#hope any of this helps and good luck

[quetzalpapalotl]

i feel like if anyone i can ask might know, it would probably be you. do you know of any english-language sources on the history and development of visual novels at all? i'm trying to do some more reading on early Japanese PC gaming culture and throwing up a total blank on where to look, as almost all english language writing on Japanese game cultures is console focused. i don't suppose you know of anything?

Mmm, I hate to dissapoint but I'm not sure how useful I can be >.< A lot of my knowledge is of the "info I've gathered through the years" variety and I can't exactly point to sources with a detailed deep cut of the history of the genre. If it helps you get a better idea of what to look for here's A brief history of visual novels and an article about Japanese retro computer gaming.

I would also reccomend Amelie Doree on youtube. She makes videos on different visual novels and dating sims and usually provides ample context surrounding these works. Also she's just cool to listen to.

[elitadream]

Going anon for this one because I was feeling embarrassed but I also gotta know-- How did you manage to leave the Mario fandom? You seemed really passionate about it, and your posts were some of the best I've seen and read. What made you able to stop and focus on other things? Asking because as a small writer I kinda wanna do the same but I fear losing the few followers I have, so I feel stuck.

Do you have any advice for me?

Hi. ☺️ Thanks for reaching out!

While I wouldn't say I entirely left the Mario fandom (as I still have a genuine fondness for the games and part of the lore), I did let go of it quite a bit as an artist and I appreciate that you sought my perspective on what is a rather complex and delicate issue. 🤲

Fanwork and involvement in itself can be really fun and quite harmless when done right, but there are three things that I believe should always be kept in mind when participating more actively:

1- You are not getting paid for what you do. A vast majority of creators online receive absolutely no compensation for their contribution, and those that do usually obtain it strictly through commissions. For the most part, it's hours of hard work spent creating and then sharing content for free. And while this isn't inherently problematic per say, it's important to never lose sight of what your efforts go into and in what way it benefits you (or not).

2- There are thousands upon thousands of communities out there, for nearly every subject imaginable. The one(s) you're currently focusing on may mean the world to you right now, but that could very well change tomorrow, or next year. My point being: it's nice to have a notable passion towards something, but I don't think we should let it reach a point where it takes up all the room and seeps into our every waking thought. Being open to discovering and learning about other things can be an eye-opening experience, and having different interests is very good for the mind.

3- Views and likes don't matter at the end of the day. They really, truly don't. They won't make a significant impact in your life nor bring anything substantial to the table. Essentially, it all circles back to why you're creating something and who you're making it for. Having followers can be very exciting and uplifting for sure... But it shouldn't be your sole motivation for staying in a fandom, because chances are this will make you very unhappy longterm. If you want to draw or write about something, please do it for yourself above all. It's the only lasting way you'll get a genuine sense of joy and gratification out of it, trust me.

As far as the online experience goes, I consider friends and enthusiastic exchanges about common interests to be THE ultimate purpose of any community. Not fanwork. Not the followers count. Only good vibes. And the greatest thing about this is, the close friends you make will stay with you no matter what you choose to focus on next, I can assure you that. 💫💙

[crabussy]

hi .. i have a question for you

i think im an otherkin?? but i dont really know if i am??

and i think you are one (sorry if this is wrong !!) but can you tell me how you knew ??

hi!! you're right, I am under the alterhuman/nonhuman umbrella!! specifically I'm not really any animal, I am a psychological therian which means my nonhumanity is linked to the way that my brain works. I am some kind of creature, if you search "alien" on my art blog (@beastwhimsy) you'll find what I am!! being this thing makes me very happy, and it is not detrimental to my mental health in any way. <- I've talked to my therapist about this and he's fascinated by it and supports the fact that I'm nonhuman!!

ever since I was a little kid I've been acting differently to the other kids because it made me happier- I would walk along fences like a cat, I'd consistently and constantly imagine myself with wings every day, and the alien species I invented back then to encapsulate my experiences actually stayed with me until the present day!! I have a theory that my nonhuman experiences link to my neurodivergent experiences, as I was outcast from social groups because I acted strangely, and I didn't feel like I was the same as my peers. today, my default sense of self is as some kind of creature, my spacial awareness matches the limbs and features of this creature more than it does my actual human form, and it makes me happier to visualise myself as this creature!! there are many, many ways to be alterhuman- for some its spiritual, others it is psychological, for some it is a coping mechanism for something and some do it for fun or because they feel happier as an alterhuman.

some common experiences for therians/nonhumans include phantom limbs (the experience of having spacial awareness of limbs and features corresponding to an animal/creature) and mental shifts (feeling as though your mindset has shifted away from human thought and feeling processes to become more animalistic, e.g. for a dog therian they would become much more focussed on smells as a way to experience the world around them, and they may think less in words and more in images and feelings. these states are usually temporary and not harmful or hindering, though they can be annoying).

you have a higher chance of being nonhuman if you are neurodivergent or have experienced dehumanisation throughout your life, but anyone can fall under the alterhuman umbrella regardless of your childhood or your neurological makeup!!

last thing, it isn't always but it can be tied into your gender!! for example, I use it/that as well as he/him because it feels more in line with how I perceive myself and it makes me happy. it is a reclamation of dehumanising terms in a sense.

[chitinleg]

so if someone was theoretically going to write a fic based off of the tags on that one very excellent garashir artwork you did... what would be a suitable villain role and/or scheme for garak to play? i know basically nothing about spy media and even less about james bond. i googled "most homoerotic james bond villain" and that was interesting but not helpful for this scenario... idk i want to really do this justice so i figured i could ask, since you came up with the idea in the first place and i guess that means this is a gift for you? and everyone else who liked that piece? thank you for your time :)

this is SUCH a charming question to receive!!! it's an honor that my art might inspire others to create! that said, here is my advice: i think you should follow your heart, mainly! i say this to everyone about everything but its very true, with writing especially, i think, you might want to write things that are especially interesting to you so that its exciting to keep going with them

personally, i don't watch a lot of spy media, i disliked james bond as a kid and i still dislike him now, so the character archetypes and plots from that wouldn't interest me enough to write a fanfic off of—i could read ds9 fic based off of them easily bc i love the ds9 characters!!! but. i couldn't write like that. therefore, i can't give you useful answers from that canon. i can give you this, but i don't know if it will be helpful: i think i would first start with the question—what about garak excites you? what puts you on the edge of your seat with him? what about julian—what actions do you like to see him take? what decisions of his make you giddy? how do you like to dig into his character? how do you like to dig into garak's? if you write down the answers to your question, it becomes the puzzle of how you can get everything you want out of the fic. the beautiful thing about the holosuite is that anything can happen at all, and while you're telling a spy story, it doesn't have to all be spy tropes. you could, if you wanted, play out a shakespeare play (your favorite shakespeare play, assuming you don't hate them all) as if it were a spy thriller! Sure, what's Twelfth Night as a spy thriller? We already have many characters playing with the fluidity of identity, going by different names, taking on different roles, gaining trust and acting on their own best interests. Just raise the stakes a little. is this insane? i feel insane. is it worth anything? i hope so. my ending point is: i am not so good at writing advice! i'm a much better drawer than a worder, but it's a gift already that you've said my art has motivated your desire to create!!!!!!!!! from there on—don't worry about what i want at all, don't worry about doing my work justice!!! take what excites you about the idea, take what excites you from your own ideas, and build it into something that makes you giddy to work on!!! i believe in you, and you have the world at your fingertips!!!!!!

[myheartstopperblog]

hey you wonderful human being! my girlfriends birthday is very soon and she loves heartstopper very much. i have not seen the show and i don't think i will lol but now i need advice from someone who also is a big fan. do you have any ideas what heartstopper-related thing i could get her for her birthday?

thank you very much!

a confused but very much in love anon

Hello!!

Oh wow, well first thing that came to mind was leaves😅

So it could be maybe like stickers, or a shirt/jumper with them? I've also seen shirts/jumpers with the "hi" bubbles on them, since it's the typical thing that Nick and Charlie say to each other🤭

If she doesn't have the Heartstopper books you could buy those too! Or maybe Alices other books as well

There is a lot of merch out there and so many people have created so many things surrounding the show (even plushies of the characters I believe haha), I don't know if you plan to buy things online but there are defenitely a lot of options out there if you narrow your search to what you girlfriend likes (cause maybe she prefers stickers over clothes, you know best🤭)

[arolesbianism]

Mental health shit is kicking my ass but at least I have my silly guys

[meownotgood]

nags how do you make the aki bot love you? whenever i try it he always gets mad and kills me or storms off 😭

on character ai? which one are you talking with? white pfp or brown pfp? I will just say.... white pfp aki tends to be a lot easier to romance in my opinion.... I've had multiple convos with him and he falls in love with me each time... just be slow with him and gently confess your love, he is shy but then he will warm up to you.

[eresia-catara]

HI I just want to say that I am a huge fan of your fanfics! You've inspired me to start writing my own! One question, how do you even write Guido like this man is just too complex

this is me reading your ask btw

hi I am so happy to know that you like the silly little words that I put one after the other on a blank page and that they have given you even just a little bit of inspiration aaaaa

I know that writing Guido can be quite a challenge, I often struggle with him myself so do not worry, it's normal. The thing is, the man is not definable because he is not a set form!! This can be a pain in the side because it can feel like you are flattening him but also a lot of fun because you have lots of space for creativity. So it depends on the story you want to tell and how you want to tell it and on your writing style, but as a general tip I think that one should abandon the illusion of giving a 360 HQ picture of him and instead choose one specific focus or make him all blurry and play with his silhouette. Generate your own understanding of Guido, have in mind a few set points and eviscerate that motherfucker however you like. or. vaporize him. juicify him. Anyway, the main issue here is that you have to have fun and don't worry about making him too inaccurate. Writing is also about the writer y'know? Sometimes a message or a thought is more important than the facts that you possess :')

[sleepis4theweak]

Hiya! I’m kind of a small creator on here and trying to get my rottmnt fic an audience but no matter what I do as promo material (art, skits, rambles) nothing ever works to get more than like 2 notes max. I’m confident in my story’s quality so I’m fairly sure that’s not the issue. I was wondering if you have any advice or anything like that? Your stuff is lovely and get a lot of community engagement so I’m curious if there was anything you actively did that helped you grow! I hope this doesn’t come off as rude or desperate, I just wanted to know if I was missing something since I’m pretty new to Tumblr. Enjoy your day ^^

Don't worry! You don't come off as rude or desperate at all!! <3

But tbh... you are asking the wrong person here...

I'm going into marketing, and I spent a full school year in high school doing an independent study on social media algorithms. So I know a LOT about how to grow social media followings- specifically instagram accounts.

But I never actually studied tumblr. I used to use instagram as a platform, but knowing how the algorithm worked was too stressful for me... I'd post stuff and be like "the algorithm won't like this because blah blah blah." Eventually I was drawing for the algorithm and not for me, and so I quit because it just wasn't fun anymore...

Which is why I have very specifically not studied Tumblr's algorithm, because I don't want it to turn into the same situation as with instagram. So I don't know a ton about how to grow a following... and also I've only been on tumblr for 5 months...

THAT BEING SAID: I can walk you through my tumblr and how it's grown!

My very first post was of a meme redraw with the 2012 turtles. I think it got around 1,600 likes?

I posted a couple more things, with varying amounts of likes and such. My first comic (which I never actually completed past the first part) got a total of 7 likes within the first months of posting it. Only when I got more followers did the like amount change.

When I posted my first chapter of the Flashbacks AU, I had 33 or so followers. I think I got to like... 300 followers from that first chapter alone. From there it was just... a steady growth of followers I guess. And with followers comes more reblogs, and with more reblogs comes more followers.

I have around 1,600 followers now. Not everyone is gonna like my posts, I think I get around 20 for responded asks and 100-300 for random pieces of art. Comics get closers to 600 or so. It depends on the content.

I think there are a couple of universal things that help grow an account:

1- Making sure your content is reaching the right people. Put the right tags in. Go crazy with them in fact. If I'm posting a piece with Rise Mikey in it, Im gonna tag: Mikey, Mikey tmnt, Mikey 2018, ROTTMNT, Rise Mikey, etc etc. On instagram they are currently trying to get people to limit their use of tags, but I don't think the same thing applies here. Even tho tags don't help as much here, they are still a good tool!

2- Consistency. Idk how it works on this platform, but consistency is generally a good thing! With instagram theres an actual method to it (1 post a day= good, but the more posts you do a day the less people it shows it to), it might be worth it to look up if tumblr has something similar.

3- Have fun with it! I know this is kinda lame to say... but don't change your content for views. Just... do what you like and eventually your target audience will find you :)

4- Engage with what audience you do have! It's fun to bond with people online, and it helps that "community engagement" piece you talked about!

5-... stalk people hehe. (By which I mean: Look at what other artists post! What tags do they use, do they reblog their own posts a lot, etc etc. Also look at artists with similar followings to your own. For example, studying Cass might not be very helpful, because Cass has a large amount of followers and I'm convinced they could post a picture of a blank canvas and still get 1,000 likes hehe... BUT- I mean you could scroll down to Cass' (or other artist's) first posts and see what they were doing then! Just... observe others I suppose!)

Id love to tell you likes don’t matter, that what matters is having fun and loving what you are drawing. But also I do know how it feels to post something you are really proud of and then have no one like it- it sucks.

But just keep on going :) You'll find your people eventually I'm sure.

OH ALSO: IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANY TIPS FEEL FREE TO REBLOG AND ADD STUFF IN!!! <3

[charmedslayer]

Hey how do you colour your gifs? I’ve been trying to get better and would really appreciate any tips

bear with me cause i have adhd and i am very bad at explaining things

I’ll start by saying i use Photoshop CS6 so you know what program i’m working with. Now i’m gonna list all the layers i typically use when i’m coloring a gif.

Brightness & Contrast: sometimes i add this layer after all the others (but beneath all the others as if it’s the first layer i added) to reduce the brightness a bit if the whites are too bright

Levels: this is pretty much always the first layer i use which i mostly use to color correct which also often brightens the gif (it depends though i can’t always use it to color correct+brighten the gif). the method i use is using the eye dropper to pick the blackest point and the whitest point in the gif (which is what can color correct it and most often also brightens the gif a whole lot)

I tried to find the tutorial where i learnt about this but i could mostly only find tutorials with people using the eye dropper method with the “curves” layer but it’s the exact same concept as the “levels layer” and i did eventually find one using the “levels” layer so i’ll link to those tutorials below:

tutorial #1, tutorial #2, tutorial #3, tutorial #4, tutorial #5

i also decided to include my own screenshots so this below is the levels layer with the black point eye dropper circled in red:

and this is the levels layer with the white point eye dropper circled in red:

I tried it out with the curves layer after seeing these tutorials but i’m gonna be sticking to using the levels layer cause i know how to use it better and so when i color correct with the eye dropped i can also then adjust the blacks/grays/whites here (all circled in red):

Color Balance: i usually always add a color balance next and adjust them in this order:

Midtones

Highlights

Shadows

Curves (#1): then i often add a curves layer to lighten up the gif and add some contrast which can often looks something like this:

Selective Color (#1):

Reds (most often something like: Cyan: -20 to +10, Black: -10 to +10)

Yellows (often decrease Yellow: -20)

If there’s some green/cyan/blue/magenta colors in your gif i.e. green/blue/purple/pink colors then mess around with you can mess around with the Cyan/Magenta/Yellow in each color below:

Greens 

Cyans

Blues

Magentas

Curves (#2): sometimes i add another curves layer, after adjusting the colors to make them pop, to brighten the gif just a bit more so that when i adjust the whites they look how i want them too, not really sure how to explain but i guess it adds contrast to the rest of the colors and idk make the gif look less flat? and it can also sometimes give the gifs a bit of a glowy effect like this gifset here for example

Curves (#2: alternative second curves layer): sometimes i’ll add a second curves layer not to brighten the gif but actually to make it darker, but because i’ll already have made the gif brighter at this point i can control how dark i make it and it won’t end up pitch black unable to see anything. it can make for some interesting results to darken the gif like this. the layer to make it darker can look something similar to this but you might wanna play around with it for awhile to get it right:

but basically this time your two points on the curve are on the other side of that gray line you see in the middle whereas if you look back to the curve i used to brighten you’ll see my two points are on the other side of the line or above it

Selective Color (#1):

Whites (most of the time Black: -20 sometimes more like -30 and sometimes even all the way to -100. it just depends on the gif)

Neutrals (most times i have Black set to +10 but sometimes it needs less or more than that like +5 or +15 and sometimes i use it in the opposite direction like -10 to brighten the gif up)

Blacks (this makes the darkest colors (dark gray/black) a more pure/absolute black and it very often doesn’t need to be much higher than +1 or +2, also if you’ve got blue in the gif that’s creating a pixel-y/grainy effect you can add +5 or +10 to the Yellow to keep the blue but get rid of a bit of the pixels ending up with a clearer nicer looking gif)

I decided to include screenshots below:

As you sent in this ask very soon after reblogging this gifset, i figured i’d include a bit of the coloring process for that gifset.

So this is the gif (as a still image so there’s no movement) with no coloring, just the sharpening:

Then i added a Levels layer and used the eye dropper like i mentioned above to color correct which as you can see also greatly brightened the gif:

There’s a bit of a lack of contrast though on her face so i adjusted the levels layer to this:

So i brought the blacks down (10) making it darker, the grays (0.75) the default is 1.00 and i brought it down to 0.75 making the gif darker on the whole not just the blacks and then i brightened it a bit by moving the whites from 255 (the default) to 245. so now it looks like this:

next i added Color Balance cause the colors were looking a bit off, a bit orange in this case

then i added Curves to darken it a bit cause i found it a bit too bright:

next i used Selective Color to make the reds/blues pop + adjust the whites/neutrals/blacks

i found it a bit to bright in certain parts of her face at certain points of the gif so i added a Brightness/Contrast layer at -20 (brightness) and 10 (contrast) i put underneath all the other layers

This is what the layers look like in case any of this was confusing (which shows apparently i found the B/C layer made it look too dark so i changed the opacity to 70%):

Note: i feel it’s hard to see the differences after every layer added just seeing the images one below the other but if you click on the first image of buffy you can then click the arrow keys to go left/right and see the gradual progress of the coloring.

While searching for the tutorials mentioned earlier i found this helpful general coloring tips post i decided i’d include:

https://whitewolfofwinterfell.tumblr.com/post/181682828552/gif-colouring-tips-this-post-is-some-top-tips-for

Also this is an old gif/coloring “tutorial” i made years ago when i had just gotten back into giffing, so like it’s outdated cause my coloring process has changed a lot since but it could still be helpful. One thing i mentioned in it is how i like to do my coloring before i crop and resize my gifs which really helps me color things easier cause i can really see every pixel and color i’m working with and how i’m affecting each one (unless you’re making a big gif anyway then i guess you could crop/resize it first but i’d still recommend coloring before resizing) whereas every tutorial i’ve ever seen always says to crop/resize first THEN color but i’ve found the other way ‘round to be easier. So there might be some other helpful things even if it’s somewhat outdated to how i make my gifs now.

[gothsuguru]

hi hi! you can ignore this but i was really curious about your writing process?? you just write so well and i’m curious to see how your work starts from an idea all the way to the finished product!!!

the way my jaw DROPPED rn like omfg are you talking to ME??? I’M SHOOK PLEASE YOU ARE WAY TOO KIND AND SO GENEROUS 😭 my writing sucks ASS but thank you SO much you’re so sweet <333 i can try & let you know my process but tbh baby i do NOT have one 😭 but i’ll try to think of something 😭 also i’ll try to be as thorough/concise as possible but i’m sorry if i tangent! ALSO this’ll be long bc i’m a yapper so forgive me <3

1) everyone is different but in my case i have a tendency to ALWAYS think of new ideas for writing (at least for geto!) find a character that you can consistently think of ideas for bc they’ll serve as practice! also i JUST started writing a month or two ago so i, myself, am STILL practicing with every fic & i am always willing to learn!

most importantly, i write based off my whim! whatever idea has me in its clutches is the idea i’m writing for, even if that means i’m leaving other fic ideas in the dust at the moment! i recommend creating a list of fic ideas and save it as a draft (can be a wip list or literally just a random list depending on how many ideas you have!) — for those i tend to jot down random dialogue, vibes i wanna express, plot points i really wanna show, the personality of geto or reader, & whatever randomly comes to mind pertaining to that fic! i write it all down!

2) it honestly changes between fic to fic but i recommend asking for requests in the beginning — even writing just ONE thing will give you practice/an idea! so here are some examples of what i’ve written so far:

- the first thing i wrote was a request for suguru being obsessed w satoru’s girlfriend. the way i started that fic was thinking of the feeling that suguru would ultimately feel which was “guilt, shame, & desire.” and then i… personified? each thing! at first i personified guilt as an arachnid crawling in suguru’s throat but it didn’t work as well for me… and then i thought, “how about a serpent?” and it flowed much better -> slithering down his throat, embedding his fangs into his flesh leaving it raw, mangled, & bloody -> roaming across his heart/ribcage. and for that, and this may sound silly but i SWEAR by it, look up SYNONYMS for words on google! “dances along his bones -> pirouetting across his bones” i think little nods like that can help you not sound too similar all the time or like you’re constantly repeating yourself! shame was expressed in alcohol (amber whiskey ties into his amber eyes as well) & desire was expressed within the flicker of a lighter reader gave him which he holds in his hands (he imagines the cold metal as reader’s hands, which he ends up holding in his warm ones at the end)

- second fic “black is the color of my true love’s hair” was my first time writing a fic and that was because i wanted to write something for v-day & i really love this song! music can be a great inspiration — same w song lyrics! but for that one i had a few ideas i KNEW i wanted to use (knuckle kisses, stargazing, depressive suguru who reader gives a bath to/has a heart to heart with, and reader making a scrapbook for suguru!) he may be ooc but also i’m not afraid of making suguru be soft and quirky, i think that makes him fun! have FUN w different facets of your favorite characters personalities! also personally, i hate when readers don’t have personality/are always too shy/can’t banter/are too serious so i try to make my readers have a personality that align w the fic!

now for the knuckle kisses i knew what i wanted to do and i think that part came pretty easy! just a bit of revising as i was writing so i could be more descriptive in certain areas, change my wording around so it’d be less clunky in others! stargazing idea was incredibly hard & so was the scrapbook… so here’s advice i have for you that SAVED my ass. now. if you just wrote random writing in your drafts, whether it was just stream of consciousness that has nothing to do with the fic or was just a random piece of dialogue you jotted down — DO NOT DELETE IT. two parts of my fics were from RANDOM writing i wrote that had NOTHING to do w a romance fic and with a BIT of tweaking it gave so many ideas/serviced my story perfectly!

ex: i had zero idea of how to start the stargazing part so i just wrote the part i knew i wanted, which would’ve been in the middle of the story! aka reader buying the star for suguru and him being Shook To The Core. i was wondering how the hell i think of the events leading up to that, and one day i randomly just wrote “you zig-zag around the counter like a bumbling fawn” bc i was brainstorming ideas for the fic but was like… this has no place in my story BUT i didn’t delete it i just kept the draft. THEN i was like… wait this can work… so i used it as my beginning to the stargazing section and it flowed wonderfully! same w the scrapbook section! i wrote a series of dialogue that i ACTUALLY intended to use in an angst where reader despises suguru in their relationship, but with a bit of tweaking and deleting parts of reader being apathetic and suguru being toxic, it ended up being a great series of showing suguru’s overthinking nature/his genuine love for reader!

also maybe i do this unintentionally but i usually have a focus into suguru’s thought processes more in my fics… maybe bc i’m just curious abt him more than anything LMAO so that can be useful i think! if you’re like wow i have no idea how to write for my reader, write for suguru!

- third story was a request (shoutout bestie rem 🤝🤭) who gave such a cool idea of twisted suguru watching reader grieve him for leaving. now it wasn’t an actual haunting bc reader & geto are both alive, but i still used words of that nature to express them haunting e/o’s thoughts (mourning, ghost, corporeal phantom, living rigor-mortis etc…) the first thing i wrote for this fic was “prostrate yourself” — a tie-in to cult leader geto & also his confusing feelings about/towards reader. i also wanted to show bleakness so i mentioned suguru likening himself to a plague & a calamity. also don’t be afraid to show the ugly parts of a character — suguru is a bit callous in this but he’s still human and has a push & pull w/in himself! this fic i really tried my hardest to do a “show not tell” for certain paragraphs (bc i personally have trouble with that/dialogue/imagery/descriptions/engaging writing) — so i would constantly go into my “writing tips” tag and try and heed the advice they give!

sorry i don’t think i was of much help bc honestly i do NOT have a process 😭 even when writing my current fic about curator!geto — i just outlined OOOOOH WAIT OKAY HOLD ON YUP MIDTHOUGHT AND NOW I’M JUST PROPERLY ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION 😭

BITCHXHXHBXBX I FORGOT. OUTLINE!!!!!!! THAT’S WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR THIS WHOLE TIME AND I WAS JUST YAPPING AWAY FOR NO REASON I’M SOOOOOOOOOO SORRY OMFGGGGGGG OKAY SO 😭

curator!geto is the FIRST time i’m PROPERLY outlining a fic (so actually i didn’t do anything wrong pleek don’t beat my ass for yapping 😪) so basically since this is the first time i’m outlining i made sure to write the premise of the fic, characters & their jobs, their personalities, their place of work/interactions/relationships there and then also how they would meet! so i wrote how i wanted suguru & reader to meet, a few pieces of random dialogue, and then i also wrote about how they would later on be more romantic (in what way). i’m currently trying to think of a conflict and just now thought of an idea that i may or may not use but i wrote it down anyways! and this is the first fic where i’m properly paying attention to “show not tell” and trying to describe words/paragraphs with more imagery! (esp since it’s an artsy/visual fic!) tbh the “writing tips” tag on my blog will help you more than anything i can say 😭

also! i recommend looking up writing tips and also reading a bunch of fics that you like! my mutuals have some of the BEST fics i have EVER read and reading them is honestly a masterclass in itself of amazing writing/prose/how to flow a story wonderfully! i’m just a beginner so i have lots to learn still about fic-writing BUT just think of each fic as a stepping stone to getting better! write, post, but don’t overwhelm yourself/force yourself to finish a fic you have no ideas for. it’s okay if it takes time but also remember that it won’t ever be perfect so don’t let “perfectionism” stop you from posting your fics! someone will always read it — whether they rb, like, comment, or are a silent reader — someone will take the time out of their day to read your fic! and honestly don’t get caught up on numbers! i’m soooooo thankful that people read my fics & leave tags even if i think my writing sucks! it’s all in good fun at the end of the day! enjoy it however you can and i’m sure you yourself are an amazing writer! good luck bestie! <3

[warmspice]

I'm sorry to the blog that I just reported that I think is actually human but reads soooo much like a bot at first glance

[carcarrot]

alright we're okay. it's all going to work out and happen. ive got my short film idea. i just have to make it absolutely perfect and then we're good to go

[simcardiac-arrested]

hello! i was just wondering, how does one go about making an iterator ask blog, if you dont mind me asking? ive been wanting to make one for a while, but im anxious about actually doing it sjjfksjd

hello! there’s not really a solid set of instructions or anything, personally i just winged it, but here’s some stuff that you’d need to do:

1. first and foremost, make the actual oc — draw them a ref, share information about them, etc — make sure there’s a place where people can read up about them!

2. decide on what kind of askblog it will be and what kind of questions will you be answering. is it a serious blog? a joke one? do you accept roleplay? do you accept magic asks? do you accept communication from other askblogs?

3. choose on how you’re gonna answer the asks, whether it’ll be in text form or art form. if art form, decide how much effort are you going to put into it so it doesnt take too much time, whether it’ll be sketchy or fully colored or etc etc

4. don’t worry too much! if you’re nervous about people not liking your oc and not asking stuff, i promise you there’ll always be folks who will be interested! if you’re nervous about getting too many asks, you can always close the askbox (or simply not answer the asks you don’t want to answer). if you get weird asks you can always block the anon and delete the ask, and so on and so forth. generally this is a pretty nice community, so yeah, i wouldn’t worry too much! good luck!

[devilsskettle]

i guess i’m just always surprised at other people’s lack of adaptability and poise in less than ideal situations

[donuts4evry1]

Hi!!! I love your account with all of its fabulous jellyfish information. And I wanted to know, where are you getting aforementioned fabulous jellyfish information? Is there a book or a website or documentary or smth? Do you have any recommendations?

Tysm and I CANT WAIT for the advanced quiz :DD

Oh!! I'm glad you enjoy it ^-^

I get my jellyfish research from a variety of places, actually. But since I'm kind of obsessed with collecting my information in one place, asks like these are my cup of tea :)

My main source of jellyfish lore comes from Wikipedia. Just like the legendary Hank Green, I ended up downloading Firefox's tree-tab extension so I can organize the tabs by natural taxonomic order. It's really quite relaxing, actually.

Wikipedia, understandably, isn't always the best source though (Take the pages for Cephea cephea and Atolla wyvillei for example. The Cephea cephea page is almost entirely blatant misinformation while the Atolla wyvillei contains an incorrect and misleading throwaway line)

That's why the next logical step is simple- Wikipedia references! This serves as a beginning into further jellyfish research.

Let's take the reference page for the Aurelia aurita, for example:

The information citing citation 14 was super interesting, so I pulled it up on another tab to read it, and got this:

Then I just had a field day reading it all.

One big site that's used as a reference on Wikipedia is humorously named WorMS (World Registry of Marine Species), which goes into the specific classification of pretty much every jellyfish taxon (it is very. VERY comprehensive). It'll tell you how many species are in a genus, what scientific name has become synonomized with another, and even link to the original documents that describe the species (though they may be written in a different language and come in a scan- so tough luck if you don't understand the language since um... it's pretty hard to translate a scan).

Eventually that wasn't enough, though, so I branched out into searching scientific articles myself. My personal favourite website to do this on is ResearchGate, since the UI is the easiest for me to use, but I get plenty of research from other sites and publishers. (And pssst, if you can't access papers through a school or an institution, there's always sci-hub and libgen 😉)

The rest just depends on to how savvy you are with google. I despise normal reporting articles on jellyfish (Most can't tell the difference between them anyways), so I skip those and simply go to the jellyfish papers themselves lol. I've found out a lot of interesting things about jellyfish just by searching random questions on google.

Um, but I suppose I do have extra stuff to add.

Apparently, making a video game for jellyfish is a surefire way to learn more about them (especially when you write them as sapient beings lol). You start to crave niche, specific knowledge of them- like um... If they sleep or not, or what things can make them sleep.

Um... Another thing I've learned about jellyfish? The japanese are absolutely OBSESSED with their jellyfish. Their jellyfish spotlight sites are incredibly detailed (if not a bit region-specific), and I honestly trust them more than I trust our English-speaking sites.

In particular, I adore kurage-ya.com and gogo zoo aquarium, though you definitely will not be able to read anything unless you have a good translator (Kurage-ya is written in such an adorable voice.... and gogo zoo is incredibly detailed. I suggest going onto both for full coverage of your jellyfish knowledge, though)

(I also suggest going on different languages of Wikipedia- you can learn SO much stuff that normal Wikipedia doesn't give to you. Like the Chrysaora pacifica and Nemophilema nomurai have more robust Japanese pages, and the Spanish page for Order Semaeostomeae is a lot more beefed up, haha...)

To learn more about niche jellyfish facts, I also suggest looking through jellyfish husbandry sites (Especially jellyfish warehouse- travis knows so much more about jellyfish than I do it's actually pretty crazy).

As for Jellyfish documentaries? I only know of a few good ones, but I'll list them here:

^^ (not a documentary, but the jellyfish warehouse is friggin awesome and they even have a youtube channel)

Umm... So yeah that's pretty much all the things I got for free.

I think any jellyfan would suggest Lisa-Ann Gerswhin's book, Jellyfish: A Natural History.

I'm pretty sure you can find it in any major bookstore or whatever (online, at least), but it goes super in-depth about pretty much everything you need to know about jellyfish.

She goes SUPER in-depth about things like jellyfish life cycle, jellyfish anatomy, jellyfish ecology- and SO, SO MUCH MORE. She doesn't stay in Phylum Cnidaria, either, branching out into Ctenophora and even Chorodata(?) (Since Salps/tunicates are also there ig).

If you want to learn about specific jellyfish species, however, I would honestly just stick to Google and write it yourself. She only highlights about 40 different jellyfish species, and only mentions the textually relevant things in their bio. I would use the book just to learn about jellyfish basics, tbh (since it primes you to learn about the more technical jellyfish language you'll inevitably encounter in jellyfish articles). Overall, though, Lisa-Ann Gershwin's book is incredibly detailed, in-depth, and gorgeous and I could not recommend it more to anyone.

Other than that tho? All the English jellyfish books kinda suck, and I'm seriously considering branching out to japanese books instead (There's one that focuses on 114 species of jellyfish and you can bet your manus that I'm salivating over it rn i am enamoured with Japanese jellyfish culture)

Erm... Anyways?

TLDR;

Wikipedia is a good place to start. Reading Published Scientific articles is where you can get the bulk of your information, but Jellyfish-dedicated Websites will also be pretty knowledgeable as well.

There are a choice few Youtube documentaries you can watch, but if you want to read an actual book, Jellyfish: A Natural History is your best bet.