#Hello 2012 tumblr pal...

[dashboarddiaries]

Dashboard Diaries is a production of Atypical Artists, hosted by Lauren Shippen (@thelaurenshippen) and Cher McAnelly (@overchers).

Our theme was composed by Lauren Shippen and mixed by Brandon Grugle. Art by Shae McMullin. Transcription by Laudable.

For bonus clips, ad-free episodes, and more, become a pal at atypicalartists.co/support.

[intro music]

Lauren: Hello, Scrumblers! I’m Lauren Shippen, Professional Writer, who is going into her 15th year on Tumblr. 

Cher: 15 years!? Wow.

Lauren: Yeah. 

Cher: Happy Tumble Day!

Lauren: Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! 

Cher: You’re so welcome. I think there’s a better-

Lauren: I like Tumble Day, actually!

Cher: Okay, yeah! Cute. Happy Tumble Day! I’m Cher McAnelly, Head of Entertainment at Tumblr. Who has been scrumbling since 2012! 

Lauren: Quite a long time. 12 years. I mean ...

Cher: 12 years. 

Lauren: Not bad. That’s not bad.

Cher: Half of the century, in fact.

Lauren: True! That’s ... yeah, oh wow. What a way to think about that. (laughs)

Cher: Since the early otts. 

Lauren: This is Dashboard Diaries, a podcast for you – the folks who are in this internet bunker with us. We talk about what’s going on in our favorite hell site, get into what we like to call “tumbl-lore,” do fandom deep dives, and share the times when we’ve gone feral over a new ship.

And before we dive in, we have a small announcement about the future of the show. We are going monthly. So, instead of every other week, it’s going to be one episode a month and, Cher, today we are reviewing our entire year in Tumblr. As we were discussing before we hopped into recording, we want 2024 to be the year of scrumbling. Where scrolling Tumblr becomes a word finally! 

Cher: Let’s get ready to scrumble!

Lauren: But before we do that, we have to revisit 2023 and also our own embarrassing archives. Sometimes embarrassing and sometimes just fun. So, let’s start off with our dashboard confessionals – where we dive into our archives and pick a post from around this month/day from a previous year. Cher? What do you have? What year? What are we looking at?

Cher: We are looking at an extremely 2012 post, Lauren.

Lauren: Incredible.

Cher: This is actually the first post that I ever posted on Tumblr. January 17, 2012. And to paint the picture for our listeners, it is a heavily filtered image of the ocean. The coast in California, in San Francisco. I’ve captioned it, “The West Coast.” The Instagram filter is ... I wish I remember the name of this Instagram filter. 

Lauren: It is a very 2012 Instagram filter. (laughs)

Cher: Right? I’m going to have to ... I actually want to look up Instagram filters 2012 so that I can ...

Lauren: Are those seals on the rock there?

Cher: Oh, indeed they are. 

Lauren: Oh, cute little seals.

Cher: I didn’t even notice that because I filtered it so heavily. 

Lauren: It is very heavily filtered. And we’ll of course re-blog this to DashboardDiaries.Tumblr.com. Apparently we already have, according to the notes!

Cher: Wait, oh my gosh! I didn’t even ... oh my ... how did I not even look? I was wondering why the first post I ever posted on Tumblr had 15 notes.

Lauren: 15 notes. Yeah, from 12 years ago. (laughs)

Cher: I was like, wow, go me! People love this heavily filtered ... okay, you know what? That is so funny. I almost am like ... I kind of want to get another ... I feel like this is the exact post that I did, the first post of last year?

Lauren: No, I love it. 

Cher: It’s on brand for me. Let’s be honest.

Lauren: Yeah. I love that. (laughs) We are here to be our authentic selves and nothing else.

Cher: Exactly. (laughs) Thank you very much. Thanks for making this a safe space, Lauren.

Lauren: Of course. Always. 

Cher: ... in which to scrumble.

Lauren: Always. 

(laughter)

Cher: Lauren, what do you have for us in your dashboard confessional this week?

Lauren: So, I have a post that I re-blogged in January 29, 2015. It’s a post that I completely forgot about that I absolutely adore. You need to listen to this video with the sound on, but it’s a video with the caption of, “This one is even spookier. Look what I fucking found in my house!?” And it is the X Files theme song over a video f a hand reaching toward a pillow and then pulling the pillow back to reveal a very scared looking pug. And for whatever reason it really got me when I first saw it. I’m pretty sure I re-blogged this video like ten times in the course of a year. It had completely left my memory. So, this was a really delightful thing to discover in my own archives.

Cher: This is incredible. I love it. It’s beautiful. No notes. Absolutely perfect piece of cinema. 

Lauren: I agree.

Cher: A few seconds after you said that you need to listen to the sound I was like, “Oh, okay ...” And I hit play and if you watch back in the recording I jumped like a foot in the air. It really hit me. 

Lauren: It’s good. It is a good effective video. 

Cher: Oh my god. I love it. You know, the pug is a paid actor.

Lauren: Exactly. He’s really selling it. You know?

[game show trill]

Let’s get into our main topic, which is looking back at 2023 as a whole. 

Cher, were there any really big takeaways for you? We’ll dive into the fandom metrics and sort of what was charting throughout the year, but as a Tumblr user and Tumblr employee – were there any huge takeaways for you from 2023?

Cher: Yes. There were a couple of major takeaways from 2023 and the fandom list overall. My favorite one ... I had two that I wrote down. One is that Goncharov was the #3 movie of the year. 

Lauren: Incredible! A movie that does not exist. (laughs)

Cher: Only on Tumblr. I love Tumblr so much. I love it. No notes.

Lauren: Goncharov was a 2022 thing, wasn’t it? Wasn’t Goncharov created in 2022? The fact that it still charted ...

Cher: I think it was late 2022. 

Lauren: I think you’re right. It was like November ’22. 

Cher: I feel like it was, yeah, around that time. But yeah, Goncharov persists. Goncharov remains. You know?

Lauren: Can’t bring down Goncharov. 

Cher: I think that’s a great thing about Tumblr, too. We say this all the time. Once the Tumblr community is a fan of something or is into something, or gets going ... what is it, Newton’s Law? What’s the law where it’s like ... 

Lauren: Oh, an object in motion? Yeah.

Cher: An object in motion will not stop unless it is stopped. They cannot be stopped.

Lauren: Yes, exactly. That’s a perfect metaphor. Yeah. 

(laughter)

Cher: So, yeah, I love that Goncharov was the number three movie of the year. Absolutely fantastic. Also, just Good Omens kind of coming back and reclaiming its spot at number one for ships and ineffable husbands, of course. It was also the top in topics of the year when it came out in 2018. It was the number two topic of this year under Artists on Tumblr as a Community. 

Lauren: That makes sense. So, the number one specific thing? 

Cher: Look, Tumblr is two things. Artists on Tumblr and Good Omens. And also Goncharov. 

Lauren: That’s a pretty good summation I feel like. 

Cher: So, three things. Also, Crowley was the number 18 most talked about topic of the year. 

Lauren: That’s wild.

Cher: And Aziraphale was the number 23 most talked about topic. So, I’d love to see some fanic ... fanic? Ooh, fanic? Is that a new word [crosstalk 00:07:19]?

Lauren: Fanic, that feels like something. Are we fanicking? (laughs)

Cher: Are we fanicking? Let’s put ...

Lauren: Let’s put a pin in that! Yeah.

Cher: There it is. I was fanicking and I forgot the word. Okay ... 

(laughter)

Lauren: That’s my new favorite thing.

Cher: I would love to see some fan fic or fan art of Crowley and Aziraphale talking about the fact that Crowley was the number 18 and Aziraphale was number 23. 

Lauren: YES.

Cher: I feel like that would be very funny. Also, the fanic reminds me of the time I was in a partner meeting and I wanted to say the words “content” and “fandom” and instead I said, “condom.” 

Lauren: (laughs) Oh my ... how on earth did you recover from that? What did you do? 

Cher: Yeah. Uh, I just continued on, just kept going as if it hadn’t happened. And my boss did Slack me and said, “Yes, we did hear that.” 

(laughter)

Lauren: Just another day at Tumblr. 

Cher: Absolutely incredible.

Cher: Just absolute fanic throughout! Anyway ... those were my big takeaways from the year, Lauren. What were yours? (laughs)

Lauren: I love that. I was blown away by Good Omens being sort of all over the top active charts. And then I thought about it and I was like, well yeah, I saw a lot of Good Omens this year. But it is kind of remarkable that a show that has only 12 episodes ... and obviously like a book that predates that and all of that kind of stuff. It’s just kind of remarkable that it manages to really grab a hold of the Tumblr community. 

I think the two things that really stand out for me about this year are Barbenheimer, obviously. All of the Barbie/Oppenheimer memes, the tickets to Barbie, just so many Barbie memes that ... their mug shot memes, everybody doing fan art in their fandom of that meme. That was really all over my dash this year – really consistently, too. There wasn’t really a rise and fall. It was just sort of every month there was some Barbenheimer or Barbie meme content. 

Cher: Absolutely. This was the year of Barbenheimer I think in a big way. 

Lauren: Absolutely.

Cher: On the internet as a whole.

Lauren: Yes, definitely. I think Barbie is the number one movie on Tumblr for 2023. And Oppenheimer is number 13. I think that is a pretty good display of the differences between them. Barbenheimer was big and Barbie was big. But Oppenheimer was sort of less of a huge thing on its own on Tumblr, which I think is interesting. 

Cher: Yeah. I think maybe a lot of that came down to I think just the share ability or conversation ability of the light hearted fun aspect of ... either talking about Barbie, which you’re talking about memes or you’re sharing fun gif sets or photos or whatever it is, or videos or clips. Or you’re talking about the impact or meaning of Barbie and kind of on childhood there’s that nostalgia aspect. Barbenheimer ... [crosstalk 00:10:39] was also a fun meme, but then Oppenheimer was just really serious and sad subject matter, but also just a very well, well made film that Tumblr as a platform that really, the community likes talking about film as a whole and as an art form, would still be very active and engaged with and then also Cillian Murphy.

Lauren: Yes. Wait, it is pronounced KILL-EE-AN? 

Cher: I think it ... yeah?

Lauren: Oh my god. I’ve been pronouncing it wrong my entire life. I’ve always been pronouncing it Cillian. Wow.

Cher: I’m pretty sure it’s KILL-EE-AN.

Lauren: No, I trust you completely. I just had no idea!

Cher: The more you know!

Lauren: The more you know!

Cher: Unless I’m wrong. In that case, the more incorrect news that I spread! I found out today that I have been spreading a lie that Massachusetts is the 13th biggest state by square mileage. It is the 44th!

Lauren: (laughs) Why did you think it was the 13th biggest state? 

Cher: So, it’s a long ... I can get this down to a couple of sentences. (laughs) You know the band that does, “What Does the Fox Say?”

Lauren: Yes.

Cher: They also have a song called “Massachusetts.” And within it I’m pretty positive they say, “Massachusetts, the 13th biggest state.” And honestly, I trusted that and was like, “Yes, I believe that.” And so now whenever someone would say, “Massachusetts,” I would be like, “Oh? The 13th biggest state.” 

Lauren: Oh my god! (laughs)

Cher: And now ... I’ve watched this video in I want to say like 2015, so it’s been quite a long time of me spreading this misinformation.

Lauren: I love that. This is my favorite thing! 

Cher: Anyway ... what were we talking about?

Lauren: So, the other big takeaway for me from 2023 was the writers and SAG strike. Right? I think that those ... not only were those two topics that were talked about and debated and discussed and lots of people informing the public on those strikes just on Tumblr itself, but I think that when I think about the things that didn’t necessarily blow up on Tumblr in the way that I expected them to, I think that’s so due to the SAG strike. Right?

We have the second season of Our Flag Means Death this year, which I definitely saw stuff of and I’m sure that if you were really active in the fandom it was all over the place, but compared to the first season, it was not nearly as ubiquitous. And I do think that’s because the cast, creators and whatnot could not promote it. And I think that’s true for so much of the stuff that came out this year I think.

So, yeah. I think the way that affected sort of Tumblr’s activity changed a lot. And I think as a result, too, it’s like I saw fewer celebrity interviews. Normally you would see gif sets or like clips from Tumblr interviews and Buzz Feed interviews and the Vanity Fair Lie Detector Test and all of these kind of like classic interviews that celebrities do when they’re promoting a movie or TV show or what have you. And those things just didn’t exist this year. So, I think that kind of changed the eco system in an interesting way.

I don’t know how that really affected the numbers of popular things, but I imagine a little bit. 

Cher: Yeah, I would say ... that’s actually really interesting. I would love to see if there’s a way to quantify that. I guess it’s hard with the differences in titles and things. But I think it definitely did impact conversation about TV and film just because of the level of promotion. I would say. Just across the board. Also, yeah, just the discoverability and knowledge. I think a lot of people discovering and talking about things a little later than premieres and things like that. There’s a bit of a delay with all of that. I’m interested to see how the impact of the strike has on this year and going forward because there was a full shut down for such an extended period of time. Everyone I think immediately got back to work but it’s also just months and months of so much work. I wonder if we’ll kind of see-

Lauren: Some like dead spots? 

Cher: Some dead spots, yeah. 

Lauren: I wonder that, too. I’m just looking at the list of TV shows that sort of ... I don’t know what the proper way ... I’m just saying “charted” but I don’t know what the proper way to talk about the top TV shows on Tumblr this year.

Cher: Top of the list? Top ranked? Yeah.

Lauren: So, in terms of these fandom metrics lists, was there anything on them that surprised you? Or confused you? Or shocked you?

Cher: ...

Lauren: Or delighted you?

Cher: Okay. Hmm. I would say on Tumblr I’m rarely shocked by what makes a list.

Lauren: That’s fair. 

Cher: Generally the more chaotic something is or the more kind of out of left field something is the more likely I’m like, oh yeah, that’s on brand for Tumblr. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cher: I think ... Hmm. Was there anything for you? Maybe I’ll percolate on that. I feel like my brain just erased the entire year when you asked me that question. 

Lauren: I totally get it.

Cher: I was like, who and what happened last year? I’m looking at the list right now. I have them open. I have my notes. And I’m like, hmm, what did surprise me? I think I fully expected Good Omens to kind of have the impact it did. I did not expect characters from any TV show or anything to be in the top topics list.

Lauren: Yeah! 

Cher: So, I would say that was something that just kind of surprised and delighted me. I think that is just so great and shows the power of Tumblr when they get all in on something. I think the Goncharov ... Okay, circle back to me. Come back to me. (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah, I mean ...

Cher: I’m fanicking right now. 

Lauren: I really love this new word. 

Cher: Yeah, I think it really is applicable.

Lauren: Yeah ... we fanic a lot.

Cher: I know I’m overusing it, but we fanic a lot. 

Lauren: We fanic a lot. 

Cher: We fanic and we fixate. 

Lauren: Exactly.

Cher: We can we do? What can we say? 

Lauren: I love that. Yeah, I mean, there were a couple of things that jumped out at me. 

Cher: Oh, do tell.

Lauren: I think that the first is that, yeah, I totally agree with you – Good Omens kind of dominating made perfect sense to me. Destiel being a number three ship makes perfect sense to me even though that show has not been on for three years or whatever. The one that kind of surprised me is, yeah, Good Omens was ineffable husbands, the ship from Good Omens was first, and then Destiel was three. Steddie, which was Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson from Stranger Things was number two. 

Here’s why that just ... it’s not that it necessarily surprises me, it’s just I think it is an indication of something that has been brewing for a while that I think now we can kind of say for certain, which is that I do think that Steddie has entered now the annals of Tumblr ships that are never ever, ever, ever going to go away. Right? Which is kind of remarkable when you think about the other ships that Tumblr has that don’t go away. 

You have Destiel – that show ran for 15 seasons. You have Merlin – that show ran for five seasons. You have Hannagram – three seasons. And also I think there’s an argument to be made for Hannagram also being a canon ship. And there’s an argument to be made for Destiel being a canon unrequited ship, too. So, there’s so much stuff to sort of go into those ships kind of standing the test of time. Especially something like both Hannibal and Merlin are universes that pre-existed when those shows were made. Supernatural has become a universe unto itself. Whereas Stranger Things – obviously one of the biggest TV shows of the last 20 years – Eddie is a character in one season that aired two years ago, and he and Steve interact like maybe four times. (laughs)

That’s what I love about Tumblr. Right? I’m sure if you added up the screen time that ... maybe not the screen time that they share, but I’m sure if you added up the number of lines that Steve and Eddie say to each other, it would be equivalent to an episode of Dean and Cas in Supernatural, right? But people have taken that and have taken these two sort of polar opposites characters and created an entirely new universe sort of inside of the show for that ship. So much so that, yeah, two years after the season aired it’s still the number two ship. That’s so Tumblr to me and I really, really love it.

Cher: I absolutely, yeah. Tumblr continues to be so Tumblr. And I love that.

Lauren: Yes. 

Cher: I also ... why do you think ... and I have a theory or a guess, but why do you think that these two characters specifically out of all the ships on the show? I know there are multiple Strangers Things ships in the list, but I feel like Steddie holds steady.

Lauren: Exactly. And I think it will continue to do so. I think in ten years like how we’re seeing Merlin still on the chart, we’re going to see Steddie in the top 50, right? 

Cher: I agree. 

Lauren: So, I do have a couple of theories. I’m curious to hear yours and if they overlap at all. I think there is ... this is not a unique observation or I think even criticism ... I think that this is something that a lot of people have called out through the years about fandom. To handsome White boys. You know? Sometimes that’s enough. (laughs)

Cher: Yeah.

Lauren: I think that’s a piece of it. I think that there’s a lot of love for ... they’re both named Joe, right? Both of the actors are named Joe. I think there’s a lot of love for them as individuals and a lot of people really enjoy them. They’re both great actors. I think that’s part of it, right? That’s a percentage. It’s not all of it.

I think the other piece of it is that Eddie is a character that really, really resonated with people because he’s this outcast, he’s into D&D, he’s into metal music, he’s kind of a nerd. But he has got an edge to him. And he’s really charming. I think a lot of people saw themselves in Eddie. Also, I think that there’s a classic sort of Eddie is this interesting mix of bad boy and nerd and Steve is this interesting mix of player, jock, and wife guy. He sort of starts as a player and then sort of becomes a wife guy. Amidst all of that he’s got sort of the dumb jock stereotype ... listen, I cannot cast stones about this. In the Bright Sessions one of the central ships, Caleb and Adam, Caleb is the stereotypical jock, Adam is the pop punk emo kid. There’s just something in that that we love, right?

Cher: Look, there’s a reason why that type of ship persists.

Lauren: It does. It just persists.

Cher: We love to see it.

Lauren: We love to see it. I think Heartstopper even has a degree of that, right?

Cher: Oh, absolutely, yeah.

Lauren: So, those are my theories. What are yours?

Cher: Yes. 

Lauren: (laughs) Okay. I got them all?

Cher: Yep! Exactly that, honestly. (laughs) I have nothing else to add. 

Lauren: (laughs) Incredible. Same mind. 

Cher: It works out. The podcast eventually is just going to be like 45 minutes of silence of us just being like, “Mm hmm.”

Lauren: “Mm hmm.” ‘Cause we’re just telepathically communicating.

(laughter)

Oh, the other things that surprised me, or that delighted me just in terms of things that have stood the test of time is the movie Saw which came out 20 years ago was number 23 on Tumblr. 

Cher: Fantastic. Yes. 

Lauren: Great. And I follow people who Saw post or whatever and it’s like people ... that’s another thing on which the people who ship it ... there are a couple of these horror movies that people have these very powerful feelings about. I’ve never seen either of the movies, because I’m too much of a scaredy cat. Definitely to watch Saw. I think maybe I could handle it, but I don’t think I could handle Saw. But people love it.

Cher: So, a new Saw movie came out I believe this year.

Lauren: Yeah, Saw 10. 

Cher: Saw 10?

Lauren: Yeah.

Cher: I’m wondering if the Saw on the list is Saw 1 or Saw as a franchise or as ..? 

Lauren: That’s true. Yeah. Saw 10 is 66 on the list, after Shrek 2. (laughs)

Cher: 66, oh my gosh. How did I miss that?

Lauren: I think you’re right.

Cher: After Shrek 2. But no, I think ... yeah.

Lauren: I think it could be the franchise as a whole for sure. 

Cher: No, I think yes but also the fact that Saw 10 is 66 on the list while ... which is the movie that came out recently. I do think there is very, very much something to be said about that. I also think the first movie ... I saw a lot of memes specifically from the first movie this year and in the past. Also, I just love Tumblr and the horror tie in. I’ve seen most of the Saw movies as a kid.

Lauren: Have you really?

Cher: Mm hmm. Yeah, I don’t like gore. 

Lauren: So, yeah, why have you seen these movies?

Cher: So, I am working on my people pleasing, Lauren. It’s one of my intentions of 2024.

Lauren: Love that. Love that. 

Cher: But as a kid, one of my best friends from elementary school loved the Saw movies and so we would watch them at sleepovers and it would be like we’d watch marathons of the Saw movies. When Saw 3D came out we went ... um ...

Lauren: Oh my god, that’s right!

Cher: I’m not sure if you recall ... Her mom took us and then left and picked us up after, because it was rated R. So, she had to walk in the theater with us. So, rebellious. And I just closed my eyes during the bad parts.

Lauren: Like most of the movie.

Cher: Which is, yeah, I would say like 75% of the movie. And I saw Saw 10 with my friends during a cabin week. Again, they were like, “Let’s do a horror movie night. Let’s watch Saw.” And I was like, “Yay! Let’s do that ... in our cabin ... in the woods.” 

Lauren: Might as well be a completionist for the franchise!

Cher: So, I did the same exact thing. But thankfully Saw 10 has a 45 minute lead in that reads kind of like a drama, like an intense drama.

Lauren: Excellent. Excellent.

Cher: I was very ... so, there was that. Yeah.

Lauren: I mean, that’s good. Yeah. Looking in the Saw tag, I am seeing a lot of Saw 10 posts. So, I think you’re right that it is for the franchise as a whole. So, Cher, you’ve seen all the movies. You could be out there Saw posting if you want! 

Cher: Now that I have seen Saw, see-saw? ... I tried. 

Lauren: There’s something there!

Cher: I would Saw post but then I would have to see the Saw. There it is. 

Lauren: There we go. (laughs)

Cher: We got there. 

Lauren: Yeah, you’ve Saw-ed enough. 

Cher: Related, unrelated, related, vaguely related ... I’m going to derail things for a quick joke.

Lauren: Please.

Cher: One I’m really proud of. Okay. How are carrots and celery related?

Lauren: I don’t know. How?

Cher: They’re in-slaws.

Lauren: You know what, it took me a moment and then I got there. 

Cher: Maybe I don’t have the pause quite right. They’re in-slaws.

Lauren: Yeah. There it is. There it is. 

(laughter)

That’s very good. Thank you for that. Tee hee!

Cher: I’m proud of that one. Anyway ... tee hee!

Lauren: All right. I thought it would be fun to go back to our very first post that we posted or re-blogged in 2023. So, let’s take a moment to dive back into our archives. I’m going to see which is better – my private or my public Tumblr. Which has the better post? 

Cher: Also, while you’re going back, I’d like to ask you, Lauren, what would go on your personal year end review list? I think we asked this question last episode. But now that you’ve seen the year end review list ... and also just in life, in general outside of entertainment and what made the fandom list. In Lauren’s year end review, what would be featured?

Lauren: What made the grade? Yeah. 

Cher: What made the grade?

Lauren: You know, I have this written down in my notebook which is downstairs. Let me see if I can remember. Oh gosh. Do you have one? What’s on Cher’s year end review? 

Cher: I bulleted out a few things. I did do a couple of actual shows and things. The Last of Us and Succession. 

Lauren: YES.

Cher: The interview with Ben Schwartz for Renfield where we talked about the concussions. The Concussion Gate. And because it led to me finding out that I have had six concussions, not three! 

Lauren: Oh my god.

Cher: So, it’s a lot. And then I also went to Jamaica and Thailand during the year, which was great. And I turned 30! Which I think was a big part of 2023 for me – entering my thirties. So far so good.

Lauren: Hell yes!

Cher: I would say. And yeah, there’s definitely more but those are some key stand outs. What about you? 

Lauren: I definitely think when it comes ... I’m looking back on my sort of private fandom Tumblr now. And how could I forget? I read the Thron trilogy for the first time last year. That was ... I went on a whole Eli Vanto spiral. I went so deep in on Thron and Eli and there’s some great fic out there truly. Some amazing fan art. 

The Last of Us definitely. The final season of Barry was amazing. 

Cher: I still haven’t finished it.

Lauren: Started it on my birthday which is really fun. Then, yeah, from a personal standpoint I launched a new podcast in 2023 that I’ve been doing daily for six month. Which is crazy! 

Cher: That is so impressive, Lauren. I truly do not know how you do it. 

Lauren: We’re halfway there. I want to do it for a least a year and then we’ll see. The thing that really consumed my brain was that I spent the first six months starting a new draft of the book I’ve been trying to write for five years. I started writing it as a podcast first in early 2019 and then changed it to a book in 2020/2021. And I finally finished it this year. I got it out to my agent and yeah. I’m very, very happy with it. It feels good to have finally kind of completed that. It’s a queer outlaws story. A western. It’s a romance. I really hope that someone wants to buy it! (laughs)

Cher: Congratulations, Lauren! I can’t wait to read it!

Lauren: Thank you! All right, what was your first post in 2023?

Cher: My first post in 2023 ... it’s so funny that this was my first post and I will tell you why in a second. Well, actually, okay ... my first post was a re-blog from an interview we did for the film Missing with Storm Reid. 

Lauren: Nice.

Cher: Great film. Great interview. However, the post I dropped in I also want to touch on. It is from user @homosexualhavingtea and it’s a text post that reads, “Love that one scene in Return of the King that’s like ‘Bad news, Sauron knows everything Pippin knows. Good news, Pippin knows absolutely fuck –all.’” 

Lauren: (laughs) That’s so good! I love Lord of the Rings posting, it’s always so good. 

Cher: I love it so much. It’s also very funny because I watched Return of the King extended edition this weekend.

Lauren: Oh, perfect. (laughs) That’s how you start your year!

Cher: It’s a great way to start the year!

Lauren: Yeah! I love that.

Cher: What was your first post of the year?

Lauren: So, I also have two from my private fandom Tumblr. I re-blogged this post about the Gävlebocken goat not burning in 2022. I don’t think we have time for me to explain the whole goat burning thing. Do you know about this? 

Cher: I have a vague memory of you explaining this to me I think around this time perhaps last year. But I do not recall. So, I would love a refresher.

Lauren: There’s this ghost in ... god, I want to say Sweden, I hope I’m right about that ... that they make every Christmas out of hay. He’s just a Gävle goat. He’s a big goat. For the past many years he has been burned down and he did not get burned down in 2022. I don’t know the fate of the Gävle goat in 2023, so I’ll have to look that up. 

Cher: Oh my gosh.

Lauren: The other post that I want to share is from January 2nd and is a post that I made that reads, “Nothing I love more than waking up to a bunch of new kudos and realizing that everyone spent the first day of their year reading fan fic like I did.” (laughs) 

Cher: Perfect way to start the year, Lauren!

(laughter)

Lauren: And just very nice and I still love getting those kudos emails and those comments emails. And I definitely began my year reading fan fic. Some things change, some things stay the same. 

Cher: What fan fic did you begin your year writing, Lauren?

Lauren: Oh, I haven’t written any this year. Last year-

Cher: Oh, READING fan fic. Okay.

Lauren: But this post is in reference to fan fic that I wrote. Yes. 

Cher: Okay. What fan fic ...

Lauren: I cannot tell you because the fandom is too small. People will be able to find me. I can tell you once we stop recording. 

Cher: Okay.

(laughter)

Ooh, I love knowing a little secret!

Lauren: Well, I hope you all have started your year doing whatever fandom activity you love doing. 

And I’m Lauren Shippen, and you can find me at TheLaurenShippen.Tumblr.com.

Cher: I’m Cher McAnelly and you can find me at OverChers.Tumblr.com. 

This has been Dashboard Diaries. And ... 

[outtro music]

Lauren: May your anons always be loving.

Cher: Your dash always refreshed.

Lauren: Your gifs always be loading.

Cher: And your ships always canon.

Lauren: May the fics you’re reading always be finished.

Cher: And the answers you seek always in the re-blogs.

Lauren: Thanks for scrolling with us!

We're back and going monthly! But first, time to catch up on all the top shows, ships, and communities of Tumblr in 2023! Some old standbys and some surprising new contenders; plus, our personal highlights and a burning straw goat.

Credits and transcript in our reblog. You can find transcripts for this, and every other episode, here.

Find the posts discussed in this episode in this tag!

[inspiteallthedanger]

Hello, been lurking about your blog for a while, decided to introduce myself :)

So, first, about the John and Paul book. What?? How haven’t we seen that already? I wonder if Paul knows about this and I just keep thinking how sick he must be of people claiming to know so much about his relationship with John and what they really meant to each other. Ugh. But well, sir Paul McCartney, why don’t YOU write a book yourself? About your relationship with Lennon throughout the years and what he meant to YOU? Nobody else would write anything on this matter I’m sure.

Also, just wanted to know if there’s still a place people talk about them (outside tumblr ofc). Back in 2012 I was new to the JP fandom and there was this wonderful page on livejournal where we used to talk, discuss, post photos/videos, theories, fanfics and basically all we do here, but in group you know? Not each on their own page. Don’t know if you’ve reached this time, but it was awesome. I’ve been “away” from the Beatles fandom for years and just got back because of, well… Get Back lol. It’s awesome to be back and find so many people still interested in them.

Hi there pal! Thanks for this. Welcome back - Get Back sure got us good, don’t it?

The book is super interesting. I doubt it’ll say much we (here on tumblr) don’t know. But I’m keen to see if it’ll start to shift the conversation back from the mainstream view that John and Paul never cared for each other outside of grudgingly writing songs together. Would be nice to see that, for their individual legacies as well as Lennon/McCartney’s.

I’m sure Paul knows about it in some way. I wonder how he feels about it too. I think he probably feels he’s said what he needs to about him and John by now. He’s also super aware he can’t change the view on it because when he’s tried he gets accused of being calculating or manipulative.

To your second question - god, I know I’m old by I do miss LJ. Like, it was soooo much better for conversation. Tumblr is more about broadcasting and it’s hard to feel like there’s a community. I think this sort of thing is now happening on Discord. But, 1) I have no idea if there’s a Beatles / Mclennon discord server (I’m sure there are loads). 2) You have to be invited, which makes sense on one level but makes it super hard to join a fandom and make friends. 3) I personally find them super hard to be involved with. It’s like a massive Whatsapp chat and if you aren’t there all the time you miss stuff.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[garyrennell]

I’M TAKING A BREAK.

hello, guys. some of you might’ve noticed that i’ve not been active in this site as much as i was before, with this being caused by the pandemic since almost my entire time and energy has been directed to my healthcare career and working in hospitals. ever since then, i’ve been torn between having so so many projects and not having time to finish them. i’ve put lots of effort into trying to post at least once a week and to try to participate in the community, but time has always been an issue, so don’t think i was ignoring you guys or anything like that🥺 still, this isn’t the exact reason why i’m posting this, this intro is just to give you guys some context, with it being basically me just not being here, as i always say.

so, days ago i got a message from my home country, in which i won’t get into details but it informed me about the passing away of a friend of mine. needless to say, it has affected me massively in all aspects, and my blogs are no exception. the main thing is that i started this tumblr journey with her back in 2012; we created our main blogs together, we learned how to edit together and all that tumblr stuff. i’ve always associated this site with her ofc and since she’s been gone, i haven’t even been able to log in without thinking about her, less edit or put on a new post. it may sound weird, but even whenever i see my dashboard i get a sense of emptiness. i’m afraid that maybe i’ll never be able to be here without getting sad and just being reminded that she’s no longer with me. so, this summed to my time issue has made me take the decision to turn my semi-hiatus into a permanent hiatus, for as long as it takes me to heal from this. i’ll keep all of my blogs intact nonetheless, for when i come back. besides, i will still be updating both of my fics because they’re a major part of my happiness right now and take my mind out of bad things.

so yeah, i don’t want to wrap this up with me being all sad and wanting you to pity me, because that’s not what i want at all. this is basically me just letting you guys know why i’ll be gone because i don’t want you to think that i don’t want to hang out anymore, that i’m not seeing posts on purpose or that i’m not supporting you anymore, no way.

i’m finishing this up on a lighter note, by ofc thanking all of my pals in here, all of the beautiful people i’ve met and to all of the people who have supported this blog💕 i’m so so sad to be leaving just when the fandom is coming to life and we’re getting more content, new creators and characters, and everything is just amazing. there’s so many projects i wanted to finish, with my most recent one wanting to make edits of all of you guys’ MCs just like i did at the beginning of this year, but sadly i won’t be able to, or at least not in a while. anyway, i think that my mission has been almost accomplished, with it being to help a bit on having some of you thirsting those gorgeous pixel men and women for months haha💕

i’ll also leave a few links here of leukemia charities, so maybe you can consider to donate, because your money could be so helpful in keeping people like my friend Dani a little longer in this world. so yeah, goodbye for now and i wish you all the best of luck in this fandom✨✨

Leukemia Net: [here]

Donate to LLS: [here]

Donate to Leukemia UK: [here]

[redisriding]

Blog Changes

Hello guys (gals and non-binary pals)!  

I usually use tumblr on my phone, but today I decided to log in on my laptop. I forgot how different laptop tumblr was and all the options I have here that are not on my phone. 

Anyway! I’ve given my blog a complete overhaul (let me know what you think) and have been following/unfollowing a lot of blogs. One thing I noticed was how many Grishaverse blogs I follow and love, but hesitate reblogging/posting about because I want to keep my blog SJM focused because I think that’s the content a lot of people follow me for (almost 500 now! thanks so much! I’ve never had this many followers on any social media platform before haha!). So in answer to this, I decided to create a second blog were I post about the Grishaverse! If you would like to follow my new blog you can do so HERE and that is where I will be posting Grishaverse content in future (there are a couple of old Grisha related posts on this blog but that will be no more, going forward). 

Also! I am still reasonably new to the Tumblrverse (at least in this iteration of my blog - I had an interior design blog circa 2012 but that is long gone) and would love to interact with some more people. I would love it if you want to send an ask HERE it can be about me personally or theories and opinions, I’ll even entertain some writing prompts (need to stretch that muscle again).

Love, 

Red 

[stucky-ficrecs]

Completed WIPs, May 2019--Endgame spoilers

Spoilers below!

Keep Me Hanging On by how_about_no (G, 3K)

Then, just as he smashed the hammer down on one of Thanos’ men, a gunshot whistled by so close to his ear he ducked away. His head whipped around to see a large alien down on the ground with a hole in the middle of its forehead. He looked up to see light casting a figure into a shadow.

‘Not the end of the line yet, pal.’ The figure said. Steve’s breathe escaped him. It was so familiar, this feeling. Seeing Bucky again after mourning him.

‘Bucky?’ Steve sounded breathless even to his own ears.

*

The battlefield reunion we never saw, and what should've happened after.

The Way Out Is The Way Back by unconscious (E, 23K)

Sometimes Bucky feels inconceivably old. A soldier’s body is a miracle. His is, in a way, a terrible frightening cyborgian way. What staggering odds that a thrice-resurrected man and a man brimming with irrepressible life would find each other like this. These feelings, he thought his body had forgotten them. That they had died with his heart.

If there’s one truth about Bucky’s overlong, pain-ridden, sometimes heartbreakingly lucky life it’s this: Nothing about him ever really dies.

After Steve leaves, Bucky and Sam try to pick up the pieces.

old man rogers by riddleinacapitalm (T, 2K)

SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME

short and semi-sweet post-endgame fic.

You & Me by Mom_Nicole (T, 2K)

This was a ask on tumblr, but sense it was for endgame things, I couldn't put it with my other fic that holds all my tumblr ask.

The ask: Endgame Steve shoving A1 Steve’s face into the floor while he fucks into him relentlessly.

SPOILERS!

In Time by illwick (M, 15K)

Steve returned to his past to make things right. But it isn't always what it seems.

Solid Gold by alby_mangroves, rohkeutta for CaliFornia (E, 28K)

Life settles onto its track.

stay_with_me.jpg by panacea_knits, the_genderman (T, 7K)

POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK

January 1947

Steve turns the tap on cold, wincing at the water running over his palm. It's not even necessary, probably—little burn like this, he'll be healed up in minutes—but old habits die hard. Stick your hand on a stove burner, you run cold water on it. That's what his Ma taught him to do. It's what a person does.

“I'm sorry—” Bucky's choked-off voice comes from the kitchen doorway, where he's standing stock-still, looking at Steve with wide eyes and clutching his left arm to his side. He's wearing long sleeves, like always, and it's just past five but the sun's already going down, last light glinting off the metal of his left hand.

[A canon-divergent ace!fic by panacea_knits for RBB 2019, art by the_genderman]

But We Were In Screaming Color by linzeestyle (AO3 account required) (E, 36K)

Steve's world has been black and white since 1945, colors burned out like a funeral pyre.

This isn’t supposed to happen.

He Woke Me Up Again by avengingbucks, captaindumbass (E, 96K)

Steve knows a lot about college. He knows not to slack off until he knows which teachers to slack off with. He knows not to leave his laundry in the machines overnight. He knows that he’s going to gain 10lbs and get sick. He knows not to sleep with his roommates, which shouldn’t be too difficult as his only roommate is Sam and the mice that live in the kitchen cupboards of their freshman accommodation. He’s read about it and he’s watched enough movies, he’s got this college thing in the bag. That's until a sharp-witted guy with an even sharper jawline comes into his life, there's not enough list-acles or Reddit threads in the world that can prepare him for that.

Completed but currently reworking (Chapters 1-7 done)

Stuck by CardcaptorGhost (M, 13K)

This is a post-endgame fanfic, if you have not seen endgame then do not read there will be spoilers to the movie.

Steve returns the stones to the correct point in time but gets stuck in the past.

The End of the Line by JJK (M, 18K)

A post Endgame Stucky fix it fic to give Steve and Bucky the closure they (and we) deserve.

=

Steve goes back to replace the stones and rescue Bucky.

One More Night by whendoestheshipsail (E, 26K)

The relationship between Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers has always been co-dependent, but it didn't go off the rails and straight into depravity until Bucky was about to be shipped out to war. When Steve decides to push Bucky's buttons the night before he leaves, Steve gets more than he ever expected. As the war goes on, their ability to find comfort in each other leads them both into a lust so primal and carnal Bucky worries it will destroy them both. After the Snap, Steve thought they'd find their way back to each other. Apparently not. Determined to find normalcy, Steve goes back to the past and very quickly realizes that he was never cut out for the apple pie, fall in line and just retire sort of life. Steve needs violence and some pain with his love...and somewhere in the 40's is a Winter Soldier who can give it to him.

Your Words are Mine by literato (T, 6K)

He can even picture him-- hunched over a notebook, probably one of Steve's sketchbooks, and writing furiously, endlessly while Steve snored beside him, completely stupid and unconscious. The deep strokes of the pen are almost signs of anger or frustration, but reading the letter, Steve can only feel the surreal amounts of love Bucky has for him.

or

when Steve goes back in time, he finds a letter written in Bucky's handwriting.

(an Avengers: Endgame Fix-It)

But One Man Loved by spooky_action (E, 20K)

Bucky had agreed. Of course he had. *Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.*

Looking For A Place To Hide by whendoestheshipsail (E, 33K)

SPOILERS for Endgame Ahead!!! * * *

It's 2012 and all Steve knows is that another version of himself said Bucky is alive. Steve will do anything to get his friend back, even if it means time traveling to 2023. He expects Bucky to be happy to see him, but instead he's wary, hurt. Turns out his Steve had left him for Peggy. How? Why? Steve can't believe it. Now he'll have to find a way to make sense of it all, and convince Bucky that it's the two of them to the end of the line.

Because that shit happened yo and I'm just trying to make sense of an OOC and bonkers ending.

A Bend in the River by ilsontdesames (T, 11K)

Time meant everything and nothing at once. Some lucky ones got to have their do-overs, and others had to move on. And him, he’d been living outside of time for decades now. Waking up from the snap of Thanos’s fingers felt no different than all of the times he’d been thawed out, eyes opening to strange faces looking back, to a world that seemed to have gone on without him just fine. The world is better without the Winter Soldier. He knew this. Steve knew this.

The Long Way by writewithurheart (G, 7K)

It takes Steve Rogers awhile, but he gets there.

Or the missing scenes where he says goodbye, hello, and lives an entire life.

[amateurd18]

Hii!! ✨

I thought I’d introduce myself!! I’m your Secret Santa this year for the holiday pals run by rosesau. I hope your Thursday (or Friday, depending where you are in the world) is treating you well so far!! Also, happy December 1st!!

Before we kick this month of shenanigans off, are there any preferred names/pronouns you would like me to refer to you as? I myself use she/they!!

First proper question of the season: how were you introduced into the 1d fandom? 🎄

Hello hello!

It's early Friday morning as I answer this, so hopefully the day goes well. How are you?

I love that you call this a month of shenanigans 😂. Name and pronouns would be Ami, she/her.

And to answer your question, iirc i heard wmyb on the radio first, and it felt right up my pop-loving alley. Then a couple friends showed me some of the early interviews of the boys and i was hooked. I joined Tumblr much much later, though i did lurk for a while before creating my own account. Been a fan since 2012, and saying that makes me feel ridiculously old🤪

What's your one direction story? Any other fandoms you're a part of that feel as chaotic?

[auntielurry]

hi again! I just wanna know, what brought you the world of JCA and the(tiny) fandom here on Tumblr?

Hello, pal. To say honestly, it happened way earlier before my activity on Tumblr. Oh my. I remember that day very good… Before JCA, I fell in love in MLaaTR, especially into Quinton Flynn (Sheldon) voice. Yeah, I was very impressionable child and after the russian dub, the english dub was something really pleasant to my ears. But I didn’t knew, how my life would change in 7 april 2012. I was talking to my friend on skype. I saw a character on the screenshot, and said: “Wow, Moyra, that show was really great! Remember my obsession whith the original voices? I wanna try this trick again. Just to see, maybe it’s gonna be better, than I watched it in childhood”. It was way better than that. I rewatched it for a first time and I’ve lost my mind because of James Sie voice (Chow). My friend remember, how LONG I was saying, that this voice is really cute, as much as character. I also liked Finn and Ratso, but months later, I’ve changed my mind. Not because I’ve started not just to like this two (they ruined my life, ahaha! just kidding). That was a time, btw, when I physically could’t drew humans. I was drawing animals instead. And yeah, only two years later, in 2014, the idea has came to me, that, maybe Valmont doesnt look like the enforcer, but he still part of the team. So I can’t just detach him from others. And only after the creation of big AU, I’m started to understand this complicated character. So, I drew for four years and enjoy rewatching the show. Then, 2016 has ended. The most awfull time. And only year after that, I forget about the animals, take courage and posted here my fourth pic with a St. Patrick theme.

A-a-and, that’s pretty much it. Also wanna say, that I would never imagion, that after almost 6 years in fandom, I would create SO MANY crossovers and AU. Seriously. I’ve lost a count.

And yeah. Our fandom maybe tiny. Indeed. But it’s very cozy place, where you feel yourself safe.