#i also tend to reblog my own posts quite often

[lenievi]

if you're new here (and maybe started to follow me because of SNW), I tend to rewatch random TOS episodes quite often (it hasn't been happening for a while because I've been distracted, but I guess I always come back...) and I usually end up spamming when I do that, and it's typically Kirk related these days... (well for a year and a half tbh) and I do talk a lot about Kirk as a character, which includes the relationships with women in his life

I ship Kirk/McCoy and Spock/McCoy (I do not ship the one not listed).

It might not look like it, but my favourite character is actually McCoy. Kirk just... happened. And SNW has unfortunately given me more fodder...

I'm very canon oriented when talking about the show, but I'm not really stuck on one random line. (That's a lie, I'm very stuck on "And you haven't come to see us in four years, either." because everyone keeps ignoring it and thinks that Spock hasn't seen his father for 18 years by Journey to Babel... anyway lol)

I also absolutely love Sarek, so if you hate him, and I get into my Sarek moods, your time here might not be pleasant lol

anyway, enjoy your stay :D

[morelikeravenbore]

✨Sebastian Sallow fluff alphabet

My personal headcanons based on the way I imagine and write Sebastian in How to Make a Villain.

This template is from this post by snowluvs and is definitely worth a read and a reblog! I loooove reading Sebastian headcanons so feel free to write your own, too!

🌶️ Find my Sebastian Sallow spicy alphabet here.

A - Attractive - what do they find attractive about their partner?

We all know that Sebastian has a bit of a savior complex, so he's attracted to a partner who trusts him with their vulnerability by letting him protect them, care for them and fuss over them. However, he also likes a challenge, so someone with a bit of backbone to go with their vulnerability would really pique his interest. It doesn't matter what form that backbone takes, be it academically-focused, impressive duelling prowess, or just someone whose not afraid to call him out when he's acting out of line, Sebastian is undeniably attracted to that spark.

Read on 👇

B - Body - what is their favourite part of their partner’s body?

Given that he craves deep and genuine emotional connection with a partner, he's very drawn to the face: stroking your cheeks, kissing the corners of your mouth, your eyelids, your brows. He finds any excuse to touch your face, whether it be brushing your hair back behind your ear or tenderly wiping food or smudges from your chin with his thumbs. When being intimate, he holds your face between his hands, pressing his forehead to yours, never breaking eye contact.

C - Cuddle - how do they like to cuddle?

Sebastian is a squasher. He needs to feel physically close to you and will often forget this own size and strength in his desperation to hold you closer, closer, closer. He hugs you so tightly you can't breathe, or else lays his entire body weight on top of you when you're lying down together or sharing a bed. You often have to remind him to back up a little lest he squeeze the life outta you with his love.

D - Dates - what does their ideal date look like?

Sebastian is spontaneous and impulsive, but beneath all that bravado and charm, he is also quite afraid of rejection, so he might not always straight out "ask" you on a date. Rather, you might find yourself accidentally having dinner together at the Three Broomsticks, or huddled for hours in a cozy bookshop he "stumbled upon" at random. Sebastian considers any time spent alone with you a date, and would later tease you about how many "dates" you've already been on without ever being asked.

E - Equal - are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Generally speaking, Sebastian has a hard time relinquishing control to another. Given his history, he is used to taking charge, solving problems on his own and shouldering the burdens of everyone he cares about — and it goes without saying that he can be incredibly stubborn about accepting help or support, even when he genuinely needs it. However, this does tend to lead to mental and physical overwhelm; decisions become impossible, his body aches with exhaustion, and sometimes the boy just needs you to baby him — while still giving him the illusion that he has everything under control ;)

F - Fight - would they find it easy to forgive their partner? how are they fighting?

My personal headcanon that Sebastian is a Virgo sun, Aries rising. His Aries means he's reactive and oftentimes at the mercy of his more intense emotions (such as anger, jealousy — being ruled by Mars). He doesn't always communicate in a healthy way, he lashes out, snaps, or jumps to wild conclusions that don't make any sense. However, being a Virgo sun means he's ultimately a caregiver with a deep need to fix things and look after you, so he's very quick to apologise and make things right again.

G - Gifts - how do they feel about gift giving? what are their habits when it comes to this?

His gifts are either very practical (something you'll use every day), or something very sentimental (something that once belonged to his mother).

When it comes to receiving gifts, he doesn't believe he deserves them, so giving him something uselful like an interesting book, a set of quills, or a planner is the best way to spoil him without making him uncomfortable. However, if you gift him something sentimental, or something you made especially for him, he'll treasure it for the rest of his life.

H - Holding Hands - when / how do they like to hold hands?

If this boy can hold your hand, he will hold your hand, and if he can't hold your hand, he'll play with your fingers, trace the lines of your palms, brush his pinky against yours. You're his anchor, and your hands are the easiest part to hold on to.

I - Injury - how would they act if their partner got hurt?

Given his history with his parents and his twin, he is completely overbearing any time you're sick or injured. He'll fuss, worry, devise a strict recovery regime, won't allow you to lift and finger, and make you stay in bed long after you're well again. He'll research cures, studies, information about whatever it is that ails you, and will likely tell you all about it in great detail. This is where that lovely backbone of yours will come in handy, because you'll definitely have to sit him down and tell him to relax.

J - Jealousy - do they get jealous easily? how do they deal with it?

For all his wonderful strengths, Sebastian suffers from insecurities born from a lifetime of losing those he loves. His jealousy stems not from your actions, but from a deep-seated fear that you're eventually going to realise that he's as rotten as he believes himself to be and leave him. He can be a bit much, but communication is key.

K - Kisses - how do they like to kiss their partner?

Sebastian loves to kiss your face aaaall over, but once he gets started, he finds it hard to stop. Boy is a kisser, and he can get messy.

L - Love Language - what’s their love language?

Acts of Service and physical affection. Being useful gives him a sense of purpose, and touching gives him a sense of peace, so expect to be well looked after and loved. When receiving love, he responds just as strongly to physical affection, as well as words of affirmation. Tell him he's appreciated and that he's done a good job, and he'll be yours forever.

M - Mornings - how are mornings spent with them?

If you manage to get him into bed before he falls asleep where ever he's been reading or studying, it's a hard job rousing him again. He likes to cuddle, and you'll usually wake up half squashed under his body or tangled up in his arms and legs. He speaks in grunts and groans rather than words, and has super adorable bed hair. He's also usually very hungry in the mornings, so the promise of breakfast will be the motivation for finally getting him up.

N - Nights - how are nights spent with them?

Sebastian loves staying up late and doesn't need much sleep to function. His brain is always running a million miles a minute, so winding down takes him quite a while. He tells you he does his best work at night when the rest of the world is asleep.

O - Open - when would they start revealing things about themselves? how would they do it?

Typically Slytherin, he's evasive about himself and prefers to know everything about you before he opens up. Further to that, theres a lot of pain in Sebastian's heart that he won't share with anyone unless he trusts them completely. But, as Slytherins go, once he does trust you, he'll trust you unconditionally; his secrets will become yours, and yours his, and nothing short of death or betrayal will ever break that bond.

P - PDA - how comfortable are they with pda?

He's a real cheeky little smart arse about it. He loves you so much that he wants everyone to know about. He'll pick you up and spin you around as a standard greeting, sit you in his lap, kiss you midway through a sentence. Sebastian doesn't do things by halves, and the same goes for being in love.

Q - Quirk - what is a random ability that helps the relationship?

His optimism, his adventurous spirit and unquenchable thirst for knowledge means there's never a dull moment in your relationship. Above all else, Sebastian likes to have fun, and your life together will be full of it.

R - Romance - how romantic are they? cliche or creative?

There is nothing conventional or cliche about Sebastian Sallow. In fact, he thrives on being just the opposite. He probably courted you by acting like he was your boyfriend until suddenly he just was, there was likely never any conversation about being official, and the first time he said he loved you was probably in the middle of a heated argument or else said in a way that implied it was already common knowledge to you. But despite his quirks, Sebastian is hopelessly, singularly and passionately devoted to you — just don't expect any grand or sappy gestures of love.

S - Security - how protective are they?

Sebastian is so overprotective that it borders on being overbearing. Truth is, he's terrified of losing you, the one person he loves more than any other, and is prone to bouts of severe anxiety about your health, your commitment to him, and your general safety. His inability to relax is a point of contention in your relationship, and one that you both need to continually work on overcoming together. Communication is key, even when Sebastian jumps to conclusions and assumes the worst. He's not perfect, but he's trying.

T - Talking - what do they like to talk about?

Being a highly intelligent Slytherin means Sebastian loves getting deep. Nothing excites him more than discussing magical ethics, or taboo subjects like the Dark Arts or the use of the Dementors kiss against prisoners. He's unafraid to argue his point and loves a lively debate, but he has mental capacity to respect all viewpoints — even if they conflict with his own. He yearns to understand the inner workings of the mind and takes great pleasure in trying to understand opinions and perspectives that differ to his own. Any subject that expands or challenges his understanding of the world is taken on with great enthusiasm.

U - Understanding - how well do they know their partner?

He's a fast learner, very observant, and madly in love with you (obviously), so he knows basically everything about you. But sometimes he likes to think he knows you better than you know yourself. He needs to be reminded every so often that you are capable of looking after yourself, and that he doesn't need to solve every little problem on his own without being asked.

V - Vaunt - what are they proud of? do they like to show their partner off?

Aside from his intelligence, his quick wit and his sense of humour, he is most proud of his innate optimism, which (thanks to your help) has remained in tact despite all the tragedies and hardships he's endured in his comparatively short life. But more than that, he's proud to have you by his side: the embodiment of goodness and love that he never believed he deserved.

His egotistical side enjoys showing you off — you are, after all, the most attractive person he's ever seen, and having you by his side gives his confidence a little boost — but he can become a bit possessive or jealous if he's feeling insecure.

W - Whole - would they feel incomplete without their partner?

Abandonment issues and childhood trauma means Sebastian holds his loved ones very, very dear to his heart. Without you, he'd still be the driven, intelligent and ambitious Sallow he was born to be, but he'd likely lose the motivation to reach his full potential. Having lost every important person in his life, his desire to better himself after all his past mistakes is soley inspired by you.

X - XOXO - are they affectionate?

Physical affection is both how he expresses love and how he feels love; physical touch grounds him in reality and reminds him that you are safe and near. Smooth back his hair, tenderly touch his face, or play with his fingers and watch how fast he melts.

Y - Yearning - how well do they cope when they’re separated from their partner?

Since you are his home, he feels incomplete and off-kilter when he's away from you. And though he tries to honour your individuality, if you're apart for too long, he'll start to have intrusive thoughts about every bad thing that might happen if he's not there to protect you. Needless to say, when you are finally reunited, he greets as you if several decades have kept you apart — like a big, needy puppy.

Z - Zzz - what are some sleeping habits of theirs?

This boys sleeping habits are a nightmare, precisely because he has a lot of them. In fact, he actively avoids sleep, preferring to stay up reading or researching until he's tired enough to fall into an immediate slumber. Usually, you'll find him slumped over on a table or still snoring on the couch, still fully clothed, but if you do happen to get him into bed, he can't sleep without some part of his body touching yours.

[sunnyrealist]

Let's Talk about Sebastian's Parents

I recently needed to write about Mr. and Mrs. Sallow for my fanfic, and because there is very little information out there, I had to invent a lot of backstory as to who they were and what life was like for the Sallow family prior to their deaths.

I'm so curious to know what headcanons others in the fandom have created about them. It would be interesting if some of us had similar thoughts. If you're willing, would you share your own ideas via comment or reblog? Thanks!

I threw in a little preview above of one of my many commissions from @giselsann-opencommissions that I've been sitting on for quite some time. I don't usually post them until I get to the plot points they depict. This one is close enough - I'll show the entire thing real soon.

Before I get to my headcanons, this is what Hogwarts Legacy: The Official Game Guide has to say about Sebastian's parents (see last paragraph):

Here is the background I created for my fic:

Their names were Samuel and Selina (Ware) Sallow. Their family and friends called them Sam and Lina.

They were both pureblood and the same age.

They met at Hogwarts. Sam was in Slytherin, and Lina was in Ravenclaw.

When they were students, they were academic rivals - not "enemies," per se, but they were not exactly friends until they were assigned as partners for a project in Potions during their seventh year. They realized how similar they were and fell in love.

They got married very quickly after graduation but didn't have Anne and Sebastian until they were older (around 30).

The two of them eventually became teachers at Hogwarts. Sam taught Magical Theory (predecessor to Professor Fig), and Lina taught Defense Against the Dark Arts (predecessor to Professor Hecat). They were experts in their fields.

They moved to Aranshire when they became professors. I believe they lived in the spider house in Hogwarts Legacy (there's actually evidence to back this up). It was FILLED with books to the point that it was practically a library.

The cellar was their workspace, and the twins knew that when their parents were down there that they were not to be disturbed unless there was an emergency.

Both of the Sallows were incredibly studious and conducted a lot of research in their spare time. They sometimes teamed up to study particular subjects, such as defensive magical theory and love as a form of magic in its purest form. They didn't view Dark magic as inherently evil, just as everyday magic is not always perfectly good.

Mr. and Mrs. Sallow were quite lovey-dovey. Sebastian remembers them reading in front of the fireplace, engrossed in their own books, but always holding hands or touching. He also remembers being grossed out as a little boy by how often they would kiss.

Neither of them had big families, and just about all of their family members had passed by the time the twins were born. Solomon Sallow was their only living relative at the time of their deaths.

They took the twins to Hogwarts often during summer breaks, so they had a head start on learning the lay of the land and the school's curriculum. Sam and Lina had them read some of their textbooks prior to their first year so that they could get the most out of their education.

They wanted the twins to be well-rounded, so they taught them multiple languages. Lina considered music a language and taught them how to play piano. She also would sing them a song every night when she put them to bed.

Lina was exceptionally gentle, despite her interest in magical combat, Dark magic, Dark creatures, etc. She tended to coddle and fuss over the children. Every year on their birthday, she would bake a spice cake with vanilla icing. She was proficient in both Muggle and magical healing. Her nicknames for Sebastian and Anne were "little prince" and "little princess" - "the little twin rulers."

As far as looks, Sebastian takes after Lina, who had curly auburn hair and freckles. While Anne got a few of Lina's freckles, her hair is similar to Sam's.

Sam loved to give the twins sweets behind their mother's back. He had a distinct laugh and enjoyed reading stories aloud and "doing the voices." He taught the kids how to play Quidditch; he had once been a beater. When he traveled for his studies and would come home with unique artifacts and new information, he would share all of it with the twins in plain language, never talking down to them. I see Sam as an Atticus Finch kind of father.

Christmas was a simple affair. They'd have Uncle Solomon over for dinner, and he would leave pretty quickly after dessert (he and Sam were not close and disagreements were frequent). The twins were always gifted two items: a new book and something particularly interesting, useful, or coveted.

They liked animals and had an Old English Sheepdog named Endy (short for Endymion).

Again, I would love to hear your headcanons. Are yours similar or completely different from mine? Sound off in the comments or reblog! I love discussions like this.

[that-dreaming-dragon]

Alterhuman Community: Anglocentrism and Spirituality

Word count: 636

It's pretty common that the alterhuman community is largely English-speaking.

Or more that the community at large interacts in English.

And beyond that, many things are also US, if not western-centric, possibly due to the nature of the community being English-dominant.

There has been a bit more discussion surrounding this very phenomenon. And it is understandable why we are here with all the points brought up within that post and following reblogs (threads? I don't know my tumblr lingo). The post focused on the identity aspect of alterhumanity, and the languages tied to these identity concepts.

But I'd encounter another issue--where everything else is also tied to anglocentrism. One of them being spiritual belief.

I often felt a little disconnected from many others within the community due to my largely different background. My family and extended family, even beyond, are largely eastern in spirituality and beliefs, with Buddhism being the religion that has a larger presence in my life. Christianity was sort of like a myth to me, horror stories and tales told to me in passing. Not to say there wasn't any education going into that area, but the class about world religion back in high school means the focus is on religion across the world. I had family friends and others in my life that are Christian, not enough for me to understand all that went into such a belief. I was living in a bubble of eastern influenced belief, and then I didn't comprehend what it's like to not have such a background.

The stronger irony is that I didn't learn about the finer details of Christianity until I was knee-deep in the alterhuman community. I'm constantly a bit off-kilter when I talk about spirituality with others, and there's just a bit of a gap with others if things originate too much from earthen-established faith belief. I'm still trying to learn what Pegan and New Age encompass. I mean, they could very well be concepts I am well acquainted, but just in a different cultural lens and language.

Of course, I also need to be aware of how much and how strongly my perspective skews my view on things. I know there are those who share similar backgrounds with me within the community, and the community at large does try to keep a worldly view. Considering many of us are from completely different worlds or realms as well.

Thinking on this, it's a strange place to be. We try to focus on individual experiences without the influence of this earthen realm, but still the importance of society and culture, or everything else that follows, does have impact on our own perception of things. How we see animal through human angle, how we explain our experience with what we had outside the alterhuman scope. We acknowledge that fictionkin, therian, and otherkin are all the same experience by technicality, with different focuses (I need category terms that aren't identify-as focused, fictionfolk (which we have), animalfolk (do people use that?), and otherfolk? nonhumanfolk??). I'm wondering if this is sort of like being from fiction is like. You have something preestablished, that shaped you, and every new understanding is built upon this foundation.

I'm not entirely certain where I'm going with this, ramble as my writings tends to be. Originally I had wanted to answer in specific a Writing Wednesday prompt posted within the Alterhuman Community, specifically in regards to what sort of community project I'd like to see.

Perhaps a zine featuring alterhumanity from non-English earthen culture? I only am proficient in 2.5 languages, but I feel that it'd be beneficial at large. Talon's post inspired and encouraged folks to write in non-English languages they know (I'm not saying Native Language, I have very complicated relation with things like that…), and that is certainly a start. Though we probably will have quite a headache first just in trying to figure out how to translate concept terms.

[lunarphoria]

☽ introduction post ☾

This is just gonna be a little introduction since i started to be a little more active on here and i want to try to keep my account as clear & organized as possible!

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- 🌙 my name is Phoebe ^^

- 🌙 my pronouns are she✦her✦hers

- 🌙 i'm an aroace sapphic

- 🌙 i'm a teenage girl from europe , specifically germany ( so please excuse any minor spelling mistakes :') )

- 🌙 i'm a hellenic polytheist ( I'm still pretty new to the practice & keen on learning! )

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- જ⁀➴ devoted to :

- 🌒 lady selene ; my matron , titaness , goddess & personification of the moon 🌘 ⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆𓆩☾𓆪

- 🦌 lady artemis ; goddess of the hunt & the wilderness , mistress of beasts 🪶 ⁀➴ 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𓆱

( note : as a hellenic polytheist I worship & honor the entirety of the hellenic pantheon, these two are the goddesses I have the closest connection with and actively devote myself to <33 )

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- જ⁀➴ about my account :

- 🌙 on this account, i mainly want to share my experiences with hellenic polytheism , share my art and get to know other people ! ( Little heads up , some of my art will include artistic, non sexual nudity, but I'll always give a warning in case someone is uncomfortable with it ^^)

- 🌙 my dms are always open in case anyone would like to chat ! i do struggle with communication quite a bit but i promise i'll try my absolute best !

- 🌙 i'd really appreciate the use of tone indicators , as I often have trouble deciphering the authenticity of statements and how serious they are meant to be taken , due to me being autistic. Please be patient with me <3

- 🌙 i also have an account on cara & instagram , both are @ lunarphoria :3

(by the way , don't be confused, you can still see my old signature ( @ lunardewdrops ) in my art posts , I tend to change my username from time to time )

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-જ⁀➴ my interests :

- 🌙 paintings , sculptures & art

- 🌙 books & poetry

- 🌙 greco-roman mythology & classical religion

- 🌙 nature & wildlife

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- જ⁀➴ my personal tags :

- # ☾ ⋆*･ﾟphoebe's art 🌙 ➛ i use this one for my own art

- # ☾ ⋆*･ﾟphoebe's thoughts 🌌 ➛ i use this one for when i want to share my thoughts or experiences

- # ☾ ⋆*･ﾟphoebe's WIPs 🌛 ➛ i use this one for unfinished art, colored sketches and/or work that's still in process

- # ☾ ⋆*･ﾟphoebe's asks ☀️ ➛ i use this one for my replies to asks I get

- # ☾ ⋆*･ﾟphoebe's art inspiration 🌕 ➛ I use this one for reblogs of art I like and find inspiring

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- જ⁀➴ DNI :

- 🌙 This should go without saying, but my blog is no place for hatred or bigotry of any kind. This includes Homophobia & Transphobia , Racism , Misogyny & all of the usual DNI criteria.

- 🌙 Please also refrain from overly sexual behavior, jokes ect . It makes me extremely uncomfortable and is triggering to me , same with depictions & descriptions of violence in any way .

- 🌙 this is a religious blog !! I don't want nor tolerate any disrespectful behavior towards any deities , no matter if they're from the pantheon I worship or not . Please be kind and respectful towards my religion :)

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i'd say that's about it for now ! thank you so much for reading my little introduction post ! i'm really excited to learn & connect more with the gods , befriend new people & take you with me on my journey ♡ khaire !

( divider made by me ! ♡ )

[qibilette]

HI apologies for just rbing a bunch of your posts, but I saw your tags about rewriting of the Seawing Royal Family & specifically Tsunami & Corals relationship, I’d love to hear your rewrite thoughts on that if you’d open to share. ! ! !!

howdy! please don't apologize, it always makes my day when people reblog my stuff & leave such kind notes!!! tysm :]

and yesss i love the seawing royals!!! in my rewrite, tsunami has the most family focus out of any prophecy dragonet. i removed clay's sibs from the first book, so the lost heir is the first time any of them meet family members! i have a lot of thoughts about them so this is going under a readmore LOL

when tsunami first meets her mom, it really does feel like coming home. they're both incredibly happy to be reunited and coral showers her with tons of special treatment. at this point, tsunami sees coral as sweet and powerful and fun to be around - she's the mother that the guardians never were, and that tsunami has been wanting her entire childhood.

the first crack in this view is when tsunami gets to know her many brothers. coral insists they aren't "as important" as tsu, because they can't take the throne - tsu doesn't really like this, but she grew up with unhealthy parental figures, so she can't quite put it into words. parents always have favorites, that's just how it is, right? she also feels some sort of way about anemone being kept on a literal leash (and how anemone is often told she needs to be "like tsunami"), but again, she believes coral's defense that she does everything for her chicks' safety. tsunami wants to trust her mom; she wants to believe that coral is good and kind, and that she's everything tsunami didn't have growing up.

there's also a moment in here where tsunami visits the royal hatchery and coral tells her about orca. coral remembers orca as a perfect daughter who just snapped one day. coral compares tsunami to her, in a bittersweet way... also, all throughout the lost heir coral tends to treat tsunami like a child, insisting she be More Formal but also laughing when she messes up social norms & insisting she's Just Fine How She Is. tsunami is clearly her favorite kid, but tsunami also doesn't feel totally enough, like her youth under the mountain left coral disappointed in her.

what really cements tsunami's doubts is when coral pulls out a hatchery guard's teeth for failing to protect the eggs (the egg of auklet's clutchmate is smashed). tsunami is horrified - this is the kind of baseless violence she saw (and hoped to leave) in the sky kingdom. coral says it's only fair, though, and says that tsunami will have to make "tough decisions" too when she's queen.

tsunami meets with her brothers afterwards but it doesnt really help, because they just share more of coral's flaws. after this she goes back to the surface and finds the rest of the prophecy dragonets & fills them in on everything that's been going on. they understand immediately and she finds more comfort in them than she ever has in the sea kingdom.

this is a major realization for tsunami! coral is not a perfect mother, and there was never a dream family waiting for her in the sea kingdom... but that's okay, because she already has her family: the other dragonets.

so overall, tsunami does love her mom, but she's also very aware of coral's flaws and how she hurt her other children. coral treats tsunami better than anybody else but also tends to baby her, as if she's catching up on lost time or doesn't see tsu as her own person. its hard to summarize their relationship but i hope you like the block of text anyway!

o superman by laurie anderson is THE coral + tsunami song, by the way

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

I love reading your realizations about TTPD! I think that just bc of the dense and emotionally challenging content matter in TTPD it can be harder for people to just drop in and out of casual convo about it (which is why discussions seems to be more lively around more surface level interpretations/muse talk/current events in swiftdom). Not that people don’t want to talk about the deep stuff, but it is harder for the whole dash to be cooking the same sauce at the same time bc some days I might just be too sleepy to delve into the psychoanalysis of exorsizing traumatic demons 😅. I find it helpful when people reblog their own related posts when a new interesting one pops up (and that’s also the best part of tumblr; the zombie like resurgence of older discussion material).

I do also think, fwiw, that there is a lot of hesitancy to discuss certain topics among fans who were on here when Taylor was. It’s not good or bad, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with airing on the side of respect. I feel like sometimes the culture on here tends to rely on euphamisms or censoring ourselves bc we’re worried that others might think we’re crossing a boundary. (Especially if we are trying to take our cues from people who have been here a long time - which could be a good thing!) And the tumblr culture of passive aggression and vague posting can end up being a strong persuasion against posting something that might be more “risky”.

I’m always trying to figure out where my boundaries are wrt what I will get into on my blog, and I often feel like my instincts are not quite in line with the majority of swifties I really really respect. So I keep my thoughts to myself… but maybe it’s okay to push a little further into more interesting subjects and there’s ways to do that and still be respectful. maybe Taylor herself changed the “rules” when she made it clear that she is not on tumblr (at least using her real name) anymore. I think that action sort of reestablished this space as a fan-only space and not a mutual relationship, which might change the approach to discussion, and maybe it’s okay for different blogs to have different personal boundaries. I would probably post differently if Taylor followed me, but she doesn’t, and idk if I would want her to 🤷🏼‍♀️ .

I think it’s okay to talk about art in a deep way and include public knowledge of the artist, and to connect it to my own life and even it’s okay to be wrong (not ok to spread lies maliciously though). Taylor releases art, not an autobiographical testimony (even if TTPD purposefully invokes and validates that!)… I honestly think it sometimes does a disservice to her artistry when we self-sensor our commentary. Art should be talked about!!! Idk I think I’ll always be navigating that dilemma as long as Im active on my swiftie blog (and, I think she will always continue to wrestle with her end of that bargain in her art for as long as she chooses to be in the public eye). And! I adore the space you’ve carved out here and the perspectives and opinions you share about Taylor’s ouevre!

Anon thanks for your very thoughtful insight!

I do get that TTPD is dense and I feel like I should get better at tagging so that people can skip it on their dash if they're not interested or something because my thoughts are often equally dense lmao.

That's actually a really interesting observation that perhaps some of the self-regulation comes from the fact that this actually used to be a platform Taylor engaged with and I hadn't considered that. I guess that may be one of the byproducts about being a latecomer to the online fandom (though not to tumblr or to Taylor's music-- e.g. I knew Taylor was on Tumblr but I was invested in other fandoms at the time so never really engaged in Swiftie tumblr until the pandemic because I can only handle one fixation at a time apparently lol) in that I don't don't know how much that has influenced fandom behaviour.

I count myself extremely fortunate for finding a small community here that has welcomed me so generously, so I largely don't see or experience negativity and have a mercifully curated fandom experience. But even at that, I feel the unease about the potential threat of, well, unpleasantness, and it's a weird sort of limbo to find yourself in when at the end of the day, you're just a person with a blog typing from the safety of your own little hovel like anyone else here.

And it's also such a fine line to straddle because on the one hand, you want to be respectful and not invasive, but on the other hand, the art is SO rich and SO revealing, and Taylor herself has spoken about how gratifying it is for her to be known, even the parts that would be considered unsavoury or unpleasant or prying, which I find incredibly brave. Obviously that doesn't mean people should be stalking her or making insinuations or presumptions or whatever, but I also absolutely agree with you that I think sometimes the policing (and I'm not talking about anyone in the community here, I'm talking about the internet in general) almost does a disservice to that wish of hers to be seen. I don't know if that makes any sense.

For instance, you all know how much I love TTPD with all my heart and think it's the quintessential thirtysomething album, because its themes and experiences are so, so, so common, if not in detail than certainly in emotion. The same can be said for her other albums. I have friends who have gone through the oven-microwave/wedding-no wedding/etc. experience and I wish they were Swifties because I feel like they'd be blasting this on a loop lol.

I can think of so many other examples, but the other day I was in the car with a friend and she started talking about something difficult she'd gone through last year in a way she's only beginning to really process now, and I had to resist the urge to say "there's a Taylor Swift song about that," but it was true-- what she was saying was just like, exactly what the song was about, with pretty remarkable parallels (and even wording). And all jokes aside about there being a song for everything, I was thankful that by being familiar with Taylor's work, I actually felt like I had an even better understanding and way to be supportive of my friend in her sharing this. And what I mean by this all is, what a gift it is that there is this art that delves into these very human experiences: not just the difficult, the sorrowful, the painful, but also the joyful and life-affirming. I'd have to imagine that's part of why Taylor feels it's so important to share her work: not just so that she's known, but that others can feel seen in return. Nobody is alone out there when you know that someone else has been there or can understand you. And why the good feels so good after going through the bad.

(Actually now that I think of it, I was at another friend's house the other day and we also had a completely different conversation that was exactly in line with "Robin" which is another example of the breadth of Taylor's songwriting and reflections on life.)

So while I absolutely understand being sick of rehashing the same old things all the time, to me the reason why I'm constantly thinking of this music is BECAUSE it's so relatable. Having conversations with friends here sheds light on new things or forms new connections. Thinking about my own experiences or those of my loved ones connects even deeper. I don't want to make presumptions, but I would venture to guess Taylor would find that really wonderful too, as someone who spends her life distilling her own lived experience into something weirdly universal.

There's obviously a line fans shouldn't cross when talking about these things, but I guess it's trying to figure out that line. And personally I'm just always trying to be conscious of if I'm being annoying by talking about these things over and over again, even though I'm not coming from a place of like, obsession (much lol), but more like, new understanding or appreciation on each listen. I've said before that Taylor's music scratches the same kind of itch that prestige TV dramas do, in that they're not only entertaining on a surface level (to listen to), but the storytelling is so interconnected, and having knowledge of not only her discography but the experiences that informed it I think makes it even more poignant. So you can enjoy the music for what it is (which I absolutely do -- I'm not saying I do a critical analysis on each listen! Some days I just want to yell I LOVE YOU AIN'T THAT THE WORST THING YOU'VE EVER HEARD), but it's also not wrong to be impressed by and inspired by the layers underneath.

I suppose I'm lucky in that my platform is tiny and inconsequential so I have certain freedoms I know many blogs don't, and I probably don't need to tread as lightly as I feel like I do right now. Maybe I'll get braver in the new year if the mood strikes lol.

Thanks so much for the food for thought anon!

[ducktoonsfanart]

Ducktales, Quack Pack and Dragon Ball - Scrooge, Fethry, Dugan, Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck with Master Roshi, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Krillin and Oolong - Duckverse and Dragon Ball Crossover - Tribute to Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball - My version

Even though I'm late, and to make it easier for you to refer to your crossover, I'll post one drawing each so you know what it's about.

Yes, and in honor of Akira Toriyama, in honor of one of my favorite manga and anime even though the action takes place in China and certainly dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the creation of the best Disney duck, Donald Duck. I drew three separate drawings of the crossover Duckverse and Dragon Ball characters and combined the various Duckverse and Dragon Ball variants into one. I wanted to add more, but not all characters would fit, so I’ll post it separately another time. I mean especially the villains.

Akira Toriyama was born on the same day as me, April 5th, but in a different year, which is 1955 in Kiyosu, Aichi, Japan, and he started his career in 1978 working for a Japanese magazine and later published the manga Dr. Slump continues to write and draw the Dragon Boy manga after 1983, so that from November 1984 he writes, draws and publishes the famous Dragon Ball, which will later become very popular and even the most popular in the world. He was particularly inspired by Osamu Tezuka, who created Astro Boy and is the father of manga. In 1986, the Dragon Ball series began airing and it would become one of the best anime I could enjoy. Yes, it will come out through various series like Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball Super, etc. Unfortunately, Akira Toriyama left us on March 1, 2024, and many were affected by this, including me that this happened. Thank you for everything, good man that you have done for all of us! Rest in peace, amen!

This drawing I drew shows other male characters and boys with other Dragon Ball characters, like Ducktales and Dragon Ball. Scrooge McDuck is with Master Roshi (I don’t have to say why), Fethry Duck is with Krillin, Dugan Duck (Fethry’s nephew) is with Oolong Pig, Huey Duck is with Gohan (Goku’s older son), Dewey Duck is with Trunks (Vegeta and Bulma’s son) and Louie Duck is with Goten (Goku’s younger son). Scrooge McDuck is similar to Master Roshi because he is like an advisor, and who influenced Goku and Donald the most, and they are quite comical and love women, Huey is similar to Gohan because he is the oldest, and they are often both rebellious, Dewey is similar to Trunks because he tends to stand out and be alone, but also because of the similarity of his hairstyle, Louie is like Goten because he is the youngest, but prefers sports and they have a good heart, Fethry is like Krillin because they are clumsy and are often with Goku, that is, with Donald and Dugan is similar to Oolong because they are smaller in stature, although both have a strange energy. I definitely drew them wearing Dragon Ball clothes (as in the previous drawing) since they are in China practicing martial arts.

Yes, I combined from the comics Donald Duck, Duck Avenger (PKNA), Double Duck, Darkwing Duck, Three Caballeros and Quack Pack into one along with various Dragon Ball variants in my own way and drew them to wear the same clothes as in Dragon Ball. I hope you like this idea and this crossover. Feel free to like and reblog this and if you support this idea feel free to say so, just don’t use my same ideas without mentioning me. Thank you! Also, happy 90th birthday to Donald Duck as well as 40th birthday to Dragon Ball and Goku himself! I hope you like this drawing and this idea!

[gloriousburden]

how did u get ur phd in lokiology, like aside from watching the films did u look for and find a bunch of interviews and like directors commentaries, tie in official media like the prelude comics, etc? or from reading abt other blogs that are knowledgeable abt him, or ur own analysis on what is known? if it's the first is there like an archive of all of that meta info and links? bc i feel so satisfied everytime i find one more piece of content like that LOL i also wanna get my phd! :)

OMG FINALLY SOMEONE ASKED… AHHHHHHHHHHH 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

A bit of everything that you’ve mentioned, actually! Mainly from watching the movies, and examining/becoming familiar with his scenes/behaviors myself, as well as reading others posts about him. I do look at older interviews/quotes from Tom Hiddleston about him quite often (as well as things that directors/writers have said like you mentioned), but I do tend to mainly stick with canon.

@/abby118 has a meta side blog. It’s in her pinned, and her views on Loki pretty much align with my own. Do definitely check out her posts/blogs! She has a lot of great thoughts on Loki.

I really like looking at older meta posts on Loki as well. From before the Loki series brain worms got to everyone 😁 those tend to be A LOT more accurate. I also reblog some others meta posts under the tag #loki meta

And I tag my own thoughts on Loki under #loki 💭 (tagged both these below so you can look through them)

There are distinctive traits of Loki’s, but a lot of us have different perspectives on him. Some of us have gotten different impressions of him. Two of us could see the same scene, and think entirely different things about it. That’s why it’s good to read up on a lot of other’s views, as well as seeing if it correlates to canon.

Oh more tags you could look through for Loki meta posts: #in defense of loki/#loki deserves better. Those are pretty good

My main thing is: stay away from fanon/theories that can be debunked, and analyze his scenes. Become familiar with his traits. Become familiar with what is actually canon and HOW it is canon. Is it canon in a deleted scene? Is it canon due to something Tom or a director/writer said? Is it a theory/speculation from Tumblr? Avoiding mischaracterization/misinformation is necessary to me.

I’m not sure of your own thoughts on the series, but the mischaracterization was so disheartening to me that I became Veryyyyyy serious about his character. I wanted to make sure he’s represented properly. Which also helped me learn more about him and fall in love with him more. I loved his original writing so much, that it upset me that anyone would want to change and disregard that. He’s very interesting to me, and I love everything about him. I like everything being as accurate to the source as possible. I also keep in mind that there’s always more for me to learn about him. There’s always more questions to be asked.

OH yeah I do go based off my own analysis a lot of the time, but also other’s! There are definitely a lot of things that some people say that I do not agree with. For example: I don’t believe the theory that Loki was mind controlled by the scepter in the Avengers. A lot of people tend to agree with that to certain extents, but I do not at all.

I do not think Loki is an entirely innocent character. What I do think is: he has been a victim and has suffered, but he also has been an antagonist/villain. I don’t think it’s wrong to say that he was the villain of the Avengers, although it wasn’t fully on his own accord. He was a victim of Thanos, but he quite literally was a villain. Loki is very versatile, and people tend to think that he can only be one thing. He can’t be bad, but he also can’t be good. In reality… it’s both. This goes back to the myths.

He’s been done wrong by so many people around him, but he’s also done wrong as well. Well, I do think what he’s done was to a less extent, but… 😁

I don’t want to pretend that he’s fully good, or that he’s fully bad. That’s what makes him so damn interesting. He’s everything!!

I try to be realistic. I don’t want my own feelings about Loki to sway what I believe about him, if you understand what I mean. I try not to be biased.

[tiredassmage]

47 and 48 for the Rook questions please!!

me, realizing only after reblogging that my rook stuff is still in the queue as of this writing and not yet posting, sO. I guess this is also rook reveal time, lol! to the surprise of like, nobody, probably, it's tyr xD

so! anyway! (re)meet my beautiful beloved (fantasy edition), who is a shadow dragon!

[50 questions for rook (non-spoiler edition)!]

47. What's Rook's temper like?

I've raised an unabashed smartass, your honor. 😔 Probably largely thanks to having spent a fair amount of time with the Shadow Dragons prior to Varric and Harding recruiting him for help against Solas, and having largely grown up in Minrathous prior. Rook's a version of Tyr that doesn't have to hide as frequently his opinions on how the system is broken, and what he thinks of right and wrong. I'd still hesitate to call him explosive - he still knows how such appearances might be used against him, but nor does he entirely shy away from leaning into being called Tevinter rabble. His temper is usually a vein of sarcastic venom, and it can get pretty impassioned if he tries the path of reason only to get pushed around more. Tyr's a man whose ideals have always pushed him towards the knife's edge of change and who I'd argue is just as emotional as he is logical.

He's got his patience, but it can be tested, and he's not afraid of pushing back when he's shoved around, especially if he thinks a greater good will suffer in inaction or indifference. Vindictive is not always a side of Tyr that's been shown off in his roles in other interests of mine, but not even he's entirely immune to that siren song. His temper tends to come about because he's stubborn, he very rarely knows how to quit, and he resents a harm committed without remorse - when pride gets in the way and blinds people. If you're trying to justify a harm by saying you've helped somebody, it's generally a very quick way to get him snappish.

48. A color, flower, animal, and weather to describe Rook:

Color: Storm Blue. I'm a sucker for him in darker colors, true. The N7 day gear was admittedly a bit of a lifesaver, but picking for vibes... gotta say storm blue was my first thought.

Flower: White Chrysanthemum. Because I love silly little google searches for symbolism, white chrysanthemums have associations (depending on geographic location) with grief and mourning to honesty and loyalty.

Animal: Is it too easy to say loyalty like a dog again? The Let Dead Dogs Die kind of loyal? The kind of loyal they applaud Mabari hounds for. I'd generally credit Tyr as a sound judge of character more often than not. However, his loyalty will seldom push him against his own ideals, which is perhaps a bit more of a Mule attitude about him. He's a thinker about his loyalty, but, still, once you have it... it's hard to shake him from it. Tyr would be loathe to walk back his loyalty to someone, but if he thinks you're going to only hurt yourself and/or him by sticking around, he... can choose to leave to better serve his ideals. He'll try like hell to get through to you first, but, again, he also rarely has a single bone in him that knows how to quit quietly and meekly. He'll twist himself out of shape and do some incredible things - reckless things, sure - for the people he cares about and won't begrudge them the scars he might earn in his efforts to ensure their happiness and well-being. That part perhaps remains the Mabari in this Tevinter-raised rogue.

Weather: The beginning of a storm - clouds building, the first scents of rain, and thunder rolling in. Fairly common for me when I think of Tyr, admittedly. A type of weather that can involve anticipation or reflection, perhaps a beginning, or perhaps an end. A coming storm is often used as symbolism for troubles or challenges ahead, and sometimes a more optimistic twist is that storms bring change and life-giving water.

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

Communication with the Gods

This is related to this post that I reblogged a few nights ago, which talked about how vocal folks on the internet can be about talking to the Gods, and also how this can sometimes be a little misleading. After reblogging it, I started to think about my own interactions and relationship with the Gods, and how they too don't often fit the internet's view of Godly interactions, and figured that I would share a bit about my own practice to show that face-to-face talking with Gods isn't necessarily the only way one can commune with Them.

To start off, I'll say that when I was first dipping my toes into Hellenic Polytheism, I was with groups that were very vocal about the Gods always talking to them. It was the kind of thing where they would be talking about having full-fledged conversations, or tea parties with the Gods, which caused me to put a lot of pressure on myself to experience the same. It definitely took a while after all that to have a relatively normal relationship with my Gods. As of right now, the vast majority of the time that I pray to the Gods, I feel and hear nothing. Maybe I'll have a sense of inner peace, but I think that comes from within more than anything else. Something about the rhythms in the way the prayers are spoken is soothing to me.

Hermes tends to take a very subtle approach in His interactions with me. Sometimes I know He's there only because I hit more green lights than I was expecting, or a car ride went smoother than the traffic would allow. Sometimes I find coins laying on the ground, heads-up, after a particularly successful trip, or after a desperate prayer to Him; or I find items that have been lost for a while, sitting in a very conspicuous place. Hermes isn't subtle, but He also isn't very obvious. It's almost as if He moves when my back is turned, and when I turn around again, there's a very faint sense that maybe someone was there.

Dionysos, meanwhile, has been a bit more There for me. Sometimes, there's a heavier presence to Him being around, almost as if a person is standing in the space with me. Other times, I won't feel a presence, but rather an intense emotion, that I usually can't quite place. For me, it feels like something akin to the type of madness shown in the Bacchae, although I'm fully aware of my state, if that makes sense. Rarely, I've felt His hands around mine when I pray, although it's more of a pressure than the physical feeling of hands (it's all about vibes!).

The few times I've had an experience that was a deeper communication, they were relatively abstract. One time, it came as a sudden rush of realization on a cruise ship that the Gods love us (that will be another post, lol). A few times, it's been strangely intense dreams, in which I wake up from them and have a strong feeling that it meant something, one of which led me to create this blog. And the One Singular time I have ever heard a God (Dionysos) speak directly to me, it was only one sentence, while I was trying to take a nap, and I was able to feel His presence for a while afterwards.

Anyways, this has come as a bit of a ramble, but I think the overall point that my ADHD-addled mind is trying to make is that the Gods communicate in many different ways, and not all of them are direct God-to-human talking. It's more like subtle communications that say "I'm here, I've never left you." There's something to be said, and I think this idea stretches across multiple religions, about just being still and quiet with your Gods, and the Gods being there in that silence. If we really think about it, animals have only been able to hear for about 275 million years. That's almost no time compared to the age of Earth (4 billion years), and the universe (13 billion years), and the Gods were around even before that. They lived for so long in the silence, and They are there with you in the silence as well. <3

[vywella]

✦⭒ HELLO and WELCOME to my blog! ⭒✦

I'm Vywella but you can go with anything derived from that name to address me. I post my silly art here, mostly fandom stuff but might as well just spam my ocs whenever I feel like it. Original content, reblogs only to support my fellow artists :3

CONTENT WARNING: 16+

I curse sometimes, draw partial nudity and overall suggestive content. If you're under that age follow me at your own risk.

Basically no DNI just please don't be a jerk that's all I'm asking

✧˖° Fandom info

I tend to switch my interests quite often so yeah… Sticking to Honkai: Star Rail and Wuthering Waves atm (gacha games are going to be my downfall)

Might as well post minor stuff related to these:

Dark Souls

Elden Ring

Baldur's Gate

Hollow Knight

Death Stranding

(probably will expand in the future)

✧˖° Ask rules:

Feel free to ask anything related to my favourite fandoms/headcanons/pairings/etc. Personal stuff is allowed as long as you follow basic decency rules

I do fandom requests! Just drop me a character and I can draw them for ya, but no promises

In general, send me whatever you wish to know. I'm open to any interactions by I tend to keep my boundaries with strangers, no offence

Also a quick notice: I might update this info any time don't be surprised

Kudos to everyone who read the whole post you are amazing I hope you'll stick around YAY

[abarbaricyalp]

do you have any advice for a new writer trying to post on ao3 I want my stories to be noticed (also thanks for not leaving -- so many writers are gone now)

*Looks at my recent hits counts* I'm not sure I'm the best reference for this 😅

I think there are two aspects to getting engagement on fan works:

1: There is the actual work you put into posting your fics. This includes tags, cross posting, and self promotion.

Tags: Make sure you are tagging what is relevant to your fic. AO3 doesn't run on an algorithm, so the way people find your fics is primarily through searches. There is an excellent post on tumblr somewhere that discusses how to accurately tag your work, and I highly suggest starting there! (Post here) Also when tagging, I would suggest considering what YOU would search if you were looking for a fic like this. Quite often, I've found that the tag I was looking for isn't on AO3 yet. Don't be afraid to type in the specific trope or AU you are writing. Look at other tags to get a feel for the structure of the tag, but other than that, have fun.

Also, it may seem counterintuitive, but don't over-tag, by which I mean tagging a bunch of tropes or characters or ships that aren't in your story. It's a fast way to have people disregard your fic instantly, or even mute your name on AO3. Especially in smaller fandoms, I totally get the desire to tag a bigger ship, but it just makes more trouble for you in the long run.

Similarly, on tumblr, keep tags tight. I tend to only tag ship, character (name and superhero name), show/ movie, franchise, and the challenge I'm answering if I am. I know other people tag the actors of the characters. I don't because I know when I go into an actor's tag, I don't want to see fic (of their characters or them either) but that's entirely up to you. But don't tag characters or shows etc that have nothing to do with your fic. This is just courtesy in fandom spaces.

Cross-posting: I admit, I can be kind of bad about cross-posting, but I do find that it helps drive engagement when I do buckle down and get it done. Cross-posting is publishing or promoting a fic on multiple platforms. For instance, I use AO3 AND tumblr. On tumblr fic posts,I link to the AO3 (if there is one, I'm pretty bad about publishing shorter things on here only) And when I publish the fic on AO3, I'm supposed to be linking back to my tumblr. This helps more people see your fic and it grows your community when people are able to follow you on various platforms and spread your fic and kudos around. If you have fan accounts elsewhere and you're comfortable with it, feel free to promote there as well. Also check any discord or group servers you may be on for rules about promoting or channels meant exactly for that.

Self-promoting: this is pretty similar to the above. Because AO3 doesn't have an algorithm, it's kind of up to you to keep interest alive in your fics, especially if you want eyes on it for the first several days afterwards. I know it feels embarrassing to reblog your own fic posts all the time, but it's impossible to tell who may have seen or not seen that you posted a new fic. I don't have any set times for this, personally. I try to catch what I consider active times on tumblr, but that's entirely subjective. It's just trial and error, really. Secondly, don't be embarrassed to recommend your own fics (I'm kind of bad at this) If someone is looking for recs on a specific trope or AU and you know you have just the fic, tell them! Unfortunately, you have to be your own biggest cheerleader when it comes to your own art because no one knows and loves it as much as you do. It feels awkward and I know I get embarrassed if people aren't reccing my fics on their own, but you really are your biggest advocate. Fandom is kind of a popularity contest sometimes 🤷‍♀️ Hype your own self up

2: Now that the technical stuff is done, let's move on to the community aspect of fic posting. (This is not really what you asked for, but i think it's more important sometimes than the actual tags and AO3 procedures) Curating a community and making friends is HUGE as far as readership goes. Especially in smaller fandoms (I assume this is about Sambucky fics/fandom) community is everything. Being a name people recognize and trust is important to regular readership.

Building community: don't be afraid to interact with other writers on this platform or others! The Sambucky fandom has this delightful habit of playfully creating headcanons and ficlets based off of text posts. The Daily Sambucky Fluff Diary project is so much fun and so interactive. I have honestly never been in such a fun, supportive group as the sambucky writers on tumblr. I highly suggest playing in this sandbox and getting familiar with other writers. We hype each other up all the time.

Understanding the rules of play: this is kind of an addendum, but the sambucky fandom is rightfully protective over Sam and his portrayal in fics, as well as Bucky. Reading fics, community interaction posts, and even the rules laid out in various challenges (like the bingos that are hosted at various times) will really help you get a sense of how to respectfully tell stories with Sam and Bucky without being racist, ableist, or disregarding to these characters. Quite often Sam (and Bucky, and especially Sambucky) is only there to prop up other characters. This is something the fandom will (again, rightfully) push back on and avoid. I highly suggest looking at the rules that are laid out in the Sambucky Library's bingo rounds to get an idea of the sandbox rules.

Engagement: the sambucky fandom is small, so we don't really have big organized events like Bangs or Reverse Bangs. However, we do have lots of fun, smaller challenges, namely the bingos! There is also Samtember, the Anniversary Challenge (I don't think that's what we called it) and various prompt week challenges, including an AU week (and we like birthdays here). I highly suggest following @ sambuckylibrary to keep apprised of challenges and prompts. Filling out these prompts when you can and want is a great way to break into the fandom and get engagement with your fics. They are all very low stakes and the reward is new fics, friends, and interaction!

I would also suggest joining a discord server, if that is something you're interested in. (I personally am not in any, but that's because I don't like making new accounts on things, not because I don't want to be part of the fun) This is a great place to interact with other fans, promote your fics, get new recs, and generally reap the fun of fandom in a more condensed space, rather than the entirety of AO3 or tumblr.

One last thing to keep in mind: you've already pointed out that fan fic/art/engagement is decreased in our fandom. This will be reflected in your hits/kudos/comments, especially if you're coming from a bigger fandom. Don't let this discourage you. In fact, I really suggest not looking at stats as much as possible. The wealth of engagement in this fandom will be seen in your relationships and interactions with other fans, not in skyrocketing numbers. Allegedly, Cap4 and Thunderbolts come out in 2025 and our guys look to have an episode in the next season of What-If, but without new content, interest will lag and numerical engagement with it. Just keep this in mind as you begin/ continue your journey into the fandom.

That's a lot of words to say: tag properly, make friends, and have fun ❤️🤍💙❤️🩶🖤🪽🐺

[peppy-jester]

~ Indie rp and ask blog for Fizzrolli from Helluva Boss. Selective, Mutuals only! Read the rules before following, thank you. Mun is +35 year old fossil, so no minors!

AFFILIATED WITH @rapid-as-sass-in-nation-team @blitzbuckz @themosthatedbeingg @houseofasmodeus / @sinfuldxgenerates @queenbeeibee@hellpride / @originalmigraine / @greedonya @beautifulxdangerous //will be adding here more people who wants to be affiliated

Rules And About Mun // Promo

Mammon sideblog; @unhinged-greed Barbie Wire sideblog @wired-for-trouble

~~Rules for mobile users under the cut~~

1. No godmodding or Powerplay. I don't give you permission to make decisions for my muse without consulting me first. You can move him around if needed to that’s all fine~

2. This blog is an Independent, Selective and Mutuals only blog. I may not follow everyone because I want to keep my dash clean, been unfollowing people who don’t use their roleplay blog only for OOC posting or reblogging unrelated stuff.

3. Minors, personals and rule breakers will be soft or hard blogged. I will not rp or interact with minor muns for my own safety. Personals are welcome to send in character related asks etc, but I won’t be roleplaying with you either.

4. Multimuse, Multifandom and OC friendly. Not okay with roleplaying minor OC characters either. Please have some sort of information page of your character. Multifandom/crossover roleplays are welcome but there are some fandoms I don’t want anything to do with.

5. Headcanon based. Canon exists in this blog. But how I rp as Fizz is bit more headcanon based. He has his childish side showing up quite often, this is because he have been working ever since he was little kid. His parents are dead so he hasn’t been able to be like a ‘normal child’ so now it’s showing up.

6. Duplicate Muses. Are ok only if they are part of multimuse blog. I get very anxious when I see a duplicate muse on my dash, minus a few of my friends who I share Fizz and Mammon with. 

7. NSFW. Horny demons, what can I say. Fizz has his moments. All the NSFW themes will be tagged as such.

8. Triggering themes. Such violent and more dark themed rp’s will be tagged as “tw; blood” or “tw; injury”. If I ever miss a trigger warning, please message me. I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

9. Shipping. Yes! This blog is multiship! But I only ship with chemistry and would like to know the other mun before anything happens between our boys. Yes, boys. Fizz is not straight. Never feel pressured to ship with me. I’m fine for example Fizz and Ozzie only being business partners. Also not all the ships need to be healthy or actual romantic ships. The main ships for me are OzzFizz, BlitzFizz, StrikerFizz that I like. Wanna ship? Throw me with IM, let’s see what happens~

10. Safe Zone. This blog is as Drama Free as possible! I have zero tolerance of drama, not gonna spread it. Anons will be blocked and blogs will be blocked forever. 

11. Replies. My replies vary from a few lines to several paragraphs depending how my muse works for me at the time. I always try to end my reply so my partners have something to work with. Icons will be used unless stated otherwise in tags. Icons used in replies are from the show that rightfully belongs to Vivziepop.

12. Never rush. I happen to have a life…. ‘life’ away from the computer. Have a full time job so it’s impossible for me to be around on a daily basis. At times work takes a lot from my energy. I reply on things I have muse for. Roleplay partners who I talk to behind the scenes go most likely first. Timezone is not on my side so the dash is usually most active at 1 am to 7 am my time. Be patient with me. But there may be a slight chance I missed your reply or forgot to reply to it, you can always remind me. Me and my dyslectic ADHD ass tend to forget things.

13. Discord. Open for mutuals. It’s mostly for planning stuff, talking whatever you want. Maybe do some roleplaying there~

14. Following tag #PeppyJester

[thewritingcoroner]

I done got frustrated

My desire to keep my opinions to myself managed to last most of the day. New record tbh.

So like I wrote this big long rant a couple of weeks ago and decided against sharing it while I was still frustrated. But I do feel like maybe there is a larger discussion to be had! I think it's important that we as a writeblr community really take a look at why so many of us are getting so frustrated so often and how we as a community and as individuals can work towards an actually community vs a corner of social media. @blind-the-winds did an excellent job of explaining some of what I'm seeing as well in relation to why a lot of positivity and support posts and such ring hollow to so many of us. I wanted to bring a slightly different perspective to things coming from a marketing/social media marketing background. Under the cut out of respect for everyone's dashboards lol

This is going to get INCREDIBLY LONG. So I have a read more here. Behold, the bitchfest.

So this started today when I was chatting with an irl friend and expressing my frustrations about writeblr in general as a community. And what I've recognized now is this: writeblr isn't really much of a community, and it is very rare to find other creators and writers who are willing to treat you (the hypothetical writer) as another human being with a love for the same craft they do. Those people who do treat you like people are some of the loveliest people I've found on the internet, but they are hard to find.

Now, to be clear, I don't think the problem is completely writeblr's fault, nor do I believe it is any one or two or five hundred individual's fault. The problem comes from a number of different sources, and my friend did a great job of helping me see the problem from a number of different perspectives.

The problem being this: it is impossible to get engagement on posts that feature original long-form writing, and it is exceedingly difficult to effectively foster meaningful connections with other writers.

Some disclaimers: it's not impossible, and the people who successfully receive engagement on their long-form writing tend to be the people who are the exceptions proving the rule. Also, by "engagement" I mean any interaction that serves to both consume the content and spread the content. "Original" writing refers to writing that is not fandom related, and "long-form" means 1k words or more.

Do you think 1k words is a little short for "long-form" writing? Me too. I'll get to that.

I'll start my explanation here with what catalyzed these revelations in my little head. Over night, I got quite a few new followers, all directly coming from a post that got mildly popular here on writeblr. So, I looked at what other posts of mine have been popular, and I started to notice a trend.

My most popular posts tend to fit into one of three categories: memes, tag games, and boost posts/recommendations. Memes tend to be popular because they're funny and easy to spread, and as long as they fit the theme, they don't ruin a blog's aesthetic. Tag games get more interaction because I am directly tagging people to see the post. But the popularity for those posts tend to stop at the half dozen to a dozen people tagged in each given post (the person or people tagging me, and the several people I tag to continue the game). The last category is most interesting to me, the boost posts and recommendations.

Here's the thing, I only boost or rec other writers and blogs if I have invested interest and care into the person behind the blog and their content. AKA, I only really boost friends and writers I admire/like their content. It's great to see that those posts get popular with people outside my circle, but out of those three categories, none of them feature my own content.

Why is that?

It seems like every day I see a new post with a few thousand notes at least complaining about a lack of interaction on writeblr and the importance of reblogs and blah blah I rarely stop to read those let alone spread them. And a few dots connected, I think.

If my content isn't getting interaction, and your content isn't getting interaction, then what is? And I think the answer is this: memes, advice, and boosts.

Memes and advice are self-explanatory. But boosts are interesting because you will see everyone hop on to rec other people or more frequently market themselves, but they stop there. And I see my greatest influx of interaction and new followers when I boost other people's works or blogs.

My conclusion is that many people are using writeblr as a hustle and not a community. In a community we engage with each other, talk to each other, enjoy each other's company. And I've found many mutuals to be very lovely people who I do enjoy and who I love to engage with and who I like to genuinely call my friends. I like a lot of yall for different reasons too! Some of you are great hype buddies, some of yall are all about that accountability buddy system, and I really love when I get to have intellectual conversations about the craft and different concepts with different members of writeblr too.

But largely, I find that a lot of people who engage once with my blog, usually on those boost posts, or who ask for engagement more frequently than when frustration strikes, tend to be the people who think of writeblr as a hustle. They see that I (and many other writers) will boost and rec our friends, and jump on that bandwagon, but instead of putting in the effort to get to know us and our work, they say what needs to be said, hop on trends, and avoid any genuine connection.

So what gives?

It's not the individual writers, I think. It's the nature of social media, marketing, and the medium.

Listen, I work in marketing, and long-form writing is a dying art that is very difficult to market. I genuinely think the concept of "tldr" really ruined a lot of people's ability to engage with longer form writing. Whether that be nonfiction opinion posts or actual fiction. Tumblr is one of the only places I can think of where long-form writing is a feasible medium to post at all, let alone gain a following for.

Think about it: instagram is best suited for images, videos, and short-form aestheticized poetry. Twitter has a character limit that requires long threads of individual tweets or images to get your message across. Pitch events are well-suited for twitter because your pitch by definition needs to be short. But sharing actual summaries, snippets, or excerpts? Not really possible. Tiktok is for videos, which as we know can be utilized, but is not the most efficient method of marketing written word. Ao3 is an archive with an excellent tagging system, but to get readers, outside marketing is required. Facebook requires a real name, and isn't really well suited for content creation either. Wattpad, Royal Road, and others are great for posting actual works, but they don't necessarily have well-functioning tag systems that help the author find their audience. That really just leaves Tumblr. Pillowfort is also an option, though it's still so in the beginning phase of development that it's pretty difficult to get started there.

It's well known in marketing that images and videos catch attention and long paragraphs of text (AKA what most prose looks like) tend to be scrolled past. The very nature of the long-form writing medium is against most marketing techniques. Marketing long-form writing needs to look different from any other medium.

All that being said: the culture of social media engagement has shifted, and this is a conversation that fandom has been having and I think has actually been doing well discussing the different facets of how the culture has shifted. Fandom (and content creation in general) is seen as a commodity to be consumed. Consumers want to see the content, maybe save it for later, and then move on to the next piece. This is easily done with visual mediums, but writing mediums are especially vulnerable to this culture shift because it does require so much time and energy to consume, let alone engage.

Creators don't see their work as a commodity to be consumed, but it is now. When consumers view a piece of visual media, they view the image (consume it) and then move to the next, some will spread it to others by engaging with the picture through reblogs or sending the post to someone else. But most often, there will be a "like" to tell the creator good job, and then scroll to the next. This is harder to do with written media unless one has the time and energy to read the piece. There's the extra step of critical thought.

To put it a different way, the market is flooded with content and creators. With so much to choose from, the consumer now does not have to participate in the community to ensure continued creation. There will be another creator tomorrow. The consumer no longer feels connected to a community of their interests, it is simply being sold to them.

So back to writeblr, this is where I am at a crossroads. I am tired of creating content to be consumed, I want community. But also, I have nowhere else to turn. I can either completely withdraw from what sliver of community I have found, or I can keep trucking along, create my stuff, play the games we play, chat with the people I do like and do care about, and hope that I don't get too frustrated one day and leave for good.

[weafurry]

Welcome to our blog!!

☆COMMISSIONS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED☆

Hi! We're Weafurry but you can just call us Meadow! We're a collectively autistic and demiromantic traumagenic (osdd) system of (at the time of writing) 16 with a whole load of other issues. Most of us use I/we interchangeably

feel free to ask for our discord or simply plural any time!

We use the term headmates. Alters feels too medical, and parts just isnt accurate to our experience, Please don't use them to refer to us. Other terms you can ask

You can find more information in our Carrd! (Once we update it)

BYF: We are bodily 18 and will occasionally reblog posts with sexual jokes/general mentions of sex. We typically do not reblog things that are explicitly 18+ but if we ever do will tag it with NSFW or suggestive.

We try to add alt text to our images but more often then not writing it out takes extra spoons that we just don't have. So we apologize if it's inconsistent what posts of ours have alt text and what don't.

If you can please tag any rain world fandom drama/discourse, the r slur, and food recalls/ things of that nature related to food with Meadow don't look

Headmate intros below!

These are formatted with our tags, and then info about us

Hosts!

Due to how our system works we cycle between multiple different hosts who front most frequently.

🌺// Wea - Vi/vir she/it/they || Haii! I'm Wea, I also go by May. I'm our systems main host and the one writing all this! Outside intense fixations I'm probably who you'll see the most. We used to think I was the core before realizing that's not quite how our system works and thus we don't have one. I'm basically who our brain defaults to. I've probably been here the longest out of anyone. THE SHE/HER IN MY PRONOUNS IS NOT IN A GIRL WAY

✨// Pebbles - He/they || Hi, I'm Pebbles I also go by any variation on Saikarie, I'm a Pebbles rain world fictive as you could probably guess. I'm typically the main fronter during our rain world fixations. Transmasc in a guy way but not a binary way. Different font/flavor of guy. I have my own sideblog [ @errat1cpulse ]

🔲// Siffrin - it/he/they || Hii! I'm Siffrin as you can probably guess I mostly show up during our ISAT fixations. I tend to be way more forgetful then the others so try to be patient pleasee!

🤍// Wyrm - He/they || [our pale king fictive, who quote "cant be bothered to write it right now" (understandable we're writing this during a chronic fatigue episode) -🌺 ]

Other Headmates!

We'll add bios to this as the others front! For now l'll be adding basic information, for those of us I didn't get around to they will have "BIO TBA" In place of it.

💜// Innocence - it/she/all || [ Unparalleled innocence from rain world fictive. mainly shows up when we're working]

🌹// Leshy - He/it/Xe/they || [ Leshy from Cult of the lamb fictive. Our only middle! (he's like 15) and an absolute chaos gremlin]

💫// Stella - It/she/they || [Also goes by loop! as you can guess a loop Isat fictive. it's gender as she put it is "None pizza left beef", Super motherly. Also one of the few of us to have an age seperate from the body (she's 20) ]

✖️// Vanta - He/it || hi im vanta . i hold all our ratred and hage ig. /hj anyways yea hi. im like. one of the only not fictive people in here. i used to not be allowed to front alone but ig i got my Shit™ together. absolutely no they/them please. in the headspace im literally just a shape shifting black blob of void. hence where the name came from (vantablack)

🧶// Isa - He/him || BIO TBA

🌕// Moon - She/her || BIO TBA

✒️// Odile - She/they/no pronouns || BIO TBA

🪷// Riv - They/it/she/💧/🐋/🌸/🪷 || BIO TBA

🧡// Fanta - it/its || BIO TBA

🪶// Eira - they/she/🪶/Fae || BIO TBA

🌤// Qibli - They/he || BIO TBA

✉️// Spears - They/it || BIO TBA