#it's nice to see reblogs and see what tags they leave etc. but some people will keep to themselves and adore your work in secret

[ultrainfinitepit]

Hello!! I return with more pin making questions :]

In my first ask you mentioned that you'd be willing to go into detail about your favorite social medias, and as I have basically only used Tumblr that would be super useful!

It would also be wonderful if you'd be willing to talk about your experiences with the different shopfronts that you've used, but I understand if you can't due to partnership stuff.

And the last question for now, Newsletters! How did you go about setting one up/what program you use/how long does it take to write an update/etc.

Thank you so much!! You're awesome!!!

Hi again :)) sure I can answer this, this is going to be a very long post so I'll put my answers under the cut.

Same disclaimer as last time that all this is just what has worked for me or what I've personally observed, that doesn't mean this is all objectively correct or factual. Others will have different mileage or find other things that work even better.

Social Media

The three platforms I prefer the most are Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter.

General recommendations:

Respond to people's comments, even with something as simple as a "thank you" for a compliment. This will help build engagement and foster a good relationship with your audience.

Take nice product photos: keep your pin in focus with a nice background and good lighting. Often you only get one chance for your product to leave a good impression!

Pick only a few social media profiles to manage. Don't stretch yourself too thin such that you can't engage with your audience on all your social media.

Tumblr

Posts have a long but sporadic lifespan thanks to the queue (sporadic means, they will exhibit random bursts of activity). And you can post large image sets and long text posts with links, for this reason it is my favorite platform.

Getting a following on Tumblr is largely luck-based. Users rebel against posts being pushed into their feed by the recommendation algorithm or boosts. Users find posts via other users and not so much the tags, although the tagging system is leagues better than Instagram's (which no longer shows most recent posts and only shows popular posts).

On Tumblr I get the most traffic from:

Responses to user submissions - for example, drawing people's angel requests.

Tag yourself posts

Silly or cute doodles and comics - especially if people can overlay their fandom darlings onto these posts.

Compilations of Pride-related designs, particularly of popular flags

I have noticed over the years, people do not reblog as much as in the past, so it's harder to get your posts noticed.

Instagram

In my opinion this is the easiest platform to grow an audience on. Instagram has a very predictable set of criteria for showing your posts to other users, through personal experience it is something like this:

Post once a day.

Post one Reel a day.

No more than three Story shares.

If you deviate from this for too long, or post too many times in a day, Instagram will deprioritize showing your posts to other users. This schedule can be a lot, so if possible I recommend having a buffer of saved up posts and Reels.

Instagram users are pickier about what they like to see. I recommend keeping your profile looking neat and professional; WIPs don't seem to do well there. Instagram users like illustrations and heavily-visual posts; they do not respond well to slides with text on them unless it is a tutorial or tag-yourself post.

Some users like to put memes or other silly images at the end of their posts. I personally don't do this, but I've been told the reason for it is: people share the silly images and that gains more traffic for the post even if they are not sharing the main content.

On Instagram I get the most traffic from:

Fanart of recently popular characters

Tag yourself posts

Pride-related art for popular flags

Cute, colorful illustrated creatures

Anything that asks for audience feedback in the comments. More comments means more engagement, which means it's bumped up in the algorithm.

Hosting monthly art challenges such as Angeltober

Bare chested men

And I have noticed DTIYS challenges are popular and a great way for people to find your profile, although I haven't hosted one of these yet.

Tags on Instagram appear to matter less than in the past, but I still think they are worth using. Try to tag for the content in your post (such as "#biblically accurate angel") instead of using tags for artists or small businesses (such as "#smallbusinessstrong"). Everyone else is using these tags so you have lots of competition, but no one is trawling through those tags so you have less engagement from them. Users are looking for specifically the content they like, they don't care who is posting it.

Twitter

The most arcane out of these three platforms. Getting noticed on Twitter seems to be largely luck-based as well. I had my Twitter profile for a while with little traffic on it until I started posting the new Pride Angels, then it blew up. Hashtags are pretty useless on Twitter and I didn't have many followers before then so I'm not sure why those got popular at that time.

On Twitter I get the most traffic from:

Pride-related art for popular flags

Other relatable art such as for astrological signs

Dishonorable Mention: TikTok

I have a TikTok but I just use it to crosspost my Instagram Reels. I do not have many followers on TikTok, I do not put effort into it, and I dislike the interface. That being said, I have heard from other creators it is way easier than Instagram to grow on if you are willing to make videos and post every day.

A note on blacklisted words

On Twitter, Instagram, and possibly Tumblr too: words like "shop" "link" "commission" etc. may cause your post to be deprioritized. This is because social media platforms do not want you going off of them to some other site to spend money elsewhere. That's why you'll notice people censoring these words ("shop" to "sh0p").

Personally I dislike doing this, it just makes me feel silly, so I don't bother. But I will admit, it hurts my posts. So this is something to keep in mind if you want to do shop promotion on social media.

Shops

The shops I run are, in the order of making them:

Redbubble

The lowest possible barrier to entry for a merch artist: they literally do everything from production to shipping for you, and all you do is provide the artwork. The trade-off is that it's very hard to make any significant money from Redbubble (I make maybe a few cents at most from each sale), and you have no control over the quality of the products.

Etsy

My referral link here.

While Etsy can be imposing at first, it is probably the easiest out of all the marketplaces to start out on. There is a lot of information to fill out to get started, so take it slow so you don't get overwhelmed. It does get easier after the first listing. Once you make one listing you can just keep duplicating and changing it a little so you don't have to keep making listings from scratch.

Etsy claims you need ten listings in your shop before you open it, but you can ignore that.

Once you've gotten started, there's lots of little tricks to learn such as letter mail shipping, all about VAT, improving listings, sections, and so on that I could go into more detail on if anyone is interested. For now I'll just focus on the platform itself.

I like that Etsy has a marketplace search, as a customer it is really nice to use. I like that it has one big cart for all the items I am looking at, and that it has a favorites system. I also like as a customer how each shop is uniform; I know exactly how to search through each shop and what format to expect. I do enjoy artists' custom shops but, sometimes their interfaces are tough to navigate.

Etsy is reasonably good at showing your items to people, which is the number one reason I recommend it for beginners. Just make sure to put effort into your listings such as tagging them, adding nice photos, and videos.

They have protection features built-in such as covering refunds if an item is delivered but the customer claims to not have received it. Etsy also enables international shipping with VAT which is great for EU/UK customers. My biggest gripe with Etsy is the fees, which I've already complained about.

Gumroad

Not much to say about Gumroad really. I only use it to list digital items such as PDFs of my lineart. I think it's saved me a few inquiries from people looking for my art for tattoos. Since all that art is for free on social media anyway, I don't charge for purchases on Gumroad. That's just a personal choice though.

Mercari

Not much to say about Mercari either. I use it to list pins from my personal collection, though I've seen a handful of pin makers use it for the pins they've created. I think the Mercari listing creation is atrocious: they like to recommend titles for your items when you upload new images, and will overwrite existing titles.

I've been considering moving away from Mercari, they recently switched their fee model so now buyers pay fees instead of sellers. This means while sellers can lower their prices, buyers get sticker shock and then ask for discounts on top of already-discounted items. I'm only on there because it's the most popular place for second-hand pin selling.

Shopify

So far I've really enjoyed Shopify. The setup was nightmarishly hard, not to turn anyone off of it but it took me literal months. You can import your listings from Etsy to Shopify but then you have to redo all the SKUs, link up photos to variants, and so on. If you have a ton of listings like me it takes a while. If you only have a few it is more worth it or, might even be worth starting out on if you can do sufficient promotion.

The major advantage of Etsy over Shopify is the marketplace feature: if you don't need the help of Etsy to promote your items then Shopify might be the better option to start out on.

I like that Shopify has significantly lower fees vs. Etsy. However, they do payouts differently and in a way I dislike. Etsy will deduct your shipping fees before calculating your payout balance, while Shopify will payout your balance and then charge you for shipping as part of your monthly bill. So you need to make sure to set aside some of your funds always to cover the Shopify shipping charge.

Additionally, to enable certain integrations or features you will need to pay for them monthly, which can add up. To sync my inventory between Shopify, Etsy, and Faire I use Trunk Inventory, which charges me a monthly $60 fee. That's in addition to the monthly Shopify fee.

Faire

I actually hate Faire despite using it. I was going to use Tundra but Faire drove them out of business (lawsuit pending). Now Faire is the only game in town for wholesale so I'm forced to use them, not that it's done me much good since I haven't had any sales there.

I can rant for ages about Faire's horrendous fees and outdated product import. But if you're a beginner you don't have to worry about wholesale selling, so I'll leave that discussion for another time. If anyone wants to hear more from me about Faire they can send another ask.

My stockists

It's quite hard to give honest reviews of my stockists here, since they might see them so, I'll just share my Linktree for them and you all can investigate on your own and inquire privately.

Newsletter

I used to use Tinyletter but it shut down, so now I use Email Octopus. Here's a referral link, and you can check out my newsletter sign up page here.

Email Octopus doesn't have a newsletter archive, and the interface is more complicated than Tinyletter's, which I dislike; but I like it better than Tinyletter's replacement Mailchimp.

You can try these out for yourself and see which you like better, it really is personal preference. All newsletter services are essentially the same: all you need is a sign up page, a way to store emails, and an ability to send a newsletter to them.

To get people to sign up for your newsletter, I personally recommend always offering it as a choice. For example, if you run a pin campaign, send an update where you share a link to your newsletter to your backers so they have the option to sign up. Do not export their emails and add them to your newsletter without a choice. I have been on the receiving end of this as a backer/customer and it makes me feel bad: it's extra emails in my inbox I didn't agree to and it feels like the creator misusing my information even if technically they are not. As a fellow creator I totally get why others might do this, it's an effective way to get lots of new newsletter signups at once. I just don't personally like it.

Shopify has a built-in newsletter feature you can use as well if you make a Shopify storefront. From your dashboard you can go to Marketing > Create campaign.

I like to send out a shortened newsletter via Shopify. Usually what I do is copy my full newsletter from Email Octopus to Shopify, and remove any bits not directly related to my Shopify, such as news on crowdfunding campaigns.

Writing your newsletter

Writing a newsletter doesn't take much time, and I think it should be a low effort task. In fact, if you make it too long people will not read it.

Throughout the month leading up to a shop update I will update my newsletter with whatever new items are ready, taking only a few minutes here and there. I include a few photos and I make sure to link to the items once they are listed (truncated example below).

I will also alert people to any sales or other special offers, news about stockists, and crowdfunding campaigns: anything a potential buyer would be interested in.

I have seen other artists share much longer newsletters with impressive graphics, sections on their art process, personal updates - but for myself I usually skip over that stuff in my inbox, so I don't do it as a creator. For others it might be worth the effort!

Final Thoughts

If you read all this, thank you! I know this was a very long post. I hope it helps at least one of you. I won't keep you much longer: you can find links to everything I mentioned in my Linktree and if you have more questions you can send an ask.

One day I'd like to make a tutorial series for making and selling merch, so this was useful as a draft for that. I would also include manufacturer reviews. If that's something you'd like to see someday you can let me know.

#ask #tutorial

[cybotgalactica]

tumblr like vs reblog discourse is hell because people will write entire paragraphs about how "well actually likes don't really support artists because it doesn't feed anything into an algorithm" like that's all there is.

like one human being reaching out to another through the framework of a social media site to be like "hey, i saw this thing you made and it meant something to me" means nothing to anyone. like that's less important than feeding your opinion of someone's work into an algorithm designed with the primary function of keeping you on their site so you can make them more money.

i appreciate reblogs and retweets and new follows and comments just like anyone else. but i'm not going to sit here and resent the people that only like. and i'm especially not going to let myself get so poisoned by social media i convince myself the human behind them doesn't matter.

calling art and writing "content", viewing the concept of support through the lens of algorithms and exposure and statistics. there's nothing more human than Making Things but all we do is try to take all the human out of it.

#maybe i've spent too much time on AO3 #there's no need to share or rely on others for ~exposure~. my writing is just there forever whenever anyone wants to go looking for it #sure a comment is nice but kudos are the only real currency there so there is nothing to devalue them like there is on twitter and tumblr #the other thing is that at some point or another you have to realise that you cannot See the way everyone interacts with your work #it's nice to see reblogs and see what tags they leave etc. but some people will keep to themselves and adore your work in secret #do the artists whose work i've had as pc/mobile backgrounds know about that? know they have inspired me? know they have changed me? #you have to be content with not knowing the inner thoughts of everyone who sees your work #you can't assume anything about yourself or others based on which button someone presses under your art #txt

[damazcuz]

One more question(for now) why do people on tumblr use tags to talk #like this #about whatever they think of the post, instead of just commenting on the reblog😭 Is there an etiquette I'm missing?

short answer: yes.

long answer, there is an etiquette to it, and I think it's a longstanding thing that just ended up ingrained in a lot of users, which comes off as cold/shy/outlandish or maybe even standoffish to people from other sites and apps. there's no be-all end-all of how to act online or on here but i think in terms of most* people (*speaking broadly, making this up) who've used tumblr for a while it feels like this:

tumblr is a theater, the dashboard is a stage, each post is a performance. (a joke, a dramatic act, a story, a movie, a picture, etc.) you have a variety of ways to interact with the performance, but some of them are going to be more frowned upon--based purely on how the long standing visitors of the theater are used to acting, honestly.

likes are a polite applause, but they don't show anyone outside of the theater that you enjoyed yourself, or what you enjoyed. the performer appreciates the applause but does not garner any new viewers when you only like a post, btw.

silent reblogs mean you exit the theater with merch or a leaflet and go show it to other people. look what i saw on the stage, don't you want to see it too. this shows the performance to a new variety of viewers, who might then also show it to others.

replies and reblogs with content are often seen as """"rude"""" because they're like standing up at the end of the performance and loudly saying "that was okay but I think MY take on things makes it just a BIT better." people are more forgiving of this when it's something universally true or acceptable, or when it's very funny. if it's not (and even if it is, sometimes,) there'll potentially be a reblog down the line making fun of it (and this is another person in the theater standing up and making a fart noise, regardless of how tasteless or rude.) it's never actually "wrong" to add comments on a reblog unless you're being intentionally hurtful, and it's normal to add commentary to a friend's post, but even then, people seeing this from the outside may see that as obnoxious and impolite and try to call you on it anyway. (people are very weird about enforcing what they see as a universal rule of etiquette, when this is admittedly the only site where you'll be punished for adding to the discussion.)

and again, this is an absolutely arbitrary rule because what one person finds universally true and hilarious, another will find trite and stupid and too niche. the polite thing to do in the case of the latter is just reblog from further up the chain than the commenter, but people aren't always nice when they're annoyed.

getting to your actual question now, comments in the tags are a way to leave remarks that you DON'T want to shout to the whole theater. these are you whispering to yourself or your friend, or writing in a guestbook on the way out. people can see/hear it if they go looking for it, but you're not shouting over the performance to get your piece out. it's polite because it's unobstructive and doesn't take up space, and if your tags don't make sense to someone else or seem too niche, they don't have to share the post with your commentary attached.

adjacent to this, "peer review" or screenshotting someone's tags to insert them in the post is like if you did whisper to your friend, then your friend wrote your comments on a whiteboard and held it up for others to see. as this is a form of commentary within the reblog, it's again subject to an arbitrary universal/niche rule. just because a tag gets peer reviewed doesn't mean it's beyond reproach by strangers.

also in line with this general line of thought experiment, blazing a post means that between acts, you run up on the stage and start shouting your piece. it is, once again, going to be more acceptable to strangers to see you do this if it's something universally funny, true, or cute. this is why niche fandom posts, vent posts, and self promotions get ignored or booed down, while pet birthday photos and silly jokes get blazed and get a lot of notes regardless.

lastly, a kungpowpenis is when twelve+ individuals from the audience get up and beat the shit out of the person performing on stage and leave their corpse on display in the town square.

[timeflow]

good evening reddit users, welcome to the website. not seen one of these that tells you how to make this website bearable so here goes

starting off with dashboard settings you want to turn off endless scrolling (it slows down the website after a while of scrolling), turn off shorten long posts because one of the main things about this website is the total lack of a character limit (as an alternative to this setting, you can press j to skip to the next post on the dashboard if the current one is kind of long). turning on timestamps is convenient because it allows you to check when a post was made (don't get me wrong: this website absolutely LOVES reblogging old posts, but there are times when it's worth checking if a post has very old news in it)

turn off best stuff first right away. one of the main reasons cited for joining tumblr is because "there is no algorithm". this is not entirely true, we have one but we routinely turn off anything algorithmic that staff adds. turning off best stuff first means your dashboard will be reverse chronological no matter what, and turning off based on your likes and stuff in your orbit will get rid of the rest of the algorithmically-recommended content that appears on your dashboard

following tags is nice because you will occasionally see posts with tags you follow sprinkled into your dashboard. this is considered good because it's almost always recent, I personally recommend turning on include followed tag posts and just following a bunch of random tags that you think could be interesting (characters, media, topics, whatever)

this one's a more personal thing but I would absolutely turn off any community labels because tumblr staff has recently been just putting a bunch of random posts under this despite being entirely sfw. if you ACTUALLY want to filter content, then go to filtered tags:

unlike the community labels which are put arbitrarily by staff, tags are put on by the actual users and so you can MUCH more reliably filter out content you don't want to see by putting filtered tags. this also works for any kind of content unlike the community labels, meaning you can just filter out stuff that you don't want to see (a particular character, a particular piece of media, a certain topic, anything you want really)

turn on custom theme immediately. the standard view of tumblr.com/url will give people who are not logged in a forced login wall, meanwhile url.tumblr.com will not. by doing this you also get access to your post archive at url.tumblr.com/archive, which lets you look through your posts more easily (the search function is awful). the main benefit of this, however, is that you get to have a custom look to your blog: going to edit theme brings up a menu that allows you to customize your css, add pages to your tumblr blog, etc. all very useful stuff

it's also worth taking the time to consider whether or not you leave your liked posts and list of blogs you follow public (most people have likes turned off, following is also commonly turned off but I personally don't care about others seeing who I follow)

turn off the let people blaze your posts. blaze basically allows you to pay money to show a post to a random group of people by paying money, suffices to say that allowing others to blaze your posts without your consent will inevitably lead to one of your personal posts getting blazed by some prick and now hundreds of people have seen it

asks are one of the main ways of interacting with blogs so absolutely turn them on. whether you allow anons is your choice, anonymity allows people to say nice things without feeling embarrassed about how everyone knows who said that, but it also allows people to send hateful stuff with no consequence.

submissions are like whatever. I personally leave them on but in my 5 years of having this blog I've been submitted to twice.

to close off this post I'll leave my personal thoughts on reblog etiquette:

reblogging is great. reblog the fuck out of anything. does the post amuse you slightly? reblog it. go wild

that being said please don't put anything in your reblogs unless it's like a really important comment. your comment will be immortalized forever if someone reblogs the post from you and on popular posts I have to constantly go back a couple years to get rid of an annoying comment like "LOL THIS IS SO FUNNY" because that person didn't realize that their addition was wholly unnecessary

if you DO want to add something to say your thoughts on the post in a quiet voice that doesn't get permanently added onto the original, consider talking in the tags of your reblog. this is considered nicer since when the post is reblogged from you your tags are not going to stick around. there is also this process known as "peer review" in which if your tags are sufficiently funny one of your followers (or sometimes a random person browsing the notes of the post) will screenshot/copy and paste your tags into a reblog, which is a much more natural way of having your comment added into the post

tags are also nice to use or organizational purposes. clicking on a post with a certain tag on your blog will show you every post with that tag on your blog allowing you to find posts later, alternatively you can go to url.tumblr.com/archive/tagged/[insert tag here] to a similar effect.

that's all I have to say on this subject. have fun on our glorious website

edit: oh yeah also unfollow staff. it will make you look normal 👍

#reddit migration #reddit #196 #r/196 #r196 #curatedtumblr #r/curatedtumblr #think those are all the relevant ones. hi redditors btw #r/tumblr

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Follow You Anywhere 4

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, obsession, controlling behavoiour, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You’re online existence threatens to leak into your real life.

Characters: Captain Syverson

Note: back again.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me <3

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Asking for more or putting 'part 2?' is not feedback.

Love you all. You are appreciated and your are worthy. Treat yourself with care. 💖

You sit at the dining table with your laptop, hiding behind the screen as you try to figure out what to do. How do you get this man to leave? Better, how do you do that without making him angry?

You stare at the unfinished project in front of you. You're not going to get paid for blurry pixels. Work is the least of your worries.

You peek over the top of the laptop and blanch as the subtle movement catches his eye. He grins and sits up, “need something, sweetie?”

“Uh, nope,” you put your eyes down and the screen goes fuzzy.

“Hm,” he hums into a grunt and heaves himself up, “you haven’t made any videos yet. What about your shopping trip huh? You gonna edit some of that.”

“Erm, maybe later, I have work stuff–”

“You know,” he nears and stands across the round table, looming menacingly with his hands on his hips, “you could probably quit all that if you committed to your streams. Lotsa people wanna watch a sweet girl like you.”

“That’s nice but I don’t even have ten followers,” you chuckle.

“Mm, maybe, but… I could help you,” he offers.

“Really, it’s fine,” your voice trembles, “it’s… it’s just a way to get my thoughts out, that's all.”

He clucks and clears his throat, looking around, “well, I guess I’ll go get my stuff.”

“Um, sure,” you look at him again then peek at the keys hung by the door.

He whistles, “Aika, come, you probably needa go.”

The dog rises from beside the couch and follows him to the door. You get up, heart flipping. You need to just lock the door. As long as he doesn’t–

He grabs the keys and shoves them deep in his pocket. He hooks the leash onto Aika’s collar as she stands obediently before him. He grins over at you, “don’t worry, sweetie, won’t be long at all.”

He turns and unlocks the door, swinging it inward as he lets the German shepherd lead the way. You deflate and fall back onto the chair. Holy shoot! What are you going to do? Nothing you can think of makes sense. He doesn’t make sense. It’s as if he really believes you know each other. That this is his home.

You bend over your lap and hold your head, rocking as you let out a drone. The panic is so bad you can’t hold it in. The noise escaping you is inhuman. You know you’re too weak, too afraid to do anything. So what? You’ll just let him take over your home?

You quiet and stay as you are, hunched over your legs. Are you going to let him do whatever he wants? To you?

Your blood runs cold and you sit up slowly. You’re dizzy as the silence rings in your ears. You stare across the room, only able to see a glimpse of the door frame.

You don’t know what you’re going to do.

You’re paralysed. You hardly believe it yourself, you don’t think anyone else will either. The thought of explaining it is embarrassing on its own.

You’re being stupid. You need to tell someone. Anyone.

You hear him before he enters. He opens the door, pausing as he lets Aika off the leash. She sniffs around as the door shuts heavily.

Sy appears, a large bag of kibble balanced on one shoulder as he carries a military duffle in his other hand. He drops the latter and brings the former into the kitchen. You stand, hollow as you make yourself move. You go to the doorway to the kitchen and watch him search your cupboards.

“Ladybird needs a bowl,” he says, “she’s hungry.”

“Oh,” you utter dumbly and blink. You’re stuck where you are.

His cheek dimples and he returns his attention to his search. He takes out the pink plastic bowl you use for salad and he uses a measuring cup to scoop out the kibble. You just watch as he puts it on the floor for Aika as she sits patiently.

He stands and she does too, eagerly scarfing down the food, flicking slobber all over your salad bowl. Sy faces you and you flinch as he comes near, reaching for you. You back away.

“Sweetie?” He says, “what’re you doing?”

“I… I…” you rub your arm, “how long are you planning on… staying?”

He scoffs, “what? Ah, come on, sweetie, you’re funny. “

“I’m… I’m serious,” you quaver, “I didn’t… we just met.”

His face falls and so does your heart. His expression turns dire and he crosses his arms. Aika seems to notice his shift and quits her loud chomping. She raises her nose, letting out a low growl. You gulp. He has that same glint in his eye as in the truck when he nearly rear-ended that other driver.

“Sweetie, I told you, I've been watching you all this time. You know, I was your first follower,” he takes a step closer and you take one back. “I know you.”

“Right, uh,” you push your hands together and bend your fingers back, “I understand, it’s just…” you can hardly breathe, “I guess I misunderstood. Of course you can stay, but… you know, I only bought enough groceries for me and… and it’s a small place.”

He considers you. He runs his hand over his beard and exhales loudly. He drops his other arm and tilts his head side to side, cracking the bones, “so we can get nice and snuggly, sweetheart.”

He nears you again, quickly, before you can elude him. He catches you around the back of the head and urges you close. He leans in and kisses your hairline. You freeze and let him. He purrs before he draws away.

“Right, I’ll get cleaned up,” he lets you go, “you can finish your work or… get cozy.”

You nod and stare past him. Aika once more chews loudly as your eyes settle on her straight back. You’re trapped. Your home is now a prison.

You stay like that until you hear the pipes whine and the shower buzzes to life. You glance over, the bathroom door slightly ajar. Mortified, you retreat to the table and sit behind the computer. You know the excuse won’t hold up much longer but you can at least pretend to be busy.

Aika’s claws tap on the tile as you hear her lay near the door. You can’t even run. His loyal guard dog isn’t just keeping people out, she’s keeping you in.

You put your hands on the laptop as you hear the faucet crank off. The scented steam seeps out and dampens the air with the scent of your strawberries and cream soap. You shudder and minimize and maximize the window.

You listen to him. He opens and closes the cabinet several times as he lingers in the bathroom. The door opens and your ears tinge as you focus on the laptop. He steps out as you swirl your fingers on the touch pad.

“I feel better,” he sighs, “how about you, sweetie? Maybe you should have a nice long bath?”

“I’m good,” you utter dully.

“Hope you don’t mind, I used your hairbrush,” he crosses the room.

“No, it’s f–” your eyes flick up on instinct. You swallow as your eyes round. He has only a towel around his waist, the rest of him brazenly bare. “Fine.”

You rip your gaze away and accidentally exit out of the editing software. You try to wipe the image of him from your mind. His thick muscles, the dark hair across his chest and stomach, and over his thick thighs. There’s little left to the imagination or doubt. The sight of him confirms his unbeatable strength.

“What’s wrong?” He asks.

“N-nothing,” you insist.

“You’re being all shy. What’s going on, huh?” You shake your head as he comes around the table. He presses the laptop shut until you retract your hands. You sit back and look at your hands. “You’ve been working long enough. Come on, sweetie.”

“I… I have a project to finish–”

“And that’s more important? How long have I waited to be with you? Over there in the sh– in the chaos?” He says, offering his large hand, “I got you something. I wanna show it to you.”

“I…” you rasp and peer up at his face, too afraid to look anywhere else. “Okay.”

You give in. Your surrender. He’s a soldier and he’s won the battle. You take his hand and stand up.

He takes you into the front room and leads you to the couch. He stops you in front of it and gestures you to wait. You do and he disappears around the other side of you.

He returns with his duffle bag and puts it in the chair. He keeps his back to you as he unzips it. You peek up and your eyes cling to the scars along his burly back. Just beneath his shoulder and another along his side. Through the fear, you feel a pang of sympathy for him. He must have been through a lot.

“I bought you something,” he says, “when I was driving up.”

He turns and shows you a dainty piece of fabric hanging from his index fingers. You gape at the pale pink bodysuit; flowers in a darker shade trim the corset and the tops of the cups are subtly scalloped. You love the colours but you would never dare to wear anything like that.

“Uh, wow,” is all you can get out.

“Just you know for a special occasion,” he smiles, “it’ll look real nice on you. It’s your colour.” He steps closer as he holds it out to you, “I showed the lady your picture and she said it would be nice on your skin tone.”

You feel like you’re going to faint. Is he really giving you a piece of lingerie? You take it and examine the thin material.

“Obviously, not tonight since we’re settling in and all that,” he chuckles, “but you know… if you wanted to…”

“I’m… I’m going to put this away,” you croak.

You move past him, slowly as if wading through water. You go to the bedroom and cross to the dresser. You stand before it as you stare at the fabric. Your chest aches as you hold a breath inside.

“Ah, still pretty tidy in here,” Sy comments from behind you.

You pull open the top drawer and hide the bodysuit. A shiver rolls through you as you shut it and turn to the intruder. You watch helplessly as he invades every inch of your life.

“You did such a good job, sweetie,” he praises as he nears the bed and plops his bag on it, “watching you clean… it’s admirable how determined you are.”

He reaches in his bag and takes out a stack of folded clothing. You blink as he strides over to the dresser and pulls open a drawer. You sway as you resist the urge to ask what the heck he’s doing. He makes room beside your clothes and shoves his inside.

As he stands, he adjusts the towel hanging lower on his waist than before. You turn away. As much as you don’t like him touching all your things, his nakedness is even more off putting. Most disturbing is his lack of self-awareness. Frankly, it’s frightening.

He unpacks, bit by bit, and rolls open the closet to put his empty bag inside. He goes back to the dresser to shut the top drawer he left open but his hand curls around the top. He dips inside and lifts out a pair of your panties; the ones speckled with printed on bows.

“I like these,” he says, “they’re cute, like you.”

“Thanks, I…” you murmur. “I…” Your mouth is dry and chalky, “I need some water.”

“Aw, sweetie, you look faint,” he drops the panties and approaches you. “Why don’t you sit down?”

He urges you onto the edge of the bed, his hands on your shoulders. He looks down on you as you tilt your head to peer back at him. He looks so big. He keeps his hands on you, gripping tighter, and for a moment, you’re not sure what he’s going to do and you think he is even less certain.

He pulls his hands away and shakes them out, “I’ll get you some water,” he says, “you had a long day, huh?”

“Mhm,” you hum and lower your chin, your hands shaking in your lap.

You did this. You welcomed this man in. More than letting him drive you home or cross the threshold of your apartment, you put yourself online, exposed yourself to the public. You heard the horror stories before, the true ones, but you just never thought it would happen to you.

#captain syverson #dark captain syverson #dark!captain syverson #captain syverson x reader #fic #dark fic #dark!fic #series #sandcastle #follow you anywhere

[the-kipsabian]

wrestling fic writers!!

i have decided to be the change i wanna see, so lets do a nice little thing for each other, as a community full of incredible and talented writers. yes this is writer specific only, but thats cause thats where the main problem of people not interacting with creative works lies in this fandom as far as i can tell and have seen people talking about it especially in the last couple of months

if you read this, please add links to your written works. it can be just a single fic youre really proud of, your writing blog, your writing tag, your ao3 account, anything where your works can be found

and if you leave your link here, PLEASE check out someone else that has left their works, and interact with them. leave them a comment, even just a kudos, REBLOG their fic, etc. interacting is the keyword i want to emphasize here, along with building a sort of a masterpost of where to find people writing in this fandom

and if you are not a writer, youre still highly encouraged to interact with this post and share it and show love to the writers in this fandom, obviously!! i think that should go without saying, but adding it in anyways

a bit more about my vision and resources and such under the read more, but thats the gist of it. happy linking and please be kind and supportive to each other!! 💜

nobody is too big or too small to add their things on this list. if you write and post anything in this fandom whatsoever, be it fics or drabbles or headcanons, any companies or any kind of ships or reader inserts or any content whatsoever no matter how 'dead dove dont eat' or hell even if its just meta, we welcome all here and nobody can say that one thing is less valid than another. just please tag your content accordingly, especially if theres content warnings, and feel free to mention what you write, who you write, any info you wish to leave that would help people before they click on your links. but even so, that should not and hopefully will not deter people from interacting, no matter what it is. someones trash is another ones treasure, i promise you

and unless the amount gets really overwhelming, im personally going to be checking out everyone that leaves something here. unless it squeaks me out, but even then, i'll spread the word. and i just wish as many people as possible will do the same, and not just use this as a potential board to only get eyes on their stuff. ofc thats also the point, but you should give as much, if not more, than you get. we need to be kind and supportive of one another (besides, from personal experience, if you show love to someone else, they are more likely to do it back than without you taking the first step, so... pay it forward)

as for resources, heres a few links that should be helpful in leaving comments and feedback. of course everyone does their own thing and no comment is too big or too small to leave, but for those who need them. if you have anything you'd like added to this list, dont hesitate to get in touch or drop it in the post yourself!!

101 comment starters

ao3 floating comment box

kudos html

dont know how to comment? easy solutions

a quick hot guide to commenting (by yours truly)

an overall guide to appreciating fanfic writers

and just in general.. leave people comments. leave them asks about their projects. just go over and gush about their work. i know it sounds embarrassing but writers love nothing more than to hear that someone likes what they are doing. if you find a fic that hasnt been updated in forever, comment on it. it might just be the spark the author needs to continue. while kudos and likes are nice, and just as valuable to some, its definitely in the words the people leave for them that matter the most. im not saying this to put pressure on anyone, its just how it is, and i feel like unless people are writers themselves, and even then sometimes, thats just hard to grasp, especially if the writer is a smaller and less popular one who doesnt get a lot of traffic in the first place

i think thats all. just be nice and considered to everyone, reblog peoples works, this post with others add ons and so forth. and if i find anyone talking shit here or at other writers for something they share, you'll be blocked and im probably taking your kneecaps. be fucking nice. we are all struggling here and we need to stick together

happy sharing and commenting 💜💜

#wrestling fanfiction #wrestling fic #aew fanfic #aew fanfiction #wwe fanfiction #wwe fanfic #i hope this make some sort of coherent sense #despite being a writer im really bad at words lmao #i also dont know what to tag this with without clogging main tags so im going to trust moots to get this going first #just. this is a topic im passionate about. i love writing i love writers and having seen the wrestling fandom as of late really struggling #with this. we need to do something. even a little bit helps. actually get people leaving feedback and commenting again #supporting each other. we can do this together #dont let dreams be dreams lets fucking do this #just be nice and help each other out #im gonna stop now before i get overly emotional. if theres any questions let me know tho i think i got the main parts pretty clear here #again moots. im trusting you to get this started. im not gonna add my own shit here immediately this isnt about me #this is about the community as a whole #i also hope nobody is afraid of adding themselves here. you are all valid and worth the attention no matter what #just remember to also give if you leave something here. look at the previous links. look in the notes to find more people #okay thats it i need to make dinner now #lets just be kind and support one another. promise me that 💜 #night is an absolute mess on main

[whumpmasinjuly]

Now introducing the prompt list for Whumpmas in July 2032! 

Thank you for patiently waiting! We will be implementing a couple of new changes! We will not be reblogging any creations this year and will instead keep this blog as a space to only post the prompts, tags, and relevant information. We will post the tag for each day, and we ask that you use two tags when filling prompts this year so that others may find your creations easily:  Tag 1 ---> #wij23day__ (Fill in the blank with the appropriate day number for the prompt you are filling! For example, if you are doing the prompt for day 21, make sure to tag your post with #wij23day21. Of course, feel free to use any other relevant tags too!)

Tag 2 ---> #whumpmasinjuly2023  Be sure to also tag @whumpmasinjuly-archive if you would like your posts reblogged to our new official archive account!  You can also find a banner that you can use in your posts (if you want) under the #wijbanner tag.

The prompts are divided into three categories: questions, prompts, and community activities. Everyone is free to participate as much or as little as they want–there’s no completionist requirement! This list provides a preview of the prompts, but on each day a more detailed post will be released with more context and additional suggestions for each day’s task. Similar to previous years, all prompts and other important information will be found under the #infowhumpmasinjuly tag and #infowij23 for ease of access. This blog will also use the tags #wijquestion , #wijcommunity , and #wijprompt respectively for each post so that you can filter and find the type of prompts you’d like to do. 

Below the cut is a text list of this year’s prompts:

1. (Re)Introduce yourself. 2. What ten words give you the whumperflies/make you think of whump? 3. Stitches/Bandages 4. Share a TV show, movie, or any media that gives you the whumperflies! (Feel free to go off about your favorite episodes/moments!) 5. What character do you wish to see whumped more in canon/fan-made media? 6. Deprived 7. Post a link to your favorite whump fic of all time (or reblog it and/or make a list of them!) 8. Describe your favorite type of whumper! 9. “Stay with me” 10. Check out a new whump blog and drop them an ask! 11. What whump media type do you prefer and why? 12. Search & Rescue 13. Share some of your favorite niche whump tags! 14. Describe the ideal fic you’ve always wanted to read but have yet to find / haven’t written yet. 15. Buried 16. Create a whump meme! 17. What inspires you most to create whump content? (Images? Fics? Shows?) 18. Ache 19. Create a list of some of your favorite whump blogs to share! 20. Describe your favorite type of whumpee!  21. “Please.” 22. Find a story/author you’ve never read before, read it and leave some nice comments (people can reblog the post to plug their series/masterlists/etc as well) 23. What is your favorite type of whump setting? 24. Earth (Environmental whump) 25. Share a sneak peek of something you’re working on! 26. What is your favorite place to find whump media, roleplayers/writers, or fan-created content? (Link us to it!) 27. Unstable (Mentally? Physically? Both!?) 28. Send people asks about their OCs or favorite fandoms! 29. Do you identify with any particular roles or situations in whump? 30. Antidote 31. Who is someone in the whump-creating world that you admire and why?

#whump #whump community #whump event #whumpmasinjuly #infowhumpmasinjuly #infowij23 #wij2023 #whumpmasinjuly2023

[erisweekofficial]

Eris Week 2024: Rules, Prompts, and FAQ

Welcome to the official Eris Week Blog!

This post is intended to serve as a master post for the entire event. It will include the dates, prompts, rules, and a FAQ! Make sure to click the read more to get ALL the information!

Prompts and Master Lists

2024 Prompts

Event Master Lists

2023 Eris Week Master List 2024 Eris Week Master List (TBA)

🔥🔥🔥

Rules

Eris Week supports all mediums of creativity (art, fics, mood boards, playlists, incorrect quotes, headcanons, drabbles, theories, etc)

You can ship Eris with anyone and everyone. This blog is ship-neutral and will support all works. Eris x OCs and Eris x Reader are welcome too! 

There is no restriction on content. You're welcome to post NSFW as long as you tag appropriately.

Be as wild as you like! Every day has a prompt, but they are purely optional! Like last year, we’ll be providing some additional guidance and questions per prompt, to help you brainstorm ideas! 

We do not tolerate hate. Please do not argue or spread negativity on other creators' content during this week. We are here to support one another and celebrate one of our favorite characters! If you are not a fan of Eris, you are welcome to block this blog! Your peace of mind is important as is that of our creators.

We will not reblog or interact with any AI art.

We will have a Collection (ErisWeek2024) on AO3! Do some double duty and post your masterpiece there too!

🔥🔥🔥

FAQ

How do I participate in Eris Week?

During Eris Week, please post your content on tumblr. Tag this blog in the main body of your post (@erisweekofficial) and tag your post with #erisweek2024. If you are posting on AO3, make sure to add your work to the Eris Week AO3 Collection and post your link here on tumblr.  If we don’t reblog your post within 24 hours, feel free to send us a message with the link! We would never intentionally not reblog someone’s post. 

How can I see all the works posted during Eris Week? 

During Eris week, we will compile a list of all works created for that day and post the following morning, Eastern Time. So, Day 1 we will reblog all Day 1 content. Then we’ll start off Day 2 by posting the Day 1 master list and then start reblogging all Day 2 content. This is so we can try to account for multiple time zones. If we miss your post or the link is wrong etc, please reach out and we will fix ASAP.  At the end of the event we will have THE MASTER LIST to rule them all that will contain links to each day’s master list. 

If I’m not a creator, how can I support Eris Week?

Leading up to the event, reblog our posts and/ or let your favorite creators know this event is happening! Visibility is incredibly helpful!  Reblog and comment on Eris Vanserra works leading up to and during the event! Supporting work now will encourage creators for the event week itself!  During Eris Week, be sure to leave a nice comment on AO3 works as well! 

I want to participate, but I am nervous! Do you have any advice? 

Character event Weeks are an excellent way to practice your craft, take risks, and explore art in a low stakes environment. Here are some words of wisdom that have helped folks in the past:  When in doubt, start small! Write a drabble, write some bullet points, make a sketch. All of this is 100% accepted and supported during Eris week.  Don’t feel like you have to do something for every day! Pick one or two days that really resonate with you and make content for those days!  Don’t compare yourself with others! It’s hard, especially when well known folks are also participating. But remember, everyone is happy to get any content, especially Eris fans. We’re hungry for anything folks will give us! And one day, you may be that well-known creator ;)  Don’t aim for perfection! Post something with typos, get a canon detail wrong! People will ignore it and love what you’ve made anyways. I am sure that somewhere in these guidelines, there is a typo! Embrace the chaos!  If you’re looking for some reassurance, share your work with a friend ahead of time. Get their feedback! Sometimes a little encouragement can go a long way. Both of the Eris Week organizers are creators and are more than happy to chat with you about ideas, offer advice, or simply cheer you on. 

I have a question that isn’t here!

Feel free to send us asks, we’d love to hear from you all! You can send questions, head canons, ideas, or anything else! If you have a question you’d like us to answer privately, be sure to let us know in the ask. Otherwise, all other asks will be published on our blog. 

#eris vanserra #pro eris vanserra #autumn court #eris acotar #acotar #high lord eris #erisweek2024

[peachblossomstudy]

a guide to starting a studyblr — 

by @peachblossomstudy​

i’ve been in the studyblr community for many years now (just over four i think!), so i thought i’d make a post with all my advice for anyone lurking in the community thinking of getting more involved. of course i’m not the definitive authority on any of this, please take everything here as suggestions rather than rules!

what is a studyblr?

the term ‘studyblr’ has two meanings: (1) the tumblr community focused on studying, learning and productivity; (2) a blog about your experience as a student/with learning etc. having a studyblr is a fun way to share a love of learning with other, keep yourself accountable in school and find inspiration for notes or planner spreads.

the basics

so you’ve decided to take the plunge. where to start?

url - it’s a good idea to make your url study-themed in some way, whether it includes a variation of the word ‘study’ or references your favourite subject or something else to do with studying or productivity

theme - there are pretty much no rules about themes in the studyblr community! blogs of all themes and aesthetics can be studyblrs, though it may be easier to indicate what your blog is about with a study-related icon. alternatively, it’s quite popular to have picrews for icons to show a bit of personality.

i have made many different icon and header packs, which will be linked on my desktop theme soon!

the picrew i made my icon with is here

introduction post - start your blog with a little introduction about who you are (name or nickname, age if you feel comfortable, pronouns), what you study, any other fun information and maybe even tag some of your studyblr inspirations

content - people post lots of different types of content, including and not limited to:

pictures of their notes, planner or workspace - these are generally the most popular

advice posts made up of graphics

masterlists/masterposts based on different themes (e.g. language learning masterposts)

text-based advice posts (like this one!)

reblogs! the best way to show your love to everyone else in the community

growing your blog

now you’ve posted some content, and it’s time to explore the community a bit more. it goes without saying that growing on tumblr is more of an organic thing, and if you’re coming to studyblr purely for notes then you may want to rethink your reasons for joining the community. nevertheless, validation feels great, and so does making new friends!

try to post regularly - an active blog will always help new people find you, and regular posts will help keep followers engaged

post original content - posting something unique to you will give people a reason to follow you specifically, rather than the same reblogged posts being circulated

that being said, reblogging from others (bonus points for leaving nice messages in the tags!) is a great way to introduce them to your blog. if someone sees your url in their notes often, they’ll be more likely to have a look at your blog

don’t be afraid to interact - send someone a message, send them an ask, reply to their posts, add compliments in their tags! generally everyone in the studyblr community is super friendly and open to messaging, asks and making friends, so get stuck right in

my ask box is always open to new friends! <3

use tags - most studyblr have a tag that they track, and will usually go through and like/reblog any posts that use this tag. find out what tags your favourite blogs track and use them on your posts to help them get seen

i track (very sporadically at the moment) the tag #heypeachblossom

other

now you’ve established yourself, there are lots of other things to do on studyblr! here are some ideas:

get involved in challenges - there are many different challenges to participate in. popular ones include the 100 days of productivity challenge, and the lovely @/myhoneststudyblr has many previous studying challenges you could complete. if you’re into reading, sabrina @/bulletnotestudies and the studyblr w/ knives discord server have lots of great themed reading challenges

participate in events - over the year some blogs will run events such as secret santas or secret admirers, which are really cute and fun to do. this february i ran the @studyblrsecretvalentines​, and i’m hoping to do it again in 2023.

play ask games and tag games with your friends - this is a great way to get to know more people and have some fun!

resources

finally, here are a few useful tips/resources for the more practical side of running a studyblr

your queue is your best friend - you can run up a huge queue of reblogs to keep your blog active during busy study times

i personally use the mobile app snapseed to edit my photos for original content, and find it works really well

canva.com is a great online, free editing program - i use it to make all the graphics for my post header and advice posts

my header and icon packs (that i’ve tagged correctly) are here! i have made other packs, though they’ll have to be found through my archive, sorry

momentum is a popular desktop extension in the studyblr community

lots of people also use forest (or flora, which is free) for cute focus timers

this has turned into a bit of a monster post, but i hope if you’ve read this far that you found it useful! feel free to tag me in your introduction posts, and see you around studyblr <3

#peachblossomstudy #studyblr #myhoneststudyblr #bulletnotestudies #learnelle #problematicprocrastinator #studying #how to start a studyblr #a level studyblr #student #studyspo #uni #study #starting a studyblr #study advice

[t00thpasteface]

hey sorry i’m sure it’s a little dumb but how did you find a community/make mutuals on here? i swapped from twitter to here last year & haven’t been able to make friends like i did on twitter ;v; sorry if this is all silly but figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. love your art & blog !!!

as i like to say, it's like lifting an anvil: it's very simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy. as someone who's a 12+ year veteran that lurked for a couple years and remade a little while ago, really it all comes down to putting yourself out there!!! don't just sit around twiddling your thumbs and lurking. it's tough to do it without coming off as a pandering tryhard, but honestly as long as you're polite, upbeat, and posting regularly, then you're golden.

if you want a big list of wordy bullet points, here's what i've got, and i think you'll find it's pretty applicable to basically any site/community you want to get involved in:

post a lot. this is number one with a fucking bullet! POST! POST LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. but crucially...

post GOOD STUFF. don't bash yourself in the caption/tags, don't say "sorry this is shit" or whatever, don't self-deprecate, and don't admit to posting low-effort stuff just to hit a quota. imagine it's open mic night and go crazy. this is a good site to use like a journal and a scrapbook, but if you want to actually get some traction, you need to bring something interesting to the table. of course, just being funny and nice goes a very long way.

encourage audience feedback. people LOVE to tell you about themselves and give their opinions. get them responding and make the questions and calls for engagement so interesting or fun they can't help themselves.

tag effectively. use both fandom/content tags for searches, and organizational tags for your visitors' use. the tagging system is tumblr's bread and butter, so make it work for you.

follow a lot of blogs you like. then see who they follow, and add those to the list. build a good circle of engagement and keep your finger on the pulse of the site culture for whatever niche(s) you're in... or want to get in.

reblog a lot and be funny/kind in the tags. generally leaving a lot of comments/replies to post is kind of hit-or-miss, but tags are a good harmless "inside voice" to use that doesn't clutter the post itself and yet still engages with op and people seeing the post

engage with people when they ask for engagement. things like polls, ask games, etc... scratch people's backs and they'll scratch yours. and it's just a nice thing to do regardless :)

panhandling is not always the best route. people will balk if you look desperate or openly beg for engagement, like directly asking people to reblog something or being passive-aggressive about how much engagement you are/aren't getting on something. a genuine joke about it is fun and relatable, but snarky comments just kill the vibe and scare people off.

REMEMBER THERE'S NO ALGORITHM. lurking will not put you or any of the stuff you like out there!! REBLOG POSTS! SEND ASKS! this site will NOT SPOON FEED YOU ANYTHING. like taming a wild stallion, you can make this work for you, but you have to put in the effort first.

some people will think you're annoying, and that's okay. probably not very many, but they'll be loud. this is an unavoidable part of Being Known. you can be the sweetest peach in the world but there'll still be people who just don't like peaches. don't take it to heart, and if you do happen to drop the ball or rub a few people the wrong way, don't let that keep you from trying again :)

i've enjoyed the many friends i've made on this site in the past decade-and-then-some, even though both this site and my blog are both something of a ship of theseus. here's hoping you can make it work for you and your interests, too!

#shebbz shoutz #ask

[epickiya722]

An izuocha shipper said this:

Bkdks are just so transparent and easy to read. The people who rant now and want "justice for iida" are the VERY SAME people who always call him irrelevant to the story, boring, annoying, talk down his friendship with izuku and still havent forgiven him being rude ONCE to izuku in the very beginning of the manga before he and izuku even were friends (ohhhhh but anti bakugou people have to forgive bakugou ABUSING izuku for 12 YEARS, right?) and unlike bakugou didnt need over a century to apologiez! Lets be real, there is maybe just 1% of bkdk shippers who are really mad that it wasnt iida. For the majority thats not what the real problem is. They arent mad, because iida was "swaped" with ochako in the opening, they are mad because it was ochako and NOT bakugou! NOT ONE OF THEM would complain if instead of ochako reaching her hand out for izuku, if it would have been bakugou! Despite that there is no such moment in the manga between them! Its all about their shipping agenda. The anime can be as inaccurate as possible, bkdks dont care as long as bones highlights izukus and bakugous relationship even if its not manga canon.

What do you think about it? I'm interested in your opinion

And I am happy to give my opinion!!

Once more it's just other shippers trying to take a stab at BkDks and for what? Because they can't let it go. They're just bored and can't help but be asses.

For one, a lot of BkDks I have seen NEVER said Iida is boring or that irrelevant in any way. When it comes to other characters, I have seen a lot of BkDks defend them, Iida being one, Uraraka being another.

Hell, ask a BkDk who their favorite female character and most likely you'll get Ochaco Uraraka aka Uravity as an answer

No one is upset that it wasn't Bakugou that held Midoriya's hand in the opening. We're upset because once more Uraraka is just being used to fuel that role that it seems she's being forced into, which she doesn't deserve. She doesn't deserve to be a girl who only seemed to have Deku on her mind. A lot of her actions aren't even influenced by him and it sucks that others don't get that. On top of that, Iida, who a lot of us love, myself included, hated seeing his big moment taken away like that.

That's what it's more about. When that chapter came out that the opening is alluding to, no BkDk shipper I saw get upset. Why?

Because Iida is another good friend of Midoriya’s, he's also a great character on his own and it was nice seeing him getting the spotlight in that moment. It's like with Kirishima, BkDks like Kirishima because he is also a great character. He just happens to be a friend of Bakugou's. Do BkDks hate that? No!

Also BkDks and Bakugou fans aren't asking for anti Bakugous to "forgive" Bakugou. No one cares how they feel about Bakugou.

At most, what is being asked is not being so annoying about it and leave that space alone that does like his character. They're constantly the same ones sending threats, purposely tagging their anti posts wrong, commenting under fics, reblogging posts, etc. Like hate Bakugou, that's your preference and no one is forcing for a change of heart.

But how in the fuck (excuse my language) are antis going to throw the "Bakugou is a bully" card (mind you, who at the end of the day is a fictional teenager) yet do trolling and bullying REAL PEOPLE?

And!

The anime actually CAN'T be inaccurate as possible because all it's doing is ruining what Horikoshi and his team has worked on in the manga. It's why it's highly encouraged to read the manga.

I'm not surprised an IzuOcha shipper said that because guess what the anime is doing? Making IzuOcha seem more important when there's other things they should be highlighting like Iida's importance. If anyone is easy to read it's some of them.

BkDk shippers love BkDk, yeah, but most I have seen are always excited for the other characters, analyzing scenes about other characters and themes, hell, some are even multishippers so they do like other Bakugou and Midoriya ships.

Honestly, BkDks and Bakugou fans are probably the sets of people that seem to actually care about the story as a whole the most.

Ashido got a scene cut? A BkDk shipper will point it out. Shigaraki didn't say that in the manga and it's out of character? Oh, look that Bakugou fan caught it! Uraraka being reduced to nothing more than a girl with a crush despite having other great qualities that should be highlighted on? BkDks and Bakugou fans are ENRAGED.

Overall, to summarize this (it is long and I apologize for that, I ramble) BkDks in general don't care that it should have been Bakugou who held Midoriya's hand, I know I don't. We care about Iida's and Bakugou's significance to one of the darkest times in Midoriya's life. We care that Uraraka is also treated with care as she should be. If the opening wanted to have an IzuOcha moment, they could have! Just why make it the moment that should have gone to the characters that was important in that vital moment? They've been doing original scenes and whatnot forever, why stop now? Why take something away from other characters that are just as important as the protagonist and main girl character?

#and i don't mind izuocha there are worse ships #but i don't interact with those shippers #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #kiya answers #bnha s6 #bnha season 6 #bnha spoilers #midoriya izuku #uraraka ochaco #iida tenya #bakugou katsuki #bkdk #bakudeku #💚🐇👊 #💞🌌🪐 #🧡💣💥 #💙🚘👓

[flower-zombie-rob]

WE HAVE CANNON JSE SHIT NOW

so ill take some time to tell any newbies some fandom veteran unspoken rules or just remind people of things

There is not "wrong" versions of the egos!!! There are a million and one designs a for every ego depending on the blog, artist, writer etc. Every marvin looks like a wildly different character and people have their own headcannon personalities, genders, orientations and more for every ego. Some people have multiple aus and characters intertwined. So dont go telling anyone their version of the egos is incorrect or not accurate because these characters have been up for interpretation for a VERY long time so please remember that. If you dont like someones version of the egos or its not accurate to whatever cannon comes out, shut the fuck up and leave the one who created that version of said egos alone. All your ego designs are valid and creative and fantastic and dont drop them just for the cannon if you dont want to.

Ego shipping is fine! So far we have had no cannon confirmation to say that theyre siblings, the same person, or related in any way that would make ego shipping wrong. If that becomes the case, most people with either drop it or actively start making the egos their new OCs to continue shipping their personalities and designs. however, if that doesnt happen, dont bash people for shipping the egos. The sanders sides fandom and markiplier fandom get along just fine shipping characters played by the same guy so just be less judgy if you feel the need to tell people you dont like what they like. And if you really dont like it, its not that hard to just block an artist or ask them to tag their ship art and filter the tag. Its really not that deep so dont go sending anon hate to people for shipping the egos.

Dont be fucking rude. End of. Just dont be rude. If you dont like a blogs interpretation of the egos, just block them. Its not that hard. Be. Nice. Most of us are, but theres some bad apples so please dont be one of them and support artists and writters and editors you like and ignore others.

Ego cosplayers are fine and some of them are really cool and talented people so leave then alone with your hate. If you think theyre cringe, dont interact with their content. Sean has stated he likes them and/or apreciates their skills so dont send ego cosplayers hate. Support their talents god damnit.

Reblog, for the love of god reblog. We arent as big a fandom as we were and we have some serious talent in here. @leobashi @d-structive @tracobuttons @mythicalitycosplay @soopticboop @koryabeebee to name a few. And their content gets nowehere without reblogs. This isnt tiktok, therers no algorithm and liking does essentially nothing so boost content when you see it to make sure our artists remain motivated and adored as they deserve.

Share your content! We love to aee it and theres a criminally low amount of jse content on tumblr these days so give us all of it.

Robbie is a non canon ego and dont bash people for him being their favourite, hes great and hes flexible, being non cannon. Dont get angry for people putting him in the main tag because he is pretty much a part of it all and has been for a while, trust me id know.

Dont steal art(general advice)

Dont hassle @turquoisemagpie because theyre not going to give you any of seans content. At the most, you'll just give yourself a bad name in the community so just leave soph alone and dont nag them for any cannom content. Also sophs word is not gospel and their and is not all cannon confirmation so dont treat it that way. Theyre a person, not a content cow so give them lots of respect and love

Thats all i can think of but feel free to add. All in all i love this community and all of its members. It brings me so much joy to be a part of it and im glad that soon we could gave a whole new wave of members in this community too :)

#jacksepticeye #@therealjacksepticeye #jacksepticegos #jse egos #jse community #jacksepticeye community #jse

[kedreeva]

I’ve been on tumblr since 2012 and following you pretty much that entire time and have never reblogged or posted a single thing under my name. Before that I was on LJ for years and never posted anything. I send (nice) asks to people on anon, and leave (nice) comments and kudos on ao3. I used to interact some on LJ when anon kink memes were a thing. I am a part of fandom and have been for close to 20 years, I’m just not comfortable having any kind of public persona online that people can see, even if it has no attachment to my real name.

I know that the influx of new, young fans and the way they treat fandom the same as other online content creation/consumption is a problem. But fandom has always had lurkers. I do my best to positively interact in the ways that I am able to within my comfort zone, and I follow the rules of fandom etiquette. There’s so much pushback against lurkers now that was never there before, and I just don’t understand it.

It's a difficult line to walk, but there's a difference between going to a blog that has zero posts, zero likes, no header, no icon, not even a note that says "just lurking," and a person that's here to look at stuff that displays at least enough humanity to say "hey don't block me I'm just looking."

And look... yes there's always been lurkers. And there probably always will be. And it wasn't an issue for you or for creators or fandom in general, because it didn't hurt anything before. In just my living memory, fandom spent a while just being mailing lists- so creations/discussion went to everyone. There wasn't really anyone else to pass stuff on to, so it didn't matter if you just signed up and never said a word. Webrings based the spread of creation in the site itself, because everything was small back then. Livejournal had public and private communities that were searchable and creation was based inside of those communities, and interaction was based on commenting - what you're used to doing, and okay doing - meaning community was based in the comments and people linking to various communities. Back when places like deviantart and ff.net were pretty staple major sites for everyone, community formed in comment sections there as well.

And as much as I do love social media and the advent of community messaging systems... it's changed the face of fandom in ways that make lurking - and I do mean straight up no interaction, if you're sending messages and commenting, you're participating - break the links of community.

Look at it this way:

Back on LJ etc, it didn't matter if you, personally, lurked. Or even if 100 people lurked. Creations and community were centrally located. People all gathered to the same stable location (a post, or a community feed) to look at the things, and comment etc so if you commented or didn't, they could still find the creations. Sites like that brought people together. Now? *shakes head* Social media sites have divided us, and AI/Bots/Algorithms are conquering us because we disseminated too far.

Where do you go, on twitter, if you want to find fic? How do you find a conversation about something? Where do artists go so you can find groups of them and their galleries? You can scroll a tag, but anyone can put anything in that. I have literally no idea how tiktok works because every time I go on it, things just start scrolling past and playing videos for me that I didn't click. It's kind of horrifying. Instagram is... god, I don't even know how to classify that mess, but it's not a community. it's a museum. don't touch anything.

Tumblr is... it's not livejournal, it's not deviantart, it's not mailing lists or webrings but... it's people touching real people still, or it has the ability to be that if we continue to fight for it. As much as there are shitshows around here on occasion, it's still largely neighbors passing notes over the fences separating us.

But for as much community potential as it has, with the way it can function - with the way it USED to function, the way I REMEMBER it functioning a long time ago - it still separates us. There's tags, like on twitter, but anyone that tag dives (like me) knows what a hot fucking mess the tags can be, and there's no other central collection.

Tumblr's saving grace, though, is the ability we, the users, have to interact like humans. To share what we can with one another. To create networks that still kind of resemble the webrings of old, where you can come to one location (someone's blog) and find gateways to other blogs the way one page/site used to lead to the next so the separate, divided things spread across the world WIDE web don't get lost.

Except the link gets broken here, when folks just have empty blogs. There's (thankfully) no algorithm deciding what we should look at, but the trade off is that we have to be responsible for that step in fandom again. The way we used to be.

Not to mention that... there was never really a point for bots back in the LJ days. It would have been hard for them to survive because everyone knew at least some of the people. Not that there weren't, but it was harder and not rewarding for them to exist en masse. Now? Now bots use social media sites and users. Here, on tumblr, they follow accounts to make it look like they're legit to search engines. Whatever central account they're using to scam people, it collects the bots and the network the bots make, and uses them to look legit, so they can scam people, so they can spread viruses, advertise porn or whatever they're doing. They're exploiting users here, and they do this by following us.

And the ONLY recourse we have? is guessing that they're bots and blocking them. Because reporting a blank blog won't get tumblr addressing the issue. So, when someone lurks in a completely faceless, anon way, a way that makes them look like a bot, then the people who are being followed are going to learn to treat them like the bots that are trying to exploit them to do bad things.

And that's not on you! It's not your fault that they're doing those things, or that people have to react the way they have to react to curb that nonsense. And it's not your fault that social media wants to separate us so it can sell us whatever it wants and keep us from communicating and forming communities where we can entertain ourselves instead of feeding on their ads or whatever. It's not your fault that the way community functions on a human level has been backed into a corner by algorithms/bots.

But that IS the lay of the land these days. You and I have both been here long enough that we've watched the landscape shift. It's not the net we knew. And that's unfortunate. But it's probably not going to go back to the way we knew once upon a time. So people are pushing back against folks being quiet, because the alternative is to let algorithms win and do the talking for us. To let bots use us to hurt others. To let fandom founder because it's being directed by whatever AI is in charge of telling us what to look at.

I'm not going to tell anyone they can't be in fandom if they don't reblog stuff or make stuff or whatever. Just... that fandom is going to have a LOT harder time existing in this new breed of divided space if we don't reach out and connect and help one another connect to others, too.

#fandom #tumblr #asks #anon asks #this got long #listen I don't mind people lurking #and you gotta do what you gotta do for your own well being #but it can't be every person #it can't even be most people #or fandom stops existing in these kinds of spaces #because community isn't based on a central space anymore #it's built on our backs and depends on us linking hands #for people to have roads to get around on

[walnutcookie]

you should infodump about misfortune like. now /nf

SIR YES SIR . SALUTES.

im not sure how to tag all of this, doing my best but some of it Might be a little disturbing (with cartoony visuals). if you need it tagged with something specific please ask !!

(reblogs ok !)

misfortune is this silly raven thing . it is the Embodiment of misfortune and misery and feeds off of it, which means it is often causing harm to others for its own benefit

Its like . Ten feet tall or something HVXKDBD it can shrink and grow as it pleases actually (so long as it has enough power). Since it wants to feed off of and make someone miserable, it tries to choose its victims to be the most vulnerable people it can find. people who are isolated and dont have much support mostly, but also people who already have a lot of trauma and people dont know how to manage their emotions very well

Cappuccino was a perfect canidate !

i should give some more info about misfortune before i get into that though ,,, using its host/victims body, its able to cause things to happen (stack of papers getting scattered, bookcases falling over, lighting striking dangerously close, people around them getting hurt/even dying, generally unfortunate events). it tries to make things basically just The worst it possibly can be for the person it inhabits so it can achieve Maximum Misery (which is a tasty snack for it ! ). it can also do fun and silly things like cause its victims to grow bird parts - wings, talons, feathers, a beak, combinations of these things, etc - in a very Painful and grotesque way !! which also causes them to feel miserable! though it doesnt want to kill the host so it always makes these things temporary. additionally it can possess people and control their every move, causing feathers to grow from their skin the longer theyre posessed Which they will have to pluck later. also painful.

^ cappuccino growing wings

also Misfortune does not want its victims to die. if its victims die then that means their suffering is over - it would have to find a new host. So it makes the person suffer as most as possible while also protecting them and keeping them alive

that also includes keeping them from trying to kill themselves

using its previous host/victims body (my oc golden leaf cookie at the moment but that may change), it killed cappuccinos parents. For what reason im uh. not sure yet i still need to figure that out HDBFKH but it was Incredibly gruesome and uh. unfortunately little cappuccino was there to watch !

cappuccino's parents were Not nice people. they were incredibly abusive and neglective. cappuccino is like ,, age 5-10 at this time (another thing to figure out) and while her older sister latte was there she Got scared and ran away leaving cappuccino to fend for himself (latte is still fillwd with so much guilt over that bUT THATS A ramble for another time)

cappuccino is an Already traumatized young kid who just watched her parents die and is now all alone and an orphan . and is now going to watch as this giant bird thing claws through its host, causing them to scream out in pain and bleed out to death on the floor as the bird talks to little cappu !!! in spanish because for some reason me and my gf decided it speaks spanish but hey it works out cause so does cappu!

misfortune then crawls inside cappuccinos mouth. which again. is very painful. And very disturbing especially as a child

cappuccino lives with this thing for like twenty years, vaguely aware of its existence yet still filled with doubt. He knows she has bad luck either way and tends to isolate herself as to not harm others !!! all of the friends he made in school had bad things happen to them so hes become paranoid about getting too close to people. hes basically just accepted that shes not capable of doing good ,,, anything he tries to do just ends up going bad anyways. Which is why hes become a prosecutor !!!! you see Misfortune naturally gives her an advantage since giving innocent people (or anyone for that matter) lengthy sentences and other punishments causes a lot of misery and feeds Misfortune quite nicely ! it doesnt exactly Garuntee cappus win like. she still has to work for it. but he does get an upper hand (unknowingly) as misfortune encourages it. the reason she smokes a lot is because it helps him not feel so anxious and paranoid constantly that bad things will happen to everyone she cares about

theres a lot of habits hes picked up after dealing with this thing for so long. no cars/buses since hes been in FAR too many car crashes. keep pencils/writing tools dull as he tends to accidentally stab herself a lot. dont bother keeping places clean and tidy since theyll become dirty somehow anyways

cappuccino has a vague memory of misfortune. though since it was so long ago and also During a very traumatizing moment his mind has kind of distorted it to be some incomprehensible monster that appears in her nightmares. is it real? is he just imagining all of this? when wings grow from his back, is she hallucinating it? is something causing all of this bad luck, or is he just imagining everything? he cant tell if its real or not . she KNOWS something is wrong because it seems like life itself is determined to keep her from being happy. the thing is misfortune constantly lives inside of her ,, hes never seen misfortune aside from that very fuzzy (and distorted) memory from when he was a child. finally he Cant Take it anymore and just talks out loud to himself, trying to talk to whatever it is keeping him from being happy - again, not knowing if anything is actually there.

But there is !

And she is horrified as it starts to crawl out of his mouth!

theres a sense of relief and reassurance as At least now he knows its not all just his imagination but also. holy fucking shit. its not her imagination.

its all real. the memory from when she was a kid. hes being haunted by this Fucking Thing (which she realizes is a bird and not an incomprehensible monster) and its effectively ruining her life. it speaks to her - he figures out that it feeds off of his misery and that its been doing that for the past 20 years. And she just has to live with that

-

I could go on ,,, theres more to it actually but this post is getting Very long and i want people to Actually read it HXBDKHD

(UPDATE PART 2 HERE)

if you have any questions/comments PLEASE let me know i love talking about this thang !!!

#tw suicide mention #tw blood #tw body horror #tw child abuse #tw smoking #cappuccino cookie #cookie run oc #🎉 rambles

[starflungwaddledee]

AAAHH Hi again!

Ur art, OCs, & comics are SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME & CUTE!^^ I really wanna make more fanart of ur Lil dee! To be honest, your art really inspires me! ✨️

I really hope you enjoy some of my fanart I made of you! (Sorry if i'm rambling) And if it's all right with you, I would like to be your friend. If you want. I really like making new friends! (If that's ok with you)

helloooo! thank you so much for the kind words about my work, i'm so happy if i can inspire you with your own creativity! i've of course enjoyed the pieces you've drawn of starstruck very much! i think i reblogged them? if i missed one let me know! thank you for thinking of her and sharing them with me!!

rambling is also okay anytime! added a cut to trim this down: topics include generational friendships and adult responsibilities therein, and also autism making socialising hard

wrt to being friends, i need to make clear that i'm an adult!

i hope it's obvious that i am quite friendly, and i always love to see folks i recognise-such as yourself!!- around. i'm more than happy to chat in comments/asks and such! if you are in my notifications regularly (especially with comments/tagged reblogs/etc, as those don't get compressed in my activity window) you can assume for now that i'll recognise you and be delighted to hear from you any time, and so i do consider that a baseline of friendship already.

but, while i aim to be kind and approachable to everybody of all ages, and i have several friendly mutuals who are minors, i don't want to be close friends with any minors. i just think it's a safety boundary i shouldn't cross and that it's on me (as the adult) to enforce said boundary.

a mutual of mine (who is also an adult) said that they don't hold extended private conversations with any kids. i think that's a good base rule, especially because i think i'm on the slightly older end of folks in this fandom! if this is the wrong stance to have, i'd happily hear otherwise, as i'm very new to being in a fandom space like this where there are a lot of minors active and wanting to interact with me. i'm doing my best but i'm happy to learn, i genuinely want to make a safe and welcoming space!

i hope this doesn't sound at all negative or like i'm rebuffing you or being rude >_< like i said, i'm friendly!! i consider there to be a baseline of friendliness with people who are taking the time to interact with and leave nice comments on my work already, or who have drawn me gift art and such. and maybe this is a bit autistic of me, but i'm not sure what else 'friends' would entail beyond that point! you can feel free to enlighten me, this could just be my age showing too 😂

#the autism is sooo strong for me and i've never been good at “making friends” bc i tend to just assume... i'm being friendly #“what else is there” 😭😭😭😭 like socially... i don't know what the difference is here besides just spending more time together #which happens naturally when you engage with each other! right? waauuhrrghggh socialising is soooo hard #also i can clarify in case anyone feels left out: i'm not out here like.... idk being fun + *more* friendly elsewhere!! it's just this! #i'm just here chatting in comments and asks! i'm not on discord. i'm barely in my own dms 😅 #starflungs personal tag #asks

[msmargaretmurry]

any advice on someone who’s new to the hockey/hockey rpf fandom on trying to make friends? I miss having people to bounce ideas off of

hi anon! welcome to hockey fandom! i hope you're having fun so far ❤

in all honestly, i'm probably not the best person to answer this question. the majority of the friends i made in hockey fandom i met 7–10 business years ago in a locked hockey twitter environment that just doesn't really exist anymore in the way it did back then. i've made a handful more recently (whom i adore!!) but i'm such an introvert that most of the time it's them deciding we should be friends and me being like "sure sounds great!" 😅 however. i will try to give some advice anyway.

i assume since you're here you're on tumblr in general, so if you haven't yet, definitely start following people who are into the same teams/players/pairings as you! don't be shy about reblogging from them and putting your fannish feelings in the tags, or prev tagging them if you like what they added, or sending them an ask if they blog about something you'd love to hear more about. except, and this is key, i'm sorry: you gotta send your asks non-anonymously. anons can be super fun but you can't really make friends with them.

it really depends on the level of outgoing-ness you're comfortable with, but if you've had a couple of interactions with someone and you want to see if they'd like to be friends, honestly, just shoot them a message. say something like, hey, i'm pretty new to hockey fandom and trying to make friends, and you seem cool, so i wanted to say hi! like, unfortunate because it can be scary, but in my experience reaching out intentionally to people to start a dialogue has a way higher success rate than just interacting from afar and hoping they make a friendship move.

if you post fic on ao3, link your tumblr in your author's notes or ao3 bio. that way people who like your fic can find you! (actually do this even if you just comment on ao3. if you leave a really nice comment on someone else's fic they might want to find you, too!) and, if you find fic writers on here whose stuff you like, don't be afraid to message them about it! we live for that shit, and you might make a new writer friend.

i feel like this is all very basic advice that is not specific to hockey fandom at all, so i'm sorry if it's nothing new. if i had an idea of what in hrpf you were into maybe i could point you in some more specific directions. i know there are some discord servers out there for hrpf in general and for more specific teams/pairings/etc within hrpf, but i don't discord so i can't help with that :(

hockey fandom, i think, can be a little intimidating because there is so much information and history and so many players and teams you could be into. i really do think being honest with people — hey, i'm new, i'm excited to learn and geek out about this stuff, i wanna be friends — is the best way to be. and if you have questions, you can always dm me! i'm nice, i promise!!

#ask #hockey for ts