#this isn't showing up on the dash or the tags but i won't be posting it again it'll eventually appear

[khaopybara]

What can I do to make you not scared? I'm not scared anymore.

VIEW BENYAPA as AYLIN and JUNE WANWIMOL as LUNA episode 12 of 23 POINT 5

[yukidragon]

Sunny Day Jack - Oopsie Baby 2

I've been scrounging up spoons as best I can to continue with the Jack accidentally getting Alice pregnant idea. I did a small continuation of it in a reblog replying to some tags, but I figured I'd make another proper post for as long as my spoons last.

Let's touch on a bit of the timeline for how this sort of AU might unfold. Beware of spoilers for Sunshine in Hell.

Content Warning: This post contains some spicy talk about sex and intimacy, both positive and negative experiences. I mean, how else is babby formed? There's also discussions about pregnancy, birth control, chronic illness, sickness, contemplating abortion, manipulative behavior, and a dash of overprotective sketchy yandere spice.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

As you may remember me mentioning from previous posts, Sunshine in Hell is my personal alternate continuity of the Something's Wrong with Sunny Day Jack story and won't follow the games one-to-one. For example, as I've also mentioned in previous rambles such as this one, the relationship that develops between Alice and Jack is more of a slow burn, and that includes being intimate. Their first kiss isn't going to be the same day or just a couple days before they wind up making love for the first time.

Still, the morning after they go all the way for the first time is the same day Shaun shows up to stay at Alice's place. It's just too hilarious to me to imagine how flustered she'd be about the whole thing, especially after Jack seduces Alice while Shaun is there to mark his territory.

So it'd be even more hilarious that this is when Jack accidentally gets Alice pregnant. She was already mortified and upset after she figures out he intended for Shaun to hear them, so why not have that moment cause further drama later~?

Though I suppose their first time could be when it happened as well. I mean, getting knocked up isn't an instantaneous thing. It takes a while for the sperm to reach the egg and what not, and Jack is definitely going to seduce Alice a fair amount of times before the seed that he planted starts to take root.

Which is more reason why Alice kicks herself for not buying Jack condoms. Maybe the surreal and supernatural aspect of their relationship made such consequences slip her mind. Being with Jack is like living in a happy dream, detached from the regular struggles of reality. There's also the fact that condoms are expensive, and she's barely struggling to keep afloat with her meager paycheck.

It's so easy for Alice to forget such troubling details when Jack is there, whispering sweet words into her ear, caressing and kissing her body so lovingly. He makes her feel so beautiful, desirable, perfect, and irreplaceable. It's so easy for her to get swept up by him. She's never felt so loved before. No relationship has felt so right. It scares her sometimes how naturally they fit together, so effortless in spite of challenges they face. It's nothing like her previous relationship.

Not to mention their connection causes his horny urges to rub off on her, increasing her libido. Sex with Jack is actually a pleasure for Alice, unlike previous experiences, and she's found herself hornier than ever after they start getting intimate. She never thought penetrative sex could feel so good, make her feel so connected to someone without any barriers between them.

Granted, Alice was a lot more cautious when she and Ian were together, and she always made sure he wore a condom when he was going in down south. Despite often losing control of himself when horny, and really, really wanting to do it bare, he was pretty good about making sure he was always wrapped.

Though I wonder if Ian remembered to use a condom when he cheated. I mean, he clearly forgot he was in a relationship at the time, so I'd imagine using protection would slip his mind as well. Hopefully he didn't get his affair partner pregnant. That would make things so much more complicated.

Ian and Alice had discussed having kids before, but as a far, far future thing. Though Ian was terrified about being a father, as he wasn't sure he'd be a good one. He never knew his father. The closest thing he had to a father was Alice's dad, Ambrose, and even then Ian felt guilty even thinking about as Ambrose like that, like he was betraying his mom somehow. Perhaps it was because of all his mom's talk about him being selfish with his desires and how all men are cheating scum...

Alice had yet to talk about kids with Jack.. well, outside of him being a kids TV host and being fond of them in general. Certainly, he imagined having children one day with his sunshine, but Alice was taking things slowly with Jack.

Of course now the topic is at the forefront whether they're ready for it or not.

Alice was so distracted by her new relationship with Jack and all the pleasure and complications that comes with it, pregnancy never crossed her mind. Too much is going on for that to come up.

First there's the relationship itself, then using introducing Jack to Shaun as a trial run before Alice tries to do the same with her family. This comes with the whole embarrassing incident of Shaun overhearing Jack and Alice going at it and having to deal with the awkwardness that follows. There's also helping Shaun move into his own place and getting settled in.

It's only after things settle into a new normal that Alice starts bracing herself for how she's going to introduce Jack to her family, though she's started talking about him to them without yet mentioning his supernatural nature.

It'll probably be sometime after Shaun gets moved into his place that things start seeming amiss. Alice suffers from chronic illness, and sometimes this causes her cramps, exhaustion, nausea and food aversion/sensitivity. As such, when these pregnancy symptoms manifest, she just assumes it's business as usual, more or less, even if the nausea gets pretty intense. She's learned she just has to deal with it by this point.

It's only when Alice realizes that she hasn't had her period for way too long that the thought pops into her head.

One missed period is something to take note of, but not necessarily anything bad. Sometimes a period skips a month. Two though... that's when things get dicey.

Heck, Alice could even be as far as three months in if she mistakes the light bleeding that's common to experience in the early weeks of pregnancy for her period.

It's possible Jack noticed something different about Alice. Being a ghost(?) he might possess more supernatural powers than we've seen thus far in the story. It's possible a part of him picked up on some sort of change in her warm light that he can't quite put his finger on. Maybe to him it's like she's glowing even more radiantly than she used to?

Though Jack is more focused on taking care of his poor sunshine while she's sick. Alice has to work even on days when she's throwing up. It's so unfair. If only he could work in her place. If only he could provide more. He spoils her even more to compensate, and she appreciates how far he goes to take care of her, but he can't take away all of her troubles and woes.

Once Alice has the thought she might be pregnant, that's when the fear sets in. She hesitates to say anything to Jack, at least not until she takes a pregnancy test, but it'll be very hard to hide anything from him. Since she's been sick lately, he's particularly keen on going with her everywhere, especially if she's doing something to exert herself. Still, she does manage to talk him into staying home to cook dinner while she picks up "a couple things" from the corner store, one of which being a tester.

Alice doesn't like keeping secrets from Jack, especially since they've become so intimate, but this fear feels... irrational? Like she shouldn't worry Jack about something that might not even be possible.

Like she shouldn't crush his hopes considering how isolated he is...

It's even possible she had a pregnancy scare in the past with Ian and, well... I have a feeling that would've been a very stressful situation involving a lot of tears and fears.

It's better if Alice is the only one freaking out about what might be nothing at all.

Besides... Alice is on birth control. There's no way it failed... right?

Jack does pick up there's something amiss when Alice starts acting dodgy around him. When she rushes immediately to the bathroom after coming home from the errand, he's willing to chalk it up to being related to her illness, but the feeling of panic he senses from her when she takes a while to come out has him soon knocking on the door asking if she's okay.

When Alice gets the positive result from the pregnancy test, at first all she can do is just stare at it in disbelief. She did buy a second one, just to be sure or in case she somehow messed up the first, but the result is the same.

That's when the panic sets in.

When Jack knocks on the door and Alice hears his sweet, concerned voice, that's when she has a bit of a breakdown. She didn't tell him to come in, but when he heard her sob through the door, he couldn't stop himself from rushing in.

Home pregnancy tests in the 80's weren't an easy to read stick, but a whole miniature chemistry set, so Jack isn't likely to recognize the iconic little device Alice is holding in her hand. As such, he has no idea what's wrong and needs to calm her down so she can tell him.

Needless to say, Jack is floored when Alice tells him through tears that she's pregnant.

At first, Jack stares at her, stunned, then when it's clear that he heard her correctly, he's overcome with emotions - disbelief, joy, and worry being chief among them. The idea of being a dad is terrifying, but at the same time he's elated. A part of him wants to spin her around in the air and shout for joy.

It's her fear and tears that mollifies his excitement.

Jack focuses primarily on reassuring Alice, tucking away his excitement and his own worries for later. His sunshine needs him now... as does their unborn child.

Alice is so angry with herself. She should've thought about this possibility. She should've known better... bought condoms, got better birth control, done something! It's all her fault. After all, it's not like Jack can get his own birth control, and he always dutifully follows her lead. How could she have never even thought about this before? She was so reckless.

Jack remains strong for Alice, talking her down from spiraling while cuddling her close. He gets her off the bedroom floor and onto their bed where where it's comfy. She's not hungry for the dinner he made for them, but that's okay. He can heat it up later. Right now taking care of her comes first.

The situation is complicated. Jack understands full well that this is going to be a huge challenge, but he assures Alice they can both handle it. He promised to always be there for her and take care of her after all. He'll take care of her and their child, no matter what.

Alice worries about the logistics of it. This place is too small even for two fully grown adults, let alone a baby. Her apartment in Sunshine in Hell is much smaller than the one she lived in with Ian, with only one bedroom, one bathroom, and a common room sectioned off into a living room and kitchen/dining room.

Her paycheck is pathetic. Even though Alice always makes sure Barry doesn't stiff her on all the overtime she works, it's still barely above minimum wage. She has student loans to pay off, medical bills she has to pay with chronic illness and the like... plus having meals with Jack so he can feel more like a regular human means she's spending more on grocery money. How can that pitiful paycheck stretch enough to handle a baby on top of all that?

Then of course there's telling her family. Alice hasn't even told them about her situation with Jack yet. How is she supposed to explain this?

How is this even happening?

The rest of the day is spent with Jack comforting Alice and talking her through her panic and anxieties. It worries him how upset she is by this news that overall has made him so happy. He does share with her that he's worried too, but he knows that together they can handle anything. They'll be good parents.

Alice does consider abortion as an option, but the idea is too much for her to handle. She can't even vocalize the thought. She's pro choice, but that means understanding herself and what choice is best for her. As hard as having a baby will be at this point in time, the idea of getting in an abortion... she can't even think about it. It's just too much.

Fortunately, she doesn't have to. Jack does pick up on this line of thought and how hard it hits Alice, so he redirects the conversation away from it gently. He gets her to focus on the things they can do to make things work.

It might be happening a little sooner than Alice expected, but she said she wanted to have kids one day, right? It was something she mentioned while they were still just friends (likely when finally spilling her guts about Ian and lamenting all the dreams that were destroyed there). Even if the situation isn't ideal, she has a partner who loves and supports her. No matter what, Jack will be there for her and their baby. He's taken care of her so far, hasn't he?

After quite a long and emotionally exhausting conversation involving a lot of reassurance and love, Jack does manage to coax Alice into eating a little before she finally passes out. They have a plan of action in place, to see the doctor as soon as possible to get this confirmed and make sure she and the baby are healthy. After that, they'll take things step by step.

Money is the biggest issue in this capitalist society. Jack knows it all too well. Though he runs away from memories of being Joseph, the days when he was a penniless drifter still haunt him. He won't let that happen to Alice and their baby.

It's not a good thing what Jack is considering, but he did promise to take care of their little family, didn't he? What kind of man would he be if he just sat back and let Alice do all the hard work?

Still... Jack can't bring himself to go too far (yet). He's Sunny Day Jack! Sunny Day Jack would never consider doing something underhanded and illegal, even if he really needs the money.

But maybe... a few nudges to her boss might help grease the wheels a bit. Barry is such a bully, constantly forcing Alice to come in, especially when she's sick, pushing her to work long hours, trying to squeeze extra free hours of labor from her where he can. He owes her for all of that, as well as all those days off he yanks away at the last minute and overtime he just expects her to do day in and day out.

Jack always thought Barry was taking advantage of his sunshine. He encouraged Alice to stand up for herself more and make sure she got what was owed. He helped on her end, but clearly it's Barry that truly needed the lesson here.

Besides, it's not like a nightmare ever hurt anyone before, or a few sleepless nights for that matter. Jack is just teaching a naughty boss a lesson about respecting his employees and treating them fairly. A hefty raise and some bonuses are the least Barry can do after all the suffering he put Alice through.

If that's not enough... well, Jack will just have to brainstorm more ideas about ways he can take things into his own hands.

What's for sure is that Jack isn't going to let Barry push more overtime on Alice either. If anything, she needs more time off to rest! Pregnancy is hard on the body - especially a body that's already suffering from chronic illness!

Jack doesn't go too far, at least not right away. Terrorizing Barry is something he can excuse as justified in his mind right now. Outright theft or other highly illegal activities to acquire money? Not so much.

At least... not until Ian comes back into the picture, trying to act like the hero and save Alice from her plight.

Ian doesn't find out about the pregnancy until Alice mentions it on her socials. She joined some online support groups for people unexpectedly expecting for the first time, and Ian stalks every single account and who she follows to snatch up any scrap of info about her that he can.

It crushes him. At first, Ian almost believes that it's his baby Alice is pregnant with. It must be.

But that's just impossible. They've been broken up for over a year now.

Not to mention Alice has talked about a new boyfriend in some posts. Ian was going crazy trying to find more than just some drawings she posted about him, but this "Jack" character is like a ghost, with no footprint online.

Ian isn't even sure Jack is real. After all, that face paint and strange outfit look an awful lot like the part he's been hired to play. He actually convinced himself that Alice was stalking him like he was her (which makes it totally okay!) and found out about the part, which means she's indirectly telling him that she misses him by drawing "him" as his new persona that's going to make him a star.

But Ian doesn't say as such to her. No, not with how Alice is stubbornly distancing herself. She's been vulnerable since they broke up. She nearly accidentally killed herself after finding out he cheated. Anyone could've swept in while she was vulnerable to take advantage of her then dip out when she got knocked up.

It boils Ian's blood to think of such a predator targeting Alice like that, especially after he hurt her so badly already. Now more than ever he needs to step up and help her. He needs to cross the boundaries she put up to keep him out, for both their sakes.

So Ian gets in contact with Alice through a mutual friend. Heck, maybe even gets them to trick her into meeting with him someplace where he's waiting with a bouquet of flowers and a tearful apology.

Which isn't going to go over well. Alice would be freaking out at the ambush, especially since she'd be very visibly pregnant by this point and extra emotional due to hormones.

Ian was prepared for that though. He manages to keep Alice from running away and puts his metaphorical foot in the door. He apologizes. Not only that, but he offers her money, claiming there's no strings attached. He owes her at least this much for all that he's put her through.

It's a very unpleasant conversation for Alice to say the least, but she knows Ian well enough to know he's sincerely sorry. She knows he's in pain. He might have tricked her with this meeting, but he does care... He knows she wouldn't have the heart to abort or give away her baby. She's so kind, and she'll be a wonderful mother. He always knew she would be.

Ian feels sorry for himself for a bit, lamenting his mistakes, but he's going to make it up to Alice. She and the baby need help, and he'll do that for her... It doesn't even have to mean they're back together as a couple. Conceding this point is like a spiky lump in his throat, but he reminds her how they've always been each other's best friends, and he wants to be her friend again now. He won't push anything on her. He just wants to help.

Of course we all know Ian isn't going to be satisfied with just remaining friends, but he's learned over the past year or so since they broke up how to adjust his tactics. He's had to learn the art of the deal and how to make people want you in order to make it anywhere in his model and acting career.

Is it manipulative? Of course not, Ian would insist! How could it be? He's just making things up to Alice and showing her how sorry he is. He's proving it with his actions and not just his words. If he proves it well enough then he'll be able to make amends and make things right between him and Alice.

Ian doesn't even care who the father of her child is. He's not ready to be a father, but he views it as a sacrifice he's willing to take in order to have Alice back. He'll do his best no matter how scared he is, since losing Alice has been far worse than all the what ifs and fears he built up in his head.

If not for the pregnancy, Alice would turn down the money. She left the big apartment, her old job that she enjoyed, and a lot of possessions behind after the breakup just because they were tied to Ian. She willingly threw away all that money just so she wouldn't be reminded.

But Alice has a baby to think about. Her child is far more important than her hurt feelings or how icky she feels about accepting charity from her ex. Sure, Barry has surprisingly given her a pay increase lately, but it costs so much to get baby supplies and rent a bigger apartment. Plus there's the medical bills...

It... it should be fine, right? Ian owes her for all the pain he put her through and this makes them even... right? But how can she tell him not to contact her again after accepting it? He might claim there's no strings attached, and maybe he believes it, but the emotions tied to it can't be so easily severed.

Naturally, Jack is anything but pleased by this whole thing. He can't do much to stop it, save encourage Alice to leave, but Ian keeps drawing her attention away from him with pitiful attempts to gain her sympathy. Alice is so kind. Even after how much Ian has hurt her, even though this meeting itself is painful, she still doesn't want to hurt him.

Jack does help bolster Alice's resolve to turn down the money, at least initially, but Ian is surprisingly insistent. He drops the money into her account before she can stop him. He still has her account details from when they lived together and had started intermingling their finances. Alice forgot about that since he never did anything related to it since the affair.

When Alice sees that amount hit her bank account, she's just stunned. How the hell did Ian get so much money? Sure he looked good, and he was wearing expensive clothes and product, but...

Then again, Ian has that modeling job now. He's popular. He talked about this show he got a starring role in. It's hush-hush right now, but he'll let her in on the details since she's his oldest friend.

Alice isn't interested in details. She keeps trying to avoid letting this situation get more personal... but Ian has become more confident since he moved away. He's so different in a number of ways that it's hard to recognize him... yet he's also the same in ways that are maddening and make it so hard for her to stop caring about the little bullied boy who was her only friend in school.

Jack helps Alice cut the meeting short, or at least shorter than Ian would've liked. Ian accepts her retreat reluctantly, but offers that she can contact him at any time. If she needs more money, help with anything, a shoulder to cry on, or anything else, all she has to do is ask. He's there for her... always.

Oh you bet your butt Jack has a lot to say about that sentiment.

Unfortunately Jack can't tell Ian off, at least not there. Sure, he could expose himself, write a message like he did with Shaun, but that needlessly complicates things.

They'll just need to have a private discussion later.

For now, Jack focuses on Alice, reassuring her that she doesn't need Ian or his money. She doesn't have to deal with feeling hurt or awful like she does whenever she even thinks about Ian. She has Jack, someone who loves for her and their baby and will move heaven and earth for them.

Alice did make it clear right away that she's in a new relationship with someone else. She's happy now. She even mentioned Jack by name, though that resulted in Ian giving her strange look she couldn't quite understand. He didn't seem as crushed as she expected him to be. He even asked about Jack, and Alice declined to answer, not wanting to prolong the conversation.

Ian caught how Alice winced when he asked to meet Jack, maybe get his phone number or photo. Her avoidance of any of these just felt like proof to him that he was right about the identity of this "boyfriend" of hers.

The entire encounter was stressful, and felt far longer than it actually was. Alice was left feeling a bit conflicted and unhappy with herself for letting Ian get to her like this. Fortunately, Jack was with her the entire time. It was reassuring to have him holding onto her while she had to face Ian. He gave her the strength she needed and made dealing with suck an icky situation just a bit easier with his reassurance that it was okay to just leave Ian behind. Jack continues to reassure and comfort her after the meeting, which she needs badly after being so shaken.

Keeping the money is something Alice is the most torn about. She doesn't feel good about it, and Jack says they don't need Ian's help, but... they do need money. She's living paycheck to paycheck, and the baby isn't even here yet! She's barely keeping her head above water.

Can Alice really let something as petty as pride keep her from giving their baby a good life?

Jack has been helpful the entire time. His help has been invaluable. Alice doesn't think she could hold it together without him. This money doesn't take away from how important Jack is to her or how much she loves him. It doesn't change who her baby's father is.

Jack can't do anything his sunshine doesn't want, and that includes returning the money.

So Jack will just have to take matters into his own hands. As long as Alice doesn't need that money, she won't feel pressured to keep it.

Alice also won't have to feel obligated to let Ian back into her life if Ian is the one who decides to leave her alone once and for all.

Alice was right that a parent can't let their pride get in the way of taking care of their child. That includes Jack's pride in being the flawless role model of Sunny Day Jack.

So what if a law or two is broken? It's not like the law applies to someone who doesn't legally exist. Jack might as well take advantage of this almost nonexistent state he's in to get away with things no one else can.

Ian might have a lot of money to throw around, but Jack can do so, so much more than Ian could ever dream.

Jack just has to figure out a way to not get caught by the only person who can see him. It's not that Alice would reject him for what he did for her and the baby, oh no! It's just not good to stress her out more than she already is.

Alice doesn't need to know, just like she doesn't need to know about the person Jack used to be. He's still clean as long as she doesn't know. Jack can stay clean and perfect and everything Alice will ever need.

Things might've gotten a bit out of control, but that's okay. Jack can fix it. He's quite the problem solver. All Alice needs to do is take care of herself and love him with all her heart, just as she's been doing.

Jack has been given a second chance. He'll never let anyone get in the way of that.

I think I'll wrap things up on that fun yandere note, as I'm starting to run out of spoons. Maybe next time I can go into the King family's involvement and how Jack might try to win over his new in-laws despite a lot of obstacles standing in his way. I hope you enjoyed this ramble about the drama that comes with unplanned baby making!

[daughter-of-sapph0]

the reason this website works while others fail is because the main dash is in reverse chronological order and only shows posts by people you choose to follow.

algorithms never work. a computer will never know what someone wants to see more than the actual person. it might give you some content that people can turn off their brains and consume for a few hours. but tumblr doesn't have "content". it doesn't have family friendly short form tiktok videos for people to scroll through for hours. it doesn't have arguments about petty internet drama where people tell each other to kill themselves for disagreeing like twitter does. like, sure those things can exist on tumblr but they aren't the main point of tumblr.

tumblr isn't content. it's conversations and art and writing and music and pictures and movies and experiences and people's lives being shared with their close friends. the reason this website works is because of the fact that their is no algorithm.

algorithms do not work for a website like tumblr. I only want to see the posts and reblogs from people I follow. the people I follow share similar interests to me and share and create posts that I know I will enjoy. even if there's a blog that posts one thing I really like, if the rest of their blog is stuff I have no interest in, I won't follow them.

staff says that the current model unfairly rewards popular blogs.

first of all, rewards them with what? clogged notification? that hardly seems like a positive, and I should know.

secondly, so what? no one cares if anyone is popular or not. follower counts aren't public. blogs don't get popular. certain posts get popular.

also thirdly, their solution to the "popular blogs" issue is to introduce an algorithm which will either:

just promote the posts of blogs with lots of followers, therefore making the "problem" they're trying to fix bigger

recommend posts from smaller blogs who do not want the attention and will end up getting "ew why am I seeing this garbage" on their personal vent posts

completely ruin the whole reason people follow tags and tag their posts in the first place and will end up thinking that non-fandom posts that aren't tagged from fandom blogs should be shown to people in that whole fandom (see point 2)

show posts to people who have no interest in them, such as showing posts about photography to people who only use tumblr to talk about video games, or vice versa

will end up promoting posts by fascists and terfs that staff still will not ban

the whole idea of an algorithm is a fucking stupid idea to implement on tumblr, and I hope that all the executives who decided to push for the idea get fired.

@staff @wip @changes @support this as a warning. no one on tumblr wants an algorithm. you can check the notes on your recent post, and it's all unanimous. people will leave this site en mass if you implement it.

you will not gain more users with an algorithm. anyone who would ever use tumblr has already jumped ship from twitter and reddit and tiktok. all those websites are currently failing because of poor executive decisions, and trying to make tumblr like them will be a death sentence. the only reason people join tumblr is because it isn't like every single social media website.

if new users wanted something similar to twitter, they'd join one of the dozens of twitter clones that will be shut down in a few weeks, like threads or bluesky or whatever the fuck they're called. people don't come here because they want twitter. people come here because they want tumblr. and an algorithm will fundamentally change and ruin what tumblr is

you will not gain users from an algorithm. but you will certainly lose them. it is a terrible decision that no one will like.

[mercurygray]

I've seen a couple of writers on my dash, new and old, getting discouraged about a drop in writing requests, or wondering why no one is sending them, or asking if they're doing something wrong because they feel they're being ignored.

I don't know if this helps at all, but it took a loooong time for me to get to a place where people send me prompts. I had to cultivate it and be intentional about it and I'm really lucky that now I've got a group of people who ask me things!

Firstly, the askbox is not always open. (I mean, it is, but it also ...isn't.) I'm always very specific about when I want requests, and I try to give some parameters, like a list, or a specific set of characters. I realized that as a reader and a friend when someone just said 'I need prompts!' my mind went blank and I didn't ever send anything. So I make a special post, and I give my guidelines, and a link to my character list, and I try to set expectations about what I will do and I won't do. When I do this, it helps me set up where my heart is in the moment, so that hopefully I'll get something in that moment that I really like. And it's like a little event! And people who know me and know my characters get excited!

The heart part is important. The love needs to be there, or otherwise it's just...noise.

I'm also not above asking my friends specifically for things! "Hey, I want to write X and Y today and I'm thinking about this AU. Can you help me? Here's a list." It's like a random generator with more oversight.

On a related note, I also had to give myself permission to say 'You know what, I don't think I can do anything with this' and delete some of them. It doesn't mean I value the person who sent it any less. This is a regular part of my guidelines.

I've been doing this for four years now, so regular followers to my blog now know exactly how this works but I also have a regular tag I use for this work, and there's this body of old work that new people can look at, too, to see what kind of writer I am. If I'm seeing someone new in a tag I track asking for prompts, I usually go to see what else they've written. Will I like their work? Is it easy to find things they've done before so I can see what they're like as a writer?

I also try to pay it forward as much as I can by sending requests to other people when they ask for prompts. I know that sometimes when I ask for requests, it's because I'm lonely, or I'm having a bad day, and maybe that's where that person is when they ask. I try to keep a running list of different writers and friends' characters. Maybe not all of them, but two or three that I know I've enjoyed reading before. It's a way to know your neighbors and your neighborhood.

And this is maybe going to be a spicy take, but - fandoms now seem to have life cycles, and the simple fact is that there is a sharp drop in interest after the show goes off the air. This is why cultivating community is more important than ever. The people who give me prompts are often friends who've come with me through several fandoms, not just my most recent one.

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @somethingclevermahogony and @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling!

OC Question Game

My questions:

How many languages do you speak?

What's an item you always keep on you?

How do you show affection? (Bonus: Are they open about this or do they keep it to themselves?)

Salty, spicy, or sweet?

What is your favorite game or sport?

What was the last thing you threw away?

I'll answer for the Mortal God crew only, so this post doesn't end up a mile long ;)

How many languages do you speak?

Astra: "Like, one n' a half. My Nabafyrian's a lil' rusty."

Mashal: "Two, I think? I guess I didn't know I could speak Skysheerian until I did it, so who knows what else is rattling around my runes? Speaking Llanaodan would be fun - it's such a pretty language."

Ivander: "Two, but my Kevete is questionable. I learned it from Ceyrel, and she has a tendency to think lying is funny."

What's an item you always keep on you?

Astra: "My ribbon coat never leaves my back. I'd be defenseless as a rose-scented skunk without it!"

Mashal: "I suppose my sketchbook. I like to keep it handy so I don't miss out on anything I'd really like to draw."

Ivander: "My illusion pin. This dashing smile isn't quite so... bright without it. Other than that, my cane. For, you know, obvious reasons."

How do you show affection? (Bonus: Are they open about this or do they keep it to themselves?)

Astra: "The best way to show a lovin' heart is with lovin' hands. I make all sorts a' crafts for my friends - just useful stuff, ya know? I also can't resist a nice warm, or cold, hug."

Mashal: "Showing affection? Well, I, uh, I always try to have a kind word at the ready. Everyone deserves to hear nice things about themself."

Ivander: "Affection is for people who can't afford anything better." (He shows affection through gift giving. Most of those gifts are stories, jokes, or rumors he thinks you'd like. He'd just never admit he feels affection for anyone in a situation anything short of deadly)

Salty, spicy, or sweet?

Astra: "Spicy! I love a good, hot chili."

Mashal: "I wish I had a sense of taste still... I miss sweets."

Ivander: "I guess I'll go with salty. So long as it keeps me alive, the food is doing its job."

What is your favorite game or sport?

Astra: "You ever seen a Jetj match? They play it way down 'long the Shuari isles. That shit's crazy. There's fellows beatin' each other with sticks. There's pit traps. Sometimes, they put a bear on the field. There's even a ball in there somewhere!"

Mashal: "Horse racing is incredible to watch between skilled opponents. The mastery, the training, the bond between rider and mount.... I won't say I've never bet money on a race before. I always win it back, though. I know my horses."

Ivander: "Elthuryah is such a peculiar game. It was brought to Unity by siren refugees a few years back and immediately gained immense popularity. I'm a trend-following sort of man, so I, of course, learned to play. I became quite good, in fact.

What was the last thing you threw away?

Astra: "Some fuckin' receipts I found in my coat pocket. They had to be at least a year old. There was some weird orange goo growin' on one, but that ain't nothin' too unusual. Orange is usually a positive color in the realm a' goo."

Mashal: "Scraps from dinner, maybe? I try to find a creek to dump them by so the raccoons have an easier night."

Ivander: "Old bandages. I go through the things rather fast."

Thanks for the tag, both of you! I'll tag @greenwytchbooks @roach-pizza @hunnislutt @pluttskutt @poethill @sergeantnarwhalwrites @amandacanwrite and anyone else who wants in :)

Your questions are:

What's your favorite season?

Unpopular opinion?

When was the last time you screamed at someone?

[azeutreciathewicked]

Diversify for Health

Hey followers,

It's been great to get to know you here. I'm still really new to tumblr, and only joined originally to try to get more involved in a particular fandom.

Things have changed a lot since then, including my acceptance that I'm really not a good fit for much of the fandom. I come from a very different place than a lot of people, so a lot of the popular discourse and content just isn't for me. And that's okay! I'm so glad it's so great for so many people.

It just kind of feels bad to have my dash filled with content that isn't bringing me joy. And I've realized for a while that the fanfiction I write does not appeal to much of the fandom, which is also fine! It means that I can be honest with myself about my expectations and redirect my efforts appropriately.

I'm a fandom old. I've followed a lot of stories and shows and books for a long time, usually alone. And I am finding joy rediscovering these other stories here. So I'm diversifying, letting myself feel joy and connection with a diverse range of stories and fandoms. And it's so beautiful to see old favorites are still loved here. I'll still reblog content from all fandoms I find interesting; I just won't focus so much just one one.

I'm also posting a fair amount about politics. To my international buddies, I'm sorry it's stressful. I am trying to be judicious about my posts - focusing on balancing out disinformation/misinformation narratives, fact-checking, and putting out helpful information (like reminders to register to vote, because voting here is harder than American Ninja Warrior obstacle courses). I try to tag it well so you can filter those posts out easily. I'm a teacher, a former politico, a military veteran, and former speech coach, so I have an obligation to contribute constructively to the discourse where I can.

I've also re-evaluated some of my pursuits and freed up some time for myself to pursue things I'm good at and enjoy. And some of that includes researching and reading informative books (related to my current long term writing project). I like helping people learn, and sharing information, so I'm going to try to periodically share about those projects as I go too.

It's totally fine if you want/need to unfollow me - boundaries and capacities are so important to maintain on big social media. And filtering is also a great idea - I've been filtering a lot of content that was unhealthy, squicky, or exhausting for me, and it's helped a lot. I'm still learning about this platform (which has different culture than past ones I've been on), so I appreciate everyone's patience.

Anyway, stay well, find joy, and share happiness and knowledge.

[heich0e]

wait if you said that you're gonna stop the oopsy baby series 'for now' are you implying that you're gonna continue it at some point in the future or....? 🤨

I've gotten way more asks about this than I expected, and I won't reply to them all to spare your dash (since they mainly address the same things) but in the interest of transparency here are the highlights:

1. Are you going to continue the mini megumi series? /post any other parenthood fics?

I honestly don't know. I was going to add more to this reply but I've just been staring at the screen for like 10 minutes.

2. Why?

A couple of reasons, but if I'm being really honest I saw a lot of mutuals (who I sincerely like and respect, present tense) posting about how much they dislike parenthood/pregnancy fics and how sick they make them feel and it just didn't feel good.

I want to be really really clear that I TRULY and wholeheartedly believe that everyone is entitled to like what they like, and dislike what they dislike. But the problem is that when you express those opinions while disparaging the people whose opinion are different from yours, or if you choose to be vocal about your dislike of something when you see someone enjoying it, it can be really hurtful. It made me feel uncomfortable about continuing the series if I knew people felt that way and I was possibly upsetting them.

3. Is it because of the "exclusionary" ask?

No! This all happened before I received (or at least saw) that ask. And while I do completely and totally understand where that anon was coming from, and I support them 100% in sharing that very valid criticism with me, the fic probably wouldn't have changed because of it—though I would have started putting a tag in the updates alerting readers to the fact that Kota is described at multiple points throughout the story as being identical to Megumi in case it was sensitizing/alienating/in any way offensive to them.

The inspiration for the fic was that a child who is virtually identical to him shows up at his doorstep, and the entire series is predicated on that idea. I should have made that much clearer at the outset and I really apologize for my oversight and to anyone who I hurt by being careless in that way. I have since gone back and edited each instalment to feature a warning about this in the header, and hope that people who will feel excluded by this plot point can make whatever decision feels best for them in regards to engaging with the fic!

4. I don't like you.

Me neither.

5. I love parenthood fics and I think you should keep writing them.

I also like parenthood fics, and I think they're fun to write! And this is coming from someone who isn't even sure they ever want to have kids themselves. But sort of nodding back to point 2, I don't want to post any kind of fic that people who i consider friends begin vocally posting about disliking. Especially because I really don't follow that many people, so when every third post on my dash is dunking on the trope I'm actively posting about, it just makes me feel kind of sad and unwelcome.

This is absolutely NOT intended to be an indirect/vague about those moots, and if you're reading this I hope you know that I mean that from the BOTTOM of my heart. They are JUST as entitled to this space as I am, and I am in no way at all trying to impose myself and my opinions onto them. I just don't know how to filter anti-trope content from my user experience without inadvertently also filtering the content I DO want to see, and if I'm being honest I just don't think it's not worth losing mutuals who I really like over.

I'm saying all of this with nothing but love, and I hope that no one is too upset about it. I'm sorry if you were enjoying the series and now aren't sure about its future. I'm sorry if me expressing the way I was hurt makes you feel bad too. I'm really logging off now for a bit, and I hope you all take care of yourselves!! Be good, sending love, talk soon <3

[echobx]

HOW many people did you block here echo...'

okay so, since this isn't my main I only block people who steal writing, so 2 or 3 people for this side blog.

but I have like nearly 400 people blocked on my main (would have to go to web to see the exact number) for various reasons, most of them bots and bigots tho, but I'm a block on sight kinda gal, like if something random shows up on my dash and it annoys me or if someone clogs tags with shit that doesn't belong there, I just block them so I can avoid dealing with that shit.

I'm a firm believer in the cultivate your own online experience kinda thing, that's why most of the people I have blocked don't even know I exist lol. I also block hate anons instantly. if the ask they sent was worthy enough I might screenshot and reply with my own post, but I won't let them see it, cause they get blocked.

I know that what I do isn't common practice ig, but I learned in my first year on here that it doesn't do to argue with assholes and dumb fucks bc they won't change their mind about hating you no matter how much you try to plead with them that your existence is valid, and the only way to protect your peace is by growing a bit thicker skin (if you don't already have one), laugh at them for being stupid (bc everyone who sends you hate for no valid reason is) and then just block on sight. the block button is my best friend on tumblr, probably, lol.

[always-is-always]

To merch or not to merch?

Yah. It is a question to ask.

Honestly, I'd told myself no more merch, after FESTA this year. The exception would have been Jungkook's merch, had it been something really exciting, AND products that ship in a timely manner.

When I saw the approximate shipment dates of March 20-April 4, that answered the question for me. Why would I order something and happily wait 4 freaking months for it? Just sayin'.

Back during FESTA I was in the depths of feelings about the 10th anniversary, and all that I've felt about their MS. I was a sappy mess, and I ordered two items to "celebrate" the milestone of 10 years. Problem was, that the merch wasn't showing up for 3+ months. Yeah. But, I ordered it anyway. When it showed up in September, it was a bit anti-climatic. I still haven't actually worn the tee-shirt, as it just hangs in the closet with the tag still attached, along side my BTS hoodies.

I've got some theories about why HYBE has this system of pre-ordering, for all of the merch. With pre-ordering they know exactly how much of each item to produce, AND it is pre-paid. We basically pay for the manufacturing of the merchandise, months before we even lay a hand on it ourselves. It is a system that words for them, obviously. ARMYs just go along with it as most think it is a way to support the members. I'm not so sure it works that way.

Why would someone want to order something that won't arrive for months, long after the actual promotion that it's been designed to promote?? I wonder why ARMYs haven't raised a bit of a fuss over this. It obviously bothers me enough to warrant this post...

I had hoped that some of Jungkook's merch would be immediately available. Hope has been dashed, as they say. I won't be ordering anything, as I've given up hope that they would change their system around the sales of merchandise.

When Jimin drops his new music in the coming weeks, I'll purchase that. Anything else? Nope.

If there were actually a way to send a message to HYBE to share my opinion, I'd do so. Since there isn't, it's going to live here in these words... I'm letting it go, and I'll be keeping my cash.

Maybe after they return from the Military and they regroup with a tour and new music things will change regarding merch. Miracles do happen. In the meantime, we shall wait and see. 💜

[pearlsteven-au]

The future.

Hey y'all, mod Hayden here. I wanted to post an update on where things are now, and what will be happening moving forward. (Don't worry, we aren't giving up on the AU just yet!)

Going to put the rest of this under a "Read more" so this doesn't take up half of your dashes.

So, as I said above, we aren't giving up on the AU yet! The past 3ish years have been... Hectic to say the least. For both mod Eden and I. I won't go into details, but its definitely been one hell of a ride. As of right now, we still aren't in a spot where we can keep working on the comic just yet.

HOWEVER

We are getting closer! Though, there is no exact date on things yet, so please do not hound any of the mods about it. There are still things going on. Anyway, we want to thank you all so much for sticking around. Our ask box has been quite full for a while, and I've decided to address that. There have been plenty of questions revolving around things that may or may not happen later in the story, so if we haven't answered your ask, don't worry! Its most likely spoilers :)

As for all of the kind messages we've been getting, we've put something together to address all of those.....

(As always with tumblr, click for better quality!)

We want to thank everyone who has ever sent these kind messages (and apologize if yours isn't on here. Like I said, the ask box is incredibly full, but I did my best to track all of them down.)

There are some however that stuck out to me that I'd like to address individually, however I am also going to do that in this post as well for ease of access.

For starters....

Thank you so much! However, all of the art posted thus far has belonged to mode Eden. Mod Hayden hasn't done any of that.

(Yet....)

Ikr?! When mod Eden first showed me the design concept, I was immediately in love!

....yeah. (Mod Hayden legitimately laughed when they saw this, so I decided it needed to be included.)

I still smile every time I see this. @spudinacup (sorry for the tag, but I think you should see this) is one of if not the biggest SU AU creators out there. I can't speak for mod Eden, however you were and still are a huge inspiration to mod Hayden. Kind of what got them to take the jump into helping with this AU. As for your current situation, I sincerely hope things get better for you. Just know there's at least one person who would be there if you ever decide to return :)

(Whoops, not the point of the post. Dialing it back.....)

All in all, we just want to give a massive thank you to all of the fans of this AU, whether you stuck around or not. If you didn't stick around however, but you end up seeing this post anyway....

Hi. Welcome back :)

(mod Eden whipped up a quick sketch!!)

[ahaura]

i'm sure someone's already made this post but for anyone seriously new (or returning) to tumblr here are some cool tips and tricks for having a decent experience

download xkit rewritten (i think it's on github, iirc it's the most up to date xkit that makes tumblr easier to use so you can avoid ads, use quick reblogs, etc)

make sure to go to your dashboard settings and toggle off the features you don't want to see. best part about tumblr is that if you don't follow people you won't see their posts. tumblr has tried to get around this by adding "in your orbit" and "for you" dashboards but lots of people don't use these.

TURN OFF TUMBLR LIVE. it is not safe to use, even less so than social media sites typically are. you'll have to hit the snooze button on it once a week which is annoying but if you don't like it send a message to support to let them know. your can and should utilize contacting support for bugs and errors and issues. be warned that it's hit and miss tho

if you want to use a custom theme on your desktop, you'll have to contact support and ask permission to use javascript. they'll provide instructions on what you need to do to get approved

use the filter option for content you don't want to see. xkit has an option to entirely hide filtered posts on the dash rather than just showing a post with the hidden tag on it

you don't HAVE to use tags but it's strongly recommended for organizational and practical use. if you make content like art or gifs it's the best way you're going to get other people who don't follow you to see it

REBLOG, NOT REPOST! whether it's art, gifsets, scans, or something else it is standard etiquette and common courtesy to REBLOG instead of REPOST. you will get more of the content you like if you reblog instead of steal things from other people. reblogging posts is a vital part of your tumblr ecosystem. you don't have to reblog every post you see but if you take a look at blogs that aren't transplants from twitter you'll know what i mean

there are almost always bot waves on this site and you can usually tell by their empty blog and/or default blog layout. i STRONGLY RECOMMEND personalizing your blog (at least choose your title and icon) and reblog some stuff so people don't think you're a bot and block you.

if you use the blaze feature you will be blocked and ignored at best and harassed in the replies at worst. give tumblr money at your own risk

tumblr's post limit is 250 per day but the queue allows for 1000 posts and drafts to my knowledge are unlimited. utilizing the drafts and queue features is a good way to help run your blog

you can make sideblogs but if staff finds out you're hoarding urls you will be shadowbanned.

most importantly: be normal in your interactions with others. block people who annoy you or you simply don't want to see. this isn't twitter and the only reason this site is remotely usable is because it isn't a copy of tiktok, twitter, or instagram

good luck

[autumn-foxfire]

I've decided to make a guide for twitter users who are coming here to tumblr due to the recent developments around twitter, many of those who are in a Tartali discord server I love (Crystal Tide <3) are a bit wary and confused about using tumblr but I'm hoping this guide will help them navigate the website a little better.

When I say that tumblr and twitter aren't that different, I genuinely mean it. They have the same basic concept, sharing posts with one another.

Tumblr shares many features with twitter, the ability to "retweet" (though here it is called reblogging) posts and liking them, the ability to search for specific content through the search bar by using tags and the ability to DM people. It even has extra features such as being able to answer asks through the website without having to use outside ones such as retrospring.

Tumblr works similar to twitter too, blogs you follow will show up on your feed, called the dash (the tumblr version of a twitter timeline), however there is one fundamental difference: your dash will only show you the reblogs (aka retweets in twitter lingo) of those you follow, not your likes.

Likes are a lot different on tumblr than on twitter, the biggest one being that you can hide your likes on your personal blog so people cannot see them. Likes aren't as important as reblogs on tumblr, much so that many creators on tumblr will ask people to share their content by reblogging over liking as most of the time, likes will just be lost in the void of all your other likes and most people won't even see unless you have the ability to view them turned on.

Another thing that makes tumblr a little more unique than twitter is our ability to tag. You may wonder what I mean because twitter is also able to tag but here on tumblr tags are very useful in being able to find your content after you've reblogged them.

An example of this: say you are in two different fandoms but want to make it easier for people who follow you, or yourself, to see only one of those fandoms when looking through your blog? That is when our tags can be very helpful.

Using my own blog as an example, as I am a very frequent tagger, I can show you what I mean.

These are the most common tags I use on tumblr, as seen through my archive.

When I click on my blog to search through, my blog will show you the most recent posts I reblogged, regardless of tags. These are three of my most recent posts:

As you can see, at the bottom of each post is a set of hashtags, each relating to the content in the post. For these three, it includes the name of the media and the name of the characters in the media.

So if you came to my blog, not interested in seeing any of the content I have reblogged beyond say, genshin impact, all you would have to do when coming to my blog is go to my search bar and put in the hashtag: genshin impact

Pretty nifty, huh?

The tagging system is very useful on tumblr and is probably the best tagging system available on any social media so far because of how we're capable of searching through blogs to find such specific content using these tags.

So if you only wanted to look for Zhongli from Genshin Impact on my blog, you only need to type in his name in the search bar to find content only pertaining to him.

The tagging system isn't just limited to individual blogs either, much like twitter, content is tagged on tumblr to be found as well. When you're on your home screen on tumblr, you can use the search bar there to find tags as well:

Tumblr searches can be seperated into "top" posts (posts with the most amount of reblogs and likes) and "recent posts using this button. You can also select what time period you want the posts for up to the last year and you can select what type of posts you want (though admittedly even I don't use these features).

Tumblr, like twitter, also has the ability to "mute" tags that you do not want to see when searching for content. Much like twitter, cross tagging is a thing and anything tagged will appear in the search. So, if you want to search your favourite character but don't want to see your hated character, what do you do?

Well, much like twitter, you go into your settings:

On the page sent to from pressing settings, you can scroll down until you encounter the part that says: content you see

In the filtered tags, you put any tags you don't want appearing on your dash or your searches and they will be hidden from you.

In the filtered content, you can put the name of blogs you don't want to see on your dash or your searches, so you don't have to block them. It works much the same way that the mute system works on twitter.

Now, this is a very, very basic guide in using tumblr and tumblr won't be the perfect replacement for twitter, users from each website have their own etiquette that you might not find reflected with each other.

There is also a lot more to tumblr as well from customizing your blogs and the different post types you create, to being able to look at your archive and how you can turn off other features that I have yet to cover in this post. I just wanted to cover the basic features tumblr can offer that are similar to what these users are used too on twitter as well as how they can differ. I hope this helps at least slightly and I might make a second one covering the aspects of tumblr yet not talked about.

[fairymint]

🧶 How do you prefer to start interactions?

Generally speaking, I look for any excuse to start for me! Opens, random shit to comment on, etc.! Though, I occasionally forget if the thread isn't 'started' by me yet.

i am soft and melt if acknowledged specifically; even if i get too flustered to answer. always a good idea.

I love dash commentary, but try to stick to 'safe' ones. I never participate in specific commentaries that start at non-mutuals unless the subject is actually broad enough. If I feel the situation might be confusing when making mine, I tag and/or link the context. if I'm not sure, I don't answer, so might have to tag/DM me if you're that interested.

I don't answer begging posts. like ever. "i'm bored", "anyone here?", etc. makes me feral. If this pairs with low reading comprehension, I unfollow, because I don't feel cared about (you begged for that thread and then didn't even read my reply, kinda situations). I'm seldom in the mood to be 'anyone', it's just not in me after having diminished returns.

On a similar note, I do my best to try to match the 'vibe' of the RPer; if you seem to comment more on daily activities and forget/drop things once you go to bed, I'll be keeping to low-stakes stuff with you. Certain things like smut, serious ships, etc. I don't like having dropped as a habit. Vice versa if someone prefers serious threads, I won't feel comfortable 'joking' or playing around until they show me. I've also had some people not take me seriously enough, at times. I do both kinds of interactions, because my mood changes and restricting myself seems like a bad idea.

I'm open to having either side: use opens, send asks, piggyback off of headcanon posts (in a seperate post), plotting, semi-plotting, and ask memes!

due to a lack of success, I don't make as many opens or reblog as many sentence memes as I could. idk, for the time being, it seems like I get more success after I make an 'interesting' post first, there's barely any evidence of people going through my blog(s) and their tags unless it's to nick a meme for themselves. So I've been building up the courage to send shit out instead.

[pendulum-sonata]

Since my own dash still isn't working (once again, thanks @support and @staff) , and I was bored and playing around with the settings in this account and then on the throwaway account I made, and out of nowhere I ended up having the idea of the limitations of private blogs and the block functions, and this is what I found out:

Password-protected sideblogs:

Only sideblogs can be password-protected.

Everything that they do is hidden, it's impossible to see reblogs in your notes if they interacted with your blog

If you have the password, you'll be able to see everything, but not really interact with it, the like, reblog and reply buttons all disappear when one of these blogs reblogs or makes a post.

That's... pretty much it, lol

About likes and reblogs in private or blocked blogs (or "invisible" notes):

If someone makes a private reblog of one of your posts, not only you won't be able to see it, nobody else will see it either, no matter if they use tags or add comments to it, BUT the reblog in question will be counted in the notes total, meaning it will one of those "invisible notes" that I bet some of you have gotten, I mention it, because reblogs by password-protected blogs won't be added to the count.

However, a like will always be shown in the notes, except in the following scenarios: if you have them blocked, or if they have you blocked, but ONLY if the blocking in question happens from either users' main accounts, if it's a sideblog the one blocked or doing the blocking, not only the like, the reblog will show too.

Conclusion: it's possible for someone to secretly like and reblog from your blog, if they use the private and blocking function in tandem, or if you blocked them on main, they can still do private reblogs your posts in sideblogs, and you won't see it. Also private reblogs are perpetually hidden, while reblogs from a blocked account will not only be seen by other non-blocked users, they'll also be viewable from alternate accounts.

Following and interacting (or as some people call it: softblocking) a blocked blog:

If you block someone, whether it's from your main or a sideblog, they won't be able to reblog anything from the blog you blocked them from, not even in private, but they'll be able to like it.

As most of you know, if you block someone you can still interact with their blog, you can't see their posts directly in the tags, but if you come across them through a mutual, you can still reblog their posts and they won't see it, as stated above same applies to likes, and you can still explore their blog, usually if you go to the page in desktop or going to your block list in the app.

However if you blocked someone ONLY in a sideblog, they'll still see you interacting with your posts, on the other hand if you ever messaged each other, the chat will disappear and you'll no longer show up their followers... because a follow is null the moment you block someone, even if it's a sideblog, I think this might be new? I remember people complaining years ago that people could still follow blocked blogs, but I can assure you, that's no longer the case, not sure how long has that been a thing, so it may be not really "new", and I'm just finding out now :P

If by any chance, two sideblogs end up blocking each other... it's kinda pointless tbh, sure they can't reblog anything from each other, but they can still see each other's blogs and like the posts.

Conclusion: Blocking on main, means that user won't show up in your notes, period, regardless of it being a sideblog, they can't reblog from you, but they can still like it, the note will be hidden, but will still be counted. If you block from sideblog, you ONLY blocking from that sideblog, even if you blocked their main account, they'll be able to interact with your own main account.

And, that's it, feel free to add thoughts, or maybe corrections, not sure if this will be useful for anyone or not :'D

[orionsangel86]

Sincere question, your response to the like-scolding post doesn't make sense to me. I already reblog often, so I don't need convincing, but I also don't feel the need to convince others to and don't understand when people do.

If a blog was empty, you weren't going to follow them anyway. They have zero impact on your dash.

I don't understand why following the tags, following blogs that make stuff in the tags, using tumblr's orbit thing or blog suggestions wouldn't be anymore sufficient than asking strangers that may not even care who follows them to make your personal dashboard more interesting.

I was hesitant to answer this, because I try not to get too involved in general tumblr discourse and I already have had a few passive aggressive remarks about my response to that post. I don't wanna open myself up to hate here so please know that this is just my opinion at the end of the day. I am one person and I have been on tumblr a long time and my reasonings for all of this is simply that I love this stupid website and want it to thrive.

Let me start by clarifying that I have nothing against likes! Likes are great! Likes are exactly what it says on the tin - a way to tell someone that you like their post. So I didn't have an issue with the sentiment of the original post that likes are not meaningless and are instead a way to tell people that you like their stuff! That's great!

But your reasoning here is flawed because of how tumblr works. No matter how many likes someones post gets, if no one reblogs it it will dissapear into a void. Tumblrs tagging system is not great. Tumblr's "in your orbit" section is something that most people ignore and do not use. The userbase on tumblr finds posts by following blogs and relying on the blogs they follow to reblog posts. The posts that circulate far and wide on tumblr are posts that are reblogged by users. Posts that have plenty of likes do not help a post gain any extra traction or help spread it to those that may be interested in it. Posts that are just liked and not reblogged do not get circulated and will get forgotten about and never find their audience.

This isn't about lurker types who never reblog anything and therefore won't ever get followers (nothing against lurkers!), its about this strange mentality nowadays which tumblr never used to have which is that people seem to be more particular about the kind of posts they'll reblog. People seem more hesitant to reblog long posts, or writing posts, or anything that doesn't immediately grab their attention. There is an expectation that for a post to be reblogged it has to be of a higher quality that a post that you may reward a simple like.

I think it is heavily tied to cringe culture. There is a mentality that your blog should be heavily curated and therefore you should only reblog the highest of quality which you feel is worthy for your own blog - rather than just reblogging anything that you may like or find fun or interesting. It is very much an instagram mentality and its been creeping into tumblr over several years - and because of it, fandoms are dying, its far more difficult to find fandom content, and it is becoming much harder to engage and build community. People are hesitant to add comments onto reblogs nowadays - when back in the day that was kinda how tumblr worked! You reblogged with commentary and thats how legendary tumblr shitposts were born! That's how Supernatural fandom "always has a gif for that" started! Because back in 2014 people didn't care about what others on tumblr thought about their blogs, because their blogs were all about the fun, about committing to the bit, about engaging with each other and adding commentary and additions, and speculating about your favourite shows on long posts where you could have an entire community of meta writers each adding a bit of their own analysis so you ended up with a huge post that was absolutely mind blowing. That's how artists on tumblr could have thousands and thousands of notes and gain huge popularity and be able to make a living based on their fanart.

I miss it so. fucking. much.

This place is a graveyard sometimes. Even among my current fandom. I will post something and ask that people add commentary. I will state quite plainly for people to please engage and add their thoughts, let me know your opinions! There are no wrong answers! Lets joke, make fun of the characters we love, write dumb little thoughts and headcanons and engage with them via reblogs, add reaction gifs and images with speech bubbles and just soak up the joy that can be found in engaging with fandom in this way - and stop being scared that your reblogs will be judged by some external source, that you will somehow lose followers or make OP hate you if you dare to add a comment to their post (in which case OP can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned because I ADORE comments and additions on MY posts). Just ENGAGE. Because a like, whilst appreciated, is literally the bare minimum, and if all we are doing on this site is the bare minimum, then what is the fucking point anymore? If there is no real engagement and community, if you aren't interesting in actually talking to each other and sharing posts among each other and just interacting with each other, then tumblr will die. I find that so fucking depressing. So yeah, I had a bit of a moan on that post, because I don't think y'all newbies understand how good it used to be here. Quit with the instagram mentality and start actually engaging. Because if y'all actually listened and started doing that, you'll bring this place to life again, and find so much more joy in it.

[mac-aro-ni]

Housekeeping Notes

Hello to the various new followers of this blog in the last few months!

I have noticed that some of you seem to be brand new tumblr accounts. I appreciate you following this blog so quickly after joining tumblr! It warms my heart that so many aromantic people are able to find this blog so quickly!

However, I have only realized this because of certain "common practices" on this site, and I'm worried that some of you might be getting blocked by other blogs you try to follow! If your blog is completely blank (no icon/profile picture, no title, no descriptions, no posts, and all the default settings like having your likes and follows publicly visible), you unfortunately look indistinguishable from a new spambot that hasn't started their second phase of operation yet. A lot of users on this site block accounts that are blank, out of an abundance of precaution for removing spambots from their blog so they don't get spam links in their replies/reblogs. Spambots start by following a massive number of accounts and existing in silence for a week or more, then suddenly start posting stolen pictures from the internet before moving on to posting content that breaks TOS and is full of links trying to scam anyone who clicks them. A blank blog is not a guarantee that in a few more days, you won't start spamming them.

Luckily, there's an easy fix! Simply pick out an image of any kind to act as your blog icon, change your title to anything a human would write ("I'm new!", "~lurking~", and "not a bot" are all perfectly acceptable options), and change your description (a lot of us do mini bios there, but you can also just have something like "I'm new to tumblr and figuring out what I want on my blog still" )! Another quick fix is to make one (1) single post that clarifies you're still adjusting to tumblr, and leaving it as your only post til you start reblogging stuff.

Don't be afraid to hit reblog! It's kinda like retweeting, or sharing on Facebook, or saving a pin to a board on Pinterest. You don't have to add anything to a reblog, but you have the option to add tags (which can be used to organize your blog into different topics like having different boards on Pinterest or albums on Instagram, or to just talk about the post in a way that requires more effort for someone else to include in their reblog from you) or to add text/images/links to the body of the post (that's how those long chain posts with many different blogs adding on their thoughts happen!).

Reblogging is the lifeblood of the site. Tumblr has added algorithmic options to the dashboard in recent years, but most of us prefer to use tumblr the old-fashioned way and only see posts from people we follow. Reblogging is how you get a post in front of your followers! It's how your followers get to know you! Have fun with it!

Liking is the bonus extra-love button, or for when a post is one you like but for whatever reason you don't want it on your blog(s). Reblogging is a better method of engagement, but liking isn't completely useless like a lot of people try to say. Tumblr has added a thing where, if your likes are public, your followers might occasionally see a post that you liked on their dashboard. Most of us keep our likes private, though, so many people aren't aware this is a thing now, and we like things specifically to engage but not show it off on our blogs, so we don't want our likes showing up on people's dashes. I tend to like a post when I would maybe spam multiple reblogs of it but don't want to reblog it several times in a row and clutter up my own blog, or when it's a discourse post I agree with but don't want to spread the discourse around. Artists will often mention things about reblogs being better than likes and it is for this simple reason: reblogging means you are putting it in front of more eyes, and thus helping the artist find buyers/commissions and build their brand. If you follow an artist and hit 'like' on everything they post, consider reblogging some of them so more people see their art and they can get even more attention for their wonderful talent/skill!

Some other things:

For anyone who hasn't checked this blog's homepage out, you may be unaware that this blog is not a main account. It's a group sideblog, one that I do not own. The owner hasn't logged in to tumblr in years, so there won't be any calls for additional moderators for the foreseeable future (as I am unable to add new members myself because of the permissions set by the owner). I am currently the only active mod for the account, so only my main is currently linked in the bio. You can follow me on that blog if you want to get to know me better! I post way more stuff there, just because it's not focused on a single topic like this blog is. (Because this is a sideblog I cannot DM from this account, either, so if you ever need to DM me for some reason you need to go to my main and DM me there.)

I try to answer asks I get here as quickly as possible, and the anonymous option is on! I do my best to reblog things from all across the spectrum of aromantic experiences, but I only have my own experience to base my judgement on, so if there's a particular flavor of aro content you'd like to see more of (posts for a specific identity, more art, more comics, whatever), just send an ask and let me know!