#don't unfollow I'll show myself out

[kindahoping4forever]

LukeHemmings: Any bats in the cave?

[crystallizedtwilight]

I really like how you draw what you love in the moment. I am making a shift in my drawing interests as well, but I'm starting to feel guilty. My friends and followers know me as the (insert fandom) artist. Deep down I know what I am feeling is silly. Draw what you love! Who cares! I know that is the truth. So my question to you is, what do you do when those thoughts come to your head (if it does)?

What a thoughtful question! Below the cut:

Thank you! I've been on tumblr for 10 years and I have come to accept that I will always receive certain messages when I begin drawing a new interest:

"Guess you don't draw X anymore" / "Why did you stop drawing X?" / "Are you ever going to draw X again?" / "I want more X" / "When can we expect more X?" / "We're never going to see X again, are we?"

Though I've emphasized many times that this is my blog for all of my art and all my fandoms, every time I switch interests I am swamped with messages like this 3-4 months afterwards. It's an inevitability, because new folks may have missed that this is a "my current interest" blog, and old folks may not like the new content you're interested in.

At first it really bothered me, because I'd draw like 150 pieces of art for a fandom for 6 months straight, need a break, and the next day people will be like "guess you don't care anymore" like all the art I did wasn't enough.

The reality is: I like the idea of managing one blog for all of my artwork. I like how low-stress it is to have one, singular place I can still use a playground for my interests. I think it's a concept some people have forgotten is an option. Dare we call it a portfolio.

I am aware that the more "modern" way to conduct things, if you want to build an audience, is to have several blogs, each dedicated to one of your interests. But the very thought of managing 100 blogs every time I got a new interest makes my skin crawl and I know it would instantly suck the fun out of it for me.

I don't want to do that. I don't want to "build an audience", I just want to have a fun space for me. There are already so many social media sites out there besides tumblr, and if you're an artist that uploads to more than one, multiplying those by each of your fandoms? Sounds like more work than I want to do.

I can't remember the name of the artist, but I recall a few years ago one of the artists for the show Korra was bombarded with these sorts of messages when they started posting art that wasn't Avatar-related. And they said something to the effect of "I gave 2 years of my life to this show. Let me explore something new." And I'll never forget that. I feel the same way.

The theme of this blog is "my art". That's it. My interests change, sometimes circle back, and change again. And that's ok—that's how artists keep art fun for themselves. Every artist deserves a playground where they can share and connect with other people who are also just as excited about their newest thing. That's the joy of it.

Keeping yourself in a box just because that's what people want or expect you to do is the death of creativity. I am at peace with people unfollowing if our interests don't align anymore. This was never a blog for catering to anyone but myself, and that is ok.

So those messages don't bother me anymore. I know they're coming. I know they will always be there. And, every time, I will find new folks who do want to share in my new interest. I think in many ways I like starting over again. It feels refreshing.

But more than that, I know the importance of keep a space for myself online where I can be as creative and fun and silly as I like, chasing after the latest thing that is making me smile.

[thoseyoulove]

I don't like Marius de Romanus. I don't think he is a good person, not even by the standards of the books or show. I don't believe he's even an interesting character that could serve as a good antagonist. I don't see him as a necessary and irreplaceable part of the story except for a few punctual aspects. I don't think he has any trait or even one line that I enjoy. I straight-up hate him. I hope they kill him off on the show. I don't need anyone to agree with me, I'm just posting my opinion on my own blog without tagging anything so his fans won't see it. I'm following fandom etiquette. If you have a problem with that, feel free to blacklist my url or block me. I won't take it personally. Just don't unfollow me and keep me as your follower because that's hypocrisy lol. If you don't have problems with that and want to remain mutuals, great, that's fine by me. But I won't tolerate people sending messages that are tone deaf or straight-up rude. I won't answer and just immediately block you, whether you're anonymous or not. I'm not forcing my opinions down anyone's throat and won't let somebody do it to me either. I treat people the way I'd like to be treated. Some of you ride way too hard for a fictional character that at best is controversial and offend real people in the way. You should reevaluate your priorities. Yes, I'm reading the books. My opinion can change as it has changed with certain stuff before. He might end up being my favorite character. I doubt it will happen, but I'll see. Still, in this case, I'll come up with conclusions by myself in my own time and not out of pressure or some condescending and arrogant messages. GOODBYE.

[turuin]

Inktober

So, in a few days it will be Inktober again.

Many (ill-informed and arrogant) people think Inktober is a silly thing, a show-off, a stupid challenge that has nothing to do with art, and generally despise those who partake in it. We will not talk of such people: they are just another specimen of the archaic "internet troll", and we know well one should not feed trolls. They are only expressing themselves to grief others, or to spoil their fun, and this is pretty much their top aspiration for their internet persona - and I think this speaks volumes of what kind of people they might be in real life.

I'll tell you this instead: Inktober was the very reason why I started considering my stupid office-time doodles something more than that; and, potentially, the very thing that made me understand a couple of important things about art in general.

So, it boils to this: you have a list of verbal prompts, one per day, which you pick from many lists. Yes, there is an official Inktober challenge, set up by Jake Parker and normally available on Instagram and on its own website. Parker was part of an internet controversy, a couple of years ago, about having stolen the idea for an Inking Textbook from another very good artist, Alphonso Dunn; whether you choose to use Parker's prompts or entirely different ones, though, is entirely up to you. I have skipped them, back then, and then I started using them again a couple of years afterwards. They are handy, and you can use them without sponsoring Parker at all, if you feel like it (he has trademarked the Inktober brand for sketchbooks but you can't really trademark a challenge, so hashtags are still free to use).

List controversy aside, the fun thing is that it asks you to draw once per day, possibly with ink (but not solely, and rules are entirely up to you about the medium you want to use whether it is digital or traditional) for a total of 31 days, the whole month of October.

Back when I started, I didn't think myself capable of doing this until the end, and surely my skill was much lower than today. And yet, Inktober taught me many things:

stick to the plan, but if you skip a day, or multiple days, don't worry! Nobody is paying you for that, and there are many people who will keep drawing from the list well into November, but when you decide to draw for the day, put yourself into it - don't do it just because. Inktober is not about speed or skill, it's about challenging your brain and hand on interpretation and execution.

share your art. It is basic? Share it. It is made at the top of your abilities? Share it. People are insulting it? SHARE IT. You have to be able to disconnect emotionally from your art when it is done. You like it? Fine! You don't like it? Fine! I've made it. It is there. Do what you will with it. I have already accomplished my goal: the process.

It will be an occasion for you to learn. You never used ink? Try! You never used ink pens? Try! You never used an old brush with dried ink on it to create strange effects? TRY! Inktober might as well be about trying anything that crosses your mind. Also, you don't need expensive tools; a sheet of paper and a ballpoint pen can, and often will, be enough.

People mock you because you do Inktober or are stressed out because you post Inktober updates? That is a perfect time to remind them of the existence of the "unfollow" button. It does wonders with people who live in troll caves.

You feel like you need to vent? You feel like you're being left behind and stress because you think you will not complete it? First of all: VENT. Your blog / page / online space is yours and you should keep in mind that whatever you post has to do with YOU, not others. People may not like what you post, it's fine. They can unfollow, or start their personal rant in their online space about you - at the end, we are all passing by, if people want to live their life in anger or ranting about your art or your blog, it's their liver, not yours. No, that's not a typo: I'm actually referring to their liver, which probably will not be in very good conditions to start with.

People give you unsolicited advice or opinion on your art? Gracefully nod, and forget about it one fraction of a second later. When you will need advice, you will ask for it, and welcome it. My suggestion is you stick by that rule for pretty much everything in your life: you should be asking, that is of paramount importance, and learning how to ask something is at least as important, but nobody should force you into their opinion. TL;DR: fuck'em opinons.

Again: don't fall in love with your art. It's a piece of paper; you can burn it afterwards. You already possess that art within your hands. It is lost forever? It's ok. You have made it. It existed. You ceased caring about it as soon as it was on paper. Let it go. It is not yours anymore. Let people make what they will of it. You are already unto the next one.

So: I will partake in Inktober, and vent, and chat about it, and post art. I will also do this in our community, https://www.tumblr.com/communities/ars-gratia-artis , and for the time being, I will allow people who want to share their art, participate in the community and not be toxic about it, to join with a link. I would also very much love for community members to attempt Inktober, even with a little doodle whenever they are able. It's fun, I promise!

If you want to join our community, Inktober or not, here's the link:

[magicanddaggers]

Announcement

I am officialy putting Gale and Astarion on low activity/highly selective status. There's only a few things both the boys are responding to regularly. I'm also gonna be purging my inbox because nothing in there is really speaking to me and I think cleaning things up will help a great deal with the overwhelmed anxiety I'm feeling over here.

What this means: I'm feeling burnt out and need to limit myself so that I don't lose the desire to continue one of my favorite hobbies. I still have muse for the boys here, it's just limited and I can't keep trying to write what isn't flowing for me. I'll probably be checking in on this blog two or three times a week and responding to things as I can find the muse until Gale and Astarion's voices grow strong again.

What this doesn't mean: I'm ignoring people on purpose or with ill intent, or that my struggle to continue our threads or start up interactions has any bearing on your writing/muses/ooc personality. This is a me thing, not a you thing.

I've been RPing online since I was 13 years old in CompuServe chatrooms and Yahoo!Groups when that was still a thing, and I'm 40 now. I know well enough when I need to step back and limit myself before I overwhelm/overstimulate myself and leave people disappointed, which just causes anxiety in me with my people pleasing ways.

If this means you don't want to continue things with me, that's fine. If you need to unfollow me for your comfort on your dash, that is fine too. I'd prefer a hardblock over a softblock, but if you softblock me and I see you on my dash without the mutual symbol I will likely unfollow as well (this doesn't count for sideblogs obviously since those don't really show up as mutual)

If you have questions about our stuff, please don't feel afraid to reach out. Either on Discord or IMs.

If you want to start something new with me, Tryckie Boi is very active and taking up the majority of my brainspace for writing at the moment. You can also find me on Wade and Logan over at @babyknifexworstlogan, who have their own Isekai-style BG3 verses. Activity there is still not as high as Tryck, but I am there more often than I am here these days.

Again, this is about me and my comfort and has no bearing on anyone else. I'll probably not be over here much on the weekend, we'll see how things go.

tl;dr - Limiting interactions over here and going to low-activity and highly selective status. It's a me thing not a you thing, please feel free to unfollow/block me for your comfort if you feel it necessary, no hard feelings.

[mastergeeka]

I’m coming up to about a year of being a NRB fan which means we’re almost at a year since it all went to hell, shall we say. Brilliant timing on my part, thanks so much Universe. But because how much time has passed, I want to take a look back on everything. Time gives a new perspective as they say. Also, I'll be real, I've had these thoughts in my head for months at this point and I need to get them out.

By the time I was seeing information about the situation, I was already like a third of the way through binging everything the channel had ever made. My real life was going through a particularly rough patch and I was definitely using NRB videos as escapism. I ended up deciding that the videos were a source of joy that I needed at the time and since Adam had left and Carley wasn’t appearing on the channel, no matter who was lying vs. telling the truth, my watching of the videos that already were posted would not greatly benefit or punish any involved party so until more details came out, I just tried to ignore the situation. I basically tried to live in a world where both parties were innocent until proven guilty and it was just a really sad misunderstanding or that it never happened at all.

The word “tried” in all those statements is doing a lot of work. Most of the time it worked and I was able to escape reality for a bit, but sometimes my brain would say something like “Am I a bad feminist for not immediately believing the woman, do I just want her to be wrong subconsciously and that’s what’s making me waver? The rule of thumb is believe victims when they speak out”,

“But the ideal of believing the woman/victim doesn’t apply here, no victim has come forward, Carley is just saying that she heard about it and maybe Carley’s just been misinformed or she could be making up rumours. I want to believe that a person can redeem themself and if he took accountability the first time, surely that deserves some credit? That’s what we want people to do after all, take accountability and grow, so we should reward that behavior with trust”

“Sure, but be realistic here, what does your own life experience say is more common and therefore likely with this sort of thing. Don't be naive” and those voices would go at each other, back and forth until I gave up and went to do work or something. So the silver lining there is that at least this kept me from slacking too much. Isn’t that something? I give all this preface to show that this situation isn’t something I’m taking lightly.

Now that I’m in a better place in my real life, I decided I should actually look at everything that happened and see if I could draw any more conclusions to help satisfy the curious/nosy part of my brain. Unsurprisingly, I haven’t been able to crack the case wide open but one thing is clear, and getting clearer by the day: The rest of the cast are on Adam’s side. From the cast members unfollowing Carley, them liking Adam’s statement proclaiming his innocence and his plan for legal action, to recently Jon’s Kickstarter game having a quote from Adam on the front page. These are forms of public support that would be the safest to use if there was a legal battle happening in private.

What this means to me is: Just from a logical standpoint, whatever I believe about Adam, I have to extend it to the whole cast. I can’t condemn Adam but not condemn the rest of the cast. The rest of the cast either know the what happened or didn’t look into the situation enough before standing by Adam. That means if I believe Adam is guilty, I must therefore believe the rest of the cast is complicit and at the end of the day, I just don’t want to do that unless the evidence makes it impossible not to do so.

I really like watching the channel and I don’t want to force myself to stop watching or feel complicit in supporting bad people unless I have to. So until evidence comes out showing otherwise, I believe Adam is innocent. I have to. And if I am wrong, and I must stop watching/supporting NRB as a whole for ethical reasons, at least I gave myself a little more time to enjoy it before I have to say goodbye. Is that selfish? Yeah probably, at least a little if I’m honest, but it’s an understandable level of selfishness that I could forgive someone else for, so I can forgive myself for it, if it turns out for the worst.

And I want to also say that I still think it’s possible Carley isn’t a liar as well. This is not a “Carley is lying” post. If I’m applying innocent before proven guilty to Adam, it’s only fair that I apply it to Carley as well. I’ve tried my absolute best to keep my reasoning consistent across the board with this. I believe she believes what she said but I think it’s possible she could be wrong. And wouldn’t that be nice, if it turned out both parties were innocent and there was just a big confusion? I’ll admit it’s not the likeliest scenario, but I’m still hoping for it. Basically, the more people involved in this that are revealed to not be huge jerks, the happier I’ll be. That’s what dictating my best to worst case scenarios.

The whole reason I wanted to make this post is to remind everyone, including myself, that we as the public still don’t know much of anything. We have 4 comments on a YouTube video on one side and vague PR statements on the other. That’s pretty much it, officially. The rest is just based on how the people involved are interacting with each other and the like. That leaves a lot still up in the air and that’s really frustrating. Uncertainty is one of the worst feelings and I think it’s easier to just say Adam’s guilty and move on than to keep being uncertain about this for so long. Because if he is guilty after all that, we have to process that, on top of having dealt with the terrible uncertainty for this long so we want to “bite the bullet” now, so to speak. It’s less emotionally risky to just assume the worst now, deal with it, then push it into the past and I think there’s a significant portion of fans that did that or that are trying to anyway. The drawback there I want to point out though, is that it ignores the possibility that there is a happier ending to this. Additionally, condemning Adam but trying to stick by the rest of the cast may feel like the simplest & easiest solution at first, but it’s not a realistic one or one that works with the very few pieces of information we do have: the actions of the other cast members.

My goal with this post is not to convince people to either side. That would require me to pick a side and as I think I’ve shown, I can’t. My goal in making this post is to encourage people to keep their minds open to the possibilities out there and remind them not to jump to conclusions too soon. Because one year feels like a decent estimate to me for how long legal stuff like this lasts and I think it’s possible that people could speak freely soon. At least, that's what I'm hoping for and I want other people to have hope, too.

[hot-take-tournament]

Omg the reblog person is so real for that. I understand that Tumblr doesn't have an algorithm so liking doesn't functionally do anything but I get extremely anxious about reblogging so the guilt trips are really awful for me (and I assume it's the same for others with similar issues.)

Uh- bit of a tangent/rant below. For context I'm an "Audhd-er" (I think that's the term people use, it means I'm autistic and I have ADHD)

I understand most of the time they are over-exaggerating their feelings on the matter. In posts about reblogging stuff from writers and artists it's always kind of a "LIKES DO NOTHING SHOW YOUR LOVE WITH REBLOGS LIKES MEAN NOTHING"

I've always found that a bit odd. As someone with two mutuals (one of whom is rarely online) and 1 normal follower my reblogs really aren't gonna do much so I mostly reblog stuff my mutuals might like and occasionally make my own posts. (Keeping everything else private for the most part) When I get a like it always brings a warm fuzzy feeling because it means someone enjoyed my reblog or post enough to share with me that they liked it.

I've only had one post that breached containment and it was a fun weekend of checking out the blogs of people who liked it! All in all I think maybe people are just unaware of the anxieties that come with being online and the people who experience those anxieties are too anxious to really speak up about it. I mean look at me I'm chilling behind an anon mask rn (I rarely send an off anon ask lol.)

For a website dubbed by its users as the neurodivergent website, some people forget to consider that learning and working within the culture of a social media platform can be extremely stressful for many types of people, let alone an autistic person such as myself (the ADHD doesn't help either). Some of us would prefer to lurk in our private blogs, only coming out of our comfort zone when we feel ok to do so.

All in all, a reminder to reblog is perfectly fine, but please refrain from the guilt-tripping and social obligation type of thing— or at least be aware of it and try not to be offended if one of your mutuals struggles to reblog.

Now this is all my personal perspective, other people will likely have completely different experiences but I wanted to share in case people were confused on why it's an issue for some people. Thanks for reading this whole thing and I hope you have a lovely day <3

I think I get what you're saying -

For a lot of people it genuinely takes a surprising amount of guts to put themselves out there on the internet in any way, even if it's anonymously, and that includes things as simple as reblogging a post.

It's not just Tumblr either. You also see it on Reddit and Twitter, and in online games where people just want to keep to themselves and not interact with strangers. Some people just want to lurk, maybe liking or upvoting, but not commenting or reblogging, because that feels like making yourself more "visible" somehow, in a way simply liking posts doesn't.

It's difficult to put into words, but I feel it's kind of like being in a university lecture with 50+ strangers. Liking is sitting in the back quietly taking notes. Reblogging is like putting your hand up and giving an opinion when the professor asks for one.

It's true that only reblogging actually contributes anything functionally, but there are plenty of people, especially neurodivergent people, who might struggle with that kind of thing, but still want to show some appreciation, or just save it as a bookmark.

So, I think that's partly why that kind of guilt-tripping or threatening reblog bait can be so stressful. Tumblr is a comfort app for a lot of people, who just want to curate their own little private space. Reblog baits are like someone banging on your door, telling you that you're actively doing something wrong by keeping to yourself, and (in the case of "I'll block/unfollow you if you like/read but don't reblog" baits) people will hate you for doing it.

It also implicitly takes away the sense of control you have over your own personal online space. Ideally, you should be able to do whatever you want with your own blog - no one should dictate your own online experience. So, if you just want to reblog things you like or want to share, at whatever pace you feel comfortable with, there shouldn't be anything wrong with that.

But reblog baits seem to suggest that you shouldn't have that control, and there are certain things that you have no choice but to put on your blog, and it has to be right now. And I feel that sense of having control suddenly snatched away from you without warning could also be a major source of anxiety for a lot of people who see Tumblr as a source of comfort.

With all that in mind, while I do believe that it's not quite this simple, considering artists and writers, and especially those who rely on commissions, do need exposure from reblogs, I also feel it's difficult to blame people for finding very aggressive reblog baits stressful, especially when you're suddenly blindsided with them.

At least, those are just my initial thoughts based on what you said, but absolutely let me know if you disagree with any of this or feel I misrepresented what you meant <3

[olderthannetfic]

This might be a somewhat controversial opinion/rant, but as a black queer woman (i really id myself as being more genderqueer, but since i'm afab there are just things about womanhood growing up that has just stuck with me as formative experiences.), I find it really difficult to build community with queer men, even in fandom. I've tried to have friendships with transmen, but so many just feel the need to ramp up misogyny to 1000 to validate themselves as men, and then with gay men, some will say the most out-of-pocket, misogynistic things but because they're not attracted to women, it's somehow okay, I guess. But lately, there's been this trend among queer men of saying and doing misogynistic things but justifying it by stating they're talking about white, cishet women. But the thing is, there's nothing in what they said that can be specifically applied to only white women. It's a target to all women (I refuse to play the oppression olympics of who has it worse). And now I see other queer women in fandom saying the same things to each other. I typically stay in anime/manga and danmei fanbases because that's where a lot of my interests are now, and I don't have to deal with USAian nonsense as much. But now that 7 Seas has unfortunately decided to translate more danmei into English that's changed. A queer male fan of a popular series has been unfollowed en masse by danmei fans for saying wildly misogynistic things about the author. Everyone all week has been scrambling to figure out where this came from. "He only ever said these things about cishet white women," but you guys... he was always talking about us the whole time. Now, I just don't know. Now I see why men aren't generally welcomed in or are common within romance-genre circles. It's just really frustrating to see the same thing over and over again. I'll add on that the only genuinely cool queer men in fandom I've met have come from yuri circles. The ones who try to talk about BL are, from my experiences, generally misogynistic, toxic, and feel as though everything should center around them because they're men and in BL the characters are men, as well. But when other women don't want to form community with them, they scream about 'homophobia' and 'fetishizing gay men.' No, you're just an annoying, awful person to be around, and the queer male yuri fans didn't want to deal with you either. Has anyone else, or you specifically, dealt with this? Is there a way to become friends with more queer men in BL spaces who aren't... like That? Or are there specific things/patterns to look for as far as who to avoid?

--

God, so much of this sounds so familiar.

I've known a sad number of trans dudes who overcompensate in dickhead ways. A lot of them do calm down a few years into presenting publicly as male, but it's infuriating to see that crap even if it's temporary.

I will say that two of my close circle of offline friends are trans men, including one who came out during the time we've all been friends. The defensive tomfoolery is in no way inevitable. Both of these dudes are nonwhite and have experience in various other geeky and queer spaces beyond BL (gaming, drag queens, etc.). Maybe that broader perspective helped, or maybe they're just nicer and more mature people than a lot of the little jerkfaces I run across online.

TBH, I often have better luck in offline meetups because to show up at all, people have to be a little more comfortable with getting along with others and behaving themselves. It's also sometimes easier to detect the people you want to back away from slowly when you can see how they treat people in person.

One of my neighbors is a cis gay guy. White, able bodied, middle class, yadda yadda. Exactly the demographic you'd expect to be the worst in certain spaces. He and his partner have lots of queer friends, and plenty of them aren't fellow cis gay guys, which is basically my litmus test for non-annoying cis gay guys offline. (Toxic cis gay dude culture is its own kettle of fish with a different set of issues than defensive trans boy culture, but I've encountered it plenty too.)

This neighbor is interested in geikomi and was delighted to find out I'm a fellow nerd and eager for all my nonfiction book recs about queer Japanese stuff. We don't necessarily overlap in our manga tastes, but there's still a lot we do share. When I ramble on about how AFAB queer people and/or bisexuals study history that's presented as cis gay men's history because that's all we have for most historical periods, he's like "Yeah, that makes total sense!" and not "Mine and not yours!"

I think the key here is that this is a dude who is secure in his identity, who's getting both his media and queer community needs met, and who's in his 40s, so he has some god damn perspective and doesn't need to pretend BL is aimed at him.

A lot of the little jerkfaces make me think "Did your preschool teacher not teach you how to share your toys?"

--

To be honest, there seem to be plenty of dudes hanging around my tumblr. A few cis. Many trans. But they're not going to bring it up incessantly in some defensive "you know I'm not a cootie-having girl, right?" way because who does that?

It comes up when there's a discussion about trans shit or BL as #ownvoices or whatever. (And, in general, any dude worth hanging out with will not think BL as an industry is, or should be, anything of the sort—even if he's expressing his own sense of queerness by writing some.)

On the flipside, I have seen some pretty extreme "no boys allowed" clubhouse nonsense in fandom. It's less common than it was, and past shitty dudes have often been the inspiration, but it can still be a bit much. The nicer class of fandom dude is often pretty hesitant in certain spaces because he's expecting to be met with hostility and is trying to figure out how to participate without tromping all over everyone. (TBH, the guys worrying about this are rarely the problem, but you know how it is.)

I've had dudes send me private messages being like "this thing you said seems kind of stereotypical and anti-man", but in the adult capable of conversation way, not in the tantruming 5-year-old way. And we had a conversation, and they stuck around.

I think having a very clear "It's not #ownvoices, fuck off" stance deters a lot of the more pestilential set. Being equally clear that everyone is welcome and that male yuri fans and female BL fans are pretty equivalent makes the guys worth knowing come out of the woodwork.

In 99% of spaces, I do not give a fuck if some man has his precious feelings hurt by a double standard or default suspicion of men... But fandom is a little unusual because of the demographics and relative power here being so different from in most spaces.

I've definitely seen some people who think women liking BL are fine because we care about characters' personalities, while male fans are all predators or all write f/f that is just fetishy porn or m/m that sounds like Nifty.org and not other fanfic or whatever.

And, yeah, I'll shut down the dumbasses crying in my inbox because I made a joke about Nifty and "coke can dicks" (the kind of guys who have clearly never read m/m that's aimed at dudes outside of fandom spaces), but at the same time, we should extend a little benefit of the doubt to our fellow fandom members of whatever gender. There are usually plenty of men facepalming right along with me at these inexperienced young fools who cannot bear to share.

I think you're just running into the problem that the loud people whose identities you know are often using those identities to browbeat other fans on social media.

--

There are fewer men in BL spaces than women or nonbinary people, so one will typically end up knowing fewer men.

Honestly, I think you find the reasonable people and get rid of the unreasonable ones in the same way regardless of gender: Gatekeeping bullshit is a red flag. Very Online understandings of oppression are a red flag. Enthusiastic and clueless blanket endorsement of own voices as a concept is a red flag. Lots of talking about "fetishization" or even "appropriation" in a very online way is a massive red flag. Monetizing fanfic or seeing other pro authors as competition instead of peers is another. (Professional jealousy and fear about earning potential are behind a lot of bad behavior.)

A lot of it is down to whether you're willing to make yourself a target by publicly telling annoying people to fuck off.

If others can tell what you stand for, they can figure out if they want to hang out with you. Most people keep their heads down a lot of the time, so it can be hard to even hear of them, let alone know if they're your sort of person.

--

tl;dr – Be nice to nice men. Tell shitty men to take a hike. Making friends with men is really as simple as that.

There are larger issues here with what kinds of queer spaces exist and whom they prioritize and with toxic understandings of what representation even means and what should be demanded of whose art. But as you say, a lot of women are also promoting toxic-ass understandings of these things.

The bottom line is that we must resist social media clout-driven understandings of justice. The loudest assholes in the room are rarely worth listening to.

[theschizotypalsolilquy]

Well

Apparently I need to reintroduce myself and hopefully clean house.

Hello

I'm Piper. I'm in my mid 40s and have been on mental disability for the last ten years. My blog name should help you with that. I've got a plethora of other mental illnesses too.

I don't know what you Dementors think this blog is, but lemme just lay some truths down for you.

I'm not nice.

I'm not here to feed into your delusions.

I'm not here to validate or invalidate your opinions on the nature of the relationship between Jungkook and Jimin.

As I'm also, it seems, one of those idiots who gives antis a platform, lemme lay another truth down on yall.

I'll tag however I see fit.

Maybe I tag those fucktards because I need other people to see some of the vile shit that's being said.

Ya know. Spread awareness.

To be on the lookout for homophobic yns or solo stans who like to spread vicious lies not only about Jimin and Jungkook, but other members as well.

Like how there was a bitch on Twitter saying that Yoongi killed four people in a DUI accident last night. Luckily it got taken down, but people were still falling for that shit.

This fandom is fucking toxic, and a lot of people ignore that. Why, I have no earthly idea. Supposed ot7 accounts who don't call out any group who slanders Jimin and Jungkook, but get all up in arms protecting other members.

And before you call bullshit, realize you're in denial about this fandom.

Yall wanna just blame shippers. But every corner of this fandom reeks of toxicity, from solo stans to ot7.

It's not like there's not receipts to back that statement up either.

Some of yall act like the moral police. And it's quite hypocritical.

Sure. It would be nice to just be all rainbows and puppies 24/7 and oh we all get along and love all the relationships between members group hug!!!

But it's not. And I'll show that ugly side and call it out.

It's about time eyes were opened to just how some of this fandom is treated by the fandom as a whole.

Like a blog I love and follow, an anon was sent in to tell them to stop posting ugly pictures of the other members because they were just there for Jimin and Jungkook.

Da fuq??

Be better.

So, in conclusion:

My blog. My rules. You don't like the things I post, or the beliefs I hold? Well, there's this handy thing called an unfollow or block option.

Imagine that

IMAGINE THAT

My feelings will not be hurt if someone unfollows me. I implore you to do so.

And if you keep following me, don't bitch about the things I post.

Peace. Love. Dope.

[diezmil10000]

hi 👋 you can call me diez or chisi

i am from spain and i like to draw lesbians. this is my main blog, if you're only here for my art and not for my reblogs you can follow my art-only blog!!

(FAQ under the cut)

what software and brushes do you use?

i work on ibisPaint X and Krita on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. i use a lot of different brushes for lineart but mostly these ones:

are your commissions open?

i will never do commissions, but thank you for your interest.

will you someday sell your art through an online shop / convention?

no, but feel free to print my stuff in good quality paper if you want to hang it on your wall.

how can i financially support you?

i have no need for that right now. please give your money to other artists or organizations.

can i repost your art / use it for edits?

i don't encourage it, but i don't mind. asking for permission and linking back to any of my social media would be appreciated too ♡ just don't use it for commercial purposes (sell merch, use as streaming layouts, etc)

how do you do X part of your drawing?

i recommend checking my speedpaints if you're curious, the name of the videos is the day i finished that drawing in YYMMDD format (as in, year-month-day). i also made a tag for my art thoughts, but if you still have a question feel free to send me an ask and i'll try my best to explain it!!

where did you learn anatomy?

i used to watch a lot of proko and sycra videos (on youtube), and also do gesture/figure drawings from photo references and k-pop dance practice videos.

when / why did you start drawing?

i started taking it seriously when i was 15. seeing lesbian fanart was what caused my gay awakening and i felt like there wasn't enough of it, so i decided to get better.

do you do traditional art?

i kind of dislike it, actually. i have filled over 1000 A4 sheets and 7 sketchbooks over the years, but it's all quick doodles to practise or warm up. when i bought a tablet i could carry around i stopped drawing traditionally as often, but i still find myself drawing in my sketchbook from time to time when i want to sketch midlessly or get better at something.

do you draw nsfw art?

very rarely, but i only show it to my friends. i do consume a lot of nsfw content tho, just not in public 👍

how do you keep yourself motivated?

a combination of drawing only what i like and a strong desire of seeing more lesbian art. that's why i mostly make fanart and almost never participate in art trades or make art gifts. i also don't want to make a career out of drawing.

have you gone to art school?

i have a college degree in graphic design, but it has almost no correlation with the kind of art i share online. before that i never studied art academically.

are you seriously a furry?

yes.

are you seriously a communist?

you call me a communist, socialist, leftist– i just want people to be happy and i heavily oppose capitalism on its fundamentals.

are you an anti or a pro shipper?

i am neither, i don't care about this.

are you aware that you follow someone who did something problematic?

i mostly follow other artists, so if i've been following someone problematic for a long time it probably isn't that deep for me to unfollow them.

do you have any ocs?

plenty! but i don't like to talk about them in public

can i be your friend / talk regularly with you?

i don't like to talk to strangers, but if i'm following you feel free to interact with me at any time~

what's the name of your cat?

yonyon ! she's a female cat but i treat her by any and all gendered terms

why have you disabled your DMs, story replies and sometimes comments?

because i dislike interacting with fandoms, especially big ones. i draw for myself and for the lesbians with niche interests, so i don't want to read weird comments, block overly friendly DMs or watch strangers have a public debate about my moral standards. i'm very thankful towards all of you who love my art tho, even if i can't read all of your positive thoughts!! also, there are plenty of ways to contact me, they're just not in plain sight 💋

[lunatic-pudge]

Hello! I just wanna throw my two cents in about the Postal/TCC stuff going on. I'm also gonna use this post to be honest and transparent about my experience with TCC as well.

Back when I was about 16, I was into true crime. I basically grew up learning about it cause my family would watch true crime shows and me, and my siblings had unrestricted internet access also.

Now, back when I started getting into it, this site was brimming with TCCers, people constantly worshipping serial killers and school shooters. And I'll admit it, I fell down the rabbit hole as well. It was a very short lived, but strong attachment I grew to Columbine, especially Eric Harris. I believe it came from a place of loneliness. Being an outcast and not really having friends, it made me feel like I had a connection to him. But I never wanted to hurt people.

Thankfully, I grew out of it pretty quick when I found myself in a weird situationship with a guy who I should've never talked to, but thanks to him, I snapped out of it. I feel so horrible for being so into TCC. It's my biggest regret, and I cringe when remembering it.

Seeing the state of the Postal fandom now with TCCers trying to worm their way in brings back the cringe memories. RWS has always said that violence should stay in video games. They'd be disappointed if they saw this mess. I know RWS aren't the best of people, but they understand that this shit isn't okay. We need to do better as a fandom and not allow these people in. Dude isn't a school shooter. Practically, the whole point of Postal 1 is Dude not getting the mental help he needs and kills the whole town. There's nothing glamorous about it. There's nothing to idolize about the murder of innocent people. It's a scenario that has happened too many times before in real life.

I don't want TCC mixed in with Postal. I will not stand for it. I understand wanting to learn about true crime and having an interest in it. But too many of them are so deeply obsessed with these real-life murderers and it's not okay. I feel like I understand why they are like this, and it's not too late to change and talk to someone about it. You gotta learn to break yourself from it and get away from the web.

Now, I take full responsibility for what 16 year old me was doing. I knew better, and yet I still continued with it. I'm nowhere near like that now at 22. Hell, if people want to unfollow or block me for it, then they're welcome to. I want to be fully honest with everyone since this has been getting so much attention. I've looked through my blog and have deleted any TCC posts that I had reblogged. If you see any posts that I might've missed, PLEASE let me know so I can get rid of it immediately.

My blog is to be a safe place for people to go to, and I don't want to be a haven for people like TCCers. They're not welcomed here. I want to right my wrongs and be a better person.

If you read this, thank you for reading. I felt guilty having this weight on me. Again, if you choose to unfollow and/or block me, you're more than welcome to. I'm taking full responsibility for 16 year old me's actions. This is unacceptable.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

You ship Stucky/Evanstan but follow a Stony blog? :/

Yup!

What of it?

I ship stucky and evanstan, yeah, but I'm not opposed to people shipping other things even if it's not a pairing that I would actively seek out or write fics for myself. It doesn't do anything to me to have other ships out there. They're not rivals. It doesn't hurt my feelings or change how I view the ships I tend to prefer. Also, hey, I like people. I follow blogs that don't contain things relavent to my blog because of the people who run those blogs.

(Plus, there exist writers/artists/bloggers that I love their interpretation of the characters or their style so much that I want to see anything they create, related to my preferred ships or otherwise.)

And! Don't forget, I ship ships because I love those characters/people. I am interested in them--their traits and characterization. So, sometimes, with such pairings that aren't my preferred ships, I like one of the people in the pairing enough that I'll appreciate the other ship, too. There's so many incredible fics and art and general other types of fan creation, showing all these different sides of these characters I love. Why wouldn't I want to see more? I'm so hungry for the characters I love. I wanna see them; I wanna talk about them. It's why I'm in fandom! Worst case, if I cast my net too wide and see something that does bother me... I hit the back button, I unfollow, or I close the app. No harm done. I understand it's not for me then. Cool.

[st4rbwrry]

              𝖗𝖚𝖑𝖊𝖘.

BEFORE YEW FOLLOW . . .

☆. please be aware that i am a grown woman, therefore i write grown content. byf, be aware that the majority of my fics are mature. sometimes i may write dark content but nothing in the sense of incest (including step-cest) sexual assault, ageplay, race play, ddlg, piss, feet, and others. i don’t take requests so please don’t fill my inbox with them. i also rarely write part two’s to my fics so please don’t ask. i’ll just delete your message. i won’t tolerate racism (bc i’m black obvi), sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or anything that degrades a person period.

☆. minors aren't allowed to interact with my works! clearly, i can't stop all of you, but it'd be nice to respect my wishes.

☆. i am a slow writer, meaning i update once in whenever. please don't harass me about updating or you will be ignored.

☆. my blog isn't spoiler free but i'll try my best to tag for your sake.

☆. before you inbox me please enter my space with maturity. i hate discourse, so don't involve me in it. if you want to talk about something, please ask me before dropping an essay on me. nine times out of ten i lose interest and won't respond. i am a human just like you. i have a life just like you! be aware of my emotions.

☆.  i write about what i want and who i want. all of my fics are written only for black feminine women. the majority of the time they’re thick/chubby. if you aren't a black woman, you're still allowed to read my works. just be respectful and mindful of who its written for.

☆. the only people who are allowed to message me privately are my moots! anons can talk to me in my inbox.

☆. if i unfollow you it's for my own mental. i don't really have to explain myself, unless you feel a certain way about it we can talk privately like adults.

☆. please DO NOT repost, steal, translate, or modify my work simply because it is mine. stealing isn’t cute. i’ll ruin your life <3 i cross post on wattpad and ao3 with the same username. anything other than st4rbwrry was stolen so please report it if you see it. followings + likes from me will show up as @st4rphobic

[shannonsketches]

i know you said you want people to feel welcome here but you also said you blocked people because of dnis when you looked at their blog so do you just block anyone you don't like? i don't want to get blocked

Oh god nonnie I block for so many reasons, and the older I get the faster I use that button. Sometimes I have legitimate moral reasons, but sometimes it's just me setting a hard boundary for myself if I have a bad reaction to something.

Some Circumstances For Folks I Don't Know:

If we're not mutuals and your post gets suggested to me by tumblr, and it's something I'm really not into, I'll block instead of throwing a tantrum on your post.

If you're a stranger with an opinion on something that I have an intense (or immature) reaction to, I'll block instead of throwing a tantrum on your post.

If you're a follower and you're acting inappropriate, or posting hate, or being disrespectful toward me or people I interact with (then invite me to your blog to see it?), I'll block you. If you're normally nice, I might say something, but if the behavior appears to be a pattern or it crosses a line, you're blocked.

So, generally speaking, NO. I don't personally vet everyone who follows me, and it's not offensive to have a dni or opinions that don't line up with mine. However, if you call attention to ones (dni or hc) that strike me as harmful or needlessly, repeatedly mean to other people in the fandom, I might block you.

Some Circumstances For Folks I Do Know:

If I feel your access to me is or has become unhealthy or uncomfortable, and I've communicated that to you, and had a string of repeated offenses after that communication, I'll block you.

If you were a mutual and unfollow me first with a note or general PSA before you unfollow me, depending on what that note/psa says I may block you just so you don't accidentally follow me again, or so that I don't accidentally show up on your dash again. I'm a HUGE fan of curating your online experience, and this is the best way I've found to remain unintrusive on tumblr.

If you're a mutual or we interacted often and you unfollowed me, I may block you. I might look into why, if I thought it was a glitch, but I won't chase you down, especially if you have a reason posted. I'm just going to close the door behind you, because it's never led me anywhere healthy to leave it open. The block is for me.

So again, NO. Generally I don't block needlessly or ghost folks on purpose. I DO have ADHD and don't always process messages in a timely manner, but I won't block you unless I feel like I need to set a boundary out of either respect or personal comfort or both.

tl;dr: I mostly block as damage control, usually for myself.

Sometimes it's an immature choice, sometimes it's an experience-based choice, sometimes it's a straight up trauma response. But mostly it's just to avoid cycles that lead to my being upset, and hopefully to avoid cycles that lead to other people being upset by me.

[divinitybeings]

Also is it ok to still follow if I watched hazbin hotel but don't support vivziepop? Is that okay or is that still a no go, if it's not I understand and i'll unfollow. Hope your doing well

In short, yes.

In looooong, you can watch her shows, I don't care about that, I myself have the guilty pleasure of watching helluva.

But if you support her, if you break your head finding excuses to defend her shit, get the fuck out. The shit she's been exposed of lately is disgusting and I'm disturbed of what Angel's story was turned into in the final show.

Readmore goes on a rant of the leaked poison scene. (S A mention warning?)

Knowing the context of Angel's plot, how he's abused and all, they still were able to make him this caricature of himself. I swear that from the pilot to the show they made him 500 times more distasteful.

Animating him dancing as behind him rolls videos of his assaults? Man. It's so incredibly distasteful. It could be written better but really it just looks like a show by pr0 ships for pr0 ships in this aspect, refering to the way this very delicate subject is being poorly handled.

Plus the shit on her playlists of her old acc that got exposed as well.

You can't defend this. It's straight up gross.

Be for fucking serious.

Get the fuck out if your first thought upon seeing something like that is to defend it.

If they wanted to make the viewer feel uncomfortable with something serious, don't make it part of a fucking music video? Like come on.

I was also gonna drop helluva cuz of its shit writing, all the way from the episode were it seems like they grabbed a fanfic and decided to make it canon, the chaz one. Till ofc, The Fizz arc is the only thing that made me still watch, plus my attachment to Blitzo's character for reasons I do not want to discuss (I feel so bad everytime I see someone hate him, BUT I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY, he's so annoying at times).

Anyway, that's it, I never say anything but I really wanted this to get outta my chest. Bye

[gladesglo]

[ 🌧️ ] HEY SAVBEAR HERE ! THIS IS AN INDIE RP BLOG FOR GLOBOX FROM THE RAYMAN FRANCHISE est. 27th Sept. 2023

PLEASE DON'T FOLLOW IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 .

SOME GRAPHICS ARE BY @ RAYHEROISM BEL MADE THEM SO THE TWO OF US COULD MATCH .

A HEAVY LEAN TOWARDS GAMES THE GREAT ESCAPE & HOODLUM'S HAVOC. ft. other verses such as MARIO + RABBIDS SPARKS OF HOPE and CAPTAIN LASERHAWK A BLOOD DRAGON REMIX , ORIGINS & LEGENDS .

# 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐆𝐋𝐎

affiliated with: @rayheroism / @pvachypessa & @l1mbless

( carrd . promo . playlist

OTHER BLOGS INCLUDE: @moralpuppet, @funbonded, @bearlyloved , @yellowpuppet , @ursadolls

//dash bio & rules under the cut.

MINI BIO / go to my carrd for more. verses etc 

GLOBOX is Rayman's scaredy toad best friend. He has abilities to create rainclouds to protect himself and his friends and family though mostly prefers to run and hide in the face of danger. Whether Globox is welcome to it or not somehow he always gets mixed up with the THREATS THAT PLAGUE WHERE HE RESIDES IN THE GLADE OF DREAMS. Be it through getting captured, or attacked by enemies. Globox in his mainverse lives in a large tree-based home with his 650 kids and wife Uglette.

DASH RULES

/ please read my carrd for more information/muse bio

One. FIRST AND FOREMOST.��General RP etiquette applies that's always a given. 

I don't always get things right but I will always try to be the best I can be. Be sure to inform me if I can improve on anything etc. I'm friendly and I'm here to have fun as are you.

My portrayal of Globox will lean heavily towards Rayman 2 & 3 though I shall be changing pieces from both accordingly since sometimes the former contradicts the latter due to the early 2000s - edge humor in 3 . I will have a verse for Legends & Origins because I loved those games too but for the most part this is heavily, HEAVILY BASED ON THE ORIGINAL RAYMAN TRILOGY SPECIFICALLY 2 & 3 in terms of characterisation and background story for my Globox !

That being said I don't support Ubisoft as a company . I'm simply here to focus on the silly big frog I grew up with .

Two. DNI / I don't engage with people who are problematic or present problematic behaviour such as proshipping/pedophilia/incest or you are a terf/ableist/racist/antisemitist or you show any kind of hate to anyone like that . If you see me interacting with someone problematic likely I haven't been informed yet and shall deal with it accordingly as soon as I am informed. I don't support anyone who does any of that nasty behavior and I never will and if you know you engage in such behaviors then please refrain from interacting with me. You're not welcome. Likewise don't bring drama onto my blog. If you see someone problematic here just message me privately. I won't be reblogging callouts.

Three.  FOLLOWING. I'm selective. If I haven't followed back please don't take it personally. If we are mutuals and you decide to unfollow then soft block please otherwise I will see you on my Dash and still think we are mutuals and I don't really want to have to browse a list of followers to check every time I go to interact.

Four. I don't mind variants or to word it better people who play the same character as me JUST DON'T STEAL MY HEADCANNONS.

Five.  TRIGGERS Warnings for you: This blog may feature some angsty themes at times. I also require you to be 18+ for this reason. Please do not follow if you're a minor even though I know Globox is a children's character it still doesn't sit right with me as I am over 21 myself. So no under 18s please.

Six. SHIPPING eeeh, IF IT FEELS RIGHT / Globox's wife only really showed up in Rayman 2 in every other game is almost like she's out of the picture . I'll be incredibly selective as my main verse is Rayman 2 but hey if there's chemistry it doesn't hurt to ask .Still no smut. Ever. It's really not for me.

˗ . CREDITS : some graphics are by Bel ( @_rayheroism ) , some are my own, art featured in icons belongs to earthgwee , clairiphi & pinweena_pin unless specified to be my own ! & the Globox icons used in some icons are from crestamorphs videos.

NOTE ON AFFILIATIONS: the concept to me means that if you’re affiliated with my muse and mine is affiliated with yours that means I consider your portrayal my main and will most likely consider our cannons intertwined. I do not do exclusives as I understand everyone’s portrayals are unique and I am happy to see my friends interact with people who play the same muse/s as me and vice versa!

Likewise if you want to be affiliated and these terms don't suit you , please don't hesitate to speak to me I'm open to discussion always ! Same with shipping and other connections !