#lina speaks

[thelighthousemp3]

moon tonight

#lina speaks #astrophotography #moon #mine

[linaket]

I keep seeing hopeful things about the revival of web serial writing after Dracula Daily took off and I really, really, really want to be on board with these. I mean, I wrote a thesis about this exact subject in 2013. I love serial writing. I REALLY DO. I actively chose to write my main story as a serial and not in a more "traditional" manner.

But you see, the problem is this: The sharks are already in the water, and the web serial industry has become toxic. If it ever wasn't.

I don't mean people using Substack or individuals at all. What I mean is that it's an entire industry already that, in the past several years, has kind of gone from bad to worst.

There is a general idea that web serial writing isn't as good as traditional publishing. Yeah, there's so much of it out there. There are a lot of people getting their start writing this way. But that doesn't mean that's the only people out here, even if there are a LOT of them.

However, it does mean there are a lot of hopeful writers just ripe to be taken advantage of.

The problem in the last few years has actually come from media conglomerates snapping up platforms left and right. Many of these are coming out of overseas markets, because web serials are HUGE there and have already proven to be profitable. Naver, which owns WEBTOON, also now owns Wattpad [link] Kakao acquired three platforms in the last year: Tapas, Wuxiaworld, and Radish. [link]

Webnovel is under Tencent. Here's a fun article about that.

and from that article:

Cultivating native writers

The huge success of a handful of Chinese stories has been great for the platforms, but also unpredictable and hard to replicate. Within China, the industry isn't just built on that. It's also about the thousands of B-list or amateur authors constantly pumping out new works to keep readers on the platforms.

To recreate that overseas, Chinese platforms have begun to cultivate non-Chinese writers. And the platforms have plenty of experience from the two decades of competing within China.

Emphasis mine.

These companies are predatory at best. Webnovel has a notoriously hellish contract. Authors are paid pennies and expected to "pump out" content, and those writers have to produce 500-1k words at least 5 times a week or be in breach of contract.

The kicker? Most don't retain the IP for their work, let alone moral rights.

While we often cite "to become a better writer, you must write," there is a point where the stress of the constant churn doesn't allow a writer to grow.

I've had friends get cut out of revenue shares for their work because, technically, it is considered contract work. You were paid what you were paid, and whatever profits come from that go to the company. Often this is done on a second season, or slipped into an amended contract.

Check the fine print on any of the contests. Most include something about entries only being able to be posted on that platform (see even The Wattys) which, understandable, but exclusivity is a low gate. It doesn't seem like a big deal until you're trapped behind it and at the mercy of whatever platform is holding your work.

And these larger companies often release massive waves of censorship.

Recently on Tapas, novels (and comics!) were shadowbanned from the app if they had the word "kiss" in the title. This was just weeks ago. If you search "kiss" on the Tapas app, the main way that the audience accesses the site, literally nothing comes up. Have a tweet about it:

[link]

It's the newest wave of censors that have been placed on the platform... and the platform has issued no statement on this. What other words are banned? Who knows? Well, omega is another one. But no one was told that. It's been a lot of trial and error among members of the community to find out if anyone can even find their stories anymore.

In the last few years, many of the more experienced authors I've met and highly respected on platforms just... left.

Does this mean that serial writing is dead in the water? Of course not.

I really, really hope not.

But if anyone out there is interested in taking that route, there's some pretty basic advice that everyone has heard:

read the TOC of a platform thoroughly before posting.

do not rely on a platform alone to share your work. you never know when something might happen, and suddenly your work will be unavailable. (this is one of the reasons that I run from exclusivity.)

plan to build your own audience, in your own way. Most platforms already have a niche, and that is what they are going to push more than anything.

understand that marketing is on you, just like any other kind of self-publishing route.

if your interested in becoming a "premium" author for the sites, read your contracts COMPLETELY. Even and especially renewals.

be wary if anything seems to good to be true when it comes to these large platforms. it probably is.

My experience, like everyone's, is obviously limited. I understand that. Personally? I loved platforms, and building communities on them with other writers, but I am finding it difficult to trust my work on them anymore.

I'm trying to figure out my own way now. I'm not sure what that's going to look like, but I'm trying to think of something. Because I haven't given up. I can't. I committed to writing my story as a series, and I'll finish it as such, because it is what is right for that story.

Let me know if you've got any ideas.

#lina speaks #writeblr #serial writing

[thesuntitanswife]

I just love the Titans so much! They are very intriguing, especially during the Golden Era of the Titans. It makes me wonder what they were like back then before Kronos went nuts due to paranoia and power. But I do believe he was a good King and uncle to all his nieces and nephews. He must be a strict king too and very loving to his family…

However, the damn prophesy ruined it all!! And it caused him to go nuts, especially when the Elder Six were born. It caused him to swallow them all out of fear except for little Zeus whom Rhea hid somewhere.

Anyway, I will try to explore them as I could in my current PJO fanfic, Tales of the Invincible Sun or TIS for short, while trying to keep close to the actual Myths with some twists in it. But it will be mostly in Helios’s POV and many others.

So please feel free to check it out then, Just check my tumblr profile for the link.

#Titans #PJO #Greek Mythology #Greek Gods #HOO #TOA #TSATS #Heroes of Olympus #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Trials of Apollo #Greek Myths #The Sun and the Star #Tales of the Invincible Sun #TIS #Ancient Greece #Lina speaks #my writing #my fanfic stuff #Lost Lore

[tenshilina]

A little Announcement

You probably don't notice it because you guys aren't judging my art list all day long enough to notice a change, but I have decided to delete some drawings. Although don't be alarmed and turn on the red alert button because this is simply to make some redraws of these said drawings in better quality ones.

I do this frequently, I post then delete things a lot, it's nothing new.

To give you a bit of context, I hadn't drawn in 4 years and I decided to do it again exactly on October 31 2021 with my first drawing after so long for Halloween. Since this was a practically new situation (a second time) for me I had to start experimenting as a beginner: Finding my own style, getting used to my digital tablet since it doesn't have a screen to look at and it's practically like drawing blind (and that means I had to learn to coordinate with my senses once again), find a drawing app that is comfortable for me to work with and learn how to use it.

I used to use Krita before and I didn't really know how to use it, so apart from my style being a bit inconsistent due to my experimentation, the final results ended up being in a very low quality and saturated.

Now that I use Medibang which suits my requirements, I can redo the same drawings now with my established style and with better quality and pastel shades that are more pleasing to the eye.

It will also be quite interesting to be able to compare the old drawing with the new one as soon as I make them to be able to see the change and improvement, honestly. In any case, thank you very much for the support that my drawings of the same quality as a youtube video without wifi received 💞💞

#artists on tumblr #my personal stuff #Lina speaks #announcement

[sponge-eating-goblin]

Alas I think a marketing campaign is working on me bc I kinda want to try that damned grimace shake Just to See

#non fandom #lina speaks #ive never used that tag before why am I using that tag #grimace shake #happy birthday grimace

[ofdreamsanddoodles]

every day i think about how much of a menace vash & lina & sheryl must have been as like. a family. like we see one day of their lives together & in it, lina runs into a bar because bandits are literally After Her Life & when they took her, sheryl was immediately like, "well, that's my granddaughter, so even though i'm an old woman, i guess it's time to shoot some bandits." while everyone around her was like. begging her to stop. then vash wakes up from Getting Shot By a Gun and says the exact same thing. they're an entire family of stampedes

#trigun #trimax would be so much shorter if they brought lina along & gave her a gun #aster speaks

[tvckerwash]

the noncanon s9 trailer as a whole is very serious, but the idea that wash and maine would have gotten their asses beat by sim troopers on multiple occasions had the outposts not been first established until after the break in is unbelievably funny. these big bad freelancers are more interested in fucking around and goofing off during what is supposed to be a Very SeriousTM simulation exercise and it comes back to bite them so hard, and yall already know that the other freelancers would make sure they never lived it down.

#the absurdity of a *spartan and a **former odst whom are the unsc's best soldiers getting rektedTM by the worst of the worst not once but #twice is already funny. but what's even funnier is imagining it happen to all the other freelancers at least once #like tex wyoming and florida have all canonically been taken out by sim troopers alongside wash and maine so its only fair that if canon wa #slightly different that that would be the running gag of pfl #*maine being a spartan and **wash being an odst are hc's #rvb #red vs blue #agent washington #agent maine #no but all the freelancers are making fun of wash and maine bc 'haha omg losing to sim troopers lmao' #but then it happens to north and south. and ct and wyoming. and york and lina. and all wash and maine have to say with the smuggest faces #known to man is 'not so funny now is it?' and from that moment they all silently agree to never speak of these dark times ever again #the counselor and the director are shocked speechless and deeply concerned by the fact that they all lost at some point. the data says that #that should have not been able to happen but it did. literally what are the chances. either the freelancers are the unluckiest ppl to exist #or the sim troopers are the luckiest ppl alive and neither option is good lols #peak 'project freelancer was a mistake' moment right there #not t/oaru #mine

[dozenssporks]

something about Stampede Vash judging his worth solely by what he can do for others. What he, a plant, can produce. After The Fall he only starts to feel happy and confident after he realizes he can help the sick plants. Brad and Luida unintentionally confirming that idea when they only give him freedom and comfort after he’s proved useful.

how Vash let himself hang up there between two dead bodies and probably only asked for help so he could lead Roberto and Meryl to water and shelter and agreeing to the interview at least in part because it was what made him useful to them.

Knives using Vash to cause The Fall. Knives dropping Vash into The Soup so he could use his brother for his own selfish purposes, but finally giving Vash usefulness as a plant.

Vash finally refusing to be used and wrecking his brother’s plans

anyway I hope in season 2 Vash is allowed to be obnoxiously loud, unhinged, and enjoy life without regard for how useful he may or may not be to others, and be able to help others simply out of love.

#trigun #trigun stampede #since season 1 is a prequel and a story arc of coming of age/character growth #I'm guessing and hoping season 2 will reward us with the results of that growth despite the severe trauma #plus Lina and her grandmother have taken him in without a thought about whether he'd be useful or not #I hope two years under their care make a world of difference #let him be cared for :( #a dozen sporks speaks

[dashoulinas-fandom-dump]

Hey! It’s my birthday and the Gomens brainrot has subsided to a semi-manageable level, so I’m trying Doctor Who!

I don’t know if there’s a best way to do this. I’m just starting at the beginning.

I’m halfway through episode 3. It feels very strange to my modern mind- the slow pacing, black & white, everything feels random. I do crack up every time someone says Doctor.

I’m certainly interested, though I don’t immediately love it. I intend to stick with it for some time before commuting to 800-some episodes. It may take me awhile to get into the swing of things. I’ll keep you updated.

Things I’m looking forward to:

Watching the filming equipment develop over time, especially

Color film

David Tennant

Daleks

any explanation whatsoever of who the Doctor is or how this all got started

modern camera techniques such as zooming out instead of showing the bottom half of someone’s face

any type of action, really

higher resolution

Things I like so far:

appropriate skepticism rather than just immediately accepting time travel

the murder mystery feel of the first episode

the Doctor squabbling with Ian

Year-meter shows 0? Ah, must be broken lol

episodes are short (I suspect this will much annoy me once I get invested in the characters)

Things that are meh so far:

The modern females are panicky, screechy, and pretty useless

I don’t care at all about the cavemen and their situation. not finding it engaging.

congrats on the Sherlock obsession. As I am now just going down the list of things you and Tumblr like, I’ll have to try it eventually. I have a feeling DW may occupy me for quite some time, though.

Many thanks for recommending Good Omens!

OMG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! 🥳🥳

So I personally began my DW journey from the new who (starting with the 9th doctor) and only later tried watching the b/w beginning, and I must confess I still believe I have not been very successful in doing so (I got stuck after maybe 10 episodes...) So yeah.. By going your way you are less likely to miss that huge part of the show. I'm very proud of you!!

For if/when you decide to try out Sherlock obsession, just know that BBC series is only one of the many adaptations and you will find a lot of them far better than Brwnneebdck Curemdbdbtch. (I and the sherlock side of the maggot family absolutely loathe don't like the bbc series, mostly for ruining dearest Irene and making Sherlock an absolute arse/crimesolving machine..) So yeah, just a heads up:)

#dasha speaks #lina answers #HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! #I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

[tokyogruel]

what if.. chubby transfem mahiru.. 👉👈

LINA YOURE RIGHT!!!

in fact let me tell you my favorite mahiru headcanons

-bpd icon i love her

-filipino mahiru is everything to me i love you Phillipines

-chubby. give this girl some heft!!

-TRANSFEM ICON 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

-my partner says she could be "a jack of all trades, a master of none" and i agree, with an exception:

-i think she makes a lot of her own clothes

#UH my brain is fried now also im sorry #been trying to avoid thinking about how i have work later oh boy #HI LINA!!!!! #creature speaks #ask tag

[thelighthousemp3]

screaming crying throwing up

#lina speaks #WHY DID I JUST TEXT THIS BOY ‘yay’ crying #IM SO DUMB AT TEXTING #throwing up why would i say that

[linaket]

Sometimes when I go back and read my writing I'll get blindsided by some character interaction or other and I end up having impromptu floor time and stare at the ceiling about it.

#lina speaks

[thesuntitanswife]

Zeus is definitely not a very good father at all, especially when it comes to any of his children.. DAMN HIM FOREVERMORE!!

THAT BLOODY THUNDERBOLT ASS even ABUSED APOLLO FOR OVER MILLENNIA AND HE WAS FORCED TO HID IT FROM EVERYONE INCLUDING HIS TWIN!!

So he is nothing but a damn bloody drama king and thunderbolt asshole!!

Humph! Ugh!

#Damn you Zeus #Trials of Apollo #Lina speaks #Poor Apollo #I really want to hug him so badly as ever #TOA #PJO

[thatflutegirly]

even though no one asked I ranked the 10 main Taylor swift albums in my favorite to least favorite…I definitely do not have popular opinions but it’s my favorites sooooo

Evermore

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

Red (Taylor’s Version)

Reputation

1989 (Taylor’s Version)

Debut

Folklore

Lover

Midnights

@pevensiechase @igotthisaccountunderduress no pressure just curious what yall would do!

#taylor swift #alexa's takes #iggy implies #alli’s tags #evermore #speak now #lina’s thoughts

[aroacehanzawa]

me and the bad bitch i pulled by speaking 10 languages

#my multilingual swag apparently not just swag but straight up multilingual rizz to my lina who is so seduced by me rn #the caption is a lie btw i only speak around 6 languages but i can understand up to 17 with various degrees of comprehension #teehee #lina <3

[linabirb]

me running around and saying hi to all profs and lina's classmates even though i know that our host is literally the most anxious and quiet creature ever: i am doing such a good job. i am literally just like her. nobody's gonna suspect anything

#the thing is that usually it's lina cherry or honey who comes out to talk to others #but cherry is still asleep and honey is not doing good right now and lina refuses to come out #so yeah i have to carry this system on my back today #except i am.. not good at doing social stuff at all #anyway cherry please pick us up thank you #apologies for rambling #[ ❄️ winter speaks] #i forgot what my tags were for a second