#tagging more characters to reach bigger audience

[s2w0a0g3]

I've seen that this is a real thing and I crave to know statics sooo

[weirdstuffinthewoods]

Jane Schoenbrun and the Screen Trilogy

Director Jane Schoenbrun’s “Screen Trilogy” seems set to define a period that feels deeply personal to those whose adolescence was shaped by the meteoric rise of the internet and the isolating comfort of technology.

Using a cohesive blend of glowing cool-toned hues, long, lingering shots, and scores and soundtracks that perfectly evoke teen ennui and lonely melancholy, Schoenbrun has used the allure of the screen to craft dreamlike meditations on identity, isolation, and transness that leave viewers feeling so seen.

A quick glance at the tumblr tag, letterboxd reviews, or TikTok videos shows one common thread: Thank you, Jane. And it's well-earned from the beginning. (More under the cut)

With the first installment of the Screen Trilogy, Schoenbrun tackles the questioning of identity through fears generated from unrestricted childhood internet access (something that usually gave the millennial generation something we can never unsee). we’re all going to the world’s fair follows Casey, a teen who partakes in the viral World’s Fair Challenge that leads to an ambiguous separation of self that leaves the audience questioning whether Casey was truly losing herself or merely participating in an elaborate, creepypasta-fueled MMORPG. When speaking about the film with The Hollywood Reporter, Schoenbrun says,

“It really resonated and reminded me of something I went looking for online in my own youth, which was an effort to remove myself from my body and my identity and exist in a space where I could express myself creatively, and perhaps even explore myself personally, outside of ‘the real world.’”

Casey mentions at one point that she can feel herself leaving her body, adding to the overarching theme of dysphoria.

This and many other vulnerable moments are shared through video which is really the only way the audience gets to know Casey, a key piece of information when JLB comes into play. Like us, JLB sees Casey expressing a number of concerning symptoms and thoughts. JLB reaches out to Casey, an adult man reaching out to “save” a teenager he knows nothing about. The adolescents of the internet age know this character all too well.

Between the unspoken disquiet of JLB’s “guardianship” and the time spent with Casey out in the barn in the middle of the night watching ASMR videos with her stuffed lemur, Poe, Schoenbrun’s work reaches out to the kids who, like them, found solace on the internet. We found a world that was bigger than our little towns, we found ways to self-soothe (visual stim videos come to mind as the new ASMR), and sometimes we found people like JLB (we basically made Chris Hansen the hero he is- we love Chris Hansen). For the first time, the isolated, sometimes trans or questioning, internet kid in us felt seen.

Schoenbrun slapped us with nostalgia again in 2024’s I Saw the TV Glow, a magenta-saturated amalgamation of teenage ennui and suburban melancholy that pushes through your ribcage, reaching for your heart without you even noticing until 2/3 of the way through, your frantically beating heart is ripped from your chest among screaming tv static and sparks, leaving you silent in the face of wails of unimaginable pain and need.

Soft-spoken 7th grader Owen meets 9th grader Maddy who’s reading the episode guide for The Pink Opaque- a Buffy-style 90s paranormal teen show Owen has only caught glimpses of, but that he’s totally fascinated with. The two watch an episode together, and as Maddy leaves Owen tape after tape to watch on his own, the pull of The Pink Opaque becomes impossible to ignore.

Schoenbrun is open about it- “I really did live and breathe Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I cared about Buffy more than I cared about my real life”. The same was true for a lot of us. Millennial kids weren’t quite the latchkey kids of the 80s but also weren’t yet the iPad kids of the late 00s. Parents were still learning how to parent and were either too controlling (like Owen’s parents) or too absent (like Maddy’s). Piggybacking on the theme of identity from world’s fair, the kids that didn’t see themselves reflected in popular media or the cliques at school would become masters of escapism, using books, movies, or TV shows like Buffy (it was Charmed for me) to create an inner world where they felt safe, wanted, seen.

Where world’s fair is about the loss and search for identity, I Saw the TV Glow tackles the question of “what next?” What do you do when you know time isn’t moving right, that life isn’t supposed to feel like this? When you learn exactly how to fix it but it sounds absolutely terrifying and insane?

Maddy has no hesitation. “I’m getting out of this town…I’ll die if I stay here. I don’t know how or when exactly, but I know it’s true.” Owen, like Isabel in The Pink Opaque, Maddy says, is afraid of what’s inside him. In Variety, Schoenbrun comments on their differences.

“What we experience through Maddy is this ultimate self-liberation: you have to destroy yourself totally in order to be reborn as who you really are. … Maddy knows that there’s somewhere where she can be full and it’s not worth staying in this place.”

The film encloses a number of deeply disturbing, viscerally upsetting scenes in monologues that connect the audience with feelings of dysphoria, of the disjointed way trans people experience time, and the fear of that time running out in conjunction with the fear of the future. Like world’s fair, the conclusion is ambiguous, but more hopeful in its way. It acknowledges the pain, the fear, the sheer exhaustion of transitioning, but proves it as a method of survival, and reassures the audience, “there is still time”, before leaving them with a cut to pink static where they can cry it out to some Frances Quinlan.

Not too much is known about their third installment, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, but Schoenbrun explains that it both pays homage to and critiques the lineage of trans and queer villains as sexual deviants. The New Yorker sums it up as follows:

“[Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma] follows a queer filmmaker hired to direct a new installment of a long-running slasher franchise. The director fixates on the prospect of casting the “final girl” from the original movie, and the two women descend into a frenzy of psychosexual mania.”

Slated to be gorier and funnier (thank God) than the previous installments, Schoenbrun is now turning to the aftermath of transition and the reclaiming of identity through sex, an important and often overlooked facet of transness. They’ve also sold a book, Public Access Afterworld, originally meant to be a TV show but now taken down in literary form. Schoenbrun hopes it will rival franchises like Sandman or Lord of the Rings in its scope, finally giving trans media an epic of its own.

All this fan can say is I can’t wait.

Sources:

Jane Schoenbrun Finds Horror Close to Home | The New Yorker

'I Saw the TV Glow' Director Jane Schoenbrun on A24 Film's Trans Meaning (variety.com)

How We’re All Going to the World’s Fair Grew Out of Internet’s Subconscious (hollywoodreporter.com)

[machveil]

Are you comfortable with giving advice? If so, can I ask some tips on how to grow your art account on tumblr? I want to open one, but seeing all these accomplished people kinda scares me, and you seem like a confident girly 😔

guys, I have so many opinions and thoughts on everything haha. I’m good to give out advice, it’s just gonna be my take on stuff💅✨

I think it’s good to start off by mentioning this, don’t sweat being a small creator first. I think it’s a really relatable feeling all artists go through - figuring out what you want to create, finding your audience, etc. for the most part, we’ve all been in those shoes. it can be a little nerve wracking, as much as we want to create for ourselves, it’s okay to want attention! you’re putting your work out into the world for that, to share your stuff and hear other people talk about it

it might be a little demoralizing to not get an influx of attention off the bat, but prioritize making something you genuinely want to see. there’s going to be people that like your art - whether it’s niche or not, you’ll enjoy it and those people will too! I like to think of it this way: for every note (comment, reblog, like) you get, imagine another person in the room with you. twenty notes might not look big on your screen, but that’s twenty people in the room with you who enjoy your content. I always think that’s amazing personally

also, I think we forget that smaller and larger creators share that same concern over not being accomplished enough. when it comes to creating there’s the shared experience of “someone else is bigger and better”, I’ve dealt with that before too. you are enough, your work is enough, and there’s always room for self growth. we’re all growing together, finding different methods for our work, sharing tips. personally, my mindset is “people will come for the art, stay for me”. having a larger or smaller audience doesn’t make you more or less accomplished

okay! actual blog tips - these are what I focus on personally🎀✨

sort of a restatement from above, but focus on having fun. genuinely enjoying what you’re creating and sharing can be felt through the screen, it’s okay to indulge in what you want to create! your blog is like your house, you can decorate and customize it with whatever you want, might as well be the things that make you happy. if you start off drawing (a) but want to draw (b) too? draw (b) too!

my blog is CoD based, I draw König everyday, people are here for that. but, I post other art when I want to and people stay around for that too! I want to draw Wriothesley (Genshin Impact) or Sunday (HSR)? I’ll draw them and post them - again, it’s my “people will come for the art, stay for me” mentality

tags! tagging your content for the best reach is always helpful. I have four tags I always use for my artwork, “art”, “sketch”, “doodle”, and “fanart”. the “art” tag usually gets boosted on Tumblr every couple days so that’s always a safe bet, “sketch”, “doodle”, and “fanart” are also just good tags to use. now, getting down to specifics - I draw character art so I tag based on the characters. if you draw still life, background, etc I would tag as such, and then dip into specifics. for König I always tag “konig”, “könig”, “könig cod”, “könig call of duty”, “könig fanart”, “cod”, and “call of duty”. it helps to cover your bases and reach for people finding your work. if the character has a full government name I also tag for that (ex. “ghost”, “simon ghost riley”, “simon riley”)

consistency! this one is very optional!! post whenever you want to - time, date, whatever works for you. I personally post a daily König sketch every day because I can (I’m never busy enough not to personally), it is so realistic not to do that though

on a smaller scale, you can post consistently, like, once a week or something. I feel like I have to mention consistency because, to some degree, consistency does help creators grow - that said, cater your consistency to your schedule!! consistency is completely optional, you can post something one day and then dip for (x amount of time). don’t push yourself to meet dates if you can’t, this is Tumblr, we’re here for fun and good vibes. if you usually post (x) on, say, Fridays but can’t do it this week? don’t push yourself. it’s okay to not be consistent, if an artist you follow missed a post when they usually post you wouldn’t mind (your audience won’t mind either)

these are just my takes on what’s been helpful for my blog, you can always do stuff differently than me🌸✨all in all, I think the biggest take away is cater to yourself - if you enjoy what you’re putting out into the world people will find you. like, I’m here for König and proud of it, and you know what? my mutuals and followers are also here for that, but they’re also here for me! and they’re so cool and sweet for that<3 anon, if you do what you love then you’ll gain an audience that’s like you, I think that’s pretty amazing

also, when in doubt✨

[asheronangel]

The Past's Future (chapter 1)

Rating: Teens and Up Audiences Fandom(s): Rottmnt Characters/Relationships: Leonardo & Raphael & Donatello & Michelangelo Additional Tags: Future leo being sent to the good timeline but uno reversed; Rewrite Word Count: 1,122

Read on a03

Donnie stood frozen at his side, and just. Stared. At where a crack in reality had been, at where the gates to hell had reopened, at where his brother had been and his brother was lost. His arm shook, numbly, pins and needles racking through out it, as it struggled in the absence of what it gave, gave, gave, only to be withheld of its gain, its blue, blue, blue in the stark reality of a scam. // or: In which bringing a brother home sends him to the very place this was all done to destroy. Actually, could you kill something that hasn't happened yet?

Read on tumblr below the cut:

Mikey had torn reality apart at the seams- a blindingly bright orange crackling at the edges, torrent and wild in it’s displeasure. And so, it tore him apart in return.

His arms were shaking, trembling from the effort of holding that gateway open, spiderwebbing cracks glowing with power as thread after thread was pulled, threatening to unravel his entire self and leave him as a ruined pile on the floor.

Two arms, one on each shoulder, wells of red and purple desperately pouring into his own, some of their own threads pulled loose to stitch back his.

And there he was.

Blue. The missing colour. Eyes wide in surprise. 

On the wrong side of the portal but alive. 

And that was enough to turn the spark of hope in his chest to a flaming fire, and suddenly the sheer effort he was straining against seemed so small, the weight so light, as an excited wave of newborn orange fire roared along his arms, into the gateway that would bring his brother home.

He stretched the portal wider, bigger, so that the blue could come back, back, back to them, where he belonged, encompassed in swirling colours that danced as easily as life, smoothly filling the gaping void that was always meant for him.

Red stretched, wider, bigger, towards the right thing in the wrong place, a hand continuing to anchor straining fibers to home, and the other reaching for their lost piece of a whole.

And he reached, reached, and he held, and oh, here he was, here was blue! He was connected, a stuttering river dripping into their swirling colours, too weak to help, but he was here! Still there, on the wrong wrong wrong side, but red was never letting him go again. 

He pulled, pulled him closer, towards home, to the right side of the gateway, the gateway that orange was still fighting vehemently against, that red and purple were still draining heaps of themselves to hold.

Blue reached towards the gateway, red holding on tight tightly never letting go never again, and.

Something was wrong.

Red. Was holding on to him. Would never let go. But. 

Purple flickered, unsure, because blue was coming back, back, back, but red was confused and that was wrong, and-

nothing, nothing, an aching, torn, desolate hole of lacking, and it had nothing so it took everything, took everything they had everything they were, tore a whole apart to pieces and laughed, because it was nothing and desired everything so it stole it stole and it tried again

Purple sparked, stuttered, glitching into a mass of rage, and fired at the endless hole of taking, sending it far, far, far away from blue.

The gateway spittled flames, sparkling angrily, suddenly pulling more more more from orange, and he cracked, long and jagged, reaching past the hands on his shoulder and onto his torso. Red and purple panicked, dumping the bits of themselves into the portal, taking on the fractures reaching for orange to instead tear higher up their arms.

And red pulled blue close, close, close, to the right side of home, before the gateway crackled close with a snap.

And red had never, never, never let go of blue, would never let go, but he was gone, gone, gone.

—-

Mikey stared at startlingly empty space- a vacant, dirty floor -silently, in shock, for one moment, before reality came slamming back.

And it slammed back with force.

“NO! NO! I DID NOT DO ALL THAT FOR HIM TO JUST DISSAPEAR! GIVE HIM BACK. BRING HIM BACK. GIVE HIM BACK. NO. NO. NO. NO!” And he kicked, and screamed, and raged, because for all he had given to the universe, for all his arms ached and shooked and cried in the lack of, he did not give for it to play tricks and games in the last moments with his brother’s life.

And he screamd, and he screamed, and he screamed, as if his voice alone could reopen the gateway between dimensions, and make the universe plop his brother at his feet, apologizing meekly for the delay. 

Screams devolved into shrieking sobs, as his wildest fantasies did not come to fruition, as the universe did not come guiltily o atone for its crimes, as his life played the cruelest game of sike! just to spite him.

Donnie stood frozen at his side, and just.

Stared.

At where a crack in reality had been, at where the gates to hell had reopened, at where his brother had been and his brother was lost.

His arm shook, numbly, pins and needles racking through out it, as it struggled in the absence of what it gave, gave, gave, only to be withheld of its gain , its blue, blue, blue in the stark reality of a scam.

The foreign thing in his mind hissed at his pain, because he was it, and it was him, and it was wrong, but it too wanted him to be whole, even if whole would mean an uncomfortable, bloated excess.

Raph took a tentative step foward.

Mikey had fallen, onto his knees, shaking, shattering arms clumsily, weakly banging against the floor, demanding that it open up and reveal the unfairly stolen piece of their whole. 

But.

Mikey opening the portal had been a miracle. Them- those three, three pieces, struggling, struggling, because where was blue? -being alive was a miracle of itself. It wouldn't be fair to expect the universe to grant them another one, even when he too wanted to kick and scream and demand it did so. 

So he took another step, scooping Mikey up, the piece he did still have, close, close, close to his chest- carefully balancing him more on his good arm than the one that cracked and tremored in displeasure at the lack of its prize -ignoring his wild, screamed objections even as he clung to him just as tightly. 

He turned to Donnie, who was still staring, staring, uncomphrehending, blind to the tears that soaked his mask and the tremble throughout his body, staring, staring, straight through Raph and Mikey, perhaps through the entire fabric of lies to where their missing, missing, gone piece lay.

“....Donnie.”

Because maybe, maybe, maybe, if he just stared, stared long enough, dedicated. desperate, that hole would open again, and that half of his soul would come back, back, back.

“Donnie.”

And Donnie could be whole again, and they could be four, four colours, swirling, singing, dancing as easily as life itself, and he would be more, more, more in excess but he would be whole and he would trade the world for that piece.

“Donnie.”

But that would be a miracle.

“Donnie?”

And they had run out of those.

[darkdrag0ni]

Alright, idk how many followers I have, how much reach those people have, or how many people actually read (but this is tumblr. Fandom central basically. I think people probably read here). There is a book I need people to find. Well actually there's 3 books in the universe, but I'll be talking about the first one I read, Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson.

I first read it in 6th grade, and it made enough of an impression for me to re-read two times after that which a much more developed brain than a sith grader (as in there is a significant amount of years between first, second, and third reading), and it is magic and steampunk and action galore. It's a third person POV which (mostly) follows Piper on a journey through a pretty awesome land, either (imo/ by theory) earth adjacent or in the future, with found family and worldbuilding and. It hooked me very well both times I read it; the pacing is impeccable, and although I've read it thrice (the second time quite recently) and it's been on my mind for two days, I cannot think of any plot holes (don't quote me on that though, sometimes my analyzing skills are not. Up To Par). It's been readily on my mind in the years between the first and third reading, and it deserves a bigger fandom/general knowledge of its existence.

The magic system is loose, with a few defined rules, but the structure around it and how it's used by the author to further the plot are exquisite, and the plot twists which come with it don't feel odd or cheap. Magic is also (sort of) ingrained with the technology/organisms of the world, so there's definitely no shortage of magic.

The found family, chefs kiss it's beautiful. I'll preface that there's a bit of a romance plot within it but tbh it never really commits to it, so imo you can ignore it and say they're close friends ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ The way the main pov character finds the other main character and then they both get like, adopted into a healthy environment with proper support and resources and. Ough.

Anyway I have feelings for this book and I think other people should too!!!!

Tw though cuz the beginning has a bad (non-lethal) head injury and somewhere in the middle there's like, an attempted kidnapping. I stress attempted.

Tl;dr Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson is awesome and you should read it because it deserves a bigger audience

Ps while tagging I ended up reaching the limit?? I didn't even know there was one. Tbf I genuinely never tag my posts though

[supernovaa-remnant]

I heard about this Shubble person recently, I stayed out of drama as much as I could but, what happened now??? You even wrote this in one of your tags "#I really did love him a lot (parasocially)". I was busy this week so I don't know what is happening now.

I highly recommend people watch Shubble’s vod on her twitch channel (I don’t have a link but I can’t imagine it’s that difficult to find). Be mindful though as the vod does talk about abuse which is a very triggering topic, so make sure to be taking care of yourself. I’m gonna put the rest of the post under the cut, so people can easily scroll past this if they want to.

As a little summary, Shubble streamed yesterday and talked about her abusive ex. She didn’t name anyone, but she also wasn’t hiding who it was, and contrary to what some people may say, a lot of the dots being connected are stuff we know from past streams and comments from friends and not leaked info.

So, the incredibly most likely case is that it was Wilbur. I’m not gonna get into everything Shelby said because she said it on her stream, but the signs do point to Wilbur, and you’d have to reach significantly further to claim she was talking about someone else. There’s not a lot of British male ccs who have a bigger audience than her who have a history of biting people and have reason to be going on long travels (tour) where they wouldn’t see each other often.

Listen. I was a certified dreambur blog, okay? Everyone who glanced in my direction knew that I was a Wilbur fan. Everyone knows that I loved him so fucking much. But that’s not an excuse to bury my head in the sand and ignore everything, y’know?

Anyway, this is gonna be the last time I talk abt this publicly (I’m sure my friends will hear more in DMs though sorry <3), so I’m gonna throw a bit more stuff here abt my blog going forward.

I will eventually talk abt c!wilbur again. I’m still gonna write my silly little c!dreambur aus, I’ve just put them on the back burner. regardless of cc actions, I genuinely do love so many of the characters on the dsmp. I’ll probably be focused on some other fics for a while, but c!wilbur’s my cat and I don’t think he’s leaving my brain soon. I just need a little time.

I think cc!wilbur is someone who needs help. and I genuinely do hope he gets that help. but having mental health struggles isn’t an excuse. and I just can’t see myself engaging in his content in the foreseeable future. you’re not gonna see me post neg about him. you’re just likely not gonna see me post anything about him at all.

I’m happy to know Shubble has an amazing support system. I’m so sorry she had to go through something so horrible. I’m wishing her nothing but the best, and everyone should check out her YouTube channel!! I haven’t watched her newest video yet, but I did watch Lizzie’s pov of the collab, so I know it’s a fun concept

If people have questions that this post doesn’t answer, then I’m happy to answer them in DMs, but I don’t wanna talk abt this publicly anymore. (I reserve a right to change my mind though if I for some reason feel the need to post abt it again)

Anyway, take care of yourselves. Love is never ever wasted, okay? And all that love belongs to you. And it’s always a good thing to put more love out into the world. Never feel guilty for loving, okay? 🫂

[ao3feed-matchablossom]

Stress Relief

by Territory_XD Kaoru was upset, and something that always helped him was when Kojiro did something nice for him. With all of that in consideration, there was really only one solution: He was going to make Kaoru a meal. Cooking was something he did for work, something he enjoyed thoroughly. It was easy, like second nature. Sure, he felt a little fuzzy, but that wasn’t a big issue. He’d done ‘big’ things in a floaty or even little headspace before. This was a bigger task, but he was leaning more towards big right now, and he wanted to do something nice for Kaoru. || OR: Sundays have always been regression days, especially since Kaoru became Kojiro's caregiver. Today, though, Kaoru comes home stressed due to an insufferable client, and Kojiro doesn't want to bother him with his littlespace until he's ready. Turns out, though, that spending some time together as little and caregiver is exactly what they both needed. Alt: Not enough agere fics in this fandom. I'm contributing with little!Kojiro. Words: 3085, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 4 of Age Regression/Littlespace Fics Fandoms: SK8 the Infinity (Anime) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe & Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom Additional Tags: Age Regression/De-Aging, Non-Sexual Age Play, Thats for reach, No age play here, Age Regression/Littlespace, Little Nanjo Kojiro | Joe, Age Regressor Nanjo Kojiro | Joe, Caregiver Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Kojiro calls Kaoru Papa in littlespace, Accidents, Not wetting Ko just made a mistake, Minor Injuries, Crying, Pacifiers, Mild Hurt/Comfort, As in mild hurt and LOTS of comfort, sippy cups, Attempting and Failing (To cook), Onesies source https://archiveofourown.org/works/59064301

[arvandus]

Fun fact about me: I missed the whole Wattpad era and all that because I had a literal 10 year hiatus on fanfiction writing (and overall anime consumption).  I missed the Naruto era and all else that went down during that time between 2006-2016.

So I went from the Sailor Moon/Gundam Wing days on ff.net to tumblr years later, starting out with Loki and then shifting to BNHA (and the rest is history).

So when I think of fan interaction with my writing content, I’m coming from a place where on FF.net I had 15 devoted readers for my one multichapter Gundam Wing fanfic, and I was happy with that.  It’s just interesting to see the shift in fandom culture now, and it’s why I’ve never really worried much about numbers and all that.  The popularity of a post depends a LOT on the popularity of that character/fandom, so there are some writers out there that are making phenomenal content that doesn’t ever really take off because the target audience is so small compared to other, much bigger fandoms/characters.

In short, if you feel like your tumblr numbers are low, or you’re not getting enough notes or whatnot, try not to stress it too much. At its core, fandom is more about interaction/bonding over shared niche interests than it should be a popularity contest. I’d rather have 3-4 people that interact with my content consistently, providing comments in the reblogs and/or the comments section, than I’d rather have X number of likes/reblogs whatever. That may not be the case for others, but this is what works for me. Quality over quantity; and quantity doesn’t always equal quality. On the flip side, if you’re a consumer of fan-created content (e.g., a reader), then PLEASE interact with us. Scream in the tags, key smash in the comments.  We just want to know that we’re not alone in our obsession, and when we share our writings and crazy thoughts on here, that’s us extending the olive branch to connect.  By the simple nature of posting we are already saying that yes, it’s okay to interact with us. Not in an egocentric “I need attention” sort of way, but as someone looking for equals, a safe space to nerd out without judgement or guilt.

Also, don’t misunderstand my statement that numbers aren’t important = reblogs aren’t important.  That’s not the case at all. The very nature of Tumblr requires reblogs to be a part of the fandom experience to allow for maximum connection, maximum quality.  If you choose not to reblog, understand that you’re essentially inhibiting the reach of that content that you love so much, and therefore limiting the level of connection that creator is able to have/develop with others. And THAT is what makes creators want to leave the platform, because no one wants to scream into a void.  If creators didn’t care about interactions, then we wouldn’t even bother posting in these online communities.

[theemporium]

Hey I don't mean to bash anyone here, everyone is allowed to have opinions. And I agree with some of them, such as not cluttering a tag. I just want to know how to reach a bigger audience when I write oc fics/blurbs. Because I can garuntee that people are straight up searching player x oc, they're searching player x reader. and I try my hardest to have some integrity when tagging my fics becasue I'm a people pleaser and I hate making people mad but there are some I'm really proud of and I find no one will really read them if i just tag player x oc.

And I just have to say I tend to do more oc things lately simply becasue I have more freedom when creating a character. When I do make reader inserts I try and make the reader inclusive to everyone and sometimes I just need to make them more specific.

Also I try never to over tag or tag unnecessary people. If a secondary player/person plays a big part in thing I'm gonna tag them, but just them and I always tag who the fic is supposed to be about first since thats the important part.

I'm sorry I'm just sad and I feel bad when and like I'm contributing to the problem and I just want to be better but I also want people to read my things, but at the same time not be a horrible person and get reported becasue I tagged the wrong thing.

aw bless, honey, it’s fine!! people here are mostly just venting their frustrations and such, I’m sure there’s no harm or ill will intended!!

honestly, I’m not too sure what to advise because this is something that goes across platforms and fandoms and it’s not just a single person. maybe trying to veer away from ‘x reader’ tags but still tagging what your works are? hypothetically, if it’s a jack hughes x oc work, maybe tagging it with ‘jack hughes fic’ and ‘jack hughes imagine’ and ‘jack hughes oneshot’ would be the best option! you’re still tagging your work fairly and it means it wont show up for people wanting specifically ‘x reader’ works

I understand that it’s incredibly frustrating and that you (and many others) just want to get your works out to the target audience!!🫶🏽

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

Sorry to bring up the topic but your tags on the Litchi('s boobs) versus Bullet('s ass) post are so true. What ass. If they didn't have her screwing up her entire back in her "battle pose" just to stick it up it'd look basically the same as anyone else's. (Also yeah her boobs are way more noticeable). I don't find that any Blazblue girl actually has much of an ass but I think that's both due to cultural difference on my part and to Mori only knowing the Japanese/anime body type.

So, can I ask for more of your thoughts regarding the Blazblue girls' body types? (And if you want to elaborate on those cultural beauty standards I'd love to read that too!)

Don’t apologize for asking the question, lol. We’re adults here, we can talk about ass an’ titty.

But really! We know that Mori’s mentioned that Litchi’s boobs are his cap for how big he’ll design a woman’s tits, though characters like Nine and Bullet look bigger in some art. I think Bullet’s boobs seem bigger in part because of her usual posture since she’s depicted bending over so much. I remember them being more prominent, but looking at her story sprite alongside Litchi’s, they really are the same. Hell, Litchi may actually still be bigger, given what looks like some serious gobbing out of her bra going on up top there.

As for the cultural beauty standards I mentioned in the earlier tags; the layman’s rundown of it all is that a society’s ideas about the ideal, most attractive body types change as time goes on. Currently, in the west (primarily the USA) we’re in an era of Big Ass, Big Thigh supremacy. I would theorize that this really kicked off with celebrities like the Kardashians, gaining more traction in the late 20-teens as women both within and outside of the celebrity spotlight pushed back against the bodyshaming tied to the “thigh gap” trend that was popular there for a while.

But in the era before that, it was flat asses that everyone was all about. And as I understand it, that’s still the case in Japan! At the very least, it was definitely still the case during BlazBlue’s lifetime.

To really be able to discuss this, I reached out to a good friend of mine who’s been studying the art, culture, and theory behind Japanese animation for a couple of years. I shared this ask with her, and it actually inspired her to start working on a whole essay on the women of BlazBlue and the JP pop culture beauty standards that apply to their designs! Which is, in part, why this reply has taken so long. We’re having fun with it!

For the meantime, here’s an exert from her post, discussing why Bullet qualifies as “the ass character” in a way that doesn’t quite click for a 2020s Western audience:

"Like you said, none of the Blazblue girls really have any (big) butt. In Japan (and in the early 2000s of America! trends…) they tend to prefer flatter butts.

In the opening of Cutie Honey, an anime created in 1970s by Go Nagai that was known for (and was actually at one point canceled for) sexy content, one of the lyrics is “Hey there girl, with the slender behind”. So it’s been in vogue for a hot minute too!

It’s interesting because I think Bullet is supposed to be the butt character, not because it’s particularly round or big, instead it’s her hot pants and the fact she is very fit. This butt is nice, toned but not “”too much”” , and available for viewing!!!

(...) I think it has a little to do with the fact that (typically) Japanese women don’t really have bubble butts, it’s more “normal” to have a flatter butt, but I’m not Japanese so. Grain of salt for this part!!"

Interesting, huh???

This post is already getting pretty long, so I think I'll wrap things up here! Though I do think we'll return to this ask in the future. As mentioned, my friend's working on a whole essay for the BlazBlue girls that we might end up posting on here.

As for myself, I still haven't answered the root question of your post; what I think about the BB girls' bodies. It's something I haven't really thought of a lot... I'm not even sure what angle I would want to take my answer in- do I focus on personal taste, attraction/sex appeal, do I focus on a more cultural or character design angle... how do I account for the way different art styles, even among the games, change the how the character looks...

I think, when I return to this topic, I'll break it apart into separate posts, grouping the girls by debut game. So, if you're interested in silly bloggers' takes on cartoon girls, stay tuned!

And thanks for asking!

[dbd-polls]

Dead by Daylight Polls

There is a limit of 12 answers for polls. One of those will always be reserved for a "show results" option. Please specify if you want specific poll answers, otherwise I will write them in myself as I see fit.

This blog is intended for questions, NOT confessions!

Polls are to remain up for one week. Please do not resubmit polls that have already been made. If you see a poll is marked for 24h, it is a mistake. Please let me know so I can change it!

Reblogging/sharing our polls to reach a bigger audience helps a lot. :^)

The time between getting your submission and posting it can range from less than an hour to a couple days. Please be patient.

Because Dead by Daylight has themes of gore/killing/death/etc., these things will not be tagged. I would prefer not to address more controversial topics, but we will see.

Leave the developers/BHVR team as well as content creators out of the polls, please. These are intended for the characters and lore only.

Keep all submissions SFW!

Most importantly, please be respectful if your favored vote is losing. Do not insult or belittle others for having a different opinion than you. This is all for harmless fun. (If I see you being rude in the tags/notes you will be blocked.)

[ode2rin]

HII, as a new person starting to post fics here on tumblr, can i have advice on how to get bigger audiencess? other than reblogs i need to find a way and i don't know alot ab tumblr (other than i read here but im becoming a writer...)

i'm going to be really honest with you, i'm probably the worst person to ask this because i totally just winged it when i first made this account T^T had it for a week (?) just trying to get an idea of how stuff works. then, come one night, i just posted something (it was horrible btw, no layout, no dividers, nada just angst 😭) and forgot my password for another week! :D

you're right, rbs are wonders for writers. but some people don't do them, though. on a more technical side, i learned that properly tagging works a lot, trust! it helps people find the stuff they like and what they don't :> for an instance, if you write it under "blah blah x reader" it usually shows up on the "latest" section under that tag and if people like it, they most probably will give it a note :) don't spam the tags with unrelated stuff though! it's meant for fics abt that character (●'◡'●)

what i'm trying to say (ik i'm doing a poor job) i guess is that if people liked it, it will 'blow up' and reach bigger audiences on its own? sorry, this is so useless ._. but yeah! that's it i guess. although, i think it would be nicer if you could write whatever you want without worrying about whether it will be a "popular work." that way, I think you'll like your tumblr experience more, and interaction will naturally follow. i promise :>

[badgod01]

Vince's Imperfects

My only AO3 collection is one titled "Vince's Imperfects". It's a collection of works that I personally believe do not fit my standard quality for fanfictions anymore. My writing has improved since many of these fics were released, so I decided I would private them. As of writing, nine works have been lost to the sands of time... until I release them back into the wild public, that is.

That being said; one delightfully fascinating thing I discovered due to this feature is tag popularity. If you put works into a collection, there's a little category in the side bar called "Tags" and when you click on it, it'll show you the most popular tags. The more popular, the bigger it is.

So, here's the most popular tags for my fics:

The most popular tags are Angst, Hybrids, Mob Hybrids, Non-Human Technoblade, Sexual Content, and (hilariously) Sex.

The Hybrids/Mob Hybrids and Non-Human Technoblade tags were because I wrote three fanfictions, all including him. They were G-rated angst stories:

Ranboo falling into water, and Technoblade subsequently rushing to save him from freezing to death,

Technoblade entering hibernation, and Phil taking care of him,

and Phil dying in war, with The Syndicate (especially Technoblade) struggling to cope with his death.

While I did and still remain to write angst, I find that the stories I wrote around this time to be very personal for one reason or another. Mainly because it focused on how I personally felt at the time. Nowadays, my fanfiction is more character-driven and are, more or less, just character studies or observations, and creating/playing out an inspired scenario with said observations. See: Skeppy/Bad in Good For You and Roier in Sorry For The Bother, Stranger. Because of this, I decided to private these works. No hate to the people who write angst personal to them, I just don't like being profiled by my audience—or even worse, people who harass writers for just writing. (Filters exist for a reason, people!)

Another reason I decided to hide some works is because, exactly as the description says, my writing got better. I know there's no reason to be, but I feel slightly ashamed of the works that don't reach my quality standard anymore. As my writing improves, works I once thought I was proud of have now become... not that.

Back then, I barely wrote above 1k words; the most words I wrote in a chapter by mid-2022 was 4k. My angst was all around 500-1000 words. For a comparison, here's the word count for all of my recent fics:

WORSHIP has 2k words. Although it's one of my earliest fanfictions, I still hold some light appreciation for it. (Don't tell anyone—I was thinking of rewriting it for Christmas of 2022, but I couldn't do it without sacrificing my wellbeing.)

PRAYER has 7k words.

slice of heaven has 4k words. This one stays up because I continue to be proud of it, as I found that writing a threesome was especially daunting.

Good For You has, at the bare minimum, 10k words per chapter.

Sorry For The Bother, Stranger has 6k, nearly 7k words.

Anyways, I'm not quite sure if I'll be putting more fanfictions in there or releasing any of them anytime soon. Either way, I hope you found something insightful about my thought processes.

[ao3feed-thor]

Liaison

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/DJIq6Fy

by TheAngryKimchi

Dipping down, Loki transformed mid-air, his feet landing swiftly on hard snow.

"You made it," Thor said in lieu of a welcome, his hands reaching out before Loki was even able to make a step closer, wrapping around his waist and pulling Loki closer immediately.

"Indeed." Loki hummed at the hard press of Thor's bigger body, placing his hands on bulging biceps and tilting his head back to be able to look at him.

Their lips met before any more could be said, their need to feel each other greater than any pleasantries.

Words: 492, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Thor (Movies), Loki (TV 2021)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel)

Relationships: Loki/Thor (Marvel)

Additional Tags: Jotunn Thor (Marvel), Asgardian Loki (Marvel), Secret Relationship, drabble and art

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/DJIq6Fy

[rabiakhatun]

How to Use Guest Posting to Effectively Boost Your SEO

Strong SEO requires strong content, and one of the best ways to boost your SEO is to expand the reach of your content by contributing to high-authority sites.

Guest posting to outside online publications allows you to expand your horizons, reach new audiences, and engage with them on platforms they trust — but you can't push your content to every site you can hope to find and land on page 1. . SEO strategy is just as important as your approach to content marketing, and to maximize the ROI you get from both, you need to do a little research.

Domain authority and relevance of research publications

If you're an expert in the marketing industry, pitching editors at cooking publications won't be very helpful. Not only is it impossible to contribute content that is off-topic, but even if you manage to get published there, links to irrelevant sites won't help you gain long-term SEO benefits.

The publications you target should be respected authorities within your industry, not spammy content farms. A good rule of thumb about whether a site is authoritative enough is to ask yourself if you would feel comfortable sharing an article from this publication with your friends and professional connections on social media. If not, keep looking.

Identify backlink guidelines for guest posts

Tools like MozBar can give you access to link metrics that will quickly show you which links in an article are follow or nofollow and internal or external.

Following links that carry link juice to new sites through sites is strongly encouraged to build SEO, you're not doomed to complete failure if a site doesn't allow them; You can still gain valuable organic referral traffic to generate leads.

Check that relevant links are also allowed in the body of your guest post (Tools like CognitiveSEO can help.) Relevant links to the right publications carry more link juice than links in bios or footer links, for example, so they play a bigger role in your SEO efforts. They help Google establish a relevancy factor and they can increase CTR and create a better user experience by providing additional valuable information to readers.

This should go without saying, but I'll repeat it one more time for the folks behind: If you're not writing and linking for SEO benefit and value to your real audience, you're going to have a bad time. The key is to write for people and optimize for search. Doing — which leads me to my next point.

On-Page Optimization Factors

Once you've done your publishing research, it's time to create and optimize your content for contributions. Guest posting is very different from writing content for your own blog, but there are still SEO factors to any content that you can't ignore:

Title Tag: Don't stuff keywords in the title tag, which should be the title of the article for guest posts. Use keywords or keyword phrases that naturally match users' search intent to avoid penalties.

Try using long-tail keywords as opposed to your main keywords in the title tag to make it unique compared to competitors. And, if possible, put it at the beginning of the title. Remember, it's best to keep titles around 60 characters so they appear fully in the SERPs, but it never hurts to test the actual SERP display before submitting content to an editor.

Heading (H1): Include an H1 tag in every article — not just large or bold font. You can include an exact or partial match to your target keyword in the title, but it must make sense to your readers and support the actual content in that category. And avoid duplicate titles and headings; H1 should not be the same as title tag.

I like to think of H1 as the title of your book and H2 as the chapter title; You only get one title, but you need to divide your book into as many chapters as you can to make it easier to use. Page Content: Always shoot to create comprehensive, informative content that is original, helpful and relevant to the user's search intent. Avoid keyword stuffing, and use online tools to make sure you're not overusing certain keywords.

You'll also want to target different primary keywords per article; Targeting the same keyword in multiple articles will trigger keyword cannibalization, and you don't want Google to guess which page should rank for which keyword.

Image alt tags: Content with image alt tags ranks well, so it's best to include them whenever possible. Again, though, avoid stuffing keywords into alt tags. If you can't think of a keyword for an image alt tag, you should probably find a different image that better describes the content message.

Other Factors: Meta description of each article that includes target keywords or keyword phrases can help boost SEO. So can things like page-load time and mobile-friendliness, but as a guest contributor, those are out of your control.

What is still in your control, though, is the quality of the content. SEO isn't just about how well you write your articles, and tools like SEMrush, cognitiveSEO, Google Analytics, and Moz can help you do keyword research, analyze article performance, and check link quality to get the most out of each article.

[jaynovz]

[image id: two stills from Black Sails. The first is of Julius standing in a barn on the Underhill plantation. He is speaking to Silver (offscreen). Caption: “For how long?” The second is of Silver in the Skeleton Island jungle. He is facing the audience, back to Flint who sits out of focus over his shoulder. Caption: “And then what?” /end id] -- OP tags are also important--

#remember julius saying in 4.07 'nothing is lasting'? because i do #when silver is baffled by julius asking 'for how long' we know he's never asked himself that. how long will they go on fighting the world. #and flint and madi have probably never asked that either #there's no definable goal to reach with this war and so it could go on forever #but even if they decided on one it wouldn't have been realized because silver chose so out of doubt and uncertainty #when faced with this question he's faced with his doubt regarding the war yet again; this has been happening all season long #but there's another hidden meaning/foreshadowing that i love here which is: #when julius continues he explains he's referring to how long the separate camps would be allies #and it's a wonderful reminder of silver's alliance with flint and the question of how long it's going to last #and how much it's based on - to quote eleanor in 3.02 - mutual self-interest #hidden meanings aside i know we all know this but i love what they did with julius and he should've been a bigger character #from the moment we meet him it's clear that he's clever and wary and knows his principles #and his principles combined with his circumstances are so unique it's so good for the story i wishhhh we had more of him #what can i say? i love when stories are good (via @toddhewitt)

4.06 / 4.10

"and we will be your partners, in the fight to free [the new world]?"