#for the record i don't think of your art & writing as 'content' but it is currently being commoditized as such

[girderednerve]

in honor of tumblr's impending data sale to midjourney (go turn off third-party sharing if you haven't), consider glancing through this article that explains a little bit about what tumblr probably means by "discouraging AI crawlers." the article goes into it more, but here's a summary:

crawlers are little programs which bounce around between linked pages, copying what they find to a server for temporary storage. they're how google and other search engines find content to show you in search results and how companies building large language models "scrape" the internet.

if website owners don't want some crawler or other to look at their content, basically what they do is put a simply formatted text file, robots.txt, in their website directory, which lists the web crawlers that they don't want on their site or which pages they want crawlers to avoid. not all websites have one, but many do. you can see tumblr's right here; it lists some major AI crawlers and bans them from the site entirely, and exempts some other content from being indexed by major crawlers, like google.

the thing here to note is that robots.txt documents represent a request that is generally respected. they aren't strictly enforceable—it's not like a firewall—they're just a longstanding norm of the internet. but there's been an explosion of startups in AI, so there are a lot of companies with crawlers, and it may become increasingly difficult for websites to keep up with the crawlers in circulation. different crawlers are treated differently, so each new crawler needs to be listed separately in these documents. openAI only announced the name of its crawler and the associated IP address so websites could block it after building a large, and currently very valuable, training dataset. it's also very possible that some of these new companies will operate unscrupulously and ignore requests in robots.txt files. in some sense, there are very few practical options for larger websites to avoid being included in AI training datasets.

that's the environment that automattic is responding to with the deal with midjourney. i don't think we need to take this move as deliberately hostile towards users (automattic is hostile in other ways!); instead, it's taking advantage of a current market moment to try to monetize tumblr. reddit did much the same in preparation for its IPO. you might wonder why AI companies that can scrape data from the internet would pay for that data; well, the legal standing of AI is an undecided, very murky issue, with multiple open cases, including a high-profile one brought by the new york times. AI companies may hope that if they purchase the right to use data from websites (which have the ability to change the terms of service their users are bound by at any moment), that they will be protected from potential future copyright fallout.

[fans4wga]

'Why creatives are seeking residuals' - thread by Stefanie Williams

[Tweet thread by Stefanie Williams @/StefWilliams25

TRANSCRIPT:

Why creatives are seeking residuals vs. "do you pay the mattress maker every time you sleep on a mattress?" A thread. I keep hearing over and over again that writers/actors/creatives don't deserve residuals for the work they create. "If I build a bathroom in a house, I don't get paid every time someone uses the toilet."

TRUE! However, your bathroom build has a set market value. Art does not. No one knows what makes one TV show an overnight success, and another a flop. No one knows what makes one song a hit, and the other a dud. If they did, trust me when I say record companies would be churning out Taylor Swifts over and over again. Studios would be making nothing but Stranger Things.

But that isn't the case. No one could predict Stranger Things would be a massive, billion dollar hit. No one could predict Taylor Swift was going to be a world wide phenomenon who literally could record herself reading Aesop's Fables and make millions of dollars. Which is why residuals are important. The pay structure protects both the creators and the publishers/distributors.

The easiest way to explain it is by referencing an author writing a book. Sure, an author might get a very modest up front fee, but the author is banking on royalties to really make money on the book — for every book sold, the author gets a piece of the pie. This protects both the author and the publisher—because if the book is a flop, the publisher doesn't go broke on a financial promise they made to the author that didn't pan out, and if the book is a mega-hit, the author didn't give away a massive, million-dollar book for 20k.

It's a sliding scale that is required for a product that has no set market value. What makes an actor's work on a hit show more valuable than an actor's work on a show that gets canned after five episodes? The market value for art almost always comes after the fact, so residuals account for that reality. They make sure the creator get compensated at a fair market rate. A person who builds a bathroom knows, upfront, what the market rate for a bathroom is. That bathroom won't suddenly be worth 1000 times more than you built it for in six months. It doesn't have the potential to be built for 20k and generate 20 million.

Residuals are a pay structure that simply account for an unsure market value. Trust me, we all wish we could quantify art in terms of dollars. But art is unpredictable. So studios and streamers -- which literally REQUIRE content to stay viable -- have to account for that unpredictability. And for studios (or record labels, or book publishers) it's always trial and error. The only way to get a hit, is to go through a few flops.

For every Whitney Houston, there was a singer you never heard of. For every Sopranos, there was a show that got scrapped mid season. For every Titanic, there was a movie that bombed. For every Twilight, there was a book about vampires that went nowhere. Residuals are kind of a reverse market valuation. They pay a fair wage for a product than can only have a set value once it's been created and effectively consumed.

And even then, shit changes. Anyone think Kate Bush would spend weeks on the top of the charts in 2022? Residuals account for unpredictable markets. And in order to have accurate residuals, streamers and studios need to be transparent and open about their data, which is one of the MANY things the WGA and SAG are both fighting for.

[ddejavvu]

i was using Spotify and I realized how u could see what ur friends are listening to atm on there and it would be so fun to have hotch discover this, and be surprised that the reader is listening to songs like “or nah” or j any explicit songs like that and is into it😋 could lead into something more like playing that song while they’re doing it later on

OKAY THANK YOU LOVE UR WRITING!!!

i love you! i just left this vague and open to whatever song you want to insert!

this post is 18+, minors dni.

Being Spotify friends with Aaron Hotchner only came about because of Penelope's insistence on team bonding. And because she wanted to send everyone the personalized playlists she'd made for them, and sharing became much easier that way.

All it's yielded for you is the knowledge that, very infrequently, Hotch remembers he has a music app on his phone, and that he plays 2-3 Beatles songs before he inevitably gets called to another task and has to shut off the music.

Aaron is even less frequently informed of your tastes in music than you are of his, because the few times that he's used the app, he forgets to check what the other members of the team are listening to. Not that he really cares; Spencer's listening to classical and Derek has too-loud EDM playing in his headphones that Savannah teases him for. Rossi prefers records to his phone, and JJ plays mainly kids' songs for her boys. Emily is always listening to some mid-2000's rock song, but you, you he hasn't gotten a read on. You're all over the place, switching from singer to singer, genre to genre, language to language. All in all, his team's music taste doesn't affect him, but Penelope is far more eager to snoop on you all than he is.

"Ooh, nasty girl," She gushes, head bent to look at her phone as she waits in Aaron's office. He'd instructed her to let him have five minutes to finish a report before she briefed him on a new case's details, but she's proving very distracting. With a glance up at her, half-scathing, half-incredulous, he asks, 'What?'

"Oh! Y/N's Spotify," She holds out her phone as explanation, showcasing your profile with unfamiliar album art displayed over it. It's black and red, but Aaron doesn't recognize the song or the artist.

He raises an eyebrow at Penelope, and she huffily gives into his demand.

"It's a song about sex," She informs him, "Like- feral, sweaty, hungry, clawing-at-the-sheets, scratching-up-his-back, mouth-open-so-he-"

"Alright! Enough," Hotch snaps, glaring disapprovingly at her rather vulgar language, "I think I get the picture, Garcia."

"Sorry, sir." She looks only mildly sheepish, talking more to herself than she is to him as she muses, "Didn't know she was into that kind of thing."

Aaron doesn't think about the title of the song again until well after Penelope's gone, and he's taking his lunch alone in his office. He's more a fan of songs that, if they are about sex, don't outwardly mention any vulgarity, and he's not sure if he could handle explicit material being spewed at loud volumes directly into his ear. Call it morbid curiosity, call it Disapproving Boss Syndrome, but he fishes near-new headphones out of his desk drawer to find out what you've been listening to while filling out government paperwork all day.

He has the good sense to look it up on youtube without logging in. He doesn't want this attached to him in any way, and he certainly doesn't want eagle-eyed Penelope catching him on Spotify.

The beginning of the song seizes the ear right away, a unique beat that definitely doesn't sound sexually appealing. But when each different instrument filters in and the lyrics begin, he realizes that Penelope's description was not very far off.

It's filthy.

It's twenty kinds of vulgar, words that he's never even heard before being used to refer to genitalia. The only way he figures out their definitions is through context, and he thinks he may have been better off without knowing them. He's floored by the contents of the song; he knows sexual songs exist, even at this level of vulgarity, but he'd have never expected you to indulge in them. Certainly not in the workplace.

The song finishes out at three minutes and nine seconds, and Hotch feels a slight heat to his face as he unplugs his headphones and closes the tab. No one had caught him, but he feels mortified anyways, and decides he no longer has an appetite.

He puts the lid back onto the container of leftover pasta that he'd brought from home, keeping his head down as he treks to the kitchenette to refrigerate it.

Of course, his luck fails him as he nearly bumps into you, rounding the corner to the small, closed-off kitchen and finding you in front of the microwave in the doorway.

"Oh! Sorry, Hotch." You laugh, stepping out of his way to let him through. He notices an earbud in your ear and pushes away the knowledge of what song you're probably listening to, heading for the fridge instead.

"It's fine." He grumbles, electing to stay silent for the rest of your impromptu meeting if he can manage. He feels slightly guilty for being cold towards you, because it was his own curiosity that led to his embarrassment, but he can't look you in the eyes right now.

You see fit to fill the awkward silence with the tapping of your nails on the counter, and with a jolt of recognition, and something else far more intense below the belt, he realizes that you're tapping out the beat of the song.

He ignores your sharp gasp as he slams the refrigerator door perhaps a tad too hard. He doesn't have time to feel bad about startling you, though, not when he so desperately needs to be back in the confines of his office, away from the prying eyes of the team.

His sharp memory comes in handy as he calls upon the name of the song later that night, pretending to himself that he's only doing it because it's been stuck in his head. Not because every time he thinks of it, or rather, of you listening to it, his pants tighten slightly. He chooses youtube first, but something drags his thumb towards the spotify button instead, and he swallows the saliva that's suddenly pooled in his mouth when his suspicions are confirmed: you're listening to it, too.

At eleven-thirty at night, probably beneath the covers on your bed just like Aaron is, you're listening to a song about sex, and as he sinks a hand beneath the waistband of his pajama pants, he knows without a doubt that you're doing the same.

[runaeveena]

ao3 is not a fucking library database it's not an actual fucking archive it just has archive in the fucking name and all it has is fanfiction (and other related fanworks, and also very rarely original fiction) holy shit can you guys stop comparing your shitty fanfics to actual important pieces of literature.

Hi! As a masters student in library and archival studies I was introduced to ao3 in my first semester as the, and i quote, "the classification goal of all library systems". It's one of the most advanced databases for digital information searching, a word you would more commonly recognize as "library".

Your statement about it only having fanfiction is very wrong since a lot of art is placed in ao3, I mean the tags are right here for you to look at, I pulled them up in 2 minutes.

I'm curious as to why you claim it's not an archive. For the class, here's the definition of archive from wikipedia in the first sentence: An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. I'm sitting in an actual physical archive right now at one of the top universities of California. The only difference between this one, the Internet Archive, or ao3, is the content they hold. It is true that there's no literature so to speak, but we don't think there is. There isn't any "literature" on my desk right now, actually. I'm sitting next to a pile of scrap paper from 1825 that held the ramblings of the Governor of Mexico. Why would the archive have this if it isn't literature!? Because someone thought it was important. That's why we archive it.

That's all an archive is. It's just writing that we care about. Even if it is the cringiest, most obscene, self insert production, it's art. Do you not consider fanwork or fan made content to be worth keeping? You prefer you all write our stories in our head and burn our diaries later so we can be miserable on the internet like you? Art like fanfiction has not harmed you in any way and never will affect you, except you are choosing to be mad over it. I want you to ask yourself why.

[hi-im-dazey]

Check this bullshit out

Some of you might know that this is my personal blog. I also have a business blog for my art. It's not fandom art, so I don't talk about it or link it here. I just discovered that 479 of my images have been used to train AI. Most of the works are between 2009 and 2020, for some reason, and a LOT of them came off pinterest, some from redbubble indirectly, via ArtFire (which I don't think exists anymore, but would be the right time frame, so the Rb stuff is from using their thumbnails with watermark there, more recent stuff I've put on Rb after I closed my ArtFire storefront is not coming up. I used to use a watermarked image from Rb to point people towards prints if they preferred that over an original)

So I used this site

https://haveibeentrained.com/

Here's what you should do if you are worried about this.

Use that link and make a profile, it's free.

Type your name into the search feature (or whatever name you used in your image meta data or art web presence)

Wait --it will might take a few tries to get the list to populate, if it comes back saying it can't find anything, wait a few minutes and try again. Once it starts populating, let it finish, this could take a while. my 479 works took it about 5 minutes to load all the way and the option to opt out won't come up until the search is done. Right click on each image (or long press on mobile) and choose "add to opt-out"

Now, once you are done opting all these works out I strongly suggest you yoink all your shit down off of pinterest. And BLOCK pinterest shares on your art sites. (For me, pinterest was the largest offender)

Has the horse already bolted?

Yes, for these particular works. But this gives you a record of saying I do not and did not consent to this. Meaning: further down the road, if legal restitution happens, you have some proof.

After you upload new work, going forward, check back a few times, over the course of a month or so, and if the new work comes up, find out how by clicking on the image and following the source link. This will take you to the site that is feeding your stuff to the monster. If you have an account on that site, remove your content and close your profile.

This site checks for writing too. Make sure to check under your pen name for your writing too!

If you do NOT have an account on that site, it's time to whip out the old DMCA dance

[thana-topsy]

Ok I gotta come out and say it. I envy you. Like, to a painful extent. The amount of people you get interested in your characters, how you're incredibly skilled in both visual art AND writing, how readers your fics have. I absolutely adore your work, but seeing it fills me with so much envy it's honestly ridiculous.

Did you deal with similar feelings towards other creators when you started writing fic by any chance? If so, how did you deal with those feelings? I feel genuinely stuck feeling worthless about my fics. I'm not as verbose with my language despite over 10 years of writing under my belt and it seems as though my plots don't interest people as much either. So I feel like there's just nothing of worth about any of my work.

I know that this is a lot to dump on you, but I felt like I would burst keeping this all in. Much love to you and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

Hey there my friend, I've been sitting with this all day trying to decide how I want to answer you. I genuinely appreciate your honesty, because I know this is a familiar feeling for a lot of people, myself included.

I remember when I first rejoined Tumblr in early 2019, desperately trying to find anyone to talk to about TES, I would look at all these blogs gettings asks about their OCs like they were little celebrities and feel envy and longing. Now, when these feelings start to bubble up, I force myself to take a break from sharing my work, be it art or writing, if only to remind myself why I'm creating it and who I'm creating it for: myself. I know it sounds cheesy, and I probably sound like a broken record, but genuinely I just do this because it's bursting out of my skull. But I won't lie and say the engagement and the support doesn't have a big impact on my motivation. I love sharing with people and getting an enthusiastic response.

I think something people might not realize, or maybe they just forget, is that I used to write a lot of smut. Like...a lot of smut. (I still do). Hahaha and it doesn't get a lot of comments or engagement, but it does draw a lot of eyes. Once my smut stories started taking on heavier plotlines, a comment I'd get a lot was "came for the porn, stayed for the plot." And I wasn't writing smut because I thought it would get me an audience, I was just horny LMAO. But it encouraged me to branch out and experiment with the types of stories I was telling.

Anyways, art is another big part of it, yes. But that also didn't get a lot of engagement in the beginning, and my skills were rusty as hell. I was getting maybe 15 notes on here, 30 likes on instagram. But that didn't really matter to me, I was just insane with inspiration. I'd reach out to people and ask to do art trades, got ghosted a lot, made some good friends, (some people who are still my good friends to this day!). But it took a lot of risks, and I made a lot of accidental enemies and learned a lot of hard lessons. But having visuals to go with the stories I'm writing is like advertisement in its own way. I'm just lucky enough to hyperfixate on this shit like it's my lifeblood. I've always obsessively drawn my favorite characters, ever since I was a wee bab. Long before social media was a factor or the words "content creator" even existed.

And I think that's what it all comes back to. Above all else, do what you do with unbridled joy. If someone else finds joy alongside you, all the better! Even if it's just one person. Take risks, make friends, make enemies, draw that blorbo unapologetically and with wild abandon. Love what you create, even when it's bad. Even when it makes you cringe years later, don't delete it. Even when people try to find every reason to hate what you do and who you are. Don't stop.

Every act of creation is bringing something into the world that didn't exist before you made it. And that alone gives it worth.

Happy New Year!

[afreakingdork]

By making your tcest fic a part of your 'Villain's Mask' series after the fact that you built up your fanbase is such a slap in the face to them. You could easily explore your trauma under anon, a feature AO3 has, but you instead alienated your fanbase for... what exactly? I'm all for artists expressing themselves, but those 2000+ kudos on Weak Spot can never be taken back. They can't just 'block and move on' when their names are permanently on your work. Did you think about that? In a world where people harass others for simply accidentally following a tcester? Whether people like it or not, they're now associated with someone who wrote tcest with little to no warning. This is incredibly irresponsible of you, and I hope you realize that. AO3 isn't tumblr, it's a no man's land, people know that, and so, so many people hold their kudos back until a fic is finished just in case an author pulls a fast one on them. You bait and switched your audience, plain and simple. You claim it can be skipped, yet it's part of the series you're still actively writing. I'm not here to shame you for your deciding to switch things up or whatever, that's your right, but rather to inform you of the consequences of your actions. I hope those who inevitably get harassed for having their name on your fic is worth it.

First off, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

I hear you.

I will admit that I didn't know that was how kudos worked. I understand why you're upset and I want to address your concerns. When I decided to explore On the Spot, it was not a decision I took lightly. My choices and how they effect others is something I have always been acutely aware of. I considered as many ramifications as I could. I debated posting it anonymously, but I ultimately chose not to for a few reasons.

For one, I believe in being transparent about my work. I have never presented myself as anyone other than me. As such, it was evident that my writing style could not be masked. For another, the work is intrinsically tied to Weak Spot. This is not a story that exists on its own. I have no proclivity for tcest. I have never once before wanted to create tcest content and I have never wanted to since. This story was born from the universe that I created and I only saw this as an avenue related to the versions of the characters that I had crafted within the world of Weak Spot.

This is why, regardless of my knowledge on how the kudos system works, I would have posted On the Spot in the same manner. It was in the examination of possible fall out and consequences that I realized one thing: I cannot control the actions of others. I am widely on the record for loving that about art. You can pour as much intention as you want into something, but you will never be able to control how any one person receives it. No matter how responsible or considerate I was, someone was bound to be effected. I could provide clear warnings and tag appropriately, but at the end of the day, the only way I could have avoided response, negative or otherwise, was by not posting at all.

To what end?

To satisfy some sect that will think the worst of me regardless of how much attention I put into posting something with harmful contents?

You inadvertently prove my decision to share the work under these circumstances. I put as much care possible into posting and yet here you are, claiming you're not here to shame me, yet you imply I'm responsible for any harassment that thousands of others may possibly face. The responsibility for harassment lies with those who choose to engage in that behavior.

Why should those who have read Weak Spot, a work that is devoid of tcest content, be damned simply because the creator and not them chose to delve into painful means in a completely separate story?

Why don't we better use your time to examine the outright lunacy that exists in this fandom because why is it possible that someone would obsessively comb through 2000+ kudos in an attempt to supposedly out users that they think are aiding and abating someone who they have convinced themselves are a tcester?

That is nothing short of unhealthy obsession on one hand or virtue signalling on the other.

Guilt by association is an unfair fallacy.

You can be upset with me for what I have created. I will take the criticism wholeheartedly. I know what I have done. There was no bait and switch. I have never billed myself as one particular type of artist. We have a common enemy you and me. Don't you dare think you can hold me accountable for other individual's actions when it is a fact that I have no control over them. Instead of unfairly attributing guilt, maybe focus your energy into holding those who actually responsible accountable.

[autistichalsin]

A fic writer's guide to leaving comments

I'm sure you've seen posts from fic writers expressing dismay at the death of feedback culture, and especially lamenting the phenomenon of people making private Discord servers to share fic recs, so that instead of having a chance to stumble on nice comments in the wild on Tumblr, Twitter, etc, fic writers are increasingly less likely to see good comments left about their work.

I also see the comments on those same posts flooded with people with concerns about commenting, so I am writing this as a guide for those new or unsure.

Firstly: some of you are probably asking, "why do fanfic writers need feedback at all? Shouldn't they be writing just for themselves?"

Well... No. Not really. People can and should create things for themself, yes, but that doesn't mean "continue to post content when no one seems to be engaging." Imagine cooking for someone who eats in utter silence and never says a single word about the meal. Imagine putting on a concert and receiving not a single applause, a cheer, nothing at all. It sounds utterly horrifying, doesn't it? Maybe even humiliating?

Writing for oneself means that positive reviews shouldn't be the sole factor in deciding whether to write/post/continue a story, not that a writer should feel obligated to write thousands of words for a story no one really reacts to in any way, especially when the writer sees creators of similar content (edits, fanarts, fanvids, fansongs, etc) get praised effusively for their work without this expectation being placed on them. It is very rare that artists are told they should draw for themselves the way fic writers are.

Further, and this may be a hot take, but I actually don't think it's inherently wrong to make positive reviews the main or even sole reason for writing or making art to begin with. People like being praised for things they do well. It's one of the most basic parts of human psychology. Human beings want to be praised, encouraged, validated, and celebrated sometimes; why do you think we celebrate birthdays? It's not egotistical. It might, perhaps, be setting oneself up for disappointment, but there's nothing inherently wrong with it, anyway.

Basically, all that to say: it's nice to tip your Uber drivers and baristas. It's nice to thank/compliment your spouse when they make you dinner. And it's nice to thank fan artists and fanfic writers when they make arts/fics that you enjoy.

Moving on: I also know some of you have some specific things you worry or are confused about, and those things might be stopping you from leaving feedback. So here is an FAQ of sorts:

Q: What if the story has a lot of chapters/the author has written many stories? Won't it be weird to go and leave so many comments on them?

A: You definitely can review only the latest chapter/fic and future installments if you so choose, but for the record, fanfics aren't like Instagram/Facebook; mass-commenting and kudosing old stories and chapters isn't seen as stalkerish. It's seen as a sign you're enjoying the content we made. Think of it this way: if a new Star Wars came out, and you were new to Star Wars, it would only make sense for you to go and watch (and post about) the previous movies, right?

Q: What if I don't know what to say?

A: That's perfectly okay! I have a guide at the bottom of this post if you need some ideas. But honestly, writers would rather a single ♥️ than nothing at all, so if you really can't think of anything, that's a good last resort.

Q: I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing and upsetting the writer.

A: There is almost no chance that you will say the wrong thing, unless you are giving unasked-for criticism (see below).

Q: What if I don't like the fic? Should I still comment?

A: No, it's definitely better to silently move on when you didn't enjoy it at all.

Note that while in the past, giving criticism was common practice, this has generally become less of something authors enjoy over time (perhaps tied in with the general lack of feedback; getting fewer comments in general can make it far more frustrating to get critical ones). If you are close to the writer, or if the criticism is just a SPAG issue, you can try asking the writer if they'd like to hear it, but otherwise, leave it be unless the author has indicated somewhere they're open to it. But please be nice. Anything you wouldn't say to an artist, don't do to a writer, please.

Q: In the past, I commented and the writer got mad at me.

A: If you weren't leaving unasked-for criticism, then likely the problem was that particular author. Don't let it deter you from commenting on others. Every group of people has assholes, including writers.

Q: I saw an author who requested no comments on their fic/turned off comments on their fic.

A: Not every writer ultimately DOES want comments, though the majority do. Likely that person was having anxiety, or had recently been harassed/received rude comments and didn't want to bother with it.

Q: An author limited comments to registered users only.

A: See above; likely they did this either as a harassment mitigation member or to prevent minors from reading their fics, especially if it was an NSFW work.

Q: I saw a note that a writer had "enabled comment moderation" on their story. Does that mean they don't want me to comment?

A: Not at all! It means they likely have been harassed/received rude comments, or have reason to fear they will (I.E. have recently posted a story dealing controversial themes, or have received such comments on other sites), and are activating a setting where you can comment, but they need to manually approve the comment before it shows up, which will prevent nasty comments from being read. In these cases, a nice comment might actually mean even more to them, because it shows they have support- so by all means, show them some extra love!

Q: Are there any cases where I shouldn't comment?

A: Yes, but these are mostly individual cases, not a hard rule. In addition to the circumstances listed above (author preference or leaving a negative comment), please do not comment if you are a minor and the fic is rated higher than teen (you shouldn't be reading these to begin with, but if you are, please don't make it obvious you did so), or conversely, if you write higher-than-teen-rated fics and the fic is written by a minor. Also, if the author has blocked you on other platforms, do not comment, as this is block evasion.

Q: Is it okay to comment just to ask for an update/to prompt another fic?

A: It depends largely on context, tone, etc. "I hope this updates soon" is 100% fine. Guilt trippy messages, like "it's been two years, I know you have been going through a lot but you have an obligation to your readers" are NEVER okay. Similarly, with prompts, saying "I hope you explore (thing) one day" is fine, especially if you know the author, but if your first comment to them ever is requesting a fic for a completely different scenario, ship, etc than they wrote, with little or nothing about the actual fic you're replying to, it will come across as rude.

Q: Is it okay to ask an author for permission to translate the fic into another language or make another derivative work?

A: Absolutely, but not every author will want this to be done, and you need to be prepared to respect their no if they give one. Think of it like asking a restaurant for one of their recipes. Some will happily give it out, others consider it a personal/guarded secret.

That said, do not even dare ask about feeding the work to an AI. Fanfic writers DO NOT want AI touching their work. Same for artists. Yes, this includes trying to make an ending for an abandoned fic. Do not do it.

Q: The author of this fic has held their story "hostage" by refusing to update until they get a certain number of reviews. What should I do?

A: This is a hard one. Of course, no one owes an author reviews, and this sort of thing is considered cringey, and endlessly mocked, for a reason. However, please try to do some perspective-taking and practicing empathy here. Authors are having to put out PSAs on this site and others just to try and get people to engage with their content. Imagine being a musician, getting on stage, performing song after song, and being met with silence, or maybe a single courtesy golf clap here or there. You'd start to doubt yourself, wouldn't you? You might feel inclined to stop playing unless you start getting an indication people actually care about your music, because performing to utter silence is absolutely humiliating. The manner of doing so is all wrong in this case, but try to show a bit of compassion, and imagine how awful, how utterly crushed the author must have been to do this in the first place.

It is definitely your right to not engage with the fic/author anymore, especially if you had been reviewing before the fic got taken 'hostage' and felt the author wasn't grateful for your comments. But if you wanted to be especially kind, you could take some time to try and lift the author up instead, and show them that even if others are not leaving comments, the fic ultimately does mean something to you. It just might be enough for the author to rethink their position.

Q: Why isn't a kudos enough?

A: It's not that a kudos isn't enough, per se: we all enjoy getting likes. But to continue my metaphor above, well... when you perform music, a cheer does feel very different than a courtesy golf clap, you know? You appreciate the golf claps, they are very kind and always welcome, but cheers, "YEAH!"s, and such are what you really live for. And a standing ovation? That could literally change your entire opinion on your art.

Q: I want to leave a comment, but I'm really scared/don't know how/don't know what to say.

A: That's totally okay. Below, I give some ideas of what to say, but keep in mind that if you really don't know what to say, emoji are totally fine! A ♥️ is still really great and will make us smile. Put some keysmashes! Put in just a ton of exclamation points and nothing else! "AHHH OMG!" Those are all perfectly fine!

BUT, if you want to leave something a little more in-depth, here are some great places to start! Trust me, fanfic writers LOVE all of these and would be delighted to get these comments.

ASK QUESTIONS! "Does this mean x?" or "I'm curious, when x said y, is that a sign that z is at play?"

Tell us how you felt while reading the story/chapter. If we made you cry in a particularly sad scene, PLEASE TELL US FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! WE LOVE THAT!

If you are in a Discord or other space that's talking about the story, tell us what you/your mutuals/your friends are saying about it. This is a great idea for if you don't know what to say! Even just a "we never shut up about this fic in the Discord" is wonderful to hear.

Tell us what drew you in to the fic (did you like the summary? Was it recced somewhere?) and what made you stay.

Say something you found unique/intriguing about the fic. Maybe you liked the characterization, or the author did a really good job of setting the scene. Let them know!

Make a personal connection to the text, especially if the author wrote something that felt very real to your lived experience.

YELL IN ALL CAPS THAT YOU WANT TO HURT THE VILLAIN OR HUG THE SUFFERING WOOBIE OR SMACK THE MAIN PAIRING FOR BEING OBLIVIOUS ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS!

If this story has changed something for you, tell us. If it changed how you see a character, made you ship a ship you never thought of before, changed how you see canon, opened your eyes to a societal issue, gave you a line you think about a lot- please tell us!

Indulgently play along with our cliffhangers. Pretend you don't know that the character will be fine. Pretend that we would actually do it and you're SO SCARED RN for this character.

Wanna know a secret? Wanna know a writer's catnip? Want to know an instant way to make a writer print out your comment for motivation to read later? Quote/paraphrase/reference a bit of text that you loved and tell us your exact thoughts and emotions on it, why you loved it, etc. Quote half the damn chapter back at us in the comments and we will probably propose marriage to you on the spot tbh.

Remember, if you truly can't think of anything to say, just a single emoji still does wonders!!

Hope this guide helps! Happy commenting!

[archiveikemen]

Ellis Twilight Main Story: Chapter 3

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection. I do not own any of the original content. Please support CYBIRD by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Warnings and FAQ

Ellis: Bodyguards?

At breakfast, Victor was talking about the unexpected incident that occured during my first job as the “fairytale keeper”.

Victor: That’s right! If Jude and Ellis protect Kate, our secrets will be kept safe too.

Victor: At the same time, Kate will also be able to observe the two of you up close and write everything down in her records…

Victor: It’s like killing two birds with one stone!

Victor: What do you think, Ellis?

Ellis: I’m fine with it if Kate is.

Ellis: Just because no one was hurt yesterday doesn't mean that sort of thing won't happen again… I want to be by Kate's side in case.

Victor smiled in response to Ellis and turned to Jude.

Victor: Of course you'll take this new responsibility seriously, right, Jude? You hate doing favours, don't you?

Jude: Tch…

(I feel safe being near Ellis, but…)

Ever since having my life threatened because I was with Ellis and being mistaken for “Jude Jazza’s woman”, I couldn't help but feel wary of Jude.

Jude: Don’t you start wailing when you get caught in a scary situation, princess.

(He’s so intimidating… but this was a good suggestion from Victor, so I mustn't chicken out.)

Kate: I’ll be fine. I’m surprisingly tough!

Jude: … Hah.

Jude snorted and went back to reading the newspaper.

Ellis: Then it’s decided. I’m looking forward to working with you, Kate.

Kate: I look forward to working with you too.

Unlike Jude, Ellis returned a soft smile.

Ellis: By the way, you can be more casual with me.

Kate: Huh…?

Ellis: You could say “yeah, me too” or something.

Kate: Y-Yeah… me too.

Ellis: Mm, much better.

I felt comforted by Ellis’ warm vibes.

Victor: Administrative matters aside, now let’s talk about your mission.

I straightened my back and listened attentively to Victor’s words.

(This will be my first real job as the fairytale keeper.)

I bear in mind that this was important in helping me gain their trust.

Victor: — Truth is, there is something I want you to collect information on.

Victor: It’s regarding the series of kidnapping cases happening all over London.

Kate: Kidnapping…?

That dangerous word brought back the same anxiousness I felt when I met the members of Crown for the first time.

Victor: Correct. The victims’ ages ranged from infants, to adolescents, and even grown adults.

Victor: One thing they have in common is that the adults were either prostitutes or street performers.

Victor: Popular songstresses from taverns have gone missing… many of them lived unstable lives without proper residential addresses.

Jude: Because the victims weren't people of high importance and mostly didn't have fixed addresses, no one reported them missing.

Jude: As usual, the police aren’t going to do anything about it either.

Unfortunately, like Jude mentioned, people who worked in the entertainment district were often looked down upon.

In that world of glitz and glamour, they were treated like pieces of trash in a garbage dump.

Victor: So, about the mission…

Victor: Have you heard about the ongoing art fair in London, the one with a few performers gathered there?

Kate: Yes. The scale of the event is not as big as the social season, but it’s rather crowded.

Victor: I want Jude and Ellis to go to that art fair and collect the necessary information.

Victor: These people may be vagrants, but they’re more bonded than you think.

Jude: Why do I have to go? This is useless.

Victor: Remember the human traffickers you dealt with in private? They might be connected to this case.

Victor: This has gone too far, don’t you think? Besides… today's your first day off in a long time.

That sounded like information Victor wouldn't be aware of, unless someone told him. Jude shot a glare at someone…

Jude: … Ellis.

Ellis: He asked, so I answered honestly. Sorry.

(The power balance between these two might surprisingly be of equal level…)

Victor: See you!

Victor sent us off with his cheerful voice and we headed for our mission.

…

(The fair is even more crowded this time round…!)

Colourfully decorated stalls lined the venue of the art fair and delicious aromas wafted through the air.

The people were entertained by not only the food, but also the street artists painting and performers showcasing their talents on stages around the city.

Walking around the fair, I couldn't help feeling immersed in the lively atmosphere.

(Oh no, I’m getting too carried away… I must focus on our mission.)

(Right. I should ask him now.)

Kate: Ellis. Jude. Could you tell me about your curses?

Ellis: We haven't told you yet?

Ellis: I have the curse of the “Briar Bushes”, and Jude has the curse of the “13th Fairy”.

Ellis: They’re based on a motif called “The Thorn Princess (Sleeping Beauty)”.

(Curse of the briar bushes and the curse of a fairy…)

The 13th fairy was an antagonist who placed a deadly curse on the princess out of spite for not being invited to her birthday party.

(I know that's the fairy’s sin, but…)

(What sin did the briar bushes commit?)

As I thought hard about it, Jude suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around languidly.

Jude: We don’t need a party of three. You go in the other direction to search for information.

Ellis: What about protecting Kate?

Jude: You’ll be fine doing that alone.

Without another word, Jude disappeared into the sea of people.

Kate: … Does he hate me, by any chance?

Ellis: I don’t think so, he treats everyone like that.

Ellis: His intention was probably to protect you from danger by avoiding being seen with you.

(Hmm, I don't really think so…)

I swallowed those words that I almost blurted out.

Kate: … If that’s the case, he’s actually rather kind-hearted, isn't he?

Ellis: I wouldn't say that. He loves hearing the people he hates scream in pain.

Kate: …

(It scares me how easy it is to imagine that…)

Ellis was the total opposite of him, showing kindness to everyone he met.

As though to prove me right, people all around us started approaching him the moment Jude left.

Flushed Man: Oh, you over there! Thanks for taking care of me that day!

Ellis: You’re welcome. Remember to drink in moderation today.

Kate: This is…?

Ellis: I found him passed out on the streets the other day, so I piggybacked him home. I don't know his name.

Kate: Eh!?

(You brought a random stranger home and nursed him back to health!?)

That wasn’t the only thing that left me in shock—.

Furniture Artisan: Business has been booming thanks to Ellis promoting my works to people!

Bespectacled Student: I’m so glad to run into you again! Um, I’d like to repay you for helping me fix my bike, could I have your contact information…

Cat: Nyaa.

(Even a CAT thanked him…!?)

(Or should I say, judging from the number of people who thanked him as we passed by…)

I could tell that Ellis did many good deeds on a daily basis.

Kate: I’m a postwoman, and yet you’re even more well-known than I am…!

Ellis: Really? I think this is pretty normal, though.

Ellis smiled gleefully as he watched the people smiling around him.

(Everything Ellis did for me yesterday is without a doubt just a usual thing for him.)

Someone who spreads joy.

Watching Ellis’ interactions with the people in town brought those words to my mind.

(Does someone like him even have any “sins” I can record down…?)

(Rather—)

(Why would someone this kind-hearted work for an assassination organisation or with Jude?)

Despite having personally witnessed his kindness… that question surfaced in my mind.

Ellis: Kate, Kate.

Kate: … Oh, I’m so sorry! I got lost in thought.

I came back to my senses and noticed Ellis peering into my face up close with his head tilted in puzzlement…

Ellis: Were you thinking about me?

Kate: …!?

Our eyes met at a close distance like a pair of lovers gazing at each other, sending my heart into a frenzy.

(Ellis doesn't seem to be conscious of it, but… this is too close.)

The situation was the same as when he went to see me in my room the morning after I came to Crown’s castle.

It was the second time seeing his twilight coloured eyes up close.

Feeling my cheeks turn red from the embarrassment, I turned my eyes away from him.

Ellis: Ah, hit the nail on the head.

Kate: How did you know?

Ellis: Hmm… just a hunch, I guess?

Ellis handed me a steaming mug with a smile.

Ellis: Here, I bought this milk tea from that shop over there while you were lost in thought about me.

Ellis: This is to thank you for helping me with my mail the other day.

(... Ellis is awesome…)

Ellis’ eyelashes lowered and he lightly blew on the cup of milk tea before taking a sip.

Ellis: If there’s anything you want to ask me, feel free to.

Kate: … Understood.

Ellis: Just “okay” is good.

Kate: … Ellis, why did you join Crown?

Ellis: Victor recruited Jude to join Crown, then Jude said OK and I joined too, I guess?

(You joined just because Jude did…?)

Kate: Why are you always with Jude?

Ellis: You have many questions, huh.

Ellis smiled and held his mug in both hands.

Ellis: My life was a mess before I met Jude. I moved from place to place, never having anywhere to settle down.

Ellis: When I came to London, I met Jude by coincidence.

Ellis: Some stuff happened, and we made a deal.

Kate: A deal…?

Ellis: That I’ll work for Jude, and he’ll comply with my request in return.

Ellis: So… we’ll be sticking together until the time comes when he fulfils his side of the deal.

My next question gave me a feeling that something might happen if I heard the answer, causing a stir in my chest.

Kate: What request did you make…?

Ellis: It's—

Performer with Flashy Hat: What is going on!?

(...!?)

The sudden yelling made me jump in shock and look in its direction.

Behind us, in the back of a temporary stage, a performer was scratching his head in distress.

Performer with Flashy Hat: Two people can’t make it for the performance… this is a DISASTER…!

(Two people… two performers… could it be?)

Kate: Ellis.

Ellie: … Yeah.

— “The victims of the serial kidnappings were often prostitutes or street performers”.

We exchanged looks and headed towards the distressed performer.

…

Kate: Um, excuse me.

Flashy Hat: Hm? Oh. My apologies, Miss, but my show has been postponed by another 10 minutes!

Ellis: We heard you saying just now that two people can’t make it to the show…

Flashy Hat: My buddy who is supposed to perform with me has gone missing without a word.

Flashy Hat: Geez, lots of people have been disappearing into thin air lately… it’s starting to get suspicious.

(Multiple people… going missing…)

(If we ask this person more about the disappearances, we might find something.)

Ellis: If it's alright with you, could you please tell us more?

Flashy Hat: Sorry, but I really don't have the time for that right now! Even if I have to do it alone, I must think of what to perform up on stage.

The performer shooed us away… but stopped and looked at us again as though he had just gotten an idea.

Flashy Hat: If you guys help me out with the show, that’ll be a whole other story.

Flashy Hat: Haha! I’m just kidding. Being short-handed is one thing, but it's a strict rule to never allow amateurs on stage.

He shook his head, seemingly to dismiss his suggestion as an impulsive one.

Ellis took a step closer.

Ellis: Help? What kind?

Flashy Hat: Haha! You’re serious about this? I was merely joking.

Ellis: But you said that you’ll tell us the details if we help you, didn't you?

Flashy Hat: … What? Hey man, you guys got a problem or something?

His friendly face twisted.

Flashy Hat: Giving out information about my buddies puts them in danger.

Flashy Hat: I can’t guarantee that you two don't have ill intentions. We're strangers that just met.

Kate: How can we earn your trust?

Flashy Hat: Let me think…

Flashy Hat: If you guys are willing to be used as a target for knife throwing, or tied up and thrown into a tank…

Flashy Hat: I’ll trust you.

(Target for knife throwing…!?)

Ellis: Okay. I’m good at that stuff.

Ellis unhesitatingly proceeded with the negotiations while I stood there, baffled.

(Ellis is so confident when it comes to negotiations. It must’ve come from his experience in working with Jude…)

Ellis agreed to help the performer with the show, but negotiations didn't go as we expected.

Flashy Hat: Tch tch tch… you alone isn’t going to be enough. That lady has to help out too.

Kate: Wha…!?

Ellis: … Why?

Flashy Hat: Perform, of course!

Flashy Hat: Just think of it. A tragic story about lovers being torn apart, building up and coming to a tear-jerking finale! The audience will definitely love it.

(... Knife throwing… being tied up in a tank…)

Ellis looked at me worriedly when he noticed my face turning pale.

Ellis: Kate, you don’t have to do it if you don't want to.

(Victor has done this knife throwing thing before, so Ellis will be fine with that.)

My physical abilities were nowhere nearly as good as Ellis’, and yet…

Whether or not we would get information from that person depended on me.

(I have to trust them and just go for it…)

Kate: V-Very well. I’ll help.

Letter

[aimportantdragoncollector]

Three Weeks of Trioholders Winners!

I’ve been thrilled by the amazing flood of content for my event. Now I’m proud to announce the winners! This will only be the first round of prizes. As a reminder, I extended Three Weeks of Trioholders for a bonus round from Monday November 21 to Sunday November 26, 2023. The details are here. However, I’m not going to make the people who submitted early wait any longer to collect their prizes. It was extremely difficult for me to pick the winners, and I had some very very close decisions. I loved every single entry.

First Place Winners in Writing and Art:

@missremember takes first in writing for [LISTEN], an amazing fic in the form of the Second One for All holder’s old recordings. I both laughed and cried!

For art, I just couldn’t decide on just one winner because the competition was too steep. Therefore I’m awarding a tie for first place in art.

@suugiart did an entire animation for the duoholders. I’ve watched it three times already. Words cannot describe my emotions so I will settle for WHOA.

@fanfictiongremlinao3 blew me away with this gorgeous trioholders piece. The shading is beautiful. I love seeing Yoichi so happy after his tragic past.

Second Place Winners in Writing and Art:

Nana’s Guide To Ending 200 Years of Pining by @samthehyena had me clutching my sides laughing at the oblivious pining trio.

@stealthsuitdeku made me laugh so hard with this drawing of All for One’s reaction to his brother eloping. If only Yoichi had tried this in canon, he might have given his brother a heart attack. I also think it’s a hilarious Dad for One-compliant detail that apparently All for One has laser eyes to match Izuku’s tear attacks.

Writing Honorable Mentions:

For @chaosverse-mainblog who wrote an entire collection for Three Weeks of Trioholders, my greatest challenge was deciding which one to award a prize to. In the end I picked A Foxes Love because it hit all my favorite tropes of kitsunes, Second and Yoichi being cute together, and All for One being a creep.

@teriiphelia for Innocent Accomplice which has my adored gender-swapped Second and Dad Yoichi.

@breeze-tells-tales for heart, don't fail me now because I love Anastasia AUs so much, and cute trioholders interaction.

Art Honorable Mentions:

I had a really hard pick between the two submissions by @thebnha-auhoard but in the end The Dragon and his Vampire won my heart. Just look at those beautiful wings, horns, and teeth!

@palebonedry this made me gasp out loud, the bloody colors are haunting. I’m fascinating by this AU and Nyavka Yoichi and All for One. If you want I’ll write the AU for your prize! (Or pick anything you’d like, it’s your prompt.)

@gracelyn33 this art perfectly captures the tragedy of the duo holders. I adore how you shaded the light across their faces.

@whensaturnfalls how pretty, I love Sleeping Beauty AUs.

@unknownreservations you drew too much good art and made it very hard for me to decide which one I wanted to pick for a prize. But in the end I picked this one because I loved the expressions on their faces. It’s obvious how much Second and Third adore Yoichi.

@azzabynes these three are adorable and I love how you made them dance.

@chaosverse-mainblog the one and only entry for the newly named Vault Breakers ship (Second/Third) is worthy of its own honorable mention. I adore the blushes on their faces so much.

Prizes:

First place in both art and writing will receive a fic of a minimum of 3,000 words from me (Katydid on Ao3) based on a prompt of your choice. Second place in both art and writing will receive a fic of a minimum of 1,500 words from me. Honorable mentions will be given at least a snippet based on your prompt (hopefully they don’t all get long like last year.) You can contact me to receive your prize here on tumblr, or on discord where I am katydid1. I’m setting a deadline of December 31, 2023 to claim your prize. I reserve the right to ask for a different request. And please be patient since I gave out quite a few prizes for this contest.

I enjoy writing prompts and I’m excited to receive your ideas. It’s been a blast to host this event.

[regretisstoredintheme]

Hi it's your local spawn from hell who wrote about Yandere Mickey-

Anyway, can little me request the turtaleles with pianist MC? Yeah thanks my ideas basic af leave me alone It can be a fic or hcs I don't give a fuck-

I'm just a ginger music nerd who craves content that isn't mine-

Makin my way downtown, walkin’ fa— OH?? WHATS THIS??

WHAT THE FUCK??

*SNATCHES PAPER*

“Pianocat939 asked:

Hi it's your local spawn from hell who wrote about Yandere Mickey- 

Anyway, can little me request the turtaleles with pianist MC? Yeah thanks my ideas basic af leave me alone It can be a fic or hcs I don't give a fuck-

I'm just a ginger music nerd who craves content that isn't mine-“

A/N: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE??? NONONO YOU BITCH YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO REQUEST FROM ME ??— IM YOUR BIGGEST FAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY INBOX🧍 

YES OFC ILL WRITE IT BUT WHAT??? IM OVER HERE MAKING YOU FANART AND SHIT IN THE BACK AND YOU JUST SAUNTER UP HERE LIKE “yo can I get uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh raggedy cloth and others with piano” GET THE FUCK OUT /j

——-

All turtles x Pianist!Reader

—

(In honor of this occasion I only see it fit to write with your cursed ass names) 

Raggedy Cloth:

HUGE sweetheart.

Likes to sit close to the bench, his head and arms propped up on the wood - taking up as little space as possible.

He watches closely, his tail wagging gently in anticipation as your fingertips drum on the keys. His smile widens as he hears the notes, snuggling up to you. 

Sometimes he has a hard time not hugging your torso, having you there in his arms just lulls the turtle right to sleep— doesn’t matter what you’re playing. 

You could be playing the most chaotic, horrifying, heart wrenching piece of sheet music and as long as he was hugging you, he’d be fine. In fact, he’s incredibly content!

If you gently pat his head before playing, the churring that vibrates from him is rather hard to play over— but eh who are you kidding? It adds a good baseline. 

He hardly notices anytime you mess up, and if it really starts to bug you - he’s rubbing up and down your back, telling you to take a break, get a snack, anything to help you calm down. 

Danielston III:

He isn’t exactly the type to sit and watch you play. 

However, when you had expressed an interest in piano, he quietly began working on a custom-made keyboard. Purple, of course.. with accents of your favorite color. 

It has more sounds than the original, and, it’s a lot more practical. 

It did come with headphones.. however, he may or may not have messed with the jack so it could hook up to his headphones as well — with Bluetooth.

You know how he records everything? 

…yeah.

Sometimes when he’s really overstimulated, he’ll just pull up recordings of your music, the sound calming his nerves until he can get himself back together. 

When he’s understimulated? There is nothing stopping him from remixing your talent.

He DEFINITELY adds your mess - ups too, he thinks your tirades of frustration are actually really humorous.

I like to think he makes most of his ‘jammy jams’ by himself, considering how he knows what he likes, but you know.

Overall he appreciates your talent— but in secret. He’d die before letting you know how much he relies on it. 

Mikey Mouse:

Loves your playing so much!! 

Theres no better feeling then listening to you play and working on his art— he considers you an incredible artist, especially if you compose your own music. 

His mood depends on what you’re playing, it can really affect what he plans on drawing.

If you play chaotic things, he acts like he doesn’t mind at all!! And really he doesn’t, but if you look over his shoulder, you’ll notice it’s inspired him to draw his own chaotic things..  

Things you wouldn’t even wanna unleash on your own worst enemy.

Everytime you finish a song or overcome a rut you were in, he’s bombarding you with compliments. 

“That one was so cool, Y/N!”

“Where did you learn to play like that?”

“You did it! I’m so proud of you..” 

incredibly genuine too— like it’s overflowing.

I feel like this was short, but there’s not really much to say about the mikester 😭 Hes just content to be in your presence. He sees you as an artist the same as him, same level and creative ability. He loves being around you.

Tableo:

He makes sure you have a couch instead of a bench for your piano

Why? 

So he can lean against you and prop his legs up on the armrests of course!!

He’s quick to point out when you do something impressive, like a chord progression you had been practicing all day. his brows furrow as he gives you his signature smirk, “Class-ayy~” 

He often reads comics while you play, chuckling anytime you mess up. 

If you point out his laughter, there is LOADS of teasing in for you. 

“I don’t see what’s so hard!” He laughs, as you scoff, asking him to play it if it’s so easy! “Well, you can’t expect me to just do it perfectly with hands like these..” he gestures to his 6 fingers, but scoots closer to you anyway, muttering something about how “but.. if you insist~”

He’s surprisingly really good his first try! Great for someone with “hands like his”.

If you try to teach him though, he’s yawning through your whole lecture — instead staring at you and how prettily your features meshed together. 

“Leo? Did.. you hear anything I just said..?”

“Hehehehhh.. nope. ♡”

He’s.. Shameless..!

Absolutely…

Shameless.

——

A/N: PLS EXCUSE ME FOR BEING SUCH A FANBOYJFHJDHS op is just really cool ♡

[cupcraft]

I just think it needs to be said that adults have to regulate themselves in online spaces in a way that is responsible for minors in fandom spaces. This will be long im sorry.

And im not specifically talking about adults with lists of DNI minors and block anyone at or under a certain age as well as make it clear their blog may not be safe for minors (ie spaces with a lot of nsfw content). Though curating an experience is a big part of being responsible of course. This post though is mostly delving into adults' behavior and how you need to be aware of your behavior.

For example, if you're an adult who purposefully curates a blog dedicated to fandom discourse, harming other people in the fandom, vagueing, and just having general toxicity about people ESPECIALLY when the targets of said harassment and toxicity are often the youngest in the fandom this is something you really need to reevaluate yourself about for a million reasons but including how this harms and serves as a poor example to younger people what a fandom space is meant to be. Like when I see minors involved in these types of toxicity, not to say they shouldn't be informed or held accountable or the ppl harmed should forgive them, but as an adult I mostly feel sad. I feel sad because I hope they're going to be okay when they're my age and look back on themselves. I hope they're safe esp when the adults around them act like this kind of behavior is normal and okay even though they've long graduated high school (even though ot wasn't okay then either for the record). Like does it not bother you that you're an adult who feels superior sending hate campaigns and ask box harassment and cyberbullying to minors on the internet because you're insecurities are that large and you've no ability to regulate them healthily? Does it not bother you that you teach young ppl in the fandom to do similarly by your actions, and affect their experience? Does the harm not bother you?

Because it should bother you. When you grow up especially in online fandom spaces you do need to be more aware of not only your words in general, but how many people may look up to you and use you as example and that you have a responsibility to be healthy online for the sake of yourself, others, and esp the youngest of the fandom.

Because it hurts to think ppl can grow up in fandom to think "oh sending kys and gore and dead animals over [insert discourse] plus potentially bigotry is normal because everyone around me does it and I want to fit in and I also fear speaking up against the adults who do this because you know the harassment".

And you might say "well cup im just gonna block all minors the end I get to harass people forever hahaha haha!" And well okay, but for another post (plus ones I've made before) there's still a million reasons this is fucked up you see but I'm just focusing on one aspect rn in this post.

And then there's the adults in fandom who all of a sudden hit my age and all they do is belittle kids and the way they act and there is all of a sudden a Certain Maturity that needs to be upheld for Everyone but Especially Adults.

So on the first point this includes adults who are like "I hate kids!!!! They are so [insert anything negative]" and it includes any comment to meta/writing/art/etc that is like not allowing a younger person in fandom to grow. Like the way I talked as 11 years on the internet was incomprehensible and frankly would've been subject to "omg kids are so cringe ew!" For sure these days, ig I was lucky my online friends were also 11 at the time. Looking at my old fandom Meta posts when I was 15, like I could imagine the way I see adults talking about takes like "oh shit I was worse!" Which is just a bag full of insecurity for me, but I also can't imagine being young in fandom and directly experiencing such critiques all the time. Like does it not bother you, once again? That you don't want to see kids in fandom grow into their creativity and co-exist safely in fandom as they do in public and experience overall and public joy? Why do you hate I mean hateee kids as an adult and why does their joy spark hate and misery in you (you might need therapy or to work that out srsly). And do the effects of your actions not bother you? What do you think you're doing other than silencing the creativity and joy in people and invoking ways to people please or for minors to Act Mature (in reality acting the way these adults want to avoid harassment ofc!) Instead of of course just experiencing joy and fun and community as they would normally.

And that brings me to my last pt of the effects of you hit [adult age] and must Act Mature and not Care About Cringe Fandoms or Watch Cartoons and do anything that would indicate you god forbid Don't Have a Real Job. This is the reality for growing up in fandom its finite once you're 19 no more Cringe of course /s! Because I've been subject to this take before as a criticism, and I've seen essays about how adults who watch Bluey are destroying the world forever, and I can take it because I go to therapy and I'm secure in my own maturity where it matters and joy where it matters. But imagine how younger people in the fandom feel. Like you're basically telling kids "btw once you're at Adult Age you must stop having fun forever and you must have a Real Job (or Education) and stop enjoying Immature things like fandom (even though I am in fandom btw im not a hypocrite saying this) or you're a freak immature adult who will never grow up". Like wow.

Like the conservative and near unnuanced take of to be Mature you need a real job (whatever that means) and to only watch adult shows in a normal manner (again whatever that means) aside, like you're really telling kids to grow up and be insecure. I'm serious! Like of course as you grow up it's important to mature no duh, but with real maturity means realizing there are times to be serious and there are times to enjoy things. Maturity doesn't mean I can never watch bluey god forbid else I have a not real job or become media illiterate as a consequence (esp when actually marketing wise a lot of kids shows are meant to also be entertaining for adults watching with their kids... and lo and behold your media literacy doesn't go away magically the moment the show starts). Like you really want younger ppl in fandom to be miserable and grow up miserable and create a cycle of miserable lest they become Cringe Adults that watch a harmless cartoon and enjoy it.

I'm never good at ending rants like this but conclusion. Get a grip on yourself and insecurities and be really careful how you foster fandom community for yourself but also to those that grow up in these spaces too.

As always add on/send asks/correct me/add nuance/etc. ❤️

[thatswhatsushesaid]

I have a MDZS question and consider you an expert on all things JGY (he did crimes, good for him) so I hope you have some insight into this: I read that NHS found the Sacrifice Ritual in JGY’s Closet of Wonders, but how did JGY get it? Was it in WWX’s Burial Mounds “library,” and if so do you know where WWX found it?

Thanks, I very much enjoy your content!

hey there anon, it's very kind of you to consider me an expert, but i really am not 😬 i've certainly read, reread, and re-reread both the EXR and 7seas translations of the empathy flashback sequence many, many, many times, in addition to the guanyin temple sequence, because those are the parts of the text where jgy's actions are most frequently criticized and taken out of context. for details like the ones you're asking after, i've got to revisit other parts of the book again because my memory is a tea sieve, and i'm also not immune to medium bleed (no one is). so please bear with me, and keep tabs on the notes of this post for any discussion that follows since my pals often chime in with details i've missed.

first point of contention tho: it is never confirmed how novel canon nhs comes by his knowledge/familiarity of the summoning ritual, though wwx does speculate extensively in the guanyin temple denouement that he hears about the ritual from mo xuanyu himself. i don't think he gets his hands on the ritual himself, and i don't think he has access to the jin sect treasure room either. from vol 5 of the 7seas translation:

So yet another person came to [Nie Huaisang's] mind. Mo Xuanyu, who had been banished from Golden Carp Tower.

In the past, Nie Huaisang might have chatted with Mo Xuanyu to glean information from him. From the mouth of the dejected Mo Xuanyu, Nie Huaisang had clearned that he'd read one of Jin Guangyao's fragmented manuscripts of forbidden magic, in which an ancient, evil ritual was recorded. He had then incited Mo Xuanyu to exact revenge for the humiliation he'd suffered at the hands of his own clan members--to use the forbidden art of the sacrificial ritual to seek retribution.

in vol 1 of the 7seas translation, this is what the text tells us about the sacrificial ritual mo xuanyu uses to summon wei wuxian:

The nature of this "sacrificial ritual" was a type of curse. The caster was to harm themselves with a weapon, making cuts on their body and using their own blood to draw the array and write the spells within. They would then sit in the center of the circle and give up their mortal body to evil spirits, using the annihilation of their soul as the price to summon a nefarious, malicious ghost. This was all done in order to request the fulfillment of a wish. Thus, it was the opposite of "possession."

While both were forbidden magics of ill repute, the difference was that the former was much less popular than the latter. After all, few wishes were so strongly desired as to make someone willingly sacrifice everything they had. This was why the technique had been nearly lost after centuries of disuse. The examples recorded in ancient books had only a handful of cases that were backed by reliable evidence, and every single one of them had been for revenge. Every malicious ghost summoned by the ritual had fulfilled the caster's wishes perfectly, in cruel and bloody ways.

i've been thumbing through the rest of the 7seas volumes as well as the EXR translation, but i don't think there's anything more concrete about where the ritual comes from. i think it is entirely possible that the jin sect found copies of something like this ritual in the burial mounds, sure, but i also wouldn't rule out a ritual like this being contained in the treasure room entirely independent of wwx. there's canon precedent for it; case in point, recall the collection of turmoil in the gusu lan's forbidden section of their library.

anyway that's what i've been able to find today, but i'll keep poking around in the books to see if i trip over a passage that neatly answers all of our questions lol.

[mackmp3]

mack-anthology-of-noise -> mack-anthology-mp3 -> mackmp3

hello i'm mack :]

welcome to my blog it is terrible!

here i post about. things. that appear in my mind. and exit it in tumblr form. mostly music and art related! (hopefully)

i am a lesbian (possibly aspec not sure), she/her/his (they is okay if you forget). i am also butch! boydyke or something idkkkk but also not quite. boy in a girl way. or something <3

i am a teenager still! so please don't be weird yknow. i'm from aotearoa new zealand and am pākehā (white)

i am a musician! i play bass, guitar and sing in descending order of proficiency hehe. i can also do harmonica, thank you folk music phase, and i'll attempt piano. i write songs too! all audio recordings are under #musicking , hopefully they are cool :)

i also draw and paint! at the moment A Lot of it is of doctor who characters, so check out my other blog for that (linked further down), but all of other stuff is tagged under #my art ! i have actually improved quite a bit recently i think which is nice

i'm not really comfortable with dms but if you'd like to say hi or talk about / rec some music or just tell me something, please send an ask! I would love to hear from you! (if you've sent me a dm pls don't stress about it, i'd just rather not talk privately, thank you for your consideration)

it would be great if i wasn't followed by people over 30, for my own comfort - this is at my discretion, lots of you are chill. i intend no offense if i block you <3 also like. please no bigots not that any would listen to that. thanks.

my music i am normal about

pj harvey // radiohead // patti smith // joan baez // bob dylan <- my top five ever. i think. maybe. subject to change.

post punk // industrial // 90s indie // shoegaze // 60s & 70s folk & folk rock // garage rock // psychedelica // goth // dunedin sound // new wave // no wave // electronic

currently listening to more goth music & the i saw the tv glow soundtrack

pleaseeeeee talk to me about music i can and will make you a playlist on any vibe if you would like <3

media yippee

doctor who has taken over my mind! if you want to see generally mildly unhinged thoughts about the show & random bits of the eu & 1271927 art reblogs i will direct you to @butchtwelfthdoctor which is 98% doctor who atm hehe. i put my fanart there too.

you can look at my letterboxd if you so desire but i will admit i don't watch nearly as many films as i would like

the starless sea (favouritest book ever) // we have always lived in the castle // this is how you lose the time war // salt lick //m train (any of patti smith's books honestly) // bob dylan's chronicles // vampire science

the sideblog is @mackerel-like-the-fish for stuff that's not as on theme - if we're mutuals feel free to follow that! i mean anyone can follow it if you like but don't expect quality content lol

[shrimp-writes]

reposting stitches here

Story time! I got attacked by a serial killer😱

Hey Guys! Hannah here, I've got another story time, yayyy! If you're new here, Hi, I'm Hannah, I tell stories, bake, vlog, do whatever i want , honestly my channel’s a mess so if any of that sounds up your alley please consider subscribing! And if you know me, then buckle up cause I've got one hell of a story to tell.

But before that, I want to thank squarespace for sponsoring this video! Squarespace is an online website builder that lets you create beautiful websites for your business, job, or hobby. There are a ton of templates for anything you need, and a ton of features to make it your own. Choose a domain ending in .com . net, or something fancy like .art! go to squarespace.com/hannahstory for 10% off your next website or domain. Thanks again to squarespace for sponsoring this video.

Alright, before we start I just wanna give a content warning, this video is gonna be way darker than my other videos, so if that's not your style, click off, okay? So, this happened about a week before I started writing the script for this video. Which, I know you’ve read the title so you're probably thinking “What?! Only a week?!? She's insane!” but guys i just HAD to get this story out. So, I assume you've all heard of the murders happening recently, the one where bodies have been found with their mouths sewn up? So, I think I had a run in with the guy that's doing them. I’m 100% sure and you’ll understand why when I tell you later.

So the story starts about a week before I began writing this script, so like. July 16th or 17th. I don't remember the exact date but it was one of the two. So anyways, a week before I started writing this, I was on a grocery run. And when I came back, I noticed my door was unlocked. I just thought I forgot to lock it but you guys know me, I'm paranoid like that, so I'm on guard.

So I sit down at my computer and start talking to my editing team like “hey I got the stuff for that baking video, after I record that which one should I do next” and they said “do another storytime people love those” and i'm like “okay which story i've got a ton” and Mark, my chief editor, said “the one from that collab you did with Jennifer last year” which you guys will be getting soon, that one's a doozy let me tell you. Anyways I say “okay, that's a good one.”

So I open up a doc to start writing the script for that video, and right as I'm about to start typing I hear a pot fall in my kitchen. I'm thinking “god dammit, Cola got into the kitchen again”, so I went to investigate. I'm not seeing Cola anywhere, and If you know Cola she likes to stick around the scene of the crime. So I start looking around and find cola locked in the pantry. She couldn't have gotten in herself, the door was closed and she can't squeeze under it, and then I remember my unlocked door, so I'm getting scared and thinking “oh my god, there’s someone in my house”. If y'all know one thing about me it's that I love horror movies and true crime so I’m thinking “okay im not sticking around long enough to find out who's here,” so I book it to the front door, and I shit you not there was someone standing in front of it.

He had this scruffy brown hair and brown eyes, he was wearing a black leather jacket and ripped jeans, he was honestly totally my type and I definitely would have been flirting with him if he hadn't broken into my house, but that's neither here nor there. Anyways, here’s why I think this is the same guy that's doing those murders; He had these markings on his mouth that looked like stitches, and if you remember the killers victims, their mouths had been sewn up. I put two and two together real fast and thought “oh my god, im gonna get murdered”.

So after a few moments of just standing and staring at each other, He lunges at me and tackles me, I'm talking full five nights at Freddy's jumpscare. He starts choking me, and my adrenaline is pumping, so everything I learned in self defense class is kicked into full gear. I wrestle him off me, and he's not making a sound the entire time, just completely silent.

I book it out the door and into my car, it's not starting. With the scary killer guy approaching, I get out and just take off screaming, hoping someone would notice and eventually I lose him. I'm not taking chances though so I go to a police station to report the whole thing. They search my house and find nothing, nobody there and no trace of a break in. So, like cops often do, just call it a day and forget about the whole thing. Honestly cops are some of the laziest people you will ever meet, it’s seriously astounding how little of their job they get right.

I've been SUPER on guard lately, thinking that guy's gonna break in at any time. I haven't left the house, I've been ordering all my groceries online, basically just barricading myself in my house like it's 2020 all over again. I've been having to do therapy and file police reports which is probably why this video has taken so long.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this story time, and if you did please consider liking and subscribing and comment below what you think! Thanks again to squarespace for sponsoring this video. I'll see you all next time, buh bye!

you didnt think id let one of my victims go did you? sorry but I cant have this stuff getting public. people like her talk a lot but they dont have much to say in the end.

XOXO - Stitches

[genericpuff]

Remembering My Roots - Rest in Peace, RateMyDrawings

I've talked about my old art before on here, but never really fully in-depth about the site that hosted it. I was reminded of it today while going through my FB memories and felt like I should actually write a true eulogy towards what once was.

Once upon a time, before LORE | REKINDLED, before Time Gate: [AFTERBIRTH], before I had even started drawing webcomics, I entered the world of digital art through one website - not DeviantArt, not Pixiv, but a little site called RateMyDrawings. Back in the day, it was one of the most popular browser-supported art tools, offering multiple different art tools that were, at the time, revolutionary. A flash drawing tool which could replay the progress of your drawing (but the tradeoff was that you had a limited amount of 'ink' aka recording data), a Java-supported tool that was essentially Photoshop Lite (but didn't come with the recording), and later, a more refined tool supported by HTML5 (?) that offered more 3D-like brush tools. There was also DrawChat, a live drawing flash tool where you could draw with others and chat.

And on that site, I created my first works of digital art. No drawing tablet, just a mouse and a loooot of patience. They'd host contests every now and then to win budget Wacom tablets. Sometimes I'd enter, I'd never win. I did eventually get my first drawing tablet, but by then, I'd moved on from RMD onto actual software such as GIMP and Photoshop Elements.

That site is gone now, one of the first art site deaths I'd ever experience in my teen years. I was around 12-13 when I started using this site and I adored it. When people talk about missing the 'tight-knit communities' of old, I don't think of DA, I think of RMD, my first home. Unfortunately, the site couldn't survive in the 'modern' era of the Internet, overshadowed by more advanced tools and art-sharing sites like Deviantart, Facebook, and Instagram.

But I did manage to backup some of my old art pieces before the site finally became completely shuttered in the early 2020's. For a while the site was awake but lacked any content or features, with a message from the site's creator Mick that it might come back, it might not.

It didn't. The old ratemydrawings.com URL now redirects to the inactive FB page. Any attempt to bypass that kill screen like before leads to an Error 404.

But while the site was in its comatose state - before it was shuttered permanently - I was able to access my old profile and extract some of my art pieces of old. I posted them to my FB about 3 years ago, and today they showed up in my memories.

I share a lot of art pieces from creators like Rachel Smythe in an attempt to preserve media. But I also need to remember to preserve my own. So here are a handful of the 100+ pieces I drew on RMD. Enjoy ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

Don't be confused by the '1987' part of the username, I picked that number because I was a huge Zelda weeb and 1987 was the year the first Zelda game was made. Whoof.

What's ironic is I actually didn't have the Featured Artist award last time I was actively on the site, so it clearly happened while I was inactive in its final days. The one award I wanted the most and I wasn't there to witness getting it. RIP.

Unfortunately that's all I really have in the way of high-resolution drawings as I wasn't able to preserve much else (though if I find anything more I'll definitely add it to this post!) That said, I was able to nab some screenshots of my homepage via the Wayback Machine where you can see more of the pieces I did back then:

There are so many dorky ass drawings here, some from Time Gate (because it's that freaking old!!!), some are screenshot recreations from anime that I enjoyed (a very common trend on RMD), some are collaborations. There was a point where I learned how to color with the mouse by using low opacity colors and layering them one at a time. Really upped my game there LMAO That Ocarina of Time Link drawing was the first one I ever did that made it to the front page of RMD and y'all, I was so proud, the site back then I think had 50k users total which is nothing compared to the Internet today, but achieving that was one of the greatest things ever LOL The Skyward Sword drawing that followed was one that really felt like a milestone in terms of my art evolution, I felt like I was finally creating something good. I believe I did that Skyward Sword drawing off another DA piece at the time, it was really common to do redraw challenges on RMD what with the technical limitations of the site - I suppose redrawing stuff I liked back then should have been foreshadowing LMAO

That feeling wouldn't last forever ofc once the art high wore off, but even to this day I look back on the pieces from that era fondly. It's where the mysteries of digital art finally started to 'click' in my brain, and I had still barely gotten started.

I also have a few drawings preserved that were done after I got my first drawing tablet, and you can really tell with the improvement of the lineart LOL That said, I think I was around 18-19 when I did these:

Now, one thing that I really enjoyed doing on RMD were collabs - specifically, trading collabs where users would exchange drawing files through the RMD PM system with one another to do steps of a drawing together. Often times I took the role of coloring other people's lineart pieces, which is probably where I started to really learn digital art coloring and come into my own with it.

A collab with user "lime":

Collab with user "Mikai":

A collab with user "Overik", which I specifically remember struggling with because, at the time, my computer monitor's screen was messed up resulting in the entire thing basically being a fluorescent pink:

A collab with "Mist04" that I don't remember doing lmao:

Collab with "Adzumi" (?). I'm fairly certain that's who it was, I definitely remember the process of painting this one, I had loads of fun with it:

Collab with user "ForgottenArtist", IIRC this one was more of a coloring page where they gave out the file freely for others to color, so this was my version. The forums on RMD were great for that sort of thing, people would literally just upload their drawing files for people to have fun with:

So I guess I drew this next little thing in 2021 when the site was still 'live' but not functional, I completely forgot I did this though LMAO Basically the main URL took you to that kill page I showed above, but if you knew any of the extension slugs, you could bypass that kill page and get into the rest of the site, which I was able to by using my username URL. So I got into the Java drawing tool and made this little thing in the hopes I could upload it. Of course, it didn't work, but hey, it was worth getting a screenshot, I suppose:

It's equal parts nostalgic and bittersweet to go through these drawings. Life back then feels so far away and yet I still remember it so vividly, the hours I'd spend drawing on the family PC, feeling more at home with the friends I made online than the ones I had in real life, listening to music that I still listen to to this day. It's far away now, but it still lives through me, in the work I do today. Even someone like me can go from being a complete noob drawing with a mouse to a professional making their living stabbing ink into other people while still drawing the same stories they drew as a child.

There is one piece I had to dig up outside of FB memories, fortunately it wasn't hard to find because I knew I had shared it ages ago on my FB so the search bar saved my skin. My very first digital art piece, of Sheena Fujibayashi from Tales of Symphonia, one of my favorite games of all time.

My very first digital art drawing:

Recreated in 2019:

Past me went through a lot, and they'd be doomed to go through even more still (they hadn't hit the plague yet). And yet they're going to survive, they're gonna keep getting better and better with each passing year. Thanks past me - you've done a lot of dumb shit in your life, but sticking with your craft wasn't one of them. Thank you for walking - through all the good and the bad that you've had to weather through - so that I could run for us both.