#so posts like these are the easiest way for me to interact with the community :~3 I always love reading what ppl have to say under my posts

[objektum]

OBJECTUM PEOPLE. How did you figure out you're objectum. GO

[icemankazansky]

A Simple Guide to Not Being Afraid to Write Comments to Fic You Read

I've seen a lot of posts about the current state of fanfiction comments. Writers, especially writers who have been in fandom for a decade or more, are frustrated by the lack of comments, and have noticed a definite decline in comments (and all other forms of reader interaction) in the past ten years or so. Many readers feel daunted by the expectation of leaving comments, afraid they'll do something wrong. As a fandom old maid, the latter confused me for a while, until I realized that most of the people who feel that way probably have not been taught this form of communication.

But your loving fandom elders are here for you. Come along as your auntie tumblr user icemankazansky makes this shit easy.

The easiest way to think of fanfiction comment etiquette is to compare it to something you likely already know: Gift Receiving Etiquette.

Fanfiction began as largely a gift economy. And a lot of it still is! You'll see authors participate in exchanges like Yuletide and Id Pro Quo; those are ficswaps in which authors write for a specific person to specific prompts. And even outside that, fanfiction is not written for money; authors write and post it simply for the joy of creation and community with fellow fans. Fic is posted free for anyone to enjoy. Is that not a gift?

So. When you as a reader finish the chapter or story you're reading and you are faced with the comment box, try to follow the same etiquette you would when receiving a gift. (And even if you didn't love this gift and it's not your favorite gift ever, we already know that it's more useful than the products from your cousin's MLM that they're passing off as gifts, because you read the story. At the very least, it entertained you for the time you took to read it.)

The big rule of gift receiving etiquette is not to insult the person who gave you the gift, either directly or indirectly. That's it. Full stop.

I've been seeing a lot of comments lately that are just along the lines of, "Thank you for writing this story and sharing it with us." A+, top of the class, full marks, you're doing amazing. If you don't feel comfortable commenting on the story itself, that is perfect feedback. And that's the most basic way you respond to a gift, yes? Thank you for the gift. Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for sharing.

Does this rule mean that you cannot say anything at all that might be negative about anything? No, absolutely not. What you want to avoid is saying something that is, at its core, a negative evaluation of the author or their work. Let's do some examples.

Character A's obliviousness about Character B's MASSIVE crush on them made me so frustrated! I was tearing my hair out internally screaming, "JUST LET HIM LOVE YOU."

✔️ Excellent comment! You're allowed to have all sorts of feelings about things that happen in the story, and in fact authors LOVE to hear about any emotions they made you feel. Yes, frustration is not a positive emotion, but the thing you are expressing frustration about is not the author themselves or their shortcomings.

Contrast that to:

I was really frustrated that it took you so long to post this chapter. The cliffhanger at the end of the previous chapter had me tearing my hair out, and then you just left us hanging FOREVER!

❌ Nope! Here what you are expressing is frustration with the author and how fast they come out with new chapters. Imagine your sister buys you a gift for your birthday, but she isn't able to give it to you until the next week, and you respond with: "What took you so long?" I think Emily Post would frown on that.

Reframing

The way you say something and the point of view from which you give feedback can have a HUGE impact on the message you're sending. Let's take the last comment (the one about wanting an update) and see what happens when we reframe the same sentiment as a positive:

I was SO EXCITED to see that you updated this story! I have really been looking forward to seeing what happened after the cliffhanger in the last chapter.

✔️ Now it's not an insult. The author will be happy to know that you are happy to see new work from them.

This idea extends beyond the story itself: to the fandom, the characters, the pairing, the tropes, etc. Let's do some examples.

I looooove reading about these sexy boys SO IN LOVE even though the movie you're writing about is SOOOOO problematic.

❌ Nope! Assume that the author enjoys the canon, characters, pairing, etc. in the stories they write. This comment is insulting to the author because it basically says, "That thing you love is not great, and you should probably feel bad for liking it." Imagine your aunt gifts you a sweater from a popular retailer, and you respond with, "This is so cute, I love it! It's a shame that it was made in a sweatshop." Do you have a valid point about the canon or the retailer's business practices? You very well might. Is this the proper time and place to talk about it? Absolutely not.

Let's do a reframing exercise. You should be very careful about how you approach commenting negatively on anything in the story that appears in the tags list, but you can make it a compliment and good feedback if you have the right perspective. See the difference with these two approaches:

I kind of think frottage is disgusting, but I liked it in this story.

❌ Nope! You just told the author you think their kink is disgusting. That's like telling your poor aunt who is just trying to keep you warm this winter that she has awful taste in knitwear. Try again.

Frottage normally isn't my kink, but I love your other stories with this pairing, so I decided to give it a try, and I'm SOOOOO GLAD that I did! This story was 🔥🔥🔥

✔️ "This normally isn't my thing, but you made me expand my horizons!" Authors love to hear that. That's like telling your aunt, "I never thought this color looked good on me, but I look so cute in this sweater! I'm so glad you helped me step outside my comfort zone, because I'm the better for it."

thank u, next

The last thing I want to address is this new trend I've seen in commenting lately: placing an order. If your mom surprises you with new headphones, you don't respond with, "I wanted the white ones 🙁," or, "You should get me a new phone, too." It's easy to see why that isn't appropriate in a gifting situation, and it's also not appropriate when commenting on fanfiction.

Let's do some examples:

This fic was soooo cute, but it would have been a million times better if Character A had been with Character C instead of Character B.

❌ There are a few things going on here. Number one, you're telling your mom you wanted the white headphones, not the ones she actually bought you. You're also disparaging the A/B pairing that the author chose to write about, and as we discussed, we can assume that the author wrote the pairing because they liked it. Even if it's not their favorite and/or they also write A/C, they made a choice for this story to be A/B, and the comments section of a fic is not the place to question choices the author made in their own work.

You should write a story where Character Z who is not even in this story does [thing that is vaguely referenced in the B plot].

❌ "You should get me a new phone, too."

I want a sequel. 😞

❌ "Thank you, next!"

You can reframe this kind of sentiment if you are careful about it, and it's not all you say.

I really loved this story. I would be so interested to see these ideas explored further if you ever decide to write more in this universe.

✔️ Not "gimme." Not "more." This is, "If you build it, I will come." It is a HUGE difference.

You already know how to do this. You know how to graciously accept a gift; just use that same etiquette, and boom! Now you know how to fearlessly write a comment to fic you read. You're doing amazing. Go forth and comment.

[croppedandchopped]

I detransitioned so men would like me and why it was the worst decision I made

If you recognise my blog it's because you're part of the forcemasc community. I used to post here a lot and would interact with a lot of transmasc content. I identified and was transmasc and had been for years. And then I went to university. I had already started dressing more fem and going by any pronouns because I looked prettier and got more attention like that. People liked me when I was attractive, when I dressed hot and wore makeup and of course I liked when people liked me, especially guys, and since the only guys that likes me were straight guys I tried to be more fem. I identified as genderfluid (this is absolutely no hate to genderfluid people I love you guys) as a way of passing more as a girl. I grew out my hair, started shaving my legs again and even got dating apps. I started seeing a guy, a guy who saw me as only a girl, he liked me for my boobs and my thighs and how I was a hot 'goth gf'. I thought I liked it but I just liked the attention and love I got from it. But it has made me feel like absolute shit. I feel like I'm faking it, I wake up and I pretend I am a girl and I'm not, I've gone back on years of social transition for people to like me and it's been the worst decision I've made. I'm too girly for gay men and too boyish for straight guys so I did the easiest thing I could and detransitioned.

Im giving up on guys liking me, I like men but if gay or bisexual guys can't like me for the trans guy I am I will still be fine. I need to be the person I am and not the person other people want me to be.

I am a man, I go by he/him pronouns and I'm sick of hetronormative and cisnormative bullshit.

Expect more posts because forcemasc has brought me back to life in the best way possible ❤️❤️

[bobbyfloyd]

what a year it's been! sappy rant under the cut

i'll be completely honest, it wasn't the easiest. i started off the year coming to the realization that the job i had been dreaming about for the better part of a decade was actually not what i wanted, and after experiencing two years of being horrifically miserable, i finally made the decision to walk away from that job, and every single day i am grateful that i did. best decision i ever made.

i experienced a lot of loss this year. my stubborn, sweet, insufferable, lovable little beast, dash, had to be put down in the summer. he was very elderly, so it was his time, but it was hard to say goodbye to the little pup. he was part of my life for fifteen years. a few months after that, my precious grandmother fell ill, and after two months of me, my mom, and my aunts all taking care of her, she passed away. she was the most wonderful person i’ve ever known, which is not an exaggeration. i miss her every day, but i know she’s no longer suffering, and that’s what brings me comfort.

i experienced a lot of firsts this year as well. in the summer, i went on my first solo vacation. it was such a healing experience and i’m so glad i did it. it was the perfect way to come back to myself after a very traumatic few years. i also went to my first concert, which may not seem like a big deal but i was raised in a very fundamentalist, christian environment and was not allowed to do many things. going to concerts was one of those things. this year was really the first year i spread my wings and came into my own, and part of that was booking tickets to see atta boy live. through that, i got to meet sweet lewis, and i am so incredibly thankful for that opportunity. i wouldn’t trade it for the world. i also got to meet some of the tumblr girlies, which was a plus! love y’all!

i am so glad to have found this little community. it is filled with some of the kindest people i know. thank you all for engaging with my writing, allowing me to befriend you, letting me bounce ideas back and forth, sending me encouraging messages, so on and so forth. i’m eager to see what 2025 will bring, for this little community, and for mr. magoo himself! sending so much love to all of you. i hope each of you have a fantastic year filled with so much joy and good fortune. may all your wishes come true.

love,

leah

tagging some beloved mutuals, just to say i love y’all 💖

@peachystenbrough thanks for putting up with all my ramblings in the dms

@withahappyrefrain i love bouncing thoughts back and forth with you! you just get it

@delopsia meeting you was such a pleasure! so glad we got to hang out and meet our favorite lil guy together

@likearolloftape you are such a delight to talk to! i’m so glad we’ve gotten to interact a lot more these last few weeks

@sebsxphia any interaction i have with you is always such a treasure

@fragilefearnie you are so sweet and hilarious, i loved hearing your story about meeting lew 🤭

@fairyheart you are always so supportive and i enjoy interacting with you! your tags are always so relatable too, hehe

@versipellesh thank you for always liking my posts and showing your support! it means more to me than you know

@floydsmuse you are so sweet and i love seeing you on my dash. what a joy it is to share this space with you!

i could mention so many more of you, but tumblr will slap me with a tag limit. so, to the rest of you, happy new year! i hope it’s a good one.

[spacelazarwolf]

y’all i found it, i found the post that originated the claim that i’m a ZionistTM and it’s even more ridiculous than i expected.

—————————————

—————————

this is, of course, the same person who labeled me a MisogynistTM for making a half baked joke reblog basically saying “jewish standards of masculinity are different than white western standards of masculinity” then cited orthodox judaism, a community i’m not a part of, as why Actually The Jewish Community Is Horrifically Misogynistic And Bad (as if i haven’t faced misogyny from jewish cis men before???????)

anyway, my post in this screenshot didn’t once mention israel. it didn’t mention zionism. it was talking about antisemitism. i turned off reblogs because people were making it about zionism and israel, which was derailing my original point. i set a specific boundary and people kept crossing it, so i turned reblogs off and blocked people who wouldn’t leave it alone. absolutely nothing about that could possibly indicate that i’m a zionist unless you think that diaspora jews setting boundaries about being forced into a conversation about israel, especially one where we are essentially being blamed for the antisemitism we face because of the government of a country we don’t even live in and have no control over (there’s a phrase that, it’s called dual loyalty and it’s been getting jews killed for decades) or if you think simply talking about the history of antisemitism and current rising levels of antisemitism is somehow “zionist propaganda” in which case you might want to get your head out of your ass and question why you’re agreeing with literal nazis. also bonus points for this person literally just blatantly blaming jews in the tags for the rise in antisemitism because we’re apparently not being antizionist enough to deserve basic human decency and safety! not even trying to hide it anymore huh!

and of course it worked like a charm bc now, months later, you have people saying this:

“the jew is trying to disguise himself as one of you to trick you!!!!!! he is actually evil and trying to manipulate you to further his evil (((zionist))) plans!!!!!!!!!! beware!!!!!!!!!!!” which is literally just repackaged antisemitic tropes that are centuries old. i’ve never interacted with the person in this screenshot in my entire life, and yet they seem to think they have insider knowledge into my Evil Zionist Plans to infiltrate the community and spread Zionist Propaganda because they interacted with one gentile witch that threw a hissy fit about being told not to be antisemitic in discourse about gentiles appropriating lillith. this gentile decided that every single jew who disagreed with them was a zionist, and when i told them it was antisemitic as fuck to call any jew they disagree with a zionist they went on about me being a “raging zionist” and “faking being queer” for DAYS. so it’s not a mystery where the person in this screenshot got the “ooh scary (((zionist))) pretending to be queer and trans to spread his evil (((zionist))) propaganda” rhetoric from. it’s word-for-word from the gentile witch who was pissed about fucking LILLITH DISCOURSE.

bc the thing is, these ppl don’t actually care if i’m a zionist. if they did, they would be engaging with what i’ve said (which is practically nothing because i knew the second the word israel touched my blog that this would happen — which is why i didn’t want people going on and on about israel on a post about antisemitism). they know that labeling a jew a zionist is an immediate death sentence in progressive circles. they know it’s the easiest way to discredit a jew you don’t like. because it doesn’t matter how many times you say “no, i’m not” you will be forever tainted in the eyes of gentiles by that accusation. that’s why they made the accusation in the first place. and so i will continue to not share any of my thoughts or opinions other than “i’m pro palestinian liberation” and “i’m not a zionist” and people will ignore that to play yet another game of Zionist Telephone to target a jew they don’t like. it’s not the first time it’s happened, to me or in general, and it won’t be the last time. i just hope people seeing this and reading this will help people understand how fucked up and antisemitic it is.

so yeah. if you see accusations floating around that i’m a zionist, this is where it came from. a situation that is textbook dual loyalty, being punished for setting boundaries on my own blog, and people who hate trans men jumping at the chance to demonize one with one of the easiest tricks in the book as soon as they see he’s also jewish. the fact i keep having to address this when the origin of the rumor is literally just antisemitism should heavily inform how seriously you take random claims online that a jew is a zionist. most of the time it’s just blatant antisemitism, and very often it’s a way to silence an unrelated conversation that person was trying to have.

[snowglobe-system]

Hi! Feel no pressure to answer, but I have a few questions (regarding DID)

So I'm aware of what an endo system is, but I'm a bit confused on why it would be considered valid since the condition is directly caused by trauma, which is the thing that endos lack. Could you please explain your perspective on it? And maybe your perspective before you became pro-endo?

Hey! I've been sitting on this ask for a few days now. I do want to start out by thanking you for reaching out to me and asking about my perspective. Please note that you are not obligated to agree with me, or to change your mind just from my answer to your questions. I like having you as a mutual, and I will continue to do so regardless of your syscourse stance.

I'm going to grab a term that some of my mutuals in the DID community have used, and say I'm really more pro syscourse conversation than I am pro endo- pro endo is just the easiest way to communicate my basic stances.

I think the most important thing to understand here is that a lot of the time, the "are endos real" debate suffers from both sides fundamentally misunderstanding what the other's stance actually is. While there is a small subsection of the endo community claiming that DID isn't trauma based- which I vehemently disagree with, DID is absolutely trauma based, and that's backed by all of the research- that's not the majority.

Most endogenic systems are not claiming to have DID. They are claiming to experience themselves as more than one. I am by no means an expert on this, but I know that it is a very western-centric view to assume that everyone subscribes to being one singular self. If you want to learn more about non-western views on the self and on plurality, I would recommend looking at @system-of-a-feather's blog. They make great posts on the subject!

And- here's a real kicker- not everyone with a CDD- CDD standing for complex dissociative disorders and including the likes of DID, OSDD, P-DID, UDD, etc- actually identifies as plural. Not everyone with even DID identifies as plural. So if someone with a CDD can identify as one, what's stopping someone who doesn't have a CDD from identifying as more than one? This post puts it pretty well, so I'm just going to link it here! And if you're looking for scientific backing on endo systems? Dr Colin Ross, one of the very well known DID researchers, believes in non-traumagenic self states.

Basically, I'm choosing to believe people when they talk about their subjective personal experiences.

Now you did also ask about my anti-endo days and I will also gladly talk about those. I will admit, I was the worst kind of anti-endo. I was the type of person who would throw even other CDD systems under the bus as fakers because I wanted to seem more legitimate. Everyone who didn't present the "right" way was a faker. And endos, my goodness. They were the worst fakers of them all.

It was an extremely reactive position to take. I was suffering from my plurality, therefore everyone who wasn't had to be faking. They were making a mockery out of me! At least, that's how I perceived it.

And then I started interacting with endos, and pro endos. I realized that they were also real people, not just an abstract concept to make fun of to make myself look more legitimate. And I started reading blogs that had the rawest, realest content about CDDs that I'd come across thus far... and they were pro endo. And the arguments as to why were really good.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that the things that were leading me to being anti endo were the same things that made me into a transmed when in the 2010s. I believed that people had to meet a minimum quota of suffering to be real. In a way, I was defining people by it. And ultimately, if they are lying? It costs me nothing to believe them. I'd rather believe some liars than not believe people who are telling the truth. I've had enough experience with people not believing me. It sucks. I didn't want to keep doing that to others.

That's about the end of this yap session! Seriously, thanks again for asking, I really enjoyed writing this post. I hope I answered in a way that makes sense to you!

[pkmnirl]

An invaluable thing to learn when running a roleplay blog on Tumblr is to understand what type of blog you want to run and what you want to do when there aren't interactions. There's this misunderstanding in communities like this that you always subsist entirely off interactions from other bloggers. While there's nothing wrong with seeking out interactions, there will inevitably be times where interactions are harder to come by. Focusing solely on getting interactions regardless of the type, this obsessive focus on attention in any form, is the easiest way to burn out.

There have been some rumors going around that asks are getting capped at a lower number. People are understandably concerned that their blogs are going to go radio silent, and many struggle to gain traction in the first place. There's been more posts circulating saying things like "reblog if you want an ask from me!" or "reblog this and reply to three people in the notes!" and while these can be helpful they still can only do so much if you are feeling burnt out or discouraged.

So if you find yourself dissatisfied with your experience, ask yourself a few questions. Are you still having fun writing this character even if you are not getting attention? Are you more focused on numbers than on enjoying writing/creating? If you feel like the only thing on your mind is getting people's attention and you aren't having fun, a break might help to relieve some of these anxieties. There's no harm in logging off for a little while, though I know it can be hard to hear. It's important you take time for yourself and not rely solely on the validation of others.

Now when it comes to a progressive mindset when writing and gaining traction the questions are a bit different. What would your character post about when people aren't necessarily watching? How would your character describe themself to a stranger? What are some aspects of your character that you want people to pay attention to? To some extent you must promote what you are doing for people to be interested. When you reblog posts to find blogs to interact with, give in the notes a short description of your character and what they do.

For example, when I created my first blog and was reblogging posts asking for interactions I added in the tags, IC of course, "I'm a sneasel researcher working to reintroduce the Hisuian variant to the wild!" It's brief and it gives people a little bit to go off of when scrolling through a massive list of blogs that all reblogged that post. More structured roleplay communities have dossiers with basic information about their characters to help people get an idea of what to talk about. Generally, the more easily obtained information people have, the easier time they have formulating messages to you. Remember that your pinned post is going to be the number one thing people read when clicking onto your blog. Put information there that will help you find the sorts of people you want interacting with you.

And don't forget reblog karma! Sending interactions with your name attached can help you spark further conversation!

[mod-coffee-is-here]

This is a weird question, but do you have advice on starting an ask blog for a character? Like how to get noticed and how to interact with other ask blogs? Is there specific etiquette? (Besides obviously not being a jerk) Asking you because of your great Narinder ask blog.

not weird at all, don't worry! i'm always happy to help however i can

also i might not be the best person to talk about this, the narinder askblog is only my third askblog, im still fairly new on this scene

MAKING A NEW BLOG

well, starting the blog is the easiest part, right? gather a few pictures that you like and personalize the way you like it best, the way that you think that fits the character!

for the intro post (and i really reccomend you having one, because not only it helps with making your blog look better and more organized, but also gives character and sets your boundaries), theres a few things that you can keep in mind

something that settles a personality for your character right at the top (could be a phrase, something they canonically said, maybe a picture? you name it!)

an about me section (what is the purpose of this blog? is it a roleplay blog, an askblog exclusively? who is this character? who are YOU?)

if your character is surrounded by sensitive topics or if you think that your blog could be surrounded by sensitive themes (gore, sexual themes, suicide themes, any phobias, etc.) it's good to have a few warnings in mind and put those on there for people to be aware

other than this, have fun personalizing it, maybe add a few extras, maybe songs, pictures, blinkies, anything! (i'll leave some useful resources at the bottom of this post *wink*)

now, of course, the hard part

INTERACTING AND PROPER ROLEPLAYING ETIQUETTE

this is something i personally love talking about because some younger/newbie roleplayers might not know, but there is in fact a roleplaying etiquette, but we're focusing on askblogs here, let's stay in our path and we'll get there eventually

i think my most asked question when it comes to this is how to be noticed by your community and how to interact with another bloggers

of course, the main part of being noticed is interacting! you have to understand that you can't build a flock out of just one bird, i know that this can be hard but shoot the bloggers you like an ask! send them dms, reblog posts, send asks, this is tumblr! our main feature IS sending asks!! this isnt twitter guys, come on, reblogging and sending asks is what makes we different than other social medias

if you're nervous about sending people an ask right away, you can send them a dm first, asking them if they are open to asks with other roleplayers, if theyre avaliable, theres no shame in this and i pinkie promise you that no one will hate you for this, no one is going to be mad at you

just remember, keep it respectful, keep your cool and dont push any boundaries

speaking of boundaries, we have to talk about

ROLEPLAYING ETIQUETTE

above all and everything that i say here, the MOST important part of roleplaying etiquette is that you HAVE to COMMUNICATE with your roleplaying partner

talk about your boundaries, what you do not enjoy doing in roleplay, the things you are open for, and listen to what they have to say too, this is not character AI where you can do anything for your own entertainment, we're dealing with people here, which is 100x more fun but also you gotta remember to keep it respectful

some basic grounds to stand on are:

Talk about your boundaries, and listen to your rp partner too (especially before doing anything that involves sensitive topics)

Talk about the theme of your roleplay, what you wish to do and what you want to avoid

Don't control someone else's characters for the sake of your lore (again, talk about it beforehand so you can know what works for both of you)

If we're talking about roleplay blogs, don't do anything major before talking to the parties that are involved and the parts that will be affected

Respect the other party's decision, as much as you want to be respected

Overall? Communicate and don't be a jerk

i think that summs it all up pretty well, but overall, if you guys have any questions i am more than glad to help!!

(psst, there's some resources under the cut! have fun!!)

How to make gradient text here

For blinkies and dividers!

More blinkies (and make your own blinkies easily)

HUGE pinterest folder full of graphic resources, dividers, icons, etc

Helpful unicode symbols for copypaste

Emojipedia, since sometimes emojis don't work well on tumblr

I'll update here once I find more, if anyone wants, I can make a full post only talking about resources for askblogs! (and you might as well want to talk to more experienced bloggers about this too! take care, have fun, bye!)

[lavendermoonlitskies]

Good Omens fanfic group (“book club”) interest check!

Hi everyone!

So it’s been a very long time since I’ve updated anyone on this idea (which @thinkinginscripts came up with originally), but among things I’ve tried and failed at in terms of starting this up, I think what I’ve settled on is the best way to go about it for now (but ofc that can always change later on if we find a better method). Tumblr has a “communities” feature that’s basically just another dashboard but specifically for the topic at hand that only those added can see (sort of like a Facebook Group).

I’ve had a lot going on in my life that makes it hard for me to handle too much responsibility and I don’t want to pressure anyone to help me organize/moderate this, so the whole discord thing is out for now just because it seems a little too complicated to organize discussion via video calls on a regular basis. In the meantime, I thought that since there seemed to be a lot of interest in this idea it might be easiest to use Tumblr Communities, so here’s my idea with that:

I had already started a spreadsheet of fics that could be discussed, so what I’m thinking is I could make a post for each week or every other or something like that (maybe even just once a month, the idea is just a semi-regular basis with enough time to actually read these works), with the fanfic to discuss and then in the comment section of that post you guys could interact with each other to talk about it. In addition to that, maybe I could also post some polls so we as a group can kind of decide which ones we want to discuss for next time. I do have this spreadsheet but it’s not very long so I’d also love to know when you guys have fics in mind that you want to talk about!

I took note of some of the people who commented on that one post about this from a couple months ago, so I’m just gonna tag some of you here so you can see this post. Absolutely no pressure to respond in any way so please feel free to ignore if you’re no longer interested, it’s totally fine either way! I just wanted to let y’all know where I’m at with this: @itchiefeet @knifeforkspooncup @alwaysbemybae @nakathemoth @sixshotsinatumbllr @aceintrovert @bakingcat @unreliably-informed

And if anyone else seeing this is interested feel free to lmk ☺️

[bebsi-cola]

sorry if this is the wrong place to ask. i just saw on your post you're physically disabled so i figured you may be in the cpunk community.

do you think ibs counts as a disability? like what's the difference between chronic pain and disability and chronic illness? is having chronic pain automatically mean you're physically disabled?

don't feel bad if you don't wanna respond i will probably ask someone else too after a day or two because i can't find very good things online

hmm ... well a chronic illness is definitionally an illness that happens long term or comes back. like chronic vasculitis is having illness periods of vasculitis, which is an inflammation of the blood vessels. my da has this. my sister also has a chronic illness in the form of chron's disease. actually we usually misuse the term chronic illness online often, like when we want to talk about conditions like fibromyalgia (i have this). because fibro is not actually a disease that lasts long or recurs. it describes a condition that's constant but not in like. idk active disease mode ygm. a chronic illness would be for things considered diseases like COPD.

for chronic pain (and chronic illness too tbh) it's medically labelled chronic as opposed to being considered acute. which is like immediate. it either lasts for a significant amount of time (in the matter of months and/or years depending on who you talk to) or is an illness that's recurring over a similarly long period of time. chronic pain is just pain that isn't acute.

a disability is different from the other two in that the focus point is actually how affected you are, like how much it impacts and impairs you. so chronic illnesses and conditions that significantly impair normal activities of daily living are usually considered disabilities.

this is why it is sometimes less useful to ask "is this condition a disability" when the direct answer would be "well does it disable you?" my sister when not in flare goes through life largely ableds without significant affects from chron's on her ability to do daily tasks or essential tasks of living. when she is in a flare it can be really bad and impact a lot. she's chronically ill, but whether or not she's disabled kinda depends on just how much she is impacted and how often. and also how she feels, and somewhat if she interacts with the world and society as a disabled person. this can put chronic illness in a bit of a grey zone but like the easiest way to manage this is just believe when people say they're disabled. instead of arguing about like if a specific condition is a disability or not, just accept that they are being disabled by it and they acknowledge that and they told you. imo

so does chronic pain or chronic illness automatically make you disabled? some would say yes. some will say that it depends on if it impairs you. like quite literally how it disables you and stops you from doing certain activities. some people say it might but that "disabled" is a category of person that goes through life in a radically different way than abled people, including abled people with health conditions. that to be disabled is to take on that social categorisation. personally i think the easiest one to decide is to just ask yourself, hey does this disable/impair me? if it does but you can get away with being considered abled or the impairment is there but not super severe you can decide to call yourself disabled or not as you see fit. this is a somewhat contentious topic. there are some people who, like my da and my sister have conditions that are chronic and arguably impair them in various ways. i have asked them and other friends with health conditions and they said they don't consider themselves disabled because they largely don't experience life as a disabled person. for them it impacts them but they personally don't consider it significant enough. this is their choice. if my sister was like actually yeah i am disabled. i can't do all these things because of this illness i would be like yeah true. like either way i'm not gonna argue with her because like she's not wrong.

so tdlr. i think if something impairs you in a significant enough way to impact how you live on a day to day or week to week basis then you can call it a disability by definition. you can end it here btw. just go yes i am disabled. or no i'm not but i have a chronic condition.

the second part is whether you want to call yourself disabled, and that's a philosophical debate about the socially stigmatized category of person that is "disabled" and how you navigate an abled society. this doesn't have a clear answer because you can argue a lot of different ways but at the end of the day you can decide that one for yourself

thanks for coming to my lecture, the seminar will be on monday. please finish the required readings beforehand.

[lesamis]

just wanted to say i saw your tags on that fic sharing post and have been experiencing something similar. i remember following your fics a while ago before i left tumblr and 1) still remember your fics as being the best in the fandom and 2) had hoped that you had enough of a following that you wouldn’t be as affected by the comment drought and awful fandom etiquette that has been steadily getting worse but i guess it really is happening to everyone now :/ idk if we’re still in the same fandoms but just wanted to let you know i still remember your writing and know it deserves better from your audience. i’m happy at least that you’re still writing but god it really sucks to be taken for granted by fandom these days

i hope you don't mind me responding publicly here because i do think this is an issue that resonates with a lot of people! pretty much every fic writer i talk to who's been active for a longer while seems to have noticed a shift in culture.

all told i think i've been one of the luckier ones because when a fic is popular, i do still get comments (mind it has to be popular first!). what's totally changed for me is that comments - which, as you said, absolutely have become rarer for everyone - are the only type of interaction that comes from fics. i don't mean to sound like i require Friendship Sacrifices in order to keep writing. but it used to be totally normal to message writers with questions, follow them on tumblr, tag them in things, make rec lists, and so on. it made you feel like a person rather than a content machine. and it was great for me because i'm pretty shy, and putting fic out there like friendship bait felt like the easiest way to make fandom friends. i'm not saying that kind of thing is not happening at all anymore, there's just less of it, and you have to get super popular in a fandom (or be super extroverted) in order to get there.

i think a lot of this is because there's less public exchange in general. fandom has become very closed, branching off into friend groups and servers almost immediately whenever a new one pops up. this also makes fandoms die quicker, because there's less discussion, creation, and exchange happening publicly where people can see it and be drawn in by it. i don't mean to sound entitled, like you said, i'm still writing without that sense of community! it just makes me sad not to have it anymore.

[mosquitobible]

To everyone who has been commenting on my posts and giving me advice, as well as everyone who has taken the time to read, comment, and kudos the first chapter of my fic!

I have only just started this fic but I have had a lot of fun so far and I'm excited to keep writing and see where it takes me as well as continuing to learn and grow in my skills!

I'm also excited to continue to try and be active on this account and within this community even though I don't have the easiest time putting myself out there but Cyberpunk has genuinely changed my life in sooooo many ways I never would have imagined when I first bought it on a whim literally just cause of my lifelong crush on Keanu Reeves but I literally couldn't imagine what my life would be like without having played this game. So to everyone who has interacted with my page or my fic so far, thank youuu and I hope to maybe be brave enough to keep putting myself out there and talk with you all!

[mindfangfun]

Okay, I know this is like kind of an awkward ask but do have any advice when interacting with the homestuck community?

I've been reading this comic on and off for months now and I haven't really interacted much with people that much.

Or if you can't help with that just tell me some neet facts. I'm about 7500 pages in right now.

:>

HELLOOO !!! i love questions like this it isn't awkward at all, my main advice ( but not only advice ) is just to try to be open minded when it comes to the homestuck fandom!

the fandom is really fun and enjoyable as long as you keep a open mind to other fans opinions / theories and ships its really fun to see everyone's favorite characters, acts and whatnot! there's such a cool variety of fans from all over the world and imo what makes this fandom so great is other opinions that fans have that may be different than yours!

another great way to start interacting with the homestuck fandom is just engage in conversations about it online! like asking / telling favorites characters always works well . If your more artistic  another GREAT way to interact and contribute is making fanart , edits , cosplays and what not!

social media platforms I recommend for meeting other homestuck fans that are pretty nice and interactive is twitter or of course tiktok ( although i find twitter to be the easiest one for me )

a good way to get reach on twitter to find like minded fans is adding hashtag #homestuck to your posts or simply just following some homestuck fans until some follow you back!

that's all i hope that was somewhat helpful , i know these seem pretty simple but that's really all it takes :).

A little Homestuck fun fact for you is that most of the homestuck characters ( specifically the trolls ) were named by fans as the comic was organically coming out ! 

────────────────────────

reblogs & questions appreciated !

[fullmoonsonata]

It is sometime in the 2060's, the world is as peaceful as humans and Cryptosapians- formally known as "monsters", "magical beings" or various other terms to those speaking English- have settled into living in society together with equity. Any mythical or supernatural creature we can think of exists and is apart of our world. Yet that still doesn't stop disasters from happening, of man-made, magic, or natural cause, putting lives at risk. And that's where International Rescue comes in: International Rescue is an organization spearheaded by the Tracy Family - a family of cryptosapians of all stripes. Though they're a varied and skilled bunch; their special powers isn't what makes International Rescue special. That honor goes to their incredible machines they operate - the Thunderbirds.

___________________________________________ There here we have Virgil, who is hoping this blog with go under the radar and not get much attention. But will this really go the way he wanted?

(More in-depth information about lore, blog rules and rp under the cut)

// Hi! I am the mun of this blog, @xsilverberryx, you can call me Silver (He/they). I'm tying to work on being more active on here and ironically somehow making an ask blog is the easiest way for me to not be shy and throw myself out there! So meet my Monster au! This thing has been cooking almost since the show came out (god i can't believe it's been almost 10 years-) and now I'm ready to share it with every one! Rules/Guides:

Although Mun and Muse are 18+, please keep things PG. NSFW Topics aren't ones I want to be touching on with this blog.

My Timezone is currently NZDT/UTC +13 and although I can be quite stupid with my sleeping schedule, I still have a job, so I might be active and post at weird times.

The main part of this blog will be done like one of those classic, drawn-response Ask blogs, but this isn't my first rodeo when it comes to Tumblr RP, so I can easily flex into formats that are easier for such.

In both RP and in general, especially since I'm an AU Blog, communication is key and if you have any issues, such as with an RP response, please let me know so that we can sort things out!

// I also wont make you guys have to figure of what the rest of IR looks like/what monsters they are by random chance they show up in an ask, so here they are;

// From Left to Right: Scott (Harpy), Virgil (Were-Wolf), Kayo (Shadow-person), John (Shapeshifter), Gordon ("Sea-mutt"/ Kraken-Mermaid-Seaman Hybrid), Alan (???), Penelope (Were-Cat/Dragon Hybrid), Parker (Were-Cat), Grandma Tracy (???). Brains is not listed here because he is human. // Any more information about this au is to be found out through interacting with the blog and will have the tag #cryptosapian lore for ease of access. I put a lot of effort into world building, speculative biology and other lore into this au so I hope you have a great time uncovering it!

// Also thank you to my friend Jay, @realrocketboy, for helping me write this post :D This would have taken wayyyy to long without her help and encouragement.

[jungkoode]

maybe a bit off topic but ! i just want to add on to what too said earlier — because i thought the same thing !! the fact that you are making it an across all platforms goal is genuinely so comforting. bc it means that if one site struggles with the goal we can always reach the other one!!! and i totally think your works need a thousand notes more to be honest. you just don’t see this kind of depth and plot intricacy and thought out characters in fandom or fanfiction. 💕

YES, EXACTLY!!! This was never about entitlement or pettiness or me suddenly declaring myself some kind of fanfiction dictator like nooooo 😭😭 My goal here is literally just to work with my ADHD, not against it. I know my dopamine hits are low right now, so I need to boost them in a way that still keeps me centered in writing.

And the easiest way to achieve that? Engagement. Notes, comments, interaction—it’s just a self-regulation system to keep my brain interested and motivated.

As long as my brain sees happy numbers, I’m gonna be happy. Which is why I don’t care if the goal is reached on Tumblr but not on Wattpad, or on Wattpad but not on Tumblr.

At the end of the day, engagement = ADHD brain is happy, therefore writing machine keeps running. You feel me???

And I know I sound like a parrot at this point, but I promise I’m keeping this fair and realistic based on what we already achieve! I just need a tiny bit more to keep the dopamine cycle fresh and motivating. For example, KGP 8 was posted three days ago and it’s at around 85 notes—so my update goal for KGP 9 (for me to release KGP 10) will be 100 notes. That’s easily achievable within a week!! And obviously, I gain new followers every day, so the targets will slowly and sporadically increase to match that. But I am not going from 100 to 300 overnight—please put down the pitchforks omg 😭😭

It’s just a constant adapting system because the more people join, the easier it will be to hit the goal at the same number—so I’ll have to adjust accordingly! And listen, if you all lose your minds and get a chapter to 100 notes in 15 minutes, I will actually cry because I physically cannot produce a chapter within minutes no matter how much I wish I could 😭 But that would just be a sign that I need to slightly increase the goal for the next update—nothing drastic!!

Again, I’ll always be thinking in a week’s timeframe, not anything extreme.

Especially for non pre-written chapters—because even if you guys somehow get FMU 14 to a thousand notes overnight, I cannot materialize the next chapter the next day. I wish I could but unfortunately, I am 100% human 😭😭 So don’t worry—this is gonna be a trial-and-error system for both you and me. We’ll learn together, we’ll adjust together, and as always, there will be open communication!!!

This is still a mutual appreciation space, and I will keep engaging as much as I can—replying to comments, DMs, asks, running polls, drawings, extras, all the interactive stuff I love doing.

Because I don’t just want to drop stories and disappear—I want to build a community, a space that feels comforting and exciting for everyone here.

And looking at what we’ve already built??? It’s working. This blog is so special to me, and I just want to keep that feeling alive.

Thank you all for being here—you make this space what it is. ♡( ◡‿◡ )

[bitegore]

39. Your OC discovers that they have a fan club - or at least a following of devoted admirers. <- for HAVENNN please :3

oh GOD. MOST insufferable character to give a fanclub for real.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me that a lot of these are situation/timeline-dependent beyond the most immediate situation-in-post situation... there are a number of factors that matter here.

If this is before Taran and Erica finally kill his boss, he's delighted but it's tempered by the fact that he's pretty sure that now that he knows about them, he has to either kill them all, erase their memories, or like recruit and keep a leash on them. Which is kind of a bummer but FIRST he has a FAN CLUB and they KNOW WHO HE IS and they LIKE him.

Admittedly, though, at that point it's probably almost like a slenderman type fan club who keep hearing about him dressing like (quoting a friend of mine) "a sleep paralysis demon" and doing psychological-horror shit to random people for his own amusement. So they might not even need that much cleaning up after, if he can just go in and be like "it's fiction, i'm fictional". Depends.

No matter what, he's going to go infiltrate because he knows about them so he can't really do anyone any good by not knowing more, and he's undoubtedly fucking hugely curious. Furthermore he is just kind of an insufferable fucking person. Goal 1: find out what they actually think of me ^-^ Goal 2: sleep with every single person in this club speedrun 100%

If he gets annoyed with them he will just kill everyone there though. Easiest way to tie up loose ends.

Anyway if this is after when people broadly know who he is (idiot) he can't do all that and he also doesn't have to do all that either. They can know who he is but he also absolutely cannot get away wtih killing all of them and not, like, violating his house arrest and going back to regular prison. Which is suboptimal but at the same time like he doesn't really want to do that anyway.

More problematically for himself, he also doesn't get to show up and throw his weight around and have his legions of admirers fling themselves on his dick because suddenly all his dirty laundry has been aired and at least half these people just think he's exciting and interesting but don't actually want to interact with him at all. He'd have like a Ted Bundy Flower Crowns Tumblr Community type group. Also i don't think he respects them. And i think he hates how they talk about him. Which means he actually does want to kill them some.

This means that I think at the very end of the discovering-they-exist period Taran buys like an A4 poster of someone's fanart of Haven covered in blood with sparkles and flower crowns around that looks like a completely different person and gets his hair texture completely wrong. And then Haven emails a nastygram to the artist that includes reference photos, so they can get him right next time. And the artist posts one of said references that includes a blurry out of focus image of the poster on the wall behind him. And War Criminal Fandom Twitter explodes for about three weeks straight over it.