#idek how much these fandoms exist on tumblr

[tls123]

happy talk shop tuesday!! (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈) and a lil bonus boop bc why not :3 i'm throwing your question right back at you bc 1) it's a very good question and 2) the 🫵 at me made me laugh so hard dsjaksjdfdsfgsfa

how do 🫵 you keep yourself motivated while working on gifsets/writing/projects? esp gifsets, since we all know how interaction with that kind of art has really dipped on tumblr in recent years ://

bonus boop back to you too <3 <3

as for the questions, please do not point at me like that. it's rude, idek where you got it from. so you better stop. no, seriously. quit it 🫵

i think as for motivation it's actually quite hard for me, the whole making gifs process is agony, i'm not going to lie. i often have a much more complex idea in my mind for any given set, and the combination of 1) knowing it most definitely won't end up looking like i imagine it and 2) whatever it ends up looking like it will most likely flop, doesn't really help, but.... i almost don't have a choice?

i just really want for it to exist and share it, whatever the idea is, however it comes out looking like. so it might take me ages, but even the simple thought of "it's such a good quote" or "but it fits so perfectly!" or "it would look so nice/cool/angsty" ends up being enough for me to get it done. yes it takes months, and yes i often end up making most of the content for a fandom long after it has had its peak in popularity (which does not help with the reblogging problem lmao) but what am i going to do?

the alternative is not make gifs, after all

[onedivinemisfit]

2022 Creator’s Self-Love Extravaganza

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works (fics, art, edits, etc.) you’ve created this year and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2022. If you don’t have five published works, that’s fine! Include ideas/drafts/whatever you like that you’ve worked on/thought about, and talk a little about them instead! Remember, this is all about self-love and positive enthusiasm, so fuck the rules if you need to. Have fun, and tag as many fellow creators as you like so they can share the love!

Tagged by @bubblesthemonsterartist tho I daresay I am fashionably late at this point, more than two weeks into the new year. Did I forget? Maaaaybe. Which brings us right to the main problem;

I barely remember. Like. 2022. At all. Things happened, I’m sure, but it’s as if there’s a fine layer of mist atop my memories, stopping me from really seeing them. Last year wasn’t really very kind to me. For every up, three downs followed, and between two failed surgeries, a bout of covid, and then whatever the hell kind of flare happened in the autumn… yeah. Idek. It is what it is.

As such, I can’t really comment on my art as like, a whole process, this year. It just existed in the ‘now’, which is presently the ‘then’. I know I beat my submission record from last year, but it felt like a meaningless victory. Despite everything, I can feel it in my hand now, when I draw, that some progress has been made. Subconsciously perhaps, but it’s there.

Onto the ranking then! (I just had to pull up the archive cuz fuck if I remember what I posted, and when)

1.

*deep sigh* we all saw this coming, didn’t we? As much as I love, I curse this image, for in hindsight it felt as if all my creative energy for the entire damned year went into this one piece! Like how dare! But yes it is one of my best redraws ever, and more so than the characters, I feel like I added to the background something even better than the original. There, I said it.

2.

Omigod this entire thiiiiiing. Were it not for the redraw, this would be the top spot. I can’t explain, so many ideas are left in the brain for countless hours, days, months, YEARS. This was two years in the making, and never before did I manage to recreate something that had the exact same vibe as it looked in my imagination. Especially because I’m not a comic creator, hashtag compulsive disclaimer lol. Also while I was drawing it, seeing people go from “hmmm what’s this?” to “wait is that-?” and then “ooooooh it is the lead-up to The Thing” was priceless.

3.

A last-second outlier comes in third. I admit to making this in a hurry, just to have something really nice to show for december (a month which is usually a highly productive month to me, but 2022 didn’t let me have that either) and as such, since I was struggling, both with a deadline, and a lack of real inspiration, I feel like. I managed to improve, somehow. Call it magic, but this looks noticeably different to many of my other colored pieces.

4.

To be perfectly honest, this was a sketch. People might not think it one, for it has details, a color scheme, and even effects - but at the time I posted it, this was just a colorized sketch in my mind. Tumblr disagreed. And I was left in awe watching this first get reblogged within the fandom, then beyond, then go through a hanfu appreciation blog, and finally reblogged with a truly tender chinese poem attached that said person felt gave them the same vibe as what I had drawn. The people spoke, and I was both awed and humbled, and I learned a valuable lesson in humanity relating to art.

5.

Unlike the others, this was a conscious attempt at something different. I can’t really say why it should go in the fifth spot, but it does; i spent a lot more time than usual on composition, colors, and most importantly, mood setting. And putting characters so solidly into the middleground can be a challenge in itself for me, as I run the risk of getting storybook-ish. Which would’ve been disastrous for a scene like this.

Honorable mention;

Coping through art. @bubblesthemonsterartist has the honor of inspiring this, or like, being the one to “give me” the go-ahead to channel some of my experiences through the characters and story-telling in general. Back pain is something I know all too well, and it was well and truly therapeutic. I also got to do another test of “can I retell this scene, even if I switch part of the cast and premise?” And it seems I did. I will always remember @what-plant-metaphor-am-i ‘s tag; ‘# I feel like I just watched an entire episode XD’ <- never has my inner storyteller been more validated.

There, that wasn’t so hard! Sometimes I’m really thankful for the internet, and timestamps, and kicking my memory back into gear etc… anyway, since I am so woefully late to the party, I’m not tagging anyone specifically; if you wanna be fashionably late too, you know who tagged you~

[dr4cking]

CINTA DO YOU REMEMBER ME

ITS ME ANON WHO WAS IN TROUBLEEE AOAOAO I HOPE YOU REMEMBER ME

literally forgot tumblr existed and logged back into my account 😭 so much as changed the last time we talked HOW ARE YOUU???? HOW IS THINGSSS TELL ME EVERYTHING

OMG YES BABE!! I DO REMEMBER YOU😭😭 I MISSED YOU SO MUCH HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?

i hope you’ve been staying out of troubles 😭😭❤️

tumblr is like a new place rn idek where to start if i ever wanted to start over😂😂 i’m rarely here too, maybe just to read but i’m not in any fandom rn😭

anyways i’m great baby just been super busy with work and life.. i’m adulting fr😋 and and i got a bf now 😜 WHAT ABOUT YOU BAE

[berries28]

oh! that was you! i was wondering if the similar usernames were just a coincidence or not! i hope you liked the fics!

sorry to hear you got ship hate... it's really sad to think that people are hurting others over what's supposed to be fun...

if it's ship hate i received, then, um... last week, i found someone saying they wished liphiyo shippers would die, several people say liphiyo shippers are homophobic, people go 'liphiyo shippers are delusional, how could you possibly read canon and seriously come away shipping that?', there was hate on tiktok that namedropped my twitter account, i got a warning in a honeyworks discord for violating ship hate rules by "talking about liphiyo so much that it made aiyuu fans uncomfortable," the admin and the mod of that server then insulted me on twitter, someone said to my face that me shipping liphiyo was gross, sometimes when i talk about shipping liphiyo, people say "i see hiyori as a compet lesbian" or "they're siblings" over what i'm saying, a friend pretended to be hacked just to insult liphiyo to my face and take her bad day out on me, and i got threatened with a call out post for harassing people i've never met because they said i was the one harrassing her...

looking back on it... that's a lot....

the classic "i hope ____ shippers die" its like tumblr is still stuck in 2010... and tiktok truly scares me, there's like several name-drop 'expose'/hate posts there several times a month in my country. As popular as you are though (i mean, you kinda carry the liphiyo ao3 tag your shoulders) its inevitable to get hate. I hope you're able to keep writing regardless!

i'm also sorry you were warned not to talk about your fav ship in discord for talking about it and that it was by aiyuu shippers too (i mean, thats what discord is FOR yk?) but its also important that we don't inadvertently make people uncomfortable, you know? I feel VERY uncomfortable with aimona (idek the ship name anymore, its basically Aizou and Mona, i just remember that i had it blocked way back) because it made me uncomfortable, but discord doesn't have a tag block so if it makes a group of people you'd like to co-exist with uncomfortable, they have a right to ask that it be done less. Its why I dont talk about LIPXLIP infront of irl friends, because one of them have trauma from her own idol fan days (of a kpop group) and requested i not talk about it too much infront of her. The hiyoko anime was pretty intense too, a lot of kpop fans were reminded of past real life anti-fan stuff-

IM GETTING SIDE TRACKED!! What i mean is, being an in-denial AiYuu fan from before Samishigariya just to avoid hate, i truly get what you're going through! But its really important in a public fandom space like discord that people dont feel uncomfortable, as there are no blocking systems for topics. I hope you still have fun with liphiyo on tumblr and ao3, i see your asks often and it seems like you found your people! Not to mention how popular liphiyo is after the hiyoko anime

(psst add me to the honeyworks discords you're in, i barely talk to anyone from the fandom on here and dont know any haniwa/ lipxlip fans irl)

[decreads]

Ok context to the pinned post, sorry for the length of this.

Basically for those who aren’t familiar, quotev is a story/quiz publishing site and it’s like generally just one of the big fandom sites ig. It was the very first thing I joined and like a lot of people grew up on here, I grew up mostly on quotev. It doesn’t only let you post stories and such but it also has (or had ig) social features such as groups you could join, messaging and most importantly an activity feed (think tumblr style or twitter) where people would mostly post little updates/shitpost etc and that was how at least I kept up with my friends.

The issue arises here. I’ve been off quotev for ages and logged back in a few weeks ago, deciding to start using it again. I’ve been busy but today i was like ‘hm let me log on and see who’s on the feed, see if i can reconnect with any of my old friends or make some new ones’ and lo and behold TODAY they decided that they’re taking all the social features off. So i spent like 20 minutes thinking ‘fuck i’m so old i don’t even know where everything is’ and then looked it up and realized the activity/group tabs don’t exists anymore.

That said we’re all pretty much rushing to other sites rn ig. So, that sucks and idek what else to say other than I miss old quotev and if you’re here from quotev hello, and if I followed you from quotev and you’re like ‘ok who tf is this now’ cos i haven’t been on in years feel free to tell me if you want me to unfollow :)

[therinreport]

i've had so many people tell me the office is a straight show and parks and rec and community are gay shows, and i won't necessarily disagree, bc yeah, i honestly feel the same way. but i also think that that's interesting, bc i think in a lot of ways p&r and community aren't actually all that much more progressive than the office when it comes to lgbtq+ representation.

like, let's look at the gay characters in these shows. p&r has no long-term, narratively important queer characters as far as i remember. there were april's boyfriend and his boyfriend, craig, and those penguins. according to the wiki, jean ralphio was bi (?), which i didn't even remember. most of these are basically played for laughs—the closest any of these characters get to being a serious character is craig, who is only in the final few seasons and isn't all that major.

next, community. the dean's flamboyance is mostly played for laughs, his costumes and drag are always jokes, and, most relevantly, he's creepy with jeff. he touches him randomly and without consent, constantly flirts with him when jeff is a student and he's an administrator, he blackmails jeff into spending the day with him (studies in modern movement), and he moves into the condo next to jeff's (i think this is in history 101). i've sen this sort of thing called out for a lot of shows, most notably in glee, which is also a gay teacher being creepy to a student (albeit in a high school rather than a community college, which changes the ages), but never in community. there are some good things—i think s6ep4 "queer studies & advanced waxing" has a brilliant way of exploring tokenization and the ways labels don't always fit people's full experiences. the other instances of gay characters are fairly lackluster—they pull that thing where a character comes out at the very end of a show's run with chang, which i've always thought was sort of a cheap joke, and other characters are often called gay or implied to be gay by other characters (britta, troy and abed, frankie), but none of those characters end up being canonically queer in the show. troy and abed do have a relationship that many interpret as queer, however, which i feel warrants mentioning.

then there's the office, where we have oscar. oscar is confirmed to be gay fairly early in the show's run (s2ep13 "the secret"), then forced to come out in s3ep1 "gay witch hunt". characters are certainly weird to him about it, but the joke generally seems to be on the people making fun of him; for example, in "gay witch hunt", when michael kisses oscar, it's pretty clear that the audience is supposed to be solidly on oscar's side. there are also a few nice moments; one that stands out to me is the time darryl gets defensive against a homophobe when paired up with oscar in s9ep16 couples discount. of course, later they do the whole gay senator thing, which is a little annoying (the whole duplicitous gay conservative politician is kind of a tired trope, and there are a bunch of things in the senator that you could probably get hung up on), but overall i would maybe say that the office has better gay rep than p&r and community (i'd say it's almost definitely better than p&r).

anyway, this makes me wonder why others have told me that community is a gayer show, and i think this comes down to two big things, which are 1) progressivism and 2) assimilationism.

progressivism is a bigger deal when it comes to contrasting p&r and the office. p&r is a very progressive show; leslie knope is a very progressive person, and since she's the main character, the whole show follows that bent (most other characters are also progressive, with the notable exception of ron swanson). the office is not; it's humor is often more offensive and edgy (which i think can partially be drawn back to the facts that it started airing in 2005 rather than 2009) and it's not set in a government environment; the show as a whole isn't really based on politics, and it doesn't explore the characters' political views all that often. i think it's this progressivism and political focus that people connect with gayness in p&r.

for community, i think the main way you can contrast it with the office is by looking at the long-running gay characters. oscar is gay, but he basically fits the mold of a straight character who dates men (a la love, simon). he says himself that "Besides having sex with men, I would say the Finer Things Club is the gayest thing about me." he is rarely shown being romantically interested in men, and rarely does anything else that might identify him as gay. the dean, however, is flamboyant, dresses in drag, is constantly shown to be interested in men, and is generally seen as gay by other characters. i think this creates a different attitude about queerness within the show: community's more questionable (in my opinion, at least) portrayal of flamboyant and obvious queerness is more attractive than the office's portrayal of accepting assimilated queerness. (we could also talk about how troy and abed seem to be relatable for gay people, but that's a whole different post.)

anyway, this isn't meant to flame any of these shows for their gay rep. i just think the differences between the attitudes we have towards them kind of reveals what makes us see tv shows as gay, and especially where that diverges from 1) what would be expected and 2) what tv writers may be trying to do.

[formulinos]

hello everybody! for the round of 16 of The Tournament, i left an open box opened so that you could write whatever you like: venting, secrets, or just normal stuff. i thought it would be nice to reply to some of your messages so behind the cut you can check some of these out! they include thoughts not only on f1, but also academia and general life stuff. i took the care of redacting some information that could lead to identification, since you're anon during voting i can't tell who is who but if you'd like to reach out to me in priv i'm always around :D

first of all, i received a lot of messages of support and thanks, which honestly idek why because i don't feel i really deserve it? you guys are very sweet, thanks for your kindness. while my priority is always to do things i like and have fun, i don't think formulinos exists without those who interact with it, so thanks to you guys for being here to support me! that being said, two of those messages more or less called my attention:

sure, if you tell me who you are! if any of you are interested, come hang out!

new blog bio!

we also got a lot of musings about the current matches of the tournament:

in this case i think your typing made a choice for you bestie :/

this one is an early semi-final and i wanted to KILL python for creating this match up, but not as much as:

that one was fucked up and i think it's enough of an evidence that it's really done at random bc i'd never!!!!! still, there was one match that was controversial enough to divide society:

evil. cursed. well, at least someone got the intention behind it!

this is literally drivers champions league!!!! 

a lot of you had different opinions about the drivers who stayed and the drivers that aren't around anymore, but one stood out... for not even being a driver

he would advance, but not as much as this tumblr user:

i love the self confidence!!!!

on the topic of tournaments:

well, i think that's an idea that could be developed! there are plenty of drivers in other series if you want to do a general one, beyond f1! 

we had a few more on f1! first of all, a classic:

what was the question?

a few of you are still worried about some recent news:

i'm not gonna claim here i'm a daniel fan, but i do think mclaren are fucked up. but then again, i would still think mclaren are fucked up even if they didn't do anything. the good thing about silly seasons is that there is hope until literally the 2023 season starts, so keep your heads high!

we have a few takes coming straight from the past:

on the cevert take, i have no clue. the sport evolved pretty quickly between the 70s and 80s and i genuinely can't tell who would or wouldn't have won a title. on senna's win however, i can def say that this was a hate crime (french on brazilian violence on the behalf of balestre)

we have friends that are back after a long time though!

welcome back! hope you enjoy your stay :D

we also have some newbies who are going through a tough time in the fandom:

i think we have a big issue in the fandom that we have either people who are ancient and are overprotective of the sport because the changes that liberty media have brought are majorly against the flow of the sport, or people who are super new and that don't understand that f1 is a cumulative sport, that is, the more you know about it, the more you understand not only the technical aspect but literally how the sport works. it's not quite like football which i find much more friendly in terms of picking up whenever you like a team and then slowly get used to the history. i'm not a hater of newcomers because we need them to keep the sport running and unfortunately i'd like to keep watching formula 1 until my hair is grey and i have dementia, but i'm not gonna lie and say i don't resent the small portion of new fans who just splurt opinions without having the necessary knowledge to see things beyond black and white. it's not that understanding certain things makes it less fucked up, but it actually helps to bring some perspective that can even make you more or less mad and give more support to your train of thought. that being said, i can TOTALLY tell when a fan is purposefully ignorant or just a newbie who is just learning about things, so i don't think you should be afraid of interacting with people around here because they are mostly levelheaded and they can actually help you out with explaining the lore of f1 (obligatory hyperfixation corner on my pinned post plug). don't be scared, just throw yourself out there! if you're not interested on knowing everything about everyone, i'd just tell you to learn a bit about the history of teams, like why is ferrari the way they are? what led mercedes to their domination? how did sebastian vettel create red bull? why must williams be stopped? etc. i think that by tracing a single "recent" timeline (you don't need to go aaaaall the way back to fangio, unless you're interested about the technological and safety advancements from the start of f1 to now) you can grasp a bit better some of the grid dynamics. and on the topic of f1, a chilling revelation:

i legit can't say anything without saying who the driver is so i won't. but damn lol!!!! well, you're entitled to your own opinions and i think that from what you said, it's like, a normal rivalry that the sport ended up creating and even though it's in the past some ppl still carry it with them. i hate timo glock no matter how much ppl defend him to me. most important is just to chill and avoid tagging your opinions so you don't poke the fans!

another f1 related confession, but a simpler one:

i'm not sure if chickpeas are super common around the globe, so i think it's fair? unfortunately in brazil they're super common though. i HATE them i wish charles had never picked it up.

we have one on DTS laid ease:

fair enough because current DTS is literally teams' PR hour. what was pretty charming about the first two seasons was how unscripted it felt - even though a lot of it was different from reality, unlike now that's basically only the teams and drivers that are willing to speak and it's obvious they want to look good or at least have control of the narrative that's fabricated. i know it's not all perfect but gosh, it fell off.

still on f1, we have a possible sighting:

trust your instincts, what do they say? i am of the opinion that if it was Lewis, you'd know right away. that man is unmistakable.

and now, a commentary on fanfics:

see i can only read RPF if i can distinguish well reality from the AU. like, i want the story to be so compelling that it feels like the drivers are just face and personality claims but they stand as characters, not as the real deal. if you changed their names, it would work equally fine as a book (although i love when there are easter eggs and whatever). i think that if you have the maturity to understand that these aren't the drivers from the moment they're written and that they have real lives and real partners, you can still have fun! the fandom is filled with talented writers who i legit think could make it a job. i'm going to recommend to you "without a hitch" aka @mickstart's bakery AU (you'll need an AO3 account as it's private) because i feel it illustrates well what i just said and laura really made a point of creating a whole universe. we saw it grow from a few fun discussions at a discord server to a few more serious discussions we had on priv and repeated demands i made for her to write it and they fucking did it brilliantly. so very proud, new chapter saturday etc. from the other users i remember write is of course my beloved maisie @jedivszombie and the amazing anna @gp2engine​. can't go wrong!

but it's not all f1. there is some f2 too!

and i would love if both of you guys could get into contact with me first bc i'm an enthusiast of gossip and second bc i legit would like to know what is necessary to get a formula job!!!!

and at last a very sobering yet necessary take on the state of the fandom:

i do like tumblr for not being very male dominated although twitter has a nice blend of reddit dudebros and tumblrinas. however, we def need more women to reach f1 because my bi ass needs more material besides old school girls and susie (besides w series).

some of you had positive new life updates!

MF Doom fucks and i cant believe it's two years already that he left us!!! i love the feeling of learning a new instrument, i remember my hands ached and i'd get short of breath when i was learning the flute but it was so worth it! keep working at it!!!

god, that's so nice to read, congrats! sun and water is always a mood booster and it's amazing to read how much progress you made in a year :D may you keep having great experiences at pool parties (and maybe the beach next?)

comeback of the century. iconic. i would get the nose checked though don't joke around these things!!

a few of you were still on last week's assignment:

i love call it fate, call it karma. any strokes really. i'm not that bi enough to enjoy hozier but i do think the quality is great! and i did listen to mykonos, it's in last round's playlist :)

we also had a few food related items:

i def need to try popcorn w chopsticks bc i always waste so much popcorn eating it in handfuls like an idiot. sushi IS my favourite food, next time you eat it lmk so we can eat some together! and while i'm not sure yet pasta is the supreme food, i def want to try some great pasta when i'm at milan next month! oh and every single alcoholic beverage sucks absolute balls.

some of you are suffering over a subject very close to my heart: sleeping

i know probably it's not That Serious to you guys, but i have been recovering from long term use of zolpidem (ambien) for the past 4 months or so now? i don't remember really. i just decided to stop taking it bc it's such a hassle to get it here in france, i have to go to a psychiatrist that barely looks me in my face and charges me 100 euros per month and i ended up running out of prescription. when i called him to schedule an appointment, he said he was on vacation for the next 15 days, and since he was the first out of 3 that i went that prescribed me some (i already did a treatment in brazil but here is much worse and someone prescribed to me an antipsychotic that left me completely zonked out) i just said fuck it, i'll wing it. i had the worse insomnia for the first week but at some point my sleeping schedule started to go back to normal, it's still a challenge but at least i can mostly sleep 7 hours instead of 3. what i find helped me was melatonin, of course because there is no way someone who was on 10mg zolpidem could just fall asleep straight away - i take between 2 and 3 mg an hour before i go to sleep and then i try not to mess w my phone a lot. if i'm not sleeping, i'll grab the phone to watch smth on youtube or netflix, but i won't do social media. i have a bag of lavender grains on my pillow and i also put essential oils on my diffuser (lavender + sweet orange) bc aromatherapy fucks. i shut every single light entrance in the house (v important during summer) AND have a face mask. i legit do SO MUCH SHIT to sleep is crazy. go to sleep well so you don't end up like me. and tbh if you suffer from severe insomnia like i do, i still think you can consider zolpidem as a path if you have the support of a doctor. for a good period, it was the only way i could manage to sleep when nothing else i had tried worked and it legit saved my life, i swear. i just couldn't live properly from the headaches and other side effects of lack of sleep. from there on you can wean it out properly instead of going cold turkey. good luck!

there have been some... atypical issues:

shit in their toilet and clog it.

freaking ruthless!!!!!!! the joys of being a child...

now we get into romantic territorry! well, sort of:

if i had to choose i think i'd go with jeff bezos. they must be practically insufferable the same way but at least jeff bezos doesn't share cringe memes daily on twitter. and i think jeff bezos' money is less unstable.

hey! it's not about the man, it's about you being comfortable with yourself enough to enjoy yourself while having sexy times with a man. it's self-care. ideally you'll go through the next step of self-care that is to block the man's number. good luck!

tbh have you tried picking ppl up at excel courses? at least you'll find ppl who have the same mentality as you and that's a starting point! (shit advice i know but don't give up!)

HATE SEXY DREAMS HATE THEM !!! exactly, you'll prob never get to fuck him and it becomes a torture bc you just know that sex dream was top 10 pipes of your life. yes this is about you and your friend not about me and valtteri bottas. 

do you guys think that really happened? i don't think it really happened. i think it's just a string of coincidences much like princess cake....

of course we couldn't go without some Work Stuff:

i undestand you totally, it seems like you went through the sort of situation that really bursts the bubble and if you really trusted them and rated them before, it shatters in instants and then it's like "what the fuck are we even doing here?". i have been going through the same here w my uni collegues (i can't even call them friends as much atm) bc they were so selfish in a given moment i was like "never again". it's been nearly a month and i still don't want to look at them in their faces and have been avoiding them, but it's like. you have to accept your feelings were hurt and give yourself time to heal but also since you're still working with them you have to at least publicly move on. my mom says to keep acting nice and even playful but that it's also a lesson not to trust people again after they haven't been reliable. since your case is work related, even better bc it's not like you Need to be friends with them. if it's been like 3 months and you think it's still unsustainable, then i'd consider changing jobs tbh.

omg poor thing lmao!!!! honestly you sound like a trooper anyway because it's a bunch of kids crying, i think that would reduce anyone to tears but you still made it! i hope your manager was capable of supporting you but the image you created is lowkey hilarious... the wiiiings. i hope that up to that moment you enjoyed your tinkerbell fantasy and that you get to keep the costume.

a lot of the messages were also related to Academia Anxiety (classic)

i sympathise a lot with the concern about your parents because i'm from a latino country, but i see my friends who eventually overcame their fears and changed their majors instead of sticking to the ones their parents liked and they are genuinely thriving. there is one in particular that just blossomed in life and is much more confident and happy. of course i don't know your particular situation with your parents so i can't say that they will or not respond in a certain way, but the fact is that they're not gonna be here forever anyway, and when they're gone you might have to face if you're the person you want to be or the person they were projecting you to be and it might sting. if your mental health requires you to change areas, do it. it will be rough, but you can make it! 

see? and there is nothing wrong with that, good luck in your studies! i myself am probably gonna graduate in my studies since i'm here in france for the double degree than immediately go back to study mechanical engineering bc i like chemistry but it's useless lmao. if i could turn back time!!!!

awww i hope you manage to stay there as well!! how are the possibilities lining up right now, do you think you could find a job in your area or keep working at academical research or something? a lot of the foreign students at my school manage to stay here after they graduate but i don't know how things work in the country you're at the moment. would you be willing to move somewhere else as well?

i'm terribly sorry to hear that, school can be so overwhelming sometimes and not having the support of your parents in that aspect def hinders the situation. ideally you'd be able to seek a therapist on the low, for instance if your school have a counsellor they might be able to help you find a solution. because of the pandemic there have been many therapists who decided to go at least part time online, which can be cheaper depending on your location (in case you can somehow afford it or some insurances might cover it). where i'm from a lot of universities offer therapeutic support either for free or for a symbolic fee from their interns or people who just graduated, which also helps (a few of my friends do it this way!). i think from the point you manage to get some therapy advice, they might be able to refer you to a psychiatrist if necessary and orient you on whether or not you need your parents to back your treatment. i know you probably have already tried to seek solutions, so keep me posted on how that's going and i hope you manage to kick start something!

we had a few other people recounting some of their mental heath struggles:

the worst part about therapy it's how trial and error it is until you find The Therapist, but once you do it's so worth it. i had one that ghosted me once and it sucked asdkfhas but i'm currently doing genuinely great with the one i have, so don't give up on therapy just yet! i have also a friend who is dealing with A Very Shitty Breakup (toxic abusive ex) and she has been doing both therapy and meditation, so maybe meditation can help you as well! and i'm not sure if you have psychiatric support as well, but maybe if you do you can get a therapist referral from them! truly think that it takes a village to deal with mental illnesses, therapy, psychiatry and even some holistic approaches sometimes (no cults please) and since you're also saying you are having a bit of a sexuality crisis, therapy could help you figure out what you're going through. again, keep me posted!

it sounds like you have a mature outlook on it and you decided to do what's best for you, so i salute you on that first and i hope that HRT is the path to your happiness (i also hope that you are not alone in the transitioning process and that you have both friends and medical support to go through it, although i know in many countries the system fucking sucks). it's terrible to hear that your family might not be supportive, i hope there are some surprises and that they come to terms with you becoming who you really are but this might take literally years and you're well aware of it. it's a heartbreaking situation and i wish you the best on this new era of your life, may the joys of becoming you outweight the saudade you will have of your family. and may you find many people who love and support you and have a found family of your own! keep me posted!!!

this one is just a message of its own i couldn't place anywhere:

i REALLY HOPE this person is well now and safe, please send a message saying you're good now!!!!!

we had a few relatable messages:

what are your favourite apartment/house hunting videos? i love to see celebrity houses, whenever there is a new architectural digest video i stop everything i'm doing.

another one:

the nice thing about aging is that you realise everybody know absolutely jackshit even if they are the most experienced people in the world. i look at myself and i still feel like i don't know anything in life, even at stuff i dedicated my whole life to, but fuck it, we keep moving, as you said. the lovely thing about life is that every person has their own pace but we all have the potential. you'll wake up one day and you will see that everything is in its right place, i believe in you!

now this one, we ALL can relate:

god i felt that one right to my tailbone. go see that psychotractor!!!!

and, to finish this, the most relatable one of them all:

easy! step 1: watch formula 1

there you go no way to like formula 1 after this.  thank you to all of you who sent messages, feel free to keep them coming! and thanks for participating in the tournament, we still have a round going so don't forget to vote! cheers and see you around :D

[olderthannetfic]

Blast. Tumblr managed to hide this from my activity page or something, @mailorderfictionalcharacter.

But yes, I can explain more.

It seemed like Hale wanted to sell her wiki to venture capitalists or something of that sort. This perception was based on a couple of things: 1. She had a pitch up on some website for such pitches. 2. She filled the wiki with scraped nonsense. It was clearly much more important to her to have lots of content of a particular type than to make that content accurate or high quality. She also did shitty things to drive traffic rather than trying to make the wiki popular organically.

Hale talked openly about how incorrect information on her wiki would lead people to join so they could correct it. She felt like incorrect info was better than nothing and/or that it was an active benefit.

When OTW announced plans for Fanlore, she showed up out of the blue to yell at everyone. Or at least if you were a slash shipper who’d been on Livejournal since 2002, it seemed like it was out of the blue. Hale was well known in more FFN-y spaces. I don’t know if her wiki was super well known in them too, but I could believe it was. In any case, she was like “How dare you start this instead of wanting to partner with the well-known existing wiki!” and people were like “Uh... who are you again?” And, of course, she was not interested in the kind of nonprofit stance OTW was, so the projects would have been incompatible regardless.

Sooooo... Hale got butthurt. And she decided that in addition to her usual inaccurate, scraped garbage fire, she should engage in a spot of doxxing. She openly connected Naomi Novik’s name to her fannish pseud on her Fan History Wiki page. Admittedly, this was an open secret at the time, but Hale claimed it was 100% public and fair game, and that just wasn’t true. Since Naomi’s professional work is more all-ages and her fandom work is a vast sea of (really hot) porn, she liked (likes?) to keep people from easily googling her fandom name if they don’t already know what they’re looking for.

Not only is fandom unamused by doxxing but Naomi is a beloved BNF with a fuckton of stans who were not pleased by this development.

After much outcry, the info got deleted. Then Hale got the bright idea that she was going to out Francesca Coppa’s fan name. To this day, I have no idea if this was her usual attempt to add inaccurate info to make people join her wiki out of spite or if she was just genuinely confused, but...

She outed her as me.

This is hilarious not only because it’s not true but because my usual fannish pseud, ‘franzeska’, is my highly distinctive real name. I am one of the few early OTW people who has always been entirely open about my legal identity. Is that dumb? Sure, probably, but the point is: my name is spelled funny because my mom couldn’t spell (it should have been ‘Franziska’), not because it’s a wacky fannish pseud for one of the many other Frans in fandom. (Is it the Z that confuses people? IDEK.) This really, really should not have been hard to get right, but being as wrong as possible as often as possible is the Laura Hale way, I guess.

So that little episode was more hilarious than alarming, but it showed Hale was sincerely committed to being a total asshole. It left people with the impression that FH Wiki was:

full of lies

a vehicle for harassment

But, of course, it’s awkward to talk about anything involving outing people’s real names because it invites yet more people to go look at the info. Fanlore does mention outing way down the article about FH Wiki, but it’s vague on details for obvious reasons. Also, anyone who even remembers FH Wiki these days was around back then, so they already know why it sucks.

Hence: “shitty.”

[key-to-my-heart]

S2 WISHFUL THINKING

hey hi hello! i haven’t really been active on tumblr but i wanted to get back into the swing of being active and posting often. so.

i decided i will take note of some of my predictions, hopes, wishes etc. for Season 2 of Rainbow High!

so i kinda wanna just cover the things we canonically have seen aka specific events and drama that has gotten introduced

- The New Roommates / Series 3 Girls

i feel like we will definitely see more of them within the coming episodes. rainbow high literally advertised the new teams as like… i think the second or third teaser for the new season

it’s interesting to me because. this makes me think of What The Runway Project is? what could it possibly be? i believe i made a post about this in the past but the main theory (and theory i believe the most in) would be a Stage Production of sorts. i mean… it makes sense!

the twins are both Performing Arts focus and are definitely the antags this season. so why wouldn’t they cause trouble in regard to a stage play? plus, bella is back. she’s literally a set designer! we have never seen her do any set designing (other than making a sketch) so it would be fun to see that! if river were to get more focus this season, he would definitely have an outlet to channel his Performing Arts creativity! plus… Daria is a song writer so like. imagine if we were to get music out of that? please. the possibilities are endless.

im also eager to see the series 3 girls dynamics. like are the rest of the girls (gabriella, georgia, emmy and daphne) all roomed together? do they get along? will they all be just as dramatic as stella, sheryl and daria’s dynamic?

but anyway. whatever the drama and the semester project is, the new teammates definitely seem to be playing a crucial role in this season.

- The Twins

i’m actually really eager to see more of them. i feel like not enough people are talking about them? season 2 is actually really interesting so far…. maybe more so than season 1… and i feel like we are going to have to thank the twins for that at some point lol

like. idek what they’re planning on doing but. i’m excited to see what it is! they’ll probably be involved in the semester project or at least causing problems to all of the roommates and teams. they’ll definitely have something going on with bella. and it seems that they have a good bond with karma (after the KWK we got). so maybe they’ll have input in any potential drama with Karma. which leads me to

- Karma VS. Violet

so. this drama has been teased at for like. ever. for what feels like forever.

this moment in Karma’s bio PLUS the commentary about violet from her and the twins in the recent KWK episode. but anyway. i’m actually super interested in whatever this drama could be??? like. why is karma watching.

we know violet adores karma, she really wants to have her in the vi life. so i’m sure she basically looks up to her! but like. will karma actually genuinely be nice with violet? keep a distance? make remarks like she did in her recent vlog? i don’t know. idk what to expect. of course it’ll have to do with vlogging or something.

- Bella

ok so there is a few things to note with bella. i’m still interested in if bella will accept to do an interview with Karma for her vlog? if so, i wonder how that would go. and i wonder how violet would feel about it. like the very last time bella was featured in vi’s vlog was on a bad note (even though they made up) but like. idk AAA

also i’m wondering how bella is gonna handle being back to rainbow high. because so far it seems she’s having trouble fitting in. will the key to her fitting in be Jade? will Jade help her figure everything out? or would it be someone else?

as much as i’d love Jade to be the reason Bella starts to feel more at home, i also love the other idea of Amaya being the reason bella feels comfortable again. Amaya was once the new girl (and of course in an awkward position because she was essentially a replacement for bella’s spot in the runway group) but. she didn’t fit in. she had to find her place at rainbow high… and it took her until the runway show to be able to truly feel comfortable.

and like. i’ve been rooting for bella/amaya dynamic for awhile now. i see a lot of potential in this duo. we know they somewhat have tension. i mean. bella had a really awkward confrontation with amaya and that was rly their first and last conversation. sure they’ve been around each other like in the music video, at the end of s1, and when bella walked into the girls dorm s2ep2 but like. that’s it.

SO ANYWAY. what i’m trying to get at is that these two definitely need to become friends. i mean. they have a LOT in common. i was talking about the new girl situation because i feel like they can relate in that way. they both had an awkward entrance into rainbow high and could bond over that. it took amaya awhile to feel at home at rainbow high… so maybe she could become friends with bella and help her feel at home! they’re both very determined leader types. they’re really passionate and! they have the same friend group! so why not become friends?

- Jade and Bella

of course i will wonder about these two! i have no clue what to expect with them. the fandom and myself are really really really wanting to see these two become a canon sapphic couple. i really want to see this happen! and mga knows this. mga knows we want to see jella happen. i mean, they literally snatched the ship name from us and plastered it into their vlogs. so they KNOW

anyway. these two are literally going through it rn. the way jade’s eyes lit up when she saw bella was back at rh. and now both of them are looking for each other and worried about each other. jade thinking bella is mad at her rn? please. i will sob. they are really holding off this jella reunion but i hope it’s for a good reason. i just want them to talk and have a good reunion… a hug……. happy tears, happy smiles…………..a love confession…

- Amaya

so i don’t really have much to say here but i’m just wondering about amaya this season. she’s definitely been advertised so much to the point that she essentially became like. THE main focus in season 1. this peeved some people but personally i loved amaya being like a sort of main character figure. she didn’t really take attention away from the other characters but also had that energy of being a main character anyway.

my point is, though, idk how she will play out in this season? like is she going to be as much of a main character as the main 6 are…. or will she play a bigger role? i have no clue. it seems bella is going to have a key focus this season, which makes sense, but it still just makes me wonder about amaya’s role this season

- Colin

i just hope this man does not get a development arc. i know some people want him to…. but i just. i don’t. i don’t understand. the point of him existing was to show that cheating is wrong and to display girl power. by teaching that skyler didn’t need a man to prove her worth. that she is her own person. her own strength! i really hope that colin and bella don’t have anything omfg.

- Winter Break

i’m really. REALLY excited for the winter break arc. it’s about time we get to see some backgrounds outside of rainbow high! plus the animated tidbits of ruby, sky, and violet in their wb outfits in the wb commercial was everything.

i’m so excited to see their new hairstyles, to see them with their snow gear and more. omg. of course i think the twins will be involved in this arc someone. krystal briefly mentioned the twins’ family having a ski lodge. and then of course we see sunny with her skis so like. yea!! i just wonder how these episodes would play out. or episode. but anyway like… will they just vibe? or will there be a problem of sorts? if it’s winter break then it probably won’t tie into school or like projects or anything like that

- Kia Hart

i’m actually hoping kia gets some focus this season. like. what is she going to do? is she going to pair another couple together? (if so, please be jella. okay wait seriously what if she is the key to reuniting jade and bella together… anyway) i just hope to see more of her and possibly more of her and krystal together haha. but kia just vibes so far, it would be lovely to get more of her!

- The A’s

so ainsley is finally beginning to get some attention! i really hope we continue to get more of her as well as avery, and aidan of course! we did get a bunch of content of aidan but you can never have enough honestly.

but i just wonder about how the A’s will be this season. like will they do anything significant? are bella and avery going to remain close? what is going on!!!

- The Malibu Line

so we literally know nothing about this except

but i still wonder like. if we will get to see anything about it at any point during the web series. perhaps it would be more of a summer thing. but it definitely means something if Bella is in it! (also i’m just generally excited for her new doll. omfg.)

- The Rock Line

so we also know almost nothing about this except

saw someone discuss that the music being heard during s2ep2 could be in regards to the rock battle. honestly. what if this is some sort of project? battle of bands or something? that would be cool lol. anyway i’m intrigued for this line mainly because of all the clothing leaks we have been getting omg.

- The Slumber Party Line

we have known about this for a little while (with the theory of the baby blue girl being in it) but i’m just curious as to who the characters are and if they will be in the web series at all.

- Jett Dawson

okay so. this is a big one. jett being a collector doll, i feel like she’ll definitely play a crucial role in the series. so like. who will she be to the main characters? it says she’s generally nice. why was she giving that look to the girls after their runway performance? IDK! i have no clue what to expect with her. i feel like the expectations i had for amaya (before we knew anything about her) will be put into jett because. the vibes i got from amaya ever since we just had her doll… i am also kind of getting from jett. so i’m eager!

[shawoluvs]

~check in tag~ I was tagged by the lovely @anyhao, and this is super cute so thank you~~

why did you choose your url? I chose my url because I am a Shawol and a Reveluv! At the time I'd been through several urls based on eras/songs and they only worked for a short while so I wanted something more permanent and SHINee are my ults while Red Velvet is the first girl group I really started following so here we go~ I actually have a list of other fandom combo names for urls though just in case~

do you have any sideblogs? I do indeed because I am one of those people who has to divide my interests in order to not get overwhelmed by them~ I have a general multifandom/literature/personal blog @lonesplendour and an anime/manga blog @kimitokara~

how long have you been on tumblr? A long time, like maybe 10 years???? I really got into tumblr when I was in my early teens 'cause other social media (idek if I count tumblr as social media pffttt) just wasn't cutting it. I've been on like all sides of tumblr at this point like rpgs, chaotic mess blogs, book blogging etc. etc. But most of those blogs no longer exist. Only one of them kinda does and I've not been able to access it for literally years 'cause I canny get into the email it's attached too and my 100000000000 attempts to get tumblr to help me out with it (like I literally once asked them to just like shut it down if I couldn't access it but no luck there) has just never worked so... that's fun...

do you have a queue tag? Nope~

why did you start your blog in the first place? As much as tumblr can be a mess I do really like it as a platform for seeing great content for my interests so basically when the blog mentioned above was no longer accessible (it's so maddening too like I just can't remember the password and I can't set a new one 'cause it's an old email I also can't access?????) I decided to make this one anndddd for a while this was a similar like multifandom, anything goes blog, but then I divided up after a while.

why did you choose this profile picture? I wanted a profile picture that related to my url and in my head it was so cute 'cause I was going to have this whole colour scheme like SHINee themed and have a header and icon that matched and then after hours of trying to make all these things I got tired and was just like "yes this version will do" and there we have it~~~ Like I don't hate my icon (my girls with SHINee lightsticks, what's not to love???) but it's just not... edited well... at all ejhrgbejrge but sometimes there's a vision and sometimes you create it and other times you sail right past it and wonder how you lost yourself on this other thing but no longer have the patience to try again so you settle for where you ended up and that's my icon right there.

why did you choose this header? ^same as above.

whats your post with the most notes? I went to check and it's this one. Which really just proves people are thirsty for Taemin.

how many mutuals do you have? Imma count. 96 on this blog specifically! Which is quite a lot actually, that's really nice~

how many followers do you have? 405 on this blog~

how many people do you follow? 266 pfffttt which honestly makes my mutual number even nicer 'cause it means like 1/3 of the people I follow are my mutuals~

have you ever made a shitpost? Tons. Strange of you to think I make much of anything else, honestly.

how often do you use tumblr? Pretty much daily. I don't necessarily actively reblog and post original content daily but I tend to do a daily check in of sorts~

have you ever had an argument or a fight with another blog? Not really though anons have tried to pick fights with me particularly on my anime blog, it's not something I really take seriously, it was generally ship drama and was so random like... good times honestly

how do you feel about “you have to reblog this” posts? someone telling me I have to reblog something immediately puts me off honestly, I know that's childish or whatever but like if it's important or something I like/care about I'll reblog it without the guilt so...

do you like tag games? Yesssssss~~~ so again, thank you for this tag~

do you like ask games? I do! I think ask games can be very cute but I don't do them that often, mainly 'cause I get embarrassed if I don't get any asks from it but equally if someone I follow is doing one I'm like "I can't send them an ask, that's so embarrassing!!!" so in other words, yes I do but also I am terrible at the whole concept

which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? I'm not sure how to measure tumblr fame, like is that by followers or...... cause honestly quite a few of my mutuals seem to have a lot of followers (as they should, they're lovely) but I also just don't know, I don't tend to ask them or know that about them because I don't care??? The whole followers thing isn't a big deal to me... notes on content on the other hand hahaha likeeeeeeeeee support content creators thanking you

do you have any crushes on any mutuals? No??? I mean ejhrbgjee I don't really know most of my mutuals very well (honestly 96 is nice but also like 96 people ejhgbjerge that's a lot for my anxiety to process, I've barely said two words to most of them, seriously I'm so sorry, it's not you it's me, you're all great) but also in general I've not had a genuine crush on anyone in........................................ years? so... fun times

I'm going to tag a few of my lovely mutuals, though obviously not all of them 'cause ejhrgbjere that's a lot, but anyway pls participate if you like and apologies again for probably never having even said hi to you~ @userseokkie, @lilbubtaemin, @eternallys, @joshriku, @babyseulgii, @fourseascns, @atinyhater, @ncityzen, @haechsan, @solaarflaree

[sarasa-cat]

Things I will soon be able to queue up:

1. Reorganizing and revising old fanfic, moving tumblr-based fic to AO3 and porting LJ & ff.net fanfic worth keeping to AO3 (much of it was written prior to me being active on AO3, or just prior to AO3 even existing)

2.  Finishing a few old fanfic stories that have all of the parts and pieces ready to go; posting stories that aren’t finished but could be “shortened” into complete pieces (so done and finish and yay! more fic!) that can go onto AO3

3. Obviously, working on the epic fanfic and posting tidbits of it as I work (for dw/tumblr, finished chapters on AO3 hopefully begin sometime next year).

4. Tidy my fandom accounts, fix messy tag disasters (maybe?), and retheme with nice themes bc I am itching to just do relaxing zenmode frontend web design coding (because it is so relaxing and have had no reason since i don’t even remember when)

and

drum 🥁 roll 🥁🥁🥁

5. Actually. Make. Fanart. (because I am fully capable, just lazy-busy-idek) mmmmm CP2077. mmmmmm. But other games too.

It was suggested to me the other week that I do Urban Sketching style art of Night City and I laughed so hard because that is a hilariously excellent idea.

But, technically, I am (also) a trained portrait (and figure) artist so, shrug, I guess I really should have fun with it for fun rather than for pain. ahahaah. (let’s just forget how I got trained 🙃)

Anyhow, there are so many interesting -- really interesting -- characters in CP2077 who would be great subjects for portraits and it would give me an excuse to LOOSEN UP MY STYLE.

Like, CP2077 has a strong visual style so I can riff off of that to make something fun for the sake of fun. Not sure if it will only be digital or if I will mix digital and traditional. My experience with portrait, etc., is almost entirely traditional art.

[kotsume]

my observations as a content creator :) warning: it’s long

if you’re reading this, don’t think too deeply about what i wrote - it’s just my analysis of fan blogs and some fandoms (so it’s all from my perspective). do what you want with this information, and feel free to lmk what you think ;) 

*i tried to include as many anime-applicable blogs as i could remember*

multifandom reblog blogs (ones who track a tag):

@/allanimanga: lots of original content every day. does not reblog from tag anymore bc most members who had that job are inactive. i’m an admin and i’ve been told not to worry about reblogging from the tag, and just make content. has member privilege abuse from certain users; normally you make content for the blog and you get to reblog your stuff over in a 1:1 ratio, but they will just use the blog to promote themselves without contributing. it’s really sad but there’s nothing we can do bc most of the time it’s an admin.

@/animacia: was debating whether or not to put this one. reblogs mainstream anime (sailor moon, studio ghibli) and has a tag, but the tag itself does not seem to be actively used as the most recent post can see tagged for this blog dates back to june 2019 (more than a year ago). it’s an active blog regardless of slow tag activity. 

@/animationsource: active, but very picky? idk man they either do or don’t reblog your stuff. it’s a hit or miss with them. seems to have member privilege abuse/preference (explained up there). not too sure if they have a queue or just reblog sporadically.

@/anisource: active. seems to run on a large, backlogged queue bc their tag is full of stuff that has yet to be reblogged. edits will probably take a while to be reblogged, but they’ll eventually get there! 

@/dailyanime: new blog, but from what i’ve experienced, they will queue it, and your post will be reblogged in 1-3 days (it probably depends on how much is in their queue).

@/fyanimegifs: will reblog your stuff, but they have a very slow queue.

@/graphicsources: not really active; spontaneous at best. don’t count on them to reblog your stuff. 

@/fyeahshoujo: not really active, but not completely inactive.

@/fysportsanime & @/sportsanimedaily: active. seems to have a backlogged queue, but just wait and you’ll be reblogged! it will take some time because there are lots of posts.

@/animangascenery & @/otomokatsuhiro (#oldanimeedit - changes url from time to time? that’s why i included the tag they track): inactive unless a member looks at the tag. in that case, they will most likely reblog the tagged post. typically mass reblogs/queues from the tag every once in a while. 

@/bbelcher & @/fyeahmovies: will reblog ghibli and makoto shinkai stuff. bonus points if you have added a text description to gifs. 80% dependable.

@/filmgifs, @/filmtv, @/stream, @/movie-gifs, etc. (basically big reblog fansites that aren’t anime-oriented, but do reblog mainstream anime movies): 90% chance they will not reblog anything from you if there is no text description. add text descriptions to studio ghibli/makoto shinkai film gifs and make it pretty! use text gradients!! that will increase your chances of being reblogged by them. they don’t reblog seasonal anime.

a note: many creators use tags as a way of reaching a broader audience. it's really helpful for smaller blogs who would like to share their content to others, but do not have the means/numbers to do so. just bc some people don't utilize tags to their full potential, it doesn't mean it isn't useful, so pls don’t try to act superior to those who want more exposure. everyone deserves a chance at getting the attention they deserve for their hard work!

studio ghibli reblog blogs:

@/ghiblisdaily: great. amazing. i love them!! will reblog from you 99.9% of the time. probably the most reliable ghibli blog as of right now. uploads original content

@/fyghibli: used to be good at reblogging from tag, but has gone kind of inactive. i think they’re becoming more active again, but it’s very sporadic.

@/kikisdeliveryservices: they track a variety of studio ghibli related tags, and they do reblog a lot, but i don’t think they’re as consistent as ghiblisdaily. lots of original content.  

@/oh-totoro: not really active, but when they are (and they reblog from you), your activity skyrockets.

@/dailyghibli: not active.

@/daily-ghibli: sometimes active, a little wishy-washy. they seem to be reblogging a little bit more consistently now?

@/princessghibli: not active, but reblogs here and there.

@/ghibligif: a new blog, but decently active. will reblog post from their tracked tag within a day. lots of original content.  

main point: there are many studio ghibli blogs (wayyyy more than i’ve listed here), but only around 3-4 active ones. choose your tags with what you think will give you the best exposure bc if you have too much, tumblr will go “fuck you” and not show your post at all :)

random anime fandoms:

i’ll really only be including ones i’m in, or know a bit about.

haikyuu, bnha, kny, yoi: healthy and very active. content for these fandoms do well even if they’re not in season. has multiple active fan blogs (except for yoi tho - they’re all inactive for the most part).

noragami, ohshc, ons, snk, tg, swnku: active fandoms. edits will do moderately well bc most people have seen these. 

popular sports anime (knb, free, dna, tsurune? idk i don’t watch much sports anime): they do okay. i rarely see any new sports anime edits beside haikyuu, but people do love their sports anime. has active sports fan blogs.

pokemon & sailor moon: old but gold. lots of people love these anime bc it’s part of their childhood. still very popular amongst tumblr users.

violet evergarden: does moderately well. @/fyeahvioletevergarden will reblog your stuff if you choose to tag them (big boost)! with the new movie coming up soon, there may be a resurgence in activity, but the most recent movie did not have much content made for it, so that hope may be crushed.

tpn: not very active, but with the new season coming up soon, there will be a resurgence in activity.

ditf: kind of dead, but lots of people love zero two. edits do moderately well.

sao: dead. absolutely dead. i thought there would be some activity bc it’s in season right now, but no, it’s a dead fandom. low key sao sucks tho. idek where the plot is going; i’m just hoping for an end.

hxh, one piece, fma, code geass: i’m not in it, but i think they do okay bc they have a large following, just not as well as haikyuu or bnha (but they’re still very popular). it depends on your blog demographic tho.

mp100, opm, bsd, given: kind of medium-tier fandoms. not as prevalent as haikyuu or bnha, but there are still edits being made for these anime. they don’t really have any active fan blogs (besides given i think) bc none of them are airing rn.

makoto shinkai & studio ghibli films: they do great! everybody loves good scenery, and the films are very well known and loved by all!

some seasonal anime (spring/summer 2020)

fruits basket: well this reboot blew up and overshadowed everything in it’s path. tbh only edits posted on the first day of the new episode do well. it’s a very competitive fandom for creators. 

kaguya sama love is war: first season was good, edits did well. second season drifted off into the shadow of fruits basket. relatively obscure fandom for how popular it is amongst people (non-creators). 

tower of god: popular with creators. now that it’s not airing, no one gifs it. respective fan blog is doing its best with content from the manhwa.

fugou keiji balance unlimited: people were simping even before the first ep came out, and then the anime went on hiatus for a few months. now that it’s started to air again, everyone acts like it never existed in the first place... was a good fandom up until the hiatus and now it will probably take a while to recover.

god of high school: nonexistent even tho it’s a popular pick this season (summer 2020). in the shadow of fruits basket.

deca-dence, bna, great pretender, kakushigoto, the misfit at demon king academy, rent-a-girlfriend: *sigh* didn’t see much of it on my dash. lesser-watched seasonal anime in comparison to fruits basket and tower of god (all relative to tumblr). there are gifs being made, but you have to follow the right blogs.

main point: if there’s any seasonal anime paired up against fruits basket at the same time, fruits basket will win and the former will be left in the dust.

[featherxquill]

Fics Wot I Wrote in 2019 (and the 2010s in general!)

So it’s the end of a decade, and I wrote some fic this year! I am going to do the usual list, but I thought I might modify the end-of-year meme into an end-of-decade meme, and have a bit of a look back at the fandoms I’ve written in and the fics I wrote throughout the 2010s, because it’s certainly been a more diverse decade than the last!

So, here is the list of Stuff From This Year:

January 28: The Witch of South Kensington - The Infinite Bad - G - Cornelia and Sebastian and a weird, well, infinitely bad sort of domesticity

April 7: to beckon me in languages i’ve never learned - James Bond - Bond/M - E - M decides what bendings of her will she’s willing to forgive

October 18: If Not Me - Arc of a Scythe - Curie/Faraday - T - Faraday fishes Curie out of the water, and they make the long road-trip back to Conclave together

It’s been a bit of a transition year for me, but look! I have been writing! And there’s one more fic I have completed this year but not yet posted, and it’s a long bastard, so I am quite happy with myself.

And here is the little meme thing, though I’ve modified it a bit to reflect on the decade, because I thought that might be fun.

Fandoms I have written in during the 2010s: Harry Potter, Sanctuary, Scott & Bailey, The Infinite Bad, James Bond, Arc of a Scythe. There are few other things I wrote for Yuletides past, too, but I wouldn’t specifically call that participation in those fandoms, so I’ve left them off.

First fic of the decade: An Interesting and Difficut Woman (HP, Muriel/Ollivander, E)

Last fic of the decade: If Not Me (linked above) or, really, the unpublished monster-fic that is now awaiting beta

Longest fic of the decade: One Time Thing (S&B, Gill/Julie, E). This is my longest fic of all-time, actually, and will remain so even when I publish my new thing. 50K. How did I even. I had a full-time job in 2015, though I do remember starting it before that job happened.

Shortest fic of the decade: Was a Yuletide treat drabble thing about Robot Unicorn Attack, but I’m going to go with a thing I am actually still pretty proud of, Burning, which is 173 words of slightly dark Albus/Minerva, that it turns out I’m glad I posted to ao3, because the LJ comm it was originally written in a comment on has now been deleted and purged.

Something I learned while writing in the 2010s: That I am capable of moving on to new fandoms, though probably not being truly multi-fandom. I have learned that I am serially monogamous, fannishly. Apart from Yuletides past, which have always been a bit of a holiday deviation, I rarely go back to back to writing in a fandom once a new one takes hold of me, something that sometimes makes me sad, but the muse wants what it wants, I guess. I think I move on when I am ready to. I started the decade still firmly in HP, where I had been since roughly 2003, and by now I have cycled through several new interests, which can be happy or melancoly depending on the way I look at it (I am generally not sad to move on to new ideas, but I am sometimes sad that moving to new fandoms sometimes means losing touch with friends from old ones).

Something I’m surprised about when I look back at my fic over the decade: That I can look back at my first fic of the decade, and really most things I have written in the past ten years, and still be damn proud of them. I think part of it is age and maturity, but an even larger part of it is that in about 2008 I started regularly using a BETA, and ever since, I can look back at the things I have written and be proud rather than cringing. Seriously, a good beta is worth her weight in gold, and I have known a few. Hold onto your betas, peeps, and if you don’t have one, GET ONE. Your future self will thank you.

Something that I miss: The comment culture of LJ, and the general tight-knit-ness of my little corner of fandom there. Fandom is now definitely a diaspora, and I have made many wonderful connections in the years since I moved to tumblr/twitter, but god do I miss the comment culture of things like LJ fic exchanges in particular. That might also in part be me missing being a part of a fandom that was LARGE even within its niches. But the muse wants what it wants, lol.

Something that makes me happy: The friends that I have made in my fandoms of the decade - shit, I mean, @incandescent-justice and @girlonabridge and @aubrys and @little-brisk all became proper Real Life Friends of mine when I lived on their continent, and @picardcrusher and @sapphoshands and @moocowmoocow thanks for also screaming about lady detectives with me. And I am so, so pleased that being into Sanctuary helped me meet @troiings and audio drama fandom put me in touch with @lothiriel84 and @mifhortunach and just. yeah. There are probably more people I’m going to feel bad about forgetting but like, FADOM FAMS it means so much to me!

Strongest memories of writing from the decade: Writing ‘Scenes From a Very Special Friendship’ in a notebook in 2011 while on holiday attending DiaCon Alley in the UK, teasing it to the person I was writing it for and talking about it with @kiwi-collideoscope. Writing ‘A Sexual Awakening in Five Acts’ in the breaks at my retail job, sometimes skiving and taking hella long breaks on the steps outside the store and sometimes writing smut in the breakroom while trying to keep a straight face - I think that was the first fic I really wrote large chunks of on my phone, a practise that I have continued, and continues to make me happy. Writing a scene of ‘Be Here, By Me’ in which Julie Dodson smokes a cigarette with the sun on her face while doing exactly the same thing myself. Sitting in the restauarant/bar of my hotel in Berlin with my evening cup of tea (because German hotels don’t have a kettle in the room? idek) writing ‘Warrirors’, which was my first Infinite Bad fic, and the first fic I had written in two years. Starting to write ‘Tethers’ in the taxi in Manila on my way to the airport after my stopover on my way home to Sydney in 2018.

Something I wish I’d written: I wish I’d been able to get on the Berena train, fanfic-wise, but it was such a wild explosion that I couldn’t keep up with it, and the fact that canon never stopped really threw me, too. I really wish I’d managed to write that fucking Yuletide assignment in 2016, though, because none of the NYR prompts have grabbed me since.

Where I think the 2020s will take me: i honestly have no idea, but it might be fun to speculate for the future. Into new fandoms, I think is a safe bet - probably fandoms with Awesome Ladies. I hope this Arc of a Scythe thing can carry me a bit further, but after that, who knows? At the start of the decade, I had no idea that Scott & Bailey existed, or that I would fall for Sanctuary as hard as I did. I had no idea a wild and crazy RPG podcast would be the thing to pull me out of a two-year dry spell, or that I would finish a fic that had been sitting in my WIPs for two years (that’s ‘to beckon me’, btw, thanks, @tayryn, for helping me do a thing I never thought possible and take something OFF the backburner!). But yeah, whatever my 2020s fannish journey holds, I bet it has Awesome Ladies in it - particularly older ones.

[littlehollyleaf]

Name ten favourite characters from ten different things (books, tv, film, etc.) 

Then tag ten people

Tagged (ages ago, whoops!) by @castiel-saved-me-from-myself 

(I’m sorry, I got distracted!)

1.Supernatural. Castiel.

Obviously. I may be out of the fandom now, but I’ve never loved a character as much as Cas, and probably never will.

2. Good Omens. Aziraphale.

Thought I’d put both my darling angels at the top :) I suspect that without Zira there to pave the way Castiel may not even have existed, so I love him double - for himself and for Cas as well :p 

While really quite different when it comes to their personalities (just think how Zira would SHUDDER at Cas’ trenchcoat), they share a lot of character traits and tropes (mini-series!Zira anyway, maybe less so in the book, or less obviously anyway), so, no surprise that I should adore them both. I’ve also said before, and I stand by it, that Aziraphale is sort of a combination of my favourite aspects of both Cas and Dean in one, with Cas’ struggle with Heaven/god and trying to be a good angel and finding he loves humanity/earth more, plus Dean’s whole ‘performing Dean’ thing and repression of queer feelings he is scared to admit to (out loud) because he believes they are somehow ‘wrong.’ 

...just to give a little insight into my feelings about these two that was neither needed nor asked for...

4. Hellblazer. NBC Constantine. Legends of Tomorrow. John Constantine. 

Aaaand the other guy I love twice because Cas, and indeed spn in general, kinda owe their existence to him. Though in turn his fabulous live action portrayal by Matt Ryan probably owes its existence to spn and Castiel’s popularity. So... there’s a weird ouroboros situation happening with my favs here that makes my head spin whenever I think about it, but I love it - stories within stories built on stories feeding off stories, which connects to wider themes of story and storytelling being vital and intrinsic to life and stuff.

Anyway, despite his wardrobe, Johnny is NOTHING LIKE CAS. He is, in fact, a lot like Dean. But I like him more. Maybe because he’s British :p He has the whole ‘repressing his feelings’ things, a bit like Zira, but it’s not because he thinks they are wrong, it’s more of a coping mechanism to deal with the constant tragedy/trauma his life/lifestyle/fate causes him to suffer. But whatever the reason, I like my characters facing that struggle :) (actually the British element is probably way more significant to my enjoyment of him than I’ve been fully aware of... that’s probably why I loved Zira so fast as well... obviously they are both a completely different class of British, literally, but the fact they ARE British is INTRINSIC to both their characters, and I guess a little, vaguely patriotic part of me is excited by that... :p)

4. Gotham. Edward Nygma.

Since I’ve started giving explanations - I love Eddie because he’s also got the whole ‘emotionally repressed’ / out of touch with (his) emotions thing going on (as seen in Zira and Cas), but with the addition of various geeky / ‘tech guy’ character traits that I also love.

5. Doctor Who (Classic). Vislor Turlough.

I waxed poetic once about how I liked Gotham’s Edward Nygma because he reminded me a bit of Turlough. That was early on in my Gotham days though and given how Eddie developed I don’t see as many similarities now. Turlough shares some of Eddie’s ‘dark’ traits however - self-centered, often lacking in empathy for others and nonplussed (sometimes even happy) to see them get into trouble or hurt. But ultimately his attempts to be self-serving and cowardly end up thwarted by him developing feelings for specific individuals despite his best efforts, which is what I enjoy about him (and actually that’s a lot like Eddie still, huh... their endgame’s are opposing though ofc - while Eddie goes on to embrace being a villain, Turlough gives up on villainy and even becomes a bit of a hero, now and then). Plus, Turlough is the ONLY Companion (IIRC?) to have joined the Doctor specifically in order to MURDER him and... idk, I just think that’s cool :P

6. Doctor Who (New). Donna Noble.

(I’m trying not to double up on fandoms/shows so I can cover more, but New and Classic Who count as different things, kinda, right...?)

Donna doesn’t really fit any of the character traits I’ve talked about above, though I guess her low self-esteem is something that all my other favs share in various ways (though it’s not such an EXPLICIT aspect of their characters and story arcs as it was for Donna I’d say). What I first loved about her was that after YEARS of New companions (and other randoms) being literally in love with the Doctor, she had a strictly platonic relationship with him. Yeah, I think maybe the show was a bit heavy-handed about it, but even so it came as a huge breath of fresh air and frankly a RELIEF to me. Not that I’m opposed to the Doctor having romantic/sexual  relationships, it was just that... coming from a childhood love of the Classic series where that just... didn’t happen (save a fleeting kiss in the TV Movie - which I actually enjoyed fyi!), it just... idk, was starting to stretch my credulity that EVERYONE seemed to be falling for him maybe? Or at least for me it was growing tiresome. So the fact she didn’t have that element to her character/story was a plus. Then I just adore how loud and brash she is when calling anyone, including the Doctor, out on their shit (I envy her that maybe). Plus I like the way she isn’t... traditional TV pretty, you know? (ie. young and slim, like a lot of other companions).

...or maybe I just like redheads *shrug emoji* 

7. Spartacus. Naevia.

(she has two actresses okay? and they both deserve kudos!)

Truth is I love FUCKING EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE IN THIS SHOW. Spartacus is like... my PERFECT SHOW. There isn’t a single moment, a single plotline, a single character that I don’t enjoy. I have never even CONSIDERED looking up or writing fic because the finished product is completely satisfying exactly as it is. God. But I wanted it represented in this list so I had to pick someone!

Considering the time period there couldn’t really BE a ‘geeky, emotionally repressed with low self-esteem’ character :p BUT nearly ALL of the characters have the whole ‘struggle to understand/discover who they are’ thing and the ‘who I am and want to be is counter to who I’ve been told I am / should be’ arc, on account of the main cast being rebelling slaves (though the other characters are equally complex and compelling and I love them too - Lucy Lawless in particular is incredible!). Anyone who’s seen me blog about the show before might have thought I’d pick either Agron or Nasir as my favs, since I do like to squee over their romance. But whenever I think about the show it’s usually Naevia who I remember first, because her character arc/development just BLEW ME AWAY. She went from someone I’d kinda dismissed at first as a typical het love interest to a WARRIOR GODDESS and you SEE all the key moments of that growth, you FEEL it, it makes ALL THE SENSE. And her romance with Crixus, which again I was initially a bit dismissive of as a typical, sudden, weak het romance, grows into, imo, one of the deepest, most developed, most believable love stories in the show. So yeah. Naevia. Amazing.

8. Due South. Ray Vecchio. 

(he’s the guy not the dog - gifs were limited! ...also the dog is actually a wolf, it’s a whole thing... that doesn’t need exploring at this juncture)

Ray was my first TV crush :P He had a bit of a sidekick vibe to him I guess, which I like (lead characters tend not to interest me as much). He wasn’t ‘geeky’ exactly, but he def had the ‘trying to look/act cooler than I am’ thing going on... also an obsessive attachment to his vintage car... meanwhile his partner Benny was the stoic, ‘British, stiff upper lip, keep emotions in check’ one who was always trying to live up to the ideal persona dictated by his people/employers, in this case the Royal Canadian Mounted Police... HUH, so... it’s actually SUPER WEIRD that I ended up loving Cas and Zira over Dean and Crowley when it seems pretty clear suddenly that my first big fictional fav was CLEARLY the Dean-Crowley to Benny’s Cas-Zira......?? Ray was FUNNY in a way Dean and Crowley aren’t though, I think? He def filled a ‘comic relief’ slot on the regular and I liked that a lot (it also made his serious, angsty moments EXTRA serious and angsty, and extra angst is something I always love!)

9. The Librarians. Eve Baird.

Remember this little show? It was... is... sorta ridiculous. Not amazing. Based on some... very cheap, very OBVIOUS Indiana Jones rip-off films, that were also ridiculous and... not... great (the third one is the best, with an awesome performance by Stana Katic aka Kate Beckett as a vampire, but I digress). But... idek, I am EXTREMELY FOND of the series for some reason :p

There are a WHOLE BUNCH of characters that fit my ‘type’ more than Eve tbh... in fact... probably every.single.other.main.cast.member (save perhaps Jenkins?) shares the traits above that typically make a character my fav. But... EVE! I just... think she’s neat! ...maybe it’s BECAUSE all the others are main/lead characters that makes me gravitate towards her? In a cast where ‘geeky, socially awkward, struggles with emotions’ is the norm, Eve being the no-nonsense, socially competent, badass soldier type therefore becomes different and thus more interesting to me? Also, much like with Donna, I appreciate that she’s an older woman who gets to have a full character and plot of her own. There’s also something about her romance with Flynn that... makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Jonathan Levinson.

(tumblr gif search failed me so I had to grab from elsewhere...)

Listen. Look. Okay. Buffy is pretty old school these days so, for anyone not in the know, as a character, originally, Jonathan... he wasn’t even a side character, he wasn’t even REOCCURRING, he was barely a background character. For several episodes he didn’t have a name and it wasn’t until several seasons after he became ‘Jonathan’ that he actually got a surname. Danny Strong was just an actor who happened to be occasionally on-hand when the script called for a random to have a line, until eventually that happened often enough for Joss to think ‘hey, you know what, let’s make this guy an actual part of the show...’ 

He got a couple of episodes focused on him in S03 and S04 respectively, but didn’t become a regular until S06 (and wasn’t in S05 AT ALL). Other than that he had a HANDFUL of ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moments here and there, not even full scenes for the most part, usually lasting no longer than the above gif.

I tell you all this so that when I say childhood me (well... somewhere between 12 and 14 years anyway) was OBSESSED with this character in the show, and I mean O B S E S S E D (to the point of spending hours painstakingly making VHS recordings purely of the episodes he was in), you understand how UTTERLY BIZARRE that was. Because this obsession pre-dated S06. Was, in fact, in full swing during the airing of his S04 episode - which was, like, a fucking DREAM COME TRUE for freakily obsessed me fyi, because the whole episode was constructed with him as the LEAD CHARACTER, because he’d performed a spell to make him super awesome. They even changed the title sequence to read ‘Jonathan’ instead of Buffy! And while other fans were no doubt just lol-ing at the random I was bouncing about on my sofa all ‘MY TIME HAS COME!’ and fucking SWOONING over seeing MY CHARACTER suddenly in the spotlight and getting to do crazy fun OOC shit like this -

Then when S06 rolled around and HE WAS A LEGIT REGULAR, omg, I was in HEAVEN! First TV boxset I ever bought that - Buffy S06 :P

So... yeah. A bit of a fav. Geeky. Outcast. Slowly grows more morally grey, what with that spell I mentioned and also the fact he was teamed with the ANTAGONISTS in S06. I guess you could say he was the beginning of a lot of my fav fictional character traits/tropes (though looking back - I think his ‘villainous’ teammates in S06, Andrew and Warren, are more my ‘type’ these days, and I did end up loving Andrew especially a whole damn lot, but at the time I’d been a Jonathan fangirl for so.fucking.long. there was just no chance anyone else in the show was ever gonna come close to my heart!)

THE END.

Sorry not sorry for the tmi. I got a bit too into this one.

Actually sorry I have so few women on the list :( Internalised misogyny/sexism is a real thing and I spent a lot of my life being... somewhat unfairly dismissive of female characters or at least prioritising male ones over them. I’m working on it.

Ten people is SO.MANY. to tag. But I might as well do this right this time, since I’ve come so far. But if you’d rather not play, no worries! <3

@enchantersnight @momecat @bold-sartorial-statement @vampirebillionaire @edwardnashtons @miss-olivia-cellophane @knightinpinkunderwear @supes9 @leaper182 @hamburgergod

Honourable mentions (because I CAN):

Gotham. Lucius Fox.

Gotham. Fish Mooney.

Gotham. Tabitha Galavan.

Doctor Who. The Doctor.

Doctor Who. The Master/Missy.

Supernatural. Hannah.

Supernatural. Naomi.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Andrew Wells.

[izzy-b-hands]

20-30!

Thank you so much for asking!!!!

20. Favorite character to write?

Already answered, but I don’t mind re-answering cuz I thought maybe I’d narrow my three way tie, but alas, no lol. Still a tie between Ahkmenrah, Snafu, and Skwisgaar.

21. Least favorite character to write? 

Ooh-tbh, Larry from NATM just because I feel like I always make him an asshole? Like, I haven’t published all my fic ideas for NATM because I keep making him really mean? And in some it works but in others I’m like ‘jesus chill Lee he’s just a Dude trying his best’ but also at the same time I feel the way Stiller played him and his character arc means he’s got some major ego to him as the films go on? Idk that isn’t a hot take or anything just me being frustrated with Ben Stiller lol

22. Favorite story you’ve ever written? 

Hard choice, because I love all my kids, but I cried after writing this one lol: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/186781309036/you-know-that-i-love-you

It hit some personal stuff for me, so to be able to have it work organically in a fic so I could also like, mini therapy session myself? Cool af. Also, ppl seemed to like this a lot too, and while that validation isn’t the only reason I write, it’s always cool when my writing makes ppl happy. 

23. Least favorite story you’ve ever written? 

I don’t really have a least favorite, but I do have some I’m more frustrated with, due to how long they took me to write, etc. Currently? The answer to this is my Mark the Date series because A. it is taking me a day and an age to finish it and B. I feel like it kinda flopped, so it’s hard to pull up any energy to finish it, but like...I may as well now lol. I’ll get it done eventually.

24. Favorite scene you’ve written? 

Oh god tbh I have too many I love just cuz like

I can go back to how I felt writing them and yeah

But as of most recent fics, I really this bit: 

-Snafu patted the blanket near his head, and waited for Eugene to put out his pipe and lay back beside him before snuggling close to him. “You could be right. Could be God. Could just be love.” “How’s that?” “I think love has its own way. Even before you meet someone, even before you know you’re fallin’ for ‘em. Love’s just…out there, like the air or somethin’. Finds you when the time is right, and finds who you click with. You gotta do the rest, the stayin’ in love part, but that bringing together, that first spark…that’s love just existing, and doin’ what it needs to so the world keeps spinnin’, so people make it through tough shit,” Snafu replied. “I like that,” Eugene said. “Think love did a good job with us. Makin’ sure we found each other.” Snafu pressed a kiss softly to the corner of Eugene’s mouth. “Sure did. Wouldn’t ever want to be with anyone else. I don’t even know what that looks like, and I don’t want to.” “Same here,” Eugene’s mouth was warm as he kissed him back. “Here’s to love for making sure you found me.” -

from this fic: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/186926226531/absolution-is-the-taste-of-your-lips

Because I’m sappy af more than I let on, and also this was a chance to like, write out my own feelings via Snafu. And that was a pretty cool and fulfilling thing for me, ya know? 

25. Favorite line you’ve ever written? 

oh god this is another hard one to narrow down but

I always come back to this line and go ‘oh shit did I really write that. Nah, someone better than me at this had to have. They briefly possessed me or something”:  

-Music and talking and shouting and footsteps collide kaleidoscopic in his ears, but none bearing the one sound that he’d run to if he heard it.-

from this fic, mentioned twice now in this post lol: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/186781309036/you-know-that-i-love-you

I really love alliteration, and for me this line just sums up how it feels to walk thru a city when you aren’t just wandering really, but are looking or waiting for someone, and have that awful yet sometimes good feeling of expecting to hear or see them but it feels like you’re waiting or searching forever and in the meantime the city just lives on around you, a stopped platelet stuck in a vein full of vitality. Like, idk if it hit any of my readers that way, but that’s what I was trying to get across lol, so the line always hits me hard in a good way when I scroll thru my writing tag and see it. 

26. Story you’re most proud of? 

Gosh

I gotta choose just one kid for this aldsfkja I’m bad at choosing I love my gaggle of ragtag goofballs. I have an original piece I’d choose for this, but I’ve never posted it on here, so I’m gonna choose out of my fanfic on here instead.

One I am really proud of is this one: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/186781309036/you-know-that-i-love-you

and I know it’s the third time it’s been part of an answer on here but

I really love this one idk. Thinking back to how I felt while writing it, how it all flowed in a certain way. The whole experience was just something else, and I’m proud of this one in a certain way I find myself, funnily enough, unable to describe. 

27. Best review you ever got? 

Okay this sounds cheesy but like

I really do love and appreciate every review or review-like thing I’ve ever gotten so I can’t choose just one for this

Like, y’all gotta understand, I’ve deleted some of it and erased traces of it from my blog, but I’ve written for years on here, I have some stuff on my ao3, and for the longest time I got nothing back, or very nearly nothing. Maybe a few likes, but no comments and not much else. I always just rolled with it and assumed I just wasn’t writing anything good enough to inspire reviews. Idk if that’s true or not, but in any case it means I cherish every comment, like, reblog, and anything review-like in nature because I’m so grateful to have it now, and I know it could well be pure luck that I stumbled up on a really supportive bunch of fandoms with great readers. 

In other words, thank y’all for every kind word and like and reblog and also I may be an immortal feeding off of validation of my art, but we’ll see on that last bit, because I haven’t tested it. 

28. Worst review you ever got?

One from middle school. I’d just finished my very first novel, gave it to a friend to read, and he said it ‘smacked of being too fanciful and childish, something only kids and women would read’ (it was a YA fantasy novel so I mean... what exactly he expected, idk cuz he knew what it was before I gave it to him, like it’s supposed to have those elements as a lot of these sorts of novels/stories do, and that isn’t a bad thing about them at all, so like...what his damage was idek.)

Also this is the same dude who texts me randomly and is really weird abt his friendship with me and happens to be an English teacher now (RIP to his students.) 

Anyway, after he said that I tossed a review right back, because well, middle school and also I was very upset with him because I’d not asked for anything other than a general ‘if you picked this up randomly and started it, would it suck you in enough to keep reading or would you put it down’ like that was literally all I needed him to answer for me. So I told him his latest novel (his second at that point) was essentially just him masturbating to his own opinions (because he’s an arguer, who loves to tell ppl they’re always wrong, and that’s by his own admission) for one hundred pages, and not in a way that anyone else would care to read. He was pissed, but so was I. We didn’t talk for a good week, and we had almost all our classes together lol. 

Like, getting nothing back in review sucks too, but this one has stuck with me forever. Best part? I mentioned it to him a few years back, and he only vaguely remembered it, and followed it with “but I’ve said a lot of rough stuff about your work. I mean, it deserved it at the time, but you might be good at this someday!” 

I didn’t smack him, but I really, really wanted to. 

29. Favorite story/poem of another author

This doesn’t specify on Tumblr or not, so I’ve got two: one from outside tumblr, and one from on here.

A. When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be by John Keats

When I have fears that I may cease to be   Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,   Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,   Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,And think that I may never live to trace   Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,   That I shall never look upon thee more,Never have relish in the faery power   Of unreflecting love—then on the shoreOf the wide world I stand alone, and thinkTill love and fame to nothingness do sink.

B. Again, this Tumblr one could be a huge ass list because y’all on here are amazing, but one I’ve been rereading over and over again recently is @xmxisxforxmaybe ‘s Remnants series, which can be found here: https://xmxisxforxmaybe.tumblr.com/post/186702235396/remnants-complete-work

Like, Ahk as a character is captured so well, and I love the way the plot twines and also when the smut comes up? Very good A+ smut, something I value pretty highly on and off Tumblr because man, sometimes smut is just work to write, so I appreciate it when it’s really good. All around, this series has captured my heart and I legit have a link to it saved on multiple devices so if I need something to read, I can just pull it up right away. 

30. Hardest part of writing? 

Self-doubt. It’s the biggest hurdle for any artist, regardless of the art in question I think, but with writing it seems to double down a lot. Like, you have to really get out of your own head, even as you spend all your time there with your writing ideas. Shit gets weird and twisted, man. 

For the longest time, I really let self-doubt defeat me too, and I regret the time I lost to that. I still get hit with it randomly, cause I don’t think it every really goes away for any writer, not even the big names like Stephen King or Neil Gaiman (who I’m half tempted to @ on here purely because I wanna know his feelings on this stuff because I respect and admire him as an artist and his thoughts very much, but also he’s a very busy man so I’m not gonna bug him by doing that lol.) 

All there is to do is to work with it, push past it, and most importantly keep writing. I have days where that feels like the hardest thing, but each day I manage to get past it and get the words down? I let myself feel proud of that, and mark it as an achievement in my Big Book of Stuff I’ve Done in This Life. 

[whence-the-woody]

This is random, sad, lame and might make people feel awkward but I’ve been slowly going back through my likes and I reached the good old day of 2012 when I first joined this site. 

And there’s just so many covos and posts back and forth with the first “internet friends” I have had and it’s just so PURE and make me so fucking nostalgic. 

Like we would literally be messaging each other utter nonsense about QAF and our teenage woes at 4am and now it’s like most of those blogs don’t even exist anymore.

And now I’m just looking at posts from the strangers I used to talk to when I was 17 - Cat, Milo, Sarah, Chesea, Tarah, Denise and others I’ve probably missed - and I don’t know what happened to yall but I went from fucked up 17 year old to sad as hell adult and like

Tumblr itself is basically dead. The QAF fandom is basically dead. I stil love it and honesty think about it every day but as far as new stuff goes I don’t feel that passionate about ANYTHING anymore. All other fandoms have basically died - EVEN SUPERNATURAL IS FINALY ENDING WTF

Not to mention, like, the world at large is also a big fucking never ending dumpster fire and it’s led by two white bigots in toupes that are both a real life health hazard and I just 

I hope everyone came out okay yknow. I haven’t yet. I mean I’m doing alright but there’s alot of shit left to figure out and even though i would NEVER want to go back to being a sixth former (that was a more superficial hell lbr) I’m just feeling nostalgic as hell about the internet and the world and how much smaller it used to feel. 

I’m grateful we got to grow up before shit really hit the fan and for me alot of that growing up happened right here and we did it together so

I just hope everyone is doing okay. And if I tag you (idek if that shit works anymore???) and you have no recollection of any of this then it’ll probably freak you out and I’m sorry but that just amuses me so

gonna do it anyway 

idk. namaste ya twats