#this looks really weird on mobile tumblr

[get-more-bald]

my little guy!! my little guy!! his pear socks!

[ohandcounting]

Deltarune Chapter 7 Weird Route meme from the Future

art used for the 2 wives art here by @hellspawnmotel (it looks a lot better when it's not badly resized!)

[theunconcernedembalmer]

WAIT MAN IN GREY IS GONE??? NOOOOOOO

Then besides you. Who else in the Aesop community/family is still alive? I havent been on tumblr much so it was a shock not being able to find Man in Gray anymore 😭😭😭😭

Ah... I'm actually kind of surprised that u think that my blog is still alive (well, barely, but i try) (work is seriously draining nowadays among other life tm stuff)

Tbh I feel like I've fallen out of the ask blog community for a while now. I always say that there's definitely some out there that are vibing, I'm just not aware of them since most of the blogs that i tend to interact with n know arent exactly very present in the scene anymore, but just cos I'm not aware of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Probably.

[bellasdragons]

I should be working on other art but I am procrastinating and my brain feels fried so will probably do silly doodles for sale dragons. what sort of creatures would people be interested in for g1s? I'll probably default to birds otherwise...

[the-s1lly-corner]

i'm really embarrassed to make this request because I'm like, the person who least knows how to use tumblr and i've never even made a comment, but I love your writing so I'm going to try request

can you do jax, caine or raghata (whatever you feel most like writing) x a goth reader who is actually a very sweet person? (the kind of person who looks like he eats bats for breakfast and kicks puppies, but it will be really affectionate and kind) also it would be cool if the reader played eletric guitar, but that's just my ego that is proud to play speaking for me, it's not really necessary

sorry if I wasn't really clear, if the request is cringe or if my english is bad, it's not my first language so i'm trying my best

Jax, Caine, and Ragatha x sweet!goth!reader !

This isnt a weird request at all! Actually this is pretty tame/normal(????) Compared to some requests (trust me I've gotten requests that are far weirder than this that I didnt even bother publicly denying because the subject material was just so.....

You know?

Written on mobile!!

Gonna do this request then let my phone charge and then get back on requests!! Been slacking a little this week

CAINE:

Honestly I think caine absolutely LOVES your style. Like obviously you may look a little funky since you know, digital world.. but I think he would still be allured by your looks... he is totally thrown for a loop when you reveal your personality though.! Not that hes complaining, though, he has a sweet tooth, you know

He WOULD use that line, too

Oooo if you're able to do your makeup and it's not just a part of your face he would love to sit with you and help you

RAGATHA:

I dont think she would hate goth fashion, but I do think she would be a little intimidated by how intense you look... I mean, you look like you're into really intense stuff

Except

You're not

I think she would feel really... really bad.. when she gets to know you and finds out you're one of the sweetest people shes ever met

Likes listening to you play your electric guitar.. sometimes makes song requests!

Loves playing with your hair

....

I think she would let you dress her up and do her makeup, if you offer

JAX:

Getting this out of the way; OUR FAVORITE HC! THE FIDGET HC!! if you have any dangling accessories jax is going to fidget and play with it

Torn between making jax the type to tease you or think it looks cool...

Both, I can see him doing both

Its thinly veiled hints of him being into your aesthetic/style

You kind of see the gears working in his head when he realizes you don't act at all how he thought you were gonna act

So sweet.. so kind...

Such a.. vulnerable target for his pranks!!/j

But actually../hj...

I think he would be into goth people tbh Idk why it just dawned on me

[cupcraft]

Get rid of tumblr live. get rid of the for you page. keep the radar i like see new artists. put the activity and blog stuff back on the top left. stop making this look like twitter an app that is failing. stop making the site unusable. make the desktop UI spacious again its so cramped and disgusting. Don't make any more weird changes or the tumblr base is going to fucking leave. make changes we really want like a better post search feature and also having tumblr mobile stop eating my posts and taking 10000 years to post (and stop them sometimes posting 5 times for no reason!). @staff

[hellfirecvnt]

A Few Ways to Improve Your Writing (on Tumblr) from Somebody Who Has No Business Writing

*Specifically for writing fanfiction, though some of the tips are universal.

- Indenting. I usually only indent on mobile bc for some reason, it just throws them the fuck away on my laptop. To indent, I usually just do five "spaces." It just looks nicer (imo) and can help with readability.

Example:

This is a paragraph. In this specific paragraph, I'm showing you what an indention is. It's those five empty spaces at the beginning.

- Dialogue changes. When a character speaks, that's a new paragraph. When a different character speaks next, that's a new paragraph no matter how short the speech is. It's always a great storytelling device. You don't even have to label who is speaking every time if you properly use context clues in the rest of your story!

Example:

"I am speaking," said the man. He is a guy and he's totally speaking.

"Fuck you, Todd."

"Whoa." Todd was not expecting that.

- POV. It's easier said than done, but try to keep your story in the same point of view the whole time, or at least clarify when the POV is changing.

Example: Wrong

You smile at Dee. She's your best friend and has been since elementary school. You ask Dee to borrow a pencil and she happily obliges, passing her the pencil. She says thanks to Dee and the two best friends continue writing. (Confusing, especially for someone who isn't a native English speaker.)

Example: Right

You smile at Dee. She's your best friend and has been since elementary school. You ask Dee to borrow a pencil and she happily obliges, passing you the pencil. You say thanks to Dee and the two best friends continue writing. (Coherent and Cambria, baby.)

Additionally, to show an intentional change in POV, just announce it!

Example:

Dee's POV-

This bitch will not stop asking me for pencils.

Your POV-

Oh, fuck. I forgot my pencil again...

- Complete words. This may be a personal thing, but around the time that Stranger Things 4 came out, I noticed a TON of people just not using the first few letters of the first word of their sentences?? It's another one of those things that's unintentionally inaccessible for people who don't speak English as a first language.

Example: Wrong

"'m not tired yet," she said.

Example: Right

"I'm not tired yet," she said.

- If it's a reader insert, please do not describe Y/N. Pls don't mention hair texture, but a vague style is usually fine. Pls don't mention body size unless it's specified. Don't mention skin tone. Pleaseeee, don't take away from someone else's ability to see themselves in your work that's specifically meant for the reader to see themselves in. Lots of communities don't ever get to see themselves in media, don't take fanfiction from them too.

- Use bold/italics. Both of these things can breathe a whole new life into what emotion you're trying to convey.

Example: No bold/italics

"I told you not to go there. Now we're both screwed."

Example: with bold/italics

"I told you not to go there. Now we're both screwed."

- Reread periodically. When writing a story for a few days, take a moment to go back and reread everything you've put down so far. You'd be surprised by how many little details and storytelling devices you'd forgotten about between writing sessions.

- Hit "Save Draft" literally every 15 minutes or any time you set your phone down if you write on mobile. Speaks for itself.

- AI will fuck you over. Don't be a fuckin' loser.

- Your ideas are NOT bad. Don't water down your vision in hopes that more people will read it. There really is something for everybody. You're doing yourself and your audience a disservice by changing your storyline to be more "mellow" or "relatable." It can be big, it can be dramatic, it can be weird, it can be angst or fluff or smut or literally anything bc YOU made it! No matter what, there will be people who love it with all their flesh and bones and people who scroll past after the first few sentences. It's all about chemistry or something idfk.

(Drop more tips in the comments/tags/reblogs for the new writers of Tumblr ((and me)) to learn and grow!)

[crazysodomite]

what is it like to be kind of popular/getting people interested in your own ideas and not fan art?

I don't think I'm popular *looks behind my back fearfully* 😨

Here's the thing. A lot of people post things and just expect people to find them and interact with them. To some people it works. But a lot of the time there's no way for people to even find your stuff or engage with it.

A lot of people go into fandom tags to look for art and writing, but not a lot of people just scroll the "oc" or "art" or "writing" tags aimlessly.

I'm not like. A social media expert 😼 or whatever. I don't know anything about anything ♥️ I literally just do whatever weurd things i want and that's it

Here's some things I can advise:

If you have ocs.... Please feel free to actually talk about them in detail, share your thoughts on them in detail, write actual info and profiles on them. Don't be shy to do this bc there's no way for someone to engage with your ocs if they don't really understand who you're talking about except the names 😭... Feel free to like link their info in your pinned or their toyhouse profiles or whatever... !!!! A lot of the times I follow someone and they ask to engage with their ocs, and I want to, but I literally just don't understand who they're taking about... Or I see someone talking about their ocs in very vague terms but I can't actually find who they're talking about.... (Not that you have to do this do whatever you want ... I'm not the boss of you ♥️ it's just something id like to see) And also don't be shy to actually remind people who you're talking about bc people who haven't been following you for a long time won't know. I think this is simpler for me because my concepts/characters are very basic/shallow and easy to understand. Taur who is a bee, taur who is a bath, etc... Is Inherently understandable and doesn't have any deep lore

👆 this applies to everything in general not just ocs. Talk about art. Talk about your own art. Talk about what you love in the art of others. Talk about your plans and concepts and ideas. Talk about your projects. Share with the world 🌍 🌍 🌍

Don't be shy to talk about your things. I think some people are anxious about seeing people unfollowing them. I personally use xkit to hide my followers on pc and actively avoid looking at my follower count on mobile... Because idgaf ♥️. If someone doesn't like what I post they're Nothing to me. I post about taurs and weird things basically every day. What do I have to lose? My dignity as a Tumblr blogger? Genuinely like just share whatever thoughts or concepts or doodles or drawings you want without being like "aww nobody wants to see this". Honestly I also do this because I don't have friends to talk about concepts and stuff with so your mileage may vary. Maybe you don't want to post. Maybe you worldbuild with your friends. Then maybe you can share the results of that worldbuilding and thoughts, that's good too.

Self reblog your stuff 😭 even old stuff. Self reblog your stuff and then elaborate on it further with your thoughts. Dig up old concepts and do things with them. Its okay to do this. Not everyone sees your stuff when you first post it... !

Actually engage with others. Others are more likely to see you and engage with you when you do the same to them. If you never interact with anyone else's art why would others interact with yours. And unfortunately posting stuff and expecting people to just stumble upon it is not a very good strategy...

[fandom-hoarder]

Ok, so I got an ask for mutual aid. Of course, it's human to want to help someone in need, even if all you can do is reblog their post. But you also don't want to be scammed, or help spread a scam. So you look for clues, or you only reblog your mutuals' aid posts because you at least know they're *real*, or you don't reblog aid posts at all.

So, what are the tells? (I'm not an expert, this is just what I've learned through osmosis.)

Do they follow/interact with you, outside of the mutual aid request?

Is their username weirdly generic?

Does the blog look like a real tumblr user, and not just someone who made a tumblr to ask for aid? How old is it? Is it involved in any fandoms? Does it seem staged?

Does their aid ask and needs description make sense? Is it overly vague, or bogged down with unneeded details?

If you quote-search the body of their aid ask, do you get any similar hits for scams on other sites or under other names?

Does the account for donations look legit?

What do you find when you reverse image search?

So, having received an ask that sounded very much like someone whose mutual aid I would want to support if they're real, but already having two red flags from the jump (not following me and not in my notifications, weird wording and grammar on ask), I endeavored to suss them out.

Screencaps of my adventure under the cut.

Like someone else has said, please don't go harrass this blog. Even if it's a scam, at some point there's a person behind that screen.

So here's the ask.

Red flags: they don't follow me, I don't know them, the ask is long, the grammar and punctuation are bad, word choices are odd or misspelled. These don't mean it's automatically fake, but it looks more like a weird AI than someone using google translate to communicate in English.

So I check their blog.

Their pinned post is this (click to read, it's a longass pic):

I don't take any links yet.

I take a block of their post and check it in google; all I get are snapshots of tumblr reblogs for their aid post. I click the "buy me a coffee" link, and it looks...idk, fine I guess. There's a tumblr logo, but clicking it seems to do nothing. (I'm on mobile)

A quick search of their name on tumblr gives me 2 posts mentioning them spamming this same message to people.

I read the one with the readmore linked here

After reading wannursyafiqah74's post about it, I got on my laptop and went back to casualdonutfire.

Mostly random reblogs; cats and other random reblogs of mostly pics, many with comments that could've/should've been tags, and no actual tags whatsoever. Like set dressing that says, "See? I'm a real person! I'm leaving comments about my reblogs that show I'm not a bot! I interact! I know what I'm I'm reblogging!"

It gives me a creepy vibe. I try google again to see if I can find their presence elsewhere on tumblr. The returns are still all snapshots of their mutual aid post. I open their archive. Ok, their tumblr has archive on...?

There are no fandom-esque posts until the very first reblog, a comment on One Piece fanart on October 18, 2023.

Their first post about needing aid was on November 7, 2023. Nearly the same wording as their pinned post, except they don't mention having a child. Zero specifics on what amount is needed for what or a timeline or anything. Not even anything about Christmas coming up. Tagged generously for trans surgery and other visibility words.

Oh. AND. The buymeacoffee is different. Adela, not Adella.

Then their next post for aid is fresh on January 11, 2024; nearly the same wording, except now there's a daughter and a birthday -- no date for the birthday, though, is there?!

[reblog linked here] If you go to their January 12th reblog and click on the "video proof," it's an audio-only black screen upload to imgur, with no identifying info for what's going on other than what they describe (and it doesn't really sound like what they describe; it sounds like a kid ready for christmas but not disappointed, like idk what more you're supposed to get out of it)

Then I clicked on their buymeacoffee link and noticed something. When I hovered my mouse over the tumblr symbol under their blurb, the link embedded there showed up at the bottom of my screen. And it was NOT casualdonutfire.

It was deepeagletimetravel. And, of course, it's a nuked tumblr. Hence doing NOTHING for me on mobile.

So I went to google again!

And lo, what do I find in those lurking reblogs?

ANOTHER MUTUAL AID POST IN EVERYONE'S REBLOGS. WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSONA AND STORY. BUT THE SAME WALL OF TEXT + BAD PUNCTUATION STYLE

Using a stock photo for their initial "bio" that seems awfully misleading when you don't say it's a stock photo.

And with stolen/uncredited art by thetransformistress as a thank you.

And, of course, the buymeacoffee page it linked for Ameera (buymeacoffee.com/AmeeradelzC) is blank. 👀 Totallynormal, nothing to see here.

But this makes me think. I go back to that Nov 7 casualdonutfire post, with their first buymeacoffee link to "Adela" (buymeacoffee.com/adelladomil)--

and what do ya know, the tumblr that opens is casualdonutfire!

So did they forget they made an adela account, and change their ameera buymeacoffee account to adella for their new post, forgetting to change the deepeagletimetravel tumblr name?! 🤷‍♀️

[wizardsaur]

PINNED POST - ABOUT ME

🌈👻📽🎬🖼🪄🏳️‍⚧️♍️⏫️🛏🗝🌿🖤🦕🌌🎃🐝🍔☮️🌃🌈📸🎧🌹🌻🎶🐦‍⬛🔮🌳✨️🍁🦚🦓🥦🍜💀🧠🧙‍♂️🦇👨‍🦽🧎‍♂️‍➡️🧛‍♂️🕸🍀🖊🗒🖌📚👓♈️🔅🧚‍♂️🐈‍⬛🌄🌙🏴‍☠️🪩🎨📌💼✒️💿🕯

This is my main blog now. Gonna try my best to be a minimally insufferable internet tumblr personality.

I call myself a wizard, my religion is ?????

This is a witch and magic blog. But one of the cool ones, I swear. I like frogs, and being a good person. I post kinda consistently, and I've been active a REALLY LONG TIME in tumblr years.

Doing my best not to be appropriative or exclusionary in any way, also painfully human (read as: can make mistakes and will happily correct them). I also try to spread awareness about cults, misinformation, and other relevant topics in the magic community.

I have chronic pain, and am learning to use mobility aids. Dislocated my hip trying to get outta the bathtub, and my knee WHILE SLEEPING. Physical therapy and compression wear are my friends. 🤣 (getting that diagnosis figured out, I hurt a lot, All the time. I have theories 🦓.)

I thought I met God once in a cemetery in December 2018, and It told me to leave an abusive marriage. I don't really know what that means because I don't understand what Higher Power is. I just hope and try to believe it's there. Due to this and my religious upbringing, I am known to trip and fall into cults, or to be singled out by cult recruiters (Hi. Yes, this has happened literally more than 7 times).

I was raised in arguably one of the biggest cults in the world - no, not scientology. So I sincerely believe the only way to find God or Upper Whatever is to figure it out yourself. I suspect everyone is probably wrong in some ways, right in others. Ergo, I'm painfully agnostic. Again, cults can sniff me out - if I'm getting weird, please check on me. I'm learning to catch myself.

I work with Change in the form of Death - or Death as Change - I'm not sure if that matters. I also work with Uni, the Cat God Of Self. Which. I made up. I made a blog about that, if you can find it. You will see that a lot here. I struggle to actually "worship" anything, probably due to religious trauma. Having a lack of Faith is hard for me.

I write spells, cultivate cool posts. I hardcore try to peer review, please don't hunt me for sport for reblogging a shitty blog. My header has all my DNIS. Just send me an ask and call me out - I'll be reasonable. I also share stories.

I like dinosaurs, vegetarian food (not exclusively), talking about glasses, writing, movies, goth culture, history, reading, art, plants, and dark humor. I write a lot in the bathtub. I live in an old house in the US. Hopefully I become locally famous too, so I can quit my job and freelance forever with my chronic pain problems. Or be a ghost tour guide as my real job.

I'm a story worm. Which is like a bookworm, but with all forms of stories, like movies and podcasts and personal anecdotes. Sometimes, I tell stories. I hope the stories have value for you. I've been enamored with the art of sharing stories my entire life.

My Cat is my pfp at the time of this posting. His name is Oswald Cheesecake. He looks like a wizard to me in that photo, in a brown cloak. But he' just in a paper bag. They are his favorite thing. There is a very good story behind his name, too.

[goodluckclove]

Are You a Writer That Isn't Writing? Join Me Inside My Blanket Fort!

Hi! Welcome! It's so good to see you. i've just been hanging out here, kind of listening to my favorite podcast and drinking some green tea. I have another bottle here - do you want to try? It has lemon in it. It's sweet, but not too sweet. Just like I like it.

Yeah, so I might need to introduce myself. My name is Clover, but you can call me Clove. I've been a write for fifteen years and I've finished fourteen novels. I published one and I'm working on the sequel. I've written and produced plays, published short stories, and even worked as a copywriter and ghostwriter. That wasn't very fun. Actually, the writing was fun, but they brough in AI right at the end - it's a long story. Anyways, what I mean to say is that you could consider me a working writer. If you go through my blog I post a lot of snippets from what I'm working on. You can even Google my old pen name "Miranda Seaver" and find some columns and stories and I think a short play I had some strangers do over Facebook.

I'm not saying this to brag. I'm saying this because I've been doing this for a long time and I want you to have context to the work I've done as we keep talking to each other. If you read what I write and you don't like it, maybe you can decide that I have no idea what I'm talking about. That's fine. We can still be friends!

Okay, so you're probably here because you're having trouble writing. Either that or you just can't resist the allure of a blanket fort - that makes sense too. But assuming you're unable to write for some reason, I just wanted to speak to you in private. Because I know it's hard. I know it's disillusioning. And though there's this weird perception online that writers are supposed to hate writing, I personally believe the situation is a lot more nuanced than that.

Maybe you're scared. Or you're tired. Or the whole act of sitting down and writing feels so big and clumsy and unwieldy as it bounces around your head that you don't know what to do with it. The weight of it doesn't feel right. It happens - it happens to me too sometimes, and it never feels good. But it's a natural part of the creative process and it's more of a slight mishandling rather than massive sin or flaw of character.

It might not help that there's so much advice online, isn't there? It seems all these people have a set guide to how to do literally everything. There's some sort of odd binary to the creative process that some make it seem as if writers innately fall under. You're either a pantser that never outlines, or a plotter that only structures. Every draft has have a specific focus, and you must follow an arc to achieve any specific goal in your character or plot.

That's a lot! Isn't that a lot? I've been talking to a lot of new writers on here who find all of that information - especially the information that conflicts (A lot of them) to be deeply intimidating. If not intimidating, then just slightly...off. Potentially enough to make the act of opening a word processor and slamming out a few hundred words to not really seem like that much fun anymore.

See, there are useful writing resources on tumblr. People with unique experiences sharing their specific information in a public space where writers can benefit from it. How would a certain mobility aid impact a person's life? What are the physical ramifications of training on a sword? Look at this picture of some sickass gems of different colors! These are all super cool things that I find incredibly useful for both current and future reference.

On the other hand, the guides that speak structurally to writing? That try and tell you the exact steps to follow in order to achieve a certain result? A lot of them end their posts by plugging their ko-fi but don't actually show any of their own personal writing? They don't necessarily have the answers.

If you read some prompt list and it inspires you, that's cool and great! Our brains think of a lot of really innovative things based on the smallest spark of input and that's a truly incredible thing. But if you read someone who makes a list of ways to show a certain emotion and you're left confused and discouraged - consider that they're wrong. Or not wrong, not really. They just don't have the right story.

For other forms of writing advice, maybe they're right - only not in a genre you want to write in. That's the weird thing about all these writing blogs that don't actually say what they write or read. If I was looking for writing advice, I wouldn't go to someone who specializes in reading and writing political thrillers or mysteries. They're valid genres, just not what I specifically do.

You just can't make grand blanket statements about this kind of thing, and that's an unpleasant truth I think we all need to hear.

Every writing rule has been broken successfully. The Dharma Bums, and frankly anything else Jack Kerouac has ever written, has truly no plot. American Psycho chains you to a truly reprehensible protagonist. Naked Lunch was written in one long chunk that was then cut up and rearranged, and then that nonsense was published. If On a Winter's Night a Traveler takes YOU (literally you - half the narrative is written in second person) and sends you on a wild goose chase where every other chapter is a different book. Kurt Vonnegut has a literal self insert of himself that shows up as a side character in Breakfast of Champions and then takes role in the lead cast in Timequake. Read a Chuck Palahinuik book and he will lie to you three time at least. Read House of Leaves and you'll feel like you're wandering a contemporary art gallery. I can't fucking get past the first 60 pages of Ulysses but I've been TRYING for YEARS because the prose is BEAUTIFUL.

I'm rambling. What I mean to say is that - you know Monet? Manet? Degas and Renoir, and all the other painters of the Impressionist era? They make the kind of paintings you probably think of if I ask you to imagine a painting you'd find in an art museum. They're respected - idolized, even. People will dedicate their lives to painting in honor to the legacy of Impressionism.

This would be a great surprise to early Impressionists, who were mocked mercilessly for their work. The name itself - Impressionism - was a reclaimed dig at how their art style was an impression of actual art. The road for it to even be CONSIDERED art, much less respected AS art, was a long one.

I'm rambling again, aren't I? I had a lot of this green tea. I just hate to hear so many people refuse to develop the ideas in their heads for one reason or the other. Or, even worse, they circle the brainstorming stage over and over again, far past the point of usefulness. I agree that some people function better with some form of an outline. I outline in my own way, through short form bullet points or taking space to storyboard in my head to music. It can help! But even if you work better with structure, there's a good chance that you don't need that much structure.

You can't fail here. You truly can't, I promise you. If you finish listening to me and you crawl out of the blanket fort and write two paragraphs, nothing bad will happen. If it's not the strongest thing you've ever written, that's okay. We're writers, aren't we? If you write something that you don't like, you aren't a fraud. You aren't weak. You aren't a hack. You haven't failed. You don't lack creativity or imagination or motivation.

Here's the truth: If you write something you don't like, you're a writer who wrote something you don't like. It doesn't mean you're bad. It doesn't even mean the writing is objectively bad. That's it.

Writers tend to be dramatic. I know I am. I laid on the couch for an hour trying to wrestle with act three of my newest book, and as my wife tried to talk me through it I slowly sank off the couch and onto the floor. Much as a slug would. If you ever get into that mindset, that's just a thing that happens when you're an artist. I think in the Hemmingway days writers would drink or smoke until they had the strength to try again.

We've seen how that turns out though. So welcome to the new era of writers who - though occasionally neurotic - try again at some point. And everyone is welcome. As I said already, there are no real rules or guides to the structure of writing, only ideas. And if you don't like the idea, you can look or think of another one.

And you can think of another one. Assuming you don't just have a drastically unrealistic perception of how much societal clout you can achieve by saying you're a writer (Answer: nearly none), you clearly want to tell a story. I haven't met a single person with that dream that has it based on nothing. The situation is so much more vast and complicated than the internet will try to make it out to be. Did you see some variation of the Apple Test and decide that your Aphantasia means you can never be a writer? Consider reading up on the Aphantasia Network to get a better look at the condition and learn more about what it means for you. Imagination is nuanced and it is absolutely not limited to Overall Apple Clarity!

Okay, that's all I have to say. I just want to see more people here putting their ideas to paper because a lot of them are really good and interesting, and they deserve to be seen. The feeling of writing your story is so much more complex and rich than just thinking about it, I promise. I know you can do it.

Okay okay. I have to pee. This was a long talk! I'm going to scoot past you in the fort now, but I think before you go on with your day you should maybe check out a video I think you'd like.

Have a nice day, Friend!

oh and this too.

yeah nice

[freeuselandonorris]

first line game

i was tagged by @vroombeams @glasscushion and @strawberry-daiquiris to post the first line of my last ten fics!

i skipped the tumblr archive one bc that doesn’t really count. sorry if this is formatted horribly, i’m on mobile!

💔 some poor sucker at the bottom of the lake

Six days after Miami, Lando leaves a bite mark on Oscar’s chest.

🏆 it’s just self-defence until you’re building a weapon

It’s lonely, sometimes, in the car.

🥚 like milk from a baby

You’d never know it, looking at him.

🎀 fall in love again and again

It doesn’t sink in until Oscar’s in parc fermé, watching the team hug and scream in each others’ faces in the pit lane.

⛳️ prospects all in the whip

“You know Oscar, right?” he asks sometime near the beginning of the season.

🥂get higher than the limit

If the team thinks it’s weird that Lando gets Oscar to fly back to Monaco with him on the private jet, they don’t say anything.

🌭 so make your thighs like butter (easy to spread)

Oscar looks ready for bed when Lando knocks, standing in the doorway in his oversized Quadlock tee and boxers.

⚔️ pull out the incisor

Oscar brings him a slice of birthday cake.

🦪 some girls you wanna see shiver

She’d been dreaming, that was the issue.

🌀 bodies bodies bodies

l4ndo: sooo ive been listenin to a new one

love me a punchy opener!

low pressure tags for @monacotrophywife @scenetocause @lost-decade @zeraparker @bright-and-burning 💞

[themushroomprince03]

Trying to figure out the exact species of the JATGP bugs (and also cool bug facts!)

(Warning: pictures of bugs)

I’m gonna start with ya boi:

Mr. Grasshopper:

First of all, I love him and I wanna be him

Grasshoppers are the only herbivores of the 6 bugs. Uh. Yeah.

Grasshoppers have camouflage! And they can fly just a little bit, but their strong hind legs do most of the work.

Since Mr. Grasshopper is green and British I’m going to infer that he is a Omocestus viridulus, AKA the common green grasshopper

Literally the same guy.

The common green grasshopper is from Britain, and, like the name suggests, common. Very common, in fact. I think they’re like the second most common grasshopper in Britain (most common one isn’t green)

Mrs. Ladybug!

She’s so sweet msmfjrjgjggjjgfjf

FIRST OF ALL, IN BRITAIN LADYBUGS ARE CALLED “LADYBIRDS”

WHICH IS STUPID BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT FUCKING BIRDS

In related news, ladybugs are actually a type of beetle. Sorry for ruining your life.

Ladybugs eat aphids and scale insects (little tiny insects idk) and also pollen and nectar. Not peaches though.

Anyways considering the fact that she is red and has black spots, I’m gonna say she’s probably a Coccinella septempunctata AKA the Seven-Spotted Ladybug. They are just THE ladybugs of all time.

Very cool. Also easy asf. These ladybugs can play dead when threatened and also they are real pretty.

Mr. Centipede:

Silly billy he’s always been my favourite especially in the book he has a goofy little smile

Centipedes are venomous and carnivores. They eat anything they can overpower with their venom. Centipedes are nocturnal, because they dry out VERY easily in the daytime. They usually either don’t have eyes or have shit eyesight. They also have no ears. They “hear” by sensing vibrations in the ground.

This one was a little bit difficult because centipedes don’t vary all that much, but I’m thinking Lithobius forficatus, AKA the garden/brown/stone centipede.

They have many names. They are also very common, especially in North America and the UK. Garden centipedes are born with 7 pairs of legs, and grow legs throughout their life, maxing out at 15 pairs of legs (they always have an odd number of leg pairs) They live under rocks, and if someone lifts those rocks, these centipedes are in luck, because they’re also very good at running. I THINK they have eyes, but if they do, their eyes can only discern light from dark.

Stone centipedes mostly eat flies, springtails, and, uh. Earthworms. But us JATGP Musical fans knew that

Mrs. Spider:

Y’all know spiders I will not explain them. Also I’m scared of spiders so I will NOT show many pictures of them *shudder*

Mrs. Spider could be literally any spider in France. The only spider that’s black with white stripes like this is a zebra spider (Salticus scenicus) and they don’t actually look like her that much. But they’re cute as fuck❤️

I wish I could show you a picture but mobile Tumblr has a maximum of 10 photos per post, but they’re really cute and fluffy.

Anyways, I feel like she’s more likely to be a Steatoda grossa, AKA Cupboard Spider, but they look more scary so I’m not gonna show photos.

But only the males are black and white.

Fuck uhh

Okayy she’s possibly an Araneus nordmanni, AKA Nordmann’s Orbweaver. They’re really scary and I wanna cry but I’ll try to describe them. Black with brown legs, weird white pattern, giant ass. These spiders do exist in France, but they are very rare. (Not just in France, but in general.) They are VERY GOOD at climbing and tend to build webs high on trees (like in a dead peach tree. Maybe with their mate.) They eat insects like gnats, flies, and wasps. Good for them. I’m still terrified.

Also female Araneus nordmanni are apparently the dominant party in the relationship so…

…yeah she’s definitely a Nordman’s Weaver.

(Edit: user @my-favorites-suffer said she looks like she could be a species of wolf spider!)

Mr. Earthworm:

OH THANK GOD I CAN STOP LOOKING AT SPIDERS AND LOOK AT THESE CUTIE PIE WORMS!!!!

Earthworms are boneless, muscleless, eyeless silly billies. They’re also hermaphrodites (male AND female at the same time) and they can regenerate parts of their bodies (not always so please don’t go around cutting worms in half) They eat fruit, fungi, and anything decaying.

So, I don’t remember the whole movie or the book, but in the musical, Earthworm speaks Spanish sometimes, and his song is vaguely Latin-esque (our director gave him a mariachi jacket for Plump & Juicy. It might not actually be Latin-esque that’s just what I’ve been told if it isn’t then oopsies) so I always thought he was from like Central America, maybe Mexico?

How did a worm get from Mexico to Britain? Guess what: Most earthworms in Mexico are invasive and from other places! Which means it could happen the other way around, but also it means that doesn’t narrow down what species of worm Earthworm is! Fuck!

He’s probably supposed to be a Lumbricus terrestris (The common European Earthworm.)

They are the most common worms. Everywhere. But other than species and location, nothing connects this earthworm to THE Earthworm.

So I propose a much funnier idea: That he is some species of Amynthas.

There isn’t enough info about the Amynthas for me to figure out exactly which species of Amynthas he probably is, but look it has a smooth white clitellum like Earthworm!!

So there are 3 reasons why I feel like Earthworm is an Amynthas. 1. Appearance. 2. They are part of the family Megascolecidae, which are the largest family of earthworms (They do say he is a big worm, although that’s probably because he’s literally human-sized)

And 3. These worms are also called Jumping worms. Because they. Uh.

They jump. When they are scared. It’s REALLY funny.

Most Amynthas are from Asia, but somehow a bunch ended up in Mexico. And now I guess one ended up in Britain. And then New York. Invasive species behaviour. (Actually a lot of the JATGP insects are invasive)

Take your pick of worm!

(Also Glowworm is a Lampyris noctiluca, AKA common glow-worm. If you even care. Nobody cares abt Glowworm. How dare you. And James is probably a human boy.)

And that is all thanks guys heart emoji

[sheepytina]

So people are talking about the artwork in Metal Slug games again

There's been a few posts going around talking about how weird the Metal Slug characters look in the mobile games, particularly female characters like Eri and especially fan favourite Fio.

This conversation comes up again every so often, but it's been reignited on Tumblr again this week with three new Metal Slug games coming onto the scene:

The recent re-reveal of the indie title Metal Slug Tactics from Dotemu, which was originally announced in 2021, during Summer Game Fest 2024,

The June 2024 Nintendo Direct shadow-drop of a revamped version of the former mobile game Metal Slug Attack as Metal Slug Attack Reloaded, and

The impending global launch of the Chinese mobile game Metal Slug: Awakening from Tencent Games next month (July 2024), which originally released in China and SEA in 2023.

Remember these three names, because this is what this post is going to primarily centre around.

However there's one version of this type of post going around that just posts artwork from Metal Slug 3 and MS: Awakening and doesn't adequately explain what the artwork actually comes from and why it looks the way it does, resulting in the confusion and bewilderment of many people who are less familiar with the Metal Slug series.

And so I decided I really need to throw my hat into the ring and see if I can dissect this and bring some actual facts to the conversation.

Look, it's not great. Basically, the stuff people are saying is indeed mostly true, but there's a lot of half-truths and even a few straight up lies being mixed into it. Such as how what the original Metal Slug games looked like is actually more complicated than people think, for starters.

Furthermore, one of the three games I mentioned actually looks really good, and oddly it seems to be the one with the least attention on it right now.

Now, because I'm me, this blog post ended up really long, long enough to have chapter markers, so please bear with me and stick around to the end if you can. — And if you don't care about the historical context, I'm happy for you just to look at the pictures too.

Part 1: The original NEOGEO Metal Slug games

So the main point of this conversation is that the classic Metal Slug games let the characters look weird and cartoony. That's a big part of Metal Slug's core identity, and this is lost in the recent mobile games.

(Of course I had to get a real CRT photo in here at some point.)

To define "classic Metal Slug" you can assume most people are referring Metal Slug 1 through to 3, i.e. the ones that SNK created before their bankruptcy in the year 2000. And most of all, that iconic character select screen from Metal Slug 2, X and 3.

As you can see, there's definitely a shift that took place here.

But hold on, Fio also looks pretty different on the arcade flyers, especially in her original debut in Metal Slug 2. So it's not exactly as clear cut at the cherrypicked images would suggest, but all the same there is still a distinct, extremely late '90s style to everything.

Metal Slug 4 and 5 also released for the NEOGEO system and are similarly loved by many, but were developed in the 2000s under the newly formed Playmore, aka SNK Playmore. I definitely agree with this sentiment that the "original identity" of Metal Slug was strongest in the early titles, and the artwork is the most noticeable reflection of that.

However, although it has little bearing on the conversation, I think it's important to clarify that this change to a contemporary anime style actually began in the early 2000s during the Playmore era of SNK. Like would happen with other SNK game series like The King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown, things got weird for Metal Slug once SNK was reborn as Playmore, eventually becoming SNK Playmore.

Still, all the mainline Metal Slug games through to Metal Slug 7 and Metal Slug XX are still considered classics by fans. The problem for a lot of fans would be SNK's push into new markets such as pachislot and mobile gaming.

Which brings us to…

Part 2: The Metal Slug smart device games, and the Chinese mobile game market

Mobile games would prove a highly lucrative market for SNK Playmore, with hundreds of titles published for Japanese phones during the '00s. A few of these also made their way to more conventional J2ME devices in China. Eventually the mobile gaming market would move to smartphones, with SNK bringing games such as Metal Slug Defense and Metal Slug Attack to market in the 2010s.

This is the first mention of China in this post and it won't be the last. SNK's arcade titles had traditionally been extremely popular in the Chinese market, and with the mobile game market rapidly growing and a hunger for bigger games from beloved SNK series, a lot of interest had grown for SNK titles in this market.

This would result in a huge investment from Chinese companies, with a new joint venture acquiring a 81% stake in the company in 2016, leading SNK Playmore to announce a new shift in their strategy, and with that came a rebrand, once again to simply SNK.

This new identity signified a new era for SNK. This newly reignited SNK would move away from non-videogame markets such as pachislot, and focus more on console games and character licensing. This is the SNK that gave us The King of Fighters XIV and a new Samurai Shodown game.

But this is also the SNK that really doubled down on the Chinese and South-east Asian mobile markets.

This is where this conversation stems from. Games such as the tower defence mobile game Metal Slug Attack and many other mobile games in series such as The King of Fighters would be massive money-makers for SNK. Even the new Samurai Shodown game on consoles/PC would centre Chinese audiences with its first DLC crossover characters pulling from Ubisoft's For Honor and Tencent's Honor of Kings.

But when it comes to centering the tastes of the mobile game market, the big one that bugs people is Metal Slug: Awakening, a mobile game developed and published under license by Tencent Games, which entered beta testing in 2021 and released in China and South-east Asia in 2023.

Now this game actually doesn't have all that much to do with SNK besides the license. However it would be disingenuous of me to say that means it's insignificant to the series. We didn't get to this point out of nowhere out of all. Plus this game is set for a global release in 2024, so this game is for all of us to enjoy.

Although, is it really for all of us? The game certainly seems to plays like a real Metal Slug game, retaining the series' famous run 'n gun gameplay, which is more than you can say for most Metal Slug mobile games. But it certainly doesn't look like a Metal Slug game. The in-game graphics are a strange 3D interpretation of the original pixel art, and all the game's promotional artwork and splash screens look like this. Fio in particular straight up looks like a different character in these pictures.

It's not great. I'm not about to try and defend this. It's just that I really need to stress that it's really not a game targeted towards us.

To make matters more confusing for a lot of people not super plugged-into Metal Slug is that it's not even the only Metal Slug game in the news recently. Metal Slug Tactics had been missing in action since 2021, and all of a sudden it gets re-revealed by Dotemu in June 2024 but overshadowed by many other announcements during the Summer Game Fest period.

But also, SNK themselves would, during the June 2024 Nintendo Direct, reveal and immediately shadow-drop a revamped offline version of the Metal Slug Attack game called Metal Slug Attack Reloaded.

I actually saw a lot of people confused by this. People who remembered the initial 2021 reveal of Metal Slug Tactics and thought this was the same game. It might seem obvious to some of us, but if this is you, then I assure you, it's not the same game.

Although SNK seems to be downplaying this for some reason, Metal Slug Attack is a pretty old mobile game that went defunct last year, and this is a revamped version of it for consoles and PC that can be played offline without microtransactions. (An increasing trend I want to see more of!) The game is still very much a mobile game to its core though and you can tell.

But, look, don't worry, there's hope for us yet, in the form of a new game that many western Metal Slug fans have been excited for for many years. I've already mentioned it, it's…

Part 3: Metal Slug Tactics, a new tactical Metal Slug game from Dotemu and French developer Leikir Studio

I'm going to preface this section with a clarification of my stance on this. As a strategy game this doesn't exactly scream classic Metal Slug. However, a few people have been lumping this in with the mobile games and I think that's pretty unfair.

For starters, this game is oozing with personality and really looks like it's developed by people who truly understand Metal Slug.

Second, the artwork in this game is clearly a very different beast from what can be seen in Metal Slug: Awakening.

Obviously this isn't the same as the funny looking characters you remember from the in-game graphics of the NEOGEO titles. I still however feel like this captures the spirit of these beloved characters better than any of the mobile games have. This is definitely along the lines of Sonic Mania or TMNT: Shredder's Revenge in terms of attention to detail, and that's especially reflected by how the actual game looks and moves in action.

This is really my true agenda if I'm perfectly honest. Please don't sleep on this game. Even if you don't like tactics games, this is the one you want to keep an eye on if you want a true return to form for Metal Slug.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hey it me again. Let’s try this for round two of my request for the tadc cast ( plus Caine) helping a reader with crutches at the breakfast table after they accidentally left them for the new i.h.a.

TADC cast x reader who uses crutches!

Side note I'm on mobile still for tumblr and my asks are getting weirder; the asks look fine in the inbox but when I go to answer them it like. Makes it on long thing, single worded lines. it's annoying and I dont like it!! It happened with the last request too grrrgrr

CAINE:

It takes him a while because it's not uncommon for circus members to skip out on IHAs, I mean zooble openly says they dont want to do them! But when he decides to go make sure you're not doing anything you're not supposed to (cough cough going into the void/j) he stumbles upon you

You can practically see the gears running in his head before he realizes the issue

Immediately zooms to your side and makes a show of apologies while helping you up

Shit he might even be frantic enough to scoop you up

Honestly I feel like Caine would feel so so bad and he would try to make it up to you

POMNI:

Feels very bad when she realizes you're not around; shes still trying to get hard to the digital world so shes still learning everyone and their whole deals

You know how some characters run with their hands out in front of them. In like a weird scurry. I think pomni would lowkey run like that when she tries to search every corner of the circus for you. Shed already check your room and a bunch of the halls before she even thinks about the main area

Letting out a stream of apologies as she gives you a hand, trying to let you know that she didnt do this to be malicious or hurtful

I think it would take a while longer for pomni to really, really, embed your needs into her schedule since shes juggling so much between coming to terms with being trapped and finding an exit, but she does promise to do better (and she does, eventually!)

RAGATHA:

It's rare that ragatha would just up and forget something like you needing crutches to really be able to move around; even rarer for ragatha to forget you as a whole for a brief moment

No I think the only way this scenario would work is if caine suddenly sprang up the days adventure out of no where as soon as the last person was done eating; and he decides to make it a really high energy chaotic one that takes everyone off guard

It's not long until she remembers you were left behind, though, shes probably one of the few who would take probably at most 10 or so minutes to go and get you.. jax is the second, oddly enough

That said she's apologizing and fretting over you before filling you in on everything you missed

Very sweet very nice, she wont let it happen again

JAX:

I like to think that jax does the "really fast run that he did leaving kaufmos room" a few times, especially when hes struck with a brilliant idea for a prank. So there definitely has been at least a couple instances where he left you behind. It's not so much that hes doing it out of malice, but its like. Those huge motivation spikes that prompt you to work ASAP, you know?

"Heh did you see that, reader?" After the prank he planted in an IHA goes off, turning around to find you're not here

Puts two and two together and runs off to where you were before and pulls you up

Lazy apology, I think, I mean I think jax is the type of person to struggle with apologizing but thats just me

KINGER:

Genuinely forgets because I mean... kinger has multiple instances of forgetting/not noticing gangle is right next to him in the pilot.. so do I really need to explain that kinger simply forgets? Obviously hes not doing it to be mean, assuming kinger truly is losing his marbles

I think it would require someone else outwardly asking where you are before he suddenly swivels in every direction trying to find you

Similar to pomni he runs around trying to find you before finding you by chance

Rather than immediately apologizing and helping you he runs over to you and expresses that he was scared SKMETHING had happened to you and how relieved he is to find that ultimately, you're okay

Then the streams of apologies start

Though I think this is a rare occurrence, because hes always trying to keep you in his line of sight; to align it with my other kinger hcs.. hmm.. perhaps this could happen in one of his worse days

ZOOBLE:

Zooble likely skips IHAs, so it would admittedly take them a while to find you. I mean if they're not at the IHA then they cant notice you're missing. I think they would find you when they decide to leave their room to wander the grounds, far from the chaos and

Oh!

You're kinda just, there. It looks like you had fallen over, your crutches far out of reach; perhaps you had tried to leave yourself after being stranded for a while

Zooble feels.. bad.. but they're flat in terms of expressing their emotions outside of annoyance and fear/surprise, so it kind of comes off as a

"Oh shit man my bad" reaction as they quickly try to get you your crutches and help you up

Takes you to their room after the fact, apologizing for bolting off so fast after breakfast

GANGLE:

Doesnt take long for her to realize you're not here, too, shes probably behind jax in regards of how fast shes going to retrieve you. Letting out these short squeaked apologies while helping you up; probably struggles doing so because shes made of ribbon and likely isnt that sturdy (I'm sorry that was mean)

Honestly you two probably skip out in the remainder of the IHA, gangle feels too horrible to go out and continue it snd you're tired, you know?

Two mirmir

[goldensunset]

mutual 1: [this post contains filtered tags]

mutual 2 (who has been gone for 24 hours): sorry about the hiatus guys i'm finally back!!!!

mutual 3: ugh i need him so bad <3 i love him more than his creator does <33333333333333

mutual 4: y'all really love to hide behind 'it's just media!' as if it doesn't have immediate and obvious effects on the people who consume it. sorry you think your obsession with bluey is more important than oh idk the lives of real people????

mutual 5: guys i just wanna say i'm so grateful for the rest of the bluey fandom. it got me through the worst years of my life and taught me a lot and i'm so glad we can all celebrate and talk about it together :)

mutual 6: [this post contains filtered content {url of detested mutual-in-law}]

mutual 7: good morning everyone! i am handing you all a small flower (*≧ω≦*)

mutual 8: i am in severe financial crisis

mutual 9: BLORBO/BLIMBUS NATION LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THEY LOOKED AT EACH OTHER

mutual 10: [completely untagged and unfilterable spoilers for something that just came out]

mutual 11: [this post contains four different filtered tags]

mutual 12 (does not actually follow you back but like. in your heart in your dreams): anyone have any drawing requests? :-D

mutual 13: i'm going to personally throttle my pharmacist why do i have to jump through hoops to stay alive

mutual 14: [the same post reblogged 10+ times in a row]

mutual 15: is tumblr mobile doing this weird glitch for anyone else?

mutual 16: that's why squibbus makes me cry- authorus squibbithon just writes his story so beautifully and delicately and dives deep into the troubled beauty of his soul and the way he strives to overcome his trauma every day...

mutual 17: i used to jump in the river and let the current take me