#i've seen a lot of things but haven't had the energy to respond to all of it

[coldshrugs]

yesterday i learned i have early signs of corneal dystrophy that will eventually lead to partial blindness and necessitate a corneal transplant. and like it's very early, something to watch for the next decade or so. but it's scary and i'm scared!!

i'm just shouting into the void to get it out of my head. there's not really anything to be done. i'll stop thinking about it in a week and be normal.

[historical-fashion-polls]

I've seen you use Wilhelm's art several times so I imagine you have probably already seen these but Im sharing anyway in case you haven't, I just think these could be neat to use in the winter themed polls (in case you decide to run them)

Also I'm sorry for sending in way too many asks and submissions😭😭😭 I've fallen down a rabbit hole

hello my dear! 💕

thank you so much for sending these in! 🥰🥰 indeed, I've been browsing the V&A's collection of these costume designs since so many of them are so wonderful! ☺️☺️ funnily enough, I already had the plate of ivy and jack frost ready to post tomorrow, so I think I'll go ahead and plan to post the holly and mistletoe one along with it if you don't mind, since I hadn't seen that one yet! ☺️💕

I've been trying to sprinkle in some extra costume posts since they're so fun and whimsical and there's just so much shit going on recently that I thought we could all use a little extra joy! ☺️☺️ so I hope you don't mind if I go ahead and post it tomorrow (I will tag you of course ☺️)! 💕💕

and omg no worries! there's no such thing as too many asks and submissions – I'm always so happy to receive everything you would like to send my way! 🥰🥰 in fact it's me who should be apologizing for not getting back to everything sooner ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 I'm quite a bit behind on responding since I haven't had a lot of energy lately, so I apologize for that! but rest assured that all your asks and submissions are happily received! ☺️💕

thank you so much again for sending these in, and I hope you enjoy seeing them as polls! 🥰🥰

[jadeddangel]

Feel free to ignore this request if you want! But basically Adam and reader being pretty good friends who are casual with each other, have a similar sense of humor and personality, reader is a older sibling figure to many of the other angels, and him just beginning to actually gain feelings for them

Eeee I'm so excited!! Thank you for requesting!!

Adam x reader

"Can't believe I'm falling in love with such a cocky bitch"

You and Adam knew eachother since the beginning of time, and having known eachother that long you started to rub off on eachother. You both had similar humor and jokes the only difference was, was that you knew how to act politely, Adam did not.

You worked as a welcoming angel for new souls and angels of the like, showing them around and getting them set up in a home was just one of your many jobs. You worked closely with percious but you didn't like him, he was kind of a cunt when he wasn't around other people. You were on your lunch break sitting at a high table on a chair swinging your legs happily, you had gotten a milkshake and some fries. Adam snuck up behind you grabbing your sides suddenly, "hah! gotcha bitch!" Adam laughed. You had went to hit him at first but started laughing with him when you realized who it was, "adam!! You bitch come sit! I haven't seen you all week bro" you pointed to the seat across from you.

You couldn't even remember who had started the tradition of sneaking up on each other, but it just stuck, and Adam never failed to sneak up on you. Adam and you talked about your week together making small jokes as you ended up sharing your fries and milkshake with him. "And then she's over here hitting on the drummer, like, you think you want drummer dick? Nah, do you know who I am? I'm fucking Adam, I'm the original dick!" Adam recited the story to you as you started snort laughing. "Well it can't be that good if she wanted drummer dick!" You said between laughing as you hit your thigh loosing your shit over your own joke. "Hey!! My dick is fine thank you very much!" Adam huffed defensively before joining in your laughter. It took you both forever to catch your breath and stop.

Adam grabbed the last fry and ate it "Alright sugartits I've gotta go danger tits is waiting for me, but hey! I'll swing by your place with some Chinese food. Sound good?" Adam looked at you with hopeful eyes. You chuckled "sure thing dickmaster I'll see ya then" you said playfully giving him a sweet smile. Adam went to get you a hug but paused and patted you on the head awkwardly instead before speeding off to go find lute.

You were a bit confused but expected it from Adam, well atleast you were learning to Adam had been acting weird.. you thought that it would be all fixed up after mating week, but he was still just as weird as before.

You ended up getting an early day off since Emily took over welcoming souls for a bit to help. "Calm her energy down." In Sera's words, at least. You picked up your place, finally dishes and other chores you were behind on. You got a movie picked for tonight and some beer and sodas for you and Adam.

Adam finally came by your place after dark with a bag of Chinese food and a bag of clothes for him to change into assuming he was staying over. Adam knocked on the door rhythmically as he waited, you opened the door after a moment or so in some sleep shorts and one of Adam's band t-shirts(I keep forgetting Adam has a band bro).

"Woah, is that Adam without lute on his shoulder like a little parrot?" You teased letting the man in. Adam took his helmet off and rolled his eyes, "I'm not bringing my second in command to your house to hang out." Now that that was weird, Adam never responded that way to that joke, "bro, you good? What happened that got you all pissy? Are you on your man period or sum?" You asked concerned but still trying to make it a joke. Adam sighed "nah just a lot on my mind. There's this chick -" "ooooo does the Adam have a crush?" Who's the lucky bitch huh? " You cut him off plopping on your couch and turning your head so Adam could change(like you weren't just watching him in the reflection of the tv). Adam sighed and got changed into comfy clothes, "yea it's fucking weird though I mean she wouldn't leave my mind during mating week and ugh I get so awkward around her" Adam groaned laying on the couch with his head in you thighs. "Shit Adam do you actually like this chick? Or do you just wanna fuck her? Orrrr was the pussy that good that you want more?" You teased playing with Adam's hair carefully. Adam shook his head "I think I like her I mean I've known her for awhile and she just gets me yknow?" Adam said tilting his head a bit to look at you before changing his mind and grabbing the remote looking through Aisney(angel disney) and putting on the live action of "the jungle dude" (the jungle book).

You took a moment to think, it hurt, the thought of Adam falling in love with someone else after sharing so much. "Just think about your heart before you brain Adam, think about your feelings, maybe you should tell her I mean it can't hurt too bad, and I mean if your friends I'm sure she feels the same... and you guys can just be together, yknow.." You slowly got quieter and quieter, feeling like if you were any louder, you were gonna cry your eyes out.

Adam nodded a bit. "What would you do in my situation?" Adam asked under his breath, yet you still heard him. You took a deep breath "Adam I...." Your words got caught in your throat as you looked down at him looking guilty. Adam tilted his head to look at you confused at the look. "What's with the look sugar tits? You look like I'm about to cry, did I say sum?" Adam asked genuinely concerned for you. It made your heart melt knowing he cared for you so much, it made your heart melt so much in fact that before your brain registered what you were doing you had leaned down and trapped his lips in a kiss. The angle wasn't comfortable, and your spine was bent weird, but God was it worth it, feeling how soft his lips were. Adam froze for a moment before melting into it, licking along your bottom lip, teasing you a bit. After a moment of you both continuing to kiss each other, you both pulled away for air a small string of salive connecting you and breaking after you moved too far away. You were panting a bit but didn't go too far from his face. "That's what I'd do.. " you whispered softly, your lips barely brushing against Adam's. Adam reached up and put a had on your cheek "you wanna know something sugar tits? I think I would do the same.." Adam smiled as he locked your lips together in a passionate kiss pulling away after a few moments.

Adam smiled and sat up next to you , allowing you to straighten your back properly. Adam chuckled " awwe you hunched just to kiss me sugar tits? I'm honored" Adam joked. You rolled your eyes "yea yea whatever dickmaster now do you wanna cuddle up and eat while we watch a movie or do we wanna talk about what well we are first?" You tilted you head a bit. Adam was already reaching for the bag when you brought it up. "What do you mean what we are? I thought that kiss established it, I'm yours and your mine" Adam spoke almost boredly. You could feel the blush creep up on your face " your gonna be one heck of a boyfriend " you laughed.

The rest of the evening was relaxed as you cuddled and ate together. Before falling asleep together on your couch, hoping everything would be perfect with you both together

[that-g3-artist]

Super powers au??? 0.0

Do tell…

Another outline! This one is just a vague idea for the boys having super powers, that I haven't written cause it's pretty close to several other super power AUs i've seen lmao

I'll just paste the whole outline under a cut, it's not very long

time

Main power: time travel

basically save scumming--can go back in time to reset things

CAN go forward, but it's a lot harder and a lot more unpredictable so he usually doesn't

had a lot of trouble controlling it when he was younger, accidentally launched himself 7 years into the future and had trouble getting back

got caught in a 3-day time loop when he was physically 11

now prefers to only go back a few minutes at a time if he absolutely needs to

a LOT older than he looks

secondary power: fierce deity

basically Super Rage

glowing eyes, face markings, super strength, energy beams, basically unstoppable

has a very hard time controlling it, only brings it out as a last resort

terrified he could one day hurt the boys

warriors

main power: persuasion

similar to charmspeak from heroes of olympus

can control people with his voice

doesn't need a trigger phrase, but it needs intention

much easier to get someone to do something they already want to do--can't really make someone jump in front of a bus

very tempting to use it for selfish reasons, tries his hardest not to, especially on civilians

will absolutely use it to get other boys to sleep tho

twilight

main power: shapeshifting

can turn into a wolf (duh)

pretty much same as in canon, just no shadow crystal

secondary power: shadow travel

similar to midna's teleporting

doesn't have very good control of it yet, can sometimes end up in places he didn't mean to go

sky

main power: flight

no wings, flies kind of like superman

loves flying high, can't do it often cause they're hiding

can build up a LOT of speed if he has enough space

secondary power: prophetic dreams

doesn't have control, dreams come when they come

has a hard time understanding what he's seeing until they actually come to pass

they often scare him

legend

main power: shapeshifting

different from twilight's, can't change his whole form, but can shift his appearance

has a "default" face he goes for, but no one knows for sure if that's his real one

sort of good at mimicking people, but it's better if it's just someone made up

control can slip with strong emotions--most often manifests in his hair changing color

ALWAYS trying out new crazy hair colors at home

wild

main power: super regeneration

he's basically deadpool

he has no idea if he can actually die, nothing's stuck yet

SUPER reckless as a result--drives the others insane

insane pain tolerance mainly because he's just used to everything ("it's just a flesh wound!")

hyrule

main power: healing

basically his life spell, can be used on others or himself

can be very exhausting for him to overuse

very nervous about people exploiting him for his power

secondary power: thunder

hasn't quite figured it out yet

keeps accidentally shocking people

has potential to use all his canon spells

will be seriously powerful once he gets enough control

four

main power: splitting

can split himself into four people

not just duplication--they're all pieces of himself

VERY disorienting for him, especially when he's younger

has a lot of trouble controlling it, splits with strong emotions

wind

main power: wind powers!

potential to be VERY powerful

can summon anything from a breeze to a hurricane

as a kid, tho, he mainly uses it for pranks

winds respond to his emotions, don't piss him off

secondary power: ghosts

doesn't manifest until he's in his teens

doesn't really understand what it is at first, just little wisps

eventually they solidify into actual ghosts

I've also had ideas for a while of them being stuck in some shady government facility to exploit their powers, but then this amazing fic came out so idk if i want to do that anymore

(send me one of my WIPs and i'll tell you about it!)

[puzzledmemories]

((hi. um. i disappeared for a couple weeks. i did not mean to disappear for a couple weeks.))

((i'm very sorry. the fatigue just was not letting up on me after i was sick. i've barely done anything outside of work, haven't touched my computer a whole ton, i've been helping train people at work, i've spent most of the time i disappeared resting, i was also super depressed for a good chunk of it, and really stressful things were happening at work and kinda still are which drains me. and now i feel super anxious coming back because i'm worried people are gonna be mad i disappeared, which i feel bad about. i've been trying to get myself to post back on here that i'm back and start being active again for about 24 hours.))

((the fog in my brain finally cleared up most of the way for me on Monday (the 23rd). I also had a lot to do on Monday, a lot of taking care of my physical health things. and i had a lot to do after work today, too. Which Has Improved My Mood and Given Me More Energy, but also wore me out. i feel like i finally have thoughts in my head again and can think and am capable of writing! but also it's 2 AM so i'm going to try to be back on tomorrow because i need to sleep soon.))

((i've seen that i have a lot in my inbox, and i know i had that magic anon with shark going... i'll continue threads with that if people are interested in it, and i'll "finish it out" the way i originally planned to. and if people wanna start new threads with that magic anon in the next few days i'm also good with that. i have other magic anons in my inbox but i'm not sure if i should be touching those right away or not. that's just my anxiety yelling at me.))

((i'll reply to threads i had ongoing too, but if anyone wants to drop any of them bc it's been a minute, that's totally fine, no one should be blamed for that and i won't be upset over it or anything. rp's all about fun and we should do the things that are fun and if something doesn't feel fun anymore then it's all good to move on to something else. i really really need to respond to dms too, because i've barely touched those, either. idk if i'll be able to poke on at work at all tomorrow but i really really want to respond to people.))

((my brain just kind of shut off and communication was really painful in the sense that being on my computer was. hard and bothering me. it's not so bad now.))

((i'm gonna commit to start being on here again tomorrow though, and really try hard to hold myself to it, i've missed everyone on here so much and i've thought about you all lots. sorry for long post, i felt it was warranted after kinda disappearing, though...i'm sorry about that, i just really wasn't well for a bit))

[neurotheascars]

First of all, no idea why this post had reblogs turned off but Ill respond here. Original post this for those who need context is here.

@fawna-lariat

First lemme get something out of the way:

You don't HAVE to do anything. You saying that just gives me the impression that you're a negativity chasing alter because that's exactly what I say when I'm thirsty for a fight.

Just because you know already that I probably won't agree with you doesn't mean I'm not listening. Word of advice- Get it out on your own blog. I'm only going to respond to you because you are being civil. But your attitude is grating to me because it feels like you didn't read a lick of the post you're commenting on.

I'm not a fragmented piece of a whole. I am a complete entity. It is extremely upsetting and triggering to keep hearing people insist that being an alter means you broke off of something. That's certainly a way for alters to form but it's not the only way and I'm tired of having "parts language" forced on to me. I know what I fucking am. I am a separate person. If you don't think I am you are denying my lived experience and ignoring the way a trauma victim literally exists. Parts language actually kept my system from healing so please fucking stop carrying that outdated claim about "shattered self" around like it's fact. It's not a reality for every system and I know more than one therapist that believes it is harmful to just assume a system is just one person broken into parts.

I'm pretty sure I've seen the sources you're talking about but there are other sources that contradict what you're saying too. My therapist honestly thinks being anti endo is a really misinformed stance in general if you need to hear that. You could really have your pick of information that proves your position is extremely narrow minded but I think you're comfortable and not going to do anymore research until you stumble upon it. You also don't seem to understand the real life context of what these studies actually prove or don't prove either.

You can send me that source, but I don't have the mental capability to comb through and properly refute claims in the manner that people like sophie and SAS do. I'm on mobile and I can't use tabs.

I've also already read a lot. I made a post a while back saying I was done with syscourse. I've also done a lot of research on entity creation techniques and parapsychology. I have 13ish years of experience on the topic and I know that mainstream psychology is only just now catching up to the reality of it all. I don't have the energy to entertain people who get dogmatic about mental health because I've deep dived in a way I can bet you haven't.

You aren't going to change my mind simply because you demonstrably don't know what I know.

Bottom line, you're talking to an alien who knows too much about this. And as a system who deals with all the dissociation and BS that comes with a did diagnosis, who was helped by created entities when we finally learned about the trauma, I frankly don't care if endos are in my community because it really really doesn't fucking matter.

Ive met cringey endos I don't like, but they don't "flood in to ruin my community" because I can block them without making them feel unwelcome and I want them to feel welcome because I don't know who they are or what they've been through. I don't know who might see me treating them poorly, and every system I'm ever met has been afraid of not feeling "valid" enough and gee I wonder why that could be when anti endos are drawing hard lines about how a system can form and behave.

And the thing is endos do know what being plural is like. Your belief that they don't isn't even a claim that can be backed with science. You're just making a sweeping generalization about what you think strangers understand. That's why I really dislike anti endos. The constant assumptions make my blood boil. I can't deal with that on the regular.

But regardless of anything you're saying about the distinction between tulpas and alters, endos are actually safer in the event of trauma occurring because their system hasn't had to deal with trauma to become organized. They have the option to be an organized system before trauma hits and are better for it because of their multiple consciousnesses.

That is just one unique way for a system to present and it's completely valid. If you think tulpas are real, but not alters then you should know that it's pretty easy for them to become alters. This is what happened to my IRL partner system. I'm not going to share their trauma story, but they are a group of tulpas that came from a paracosm that experienced trauma and now have to deal with all that extra stuff.

See you don't even realize it, but you're claiming my partner both doesn't understand what being plural is really like and that his alters aren't actually alters because he made them. Which, based on my lived experience with them, just isn't true. I don't need a peer reviewed paper to believe the lived experience of people right in front of me and that's why I don't agree with you. These studies never really concretely prove total absolutes and they don't claim to.

In fact its so easy for created alters to get all that extra trauma related dissociation with how stressful this shit world is that this distinction you're making really doesn't fucking matter in the end and only alienates people who are indeed trauma victims who might need support either now or in the future.

If you guys care so much about trauma victims why are you so hellbent on getting upset at and insulted by people who you literally don't know could be trauma victims. And if they aren't, a split consciousness configuration literally is the brain's way of dealing with trauma so tell me why it's so bad to be metaphorically holding the fire extinguisher in hand when the fire happens instead of having to run and break glass to get to it when you actually need it.

I truly don't think you know what you're talking about and saying that tulpas are real but they don't "count" as alters sounds like some highschool shit. I don't think you grasp that endos can have trauma separate from the origin of their alters and it's actually not your business if they do or not. It's only that their trauma isn't the cause of their alters. They may still have trauma that their alters help out with. I would agree that having a fragmented sense of self definitely makes it easier to create alters, but it doesn't mean you can't without the trauma.

I remember reading in a lot of grimoires and books on spirituality that anything that involves things like lucid dreaming, hedge crossing, and entity conjuration is easier for those who have been through an "ordeal". "Magic" and tulpamancy is easier if you've been through some life ruining shit. Thats all this claim that "created entities don't stick around in an unfragmented mind" means to me

Like yeah duh it's gonna take more effort to keep them there if you don't have your "head cracked open" as some spirit workers used to say.

The fact that I have witnessed with my own eyes what you say is impossible means to me that your science is incomplete.

Again, nobody is insulting you by simply existing and a lot of them do know what it's like to be plural.

[measurelessdreamer]

I've seen many posts about people missing how common asks used to be so I have been trying to send about an ask a week. Now I send this ask first anytime I follow someone as I really don't want to bother anyone, so I'd love to know if you enjoy receiving asks and if so what kind of asks. Not having energy for asks or being comfortable with them is perfectly okay.

The categories I have in my ask notebook that I file under are in colour. Please feel free to make your response as long as you want or private (the asker cannot directly respond to private responses).

Self, Job/Work: please let me know what you are comfortable with from eh idk just ask it to nothing personal at all.

Baggishield/Tolkien, Dragon Age, Johnlock/Sherlock, ineffable spouses, other fandom: Please let me know what fandoms. I think my main fandoms and ships are Bagginshield/The Hobbit, Sherlock/Johnlock, Dragon Age Inquisition, {Pippin/Faramir Merry/Eowyn}/The Lord of the Rings and I dip my toes in a few that I currently can't remember but ships I don't engage with the canon of at all are: Good Omens but only for Crowley/Azirapheal, Stranger Things but only for Steve/Eddie , The Witcher but only for Geralt/Jaskier, and Ladybug and Cat Noir but only for Adrinette .

OC's, art/drawing, their writing, blog specific only

Story snippets ideas and prompts: Do you like receiving them?

Pets: I'd love to know all about them

Garden and Hobbies: What type of gardening and/or hobbies?

Like being tagged in things: If so what kinds of things?

*Asks are sent for fun, no pressure to answer.

Oh, hi! Thanks for the message! I honestly didn't know that asks are no longer as common as they used to be. I've never been a good candidate to receive them since I don't have so many followers (I always thought you needed at least 500 to get asks lol) and I'm not much of a creator. I usually just reblog stuff that makes me happy and occasionally (like once in three years) I share a fic I wrote here so I never had high hopes which is why I was very surprised when I received this ask and it made me so happy! Seriously, you're so cool for doing this, especially when people don't expect it at all. Even though it's through social media, it requires a bit of coming out of your personal bubble and putting yourself out there and I rarely do that in my life no matter how safe the space is. So it's really cool and thank you. I received probably like 2 asks aside from this one in my whole life, but yeah, I enjoy it a lot. ^^

As for what kind of asks...

Self, Job/Work: I'm good with sharing some stuff as long as it's not something that hits too close to home, but I would probably say that's the case. Asking about how I'm doing in general and what I do and what I enjoy about it is probably fine.

Fandoms: Asks about fandoms would most definitely be my favourite. I always enjoy ranting about stuff I love with other like-minded people. I love Bagginshield, The Hobbit, LOTR (Faramir especially), Ted Lasso (and particularly royjamie), Star Wars (obikin is very close to my heart), The Walking Dead (rickyl is the goat ship of that fandom for me), and probably my favourite otps are superbat (superman/batman) and spirk (kirk/spock) so I enjoy these fandoms too. Fandoms where I have no ships but I enjoy them all the same are Mass Effect (only the original trilogy) and The Witcher (the games, I only read two books so far sadly, I ship geraskier from the show but I don't like the show otherwise). All these things are something I enjoy talking about. ^^ I also like Johnlock/Sherlock and I played the Dragon Age trilogy (but I enjoyed Origins the most and aside from the Cullen romance and meeting Alistair and Morrigan in Inquisition, I didn't enjoy that game very much).

I write fanfics sometimes. I haven't written many and it usually takes me a lot of time to finish anything, but I enjoy it. I'm happy to talk about my writing any day even if it frustrates me to no end.

Story snippets ideas and prompts: Not sure about this. I think receiving them is nice, but I wouldn't be able to do anything about them aside from talking and speculating about them. I'm not very good at writing something from a prompt, so probably no story would come of it, but if it's only discussion people seek, then I'm happy to provide! And if it turns out to be very interesting, then I'm all for taking it further!

Pets: I have lots. I'm happy to talk about them any time.

Garden and Hobbies: Not much of a garden person, I'm afraid, but I enjoy nature more than anything. I live in a very Shire-like country, which is the best thing when I want to let my imagination roam. I enjoy running (but I started only recently so I'm rubbish), reading (fantasy and romance especially), learning French, playing video games, hiking, watching movies and tv shows, and I recently started to learn how to play the Irish tin whistle.

I like being tagged in things, sure! Something funny or heartwarming is usually the best, but I love posts with random facts which are super elaborate and interesting. It can't have anything to do with politics, though, tumblr is my escapist haven. :D

I think I answered everything to the best of my ability. Sorry that it's so long! Thank you again for sending the ask! I hope you have an amazing day!

[v3ros]

I got this ask on my alt (most likely since I turned off asks for this blog) but I felt like it was important to answer here.

Dayshift at Corny's is NOT dead!

"But V3ROS," I hear you saying, "You haven't posted about it in a while, and your blog isn't Corny's themed anymore!" And in response I say shuddup and sit down ya slimey little creechurs because Papa Veros has got some shit to explain!

Firstly, clearing the air.

Dayshift at Corny's isn't going anywhere. I absolutely adore all of the characters and the little world I've built for them, and I still wish to share that world with whoever is willing to listen to the inane ramblings of a zombie-obsessed sock. I don't plan on scrapping the project anytime soon.

Where did it go then?

I would say that the production DSaC is on a temporary hiatus. Currently, I have a lot of stuffs that's weighing on me. I'm not going to go into detail because it's not the internet's business, but I've been trying my hardest to refocus my ever-shrinking attention span back on the project, because I really do want to keep working on it!

On a more positive note, one of the reasons it's sort of... poofed is that I'm trying to adapt to using RPG Maker MV, the software that DSaF and Dialtown were made in! However, from where I see things right now, I don't think DSaC will be made in RPG Maker. It's not as intuitive with visual novel mechanics (and one might say "well duh Veros, you need the plugins" and to that I say shooosh and let me keep explaining). DSaC is a VN-focused game, first and foremost. That is the means in which the world of Corny's will be conveyed, and that is the way I feel it should stay. With that in mind, it doesn't make much sense to spend time learning a new software to achieve what I was already doing in something that's easier for me to understand and that has much less setup. That whole escapade was a perfect example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

When will it be coming back?

With November coming up very soon, Halloween will have passed and I'll have finished working on my costume. This means I'll have much more energy and patience to dedicate to development (or, hyping myself up to do so at the very least). My goal is that I'll have an update on the progress for you all come the end of November!

Now, I feel I've answered all of the important things, however there's some smaller Q&As I thought of that I'll answer below.

"Why are your asks closed / Will you ever respond to the ask I sent in?"

I closed the asks because there were so many of them, I was quite overwhelmed--mind you that this is the first project of mine that has received any attention at all, it was quite jarring (in a good way). I've seen your asks though, don't worry! I'm going to answer every last one of them, and once I do my asks box will open once again.

"Why is your blog no longer Corny's themed?"

It all started because of Salem's bald head. I'm being serious, him being bald on the banner long after I had given him hair pissed me off so much that I said "to hell with it" and changed it. The image of Godred was the first one I had readily available. That's the only reason he's my banner. Yup. As for the sock, that's my persona. I had been planning on changing my profile photo to a drawing of it for a while. The current one is a spooky rendition for spooky month :> I still plan on following the same format for answering asks as I did before.

A final thought before departure, thank you for whoever sent this ask in (I have a feeling who it is, however it's just a hunch). Having a question that blunt asked to me seemed to unclog whatever blockage my brain had built up that prevented me from thinking about working on DSaC. I can feel the creative juices flowing. Let that be a warning of you all seeing more from me very soon. Until then, I shall retreat back to my cozy dumpster and continue mashing my face into the keyboard until a game comes out.

[rosyjuly]

@kritischetheologie tagged me for the 20 questions for writers game, thank you c!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

twenty!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

76,628. it's kinda insane that i wrote 51k under just six months last year.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

currently only writing for f1, but i've published works for star wars, peaky blinders, the old guard and batman. on another account that has been liquidated many years ago i had footy rpf and teen wolf fics.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

carry each other (hal jordan/bruce wayne), worked the blade (seb/mick), to the finnish line (seb/charles/kimi), spoils of war (seb/mick) and a favour returned (seb/lewis).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i do, unless it only says "please write more of this", because i don't have anything polite to reply. but i love getting replies from authors too, so only fair to return the favor. there are definitely times when i just re-read a bunch of comments and they can really help to lift my mood or feel better about my writing.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

lmao that would be the prince au break up sex fic, someday to say out loud. making george ask alex to tell him he loves him even if it isn't true and ensuring that he can't and won't believe him... partly why it's hard for me to go back to writing prince au is because it was very easy for me to project my unmedicated depression onto george, and (thank god) i'm not in that place anymore.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

mmhh my star wars fic maybe? i'm not overly fond of happy endings, the best i deal out is a hopeful but kinda open ending. out of my f1 fic it's a favour returned, i guess -- there's some talk about longer term commitment and trying and failing to say that they like like each other, or consolation prize, where mick admits twice that he's been thinking about seb.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not in the classical sense i guess or not that i've seen.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

boy do i. i mostly write smut and use it as a catalyst to nudge a relationship to another level. i don't really get the what kind? question. what kinds are there? wholegrain?

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

haven't written one yet, but i've been toying with the idea of an f1 and the expendables crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

if i had a nickel for every time someone pulled entire lines from a fic of mine and barely paraphrased them, i would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

on my old ao3 account, yes! i haven't been approached on the new one and i don't think i'd give permission now.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

prince au aka the myth of devotion with gabby @prettydangrotten. sorry to be sappy on main but galex truly one of the best things on the internet that's happened to me just for the friends i've made because of them :)))

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

all time? propably stiles/derek or eames/arthur from inception. also it was sterek that first got me to tumblr, back in like 2012 or something.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

ugh right now it feels like i'll never finish anything again. but i have a long star wars wip that's like 75% done but i haven't touched for three years. there's a roc sebmick fic i started and i actually know how it should go from start to finish, but i've been struggling with writing this year, so, i don't know.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i've been told the internal struggle/tension that narrator is facing is pretty tight and i do agree :) i also think the porn i write is nicely physical and pretty hot.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

longfic. like. i wish i could do it -- i had a 54k wip on my old ao3 account -- but i don't have the energy or the commitment. this is also why i struggle with WTB and SOW -- i want to write more to both but i feel like they are snappy and valuable as they are and i'm worried i'll ruin that if i add more.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

english isn't my first langauge so all dialogue is in another language in fic for me. i'm not super fond of adding another language on top pf that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

teen wolf!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

spoils of war or prince au. prince au has probably the most of me and gabby is incredible and one of the best writers and kindest persons i know and i feel incredibly fortunate to have created something with her. spoils of war was a challenge on a lot of fronts but i'm proud of the storyline and it has some of the best lines i have ever written i think. and it got @antimonyandthyme and me very close :))

aaaand i'm gonna tag @prettydangrotten @des-iderate @grideon @antimonyandthyme and @husbono.

[kindnessoverperfection]

apologies in advance if this is like. a stupid thing to send, i'm a person without npd who knows very little about the disorder in general apart from the negative sterotypes you mentioned in your post. i was wondering if youd have any recommendations of places for people to learn more about the disorder either written by people with npd or without negative bias? your post kind of made me like. stop and think for a minute and i realized i've also been throwing around the narcissistic label much more freely than i should. and i think i should take a minute to educate myself and be more. yk. accepting. again, sorry if this is out of place or annoying or patronizing - and feel no pressure to respond to this, if you like, ignore or delete the ask i won't feel slighted at all . have a good evening :]

No need to apologize! <3 Thank you for asking, and I'm really happy to hear that my post helped you realize that. It's really relieving to see people respond by talking about how they had believed the biases or been using the word "narcissist" in those ways, but that this helped them realize what they're doing & want to change. It means I'm reaching my target audience, gives me hope tbh.

I know you sent a follow-up message out of embarrassment that you didn't see the "further reading" links, please don't feel bad!! <3

@san1tas posted a really helpful compilation of resources for NPD! It's geared towards self-help for those who have it, but probably has some more of what you're looking for in terms of education.

I haven't looked through everything on that list yet, so I can't vouch for some of these. As an educational source, I'm sure they won't be perfect, and that there are things here and there I'd add or change. From what I have seen in the rare compassionate article, a lot of providers still forget to include ways NPD can present outside of toxic behavior, so that's probably the main thing. I think I also remember that one of the article writers on this list has written other articles that are clickbaity and not nearly as friendly.

But regardless, it seems like it could be helpful. (Thank you so much san1tas for gathering those!! I can't imagine the energy it took having to wade through all the awfulness to find these resources. Your post helps keep me grounded knowing there's somewhere I can turn, thank you again!!)

[asksisternyx]

An Image Grotesque And Obscene

The second installment of the lore series that is actually set before the first. I don't know how many parts there are going to be, but I wanted to finally get more of Nyx's story out there. I'll be posting the first one to this blog too, please check it out if you haven't!

Includes: mild panic attack, blood mention, quintessence use, summoning ritual, Aether gets bitten

"So, you're saying you were summoned by a literal child?" Aether asked as he stared at Nyx incredulously.

"Yes, I was. I know it's kind of hard to believe, but that is the truth.” She responded calmly.

He sighed heavily. “I never questioned the validity of it, I just…how does a child get ahold of the materials necessary to do a summoning?”

“The basement of her house had a chamber that was left over from a couple hundred years ago. She discovered it and began studying summonings. Look, do you just want to go into my mind?” She asked in a slightly exasperated tone. “It'd be a lot easier to understand if you just saw it.”

The quint looked extremely hesitant at first, given how unstable her element became when exposed to other quintessence. Still, she seemed determined to help him understand. He eventually nodded and got up to sit beside her on the couch.

“Alright, but I'm pulling back immediately if your quintessence starts to act up.” He said firmly.

She nodded once. “Alright, I'm ready.”

In seconds, Aether had gone from his office in the Abbey to a furnished basement. The door opened and a young girl, he assumed was Nyx’s summoner, walked in.

“I have a lot of homework to do and Josephine keeps bugging me, mom! Yes, I'll be back up for dinner.”

The girl called back up the stairs. She huffed irritably as the door shut, making her way to a bookcase on the opposite wall. She stopped as she reached for a switch hidden behind some old books, looking around before flipping it.

Aether watched in fascination as it swung open, revealing a doorway into a ritual chamber, as Nyx had described. It wasn’t dissimilar to the ones the Ministry used. He wondered briefly, as he made his way in, if there had once been a Ministry here.

The chamber was dimly lit and looked as though it was already set up for a summoning. He looked around, recognizing the sigils in the ritual circle that were typically seen when summoning a quintessence ghoul. They all looked correct, except for one. One of them was written differently, but he couldn't tell what it meant.

The young girl chanted the summoning incantation perfectly, much to Aether's shock and awe. She looked to be no older than eleven or twelve yet somehow, the summoning was going flawlessly.

The sigils went from their typical lavender color to an angry red. The Pit opened up and what crawled out was not a fully formed ghoul, but a mass of blood red quintessence energy.

Dread and despair fell so heavily on the chamber, Aether could barely breathe. He felt a sudden sharp pain in his arm and knew he had to get out fast. The last thing he saw was the summoner grinning wickedly as the portal closed.

“I will use you for my revenge.” She said in a chilling tone.

He pulled back from Nyx's mind just before the dread and pain could get any worse. When he returned to the Abbey, he was laying on the floor of his office, Nyx kneeling beside him in tears. There was red smeared on her face and hands. Had she been hurt while he was in her mind?

“I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, Omega is on his way!” She exclaimed as she sobbed.

Her panic confused Aether. Aside from being a little nauseous and a cold, he felt fine. That was, until he tried to move and couldn't. A shock of pain went up his arm and saw the blood.

He hadn't pulled back fast enough and she had bit him. Quintessence venom was an extremely potent paralytic, he would be down for a couple of days at least. Still, he was grateful that it was only his arm and not his neck.

“I've been through much worse. If we do this again, though…you're wearing a muzzle.”

[sequesteredschizo]

cw // suicidal ideation & self harm 

thought too much about where I should post these words @ and where to do it if I did

Decided on here, both to challenge myself to be honest about how I'm doing and as a small private testament to myself, esp considering I can't guarantee I'll remember any of this later if I don't 

A few months ago I decided I was supposed to kill myself on April 26th 2024. I think something about doing that nullified certain anxieties of mine at times, for better and for worse. I thought the worst thing I could do that would ruin everyone I cared about was already going to happen, so I was able to loosen my grip somewhat on the people-pleasing and the social anxiety and the agoraphobia- maybe a sort of subconscious 'if something doesn't change, i will be dying. So I might as well try while I'm still around.' I've been callous and I've been unstable, but I also took risks (or, actions I that felt like risks to me) that landed me with more life-affirming results than I could have ever anticipated.

I sent texts I thought were annoying and stupid to people I wished I talked to more, I tried to eat like a well-adjusted adult person, I was honest with my dad about how hellish my disability was making my life for the first time. Etc etc. Anything to connect, anything to survive. I didn't care anymore. it felt like the end of the world. To everyone else it probably seemed like I was finally re-entering society, if anyone thought much of it at all (unlikely, imo.) At one point, I hurt myself worse than I ever had before, and without really meaning to, haven't done it since. It feels now like a microcosm of the bigger picture, just by coincidence. Doing better wasn't necessarily my intention, but it was a consequence of thinking I was fucking it all up one last time. Might as well throw all the chips in.

Last weekend I attended a wedding out-of-state for a relative I hadn't seen in years knowing id meet countless new faces and I didn't even freak out. And I was terrified, and I didn't want to go there and I didn't want to stay here but I did it anyways. Turns out I don't think I've ever felt so loved and welcomed and appreciated in my life. The people I reached out to on a whim, because what was the worst that could happen? Some of them actually respond back, fucking shocker. My dad is trying to stop pretending I don't exist. I'm a little less malnourished. So those are all good developments.

I feel like I reached up into an empty sky with the very last dregs of energy I had and by some miracle, just enough of the universe reached back. I don't and didnt want to scar and endanger my struggling loved ones because I couldn't be strong enough to deal with myself. It had to be my last option, after truly trying everything I could. I didn't even do much, and I didn't expect it to work. I didn't expect my favorite band to be dropping new shit on my due date. I didn't know that I would really honestly from the bottom of my heart not want to leave this fucked up horrible beautiful tragic world behind. 

I know there's always going to be a part of me that expects me to commit. it's always been easier for me to hurt myself than help myself. I've written a lot of suicide notes throughout my life. This is the first time I've ever done the opposite, I guess? This is supposed to be my promise to me that I want to live. I need to. Its really hard to admit that to myself. I'm pretty sure I can do it tho.

I think (and almost hope) that the handful of you who follow this stupid little blog wont read this, but I posted it here because theres too many people everywhere else. It's directed at myself anyway.

a distant yell into a cacophonous void, in hopes that typing it will act as a metaphysical vehicle for manifesting it in the collective subconscious:

TRANS PEOPLE DONT KILL YOURSELF!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[liladiurne]

20 questions for fic writers!

Thanks for tagging me @givereadersahug

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I've only just reached 14!!! But one of those is a translation of an already published work, so technically it's 13.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

571 k

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just HP for now.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Brighter Than Bright

On the Deficiencies of Translation Spells

Miraculous

Certain Dark Things

with great outbursts and lightnings

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Sometimes it takes a while, because I need lots of energy to respond, but I try to respond to each and every comment, even if I don't have anything particular to say. Leaving comments is harder than it seems, and I'm grateful for anyone who takes the time to tell me how they feel about about my fics.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Mmm. Probably Sudden Light. It's not so much an unhappy ending, more of an open ending, but I guess that because there is no obvious closure, it can be seen as a pretty angsty ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh that's hard... It's probably a tie between On the Deficiencies of Translation Spells and Certain Dark Things. Both have similar "and they lived happily ever after" endings.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not hate, no. Just questionable and sometimes rude-ish comments. Which I just ignore and delete now. I used to spend so much energy on trying to reason with those people and justify why I wrote the things they questioned or didn't like. I understand now that I can't please everyone, and I don't bother interacting with those readers anymore. And I'm not above blocking people to protect myself and avoid drama.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yessss! The filthy kind!! 🤣 Okay, no, I really really enjoy reading porn with feelings. So that's what I try to write.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't written one yet, but I'd really love to someday. They are a ton of work though. If I did, I think I'd love a LOTR crossover... I'm just absolutely in love with that universe and would love to explore it more and maybe have all my favourite characters mingle!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, by myself. I have some trust issues when it comes to my works and those have caused me to refuse any translation requests. I hope, in time, I can get over this fear. But I've had fun translating one of my own fics into French, and I'm hoping to translate more in the future.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would love to!!! I think I would find it hard to do though, because I get very possessive of my ideas and things usually take shape so vividly in my head that I would find it hard to compromise on certain aspects of a fic. But with the right person, I would love to try a collab!

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Snarry, no question. But I do enjoy reading Harry with anyone. He's my baby and I'll always support him! He just deserves all the love! And all the sexy times!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Probably Brighter Than Bright. I'm not doubting I will finish it, I know I will, in time, but I just don't know when. Because it's such a big endeavour and I've been having inspiration problems with that fic for a long time.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm really good at writing introspection. It comes easy to me anyway... if that's how we define strength?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogues, probably. It's the aspect of writing I struggle with the most.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I did it and it's fun! But it's important to double check with a native speaker and make sure it's all good.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

HP all the way.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I would normally say with great outbursts and lightnings, because it's my very first snarry and the most precious to me, for many reasons. But I think my favourite may actually be Certain Dark Things. Because it was so fun to write, because I love the imagery and the atmosphere of this fic to death. And it's based (loosely) on my favourite book, so it would make sense why I love it so much.

Tagging: anyone who wants to play! I don't want to bother anyone, so please if you feel like doing this, pretend I tagged you. 🥰

[nickiehausen]

Arisa Hoshiki v. Jungle Kyona (STARDOM x STARDOM) 8/10/19

There’s a quote from the French painter Edgar Degas that I feel greatly applies to wrestling: “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Wrestling is, though viewed as crude by others, an artform. In its best and worst forms, it is art; that cannot be denied. 

The goal of wrestling, like any other form of art, is to make people feel. The audience is meant to interpret what happens in the ring in a way that makes them feel emotion. Whether that be joy, sympathy, pity, pride, agony, hatred, compassion, distaste, or perhaps a blend of them all. These emotions can be accomplished through grand displays of triumph; or heartbreaking moments of failure. Big moments at big shows can create those feelings, but more often than not, these emotions are conveyed to the audience through simpler stories told in singular matches.

I’ve always felt that STARDOM, when it really tries to, is excellent at creating pure, raw emotion. The promotion often succeeds in creating situations that make the audience see more than just wrestling; they see stories, even in smaller matches. This brings us to Arisa Hoshiki v. Jungle Kyona, from August 10th, 2019. Hoshiki is probably my favorite female wrestler of all time, and she’d likely be on the list of my top ten favorites period. Past just her superb in-ring ability, her ability to tell stories and convey emotions was an underrated aspect of her talent. The Shining Star embodied what it means to have “charisma” in pro-wrestling, possessing a unique charm that elevated her matches beyond being just good wrestling. I haven't seen as much of Kyona's work as Arisa's, but based on what I've seen of her, she's very good in terms of both wrestling and presentation. Similarly to Arisa, she's always had the ability to capture the hearts of fans and get a crowd behind her. Both of these women ooze natural babyface energy; their facing is sort of like an unstoppable force meets an immovable object in terms of sheer likability. 

I like the way the match opens. Hoshiki opens with a flurry of offense, throwing kick after kick and trying to overwhelm Kyona early on. It’s sudden, fast, and I like it. I like it a lot. It sets the tone for the match that follows.

Kyona responds by targeting Hoshiki’s right leg, attempting to take away Arisa’s main form of offense. I’m typically a big fan of limb-targeting being the foundation of a match’s contained story, but in this instance I feel as if the damage done to Hoshiki’s leg is only a temporary thing and doesn’t remain throughout the rest of the match. It’s a short-lived blip in the match and afterwards both competitors more or less seem to just ignore it. I would’ve liked to see Kyona continue to go after Hoshiki’s damaged leg as the match went on, but that’s just a personal gripe. I thought it was a bit weird to only include that in the opening minutes just to drop it, but I was fine with the match instead following a traditional David v. Goliath type situation where Hoshiki attempts to find ways to counter Kyona’s size and strength advantage with her precise striking ability.

There are some great sports mixed in with the consistently good wrestling. Kyona catching Arisa’s attempt at a meteora on the outside and powerbombing her onto the apron looked brutally stiff, for example. Arisa locking in a sleeper hold in an attempt to wear down the stronger Kyona, and diving off the middle rope to lock the hold back in after being rammed into the turnbuckle, was a unique interpretation of an extremely common spot. There are a ton of near-falls too, many of which I’ll confess almost got me, including Arisa kicking out of a Jungle Buster and Kyona reaching the bottom rope after a barrage of roundhouse kicks and a devastating V-Trigger. The match really leaves viewers on the edge of their seat, with it being so tightly-contested that it makes it difficult to try and predict the outcome. Such a competitive bout is fitting for a clash of two stellar babyfaces, leaving the viewer on the edge of their seat. Will the valiant champion Arisa retain their gold? Will the eternally never-say-die Jungle Kyona finally claim the Wonder of Stardom championship? It’s truly hard to tell.

All in all, a very well put together contest. Both performers excel in their roles and come together to make another instant classic in the stacked resumes of both. Re-watching this truly makes me miss Hoshiki in Stardom. What I’d give to see her facing some of the company’s current best. Same applies to Kyona. I believe, as of now, she’s still out with injury, but I've seen some of her work in the American indies, namely DPW. It’s quite good, but I’d still kill to one day see her holding the Red Belt. Jungle Kyona continues to have so much potential that I’d love to see realized, whether that be in an eventual return to Stardom or perhaps in another run here in the States, maybe even on AEW TV (though that’s less than likely).

Definitely one to recommend, which is impressive considering this isn’t even Arisa Hoshiki’s best defense as White Belt champion - maybe not even here second best, either. But that’s all subjective, of course. I have it ranked as her third best, behind her match with Utami Hayashishita and of course, her clash with Tam Nakano.

⭐⭐⭐⭐. 25 stars out of 5.

[miscelunaaa]

Post it on your tumblr please I've read all the chapters here.

So um, yeah, I'm really sorry, but no. That's just above my emotional bandwidth right now. I already tried posting it here and I got nothing but cricket noises for two chapters and the fucking masterlist. I had a handful of really wonderful folks who'd read it and left comments on it on AO3 already give it some love here but like, no new readers that I could see otherwise doing more than just liking it on Tumblr or even ignoring that it existed. That doesn't tell me that they actually read any of it. That's fine. I'm not obligated to feedback. While the silence wasn't a complete surprise given how much interaction has tapered off for my writing since going on hiatus for a few months and then coming back, it was still rather jarring after how it took off on AO3?? I just really don't have the bandwidth to go through all of the hassle and stress of formatting my notes and warnings (of which there are many for this series) for Tumblr when it's accessible on AO3 if you've got an account. I simply don't have the energy to post it here, especially if it's not being read by anyone here.

To put this in perspective with how my day to day life has been going, not that anyone deserves more explanation for why I haven't been more expedient in posting or for why I've decided not to post it here:

I'm working my ass off getting underpaid to do freelance editing work as a day job and I'm struggling constantly with trying to make sure I maintain safe and sane boundaries around that sort of work for myself. I'm also taking on more responsibilities with an institution I'm involved with in a town nearby where I live. I care deeply about what they're trying to do and they need someone younger and able-bodied to do the shit I'm willing to do with/for them. I'm also adjusting to a new medication and it has singlehandedly slaughtered my sleep schedule over the past calendar week and I haven't been able to get more than six or seven hours of poor-quality sleep a night, if that. I'm averaging four. I live in the United States, where it is currently the Holiday Season. I belong to a high liturgical christian church for which Christmas is a major feast. I have large family I haven't seen all in one place in over two years and I'm traveling to visit them soon. Like, I'm sorry. Editing a fic I want to make sure comes out right when I post it just needs more time than I am currently able to give it this week, and probably even next week.

You can say that you've read it all here, and that's fine, but like, I've already talked about why I'm not posting it here any longer. You've read only two chapters here. I've talked about this fic a lot, I've dropped links to the damn thing AO3 constantly. It's in like four places at any given time on my blog. If this story is a big deal to you and you care about it, you've had plenty of opportunities to go read it on AO3. It's been posting there since July.

I wanted to be kinder than this, because I don't see the point in being short or critical with folks who just aren't with it for whatever reason. I'm not angry. You are, however, catching me at a particularly bad moment. I'm tired. I've had a spiraling, depressive episode working on me for 24 hours. I finally cried it out with my husband over the past two. If I extend kindness to a person by responding to a question most other writers would likely ignore, I do expect to at the very least have it returned.

I know you likely didn't mean for this to come off poorly, but let this be a lesson to you and anyone else reading that sometimes you just have exercise more care than this. You never know what's going on on the other side of the screen.

[earlgreytea68]

I don't have any deep observations on this, primarily because I have never gotten so many Asks as I did over the past six weeks of Tourdust. Some of that was probably just the magic of Tourdust, but anyway, it didn't seem to me that people were especially hesitant to use the Ask feature -- and I was not at all offended by people using it and was delighted! That's what it's there for! And I noticed other active Tourdust blogs also responding to Asks, so I don't think this was a special Me Thing.

It could have been a special Tourdust thing, it could have been a special Fall Out Boy thing, it could be something special about the way that the demographics and timing worked out. But part of me thinks it's just, like, we don't strike up conversations with many random strangers because it's not only imposing on them but it's energy from us. We're more likely to do it when we're all fired up and excited to discuss something with them. Maybe we should talk more casually to each other all around -- I am the first person to think it's bad for society that people get so irritated if another person ever crosses their path -- but also maybe my perspective as a New Englander and former Bostonian comes into play here: New Englanders aren't actually rude. They just don't see the need for a lot of small talk. But New Englanders are perfectly happy to talk to strangers when they see an objective or goal to the conversation (even if that objective or goal is just to complain about how poorly run the T is lol). Maybe Tumblr Asks really are more like that, that there's an uptick in conversation when there's pressing stuff going on and then everybody kind of retreats back into their corners a little bit, Idk.

I do think a lot of communication happens in private places like Discords now, too, which also affects Asks. Also, Asks are pretty terrible for communication when compared with Discord (or Slack, which is my preference, or Tumblr DMs, which also work). I think primarily Asks are useful for people who don't have Tumblrs or want to ask an anonymous question, and so that also means you've already limited who's using them. BUT ALSO, when I think about how I've had more Asks recently: I've been on Tumblr over ten years now and I don't remember getting as many Asks before, although of course I could definitely have forgotten, but I'm also less accessible than I ever have been before. When I joined Tumblr I still had a very active LJ. I had a very active Twitter until last year. And I was very active in fandom Slacks. There were lots of other ways for people to get ahold of me, as compared to now, when I'm mostly just here (I just got a Bluesky).

Anyway, I don't think I have any grand conclusion, just that I haven't personally seen fewer Asks, I've actually seen more, and so that probably indicates that Asks are situation-specific on the whole? As I guess most things are, tbh. (*not an expert in whatever field tells you how to draw these kinds of conclusions lol*)

You know, an interesting tumblr transformation that's happened gradually, and which I've seen no one talk about: ask-culture has essentially dropped off to nothing.

By which I mean, asks used to be WAY more of the tumblr economy. They used to be more common to send, and receive, and see. They were integral to the collaborative, forum-like behavior of old tumblr communities, not even to speak on the HUGE number of ask-blogs that used to exist to only be interacted with in ask-form.

I'm not saying this in a vying-for-attention way but instead in an observational way: I used to get way way more asks in like 2015, even with a fraction of my follower count. I wonder if it's due to the homogenization of social media sites? There's a lot more of this divide between "content creator" and "consumer" instead of just a bunch of peer blogs who would talk to each other. "Asks" aren't really a thing on twitter, are they? And as I understand it, the closest thing to an "ask" on instagram or tiktok would be a creator screenshotting some comment and responding to it in a new reel or video or whatever those content mediums are. Are asks just too tumblr-specific? Is that aspect of the site culture dying out as more and more people converge to using all their social media sites in the same way?