#do people still use blorbo?

[frootbyethefoot]

what do you mean i didn’t “work on my ocs story“ today i literally thought about them.

(oslo uses he/him, mandy uses they/them, benji uses he/they)

[ID: three digital drawings of tumblr user frootbyethefoot’s ocs. the first image shows mandy born standing still with their hands in their hoodie pockets. as well as a smaller mandy laying down with their feet in the air on a laptop with bits of paper surrounding them. mandy born is a tall, white person with long, messy dark brown hair. they wear a scarf with the colors of the lesbian flag, a dark purple, striped hoodie, long flannel pajama pants, and red sneakers in the first image. the outfit is the same in the smaller doodle, with green shorts instead of pants.

the second drawing shows mandy born and an unnamed white woman with short, blonde hair in a bob. mandy looks distressed and is saying, “its so over...” while the unnamed woman has their hands in the air and an evil expression on her face saying, “WERE SO BACK!”

the final drawing are three chibi references for ocs. the first is oslo vandi, a black man with long locs. he is wearing orange glasses and has stubble. he is wearing a dark green jacket with a fur hood. he is wearing brown pants with yellow circles around the knees, and dark brown shoes. he has his hands in his jackets pockets and looks happy. mandy looks the same as previously described, with again, green shorts. they look on edge. last is benji fleye, a short, fat white man with black hair wrapped in a long ponytail. he has freckles all over his body, as well as a burn scar on right side of their head, and right arm. they have a small mustache and beard. he is wearing a white shirt with a reddish orange starburst on it. they have a flannel jacket wrapped around their waist, dark blue, ripped jeans, and red sneakers. he is waving towards the viewer and seems happy.]

[s0fter-sin]

retired ghoap going on a renovation competition show

ghost takes over the budget and he's ruthless with it; tracking every paint swatch and piece of lumber down to the last cent, haggling for every purchase and making the most of their coupons. soap's in charge of design; he can visualise floor plans better than anyone, seeing the completed spaces in his mind when they’re little more than a steel shell

they run their site like a military base, treating their builders like rookies; expecting them to follow orders but also waiting for them to inevitably mess up so they can fix it

they're an immediate shock to the judges; they fully expected them to have no idea what they're doing, to have no understanding of style or trends, but they didn't sign up just for shits and giggles

they know how to hit a brief and can do physical labour faster than the actual builders. with soap's discerning eye and ghost's practically, they design gorgeous rooms and become a real threat for the prize money. they handle the stress and sleepless nights like it's second nature bc really, it is; a few all nighters painting are nothing compared to being shot at

they also take great joy in messing with the other couples

it takes a while for them to figure out they're even married; they argue like it's going out of fashion, never holding their opinions or frustrations back but it's their love language as much as their banter. you can hear them barking at each other from across the site; callsigns and “It” and “sergeant” thrown around just like in the field

the challenges are where they have the most fun

the day to day? that's work; they're strict, both with themselves and the schedule, never letting anything fall behind or go incompleted. but the challenges? that's play time. they love pushing the brief, toeing the line of the rules purely bc they can

they get to a two part art challenge and ghost's scheming before before the host even opens their mouth. part one? one half of the couple has to design some kind of art piece that will feature in their house. part two? the other person has to gather supplies and tools and make the art

there's a time limit for how long they can take to gather the supplies; once it's up, they can't go back for more and they can only use what they can carry themselves to their station. they're in a warehouse filled with scrap and paint and tools, the choices almost overwhelming

ghost politely interrupts the host to ask for a clarification; absolutely anything in the warehouse can be used so long as they can carry it?

the host confirms; anything under the roof is their's to use

ghost thanks them and steps back in line, standing at attention and waiting for round one to start

ghost volunteers to be the one to do the art, shocking everyone since soap is well known as the artist of the two of them. but soap sees the mischief in his eyes; he knows he's up to something and can't wait to see where it goes

the timer starts and ghost immediately shucks his hoodie and gets to grabbing; stuffing the impromptu bag with everything he recognises from soap's own supplies. there's seconds to go when he bolts for soap, throwing him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry

the other couples are pissed and call it cheating, trying to get them disqualified

ghost just shrugs, soap still over his shoulder, "they said we can use anything we can carry. i followed the brief"

soap just laughs like a mad man

they win the challenge by a landslide

everything's going smoothly, they've won enough room reveals that they’re in a good financial position, they’re ahead in their current room and in a great headspace

then soap gets injured

it's an honest mistake, a part of the roof they thought was stable collapsing and hitting soap

and ghost, always calm and in control, panics

he's on the other side of the site when he hears soap cry out and goes running; shoving past cameramen and builders, screaming to know what happened before he even sees him. he finds soap on the ground, blood dripping from his temple and it's too familiar; a thing he sees in his nightmares

he doesn't know what to do with all his fear so instead, he channels it into anger

he goes off on all his builders, demanding to know how they could be so useless and careless as to miss the unstable roof; screaming at them in a way he hasn't done since he was on active duty, tearing down a rookie for poor trigger management

all the while, his gentle hands tend to soap; checking the wound, if he's concussed, soothing him before he can slip into a flashback of his own. he growls at the cameras, doesn't let the onsite medics anywhere near him; he doesn't know them, doesn't trust them with his johnny. it's only soap's gentle convincing that makes him step back, that forces him to stop and breathe; glaring the medics down from soap's side as they check him and come to the same conclusion soap already reached

he'll be iust fine; a few stitches and he'll be right back in it

ghost goes with him to the hospital to get the stitches laid, abandoning the site to their terrified builders to look after. it takes a few days before he can handle them being separated again, can't even handle one of them going shopping while the other site manages

but soap doesn't begrudge him for his clinginess, not when he knows it's rooted in the fear of losing him. he just keeps him close and calls him his good luck charm when they win the room reveal that week

[yellowocaballero]

Omg hi Ms. Yellow Caballero big fan of your work <3 For real though, I'm really excited that your sharing the Weekenders, it was a joy to read and I'm bongocat-ing now that others also get the privilege to read it as well.

Referencing your tags, would you please elaborate of ableism in fandom and, like you said, how fandom treats characters with unpalatable disabilities?

Hi Ms. Bud Lite I'm a big fan of you <3

TL;DR A fear of writing characters of highly marginalized identities shields you from criticism and discomfort, but it's actively stigmatizing to people of these identities and as a writer you really need to get over yourself and write The Icky People.

I guess I'll come out swinging on this one and say that fandom doesn't like severe mental illness. (As a note, when I say severe mental illness (SMI) I mean illnesses such as psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, substance use disorders, personality disorders, etc)

Obviously, nobody likes people w/SMI. It's just insanely egregious in fandom to me, since fanfic writers absolutely love writing characters or HC characters with depression, anxiety, or a specific variety of PTSD That Isn't Scary. People actively reject any character HCs for a SMI. When people write a character with SMI, they nicely downplay it, ignore it, substitute it for a disorder they like better, or rewrite it. It's completely untolerated, in both headcanons and in fanfiction, and every time I bring it up I always get the most interesting reasons why somebody couldn't possibly acknowledge a character's SMI in their writing. I've heard all of these:

"I don't know enough about the disorder to write it accurately." Do research.

"I'm not X, so I can't really depict it." You probably aren't a cis white man, but you depict those guys just fine.

"It feels insulting to the character." There is no shame in having a SMI.

"I can't understand what it's like, so it's better to be cautious and avoid giving characters stigmatized identities." There are LOTS of experiences that you'll never understand because you've never had them - you just don't want to write anything you're uncomfortable with. People with SMI make you uncomfortable, and you don't want to write anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, or think of a comfort character in an uncomfortable way. SMIs are marginalized differently than solely depression/anxiety/The Nice PTSD, and by refusing to write them you're actively contributing to the stigma.

I think (?) I've spoken in the past about how I believe that the rigorous external and internal policing of writing people of marginalized identities is actively harmful towards efforts to increase diversity of experience and background in fiction. A lot of fanfiction writers are just terrified to write people who they can't directly relate with, because they're worried 'they'll get it wrong' and be Big Cancelled. I think this is negative enough when it prevents people from going outside of their comfort zone, but on a macro level I think this results in people refusing to write characters of marginalized identities as all. It's an insidious thought process, and it's reflected in people's unwillingness to diversity their writing or acknowledge canon diversity.

'Well, I don't understand what it's like to be Black, so I don't want to write Black people'. 'I want to project on this character, so I only want to write them with mental illnesses and identities I have'. 'If I write a marginalized character incorrectly people will yell at me, so I won't write a marginalized character who's marginalized differently than me at all'. Can you imagine writing a lesbian character with a boyfriend because 'you feel uncomfortable writing lesbian experiences'? It's blatantly homophobic. But people do that with disability and race/ethnicity ALL THE TIME.

People with SMI notice that you feel uncomfortable with them. It's obvious. They notice when a character has a SMI + anxiety, and you only write their anxiety. They notice when a character displays symptoms of a SMI in canon, but you write it out. And POC notice when the characters of color are written out. I know we all like to project on the blorbos and relate to them, and in the joys of your own head do whatever, but as a writer if you only stick to identities you're comfortable with you are actively being a worse writer. Which to me is the REAL sin lmfao.

[knifeforkspooncup]

It's so weird looking at my art from like, literally 2 months ago and realizing with seething annoyance that the answer to "how do I get better at drawing" truly is just to...draw. Often. Even if it's bad. Especially if it's bad.

[adimouze]

.

[ssreeder]

[the-lark-ascending69]

People moving from Twitter to Bluesky talking about how nice the vibe in Bluesky is because it's like a little community without an algorithm overlord behind you and it's just people sharing art and stuff - my brother in christ y'all literally just wanted tumblr

[wanderingmoonmen]

hi there, I love your fics 🥺 any kennderland content soon?

I hope so!

At my 'new' (as if it hasn't been half a year already) job I literally cannot have my phone on me while I work so any of the little downtime I've had I can't write on my phone........

........so I've been hand writing it when I get the chance (featuring censor lizard)

[ edit: video and end of post below cut ]

The problem now is I have to sit down and write this up digitally which I just... haven't done it yet.

Thank you to those of you who have recently left kudos and comments! I do see them and it makes me happy and pushes me to try and get more stuff written.

[saint-hymn]

HYMN!!!!!! SHARE MORE WIPS AND MY LIFE IS YOURSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! /j no but fr i love it so much when artists share the steps of their creations it's so interesting and cool. i really really enjoy seeing the process!!! :D (so yes if you want to post more wips i'd say go for it!!!!) (i'll be in the tags screaming. very loudly.) (like always.)

alright uh. uh. what did zeus actually do in the original god of war. uh. dies idk thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i see your comments in the tags all of the time (i'm the most jobless full time office worker of all times and i scroll through my notes) thank you so much for being so hyped and chatty! i really appreciate it

[hensunrik]

mutually destructive unhealthy possessive ships are so...ooough oh my god

oh to be consumed alive by that incessant need blazing agonizingly through their veins the sheer hunger to cut each other up and crawl inside the crevices of each other's body, hopelessly and seamlessly entwining every fibre of their souls until one can no longer tell their beginnings and ends apart

the need to flood and fill up every nook every cranny and fissure driving everything else out until there is no longer even the hint of space left for anyone but each other

to carve one's essence into another's bones, indelible until the winds erode the earth, to drink each other's lifeblood until that thrum of vitality echoes in the innermost hollows of the other's soul, to no longer desire to breathe air unless directly out of each other's lungs, to voraciously feast upon each other's visage, them and only them inasmuch as any other eyes that dare cast their gaze upon either of them shall be gouged out, tongues that pluck up the courage to sing sweet songs of praise will find it turn to ash as they choke and thrash and drown in their own blood, hands that audaciously reach out will find themselves mercilessly severed and ground into dust

(until the wounds they leave on each other scab and scar with a permanence etched on their molecular structure so that it is no longer possible for one to exist without the other)

i'm thinking of people so pathologically frenzied fixated and obsessed the only acceptable death is the one to come by each other's hand. the once sweetness fermenting into a drug so addictive yet so poisonous accompanying them in the next life cycle and then the next, each becoming in turn an ember and a ghost burning feverishly through mist and shadow in hopeless orbit, always watching, always ravenously looking and drinking in, helpless to resist the siren call of falling into each other's path.

to consume and destroy that which you love with your own hands as the ultimate act of devotion.

a vow once spoken like the most tender of caresses in the quiet spaces where gentleness feels indistinguishable from cruelty, now an eternal haunting and companion of torment and ruination trailing the frayed tatters of a bond stubbornly persevering through oblivion and fire and brimstone, to the ends of the world itself,

to collide, to devour, to subsume, to fester, a virulent regrowth

and the cycle starts anew

[bibiana112]

What if I become a hachijo tohya stan account am I allowed to have ryukishis self-insert as my blog theme I'm starting to think I want that one yeah the recluse writer who has won every prize and honor except a basic participation medal mean old witch of theathergoing uhum gimme

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Liam in my vampire fic: super careful to never outright lie to Sherlock, though he certainly does so by omission/implication/suggestion.

Albert in the companion piece I'm writing:

[orcelito]

Anytime I think about the state of the internet overall (be it the advertisement hellscape or the cesspool that is Twitter and tiktok) & get stressed, I remind myself that the internet isn't actually that big a deal and there are plenty of things in my life outside of it.

Why should I care what some tiktok teen would think of me? I go on bike rides in the woods, crochet blankets, and write in my free time. What weight does the judgement of the youth hold on me if I am simply vibing? None, I say.

[sakebytheriver]

....

[actual-sleeping-beauty]

What I have learned from the past several days of my dash is that only some of us spent our teen years watching Supernatural, Grey's Anatomy, and Glee, and therefore learned to just disregard shit we thought was stupid in regards to our favorite characters, and also shit that made the entire rest of the show not make sense. Never thought I'd say this, but thank you Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rimes, and the bozos running late stage Supernatural for inoculating me against the stupid shit Tim Minear is doing right now.

(Also there's part of me that feels like we all say we support people with mental illness, and we'll forgive TK for exhibiting symptoms of his bc depression and addiction are better understood than anxiety. And Carlos has, like, the world's biggest case of undiagnosed and untreated anxiety. But I'm not sure I want to get into that rn.)

Shoutout to @whatisamildopinion for talking this over with me last night before I fell asleep on facetime.

[salsa-di-pomodoro]

Does crying over fictional characters count as grieving? Even if they're not real, we've gotten attached to them, ofter enough to want to refer to them like we would a friend. If a character we love in such a way dies or goes through something horrible, and we cry over them and when we are asked if anything is wrong and we respond that no, you're just too emotional over a fictional character, is that a lie? Many have said that the fate of a favourite character is often decisive in overall mood, even outside of fandom spaces. Have we simply been grieving for someone who never existed this whole time?