#still have my lurk account but that one is just to browse art and see which artists have moved to bsky

[mavilez]

officially deactivated my art twitter 👋

[mapplesand]

my ocs digital footprint is probably hell on earth so let's dive into that for fun lol

they're all pretty active on various social media (instagram, tik tok, twitter, tumblr, reddit ect)

Marco

most of the time it's instagram because everyone in their grade follow each others and Marco is an avid stalkers (mostly to girls)

his first account was banned and he keeps getting suspended or restricted on the one he's using since middle school, he mainly post memes or pictures where you barely see him (like guns he stole to his father and you just see his camo pants and combat boots so you know it's him), the memes are just well, edgy boy humor filled with the dumb horny posting about anime girls

don't go through who he follows, it's a mix of girls from his middle school, girls he knows are in his grade and popular model/onlyfan models (and there's also memes account and shit like that)

his twitter is a lot like that but he's just rambling about dumb shit and tweets about whatever he thinks is pissing him off at the moment, then there's the heavy rt of anime girls, his likes are even worse he's probably happy that no one can see them anymore and he probably likes even more fucked up shit there

Tristan is the only one who replies to what he posts and they often bicker about the dumb shit the other put in their timeline

then there's reddit, because of course Marco is a redditor, that's where he get his memes from, he's not really active per say but sometimes he complains about stuff

here's a list of the subreddit he follows and yes I did browse through reddit for 2 hours mindlessly to find all of them because i have too much free time

then he has tumblr because Tristan uses it and he wanted to test it for himself (he thinks tumblr is the gay equivalent of twitter) he probably just post on tcc even if Tristan tells him not to do that or he'll get banned but he thinks it's funny so he does it anyway

and finally again because of Tristan, he uses AO3 and read fucked up shit on there, probably stuff tagged with "dead dove, no not eat" you probably don't wanna know what he's up to

Tristan

he's less active and more of a lurker, on instagram at least, he's only there to follow artists and probably only post pictures of nature or dumb things like rocks or graffitis on walls idk

only rt drawings on twitter and replies to Marco to complain about the porn he sees on his tl because of him, thing is twitter is also his hideout for following more furry artist and well nsfw artists so Marco is gonna make fun of him for that lol

definitely more active on tumblr tho, he just reblogs a lot of stuff but still gains a pretty average following, he reblogs fanarts and stuff he thinks is funny or relatable, he sometimes lurks on the "evil side" of tumblr as he calls it because of morbid curiosity but stops when it feels too depressing

and then he's a big fanfic reader so of course AO3 is on his top 3 website that he uses a lot, he's embarrassed to admit that he read a lot of smut in there and will never let see anyone his bookmarks

he's just pretty normal with his relationship to social media honestly

Josh

he's just a normal guy who uses instagram and tik tok, he probably has snapchat, whatsapp and you know, stuff that normal people uses

he doesn't have any quirks he post on his stories about parties he's in and that's basically it

Tyler

doesn't post much apart from his drawings on instagram, he follows everyone because David just shows up in his dms and is like "hi tyler if you need to find anyone i follow everyone so i can give you anyone's contact if you need it for group projects !" (David is self proclaimed class representative) so Tyler just wanders on people's profile and well, it's a pretty bad look but he doesnt stalk people on purpose

he probably doesn't do anything on social media, you probably wouldn't know it's him if you dont know him

I do think he has reddit but again it's only about informational stuff (psychology and bombs mainly) or art

when he starts talking to Tristan i'm sure he's gonna both make a tumblr account AND an AO3 account, he knows about it because of Carmen but they probably both push him towards the fandom side of the internet even if he doesnt understand anything

[justamessedupdisneyprincess]

Ok so, I need to reflect for a bit. This is like a vent sort of thing.

So Onward isn’t my only hyper fixation where I create content for, there is another that I have put to the side for quite some time. A part of me is scared to create and post for it again though because there is a connection between it and the fandom that nearly destroyed me, to put it simply let’s say they had similar genres, so a lot of the fans liked both of these things and I was one of them.

So as I browse my other hyper fixation which wasn’t killed off by endless harassment, I may see stuff from the evil fandom saying “related posts” or “you might like”. Haven’t seen anything malicious yet. But I want to stay as far from that evil fandom as humanly possible. It’s why I put my other hyper fixation aside, that and I wanted time to focus on Onward.

But here’s the thing…have any of you ever loved something so much? To the point you talk about it constantly and make a self insert and wish to be close friends with fictional characters…only for it to turn into pure and utter hatred and those familiar characters you see are suddenly enemies? Like the sight of it makes me sick now, hence why I had to get rid of my thousands of dollars worth of merch for it. Yeah. It was that bad.

Now I will just mention I will be mentioning things like s*icide attempts, self harm, ab*se and death thr*ats.

While I hate it now and it makes me sick, at times I may capture a glimpse of it and also feel a strange sense of empowerment. Most of the time I don’t, more often than not all these traumatic memories rush back and I start to question if I deserve to die painfully and rot in hell like they ALL say. But on rare occasions I feel that familiar sense of disgust and that sickening feeling in my stomach but then a question pops in my head.

“How the F*CK did I survive that?!”

I came so close. I tried to take my life on multiple occasions ALL because of THAT fandom. I used to cut myself at least once a week. Hell, the harassment got so bad to the point people openly mocked me and called me names in a discord server I was in and I had a huge meltdown to the point I posted footage of me hurting myself and screaming “YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANT!”. I had been in an incredibly toxic and abusive relationship where I was mind controlled and abused emotionally in ways I will not get into as I fear of them still lurking out there somewhere and coming for me if I utter a word about it. The falling out was violent as well and they did disgusting things to get revenge on me for leaving. Something I could never forgive them for. I had people who wanted to be my friend before suddenly blocking me, I would ask why and they suddenly say they don’t want to be friends anymore. Some said I deserve all the hate I get. Literally hundreds if not thousands told me to hurt myself and even kill myself. I would literally approach someone and if I so much as breathe wrong I get harassed with incredibly violent behaviour. I would fight SO f*cking hard for my rights to be myself because those freaks are SO obsessed with EVERYONE being exactly the same as the other! If you had a different opinion you were considered the devil.

6 years of that. I fought for so long because I did have like ten people who seemed to like my art for it. But in comparison to half of them being fake friends who used me for free art and roleplay and the thousands of monsters out there who harass me nonstop! Making hate accounts focused only on me, stealing my art and posting it on sites saying “This is so cringe, I hope the artist dies.” I block and block but more of those f*cking parasites come! They are EVERYWHERE!

As I lament about it I also think…”How the f*ck did I survive that?” The fact I’m alive now is just baffling to me. I went through the soul shattering emotional equivalent of having all of my organs ripped out by demons who wear the false masks of friends. How did I somehow manage to get up and survive that?

It wasn’t like I could walk away. I was broken. It was actually the Onward fandom that really helped back when it was more active (and before 2022). People generally cared for me and helped me. My family helped me. My bunny Luna helped me. They were my hospital while I recover from the intense trauma. Ironically, 2020 was the best year of my life so far.

But the scars will always be there for as long as I live. At least I can say this.

“I lived, bitches.”

[maddiviner]

Could studyblogging jumpstart your personal grimoire?

A witch should be a lifelong learner. To practice effective magic, you must grow in new directions at a constant pace. A witch should approach magic with a sense of devotion to their own growth.

I’ve practiced magic and divination for two decades now. The most solid advice I can give? Start journaling. Start keeping a notebook. Start studying.

Witches who keep a notebook record their research and ideas about the Craft. This helps them build a wide repository of knowledge, right there when they need it.

The format and content of my notebooks changed a lot over the years. But they all helped me become the witch I am today. I devoted the bulk of these notebooks to my journey in magic, techniques to try, and lessons learned.

There are few people who haven’t studied. In school, we pore over geometry and classic literature in hot pursuit of elusive high marks. We spent time learning about our interests. Whether that’s witchcraft, philosophy, or astronomy, notes are helpful.

Everyone learns in a different fashion. Still, studying and learning about the world remains with us from our first breath, to the last. My Craft took leaps forward when this dawned on me. I’d always enjoyed school. I realized that I could apply the same study techniques to witchcraft and the occult. 

What’s studyblogging?!

As a regular user of both Tumblr and Instagram, I soon came across the studyblogging trend. 

Caitlyn Tiffany of The Verge describes the studyblogging phenomenon as “a beautiful, stressful wonderland.” An apt description! But what is a studyblog? 

Studyblogging hashtags like #studyblr and #studygram  are popular (on Tumblr and Instagram, respectively).  

For someone just coming across the phenomenon, though? It can be difficult to penetrate this strange world. Expect calligraphic chaos, a plethora of highlighters, and fine-tuned aesthetics. 

Studyblogging focuses on the quest for knowledge. In practice, studyblogs share tips and handwritten notes on various subjects. Studybloggers encourage each other to be the best learners they can be. 

The photos of notes, assignments, and other tasks make up the bulk of the phenomenon. Studyblogs often feature photos of elaborate calligraphy and heavy illustration in note form.

Expect to see self-made diagrams of mitochondria. Essay outlines on postcolonial theory with nigh-perfect bubble lettering. Vast, illustrated mind-maps of Shakespearean themes. It's a big community, and there's room for a lot. Room for witches? I think so!

Studyblogging for Witches

In witchcraft, our grimoires function much like a non-magical student's study notes. The content, and some of the form, may differ, but the principles are the same.

The quest for an aesthetically-pleasing grimoire stymies many a beginner (and not-so-beginner) witch. The wise remind us that our grimoires needn’t be complex. Functionality is more important than aesthetics in most cases. 

That said, there is something worthwhile about keeping a grimoire that suits you. A  grimoire can speak to your soul, both by way of aesthetic appeal and your own abilities. For some of us, this might mean a lavishly-illustrated tome. Others might find minimalist styles more resonating. It varies.

The truth is that yes, your grimoire needn’t look a certain way or be perfect. Still, a level of aesthetic appeal can help with information retention. It can also boost your magical productivity. Humans respond in an intuitive fashion to that which they consider beautiful.

Aesthetics can help to put you into a liminal state. Liminality can be a powerful tool in self-improvement. This, in turn, is useful not only for normal studying, but also for the Craft itself. 

If you see art as part of your life path, you might find that approaching your grimoire as a work of art helpful. Part of this means realizing that it won’t be perfect, but also always striving to learn and grow.

Studyblogging, as a community, showcases a lot of excellent notebook and journal-keeping techniques. Studybloggers often provide tutorials and guides to effective learning methods. 

This is, of course, all while celebrating the joy of learning itself. Traditional studying methods can apply to magical topics. I have found that the techniques of the studyblogger can help with keeping a useful grimoire.

Ask your intuition if studyblogging is right for you!

Will studyblogging help you? For some students, lurking or keeping a studyblog inspires and motivates them. It also increases accountability. By posting their goals and progress, studybloggers have an impetus to progress. 

In a way, it’s a bit like livestreaming a video game - it makes the experience more challenging, and also more exciting. The difference, of course, is that, in this case, your game is learning!

And the notes? Many find the calligraphy, fancy scripts, and illustration soothing. It can be a way of making otherwise impenetrable subjects more captivating.

Without a doubt, aesthetic presentation improves information retention for some people. Humans have a positive response to beautiful imagery. 

Some folks find the gorgeous landscape of studygram and studyblr overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. Gorgeous calligraphy notes, after all, aren't easy for most people. 

For some, posting about your studies on a blog might only increase worry. We're all different, and studyblog techniques are hardly universal in form.

You should use your intuition to decide whether to dip into this community. Ask yourself whether an audience will help your quest for deeper knowledge. 

Will you feel empowered, or nervous about it? If you struggle with comparing yourself to others, you might find studyblogging discouraging. 

I myself am somewhat of a perfectionist. For me, though, the artistic aspects of note taking and information illustration soothe me. Studyblogging suits me, but will it help you?

You should tailor your learning experience to your own strengths. If that means studyblogging won’t help you, be honest with yourself and don’t chase the anxiety of it all. Find another method of learning. 

Browse some existing studyblogs - I recommend EmmaStudies and StudyQuill. Ask yourself how it makes you feel. Do the images and writing seems inspirational? 

Would you enjoy sharing your work with the world? Studyblogging might become an ally on your magical path!

Taking the Plunge

So, how do you start a studyblog? How do you get involved in the community?

The most popular studyblogging platforms are Instagram and Tumblr. Instagram lends itself to posting tons of pictures and very short-form posts. Tumblr favors longer prose. 

When I started studyblogging, I created both a studyblr and a studygram. I recommend starting a new account on the site of your preference for studyblogging.  

Follow some existing studybloggers as a way of introducing yourself to the community! Also, follow the hashtags #studyblr and #studygram, to start.

What to study?

Studyblogging features students focused on all kinds of topics. I’ve been studyblogging for over a year. In case you’re wondering, it's rare for someone to complain about my witchy take on studyblogging. 

You’ll find the studyblogging community very welcoming in most cases. But what will you study? I always recommend witches focus on only one or two things they’d most like to learn at a time.

Studyblogging lends itself well to in-depth topical research. This can mean learning the signs and language of astrology or the basics of gemstone magic.

Topics like shadow work or personal Tarot readings might be a bit too personal to blog about. Those might be better suited to normal, private journaling rather than a blog. My own studyblogging tends to focus on my writing preparation, astrology, and Tarot. 

Though I’ve been reading for over twenty years, there is always something new to learn about Tarot. Astrology, like Tarot, is a lifelong discipline. Though I’ve only recently made my first steps into it, there is much to learn. My writing, especially the book I’m working on, has its own notebook.

Possible topics include, but are in no way limited to:

Crystals and gemstones

Astrology

Spellcraft

Mythology and legends

Magical history

Energy work techniques

Seasonal and Lunar cycles

Herbology

Tarot, Lenormand, or oracle deck divination!

It is important to choose topics that interest you in a personal way. At the same time, try not to get distracted. Witchcraft includes many paths of study. Try not to jump from topic to topic - finish what you start!

Supplies

If you’re in school, you may already have a lot of the tools necessary for studying. If not, you can get them for an affordable price in most cases.

Paper matters!  You'll want a notebook or loose leaf binder paper. For hardbound notebooks, you can’t go wrong with a Leuchtturm 1917.  That popular notebook boasts dot grid paper, includes page numbers and a place for an index. 

Seeking something more aesthetic? Check out the Paperblanks series from Peter Pauper Press. You might also like the notebooks you can order from Citrus Bookbindery. For me, a binder (I use A5 size) works best, because I can add and remove pages as necessary. 

You can find some great guides out there about organizing grimoires. Much of that advice applies here. Your notebooks will soon fill the role of a grimoire.  They will contain your notes, research, and more.

It is usually best to have one notebook (or binder) for each subject you’re studying. As you move forward, you’ll have a collection of grimoire notebooks on different topics.

You’ll also need pens or pencils. Really, you only need one. If you feel like getting fancy, you can get multicolored fineliners. I prefer Sakura Micron pens. They use waterproof micropigments that don't bleed when you highlight over your writing.

Highlighters are fun! These add color to your notes and help emphasize the important things. If you want nice highlighters, I recommend Mildliners. Any highlighters will do, though - choose colors that appeal to you. I recommend several different colors, because that allows you to color-code your notes.

Plan!

Plan out, at least in a rough fashion, how you’d like to organize your  notes. This can be rather freeform, or complex, depending on your preference. 

When I began my astrology journey, I knew what sections I would include in my stars grimoire. I also created a rough map of the path I’d take in my research. 

I began with the simple Zodiac signs. I then moved forward through the planets, houses, aspects and transits. My organization, loose though it was, benefited from my use of a binder which allowed me to add and remove pages. 

No matter the notebook, it is important to have, somewhere, a rough idea of where you’re going.

You will also find it important to set attainable, realistic, and measurable goals. For me, this was things like memorizing the astrological house system. I set the goal of reading my astrology textbooks completely and summarizing them. This kind of goal leads to personal accountability.

I also created a set of astrological flashcards for my Tarot-related work. It can be motivational to post your goals on your studyblog in some form. Then, you can provide your followers with regular updates on your progress.

Start posting!

Once you feel ready, go ahead and introduce yourself to the studyblogging community! An introductory post, explaining who you are, your goals, and methods, will help others get to know you. 

I recommend tagging your posts with studyblogging hashtags (mentioned above). Also include some witchcraft-related tags! This will help you connect with other witches who might be helpful on your journey.

Don’t be shy when it comes to posting photographs (taken with a phone or other camera) of your notes! You might not feel that your notes are as neat or pretty as other bloggers. Regardless, they’re unique and might resonate with others!

If you’re taking notes about a very personal topic, like shadow work, you might want to forgo the pictures. Some bloggers obfuscate or blur potentially sensitive parts of their notes. You’ll likely find nothing but encouragement for sharing your research topics, though!

Some studybloggers will also photograph their study space. Some of us even use photos of fun things like their breakfast or pets to illustrate their updates. If pictures don’t suit you, post regular bits about your life and your progress towards your goals. 

Get to know other bloggers! This is important, whether they’re witches or from the studyblogging community. Both can be helpful! 

Watch or read some of the tutorials you’ll find in the studyblogging community. These focus on things like calligraphy, organization, and memory techniques. 

While your notes needn’t have fancy headings, calligraphy can be fun to learn. I don’t currently use calligraphy in my notes, but am learning it on the side, so to speak. 

I find it relaxing, and you might enjoy it too. If not, don't feel bad - not everyone uses fancy handwriting, and that's okay!

Moving Forward

If, after a few weeks, you find yourself really vibing with studyblogging, stick with it! Most witches would agree that there’s no real wrong way to be a witch. To me, though, there are wrong (and right) ways for you yourself to learn and grow in your craft. 

You need to find what works for you, what adheres to your soul and keeps you connected. If studyblogging ends up helping you, and I hope it will, keep going! 

After a while you might find yourself ready to move onto another topic. We all end up “graduating” forward onto other subjects. You’ll quickly find that your grimoires will be an invaluable record. 

They will contain not just your gathered information, but also your intuition, insight, and more. Cherish your notebooks - they will come to reflect your essence!

[kaishun]

Fanexus - Upcoming Fandom-focused Platform

Hey y’all, Kaishun here, who hasn’t spoken in 85 years but still vaguely lurks around in the corners of your peripherals. As you guys probably know, with the tumblr ban on NSFW (both for things that actually were NSFW and vaguely fleshy colored), a lot of big folks in the fandom left for twitter. Well, twitter sucks, as it’s impossible to finding anything. Nobody tags stuff, because there’s not enough space to do so, and harassment’s pretty bad (both due to lack of tagging and due to tagging).

Fanexus is a platform wanting to change that! It’s kinda’ve the love child between tumblr and livejournal, and with the beta coming up soon, they’re trying to drum up some hype. I’m hype, so, I’m gonna go over some of my fav official features so far:

Proship / Anti-Harassment / Anti-Censorship

Useful Tagging System ( #Saix = #Saïx )

3 Accounts in 1 (1 login for 3 different blogs)

Details on^ below the cut. Here’s a pretty picture from their blog @fanexus-dot-net​ to show its progress:

Proship, Harassment, and Censorship (Don’t Like/Don’t Read)

A lot of platforms and people are aggressively censoring fictional content they don’t like. Whether that be two characters lewding in general, those character being in an abusive relationships, noncon, age gaps, underaged, incest, etc.-- a lot of people get harassed for drawing that kind of stuff. But, y’know-- it’s fictional. No different from the whole “video games cause violence” scare from moms in the 90s. But the harassment from people has gotten really bad, especially on twitter.

Fanexus allows whatever you want to draw/write/etc., as long as it is of fictional characters--with a great tagging system to support it. If you don’t like something... you block the tag! Bam, that simple. You shouldn’t see anymore.

For those of you who went to Pillowfort, and were displeased with the sudden rule change & bans regarding some content, Fanexus should have no such issue. They’re hosting in Denmark, where the country’s sex specialists determined that underaged content of fictional characters did not have a negative impact on actual children.

Useful Tagging System

idk about you, but I hate looking under the 10 different names for the same ship. Every other new artist seems to have another name for their fav pairing. Fanexus has a tagging system that support synonyms-- meaning “#XemSai”, “#Xemnas x Saix”, “#Xemnas/Saïx”, etc. will all show up under the same “#XemSai” search.

Its tagging is also hierarchical-- so if someone tags something with just “#XemSai”, it’ll show up under show up #Xemnas, #Saix, and #Kingdom Hearts. While this may come off as a bit scary at first (there’s such a “don’t put X in the main tag!” concern on tumblr), it normalizes letting your art/fics to be actually, like... seen. And if someone doesn’t like it #XemSai, they can just block the tag. This greatly decreases the chance of shy people with rarepairs just being lost to the abyss, never seen again. As someone who’s in some small fandoms, “forcing” everything to go into the series tag is a great feature to me.

It also lets people completely block series-- block the #Kingdom Hearts tag if you don’t want to see Melody of Memory spoilers. As long as they’ve tagged their posts with anything regarding the series, it’ll get caught up in that block filter, so you can safely play the game and still browse your feed.

Aliases (3 Accounts in 1)

With one account, you have three different “Alias” blogs. These generally function like completely different blogs (none of that sideblog shit); with their own posts, their own followers, their own following, and their own memberships to communities. You can switch between them with an easy click, instead of having to open a whole new browser or logout/login like on tumblr.

My plan is to have a SFW alias, a NSFW alias, and a RP alias. I can enjoy my SFW alias at work and on the go, as well as post some OCs to it; I can switch to my NSFW alias if I want to see some juicy smut on a lazy weekend; and to my RP alias to catch up on what’s been going on and write some replies.

Miscellaneous 

Communities: You ever think about making a blog exclusively for one character, but go “ugh sideblogs suck and I don’t want to do this by myself”? Well, Communities allow everyone who joins to share content to it, easily gathering art/fics from your favorite character or series in one place. It’s a great way to find people with similar interests, follow some new artists, etc. Roleplay-wise, theoretically great for “Worlds”; tossing an opener into the themed world and getting some replies.

Funding: They’re currently planning on no ads, and funding via premium features, such as buying extra aliases. There’ll be a Kickstarter later for server cost and additional features.

People/Fans: I’ve been on their discord for a few weeks, and holy shit, these are my people. I’ve never felt so comfortable just like... chatting about my interests with people. I’m not the #1 sinner in the server at all times, like I am everywhere else. Discussions I’ve normally seen blow up into huge raging disagreements kinda just simmer to slightly irritable but still civil conversations. It’s kinda bizarre to witness, like... mature people talking to mature people.

Minors: Minors will not be able to see posts marked as 18+, full stop. You can also mark your entire blog as 18+, but you’re not required to. Minors who lie about their age will have their accounts banned.

Interested?: Their beta is going to be starting sometime late this month. You can find more details on their tumblr blog ( https://fanexus-dot-net.tumblr.com/ ) or their twitter ( https://twitter.com/fanexus ). You can sign up for their forum/discord/beta over here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-Ll_vb1bukbnxHpaQcuxUikUu1NtqDk3-AsD4gZkjiY/viewform?edit_requested=true 

[the-nysh]

hello!! i kind of need an advice on something if you don’t mind, you can ignore this, by the way, i just felt like i needed to get this out of my chest. i ship bakudeku, and i have been on the bnha twitter for a while now, only because i don’t want to miss out on bakudeku content, but it’s getting really, /really/ tiring. especially, in the last few days, antis are getting incredibly disrespectful and going mad. no matter how much i try to curate my tl, i somehow end up seeing the most ridiculous opinions. it also feels like we’re getting outnumbered too, and it’s a silly thing, but it still makes me upset. i wanted to be on tumblr, so i don’t miss out on updates, but i’m not really used to it too. do you think tumblr is much more mature than twitter? if that’s the case, i’ll try to getting used to it somehow.

Hi there! (Also first up: has tumblr increased the character text limit for asks??? This is the first long one I’ve received that hasn’t been split into parts. :O)

Also, I do not have a twitter account, but I still lurk around and check in to see what’s up from several mutuals who’ve migrated over there since the purge. (And surprise surprise, people from that side also migrated over to twitter too, specifically to follow their targets to harass.) What’s since festered over there has become...quite ugly, yes. (Remember the old fandom rules: don’t feed the trolls.) Leaving it quite relatively chill here in comparison. Most who’re still here (esp the older crowd) just vibe in peace.

You might see a few stragglers desperate for attention by swerving into the main ship tags to spoil everyone else’s fun (or messaging some of the bigger blogs threatening to drop the series good riddance), but most are either straight up ignored, turned into schadenfreude cases for having been proved blatantly wrong (they never actually read the series, but fume anyway when the text goes against their projected expectations), or dogpiled by fans/readers who have absolutely no tolerance for bullshit anymore, splitting facts and the proper etiquette on how to navigate/behave around here. Whew, I’ve recently seen it all, but definitely not as bad as twitter (even the bnha subreddit is pretty reasonable for discussions in comparison too). But you can really tell who’s getting desperate and running out of any viable excuses anymore. (Running on fumes flickering like a dying candle before it finally snuffs out for good.) Most others who’re just seriously opinionated will keep to their own tags, and tumblr’s built-in filtering (I prefer xkit’s blacklist myself) keeps the dash and browsing the tags clean. (But if you still see the upsetting stragglers swerving outside their lanes, liberally block and ignore.)

So it’s really up to you on how comfortable you feel, and how you’d like to proceed and participate in fandom. :’) I personally dislike how ‘open’ twitter is (broadcasting all your likes/followers etc publically) while also not being friendly for archiving art or long text posts. So yes, I much prefer it here!     

[zel-cs]

@k-9-dog-cs made an ask list so here we gooooo 1.) How did you find ChickenSmoothie? A moderator on the German version of Howrse had a little green caterpillar pet on their profile page. I thought it looked cute and went to the website to find out what it would look like grown up. 2.) What was your first pet you’ve adopted? Since it was the butterfly wolves that brought me there, my first pet was also a bwolf. Here she is! 3.) What was your first pound catch? A queen of hearts card dog. I no longer own it, but it randomly ended up on a friend’s account so that’s cute, too. 4.) What is your current best pound catch? I grabbed a Spotted Tribal this year! 5.) What’s your favorite species? Chickens! The hens with the fluffy tail are the best. 6.) What’s your current favorite pet you own? This deer is my favourite pet on the site. 7.) If you could get a new animal species to adopt on ChickenSmoothie, what would it be? Consider: Tortoises 8.) What is your current dreamie(s)? Maybe a Dark Pink Shima bwolf? I also want to try getting a Cinnabun at some point, but I’ve been too lazy so far. 9.) Do you have any achieved dreamies? If so, which one? My dreamies were the black UR Cat, Noncoon, and GWJ. I own all of them~ 10.) What was your first list pet? I joined before the List even existed, but the second pet I ever adopted was a Nonballoon, so I guess that counts. 11.) What was your first UR? Oh man I can’t remember for sure if I got the UR Bwolf or the UR Cat first. I think it was the bwolf, because I remember trading the Moonswirl I got from the 2009 re-release for it. 12.) What was your first store pet? I think the red and yellow Androids. Not sure about it, though. 13.) Out of all the seasonal events, which one is your current favorite and look forward to every year? Advent Calendar! My birthday is in December, I always get excited to see what we get on that day. Or about picking up a new gift every day in general. 14.) Which past summer event is your favorite? The 2013 Slumber Party. I adored the story and the aesthetics. The whole Dreams vs. Nightmares thing was very cool. I also have fond memories of the discussion on the forums. We had a lot of fun with our speculations and stories. 15.) What is your favorite item(s)? Either the Oarfish from the Lost City event, or the yellow Plasma Scythe from the store, probably. 16.) What’s your current favorite dress-up? Hm. I’m not very invested in dressing up my pets for the most part, so I don’t have many. Maybe this one? It’s just a pet dressed as one of my OCs. 17.) What’s the most funniest dress-up you’ve done? I’m such a boring person, I can’t even remember ever attempting to make a funny dress-up. 18.) What’s your best memory of ChickenSmoothie so far? This one is always difficult for me to answer. There’s a lot of moments to choose from! I already used the 2013 summer event as my answer for the summer event question, so here’s two others: I remember that back in 2010-12 I was very invested in my hoards, often spending all day trying to get more pets. It was a lot of fun to compete for the (then more active) hoard records thread, especially! I met a lot of really cool people among other hoarders; it was perhaps the most social I’ve ever been on CS and it felt great to make friends. Becoming a GH in 2015 was awesome, too. Doubly so because I applied together with my friend Irisidium/aaron, and we both got picked. I think my heart stopped for a moment when I saw the message from Tess, ahah. 19.) What’s your most funniest ChickenSmoothie memory so far? April Fool’s is a blast every year, but the first ‘event’ for it in 2010 was beautiful. Nick pretended to have taken over the site; it looked like our adopts were Nick pets only, and some people got legitimately worried that Tess wouldn’t be coming back. “ Hi there everybody!!! It's Nick here I have so many fans in the "I <3 Nick" club that I decided that I don't need Tess any more. I can just draw all of the art myself! I hope you like April's pets!!” 20.) What’s one positive thing  ChickenSmoothie taught you? It’s going to be a testament to how bad I was at this IRL, but I’m pretty sure CS improved my social skills. I feel like the site encouraged me to be more outgoing, generous and considerate. I was a rather abrasive and blunt person as a teenager. Not saying CS did the job alone, but it definitely contributed. 21.) If you could be a mod, which job would you want? (General helpers, admin assistants, etc.) I was made a General Helper in 2015, and since then haven’t felt like I’d want any other position. I think it’s the best match for me! If I had to choose something else, I guess I’d like it as an Archivist. But Solloby does a fine job at that, no need for a replacement :D 22.) If you could add a whole new feature or even improve a feature on ChickenSmoothie, what would it be? I wish we had a spoiler function on the forums, mainly to make image-heavy threads easier to browse. It would be lovely if all those lists of pet images could be hidden until opened. I can see how it would tempt people to post more rule-breaking content, though... 23.) What is your favorite 2nd Gen pairing? These two were a match made in heaven. 24.) What 2nd gen pairings would you like to see in the future? This dog and either this or this one. Cyborgs, please. 25.) If you could make any new UR, what would it be? I remember talking to friends about this a while ago, and coming to the conclusion that we need more foods like the cinnabun. Coffee, maybe. I’ll take one UR coffee, please. 26.) Who are your friends and buddies on CS? I would have to name so many people, because there’s just so many lovely users I’ve met over the years. Based on which ones I talk to the most, it’d be Thalassic, Raire, aaron and torpor, as well as the GH team (including former GHs like Swiftalu, Aquila, Nadine, Simon and Seasonal). I’m active on a CS discord chat, too, so I talk a lot to the regulars there. There are more people who I consider friends, but trying to make a full list would make me scared to leave someone out :( 27.) If you roleplay, what’s your favorite roleplay you’re currently in on CS? 28.) If you roleplay, who’s your roleplay buddies? 29.) How many forum posts have you made so far? 23,568 30.) Which forum section on CS you like/lurk the most? CS Discussion, by far! I also like reading the introductions board. 31.) If you draw, what’s your favorite Oekaki board(s) you post your art on? 32.) If you draw, have you ever gotten featured? If yes, what got featured? If not, what one would you prefer to get featured? 33.) If you could add a new tool/feature or improve a feature/tool in Chicken paint, what would it be? 34.) If you draw, do you use a tablet or mouse or both? 35.) If applicable, what’s your favorite usermade adaptables? 36.) What usermade adaptables you own/made/mod/an artist of? If none, which one would you like to be an artist/mod of? 37.) What forums do you run/mod? Unsure if that means boards or threads; I’d assume threads? I technically ‘own’ the religion thread on the 18+ board, but I wasn’t the one to create the original, and there’s nothing for me to ‘mod’ because generally, if something happens on there, the actual mods need to get involved. I used to briefly be a mod for Adopt a Newbie some years ago, but school got in the way as I was about to graduate. As a GH, I don’t mod anything, but we are expected to keep an eye on the Help and Intro boards. 38.) What’s your favorite stamps? I’m happy that we have the pronoun stamps! Other than that, I like the bird lover stamp :) 39.) What’s your CS username? ZΕL I used to go by Amazilion before that. To this day I sometimes come across people who didn’t realize that’s me and thought I left the site, whoops. 40.) If applicable, what’s your favorite gift you’ve given/received? I have a friend who currently has the username lkjhgfdsamnbvcxz, but used to be known as Discord for the longest time. They haven’t been active for years, and last contacted me in 2014, but when they were still active they loved to help me with my hoards. Once they entered an art contest and won a Vixen Advent for me. Another time they became the first person to hit the limit on buying a token pet (that wasn’t meant to be hit) because they got me so many vixen bunnies. I am forever thankful to them for how much effort they put into getting me gifts. They’re an absolute angel who I didn’t deserve. 41.) If applicable, what’s your favorite hoard you’ve completed? This one of the entire March 2015 moth bwolf litter. 42.) If applicable, what’s your current on going hoards? I have 16 incomplete and 11 endless hoards at the moment. That’s too many, so let’s stick to the endless ones. Lightning/Arrow owls, Blue Nebula dogs, Microbiology dogs, SoulWings Sundogs, Gummy ponies, Ozone deer, Hummingbird bwolves, Vixen Advents, Vixen bunnies, Vixen rats, and a Bakery themed hoard. Phew! Out of the still incomplete hoards, though, I am particularly proud of the Sushi PPS cats and Conure owls. 43.) What’s the most interesting pet ID you have? I own pets with my birthday and my boyfriend’s birthday as an ID, but I’m not going to point those out. I also have a dog with the ID 6666666. 44.) What’s your favorite April fool’s prank chicken smoothie did so far? Tied between the chicken uprising and Totoro’s takeover. Because birds. It was a lot of fun to bicker with Kyar on the ‘17 April Fool’s thread. He’s a traitor. 45.) Who would win: Avian or Totoro? I think Totoro answered that for us this year :’) Bird all the way! 46.) If you were able to get a custom pet, which oc of yours would it be based off of? If you don’t have an oc, what pet lines would you use? Hm, I don’t think I’d want to use one of my OCs. But I’d probably go for a black/gray/yellow colour scheme. Matches both my favourite character, and that fursona I had when I was a teen. And it’d have to be a chicken! 47.) What’s your oddest CS habit? No idea. I can’t think of anything particularly odd. Some people I talk to find it amusing that I will spend ages in the Pound waiting for a pet with a specific name to show up, though. The longest I’ve had to wait was an hour and a half, I think? 48.) What’s the oddest Ad that popped up on the site? I don’t pay attention to them tbh. They’re usually just for other pet sites or pet care products, anyway. 49.) What’s your ChickenSmoothie username? Last time I looked it was still ZΕL :P 50.) What species (that ChickenSmoothie has available) would you want to see more? It can even be PPS/EPPS lines too! I believe we all need more chickens in our lives. And those sheep bunnies, especially PPS ones.

[tehuti88-art]

Dumb Art

(NOTE: The “88″ in my username is in reference to the Egyptian god Thoth/Tehuti, whose sacred number was eight, who ruled over a group of eight gods called the Ogdoad, and who ruled from Khemennu, the City of the Eight. When I originally signed up at Yahoo! Mail in 2000, tehuti and tehuti_8 were already taken, so I became tehuti_88 and it’s stuck. Alas, the number has been co-opted by literal Nazis...and I happen to be researching my genealogy, which is largely German, and brainstorming a story about Nazis. So yeah, it looks suspicious, but it’s really not.)

Welcome to my dumb art blog. Once a day since September 2018 I submit an artwork to the SketchDaily subreddit in an effort to better learn digital art. I’ve improved somewhat, though I’m still not that great, so don’t expect excellence. Why dumb art? I’m not degrading it, I just recognize its many flaws and believe in being honest so I don’t get a big head and people don’t think I’m full of myself. (Weirdly, it’s the art I’m most proud of that usually gets the least notice.)

My primary focus in more recent months has been on portraits of my many fictional characters. Since late 2021, especially, I’ve been focusing on those from my “Trench Rats” storyline, which is an anthro story set in WWII Germany with all the unpleasant disclaimers that entails. Please NOTE! that I do not condone the actions of certain characters, and the story is not an attempt to glamorize or downplay such topics. (One of my bad guy character entries got a note that said simply, “hey. what the f**k is this” (uncensored), so I feel I need to include a disclaimer now.) I tend to go on at length in these entries regarding plot points that have come up since I’ve resurrected this old story, so these entries run long; I don’t use entry cuts or spoilers for disturbing content so if such things bother you, my blog might not be to your liking. Also note, however, that this blog will remain PG-13, I might mention unpleasant stuff but I will not go into detail. Ah, one more thing, the story is still VERY much in development, so details often contradict each other; the newer entry is always the more accurate one.

I’ve learned, unfortunately, that browsing my blog by archive isn’t possible anymore for nonmembers. :/ Short of creating a list of links, which would be very tedious considering my number of entries, all I can suggest is one sign up for an account here to freely see my work, or just lurk on my Toyhou.se if it’s the character art you’re into. Not a great move, Tumblr.

I’ve never been a popular Tumblr user or artist (I’ve been stuck at 20-odd followers for years, and most of them are inactive, a few I think added me in hopes I’d follow their comics or something), and have not had luck on other sites I’ve tried; I very rarely get likes, and almost never get reblogs. I guess I’m just not to most people’s liking. If you actually stop to look at something I’ve posted, well, I hope you enjoy it, though I’ll likely never know, unless somebody speaks up I just figure nobody is looking.

I’ve given up most social media. I’m on Universeodon, though the site seems to almost never work anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (EDIT, I'm now also tehutilordofthe8 on Threads, and tehuti88 on Bluesky.) I’m also on Toyhou.se, where I plan to eventually upload the detailed profiles of the characters I unload about here. I have a clunky NeoCities for my writing but I haven't updated in ages, I hope to sometime. I upload timelapse videos of my artwork, and a few personal videos, to YouTube. Aside from that my online presence is wide but mostly negligible, and I’m painfully shy (I suffer from the worst case of social anxiety disorder I know, and have had LOOOOOOTS of bad experiences with people), so despite my loneliness I’m very bad at sustaining conversations; I communicate best through my fictional worlds. They aren’t based on my own life whatsoever, but that doesn’t mean my personal experiences aren’t embedded in them all over the place in modified format. If you want to know more about me, look there.

Thanks for checking out my dumb art!

--T., September 2024