#rbing this because i Do

[megabuild]

it's actually so weird how people react with such vitriol to the slightest mention of minecraft youtubers like i used to be sympathetic about it because of the whole association with dream and so on but it's gotten to the point where if you've been made aware it's a rich and varied community and you still have that knee jerk reaction of "well they're lame, they're cringe, they're all ugly racist white boys" you are actually just a fucking idiot. i'm sorry. like if you cannot do that most basic level of separation like that there is something fundamentally unformed in your brain you should probably work on

#mine #discourse #i guess #this is a general thing but also about the cat situation sorry i just woke up and it really pissed me off. #im not rbing the post with the addition from op because frankly its just sad. but also im sour on the whole thing now. #id like if she won but what can you do.

[pretz3l-log1c]

Recently I saw a post explaining cats vocalize around humans as a way to social signal. That Humans do a lot of social signaling as well. That's why people talk about the weather or will grumble about the long wait in line to the person near them. Or why people will ask 'Hey, how's it going?' and just want a 'good. Thanks for asking. And you?'. It's all about recognizing you're part of a group.

Then I saw, and reblogged a post, explaining that compared to most marketing stats, fanfiction is exceptionally above engagment averages at even 10% kudos per hits.

Yet, fanfic writers often feel as if they're screaming into a void and that engagement is down/dwindling/dying/etc.

So now I'm wondering if these two things are connected.

I think the problem fanfic writers are currently facing is a matter of community. In a way participating in fandom by writing fanfic is a way of social signalling. It is a way for the writer to go "I like this thing, don't you like this thing too?"

It's like the writer is calling out hello only for 90 out of 100 people to blankly stare at them. 10 out of 100 will wave hello. Only a few out of 100 will actually say something back.

Is it any wonder writers feel like they're screaming into a void? At least when you scream into a void you don't know how many people heard you, you just hear who screams back. It has to hurt mentally to put your heart out there and feel like it's being ignored.

I think about how forums of the early internet age have largely died off. How Tumblr engagement has ebbed over the years. How fanfiction has become some people's main means of engaging in fandom because it's 'free'.*

So I genuinely think the problem here is fanfic writers want community and are trying to gain that through fanfic. And they feel largely ignored/abandoned/snubbed because they're not recieving that engagement.

So my advice to writers:

turn off/hide/ignore your fanfic stats. If email alerts for kudos and/or comments spark joy then keep them. Otherwise turn those off as well.

create and/or join fandom focused discords. Find people you connect with and build a community that way.

put an author's note on your works that you like to engage with readers. That you want their thoughts, feelings opinions, etc. on your writing. Provide links for people to to chat you up on whatever social media site you prefer.

My advice to readers:

if you're going to talk to fandom friends about a fic you read, maybe leave a comment as simple as 'I love this and I'm going to share it with everyone I know.'

if you find a fic you regularly re-read or an author you loyally follow, let the author know that.

if a fic had a huge impact on you, let the writer know that.

Readers please note: I am not saying leave kudos more often, I am not saying comment on every fic. I am saying, in short, if it moves you then let the author know you were moved.

* yes I know fanworks are a labor of love/hobby and not actually free for the creator at least in time/effort. I write fanfic. I'm just saying it doesn't typically cost money to consume.

#pretzel rambles #writing #fanfiction #fanart #I do make an effort to leave comments on RB art for example #anything from 'oh the color scheeme so pretty' to 'a short fanfic drabble #i don't always succeed #and I think that's ok because ai am still RBing the art so other may see it #and maybe someone else will have the spoons to comment #I think we talk a lot about the spoon theory here on tumblr #so I think it's important to think reading fanfic cost 1 spoon but engaging with it cost 2 and most people don't have a 2nd spoon to spare #i think we need to kinder to ourselves about our expectations for how 'successful' a fanfic is #also kinder to readers and our expectations of them

[cuppajj]

wdym i cant change primary blogs

#i kinda wish i could follow from cuppanova now because i see it as being my general art blog while cuppajj stays tf #on the topic of this blog i was initially thinking i'd rb art from nova for the first few weeks for traction but now i might just do it #everytime i post? more followers on jj so it could lead to more traction possibly #nova can just exclude the robot stuff #cjj sayeth #i shouldnt feel so insecure about rbing my original ocs on here!! its my sleepover so i choose the movie!! unfollow if u want lmao

[ruelpsen]

I regret to inform you that my fave is getting bodied again in another poll

#too many fake old man enjoyers on this site #COME ON NOW HE HAS SIX ~PREHENSILE~ TENTACLE DICKS! SIX!!!!!! #people are being mean in the notes though like come on what has he ever done to you #do you not know cuntenserven when you see it #sure yes he does bad things in canon and i am not an apologist #and if he were a real person i would hate him so gd much for some of the shit he does #however he is not real so what about it #some people just want to dream about having a passionate six-tentadicked bisexual alien lover and lordy am i one of them #i might. *might.* rb the poll itself later but without tags because i've had experiences with normies being stupid in my inbox- #- after rbing normie-ish posts in the past #even a number of people who claim to be sex-positive turn awful the second it's clear your tastes aren't bland vanilla stuff #if you've read this far thanks for hearing out my ramblings #despite my better judgement i am so deeply in love with this foolish man #londarling #not sfw

[sashimiyas]

.

#tw discourse #i’m gonna say an unpopular opinion once and then be on my way again #sometimes i see something on here that makes me upset and then i think #‘i really need to be on here less.’ but then i realize… i rarely use the app as it is #but writers love to say ‘we don’t get paid to write. we are not machines.’ all valid points #bc entitlement is frustrating. bc this is meant to be a community of natural engagement and interaction #i want to specify Natural #bc i see those same writers bash their followers for not like rbing or commenting #as if they are getting paid to follow the author! and that isn’t fair either #writers ask for grace when they are going through writers block or a difficult episode in their life #and our followers cannot ask for the same? sometimes we do not feel like reading. and let’s admit it. not every post will be a banger #and that should be fine too. no one should be guilted to interact with anyone #and i think my whole discomfort with using this site lately is how every interaction is being policed #like do we not assume good intentions anymore? can we not assume that someone is rbing without tags but will put something in later #when they do get a chance to read it? or that they are liking because they want to read it but just dont have the time yet? #anyways. i’ll probably come back to delete this #but man. anyone who follows me. i want you to know that i will do my best to never try and make you feel bad for choosing how to interact #with this blog. outside of not responding to my inbox bc that’s just been difficult for me lately. #please have a comfortable experience and go about this stupid little hellhole in peace #don’t feel coerced to interact with me unless you want to. don’t apologize to me for not having reached out to me in a while #it’s okay. please have your fun in any way you want #i say this bc before being a writer i am a reader

[welcometogrouchland]

for the drawing requests luz dressing up as eda for halloween if u feel like it xoxox

I ABSOLUTELY FEEL LIKE IT this was such a delightful request omg. Featuring some bonus clawthorne/Noceda family doodles because they come as a set. Do Not Separate Them

[ID: three images of digital fanart for the owl house. first image shows Luz dressed up as Eda's season 1 design, with her hair slicked back. she's posed mid-twirl, holding her dress in one hand, saying "surprise! I'm you. What do you think?". Next to her is a cartoony doodle of an emotional looking Eda.

The next image is a doodle of Luz and Eda dressed up as each other, looking at each other happily from a side view, labeled "they're matching".

Third image is a sketch page of Luz, Eda, Hunter and Lilith. It features a grinning Luz leaning on hunter saying "hey there sibling! How's my best brother doing?". She's labeled as "being a shit". Hunter looks unimpressed but has a thought bubble that says "sibling..." with a heart. Eda and Lilith are smiling, dressed as Luz and Hunter respectively. Eda says "remind you of anyone?" End ID]

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #hunter toh #lilith clawthorne #i forgot to add in mentions/ideas of halloween but it's fine. you get the gist #that image of luz dressed up as eda at the top was. genuinely so difficult for me to draw i redraw it more times than i care to admit #like scrap it and start over #but like. it was good for me it was character building and i think it turned out cute anyway #hhh i always feel the need to cut down my toh image descriptions because i got used to doing very detailed ones for podcast fanart #cause it was more normalized there and ppl generally had more patience for a lot of words in an image id #and i get so nervous that my lengthy descriptions put ppl off rbing my stuff #(NOT that it matters i am much less insecure in my need for online validation than i used to be- #-i simply wish ppl would take a chance on posts with length-ier ids. it's an accessibility measure and all that) #(but hey I'm not your dad and don't control what u do or don't do) #anyway NO I didn't forget abt me asking for reqs i just need to finish up the second one and that was enough to get my brain working again #there's juice flowing in there now! i have drawing ideas!! huzzah!! #which is all i actually wanted from this specific bout of drawing reqs was just a creative jumpstart #sorry if this is a bit sketchy- that's all i was really up for when i made this lol. i think it's cute and that's goof enough #anyway yeah I'm gonna go read before sleeping now byyyeeee <3

[pinetreeshack]

everytime i see popular fanart from a deavtivated blog i lightly touch the screen and go Something bad happened here.

#it throws.me.off every time because before.i go to reblog a post i check the op account to make sure im not rbing it from someone nasty #and not being able to do that makes me go like g-g-guys... forbidden media

[swiftfootedachilles]

what do i have to do to get people to read my stuff actually like im not about to get in everyones faces begging for attention but i dont understand how im expected to make FREE fandom content without much feedback on my work

#ignore my ranting but im actually so fucked disillusioned #like why are there so many people who scream about supporting each other and lifting up small creators #and they never do it themselves unless its their friend #sorry i dont sit at the popular table but i never expected that it would impact my reach this much #my newest fic has more hits but less kudos and less comments than my first #it's so obvious people only interacted on my first fic *because* it was my first fic #and thank you so fucking much to the people who have given me kind words #and literally religiously rbing my stuff because you think im worth listening to #this isn't about me crying because im not popular #people with bigger followings are naturally going to get more attention #but the only reason ive started posting my fics is because all these POPULAR BLOGS were like 'we support each other here!!!' #'were a big family were not a big fandom so any time someone posts it brings a smile to our faces!' blah blah blah #like youre out here lying for clout you literally only leave feed or kudos if its your fucking friend 😭 not even if its good #i guess id rather have less people interacting if it means the feedback i get is genuine and not just blowing smoke up my ass #but it still hurts to write a fic that flops and then write another fic thats over 3x longer than my first fic #WITH A PREMISE THAT POPULAR WRITERS HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT BEFORE AND BLEW UP FOR IT AND PEOPLE IDOLIZE THEIR WRITING #so im expecting to get more feedback and constructive criticism because it's a concept that a lot of people seem to love #only to get EVEN LESS FEEDBACK THAN ON MY FIRST FIC #like sorry to everyone who genuinely likes my writing i actually love you so much #but im very rejection sensitive and don't plan on continuing this. it seriously hurts me. it triggers my abandonment and selfhatred shit ba #like im sick to my stomach that another thing im passionate about is sucking the life out of me & i cant even get my foot in the door #donut rebagel this thanks and goodbye

[sorrelpaws]

morty haters DO NOT INTERACT. that is my little guy.,

#read this in a joking tone #but also #unironically #theres this one person on here who rlly passionately hates him and keeps rbing my art with super nasty comments #like bro. do you see my pee eff pee. i think you can gauge what i think #p sure everyone basically knows who im talking about #like youi dont hav eto like hikm but also like ummmmmm i definitely like him #i just blocked them because i decided i had enuf of their shenanigans

[floralovebot]

that is not a silly complaint at all, it's very gross how musa has the cyberpunk stuff stapled to her even though TECNA fits that vibe in canon perfectly because they can't unthink of east asian people as a bunch of blade runner caricatures.

NO LITERALLY

dude it's so weird how the fandom treats musa and melody like 😭 every single redesign is either making musa look like a walking festival or making melody a neon cyberpunk wannabe it's so embarrassing,, if it's not one extreme it's another

it's like non-asian and especially white fans are completely incapable of regarding asian people and by extension asian characters as just like,, normal people instead of whatever Aesthetic they enjoy the most. it's SO prevalent with musa especially like people refuse to treat her as a normal person. in canon she's this amazing girl who doesn't mind dressing up occasionally but prefers wearing comfy clothing, who has issues with her dad because he emotionally neglected her after her mom died, who tries to express her feelings so much but often has trouble doing so in a healthy manner,, and the fandom looks at that and goes "okay so she wears a qipao 24/7 and also hates her dad and culture and also melody is a cyberpunk retrofuturistic kpop dream!!" like bro SHUT UP

i've said this before but despite all the wrong rainbow did and continues to do, musa's entire deal was genuinely fucking perfect. she's one of the ONLY early 2000s asian characters that isn't a walking caricature. the ONE thing that rainbow did right,, and the fandom constantly fucks it up

like white fans really see all this and go "ah yes melody. the scifi tech planet with neon lights where musa, our cyberpunk queen, comes from 😀 i see no problem with this headcanon and will not ask myself if it could possibly come from a racist stereotype that often hits east asian characters 😀"

and listen dude i Love redesigns and i would never just shit on someone's headcanons for fun but the way the fandom treats characters of color is so fucking gross. and i'm so tired of being like one of Two people who ever call it out or even notice. the amount of fully racist redesigns, headcanons, and art posts that get hundreds of notes just because people don't even Notice? like i honestly don't have the energy to constantly call out whitewashed art and it sucks so much to see people who claim to love winx sooo much and hate whitewashing and racism sooo much Also constantly support and love these very Noticeably Racist posts like,, okay. sure.

#i went on a rant sorry about that #it just sucks so much dude #like so much of the fandom just does Not care #and they get so defensive about it too #like dude do you really think i care that your white fragile self got oh so offended by someone telling you not to be racist #oh boo hoo man #like.. everyone makes mistakes but its genuinely so easy to Not be racist and its astounding how much white people just... cant do that #the amount of people ive had to block/unfollow because they constantly reblogged whitewashed art.. #while also rbing posts about rainbow being evil for whitewashing #like babe the call is 100% coming from inside the house #answered #like dude zenith is RIGHT THERE #HUH?????

[mishapen-dear]

mmm i can sense the discourse rumbling in the distance. Everyone please remember to tag your neg/critical/discourse posts, please

#qsmp #not anything specific is happening ive just seen a lot of negatively charged posts lately #which honestly sucks because i want to rb people appreciating xyz thing but that ‘you motherfuckers’ or ‘no one had better be’ aggressive #script bullshit makes it so hard to actually get this info on my blog #because i dont want to attack people and rbing feels like contributing to that #but i DO WANT PEOPLE TO BE INFORMED #but if people are only making posts to rage then ive gotta leave it alone or make my own post #does this make sense at all mostly im just frustrated by how immediately aggressive people can get #if you start out attacking people then they dont listen #who knows if you rephrase your vent post into an appreciation post maybe youll get crossposted onto twitter and have your analysis become #common fandom knowledge #thats what happened to me with the bbh armour post lmao i was irritated by people discounting his sk/ppy obsession #and then guess what. i saw people who were discounting the obsession rbing that post #because i wasnt attacking them for not thinking clearly about my blorbo #maybe ill delete these tags later #i just want people to tag better lmao

[aroaceofthesea]

Do you ever wonder how many things that you think you know about your mutuals are actually them reblogging for a specific mutual of theirs?

#i mean i do it #i think ooh this is totally the kind of post x would like #and i rb and then mostly bc muscle memory i also like it #how many of you think i like something im neutral about just because i keep showing it to other people like look!! you like this!! #idk just some thoughts that are making me reconsider everything #what if things im rbing for you its just you rbing for your other mutual who is just rbing for another mutual #my life is a lie #mine

[kayvsworld]

in the event this is important to you, i just wanted to let you know that you reblogged some tony art from an account named anonoite, and most of their stuff (includinig that art) is tagged starker, and other pieces by them are very obviously starker ship content. i've had to block them because i keep getting bamboozled by their pretty tony art only to open their blog and see a lot of starker stuff alksdfjhg anyway i hope you have a good day sorry if this was out of place or unhelpful

hey GOOD TO KNOW I missed the little petey in the bg of that one too, thank you for the heads up <3

#+ shoutout to the other people who messaged me abt it <3 #i'm ok with rbing their Just Tony stuff because i'm not like. slkjfghlfdkj i do not have the energy or time to do like. bg checks #on everyone i rb from and frankly the artist doing whatever they do is ok by me. i just don't want actual starker on the blog #if that tracks if that makes sense #that one did in fact have a little petey there though so thank u <3 does stop the bamboozlement of going on the blog itself in the future #kayvswords #(note that's only for like. ship issues not for someone who is a bigot etc i always want heads up abt that if it happens)

[zevrans]

😳

#it's the second time i am seeing my old gifsets from my old blog on my dash in the last 24 hours and #i'm torn between looking at the reblog vs like ratio which feels unreal now 👁👄👁 but also seeing those old grainy not my current taste color #ed stretched gifs and it make me go like 💀🔫 #i wanted to do a deleting of some of sets on this blog too just don't have the energy now my old sets are haunting me vdkfkgk #maybe i should remake some of my older sets that might bring the giffing spark back idk #i'm not against people rbing my old sets ofc don't get me wrong it just also makes me nostalgic #because i actually keep all my gifs and all of those i'm seeing on my dash are somewhere in my veeery old folders on pc 🥺 #and a lot of them are associated with specific moments and feelings and i'm just weird about gifs sorrybckfkg 😭😭😭 #tbd

[luckitys]

The MD pic I made for the @dsmpdrawthecastcollab ^_^

#dream smp #Mexican Dream #MD #ghost MD #my art #I actually drew most of this in one day because I misread the due date LMAO #I’m still pretty happy with how it turned out since I haven’t drawn digitally in quite awhile #but I think I might redo this sometime in the future when I get more used to doing digital art #the design was inspired by the orb head c!dream designs #I think I like how the hat turned out the best ^_^ #I'll be rbing the others art on Nevadaz btw ^_^

[sanpape]

anon. my brother in blogging. I have no idea how to tell you that me blogging about the fight against antisemitism does not negate my support of Palestine. I just have a life outside of tumblr and feel like there's better work that can be done that doesn't solely revolve around me reblogging posts.

#deleted the ask because like. say it off anon come on now. #also the ask was like weird cause like. I do??? reblog posts about Palestine? #like. just because you're not online when I post them it doesn't mean they don't exist? #also #if me rbing a post about discrimination in the hiring process is making you antsy enough to send me a passive aggressive ask #you kinda gotta look internally on that one idk what to tell you man