#it's like people on tumblr are allergic to it nowadays

[nattanoora]

“How can I cheer you up a bit? Should we play pinball? Should I freestyle a rap in Italian for you?”

“What?”

“Listen to this: 'Eva, you shine like the stars in the sky; for you I would walk de Sahara like a camel, no lie. You're so fine-'”

“Enough, enough!”

PETAK, 21:15

[tired-fandom-ndn]

I used to be in a fandom (a couple of years ago) where people would act like works on Ao3 with a word count below 1000 were essentially 'spamming' the tags and it messed with my head for ages. I hope that's not the general the vibe in fandoms nowadays because drabbles and short fics deserve to be on Ao3 and very much have a place in fandom. I feel like some people are just allergic to using the Ao3 filters and then act like it's some issue with fandom and not themselves.

It's definitely not something I see much these days, if anything it's become a lot more encouraged because of how much writing is left on incredibly inaccessible tumblr blogs and discords without any organization, but I think people still shy away from posting things if only because they just don't think about it.

Speaking from my own experience personally, I have a collection of my TMA writing that I crossposted from tumblr to ao3 and I've never gotten any sort of negative reactions. I think a lot of people actually really enjoy having all those smaller things in an accessible place instead of having to dig through tumblr tags to find stuff.

[vulpesevanidum]

Not sure if I miss something about the internet of the past or something about myself that enabled...whatever was happening then. Socializing felt easier to approach, somehow.

The big difference on Tumblr probably came with the mass exodus of the user base following content moderation changes in 2018. I think the average user may have treated the site more like traditional social media before then? This worked in the sense that meeting a few criteria practically guaranteed a couple new direct interactions from time to time: 1) follow each other's blogs, 2) at least superficially share some interests, and 3) display selfies and possibly other personal info. Of course, for what could loosely be described as a very broad circle of vaguely nerdy gay men, these interactions were, unfortunately, rather...particular. A prominent feature of the quasi-culture was this idea of eventually crossing great distances and "meeting up with your mutuals" where the ultimate outcome would surely be finding your One True Love in some unexpected place and having your life change forever. This was cute as a fantasy but not so much as something people were targeting with every new person of interest. Much less cute overall when directed at someone who is practical to a fault and probably some flavor of asexual (not to mention inexperienced with flirting or anything beyond it). Needless to say, those interactions faded on their own from the lack of reciprocity (or in one of the more substantial cases after I was no longer succeeding in academia and abandoned a doctoral program lol). Nowadays it feels like it should work more like my early forum-oriented days where I express excessive enthusiasm about very specific things (but not too specific so that less people are aware of them) and work up to general amicability from hours of over-elaboration about those very specific things with a few people. That's probably how it works in general! Unfortunately, I don't really "fixate" on anything anymore (if I ever really did?) to be able to manage that.

I guess my biggest failure with this is in (not) sufficiently differentiating myself? Pivoting to fully pseudonymous furry-forward content aggregation was certainly antithetical to that in many ways. I've become more...vague...about representing myself (which reflects how I personally relate to myself), I don't create anything, and I'm not going to put my face out there again (I'm highly allergic to cameras) either. I'm not really sure what do about that.

(age is probably a factor here too but sssshhhh)

[orionsangel86]

The reason people get upset about the like to reblog ratio is because it is killing the site. This site only works if people reblog stuff to keep it circulating. Once upon a time the like to reblog ratio was fairly even, nowadays every post has a ratio of like 4:1 minimum and its depressing because it means posts arent being circulated and tumblr is losing what made it great.

People arent bitching because they want clout, there is no fucking clout on tumblr this isnt twitter or instagram! I wanna see shit on my dash for the things I love and I can only find that shit if the people I follow reblog that shit from other people who I havent discovered yet.

In my current fandom, I still regularly have to go hunting through the character tags just to find stuff to fill up my queue, and most of it is art or gifsets that have around 200 likes but only 10 reblogs. It fucking sucks. I am following so many people who also post about my fandom and yet this stuff remains unnoticed because people are allergic to reblogging things nowadays, because y'all are all so used to the twitter/insta method of likes being the be all and end all to boost some algorithm. How many times do we have to scream there is no tumblr algorithm before y'all understand?!?

Likes have a use, they are a good way to save a post, or to remind you that youve reblogged or queued a post already. I use likes that way. I only ever like stuff to reblog or queue it. My own like to reblog ratio is 1:1 minimum and if I find a post ive previously reblogged (because ive already liked it) sometimes I'll queue it up again because this site only works if we keep stuff in circulation.

"I wish I could like stuff more than once" thats called a reblog darling if you like a post that much reblog it!!!

So please quit bitching at longer term tumblr users begging newbies to reblog stuff, its necessary if you want the site to function, otherwise y'all will be staring at an empty dash since none of you ever reblogs shit.

I have had it with this likescolding. “Tumblr doesn’t have an algorithm so likes don’t actually do anything” motherfucker I am not clicking that heart to give some post better ~algorithmic visibility~ I am clicking that heart to help my internet friend microdose on serotonin as god fucking intended

[gnomeniche]

peri hathm had a sister??? (NOT FAKE) (NOT CLICKBAIT)

this is kestrel "kes" west, peri's younger sister. despite being friendlier and more lively than her brother, she had the same mad wizard obsessive tendencies. both peri and ambrose loved her very much, but unfortunately, she is no longer with them.

also that is a real hairstyle i gave her + yeah their names are kestrel and peregrine. yeah like the falcons.

more info under the cut. EDIT: putting a readmore in deletes the whole paragraph under it because tumblr is allergic to functioning. so this post will just a wall of fucking text i guess. i hate this site.

kes was the one who originally found the spellbook that peri lugs around + the scarf he has was originally hers as well. she was into life magic, i guess? healing, yes, but also weird body shit. flesh and blood and bone. she used the methods she found in the book to brew healing potions to help people in her community. but all secretly, of course. that's how she and peri met ambrose, actually.

but she was also dying. she and her brother studied the spellbook to try and figure out a spell that could save her, but it wasn't until she was on the verge of death that they made a breakthrough. nothing left to lose, she drank the new potion, died, and then returned.

of course, as it does with all Mysterious Serums Of Life, it goes wrong. though she seems fine for a month or so, she starts sporadically losing control of herself and her physical form, as well as coughing up glowing magical fluid. she, peri, and ambrose try to figure out and fix whatever went wrong with the magic, but they're not fast enough, and it culminates when she violently transforms into a monster and loses herself for good.

in the struggle between the three of them, kes kills ambrose and peri has to kill her. kes's body dissolves into magic goop, but peri is able to flee with ambrose's. since they had gotten pretty far in fixing the spell already, it doesn't take him much time to perfect it, and he uses this revised spell to bring ambrose back.

fortunately there's no mutation-y side effects this time, although ambrose has some holes in his memory because he was dead for a while. he remembers recent events fine, just not earlier parts of his life. also, he is still very much An Undead and not truly resurrected, but this is as good as anyone can get wrt reviving the dead at this point. and peri is so so so relieved that he could at least save ambrose. not wanting to be parted from another loved one, he turns himself into a lich as well. and that's how all that shit happened.

in terms of differences between the siblings, kes was always more interested in the living, while peri is more interested in the dead. see, bc kes's main concern was her illness, she really wanted to continue living. she wanted to live to watch the world change around her. meanwhile, peri's main concern was keeping his sister alive, and later bringing back ambrose. he wants to preserve that which he loves. there's the difference between life magic and necromancy, though they seemingly share goals.

nowadays ambrose and peri don’t really talk abt kes. it’s too painful for both of them and they refuse to unpack it, esp given that ambrose was killed by her and peri had to kill her. but neither of them has forgotten about her.

[altamont498]

On The Sanitation of the Internet, the Importance of Trigger Tags and the Role of Responsible Adults.

[All tweets described in alt; original tweets available by clicking the above images]

TBH I really do miss the days of the internet when the responsibility was on both the reader/viewer and the author to look out for each-other.

Whereby the author had to provide due warnings (e.g. TW Suicide, TW Insects, etc.) whilst the reader had to heed and act on the warnings where appropriate.

Whereas nowadays instead, as TomSka has said in the above tweets, everything has to be totally cleaned and sanitized to a stupid extent, where there's little or no just even remotely adult-only content available online nowadays.

Because - really and truly - it's unnecessary and overcautious mollycoddling and really only there to keep advertisers and shareholders happy.

And besides, the same companies have been previously more than willing to advertise adult content like horror games or potentially harmful stuff like loud noises and strobe lighting in advertisements whilst at the same time all too eager to pull "NOOOOO! YOU CAN'T TALK ABOUT MURDER ON A PODCAST ABOUT JACK THE RIPPER!!111!! YOU HAVE TO SAY UNALIVE!!!111!"

It also entirely disregards the original context. For example, it's one thing to send someone a horrible message like "I'm going to murder you and your family", but it's another thing to talk about murder in my previous example, in a podcast about Jack the Ripper.

Or if someone is struggling with genuine suicidal thoughts, they can't even look up anything about that and get the help that they may be in desperate need of because any content mentioning/referencing suicide has been deemed "too inappropriate."

Instead, it should be on parents/guardians/responsible adults to have that conversation with kids to say that there could be stuff online that they don't like, and tell them that if there's a warning sign literally straight in-front of them saying that there's something they don't like, that they act on it immediately.

If someone with a nut allergy ate a jar of Nutella (accordingly marked with Allergy Warning: Contains hazelnuts), took an allergic reaction and tried to sue Nutella, they'd be laughed out of any reputable news source and laughed out of any court of law.

Meanwhile, parents/guardians/responsible adults don't teach their kids how age restrictions work or how to act on them, how to avoid trigger tags and trigger warnings (or even bypassing it for them - e.g. buying them an 18+ game) then turn around and shout about how little Johnny/Jenny got traumatized by seeing a zombie's head explode in Call of Duty (PEGI 18) or how they walked in on their 12 year-old getting a lap dance from a virtual lap-dancer on Grand Theft Auto (also PEGI 18).

It would be simple for most websites—YouTube, Twitter, even Tumblr—to implement.

An option for authors to flag stuff as and when they're uploading it and then a click-through for the reader, like:

WARNING: Per [the author]'s own indication, this video/post contains references to X, Y and Z which some viewers may find disturbing or upsetting. Do you wish to continue? > Yes > No

It's high-time we bring back The Mutual Onus.

"Where the reader has needs, the writer must act to warn; But when the writer warns, then the reader must heed and act accordingly."

It would definitely go a long way towards putting an end to the overcautious mollycoddling of kids with regards to online content and re-open large swathes of the internet that would otherwise have ended up being rendered uninhabitable.

As well as the fact that warnings and TWs aren't a modern concept. Even in our day-to-day lives we see warnings for the sake of mental and physical health.

E.g.

"This report by John Smith contains flashing images, and descriptions of child abuse that some people may find disturbing."

"Coming up next on ITV is Doc Martin, which contains scenes of a medical nature."

Definitely food for thought for many social media sites and platforms to consider.

[vinceaddams]

True, people nowadays are much more disconnected from where their clothing comes from than they were for most of history :(

I guess I wouldn't blame them for thinking that, but for posting about it so confidently? ehhghhhh, yeah, I do.

I don't think anyone gets to call a name "pretentious" if they don't even know wether it refers to a fibre or a weave structure, and I think it's reasonable to expect someone to know what a thing is made of before they complain about that it's made of. A quick google search at the very least.

Every piece of taffeta I have is silk! I have only ever seen sateen in cotton! Broadcloth just means it's wide!! I have wool broadcloth!

The whole "just say plastic" sentiment I've been seeing around tumblr a lot the past few years is one I both agree with and am annoyed by.

I agree in that I very much hate when fabric stores use deceptive labels, like polyester that's made to look kind of like linen sold as "linen look", or all the various ways they're making fake leather now that's pretending to be plant based but is still mostly vinyl.

But it's also irritating because there are so many different kinds of synthetic fibre with so many different purposes (elastane for being very stretchy, lurex for being very shiny and sparkly, etc.) and just calling it all plastic is much less informative. Specific names for those are useful, and complaining about those being accurately labelled is as foolish as going "cotton, linen, hemp? ugh so pretentious just say plant fibre".

I've even seen synthetic whalebone listed in one of those kinds of posts! (I think in one where you reblogged it and pointed out that synthetic whalebone is a specific product made to mimic the properties of actual whalebone, and that it's synthetic for a very good reason, but due to tumblr's wonderfully effective search function I cannot find it.)

I think part of the problem here is that people on the internet are allergic to nuance. Can't complain about a thing being overused but useful in some circumstances, the opinion pendulum must swing all the way and declare it all bad.

I AM a polyester hater, but I also appreciate the small percentage of spandex in my socks, and the shiny lurex in my metallic/silk blend brocades.

Yes I am frustrated by how much fabric is polyester, but I'm also very annoyed by people who know absolutely nothing about textiles just assuming every fabric word they don't recognize must be plastic.

Big "oooh there are CHEMICALS in my food that I can't pronounce, they must be bad!!" energy.

[blueberry-lemon]

blog thoughts: hub world vibes

Like any millennial who spends way too much time online, I have a lot of conflicting thoughts on using social media. Every social media platform I use has some huge benefits but also some disappointing drawbacks. I gravitate most towards Twitter, despite hating Twitter with every fiber of my being. I genuinely love using these services (or, at least, I'm addicted) but...they're also pretty unsatisfying. It's hard not to be a little nostalgic for how the web was before: a bursting collection of individual websites that were all completely personalized and had individual uses. I think we all had a lot more of an appetite back then to diligently use RSS Feeds and Bookmark folders. Even when I tell myself I should do that now, I can barely muster the effort. Aside from typing a few URLs into Chrome's auto-complete, I mostly just gravitate towards clicking links I find on social media posts. Then I go back to infinite-scrolling. The older I get, the more I wish I had a sort of "home base" online. A sort of hub world. A place I can put all my stuff, decorate and customize it, and people can enjoy it.

For years, I think that place actually was Tumblr for me. I stopped using it around the time of the NSFW ban and now here I am, trying to get back into it, but it shares the same flaw as any timeline-based platform: your posts eventually get washed away among dozens and hundreds of other posts. I want a place that will stay put. My own little pond to cultivate, instead of pouring my stuff into the rivers and streams we're all dumping into. Honestly, I have a huge soft-spot for the era of Geocities, Angel Fire, all that type of stuff. Where people made personal sites based on themselves and their interests and literally just said whatever they wanted on there, even if it seemed pointless. Back then, even the novelty of saving and sharing JPEGs was so huge that people made website pages literally just to collect their favorite JPEGs. I feel like images and text had so much more value back then, and now we obviously take them for granted. I recently discovered Neocities, a service that was created to host people's new websites made in the 2000s-era HTML style. A place where people nowadays are going to make their own sites that collect their work and go for a retro vibe. I'll admit that it feels so corny, but I do think there's a value in doing this. Also it just looks really fun in a self-indulgent sort of way. AND SO...I have decided that my goal, someday and somehow, is to learn enough basic HTML and CSS to make my own Neocities page. A bit of a "hub world" for all of my work, my social media links, and such. A page I can decorate however I want, much more freely than Twitter allows. I'm doing this despite being absolutely allergic to learning programming languages. It's so hard for my head to grok anything coding-related, and I used to vow that I was an artist and would never try to wrap my head around code. But now...I think all the work will be worth it! It'll be like a mid-life crisis hobby thing where you learn to repair bicycle chains or tune-up cars or do woodworking in your garage. I'll share my progress here as I start building up my little baby website. Keep your fingers crossed for my fried brain.

[carnivorepussy]

people on tumblr nowadays are less terminally allergic to rebloging directly from artists and yall even leave nice comments in the tags too!

when i was last on here pre-purge it was like posting to a void and it felt terribly lonely and hostile. doesn't feel like that anymore

[icarus-showmethemoon]

ahhh thank you for the tag 💚💚

favorite color: either black or like. rlly bright green. like radioactive chemical green.

been on tumblr: oh gosh. a long time, idr when i actually made my account but ive been lurking at the very least since 2013-14?

travel: if i had to pick, probably italy or greece? i like classical architecture a lot. ive always had a dream of traveling as many places as i possibly could, but i havent made it to very many yet. someday.

clothing brand: i dont really have one either lol if im going for fast fashion type shit and have the money for it, i like hot topic or demonia but i mostly shop thrift or tbh walmart/amazon. bitches be broke

favorite singer/band: this question always stumps me bc nowadays i p much only listen to a couple songs from an artist and go more for variety. when i was younger i wouldve always said mcr, but now idk. i been listening to a lot of the happy fits recently? but thats mostly just bc its good for work lol have also been listening to a lot of grim salvo idk

current lockscreen: a pic of my best friend and i getting ready to see mcr live last time they were here!

current hyperfixation: dan and phil, which is wild to me bc i dont usually fixate on purely visual stimuli. but god damn the brain rot has had its roots deep in my since i first started watching them a long ass time ago, and reactivated like a sleeper agent when they came off hiatus lol

relationship status: poly and partnered! were pretty focused on just each other for the moment tho :3

dream job: psychiatrist! its been my goal since i was like 11 lol ill get there eventually.

non-tumblr socials: i very rarely use any? sometimes ill doom scroll on tiktok and i use snap as my primary messaging app for irl friends, but i dont really post much or care to look at other peoples posts like on insta lol

pets: 3 cats! a tan siamese/mainecoon mix named willowby, an all black super fluffy shelter cat (that i suspect is a mainecoon) named abaddon, and another black shelter cat who is a chunky short hair named penelope! i love them

coffee or tea: i prefer the taste of coffee but im allergic! if im having a hot drink i always go for hot cocoa, otherwise im a big energy drink/soda person lol

ice cream: practically speaking, good quality vanilla. but one time i had gelato that was cinnamon and rose flavored and it lives in my head rent free as the single best frozen treat ive ever tasted.

this was fun!! obvs no pressure but:

@uppercase-disgrace you should do it :)

i was tagged by @jumpsuit-jumpsuitcoverme to answer these random questions (thank you sm violet!). sorry for making a brand new post for this. anyway:

questions:

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav color

: ̗̀➛ how long have u been on tumblr for

: ̗̀➛ wheres a place u always wanted to travel to

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav clothing brand(s)

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav singer/band(s)

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur current phone lockscreen

: ̗̀➛ most recent/current hyperfixation

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur relationship status

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur dream job

: ̗̀➛ outside of tumblr, fav social app

: ̗̀➛ do u have pets

: ̗̀➛ if u do have pets, what kind/how many

: ̗̀➛ do u prefer tea or coffee

: ̗̀➛ whats ur fav ice cream flavor

: ̗̀➛ tag at least three other tumblr accounts

answers:

pink and black

five years i think

the usa (especially new york), iceland, india, australia

don't have one, as long as it's oversized or black it's good lmao (my sister always says i look like a gangster)

twenty one pilots (everybody shocked), but i also listen to a lot of musicals (especially lmm and dave malloy) and some pop girlies (right now mostly gracie abrams), my music taste is amazing as you can see

current lockscreen: happy boys (i change it so often tho i just have too many pics that i love)

twenty one pilots and right now also warriors i'm afraid (new lmm's album)

have you seen my blog single

broadway actress but i have no talent lmao

probably insta but i am mostly just lurking and discord if that counts

nope :( my apartment is too small to have a pet

again, i do not, but i want a cat (i would name him clancy)

coffee, but i drink a lot of tea now that it's autumn here

chocolate or mint with chocolate

npt: @wagingmywarsbehindmyface @thepaladinstrait @xproskeith @redwidow616 @mymuses-acquiredlikebruises @noproof-youjustknow @anixknowsnothin @soupiiiie @missmultipleaffairs @reverseblackholeofwords @phantaloon @thefootnotes @the-paladin-gay (that's more than three i'm sorry)

[buglife]

All us old folks remember the horrors of browsing fanfiction way way back in the day where you could only find fanfiction on webrings and fanfiction.net.

Back then, there were no tags. There wasn't anyway TO tag things. You got general categories like 'Mature' and 'Romance' and major characters but never anything really specific. So everyone had to put them in the VERY limited word count in the description so there were abbreviations all over that read like hieroglyphics.

Like I loved Harry Potter fics back then and I'd see a description on FF.Net and it would be like "Dark!Harry m/m lemon HA/VO Dumbash DLDR" and that was all you got. Like what the fuck did all that mean??? So little old me would jump in the fic and get slammed by a graphic sexual story about Voldemort in sexual relationship with an 11 year old Harry and get physically sick from it. I had no idea what those 'tags' were and eventually, learned to navigate them once I understood what they meant. I didn't know that what the tags meant were 'Harry Potter goes dark, is in a graphic sexual relationship with Voldemort, hates on Dumbledore, Don't Like Don't Read.' I wasn't in the fandom so how was I supposed to know these very specific things?

But nowadays, you can go to Archive of your Own or Tumblr and find a story with a TON of tags that go into detail what you can find in a story. Are you phobic about vomiting? There's a tag for that. Are you uncomfortable about a certain pairing? No worries it's displayed right there so you can avoid it. I've seen people start tagging things with 'Dead Dove, Don't Eat' right after they tag some serious triggering stuff like Non-Con and Death so that you KNOW, IT'S RIGHT THERE ON THE TIN. DON'T READ because it literally says right there what's in it and you have no one to blame but yourself if you end up triggering yourself by reading it.

It's such a breath of fresh air because I have a lot of traumas and triggers that really upset me (im in therapy no worries!), but I feel so much safer diving into fandom now than I ever did when I first got into it in the late 90's on a little Packard bell computer with dial up internet. I know exactly what I'm getting into and it's great.

It's like being allergic to eggs and then having nobody put eggs as an ingredient on food packages. How are you supposed to avoid an allergic reaction when nobody will label it so you can avoid it?

That's why I avoid things I don't like lol. I don't want to see it. All I ask is that people tag your shit so that people can readily avoid the things that upset them. If you put Non-Con in a story and don't tag or label it as such, you're an asshole. Don't do that!

Things are much better than they used to be <3

[ive-garden]

Pass the happy! 🌻 When you receive this, list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications!

Thank you for this! ❤

I’m tagging @of-stars-and-moon so I can reply just here! Thank you too! ❤

1 - Going to bed! I am a very lazy person and I love to sleep. But not only that, I love the feeling of lying down on my bed and feel the sheets with my feet and the smells of the bed. And to stretch my body and feel it relax! I just love it! Especially after a very busy day.

2 - To read a good story! I love stories so much and I often get so caught up while reading them that I forget about what is happening around me. It's a wonderful feeling.

3 - My house! It is actually an apartment, but I love it! For so long I wanted to have my own place that I feel so happy here. I often look around everything and smile and feel so thankful that I was finally able to have my place. It warms my little heart.

4 - To be known! I grew up around people that didn’t really care about what was my likes and dislikes and to be able to have that nowadays it’s wonderful. I love it when my husband says to someone that I don’t like that kind of food or can’t eat because I’m allergic, because he knows and cares. Or when my mother-in-law just knows that I’m not in a good mood and just leaves me alone with my book or just to sulk until I’m ready to mingle again (which happens almost every day)!

5 - To share the same thing I like with someone! It is so cool when you find people that like the same things that you do! For me especially books! To talk with them about it and discuss it and see other points of view of the same story. That’s is why I love Tumblr and the TRC fandom so much!

[ballsballsbowls]

Hey! Do you have any favorite sources for skincare information. Thank u :)

Firstly, you sent this while I was away for a day or so, I’m really sorry my reply’s a bit late

I have a handful of resources, but admittedly I have some huge blind spots and I’ll list them outright

- I don’t use fb, ig, and barely use youtube for anything. There’s probably some great resources on there that I’ve never encountered

- My resources are pretty limited based on my current needs - my biggest skin “issue” is sensitive skin and a bunch of ingredient allergies, including lavender extract and snail mucin. Because of that, I tend to research specific products as I find out about them rather than keeping track of new products in the pipes or new ingredients

- My area of interest is East Asian skincare, Japanese and Korean about equally, so I don’t know much about Western products at all.

The only person I really follow on tumblr for skincare stuff is @birdkoskincare - she’s got a very robust biochemical background and is in the skincare industry in Europe, and I find her info to be really easy to follow along with regardless of your background. I reblog her stuff moderately often.

I use SkinCarisma and CosDNA about equally for ingredient lookups. SkinCarisma tends to have a little more info and the layout is a little more beginner-friendly, but it’s definitely worth using both, even on the same item

Back in the day, there USED to be a pretty robust search tool for reddit, which has since been abandoned. It makes things more difficult if you’re looking for general info or everything everyone knows about, say, lactic acid. Nowadays it’s more dicey, but there’s a lot of good info if you’re patient.

Asian Beauty and Skincare Addiction are both useful in their own ways. If you’re after Western skincare, the Asian Beauty reddit won’t be much use, but you’ll still see Asian products on it. I don’t spend a ton of time on Skincare Addiction, but they sometimes have more useful/current info on, say, the newest research on topical collagen or a new UVA blocker. Both reddits have a pretty robust resource section for people just getting into skincare, which can be a huge help and was where I learned a ton of info when I was starting out.

Lab Muffin is practically obligatory if you’re discussing skincare resources. I don’t look at her stuff all the time, but she’s a nice, accredited source of info if you need something clarified. She also is active on youtube and ig.

Past that, I don’t have any resources i rely on extensively. My boyfriends will vouch that I can spend a whole afternoon trying to find about a specific sunscreen or toner from every possible angle. I’ll open practically any blog, any resource (even REALLY skeevy resources like western beauty magazines) and sort of aggregate the data from 5 different places.

The unglamorous truth is the bulk of skincare is “look at EVERY SINGLE facewash option on jolse/sephora/whatever and scan the ingredient lists and scan them again in cosdna/skincarisma and scan all the reviews I can find on the internet so you spend 6 hours choosing a facewash”

You didn’t give me any indication if you’re a total beginner or not, so I’ll throw a few basic beginner tips in in case they’re useful to you. If you’re way past this, I apologize.

- You just need to start SOMEWHERE. Face wash is a great place to start and it’s a pretty cheap investment compared to a lot of other products. I did JUST face wash (I am being completely serious) for probably 2 years before I got into anything else.  

- Nobody is going to have ALL the answers. Someone with a PhD in biochemistry can tell you how sunscreen works, but they can’t tell you which sunscreen you need to buy. A random reddit user might have share your oily skin, but they don’t share your haircare routine and their recs might STILL be useless for you. If there was a Grand Poobah of Retinol on the internet, they still might recommend a formulation with an ingredient you’re allergic to. 

- That said, it IS a lot of trial and error. KEEP NOTES about what you buy and how you react. Most of the mistakes I made in my 5ish years of being remotely serious about skincare, I made because I didn’t refer to my notes about which ingredients I can’t use or didn’t recognize the alternate way of listing a known allergen.

- You really do need to start slowly and carefully with one product at a time. It sucks when you’re excited about starting a routine but you will regret it when SOMETHING in the past 2 weeks has given you acne and you have no idea what it is.

- You can honestly spend as much or as little as you want. There’s plenty of people who have developed a super elaborate, super expensive routine. There’s plenty of people who use suncreen, face wash, moisturizer and have no interest in anything else. I’ve barely bought anything this past year, just using stuff I already had, and it’s totally fine. In fact, a slow and measured (AND CHEAP!) approach will serve you better in the long run.

- A product that generates acne on your face might work on your neck or arms. A product that’s too harsh for your face might work on your feet. You WILL strike out at some point with a product no matter how carefully you purchase stuff. Having a plan for using it up if you can will make it less terrible.

- CHECK DATES AND TIMESTAMPS on reviews and posts. Products get reformulated all the time and that product that looks perfect for you may have been reformulated twice since that post was created. That dream product may also be discontinued.

I hope this helps at least a little! If you have more specific questions, I may or may not be able to help (if you skin is oily or you’re acne prone you are SOL as it’s NOT my area of expertise)

[lovemesomesurveys]

How are you doing today? It’s only 1:56AM, but so far I’ve just ate a bowl of ramen and watched a couple YouTube videos. What was the best thing that happened to you today? My ramen was quite delicious, ha. Which cell phone network are you on? Verizon. Do you like the smell of cinnamon? Yesss. What was the last book you've read? I just finished, “The Secret She Kept” by Elle Gray and I’ve started, “Autumn’s Strike” by Mary Stone.

Are you hungry right now? No, I just finished eating. What was the last thing you've had to drink? Water. How often do you visit this website? I’m on Tumblr all the time. Do you like frogs? No. Are you afraid of dying? Yes. Do you like bananas? I love bananas.    Do you like the show American Dad? Meh. It has its moments, but overall I’ll pass. I don’t ever watch it by my own choosing, I just catch it here and there because my family watches it.  What TV show do you miss the most that's no longer on TV? Gilmore Girls, Degrassi, and True Blood come to mind first. Are you currently fighting with someone right now? No. Is your life full of drama? No. I have other stressful things I’m dealing with, but not of the drama variety. How long can you hold your breath underwater *shrug* Where's the last place you've been to out of state? When I went to Arizona to visit my grandparents about 6 years ago. Have you ever been kissed in the rain? No. What letter does your last name start with. -- What are you listening to right now? I’m watching Gilmore Girls. Have you ever had a pet that died? Yes. Would you rather use a trackpad or a mouse? Trackpad. Do you consider yourself politically intelligent? No, not at all. Have you ever done any volunteer work? Yeah, I’ve done a lot with Girl Scouts, school clubs, and class assignments. Do you like the Beatles? I like some songs. Is it night time where you're at right now? Yeah, it’s 2:08AM. Do you like steak? Nope. Do you eat healthy? No, I definitely don’t. How often do you work out? I don’t. What was the best gift you've ever received? I couldn’t possibly choose. Have you ever participated in a spelling bee? Nope. If you could have one wish right now, what would it be? Good health. Do you owe anyone an apology right now? I kind of do. Are you the jealous type of person? I can be, but it’s not something I feel much. Or at least haven’t felt in a long time. I feel envy more. Have you ever tried doing yoga? Nah. Do you like getting massages? I’ve never gotten one. Would you rather be too hot or too cold? Cold. Are you good at telling jokes? No, I’m pretty much the worst. I don’t tell many jokes. When was the last time you've attended a sleepover? Several years ago. Tell me one of your pet peeves. Eating sounds. Do you wear glasses? I do. Do you like to keep your nails painted? I haven’t painted my nails for the past few years. Have you ever had a pedicure? Nope.  What is your favorite smell? I have several favorites. Do you like the TV show Full House? I do. Would you rather listen to country music or rap music? I like both. Are you a Duck Dynasty fan? Nope. Have you graduated high school yet? Uh, yeah, back in 2008.  What kind of person were you in middle school? Quiet, shy, awkward. Nothing has changed. Do you have any major regrets in your life? I have a few. :/ Do you like pixie sticks? Eh. I did as a kid, but I don’t have much interest in them the older I get. Do you like French toast? Mmm, yes. Are you a fast typer? I am. Are you good at doing math in your head? Nope. Or at all. Have you ever played with Silly Putty? Yeah. Do you take in a lot of caffeine daily? I do. I love my caffeine. Do you like watching Football? Nope. Or an sport. What language do you wish you could speak? Spanish. Do you know a lot about history? No, I wouldn’t say that. If we could travel back in time, where would you travel to? Can I travel back to childhood? Would you ever consider joining the military? No. I couldn’t anyway, I’m physically disabled. Are you a cigarette smoker? No. Have you ever done something you didn't want to just to look cool? That’s kind of how it was when I used to drink and smoke. I wasn’t a big drinker or smoker, only did so socially, but still. I also did so on my own accord, I’m not blaming anyone, and I’m not going to say I hated all of it because I did have good times, but there was a big part of me that did so because I felt I had to. My friends liked to do it and I wanted to partake with them and not sit out on the sidelines by myself. It’s just that truth be told I think I would have rarely drank at all if it weren’t for that and likely would have never smoked. It had its fun moments, but I didn’t feel the need to partake all the time like they did. Do you like zombie movies? Nah. Have you seen The Hunger Games? Yep, all of ‘em. Do you have a favorite piece of clothing? All my graphic tees, t-shirt dresses, leggings, and lounge shorts. All my comfy clothes, basically. Do you own any Uggs? Nope. Are you wearing any rings on your fingers? No. Name a TV show that you absolutely can't stand. Most sitcoms today. Do you have any unusual talents? No. Or any kind of talent. Do you look like your age? *shrug* I’ve been told I look younger. Do you feel confident in a bathing suit? Nooo. Do you do a lot of online shopping? I do. Do you like the Harry Potter films? Yeah. Do you judge people based on their sexual orientation? No. I care about who a person is, their personality, and whether we vibe. Have you ever been told you had an accent? No. Have you ever ridden an elephant? Nope. Are you allergic to pollen? I do have seasonal allergies. Have you ever eaten sushi? Ew, yes. Not a fan. If so, do you like it? Nope. Are you a fan of anime? No. Would you rather play Xbox or Playstation? Playstation. Are you a big fan of seafood? I don’t like seafood at all. What kind of food are you craving right now? I’m good right now. Are you currently in a relationship? No. If not, are you happy being single? Yeah, it’s for the best. Do you like to go fishing? No. Are you a fast runner? I used to be. I don’t have the energy or strength anymore for that.

Have you ever worked at a fast food place? Nope. What's on your mind right now? Now I’m thinking about food cause of some of the previous questions. Are you texting anyone as you're taking this survey? No. Have you ever had a nasty rumor spread about you? No. Have you ever sent someone sexual pictures of yourself? No. Do you like who you are on the inside or the outside more? Neither. :/ Are you good at drawing? No, I have no artistic abilities. Do you know how to dance? Nope. What's your favorite reality TV show? Catfish, Teen Mom OG, Teen Mom 2, The Voice... Do you think Kim Kardashian deserves to be famous? I don’t care. Are you excited for Christmas this year? I’m always excited for Christmas. Do you celebrate Halloween? I mean, I put up some decor, watch scary movies, and partake in treats. I stopped dressing up and carving pumpkins a few years ago. Have you ever had a concussion? No. Do you pretend to be someone you're not? No. I certainly wouldn’t pretend to be... *gestures vaguely* this. Do you listen to heavy metal music? No. Were you sad when Michael Jackson died? I was just surprised. Do you have more upper or lower body strength? I barely have any strength anymore it feels like, but I used to have really great upper body strength. Have you ever been in a tanning bed? No, and never want to be. Do you like hot tubs? No. Do you know anyone who is battling cancer? No. Have you ever donated money to a charity? Yes. Do you get bored easily? More so nowadays. I didn’t used to. Have you ever peed your pants in public? Maybe as a little kid. Are you afraid of roller coasters? Yes, except for the Cars and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coasters at Disneyland. Are you good at doing tongue twisters? Not really. What was the last movie you've seen in theatres? Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Have you ever been to a drive-in movie? Yeah, a few times but it’s been a long time. I’ve been wanting to go to one, though. Are you good at doing fractions? Meh. I’m alright. Me and math don’t get along, but I could do some things somewhat. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas and Halloween. Do you prefer Apple or Android? Apple. Would you rather have a tablet or a computer? Computer. Do you like things that are touch screen? Yeah. What age did you have your first kiss at? 16. Do you regret losing your virginity to whoever you lost it to? I’m still a virgin. Do you have a good relationship with your mother? Yes. Do you like the color lime green? Sure. What are your plans for tomorrow? I don’t have any. Would you rather wear jeans or yoga pants? Yoga pants. Do you like your clothes to be baggy and comfortable or tight and revealing Baggy and comfy. Do you wish you could change something about your hair? Yeah, it’s really not a good look right now. I pretty much chopped it off a couple months ago for reasons and it’s in that awkward phase as it grows out. I want it to be longer and dyed red again because currently it’s all natural and I don’t like it. Have you ever gotten a makeover? Yeah. Do you get mad easily? No. but I get frustrated and irritable easily. Have you ever punched someone in the face? No. Do you think the minions from Despicable Me are cute? Ehh. Did you have a Gameboy as a child? I did. Would you rather have chocolate or gummy worms? Chocolate. I’m not a gummy fan. What are your favorite pizza toppings? Extra cheese, garlic, green onions, spinach, cilantro, crushed meatballs, and pesto. Have you ever auditioned for a talent competition? No. I don’t have any talent. Do you make good sandwiches? I think theyr’e better from a deli or when my mom makes them haha but sure. Would you rather get high or get drunk? High. Have you ever failed a drug test? Nope. Do you like the Silent Hill movies? I actually haven’t seen them. What is one thing you need to work on to make yourself a better person? I have a few things I need to work on.

[alduinsbanes]

20-25 for Severa !

got long so under the cut it goes. thank you, jake!! <3

20. If they came from their world to ours (if not already in our’s) how would they react? What would they do?

She would probably be horrified. She would not react well at all it would be such a huge jump between what she is used to and our world. She would probably panic and try and find a way back. Our world and Severa is a bad match.

21. What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves?

As far as personal issues Severa has had some issues with anxiety/depression since she was younger and it wasn’t helped but all the save the world stuff she was saddled with and a lot of the trauma she’s gone through, but she talks to Irene about it and after she defeats Alduin and a lot of that burden is lifted it gets better. As for pet peeves she cannot stand the sound of people eating this is made worse by the lycanthropy with the improved hearing and what not. It’s something she learns to live with. Her biggest pet peeve though is people interrupting her when she talks. This irritates her to no end. She doesn’t snap but she definitely makes a face. Some people get the message other don’t. The only ones who have any sort of free pass with interrupting her are her children because they’re, y’know, kids but she nips it in the bud real quick albeit gently.

22. What kind of student were they/would they be in high school?

She didn’t go to any sort of school house (though they had one in Chorrol) her mother opted to hire a tutor/teacher to teach them personally at home. That being said she was a good student and she enjoyed learning. Of course all schooling can get boring, but even then she still tried her best to pay attention. She did really well and was tutored up until she joined the Fighter’s Guild at 16.

23. What is a random fact about your OC?

She grew up on a small sort of ‘farm’ with a veterinarian (or the tes equivalent of one idk) for a father so she knows a fair bit about animals and loves working with them. She especially likes to work with dogs and horses. She adores cats too but couldn’t have any til she was an adult and living away from home because her father is allergic. That little tidbit didn’t try and stop her from sneaking one into the house as a kid though. Didn’t go over well with her mother.

24. What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living?

Overall it’s positive. It was a little grim for a while she didn’t think she’d survive the battle with Alduin (she almost didn’t!) so it was bleak for her for a year or two. It gets better though. Her philosophy nowadays is to take things one day at a time and not worry so much about what the future holds since it’s something that can’t always be controlled.

25. What inspired you to create them / how did you create them? Were they originally a fancharacter? What was their personality / design like when you first made them?

I think I made her when I was 14ish(?) and I saw other people with tes ocs on tumblr and was like huh! fun! so I made her. She was very different back then very edgy as one would expect from a 14 year old and she had a different name. She has gone through two previous name changes actually Severa is the third and final name I landed on. She’s always been with Aela tho! She’s always been a fan character though. She has changed a whole lot though and for the better she’s a better more positive character now and a lot funner to work with.

[sylveondreams]

hello gael @punkwildebeest tagged me in this so here we are thanks ig

1. Why did you chose your url

my name is sylveon so that part is pretty self-explanatory, and the dreams part is both for the fact that i dream a lot of pretty fuckin weird shit and the fact that i just dissociate like. constantly. so i live in dreams

2. Any sideblogs?

*checks* i have like 5 saved urls, an old rp blog that’s just an archive nowadays, and a secret one. also my nsfw blog which i keep forgetting abt because it’s a different account oops

3. How long have you been on Tumblr?

i believe i made my blog in 2014 but i didn’t use it as my primary social media till 2016. so 6 1/2 or 5 years.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

#you’re queuet

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

idk man that’s in the Not Remembering time

6. Why did you chose your icon/pfp?

i like him <3  (also i had a picture of myself before and i wanted to stop and this picture had a similar color scheme and i am allergic to change so this worked out)

7. Why did you choose your header?

i wanted to have a *~theme~* with my colors so i found a picture i’d taken out my window and now it looks nice :)

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

apparently this one (frank “problems georg” iero)(which i forgot about) is, followed by the two that i knew about, which are the recent “mcr fandom is dying reblog if you’re a true frank iero objectifier” one and a post from 2015 about future diary which i was into at the time

9. How many mutuals do you have?

i have no earthly idea

10. How many followers do you have?

guess <3

11. How many people do you follow?

1,213, which is less than i used to follow! i went on an unfollowing spree a while back of inactive blogs

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

ive been here forever so probably?? what r we counting as a shitpost

13. How often do you use tumblr a day?

it really varies

14. Have you ever had an argument/fight with another blog?

not really no, ive had a couple people send me mean anons but usually it was bc of me defending someone else or because (one specific person) they just hate me

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

i will not reblog them. i hate them.

16. Do you like tag games?

i like to answer questions but i hate tagging people so. not really

17. Do you like ask games?

yes but no one ever sends me asks (for them or in general) so i dont reblog them

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

mack is, much to his displeasure, and i think sev is? i have a lot of mutuals who are bigger blogs than me

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

my mutuals are too strong to be crushed 

20. Tags

i refuse to tag people this bloodline ends with me