#I feel like an old person since I don’t understand this app well

[grapedemon]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh, yea I still don’t know how this app works ngl…. Butttttt here’s an intro thing? Information thing….? Yea, don’t know-

✩Basic Info✩

You can call me Grape/Dark ^^

I am perfectly fine with dm requests, asking to be friends, and chatting ^^

Pronouns: they/them (gender-fluid)

Sexuality(s): Bisexual + Asexual

Probably neurodivergent, idk though

Nsfw and sexual topics make me really uncomfortable, so please don’t mention those things or interact if you post that stuff

I enjoy music and cartoons a lot!! They bring me comfort

EST Timezone

Unfortunately I only speak English…

I’m not the best conversation starter/holder, but I genuinely need more friends with similar interests man :”)

If you’re curious about my age, just dm me about it, I’m not sharing it publicly

My art style is so random, I swear all the art I post is from my two hands

✩Socials✩

Twitter(X): demon_grape (GrapeDemon)

TikTok: grapethedemon (Grape💜🧠🔱)

Discord: grapedemon (feel free to friend me, I love making new friends ^^)

✩Games (can friend me)✩

Roblox: comfortablecutepig1 (Dark)

Minecraft/Xbox: GrapeDemon

Nintendo: Grap8Demon (SW-1743-4494-7312)

✩Fandoms I’m In✩

Chonny Jash

Splatoon

The Glass Scientists

Lego Monkie Kid

Ok KO

Gravity Falls

Steven Universe

Total Drama

Fnaf

Bendy and The Ink Machine

Horror

Bugbo

There’s a lot more but I’m not listing everything...

[thecuriousquest]

hello, it is possible where the Reader is trying to leave for another country (For example, Russia) and at the same time use the Russian language (any language other than the native language) what should the platonic brother Keigo do

Destinations in Life

Tag List: @issamomma @repostingmyfavs @palesweetscherryblossom @chickennugnugnug

Warnings: Platonic yandere themes, isolation punishment, controlling behavior, possessive behavior, over protective behavior, spanking threat, Keigo is an asshole

Master List

Request Rules

—————————————————————————

Keigo can’t wrap his head around the sudden interest in Russia/the Russian language. He doesn’t understand until one night at dinner you bring up how you were reading about a great job opportunity in the country.

“So…that’s what all this Russian stuff has been about? That’s why you’ve been on that language learning app and talking your head off about going there?”

You can’t help but note the betrayal threaded in his words like a carefully sewn blanket.

After how he’s raised you since your abusive father died when you were eight years old, he would never have expected this from you. Why are you being so ungrateful? You’re his baby songbird, his sweet little sister!

“Wait, Keigie, well…you can’t expect me to live here with you forever. I’m…my own person. I deserve to follow my dreams,” you begin in a bit of a timid rant.

Silence.

“Keigo, it’s not that I don’t appreciate you, I do. I love you so much, and I’m so grateful that you took me in after Dad passed instead of sending me off to an orphanage or some distant relative.”

More silence. It worries you even more now. Your finger tips fumble with the hem of your shirt, your teeth nibble slightly on your bottom lip.

You feel uncomfortably hot under his dark gaze.

“Nii-chan, I just want to live my life! Say something, please?!”

He snarls at you. Actually snarls with a curl in his lips and his eyes narrowed at you. “What? You can’t live your life here? Japan isn’t good enough for you? Your home isn’t good enough for you? I’m not good enough for you?!” He punctuates his last inquiry with the unfurling of his feathers as he stands up.

You can count the amount of times in your life you’ve seen your usually relaxed brother become stern with you on one hand, and it usually doesn’t lead down any good paths. You have to act fast, diffuse the situation as best you can.

“Kei-nii, this isn’t about you. I-” you struggle to swallow a breath as you sit up straighter in your seat, looking at him as he stands at the head of the table with both hands on the surface.

In this stance, with his head tilted to look down at you, with his bangs in his face, his naturally light and golden eyes take on a hint of charcoal with how most of his face casts out the light.

“This isn’t about me? Oh, I know this isn’t about me. This is about you acting like an ungrateful, spoiled, selfish little brat. You’re not going.”

Your eyes widen as big as the dinner plate in front of you. “You can’t decide that for me. I’m not a little kid anymore!”

He lifts his hand from the table to point an authoritative finger at you. “You’re not going.”

Pounding your fist against the wooden surface out of frustration, you stand up to go to your room. “I’m not having this discussion with you anymore. You need to calm down, Keigo,” you throw over your shoulder, moving towards the door to your sanctuary.

There’s a flap of wings, a rush of feathers. Scarlet bindings hold your wrists against the wall, tightening uncomfortably. With enough space to turn your head, your cheek squishes against the wall as you look at Keigo.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“I’m making sure my baby sister doesn’t try to leave.”

You hear his feet pad against the floor, closing the distance between the two of you. He reaches into your pocket, pulling out your phone before stuffing it in his jacket.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m only doing what’s best for you.”

You shake your head. “You’re delusional if you think this is what’s best for me!”

His brow quirks up. Keigo can’t help but let out a dry laugh. You look too cute, like an angry little cat. But even kittens have sharp claws.

He releases you from the makeshift cuffs and grabs your bicep, escorting you to your room before shoving you inside. He takes note of a bunch of things he’s going to need to take care of. For one, bars will need to go on your windows. Secondly, he’ll need to throw out your suitcase. You won’t be needing that. He’ll need to take the lock off of your door and install one on the outside. He makes a mental note of all these things as his eyes finish scanning your room.

Keigo looks back at you, finds the frustrated and bitter tears burning in your eyes, watches how they waver slightly as you try your best not to let them fall.

It breaks his heart to see you so upset, but he knows he can’t just let you go. It wouldn’t be good for either one of you. He’d be sick with worry every day if you were gone, and you would be so vulnerable, so unprotected.

There are horrible people in this world. Keigo knows just how cruel society can be. He won’t let anything bad happen to you. He’ll keep you safe, you just have to stay with him.

“If you try to leave this room, I will paddle you with one of my feathers.” He hopes you heed his warning so that he doesn’t actually have to punish you so brutally.

Never having been spanked by him before, you take a step backwards. The thought scares you, terrifies you even. He’s never raised a hand to you, and you really don’t want him to start now.

“So…what? You’re just gonna lock me up in my room now?”

“For the time being, yeah. I’ll let you know when you can leave.”

“I don’t want to stay here! This isn’t fair! I’m going to be an adult soon. You can’t just…you can’t do any of this to me!”

“I want you to think about this. Who’s the stronger one out of us?”

And you know it’s not you. You might be mentally stronger than your older brother, but you know very well mental strength doesn’t count in a fight. He’d beat your ass black and blue while you logically calculate the nearest hospital or analyze all of your wounds that you can take care of on your own.

“Well? Got an answer?” Keigo patronizes.

Crossing your arms and huffing, you glare at the floor, scuffing the carpet with your toe, feeling the fibers drag against the pad of your skin.

“You,” a mumble passes from your lips.

“What was that? Couldn’t hear you.” He crosses his arms and leans against your doorjamb.

Huffing, you turn your cold, hard glare on your big brother. “You, Keigo.”

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m the hero. I’m the one who saves people on a daily bases. I’m the one who fights more villains during the day than you can count on both hands. I’m more than capable of keeping you in this room if I want to.”

“But it’s not right!”

“But I don’t give a shit. You’re not leaving me. Understand?”

You find the bed, sitting down and letting your face fall into your hands. “This isn’t the life I want, Keigo. Please? Please, don’t do this to me!”

Yet Keigo palms the doorknob, giving you a glance. “Stay here or else.”

The door shuts firmly, locking from the outside. You glare at it through a new wave of tears, finally allowing them to fall now that you’re out of his presence.

Fuck, you really can’t stand your big brother.

[redvelvettecakes1]

⚠️ SPOILERS + THEORY FOR THE NEW WELCOME HOME UPDATE ⚠️

hello! this is my first post on tumblr, so I’m not sure how exactly to use this app very well but, just a note before I get started, I also have a YouTube channel, where I posted this theory on, i do not want to give away my channel on here though! If that’s okay!

. . .

I’m unsure if I’m overanalysing things, but hopefully you guys understand this theory and it makes sense to you! again, I could just be overanalysing, but these are genuinely just my personal thoughts!

first off, info on where I found the 2nd, 3rd and 4th photo from, basically if you go to the website and go to the “the playfellow exhibition” section, scroll till you see the bundle of photos and keep scrolling until you find the “welcome home Worksheet” image with a picture of Wally on it, then click on the image and either if you’re on laptop it’ll come up on the right side (I think) or if you’re on phone It’ll show up at the bottom, you then click the line that looks like an answer box and then it takes you to something that looks like a vault, click one of the buttons and it’ll ask you to enter a password, the password is BSPJW, then you should be taken to the place I’ll be talking about in this post! ✨

. . .

anyways, onto the theory I’ve made!

so, I’ve come up with a theory that wally might actually be the victim and it’s the re-searchers that are trying to uncover welcome home that are the bad people, like Amanda the adventurer and Hameln, people believe that Amanda is evil when really it was the company that was evil!

and this theory is basically going to be a bit like that, what if the re-searchers are actually the bad people? what if home and Wally are actually completely innocent and it’s just the re-searchers? as it seems to appear that welcome home was an ‘old TV show’ that nobody remembers apart from these so called ‘re-searchers’, the proof is mainly in photo 3, I believe the person who wrote that is one of the re-searchers, “maybe that’s why nobody has ever heard of WH”, this confirms that people don’t seem to remember welcome home apart from this re-searcher.

. . .

moving onto photo 2, the highlighted words, now I cant put my finger between if this is wally saying this or if it’s the re-searcher, because I mainly believe the other highlighted words are indeed wally, as photo 5 says “- wally darling” which appears to make it sound like wally, before I explain why I think it’s Wally, if you guys cannot read what it says in photo 2, i tried to read what it says, and it says . . .

“everything is so disgusting to touch, sometimes the mail doesn’t come for weeks, I want to rip into everything I have. my head feels so muddled too. ever since I opened that envelope.” . . .

. . .

now on quote “sometimes the mail doesn’t come for weeks” I have a feeling this is implying that something has happened to Eddie, since he is known as the “mailman”.

now anyways, back to why i believe this could be wally, basically in photo 4 it seems as if the re-searchers have found a wally puppet, now I have a feeling that the wally puppet could secretly be alive and it is actually wally but wally is playing d3@d due to the fact that the re-searchers might be dangerous people, I also think this is how wally gets onto the website and tries to contact the viewer, because if the owners of the website have the real wally, then wally must be able to sneak around and get a hold of the website, which is why it seems to appear that wally is the ONLY puppet in welcome home that seems to be able to interact with the viewer.

I also believe that wally trying to contact the viewer means he is crying for help, he is trying to hint that something awful has happened and he needs help with something, but it seems as if he has to keep it subtle, because if he gets caught, he could put himself in danger., this could also be why wally keeps repeatedly saying things like “can you see me?” “I can see you” etc, because he is trying to control the website and get possible help, and he believes the only way to get help is to try and hide secrets within the website to contact the viewer and try to speak with whoever is viewing the page.

. . .

but the question is, what happened to the other neighbors? where are they? and simply, I don’t quite know but I do remember this one welcome home theory I had seen on YouTube a while back, where the person stated that If you go into the “neighbourhood!” page and click on all the characters, it talks about ALL the characters in the past tense apart from wally, for example, it would say “wally IS” and for the others it would say something like “barnaby WAS”, and it literally talks about everyone in the past tense apart from wally.

why I think this is happening? because I believe that they are talking in the past tense for the other characters is because they haven’t FOUND them yet, in photo 4 it appears that the re-searchers have found wally, which is why they most likely talk in the present tense for ONLY wally, so I believe that the other characters are missing, either they’re just missing or something bad has happened to them, and the re-searchers have not found them yet, meaning this could be why they are making it sound like the other neighbors ‘no-longer’ exist.

. . .

In summery, I basically think that wally is alive and he is controlling part of the website— while the re-searchers are putting information into the website, wally is sneakily going on and hiding secrets, trying to warn the viewer and make the viewer realise that he needs help and that welcome home is not just a ‘sweet little neighbourhood’ that’s completely ‘safe’. and like I’ve also mentioned, I believe that the other neighbors are currently missing and the re-searchers are trying to hunt them down and find them, as that’s the re-searchers purpose, they’re trying to find the missing pieces of welcome home so they can ‘prove’ to people that welcome home was a ‘real’ TV show.

. . .

anyways, this is just a theory of course and I’m not in any way trying to say that this is canon or is true, it is just my thoughts and opinions and what these things look like to me, as there are many theories already, and although I feel like wally could be a victim, there is also a lot of proof that wally could be evil too.

but anyways, I hope this post made sense to you and you guys enjoy my theory! 💗

[feraliminal]

Titan TVman and Beowulf are Basically the Same Character: Why Skibidi Toilet Is Folklore

It’s been a long time since I’ve touched the hellsite (I used to doodle and write dirty fic), but I’m fascinated by the silly toilet men videos, their popularity, and the confusion about their popularity. And because I’m a huge nerd and always want to know why people do things, I wrote something. It’s too long to leave on my Notes app and forget about, and I’m also not letting skibidi toilets anywhere near my serious blog. So I actually came back to Tumblr for this.

(Also the first stupid doodle I’ve done in forever, here’s the original meme.)

Toilet humour is obviously a huge part of why it’s so popular, and imho it’s a poop joke that got bigger than the creator intended it to. Toilets are endlessly amusing, particularly for kids, because learning to manage your waste is essential to being a civilised person but something that no one really wants to do. Some of the first conflicts between kids and their parents are often around cleanliness and potty training, and as we get older, the toilet is one of the few places where we’re first alone, particularly if we share a bedroom with siblings. Childlore and fiction about childhood is full of toilets: bullies that strike in school toilets, toilet ghosts like Bloody Mary and Hanako-san, people who died on the loo, and rats or spiders that bite your bum. It’s a classic example of a liminal space that looks mundane but could be full of scary shit.

So that’s my first smart theory, Skibidi Toilet is a contemporary haunted toilet story with something to do with dirt and discomfort vs tech. Clever theories about symbolism are fun and I think symbolism that feels relevant and familiar might be why something first attracts someone’s attention, but I don’t think it can explain the thing having fandom.

The only thing people love as much as poop jokes is stories about cool guys having punch ups, and there’s plenty of that as well. Visually and thematically, Skibidi uses all the tropes that we love in serious popular media - fights, explosions, monsters, giants, noise, the aforementioned cool robots. Swap out skibidi toilets for alien invaders, and cameramen with plungers for cyborgs with swords, and we’d have a respectable alien apocalypse story that’s identical to five other summer blockbusters. But as it is, it’s so ridiculous that it can only be a silly little internet video.

There’s a video by MatPat making a convincing argument that it’s actually about the conflict between independent content creators and the conventional media industry. But again, I think it’s also probably only indirectly what’s turning curious views into millions of subscriptions, especially since the earlier netlore was pretty niche. I think what viewers are picking up on is the dissonance between cool robots, apocalypse horror, and silly toilets, evidenced by most of the comments on YouTube being variation of “why is this actually good”. It’s got the same vibe as other stuff I’d classify as creepypasta-style or meme-style horror: Five Nights at Freddy’s, Among Us, Homestuck, and so on. In meme horror, there is an in-universe threat to characters that’s not played for laughs. However, something like a ridiculous gimmick, a parody of pop culture, or a dissonantly cute art style makes it clear that adult viewers who understand it as fiction don’t have to respect the threat.

The line between feared and respected has always been thin. A cool example of this is the word aglæca in Beowulf and other Old English texts. Aglæca is a debated word because it’s mainly used to describe monsters and demons, but is sometimes used to describe heroes and saints. Both the human hero Beowulf and his monster opponent Grendel are called aglæca. Based on this use and its etymology, some medieval studies scholars think it means something more like an uncanny and powerful outsider. I think a big part of meme horror’s appeal is that it’s still got heroes who are more or less serious characters fighting serious battles. We can respect the characters and their struggles even if we don’t fear the absurd stuff. I’ve chosen Titan TVman for my silly title because they’re the character that best embodies the “uncanny hero” aspect for me, but tbh I think that most meme horror heroes/anti-heroes seem to be these character types.

We know that enjoying horror fiction helps some people manage anxiety and fear, and comedy horror can help us laugh at fear. With the retained seriousness besides the playfulness, meme horror might be more beneficial than basic serious or comedy horror as a comfortably uncomfortable middle ground between the two. Cringe is currently having a cultural moment too, where concerns about and celebrations of being cringe are everywhere, so it might also give us a way of exploring and processing our feelings about embarrassment as well as fear.

Memes, and therefore meme horror, are very amenable to being collaboratively and spontaneously adapted and spread by regular folk. They’re a new form of folklore, essentially. They address stuff that’s relevant to the lives of regular folk, including ugly and uncomfortable things. There’s even a theory that the culture of the very online has began an era of “secondary orality” where how we spread stories on the internet replicates how we used to spread folk stories by word-of-mouth. Secondary orality is a double-edged sword, as it can build creative and supportive communities, but also spreads conspiracy theories and hate. No wonder some of us might not be having our needs fulfilled by regular horror fiction, if we’re facing the bad kind of secondary orality as well as everything else that’s going on in the world. (More allegories! An increasingly absurd and hostile world is another theme in Skibidi Toilet.)

The 1938 book Homo Ludens argued that doing things just for fun has defined features and benefits: play gives us freedom to express ourselves, it’s separate from everyday life, it allows us to construct new worlds with new rules, and it’s never compulsory or for profit. When we’re bombarded by media that’s designed to extract the maximum amount of profit from us, engaging with mainstream entertainment might sometimes feel not as playful or as voluntary. But by being a bit cringe, meme horror retains the appearance of being indie and just for fun even if it becomes obscenely popular.

So, for me, this is what Skibidi Toilet is about. It’s about new folklore playing the same role as old folklore, even if it looks like silly toilet men videos, because we’re essentially the same people as our ancestors telling monster stories around the fire.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck and Eddie: Buck said, “I feel like she sees me”

(Clearing drafts before the end of season 6.)

When Buck said, “I feel like she sees me” it upset Eddie along with all the viewers who know EDDIE IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO TRULY SEES HIM.  It’s been bothering me for a week now and I finally figured out why.

Every woman Buck’s ever been with only saw one part of him and he’s constantly defined himself via his relationships without really being invested in them.

Hookup #1 - He met her on an app, they hooked up in the firetruck and when he asked her if he could get to know her better she said “You’re really good at whatever it is we just did but let’s not ruin it by getting to know each other better”.  He asked to get to know her but she didn’t want to get to know him.

Hookup #2 (snake handler) - He met her on a call and she saw Buck the Firefighter and nothing else.  Bobby fired him for his antics and even though she told Buck to call her, he probably didn’t since he got fired.

Dr. Wells - Looked at his Facebook page before he ever went into her office, so she saw a firefighter and that’s it.  She never wanted to get to know him.

Abby - Called him after she saw him on the news and even though she was his first real relationship, he didn’t make the choice because she pursued him.  Also, Bobby was the one who gave Buck advice on stepping in with her but it didn’t work and she still abandoned him. He told Maddie “I like the me that I am when I’m with her” but he was still defining himself based on what he thought they had and when she returned in 3x18, all she talked about was the things she wanted and needed but disregarded him completely.  He even told her that he was happy for her.

Taylor - First encounter was because she saw a hot firefighter and they hooked up in a bar.  When he went to apologize she reminded him that she bought him a drink.

Ali - Told him she didn’t know after the ladder truck explosion because she couldn’t be who she was if she stayed with him since he didn’t want to give up firefighting.

Taylor - He told her “I spent my whole life feeling like I wasn’t enough, so if you don’t want me” and when she said she did want him, he took that to mean she really wanted a relationship.  Things were never going to work with them because she never knew or saw all of him and when she put his family in danger, he had to end it.

Connor (old roommate) - acted like he really knew who Buck was to get him to agree to the sperm donation.  He told Buck he knew he had a good heart and isn’t that what Buck’s always wanted?

Natalia - is the one who’s giving him the “attention” he’s always wanted.  In his coma dream he told Bobby he finally felt like he mattered there in his other life, so when she was mesmerized by him dying, he believed that’s what he’s been looking for.  Someone to marvel at him and even though it looks like he’s more interested in learning more about his death and how he needs to accept it, he was happy someone wanted to hear his story about dying without making him feel bad about it.

Eddie

Eddie SEES ALL OF BUCK and that’s a fact but Buck’s too caught up in his own head to realize it.

"There’s nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you."

"No one will ever fight for my son as hard as you and that’s what I want for him."

"You act like you’re expendable... but you’re wrong."

"You died Buck.  I found the best way to process is to allow yourself to feel it."

"You don’t have to be anything for anybody."

Is Buck finally getting it?  It seems like he is and it’s painful to watch but he said, “I feel like I have to be the same old Buck, mostly for the sake of everyone else” which means he’s been pretending and he knows it but he’s not ready to look too closely at it because he’s close to understanding his heart has and still does belong to Eddie.

Buck admitted in 6x13 “Mixed Feelings” that he’s the one with the answers and Eddie acknowledged it in 6x15 “Death and Taxes” so Buck’s the one who has to figure things out since Eddie already knows.  Another thing is Buck has to realize Eddie is an option so he’ll stop “hiding his true feelings” (that’s what he told Dr. Copeland in 4x2).  Eddie’s waiting for Buck to finally get it and it appears he just might get it in 6x18 when he might lose Eddie again.

[swords-of-a-soilder]

Bless you for compiling what’s going on with that ex-bird app. It’s been genuinely insightful for me to understand the thoughts of the kinds of people behind those accounts.

That person trying to cancel creators for associating with Forever (and probably advocating for his lore to be excised from the server) saying “but I can’t possibly give up guapoduo, it’s My Hyperfixation” is very telling. Hypocrisy specifically in the context of “separating the art from the artist” isn’t something I’ve seen before, shockingly, so I guess I get to add that to my Social Media Discourse Bingo. (I had an online friend in 2016 who I was terrified to talk about my interests with because I didn’t know what angry punk teenagers on tumblr had deemed “evil and disgusting”, and even SHE stopped listening to some of her favorite metal bands when she learned they were homophobic, and had absolute turmoil when she learned that David Bowie might have allegedly slept with an underage groupie in the 70s. Her constant, unpredictable rage at seemingly random pieces of media was awful for my mental health, but at least she wasn’t a genuine hypocrite.)

Also that tone of “I’ve had good memories here… but I just can’t handle it anymore.” It sounds like someone whose meaningful but soul-crushing work has finally broken them, almost sounding like someone I knew at the frontline worker job I had mid-pandemic who missed her own birthday three years in a row, got repetitive stress injuries, and then got passed over for a promotion that was given to someone who did a fraction of the work. But the “God willing, I’ll never come back” was followed by “I’m 13” …damn, I got whiplash so hard that I astral projected into a universe where things made sense for a second. Because of course kids don’t have a complex view of other countries’ political systems or cultural pressures. Or the nuances of personal change and redemption. Or that sometimes people are just not online for a few days. And of course a 13-year-old doesn’t understand how dumb and petty they look by trying to ruin other peoples’ careers in the name of Activism (tm) while having a fandom portmanteau username.

“I didn’t want it to come to this but… I’m going to delete twitter!” I hope so, but more for their own sake, honestly. I actually have less anger towards most of them now. Many are kids with a false sense of grandiosity that makes them believe they are the ultimate moral authority, but have very little understanding of how messy people or societies can be. I just hope they can learn one day, and look back on who they are now and cringe. (And then many years after that, have the grace to forgive themselves.)

Oof, sorry for the wall of text.

I’m still not over the whole situation with Forever. I miss his energy, and his accent, and his silly bits with Richas that always dragged on too long, and N.I.N.H.O. (and everything it represented), and how different he and Cellbit are but how they understood each other WAY too well, and how he tried to make people who didn’t log onto the server as often still feel welcome and wanted, and how happy he got when anyone non-Brazilian even tried to speak a little bit of Portuguese. (I was learning, but I’ve barely touched it since.) I won’t lie, it’s affected me far more than I thought it would.

I miss Forever. Thank you for your blog being a little space where that’s okay.

I'm honestly a little worried for the kid (s), not in a "oh I just want the best for" fake bs way just a little concerned tbh. I still don't like them but I don't hate them either, they're a kid.

But at the same time I'm worried for their well being, they have like 5,000 follower on their main Twitter and 28 on curious cat (which is apprantly high for that app )

That's 5000 people (teens or not) waiting for you to tell them how to feel that can't be good for their mental state, not for a 13 yr old kid.

Most of their life was spent learning about the world and their still learning, these are the ages where you're worried about the sun blowing up.

You haven't seen how awful the world can be yet, You haven't seen how much worst it could get you haven't learned calculus yet!

To you the world is only these 13 years and you think if you don't act now everything will be over.

I get it, I had that fear too, most people grown into it and realize just how shitty it can get an settle in choosing their own battles and not letting It consume them, because no one had time for that anymore.

You want to experience the most out of live while you can and the older you get the easier it is to balance.

To me it looks like one of those situation where you'll look back and think "I wish I enojyed my childhood."

Because 5000 people waiting for you to tell them who to bash, 28 people prasing your while admitting they use to hate you.

It can't be good. And if they were to read this they'd probably say "oh you don't actually care you just want to shit on me."

And like, yeah I don't care, but am I saying all this because I want to shit on them? no I'm just pointing out concerns.

Apart from that I fully agree with anon.

[delilah705]

We really are the ‘used to be silent readers now have a never ending list of fics to comment on’ squad 🚗👯‍♀️✨

Definitely understandable. I have a love-hate relationship with rewriting fics. On one hand I have grown as a writer and when I look back at old fics I want to change it but on the other if I do re-write the fic it won’t be the same story. I’ve been thinking about rewriting fics and having the revised and old version up but idk we will see how it plays out. I do feel as an author the choice is truly up to you and if you want to go either route it’s fine either way. You're not going to please all audiences but as long as you do what you feel is right for the story then go with that choice. Yeah, having works that are never finished is real, I’ve got a couple of wips that probably will forever be wips….but no matter what I still want to keep them because they’ll always hold a special place in my heart. They might never get the chance to be published but that doesn’t mean I love them any less, some things are just never meant to be fully cooked

Most of the time I feel like those people are new to fandom and/or non-writers themselves and your feelings are 100% valid. We aren’t machines that can constantly produce writing. We have lives outside of this and burn-out is real (I personally have been struggling with this, I’m not inspired to write all the time and sometimes years go by before I start writing again). I have to give you props for trying and finishing your fics tho. That truly is admirable 💗

Reader insert fics are truly gold. During my younger teen years that was all I was reading and then older teen years I shifted to character x character fics but now I read a mix of both, mainly x reader fics at the moment 😜. Reader insert authors are truly the goats of fandom. There is just something so special, even healing, about ‘being’ in the fic. It’s like another level of escaping reality

Oh, yeah! I'm 100% one of those people to leave kudos as a guest and logged into my account. Why won’t you let me rekudo a fic ao3???? Let me love it even more, I have all this love to give!!! Guilty as charged with the private bookmarks. My reading list is between me and whatever higher beings you believe in lol. I might give out fic recs to fandom friends if we read  similar fics but some things are so unhinged that my lips are sealed 🤐

Knives got to know reader and wanted to wife her up right then and there 🤣. I think that’s one of my favorite parts of writing fanfics are the little author notes in the doc while the fic is being written!! That little note right there is creative me cooking up an idea. I just love her so much!!! Even if it just myself writing these notes on the docs, I see how much love is going into this and make me so happy

Young me was really big into romance/otome games (I still dabble with some but not as much as I used to) and it was always the side/non-romanceable characters that caught my interest. Please, I beg you game devs I want them!!!! What I fall victim to real easily are edits of these characters on tiktok. I’ll be scrolling on the app and see the media and think ‘that’s cool’ but there will always be that one edit that basically ruins me and well guess I’m into them now lol. Now I gotta check that fic out. Swan dive??? I don't think I’m familiar with the tag. What does it entail? Oh, the character I was referring to is Astarion! There is a lot of controversy about him (slight spoiler) as an ascendant vampire vs him as a vampire spawn tho, I stay away from all the drama. Both are equally hot to me in their own ways  

Those females be girlbossing 💅🏼. The equal parenting 🥹. I love how both male and female take care of the young equally and the primary care of the chicks isn’t pushed to one parent or the other

I’m not as familiar with tumblr as other socmeds but I agree with you there! I love the asks function so much. Especially since you can ask as anon too, I don’t really care if my identity is revealed but there is a level of comfort to ask anonymously, I feel like I can express myself with no worries. I wasn’t on tumblr until recently but I did hear about the ban on basically anything that wasn’t sfw and the impact it had. Ooofff, nothing like having your characters take your fic in a completely different direction then what you originally had planned. Every author I’ve met has said that the characters are their own person and I completely agree. Like,,, I’m the translator not the creator, they tell me their story and I just write it down into words. I have no idea what these guys are doing half the time 😂. When I was more active on my main that’s all I would read, give me all the feels. Mmmmmm, any fic that has dark elements and I go feral like a rabid raccoon. Agreed, I love fluff fics just as much and every now and I’ll read a fluff fic to change things up but there is something about the dark elemented fics that itches my brain just right  

Don’t be sorry for long responses! I’m having a blast having these long, in depth convos!!! I’m excited that I can talk with someone who has similar interests!!! In my experience being in fandom has been a little isolating in a way. Yes, I’m reading fics that people write about things that I also enjoy but I don’t have anyone to converse with about these things. None of my irl friends share the same interests and I’m on the shy side (just now trying to interact more) which I’m working on so the fact that I can scream about these things with you is refreshing!! These asks do bring me much joy and I look forward to reading them each time 🫂

Putting this under a cut because it got super long again.

XD For real, haha! Not only was I personally inspired by people commenting on every chapter of my works, but also it made me super sad to see one of my favorite writers when I was younger have to turn off comments on their fics because they kept getting hate for it. :( I really wish I could have left something positive for them back then before it was too late.

Oh, same! It's like,… As you grow as a writer, there's so much more that you learn about writing that's like: pacing, characterization, punctuation and grammar, getting better at being descriptive,… Etc. And… On one hand, seeing you've grown as a writer can be both embarrassing looking at how your older stuff used to be as well as a feeling of accomplishment. Like, 'Wow! I've come so far!' And… That's kind of my issue right now with this older stuff. It's like,… I can go back and rewrite it and make it "better", but then it's not going to be what it was before. And part of me isn't sure that I want to change some of this to that degree… But still, maybe there's someone out there who will enjoy the changes? I dunno. I'm trying to be positive about it. XD But the hard truth is that some of my older stuff just… Didn't have a well structured plot. I was literally writing by the seat of my pants, so… I have to put in a lot of work if I want those to be re-written and finished. And… I think two of them were one of those 'insert character into the plot' fics and uh… DX Makes it difficult to "re-write" when most of it is literally just what happens in the show. I gotta figure out how to make it my own somehow, and that's gonna be time consuming. I can do it, but it's gonna be rough!

It's definitely a tough issue. :/ Like, you grow so much as a writer and you see all the mistakes a younger, less experienced you have made, but at the end of the day, there's always going to be at least that one person who prefers the older version, so I totally understand that pain from both perspectives. I totally agree, though! Like, as much as I will be sad to see the story go like in the case I mentioned, it is entirely up to that writer! If they wanna delete it, if it being there is a terrible reminder of something for them, if it would be better for that person if it were just gone entirely, that is entirely their decision. And I don't think it's fair for readers to "re-upload" their works, even if tons of people enjoy it. :/ You're taking away that writer's personal decision right there! You're not respecting them as the writer of that fic! It's valid and fair to be upset they deleted it, but to just re-upload it like that… It's disrespectful. If you have your own personal copy for personal use, that's different, and I think even sharing it with other people through email is not the same as re-uploading it entirely. The writer might not like that being done, but it's not being posted in its entirety by someone who did not write it on a public platform.

Oh, yes! :D First and foremost, write for you! It's your story, take it where you wanna take it! Even if people disagree, that is entirely your choice! Someone out there will enjoy it for what it is! XD Oh boy, I feel that in my soul. Some of this stuff… It's probably never going to see the light of day, just forever in my drafts. Oh gosh. :') Ugh. I feel that. Like, I have a few stuff that's like, has no plot and it's just one scene, but I don't think it's long enough to post, but there's really nowhere I have in mind to take it and it's just… It's just there. I can't throw it away because I like it for what it is, but it's just… It's staying here for now, maybe forever, who knows? And some stuff, I really do think is just for you, you know? Just meant for your eyes and no one else's, even if people might enjoy it for what it is, sometimes there's certain stuff that's just for you and that's okay.

DX Oh boy, I certainly get that impression of, 'Oh, you're definitely not a writer, my friend,' sometimes. And it's like the fandom ettiquette is certainly not there in some people, but I also don't wanna be mean. But really, I can only handle so much before it's weighing me down. I understand impatience and sadness when you feel like something has been abandoned,… But people really gotta understand that we're all people living our own lives and sometimes death or medical emergencies that keep you from continuing are real factors in some of these situations. Responsibilities, and people grow and change over time and maybe what was their driving force in inspiration just… Isn't felt anymore. We grow and change as people constantly, and some messages of these creations change over time as well. Oh gosh, not the burn-out! D: I do not wanna push myself to that point ever again! ToT It's dreadful. (Oh, I totally feel that. Several points, I have questioned why I was even writing to begin with, and I do this all the time now with my other hobbies. It's just… It just comes and goes.) Aww, thank you! :') All my life I've just been creating things and never finishing them or starting games or books and just… Setting them down, even when I'm so close to finishing them. I even put down Dragon Age: Origins a few years ago despite being right there at the Archdemon fight at the end! And I just never picked it back up again! And part of me is just so tired!

XD I have checks and calculates real quick 413 documents in my documents folder! And while not all are stories, quite a lot are, and some have several in one document. Like,, I'm tired of not finishing things. 😮‍💨 So much half drawn art and comics, things I pick up and then put down and forget about, it sucks! So many unfinished stories I felt guilty for posting and then just deleting in the past… I don't wanna be that person anymore. And all this time, a lot of it has just been fear, fear of failing or being judged, people thinking my works are too out of character or absurd and out there or cringy, or being left with that feeling of 'what next?' That loss of my hyperfixation… Not realizing that I was gonna lose it eventually anyway by not finishing it, not playing it more and engaging with it more. I dunno. I really hope that other people can find this too, and while it fluctuates and I still get down sometimes, I want other people to also not be afraid to try new things, and even fail sometimes. It's a part of life, we live and grow and learn from our mistakes, but a lot of stuff I've seen online as of late has been hateful and anti-growth, anti-change. And it really makes me sad because I gotta wonder what they're going through to have them feel and be this way.

They really are! :D They've been such an inspiration to me since I first found them! Oh, same! XD Fanfiction has been such a huge part of my life since discovering it! And while I'm mostly back in the x reader side of things, there are several ships and oc stories that hold a special place in my heart and ships I check in sometimes for. You've just reminded me of several fics I gotta re-find and read and comment on now! Ah, I kinda wanna go back to FF.net too! I read so many oc fics on there that I adored! XD Transformers, DBZ, and Zelda,… I used to even read a few to my grandmother back in the day because I loved them and thought they were funny! I wanna know who was the first to start writing reader-inserts! Whoever they are, they've started something I don't know if they could have ever foreseen! For real! 😭 I have no idea where I'd be today if it weren't for them! I feel like I'd be an entirely different person…

XD I've started doing that when I'm not logged in. Here you go, writer! Have more! But it's unfortunate that you can't do that with locked works. :') I'd love to be able to give them more love too, but you can only see those while logged in so I can only ever give them one. I didn't even know you could privately bookmark until last year or so! XD I think younger me was overwhelmed by everything in the box and I've never really used notes or tags because I didn't know what to put, and I don't think I quite knew what 'Rec' meant and didn't bother with that box, but now that I know about it I just!! I get so emotional whenever I see a little heart bookmark, like?? You liked it enough you'd recommend it?!? :'o Kinda makes me guilty for just bookmarking everything and not adding anything extra, even when I absolutely adored the work! You're totally valid for that, but my bookmarks are all public for everyone to see. 🫡 You're taking a risk you go in there. You don't know what you'll find. XD It's the wild west, my friend! But I definitely feel that. It's like,… Even though mine are public, I'm not talking to anyone about them unless someone opens up first. XD And no one in real life knows about my bookmarks except for one person (that I know of, at least), and we're mostly into the same things so we can talk about these kinds of things free of judgement.

XD For real, haha! :o Oh yes! XD I'm usually like, 'Oh, you.' to myself. And I love when other writers share their particularly funny ones! It's always so fun! X3 AAA- God, I love writing! Even with all the downsides! My creative, innermost me when not dampened by the cruelties of the world is just so whimsy! No burdens, just carefree inner me.

:o Oh, I feel that! DX Yessss! Omg! For me that was Sten in Origins! The moment I was like, 'So tell me about yourself.' and he just goes, 'No.' XD He had me! I laughed out of disbelief and was like, 'Oh, I love you so much!' And then not me out here falling for the literal dragon who stole my heart in Dragon's Dogma. <.< Finding out you could romance and marry people and then… Not being interested in any of them?? XD And then the situation with Garrus just had me! I wonder if I'd played the game back then, would I have also wanted to romance him in the first ME? (I'm holding out on romance just so I can romance him in ME2). Who I really wanted from the start was Nihlus, but, well,… <.< Omg!!! I know what you mean! I don't really use Tiktok, but I've seen some of those edits that have been posted on Youtube and I just!! Aaaaa- Security Breach edits had me by the throat for a little while. Oh! The full tag was "this will either be a slow burn or a swan dive no in between we die like men" and I thought it was hilarious when I first found it a few years ago! XD It felt like such a mood! Me to myself while writing: 'Are we slow burning it or are we just gonna dive right into this romance? Who knows!' :o Oh!! He's the vampire in question! Ah, I see. 😬 I'm not a fan of that sort of drama, but I totally see what you're saying. 👀 Either can have their own appeal depending on preferences and the way the writer tackles it!

XD Thank you! The women can be pretty spicy. They're 'take no shit' more often than not, though you will have some more timid, they can be just as fierce should push come to shove. And some are even more fiesty when it comes to the males proving themselves, as in, they're gonna challenge the male to a fight, and only when he can beat her in combat will she respect and accept him as a mate. Yes!! X3 Ah, I'm such a sucker for the equal parenting when it comes to these kinds of fics. I'm not really a fan of the 'male just fucks and then leaves' in my monster fics. I gotta have that closeness, the fluffy soft goodness!! That familial bond and equal parenting! Don't you fucking dare leave without cuddles right after sex!! What the fuck! Get back here!

Oh, yes, same! :D There are so many asks I might not have sent to people if it hadn't been for the anon feature! It's such a comfort to be able to talk about things like this or send questions for clarification that I feel might come across as like, "stupid" for asking, like it's supposed to be common knowledge when I just don't know what it means, and the pressure is like, removed when it can't be traced back to your main or anything. I also find it nice you can send asks from sideblogs for this reason too! Like, you can engage with stuff you feel like you don't want people coming to your other blogs for, and so on. :( Yeah. It was rough! Now you can search the nsfw tag again, but you still cannot search the monster (terato) tag anymore! So much good stuff in there! Gone! So many blogs, even sfw ones, gone. Just bam! And that was it. Couldn't even get their accounts back in most cases from what I'd heard. DX Their flag bot too would flag pictures of sand thinking it was skin and so on! It was just… Terrible. I lost some of my favorite creators, I can't find certain images anymore from them, their works are just gone! You can find some of it in other places, but quite a bit is terrible quality and there's a lot missing. :(

And I used to write and post nsfw headcanons and stuff on here, and then my stuff wouldn't be seen by people because it had 'blacklisted tags' by the website itself, and the only way you'd see them in most cases was actually looking through my blog or if I made a master post and I got tired of keeping up with every single thing I'd posted, especially when the website itself was so janky and updating lists was a pain. It used to be so, so fun. And you used to be able to right click on notes on a post and be able to open that post in an entirely separate tab and now you can't do that anymore. :/ I feel like they took function stuff from other social media, and I hate it. I liked it the way it was. There used to be a button for filtering out NSFW content in your options. Turn it off and you wouldn't see NSFW posts. And then the ban happened and you had porn in the main tags, no way to avoid it but to blocklist those tags or block the person. And now we're in this weird ass in-between section where it's like, some things are okay but others aren't?? And you don't really know until you post it and suddenly it gets flagged? I hate it! Like can we be nsfw or not?!? Make up your damn mind, Tumblr! This picking and choosing shit is exactly why I just post my fics on Ao3 now period.

Every other damn website wants to pick and choose. This is okay, but this isn't, blah blah blah. And most of the time, you don't really know what's "too much" because their rules are so vague until they're sending you an email telling you they've taken it down or that you need to take it down, etc. And you could have something you consider "worse" on there, but this other thing that's more tame in your mind is the one that's flagged? Reading the rules of some other websites is basically like, 'It's okay unless we say it's not. :)' And??? That's such a sucky policy to have when you're the creator posting the stuff. You have people saying, 'Well this person has posted this and they've been fine!' and yet… There's always that fear of it just going poof regardless for me. XD Yess!! augh! They really are!! XD Same! Omg! … It's like, 'I wanna address this plot point, but this character won't get with the program!! We could be going places if they didn't just start having a conversation about this random thing that really does not tie into the plot at all.' XD Those characters, once I start writing the chapter, just kinda go off script nearly every time and we go places I could have never foreseen. Ohh, yess! 🥰 Angst and dark themes… XD I think this is why I gravitate towards villains so much! I just- asdlas0- Aaa- I too become feral. I have an appreciation for all on some level, but sometimes I really do be having stronger preferences. It's like,… The wheel of fortune wheel. "What am I craving today?" Who knows! XD Gotta spin that wheel and find out!

😭 I'm so glad that you wrote that because I get so worried when I write these responses sometimes that I'm making it too much about me when I'm just trying to show that I understand and feel the same, show the solidarity. I'm so happy. ;v; I love getting these kinds of asks where we can both just share our interests! Oh, I feel that so much. TvT The way asks work here feels so much more intimate than, say, comments on Ao3 do. I dunno, there's just something about it. D: Ah, I feel that so much! I have like, one person irl that I can talk about some of this stuff with, and we don't really get to talk much. I'm so glad! ;v; Scream as much as you want! These asks bring me joy too! Keep sending them and I'll keep responding!

[drabblesandmoredrabbles]

You will love again

Note: I can't believe this is my first time uploading a fic or drabble or whatever it calls. I'm excited to share this! It might be OOC because writing it's not my thing but i did my best for comfort my self 💕 Enjoy

Also this is clearly a self insert. Some Vent/personal stuff ahead!

ALSO I'M NOT THE BEST AT ENGLISH SO I DID MY BEST WITH MY OWN KNOWLEDGE AND WITH A TRANSLATE APP.

Words: 1625

Warnings: None.

Fandom: TFP.

Relationship: Ratchet x Reader/Self Insert. Platonic.

"Don’t you have classes tomorrow?" the old bot spoke without taking his eyes off the screen in front of him. He just glanced as Y/N kept muttering something inaudible on the balcony couch. 

He knew it was late, he didn’t understand why she was still here. It’s not like he hates her company.

"Y/n".

Y/N gave a small jump from her seat and let out a big, nervous sigh. "It 's Sunday. And I can do my homework tomorrow, you don’t have to worry about it." She mentioned looking at the doc, seeing how he stopped typing and turned his gaze to focus on the only human in the room.

"I’m not worried about your homework. I’m worried about... your parents, are they okay with you coming this late?" His optics inspected the girl and for a moment he swore something was not right.

Y/N used to always come home early even if it was a weekend. Was there a special occasion? Did something happen? Sure, it’s not like Ratchet cares... or that’s what he wanted to prove.

There was a small silence on both sides until the girl broke eye contact and looked at her phone, clearly contemplating the 11:00 at night. Was it so late?

"They're fine with it. I told them I was going to sleep with a friend" She stopped looking at the man that was meters away and before she said something, a click was heard. That was like a…

"Hey! Did you scan me? I don't like when you do that." Because you clearly can see when I'm down. 

"I always do this. You should be used to it by now. I also wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with your physical condition. Is everything okay Y/n? Your vitals are in good shape, but, uh, I can see that you’re feeling nervous and…" He said in a serious tone without taking his optics off the girl.

"I also noticed that you didn’t talk much today. You distanced yourself even from the children."

Y/n was not surprised at how well Ratchet read her. Was she so obvious? She does not usually show her emotions but when she is down she tends to move away from others and close herself. Boy, has Ratchet known her long enough to notice her mood swings.

"I'm okay Ratchet… you really don't have to worry about it."

"Then why did you lie to your parents?" Ratchet ended up pulling away from his screen completely and looked at the young woman.

She hated this. She hated that he knew her so well. Maybe she should thank him? 

"I wanted to be alone. I just wanted to get away from my friends and my parents." She didn’t know when she started touching her hands. She felt some sweat on them, why was she getting so nervous? " I just wanted... to be here alone. With you. I wanted to talk to you."

Y/n got up from the couch and without turning up she approached the balcony bars, coming a little closer to the bot. She gasped and just felt a lot of nerves at the time. Why was it so hard for her to talk about her feelings?

Ratchet looked at her and was quiet waiting for her to say something. He wasn’t a very patient bot, but he understood that she could take her time. He’ll wait for her.

"Do you remember my girlfriend? That girl I told you about sometimes".  She scratched her cheek, feeling  eyes on her. It was only her fav medic but still, eye contact made her uncomfortable. But she can't stop now. "Yes, yes, yes, I remember her, it's been a while since you talked about her, what happened?"

"We are not dating anymore." She finally felt like a big truck got out of her. Why did she feel like she couldn't tell anybody? It wasn't that bad, right?

"Oh. Sorry. The both of you were so in love. Why did you guys stop talking?" The moment Ratchet asked that, Y/n felt like her heart hurt. The bot noticed his mistake and immediately felt pretty bad.

Those were the 2 most awkward minutes of his life.

"We loved each other, but that was a long time ago. We both felt like that spark inside of us just… vanished. That feeling of love we once felt, it was going away these past months. We didn't talk like we used to and then… It happened. We broke up." For a moment, Y/n swear she felt a horrible pain in her chest and her cheeks just burnt. She didn't want to see Ratchet. He couldn't see her face in this vulnerable state.

The doc didn’t have much to say. He didn’t understand humans and their eagerness to have relationships with other people from time to time. It is not as if his planet’s situation were different, they could also have a conjux, which was the equivalent of having a mate on earth. It’s just that they prevailed with that bot they loved for eternity until their spark was extinguished.

He didn’t want to belittle her feelings. It’s just, he had a hard time empathizing with the subject. 

"I… sorry what happened Y/n." His tone of voice sounded disturbing. He was really worried about the girl’s feelings and what happened to her. " It's all right, Ratchet. That’s how it goes all the time. I... it doesn’t hurt that we’re done. It hurts me the fact that... I would never hear an I love you from her again. I would never feel her warmth. I would never... love again?"

Everything was getting a little awkward. Not the type of awkward he feels uncomfortable with, but the one who doesn’t know what to say. His words are stuck. His voice box feels like... What do humans call it? Like he has a lump in his throat.

I would never love again.

What words were those? You can obviously love again. "Why do you say that? Your world is not going to fall apart just because of a... love breakup. I can understand how hard it is for you humans to have an affective relationship like that but it is not the end of times Y/n". The chestnut’s gaze was pinned on the Autobot. His words might sound a little harsh but for her they were on the one hand... very comforting.

"Listen Y/n, I'm truly sorry about what happened. But you know, moving on without the person we thought we would spend the rest of our lives with is always difficult." He decided to not look at her while saying those cheese and inspiring thoughts. He doesn't want to embarrass himself more; "How can we leave behind a life that, once, made us happy? How can the love we once shared have ceased to exist?" His voice no longer sounded rude, there was a kind touch on it.

The girl just couldn’t look away from that brilliant being standing in front of her. Her eyes kept burning and moistening and she knew what it meant and she didn’t want it to happen but it was inevitable with all those sweet words that the bigger man was saying to her.

"Even when your relationship has deteriorated and isn't fulfilling you quite the same way as it did, deep down, you are still tempted to cling onto the memories of how it had once been." He kept going, looking at her.

"Even though part of she and I know that there is no future, we can't quite talk to ourselves… out of the habit of being together. " She added, looking at him.

"But holding on tightly to somebody who has already gone will only cause you more pain Y/n." Ratchet extended one of his servos to the young one, still with his sad but determined face, he touched her cheek.

"You must experience the pain and the shock and the trauma , and then, to heal, you must concentrate on yourself, and your future. For life goes on, and you can exist… without them." 

She simply dropped her face at the touch of someone else’s hand. That rubbing felt so comforting that she never wanted to peel off. Not wanting to walk away yet, she took one of the digits from the doctor who was stroking his cheek and hugged him tenderly.

"Ratchet. You really don’t know how much I appreciate your words. I didn’t know you had such a cheesy side." she chuckled a small laugh that only made the doctor angry and embarrassed, glancing a little, letting the other keep hugging his digit.

"Please! Don’t start with your m-

"Thank you Ratchet."

He was speechless. The major could not remove his optics from her. His sight was grateful for what he was witnessing at the time. Y/n was willing to show her most vulnerable side to him. She was allowing herself to cry in front of him, something she never does with others.

"I… Thank you very much Ratty. Thank you for listening to me and for your advice. You improved my mood ha, ha" She smiled painfully, wiping her tears slowly, looking up to see her bot." No... it’s nothing Y/n. I’m glad I helped."

"Te quiero" again, he was speechless. The girl hugged the digit a little harder.

"Can I stay on the base tonight? With you?"

"I... um- sure Y/n."

Ratchet reached out and gave the girl a chance to climb. She was more than delighted and somewhat nervous about going to sleep with the great doctor. But she was happy. Both would take their due rest.

For now.

[butididntpourthewhiskeys]

Lovelies, I took the day yesterday to sit in my favourite coffee shop & write down my thoughts. I think it’s time for me to take a break from tumblr the way I used it before. I won’t delete my account and still sometimes check in, but deleted the app from my phone for now. 

I think the truth is that I have like fifteen fires burning at the same time right now. A sibling who struggles with addiction, a man I considered the love of my life who basically dropped me within a matter of two days for his job, a daily battle with my eating disorder, a very very intense corporate job, the fact that I am approaching my thirties and I have no fucking clue where I want to live, if I actually like what I do for a living, whether I will ever meet someone I see myself having babies with and then... well, there was always Taylor for me. Since I was 14 years old, walking through the hallways of my high school, having my headphones in and listening to “Forever & Always”. She’s always been part of me on every stage of life, when I moved to New York, when I fell in love the first time, when I wanted to focus on my job and work my way up the career ladder - she was always by my side, and in a weird way I felt like I was always on her side, too. 

These past days however, I have been feeling the lowest I have in a very long time. And I think I understand why now. I feel so close and connected to her, more than I ever thought I did. And I don’t think I ever understood that, but in a way I made her happiness my happiness. Knowing that she was in a place in her life, where I always hoped to get to one day was like a security blanket for me on the daily these past years, while facing my own struggles. 

I care for her as an artist. But I care for her even more as a vulnerable, strong, intelligent, kind person who evolves not just in her career, but in her own life. And whilst I am struggling to face all the things that are going on in my own life right now, knowing that this person I care for more than anything is struggling big time, just gave me the final push to the edge. I know that Taylor would want me to take care of myself, and that’s why I need to slowly wash off the emotional attachment glue between Taylor and me, for now. I need to get back on my own feet, wipe away those tears from my cheeks, fix my own crown and start walking on my very own path again. I will definitely be on here (as I always have been) but please don’t wonder why I’m not posting or not reacting as much in the next weeks. I love every single one of you. 

But for now, you’re on your own kid. Yeah you can face this.  

[dekusleftsock]

This is just a quick train of thought post but I still wanna share it

Either way I’ve seen this phenomenon where people hate the mha fandom because of how shippy it is. People want to act like bc this shonen then that means romance hardly exists. But you’ve got to understand how fandom EVOLVES!

I’ve not been in this fandom for long. Maybe since October of 2021. But I HAVE been in other fandoms before. Fnaf, undertale, and Minecraft come to mind first. (The old and new mc fandom btw, yes I watched dsmp. I don’t like the creators now but the fandom taught me how to analyze storytelling so ??? Idk how to feel about the fandom with my fondness lmao) And after a bit of research, pre-existing knowledge I have of the internet as a whole, and a TON of thinking and mulling it over in my head, I’ve come to my personal conclusion of why THIS FANDOM SPECIFICALLY gets so much hate and is so “shippy”.

The actual reason the fandom itself is so focused on ships and characters is because horikoshi writes characters well. Simple as that. It’s a character driven show, and compared to other shonens that’s a bit out of character for a show of the “genre”.

Anyway, let’s give a bit of background to the general internet. Up until about I wanna say, 2018? The internet was really really bad. The main social platforms running the show were YouTube, instagram, Reddit, and Twitter. Tiktok wasn’t exactly a thing, it was musically or however it’s spelled. 4chan was also still relatively popular as was tumblr. Tumblr is an interesting character during this time but I’ll get into that.

The general ideas of the internet were all relatively “right leaning” and cringe culture was still VERY rampant. This is because when the internet and, more specifically, the gaming community was being born the alt right communities that were pretty small migrated to the internet. This made a trade off: in exchange for organizational power they now had more reach. That’s why nazis and bigots have always been so common on the internet. It’s also why a lot of our amab siblings, children, uncles, etc in their teen years were so far gone into the alt right pipeline. It directly targets young white boys who like video games. YT created a lot of parasocial relationships by letting those people get the platforms they did. (I recommend watching “the alt right play book” by innuendo studios, they voice this better than I did)

The anime community, parts of the art community, 4chan/Reddit, and political spaces online were filled to the brim with nazis due to this phenomena.

And here’s comes tiktok. A platform who just gave themself a brand new face and name ready to start the trend of shorter videos instead of images or longer videos. At first, we still have the remnants of the alt right with the furry vs gamer war specifically, and then comes vsco girls. And you know what’s so weird about this trend? They TRIED to memeify it, they TRIED to shame women into not getting metal straws, into not dressing in the certain style. But it was a turning point in the entire worlds political spectrum. More specifically, gen y and gen z.

This was the start of a “new era” on the internet. And TikTok’s algorithm is probably the best one I’ve ever fucking seen! It was able to completely cut people off from different ideas and parts of the platform, while simultaneously sharing content that would make people argue. This, was tiktok 2020. BLM happened as a trend (blm has been around for a lot longer than tiktok, it was just a trend on the platform itself), trumps rallies happened. For the first time organization on a platform fucking worked. It was what the alt right WANTED to do, but never could.

Now, why am I saying all of this? Because tiktok opened the gate to fandom. For the first time since I’ve been on the app, (and I was on in 2018) fandom has started to pop up more. Toh and some anime communities have gotten more popular there.

But given this context, it starts to make sense why people HATE that it’s so shippy. Tumblr was the weird kid of the internet for a long time, and as that’s shifted to being 4chan, I’ve got to say that shipping and the mha fandom (along with other more known “toxic” fandoms) has gotten to a point where it’s more socially acceptable. And since a show like stranger things can now have a fandom, I can solidly say that fandom has become more mainstream because TIKTOK is mainstream.

So, yeah, people hate fandom and more specifically the mha fandom because of nazis. Cringe culture still exists and it’s kinda hard to not think a fandom that’s already been painted as terrible is actually, not all that bad. It’s like literally every other fandom. Stranger things has the same problems we do, death note has the same problems we do. Mha is not an exception.

[secretlywritingstories]

I just came out to someone for the first time in person. I was hanging out with two of my oldest friends and, as it does on occasion, the conversation turned towards dating. I’m the only single one of them and I joked about maybe wanting to get back on Tinder just to try it out and see what’s out there. I don’t think dating apps is the way for how my brain or heart works but it’s still something.

And well, I had an old profile like years ago, but it seemed to have vanished, so I made a new one. Where I set my preferences to how they are. And then before I handed over the phone to them to play around, I did a bit of a pause and considered it. I’d been building up the whole while I’d been setting up the profile, because I knew I was also doing this as a push and an excuse to do this.

It wasn’t the first time I’d considered it. These two gals are my oldest friends, one I’ve known since I was five and the other since I was thirteen, and I knew without a doubt that they’d still love me. Since I’d spoken in gender neutral terms for at least a couple of years, I also had reason to believe that they might have picked up on it a bit. One of them had, but neither really seemed surprised.

And then I sat giggling as they made faces of people’s profiles on Tinder. Evidently, it’s a lot of posing in underwear, no matter the gender. Yeah, I’m not sure that’s the way I might find a partner but still, it was a wonderful bonding moment with my lovely friends and I can’t believe I’m now officially out to someone I haven’t met through the internet.

I didn’t go into the details of romantic attraction versus sexual attraction, or the whole gender reflection thing I am currently considering. I didn’t even use bisexual or demisexual but I got the point across that I don’t really care about gender of people I’m attracted to and that’s a start. I also learned that my oldest friend once had her Tinder set to women and matched with someone who sent her half-nudes on Snapchat, so you learn something new every day. And both of them are happy with their men but actually said that they could understand the whole gender being secondary to personality thing.

I’m just happy it went well, even though I was 99% sure it would. It’s still a lovely thing to feel accepted, and it was chill and nothing much changed, just like I wanted. I’m not someone who’s big and dramatic and this is just another side of me that they hadn’t been formally introduced to yet. Now they have. It still feels a little surreal. I wonder if it’ll feel more real in the morning.

[dark-muse-iris]

Pre-dystopian era truly encapsulates pre 2020 now doesn't it? 😂 The things the last 2 almost 3 years have brought forth in humanity is 👀 disappointing at the best of times.

I'm surprised to see just how the app has changed, as I haven't had the chance to hop on desktop just yet. It seems...almost functioning? No more character limit on asks is nice as now I don't have to break this into 6 different messages 😂 New settings and everything else to try and figure out.

I've turned 24 this last July, and the last time I was truly active on here I was 21 so the personal growth and loss that have come with that is interesting for sure. I've lost both my grandmas in the past year and my living grandfather has already remarried (oh boy the family drama that caused), moved twice and live with my boyfriend of 3 years, have gone NC with his narc family and LC with mine as best as possible, started a job that has me earning the most I ever have financially but definitely have cost a part of my soul 💀😂 and I'm trying my best to get to a place in my life where I'm debt free and in a industry I actually love and care for (cannabis and growing it) and get my boyfriend the disability coverage he needs but I'm sure you're well aware that its a poor joke of trying to get that approved. So on some notes, its been good and I've changed into a better person but also if anything bad happens in 2023 I'm very fragile about it 😂😅

I understand the "striving for mediocrety" as a workplace mentality, and just how exhausting it can feel with wanting to bring better things to the office and just getting shot down. The old dodgers of "this is how we've always done it" dont always seem to realize that doing the same thing for 40+ years only works when the system isn't as broken as it is (or if it even worked in the first place). Is being remote going to give you the chances to take care of your sleep issues and anything else health related thats popped up for you? Ik last I checked you were doing the testing to see if it was more than standard narcolepsy.

(I'll probably message again and finish my thoughts but I am night shift and my break just ended so I gotta head back. It's so nice talking to you again ☺️💕)

I’m sorry to hear about your grandmas. I lost two of mine since 2020 and it’s been really hard on the family. If my grandfather had remarried that quickly, I’d be scratching my head as to how they were able to make it happen. My grandfather doesn’t appear to be dating, but that’s likely because 1) he cooks, and 2) he’s got stage 4 cancer, courtesy of U.S. chemical warfare in Vietnam.

As someone who works in a soul-sucking job that pays well, let me just say: it’s worth it. It is absolutely worth it to have a full belly and warm place to sleep during recession years. When I worked in industries I loved and didn’t have enough to eat, I resented my dreams and hated myself for having them. Letting those dreams go gave me the chance to have other dreams and I’ve been able to forgive myself for being so hard in my early 20s. It can take years to get the life you want, so don’t let anyone shit on you for doing what you have to do to eat in the meantime, especially anyone of the older generations who did their part to suppress our standard of living.

The insistence on clinging to broken systems of the past is one big reason I transferred jobs. There’s a lot of that still going around. My managers were panicking and kept asking why I was leaving; I think they finally understood how far I’m willing to go to make sure “office culture” won’t waste my time anymore. For me, being a remote employee streamlines my workflow and reduces my workplace accommodations for narcolepsy by half. It’s also much easier to manage my ADHD at home where I can remove distractions. In the office, no one was working on our job shit; everyone just gathered around to talk about their kids or health problems or ridiculous work drama they didn’t plan on fixing themselves. I had forgotten how much time people wasted just bitching for nothing. When I hear a complaint, I want to fix the problem and get rid of it, but that wasn’t a good fit. My colleagues wanted free therapy from someone their kid’s age because *surprise* their kid isn’t talking to them anymore.

I’m hopeful for cannabis and glad you’re pursuing the field! It’s not fully legal where I live, but I have many chronically ill family and friends who rely on it because they can’t take meds or afford the healthcare they need. I have some family who are growers in different states where it’s allowed and they’re happy with the work they’re doing. I never had the green thumb for that; I’m the only who would take dead grass and make a basket out of it.

[howboutadancebonnie]

Gettin’ Married

Yikes it's been three years lol okay absolutely wild to think it has been so long since I have updated. 

Big news: Getting married in August! August 25th, 2023. To Patrick Lindros (in case that wasn't clear) Life is really freakin good. Working for the Park still, last year we did Skyrim for adventure camp, it rocked. This year I am planning Lord of the Rings! Very excited about props and costumes for this one.Life at the park is unstable, new boss Serge is freaking weird. Susanne and Dave still have their dick measuring contests. I am just floating along. Always hoping for a promotion.

Wedding planning is pretty much complete. Just have to figure out centerpieces, shoes, and a cake. We are also honeymooning in Ireland for 2 weeks following the wedding! Excited beyond belief to marry Pat. He is the most wonderful partner I could imagine. the growth i have seen in him in just 4 1/2 years is insane. He was becoming more open-minded through college but since I have met him it’s skyrocketed. I love his passion toward everything in life, there's never a problem he can't solve. His love language is solving my problems I think lol He is patient with me, far more than other other person in my life. He listens to understand never to just respond. And best of all he is truly my best friend. there's nothing on this planet I could do that wouldn't be improved with his company. He makes me a better person everyday I am with him. We have gone through hard times, when we aren't on the same page of understanding but nothing so far has proven too hard to work out, and I have faith that nothing will. We have been discussing a lot lately in preparation for our life together. What our values are, opinions on how to raise our children, how to navigate our families and holidays, how to navigate emotional relationships with others. Bringing me to my next point:

I feel a surge in personal growth this past year unlike any time in my life. I feel like my mind has expanded to new ideas and possibilities. Something has clicked with how short life is and wasting time worrying about insignificant things. Also questioning societal norms more and dissecting what is personally important and what I truly do not care about. I've had a war with the people pleasing side of my all my life,  and lately I feel I have gained much more ammo. A stronger will and idea of who I am and what I stand for. Also maintaining the line of consideration and kindness but not letting people bully me into their opinions therefore changing the way I act and feel. Honestly I have a clear vision of who I want to be, my goal, and I feel I am finally on the right track. My anxiety is under control mostly, I have started taking care of myself mentally as well as physically. I garden, I grow, I work out, I keep an open mind and a level head. Those are the things I am focusing on most.

Social life is flourishing, through the larp (oh yeah I larp now) I have made some terrific connections and wonderful new friends. Notably Matt, Jimmy and Harrison who we now have a DnD campaign going with. Matt is our DM, Jimmy is an old cowboy bard, Dave is a young roguish warlock, Harrison is a dwarf tinkerer, and I'm a sorcerer princess centaur. It has been an absolute blast, my first campaign, with such theatrical nerdy people. And the larps themselves have been a terrific chance to spread my wings, work on social skills, and just escape for a weekend. As close as I am to Pat it is great to have that ability to separate from him (distance makes the heart stronger) and do something that is totally mine, an interest we don't share. Dave, Dylan, Patrick and I started larping on Hallowtide in November of 2021, I wasn't sure about it at first. It definitely tested my confidence, but really since I clicked with Matt it has been so rewarding.I talk yo Lili and Jess everyday through an app called Cappucino where we record daily beans. thats been great as a way to stay involved in each others lives on our own time.I don't see much of Gab and Grace, since were so busy working but when I do it's a blast. My bachelorette party is next weekend WOOOO, I cant wait to see all my best friends in one place. 

Family life is unstable, putting it nicely. Jesse and Melissa unfortunately are going through a divorce. A messy one. Arya is 6 and Ozzy is 3. It's been hard on everyone involved. I wish I could do more to help, especially with Arya. But its hard with them living 45 minutes away. Arya did come to one of my nature eaglet classes and she was adorable, she had such a good time. I'm excited for her to come to my camp this summer! Just trying to be a stable influence in her life, I know shes little but I always want her to know I am in her corner. No matter what life throws at her.

And that's pretty much all for now? Hope I don't wait this long to post again. My life is always eventful.

5/16/2023

[theduderdrew]

I’m An Old Man Now

I am now deciding at the ripe age of 26 to write my thoughts out on a *public forum.

It’s been a while. I genuinely cannot remember the last time I was on this app. Which is good. In regards to what I want to use this app for, I’m okay with that. I can’t afford a therapist so I’m good with a bit of discretion.

Where to start, though? So much has happened in my 26 years of life. I kinda wished I would have done this earlier so I could bounce some of these ideas off of something. 26-year-old me and 23-year-old me had vastly different perspectives of the world. Wish I could talk to that kid nowadays. He was bright and bubbly. Hell, 17-year-old me was even more joyful than him. Would be great to get a room with all these versions of myself and discuss what kind of music we like. Maybe what kind of actors we’re obsessed with. Who we are chasing after at the moment romantically. Now that’s a good source of a lot of my unresolved issues lol. Whatever, this is a tangent.

I guess these things will be kind of free form…stream of consciousness?? Sure, whatever comes to mind. That sounds good. I just want to leave something behind I reckon. Something I can look back on and say, “Yeah, that’s me at 26 FOR SURE.” Something to look back on and cringe. I used to write a lot on notebooks. I have a trusty stack of them, but pages are missing. Torn from them because I couldn’t stand to look at stuff I would have wrote while I’m drunk. Or high. Or sad. Or angry. Or happy. Everything involving me gives me the ick. Also, you’ve picked up the lingo “(insert thing here) gives me the ick” Future Drew. Good luck shaking that off.

Where was I? Current way of thinking. So you are in a relationship that has you torn. Torn in a way you were not expecting. All of the friends you have cultivated since high school/college are now contemplating cutting you off (or already have) because you are isolating again. You’ve spent a lot of time with your partner. It’s a personal choice. You really feel completely comfortable with her. She has a ton of flaws, but you love her. You kind of feel trapped because of the amount of love you have for her. But it’s a partner you have actually felt something for. That’s not a dig at the past s/o’s. You have a soft spot for all of them but they set your entire being on fire like this person does. That’s why you can’t get away. You’ve cancelled plans. Cut off your friends. Haven’t reached out. All of your energy belongs to her. Which no one could possibly understand it. It’s unhealthy. You’ve never had healthy relationships to set a system of role modeling on.

Your parents were dysfunctional. Your step dad and mom divorced after a tumultuous 10+ years. They sucked for each other. It wasn’t until your mom and biological sperm donor got back together that you wished for the previous dysfunction. Well, not exactly. That’s not fair. You are so emotionally distant that you can’t possibly give a shit about what your mother decides to do with her romantic life. You only hope she gets the help she absolutely needs. Could be a projection of your own problems, but we all need help right?

Back to the friends. They are tired of my shenanigans. They don’t like the neglect. I don’t blame them, though. In some ways, I believe I’ve outgrown them. But that would imply that you have grown since 17 (*spoiler* you have NOT). To be fair, however, I do have a yearning to reach out to other people. Visit other places. Ingrain myself in other environments that isn’t Atlanta, GA (that is where you live at the moment). The only problem is where you live now (previously mentioned) is owned by one of said friends. You’ve also really hurt her apparently. She cried in front of you, citing that you haven’t been a great friend. The house has been super AWKWARD since. How were you supposed to know though? You were so far up your own ass you couldn’t see the damage you were causing. Now that you are out, smelling the roses, the roses are dying. They have been relocated. Away from you. You’re gonna be alone for a while, so you need to get used to it. Just like your dear old dad.

You have been spending a lot of time with John. He is still selfish. Still a loner. A hermit. A republican? Didn’t see that one coming. You allotted time to spend with him, usually on Monday nights. This is football time for your old man, so you don’t have to talk much. It’s better that way. Better to not address the years I haven’t seen the guy. Keep that elephant in the corner. However, since the breakup, you’ve neglected mom. You can’t even place her. Mom’s divorce has taken her out of the home she knew for 10+ years and into the unknown. And you’re watching football. Fuck you. I don’t care if you are working and it’s the only convenient place, you need to be there for Mom. And you’re not. This Christmas will be the only time in a month you have bothered to hang out with her. That’s hurtful, man. Do better. Stop putting your energy in the things that you have lost before and could lose again (i.e. relationships, your father). That’s a bit unfair. You desperately want to rebuild these relationships into your version of happiness. It could work. But you’ll need to neglect those who were there before your Dad and your current partner. What can you do? How can you juggle? You friends hate the girlfriend you have now. Your mom hates (but actually fucking LOVES) your father. Will the balls stay in the air or fall down with every other lost relationship or friendship you’ve managed to fuck up in the past. Only time will tell. That’s the beauty of this immersive sim game we call life. You can make it your own.

I’m gonna call it a night. I’ve made an ass of myself enough. Hopefully I can private this shit. Good night.

*Touch The Sun - Cryalot*

[hairong]

AAA Interview of Hairong Li: My Research Experience

Dr. Anthony (HoYoung) Ahn, head of the American Academy of Advertising (AAA) communication committee, interviewed Dr. Hairong Li of Michigan State University, the 2022 recipient of the Ivan Preston Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research. Below are the interview questions and his answers.

Question 1: What does AAA mean to you?

AAA means a great deal to me for both personal growth and career development. I first attended the AAA annual conference in 1991 as a doctoral student, and I’ve since missed it only a few times. Over the years, I’ve come to know many of the AAA members. I always have the feeling of a big family reunion at each annual conference, especially during the outing. Socializing is always fun when catching up with old friends, making new friends, and chatting about our lives and things happening around us. Of course, I attend to share my research and to learn what new studies other members are doing for inspiring research ideas. As a result, many of my collaborative projects were initiated at the AAA annual conference.

For example, I got to know Professor John Leckenby of the University of Texas at Austin in the late 1990s when I was a junior faculty member, and our shared interest and passion led to the launch of the Journal of Interactive Advertising in September 2000, which has shaped my research thrust. Also, the AAA funded one of the research proposals I coauthored with my colleague Steve Edwards on the perceived intrusiveness of display ads, resulting in two Journal of Advertising publications, which have been cited over 2,000 times.

The AAA annual and global conferences also were the venue for several pre-conferences and special topics sessions that I chaired or co-chaired with other AAA members, like mobile advertising in 2004, big data in 2014, computational advertising in 2017, and AI for advertising in 2020. These are just some examples of the impact of AAA on my research. I’ve learned so much from these events. I don’t think my career would have been the same without being an AAA member for these years.

Question 2: When you reflect on the past 22 years of academic research regarding digital advertising, what are the findings that you found most interesting regarding the unique effects and implications of digital advertising?

There are so many significant findings in digital advertising research over these years, as highlighted in several recent literature review articles, including those published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Advertising. As digital advertising is an essential part of the digital economy, which plays a significant role in our society, any findings that promote the healthy growth of digital advertising are inherently intriguing to me. More specifically, since our studies on the perceived intrusiveness of display ads in the early 2000s, I have believed that the future of advertising lies in its creativity to offer value, not annoyance, to the consumer.

Thus, I’m interested in the findings that advance our understanding of how consumers perceive and respond to various digital advertising formats. Because digital advertising always runs on digital media, any findings that reveal the attributes, characteristics, and capabilities of the website, mobile app, social media, streaming video, and video games, as well as intelligent media (e.g., virtual assistants, wearables, and chatbots) and virtual media (e.g., AR, VR, and metaverse) are all fascinating. Further, many of these media and associated ad formats are increasingly powered by artificial intelligence and regulated for privacy protection; many studies on the role of AI and regulation in advertising are also appealing to me. A customer-centered approach to studying various uses should produce the most relevant and valuable findings to advance our discipline. Among the recent remarkable are the studies on native advertising and influencer marketing that show these brand messages are less intrusive and more entertaining and thus more effective advertising formats, studies on targeting approaches and methods using anonymous audience identities, studies on strategic consequences of customer privacy concerns, studies on the use of AI for deeper consumer insights and advertising creativity, and studies on the functions of emerging media technology in enhancing real and virtual customer experiences. Of course, there are many more studies of interest beyond this shortlist.

Question 3: When we consider the gap between academic advertising research and the needs of the advertising industry, do you see interesting opportunities for future research?

Academic advertising research has advanced dramatically in recent years, but the gap remains. To address this challenge, I moderated a special topics session on bridging the gap in advertising research between academia and practice at the 2006 AAA annual conference. Although academic research and applied research are supposed to generate knowledge about advertising, each side has its agenda, as the panelists pointed out. Advertising scholars tend to improve the theoretical understanding of the advertising discipline and the precision of research methods, compete for promotion and tenure, and elevate the reputation of their programs. In contrast, advertising managers seek to understand the interactions of various market forces, develop solutions to real-world advertising problems, and generate brand sales and revenues. One of the ideas from that session was that, even if the agendas are different, advertising scholars can do more for their research to be more relevant to those who are trying to make a living in practice, including attending industry events, interacting with managers, collaborating with practitioners, and making research findings more accessible to advertising professionals.

In 2012, we received a grant from Marketing Science Institute in Boston to develop a website for sharing usable research findings. I worked with my colleague Bruce Vanden Burgh and our students to select and curate recent academic articles in the hope that the findings that are easy to understand and use for advertising professionals may have a more significant impact. Due to the lack of continuous funding, the project lasted only two years and ended quietly. To this end, I’m glad to see in recent years, some academic journals have disseminated research findings through podcasts, online webinars, and other formats to extend the influence of academic advertising research to a greater community, including advertising professionals.

Academic studies should be more relevant to advertising professionals. Recently, many online webinars hosted by trade organizations in collaboration with adverting technology companies to address emerging issues, such as the upcoming deprecation of third-party cookies, data clean-rooms for consumer privacy, connected consumer identity, AI-based audience targeting, branding in the metaverse, and empathy for CX success. Some of these issues are worth academic research and have the potential for theoretical advance. Research on these issues may help bridge the gap between academic research and advertising practice.

Question 4: What tips or advice do you have for graduate students and promising/emerging scholars and professors?

Many factors help the development of a successful research career. Based on my experience, I have something to share. First, be forward-looking when selecting research directions and topics. Digital advertising is dynamic and calls for timely research on new, engaging, and relevant topics. Thus, it’s essential for advertising researchers, especially young scholars, to keep abreast of the industry evolutions to identify and explore the topics that have become increasingly important in theory and practice. For example, many future-oriented studies, including our articles on display advertising, virtual experience, and mobile advertising, have received more citations in recent years partly because they addressed subjects still current or pertinent to emerging issues.

Second, taking a multidisciplinary approach to research projects. While psychological concepts and theories remain significant in conceptualizing many phenomena of digital advertising, data science and computer science are more critical in digital advertising, especially in programmatic, computational, and intelligent advertising. Integrating theories and methods from different disciplines into digital advertising research can help open new research territories and result in breakthrough findings. For example, in a recent article published in a major marketing journal, my coauthors and I reviewed and integrated the literature from several fields, such as computer science, psychology, robotics, and communication to develop a conceptual framework for artificial empathy in marketing interactions. The conceptualization and proposition development was only possible with being multidisciplinary.

Third, collaborating with other researchers. Doing rigorous research is often challenging, so working with those with common interests, unique perspectives, and complementary skills can make the research more productive and fun. A good team will motivate each other and mitigate possible frustration from research difficulties. I’m fortunate to have had many coauthors over the years, and I always cherish the days of working as a team member on different projects and sharing the excitement of seeing our articles in the publication.

Besides these suggestions, the most important are hardworking and perseverance. Developing a research program and carrying it out like operating a production line, with some projects in ideation, some in data collection and analysis, some in writing, and some in submission and revision. Submit each paper to the most suitable journal, never give up when a paper is rejected, embrace an invite for even a risky major revision, and take the reviewers’ comments seriously and revise accordingly. I hope these ideas can help graduate students and emerging scholars become more productive and enjoy more of their research.

(Originally published on the AAA website in August 2022)

[kpopgrottolibrary]

Meet the Librarians. :)

Meet Saddie

Hey Everyone I’m Saddie! I’m an avid music lover and through my shuffle adventures on youtube, I’ve become a Kpop fan. It’s been about 10 years since my eyes laid upon the masterpiece known as Growl (by Exo). The second band I came across was VIXX. I don’t know what that says about me but take that into account. I love a good story that involves fluff, a sprinkle of smut, and globs of humor.

Details  ~ ENFP and a Capricorn (you can now cringe about that fact lol.)

Bands/artist I stand ~ Seventeen, Victon, Straykids,The Boyz,CNBLUE,Day6, Kard,BTOB,SF9,Vixx,Pentagon,Monsta x, Ftisland, CIX, Hyolyn, Astro, Exo,SHINee, Gemini, TVXQ!, Henry, DPR, Taemin, Nu’est, Chung Ha, Infinite,VAV, Jessie, Ha Sungwoon, Gaho, Kang Daniel, Ateez, Mamamoo, B.A.P,Gsoul, Woodz, and A.C.E.

Bias ~ Jong Dongwoo, Han Jisung, Lee Know, Lim Sejun, Do Hanse, Kwon Hoshi, Byun Baekhyun, Shin Peniel, Eric Nam, Kino, Minhyuk (MX), Woodz, Do Kyungsoo, JinJIn, and Bobby.

Idols I’d like to fight ~ Hoshi, Wooseok, Mingyu, Key, and MJ. 

Meet Simone Lou

Hello, I’m Simone Lou, mainly go by Lou! nice to meet you. I’m 21 years old, an INFP, bisexual, non-binary(they/she), and somewhat of a new writer here on tumblr, loubouskz, and music lover. I’ve been writing since I was 13, starting on the app wattpad writing about TWD(The Walking Dead), so I’ve had a little practice. XD I mainly write in first person and in lowercase because it feels right.

My start into kpop: I was 11, turning 12 when I found kpop, but I didn’t understand it was kpop, something in a different language. I just knew I liked the songs I was hearing. the song was I Got A Boy by SNSD in 2013. I liked it so much that I made a playlist and added more kpop songs over the years every time something new would pop up in the suggested feed when I watched SNSD. I fully got into kpop on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day when it was coming 2018 with BTS preforming Mic Drop. BTS are the ones who pulled me into this world and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

I currently stan Stray Kids, BTS, Twice, (G)I-dle, Ateez, Stayc, Itzy, Shinee, Red Velvet, Mamamoo, and recently I’ve been forced into 2 new groups - Victon and Pentagon(help). and I stan a few soloists, like Jessi, Psy, Hyolyn, Bobby, Chungha as well. I casually listen to other artists but I don’t stan so yeah. :))  I’ll genuinely listen to anything and most of the time I like the music I hear. I just love it, I just makes me happy.

since Saddie did a fight list, Imma do one too! lol.

Jay Park

Jeon Jungkook

BamBam

Bang Chan

JyPeEe

but yeah that’s me, if feel free to message me on my account or check out my work. :)