#will reblog with fandom tags tomorrow

[bilbao-song]

(all credit for the original idea [and a significant portion of this text] goes to @quiet-beatle​!)

ho ho ho, classic rock fans! Christmas is coming and so is The Secret Rocker Santa project! if you are looking for an opportunity to make new friends who love classic rock, or just want to make someone happy, this is your chance!

** if you don’t want to see posts about this anymore: filter the tags #secret rocker santa and/or #srs23 — click here for an explanation of how to filter tags **

What is Secret Rocker Santa?

Secret Rocker Santa is a tumblr-wide “match-maker” in which you will anonymously send asks to (and hopefully befriend!) a tumblr user who is assigned to you. you will also be assigned to someone else, who will send anonymous asks to you. the event will run from december 1st through december 25th. while this might seem complicated, it’s actually quite simple, and you will only need to answer a minimum of two questions to sign up.

How it works:

you must read these instructions!

the deadline to sign up is november 28th. there are two ways that you can sign up: the first option is to sign up via google forms. the second option is to send me a submission (or an ask) with your completed questionnaire (found here). while the first two questions are required, you can otherwise provide as much or as little information as you want.

please reblog this post! (this isn’t a strict requirement, but it would be greatly appreciated and helps to ensure that enough people will participate!)

your ask box must be open to anyone! this means that anon asks will have to be enabled. if you want, you can wait until the first day of the project (december 1st) to change this setting, but please make sure you remember!

your blog doesn’t have to be classic rock-related, you just need to be a fan. (we will also be using a very broad definition of “classic rock,” so nearly any music from 1950s-1990s counts.)

(those are the main things you need to know, but more details + some helpful tips are below the cut!!)

shortly after signing up you will be assigned a number — you probably won't need it for anything, but it's a backup way for me to keep track of who is who in case we run into any problems :)

during the last days of november, i will be assigning people to their Secret Rocker Santas. you will receive a message from me telling you who you have been assigned to, either in the form of an ask or direct message.

you will start messaging the person assigned to you ANONYMOUSLY on the 1st of december and continue until Christmas (december 25th), which is when you will reveal your identity and (hopefully) have made a new friend!

you can send your partner whatever you want (as long as you do not reveal your identity). your job is to make your partner feel happier! (some ideas: send lyrics, pictures, or facts; play games, chat, and of course do things that are not only associated with classic rock).

be careful - make sure you are messaging your assigned partner anonymously.

please tag messages that you receive from your secret santa and any other related posts as #SRS23, so your santa will be able to find your answers more easily.

EXTRA REMINDERS:

some people might get more than one santa or will be assigned to more than one person, depending on how many people participate and how many suitable matches i have for certain people. if you are certain you will not be able to be a secret santa for two people, please mention this when you submit your form (you can also let me know if you would prefer to be a santa for two or more people! anyone who volunteers for this will get first pick if the need arises)

if you’re not committed to sending asks to your partner and/or responding to your santa at least a few (2-3) times a week, please do not sign up.

while the primary focus of this project is classic rock, any additional interests you list may be used as a secondary way of helping to find a good match for you. with that in mind, don’t hesitate to list any interests and hobbies you might have, whether they relate to classic rock or not! this will especially come in handy if there are many applicants who like a particular band, or if i am having trouble finding a match for you based on your favorite bands.

if your santa has not contacted you in over a week, message me and i will gently remind them or find you another one.

as a general rule, be nice! anyone who is rude to the another participant will be removed from the project.

make sure to answer all of your santa’s messages! you don’t have to answer right away, but don’t ignore them.

please let me know if you experience any problems at all (for example, if i have made a mistake, or you are having problems with either your own santa or the person you are assigned to)

if you are not already following your partner’s blog, you probably shouldn’t do it right away, because they might guess that you are their santa.

it’s useful to have an easy-to-find “about me” page or pinned post so that your santa will have a better chance of finding something to talk to you about!

please try to keep a note of who you’ve been assigned to, as well as your assigned number!

IF YOU CHANGE YOUR URL AT ANY TIME DURING THE PROJECT PLEASE LET ME KNOW. if you don’t let me know about your new URL (or otherwise make it clear that you have moved), i will not be able to assign matches for you.

please be patient! i will assign matches and answer questions as quickly as possible, but please keep in mind that i have other responsibilities too!

you don’t need to be following me, but i will be sharing updates here, so it would be a good idea to at least keep an eye on that page/tag.

please don’t hesitate to participate! this is supposed to be a fun, lighthearted, seasonal activity, and if you do encounter any issues, i will help you :)

ALL RELEVANT LINKS:

google forms sign-up

copy the questionnaire here (to sign up if you don't wish to use google forms)

paste questionnaire, fill out, and submit here

FAQ page

all future updates will be posted in this tag!

lastly, if you have any questions or want to ask for advice, do not hesitate to message me or send an ask!

please spread the word if possible! :)

[bcneheaded]

Hi hello <3 I'll be very busy this week, but this is open to yall!! Give me a like here and I'll send you like 1-5 memes (or specify how many if you feel like five is excessive or something idk!) As always, multimuse friends please specify a muse or two, ty ty

[oneeyedoctogod]

Disclaimer: long, extremely personal rant. Yes, it's also about mdzs and Jiang Cheng but mainly, it's about me trying to deal with my own trauma when I'm being hit in the face (metaphorically) with it by putting my feelings into words. The posting is so I don't erase it and force myself to forget about it.

You know it's funny, but as I was trying to sleep (and failing. Badly. It's 2:38 am.) I kept on finding myself thinking about why I didn't like Jiang Cheng. Because you see, it's rare for me to dislike a character that much, to the point I actually have blacklisted all his tags and avoid any fics that talk about him positively.

(Again, this is an extremely personal post about my own feelings. This is not meant as a rebuke if you love him. On the contrary. Keep doing what sparks joy. Just, you know, far away from me.)

I have a funny history with the mdzs fandom. I first started watching the donghua when it started airing back in... 2018? 2019? Can't remember for sure. Then I was left hungry for more because only the first season had aired, and it ended on a big cliffhanger. I saw it was an adaptation, so I went looking for the source material... and found the manhua (I was used to japanese animation at that point and thought that was it). The manhua was also being fan translated, and despite being extremely different (and confusing for poor past me), ALSO left me on a cliffhanger. I was desperate and saw someone pointing out there was a novel! I finally found it, read it in a few nights, and loved it. I read a bunch of fics, enjoyed myself, met and befriended people. Then I moved on after a while. I remember, distinctly, that I wasn't a big fan of Jiang Cheng but that I could at least stomach him in fics.

Last December, I felt the urge to reread some mdzs fics. I read some popular ones and, after falling into the animatics and amvs rabbit hole, decided to rewatch the donghua. Except for some reason, Jiang Cheng's character rubbed me wrong. I remembered not liking him much but he wasn't that bad in the fics so I couldn't see why he was so distasteful in the donghua. I'd been warned that the donghua wasn't that faithful (my own memory was extremely hazy), so I just shrugged it off. Maybe the people behind the donghua weren't fans of jc?

I saw there was an official translation of the novel and, by that point, DEEP into the hyper fixation, I bought all four available volumes and read them. At the same time, I was still reading fics. It was fine after all, I already knew the story.

By then, I had realized something was a little wrong with the characteristization. Some of the tropes given to Wei Wuxian rubbed me the wrong way. I looked it up a little (remade a tumblr, found amazing meta, the rest is history) and figured "Ah that must be cql fics. That's the problem."

And yes, that's true. In part.

The other problem lies with the particular way some people write Jiang Cheng. I'll be clear again: I have nothing against those people. Most of them I don't know and I'm aware this is very much a, shall we say, "me" problem. It's why I avoid the positive Jiang Cheng content. I don't care if you keep writing it so long as you keep it away from the canon jc tag.

But whenever people write Jiang Cheng and completely erase his crimes and abuse of both Wei Wuxian and Jin Ling, I feel it like a slap on the face.

Last Monday, I saw a therapist and talked about her about many things (I did warn this would be a very personal post). Part of it was my mother and her treatment of me and my brothers. And after barely a few words, she said, very simply "Oh so your mother abused you."

I already knew that. I use those words myself to describe my history with her. But the validation is always nice to hear, you know? Especially because so many people try or have tried to brush it off as "nothing." My own mother did, both about her own behaviour and when I was being abused by other people and tried to seek her help. Hell, even I still do it sometimes.

And I think that's why I hate Jiang Cheng so damn much now. His canon self is... Well, I'm not a fan, but he's a well-written antagonist. But dear gods, I've seen so many people brush off his canon characteristics to make him into a more palatable character, the loving uncle, the funny tsundere brother, the ace guy who hates mushy romance (let me tell you, as an ace person I am also real fucking tired of homophobic characters being hc as ace)... Even the ones who mention his bad parts feel the need to immediately add his achievements, as if they don't dare speak badly of their fave. "Yes, he tortured Wei Wuxian, but he also sacrificed his core to save him!" "Yes, he hit and verbally abused Jin Ling, but he also lovingly raised him!" "Yes, he tortured and killed innocent people but he also has trauma and had to lead a sect when he was so young!"

And this feels familiar, every time. This feels like the people telling me "Yes but it's not that bad" or saying "Yes your mother gave you panic attacks but she made sure you didn't fail at school" or "Yes but she made you love reading" or "Yes but she gave you so much, don't be selfish" or "Yes but she was here for you when you were depressed" or "Yes but she has it hard too" until I fell in the habit of saying "Sure, my mother insulted me and threatened me financially and there was a long, long time I was convinced she didn't love me... but."

Always that damn BUT.

So you might be able to understand why I have a hard time with Jiang Cheng when people pull the same shit all thenfucking time. I'm working on it because I'd rather not be stuck feeling anxious about a silly purple grape just because he happens to be fandom fave in my current hyperfixation but in the meantime, I have to deal with it and it's... annoying. To say the least.

(I'm going to insist here: I know that Jiang Cheng isn't my mother. That's not the point here. I am fully aware he's a fictional character and that me feeling that way is something I should be working on. I am. And I'm not telling people to stop writing positive content for him. This is just me trying to put into words my complicated feelings for a complicated character. And ranting, a little bit, about badly tagged fics I admit.)

It's easier on social media. You just block the characters tag and, if people bother you about it, you block them. Friends being friends, I just need to tell them "I don't feel comfortable talking about this character" or "let's agree to disagree on this interpretation" and because my friends are the best, they agree and we move on.

Fanfiction is where the problem lies.

I know why people erase the 'hard' parts, or at least I have a good guess. It's easier that way. Fanfiction is about having fun! It's about writing about your blorbos the way you want to! I don't want to police anyone's content. I'd just like it if people tagged their OOC and stopped trying to make me feel as if I'm the one who misread the book because I don't feel like erasing the canonical abuse this character did or because I don't like that they keep putting down my favorite character to uplift theirs.

I'm not sure how to conclude this. I should be sleeping honestly.

Let's try this: if you read this to the end, congrats I guess. I want to reiterate I don't care if you make Jiang Cheng into the most loving, best brother and uncle ever. Just be aware of what you're erasing first. And tag your goddamn fics.

[leslieseveride]

i feel like i don't have as many chenford friends as i would like, and that makes me sad because i love you all so much, i know i am god awful, and i mean GOD AWFUL at communication, but that's also another thing i'd like to improve on in 2024 because i know i am notorious for checking messages and forgetting about them, or seeing a message and feeling too depressed to reply (which has honestly been my entire personality 2023 and then i get depressed for not replying to those people and it's this whole fucking endless cycle).

anyway, if we're chenford mutuals or you've just been following me for awhile and would like to become friends, could you pretty please give the heart in the corner a little clickey-click??? 🙏💕 so i can dm you and we can become the best of friends??

[serpentinegraphite]

This is a Zukka series, in which Sokka attempts to get rid of the gaang's Zuko problem (re: seduce and then assassinate) in the middle of book one and failed spectacularly (okay, he fails at the assassination, but succeeds very hard at the seduction) and then it's canon divergence from there (and it does diverge pretty significantly aside from their feelings).

The author's tags and summary are pretty comprehensive, but I really want to emphasize the way they focus on canon expansion esp with Southern Water Tribe culture and heteronormativity, esp in conjunction with Sokka being a) bisexual and b) on some kind of gender journey (from early on, the journey seems to be Sokka is transfem, but you know what, it's a WiP, and there's a lot of wiggle room for idk demigirl or nb feelings, so I'm not going to commit to a label here, since one hasn't yet been given in the story).

The writing is fucking impeccable, from Zuko's accelerated but still kind of messy redemption arc ("messy" here refers to the fact that Zuko is a mess, like, as a person; the writer's craftsmanship is unimpeachable) to the ensemble interactions (I would never dream of rec'ing anything that didn't prominently feature Sokka + Katara sibling bonding).

A lot of the romantic theming is based around equating Sokka to the ocean. Zuko refers to him as "Umi," like Japanese for ocean/sea; there's a fantastic metaphor about love and the ocean in a flashback; obviously the titles for the prologue, "Secrets for the Sea," the main fic, "A Sailor in Search of Drowning," and the series as a whole, "she/her like sailors refer to the sea."

Updates are regular (roughly weekly, late on Saturdays/early Sunday depending on your time zone) and of a decent length.

Please read this and scream about it with me, it's so fucking good.

[hershelwidget]

i’m having the worst september of my life but i wanna make it a little better SOOOOOO I’m gonna be taking in drawing requests and trying (keyword: TRYING) to get through older ones :3

The fandoms I will be most willing to do drawings for atm are, in order:

1. Your Living Submarine (my STUPID large octonauts au, the tag is “hershel’s octonauts au” if you want context)

2. Octonauts (but of course.)

3. Professor Layton (BIG luke fan. wink wink nudge nudge?)

4. Ace Attorney (i miss … simon blackquill? for some reason)

5. THE DOG Island (the wii game ^^)

6. The Nightmare Before Christmas (if any of you request The Cricket Mating Skit i will die on the spot /lhj)

7. Bob’s Burgers (wearing a bb shirt as i type)

8. Five Nights at Freddy’s (im feeling a bit more confident in my robot drawing skills yay)

9. 9 (LMAO)

You can request for any other fandoms I’m in (just dance, msm, spm, any anything else you might remember me posting about) but just note that those nine above are the ones I will be most responsive to and into, any questions just ask … I just WONT be doing nsfw ^^ Go ham

[despair-ninja-everything-agency]

First post after a p long hiatus and it's essentially a post divider

[ell-arts]

YA'LL-

I did NOT expect such a healthy variety of unhinged reblogs for my last post I- 😭

[wingedwilloww]

I stayed up till 3 to make this btw.

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: May 6

"Everybody Loves Me" by OneRepublic

[gayangelcrimes]

The thing about my writing is that it tends to be a bunch of broken scene bits stitched together and often ending in a vague stop, not a coherent prose with a proper conclusion like a normal person's writing, so I feel like no one will enjoy that. But I will get over that fear. I will make writings and poast them here for yall to read. Eventually.

[holeodemony]

My brain when I see her:

My darling. My sweet. мой милый. 恋人. My beautiful lover. Mio dolce amore. It has been nigh a full moon's course since we gave last met, and yet my heart aches without the soothing balm that is your touch. Your mere gaze does more than a million years of rest. Your hair like locks of an auburn Autumn's breeze. With thine absence, my longing has grown unbearable. Your name is like a curse upon my ear — it's very murmur makes my heart race. You are the sun in my day, my moon and stars at night, guiding me every waking moment. It is an honour to be in your presence, my love.

What I actually say when I see her:

Uh. Hi!! Hello. Yes. Um. Youre alive. Good, good. Uh can y. oh. You're pretty. I forgot how pretty you are. Uh. Are. You sure you like me?? Like im an 8 at best and youre a goddamn goddess uh. Well hello there again uhm. Yes. Could. Could we hold hands? No? Ok ok cool whatever you say. Uh. I. Love you a lot. Wait no I said that out loud fuck— nothing I said nothing uh. Wow youre pretty. Like. What's the word for prettier than pretty. Uh. Ultra pretty. Yeah that

[june-rambles]

tysm for the tag!! and ohh i had to choose sara </3 sorry barry

tag list: @blazethecheeto @amelia-queen-black @turingtestedblog and anyone else!!

5 Favourite Characters Poll (Tag Game)

I was tag by: @star-mum

Rules: make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favourite.

Thanks you so much for the tag

Tags <3: @meeks-beas @practically-an-x-man @outer-space-face @trashworldblog @mydearlybeloathed

[izzy-b-hands]

aaand now anon is off because apparently we just can't help ourselves. like. i get some folks hate me making content for this fandom okay, goddamn, but literally the block button is right there. u can scroll past my shit on ao3. literally u do not have to interact with me in any way??? unless this is a masochistic thing in which case okay??? i guess??? but ngl it's an odd thing lmaooo and makes me extremely fucking uncomfortable!

[filmtvtoday]

We're excited to announce our first open event: FILM AND TV OF YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW!

This is an event focusing on all types of films and television shows, whether they're new, old, cancelled, ongoing, or something else! This event is open to gifmakers from all fandoms and will run from November 17 to November 23. Here's how to participate:

reblog this post and follow @filmtvtoday

create a gifset within the interpretative boundaries of each day's prompt

caption your creations with the following: FILM & TV YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW: Day # – prompt name

tag your creations with #filmtvweek24 so we can reblog them!

The prompts:

Day 1 (Nov 17): Favorite Day 2 (Nov 18): Genre Day 3 (Nov 19): Characters Day 4 (Nov 20): URL/Icon Day 5 (Nov 21): Nostalgia Day 6 (Nov 22): Ratings and reviews Day 7 (Nov 23): Iconic OR Best of 2024 [choose 1 prompt!]

[bucktommypositivityweek]

☀️ welcome, friends, to a new kind of bucktommy positivity event! before the new episode next week, we'd like to invite everyone in the fandom to participate in positivity bingo! ☀️

WHAT IS IT?

in bucktommy positivity bingo, we are going to be inviting everyone in the fandom to claim a bingo sheet, and check off squares of fanwork tropes by reading & commenting on other people's fics, writing or drawing their own works, making headcanon posts, or more! at the end of the event, a few special graphics will be shared as honorary badges for everyone who's completed either a bingo row, or an entire sheet for the ambitious!

EVENT DATES

bingo cards posted - sunday 13th

event - monday 14th-thursday 17th - the event will begin on monday and officially finish 1 hour before the new episode airs!

WAYS TO CHECK OFF A SQUARE

you have a few different options on activities that count for checking off a square in our bingo!

find a fanwork that features that trope, and leave a detailed reply/tag/comment for the creator about what you like about it! if it's on tumblr, make sure you reblog it!

create a new fanwork for the square! this could be a drabble, fic, meta post/headcanon, doodle; no limits on size, but we don't want anyone to think they need to spend a lot of time creating a fanwork for this unless they want to. it's all for fun!

you don't have to stick to one method when it comes to getting your bingo! you're welcome to review three fics, reblog one art piece with a comment, write one drabble, comment on five gifsets - whatever ratio you'd like to do it in! all you have to do to complete a row is engage with each of the tropes in it in some way, shape or form!

HOW IT WORKS

the number one rule is have fun and make as much positive noise as you can! anything goes in this event as long as it is supporting a positive, good-faith bucktommy work.

there will be three kinds of bingo sheets - SFW, NSFW and Mixed. it is totally fine to use explicit fanworks for the SFW sheet, or vice-versa, but they're just there to give people choices for their preference!

there will be multiple options for the bingo sheets and you can choose which one you want to do, so if there are squares that squick you out, you can avoid them.

as said above, you can engage with the prompts however you want, and it's fine to mix and match what you do (reviewing, writing, headcanon posts, etc)!

each day from monday-thursday, we will share a post that people can reply to, or reblog & tag, to track your bingos. you can also repost your bingo card on your own blog and check them off as you go (remember to tag us!) or however you prefer to track!

if a fanwork or comment you make fits more than one of the prompts on your card, you're welcome to use it to cross off multiple prompts at once! if you'd like an additional challenge you can stick to doing each square individually, but there is no rule against checking off multiple!

at the end of the event, we'll round up the winners, and share some pretty graphics as a reward for all your hard work ☀️

this is a bit of a different idea for a positivity event and we really hope people will enjoy it! it's a great way to participate in an event even if you don't have much time or inclination to create original works - reading, commenting and supporting other people will be a huge focus of this event, and we can't wait to see what everyone chooses to do!

please let us know if you have any questions, reblog this to signal boost, and stay tuned for the bingo cards tomorrow! ☀️