#i know tumblr doesn’t have an algorithm but maybe people will see it if i repost it (delusional)

[spectralarrovv]

alice and clover vlr redesigns!

[pendinganchor]

Billy was sitting at the kitchen table— one hand being used to hold open the book he was skimming for the fifth time, the other trapped in a loose thumb war with Steve. He wasn’t sure what Steve was doing— but he started winning any time it distracted him. He wasn’t sure when he had stopped worrying about his father coming home— but he’d pay for that later.

Hushed whispers sounded in the doorway. Billy tensed for half a second before relaxing when he saw Max and El out the corner of his eye. Then he heard the all too familiar sound of Max’s polaroid camera going off.

“I bought that for you two months ago and I’m already regretting it,” Billy groaned, placing his bookmark— that was actually just an old receipt— into his book then letting it fall shut.

“Come on, Billy,” El teased. “You look pretty!”

“Well then, let’s see it.”

Max reached out with the photo in hand. Billy abandoned his thumb war with Steve to grab it— which caused Steve to realize other people were in the room with them. “See what?” he asked, using his now free hand to push up his glasses.

Billy looked at the photo— his face forming into a slight frown. “Why do I look like that?”

Max raised an eyebrow at him. “Happy?”

[musings-of-a-rose]

I Don't Want to See Tomorrow (Unless I See It With You) - Chapter 6

Pairing: Benny Miller x wife!reader nicknamed “Juni”

Word Count: 3500+

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story. 

Notes: This is it, folks! I had some little short story ideas for this fic. Maybe I’ll write them one day if people want. HUGE shoutout to @laurfilijames for listening to me babble about this fic. I hope you enjoy your husband Will! And also to @mermaidxatxheart for listening to my crazy messages about a world she’s not terribly familiar with. I hope you enjoy your guest spot!  This is not beta’d - we yeet and post.

**If you want to be added to the taglist, join here or let me know!

❤If you enjoy the fic, please consider giving me a warm beverage! (It is not required in any way!)

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**Reader is not described

Main Masterlist

Benny Miller Masterlist

I Don’t Want to See Tomorrow (Unless I See It With You) series masterlist

My eyes blink, trying to focus as I will them to open, my head spinning and aching at the back from whatever hit me. I bring my hand to the back of my head and feel a knot, but no blood. Or at least it’s dried. I hope that’s a good thing. 

The floor beneath me is hard and dirty, which isn’t out of the norm, but a memory stirs at the back of my mind, pulling at the edges of memory.

“And they said Raiders can’t be sneaky!”

My eyes finally focus and I try to sit up, my head lightly scraping against a hard surface. I feel above me a hard roof, my fingers scrambling to try and find an edge. But then my eyes land on the bars in front of me and I realize - I’m in a cage. On all fours, I move around and finally find the door, which of course is firmly locked. I grip the bars, squeezing them tight before I shake the door gently. It doesn’t budge. 

Part of me wants to scream and yell, but I’ve seen enough of those old movies to know that it won’t do me any good. No one will let me out or I wouldn’t be in here to begin with. I take a look around the dingy, poorly-lit room and see no one. Just half broken furniture and some rusty shelves with various parts of metal, some canned foods, and…is that a board game? It’s not until I see the needle full of Jet (a drug) on the table that I know who took me for certain. My memory was not failing me. 

Raiders.

I have no idea why they would take me, but I do know that I’m fucked. It does give me a little hope that they haven’t done anything yet. Maybe they’re waiting for me to wake up….

I quickly lay back down, curling into the same position I had woken from. I keep my eyes open, studying my prison for as long as I can. But when I hear the footsteps growing closer, I close them gently, hoping that I can still look like I’m asleep. Heavy footsteps shuffle in, 2 sets as far as I can hear. I don’t dare open my eyes.

“Still out?” a deep voice asks.

“Seems so.” The bars of my cage rattle as the second man shakes the cage. I don’t move. “Yeah. I’d say she is.”

The first man groans. “I wish she’d wake up. Maybe the boss would let us torture her a bit while we’re waiting on Nightshade.”

Benny. Of course. That’s why they took me. Benny missed several drop offs and he’d assumed they would think he was dead. Apparently, he thought wrong.

“Yeah but the boss said no touching. That we’re waitin’ on what’s owed us. And Nightshade won’t be nice if we hurt what’s his.”

Some more grumbling from the first man before something clanks on the floor next to the bars of my cage and they shuffle out. I wait a few minutes before moving, making sure no one else was coming. When nothing happens, I crack an eye open and scan the area. A can of Pork N’ Beans sits next to the cage, slightly open with what I’m assuming is a fork sticking out of it. Next to it is a bottle of questionable at best water. My throat is terribly dry and my stomach betrays me with a low grumble at the sight of the can. I doubt they’re going to poison me, as they could’ve killed me at any time. That’s the Raider way. Same goes for drugging. They could’ve put a line in my or anything while I was out but they didn’t. They need me alive. 

I take a very small sip of water and nibble from the can, making sure to place them back where they had been left, just in case they return quickly. They would think I was still out. But no one comes back and as the time goes on to what may be night, I start to wonder if they’ll come back. Maybe I’ll be left to die in this crate. I decide to chance another couple nibbles and sips, gently placing the containers back. 

A few hours later, I hear another set of footsteps coming closer. I get back in my fake sleeping position, listening to whomever was shuffling in. Definitely different than the first 2 people. These steps are more confident, like they know what they’re doing. I hear them stop by the cage door, standing there for several moments before heading over to the couch and slumping down on it.  

“I know you’re awake.”

Fuck. Well, no use pretending. I open my eyes and sit up as best as I can, staring at the man on the couch. He’s definitely a Raider, the patchy clothes and scars littering his shirtless body are a big indicator. As is the shoulder plate armor with giant spikes coming from it. He’s got a scar across his cheek and a tattoo of some kind of marking around his eyes. He scratches at the short mohawk on his head, plopping down another piece of armor from his body on the makeshift coffee table in front of him. 

“I’m Draven. Who are you to Nightshade?”

Doesn’t even ask my name. Rude.

“Juni.”

“What’s a Juni?”

I scoff. “My name. Since you didn’t ask.”

He cocks his head slightly. “I’m shocked you told me. I thought you’d have told me to fuck off.”

I nod. “Thought about it.”

His eyebrows raise. “And?”

I shrug. “I figured it wouldn’t get me anywhere.”

He laughs. “Logical. I like that. And funny. No wonder Nightshade keeps you close. Well….most times anyway.”

I cross my arms, willing my nerves to calm down. “What do you want with him?” 

“Ain’t you gonna ask me why you’re here?”

I gesture vaguely. “As a sort of bait or something from Nightshade, I assume.”

He nods. “Or something.” He glances down at the can and jar of water. “You can eat and drink. It’s not poisoned. Water might not be the cleanest but it’s what we got. We never got the parts to fix our purifier.”

I study him for a moment, his dark eyes looking more intense surrounded by the markings. I decide he’s telling the truth and reach for the bottle, taking several sips before setting it to the side and taking a few bites of the beans, my eyes never leaving Draven. He watches me finish eating before shifting on the couch to lay down, tossing his arm over his forehead.

“You don’t have to worry about my people hurtin’ you. I forbid it. As long as you’re cooperative.”

Is that supposed to be comforting? “How long am I going to be here?”

“Just waiting on your boss, hon.”

Boss? Keeps me close? It dawns on me that Draven must think I’m Nightshade’s property. He has no clue how deep Benny’s love for me is. He may not even think that Benny will come for me, but decided to take the chance. 

Draven yawns loudly. “I figure I have nothing to lose. On one hand, if he shows, I’ll be able to get what’s ours. On the other, if he doesn’t think you’re worth it, I get a pretty girl to keep all to myself. Either way, I win.”

I feel the color drain from my face, even though I kind of figured that it wouldn’t end well for me if Benny didn’t show. Question is, how soon will he make it here? Will it be in time?

On the 3rd day in my cage, I’m wakened by various yells and whoops, Draven quickly sitting up on the couch. He looks over at me, a sickly sweet smile spreading across his face as the commotion grows louder.

“Bet that’s your boss.”

The door flies open and a Raider walks in, chest heaving from excitement. “It’s him. It’s The Nightshade!”

Before I can think, my cage door is ripped open and the Raider grips my ankle, dragging me across the cage floor. I try to kick out, but he pins me, Draven coming over to calmly tie my hands behind my back. I knew it wouldn’t work, trying to escape, but I had to give it a shot. Draven hauls me up, gripping the binds at my wrists as he leans in to my ear.

“Let’s go say hi.”

He grips the binds tight, the rope digging further into my skin as he pulls me along, pushing his way through a crowd of people all staring at something on the ground. We break through the crowd and I have to choke back a cry. On the ground is Benny, one Raider on either side of him hauling him up, his arms outstretched on either side. His lip is busted and he spits a glob of blood out on the ground, looking up at Draven. 

“Nightshade. You’re alive.”

Benny pulls a little at each Raider but they hold strong. “I am.”

Draven chuckles, deep in his chest. “And here we thought you were dead. After all, you stopped deliverin’ what was agreed upon.”

“You think I’d go back on a deal?”

Draven watches him for a moment. “I’m not sure. Why don’t you tell your partner here where the load is, then.” Draven yanks me from behind him, pulling me around front and holding me to his body. My eyes find Benny’s and, even though we are not safe by any means, I take comfort from his gaze, a brief flicker of concern before rage sets in, that darkness enveloping his face.

“You let her go and we can talk.”

Draven does that chuckle again. “Now why would I let my insurance go? She’s my guarantee that you’ll do as I say.”

Benny’s jaw clenches. He hates this. I can’t say I’m too fond of it either.

“I’ll bring you what’s owed.”

“That you will,” Draven smiles down at him. “Maybe we’ll start with her. She has such smoothe skin.” He brushes the backside of a crooked finger down my cheek and I jerk my head away from him as his finger continues to trace a path down my neck.

It’s as if I’m watching things happen in slow motion. Benny jerks his arms once, no doubt the enhancements he’s received taking over as both Raiders go flying. He stands, pulling guns from each of the Raiders and aiming at the ones currently charging him. He always hits a mark, but there’s so many of them. They all rush him, the sound of clashing metal and gunfire deafening in the small circle. But then battle cries and screams sound from the opposite side and the Raiders scatter slightly as men clad in umpire gear and a familiar brown pointed hat come charging in. The Minutemen and Diamond City have arrived, the Raiders momentarily surprised by their abrupt appearance. 

This is so much faster than the films. But while they started strong, the Raiders are more willing to take a life and they start to overpower the Minutemen and Diamond City and it sounds like they’re losing. And Fast. Draven pulls me tighter to him and I feel a knife being pressed to my side, his heavy breathing in my ear warm, fanning down my neck. And then he bursts from the crowd, blood spattered across his face and clothes, chest heaving.

Benny! 

He takes a step forward, but then the ground shakes, a deafening roar sounding loud over the sounds of fighting as a giant dinosaur looking thing comes stomping into view. It’s tall, at least 20 feet tall, curved horns adorning it’s face, scaly skin, standing on 2 legs, 2 long arms with sharp claw-like fingers at the end. And it hits me - this must be a Deathclaw.

“Fuck!” Draven yells from behind me, yanking me along with him as everyone starts running, some people trying to shoot the thing and take it down. We lose Benny in our escape, and honestly, I’m too terrified to try and slow him down. We have to get away from that thing!

As the sounds of the deathclaw and fighting start to fade a little, a shot bounces off the ground next to us. Draven clutches me to him and spins, the knife poking my side again and I gasp at the pain. My hands grip the arm he has pinned across my chest, frantically turning me side to side to find the shooter. But he doesn’t have to look long as Benny appears from nowhere, his dark jacket flapping in the breeze. He aims his pistol at Draven. 

“Just give her to me and I’ll get you what’s owed. Then I’m out.”

Draven squeezes me a little tighter. “She must be more important to you than I thought for you to bring the literal cavalry in.”

Benny shrugs, but I know it’s for show. I can see the tension in his body, in the small movements of his face that I’m so attuned to. “Hard to find good help.”

“Mmm. Well, if she’s not so important, maybe I’ll just keep her. Trade you for her.”

Benny sighs. “Don’t make me kill you, Draven. You’re smarter than all those other Raiders.”

“You’re right. Maybe I’ll just keep her and kill you. Best of both worlds.”

If I hadn’t been staring at his face, I would’ve missed the nearly imperceptible glance Benny gave me, his eyes dropping ever so slightly before snapping back to Draven, who had been rambling on about the horrible things he’d do to me. Slowly, I loosen my grip on Draven’s arm, lowering my own to my sides. I try to tell Benny I love him and trust him with my gaze but I don’t know if he saw it. 

“-and then, only when I’m done with her, I’ll toss her to my-”

BANG!

A loud gunshot rings out, my own voice screaming with it. Draven drops to the floor, instantly dead with a bullet in between his eyes. Benny lowers his gun and runs to me, holding me to him.

“Hey, sshh hey it’s me. You’re ok, Juni. I’ve got you.”

My breathing starts to shorten and I start gasping for breath a little. “Benny?”

He pulls back and looks at me, his eyes wide with fear. They start to rake over my body, but I know where it is. I reach my side and pull my fingers back, blood covering them. 

“No! Fuck!” Benny grabs me as I slump, my limbs already going cold. He must have hit an organ.

“I l-love y-you, Ben..Benny,” I say, gasping for breath.

Benny holds me, but before he can reply, that same screech comes bellowing at us. Benny turns his head, staring at the deathclaw as it charges us. He turns back to me and holds me tighter, trying to shield me from whatever violent attack was about to happen.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I’m so sorry, Juni. I love you.”

His tears splash on my face, joining my own. It may be because I’m dying, but I hear what sounds like a vertibird (a sort of helicopter) propeller. And machine gun fire, the screaming from the deathclaw indicating it had been hit. Multiple times. Benny tears his face from mine, looking through the dust at the deathclaw, who was falling on his side, sliding across the dirt, dead.

“Hey! Help! Get a stimpak!” Benny screams from somewhere above me, one of his arms leaving me to wave. 

I look up at the sky and I see it then, a large vertibird descending upon us, someone in power armor hopping out. I must be dying because I swear I see Frankie in the pilot’s chair as the stomping from the power armor gets closer. 

“Here! Stimpak now!” Benny yells and the stomps come closer as my eyes start fluttering. The last thing I see before I pass out is Santi’s face appearing from behind the power armor helmet, leaning over me as Benny comes into view, a pinch in my side before I pass out.

Sunlight streams across my face, the warmth and brightness rousing me from sleep. I blink, my eyes taking a moment to adjust to the light. As my vision acclimates, I look around the room I’m in. It’s plain, medical. Like a military med tent. I feel a weight on my hand and look down to see Benny, asleep on said hand. His face is turned towards me and I take advantage of the quiet to study his face. It’s peaceful in sleep, the white of his scars even seems subdued. And I’m struck again by how handsome he is and just how lucky I am that he loves me back. I reach over and                                    brush back some hair from his face as he stirs beneath my touch. His eyes open and he finds mine already watching him. He sits up, taking my hand in his.

“You’re awake! How do you feel?”

How do I feel? “A little sore but alive. What happened?”

Benny cups my face and leans towards me, kissing my gently before pulling back, giving me a small smile. “I fucking love you.”

“I love you too.”

He sits back and takes my hand again. “Draven stabbed you. There was so much blood. You were…” he swallows hard and I squeeze his hand in reassurance. “You were dying. And then that deathclaw found us. He was charging and I thought..well I thought if you were dying, then I’d go with you. I was going to protect you as best I could. But then Frankie and Santi showed up and mowed that fucker down.”

“So that was Frankie and Santi? For real?”

He nods. “Yeah! I wasn’t sure they even got my message but apparently they did. Santi got to you just in time. He jammed a stimpak in your side, but you had passed out. We weren’t sure the stimpak would work in time.” He takes a deep breath. “But you did. Once it seemed you were stable enough, we loaded you up and they took us back to base. We’re in a Brotherhood med tent right now.”

“And the Raiders? Won’t they retaliate?”

Benny chuckles. “Those knuckleheads? The only one of them that had half a brain cell was Draven and he’s dead. The others? Most of them died during the fight. Maybe a few survived but we won’t see anything from them.” We sit in silence for a moment before his eyes drop from mine. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get to you.”

I cup his face. “What? No, Benny you did what you could. You couldn’t just come running in. We wouldn’t have made it out alive.”

Benny laughs. “That’s exactly what Will and Tom said. They said you’d kill me yourself for coming in without a plan.”

“And they were right.”

“Tom gathered up all the Diamond City guards and Lauren got in touch with your Minutemen. They came as quick as they could. I’ve never seen Preston that mad. Anyway, you saw what happened.”

My mind flashes back to the battle and I shake my head. “When can we leave?”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

I smile at him. “Let’s go home.”

1 year later…

“And then I mowed that yao gui (mutated bear) down!” Santi boasts.

Frankie snorts. “Yeah but it took you a week to scrub your shit from the inside of that power armor!”

We all laugh as Santi throws an empty Pork ‘N Beans can at Frankie’s head. “Pendejo. How many yao guis have you stood in front of?” They bicker like brothers back and forth for another few minutes, eventually walking back towards the kitchen to get more food. 

Benny and I had returned to Sanctuary Hills, bringing Santi and Frankie with us. They helped refortify the perimeter and took turns on watch. They left for a run to Diamond City and came back a month later with Will and Lauren, Tom and Molly opting to stay behind in Diamond City. Tom was too connected with his bar and Molly and the kids loved it there. But what surprised us most was that Santi brought back with him a girl, Jamie, who fit right in the moment she came inside the gates. 

Benny comes to stand next to me, draping his arm around my shoulders. He tips my chin to him with his pointer finger and kisses me, deepening it momentarily before pulling back. He smiles and rubs his nose against mine before resting his head on mine. 

As I feel Benny next to me and look out at all of our friends, my heart fills with happiness and gratitude that we all somehow managed to make it, together, past the end of the world. And that we would be able to survive whatever this wasteland throws our way.

General Taglist:

@frankie-catfish-morales @chaoticgeminate @janebby @astoryisaloveaffair @balekanemohafe @greeneyedblondie44 @hoeforthefictional @marvelousmermaid @hauntedmama @icanbeyourjedi @wretchedmo @sunnshineeexoxo @livingmydreams13 @adventures-of-a-noodle @sara-alonso @theewokingdead @punkerthanpascal @giggly-otter @f0rever15elf @phandoz @gallowsjoker @lovesbiggerthanpride @booksarekindaneat @charlispersonallyhell @xoxabs88xox @amneris21 @gooddaykate @avengers-fixation @paintballkid711 @harriedandharassed   @ladykatakuri @practicalghost @withakindheartx @batdarkladyvampir @justanotherkpopstanlol   @mermaidxatxheart @alexxavicry @justreblogginfics @kmc1989 @veryprairieberry @mysterious-moonstruck-musings @heartpascalispunk  

[luveline]

You probably won't see this because your inbox must be overflowing but I have always wondered how you got started here? I do requests as well and for nearly two years I have been practically begging for them and no one really wants to ask for anything and if they do and I fill it, no one really reads it. I know the first response for many is probably well maybe my writing is the problem but being modest, I have posted plenty of fics in my time that get a lot of positive attention. It just seems to be requests that are the issue. I have all but given up on asking for them at this point because it feels embarrassing to keep begging and even more mortifying to post them and have the notes not hit 20. I've noticed people tend to inundate the same authors (like yourself) with requests rather than spreading them throughout blogs. Did you ever have this issue at the beginning? If so, how did you overcome the sadness and disappointment and continue to want to give to others and the community? If not, do you have any advice? Because the lack of response is so disheartening that it makes me not want to write for others anymore.

Hello! Just to preface, I’m worried my answer isn’t very helpful, so before you read please know I’m absolutely not trying to be an idiot or insensitive, I hope this doesn’t read that way! pls think of a /gen tag the whole time lovely

omg no I would honestly never assume it’s down to writing! I fear with tumblr it’s sort of like a lottery for if your fic will get seen cos of the tag system, like if it’s not a super popular tag then you have to hope it gets reblogged enough to get into the TOP section but that barely ever happens especially for requests! I got started writing fics just by writing them, but I do remember of course the early stages of my blog where I didn’t have many followers and didn’t get many requests, and I remember too how disheartening it was!! But, that being said when I first started writing fics I had no idea just how popular they could get, so I think I was saved from becoming too upset because I literally didn’t realise more than 200 people could like a fic if that makes sense? I remember my first Remus fic, baby fever, got like 100 notes in a few days and I just was so happy, so whenever I’m feeling disheartened by a lack of response I try to remember how grateful I was back then for much fewer interactions, and at the same time, a lot of my works I was writing because I was lonely and desperately wanted company, so sometimes it didn’t even matter to me if people read them because I was writing them as a sort of self indulgence, so I think that helped me not feel too down. I feel worried saying this because you say that your requests aren’t hitting 20 notes so I really don’t want to sound tone deaf suggesting you try to keep your head up, because I do think if my fics were not reaching my audience I’d feel just as disheartened. I’ve found that my fics do better now because I have more followers that see the fic/request, and I’ve collected them over time through many many fics and I have to assume much luck with the tags! Like, I believe whole heartedly that you write well, and if you’ve been doing it for two whole years, the only reason I could think of that you’re not getting the attention you deserve is bad luck, it’s really not nice to spend a lot of time and energy on something and have it go unseen. I think when I first started I just kept thinking, if I keep writing, this next one will be the one people like, and I still feel that way now, and I still feel disappointed sometimes when not many people comment on one cos it feels like a reflection of the quality of your work, but I think there are just so many factors so try not to blame yourself for it, I think it’s just a weird algorithm or something. I wish I could tell you why some blogs get more requests than others but I’m honestly not sure why it happens!! And I think it’s okay to not want to write for others if you feel unappreciated genuinely, it must feel really awful to put effort into things and then wonder if the person who asked managed to read it!! I hope whatever happens that you can find joy in writing and find an audience, and I think you know already that your writing isn’t the issue !!

[cosette141]

Write and Create for Yourself First | thoughts on fanfiction, art and external validation

When it comes to fanfiction, or any creation for that matter, so many people judge their own fics, art and talent by the amount of interaction with it.

I only know because I recently used to be one of them.

For people who seek external validation, if they have a story that has a thousand kudos or notes, they consider it worthy.

But if it has only 2, or god forbid none, then they feel like it wasn’t good or they “wasted their time” writing it. But that’s just not true, and it’s such a hurtful way of thinking about yourself and your own work. It’s only human to feel drawn towards external validation, but it’s your choice whether or not to chase it.

I implore you to think about it a different way, and hopefully make you feel a little better if you are the kind of person who thinks this way. Because in most cases, kudos, likes, comments, interaction—it’s a reflection of exposure, your current following, the luck of an algorithm, the traffic to that specific corner of the internet, or just how niche of a genre you’re creating in.

Not talent.

Think about this: imagine someone you idolize, respect or even envy the talent and success of. It could be a famous musician, author, a fellow fic writer—anyone who is successful and talented.

Now ask yourself: if no one in the world, not one single soul, ever saw any creation this person ever made…

Would it make that person any less talented?

If that famous musician never shared their music with anyone, are they no longer talented? Are they any less worthy of feeling confident in themselves and their work? Should they feel any less about themselves because they don’t have anyone validating their talent and ability?

If your favorite book writer kept their stories to themselves and never shared them, are they any less brilliant?

No.

But society makes it seem like it.

Think about your favorite books or movies or fanfics—(not your own, but someone else’s work that you love)—that don’t have a lot of kudos or likes or engagement. You love this story/creation. It touched you and you can see how incredible it is. Does it matter that the rest of the world doesn’t? Does it make you love it any less? Do you look at the kudos count and then say “Oh, wait, now it isn’t good anymore.” How many times are you commenting on something saying “I can’t believe this doesn’t have more comments/likes/etc!”

Do you realize how many people say that about the fics you’ve written that have little engagement? Even if they don’t tell you, there are people who are thinking it. There are countless posts and comments on tumblr from people who admit they don't comment because they simply are shy or don't know what to say.

External validation is a dangerous hole to fall into. Because the more you reach for it, the more you rely on it, the deeper you fall.

The easiest way to avoid falling into that hole is to look at your creation the moment you’ve created it, and capture the feeling you have right then and there. What does it make you feel? Did it help you cope? Did it make you smile or laugh? Did it make you cry and ease some of your emotional weight? Did you just feel that you created an incredible thing, and that you love it so much?

Someone liking it or not liking it doesn’t change what you feel in that moment.

Sometimes, you just have to wait for your time. Maybe your creation needs a few years and then it’ll get noticed and you’ll be rolling in success.

Does that mean you’re supposed to feel sad and invalidated until that happens?

If you currently have a creation that’s seen some external validation already, what would you tell your past-self who just posted it, and is waiting for engagement, thinking it isn’t good enough until they get some?

Think of all the time you spent sad, waiting for everyone else to change your mind. Think about how much power you’re giving them! Imagine that person whose underappreciated fic you love. If they were sad about it, what would you tell them?

Because sometimes, there are just things that won’t get exposure. There are just tv shows that won’t get picked up or movie deals that fall through and never get made, books that never get published and fics that never get read.

And if that is devastating to you, I ask you why you’re writing them in the first place.

Of course we all want to share our creations and get comments and positive reviews. And they are wonderful and fulfilling and inspiring and motivating! But if they are the only reason you are creating, if you always feel you wasted your time on a story that receives little interaction, you will feel empty so much of the time. You will always be wanting more, because you are focused on the quantity of them. When you are in this mindset, the moment after you finish reading the most heartfelt review you’ve ever gotten... you’re already waiting to get the next one.

But instead, if you create for yourself, if you sit in that moment of creation and you feel incredible about it, just between you and yourself… and you remember that feeling and that fact even after posting it publicly, everything else is just extra. It’s just the cherry on top. If you wrote that story because you needed to get something off your chest and you did, it doesn’t matter what someone else thinks of it.

If you felt incredible when creating art, then that art is incredible.

Hopefully, you are sharing your work with people, rather than writing it for them. Or, more accurately, for their positive feedback and compliments. Comments are sweeter when they aren’t viewed as payment to you or validation, and are instead like a gift to you.

You are always happy with your work if you view it this way.

You are sometimes happy with your work, depending on the actions of other people, if you rely on external validation.

Obviously you can do whatever you want! It’s your life and it’s your creations. But I can at least tell you that you will be a lot happier if you create for yourself first and take everything else as a wonderful surprise addition.

Because as someone who has climbed back out of that external validation hole and saw the sun for the first time in a long time, I can at least tell you that it has been so much happier for me.

.

I wrote an addition to this post to answer this question: How do you write for yourself first when you are making writing a professional career? That post is here!

[topguncortez]

Hello, sorry to be a bother I hope everything is going well with your graduation 💗💗

I just wanted to ask if you have any tips and/or thoughts for those starting out posting their fics and ect on tumblr

i meant to answer this the other day but things came up and i pushed it to the back burner.

anyway! my tips and tricks on getting involved in fandom writing (and it doesn’t just have to be this one. this goes for ALL fandoms)

1. use tags

tags are very helpful with organizing and getting your work out there. not only can people follow certain tags, but it’s also easier to search and find a certain fic. for example, if i wanted to read nico hischier fics im going to search “nico hischier imagines” i use the same 10-15 tags on all of my posts.

now ☝️ here’s one thing that butters my biscuit about tags, is when people misuse them. do not tag a fic about jake seresin with “bradley bradshaw imagine”.

2. headers & titles & synopsis

titles are hard. i’m pretty sure i have three fics all titled the same thing. however, titles are attention grabbers. titles are gonna make people want to stop and read your fic. my go to advice for titles, is find a song you like and use that. or maybe a line of dialogue. or in the TGM fandom, your characters callsign

headers also grab people’s attention. i almost always use a header image unless im writing a blurb or a one shot from an ask. pinterest is a great lovely tool that you can find amazing pictures to use as headers. and canva is a great free tool that’ll help you edit.

synopsis: also attention grabbers. a proper synopsis will give people a glimpse at what’s ahead. it can be as simple as “in this fic, jake is an asshole”

3. warnings

this is a big one. especially if you’re wanting to write smut or angst. yes, people are responsible for the media they consume, however it is the writers job to warn them about what they are going to consume.

i normally write “warnings: a…b…c…” in my angst and smut fics. however, if i’m writing about darker angst/realistic topics such as SA, abuse, gun violence, etc, i will put a “trigger warning” (tw) tag in my tags.

i can not stress this point enough. like i said, the reader is responsible for what they choose to read. but your duty as a writer is to make sure your warnings and tags are very, very clear. it does not matter if your warnings “give too much of the plot away”. that means your plot is probably very triggering for people and you need to tell them that.

be very clear with your warnings. crystal. clear.

4. the use of read more

please use the “read more” option when writing long pieces. the fandom will love you if you do.

5. reblog your work, reblog others work… build a network

reblogs are so so important especially on this app. tumblr is not tiktok. there’s no algorithm for what shows up first on your dash. the way to keep your fic and others fics alive is by REBLOGGING

also, reblogging of other peoples fics is what draws attention to your blog. and it’s how you start to create friendship networks.

i met most of my friends by reblogging their work or sneaking into their dms.

writers support writers around here.

6. make your blog personable.

no one likes a blank inpersonable blog. not saying you need to put your face as the icon. but make it look like you’re not just a bot blog.

find a cute color scheme and some headers. make it unique. make it you!

7. do not be afraid to tag people

some people (including myself once) are afraid to tag the “big blogs” (which i find to be a stupid term. no one here is a “big blog”, sit down charlie d’melio) but tagging people again is what catches peoples attention.

do not be afraid to tag some of your favorite writers and be like “hey i’m new look at this”

8. utilize online resources for writing help

there’s so many free writing resources out there! i’m seeing more and more show up on my instagram feed, tiktok, youtube. they are great apps that’ll help you get started!

i know this was a lot but if you have ANY questions or need someone to look over your fics, you can reach out to me!

i hope this helps:)

[darkness-and-books]

DW opinion time

spoilers for the latest episode below the cut

So scrolling through tumblr after I watched the episode (because I always am nosey and wanna know what other people thought), it looks basically like an echo chamber of the same two or three opinions (there are probably more but the algorithm shows you the most popular ones first). Those opinions were:

“You can’t like Ricky, Ricky’s racist”

”Ricky can’t be racist, he was so nice/hot”

“I love that Lindy is just a terrible person through and through, like no redemption”

Here’s where I’m gonna go full essay on this shit and address everything.

There was this one opinion I read (I’m sure it’s other places but this is the one I saw) that said that basically Ricky was the white version of the doctor to show that Lindy would have listened to the Doctor if he was white. And I disagree, I’ll get to that in a moment though.

I read another (I really couldn’t find the post I found this opinion in again, I tried, but I lost it to cyberspace) that said that Lindy was more willing to Ruby because she’s white; once more I disagree, I think she’s more willing to listen to Ruby because she just starts with better people skills. The Doctor basically starts with “Hi, you’re gonna die” whereas Ruby pretends to be taking a survey and is like “by the way I love your top”.

Then I read one that breaks down a very passive interaction between Ricky and the Doctor. This feels like an interpretation thing, I really didn’t see it this way. I even went back and watched the interaction again, to me this sorta smile-and-look-away combo was more of a bashful/humility thing because he does it after the Doctor says something along the lines of “a clever boy too” (something of that manner).

Now for my opinion:

Personally I didn’t see it as racism, I saw classism. I mean, yeah sure, all the people in FineTime are white, but colour isn’t the barrier here, the barrier is economic (which I suppose somewhere further back on the line does imply racism, yada yada.. tangent for another time and not really the main point here). Lindy even says that it’s just the rich kids that are here (not exactly what she said but that’s the basis).

I also think that people put too much into whether or not Ricky’s a good person, he’s really only there to help move the plot along. He doesn’t have any background except that he’s also rich, his last name is actually Coombe (and C comes before P), and he’s famous. That’s it, he’s not got a properly fleshed out character.

I don’t think that outside of fanfiction we’ll ever find out what kind of a person Ricky September is. So I guess we just have to decide for ourselves on that one.

Me, personally, I like Ricky, but that’s because I read him the way I wanted to. People I think have all read him based on their experiences which is why despite not really having proper character work for him, we’ve all made decisions about who he is to us. I’ve personally decided that, maybe he does hold some of the same prejudices as his peers, but I think he’s really open minded and wants to learn stuff. I think he’s chill, I mean man really said he puts down the bubble and reads, basically “yeah, I touch grass”. So yeah 👍.

I’d love to take any legitimate arguments/comments/questions about it. I love proper debate/conversation 😊

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Hey! I love your work, and I think you get everything down to Alfie’s language to the fucking t! It’s so fucking good when I can literally hear him in my head while I’m reading! Sidenote—please don’t cut my head off, because I’m *genuinely* trying to understand. I’ve followed you for awhile and I’ve noticed you engaging in the discourse about readers and reblogs, likes, etc., so I thought maybe you would be a good person to try to help me understand why some writers seem to be so upset by some readers liking instead of reblogging. Again, I’m not trying to attack anyone, I promise, but even as a writer myself, I struggle to grasp why it matters so much. Like, of course, comments and/or reblogs with comments make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! It makes my day hearing that someone has loved a thing I’ve put my time and effort into creating, but likes are called “likes” for a reason—to let someone know you liked what they posted. In my head, getting them is another way for people to let me know they enjoyed what I put out. I’m not saying that anyone is, but to me, it comes off a little entitled when people get upset at readers for not explicitly praising their work with comments and such. Yes, the site is free and we’re not getting paid to write fanfics, but nobody owes anyone anything. When I write a thing and post it, I don’t feel like readers are then obligated to give me feedback because putting it online is a decision that *I* made. If they take the time to comment on it, that’s fucking wonderful, but that doesn’t mean that people who don’t do that are in the wrong for using the like button as their way of telling writers “Hey, I like this!” if they’re uncomfortable interacting or don’t have anything specific in mind to say. I’ve seen people talk about just copy/pasting a comment, but I don’t get how having 100 comments that all say “I like this fic!” or whatever is any different than using the button that’s meant to indicate “I like this fic!”. If somebody’s going to say something about my work, I would rather it be because they genuinely wanted to comment, not because they feel obligated to do so. I really hope this doesn’t come off as rude and I’m so sorry if it does. I’m just confused because both interactions mean the same thing—the only difference is that some people are more comfortable sharing their thoughts in depth or socializing online. I don’t know, it sorta feels like some are trying to police what other people do/don’t do with their blogs when we’re all here for the same reason—to fuck around and fuck our favorite characters. (Or daydream about it, unfortunately lmao)

Okay, I will try and explain it for you, nonie.

The reason why we are frustrated over the lack of reblogs is very simple, and if you’ve been following me for a while I’m surprised that you haven’t noted the reason by now.

Essentially, it keeps the fandoms going. It spreads posts around, it gives them visibility since half the time, the tags don’t work (it’s hit and miss at best!) and the algorithms on this site are virtually nonexistent, so having our work shared is a vitally helpful way for us to reach more people.

This isn’t Instagram. The reblog button is there to be used as that’s the very ethos of the tumblr experience; you see something that you enjoy, you like it, you share it. You seem to be forgetting that and solely focusing on commentary, but let’s get to that, shall we?

You’re absolutely right, nobody is obligated to comment, but come on. It’s a tiny exertion of effort to reward an author. It’s interaction, it can help people feel like what they wrote is valued beyond the bare minimum. It’s a tiny expression of gratitude in a world were fast consumption of “content” is now the norm. It also helps people - new writers especially - feel like they’re not shouting into a void. It all also ties in the the community of fandoms, which seems to be dying because of this quick consumption trend.

If you are fine with none of the above happening, with no sense of community in your respective fandom, with people not offering comments - or the more important reblogs - great! But people aren’t wrong for wanting a little more from our audiences, especially when that little more takes seconds to participate in.

I hope that clears things up for you.

[newsiesficchallenges]

Would you maybe be willing to go over the process of tagging on ao3? I've never used it before so I can figure out most of it but the entire posting process is new to me

Of course! 

If you don’t mind, I’m just going to cover all of it, because you aren’t the first person to ask this. 

So- tagging! 

In simple terms, tags have the same purpose on AO3 that they do on Tumblr. They’re to inform you of the content, summarize and warn, and to help organize the search system. They can be complicated, and daunting, but can also be largely unique if one so chooses. I’ll explain how in a minute! 

By adding a tag, you are inserting your work into a list, or a system, of other works that fall under the same category. For example: if you are writing a Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski work, and you tag that relationship, the work will show up when you search that relationship. It’s one of AO3’s best features, and a way an author can gain popularity in a fandom. 

Now, starting at the top of your AO3 form, we have the rating. Now, I like to think of your rating as a movie rating. Everyone has a little bit of a different view on these, but for our collective purpose of explanations, let’s use this standard guide. 

The first one is general audiences. This is a PG rated movie. Minimal language, some sexual and adult jokes that might fly over someone’s head, and little to no violence. You would let your 11yo cousin read this fic and not be concerned. 

The next is teen and up audiences. This is your PG-13, TV-14. We’ve got curses going around, but not all of them. Sexual jokes, light sexual content that probably doesn’t go very far. If there’s violence, it’s Marvel movie, see blood but no gore style. 

Mature is where things get interesting. Say whatever you want, have the smut scenes, and shoot outs in the alleyways. Children aren’t allowed into this R-rated movie, but we all know it’s for the 15+ girlies who are reading on their computers in the dark. 

And explicit is anything goes, basically. If you’re reading an explicit fic, and you get surprised by what you see, that’s a you problem. ‘Tis the smuttiest of the smut, the most hardcore violence and angst, and characters run rampant in their actions and words. 

And then we have the warnings! These are what I consider to be the most important, because a lot of these things are triggers. It’s pretty self-explanatory, as you can pick and choose anything that applies. 

Fandoms is also pretty self-explanatory. You use AO3’s list of fandoms, and click whatever fandom you’re writing for. For this exchange, you would type Newsies, and select the options and forms of the show you took inspiration from. 

Categories is more confusing, I think, primarily because one can never decide if you want to click every button that applies, or just the important ones. In my personal experiences, I tend to just click whatever option represents the main ship I’m writing for, and then make sure I tag anything that doesn’t fit that category in the relationships tags. You are definitely free to select everything, though!

Relationships is pretty important, just for information purposes. Most people search AO3 through specific relationships they want to read, and so I make sure to tag everything I can, just for algorithm and accessibility reasons. You can tag the romantic relationships (the ones with the / between the two character names), platonic relationships (the ones with the & between the character names), and everything in between, depending on how you want your fic viewed, and how you want it sorted in the tagging system (by this, I mean if you want it put in the list of ‘x’ (ex. Harley Keener/Peter Parker) works, falling under a specific tag). And if you want viewers to be aware of the different relationships, especially the romantic and platonic ones, always double check that you have selected the right tag (again, for romantic there’s a /, and for platonic there’s a &).

Characters are also important, but I want to stress that you do not need to tag all of the character that appear in your fics. I would simply tag the ones the work focuses around, or that have an impact on the story. It will take you forever to tag everyone if you’re writing a longer story. 

Additional tags is another very confusing thing. A lot of people view them as similar to Tumblr tags, like I said earlier, and this is where you can have some originality, like the Tumblr tags. When I am adding additional tags, I will read the story as I tag it, and make sure I add tags that apply to the important bits. You can keep it professional, with just the tags that will help get you more readers, and trigger warnings; or you can have fun with it, and simply put your thoughts about the work there, as another summary; or you can do a mixture of both. I do a mixture, and will add tags that add the work to popular searches, and add a running commentary/summary as I do so. This part is completely up to you, and you can explore what you want to put by typing random letters or names (things will pop up by either most common or alphabetical order, depending on what you’re typing) into the search bar, just to see what shows. My main suggestion- and pretty steadfast requirement for this exchange- is that you make sure you have a tag for plot points that might be triggering for some. Other than that, the world is your oyster!

That’s it! Hope that helps! If you have any more questions, let me know! 

[baronfulmen]

Why you should clear your brain’s cache and cookies

A Rant About Shrooms, AI Art, Trauma, and Appreciating Life

Hey look at this image.  You shouldn’t trust evolutionary psychology people because it’s often Just So Stories people make up, but that doesn’t mean we should throw out the baby with the bath water so let’s talk about the evolutionary importance of ✨PATTERN RECOGNITION ✨

Okay so the tiger in the picture above is trying to hide so it can eat us, and we’re trying to see it so we can avoid being eaten.  Great.  Cool.  That means there’s a VERY important part of our brains that has evolved to look at noisy images and play “find the tiger”.  (It works for non-visual stuff too, we’ll get to that.)

This is also how AI-generated art works, basically.  You give a computer some random static and then say “somewhere in this image is [insert prompt], find it” and it tries very hard to do so, like when you point out shapes in clouds to someone.

Our brains work via committee, so the part that’s doing that kind of pattern recognition and visual processing isn’t really any smarter than something like Google Deep Dream which you can hand a picture of some dude and say “FIND THE DOGS” and it’ll give you this:

People have compared images like the one above to being on shrooms and, having now taken shrooms for the first time I can say I get the comparison.  What’s important, though, is WHY this seems to be the case.  So far as I can tell (I’ll say this disclaimer once, I am some random dude on Tumblr and this is an anecdote, not scientific data - your experiences and brain chemistry may vary, do your research, I am not endorsing anything illegal, etc.) what happens on shrooms isn’t you being high, in the traditional sense.

Some drugs interfere with your perception and processing of the world.  That’s what I was expecting, and for a moment it’s what I thought I was getting.  But instead, I think what the shrooms did was delete my brain’s config file.

So now you’ve lost all the built up definitions and stored patterns, and you look at the walls and your brain no longer knows if there’s something important in all the detail.  Is there a tiger hiding in there?  WHO KNOWS!  And it takes all those little swirls and textures in the plaster or paint and starts over-processing all of it looking for patterns.  This means you don’t so much “come down” from being high, but finish re-calibrating.  At some point your brain is all, “Hey I’ve determined that’s just a normal texture for the ceiling to have, I’m not going to look that closely anymore”.

Okay but what does that have to do with trauma and appreciating life?

So glad you asked, hypothetical reader.

As I mentioned above, it’s not just visual stuff that we look for patterns in.  From an evolutionary standpoint it’s super valuable to be able to say “hey I ate that plant and then got sick, those are probably related and I shouldn’t eat that anymore”.  But there’s two big problems with that.  The first is that as with the visual processing that one part of your brain on its own isn’t smart.  It’s an algorithm, not an entire brain, so it fucks up sometimes.

I know a guy that couldn’t check his mail, because he’d been in really bad debt for a while and the fear of losing his home and the hounding by debt collectors  traumatized him so badly that his brain said “Man every time we look at the stuff that comes in the mail we get SO UPSET!  Better avoid looking at mail!” which meant when someone put envelopes down on top of the groceries (meaning he’d have to pick up what might be bills to get to the food) he found himself thinking “maybe I should just order pizza” even though he knew how stupid that was.  Trauma is a bitch, y’all.

The other thing is that sometimes the pattern was valid but is simply no longer useful.  The context has changed, and now it’s getting in the way rather than helping... but your brain doesn’t have a reset button.  Well, not a built-in one... but turns out this shit does the trick:

This is a PB&J&M sandwich I ate yesterday.  Ignore the chipped plate.  It made me feel kinda queasy all day, and at first I was disappointed.  I felt a little floaty and wobbly and things did start to look a little interesting, and I was having a nice time, but it wasn’t the mind-blowing experience I’d been hoping for.  And then the shrooms finished deleting all my stored patterns.

You know that stoner thing where they’re like “dude this cat is, like, so soft.  Why can’t we all just love each other and pet cats?” and you roll your eyes at them?  Yeah, well, the thing to know is that’s not them being stoned, that’s them seeing the world with a fresh perspective and realizing that, yeah, cats ARE soft and we don’t appreciate that enough and man why CAN’T we just relax and love each other?

In other words, it’s not distorting your perception - it’s resetting it.  You get to experience that wonder and joy of seeing things for the first time, and it’s lovely.  There are so many details that your brain files away as unimportant - it’s busy checking for tigers, who cares about appreciating the grass?  I had a great talk with my daughter (side disclaimer, she’s an adult and I was totally lucid by then and I cleared it with my designated babysitter first) and got to really see her as an adult for the first time.  Kids grow up a little at a time and it’s wild to be able to wipe out the “yeah, yeah, that’s your kid, you know what they look like” thing and SEE them, see how they’ve grown and what they really look like as a whole adult person.

I also realized I wasn’t being fair with her.  She’s had issues I won’t go into here, she’s done some dangerous or irresponsible shit like most kids have and I was still filled with parental anxiety about that and was viewing her through that filter.  What is she up to?  Is she acting squirrely?  She hasn’t been home for a few days and now she’s all manic, is she safe?  Is she fucking up?  Am I fucking up by letting her fuck up?

And with that filter erased, I could see... she’s a good kid.  She’s manic because she has ADHD and decided she doesn’t want to take meds.  She has some issues, but she’s an adult now and those aren’t my business anymore; those are now her adult issues that she can work on in her own time and her own way.  I can finally look at her as... not a peer, she’s still my kid, but as a complete adult person that I don’t need to fix and can just love and support.

It’s like Marie Kondo came into my brain and was like “hey does this pattern you’re viewing everything through spark joy?  No?  Okay let’s thank it for its service and send it on its way.”

And this is why people use shrooms to treat trauma.  I’m not saying it’s a magic cure-all, I’m not saying that it will work for everyone, but... man it’s pretty great to clear things out.  That sense of wonder and appreciation is already fading, but it’s not that the shrooms are wearing off - the wipe was an event not a condition - it’s just the normal process of my brain filing things away as “not a tiger” and ignoring them again.

It’s like those power washing videos.  You scour off the accumulated grime, and then the grime starts to build up again but at least you get it nice and clean for now and were reminded that, hey, that can look pretty nice.  I can see why people say not to do them too often, as wonderful as my experience was there just wouldn’t be a point in doing it again right away.  Maybe in a few months, who knows.

Final thoughts and warnings

I was queasy the whole day, longer than most people seem to experience.  It didn’t bother me much, I never felt like I was in danger of throwing up although I know people who have.  If you’re worried about it there are ways around that, it’s caused by the actual mushrooms rather than the active chemicals so you can (supposedly) make a sort of tea and strain out the actual mushroom bits. 

I tried watching some of those trippy videos, and that was a mistake.  There was too much visual stimulation and the disconnect of “wait it looks like we’re flying through a psychedelic landscape of fractals but it feels like we’re just sitting in a chair” made me feel antsy and uncomfortable.  Turns out it’s better to just look at something fairly boring and let your brain over-analyze it.

Have a babysitter.  My wonderful supportive wife was mine, and I ended up not needing one but frankly that might be my own strange brain.  I’ve always had a strong separation between the main “thinking” part of my brain and the rest, so there wasn’t really any chance I would mistake my altered state for normal life.  Better safe than sorry though, especially at first.

Do your research.  Don’t go for the highest dose you can in search of some crazy trip - the best thing is the mental refresh, not seeing the walls move.  I took 3.5g, just for reference.

Plan for it to take up your whole day AND to be kinda tired the day after.  Think of it like taking a sick day, you’re going to want to spend most of the time just laying back and dozing on the couch.

Be in a good mood, and a place that makes you feel good.  Lots of people suggest being out in nature, I can imagine that would be really nice.

Be extremely cautious when combining shrooms with other things.  Don’t do it on purpose - it’s not needed, I promise - and do your research if you’re on anti depressants because while it seems mostly safe there’s theoretically a chance of having a bad interaction like serotonin syndrome.  My own research has implied that’s probably not an actual concern but I’m just some guy on Tumblr and you shouldn’t trust me.

Don’t use drugs if you’re under 20, don’t do illegal stuff, don’t blame me if you fuck yourself up.  I will not under any circumstances assist anyone in obtaining shrooms.  All I’ll say is they’re legal in some places and if you don’t live in one of those places you’re on your own.  While they do grow naturally in some places, so do mushrooms that will fucking kill you - and it can be hard to tell the difference.  Don’t eat random mushrooms, ever.

[iwriteasfotini]

The Marauders: Canon, Fanon, and the Battlegrounds Between

I know there is fierce contention between various camps within the Marauders fandom. Whether it revolves around ships, characterizations, or who knows what else, it’s out there. Everyone is fully entitled to their own opinion. And I’m personally unsure why there is so much animosity. People like what they like, and no one should be made to feel shame over the way they enjoy a character. 

There are things about the living Marauders era characters we can glean from canon. However, as the story is told through a single character’s POV, we have to take the narration with a grain of salt. Is it horribly inaccurate and unreliable, no. But is it biased? Absolutely. And thus how Harry views Sirius, Remus, and Severus during his teen years is not the end all be all to these characters. 

For James, Lily, Regulus, and anyone else who died during the first round against Voldemort, SO much is left open for interpretation. And there are many arguments to be made which have solid canon derived ground to stand on, arguments which at times even contradict each other. And I think this is what is so enticing and exciting about the Marauders. There is a lot of possibility depending on how you view a single character or a single event. It’s how so much fanfiction can exist without it all just being copies of the exact same story. And even when the plot lines follow a similar theme, people still love it because everyone throws their own little dash of pizzazz on these characters. 

How I relate to and then project the cast is heavily influenced by ME. Who I am as a person. And for you, the characterizations I portray may not be your cup of tea. Awesome! We shall continue to both enjoy the fandom gleaning what we love from the creativity of those who contribute. But it means I can’t complain when you don’t love my work, and you can’t complain when not enough people write about your ship or the characterization you connect with. We have to amiably agree to disagree, and find common ground from which to base our shallow internet understanding of the other. 

Even fanon is contested, as it should be. Maybe a majority of us agree Wolfstar is fanon, but people who ship Prongsfoot would heartily disagree. What I’d love to see is more posts about what you love about a character, rather than what you hate about the general characterization adopted by the fandom or a specific characterization. I think my mind would be opened to a wider array of ships if I could understand what it is about James and Sirius’ personalities which draws them together romantically rather than just platonically. I won’t necessarily agree about how those characters manifest to make that relationship take shape, but at least I can say “ah, I can see that.” It is far preferable over someone degrading a person’s characterization of James or Sirius. 

Even when a characterization goes rouge and totally doesn’t align with canon, who cares! That fic probably won’t get super popular as many people will be scratching their heads thinking “this isn't the [insert name] I know and love.” But if someone wanted to write it, good for them. They connected and reshaped a character to suit their own liking. No one says this is illegal. 

I feel like the broader Harry Potter fandom accepts that fanfiction does not necessarily have to be canon compliant or even canon relevant all the time. But for some reason, with the Marauders this sentiment is pushed to the recesses of our minds. People will climb the mountain of their ships and die on that hill. It could be generational (social media has changed how we interact with each other and how people interact virtually through fandoms as a result), it could be the nature of the characters themselves, it could be the ships. I don’t know what the catalyst is, but the things I read sometimes just make me shake my head. Thankfully tumblr’s algorithm keeps that stuff far from my feed. But sometimes people I follow reblog or post about this contention. 

I will never understand why someone feels the urge to go out of their way to write a terribly negative comment on someone’s work or a negative post about a ship they hate. Don’t like the tags, DON’T READ! Don’t like a ship, find and follow people who share your preferred ship. Don’t like the direction the fandom is headed? Dig, create, and stop complaining about how the ‘modern’ Marauders are nothing like how they are portrayed in canon. 

And accept that as the fandom grows, the way people interpret tags broadens. I’m sure fifteen years ago, a canon compliant tagged work looks a bit different from a current canon compliant tag. We can debate the minute details of canon and each of our individual interpretations or we can say, “you like the world of Harry Potter? So do I!” The only REAL rift should be between people who support JKR’s personal beliefs and those who do not. That shite’s real life folks. Not some fantasy world thought up by a single mom in the nineties. 

So spread the love! Not STD’s though cause that shite is also real. Practice consent and protection people. 

In unrelated notes, my tumblr timer app timed out for the day, kicked me off on my phone, and I promptly went to my computer and wrote this little rant. Also, it's election day and I've been avoiding the news/media/everything all day to wait until tomorrow to see the hopefully more stable 'results.'

Alright, enough for now. Night all!

Except I just saw some Drarry pirate AU art I'm probably going to go reblog because for some reason it really hit home. And by home I mean it was f*$%ing hot. :-)

[justsomeoneunordinary]

Why You Should Reblog Creative Work

Here’s the thing about tumblr and reblogs: A lot of tumblr olds will tell you how reblogging is the only way for a post—especially when it comes to creative work such as art, gifs, fics etc.—to be seen by other people in the first place, as tumblr doesn’t have an algorithm.

This is not quite true anymore. Tumblr does have an algorithm and it’s a pretty well working one, too. I actually do use the ‘For You’ page every now and then and it always shows me a few posts that absolutely are of my interest. Hell, it even shows me untagged posts, it even shows added commentary in reblogs that are relevant to my interest.

So, saying “a like does nothing on tumblr” isn’t true anymore. As I’ve already seen, you don’t even necessarily need to tag your posts anymore (text posts at least—I don’t believe it’d work with images) to reach your audience.

But, and there is a But, capital letters and all that jazz, tumblr is first and foremost a blogging website. You all have blogs, and when you post here you blog. The reblogging function is a deeply ingrained, essential feature of this site, and when bloggers stop using it, creators will stop creating. A lot of them have already stopped—it’s one of the reasons why I for example, as well as a lot of other writers I know, don’t post fics on here anymore and merely share a quick link to AO3.

This is a blogging website and people are killing it by not using it the way it’s supposed to be used. Yes, you can, technically still reach your audience even if you’re not being reblogged at all, but apart from the fact that a lot of tumblr olds don’t even look at the ‘For You’ page, nothing will spread creative work as fast as reblog chains will. Nothing will make sure your work will be seen at all, except when people reblog it.

Not to mention that the ‘For You’ page (or the ‘Based on Your Likes’ function which is mostly garbage unlike the ‘For You’ page tbh) will never be able to show you older work that could interest you too, and bring the creator joy by getting attention on something that’s already years old again. Only sharing the work and spreading the joy will work.

Also, because likes were pretty useless until recently, most tumblr users don’t see likes as in “hey, I liked this!” but more in a “I saw this” manner. Hell, that’s how I use the like button. Sure, I leave a like on things I do like (I wouldn’t leave it on a post I dislike, that makes no sense), but the like is mostly meant for me to remember I saw this already. To show appreciation I reblog/queue the post. Because that’s what reblogging to most of us means. It means “hey, I like this and I appreciate it and I want to share it so others see this amazing thing too!”

If you leave only a like and no reblog follows it eventually, to most of us it means “yeah, I liked this but not enough to have it on my own blog and share it with others”—and that’s discouraging as fuck. It’s like saying that the work we created isn’t good enough.

Obviously, you don’t have to reblog every art/gifs/fics/etc. you see if they don’t even interest you. But naturally, you wouldn’t leave a like on something you don’t like either, would you?

There’s, of course, also always this small portion of Big Artists who claim that reblogs aren’t that important and likes are just as appreciated, but those are usually the kind of artists who reach hundreds of reblogs, get lot of commentary on the work, kind asks and so on and so forth. Maybe once people stop interacting with their work they would change their tune, but as long as they don’t struggle with receiving appreciation for the creative work that took them hours and was created with passion and love, their opinion doesn’t really matter, as they’re in a huge minority with that view anyway.

(I am talking about creative work specifically here because honestly, no one gives a fuck if you reblog shitposts or not, as they don’t take even remotely the same amount of time as a single art piece does for example, and aren’t made with the same passion either. Ironically though, shitposts are the kind of posts that get the most reblogs anyway.)

At the end of the day, it’s really not that hard to reblog other people’s work. You don’t have to leave a comment in the tags/reblog either, as not everyone has the time and spoons to do so—I do promise you though that if you leave kind commentary underneath a creative work, you will make OP’s day—there’s even a quick reblog resp. a quick queue option on mobile and desktop, which takes you just as long to click as the like button. Literally just a second.

You can also always make (a) sideblog(s) for anything you don’t want to mix with the other things you post/reblog.

And it doesn’t matter if you have no followers or not many who would see the things you reblog either. OP doesn’t know that—all they do know is that someone appreciates the creative work they posted. And a reblog even with no commentary will always be more meaningful than a like.

Maybe it’s not important anymore on tumblr to get reblogs to reach an audience, but the reblogs are still necessary to keep the community alive. And by discarding the reblog function we’re effectively killing that community until there won’t be any creative work anymore and well… probably only memes and shitposts on here.

So instead of getting all prissily and calling creators “entitled” for asking for reblogs, as if it is such a hardship to click the button, you should maybe ask yourself why you’re so reluctant to reblog work that took hours to create in the first place, hm?

[yourlocalabstraction]

◢◣Welcome!◢◣

Greetings from me, Tap!! I’m a self-taught multifandom artist, amateur webmaster, and abstract character designer. I (plan to) post things like complete pieces, digital paintings, wips, design processes, ramblings, headcanons, maybe even trinkets I collect! We’ve got it all!!!!

Fun fact: I don’t have a pc, everything I do is on iPad.

I’ve decided expand my presence to tumblr for multiple reasons.

The Instagram algorithm is absolute ass, and trying to please it is quite impossible.

I wanted to share more things that don’t fall under the “finished pieces” umbrella that I couldn’t really post before. I mean I DO post stuff like that on my spam account, but only 2 people and a rock see it.

When it comes to my more obscure interests, it’s easier to find folk with said interests on here than probably anywhere else.

I am now cringe i am now free

Fandoms (my taste is all over the place):

Current fixations:

LuLuYam, Cult of the Lamb, Chonny Jash, Good Omens, ENA

Other notable fixations/fandoms:

Camp Here & There

Cuphead

Deltarune

Ghosts (BBC)

OMORI

Ooblets

Our Flag Means Death

Re-Animator

Slime Rancher

Splatoon

Yume Nikki

Music I find quite enjoyable:

Cojum Dip

DEVO

Food House

Lemon Demon

Logan Whitehurst

Miracle Musical

Oingo Boingo

Pink Floyd

Ride the Cyclone

Talking Heads

Tally Hall

The Caretaker

Will Wood

Yuno Miles [mostly /j]

Tags

#taps art - (more complete) Art. Pretty self explanatory.

#taps merch updates - Updates on new or restocked stuff I sell.

#taptorials - Art tutorials about my process.

#design lore - My thought process when making my blorbos.

#abstracities - My silly oc universe with the same name. Most of the cast is based off various music fixations I’ve had over the past few years!

#overlayposting - Anything (mostly doodles) of my sona, Overlay.

#mjs trinkets - For sharing trinkets I find/own (this tradition originated from my insta spam account).

#taps asks - Asks. Yea.

CWs

My art can sometimes contain subjects such as eyestrain, body horror and gore. Posts with these won’t be too frequent and will be CW’d, so don’t worry too much! But I just wanted to give a heads up.

Things to Note:

What I draw is heavily based on what my autism fixates on. I wouldn’t recommend following for just one fandom since what I draw can very heavily fluctuate.

I have like. 8742578 different art styles. It fluctuates a lot and I’m always trying new shit out.

Feel free to draw fanart of any of my blorbos !!! Just don’t be weird. No NSFW or anything like that.

As of right now I’m new to Tumblr. Being autistic makes it kinda hard to learn UI/website etiquettes, so please be patient with me !!!

If there’s any problems with the custom theme, pls let me know!! I know there’s not too many drastic CSS changes but still. Plus I’m pretty sure the theme doesn’t even show up on mobile so fuck it we ball

If I ever wake up one day and think “damn this intro sucks ass”, i will update it.

Thanks for reading, enjoy your stay !!

[butch-reidentified]

I know frequently the “anti terf” people lie about this straight up but sometimes they don’t. Here’s an example where clearly there are links between “disagree with trans ideology due to feminism” < - > “like anything “transphobic” because edgy” < - > “disagree with trans ideology due to trad/mra racist alt right views”

https://www.tumblr.com/ladiablesse/729815657616736257/the-fact-that-this-post-of-all-things-ended-up-on

As fucking typical the right wing n word saying bullshit starts right after https://www.tumblr.com/americanette reblogs it

She doesn’t say it but she does say some mra bullshit about how the real sadness here is men aren’t protecting women as they rightly should 🙄

Then within the next hour here come

https://costcohotdogandsoda.tumblr.com/

(Also with Bible verse in bio)

Saying “average n*gger behavior.”

And https://www.tumblr.com/anew-jackson

Saying ““black men are inherently violent”

radfem 🫱🏽‍🫲🏻 radright”

Where op is still off base is the majority of the notes on her post are actually radfems or adjacent and none of them at all lead to right wing blogs picking it up

Plus of course some people just don’t look at who follows them and of course there are right wing assholes who deliberately try to pick off anyone with the slightest disagreement with the main leftist view.

I can’t blog about issues to do with Palestine for example without a bunch of antisemites following me and trying to convince me to be antisemitic about it. That doesn’t prove my views about Palestine are inherently antisemitic — they very much aren’t. Same for how radfems/gc end up being with attracting a lot of right wing actually-transphobic (and sexist and racist and homophobic) attention.

But please people if you are at all connected to blogs like americanette that shit seriously — taking time to disengage our arguments and discussion in all spaces online and off from the right wing will do more for us than the next 10 gc memes you bother to make and post. Don’t lie, you’ve got the time.

This also isn’t like working with your normie right leaning cousin on abortion because she agrees with you about that. You aren’t making connections here you are being made a patsy to keep you alienated from the left and to keep more women on the left from joining us in an actually revolutionary feminist movement. Right wing people online absolutely know the more they get you to openly connect with them the more they can use that to keep young women in particular away from listening to you about feminism.

Hypothetical you btw I am sending this to a few different blogs because I bothered writing it and don’t have a rf blog to put it on yet. I’m pretty new. Not as a reader but as someone agreeing. I know this works because it worked to keep me away from learning more about rf for a long time. Not the rumor of racism and FAR right wing connections being ignored or celebrated but seeing the evidence. It was actually seeing americanette suggested as a blog within moments of following rf blogs that put me off for another few months. Was there going to be another issue I was forced to sit through racist attacks from “my own” side over?? Seems to be yes but maybe it’s getting better.

so i'm not 100% following here bc i can't see the link at the beginning but i think i got the gist.

the op blocked me so i cannot click the first link but this is an earlier version of the post in question

first: yes racism is a problem among radfems (i've yet to encounter any mixed race environment where it isn't a problem), but i will say i see a bit more effort to combat it here than in most online spaces i've been around. not that that's a high bar, lbh.

tumblr recommendeds should not be trusted, though, and they don't necessarily mean much. the algorithms aren't exactly unbiased. and keep in mind sock accounts to vilify radfems are very real and present, as are troll accounts. i don't know who any of the people you linked to are tho so i can't speak on that, and 2 have me blocked or maybe i blocked them ages ago and don't remember. i do typically block right wing blogs on sight,so it's possible. also it seems some of the stuff you linked to was maybe deleted?

i will say unequivocally that being intentionally "transphobic" in an edgy way is not productive and should not be supported in radfem spaces. we are here to criticize and analyze, not to be outright cruel for the sake of being cruel. many people seem to forget this.

i do not personally know any women here who engages with right wing blogs, even in argument. i'm sure they exist, but not in my sphere - though i don't actually spend very much time online. i think most folks ik on here just block and move on.

as a side note, i used to look at who follows me etc but i have like 3500 followers now bc i've been here a long time and make original posts pretty often, so it is no longer realistic to monitor who's following me - i really don't have THAT kind of time or energy. but if i see someone reblogging from me who's shit, i block. i have no idea what the typical follower count is on radblr but generally speaking, i think people should only be held so responsible for who follows them. making an effort is important, but i don't think it's reasonable to expect everyone to be online enough to thoroughly check all their followers.

as for this^ this stuff is said deliberately to get a reaction from radfems and/or to discredit us. unless a radfem im blocked by or have blocked said so in the notes, i didn't see anything implying "black men are inherently violent." this kind of post is usually making shit up to antagonize radfems or misrepresent radical feminism as an ideology. this is not to say there's no radfem who believes wildly racist bullshit like that - in fact, i'm confident there are, since they're everywhere. it's just not at all a staple of radfems like this implies.

but yes, bottom line, radblr is far from immune to racism, but isn't the worst i've seen either, and things like "recommendeds" or shitty people reblogging from radfems should be taken with a grain of salt as neither of those inherently indicates an endorsement from the rad blog connected to the incident, if that makes sense. my brain is mush rn after driving 4 hours.

[alister312]

Yo, Tips for reach on A03?

Well, the thing about ao3 is that it doesn’t have an algorithm so there’s no such thing as “increasing reach” directly on there. However, here’s some things you can keep in mind to help draw more people into your fic!

ao3 automatically sorts fics by “most recently updated (/uploaded)” in whatever category a reader is browsing. This means, if you want people to see your fic, it’s a good idea to update often (to keep it at/near the top) and maybe try to upload during times when you think a lot of people might be opening ao3 to browse. Maybe this means on the weekends, when people have free time. Maybe it means at night, since lots of people like to read fics as bedtime stories. You can figure out what works best for you.

Here are the other things ao3 sorts by. I don’t have any data to back this up, but I feel safe in assuming that the main things people choose besides Date Updated are Hits, Kudos, and Comments. Maybe also Bookmarks. After all, those are all indicators that other people have read (and probably enjoyed) a fic, which means it’s worth checking out.

Hits are just how many people have clicked on and opened the fic. It doesn’t count how many people have actually read it, or how many times one person (or more accurately, one IP address) has read it. If you want to increase hits, plug your fic on outside sources often. Put the link out there as just fic advertisement, draw art or commission art for it and include the link with the post, share it around in discord servers— whatever level of shameless self promo you feel comfortable with. It’s wonderful if you have friends who believe in you and can also share and promote your fic, but you can always guarantee that YOU will be your own biggest advocate so use that to your advantage.

Kudos are similar to a Like button. IMO if you read a fic or a chapter of a fic and reach the end without clicking out, you should leave a kudos, but I also know people who are very selective about their kudos so to each their own. But basically, they are something a reader can leave once. They can click it a second time and it doesn’t unkudos but it doesn’t add another either. There’s not really a way to increase them aside from kudos-ing your own fic and/or asking people you know to please leave one. This one’s on the readers! The same basically goes for Bookmarks. There’s slightly more effort involved (instead of clicking one button, people have to click a whole TWO buttons) so it’ll probably happen less often than kudos.

Comments are, well, comments. Pretty self explanatory. Since people usually don’t leave comments unless they have something to say about the fic, you mostly just have to hope people have something to say! A “Comments are always appreciated :)” in your author’s notes never hurts too. You could also take the time to reply to every comment you get if you don’t feel overwhelmed about replying to all of them! This will increase comments obviously but more importantly, it lets the commenter know they were heard and appreciated. Everyone likes knowing that, and it’ll hopefully create a positive feedback loop where they will comment again so you can reply again and so on and so forth.

If you’re in it purely for the numbers game, you can also check out your statistics page often and play to those strengths. Putting that below the cut since this is already pretty long!

As you can see, the statistics tab lets you compare your fics in a bunch of different ways. That way, if you’re trying to get better at one specific thing, you can see what fics do better in that sense and figure out why they might’ve done better.

For example, my #1 in terms of Hits is Just Business, a multichap fic. This makes a lot of sense to me, since multiple chapters meant multiple updates, pushing it to the top of most recently updated more often where people could click it. I also advertised the fic on tumblr any time it updated, so that was even more opportunity for people to literally just click through. Plus, I published new chapters weekly, specifically on Wednesdays while a new season of the show was airing so I knew it was more likely that a lot of people would be browsing the South Park tag. However—

Just Business is nowhere near the top in terms of kudos. Even though a lot of people clicked on it, they didn’t leave a kudos. This is probably because the main pair featured in it, Gregstophe, is a rarepair. I make this assumption because my #1 fic for kudos is Sweet, Dude, which is a Style fic and Style is one of the most popular South Park ships.

Then for comments (or comment threads, which means it doesn’t count back and forth replies, just new comments), once again Just Business is at the top with my other multichap fic What Makes Cloves Grow right behind it. This is because returning readers will often leave a new comment every time you update. It’s also interesting to see that my two fics that feature Dip as a pairing are in the top 5, so that means Dip fans are probably more likely to leave a comment!

Now based off of all this, if I wanted to publish fic purely to get ahead, I know it would be smart to publish a multichap fic on a consistent schedule so I can advertise it often. Maybe it’d be good to publish alongside new episodes airing, or right around the time of a new special or game so hype is at the highest and the tag has the most eyes on it. The main pair should be Style, Cryle, Creek, and/or Dip, as those have all demonstrated the most engagement from readers. There’s other stuff to factor in too (such as the fact that many of my top fics have Fluff or Domestic themes so that means the fandom these days probably likes to read Fluff and Domestic stuff) but that’s the gist of it!

[thefloatingstone]

And also while I’m on the track of High Guardian Spice - seeing how you reacted to Sage, then you would absolutely hate Catra in the She-ra Reboot. She starts off pretty well written as a villain, but in season 5 she’s just granted redemption because the writers wanted her to have it but forgot the whole redemption arc kind of thing. And much like Sage, when our bimbo protagonist wants to do something she doesn’t want, Catra withholds affection to make Adora feel guilty and never has to apologize for anything (she’s only said sorry once in the entire series and thats when she’s about to die). But even when Adora gets upset at her for being shit, she turns on the guilt tripping and is like “oh don’t leave me again 🥺” spiel. And it feels like the whole thing that happened with Sage where the show creator didn’t want there to be development, they just wanted two characters to kiss.

(AND ALSO NOT TO MENTION THE ENTIRE CLIMATIC MOMENT OF SHERA SEASON 5 IS BASICALLY A UTENA RIPOFF MOMENT??? LIKE???)

Anyways just saying if you ever are to check out the reboot, it’s good until season 5 and you will hate the writing by then. If you want a good magical redemption arc to lovers, watch Owl House (ik it’s really popular rn but there’s a reason)

And also also sorry I phrased the last ask wrong you said it better than I could. I’m also wondering if you know anywhere to stream azumanga daioh? I’ve been wanting to watch it for a while but I can’t find it anywhere rn

Tysm for answering my asks tho I know these are all random but you seem like the person to discuss these with properly TuT

Oh I am WELL AWARE of She-Ra and the problem with Catra. To the point I was so enraged by the end of season 5 I had to blacklist "she-ra" on tumblr for a while just because it made me so angry! XDDD

I want to do a more positive video next, even if it's short, but maybe that would be good content to talk about next, even if it's just one longer video and not a series. How She-Ra failed to stick the landing. 🤔 I know it's not a "new show" or whatever but I think there is still enough interest there to turn it into a video.

I briefly wondered if I should make a Utena video as well, not dissecting it episode by episode like Velma or HGS because I would literally DIE, but talk about it as a whole regarding its symbolism and aims and what it does with it's characters and story, and I could then lead that into talking about She-Ra essentially copying its homework but worse. I'll have to think about it because I'm not sure if Utena would be good algorithm wise for my channel as I am still trying to focus on what would help it grow the best. (Not the fastes, just the best).

I will absolutely be doing a video on Sailor Moon Cosmos tho, so that will be something new I can focus on.

I am actually pretty intimidated and anxious about keeping the ball rolling with my channel after Velma in a way where I will keep people's interests and not go TOO niche and end up killing my views. It's kind of terrifying 8'D

Also, I found Azumanga Daioh over on 9anime.to so you should be good to go using that site!