or something that might embarrass them, then maybe you should comment to them instead of reblogging them.

But if you aren’t specifically talking to a person on OP’s post, and just want to riff off something they said, and you’re talking to an audience, not them, don’t bother adding them. Reblog with your statement, and if they made a comment, not a reblog, that you want to add to, take a screenshot of their comment, add it to your post, and then write whatever you wanted to say.

If you think something someone commented on a post deserves to be seen by more people, because it made a great point to whatever the post was about, or was a good joke, or whatever, then take a screenshot of their comment and then write something about how you thought this deserved to be a public reblog because it made a great point or joke or whatever. Same goes for tags left by the OP or someone reblogging their post that you think more ppl should see— you’ll notice a lot of reblogs with a screenshot of tags and the words “don’t leave this in the tags!” But you’ll make the post more accessible for people using e-readers if you type out the words instead of making it a screenshot. Just give credit to the person who made it by writing out their blog name, like “[blog name]’s tags:” “[blog name] commented:”

For anything you want to say to someone that’s not concerning a specific post, but concerning multiple posts on their blog, or about their blog, or them as a person in general, go to their blog and send an ask or a message. You can click on the poster’s icon at the top the screen, and there’s options to send a post, an ask, or a message. Sometimes people don’t allow you to send one of them, so the options will have one or two missing or don’t show up at all, obviously. Go with what you see.

The asks don’t have to be answered by the person publically, but not everyone knows about the option to answer an ask privately, so usually they have to make a post on their blog answering your ask. So if you don’t mind other people seeing and reblogging your ask and the blogger’s answer, go ahead and make it an ask. DM them by sending a message if it’s more private. Like anything that you want to let the OP know that could be embarrassing or something. But it doesn’t always have to be embarrassing things— DMs are just more private, that’s all. No one has to see but you and the other person. Ask answers are often assumed to have to be posts, so anyone could happen to see it on OP’s blog.

I heard a lot of people ignore/don’t get DMs if they’re on mobile, but I don’t know if it’s true.

Asks do sometimes allow you to ask anonymously, so if you don’t want the person you’re talking to knowing who you are, make it an ask, and you might have the option to be anonymous.

People who both follow each other—we call those mutuals— often make friends by DM-ing each other, I believe. So for that kind of interaction, you can slip into DMs. Asks are usually more “here’s a compliment I want everyone to see”-ish. But again, there aren’t strict rules. You can go with what feels right.

I hope this helps. Good luck on Tumblr.

so it's been about a week since i've moved from reddit to this god forsaken hell hole (tumblr) and like

i love it

i'm not going back to reddit

my RtT (redditor to tumblrina) transition is complete

i never thought i would say this but this social media (if you can call tumblr one) is actually doing wonders for my mental health

no more doom scrolling

actually interacting with humans that are just as weird as me (feel free to talk to me)

not being afraid of being myself

yeah...

i'm home.

[thebadtimewolf]

shh its not important

i don't wanna see ur tags ragging on a ship. otherwise why reblog it?

because liking a well-made and well-crafted gifset is not enough. 

reblogging spreads the work of art. its someone going: [hey my tags are irrelevant! look at what this person did with this scene that they made it their own! i love it so much i reblogged it to my blog!], show, ep, actors, 

what an individual puts as tags used to be private, a spur of ramblings as well as thoughts or random non-fluent theories of said scene in show. unrelated and were only to be seen by the reblogged and whoever followed said blog. 

if someone said prev tags, it was meant as a response to the two rebloggers - the tags never showed as a response to the op unless the word OP or op was in said tag.

now they added replies for gif posts and that is where you are supposed to compliment, praise or critique the gifset or give ‘kudos’ to the gifmaker. i don't even notice the tags from other ppl blogs. because its not my mf business.

the same people that complain and wish to block because of somebody else’s tags are the same people that are upset they have WAY more likes than reblogs.

i stopped making gifs as heavily as of late because of this sentiment that's starting to rise. and i knew that tumblr update where you can see tags (yknow because ppl didn’t reblog and put in tags; they reblogged AND HAD A WHOLE LONG POST THAT WHEN THE GIFMAKER DEACTIVATED ALL. YOU. HAD. WAS. THE. LONG. POST. VERSION. AS THE OLDEST) was going to bring this convo.

block whoever you like but, if this is your main complaint: don’t be shocked at the drastic decrease of your gifsets and sudden increase when you decide to step away for a decade or so.

I've seen this convo every time since 2010.

but tags always been like this. 

plus there’s an off switch to only have people that only mutuals reblog it. 

there are even tags of others shared sentiment OF THE COMPLAINT WHICH DEFEATS THE PURPOSEE/INTENTION OF THE INITIAL COMPLAINT

why else ya think they lumped text, photo, video, audio etc into one thing? because of nonsense complaints like that. its already harder for gif makers and resources to function and post on here with a busted tag search - don't make it nearly operational simply because you rather it function like facebook, twitter, insta, etc.

if that’s the case, go there.

but don't come to a self-proclaimed hellsite with clowns and complain that it’s acting as a self-proclaimed hellsite with clowns even in the tags. cmon now.

[lochnessies]

ok here’s a post breakdown of my choosing since it annoyed the fuck out of me. enjoy ✨

Real marginalized people don’t live 1000+ years

weird saying “real” when this is a fantasy game that takes place using a fake country, fake people, and has completely different rules for their universe.

this is fire emblem and the series has always thrived off differing nations and races learning to live in coexistence. every time without fail. crimson flower, and only crimson flower, does a route/game end with the conclusion of “fuck it lets just kill them they’re not human anyway”

so what if they have long lives? they’re forced to live those years in fear and the knowledge that if they’re open about their race and heritage they might be slaughtered again. like humans, they’re entitled to live out those years in peace.

in the tellius games ike says this: “why should i care about the color of your hair, eyes, or skin? or your ears, wings, or tail? no matter how long you live or what powers you possess, we’re the same. at the end of the day, we’re all people.”

and that’s what fire emblem as a series has always backed up. those are the rules of different races, both man and non-human, in the universes of all the games.

and this does ring true in three houses! azure moon, silver snow, and verdant wind all have the nabateans being allowed into society with a promising future.

however, in crimson flower, throughout the story edelgard refers to nabateans as “beasts'' and dehumanizes them again and again. to her, they are subhuman creatures. yes, they are not human, but they are sentient and have human thoughts and emotions.

or have magic powers

magic powers? is this referring to their dragon forms or actual magic? bc they’re seen to have the same magic as everybody else. if it’s their crests stones it’s still irrelevant since that’s literally a part of their biology they can’t be separated from. the minority shouldn’t conform to the majority in order to be given basic rights or escape threats of death.

or build an entire powerful dominant religion with a standing army convincing people that they’re gods.

the size of the church is irrelevant. as evidenced by seteth and flayn’s accounts, organized worship of the goddess by both humans and nabateans existed before zanado was even built and that didn’t stop them from being nearly wiped out.

the church of seiros isn’t ruling the world behind the scenes, that is never implied. in fact, the opposite is shown. they’re completely independent from the three nations and have their own territory that goes for a few miles around the mountains. that’s why they have the knights of seiros and never once are they shown to engage in offensive battle. they defend the monastery from invaders (like the empire) and answer calls for aid for free when the nobility can’t be assed when the people ask for help. nobody is under threat of the knights if they don’t believe in the goddess.

they also have not convinced anybody they’re gods. sothis is a god. the nabateans are not. hell, nobody know the nabateans exist anymore so they can’t be seen as gods since they’ve been wiped from the history books. the saints weren’t seen as gods either since they were mortal messengers for sothis who are believed to be dead.

Like I find the Nabateans fascinating and I want to finish VW to learn more about their history and I think there’s a lot we could discuss about their tragic story, but they’re still fictional. And I get really wary whenever I see fans focusing more on “fantasy prejudice” than on the real world prejudices already present in the story, like racism, sexism, and homophobia.

oh i sure do talk about those things. quite a bit honestly (except homophobia since it’s not in the game).

people talk about the blatant racism because it’s right there. it’s a major theme in three houses. the fódlan-almyra relations, duscur, brigid, and the nabateans fall under this umbrella. and none of these prejudices are “real world” prejudices. they’re all fictional. almyra isn’t real, duscur isn’t, brigid isn’t on the map, and neither is zanado. this is a game that takes place in a fictional world that uses fictional nations and races to create an allegory.

also you are moving the goal posts. first it’s “this isn’t racism” but if it is you change your tune to “well is not real life racism so it doesn’t count.” despite none of it being real life. pick a side.

Edelgard fighting and killing a politically powerful person with magic powers doesn’t become racist just because that person happens to be a dragon, is all I’m saying.

it’s not the fact that rhea dies that’s racist. it’s the dogma and venom that edelgard spews at her. she specifically targets and cites her race as the reason why rhea and the others need to be removed from fodlan. hell, edelgard’s words for the nabateans are on par, and often worse, than ingrid’s vitriol for the people of duscur (and it shows up more as well).

“beasts hiding in the light. monsters slithering in the dark. i will destroy them all.”

“the monsters that have controlled fódlan in secret for far too long… rhea is their leader.”

“you have now witnessed the archbishop's true form. she is a beast.”

“those who rule this world use that beast's power to fabricate miracles, all to control those who blindly believe in the goddess.”

“we must defeat this indomitable enemy. we fight for humanity! for all of fódlan!”

“i will defeat the false goddess, overcome many obstacles, and seize the world for the real humans!”

“should the one leading the people of the world be someone with humanity, or a creature without it?”

“as you know, my goal is to free our world from the control of rhea and the other children of the goddess.”

“if the battle becomes a clash of beasts with inhuman strength…”

“the children of the goddess that used to control the people have been destroyed. the shape of the world will be forever changed. before long, it'll become something that we can mold with our own hands.”

“you are a child of the goddess. you cannot be allowed power over the people”

edelgard wants rhea, and the other nabateans, gone. full stop. all for the crime of being nonhuman bc she has a skewed view of history and the players in it due to misinformation.

if edelgard’s own words aren’t enough, the game mechanics show this by not allowing you to spare seteth and flayn when you approach them in battle with edelgard. the option to spare them is reserved solely for the player character. in contrast, during the mission where you invade the alliance, attacking claude (a human) with either byleth or edelgard gives you the option to spare him, even if edelgard makes her displeasure about doing so known. this is one instance of the gameplay trying to tell the player something: edelgard can be convinced to spare claude’s life, but under no circumstances can you convince her to spare the nabateans. another instance of storytelling through gameplay mechanics is shown in leonie and linhardt’s paralogue: when selecting your units for the battle against the immovable (who is saint indech), you cannot bring either hubert or edelgard, the reason for this being that (translated) “it’s related to one of the saints of the seiros doctrine.”

if you don’t consider all this shit that would get you cancelled on twitter as racism… that’s on you. but trying to back out of it as “well it’s not real racism bc xyz” is extremely disingenuous and comes across as desperate backpedaling.

[choicesficwriterscreations]

CFWC Writer of the Month: Jamespotterthefirst

Each month CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers, and this month’s writer of the month is @jamespotterthefirst! We hope you will enjoy learning more about her and her work below! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog: Jamespotterthefirst Blog Masterlist

1- When did you start playing Choices? What's the first book you played? 

I started playing back in 2018. I kept seeing this thing called “playchoices” trending as number 1 on Tumblr (lol remember those days?). This would happen, without fail, almost every week! When I clicked on it, the posts were all about the finale of a royal story (The Royal Romance!). People made the most hilarious posts, complete with memes. I had no idea what it was, but I gathered it was an app. I downloaded it, and the rest is history. 

The first book I played was Desire and Decorum. It was absolute torture because it wasn’t completed yet. So I binged the available chapters. Yes, I spent real money on keys and diamonds, telling myself at least I wasn't spending that money on drugs. It was so much fun waiting for a new chapter every week, even if I’m an impatient mess. 

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I joined the fandom almost immediately after downloading the app. 

As I sat in my living room, tapping my foot and waiting for the new D&D chapter to drop, I went back into the playchoices tag for content. It felt good to find other people who loved the story as much as I did. There were other users out there who were also waiting impatiently for the new chapter, writing fics and discussing theories in the meantime. There were also some of the funniest memes I have ever seen in my life. At first, I would quietly read and reblog. Then, I slowly started posting my own thoughts and theories (which were not very good lol but hey, this is tumblr after all).

3- How did you pick your url name? 

My life is one hyperfixation after another… The one before Choices was Harry Potter. More specifically, the Marauders era. I used to write for the pairing called “Jily”, composed of Harry Potter’s (dead) parents. Kelsey (@takeharryandgo) is a witness of just how much I love James Potter, Harry’s (dead) dad. In fact, our shared love for the pairing and character is one of the things that brought us together. 

In short, this URL is a reference to James Potter the first, Harry’s (dead) dad. Not James Sirius Potter the second, Harry Potter’s (living?) son. 

I saved it as a sideblog, meant only for writing resources for me to use at a later time. One day, I decided I didn’t want the followers on my main page to see all the Choices spam I was posting, so I resurrected the JP blog. 

4- Go back to your archive and tell us about the first post on your Choices blog. 

My first Choices post was a shitty theory about Desire & Decorum: 

5- How long have you been writing fanfiction?

I’ve been writing fanfiction since I was a literal child. I used to write in a notebook and my friends would read during recess. It was awful but they were into it. One day, I used up the whole notebook and my friend was desperate for the next part of the story. I told her I needed to wait until my mom took me to the store (literal child) to get a new one. My friend got me a new one by the end of the day lol.

TL;DR that puts me at about 20+ years of writing. 

6- What is your favorite Choices book to write about?

Without a doubt, Open Heart! 

7- Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it or would you change anything about it?

Oh god, the first fanfic I wrote was Lily Evans and James Potter from the Harry Potter universe. I forgot the exact title, but it was named after an Avril Lavigne lyric. Again, I was a child, don’t judge me lol. It’s handwritten in a notebook I still have somewhere, but I will never open it again lest I die of cringe. 

My first Choices fic, on the other hand, was a Desire and Decorum fic called “A Wedding Gift” that only like 5 people read at the time. 

8- What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Oof. This answer changes depending on the day you ask me. I always overthink it and end up saying picking a favorite fic is like picking a favorite child. To avoid being here all day, however, I’m going to say: Fake Husband, She Walks in Beauty, and Lovely.

9- Do you have a fic that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to be but could use a little more love?

Definitely, the fic I didn’t expect to do well at all if my first Open Heart fic: Lovely. 

I was so naive back then, knowing nothing about the Open Heart writing fandom. I had no idea what format or tags to use when posting. I was afraid there would be no readers out there who wanted to read a silly little story about my MC posting a thirst trap. All I knew was that the latest chapter of Open Heart Year 2 inspired an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it. 

I posted it and I was so incredibly lucky to receive so much support. Words cannot explain how special that was. To this day, I cannot verbalize how grateful I am for that. 

There isn’t really a fic I can think of that could use more love. It always amazes me that anyone gives my fics their time. So any feedback my fics get will always be valued and treasured by me. 

10- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? 

Oh no. 

If forced to choose, I’d say fluff. 

11- Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

Absolutely! While I try to make every MC different, I often pull from experience when I write. My Open Heart MC and I have a lot of things in common (heritage, hometown, astrological sign, etc.) But I also wanted her to be her own character with life choices that are different from mine. Since I'm very boring, it definitely makes for better fiction that way. 

12- What element of writing do you struggle with most?

It depends on the day. Some days I struggle the most with dialogue. Others, my biggest struggle is descriptions. It's rare when I feel confident in both when I write. 

13- Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

*laughs nervously in unfinished series*

There are a few series I have yet to finish. Once again, I apologize for leaving them untouched for so long! I plan to get my shit together soon! 

14- If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first? 

No! 

I don't think I could look anyone in the eye if they read some of the stuff I've written, especially for Choices. 

15 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

I strongly believe that one of the best ways to learn as a writer is reading. As such, I believe I've learned from most pieces I've read, particularly published rom com novels. In the fanfiction world, I admire my lovely friend @takeharryandgo. I've had the absolute joy of following her writing for over a decade. And with every work, I am still amazed by her masterful way with words! And her characterization is always spot-on. I simply love to read her spellbinding work and learn from the master! 

Other writers/creators I admire are:

@heauxplesslydevoted- one of the first OH writers I've ever read! Her smut is top-tier!

@jerzwriter - her stories, dialogue, and characterization are a delight to read. Her angst is painful. Her smut is sizzling hot! 

@liaromancewriter - a true master at romance! Her writing style is magical and synonymous with the best of rom-coms! 

@genevievemd - I bow down because the amount of love and care she puts into every piece truly makes her work special! 

 @lucy-268 - I have always respected the amount of research she puts into every piece. She pours so much care into it so that the narrative flows seamlessly! 

@a-crepusculo - her writing is so vivid and immersive. Reading her work is like listening to the most beautiful of symphonies!

@writer-ish - she is such a master at the craft! Her characterization is so vivid that the reader will fall in love no matter the format. Her text edits are legendary! 

@bex-la-get - such a talented and dedicated writer! She also pours hours of research into her work, ensuring every detail makes sense! 

@potionsprefect - she's such a creative and talented writer. She develops writing ideas like no one else I've ever seen! 

@headoverheelsforramsey- I love her storytelling and characterization! She's created a beautiful, inspiring, and intelligent MC for all of us to adore!

@gryffindordaughterofathena - her writing style is one of the most original I've ever seen. Reading her work feels like reading the loveliest of poetry! 

@coffeeheartaddict2- the dedication she puts into her work blows me away! She's daring when exploring themes in her writing, and she's not afraid to pull from personal experience. 

@lsvdw-blog - the person I'm sending my therapy bill to. Just kidding! Her writing is beautiful, even when it's the most painful angst. 

@trappedinfanfiction - she is such a lovely writer. The amount of detail she's given both of her MC's back stories has my absolute respect! 

@quixoticdreamer16 - I adore her MC and the wholesome, beautiful background she's given her! 

@mysticalgalaxysstuff - Another MC that has stolen my heart. I am so happy she started writing this past year because she's a real talent! 

@peonierose - love her beautiful MC and the beautiful love story she built for her with Bryce! 

@cariantha - a brilliant writer with talent for days! 

16- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series? 

I would love to see She Walks in Beauty along with its series (1800s AU) in live action. Imagine Ana de Armas and David Gandy in period costumes? That alone would be worth it! 

17- Do you write original stories? 

I've crafted and outlined original stories before but I've never actually written them. One of my biggest goals for the new year is to finally start. Wish me luck! 

18 -  What other hobbies do you have?

I love reading, hiking, and dancing! 

Yes, I picked the most “impressive” of my hobbies to seem cool. On most days, you'll catch me cuddling with my dog or bf watching YouTube/TikTok/Hell's Kitchen reruns lol. 

19 - What’s your favorite emoji? 

I used the orange 🧡 and purple 💜 hearts a lot because they're my favorite colors!

20: BONUS - tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

For the record, I am also contractually obligated to read anything Kelsey writes 😘 

Thank you so much to every single reader who has given my work a chance these past three years!

Thank you to the wonderful mods of CFWC for all you do to support writers in the Fandom! 

[arofili]

week-long fandom events: some tips from a pro

a while ago someone asked for advice for running week-long fandom events, and I thought my thoughts might be useful for other people too!

disclaimer: I am NOT actually a pro, that was just a catchy turn of phrase, lol. however I have run several events for several years, and I’d love to share some of my tips and tricks!

these are tips for tumblr-based events; if you’re running your event on a different site or on multiple sites, this might not be the most applicable to you.

some of these points will also be useful for events outside of the week-long structure, but some will be specific to that structure, as it is the one I am most familiar with!

here we go:

it's really nice to have an event sideblog to organize things; the events I've seen that run on people's main blogs are a little more confusing / hard to promote & follow

make sure you know the most popular tags in your fandom and get your promo posts into those tags! especially for first time events, tag blogs with lots of followers / influence and/or DM them and ask for them to boost the event, even if they're not participating

visual banners will draw in more eyes than posts that are just plain text, so try adding a header to your promo posts

give people enough time to prep for the event. I usually make the first announcement about 2 months before the event, and then schedule regular reminder posts as I get closer to the event. I make a reminder post 1 month out, 1 week out, and 1 day before, and then make sure I'm posting something every day of the event (at least) - the queue function is extremely useful for this, so you don’t forget to post!

themes for each day give people something to plan around / inspire them, I definitely recommend them. I usually just have one theme per day, but I've also seen events that give different themes for different mediums, or a list of themes each day that creators can pick from

have a pinned post with links to important information! this includes prompts, rules, FAQs, a link to an AO3 collection, etc. since blog pages are not accessible on the mobile app, it might be useful to also have post versions of any pages you make, and link to those in your pinned post.

when it comes to FAQs & etc, feel free to look at the pages on any of my event blogs (listed at the bottom of this post) and borrow concepts/phrasing from those if it's helpful for you. if you do this PLEASE credit me, but you are welcome to do so

off-site promos might not be the most wide-reaching, but Discord especially is a good place to draw attention to your event for people who don't track tumblr tags. I know I also post links to my promo posts on Twitter, and I usually catch a couple people there who are like "oh I didn't know that was happening, cool!"

track your event tag AND frequently check your event blog’s activity - tumblr is rotten about notifications, so it’s important to keep an eye on things and make sure you’re not missing any submissions!

reblog every submission to your event to the event blog. this is why the blog is there! this is how you can bost the content for your event and help other people find it! I recommend tagging those reblogs for organization with at least the url of the OP; I will also tag for relevant characters, sometimes relevant ships, and the medium of the post (art, fic, etc), and sometimes which prompt the submission was inspired by. also, I find it useful to tag which year the event takes place so you can track your event’s growth over time.

finally, make sure to participate in your own event; it doesn't have to be every day, but I think it's a little weird if you aren't creating content yourself, even if it's "just" a text post with headcanons or something!

these are all just things I like to do in organizing my events; there are other ways to run things, and you'll figure out your own system as you go on, but I hope this gives you a starting ground!

if anyone has any questions about running an event, I’m happy to give you further advice! send me an ask or a DM with any questions :)

AND check out my event blogs: @finweanladiesweek​ @tolkiengenweek​ @aspecardaweek​ @kilielweek​

happy event planning!

[jamboscrimblo]

welcome to my blog! ^_^

! icon/header by 0xeyedaisy !

meowdy-pickles -> meowthicalsausage

! note - please block if you don’t want me following you! if you softblock, i will most likely refollow thinking i accidentally unfollowed !

last updated: november 20 2022

🔮 my name is kit! i’m 18 years old & use it/they/he/she pronouns, as well as xe/cod/meow/bug/myth neopronouns; you can find my pronouns page here. my username on most other platforms is jamboscrimblo, so that is what i watermark my drawings with

🌸 i mainly post about mcyt, but this isn’t solely a mcyt page. the main smps i’m interested in at the moment are hermitcraft, 3rd/last/double life, & empires smp! i post about other series and mcyt apart from those as well. i’m not a dsmp fan but i reblog dsmp content sometimes bcuz i have a parasocial relationship with the fandom <3

☂️ i don’t mind character shipping in the mcyt fandom as long as it isn’t actively going against a cc’s boundaries. i occasionally reblog ship art/posts, but those will be tagged with the ship name & ship tag for the fandom. i might not tag some posts if they can be interpreted as platonic or romantic, or if the op didn’t use ship tags. that being said, irl shippers/truthers aren’t welcome here. if you frequently post about ship discourse or go out of your way to harass others over ships, i will most likely block you regardless of if i agree with your opinions

-> more under the cut <-

💟 tags i use!! (will probably add more once i get around to it)

#kit.says - any posts by me, or posts that i added to

#kit.creates - art i’ve made & decided to post

#bnnuuy & #wolfwoof - posts either from or mentioning the iconic tumblr users bnnuuy & wolfwoof

#crusty waffle - posts about my son (my grian plushie)

#willow🐾 - posts about my cat

-> if you need me to add any specific tags to a post, such as trigger tags, let me know. i tag common triggers as #tw (subject) or just the subject. if we’re mutuals, i can make a specific tag that covers all content that you would like to filter out, just ask!! <-

🎀 additional info

-> please feel free to leave me asks about anything at any time!! ask me questions about myself, show me pictures of your pet, infodump, or anything else you would want to leave in my ask box ^_^ submissions are also open if you want to show me videos or something (if you don’t want me publicly replying to an ask or submission you left, let me know!) please be my friend :D

-> mutuals can private message me on here or ask for my discord (even if we haven’t talked before in the past) if we aren’t mutuals & you want to pm me, just send an ask first & i’ll message you :) i get a little anxious when people i’m not mutuals or friends with randomly message me, since i may not know their intentions </3

-> i’m okay with spam likes/reblogs, go nuts :p

-> please don’t tag any art/posts from me as shipping unless it’s already in the tags of the original post, or i say “okay to tag as ship”

-> i block liberally, and sometimes block people people for really small things that just rubbed me the wrong way. if you want me to unblock you, send an ask either on anon or an alt account & i’ll check out why i blocked you in the first place! if it’s something small i’ll most likely unblock

-> i struggle with communication and wording things properly. please be mindful of this when interacting, or before you comment on the way i worded something. i also forget to use tone indicators a lot (especially since some of them confuse me), but if you’re unsure of what i’m trying to get across, just ask! when i leave compliments on art, they are always genuine. i never reblog art with sarcastic/mocking “compliments”

-> that being said, don’t be afraid to send me an ask or message me if i say/post something offensive, or if i reblogged something from a bigoted or gross person

-> my posts are all okay to reblog unless they have #do not reblog in the tags, but i’ll usually have reblogs turned off anyways for those posts

-> feel free to use my art as your pfp, banner, in an edit, etc as long as i am properly credited (unless said otherwise)

-> @bnnuuy and @wolfwoof are my besties only i am allowed to be mean to them <3

that’s all for now! byeeee

[nancylou444]

hellers never change

OP’s response to my reblog:

I’m on my computer, so this is going to get long.

None of what you says makes any sense. Oh really? Like OP’s post is the work of a sane person. Plus it should be what you said. 

Let’s look at what I said:

1. @brainrotmeta​ mentioned the unnecessary Sam tag, It also didn’t belong in the Jared tag. Typical heller behavior/tagging. 

2. That’s in reference to this:

Supernatural has to kill anyone who’s not 100% straight because a queer romance between 2 of 3 MC could have made a handful of homophobic “fans” angry and we don’t want that of course.  God forbid we hurt their feelings.

“MC” being main character, of which Cass is NOT. 

3. That’s in reference to this:

You’ve got an angel who’s fallen in love with someone he never should have liked in the first place, let alone fallen in love with.

Cass said “I love you”, NOT “I’m IN love with you.” People say “I love you” to family, friends, but that doesn’t mean they are IN love with these people. I guess OP is a friendless, unloved child. 

4. Oh yes, that hypocritical bullshit, here’s the full sentence:

A lot of Destiel fans are young, queer people who were desperate for proper, interesting and genuine representation without stupid stereotypes.

But Dean eating cake means he’s bi. Dean drinking vegetable water means he’s bi. Dean wearing a certain color or sitting a certain way means he’s bi.  Dean standing under a sign with ‘bi’ over his head, is considered “proof”. Dean’s FBI jacket having the ‘F’ covered with the lapel is considered “proof”. 

How are those not “stupid stereotypes” used by these “young queer people..desperate for...genuine representation”?

When there was actual representation IN the show. And tons of it on the CW itself.

5. In reference to the end of #2.

6. That’s in reference to the tags:

and don't get me started on the finale yes I'm still angry

Oh this is sad: 

dean and sam looks into the camera homophobically. 🤣🤣 How does one look ‘homophobically’?

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

Back to the reply:

And also, you’re a Wincest shipper? What’s with the question mark, it’s right there in my title, so no need to ask.  🤣🤣

Then you have absolutely no right to look down on Destiel shippers. Oh yes I do. I have every right, since I can watch the show without my shipping goggles on, something YOU can’t do. 

I’m not going to waste my time and energy arguing with someone who thinks incest is okay in any way. And yet, here you are. 

[destieldailynews]

John’s Journal, Indian Missions and the Lesbian Nuns

January 16th, 2021

By @lateral-org​

Our staff had a lot of conversations about how to frame this topic. None of us are Native American so we wanted to make sure we didn’t spread any misinformation while still using our platform. Our compromise was to try to speak using sources for information rather than personal opinions.

TL:DR

It is our responsibility to educate ourselves on Native American history. Even moreso as Supernatural fans, since so much of the show’s mythology is derived from Native American beliefs. Native Americans are still forced to live under oppressive laws constructed by the people responsible for the deaths of millions of their forefathers. Raising awareness is the first step to combatting this injustice. Links to more resources and places to donate are at the end of this post. 

We’ve gotten a few confused asks about how this post relates to John’s Journal entry. In the post it makes some remarks connecting the journal entry to children being tortured. The aim of this article is to provide the missing context linking the two together and why it matters. 

Here’s the quote from John’s Journal:

January 24: Dean turns seventeen today. We went shooting. Then I sent him out on his first hunt. I’ve let him take the lead before, but I’ve always been there to back him up. This time he’s on his own. Partly it’s a test, and partly I wanted some time with Sammy. Should be no problem for Dean. Ghosts of two nuns haunting St. Stephen’s Indian Mission in Riverton, Wyoming. Simple salt-and-burn mission. Nuns in love with each other, then discovered. Killed themselves. We scoped the situation out, figured that something must be left behind that’s now a focus for the haunting. Bible, rosary beads, some small article that’s hidden somewhere in their room. I figured Dean would take care of it no problem, but I still stayed close by with Sammy... [Sam wants a normal life] … Dean took care of the nuns just like I thought he would, but I don’t think I’m going to be sending him on any more solos soon. That one was a little tense.

And that’s all she wrote. So why does this matter? It doesn’t talk about killing kids, just about lesbian nuns who were part of an indian mission. What’s the problem? Well, let’s start with the basics. 

What is an Indian mission?

Basically, an Indian mission is a reeducation camp for Native Americans. 

From an article published on History.com about indian missions in California:

The main goal of the California missions was to convert Native Americans into devoted Christians and Spanish citizens.

Spain used mission work to influence the natives with cultural and religious instruction.

Another motivation for the missions was to ensure that rival countries, such as Russia and Great Britain, didn’t try to occupy the California region first.

Why is that so bad? 

Indian missions contributed to the loss of hundreds of thousands of Native American lives. 

From the same article:

The mission era influenced culture, religion, architecture, art, language and economy in the region.

But, the missions also impacted California Indian cultures in negative ways. Europeans forced the natives to change their civilization to match the modern world. In the process, local traditions, cultures and customs were lost.

Some critics have charged that the Spanish mission system forced Native Americans into slavery and prostitution, comparing the missions to “concentration camps.”

Additionally, Spanish missionaries brought diseases with them that killed untold thousands of natives.

Prior to the California missions, there were about 300,000 Native Californians. By 1834, scholars believe there were only about 20,000 remaining.

Now back to the post that spawned this question: 

When OP (@fettcockfriday) says, 

spend some time thinking about why you latched onto “lesbian nuns” over “children being tortured and murdered.” did you not know what an indian mission was? did you think it was less interesting, or less important? sit with that for a while. 

To someone who doesn’t know the history of Indian Missions and wasn’t paying close attention to the journal entry, this feels like it's coming out of nowhere. With context, though, you can understand where this comes from. 

In the journal entry, the Indian mission only has the weight of any other convent nuns could reside in. This is a problem rooted in the american habit of erasing the ugly parts of its history. I highly doubt that Alex Irvine thought twice about the relevance of indian missions when he wrote that into the diary entry, which is the problem. 

From IllumiNative: 

American students learn some of the most damaging misconceptions and biases toward Native Americans in grades K-12. In fact, 87 percent of history books in the U.S. portray Native Americans as a population existing before 1900, according to a 2014 study on academic standards. For many Americans, we no longer exist.

With minimal mention of contemporary issues and ongoing conflicts over land and water rights or tribal sovereignty, Native Americans have become invisible and it can be argued that it makes it easier for non-Natives to take the lead on creating their own narratives about us. Our invisibility makes it easier to create and support racist mascots or over sexualize caricatures of Native women in everything from fashion to Halloween costumes.

For the well-being of Native peoples and future generations, these false narratives, the invisibility and erasure of Native peoples must end.

Native Americans are still disenfranchised, suffering under oppressive laws constructed by the people responsible for the deaths of millions of their forefathers. Attempts to reeducate native children are still happening to this day. The only way to move forward is to face the past and listen to the voices who have been kept quiet for so long. 

Resources:

Links for educating yourself:

The Traumatic Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools-The Atlantic

The Erasure Of Native America

History of Residential Schools- Indigenous People’s Atlas of Canada

We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee-TikTok

How this affects white Americans: 

Whose Land Are You On?

Did You Know... All These States Have Native Names!

UNIST'OT'EN | Background of the Campaign

Thanksgiving - Tumblr

Knowledge Center- First Nations 

Ways to Donate:

#settlersaturday, gofundmes for native people

Ways to Give- First Nations

Support Us - Native American Rights Fund

Support the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs!

17 Organizations Providing Emergency Food Relief to Native Communities During COVID-19

Support Native American businesses: 

Birch Bark Coffee Company

Indigenous Cosmetics

Red Planet Books and Comics - Unleash Your Indigenous Imagination

Orenda Tribe Clothing

20+ Native American-Owned Businesses to Shop

Please tag, submit, or link any other accounts or resources related to this topic to us @destieldailynews​, we will reblog as much as we can.

[mariaiscrafting]

i saw you talk about “blocking etiquette” in one of your posts and i was wondering if you could briefly explain that? my blog is a baby (i joined in march) so i really don’t know any of the unspoken social rules haha. i feel i should know this before i say anything ever thats dream critical lmao

also saw you have a ton of asks so feel free to answer or not there’s no obligation ! take care of urself it seems like a lot to handle rn

I'd like to preface this by disclaiming that I've been on Tumblr since 2014, so I think I have a good sense of blocking etiquette as it's evolved with Tumblr culture, but I might still be presumptuous/wrong about some things.

Anyways. So, on Tumblr, there's generally always been a "block first, ask questions later" mentality. No matter the fandom, people kinda just unfollow or block people at will because Tumblr's algorithm is so shit at recommending things for people that unfollowing/blocking are really the primary ways to tailor what you don't want to see. So, if you frequent a search term/tag search, like "dream smp," you'd likely block someone who posts things frequently to that tag, but whose content you dislike. Blocking is, obviously, still used as a means to stop interacting with just plain assholes, as it is on every social media site. But more times than not, Tumblr users block blogs for neutral reasons related to how they want to tailor their social media experience, rather than a personal vendetta against someone.

Frankly, from my perspective, this was the main use of block lists back in the day. They weren't so much ways to truly hate on anyone's blog since anyone deemed a true asshole would likely spur a reporting campaign against them, rather than an addition to a blocklist. No, Tumblr blocklists were almost always so people who frequented certain tags simply... didn't have to put up with some people. If there was a wave of problematic shippers inundating a fandom/character tag, of TERFs inundating trans/feminism tags, or something similar, they would likely be put on a blocklist simply because Tumblr users wanted a comprehensive list of people they might come across, but didn't want to have to see posts from. Along a similar vein, a lot of mcytblr blogs advocate simply blocking people who post imagines in the main mcyt/dream smp tags, rather than harrassing each and every one of them into fixing their tag habits. Like, they're just annoying, really, and this social media site is so big that just blocking the ones who frequent the tag is so much easier than anything else.

One notable difference about Tumblr blocking as compared to Twitter blocking is the malintent behind Twitter blocking. Twitter fandom subtwts will advocate for blocking someone particularly if they're being cancelled/a Twitter user simply dislikes them enough. In addition, I've seen more than one Twitter user unironically say that they block people who unfollow them, as if following/unfollowing them were a personal affront, and blocking people were some component of this social game that reeks of cliqueness and high school levels of maturity.

That isn't to say that Tumblr blocking etiquette doesn't have pitfalls, because it has many. The main one I've noticed is that, especially in smaller fandom spaces, someone who's considered problematic might be enmassed blocked by lots of users in that fandom, and effectively be shut out of that fandom. If they're put onto a blocklist, a problematic post is circulated enough, or they're blocked by enough "big blogs" in the fandom, these users can be kept from reblogging, liking, or sending asks to a large part of the fandom they participate in. Vague posting doesn't really get you anywhere on Tumblr because of how insular each blog is, as opposed to Twitter, where screenshotting someone's profile who's blocked you and/or complaining very obviously about someone blocking you without naming them is commonplace and can be easily spread throughout a subtwt. This means Tumblr blogs who were mass blocked end up reaching much less members of their fandom, cannot really stand up for themselves in the face of mass blocking unless they're infamous enough for people to recognize their name, or participate in the discourse that promoted their blocking in the first place. While I haven't really experienced this, all of this is taken from what I've observed mutuals and recognizable blogs going through over the years.

Another note is that this website is kinda fucked, coding-wise. We all know this. This means that there are a million holes in the blocking system that make it even more annoying to navigate when people have blocked you, and that ends up getting more people blocked than maybe should be.

First of all, those imagine blogs aren't just posting in the main tags for shits and giggles, or to be cumbersome and clutter the main tags. They're doing it because Tumblr is dying, and even in a fandom as big as mcytblr, it's almost impossible to boost/promote your original content. The Tumblr algorithm sucks at spreading awareness about popular posts, more and more Twitter refugees means less and less people who fucking reblog > liking posts, and basically the only way posts can blow up anymore is by being found through a tag that is trending or frequently browsed through the "most recent" setting. This includes dream smp and many smp character names, so obviously imagine blogs are going to take advantage of this and maintag. It's the reason mcytblr constantly tags "m*necraft" despite being told off, time and time again, for doing so by mineblr. And it's the reason I've likely been blocked by many people- because I had to make the decision between spreading awareness of a post that took a lot of effort and that I thought was important enough to main tag despite being critical/negative, or keeping mcytblr happy by not cluttering their bias's tag with a crit post. Sure, some of mcytblr likely blocked me because they thought I was annoying/disagree with me, and that's fine. But I'm sure many blocked me for the same reason I block imagine blogs and mineblr blocks dream smp stans- because they wanted to peruse their fave's tags, and they simply blocked a random blog that posted something they didn't like, without really thinking much of it.

Second of all, side blogs kinda fuck up how blocking works. It's annoying as hell to see a post you really like in the main tag/search, only to find that the person blocked you upon trying to reblog. Because of sideblogs, people will oftentimes block a sideblog because it's that user's fandom blog, without blocking their main, so the user is left kinda seeing their stuff time and time again, without being able to interact with it.

Speaking of how fucky the code is because of the blogging system, reblogs make it even worse. Most social media sites simply make it so a blocked user cannot see another user's profile, posts and all. But Tumblr not only allows this, it kinda fucks up the search function by sometimes allowing people you've blocked/who've blocked you to show up in main tag searches, it didn't take into account the fact that you can still see an OP's post when someone else reblogs it, and Tumblr didn't think to just fucking fix all these holes and just wholly omit someone's posts if they've blocked you, or you've blocked them. So, despite blocking people, you can still be logged in and see all their shit, and they can see yours. It's kind of annoying as fuck.

[hollenka99]

It seems like OP has deleted all the posts on their blog due to all hate comments they've been getting since Mark reblogged the post.

I totally understand why they put it in the main tag without thinking too much of it. I've done the same with main fandom tags just as a way of organise my blog and help me find certain posts I've made more easily. In those instances, they probably didn't belong in the main tag but I never that any attention. I know rambling about one of my AUs involving jacksepticeye egos is hardly smut but my point still stands. They main tagged it for organisational purposes on their own blog not to increase the exposure of their post. I 100% get that.

Yes, it was a reckless mistake. However, OP in no way deserves all the hate and negative attention they've gotten tonight.

OP, I'm sure you're taking time away from Tumblr and/or the internet in general for the sake of your mental health. But if you do happen to see this somehow, I want you to know I'm really sorry you've had to go through this. You don't deserve to be treated the way it sounds like you have been. I hope you are able to one day go back to enjoying yourself as part of the markiplier community but if that never happens, I won't blame you for wanting to leave this part of your fandom experience far behind you. Most importantly, I hope you have people you trust who you can help you through this. I wish you all the best.

[clockworknightmares]

Whump Community Info: Getting Involved

Or, “So I made a whump blog, now what?”

Last info post I made was about Tagging, but I mentioned there was some other important things that would be useful for the new whump blogs on the block to know. I see this question float around a lot, and have even been asked several times myself. 

“I’ve been watching the whump community for a while now and finally decided to jump in and make a whump blog of my own. But how do I get noticed?”

There’s a number of good things I have found that you can do to get your whump blog up and running, get connected, and meet other whumpers who enjoy the same types of whump as yourself. Again- reminder. I am not an expert and these are purely based on my observances and personal experiences with Tumblr and the whump community. 

So you’ve jumped in and made your whump blog, usually with the word “whump” somewhere in the name (a memo I obviously didn’t get). What’s the first step?

1) Write a “whump blog intro”

You've seen these floating around. Some good things to remember to include in your intro are: -Name -Age (or minor/adult) - important because some people really like knowing if they're interacting with someone who is 18+ or not -What fandoms you’ll be writing for - Original whump is very popular as well -What tropes you enjoy -What kind of content you plan on creating (art, writing, gifsets, prompts, etc)

Occasionally you’ll see people also tag their favorite whump blogs. Personally, I find this okay! I’m really honored to see if I’ve inspired someone to create their own whump blog. Obviously, I don’t speak for everyone, but the whump community is very kind and accepting, and people often don't mind being tagged in things.

2) Interact with other whump blogs

This is very important, but also one of the things that makes the whump community so fun and special. There is lots of interaction. BUT- you can’t expect people to interact with you and your content if you don’t do the same. Some ways to interact (in no particular order):

-Fill prompts. This means when you see a whump prompt you like, reblog the prompt and write a drabble under it. Usually the prompt’s OP will reblog your drabble. We love seeing people’s interpretations, additions, and drabbles inspired by the prompt.

-Send asks. Don’t be shy! Since a lot of whump blogs are sideblogs (not the main blog of the user) make sure to sign your ask so we know what whump person you are! Is there a prompt list or ask game going around? Always try to send an ask to the person you reblog the list from, even if you don't know them very well. This will insure that everyone at least gets one ask and boosts interaction!

-REBLOG CONTENT. If you read a drabble you like, reblog it. See a prompt you might want to fill later? Reblog it. If you don’t have time to reblog a drabble you read, just leave a comment saying you enjoyed it! Reblogging is how content is spread and shared, thus more interaction with the post. And more interaction usually can lead to your fav whump blog being encouraged and putting out more whumpy content! A good deal for everyone!

-Join a whump discord. They are great places to meet people with a common interest in whump and also for discussions, trope talk, and character brainstorming to get your creative wheels turning.

-Look into getting a @badthingshappenbingo card. You’ve seen the black bingo cards full of whump tropes floating around. They are lots of fun and a great way to get out of the groove of writing the same three tropes over and over again (Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I am often guilty of that very thing.)

Congratulations! You’re getting involved. But you still aren’t gaining a following/having a lot of interaction on your posts. Now what?

A few troubleshooting questions. Are you:

-Tagging your posts? (I have a whole post devoted to tagging here)

-Posting during times when the most people are online to see your content?

-Do you post often or just every once in a while? More active blogs will see a steadier growth in interaction.

Sometimes, you can do everything you can and you’re still not gaining followers, interaction, receiving asks, etc. What happens then? Do you give up and throw in the towel? Not at all. Sometimes, these things just take time. The most important thing is consistency. But if you’re like me, and often struggle with being consistent due to life and other things that (sadly) have more of a  demand on your time, that’s okay. Just enjoy your whump when you can fit it in. You don’t owe anything to anyone.

If you have any questions about whump you want answered, feel free to dm me or send an ask! If I don’t know the answer, I can direct you to someone who does!

Now get out there and hurt some characters!

[rannadylin]

So, since the option for @new-xkit-extension users to keep the old dash (with working Xkit extensions) appears to be gone now I’m just gonna start a list both for my own reference and for requests to tumblr staff of the extensions I am now finding it hardest to do without, more or less in order of how much I miss them. Feel free to add your own must-haves! (and the list at https://github.com/new-xkit/XKit/issues/1802 is handy for tracking which extensions in Xkit have already been updated for the new dash...)

[ETA a read more as my list got longer than I expected!]

Read Posts: oh my goodness when I’m catching up in the morning, or in the evenings after work once going back in to work will be a thing, it is so frustrating not to have that dimmed post tell me that I’m all caught up now! How many posts will I obliviously scroll through multiple times before realizing I saw that one the last time I read through my dash? The fact that many posts show up multiple times in reblogs makes it even harder to keep track of where you left off, so the disabling of this extension has thrown my tumblr routine into considerable confusion. I’m either gonna end up rereading everything from the last time I caught up or I’m gonna not catch up all the way because I’ll see a reblog that I know I saw in my previous catch-up session and it’ll actually be someone else’s reblog of the same post so I’ll miss whatever came before it.

No Recommended (or possibly it was Anti-Capitalism): it’s supposed to hide the recommended posts that come from your followed tags and then just show up on your dash as if you were following the OP. At least I think this is the extension that was removing those for me? It’s actually checked on the list linked above so maybe it was a different extension that had this covered. At any rate, the first I realized the “revert to old dashboard” option must have been eliminated was when I started seeing these again, sigh. Now I may just unfollow all my followed tags and see if that stops them from throwing up random blogs I didn’t ask to see.

Shorten Posts: Oh my goodness things are so LONG now. And is the font bigger? Less of each post, especially longer or photo posts, fits on the screen at a time and so it takes longer to get through it. Might have to unfollow blogs as well as my followed tags just to have the time to keep up with what I do follow.

Read More Now: UGH, “Keep reading” links open in a separate tab again. :-( It’s a hassle and RMN made it so much more streamlined.

ETA: When not on the dash but on the dash-style version of my own blog (so tumblr.com/blog/rannadylin that is), clicking the “Keep Reading” opens up like this extension used to? Hm i’ll need to check next time a read more comes up on my dash whether it’s been updated to work there too...

Quick Tags: Looks like if reblogging or making a post from your dash you can no longer use this extension to add tag bundles for quick & easy organization of posts. Oh my goodness. I’m already tired at the thought of typing them all out by hand. (Side note: The Activity page seems to still be untouched by the changes - extensions that apply to it are still working - so if you go to that page first then click the new post icon, you can use the tag bundles. No good for reblogging though, unless you are reblogging a post from your activity page somehow?)

Auto Tagger: Not quite as annoying as the loss of Quick Tags since this one I mostly just used for things like “queue” and “ranna reblogs” on non-original posts and “from the desk of ranna” on original posts, and that’s just one tag to add. But you can be sure I’ll forget to add them most of the time, so there goes that layer of organization (and the option of blocking those tags if you didn’t want to see that portion of content from my blog). 

Cancel that; it looks like this one is still working as I just attempted to reblog something and my auto tag for that showed up!

Er...maybe not, since it just used my original post tag on a reblog instead of the tag that should go on things I reblog.

Tag Tracking+: I mean, this one won’t be necessary if I have to unfollow my tracked tags to make tumblr stop putting posts from the tags on my dash from blogs I don’t follow, but also now it’s not as simple to find those followed tags...so that I can unfollow them...

Header Options: I used this to “Show my blogs on the header” so I had quick links to switch between this, my main blog, and sideblogs like @roleplayers-of-eternity and @pillarspromptsweekly. So that’s just a few extra clicks to do that switching but still it slows things down overall. Heeeey, this one just got updated and looks functional on the new dash now! Huzzah!

Blacklist: Well, the new tumblr has something of the sort built in but I haven’t blacklisted as many things there as I had in Xkit so I’m not entirely sure yet (until I start comparing blacklisted phrases on the posts that are being hidden by whatever) if this one’s still working or if it’s just tumblr’s blacklisting that’s working. I suppose as long as we have one functional version of this it’s fine. (On a third thought, it might be the separate-from-Xkit Tumblr Savior extension that’s working again now? While I had the Xkit “Revert to old dashboard” option switched on I don’t think TS worked with that but maybe it’s been updated for the new dash?)

OK after some cross checking I think it is Tumblr Savior that has the blacklist phrases I’m seeing with a “Content Warning” hiding the post. Not sure if Xkit’s Blacklist is also working but that is quite possible...we’ll see if I can find a post hidden that is only blacklisted there...

ETA: Annnnd I just saw a post blocked with a tag I only had blacklisted in the Xkit Blacklist! So, good, it looks like all versions of blacklist functions are working.

Now for one that wasn’t even an extension, I don’t think: you know how you can hit J to scroll down a post and K to scroll up a post? Well that still works; but previously you could then hit the right arrow key to go to the next page of posts if you don’t have endless scrolling on (or left arrow to go to the previous page if you need to) and it appears those no longer function that way. So farewell to mouse-free dash scrolling, I guess, gonna have to click that Next > button every time manually now.

Also, upon going to my Queue to see if there are extensions broken there that I will miss (e.g. Scroll to Bottom for when you need to quickly find the most recent thing you queued to adjust tags or something), it...isn’t actually showing any of my queued posts? What?

As noted earlier, the Activity page is not yet switched over to “new” tumblr, and it looks like the Inbox isn’t either, so the Outbox extension still works which is great for old folks like me prone to forgetting whether we already sent that ask we meant to send. *ahem* In other words, if the Inbox switches to the new engine or whatever and this extension goes away, UGH.

ETA: Oh and I just noticed as I added some indented bullet points to the list above...they’re all showing up at the first level of indentation, not outline-style like intended, when viewed on the actual dash. Sigh.

On the bright side of the changes, it definitely seems to load faster on the new dash! And as I’m going through my list of Xkit extensions there are several that I see are actually redundant now because their functionality is already a part of the new dash. If Tumblr can incorporate the usability features that we used to have to turn to 3rd party extensions to supply, that’ll be great!

[hrmphfft]

controversial opinion time I guess but

hey gang? hey, gang. gang, hey. blaming your fans for them not reblogging your content enough (and saying that they’re Directly Responsible For Tumblr Dying) is an extremely passive aggressive, mean thing to do, and also completely ignores so many other reasons as to why engagement has changed on this site and posts don't circulate like they used to.

for one thing, whenever I see these posts, I rarely see the ops acknowledge the HUGE HIT to tumblr's userbase following the 2018 policy change/implementation of tumblr's terrible content filtering algorithm. tumblr lost roughly 1/3 of its engagement (https://mashable.com/article/tumblr-lost-a-third-of-its-users-after-porn-ban/) and countless content creators with it. some of them migrated to twitter and other sites, some of them seem to have straight-up vanished into thin air, and countless others lost their biggest or main userbase with barely any time to shift gears to something else. that's a huge, website-shaking change! but so often in these 'reblogs vs. likes' posts I don't see anyone acknowledging that and it makes me really upset!

you can't talk about the ways tumblr has undoubtedly changed these last few years and NOT address the nsfw ban! it's completely unfair to your fanbases to shift the blame of the biggest displacement of users the site has ever experienced on...the users who had no say in the policy change and reacted accordingly when the site started softbanning everyone, and filtering all sorts of tags from the search function (including important sfw ones, lest we forget The Entire Furry Fandom on tumblr discovering that basic-ass tags like #furry and #anthro were being blocked when the ban rolled around), and making uploading anything vaguely beige-colored a dice roll. tumblr still hasn't recovered from that, and unfortunately probably never will, not without some hail mary of policy changes and overhauls.

I've seen some pretty ageist shit regarding content engagement as well that tries to paint younger users as just Not Getting how tumblr functions vs. other social media sites like instagram and twitter, and on top of that just showcasing a really uncomfortable disconnect/animosity towards new users whose only crime is being younger than op and also more experienced with other social media platforms, it also is just. it's really unkind? it's super rude? how can you call your followers too clueless to know how reblogging works and then expect them to support your content via reblogging and not feel like you're insulting them until they give you the result you want?

moreover, lots of young/new tumblr users get the gist of tumblr's controls and get it very quickly! technology literacy is becoming more and more a part of everyday life for everyone, and if you really think that a teenager can't understand that reblogging puts a thing on their follower's dashboards, one of the main functionalities of the site (and also very similar to twitter, one of tumblr's main competitors), I really don't know what to say. sometimes people just straight-up don't want to reblog stuff to their blogs, and that's okay.

there's also a tendency to ignore the ways that blogging on tumblr has changed as its userbase has became more well-versed in its functions and, frankly, a portion of the userbase has grown up on this site. when I first started blogging on here, I was 17, I didn't use tags, I commented unrelated (and frankly sometimes really regrettably rude) replies directly onto artist's posts, and I basically just reblogged whatever I vaguely liked, and a lot of things I didn't totally get but thought Looked Cool/Funny so I reblogged anyways.

and that's fine, that's pretty par for the course of being young on the internet and doing whatever you want and having a good time (barring the rudeness, being respectful to people is the ideal), but as time went on my interests changed, my time spent online changed (I went from highschool to college to a full-time job that limits my time on social media), and I began engaging with tumblr's content differently. I made sideblogs for interests and content themes I didn't want on my main blog, I started liking stuff and then going back through my likes to reblog posts later, and generally speaking my number of posts a day dropped and I stopped being able to catch up on my dashboard every single day. and I'm sure my experience isn't unique for some other people on here.

a lot of the tumblr users I've known for a while just don't have the same level of intensity in fandoms like we did years back, not because of any malice or selfish, content-hogging intent, but because our priorities have changed. I definitely miss a lot of things about years past on tumblr when fandoms were booming and new Big Name Creators were cropping up all the time, and to be fair that's still happening on parts of the site if you know where to look! it's just different now. time has passed. people have changed!

that isn't to be defeatist and say that we can't show up for content we enjoy and reblog it, but instead that people can feel differently about stuff they used to adore, and be more particular about one thing or another they reblog, and straight-up miss stuff that they would have really liked but just didn't catch up on for a myriad of reasons. and that's also okay. engagement on tumblr is really, really tied up in personal preferences, and sometimes it feels like it does that more than most other social media sites. this is kind of the wild west of internet presences and everyone operates differently on here as a result.

and probably the most touchy point of all: no one is obligated to give you validation on the internet. no one. not even if they've read all of your fanfics you've worked really fucking hard on for forever and a day, or your comics that you've spent months, years, a lifetime researching and creating, or your beautifully, painstakingly timed and masked fan videos. they can absolutely consume any of these, and more, and they're still not obligated to reblog your work or promote you. it's not fair, yes, and it's completely understandable and super relatable to want recognition for the work you've done and the ways you've brightened other people's lives, but online most of your fans are still total strangers to you, and trying to control the behavior of total strangers because you’re owed their acknowledgement isn’t a healthy mindset to have.

and you can say that any fan of yours stops being a fan after they drop you for you lashing out at them for not unquestioningly giving you space on their blogs like you're owed, but being upset at being accused of bad behavior for what amounts to not wanting to reblog something this time around and changing your opinions based off of that is also a very understandable thing to do.

and that isn't because of any sort of innate cruelty, or pointed attack towards you. it's just because there is always a disconnect between the creator and the creation, and some people will never bridge that gap and engage with you more, or build a parasocial relationship with you, or seek out ways to support you. and plenty of others will do the exact opposite! it's a total dice roll because you're dealing with a lot more people than you realize scrolling past your content, and every person is different, and some of them don't fully understand how reblogs help a creator, and some of them do but just don't want that content on their feed, and none of them are inherently bad people for that.

I'm not saying creators have to be perfectly kind and civil and praise their fans all the time, but when you engage with your followers like it's a battle where you have to keep devising new ways to get them to share your content, it just comes across as super disingenuous, and people cop to that very fast. 

it also, frankly, can make longtime fans who reblog your work regularly feel like their interest doesn't matter, and wasn't good enough, and that then it really is their fault that other people (other STRANGERS ON THE INTERNET) don't engage with your content the way you wanted them to. you don't owe them perfection, but that doesn't mean it isn't still an unkind thing to do.

so like. what can we do about this?

asking users to reblog your work is totally fine and can help! calls to action work more than nothing at all. it's possible to be respectful when asking people to reblog your work without also guilt-tripping them with "likes < reblogs" banners and passive aggressive tags/comments. generally speaking guilt is a really shitty motivational tool, and tends to breed more resentment than actual outcomes people want. like this post for example! I wouldn't have sat down and typed this all out if I didn't resent the hell out of being told I'm, personally, the reason tumblr is demonstrably not an ideal website for building a fanbase anymore. if I had that much power over this website I would have given the whole thing to the xkit team years ago and reveled in a functional website instead.

changing the way you post content might help! every site has its ideal posting days, times, and reasons for why some are ideal for one site and not another. doing a little research (https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/) will yield some potentially helpful tips and tricks that might result in a post reaching more people. utilizing tumblr's search function is also important, and understanding the limits of the tag function (ie. only the first 5 tags of a post are used for tag searches) can help change one's habits to something a little more effective. this is why I tend to leave my tag babbling until after the main fandom/category tags on my posts, so that tumblr's jankass search has a better shot, haha

broadening your online presence can definitely help! this is by far the most terrifying option since it involves branching out onto other social media platforms, some of which really don't lend themselves to whatever fandom/content one produces, so like the other two above it's only a suggestion.

I keep coming back to twitter and instagram, but that's mainly because they're the two other powerhouses of social media right now, though admittedly they only really cater towards visual media (and mainly imagery, not longer video pieces), and they have their own weird quirks to learn and jank to deal with. but given how precarious tumblr's status has become in some ways, trying to build a presence on multiple sites means that you reach more people across the internet, and also means that if tumblr does yet another website-shattering policy change, your eggs aren't all in one basket.

of course these options aren't foolproof, and won't work for everyone in some cases or not at all for others, but my main point in all this is this: tumblr has irrevocably changed, its userbase has changed, and we are limited in the ways we can directly influence it, but there are still options. I'm by far not a social media expert, but then again none of the posts I've seen so far were made by social media experts either, so I honestly don't feel too bad for throwing my hat into the ring while we're all thrashing about in confusion

y'all aren't wrong that things have changed, but I'm begging you to have some compassion and to try not to turn the relationship between creators and consumers of content into a battleground, especially when a lot of the influences on these changes are things entirely outside of any of our's direct control.

also because it makes y'all sound exactly like this:

[arofili]

ok ok i have wanted to ask someone this question for so long and i've tried google and it didn't help and u literally made a meme about it so u MUST know the answer. WHY do people use queue tags? why do followers need to know if u queued something up or you just posted it with your fingers? PLS help me, i'm so desperate to understand

i deleted the op and blocked notifications on that post so i have no idea what’s going on there and i don’t rly want to but since you asked so nicely-

i mean they don’t NEED to know? it’s a preference i guess. for me i like to have a queue tag so people know if i’m online or not. if my blog is full of posts from my queue ppl will still be getting content but won’t be thinking im there ignoring their messages or w/e. it also can serve as a (very vague i admit) timestamp - ‘i put this in my queue awhile ago so if there’s a new update/response on it i probably haven’t seen it.’ for some people i think it can be an explanation of why they’re reblogging a lot of posts from the same fandom or whatever - i’m an organization freak so i try to break things up even in my queue, but if a mutual is reblogging a bunch of, like, tma posts tagged for their queue i can appreciate that they didn’t want to spam my dash when they originally saw the post.

idk, for me the main purpose is to indicate whether or not i’m online. my queue still spits posts out when i am online, but they’re interspersed with non-queue posts. it’s also personally comforting to be organized, but like i said, i’m an organization freak.