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coulsonlives · 1 year

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PSA: CAT MEDICAL BILL SCAM

Please signal boost this if possible to inform your followers about these scams.

Earlier today, I got a message from the account nicole-loves-king, where they asked me to signal boost a post because their cat needed medical help. Here's the ask:

(And you can see the post in question here)

I looked at this post and was immediately put off because they were asking for people to send things through 'friends and family', which if you aren't aware, is a very insecure way to send someone funds using paypal, because you don't have the protections you would get if you used 'goods and services'. So scammers can make off w your money really easily.

I looked at their blog and scrolled down to the end, and I realized their blog was made today! And, all their posts (there weren't many posts to begin with lol) were of trending topics. I noted puss in boots, and welcome to nightvale among others. This is probably how they found me, because I reblogged some of that stuff recently.

Here's the time stamp from their oldest post (notice it says the time, not the date, which means the post was from today):

In their ask, they also tell you to answer privately. Hm, that seems sus. Why would someone not want you to publish a request for help?

So I have a policy where I don't signal boost posts from brand new blogs because, yknow, they could be scams. I posted this, and the scam account blocked me. They also blocked my friend when they replied to their ask and said their blog looked suspicious. I did some more digging, and I found a comment from someone that confirmed my suspicions:

This is in fact a scam!

@nicstonka is almost identical to the above account (nicole-loves-king). Look at the avatar, the pictures, and the paypal address, both accounts even have 'nic' (as in 'nicole') in the name. The only thing that is extremely different is the name of the cat! Yet both blogs also have the name of the cat in their url ('king' and 'tonka'). That should also be a red flag, because usually someone isn't gonna have the name of their pet in their url, only a few posts, and a signal boost for that exact (fake) pet.

Here's a side by side:

Looks at those paypal accounts: nbrunelle519, and nbrunelle391. Nope definitely not a scam /s

And the cat pictures side by side:

Tumblr's "scam" tag is actually full of these reports now, which you can see here. Or if there's nothing there anymore, click here and here for images.

And links to some older PSAs about other cat scams: 1 2 3

So if you see any blogs like this, where all they have is trending posts, it seems like they've copied and pasted an ask to you, or if they're asking you to send things via friends and family, vet them so so so carefully, because chances are you're walking into a scam. Don't just repost things without carefully checking! If you aren't in a position to check carefully, better safe than sorry: don't repost it! Don't let these scams spread.

Pro tip: If a blog is dash only, so you can't view their archive to see when their first post was made, and you're on desktop, you can just open the blog in its dashboard view, then click 'end' on your keyboard over and over until all their posts are loaded. Usually if it's a spam blog, you'll only need to click 'end' 5-6 times, sometimes a bit more, since they only post just enough times to give the appearance they're active, then there's absolutely nothing after that.

If you want more proof someone is a scammer, you can look at the currency they use their post (or the currency shown in the vet bill), then hover over the paypal link and inspect the part of the url that says 'country.x=AA'. The 'AA' is the abbreviation for the country your money is going to! If that country doesn't match the country of the currency shown in the post, it's a scam! Example: someone's post says '$' for USD/CAD dollars, but the country in their paypal link is 'PH', which stands for Philippines, where they use Philippine pesos, not dollars!

Also keep in mind that these are not bots! There is a real person behind these accounts. They have replied to people who wanted to confirm they were real, but their intentions are still to scam you, they just know it looks better if they reply.

Stay safe!!

Edit:

Updating this post to announce the scammer's made more blogs, and they're probably gonna keep doing it! Here's the list so far. This isn't up to date btw, go to @scamarchive and check their pinned post for the most recent detected blogs

turncoatrune, starlightdisc, xxmy, wxnt, eeyore-pg, coatedpeanbean, starrypanelstars, panelstars, scyllostyle, the-nonbinary-witch, aash-aash, leechness, ash-aahs, commandobutch, lovely-pages, pagefive-to-six, reconnecteed, five-and-fourty, stepsapphic, farmer-butch0, health-pages, turnersapphic, lxve, march-pls-be-good, emberful, imse7en, kassidymaygemz, kassidymaydream, dreamingkassidy, kasdream, live-march, confusedskulll, march-lives, criticaltuesday, quicksilvah, wrldy, quicksilveey, the-stucked-pan, flurrbum, o345, nxce, thls, hokkairi, sykdykee, furrtasticbu, bumfurry, supsense, wickdart, the90sbest

Keep in mind you may not receive an ask like the above ones. You may get something simpler like this, instead:

Most of these are cats, but there's been dogs and even people too.

If you wanna get even more info on all these accounts, there's an archive of this scammer's pinned posts and asks here, so you can see at a glance how similar they all are. You can also see a comprehensive list of scammer red flags specifically for tumblr here!

And lastly, you can report the scams using 'report something else' > 'unlawful uses or content' > 'phishing'

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dragonheart2497 · 10 months

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things twitter migrants may find useful that dont often get included in "how to tumblr" posts

1- queueing!

instead of feeling bad for spam-reblogging and clogging up other people's feeds, you can click the dropdown and add it to your queue instead!

you can edit how many times a day your queue posts, and between what hours. You can easily re-order or completely shuffle your queue as well!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REBLOG STUFF. Tumblr doesn't run on an algorithm!! YOU are responsible for putting cool stuff onto your followers feeds!

"but if i reblog too much people can't see my posts!" i have just the thing for you

2- personal tags

You can have different tags you use on your blog to help people navigate! for example, i use "dh rb art" when I reblog art and "dh rb" for most other reblogs- that's so that people can filter my reblogs out of their feeds if they dont wanna see that, and only want my original posts to show up.

On the other hand, my art is tagged "dh2497" so they can easily search my account for it!

If you open a person's blog and click the search button, a list of Featured Tags will show up. By default this is just the blogger's most used tags, but you can customize what shows up on yours in your blog settings

You can follow entire hashtags too! if you wanna see hermitcraft fanart without following every hermitcraft artist, follow the tag :D

3- Filtering

Tumblr actually hides things you don't wanna see, very nicely!

In your account settings, you can filter specific tags, and even specific words that show up in the post.

sometimes different bloggers warning tag differently (i do [trigger] tw or [content] cw) so you can try to input every variant, but if its something you really want to avoid just put it in the post content as well. Blocklists aren't really a tumblr thing, so if you wanna avoid an entire community you can block their tag as well

NEVER. CENSOR. YOUR WARNINGS. PLEASE. On twitter or tiktok or wherever, you may have to do that or else the algorithm suppresses it- THERES NO ALGORITHM HERE!!! if someone reblogs your post, it will show up for others, don't worry!!! you're just bypassing filters placed for people's safety, if you censor words.

Also! don't worry too much if a word you wanna filter is commonly used in unrelated contexts- tumblr doesn't remove it entirely, but rather adds a 'spoiler' so that you have to click on it to view it. So just in case it is what you want to avoid, you have time to prepare to see it.

4- effective tagging

[read more in detail here] Only the first 5 tags will show up for people who follow the hashtag. That makes them the most important! Then, the first 20 tags will make the post show up when searching that tag. The rest of them do not give your post any visibility.

I see a lot of people reblogging art with fanart tags- that can be useful for searching back the tag in the reblogger's blog specifically, but doesn't actually give the OP more visibility in that tag.

You'll learn what tags to use by checking the content you come across! most communities are "[word]blr", and most fanart goes "#[character/show] fanart". tumblr tags can have spaces!

Lastly, a few notes

you will only have 1 PRIMARY blog. this will appear when you like a post, comment on a post, or follow a blog. your sideblogs will not link back to your primary blog, but you cannot do those interactions as those sideblogs.

artists love receiving compliments when you reblog!! commenting does NOT boost the post. most people put their compliments in the TAGS of their reblog, so that it doesn't become a long post/thread, and if people reblog the reblog of your reblog you won't keep gettings notifications about it. The artist will still see and very much appreciate it

read up on tumblr etiquette, do not treat this place like twitter or you'll be disliked lol. there are some 'big blogs' but follower counts aren't public, popularity isn't a contest here. make friends, or just block/ignore people you don't get along with. no one cares about your petty arguments

if you noticed the lil cat in my screenshots, that's from a very useful browser extension called XKit!! it enables 1-click queue reblogs (automatically adding your tags), mass-post editing, and lots of other great tweaks vanilla tumblr doesn't have! and the cat is a silly cute thing you can enable in it as well

#hermitblr #trafficblr #empiresblr #hermittwt #traffictwt #how to use tumblr #how to tag on tumblr #tumblr help #i didnt mean for this to be a whole tutorial thing but if it helps one person it's worth the hour i spent on this

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midnightsilver · 29 days

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Tips for Spn Artists posting on Tumblr 😄👍🏻

I see a lot of new artists posting Spn art and it can be a struggle to get your art out there. Or you might be new to Tumblr and not sure how best to put yourself forward.

I post Spn art and do a lot of bangs when my health permits. And I have picked up some tips that I have found helpful for posting art tumblr 😄 so I thought I would share.

Please feel free to take any of these points or leave them as suits you!

✨Personalise your header and icon. Bots will often make posts with popular tags and stolen art, to try and gain followers before throwing out the spam links, but some clues the account is a bot is not having personalised headers and icons, not having a long history of posts (more than a few days), and not talking about their art or fandom. So make sure you don’t look like a bot 😄

✨Interact with accounts you enjoy. Like, comment and reblog your favourite accounts and they will likely return the favour and you will get more followers. The first way your post gets noticed is by your followers. Interacting isn’t always easy if one is an introvert or doesn’t have much time for social media, but do what you can where you can.

✨If don’t have many followers then the next best thing is to use tags more. People follow key tags to find new posts from blogs they are not aware of. I recommend using the ‘Spn fanart’ tag on all your art posts. Also be sure to include: common ship names, the character names, and key words like: cute, funny, angst, angel, wings, etc 👍🏻 😄 this will help people find your posts, so be sure to tag consistently!

✨Make a personal art tag, it could be ‘your name art’ or something as wacky as you like. But tag all your art with it! If someone sees your art post out in the Spn fanart tags and they like it, they can click your art tag to see the rest of your art posts.

✨Don’t include links to outside webpages unless absolutely necessary. If you are posting for a bang, reblog the bang master post for the story which has the links to ao3, but then make your own art post and only link to the tumblr master post. Tumblr often hides posts with links to outside webpages (so that the porn bots sending you to spam websites get minimised, but unfortunately this also minimises links to ao3 or shops 😔). Links to another post inside of tumblr are ok tho! So to keep your art post from being hidden from searches, only link back to the master tumblr post with the story info. If people want to read the story they can follow the ao3 link from there. But it’s better that they actually get to see your art (the ‘advert’ for the story) in the first place so that they know it exists!

Also keep this info in mind if you are linking to your shop or your other socials. Your direct followers will see your shop posts but because of the external links the post might be hidden from searches. Consider doing a mix of posts with direct shop links and ones that get the info out there but link back to a pinned tumblr post or bio post with the outside link.

✨Don’t crowd your art. Many people view tumblr on mobile so your pictures will look small. People can’t really see the details if you put 2 images side by side. Put one image on each line and consider making some cropped images to show close up details of your favourite bits. You need to catch people as they are quickly scrolling past, so be sure that you make it easy for them to see what you are offering.

✨And finally don’t be afraid to do reblogs. It isn’t rude to reblog your own work, it’s helpful. Dashboards can get very busy and even if people follow you, your post might be burried a long way down if they don’t get back online multiple times a day. Reblogs will give them a chance to see what they missed. As long as you are not posting on the hour every hour, most people appreciate 2 or 3 reblogs at different times to save them having to scrolled back for days! 😄 and don’t forget that tumblr is multinational. Time zone reblogs can be helpful.

✨oh I forgot one more thing! Don’t put yourself down! No piece of art is perfect! Ever! But Michelangelo doesn’t start off by apologising that the statue of David is out of proportion. And neither should you! Let your work shine where it shines and don’t bury it in put-downs before you even give others the chance to enjoy its triumphs! You deserve better and so do they!

Those are the main points my friends. If you have any other helpful tips that you want to share, feel free to reblog this and add on points. We were all new to this hellsite (affectionate) at some point. And life is already hard for us struggling artists so whatever we can do to help each other is a good thing 💛

Stay awesome my friends, and happy Arting 🙌🏼😄

#supernatural #spn fanart #artists on tumblr #tips #art #tumblr #helpful #posting tips #bangs and challenges

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wings-of-fire-confessions · 1 month

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I have been in the wof fandom for a while, since at least 2016, and I absolutely adore the creators in the fandom. I love getting to see how people view the books and making good critiques of the book series.

However, it annoys me how some people try to make claims that either don’t hold up or may have some validity at first, but falls apart when you put it in context of story of the books, or the world, or when you even just think a bit further about the point.

One of the things I have seen include Tui using Native American stereotypes in a tumblr post and using the fact that the characters (specifically the humans during the scorching) used feathers as accessories and were people of color. At face value, it seems like a valid claim, until you realize that all of the human characters are people of color and their societies don’t try to resemble that of Native American people in the books. Or the fact that the humans were the ones that stole dragon eggs and tried to use them as weapons of war. In total, I think there was one white person ever mentioned in the books (Axolotl).

Additionally, if you are going to talk about an issue in the fandom on a YouTube video, make it an actual video! By that, I mean if you intend to make a point about something, you don’t make a video that has no relevance to the topic at hand and then put the discourse in the description!

If you know the video I am referring to, the creator made a PMV for the fandom then put in their description why they aren’t making wof content anymore and that people should stop reading the books because of “Tui’s dangerous and bigoted writing.” I’m not saying that the person shouldn’t talk about issues in the fandom, but at least if you are going to do that make it its own video so people can actually SEE IT. Not everyone who clicks on a video will read the description, and when people go to read the comments, they are bound to get confused! (For context, the biggest thing being fought over was the freaking Glorybringer ship and how it is/isn’t pedophilia with op arguing it is).

I also watched the video they added in the link that was critiquing the “complacency in fantasy” (but mostly talking about wof) and it had some good points, until it went into saying that the Nightwings mirrored the Nazis and represented Jewish stereotypes at the same time and how it was “trauma porn.”

As I said before, some good points in the critique such as the treatment of Winter and the false DoD, and I get some of the points that the person was trying to make with how some subjects should be handled with more care such as arc 3’s slavery and the racism between tribes in wof, but other things such as comparing the Sandwings to Arab stereotypes without ya know, acknowledging how people that read the series treat the characters outside the books and how the books themselves handle their own characters (Such as Qibli and the whole Deserter winglet) is frustrating.

TLDR; if you are going to make a statement on fandom discourse or want to make an in depth critique about the series and want to make your point known, don’t relegate it to what basically equates to an optional footnote. And if you are going to make claims that relate to the real world, please back it up with evidence of both the in-text and information about the real-world facts (plus acknowledge at least some of the context around a series such as arc 1 and the fact that Tui is flawed but doesn’t mean that it can’t be enjoyed).

Sorry for the rant/long post, the way that some people handle criticizing the books and try to paint them like the worst thing ever just infuriates me because there is good and bad things about this series as all series are bound to have. Crafting a perfect story is hard to do and there will always be shortcomings in some authors stories, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy them or be inspired to create something that may improve or even tackle the issues within the books with more care.

I definitely understand what you are saying. As a Jew (Bar Mitzvah'd so I am connected to my community), the comparison to NightWings is pretty far-fetched and actually pretty offensive.

It's just like how people called Tigerstar a cat Nazi back in the day, when he was more like a racial purist, and even then he somehow was pro-race blending.

#wings of fire confessions #wof confessions #wof #wings of fire #racism #antisemetism

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roadsidebrambles · 5 months

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I wanted to make my own separate post as opposed to commenting on the other one.

I get that sometimes when you see a bunch of people laughing and having fun with the funny part of something important it can sometimes feel like they missed the point of the important thing.

But just because people are talking to each other about the funny part on tumblr and Facebook and Twitter doesn't mean that they didn't pay attention to the important part.

It means that they probably didn't have anything substantial to say or add about the important part.

And in the case of the hbomberguy video where the important part is properly giving credit and payment to researchers, writers, and artists whose material is used for creation of youtube videos and other paid creations:

He stated it pretty clearly and provided a great playlist for people to take immediate action with by checking out those creators and subscribing to anyone they vibe with.

There are 4 obvious actions in response to the video:

Dunk on the bad actors listed in the video - easy, funny, low effort, and it gets more people to watch the videos by Harris and Todd that not only inform on who is plagiarizing but what it is and why it's bad

Subscribe to smaller creators whose work is good and is often jacked by larger creators - easy, fun, low effort but medium time investment

Provide information about another plagiarizer/someone that doesn't give meaningful credit - high effort, requires time to research and compile evidence, has a risk of backlash

Put together a post highlighting writers or artists whose work could be used as a resource for youtube videos or written essays - could be low or high effort, takes time to compile and link examples of the work you'd like to highlight, likely may not be seen by anyone that would actually use those resources and may end up as wasted effort

You're going to see a lot of #1 because it's normal to joke about things and discuss things on social media. And #1 does have the benefit of exposing a larger audience to the videos and informing them on the topic.

A lot of #2 IS happening, but most people don't post to Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr when they subscribe to a new youtube channel or follow a new writer on social media.

Most people don't have the time or energy to create something for #3 or #4 and the ones that do might be drowned out in the circulation of the easiest one which is #1.

Because #1 is easiest there's going to be a lot more of it.

I get the gut urge to assume that people are missing the point because they're not shouting out artists and writers they like.

But realistically that's not the only action to be taken and the easiest actions with positive effects have likely already been taken, in that the actual creators of the stolen content have gotten more traffic and hopefully will get more credit and pay in the future and other creators that needed a spotlight have been spotlighted not only by Harris but by other creators as well.

For example I recently followed La'Ron Readus by reccomendation of FD Signifier who likes La'Ron's content and gave the shoutout in his community tab in reference to Harris's video in order to get La'Ron some more subscribers.

If you have someone cool to show off in your back pocket and you have either an audience that will take a quick link and click it with just a simple "they're cool check them out" or if you don't have an audience but do have the skills to make a convincing pitch about why someone should check them out as a resource for their business or paid creative endeavor please do so! Now is a great time!

TLDR

People at large/the crowd are gonna have some fun with this, but the positive actions that are easiest to take are personal and private so you likely won't see them other than in follower counts --- or (hopefully) a greater shift in youtube etiquette to better credit, pay, and direct an audience and other creators (as potential employers) to the people that made the resources used in videos.

Shout out posts that hype up an artist or writer are great but not everyone is equipped to make them. Not everyone is a hype person or sales person.

If you aren't, then no sweat. It's fine to just bring attention to Harris and Todd's videos through jokes so that more people check them out and get informed.

#Hbomberguy #Check out that DDR post I made with a bunch of smaller youtube creators listed in it #They're cool and DDR is cool and Leishen makes music so if you need EDM for a video you could reach out to him to make you a track maybe?#I'm a terrible salesperson but I'll still take a chance to plug those creators #todd in the shadows #james somerton

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nerdieforpedro · 4 months

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Weekend Update - 12/24/2023 Christmas Eve

Hey Nerdie! You’ve got some bags there.

I do both under my eyes and Din finally let me look through the ones he’s been using. It’s….Mandalorians are wild.

I feel like they’re not Nerdie, at least not how you’re thinking. Should we even ask?

Has to do with what I’ve written this week:

Weddings 101 with Dieter - chapter 3 came out this week. There was a fight that I still giggle about. There will be more, I’m loving the beef between Dieter and Oscar. There had to be some type of fight in the rom-com. 🤭 There was also cloud smut? I don’t know how else to put it. Ya’ll read it and tell me what it was.

Sard’ika Sessions - In Session Four Din put together something in the reader’s house. They may use it again. Liberties are taken with the Creed and Mandalorian culture though not too crazy. (That might be for an epilogue.) I’d like to thank everyone who’s been reading since Session one (we’ve come so far from thigh-riding) and are now on the latter end where our Session partners are exploring each other but communication as well. It was really sweet to read people’s comments and see that they picked up on how well they communicate with each other while indulging in their sexual appetites. I’d like to think it’s come across how I planned it originally when I scribbled all of this in my notebook at 4am when I couldn’t sleep in November after Thanksgiving of all things. We’ll see how things continue to progress.

I have a poll up for “Weddings 101 with Dieter” to determine what might go into chapter four. I’m enjoying everyone’s comments and options on what should happen with both Dieter/Maya and Dieter vs. Oscar. Click the link above to vote and have your suggestions added. I’ll announce the results and the most voted will be put in. I’ll likely add some of the other suggestions because I like them so much. ☺️

Remember Frankie~ (I read something new and caught up on a few things. Some of which weren’t even related to our favorite pilot. My mind went deep into smut. As a warning, don’t read while multi-tasking! Though I take it as a point of pride to have someone forget their name while on a call. 😉) They knew who they are. 😎 Love ya! ❤️

Nerdie’s Bedtime Stories (Might be a new series for weirdness I think up and might read to someone. This was a Christmas Carol featuring some of the Pedro boys. A Feral Carol as @maggiemayhemnj called it.) @undercoverpena and @morallyinept encouraged me. 🤣

You put a lot of thought into what you write. We really thought it was only the non-smut stuff you thought hard on. You’ve indicated you have trouble with that before.

It’s not so much I have trouble with it. I’m used to doing one-shots and exclusivity writing smut before I joined back up on Tumblr. I’m branching out and trying all sorts of smut and actual storylines (when I can make it coherent to anyone but myself) in my writing now. Even comedy with Dieter though I like to put little jokes in most of my writing.

Ah, so you’re learning as you go on as we all do. Fair. Any current WIPs you’re trying to finish up before 2023 is out?

Well, I have a Pickled Peña to finish. Everyone’s welcome to join in and write about our favorite DEA agent Javier Peña. Everyone who’s participating will post on January 1st and tag their work with the “pickled peña” tag.

I’m also participating in the PMAMC 2024 which is in mid-January. I decided to challenge myself with not only writing about pegging but also writing with a character I’ve only written for once and in his historical setting, because past Nerdie who accepted this was feeling ambitious. 😗 Present Nerdie wonders what was she thinking. 🧐 She also has to review her notes on what may have been used to facilitate pegging during the time period, there’s a long note I have on it. It should be mostly historically accurate, I guess, because that’s what matters. 👀 In pegging - the historical aspect. 😒

I have two Robbie Reyes asks to work on as well as one smut piece I wanted to do for him and one actual story.

There are three Joel pieces that I wanted to write, one will be tabled until next Christmas. I don’t think I’ll finish it by tomorrow. The second was a post outbreak one, I’ve only written post outbreak once so I want to see if it will be a one short or series. The third one might be finished. I need to edit it.

Anything else will likely be tabled until 2024 because I either don’t have ideas for it or I want to wait until I feel good about writing it. 😊

Any last remarks?

I’d like to thank any and all of my beta readers: @avastrasposts @musings-of-a-rose @frenchiereading @theywhowriteandknowthings @megamindsecretlair @pedrodascal @iamasaddie @fhatbhabie and @morallyinept @legendary-pink-dot

Ya’ll saw all the typos, swapped countries and off beat plot points. 😗

Also @linzels-blog don’t worry The Creed is fine. Mostly I believe. Like it will all work out. 😉

I usually add fics I’ve read this week but I’m going to organize them and put them in another fic rec post because I have them saved there already. 😎

The above wallpaper was made by @xxhypersomnia who did two sets of awesome retro Javier Peña edits on her page. 🥰 She even tagged me in the second one which I have to look at later when I’m home.

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transmonstera · 1 year

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In regards to your posts about ao3 and how vile it is in actuality, I wanna say thank you. I've not put much thought into the website I've been using but this has put things into perspective. I no longer want my work (work that I am proud of) on a website like that. Ao3 doesn't align with my values and I'm assuming many other people's who use the site.

Do you have any suggestions on a better site everyone can use?

(Side note: I absolutely adore your work!)

sure thing!

while there are no websites quite like ao3 in terms of filtering, curation, bookmarks, likes/comments etc there are a few alternatives out there!

Wattpad - I know people make fun of this one because it's where all the rpf for bands went back in the day but it is still operating and many people use it so you'll likely just switch viewers from ao3 to wattpad pretty seamlessly

Tumblr - you can always post directly on here! there is a character limit i believe of 4k so it's great for showing previews or even cutting up a small fic into parts 1, 2, 3, etc. a little clunky but it's an option if you only write short stuff! (Twitter threads can even be an option for this though again, a lil restrictive and works better for super short works!)

Google Docs + Linktree - if you have a linktree account you can always just link a view only (make sure people can't edit!) google doc of the fic! having the fics on a linktree still give people the ability to see all of your work in one place, and you can even see on linktree the click statistics for each fic! while it doesn't give the reader the ability to like/comment, you can always encourage those who do like it to leave a message on your tumblr!

Discord (or any groupchat tbh!) - similar to above you can always set up a discord server and post your fics view docs links there! it gives a curated experience and you can see the comments of people directly in the server

AO3 has seemingly made people believe that each and everyone one of their fan creations must be thrown out into the void where you hope everyone sees it and loves it. I think this has really stifled people's abilities to truly be creative in terms of making content of their favourite medias (and even with transitioning to making original work!) because you may subconsciously be adhering the current trends and whatnot of everyone else, even if you don't really like it yourself! I mean look at how common modern/high school aus still are today when I have yet to meet anyone who actually likes them. Look at how many books that have been published lately that painfully follow AO3 tag systems, where they don't even havea blurb anymore and instead just have "friends to lovers meet blah blah blah! read it now!". (Not to mention the quality of the books being published is fucking atrocious)

AO3 has ruined publishing and I am being entirely serious about that.

But back to where you wanna go with your fics now. Don't be afraid to restructure how you interact with your hobbies! It doesn't have to be so exposed and vulnerable to anyone and everyone having their say on it. I used to participate massively in fandom and I'll be honest, it made me miserable. I constantly felt like I couldn't keep up, that my ideas were wrong because another idea was more popular, and I really struggled. So I took about a hundred steps back and only interact with the media I like through my friends who also like it! And it's a lot better! You may not get hundreds and thousands of likes on fics from here on out if that's what you're used to, but I guarantee you'll have more meaningful interactions that you actually hold dear to you far more than any "a guest has left a kudos on your work" notification.

(Also just a pre-emptive thing of anyone who wants to defend AO3 on this post because "it's an integral part of fandom!" or "they need that much money because they run a site with no ads!", or you want to try and tell me that the fics on there are fine because it's fiction regardless of what the fics is (including literal fucking CSAM), just know you are completely unserious and I don't value a single thing you say. So don't even try it. How about you donate to a marginalised person's mutual aid for the first time in your life and you'll calm down.)

#anon #hope this helps a lil!#@ anon ignore the lil bit at the end this is for Everyone Else not @ you it was nice answering your question! <3

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sundrop-writes · 1 day

Text

Sundrop's FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions!

Are you going to continue Lessons For A Genius?

No.

I labelled Lessons For A Genius as a 'capsule series' on my masterlist because I intended it to be a series of oneshots with no clear overarching story, and therefore - no clear need for an 'ending'. I intended each of the fics to be able to be read as a oneshot satisfyingly without missing out on some of the story. Right now, the series is over, and if I write anything more for it, it will be bonus smutty content, not some greater story.

I can't find you on AO3! When I click the link to your AO3, there's an error :(

My AO3 is archive locked, so you need an account to view anything that I post there.

I do have a note about this in my pinned post, but I will keep reminding people about it. It's definitely not my favourite thing because I know it makes my writing less accessible, but the purpose is to protect my writing against spam comments from bots and to protect against potential AI scraping that would steal my writing without my permission.

A lot of the fics on my different masterlists use AO3 links because that is the only place those fics are posted on the internet right now. I am sorry if that means you can't read them, but I would highly, highly recommend getting an AO3 account. Once you put your email address on the wait-list for one, you will eventually get an email in order to get an account.

Also, just a general note - make sure you are logged into your account before and after you click AO3 fic links because that might be part of your problem. And make sure that you are not using an AO3 app, because there is no official apps, and I don't know what archive locking does in terms of an app - but I do not give consent for my work to be read on fake AO3 apps. Just use the mobile browser.

Will you write about (x specific topic) in fics?

Most likely, yes.

You can read my full list of rules here - where I mention topics I won't write for, including safeword use, miscarriages, choking/asphyxiation kink, and a virgin reader character (or a very innocent reader character).

But generally, the list of topics that I will write for is way longer than the things I won't write for. So feel free to ask me if I am okay writing for specific 'taboo' things, because most likely, I am okay with it.

Did you used to be pinkchubbiebunnie/imaginethesedorks on Tumblr?

Yes.

My complete list of old urls includes: ravenclawsnerd, imaginethesedorks, thesoundofpurple, and pinkchubbiebunnie.

And I used to be tenpintsofsundrop before I took up residency on my official main blog @tenpintsof-sundrop - but hopefully this will be my last url change ever lmao.

And as a throwback for the girlies, I used to be ravenclawprideforever on Quizilla. (I will be seriously impressed if anybody from that website remembers me from that username and somehow finds me here. I will literally freak out and fangirl so hard if that is the case.)

Did you used to write kpop fanfiction?

Yes!

Sometimes I consider posting more of my old kpop fanfics on AO3, but I'm not sure there's enough interest for that. Also on my old kpop blog, the first fandom I ever actually posted fic for there was 5 Seconds of Summer - just as a lil fun factoid.

Will you ever write a sequel to (insert fic title here)?

Most likely, no.

For the most part, if I write a oneshot (or even a multi-part fic), then I intend for it to be a stand alone story with a satisfying beginning, middle, and (hopefully) a satisfying ending. There are very few fics of mine that I write with the intention of continuing them or someday writing a sequel.

If there is a fic of mine that you particularly love and you really want to see a sequel to, you can ask me about it politely and you could even provide me with some potential ideas of where you'd like to see the sequel go, but for the most part, I write oneshots as singular stand alone fics that will never be continued while I move on to other ideas.

Here is a short list of a few fics that I have considered continuing in case you are curious:

(This list is actually not as short as I thought, but all of these are fics currently posted that I have sequels/follow ups to working in my drafts. So if you like these fics and you want to see more of them, then know that I have been thinking of continuing them too - and sometimes actively working on the continuation in some instances.)

These are listed from most likely to be completed to least likely to be completely based on length and creative struggles.

Emergency Contact - DC Titans, Jason Todd x GN!Powered!Reader. This is a sequel that has been in my drafts for a long time, and I am actually trying to finish it before the end of this month. I think I have about 8k more to finish on it (it's currently about 80% done) before it goes into the editing process. So look out for the sequel soon!

My Bleeding Heart - Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy x Pureblood!Fem!Reader. This prequel is more than half finished in my drafts, and I actually posted a preview of it, but due to lack of engagement and general interest with that preview, I lost interest in writing the fic at the time. I am really proud of what I have written and I hope to get a random burst of energy to finish it because I think it is going to be one of my best emotional fics.

Hold Me Tight Or Don't - The Walking Dead, Glenn Rhee x Fem!Reader x Maggie Greene. This is something I mentioned in another post - but this is a fic that should not even be qualified for a sequel because the main character dies, but this is literally the power of reader/writer interaction and comments. The sequel is going to be an AU where the reader character lives and is immune to the bite. The sequel is fully drafted out and ready to be written - something I am really excited about and hope to do soon.

Missing You - DC Titans, Gar Logan x Fem!Reader x Jason Todd. This is another one that has been in my drafts for a long time, and it's actually half-finished, but I just need that random burst of inspiration and energy to finish it.

Sweet Revenge - The Last Of Us, Ellie Williams x Fem!Reader. This sequel is fully drafted out and I did start writing it, but it was something I lost steam on. I think it would be an amazing fic to compliment the existing one and I really do want to finish it when I get the proper burst of motivation to do so.

Sugar, We're Goin' Down - Stranger Things, Steve Harrington x Fem!Thick!Reader x Eddie Munson. The sequel is drafted out in my docs, and I would like to write it sometime in the future.

Free Use Day - DC Titans, Poly!OG!Titans x Fem!Reader aka Fem!Reader x Hank Hall, Donna Troy, Dick Grayson, Dawn Granger, and Garth. This sequel is something I have drafted out that I am really excited about, but writing a fic that is almost pure smut and making sure that it's good smut is really difficult. So I wanna be in the right mindset when I write this fic. But I promise when this fic comes out, it will be amazing.

Now You See Me - DC Titans, Gar Logan x Masc!Powered!Reader. I have this sequel drafted out, and I really want to explore more of the reader's backstory and his relationship with his father (which, in case you didn't get the implication in the original fic, is Mr. Freeze) - especially because the characters end up in Gotham in Season 3, I think it would be so amazing to show the character coming back to the place of his trauma with a supportive boyfriend by his side. But I know it's gonna take me a long time to write it - and again, time and energy type thing.

Snow In Flordia - DC Titans, Donna Troy x Fem!Powered!Reader. This is another one where I drafted it all out and I started writing it, but I realized that it would be a massive, multi-chaptered undertaking, and I got really exhausted. It is something I want to finish and post, but I have no fucking clue when I will get the time and energy to do so.

A theoretical final act in The Auror!Ron Series, turning it into a perfect trilogy. That is in my drafts, but I haven't touched it much yet because it would be a massive multi-chaptered undertaking with a love triangle, lots of plot points, lot of smut scenes, and it would be generally long for me to satisfyingly finish the series to my liking. (I do hope to finish it someday, though).

#sundrop speaks #random #faq

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the-francakes · 1 year

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Welcome to tumblr now what...

Hi, I wrote this up for my cousin because she’s never used any platform, but since a lot of twitter users are coming to tumblr, I thought I would share as someone that has been here... way too long. This blog might only be a year old, but i lived through tumblarity. both times. ugh.

cause i will use this interchangeably and forget to clarify, tumblr dash (short for dashboard) is more or less the same as twitter feed.

likes - these are a thumbs up. A nice little ‘hey this post is cool!’ or ‘i agree with this post.’ users can elect in settings to have their likes visibly on their page, meaning when you go to their actual tumblr, theres a link to liked posts. however, i have always disabled this in the same vein that none of you will ever see my ao3 history. if you get a like, you’ll get notified, but that’s all it really does in the grand scheme of things.

reblogs - if theres a post you want to share, reblog it. reblogging it puts it on the dash (feed) of anyone that follows you. tumblr does have a setting to see popular posts, ‘in your orbit,’ or ‘for you’ as in things it thinks you may like. it has a setting for recommended posts into your feed. i, and mostly everyone i know, disable these features and rely solely on their dash. so assume if you’re reblogging this post, you’re sharing it to make sure the people that follow you also see it. if no one reblogs this post, then only the 150 people that follow me will see it and it will die. which is totally cool. im rambling all over this shit and forgot what capital letters are. its probably half wrong anyways.

some people will say always reblog instead of like. i think its give or take. it depends on what you like, what you want to share, you’re weird taste in shit you want people to know about and not know. if you reblog, you will make sure more people see something wonderful and its a really lovely and free way to help writers, artists, etc. spread their art.

commenting on a reblog - its not necessary. I probably do it once in a blue moon these days. adding a comment in your reblog is like jumping into the conversation. usually i reserve this for things that are important and want others to build on as well. or continue the shitpost cause i like to think im funny sometimes. if its something like my bullshit commentary that really does not apply to anything in the post or i dont want spread on everyone’s dash as they go on to reblog it, i write it in the tags. for example, please reblog this and add anything i missed that helps you navigate tumblr. write in the tag if you think its bullshit and i should delete.

replies - replies were made because when they didn’t exist, people would have ‘dash conversations’ by reblogging one post over and over and over and over again. it would be a post of 50+ posts of two people having a conversation and about things like is it red or blood orange. this was especially awful in rp when sometimes posts would only be a few sentences asking ‘hey whats up how are you.’ so use a reply if you want to tell the original poster something, but youre not adding onto the post. a good reply to this post would be a ‘thanks for posting this’ but a good reblog with a comment would be ‘i agree, but also you forgot this important bit!’

something different than twitter (i think???) - your replies do not just show up on someone’s dash. they have to click the little word bubble on the post to read them.

tagging - tagging someone with an @ will give them a notification that you mentioned them in your post. you can also tag in replies. you don’t need to tag the original poster in a reply because they will get a notif that says ‘___ replied to your post.’ my brain is fuzzy here, but i believe if you put a reply on a post that is a reblog, both the current poster/reblogger and the original poster will get notifs. i only say this cause some people get annoyed by too much tagging, but as someone that doesnt give a shit, just always tag me. tumblr eats shit or doesnt work sometimes, so just blow up my notifs.

asks/submit - some people enable you to ask or submit posts. when they answer the ask or approve the submission, it will end up as a post on their dash. if the ask is not anon, they can also reply privately. a lot of people do not allow anons these days because while tumblr is one of the better social medias ive encountered, there are still some assholes that like to send hate anons. and i will say this for the people skimming this - ASKS GET EATEN. aka they disappear from asks boxes or don’t even show up. if someone says they didn’t get it, there’s probably like an 80% chance they are not lying. there’s a 20% chance they are and don’t want to answer it but like that’s their choice too.

messaging - for the new kids, this is DMing. for the cool kids in back, this feature was enabled cause aol took aim away from us. this caused a huge panic of how do we privately talk to our friends since while replies are okay for convos, anyone can see them and tbh can get cumbersome for longer communication. i use this feature a lot to send my friends posts that i need to make sure they see. maybe its not my sort of content id reblog, but i know for a sure thing they will love it, so im passing it along for them to reblog, laugh at, tell me im an asshole cause its a meme making fun of them, etc.

ask games - sometimes people reblog posts that say SEND ME A NUMBER and theres a list of numbered questions. as i grew up here in roleplay, i was taught it was good tumblr etiquette to always send numbers to the person you reblogged from. I was also taught just to send numbers if you see them cause you’re cultivating friendships here and maybe you don’t know the person, but TRUST ME, they will love and appreciate you took the time to get to know them just a little. its not hard to send 1-5 and then fuck off but it will give them something fun to do and maybe make their entire day so.. send the numbers.

WHAT YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO: who interacts with your posts a lot. do you see the same username liking your things? does the person reply a lot. FOLLOW THEM! reply to their posts! fangirl from afar and send a shy ask saying hi i love you. propose on the dash. answer their questions. become FRIENDS. we’re all the weird kids here so don’t worry, we love you already.

WHAT NOT TO DO: NEVER STEAL POSTS OR CONTENT. this means, you see a pretty piece of art- reblog it. do not right click, copy link to image, and make your own post. love a passage someone wrote? see a HILARIOUS joke? do not copy and paste it into your own post. If you feel in someway you NEED to do this, contact the original poster, ask permission and how they want to be credited. you might have to link to their tumblr, you might have to link to their tumblr, ig, ao3, website, mom’s best friends snapchat, whatever... you listen to how they want to be credited and respect it. and if they say no? go reblog it and sit down. this is the same how you would never copy and paste someone’s tweet and say it as your own. or would you???? is that a thing??? maybe i shouldn’t be helping you come here...

ALSO, JUST LIKE AO3, NOTES MEAN NOTHING. a lot of notes does not mean its a great post. Something can have 500 notes and its two friends shitposting ‘hi’ back and forth in the replies 250 times each. and yes, this has happened before and will happen again because this is a hellscape.

crabs/april fools/tumblarity/fonts and colors/xkit - you know how in YOU they have those like seven totems of living in LA? same concept except when you understand it all, you’re cursed to live here forever. you’re welcome.

--- --- ---

please expand, add to this, tell me im wrong, tell me to get off tiktok cause i need to stop yelling at children to let me love my favorite ships idc what canon says.

the good news is, if you think you’re doing it wrong, then youre using tumblr right. people might say don’t use it like a diary, but you bet ill write a long ass post venting about my depression and/or that my sock has a hole in the toe. people say posts have to have content and length... brevity is the soul of wit or whatever and i love a good shitpost and i will reblog a post that is legit ‘wish i could pet a dog today.’

#tumblr #twitter #don't forget to feed your horse

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alister312 · 2 months

Note

Yo, Tips for reach on A03?

Well, the thing about ao3 is that it doesn’t have an algorithm so there’s no such thing as “increasing reach” directly on there. However, here’s some things you can keep in mind to help draw more people into your fic!

ao3 automatically sorts fics by “most recently updated (/uploaded)” in whatever category a reader is browsing. This means, if you want people to see your fic, it’s a good idea to update often (to keep it at/near the top) and maybe try to upload during times when you think a lot of people might be opening ao3 to browse. Maybe this means on the weekends, when people have free time. Maybe it means at night, since lots of people like to read fics as bedtime stories. You can figure out what works best for you.

Here are the other things ao3 sorts by. I don’t have any data to back this up, but I feel safe in assuming that the main things people choose besides Date Updated are Hits, Kudos, and Comments. Maybe also Bookmarks. After all, those are all indicators that other people have read (and probably enjoyed) a fic, which means it’s worth checking out.

Hits are just how many people have clicked on and opened the fic. It doesn’t count how many people have actually read it, or how many times one person (or more accurately, one IP address) has read it. If you want to increase hits, plug your fic on outside sources often. Put the link out there as just fic advertisement, draw art or commission art for it and include the link with the post, share it around in discord servers— whatever level of shameless self promo you feel comfortable with. It’s wonderful if you have friends who believe in you and can also share and promote your fic, but you can always guarantee that YOU will be your own biggest advocate so use that to your advantage.

Kudos are similar to a Like button. IMO if you read a fic or a chapter of a fic and reach the end without clicking out, you should leave a kudos, but I also know people who are very selective about their kudos so to each their own. But basically, they are something a reader can leave once. They can click it a second time and it doesn’t unkudos but it doesn’t add another either. There’s not really a way to increase them aside from kudos-ing your own fic and/or asking people you know to please leave one. This one’s on the readers! The same basically goes for Bookmarks. There’s slightly more effort involved (instead of clicking one button, people have to click a whole TWO buttons) so it’ll probably happen less often than kudos.

Comments are, well, comments. Pretty self explanatory. Since people usually don’t leave comments unless they have something to say about the fic, you mostly just have to hope people have something to say! A “Comments are always appreciated :)” in your author’s notes never hurts too. You could also take the time to reply to every comment you get if you don’t feel overwhelmed about replying to all of them! This will increase comments obviously but more importantly, it lets the commenter know they were heard and appreciated. Everyone likes knowing that, and it’ll hopefully create a positive feedback loop where they will comment again so you can reply again and so on and so forth.

If you’re in it purely for the numbers game, you can also check out your statistics page often and play to those strengths. Putting that below the cut since this is already pretty long!

As you can see, the statistics tab lets you compare your fics in a bunch of different ways. That way, if you’re trying to get better at one specific thing, you can see what fics do better in that sense and figure out why they might’ve done better.

For example, my #1 in terms of Hits is Just Business, a multichap fic. This makes a lot of sense to me, since multiple chapters meant multiple updates, pushing it to the top of most recently updated more often where people could click it. I also advertised the fic on tumblr any time it updated, so that was even more opportunity for people to literally just click through. Plus, I published new chapters weekly, specifically on Wednesdays while a new season of the show was airing so I knew it was more likely that a lot of people would be browsing the South Park tag. However—

Just Business is nowhere near the top in terms of kudos. Even though a lot of people clicked on it, they didn’t leave a kudos. This is probably because the main pair featured in it, Gregstophe, is a rarepair. I make this assumption because my #1 fic for kudos is Sweet, Dude, which is a Style fic and Style is one of the most popular South Park ships.

Then for comments (or comment threads, which means it doesn’t count back and forth replies, just new comments), once again Just Business is at the top with my other multichap fic What Makes Cloves Grow right behind it. This is because returning readers will often leave a new comment every time you update. It’s also interesting to see that my two fics that feature Dip as a pairing are in the top 5, so that means Dip fans are probably more likely to leave a comment!

Now based off of all this, if I wanted to publish fic purely to get ahead, I know it would be smart to publish a multichap fic on a consistent schedule so I can advertise it often. Maybe it’d be good to publish alongside new episodes airing, or right around the time of a new special or game so hype is at the highest and the tag has the most eyes on it. The main pair should be Style, Cryle, Creek, and/or Dip, as those have all demonstrated the most engagement from readers. There’s other stuff to factor in too (such as the fact that many of my top fics have Fluff or Domestic themes so that means the fandom these days probably likes to read Fluff and Domestic stuff) but that’s the gist of it!

#sorry this was so long but I hope that helps anon!!#ao3 #advice #i guess?

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justagalwhowrites · 3 months

Note

Hi there! I love your content!!! I just started writing my first fan fic cause you inspired me so much and need a bit of help if you wouldn’t mind? I’ve posted chapter one but am not sure how to make a “master list” where it holds all the chapters? Can I just keep posting and it will automatically put the next chapter in order after the last one I posted? I always thought my panic attacks of just having people see my fan fics would be the worst part, but navigating this app seems to actually take up most of my hyperventilating. Any help you could spare would be greatly appreciated!

Hello Bestie!

OMG I'm so excited that you're writing!!!!! That's AMAZING! I hope you have the best time telling your story and sharing it with everyone and I'm definitely going to go check it out if that's OK ❤️

As far as a master list goes, this is how I made mine. I should preface this by saying, I am really really REALLY bad at Tumblr and did this by fumbling around like a half blind fawn so there could very well be a better way to do it. If there is and people are reading this post, please comment or reblog or reach out directly to this lovely human and help them out so they're not stuck with my probably awful advice.

SO! Start with a basic text post and just put Master List in the title field (or whatever you want to call yours!) Then go in and put down whatever info you want to include for your fic (like a summary and whatnot) and put in a chapter title (or, for your main master list, the title of the fic) as part of the list in the body of the post. Once the title is in, you're going to want to link to the chapter or fic. To do that, highlight the text you want to link from and go to the lil link option that will populate when you highlight the text. It's the second icon from the right on the screenshot below.

Click that icon and then paste the URL of the chapter you want to link to.

Once you have your chapters listed, just press post! You can pin it to the top of your profile with the three dot menu on the upper right of the post (see screenshot below) once it's posted or build it into the links in your description of your blog if you change the layout of your blog and are comfortable playing with a smidge of HTML.

To add more chapters or fics later, go to the three dot menu on the upper right of your post and press edit (see screenshot below). Then you just repeat the process above and scroll to the bottom of the post and press save when you're done. The post will then update.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's any way for it to be automatic! I wish there were, it would be so convenient.

But that's it! If you have any other questions, feel free to send me a DM or another ask, I'm happy to help out! I may not be the best person to ask but I will definitely try my best. And if anyone has a better way to do this, please share! I love this hell site but it is, indeed, a hell site.

Thank you so much for reading! Good luck on your writing journey! Love you!!!

#fanfic #send asks #kit answers

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twotangledsisters · 4 months

Note

I saw you post about people stealing your art through another friend. Have you thought about creating an art tag for your name that people could search up here on tumblr?

Hi, thanks so much for the advice!

I do have a tag/watermark that I started using after the first incident, and I put it on every drawing plus wips, or at least try to, I won't deny I do occasionally forget, it's pretty simple and kinda subtle:

Includes my wishes about reposting, as well as my tumblr and my Tiktok.

Less subtle is my signature and my username in all fanart!

However, even with these stuff in place, it doesn't really solve the issue about reposting people's artworks (reposting meaning download or copying an image and uploading again on the same or another site, this isn't the same as reblogs or even reposts on TikTok where it's more a share feature!).

Very few users take the time if they see art reposted on instagram or pinterest to look up the original artist.

Even on sites that DO credit the original artist, most people do not bother to click that link and give the original artist any attention.

And because accounts that repost art do not have to create anything, they can upload tons of stunning pieces a days and directly compete with the actual artists making it even harder for artists to get noticed.

Also, since most accounts doing this do not inform the original artist their doing this, an artist might have two comments on a piece of art and think it sucks because it reached so few people, while on another account that isn't there's, it's getting all the love and attention! (I have had this happen to me and seen it happen to others and I can tell you it HURTS).

Having a tag is super important, and I implore any artists who hasn't got one to make one because even if you think you're art isn't good enough to be stolen, I thought the same thing! Unfortunately I cannot stress enough that isn't a solution and it's super important artists continue to fight this theft by reporting accounts when they are stealing our art, and if everybody could just not support accounts that reupload art without permission, that would be great too.

Also, I know we have this discussion every other day in fandom but give the creatives in your fandom some love! Everybody loves seeing the beautiful art or reading their fave ship, but behind all of this is a person who spent a lot of time of love on that piece and deserves to know the impact it's having! ❤️

Also, again, huge thanks to the original asker for the advice! It's great advice, I went on a bit of a ramble cause I saw the chance to remind my audience of this matter which is one that is close and dear to my heart!

#ask answered #posting art online #art #fanart #artist problems #artist struggles #ramble #the issue with reposts

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ddixons-angel · 1 year

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I’m back~ Did ya miss me???

Hello all of you beautiful people, I’m back from my completely unplanned hiatus!!!

So, I made a post back in November of last year that I would not be as active since I got a new job. That was so much truer than I ever expected because not only did I not post any new fics, I haven’t actually written anything in the last 12 months. That job really burned me out and took a lot of my time and energy. The good news is, I got a new job and it allows me to work from home so I’ll have a lot more time to myself since I won’t be commuting to and from work!

That means you guys can expect more fics from me~! Yayyy~~ Of course not right away since... I still have to actually write them but they are coming! I have plans for a mini-series, and finishing my long running series, Fated, and other one-shots!

Unfortunately, I still will not be taking requests yet because since I haven’t written in a year, I do not want to take requests and promise to write something when I’m getting back into writing, I want to put out my best possibly work for you guys especially if it’s requested by you. I still have some requests in my inbox from last year that I have to get to as well....

One last thing before this post gets too long as an update post, my taglist!

Since I have been gone for basically a year, I understand that some people may not be interested in my work or TWD or even fanfic in general anymore and I complete understand that. For that reason, I want to start my taglist anew so if you would like to be part of my taglist, please fill out the form in the link below! (this is to keep things neater and to make sure that I don’t miss out on anyone who wants to be tagged in the comments/reblogs)

https://forms.gle/ecW39HZmYapTo81M7

Love you guys! Can’t wait to share more stories with you~!

TL;DR - you can expect more fics from me but requests are not yet open, click the link above if you would like to join my taglist.

I’m also going to put my old taglist under the read more and hope you all get notified c’mon tumblr it’s been a year, please tell me you fixed your tagging system finally

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screentonescast · 1 year

Text

Screen Tones, a Webcomic Podcast

Show Notes

The Numbers Game

Release Date: September 14, 2022

Featuring

Renie Jesanis - She/They , www.kateblast.com

Christina Major (Delphina) - She/Her, www.sombulus.com

Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane) - She/They http://chirault.sevensmith.net/ http://wychwoodcomic.com/

In This Episode:

Today’s topic is about how stats, analytics, and other metrics can affect the creative process.

Before we get started, here’s a quick rundown of the different kinds of numbers you might run into while you’re making or reading webcomics!

Follower Counts

What is this? - How many people are signed up to see your content automatically

Where do you see it? - Webtoons, Tapas, all the social medias (Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, TikTok)

How this metric is helpful - It's a talking point I guess, you can have little contests when you get to a cool number or if you're close to a cool number

How this metric can be flawed - On any platform where your content is not locked, you don't HAVE to be a follower to see someone's content, in fact almost all social media by default will throw people's posts around that you DON'T know about, so there CAN be a lot more people looking at your stuff than just your follower count.

On the flip side followers don't always give you comments, money, or loyalty; sometimes they're not even there! Followers can be fake/bots/people following you for a contest/inactive accounts following you. So I think it's important if you're slipping into a mindset that follower count equals how many people "care" about your content that that is not the case. It's really more reflective of what tactics you OR (more likely) the platform are using to sign people up to be your follower.

If you find yourself wanting a higher follower count, just try and think of the reason you want this. What kinds of problems do you see it solving, how do you think it'll change your experience to get more followers? Because I guarantee you there is some different thing you want to be paying attention to, driving follows in and of itself does nothing and can actually hurt if you're a company who's incentivizing people to follow too many people all at once and they get overwhelmed by all that content.

Views/Traffic

What is this? - How many people have viewed your content or clicked on any links you put in that content

Where do you see it? Webtoon, Tapas, Google Analytics if you have your own site, you can also see it if you click the little bar icon on a Tweet

How this metric is helpful - It shows you how many browsers have loaded your content

How this metric can be flawed - They're better than Follower Count for sure, but still not 100% indicative of your quality. You might be making a kind of story where it really reads better to visit every few months and catch up, which will show as fewer views. Temporary features can bloat view numbers. Views can come from negative sources/trolls who are dunking on you/the ol' ratio. Views are also not an indication of who's PASSIONATE about your work or who would spend MONEY on your work. I know a lot of people who really don't get many views but they make a lot of money because the few people that ARE reading their work really love it, and I know a lot of people who get tons of views and really don't have a bead on monetizing it.

If you find yourself wanting more views, you probably need to be looking at personally appealing to your circles, getting involved in new ones. One thing my buddy Star does is fanart for things that are thematically similar to her comic Castoff, and if they take off, just including a "I do more stuff like this on my comic which you can read here!". DON'T DM people or put them on your mailing list without their consent, listen as much as you talk, but yeah, probably need to be dropping your link in APPROPRIATE spaces a little more.

Comments

What is this? - How many people are writing out their thoughts in the spaces you're providing them

Where do you see it? - Bottom of comic updates, responses on social media

How this metric is helpful - I love comments, it's really a nice way for people to express what they're enjoying about your comic, they can be so uplifting and make you feel very appreciated

How this metric can be flawed - Comments really do need to have good moderation tools and be closely moderated because a lot of us nerds on the internet are NOT social butterflies and might say awkward or incendiary things, and when that happens the comment section becomes not a very fun party to hang out in. You also might have an interface that isn't easy to SEE where the comments are. Comment culture is very different on personal sites versus Webtoon and they can be kind of rude if the reader is younger or doesn't know the author reads the comments, OR MY PROBLEM RIGHT NOW, you might use Disqus and be CONSTANTLY PLAGUED BY PORNBOTS.

If you find yourself wanting more comments, again, asking people to leave comments every so often, posing a question in your author notes, and again, reminding people that if they like your stuff you want to hear from them can go a long way! Showcasing the comments you've gotten that you like and want of is also nice! And saving screenshots in a folder or in a special place on your Discord server is a fun time too. I started doing sort of a yearbook treatment that includes all my favorite comments at the end of the year and it's really a nice way to preserve that uplifting feeling.

Ratings/Votes

What is this? - Star ratings on a 1-5 scale, supposedly reflective of opinions of your comic

Where do you see it? Webtoon, Tapas, Goodreads, TopWebComics, storefronts sometimes like Amazon

How is this metric helpful? - Presumably helps a reader decide if a comic is popular and if they should buy or read it, boosts you in the algorithm a LOT

How this metric can be flawed - Some systems penalize you if it's not the right KIND of comment (Instagram it needs to be like 5 words long I think?) People don't remember to rank things, even when they like them! It can really mislead you into thinking your comic is bad when it's probably not. Negative ratings can be based on totally random or subjective things like if the person is allergic to your font choice, if the system isn't working for them, if they misread your description and thought you were trying to do something you weren't, votes can be trolls, and on Webtoon/Tapas, there's no way to tell "okay out of 6000 people who gave this 5 stars, one is saying it's bad". It's very unqualified data and it's not gonna help you FIX anything if there IS something that's less effective about your comic. And we're storytellers, so we're naturally problem solvers, and that can be a really dangerous train when that ONE guy out of 6000 says there's a problem, because part of your brain is going to go "PROBLEM TO FIX MUST FIX PROBLEM" or "I DID A PROBLEM?? NOOO I AM AN AWFUL PERSON" or both.

If you find yourself wanting more positive ratings, I think asking for 5-star reviews is something you hear about a lot, and I do think if the platform you're using ranks things numerically, that's worth doing every so often. Don't get pushy or demanding with it, just let people know that it does actually tangibly help you and it's a free thing they can do if they're enjoying your stuff! A lot of times people just need reminders! For TopWebComics, I made a quick URL at sombulus.com/vote that'll take you right to my voting portal, I upload new incentives there every week, and I have announcements scheduled out on Twitter every week and at the start of the month when the votes reset to remind people that it helps boost my comic in the rankings.

Likes/Shares

What is this? - Someone clicking the thumbs or the upvotes or the hearts or the Toots to say they enjoyed a thing, and someone clicking a different thing to share that post with someone else

Where do you see it? - Webtoon/Tapas, social media

How is this metric helpful? - Boosts you in the algorithm a little, gets your stuff spread to other peoples' followers

How this metric can be flawed - Ratios can actually mean people are taking it out of context, very rarely results in clickthroughs or sales unless you reach a viral critical mass, very non-commital support, you could be posting at a weird time of day or flooded out by worldwide news current events/drama, of which there is so much these days. You can also feel like posting frequently takes a lot of work and time that you don't have and it's just exhausting.

If you find yourself wanting more likes/shares, try scheduling things so far in advance that you forget you even put them there. I love this because if a post DOESN'T get any attention, I forget I even made it, and if it DOES, then it's a pleasant surprise. You can also ask sometimes if you have something urgent, just say a little "share this with your friends!" line on the tweet. Don't abuse this but it can definitely work out. Also in social media, reshare old content after a while! Nobody cares!

Some people use Likes as kind of either a read receipt or a bookmark, which can sometimes artificially mess with the numbers on this particular metric.

Revenue

What is this? - MONEY! Money that you make from ad revenue, sales, Patreon or Ko-Fi subscripts, tipping in Tapas, etc.

Where do you see it? - You typically gotta set up a shop or campaign somewhere or seek out a publisher (I think we're gonna have a whole other episode on allll the ways you can do that)

How is this metric helpful? - Money can be exchanged for goods and services, both of which I enjoy a lot

How this metric can be flawed - Money is only a metric of if you've made a product that is sellable and you've successfully convinced people to buy it, which is an extremely different skill than making a good comic. Just making a comic and printing a book is going to lead to a lot of books in your closet gathering dust. Online comic sales for me have been exceedingly hard, I don't make a lot of side comics or other projects, there's just a lot of distracting things online so I really depend on things like limited time crowdfunds to move my books online. I've also seen this one a million times where people will ask their followers on twitter "which of these things would you buy", their followers vote, but then they put it in their store and those people suddenly have no money.

If you find yourself wanting more money, don't we all? But also you really do have to experiment a lot sometimes to find products that are sellable, and how to present them. You need clear compelling pictures, you need to make a regular habit of mentioning that you have stuff for sale, also helps if you have NEW products to appeal to the people who want to give you MORE money but they already have all the stuff you sell. The number of people who are willing and able to give you money is probably small, but the good news is that repeat customers are very much a thing, so look for ways to encourage repetition from the same people as well as reaching new ones.

With that out of the way, it’s time for our first question!

5:00 What role have numbers and statistics played in your webcomics journey? Has it changed over time?

13:09 How do you use the statistics you have access to in productive ways while working on or marketing your comic, without letting them have too much influence?

28:16 Now the numbers game can drive even the most hardened webcomic veterans absolutely batty. Do you have any more advice on survival to share with other creators to navigate the emotional landscape of stats and numbers?

Thanks for Listening!

Have a comment? Question? Concern?

Screen Tones Cast:

Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane) - She/They http://chirault.sevensmith.net/ http://wychwoodcomic.com/

Christina Major (Delphina) - She/Her, www.sombulus.com

Claire Niebergall (Clam) - She/Her, www.phantomarine.com

Kristen Lee (Krispy) She/They https://www.ghostjunksickness.com/

Megan Davison - She/Her, https://www.webtoons.com/en/search?keyword=megasketch

Miranda Reoch - She/Her, mirandacakes.art

Phineas Klier - They/Them, http://heirsoftheveil.fervorcraft.de

Rae Baade(Rae) - they/them, https://www.empyreancomic.com

Renie Jesanis - She/They , www.kateblast.com

#show notes

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wannameetmyson · 1 year

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Hellooooooo just wanna pop in to say thank you for your reblog comments about my Obey Me MC in HDD costume 🥺💕 (it's the one with Diavolo & Belphie leaning towards my MC) not sure how to reply a reblog since it will end up in my own post? (I don't play tumblr that much so I'm still confused 😭)

Just wanted to let you know I appreciate your comment so much and it really flutters my heart reading it 💕💕💕

Of course! I tend to reblog a lot without tagging or commenting so when I feel like it I try to say something about the art. Very thankful to be fixated on a fandom/game that has an active and talented community

Thanks to you for sharing your MC and your art! I think it's kind of tricky to match the character designs of canon a lot of the time, so it's really cool that you did have the fancy get-up match the others. MC's family and they're here to stay so of course they should match! It's just heartwarming, especially because its shown in a sweet happy moment too.

Also, responding to somebody's tags on your post:

1) technically you could reblog your post from me with your response in the commentary? Seems a bit silly I know, but I'd be notified of the tags and so would the original poster (you). Plus I don't see anything wrong with reblogging great art you're proud of/worked hard on! Your followers have voluntarily shown up to see whatever you'd care to share with them yknow

2) in the corner of a post there's a black chat bubble icon where you can talk with people without reblogging. This means you don't have to show the same post a bunch of times to have a convo. This also means that you can put your 2¢ on the post without having the post actually be on your blog. Also people have to select the chat icon to see if somebody has used this form of interacting, but all the messages left go into that post's personal void forever (I think you can delete but double check me). You can @ a blog you specifically wanted to talk to, and I believe that the original poster also is notified of any messages left?

3) you know that you can reblog the post with your additional text, but the post's history wouldn't show what my tags were/what you were responding to. Some people will take screenshots of tags, include the photo as a receipt of some sort, and type their response. Other people have also retyped the tags they're responding to and linked that with the url of the post in question on the other person's blog. (I know that's wordy and not really coherent, just click the notification of the reblog then grab the link from where it took you)

#obey me oc #y'all should check this blog out if you're interested #you should definitely interact with content creators you like #reblog #talk to n message #whatever you want whatever you have energy for #they feed brainrot you gotta feed them back #sustainable ecological relationship of fandom

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