#I might start a sideblog for comics and stuff if it’s any good

[drawnaghht]

So! I think I've figured out how to tag both the leosagi and leochi ships.

Since this is mainly a BLOG and not just a random social media page, it will be easier for me to organize the tags as if this were a more traditional blogging site. So I will be trying to keep the tags as few and as relevant as possible.

I'll be mainly using YuiNardo / yuinardo from now on for just the Yuichi Usagi/rottmnt Leo ship, and stuff like my own fanart. it's specifically "show x show" for me (Yuichi x Nardo, bc those are their unique names in their respective shows xD) and not some of the fan OC stuff

leosagi for the general 2003 Miyamoto Usagi/Leonardo ship but maybe also i.e. crossovers where ppl draw all the versions?

katanashipping also for 2003 leosagi? like I guess I'll decide based on how specific it gets (edit 1.05.23) definitely about 2003 leosagi, since that's where it originated from

I'll use 2003 leosagi when it gets more specific i.e. fanfic recs or longform comics which I wanna find later

Rise Leosagi for the 2018 versions that people have made their own, based on the Miyamoto/Leo ship (lol this might be difficult to retag, cuz I'm not sure what I've tagged with what anymore)

Sliderbunny for people's own versions of rottmnt Leo and (both romantic and platonic ships, cuz there aren't as many posts for this anymore)

and I guess Leochi for something more specific? like that's been the tag now for Leo/Yuichi but I'm not sure where it started from so idk how to use it but I guess I'll find out when I see more stuff in the tag lol. might use it just for reblogs/fanart but I’ll see

I can't remember any other names so those are it for now. I probably won’t use the longer names like Yuichi x Leo, Miyamoto x Leonardo etc just bc I find it tedious to use that many spaces in tags when tagging can be sorta annoying to do on mobile and then fix later on PC. I’m more of a “tag and go” kind of person and I like my tags to be easy to write.

like im sorry I write so much (I don't enjoy writing lenghty things) but i legit need to tag like an oldschool blog occasionally bc I ENJOY finding stuff on my own blog later. it just makes sense! it is so confusing going thru multiple tags for the same thing when it could have a singular tag. or a single new tag for a specific use. and I've forgotten to do that after using social media so much for so long lol

anyway this isn't that important i am just chillin and remembered that I thought of this and needed to post it so I wouldn't forget.

more related random thoughts under the cut!

Thinking of that, I guess the tag clogging starts to make sense, considering how much people are more used to the "tag clouds" popularized by twitter and instagram and social-media-like sites before those (the sites inbetween blogging and web 2.0, maybe, but didn't really use those as much so I don't remember either) + the confusion about what the og leosagi was (+ maybe general tmnt fandom confusion over various versions of media for the franchise)

lol it's gonna take a bit long but I'll reorganize the blog more once I have a bit of time on the side from other stuff. now it feels nice that this blog isn't actually that big yet. I don't use sideblogs very long usually and it's my first time actually making anything TMNT related for this long, so it'll be interesting seeing where this blog will go in general. like how it's probably been subtle that while this userhandle/blog started as a tMNT sideblog, I actually have started blogging more about Usagi Chronicles now bc I like the show. and idk what else I'll post if I have time but I will probs keep it as a reblog blog anyways!

I try not to write long blog posts on tumblr anymore but I think the whole "leosagi-leochi tag clogging" point brought up in the "Why do we ship leosagi" video is also just a good point abt how we don't really treat blogs like blogs anymore. every sort of behaviour online has become so influenced by the want to make it trend or have it at least be read at all ("social media" aspect of online behavior now) that even stuff like ao3, a fanfic site, will have tags like "AO3 algothithm, PLEASE be nice to me" when sites like that don't even HAVE algorhithms. it's interesting to think about but also a bit sad on the side because that "tag clouding" does seem to be the only way for some works to become noticed on the above-mentioned actual social media sites. this almost makes me miss sites like deviantart and blogger because things always felt more centralized and easy to find vs twitter, insta or occasionally even tumblr.

ANYWAY

lol all this just to organize my thoughts on ship tags

if you've read this far, lemme know if there are any other tags ppl use? or are there any other types of tagging conventions we should bring back i.e. mashing the names together?

[darwindrawz]

GTFO Team 729 AU fic (no one should read this except Sky)

@skyllion-uwu here it is, sorry it took me so long to figure out how to get it here lmao

Some notes:

- if you are not Sky, please save me the embarrassment and don’t read this. If you do read this, don’t make fun of me for it.

-Tore is Italian-American and has extreme anger issues, Bright is a stuck up ex-spy German asshole, and they both hate each other (at least at first).

-The team is currently trying to find a way to a lab on the upper levels to retrieve a dna sample, but Tore insisted on navigating even though Bright is the scout and he got them lost. Bright then took the map files from him to prevent any further confusion, and they are still fighting about this.

Warnings: lots of swearing, some light angst, Flea being too pure for this world (or the gtfo world I guess)

——————————————————>>

The crackling of the team’s campfire nearly drowned out the screams of sleepers behind a nearby wall, but not enough to put Flea at ease.

He kept one hand on his gun, careful not to let the others see, lest they find out he wasn’t as tough as they all thought he was.

“I’m tellin you, we’ve been headin the wrong way for days now! We’ll never find our way outta this shithole if you don’t fuckin give me the map files!”

He rolled his eyes under his helmet. Tore and Bright were arguing again. Not that it was anything unusual; they were all under stress, and it didn’t help the two’s ongoing feud to be trapped in the same seemingly endless hallway for four days.

“Oh of course, because you know what you’re doing more than any of us do.” Bright snapped back. “Get a grip. You’re acting as immature as that mangy little kid.”

Flea perked up at that. Where was the kid, anyway? He had seen them while they were setting up camp, but now that they had a fire going it seemed that he had skulked off somewhere in the darkness surrounding them.

He stood up, eliciting a glance from Tore and Bright but no questions. “I’m gonna go find...” he trailed off as he realized neither of them were listening, his deep voice muffled by the sound of them chewing each other’s heads off.

“My fuckin rank is “tech”, dumbass! What do you think that means? THAT I’M IN CHARGE OF THE TECH.”

“Ach, verpiss dich!”

“CHE NE DICI DI FOTTERTI?!”

Flea sighed, picking up his gun and stepping into the shadows. Idiots. And he was supposed to be the big strong dumb one.

It wasn’t long before he heard Teeth’s raspy breathing coming from somewhere up ahead in the dingy hallway. Knowing better than to call out to him, he pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on and off several times, shining it at the opposite wall.

There was a pause, and then Flea heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming toward him. Just in case, he put a finger on the trigger of his combat rifle.

“Flea?”

Flea felt his shoulders relax as the kid came into view, holding his helmet in one hand and a nutrient block in the other.

“Hey kid. What’re you doing out here? It’s not safe.” He asked, lowering his flashlight as he realized it was shining directly in Teeth’s eyes.

He barked a gravelly laugh, his sharp teeth exposed. “This whole PLACE isn’t safe. Here is just extra not safe.”

Flea chuckled, shaking his head. Weird kid.

“What are you doing out here?” Teeth asked, spreading his scrawny arms to gesture at the dark hallway.

Flea sighed. “Tore and Bright are-“

“Fighting again.” Teeth groaned dramatically. “Yeah, yeah. What else is new.”

Flea smiled. “Yeah.”

“Hey!” Teeth exclaimed suddenly, making Flea jump. “You wanna see something cool?”

“Uh... sure? Whoah!” He yelled as Teeth grabbed his arm, dragging him into the dark shadow he had come out of at as fast of a pace as he was able.

Well, technically Teeth wasn’t dragging him. Flea was letting himself be dragged by someone half his height, mostly out of confusion and amusement.

Flea couldn’t tell where they were going, but before long he knew they had walked further than he and the others had scouted. The hall looked unfamiliar here, and the screams of sleepers gradually became distant and hushed.

Suddenly, after what Flea judged to be around 20 minutes of stumbling through the dark, Teeth stopped, bouncing on his toes as he grinned up at Flea. “TADA!”

Flea frowned confusedly, looking around. As far as he could see, there was nothing but a dark, empty, grey room with a large pile of old rubble in the center where the ceiling had caved in.

Even if there was nothing, at least there weren’t any sleepers.

He grunted as he felt Teeth’s sharp elbow dig into his side. “No, you big dummy! Up there!”

Flea followed his friend’s gaze, squinting against the light.

Wait, light?

“How...” he murmured in awe and confusion.

Teeth beamed. “Isn’t it great? And it’s MINE, cause I found it. If you climb on top, you can even see the sky-shiners!”

Flea looked down, confused. “Sky-shiners..?”

Teeth nodded vigorously. “Yeah! C’mere, lemme show you!” He said, grabbing Flea’s arm again and “dragging” him up the pile of concrete chunks and metal.

He let go of him once they had reached the summit of the tiny mountain, practically shaking with excitement as he pointed at the hole in the ceiling where the shaft of pale light streamed in. “There! Look!”

Flea took off his helmet, breathing in the fresh air that had somehow, miraculously, found its way to them. He looked up, his mouth falling open in awe as he looked from Teeth to the night sky above them. They must have gotten so lost they somehow ended up in one of the upper levels.

Which explained a lot. Tore had the sense of direction of a blind cow.

“That’s somethin else.” He smiled, feeling peace for the first time in days uncountable as he observed what Teeth had called the “sky-shiners”.

Stars. He means the stars. Poor kid probably either has never seen em, or doesn’t remember what they are.

He glanced at Teeth, who was squinting at the light with a look of pure, unfettered joy on his face. “How’d you find this place?”

Teeth’s face fell and he hesitated, shrugging. “I dunno.” He mumbled. “Just sorta bumped into it I guess.”

Flea raised an eyebrow. “You just happened to bump into a room half a mile away from camp?”

Teeth squirmed under his gaze, picking at the scar that ran across his face without giving an answer.

“Teeth...”

“Alright fine!” Teeth gave in, sighing as he plopped down on the rubble pile cross-legged. “I was tryin to run away, but I got distracted.”

Flea’s eyes widened in surprise. “Run away? To where???”

Teeth shot him a look. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead, ok?!”

Flea stared at him, half in shock and half in sadness that Teeth would just run off like that. They were friends, so he had thought.

He sat down next to him, thinking for a moment before speaking again.

“Why’d you wanna run away?”

Teeth glanced at him. “You wouldn’t get it.”

He scoffed, smiling gently. “Try me, kid.”

His friend sighed, planting his chin in his hands as he stared at the sliver of navy sky above them. “I... I guess I just got sick of it all. Y’know, Tore and Bright fighting, non being able to spit without hitting a sleeper, bein scared all the time... d’you not get tired of all that shit sometimes?”

Flea paused, thinking about his answer. “I do... but we have no other choice. We do what the Warden says, or we’re not around to receive it’s orders. And... even if Tore and Bright are a bit much sometimes, they’re all we’ve got, y’know? You’re all I’ve got. I can’t just give that up.” He finished, smiling passively at the sky.

Teeth was silent for a while, before he burst out laughing. “Wow.” He said in between cackles. “You’re a big cheesy idiot, y’know that?”

Flea laughed. “Maybe. That’s just my opinion though.”

They both went silent for a while, before finally Teeth spoke again in a quieter voice.

“Flea.”

“Mm.”

“D’you think I’m a mutt?”

Flea looked at him confusedly. “What?”

Teeth shrugged, chewing at one of his fingernails. “I dunno. Bright and Tore talk ugly. They say I’m some kinda animal.“

He raised his eyebrows, making a mental note to pound the others into a bloody paste later. “That’s just stupid.”

“Nah. Maybe they’re right. I only got one brain cell, according to Bright. Whatever that means.” He said, flopping down onto his back with a sigh.

“Kid, that’s not true. You might be a little... charismatic at times, but you’re not a mutt. Tore and Bright are the ones with only one brain cell. Whatever that means.” Flea added, smiling at him.

Teeth sniffed. “You’re pretty cool, Flea. Maybe I’ll stick around a while, since you’re not goin nowhere. Besides, how am I gonna prove I got uh... a lotta brain cells if I never see the others again?”

He laughed. “That’s a good point. Maybe you’ll even teach them a thing or two.”

“Yeah.” Teeth grinned.

“Do you want to go back to camp now?”

“Depends. D’you think they’ll be done fighting?” He shrugged.

Flea laughed. “Heh. Never. Maybe they’ll have their panties in less of a twist, though.”

Teeth stood up, dusting off his hands. “Well c’mon then. I got places to be, the team’s not gonna annoy itself.” He joked, looking at an imaginary watch on his wrist and cackling.

He smiled, standing and putting his helmet back on. “Lead the way.”

As his friend took off enthusiastically down the dark hallway, Flea turned and savored one last glimpse of the moon. He missed it; being on the surface. The fresh air, and trees, and no constant petrifying fear of whether or not you’d make it to the next day.

But as he followed Teeth down the twisting concrete passage, and heard the sound of Tore and Bright’s bickering accented voices begin to grow louder, he felt the longing and sadness drain from his weary body. They were his family now, and it was his job to keep them together. And if he was going to die in a dark, filthy, sleeper-ridden shithole, he was going to do it fighting for them.

“Where were you?” Bright asked impatiently, looking up as he and Teeth stepped back into the comforting circle of warmth around their fire.

Teeth snorted. “That’s real sweet, Bright. I didn’t expect you to notice we were gone.”

Flea shot him a silencing look. “We found a way forward.”

Teeth frowned. “We did?”

“Are you serious?” Bright asked, raising his eyebrows.

He nodded. “Teeth found a way to the upper levels. Just where we need to go to get to the labs.”

Bright turned to Teeth skeptically, looking him up and down. “This mutt found a way up that we couldn’t find in four days of scouting?”

“He’s not a mutt.” Flea growled, causing Bright to look back away with a frightened expression on his face. “And yes. Now are you two gonna sit here squawking like an old married couple, or are we going to get out of here?”

Bright glanced at Tores, who flipped him off briefly before nodding at Flea. “Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”

He looked down at his friend, who was shifting uncomfortably under the multitude of eyes locked on him. Flea patted him on the back, smiling even if Teeth couldn’t see it through his helmet. “You’re in charge, kid. Lead the way.”

Teeth grinned, puffing out his chest slightly as the power visibly went straight to his head. “Follow me, assholes!”

Bright and Tore reluctantly followed him as he took off sprinting down the hallway, nearly tripping several times in his excitement. Flea brought up the rear, stomping out their fire as he followed after them, smiling.

Back on the move again, and no sleepers chasing them this time. It looked like everything was going to be ok.

For now, at least.

[copepods]

@prismartist did this and i thought it looked fun :-)

1. why did you choose your url?

1) i like fish, 2) i like berries

2. any sideblogs?

nope! too much work

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

i’ve had this blog since december 2019 but this isnt my first blog, and even then id been lurking for a while

4. do you have a queue tag?

nope! i never queue posts, unless i schedule an art post for the next day

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

got sick of lurking, figured i might as well make another account

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

eret my beloved...

7. why did you choose your header?

thought it looked good w blog colors! also i generally prefer to use my own art on my blog rather than others’ content

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

this very low effort comic. yall really love sbi and found family huh

9. how many mutuals do you have?

idk a lot? how does one even keep track of that

10. how many followers do you have?

3048. where did you all come from

11. how many people do you follow?

437!

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

what even is a shitpost. sometimes i write things i think are funny

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

couple hours? more than i should probably

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

not that i know of.... all chill vibes here

15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

:/

16. do you like tag games?

sure! sometimes ppl tag me in stuff and i dont see it until several months later 😔also i never know who to tag.

17. do you like ask games?

ye! i dont do them very much though

18. which of your mutuals are tumblr famous?

tumblr famous- idk none. reasonably well known within a specific tumblr fanbase- i’ve got a couple?

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

nope!

20. tags?

anyone who wants to can do it :D

[hrmphfft]

controversial opinion time I guess but

hey gang? hey, gang. gang, hey. blaming your fans for them not reblogging your content enough (and saying that they’re Directly Responsible For Tumblr Dying) is an extremely passive aggressive, mean thing to do, and also completely ignores so many other reasons as to why engagement has changed on this site and posts don't circulate like they used to.

for one thing, whenever I see these posts, I rarely see the ops acknowledge the HUGE HIT to tumblr's userbase following the 2018 policy change/implementation of tumblr's terrible content filtering algorithm. tumblr lost roughly 1/3 of its engagement (https://mashable.com/article/tumblr-lost-a-third-of-its-users-after-porn-ban/) and countless content creators with it. some of them migrated to twitter and other sites, some of them seem to have straight-up vanished into thin air, and countless others lost their biggest or main userbase with barely any time to shift gears to something else. that's a huge, website-shaking change! but so often in these 'reblogs vs. likes' posts I don't see anyone acknowledging that and it makes me really upset!

you can't talk about the ways tumblr has undoubtedly changed these last few years and NOT address the nsfw ban! it's completely unfair to your fanbases to shift the blame of the biggest displacement of users the site has ever experienced on...the users who had no say in the policy change and reacted accordingly when the site started softbanning everyone, and filtering all sorts of tags from the search function (including important sfw ones, lest we forget The Entire Furry Fandom on tumblr discovering that basic-ass tags like #furry and #anthro were being blocked when the ban rolled around), and making uploading anything vaguely beige-colored a dice roll. tumblr still hasn't recovered from that, and unfortunately probably never will, not without some hail mary of policy changes and overhauls.

I've seen some pretty ageist shit regarding content engagement as well that tries to paint younger users as just Not Getting how tumblr functions vs. other social media sites like instagram and twitter, and on top of that just showcasing a really uncomfortable disconnect/animosity towards new users whose only crime is being younger than op and also more experienced with other social media platforms, it also is just. it's really unkind? it's super rude? how can you call your followers too clueless to know how reblogging works and then expect them to support your content via reblogging and not feel like you're insulting them until they give you the result you want?

moreover, lots of young/new tumblr users get the gist of tumblr's controls and get it very quickly! technology literacy is becoming more and more a part of everyday life for everyone, and if you really think that a teenager can't understand that reblogging puts a thing on their follower's dashboards, one of the main functionalities of the site (and also very similar to twitter, one of tumblr's main competitors), I really don't know what to say. sometimes people just straight-up don't want to reblog stuff to their blogs, and that's okay.

there's also a tendency to ignore the ways that blogging on tumblr has changed as its userbase has became more well-versed in its functions and, frankly, a portion of the userbase has grown up on this site. when I first started blogging on here, I was 17, I didn't use tags, I commented unrelated (and frankly sometimes really regrettably rude) replies directly onto artist's posts, and I basically just reblogged whatever I vaguely liked, and a lot of things I didn't totally get but thought Looked Cool/Funny so I reblogged anyways.

and that's fine, that's pretty par for the course of being young on the internet and doing whatever you want and having a good time (barring the rudeness, being respectful to people is the ideal), but as time went on my interests changed, my time spent online changed (I went from highschool to college to a full-time job that limits my time on social media), and I began engaging with tumblr's content differently. I made sideblogs for interests and content themes I didn't want on my main blog, I started liking stuff and then going back through my likes to reblog posts later, and generally speaking my number of posts a day dropped and I stopped being able to catch up on my dashboard every single day. and I'm sure my experience isn't unique for some other people on here.

a lot of the tumblr users I've known for a while just don't have the same level of intensity in fandoms like we did years back, not because of any malice or selfish, content-hogging intent, but because our priorities have changed. I definitely miss a lot of things about years past on tumblr when fandoms were booming and new Big Name Creators were cropping up all the time, and to be fair that's still happening on parts of the site if you know where to look! it's just different now. time has passed. people have changed!

that isn't to be defeatist and say that we can't show up for content we enjoy and reblog it, but instead that people can feel differently about stuff they used to adore, and be more particular about one thing or another they reblog, and straight-up miss stuff that they would have really liked but just didn't catch up on for a myriad of reasons. and that's also okay. engagement on tumblr is really, really tied up in personal preferences, and sometimes it feels like it does that more than most other social media sites. this is kind of the wild west of internet presences and everyone operates differently on here as a result.

and probably the most touchy point of all: no one is obligated to give you validation on the internet. no one. not even if they've read all of your fanfics you've worked really fucking hard on for forever and a day, or your comics that you've spent months, years, a lifetime researching and creating, or your beautifully, painstakingly timed and masked fan videos. they can absolutely consume any of these, and more, and they're still not obligated to reblog your work or promote you. it's not fair, yes, and it's completely understandable and super relatable to want recognition for the work you've done and the ways you've brightened other people's lives, but online most of your fans are still total strangers to you, and trying to control the behavior of total strangers because you’re owed their acknowledgement isn’t a healthy mindset to have.

and you can say that any fan of yours stops being a fan after they drop you for you lashing out at them for not unquestioningly giving you space on their blogs like you're owed, but being upset at being accused of bad behavior for what amounts to not wanting to reblog something this time around and changing your opinions based off of that is also a very understandable thing to do.

and that isn't because of any sort of innate cruelty, or pointed attack towards you. it's just because there is always a disconnect between the creator and the creation, and some people will never bridge that gap and engage with you more, or build a parasocial relationship with you, or seek out ways to support you. and plenty of others will do the exact opposite! it's a total dice roll because you're dealing with a lot more people than you realize scrolling past your content, and every person is different, and some of them don't fully understand how reblogs help a creator, and some of them do but just don't want that content on their feed, and none of them are inherently bad people for that.

I'm not saying creators have to be perfectly kind and civil and praise their fans all the time, but when you engage with your followers like it's a battle where you have to keep devising new ways to get them to share your content, it just comes across as super disingenuous, and people cop to that very fast. 

it also, frankly, can make longtime fans who reblog your work regularly feel like their interest doesn't matter, and wasn't good enough, and that then it really is their fault that other people (other STRANGERS ON THE INTERNET) don't engage with your content the way you wanted them to. you don't owe them perfection, but that doesn't mean it isn't still an unkind thing to do.

so like. what can we do about this?

asking users to reblog your work is totally fine and can help! calls to action work more than nothing at all. it's possible to be respectful when asking people to reblog your work without also guilt-tripping them with "likes < reblogs" banners and passive aggressive tags/comments. generally speaking guilt is a really shitty motivational tool, and tends to breed more resentment than actual outcomes people want. like this post for example! I wouldn't have sat down and typed this all out if I didn't resent the hell out of being told I'm, personally, the reason tumblr is demonstrably not an ideal website for building a fanbase anymore. if I had that much power over this website I would have given the whole thing to the xkit team years ago and reveled in a functional website instead.

changing the way you post content might help! every site has its ideal posting days, times, and reasons for why some are ideal for one site and not another. doing a little research (https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/) will yield some potentially helpful tips and tricks that might result in a post reaching more people. utilizing tumblr's search function is also important, and understanding the limits of the tag function (ie. only the first 5 tags of a post are used for tag searches) can help change one's habits to something a little more effective. this is why I tend to leave my tag babbling until after the main fandom/category tags on my posts, so that tumblr's jankass search has a better shot, haha

broadening your online presence can definitely help! this is by far the most terrifying option since it involves branching out onto other social media platforms, some of which really don't lend themselves to whatever fandom/content one produces, so like the other two above it's only a suggestion.

I keep coming back to twitter and instagram, but that's mainly because they're the two other powerhouses of social media right now, though admittedly they only really cater towards visual media (and mainly imagery, not longer video pieces), and they have their own weird quirks to learn and jank to deal with. but given how precarious tumblr's status has become in some ways, trying to build a presence on multiple sites means that you reach more people across the internet, and also means that if tumblr does yet another website-shattering policy change, your eggs aren't all in one basket.

of course these options aren't foolproof, and won't work for everyone in some cases or not at all for others, but my main point in all this is this: tumblr has irrevocably changed, its userbase has changed, and we are limited in the ways we can directly influence it, but there are still options. I'm by far not a social media expert, but then again none of the posts I've seen so far were made by social media experts either, so I honestly don't feel too bad for throwing my hat into the ring while we're all thrashing about in confusion

y'all aren't wrong that things have changed, but I'm begging you to have some compassion and to try not to turn the relationship between creators and consumers of content into a battleground, especially when a lot of the influences on these changes are things entirely outside of any of our's direct control.

also because it makes y'all sound exactly like this:

[cosmicheromp3]

Hi, I’m kinda new to the fandom, and I wanted to read more about dick Grayson and the batfamily. Do you think you could recommend some comics I should start with?

hi, of course! i actually have a comic recs blog @whatthefuckisacomic, where there’s a batfam tag and a dick grayson tag that you can browse, plus a page dedicated to tips for starting out with comics. the batfam is a bit hard to rec for because quality can vary drastically from comic to comic, and it’s hard to go “you might have to read this because the event is important to understand what’s going on, but it’s a pain because the writer sucks”. for a starting point i’ll try to stay away from those, though.

under the read more i more or less ended up following a timeline for dick, but i tried to give you options in case something isn’t up your alley and you want to move on to something else. i hope it’s still easy to follow, and don’t hesitate to ask me any follow up questions! these are all gonna be pre-reboot recommendations, because dick’s characterization was very watered down with the n52 and i frankly prefer to just stick with stuff from before.

let’s get into it!

a good starting point for dick, because it’s easy to read and quite beginner friendly, would be robin: year one – i don’t like chuck dixon’s writing in general, but this is one of the exceptions where i would recommend it. an enjoyable origin story you can also read is batman: year three, published in batman #436-439, which mixes present time events (set after jason todd’s death) with flashbacks to dick’s origin. it’s not necessary to read batman: year one and year two before to understand what’s happening in year three, but they’re important batman stories, so if you’re interested in bruce i’d encourage you to read those too.

while we’re still on origin stories, if you want a comic that goes straight to the facts, thoroughly but superficially, and is quite useful to get a good idea for how dick became robin, formed the teen titans, then became nightwing, you can check out secret origins (1986) #13. just keep in mind that it details the pre-crisis version of events, so some of it has been retconned and it might conflict with other stuff you’ve read, or will read.

personally, i find that dick’s most enjoyable stories happen when he’s with the titans, so i strongly encourage you to check out the new teen titans, if you don’t mind older comics style.

as for dick becoming nightwing, you should read the original story where it happened, which would be the judas contract, an arc published in tales of the teen titans (it’s collected as a tpb for easier reading). marv wolfman recently wrote a story set during this time in the robin 80th anniversary special and it has great dick and bruce characterization imo. i don’t recommend reading the whole special if you’re not familiar with the robins already because there’s a lot of callbacks to other comics, but after you’ve read the judas contract you can check out wolfman’s story at least. again, these follow pre-crisis continuity, but they’re very much worth it.

then there’s the nightwing (1996) solo which is... a mess, mostly. tomasi’s run (collected under nightwing: freefall and nightwing: the great leap) is usually regarded as the best from that comic. other than that this solo can be mostly boring or plain bad at times. i read all 153 issues of it (it was one of my first batfam comics i read), and i’ll say that while it could be a drag it was useful in that following a comic going from 1996 to 2009 helped me find some important events in batman history when it crossed over – same can be said for the robin (1993) solo. i’d only tell you to check it out if you have a lot of time in your hands and very low standards, but please don’t start there. i’m only saying this cause it was useful for me when i was in a moment when i wanted to read everything. if that doesn’t apply to you, better to stay away.

that tangent out of the way, let’s go back to comics i do recommend lmao. nightwing: old friends, new enemies is a good one where he teams up with roy harper. another one to go with my dickroy agenda is outsiders (2003), but before you read that you need to read titans/young justice: graduation day to understand the context under which the outsiders are formed. dick’s characterization during outsiders is very particular because it’s set at a low point in his life after he’s lost donna troy; he might seem different than in other comics, but it’s very important to understand him as a character.

lastly, dick had a pretty solid stint as batman after bruce “died” – i always say that while being batman wasn’t good for dick, dick was good as batman. for this period in his life, you have batman: long shadows, then batman: the black mirror. for more batfam interactions during this time, you can read gates of gotham, and for his relationship with damian there’s batman & robin (2009).

these should give you a good idea of some important things in his character’s history. just as a reassurance: don’t be intimidated by the amount – he’s a very old character so it’s only natural there’s a lot –, and any of these you could probably enjoy without having read everything before (except i wouldn’t recommend you start with a comic like outsiders without being acquainted with his character first, since it has very specific characterization).

as for more general batfam comics, i know a lot of people point to gotham knights for that, but i personally haven’t read it so i can’t speak for it. and i can’t make this post without recommending batgirl (2000), because it’s just great. you might also want to read jason’s death (a death in the family) and tim’s subsequent introduction (a lonely place for dying) just because they’re so often referenced, and i could go on with other important events... but there’s so many i’d rather tell you to follow another character’s reading list, than read important comics without context for the sake of reading them. this is where i plug in my sideblog again; if there’s any other batfam characters you’re interested in reading more about, you can find them listed in the tags page.

as a final note i feel like it’s my duty to encourage you to branch out to comics other than the batfam, which is what people new in the fandom tend to read the most just because it’s the most popular. i still love them and i still read their comics but there’s a lot of good comics for other characters, a lot of them better than many batfam comics since, like i said, they can be a gamble as to their quality. sometimes there’s dynamics that the fandom demands for batfam comics that can actually be found in canon for other dc families.

if you want to branch out but you’re unsure about jumping straight into another family with zero knowledge, i recommend reading team comics that include batfam members and using those to get to know more characters. i actually recommend doing that even if you’re not trying to branch out yet – reading about batfam characters outside of the gotham context, which can be very isolationist, usually adds a different dimension to them and you’ll find interesting takes on these same characters. for example, some of my favourite characterization for tim happens in young justice (1999) – another very fun beginner friendly comic i recommend –, and i enjoy bruce more when he’s with the justice league or alongside superman than i do in his solo comics.

and that’s it! don’t hesitate to ask me or DM me for anything else, and just remember that recommendations are very subjective. when reading comics what usually happens, to me at least, is that you pick something up, maybe leave it for a while, check out something else, come back to the first thing, and so on. while following a list or something you might find a different character that you enjoy and want to know more about, you might see an event that catches your interest, realize you like a writer and want to check out their stuff, and in my opinion allowing yourself to follow what you like is the most effective way to make reading comics an actually enjoyable experience.

i made it into a list in case you don’t want to read through my ramblings every time, ordered a bit better:

robin: year one

batman: year three

optional before: batman year one, batman year two

secret origins (1986) #13

the new teen titans

the judas contract

nightwing: old friends, new enemies

outsiders (2003)

for context read titans/young justice: graduation day

nightwing: freefall

nightwing: the great leap

batman: long shadows

batman & robin (2009)

batman: the black mirror

gates of gotham

not dick specific

batgirl (2000) - for cass

young justice (1999) - for tim

good luck!

[beyondthetemples]

Multimuse RP questions!

{{ I couldn’t figure out which RP blog to stick these on (since I have like. nine), so I figured I’d just skip to the Answering Part over here. =w=

Found here: https://memesfortheroleplayerssoul.tumblr.com/post/163688858676

is there a muse that you wish gets more attention? Honestly? Dove. There are a couple of people who've said they love reading about her, and I'm so absolutely eternally delighted for them, too deeply appreciative for words! A couple friends I met via rping her, and a couple friends I met in Certain discord servers, but that's about it anymore. But she's my baby, you know? I love her, she's amazing, and I wish more people took the time to write stories with her, because she just has so much potential! I mean, yeah, for angst of course, but also for healing and comfort, for action and fantasy, for mystical and mundane plots alike. She's so multi-faceted and fascinating to explore, I just... well, maybe it's more selfish in that I need help exploring some of the more mundane stuff with her. Because if it doesn't really Have Relevance to a Particular Plot, I generally won't wind up writing it, let alone publishing it. :P But this answer's already too long; I could rave about Dove for hours! All I'm trying to say is, I wish more people cared about OCs.

if you HAD to choose, who’s your favorite muse? Favorite to RP with? Far and away, Dove! Favorite for crack RPs, Srentha or Leyla. Favorite canon character is a GIGANTIC toss-up between Raven and Lapis. Favorite characters to explore for personal reasons are Ryou Bakura and Blue Diamond, but I have a hard time bringing myself to actually WRITE about them, for some reason...

is there a muse that not a lot of people roleplay with? (Besides the ones I haven't advertised? ^^';;) Maybe Phobia? She has only ever existed in comic canons-- though she WAS in the Teen Titans Go comics too! (The original series, not the... bastardization). Anyways, she's a much lesser-known muse. And my muse for her is wildly unreliable, she's a volatile and abrasive character, and my inspiration for her has run dry for awhile now...

if you HAD to choose, who’s your least favorite muse? Phobia. o_o See above, actually.

which one of your muses have you been playing the longest? Prooobably Dove? She was the one I started rping with, of course!

which one of your muses has the most ships? Ships in their canon, or ships in my rps? Because you're talking to a demigray here; I don't really do romance? But in my stories, Dove has 3 ships (all at different times in her life). In rps, Dove has been kinda-contemplating-it shipped a couple times, but never got to the point of, you know, kissing... and in fandom, Lapis probably has the most.

what is each of your muses’ otps? notps? ~ Dove and Srentha together~ (Don't have notps for them.) ~ Kary: food? sleep? Her canon boyfriend Eric ~ Leyla has a qpp named Toby in the stories. ~ Raven: I'm demonbirds trash. I don't even know how that happened, honestly. (Notps include B|BRae and, while not as strong of a NO in the jlvtt canon, ter/raven.) ~ Lapis Lazuli: OTP with Peridot! Intensely notp with jasper. ~ Blue Diamond: OTP with Yellow hardcore, no notps to speak of. ~ Phobia: Utterly unexplored??? I think she voluntarily abstains. ~ Ryou: OTP with Joey (thank my girlfriend for that one)! Notp with Yami Bakura, it’s absolutely 100% possibly my most violently-disgusted NOtp yet. Also with Diva because... What The Fuck??? But I won't rant about that just now. ~ Jess: I haven't really done much shipping, though Mistress and Trick are a hella canon, deeply bonded breeding couple. ~ Evangeline? Sorta-OTP with my gf's character Taex, though it's not exactly a ~romantic~ dynamic. Notp with Srentha, probably, considering she'd try to kill him, given the chance, and she’s pissed at Dove for marrying him.

why were you drawn to each one of your characters? Okay, listen, you can't just ask something like this and expect an easy answer! I could write an Actual Legitimate Essay on EACH ONE, because I only write a character when I'm Extremely Highkey Personally Emotionally Inspired by them!

UPDATE: I tried to summarize, I really did! But there's just so MUCH, and it turned into an essay on its own. --> https://beyondthetemples-ooc.tumblr.com/post/189837029682/why-were-you-drawn-to-each-one-of-your-characters

Summaries go like this: Dove is brave, complex enough to delve deeply in and constantly discover new facets of, and inspiring enough to create a positive experience while doing so. Srentha is fun, positive, and passionate, and legitimate ADHD representation. Leyla is a chill miracle child of creativity and quiet passion. Raven is the reason I'm still alive and perfectly reflected me at about age 14, so I have a very deep personal connection to her. Kary is so fun to explore because she's my polar opposite, as a temperamental pyrokinetic who revels in chaos and really just wants to have a good time. Evangeline is everything Dove suppresses, brought to life, so she's fun to explore as an extension of Dove! Lapis has a lot of struggles to explore and has done a lot of healing and growth that I'd like to expand on someday. Blue Diamond and Ryou Bakura were basically literally me, so I can explore the trauma and healing from their perspectives in a safe space. And Phobia? I just wanted to put characters' mettle to the test honestly, and see what would happen.

which muse is the most fun to write for? Oh, Srentha, absolutely hands down! Dove does have the best close-friends casual-fun kind of rp relationships, though. And Mistress the Mismagius has this sardonic teasing sense of humor that always makes me smile, especially with Murky (Murkrow).

is there another muse you’ve been thinking of adding or writing for? who? Oh stars, I don't need another one. =w= I've been... struggling to get my Ryou blog actually up and running for a long while now. Nobody new has inspired me lately, but I'm pretty stuck in my fandom ways.

what is something everyone should know about your muses before interacting? I stick it all in their bios! But, let's see... Dove: Even though she's Raven's half-sister, she keeps it DESPERATELY hidden, and nobody IC is supposed to know about that. Srentha is very deeply rooted in Azarathean pacifism and won't do much in battle besides help people retreat. Leyla has her father's heart condition and can't do anything too active. Kary will rarely use her powers, as conjuring even a simple spark stings her scar badly. Lapis is more than her toxic relationship! Blue Diamond is NOT the dictator she once was! Ryou does NOT want the spirit of the millennium ring in his life anymore! Jess just... sticks mostly to Sinnoh and rarely ever leaves. And Evangeline has a palpable evil aura about her; she makes SURE of it.

what’s a weird headcanon you have for each of your muses? Dove hates pie. Srentha loves colorful things. Leyla will cover everything in glitter if you let her. Kary will do anything for some good food and/or a nap. Ryou's hair is untamable. Lapis doesn't guard her gem as carefully as she should. Blue Diamond may be more emotional, but she won't sing about it as frequently as other Gems. Raven... doesn't wear underwear?

which muse has the most aus or verses? I mean, the Lapis I was writing for was 97% canon divergent. Evangeline only exists as her own person (and not merely a partition of Dove's mind) in a DCUO-compatible timeline. But I don't really do aus or verses otherwise; it's just more stressful for me.

can you sort your muses from youngest to oldest? Sorting based on the ages I'll generally play them: Leyla (8-14), Dove (15-25), Kary (18+), Ryou (19+), Srentha (20+), Jess (22+), Phobia (23+), Lapis (5k+), Blue Diamond (10k+).

which muse is most willing to fight another muse? Oh, definitely Kary. (She won't fight Dove or Leyla, even if there's a really good reason. And Srentha has this weird power of defusing her. But anyone else, she can easily be provoked to fight on a dime.) Or maybe Evangeline, who will fight anyone at any time for any reason whatsoever?

do your muses get along with each other? Evangeline gets along with nobody. Dove/Srentha/Leyla are all a very tight-knit family, and Kary considers herself Dove's sister and Leyla's aunt. I've thought about what might happen if Lapis met Blue Diamond, but I don’t have the faintest idea of how that'd go? I did start an RP once where Lapis met Dove, and I planned to have them bond over homesickness and purpose-seeking, but then I lost the ehd I had that prewritten on, and never had the heart to try rewriting it. Ryou and Jess kinda exist in their own universe's bubble. (Jess has a whole cast of Pokemon creature muses she very much gets along with, though~)

would you ship any of your muses together? who? Dove and Srentha are hella-canon endgame already, that's been decided for like 12 years!

for each muse, is there a character you wish had a blog so you could interact with them? You know, I've never really been one much for wishing like that. I do wish Dove had a stable Raven again, since both of my all-time favorite Raven rpers have left the rp circle... but that's about it, really.

have you ever considered making a multimuse/is it easier having a multimuse? I mean, my Pokemon blog has like 19 muses built into the breeding center... 8F But no, I prefer to keep my drafts, rps, and tag systems for each muse on separate sideblogs. Tumblr's tags break WAY too often to shove them all in one place. (And with a sideblog, I don't have to log in and out every time I want to check for replies!)

which muse is the most problematic towards other muses? Toss-up between Phobia and Evangeline, obviously. Blue Diamond is a reformed Gem, the way I play her. (I don't care what anyone says, THAT'S CANON as HELL too!) But Evangeline actively goes out of her way to hurt and/or sacrifice people to her own ends,

which muse is most likely to make new friends? Probably Leyla, though now that SU has sent out a message across the Gem universe that Gems are welcome on Earth, Lapis could wind up meeting quite a lot of new acquaintances. It's much harder to befriend her, though. Srentha has a lot of charismatic energy too, and he’ll go out and make friends with anyone, given the chance.

which muses’ fandom do you like the best? Ahhh, don't make me CHOOSE like that! ;; Fandom like being a fan of them, or fandom like, liking the other people in the fandom? Because Steven Universe, Teen Titans, and YuGiOh all have incredibly special places in my heart, while having Their Issues amongst the fandom... Pokemon seems to be the best mannered fandom though, especially amidst the RP community.

is there someone playing the same muse/s as you and you really look up to them? Ohgosh, well there's a blog called, I think, melancholeyes?, that plays Blue so well, it's like reading canon scenes. I did see a blog that played a Ryou I respected, but I can't remember their name... and of course Larissa and Pix played great Ravens, but each a different version.

which muse do people send the most asks for? Probably Dove, thanks in large part to Caleb!

which muse is most likely to have kids? Leyla is already Dove's kid, so... 8F

is there a rule that someone keeps breaking for your muses? Not to my knowledge, but my rules aren't strict anyways.

can you sort your muses from weakest to strongest? ...Oh, stars. How am I supposed to sort them? Well, let's try this.

Weakest to strongest in combat (based on their style of choice): Ryou, Leyla, Srentha, Phobia, Evangeline, Jess, Kary, Dove, Lapis, Blue Diamond, Raven. ( * i switched raven and blue diamond around SO many times. both are immensely powerful with god-like abilities, but raven can literally destroy reality itself. so...)

Weakest to strongest by strength of heart and character: Phobia, Evangeline, uh... Kary? Srentha...? Uh... frICK THIS ONE'S HARD. Because they're all so strong in their own ways. Probably Leyla? Next tier is probably Blue, Lapis, and Jess, and Dove, Raven, and Ryou are highest tier.

which muse are you considering deleting? Phobia, and maybe sometimes Blue. (I actually... never got a single RP or follower on Blue. I'm still debating if I really WANT to rp as her, at least on Tumblr, knowing how toxic the fandom can get around the Diamonds...)

most importantly, are you having fun playing each one of your muses? Pretty much! Especially Dove, Srentha, Leyla, and Raven!~ Raven's wit and clipped verbiage can be tricky to for me sometimes, but all it takes is a little tlc on her dialogue, and it doesn't slow down my enjoyment one bit. :} And when I'm in a Pokemon-hyperfocus mood, writing the Pokemon team is ALWAYS a blast! (Especially the Pokemon; their personalities are so dynamic together.) With muses like Lapis and Blue, and even Kary, the mood for their emotionality waxes and wanes, but I don't write for them unless I'm in The Right Frame of Mind to KEEP UP with them, you know? I never push myself in an rp until it's not fun anymore; at least I know where my writing burnout limits are.

Phobia and Evangeline are both sadistic, and when you're a compassionate person, that can be very hard to write out in the painstaking detail of my style. But sometimes my mind just Won't Shut UP about 'Vangie unless I WRITE IT OUT. Which is a good exercise of course, stretching my horizons and all that, and I do love writing the drama and conflict they stir up.

But beyond the momentary discomforts, I'm just so eager to explore their lives and minds and adventures, so yes, I absolutely DO have fun writing for each and every one!

[newlifenewdeath]

Munday Meme

Name: Aesa / Leila

Pronouns: She / Her

Selectivity: I always say I’m semi, but when it comes to following people first I’m always kinda picky.

Favorite animal: Oh, hmmmm I’m gonna fall back on my classic answer: cheetahs!

Favorite muse you’ve had so far ever: Ever? Honestly I’ve gotta say right now it feels like Lola. She’s fun to write as and people are liking the way I write her, and the game hasn’t even released yet. I’ll give honorable mentions to a couple of OCs I rped a while back, a Marvel gal named Trinity and a DC lad named Castor. I miss them to bits.

Muse you kinda wanna pick up: Um, well since I added a verse for the game and have been replaying it and its spin off recently I have to say one of the main trio from inFamous: Second Son. I’ve always wanted to rp as Delsin but I love Fetch ad Eugene just as much. I’m kinda gravitating towards Fetch though when I toy with the idea, even though I’d love to write any of them.

Most identifiable fictional character: This one’s very difficult. Very, very difficult because as I am right now, I’m not sure I can think of anyone that really comes close to being like me. I know when I was younger I identified a lot with Jim Hawkins from Treasure Planet, y’know I was living with just my mom for so long and rarely saw my dad, I wanted to be a good daughter but got caught up in daydreaming all the time. Nowadays though... I’m just not sure.

What color your aura is/think it is: It’s probably a really deep violet, a blue-leaning sort of purple.

Personality stuff you agree with (astrology, mbti, Hogwarts house, etc be as specific as you want!): I may not understand a lot of astrology stuff but my sun sign, Taurus, I 100% am on board with. Y’know, until people are being ridiculous and reducing my sign to “oh I’m always hungry”. I don’t actually care for my Hogwarts House anymore because with the introduction of Ilvermorny it solved the problem I had for so long with Hogwarts’ sorting situation. With them I was always toeing the line between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, both are very mentally-inclind houses and I fit them both. Now I just stick with Horned Serpent at Ilvermorny because their entire premise is about importance placed on one’s mind.

Do you think you’re a good driver: Sure would like to know, if only my anxiety would let me breathe when I get behind the wheel. c:

Favorite minor discourse (pinapple on pizza, what color is the dress, etc): Idk I don’t relly get into the petty discourse that gets super popular. Maybe I can say I love mint ice cream? Like I know there’s a swath of people that think it tastes like toothpaste. They’re wrong, of course.

Favorite vine and/or meme: I don’t really... have favorites. Like I wasn’t really into vine when it was alive and I mean, I just don’t think about memes that much to have a particular favorite? I’m a bland human being, I guess.

Why did you choose this muse: This’ll be a two parter since I have two muses. Lola came about first, as soon as we got the teaser image for Afterparty I was excited beyond belief. I loved Oxenfree and played the shit out of it when it hit ps4. (I’d even have the platinum if I hadn’t fucked up on my last playthrough, oops). And the Night School tumblr posts periodic things with character and concept art, and eventually the first trailer dropped and I lost my shit. I immediately fell if love with Lola and Milo, and I decided awhile back to try and make a different multi blog with Lola, Alex from Oxenfree, and Mae from Night in the Woods. It was a sideblog with a pretty niche audience so things were quiet there. It wasnt until DBH happened that gears really started turning.

Because lemme tell you, I kinda wanted to not like Detroit: BH. I’d watched playthroughs of Beyond Two Souls and heard a lot of good stuff about Heavy Rain’s story. For some reason though I just wasn’t feeling the promotional stuff for DBH. I only decided to check out the playthrough I finished watching because I really love and trust the Youtuber who made it. I didn’t know shit going into except that there were androids and I’d seen glimpses of Kara before. So of course Jesse fucking Williams is in it and sweeps me off my god damn feet. I think I made it through what would amount to a couple of hours of gameplay (broken into parts ofc) before deciding to uproot Lola from her old blog and buddy her up with Markus.

Favorite rp memory: Hmmm. It’s a lot less actual roleplaying and more, I guess more of the acceptance. A few years back, right around the time Agents of SHIELD first aired, I made an OC I actually mentioned up above, Trinity Duvall. I was toying with the idea of making a super powered character that wasn’t necessarily a cape-and-costume kind of gal, because I was like... 17 and had no experience with the original comics or anything other than mainstream superhero stuff at the time. I decided I wanted her powers to not be her own, but tied to a stone that landed inside a meteorite, and that the stone would actually have the soul of an alien being tied to it. It’s a little complicated so I on’t go into details, but I felt at the time like I was taking a gamble. I wrte a couple oneshots about her, applied to a forum rp with her, and eventually ended up doing private rp stories with someone I met through that forum. Never once did I have to change her, she was just welcomed right away. And coming off a shitty run of luck with the first site I’d rped on? It was the confidence boost I really needed.

Favorite thing you’ve written, in rp or not: It might sound a little silly, but I’ve mentioned Defiance on her a couple times so why not. The one story I’m most proud of writing is actually on FF.N, it’s called Fragility. It’s a short oneshot, not even 2k words. At the time I was trying to just write as often as possible even if I hated what I wrote afterwards, but this one... It provides an ending for a character the show kinda leaves in the void. A man comes home from space to find out the whole world has changed, an entire war has left the Earth terraformed with humans and aliens living together. He ends up finding out his wife’s still alive but oops, he’s actually not the real Gordon he’s just an alien that was implanted with Gordon’s memories. Every now and then I go back and read that little story and every time I do I still feel proud.

A line/lyrics/quote/etc you like or that means a lot to you: Nothing really jumped out as a favorite, so I went looking and found this passage I rather like from Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy:  “There’s plenty of folk as’d like to have a lion as a dæmon and they end up with a poodle. And till they learn to be satisfied with what they are, they’re going to be fretful about it. Waste of feeling, that is.”

Give a shout-out to someone: @softestmood has been my best friend for the past year now, and they’ve made me feel loved even when I felt I was worthless. I feel like I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t met Rae, and I’ll always be thankful for that <3

Tagged by: ghost tagged by @oraculideluna, anoter sweetheart~

Tagging: @flawedcodinq @justmachincs @disciplinarynovel

[wedding-shemp]

tagged by @petty-petty-petty-petty!

Nicknames: none, I’m too lame

Gender: female

Sign: Aries

Height: 5'7"

Time: 9:09 pm

Birthday: 4/6

Fav bands: Gorillaz, The Clash, Ramones, White Stripes, The Beatles, Kero Kero Bonito, Nirvana, Metric, They Might Be Giants

Fav solo artists: Lorde, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Little Simz, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Lou Reed

Song stuck in my head: the Octonauts theme song

Last movie I saw: The Big Lebowski

Last show I watched: Futurama

When did I create my blog: like June 2016 I think?  I didn’t start using Tumbklr regularly till that October though 

What do I post: shitposts, art, and Gorillaz (and probably some other stuff, idk)

Last thing I Googled: “Grim Fandango crocodile”

Do I have any other blogs: yep! I have an art blog @missfortune-art, plus I run @incorrectgrimfandangoquotes (I also have like a million inactive sideblogs and saved urls)

Do I get asks: nopw and then, and they’re almost always pleasant. 

Why did I chose my URL: Miss Fortune was my roller derby name (it’s kinda sorta after a rare cat from Neko Atsume)

Following: 600+ I think?

Followed by: 182 

Average hours of Sleep: I’m on vacation right now and I’m getting like 10 hours and it’s awesome. During the school year I only sleep like 6 or 7 tops tho :(

Instruments: guitar and ocarina 

What I am wearing: leggings, Clash tee shirt, hoodie

Dream job: indie comic artist

Dream trip: Osaka

Fav food: sushi!

Fav song: If I have to choose just one, I’ll say Weird Science by Oingo Boingo

 Last book I read: `Do comic books count? Cause the last comic I read was Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life.  I’m trash who never reads and I honestly can’t remember the last book I read all the way through lmaooo

Top 3 fictional universes I wanna join: Uhhhhh I guess Disney Big Hero 6 cause San Fransokyo is freaking awesome, Gorillaz cause I wanna smooch 2D, and, I dunno, maybe Naruto? I’d make a good ninja probably.

[smallstudyblring]

Lately I have received many DMs asking for advice on how to get noticed, how to get followers or advice on similar matters from people who have just a couple posts, if anything. So cheers on you guys for taking the first step, and I hope I can help you more throughout your journey! Now, onto the post: advice on how to start a studyblr.

Also, it’s going to be a long post. Therefore… Welcome to our GUIDE TO START A STUDYBLR

WHY STARTING A STUDYBLR

There are many reasons you might be thinking about getting started. You might be looking for some extra motivation, wanting to motivate others, the aesthetic or just to give it a try and see if you like it. Everything is a good reason to start posting!

WHAT DO I NEED TO START A STUDYBLR

First, let’s get one thing straight: the Aesthetic™ , AKA MacBooks, muji pens and moleskine journals should not stress you. Yeah, it’s cool. But you don’t need any of these things to start a studyblr. Just that curiosity that pushes you to learn and motivation to start one. Also, take small steps! Your goal might be achieving The Aesthetic, but that takes practise and hard work, not MacBooks or expensive ink. You can handletter with stabilos. Or with Milan markers from the corner shop. So no, you don’t need loads of money to start a studyblr: just start posting.

OK, I GET IT, I SHOULD JUST START A STUDYBLR RIGHT NOW. BUT HOW?

WHERE TO START: MAIN BLOG OR SIDEBLOG?

A good place to start is deciding if your studyblr is going to be a side blog or a main blog. For the newbies: you can only like, follow and make asks from your main blogs, but you can only have a blog with several authors and protected with a password with your side blog.

THE URL

Then, you should choose a URL. Most people just use their name and add “studies” or “academics” or something like that, like @emmastudies or @juliasacads. You can go more imaginative, like @studytherin or @brainiakk, but it would be good if your URL is related with studies in some way, it will be easier to find.

NOW, ONTO THE ICON.

You are going to need an icon. This icon is going to be your presentation card, so it better be good, following your taste and aesthetic and related to studies. People are going to see your posts reblogs by other people in their feed, and the only thing they will see of you, apart from the post itself, is your icon. So no pressure.

Some good places to create your own icon are canva or PicsArt, but canva is easier to use and has some great ready-to-wear templates, so I’d go for that one.

TIP: if you use letters in your icon, make sure they’re big enough to be seen when the icon is in use.

YOUR APPEARANCE AND THEME

Your appearance is how people see your blog when they’re in the app. Your theme is how they see it when they’re either logged into Tumblr and decide to stalk you or searching specifically for your prompt blog in a web browser.

Here you have @studylex’s appearance in the app:

And here you have the blog when you look her up/click on her username from your computer:

Her blog is so pretty because of her theme. If she didn’t have a theme, that’s how blogs look:

Yeah I know that’s an empty blog I created to show this. But you get the idea: a theme does wonders.

Themes are custom designs, which have a code you can change to make the blog look more according to your likes. You can choose among an almost infinite amount of them, and they are usually customizable from a tool bar, so you won’t have to learn programming for it. If you want to though, take a look here.

As I said before, themes are really varied so you don’t need to customize them much. You can find themes just by searching “Tumblr themes” in Google, or using this link, this one, or this one.

YOUR DESCRIPTION

You will have probably noticed the description most people in Tumblr have, and (although this part is very easy) you might be wondering what to put there.

Most studyblrs do something like this description by @chemathetics:

It says their level of studies, their subjects, their name and sometimes their age. Usually also their Hogwarts house because everyone is a fan of Harry Potter, and it’s surprising how much you know about one person once they tell you their Hogwarts house.

Most studyblrs also have a tag they track. If you are going to do this, it should also be specified in the description. 

TIP: Make sure you tag is not something like #hello because then you’ll go crazy trying to deal with the amount of posts using that tag.

You will also see some people using links in their descriptions, usually to their answered asks and their original posts. This way (taken from @studytherin’s blog)

Although some themes have options to do this, the best way is to use a tag system to keep your blog well organised and tidy, and add the links to your tagged “x” posts. If you browse https://blogname.tumblr.com/tagged/tag, you’ll see. To create a link to a specific tag inside your blog and add it to your description, do that, you will have to use HTML and insert it into your description from the edit option of your theme. THIS WILL NOT WORK IF YOU TRY TO ADD IT FROM THE APP. I will soon make as post with basic HTML functions, but here’s what you will have to use anyway: 

link text

In the url part, add https://blogname.tumblr.com/tagged/tag. In the link text part, whatever you want to be shown in your description link.

Then, of course, you will have to be careful to keep a good tag system. Think about the things you want to separate and DON’T FORGET WHAT TAGS YOU ARE USING!! Also, be careful for typos.

Some tags you can use to organise your blog are #original for your original posts, #inspo for those posts that make you want to sit down and study, #bujo for your bujo posts… yeah, you get it.

TIP: Since you specified that the link will go to the posts tagged #tag INSIDE YOUR BLOG, theres no problem if you use a simple tag (the #hello example would work here, the link would only display the #hello tagged posts INSIDE your blog)

SO MY BLOG IS DRESSED FOR A PARTY. WHAT NOW?

You said it: your blog looks awesome. Now you should get started on the content. Firstly, your intro.

Here’s how a normal studyblr intro looks like:

THINGS YOU SHOLD SAY IN YOUR INTRO:

Your name and age (if you are comfortable enough)

Your study level

The subjects you are taking and what you will be posting about: for example, if you are going to be a langblr or a sciencblr.

What made you want to start a studyblr

A little insight into you: do you like reading, watching movies, comics, a music group…

Some stdyblrs that inspire you. You shouldn’t fill your post with 100 names, but maybe up to 50 people its fine. You should just add @theirusername , and they will receive a notification and very likely reblog your posts and welcome you in some way. Thats one of the coolest parts of the studyblr community: how supportive it is.

TAGS TO USE IN YOUR INTRO POST.

#newstudyblr: some people track it

#intro post

#studyblr,#studyspo, etc

The tag system in tumblr is to be taken into account too: only the first five tags show up in most people’s search engines. This means that you can use as many tags as you want, but most people people will only be able to find your post using the first five tags. So, use them well!

TIP: tag it first with what it is: #bujo, #langblr, #studyblr. Then use the next few tags for tags other people track, so they will be able to find your post. You can add your organization tag past the five tags, because since its a search inside your own blog, the five tag rule doesn’t apply. You can add as many funny tags as you want later, like #im so bored.

There you go! You published your first official post as a studyblr!! Now, how should I keep it alive, gaining followers and reblogs and making studyblr friends?

Your intro post should work pretty well with that: with the personal information you provided (what you like, etc) people with similar interests might message you. With your study level and subjects, people who are doing similar things/running similar blogs will follow you. With tagging people, your post will be reblogged and reach a wider number of people. So your intro post will get you your first followers. Now you just have to stay active! The studyblr community is incredibly nice, so you can message most studyblrs anytime, and ask them how they’re feeling that day, or make some asks about how they take pictures or stuff like that. There are also a lot of networks and studygroups you can join that will help you meet other studyblrs. Don’t hesitate joining them!

The key to keep your blog alive is to keep posting. I know its hard to post original content everyday, but reblogging content is easy, so do it! Be careul to reblog only studyblr related stuff. I love harry styles, but I have another account for that. Original content is what gives your blog its true meaning, so DO NOT JUST STOP WITH IT. And again, if you dont reach the level of @emmastudies or @juliasacads‘s original posts just yet, do not lose faith! Those amazing looking posts take practise! Ask them for advice and keep trying, having a studyblr is not just about posting nice stuff, but also about becoming better and better.

I wish you the best with your new studyblr!

[just-another-busy-fangirl]

About Me

Hello Everyone!  I’m Laura.  Welcome to my tumblr.  

Here you will see many things that interest me, including but not limited to the following:

Fandom commentary

TV Shows I like: Agent Carter, Agents of Shield, Angel, Bones, The Boys, Buffy, DCTV/Arrowverse, Derry Girls, Disney+ MCU, Doctor Who, Doom Patrol, Firefly, Game of Thrones, Gilmore Girls, Good Omens, Heartstopper, Locke & Key, Lucifer, The Magicians, Merlin, Our Flag Means Death, Schitt’s Creek, Shadow and Bone, Smallville, Stranger Things, Supernatural, Superman and Lois, Teen Wolf (except all Sterek goes on my sideblog @sourmiguel), The Umbrella Academy, The Vampire Diaries (et al), What We Do in the Shadows, The Witcher, Wynonna Earp

Movies I like: The MCU, American Assassin, Disney, Flackback (The Education of Frederick Fitzell), Knives Out, LOTR, Love and Monsters, Maze Runner, The Mummy, The Old Guard, Serenity, Star Trek, Star Wars, Ten Inch Hero

Books I like: Harry Potter, Maze Runner, Comics (and lots of others but I don’t really post much book stuff here)

Musicals or Stage Performers

People I like: Ackles Fam, Alan Tudyk, Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Bradley James, Chris Evans, Colton Haynes, David Tennant, Dylan O’Brien, Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson, Grant Gustin, Hannah and Hilly Hindi, Hayley Atwell, Ian McKellen, John Barrowman, Jonathan Groff, Julie Andrews, Lin Manuel Miranda, Melissa Benoist, Misha Collins, Nathan Fillion, NPH, Padalecki Fam, Patrick Stewart, Sebastian Stan, Stephen Amell, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Tom Felton, Tom Holland, Tyler Hoechlin, Zendaya

Writing Tips and Advice and Help

Knitting Projects, patterns, items I like and might make someday

My Cats and Dogs (really any and all animals will show up here and there, especially cats, dogs, and sloths)

Artist Boosts

Introvert Things

Music Things 

Teacher Things

If you want to know more about me...

I’m a 30-something self-employed musician (pianist, piano and voice teacher, musical director) and live in Texas with my husband and two cats (Jake and Elwood) and two dogs (Luna and Rosie).  I’ve been on tumblr for a while now, started posting my SPN writing in August 2016, and Teen Wolf and The Maze Runner writing in fall 2020. Pre-tumblr I lived on fanfiction.net in the HP universe...reading, writing, beta-ing.

My masterlist is HERE

@atc74 has deemed me the Empress of Erotica, so hopefully I keep up with that title! :)

My requests are semi-open.  I will take requests for my bingo cards and Kink List, if you want to visit those via my masterlist.

I am available to beta, if you want me to.  Please email me at justanotherbusyfangirl @ gmail . com (take out the spaces) or contact me on Discord at laura.kay if you want me to beta.  GoogleDocs makes that super easy.

Like my writing?  Leave me a tip!

If you are a writer, please tag me!  I love finding new people, and compile a weekly fic rec list (it’s not terribly weekly anymore, but that’s alright) that I am always wanting to find fresh people to include on.

Want to join my tag team?  Fill out the google form HERE

I used to co-run @spnfamilybirthdays along with @katymacsupernatural and @atc74. We have retired the blog after a little over two years, and are thankful to everyone who supported us with that project!  :) 

I am a mod on @spnkinkevents, @spnrareships, @sterekhallmarkholiday, @deanandcasbingo​, @samwinchesterbingo​, @deanandsambingo​, @spnluciferbingo​, @castiel-bingo​

I was also a mod on @supernaturaltropecelebration, @spnrareshipbingo, @spnabobingo, @spnpolybingo, @heavenandhellbingo, @swansongbingo before they dissolved.​

I have a Sterek sideblog @sourmiguel because I have no chill about those two.

And here’s my Unpopular Opinion, and Another Unpopular Opinion.  :)

updated sept 2023

[sunxking]

yikes do u have any advice for someone who's new to tumblr rping?? i'm asking u bc u seem super nice & i really love ur blog /w\

O U T   O F   S U N L I G H T

Hello There! Thank you so much for you kind words! And may I be one of the first to welcome you to the Roleplay Community on Tumblr, as well as ( more specifically?) to the Comicbook Fandom! I’ve been exactly where you are now, my friend, as a veteran of RP from other sites and venues, newly branching into this hot little mecca of writing known as Tumblr!

                                               I think you’re really going to like it here. :) 

Tumblr is an expansive universe where the possibilities are limitless, both within and beyond the fandom your character might originally hail from. It is the birthplace of some truly wonderful things, like SuperWhoLock, Batfamily Shenanigans, and Redemption from Marvel’s Civil War 2 trash. On here, all those usual rules that controlled the way you wrote your character in an RP Community or chat room no longer exist, granting you freedom to interpret them any way you wish (or multiple ways in multiple settings!). Many fandom, like the DC Comics Fandom, are populated by passionate and friendly writers who want to interact with others that feel just as strongly about the universe as they do!

But, and I’m sure you’ve heard this, RPing on Tumblr is not for the faint of heart. All those things that make this place a source of creativity and inspiration also allow for some serious issues. The site itself can be a challenge, not really designed for intuitive, flowing RP threads. The atmosphere of a fandom, usually so positive, is also constantly changing in nature, and populated heavily by free variables (i.e. people), so that there are no comfort zones for anyone involved.

On one hand, this will make you a better writer, a more conscientious interpreter of character motives, and a much stronger RPer overall. On the other hand…. well, even the best fandoms have their fair share of abuse, and no one is immune to having their feelings hurt.

Knowing all this, me and my fellow roleplayers still come online to write our hearts out everyday, because we love to write and Tumblr is hands-down one of the most prolific places for Roleplay on the internet. And I’ll tell you this, lovely anon, hard as it is, tumblr RP is also a breeding ground for wonderful and meaningful friendships that will last far longer than even the strongest OTP. That’s why I’m so pleased to heard that you are willing to give Tumblr RP a try, even if you don’t feel totally certain about how to start.

As for me, I look forward to seeing you in the this fandom community (or perhaps another!) and possibly interacting with you in the future. Thank you so much for trusting me enough with your question. I’m certainly not an expert on being a successful roleplayer (some days I make a potato look like a better talent than me!), but I hope I can offer a few small pointers that might help you get started on your way to RP glory.

First of all, regardless of whatever fandom has caught your fancy, I suggest you research the atmosphere of the RP community here on Tumblr. Use the search feature to scope out RP tags for the fandom, spot promos for characters, and stalk any RP communities currently seeking applications on the site.  All this information will give you a feel for the type of RP experience you’ll have while in that fandom., and may influence your decision to take up a certain character.

If you have a personal tumblr blog, but you want to RP a character in a fandom, then I highly recommend you make another (completely separate) tumblr blog. Sideblogs are nice, but they don’t work well when you’re following others and want to interact via asks, replies etc. Things can get very confusing, very fast, especially in the activity feed!

Many people swear by their ‘About’ pages, and that’s a good thing. Once you’ve created your character blog and start reaching out to others, most RPers on tumblr will bee-line for your ‘About’ or ‘Rules’ page as soon as they see you’ve followed them. This is a courtesy so they can know how to best approach your character and what the important details should be known when RPing with you. So, to hedge your bets in a good way, always make an About Page and include all vital details about your character on it!

Also, keep in mind, there is no wrong way to write an About Page. You can check other RPers’ blogs for examples, but just write it however most makes sense to you. As long as it gives the reader an understanding of your vision with your character, that’s what matters.

Sometimes when you’re starting out, especially if you’re playing an OC or a lesser known Canon character, you’re going to have to be the brave one that reaches out to others and asks for threads. Just posting opens and following other blogs might not get you the responses you hope for, and I don’t want that to discourage you. Don’t be afraid to (respectfully) go after the RPer you’re interested in writing with, I guarantee they’re all super nice people and they will respond favorably to your interest in them!

Depending on the type of person you are, I would recommend possibly getting an instant messenger account for your RP blogs. I know that Tumblr messenger exists, but many RPers prefer to limit access to who can message them via that interface. The most popular instant messenger choices on tumblr are Skype, Kik, and Discord. This is certainly Not a requirement, and please don’t feel pressured to get an account if you are not comfortable with talking to strangers via instant messenger. But, if you love to spazz out over your fandom, and you love to share plot ideas and headcanons, then you will find a great many fast friends in the RP fandoms on tumblr. So many writers (me included!) love to share their inspiration in this quick way, and translate it to writing on the site!

Learn the fine art of tagging posts. Tags are just about the only thing we Tumblr RPers have as a search filter on this website, and some of us follow certain tags religiously. And I don’t just mean our tumblr url, I mean anything we feel is relevant to our character. For example, I track the tags: #sunxking, #apollo, #midnighterandapollo, #midnighter, #TheAuthority, etc. I also generously tag anything I post so that I can easily find it again on my blog, or provide navigation links to it for others to find. (such as #openstarter for all my Apollo RP opens). Additionally, I feel it’s important to be careful in tagging for triggering posts. I always tag with the keyword of the triggering content, and append the triggering keyword with either ‘ts’ (for tumblr savior) or ‘tw’ for “trigger warning.” Keep in mind that if you’re tagging an original post (not a reblog) that only the first five tags are picked up by the tumblr search engine. 

Stay open minded. And I don’t just mean in regards to crossovers and alternate universes. There will be RPers that you will meet that may interpret a well-known character in a way that seems entirely contradictory to how you envision them. And you may like it… or you may not. But sometimes thinking outside of the box produces great rewards, and you never know what innovative idea might spring out of a crack conversation. Regardless, always follow the rule of thumb: Respect others and lead with kindness.

Hopefully these initial pointers will help you hit the ground running with an RP blog on tumblr! There are other things people focus on, like the right theme, or text formatting… but that stuff doesn’t really matter to me. Personally, as long as your writing content reflects your dedication to your character, I am interested in reading it!

Again, Welcome to this amazing place, and I wish you all the success and fun with your character. 

Best of Luck!

– Red