#we got such choice hits as:

[aurosoul]

this is my first rainy reason in SoCal and there are Weird mushrooms here, I love it

[sashthesloth]

Finished veilguard, I finally will go on the tag as a treat because those last 4 hours put me through so much....

[usertoxicyaoi]

my personal weatherman + improvisations.

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

ok this is a deeply deeply weird manifesto and i'm sorry but i feel suddenly very burdened to say it so. if you felt like we were friends and i unfollowed you, this is for you. (don't be scared this is not about problems with anyone this is just my mess. that I think is ok to have which is why I'm talking about it)

so I joined tumblr in 2020 when a) the world was isolated b) I had just moved to a new city and was living alone taking Zoom classes in my apartment. what started as a mindless distraction became such a lifeline of connection and friendship! and still such a support as things started to open back up and get busier in 2021, when I was teaching and in class in person but still struggling for close in-person friendships. I know the group dynamic on here has shifted a number of times, as some of you probably experienced from various vantage points. my use of tumblr has shifted too, on and off, as I've needed different things out of it and been in different spiritual and emotional states. and I've kind of come to realize that I probably threw myself in too eagerly in some ways. it was so exciting to have actual friends on here and for them to actually turn into friends in person, that honestly I maybe prized that dynamic too much for what it symbolized over actually valuing the people. I'm sorry for doing that.

anyway, that worked fine for a bit, but as (glory be to God) I've become much more plugged into my in-person community in the last couple years, I've felt more and more emotionally strained. I've taken up a new attitude towards my family that's much more in line with God, but also much more draining as it means I have to just pour out in prayer and love and wait with patient sorrow over some things rather than fighting and defending my perspective as always right and necessary; and then there's the church-related grief my family has gone through over the last year. I've had a very delicate and difficult friendship that pulled up a lot of unresolved stuff from a college situation and felt endlessly wearying at times. I've had another issue from college recur in a way I thought had been healthily resolved years ago. I've had this whole roommate marriage situation that as y'all know is a very weird trial and pressure. My church has been dealing with a strange and tough ongoing struggle that was already stressing me out before I started working there. My small group has been amazing and I've loved connecting with and relying on them more, but that connection also means more fully bearing the griefs of a lot of different people dealing with the different struggles of life. My advisor situation has been so weird and tough, making my academic work really hard, and then this recent church work has been fulfilling but physically and often mentally exhausting. My future location, work, and community is up in the air after a few years of stability. (I really didn't mean to make this a recitation of my woes, but honestly it's really helpful to see it all written out here; helps explain my deep deep exhaustion, I guess.)

If I ever followed you on tumblr, I love you. In a number of different ways. I feel fondness at the thought of you and at your presence; I want to know you more fully; I desire the good for you; and I find my well-being to be, at least a little bit, tied up with yours. That last one is the rub. As I'm sorting through all the callings and duties in my life, trying to identify what counts as changing my tires versus what wears my tires out, I've found that my tumblr dashboard can switch back and forth very unpredictably between one thing and the other. Often it's a delight to come on here and find my friends and the cool things we're showing each other and the joys and sorrows and goofy moments of our lives! But at other times, when what I desperately need is an escape and rest and humor to provide solace from in-person cares, I find myself pricked all over again by the sorrow of the world and the stress of sin--or even just irritated by stuff I find irrelevant or disagree with or don't want to be reminded of.

To be clear, I'm not saying anyone's doing anything wrong on here. The opposite; I love the freedom y'all have to seek out what helps you, whether that's a lot of facts and ideas or a lot of goofy content or recipes or weird TV or music or venting about life or seeking prayer or advice! We all have the freedom and responsibility to determine how to use the tools we have to aid us in pursuing the good, whether the good is a quick laugh or building up virtue. But I think for me, at this point in my life, my duty and calling has swung back towards my in-person connections in a variety of ways, and I have to honor that.

The lie of infinity that the internet offers is just that--a lie. for me, that lie right now is being laid bare in my inability to have infinite care for everyone whose path I cross. I could follow everyone on here whom I'm endeared to, could keep messaging and replying and building relationships, but it would be a lie to think I can offer that love and care to everyone I would like to. In-person friendships are limited by physical proximity and time; online friendships can't be unlimited either. I need to apologize for acting as though they could be, and committing myself beyond my limits; but also, my life has really changed, and I'm not going to be caught either by the lie that online is only worthwhile if it's permanent.

I want to be clear that I value the connections I've had with you. I've loved exchanging mail and phone calls, messaging fun things back and forth, being online at the same time or learning about your day after the fact. Please know, also, that I have gone to war in prayer for you, and I continue to do so. I wish that I knew how to love widely without feeling pulled apart and worn down, by difference and sorrow and sin (mine and yours). I hope God is sanctifying me toward that end. But right now I'm fairly convinced I need to honor my calling to in-person friendships; I need to protect my mind and heart from even little pricks and distractions, so that I can keep my desires in order and use my energy for prayer and Scripture and to do good work and love the people God's made my physical neighbors. I really do love you, and I wish we had infinite time to talk and think together. I'm so excited to be with y'all in heaven forever. And who knows--maybe my life will shift yet again (it's looking likely) and I'll have a ton of spare energy and love and will come sheepishly back looking to connect with you again. We'll see. You deserve love and attention and connection, in person and online, and I'm sorry that--at least as it feels to me--I held out the promise of giving you that and then had to withdraw it.

so. there's all that. My dash is super quiet these days, thwarting my dopamine search but pushing me towards texting friends, towards meditating more fully on Scripture, towards praying over my work and burdens. I hope you can understand and maybe even be glad that, God willing, this is how I'm able and needing to work for the kingdom right now. love you love you

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Authors making literary choices about their characters that add an edge that could be hard for the audience to sit with is, in fact, a good thing

[unganseylike]

thinking to myself *we love public transit we love public transit we love public transit* to convince myself after each terrible train experience…

[sirpeppersto]

okay so my college got evicted and they didnt tell us until today by putting a notice on the door 💀 so my cosmo license is on hold until they figure their shit out

[harpieisthecarpie]

Mildly important fanwork/fandom interaction questions! Anyone can feel free to answer!

Thinking about fandom interactions, I'm wondering about how we as fan communities can create fun environments and engage with other fans more!

You can answer (or not answer) however many of these questions as you want! The questions bolded with their number in purple are the ones I'm most curious about.

Feel free to reply in the reblogs, tags, or comments!

If you can, please reblog so we can get more answers :)

Questions below!

(There's sections for fans that make fanworks, fans that interact with fanworks, and fans that enjoy fanworks but don't interact.)

Fans that create fanworks (fanart, fanfic, edits, etc):

A1. What are your favorite kinds of interactions/comments? Ex. Long rambles, analyses and theories, strings of incoherent garbled yelling

A2. Where do you like to get them? Ex. Ao3 vs Tumblr, reblogs vs tags vs comments, in DMs?

A3. Do you want or enjoy people creating stuff inspired by or modifying yours? (Creating as in art of your fic, fic of your art, etc. Modifying as in translations, podfics, etc)

A4. Do you want or enjoy people promoting your stuff? Ex. fic rec lists, sharing in groupchats, posting about your stuff with links to it

A5. How do you feel when you get nice comments or have good interactions?

A6. Most importantly, what would you say to people who are scared to or or don't know how to start interacting with fanworks?

Fans that enjoy fanworks and interact with them:

B1. What kind of comments do you like leaving and where do you leave them? Ex. Ao3 vs Tumblr, reblogs vs tags vs comments

B2. What makes you more likely to interact?

B3. What made you start interacting?

B4. Have you made any friends or mutuals by commenting and interacting?

B5. Has leaving comments and talking with creatives changed how you feel about or approach your own fanworks?

B6. How has interacting with fanworks and the guys who make them improved your fan experience?

People that enjoy fanworks but don't interact (no judgment! We're all different 💛):

C1. Do you want to interact more? If you do, what makes you want to comment or interact?

C2. Is there anything holding you back? Ex. nerves, unsure how, bad past experiences, etc.

C3. Do you make your own fanworks? Has that affected (or been affected by) your choice not to interact?

C4. Are there ways other fans could help or encourage you to interact or get involved? Are there any ways you want to encourage yourself?

THANKS FOR ANSWERING IF YOU DO :D

PS. Add a 💛 or <3 to your response/reblog if you want me to make an anonymous survey focusing on this topic!

I'd compile and post the results so we can see how our fellow fans think :)

[faerynova]

on a social level i like my current choir more than the previous one. im actually getting to know people and enjoy talking and going to social events outside of choir which i havent done since my first choir. but also i definitely miss the music taste my last director had

current choir has a focus on north american composers. obviously theres baller stuff in that selection pool. but listen. listen i wanna sing bulgarian folk music again.

[yappacadaver]

you know they were about to go so hard on emmy's personal quest. they didnt. but at least someone in that writing room wanted to give us that good good

[heartshapedhackjob]

One time when i was in high school we got assigned these fake realistic babies to care for and i got stupidly attached to mine and paid $70 to buy it from the school and these girls stole him and my girlfriend and i had to go to war to get him back. This is a true story.

[digitaldiseas3]

i’m so excited for my next opportunity to abuse substances

[blujayonthewing]

so in juniper's campaign we've just found ourselves in a high-stakes situation that I as a player do frankly find stressful and am anxious about, but hey hi also the DM was like 'okay here are the exact mechanics of how this is going to work because I don't want to surprise you with serious repercussions, also here are all the options you will have to try to do something about the situation-- [affected player] what do you think? honest feedback, I don't want it to feel unfair, I want to be clear that I am not just trying to kill your character, and if it ends up being badly balanced we can revisit it down the road' and oh my god I could COLLAPSE and WEEP with gratitude

[merrillapologist]

Yeah veilguard’s gonna be pure shit amen I’m so prepared to get it the day it launches and dedicate my every waking moment to completing it and reading every codex and then never touch it again except for the character creator

[sophieswundergarten]

My brain came up with this while I was half asleep, and then I proceeded to promptly forget about it for the seventy-two some-odd hours. But I remembered tonight! So here you go:

Sophie Assigns the "Good" MBS Humans to the Fellowship of the Ring

I just thought the other day, "Hey, four kids plus four adults and one Miss Perumal makes nine! Guess what other book I enjoy has an initial grouping of nine protagonists?" And then the rest of this followed

Of course, I made the Hobbits the kids. It just worked really well with the route I was going.

Frodo - Constance. They both have a lot on their shoulders, and whether they like it or not they are instrumental in the success of their friends

Sam - Kate. I waffled a bit on Sam, but I think Kate fits best here. She has her bucket and is very prepared, and she also goes on solo missions with/carries Constance a lot.

This means the boys are Merry and Pippin!

Merry - Reynie. If I'm remembering right, Merry is a little older than Pippin, and tends to look out for him. I know they're cousins in the books, but I really like the idea of them as a brother-like duo that works together a lot.

Pippin - Sticky. Slightly less life experience than the others his age, but still doing his best! Also very close with his friends and gets put in a position of power under a Not Great Guy (Denethor/Curtain) and learns to break away from him and look out for the people he loves.

Okay. So. I know that initially it seems like Mr. B should be Gandalf. But hear me out.

Gandalf - Milligan. He's there sometimes, sometimes he's off doing other stuff that is still vital to the mission but not immediately visible! He jumps off things (Granted, Gandalf has the Eagles to help him), and has that kind of general colour scheme. He advises the kids both individually and as a group.

Gimli - Number Two. I don't even know. I just felt this one immediately. She's really intense and strong and a good fighter, but sometimes she needs someone to tell her to calm down and loosen up a bit.

Legolas - Rhonda. Also felt this one as soon as I thought about it. Something about Rhonda having slightly better people skills and the general charisma of an elf, but she's still super close with Number Two and they make fun little competitions out of working together.

Boromir - Nicholas. Now. This gave me a lot of trouble, but I think it works because this is the character he would give himself. The one with a brother, who gets "favoured", but ultimately falls prey to his weakness. He genuinely wants to help the kids, but in the end he puts them in danger. This does not mean Curtain is Faramir. We're not even getting into that can of worms here.

And we all know what this means!!

Aragorn - Miss Perumal. I love this one, even though it kind of happened by process of elimination. Her "bit of a puzzler" traits as a ranger who can track people all over the place is so good. Also, this means that she'd get a girls team up with Rhonda and Number Two as the Three Hunters! And, come on. I really want to give her a cool sword.

[thethingything]

"why do I feel so weird and awful" says man who already made a post half an hour ago that included the reasons he feels weird and awful