#I’ve already seen a Tumblr post and a Twitter thread long ago about this

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

lab safety protocols

… The TWST boys don’t follow them OTL

I know it’s just to look cool but it still bothers me 😂 especially Trey and Rook, who in Science Club… yet Trey has his coat open and Rook didn’t put away his hat or tie his hair back… yes, I’m shaming them/j

[bladedweaponsandswishycoats]

NiF pre-watch knowledge!

Okay so I am probably finally going to watch Nirvana in Fire. So before I do, I shall do the usual (is it usual? I know some others have done it) list of What I Know So Far, on the basis of ambient cdrama fandom osmosis.

Note: I did read at some point a while ago that other 'fandom osmosis summary of NiF' but that person knew more than me and the stuff they said did not stick in my memory much. This summary is mostly from my friends' random comments + tumblr and twitter overlap. I look forward to being amused at how wrong I am, after.

So, what I know:

I do not actually know who the main characters are, though I am sure I've heard half a dozen names at least. The characters whose names I can remember are Mei Changsu, Mu Nihuang, and (?) Jingyan. As a result, most of the following points start with "somebody" because I do not know who.

Somebody has a birthday party. It goes very badly. I guess somebody, or maybe everybody, gets murdered? I have just seen people on the internet say "don't let Mei Changsu plan/come to your birthday party." I guess it must end up being a massacre, probably, and I guess his fault/plan? I am unclear whether he is the protagonist of the show or not. I kind of hope he is. If it is NOT him, I do not know who it is, since people mention him by name more than others.

There was fighting a long time ago and it is shown in flashbacks which include Zhang Zhehan, briefly, as somebody's younger self.

But most of the present story isn't really fighting, at least to judge from gifsets.

Somebody goes away? Is dead or thought dead? For a long time but then comes back for revenge. He has a bunch of secret identities.

And there's one person who likes him who knows who he is, maybe? Maybe also who helped him? I think things might be sad for the helper friend, but I am not sure.

Somebody is in prison for something and doesn't care about dying. Idk if it is the same as the above person who went away and came back, though. (This caught my attention because someone mentioned it in a meme or something and I am always on board for a character you cannot threaten because they're already planning to die.)

Revenge™

Yeti? Someone gets made into one magically or something? Except there's not really magic otherwise?

There is some kind of struggle for power, by some princes I guess. Possibly this involves trying to pull the jianghu powers into court affairs, but I'm not entirely sure (it was briefly mentioned in that wuxia context thread on twitter).

Some of my friends like Jingyan. I don't know who that is, but I recognize the name.

Mu Nihuang is a woman and might be a badass fighter. I only know this because I volunteered to beta a friend's fic which was about her. I have no idea if she is in more than like 2 minutes of it or not, though.

I do not know of any other specific women in it by name, but people have said they get treated better than in some of the other recent cdramas I've watched, ie not dying/fridging etc., so I assume there must be some more.

There is serious intense staring. I have seen gifs.

The costumes and sets are very good!! Some of this I have already noticed in gifs. Also I have heard it filmed at more places than Hengdian. Which means maybe there will be surprising new scenery! Also it had a big budget, I heard, so should be pretty.

There is a funeral at some point where the costume and ritual procedure were notably well-researched representations of (???) funerary rites, according to a post where Hunxi-guilai was talking enthusiastically about them and the show.

There is something / a relationship people say is gayyyy, although there is also a straight love interest maybe, but I know nothing about her. (But I am assuming that after SHL the degree of gay is going to be comparatively little so I will try not expect anything. That is probably true for all of media, tbh...)

In the latter episodes, everything is great until the last episode, and then it all goes terribly wrong. I would guess since people have said it is BE, there must be a massacre or something. But it is not the Bad Birthday, which happens somewhat(?) early in the show. However I also have a vague sense that the protagonist does accomplish his goal, somehow? I don't know if this means it's a pyrrhic victory or what, though.

A lot of people say it is the best show ever, but nobody ever really says why.

(I do not mind spoilers, so no worries if y'all put anything in the comments/tags.)

[foundthe8wing]

Okay, doing this over here because my main tumblr is usually a place for me to vibe and I don’t want all the bullshit tied to that account, but basically: I’m really angry and disappointed with the dndads cast for how they’ve put a lot of the minors in their fanbase in danger. Everything below is a repost from twitter (with permission from the OP, crypticjoy), and I’ll link the thread in a reblog. 

Under a cut because it’s long and potentially triggering (content warnings for grooming, sexualizing minors, and sexual assault)

[OP tagged the relevant cast accounts; I added slashes here bc I’m not sure if those same urls exist on tumblr and I don’t want to be randomly tagging people over here]

5:49 PM Sep 5, 2020

“I don’t usually do this, but: the way that the cast of @/dungeonsanddads engages with their audience is actively dangerous to minors, and they need to get it together. (cw for discussion of grooming, sexualizing minors, sexual assault)

First off, there are some iffy jokes and situations in the podcast itself. I’m not going to get into all of it right here, but have a google doc: [doc will also be linked in reblog]

Yes, the kids in #dndads are fictional, but that doesn’t mean this stuff doesn’t affect real kids listening. a. it normalizes talking/joking about kids in that way and b. There’s a lot of inconsistancy and confusion on the lines they draw--

Paeden saying “baby” is weird but Ron sitting in Terry Jr’s lap isn’t? I’m confused. You know who the fuck relies on that type of confusion and unclarity? Fucking predators

And I’m not saying every in-character decision has to be perfectly moral or acceptable, but the way the cast, out of character, discuss what’s weird and what’s not sends a lot of mixed messages. And that’s legitimately dangerous.

So then you take all of this, and you add a patron discord server that lets nsfw discussions run virtually unchecked--you create a fandom space that allows adults to discuss kinks, and porn searches, and just, all this other stuff, with teenagers...

... and it becomes a breeding ground for grooming and abuse.

The creators aren’t responsible for babysitting their fanbase or for how people engage with their content outside of their spaces (though, again, I’d urge them to be very careful about what kind of messages they’re sending)

But  they ARE responsible for taking basic steps to keep the spaces that THEY create and engage with safe.

“But the rules for the server say 18+!” The rules say you have to be 18 *or have parental permission.* They also say to keep things PG-13. That’s vastly different than establishing something as an adult-only/nsfw space.

“Minors shouldn’t be joining/listening anyway!” The cast can’t control who listens and neither can I, but there’s a difference between knowing teens are listening to you discuss sex with your adult friends vs facilitating conversations between teens and adults on those topics.

“If people are uncomfortable they can just leave.” First off, this situation isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s unSAFE. Second: fuck that. It’s not on minors to set and maintain boundaries about this stuff; a lot of them literally do not know how

Not because they’re stupid, but because they’re young and inexperienced. It’s the responsibility of adults to set and enforce healthy boundaries around sexual discussions, and this particular group of adults has done a fucking terrible job

(Maybe don’t encourage listeners to DM you about kinks! Maybe especially don’t do that when you’ve communicated, intentionally or not, that making and escalating sexual jokes is a really good way to get a reaction from you guys)

I get that they didn’t expect to have so many young listeners, but to be aware of that fact and make no adjustments whatsoever is irresponsible and it WILL lead to someone getting hurt. Does their “young, thirsty, female” audience only exist to them when they can laugh about it?

And let’s be absolutely 1000% clear: this isn’t an issue they’re unaware of. The stuff I’m talking about is an ongoing problem with how their server is run, but it came to a head with one specific situation very recently:

They released a bonus, patron-exclusive episode about the dads taking the bdsm test. Given the general state of the server, I was worried about where those discussions might lead, so before it dropped, I reached out to @/anthony_burch to express my concern

He told me he raised the issue with @/fwong and Ashley, meaning at least three members of the dndads team were aware of the situation, and decided it didn’t warrant any type of preemptive action on their part

(alternatively, it means Anthony lied, which would be a whole separate issue)

[Image ID: a discord DM conversation from Sep 1, 2020, between a crossed out username and reverendanthony. It reads: 

OP: heyyyyy have you guys considered that releasing an episode focused on the bdsm test is almost inevitably going to lead to a bunch of 15 year olds sharing their results in your server because you might want to get ahead of that before someone gets hurt

reverendanthony: oh holy shit, really good idea

OP: thanks, I know it's easy to veer into that territory just because of the nature of your show but I wanted to bring it to your attention because I figured you don't want to create a situation that's like, actively dangerous (and for the record I'm willing to discuss what I think would make it safer but I'm also not going to assume you want/need my input, obviously you can handle it however you see fit)

reverendanthony: No, thank you for bring it up, I really appreciate it -- I just raised the issue with Freddie and Ashley

OP: Good to know, thank you /End ID]

I’m not overreacting. I have seen this shit happen, to my friends and to myself, and watching the dndads cast take absolutely no meaningful action to prevent situations like that from occurring directly under their noses makes me fucking livid

I can guarantee that the #dungeonsanddaddies fanbase includes both predators and survivors of abuse, grooming, etc (including those currently living through it), and I need them to think very, very hard about which group they’re prioritizing.

And I need that choice to be evident through more than just their words, because it doesn’t fucking matter how much you “really appreciate” that I brought up my concerns if you do fuck-all to address them.

It doesn’t matter how many times you say the word “consent” if apparently everyone was okay that “Darryl gets sexually assaulted” was almost a plot point played for laughs.

(His dare from Scam  would have been rape, straight up. Just because no one said the word doesn’t mean it wasn’t coercive and gross).

I’d like to think the @/dungeonsanddads cast isn’t intentionally encouraging abuse, but they’re sure as hell enabling it, and they needed to get their shit together ages ago, because they’re not the ones their negligence hurts.”

Quote retweet by OP 6:51 PM Sep 7, 2020

“So, they updated the rules for the patron server, but I want to be really clear that from my perspective, it’s way too little, way too late. 

The new rules don’t adequately address the core issues and they certainly don’t absolve the cast of the harm they’ve already caused. 

[Tweet includes 2 screenshots: one of a bot asking people to click thumbs up to confirm they’re 18+ (or have a parent’s permission) and agree to the rules, and one that includes two of the rules. It reads: 

“This is an 18+ space. Them’s the rules: per Patreon’s policy, you must be 18+ or have parental permission.

Use language as if you’re at your parents dinner table. Don’t get people in trouble because of your SPICY POSTS. Keep conversation polite. NSFW content is not allowed!”]

(and before anyone says I should bring up my concerns privately, a quick refresher on how well that went last time I did it:) 

[links back to the “(alternatively, it means Anthony lied . . .)” tweet from the original thread]

So hey, @/fwong, some thoughts:

1.The rules are vague and unclear: what /exactly/ do you mean when you say “NSFW content is not allowed!” when the content of your show itself is so often nsfw? And how are you planning to enforce this?

Does it mean you’ll shut down the MBIC conversation that is literally just kink discussion? I need you to be clear on where the line is, because, again, predators rely on that confusion. Don’t give them a gray area to play in. 

For an example of a more clear policy, it’s pretty easy to say, “yep, ‘Henry gets pegged’ sure is a sentence we said on our show and you don’t have to pretend it’s not, but if you’d like to discuss it in any more detail at all, you need to move”

2. Remember how I said I needed to be clear on whether you’re prioritizing survivors or predators? While I doubt it was intentional, the language you’re using here is prioritizing predators.

It’s not “don’t get people in trouble,” it’s “don’t make people uncomfortable.” It’s “we all have a responsibility to make sure this space is safe for everyone, especially the younger members of the community.”

You’re setting people up to be afraid of expressing concerns for fear of “getting people in trouble” or “inciting unnecessary drama.” Even if it’s not what YOU meant, it’s very easy for those words to be manipulated, so +

You absolutely have to be explicitly clear that if someone expresses their discomfort, you’ve got their back. Being safe is more important than being polite. 

3. I need every cast member to take responsibility for their own actions. I’ve gotten no indication from any of you that you understand the ways in which the in-show things I brought up were harmful.

Acknowledging that harm is important not just because of the immediate effects of that content, but also because it implicitly sets an example for how similar complaints should be dealt with going forward.

When someone says “hey, I was uncomfortable that you seem fine with the Glennary ship, because she reads as very young to me,” I don’t need a dissertation on how the perception of characters can evolve due to your improvisational nature

I need to hear “oh, I interpreted her differently, but you’re right, we should have been more clear, and I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.” Because your responses to your own mistakes set the tone for any other situations like that going forward.

How comfortable is someone going to be with coming to you, or Ash, or any of the mods about someone making them uncomfortable if they’ve seen that when people call YOU out, they’re argued with and shut down?

Don’t tell people you’ve “made it clear that you won’t go there” when they tell you that you ARE there. Listen to them and do better. 

Set the expectation that people will be respected when they raise their concerns. “If you want to come at me you have to bring the heat” is not an appropriate response on a subject that made people genuinely uncomfortable. 

In essence: set people up to be supported and protected, not dismissed. 

[It’s like a matriosche of tweets over here. This one links to another thread, also by crypticjoy. That thread reads:

A non-comprehensive guide to keeping discord servers safe for minors:

1. Make designated channels for nsfw/18+ discussion. Generally speaking, this is a lot more effective than banning those discussions altogether, because it’s a lot easier to say “hey, can you move this conversation?” than “hey, I need you to stop”

In fandom spaces, it’s usually a good idea to have separate channels for talking about nsfw fiction vs discussing your personal sex lives.

2. Give everyone minor/adult roles; make sure your 18+ channels are locked to people who don’t have an adult role. It’s important that there’s more of a barrier there than just checking a box.

3. NSFW channels shouldn’t necessarily be a free-for-all; be aware of people’s boundaries and respect them (for example, r*pe jokes aren’t funny or okay, even if you’re not making them around kids)

4. Explicitly state in your rules that people should feel free to come to mods if anyone is making them uncomfortable. Actually listen to people and resolve the situation if they do approach you.

5. Make it clear that creepy behavior via DMs or other means is also not tolerated--you can’t control what people do outside your server, but you can make the choice to not allow people like that in your space

6. Make sure mods are on top of things BEFORE people have to say anything; sometimes being a mod means being willing to be the “asshole” who shuts things down before they get out of hand, even if they’re not asked.

Be generally aware of signals that people are uncomfortable or that things are escalating too far, and address those situations sooner rather than later.

*It should be noted that safety involves a lot of components beyond just containing nsfw discussions; this thread just happens to be focused on that one specific element.

oh also! It's a good idea to provide resources on grooming so people know what to look out for [links to some resources; again, this’ll be in the reblog]]

So, @/dungeonsanddads, if you’re interested in anything beyond just having a flimsy excuse you can point to to cover your own ass, I’m gonna need you to try again.

Sorry I can’t be nicer about it, but I’ve given so many benefits of the doubt I could be running a successful charity, and this isn’t an issue I’m willing to drop. 

10:02 PM

Thought I was done but actually I've got a few more questions: to what extent were @/HeyBethMay, @/WillBCampos, and @/mattLarnold included in conversations about this issue/the new rules? Is this something your whole team is involved in?

Have you discussed what you're doing on a team and individual basis to keep your fan interactions safe, and are you on the same page about how much it matters? Are you holding each other accountable? Is everyone okay with where this ended up?”

[kitkatzzcore]

I’ve given it some thought and finally decided to voice my opinions about Infinity Train not getting renewed

This is going to give context about everything in order from the cancellation rumors from February up to the release of book 4 and the Reddit AMA that was done the same day. This will include my experiences and the feelings I have had about everything that I’ve seen, and why I have been upset for months at this point. This contains some spoilers for book 4 and mentions the synopsis for book 5.

(This is extremely long and I apologize for that, I just believe that it’s important for me to express how I have been feeling for months and I want people to understand how I feel. I will be putting a TL;DR at the end since this is super long and I know not everyone has the time to read.)

I have been upset about all of this since the cancellation rumors that were started on Twitter in February and have been feeling mixed emotions since. I have been a fan of this show ever since book 1 aired on Cartoon Network and have been in love with it since. The day rumors came out about Infinity Train being cancelled had made me upset for days as this has been probably the best cartoon I’ve watched in years.

In mid-February, posts were flying around about Infinity Train being cancelled. Funny enough, I was watching the show and decided to go on Twitter the day it all happened. I see that Infinity Train was trending and thought that many of the fans were doing the usual, trying to get the show renewed by promoting it. I couldn’t have been more wrong. After two minutes of scrolling through twitter, I could feel tears streaming down my face as I read through the shock and sadness from other fans. After 30 minutes of trying to figure out what was actually going on, the heartache I was feeling was starting to turn into anger. My only thought at this point was why? Why would HBO Max cancel one of their best shows? Why won’t Cartoon Network or HBO Max officially say anything about any of this? After days of seeing people argue whether or not these rumors were true, I was sick of it all, and decided to just rewatch the show as much as I could to cope with the storm I had witnessed.

A week after these rumors, HBO Max announced book 4. I was in tears because of how relieved I was after hearing nothing from Cartoon Network or HBO Max the week before. Everyone was excited at this point, the fanbase here on tumblr was more awake than ever as we all reblogged the announcement and posted about our excitement.

A few weeks after the announcement, we get the official trailer for book 4. I had just woken up and decided to open Twitter that day. The first tweet I saw was from an article talking about the trailer that Owen had retweeted. I was so happy to see what this season was about, until I read the full tweet and saw that this was going to be the last season. Like the extremely emotional person I am, I shed a few tears reading that, many of you probably did too. A few hours later that day, Owen put out a thread about this season, saying that it was very different from past seasons and that this wasn’t meant to be the last season. Reading those words about how this wasn’t meant to be the last season left a sour taste in my mouth, especially after the rumors from before, but I decided to stay positive and not let my emotions take over my feelings about book 4.

April 15th was the release of book 4, and of course I watched it the second it was released. This season was much more lighthearted than previous seasons, and could even be seen as more of a comedic season than others. (Owen has also mentioned that this season was supposed be been seen more as a comedy on the Reddit AMA!) While many people had mixed feelings about this season, I absolutely adored it and thought it was wonderful. However, I did cry after watching it because I knew this was the last season and it broke my heart.

I’ve watched book 4 about three times now and can understand why people are having mixed feeling about it. This was not meant to be the last season. This season was created with the mindset of having future seasons. There were many things in this season that left everyone with hundreds of questions, and after looking through the Reddit AMA Owen did a few days ago, these questions that we all have were supposed to be answered in future books.

Now I want to talk about the Reddit AMA and some of the things Owen said. As I mentioned before, many people had lots of questions after book 4 and thought to ask about them in the AMA. Owen responded to these questions saying that the answers were supposed to be in book 5, and does not want to end up giving away these answers in hopes of getting the show renewed in the future (which I am also very hopeful for knowing how wonderful the fans are and the amount of support this show gets). One person asked why the show did not get renewed, and the answer made me absolutely furious.

According to Owen, Cartoon Network didn’t renew the show for a 5th season because of what was going to be in it. The 5th season was going to be a movie rather than the usual ten episodes. This film was going be be focused around Amelia and take place around the same time as book 4. It was supposed to show how she ended up taking control of the train. There were even storyboards and an entire script already made for it. For many, if not all Infinity Train fans, this was something that we would have loved to see, especially after seeing her appearance in book 4. Cartoon Network, however, decided against this since it did not get past the ‘child entry point’ that they apparently have.

You may be in the same boat as me and ask yourself ‘what in the actual hell does that mean?’ and I wish I could give you an honest answer, but I don’t work for Cartoon Network and I don’t understand how their system works. I have read multiple thoughts about what this could mean. One example being that the protagonist of book 5 was going to be an adult woman and kids would not be able to enjoy it as much. Book 4 had two protagonists that were in their twenties and book 3 also had two protagonists that were older teenagers/young adults, so how is that any different than what book 5 would be? There are also plenty of shows on Cartoon Network that don’t have child protagonists such as Regular Show, Total Drama Island, and plenty of their older shows, so this idea makes me question if this was their actual reasoning. Another example was that children wouldn’t enjoy watching a movie like this because it would be too dark. This show has talked about many serious and darker topics that I have never seen any other show mention while making a younger audience be able to understand these topics. This was a show made for all ages, not only kids, not only adults, everyone can watch this show and enjoy it. Also, I don’t know about you, but I guarantee that there’s a young audience that absolutely loves this show. I don’t want to get into anymore about this ‘child entry point,’ but if anyone would like to inform me more about this system, please do so. I want to understand more about it than struggle to try and understand it myself.

At this point, I am beyond livid seeing that this show did not get the recognition it deserves by higher-ups in the animation industry. My anger from the rumors has grown much more after understanding why this show did not get renewed. As I said in the beginning, I have watched this show since book 1 was released, and have never had a better experience with a show. I’ve been in many fanbases throughout my time using tumblr from middle school all the way up to now as a college student, and I have never seen fans like the ones for Infinity Train. You guys are the reason this show exists and has gotten to the point it’s at now. You are the ones possible for giving this show a platform. Thank you for giving this show the recognition it deserves. Thank you to Owen Dennis and the entire Infinity Train crew for creating probably the best show in western animation. Never did I think I would watch a show that was able to make me laugh hysterically while sobbing at the same time. I am thankful that I got to understand what was so special about this show and get an experience that I never thought would have happened.

I would love to hear your experience with this show, whether you were there since the release of the pilot, or if you’re new to the fanbase. I know I’m not the only one broken-hearted by the future of Infinity Train, but I am not giving up hope, yet. As I said, the fans are the reason the show got to where it is now. Nothing is stopping us from letting this show go, and I know someday we will get these future seasons.

(TL;DR: After experiencing the cancellation rumors and everything else that has happened recently, I am absolutely furious that this show is ending and why it didn’t get renewed. However, I’m not getting my hopes up yet, the fans are the reason we got 4 seasons, they’re going to be the reason we get 4 more seasons, even if it takes years.)

[pumpkinpaix]

Hello! and PSA

*waves* hi everyone! so uh, I’ve kind of had a bit of a surge in followers recently, and I thought I would make a bit of a PSA/intro post with a bit more targeted info than my about page.

anyways, I’m cyan! statistically speaking, you are probably here for one of the following reasons:

my fic

my meta

my gifs

my translation

all of the above

this is pretty much an mdzs blog on main these days, but I also rb a lot of other misc things because I have never been good at keeping my interests separate. it’s also my personal blog, so expect some of that? i am very all or nothing ahaha. my opinions change very quickly as I process new information, so like, something I said last week or yesterday might be different now! I’ve seen several people going through some of my older posts, and I’m just like oh dear, I said a lot of things six months ago that I no longer vibe with. /o\ please keep that in mind as you go diving in my blog!

i don’t have a BYF or DNI policy, but I reserve the right to block anyone for any reason because this is a personal blog first and foremost, and I do need to be better about setting my boundaries and curating my own online space! on that same token, you are free to follow, unfollow, block, whatever, even if we’re mutuals. <3

you’re free to come talk to me in my inbox or dms, but please be aware that there’s a very high chance I will never get back to you /o\ it isn’t personal!! I am just very mentally ill and have many difficulties with keeping up social interactions or talking to people.

in the interest of trying to be more open about myself, my brain, and what that means for me in an online/fandom space, I’m gonna do a boatload of mental health talk under the cut (or, if you’re looking at this on my blog proper or somewhere where the cut doesn’t display, it starts right after this paragraph), including mentions of self-harm/thoughts of specific self-harm etc, just so you are warned! I’ve been thinking recently that it’s good to try and take steps towards being more open about my issues, both for my own sake and others’. It’s long, because one of the fun things about my mental illness is that I am hyperverbal ahahaha (if that... wasn’t already obvious orz)

so if you’ve read pfmmpd, you can kind of get a sense of what I’m working with. a lot of how i wrote lwj was drawn directly from shit happening in my own brain, but like? dial that up from the specific issues that lwj had in that fic and apply it unilaterally across the board to almost anything you can think of.

I hesitate to describe my OCD as debilitating, but only because my specific cocktail of compulsions and anxieties and triggers push me to be hyperachieving and hyperfunctional. I consider myself pretty fortunate (?) in that regard. on paper, you could never tell how absolutely batshit my internal landscape is! which is very good for me practically in that I can hold down a job, keep scholarships, graduate with honors, have good prospects for my future, hold onto relationships (usually yikes) etc. but the fact of the matter is, I’m like. oh boy.

to give you a peek, here’s a non-exhaustive list of things that have triggered me to varying degrees of severity within the last like, week or so:

my dog

a chinese folk song

my mother reading a chinese haiku to me written by a young gay man

a chinese reader of my fic lovingly and gently giving me a history lesson on china and on mdzs while praising me

stepping on a piece of snow that didn’t collapse in the precise way i expected it to

writing meta

reading meta

ruminating on my triggers (honestly, I played myself)

seeing a twitter thread going around tumblr with decent information but the OP is someone who was exceedingly cruel to a good friend of mine

visiting my grandmother’s grave

deciding to visit my grandmother’s grave

discussing the concept of cuddling my partner whom i love and have been with for four years

self-harming (truly the height of irony, being triggered into self-harm and then getting triggered by the result of the self-harm hahahahahaha)

dropping off a package

trying to explain queer-coding to my parents

talking about stressors in my life related to covid19

having a very pleasant conversation with a person i admire

editing my translation

the fact that the “close” button on my accessibility sidebar on the translation website is the wrong color

choosing between eating all the shiitake mushrooms in my soup and purposefully giving myself a bad reaction or throwing one out and wasting food

thinking about playing a fun game with my partner and a mutual friend

my mom asking me to take a photo of some tea for her

my mom asking my opinion on a photo she was photoshopping

animal crossing

writing this fucking post HAHAHAHA

like!! it goes on!! endlessly! obviously, these triggers are not simply “bad” things. the chinese folk song and the haiku were both really beautiful and i love them! but I did spend a good amount of time curled up on my floor in the dark sobbing as i played the song on repeat. the haiku was one of the last straws that ended up with me screaming and crying and hurting myself. the snow??? like wtf the snow thing. I stepped on the snow and it felt wrong and my brain just started screaming SMASH YOUR KNEECAP. ???? (I didn’t, for the record, and I would never.) I love my partner very much! I love my friends very much, and my mother, and my grandmother etc. my triggers are infinite, unpredictable, and bizarre.

I’m saying all of this because I want to be clear that MDZS/CQL fandom specifically triggers me on a daily basis, sometimes very very badly. this is just a fact! it is no one’s fault! I have decided it is worth it for me to stay anyways. it is impossible for me to request people tag for certain things because I myself have no idea what my triggers are until I encounter them. It’s like a fun mystery boss encounter! sometimes it’s low level and i’m well-equipped to handle it. other times it’s a one-hit KO. We just don’t know! there are lots of very cool content creators in this fandom that I can’t follow because it would make my dash that much more high stakes. the original source canon material triggers me! all the events leading up to Lotus Cove massacre? I was shaking at work for three hours after consuming it for the first time.

Meta specifically is something I know a lot of people like me for, but it’s 100% the most triggering activity I participate in for this fandom. like, that suibian meta post I wrote that’s currently going around? Probably took me four or five hours of concentrated effort to write because I was compulsively panicking and rewriting and editing and panicking more and qualifying and editing and qualifying some more and then debating whether I should post it or not and then fighting with myself about my wording and then immediately regretting it and then every time someone commented on it (regardless of positive or negative!) my anxiety spiked. I started a reply to a response on that post and had to stop after a few minutes because I was already starting to trigger myself over it.

this is actually a pretty good outcome when it comes to meta! I recognized that I was hurting myself before I got any further, and I only spent like, five hours on it! it was good exposure therapy for me! the bad outcome is. well. bad, as you might imagine lmao.

I like writing meta. I like talking to people about it too! I like participating in fandom, I like writing, I like translating, I like all of these things. they’re just also really hard for me! there’s a couple meta requests sitting in my inbox right now that I want to get to, but it might take me like. a long time because of. you know! *gestures* Everything takes me a long time. that first chapter of the translation took me literally five months from beginning the project to posting a final edited version. It’s just over 1k words. D8

I try really hard to be chill and kind in public and I largely think I succeed on the kind part (I hope!). If you thought I had even an ounce of chill before this, perhaps I have disabused of that notion entirely now lmao. I’m not saying this for pity, but like? just so we all know what we’re dealing with here. I don’t want anyone to get hurt when I don’t engage with them or feel snubbed if I never reply to them. and also like, hey, if someone relates it’s like hooray, high fave, solidarity! we’re not alone in this world! or maybe this will help someone understand OCD a little better! I don’t know. I hope this post is a positive thing. BUT! I’ve spent three hours on it already, and i’m definitely starting to compulsively spiral, so instead of going back and editing it over and over, I’m just going to post it. thank you everyone for your understanding! I hope you enjoy your time on my blog! (*´▽`*)

[flyingcatstiel]

1of2 Tired of metas blaming executives / defending writers. Writers can write horrible endings. Proof - GOT, HIMYM, Lost etc. Executives didn't force those bad endings. Reading all these conspiracy theories feels like I am listening to Trump. Executives are homophobic but ok with incestous ending? I asked my SO (who never watched SPN) to watch SPN final with me. I quote him "didn't you say they are brothers. It almost looks like they are going to kiss - Ewww - is this what you want me to watch?"

2of2 Even if we look at bottom line - Executives - apparently don't care the fact that Destiel was trending FIRST world wide - in middle of pandemic, middle of historic US elections - such free publicity to gain more viewers and money - but they care about incestous endings which grossed out lot of people. I wish these metas and conspiracy theorists stop baiting people and stop defending writers. Even before covid - Dabb had intended for this bad ending with proof that only 30% will like it.

Oh, nonnie. If you have sent this just 2 days ago, I’d be there with you, all salty about metas defending writers. Today tho, after going through some serious posts about the CW involvement with the show, about Russian market, about professional dubbing practices I have my thoughts in different order. 

So, from what I’ve seen so far (barely past midnight November 26 in the US as of writing this). Jensen went to re record audio stuff for 15x18, most likely Cas confession scene. Now we have info from Latin America (2 separate dubs)  that Dean actually reciprocated Cas’s love declaration and only after that The Empty took Cas. Nonnie, this changes everything. The first thing so many viewers noticed and commented on was the weird way the scene was cut and how little emotions Dean showed. The running gag on twitter was that Jensen is homophobic and Misha strong-armed him into that scene. Non shipper said that it was platonic love declaration from Cas, coming out of nowhere. But most importantly, we, shippers were robbed from proper celebration of our ship going canon. After 12 years of sticking with the ship, they still took it from us. This is totally on the CW shoulders.

But also, this means that destiel was at some point greenlit by the executives to be reciprocated in canon. Until someone at the CW backpaddled in late September. The writers are not responsible for this, they are victims of these changes as well. Dean’s answer changes the emotional beats of several scenes in 15x19 in addition to the scenes that were cut. 15x19 has that strange montage at the very end which most likely was added to cover cut scenes, say like Lucifer, Jack and Cas scene in the empty? Because if Misha was in 15x19, that would mean that the prank call was never meant to be his last contribution. I mean, the disrespect to the fans, the writers and Misha, all in one episode.

And then there’s 15x20 which looks so weird that a lot of fans immediately said that it is a butchered episode. Thing is, we have no idea what kind of script was written pre covid, how much it was changed and when, and how much was cut out from filmed episode. I’ve seen posts sayin that the script for 15x20 was still in rewrites when they finished filming for 15x18. Which is very, very late for a shooting script. I personally think that Dean’s death was the thing Jensen disliked so much, but even then - we don’t know how it was framed in earlier scripts and how they arrived at that horrific scene in 15x20. 

I’m not saying that SPN writers are the most amazing TV writers out there, and I look forward times when we will be able to discuss all problematic stuff SPN is filled to the brim with, but. We just don’t know what exactly happened in the SPN writing room and how much executives meddled with it. COVID happened. Nothing of this is normal. This is why the most important thing right now is to pressure the CW for some answers. Look at them throwing Misha under the bus today. That tells you bunches how well they know fandom and how to manipulate us. 

Now about that incestuous scene, aka Dean’s death, and why homophobic executives would be OK with it but not canon destiel. Under the cut we go, mostly for space reasons. 

Ok, this is so funny but I actually just finished writing my second answer about wincest in 15x20 and had problems posting it and that’s how I learned that we broke tumblr and destiel went canon in spanish. Here’s my post, check it out bc I’m not repeating it  here. 

I think wincest, aka incest between two able bodied, adult male brothers is something casual viewer outside the fandom is not even thinking about. If it was sister/brother deal with intimate embrace, people would notice faster. But two masculine, 6 ft tall macho dudes during the death scene? Nope. Here comes plausible deniability which viewers also use to ignore anything “funny” between Dean and Cas. I’m glad that you and your partner noticed incest vibes, but, I’ve see plenty people even in destiel fandom being fine with such scenes between Sam and Dean. I’ve seen some destiel fans saying that they really loved 15x20, so, there are viewers out there for whom it worked. 

Now let’s look at the bottom line. TBH, I’ve no idea where to look? Where is the projected revenues for a show that is ending? You say that Destiel trending during pandemic is a proof that our fandom is huge, but. No one knew that we had such power! And trending on twitter is not something that translates into money easily. And it happened 2 weeks before finale. There’s no time to change finale anymore. I personally think that destiel fandom has been shrinking for past couple of years, since so many folks left due to bad writing and queerbaiting. But they came back for tweeting. At this point destiel is bigger than it’s fandom. I personally think that the CW would have benefited from canon destiel, but they made different call.

I agree with you that in general, fandom should not defend the writers so much and ought to be more critical about the stuff they write, but today, November 26, 2020, the game is happening on completely different plane. I’m pretty sure that we got a butchered finale, and I’m very much inclined to believe that it is somehow connected to their efforts to promote The Walker show. Maybe Dabb’s original finale was really bad, but show me the script then. If destiel was supposed to be reciprocated, then they might have gone overboard with bro love in Dean’s death scene. Only now, when destiel was one-sided, that scene becomes very wincesty seemingly on purpose. A good creative writing, in it’s finished form, is a very tightly woven fabric. You pull out some threads, you unravel whole fabric. And that’s what 15x20 is. 

2 days ago I’d be roasting metas who defend spn writers, today I want to storm the CW. (pitchforks anyone?) Destiel shippers were robbed, queer love story was censored, this should be the focus of or anger today, not the writers or actors. We can do both - demand truth about the Cas confession scene and roast original Dabb’s ending if we ever get it. 

ETA - after writing this up, I checked out some posts by blogs who debunk all conspiracies, including Spanish dub. They sound very convincing! But in that case we have to talk about long term queerbaiting that was taking place on this old CW show till the very last minute. Cas was used in promos for 15x17 he was not in. They (ppl who make promos) deliberately used Cas barn scene from 4x01 in those promos, then actual barn in 15x20 promo but somehow it is shippers who are delusional? Don’t start me on Song of the day. Angel with a shotgun for 15x19? What was that about? After 15x18 there was no official goodbye to Cas which made ppl to watch finale. Like? Even if the Spanish dub gets officially debunked by the CW and not some random blogs, we are left with the fact that destiel fandom was gaslighted during the last stretch of s15. And not only by writers.

And if this was the finale they so lovingly crafted and deemed to be good, where are the celebration of the SPN ending? Why we had to watch documentary before the episode? Why 15x20 was so short? Why Canada watched the episode first (and leaked spoilers online) They filmed after quarantine, the script had to be the usual length. And so on, fandom has been through all the things that didn’t match several times already. PITCHFORKS -> the CW

[joeys-piano]

Answering an Ask from @feu-eau. I’m having to answer your thingy through a text post because I don’t want to hassle your ask because Tumblr will mess up a lot of formatting when I do.

Feu’s Ask: For the shippy ask; how about a classic? Soukoku

When did I start shipping them, if I did Probably, January 2019? I think I started watching Bungou Stray Dogs last year in January and around that time, I transitioned from Detroit: Become Human to the BSD fandom. Coincidentally, there was a Soukoku Fluff Event Week happening so my first content for the fandom was for this ship.

Now that I think about it, maybe I joined the fandom in February because the whole fluff thing would work for Valentines’ instead. I don’t really know. I’m honest when I tell y’all that I only shipped them because I saw a lot of other people ship them and because I didn’t really have any ships at the time, Soukoku became my first one for BSD. I’ve grown a lot in a year and I know things a little better now. I don’t actively ship Chuuya and Dazai together; but since those two are so abundant on Tumblr and Twitter and AO3, I find stuff for them regardless if I’m looking for them.

So the long answer is that I don’t actively look for this pairing, this pairing comes to me, and I just share with y’all some really cool arts, gifs, cosplays, AMVs, fanfic, and everything else that I enjoyed viewing.

My Thoughts Like I mentioned above, I’m not an active fan for this ship. However, I do enjoy some content. Since the pairing that I do like doesn’t get as much new content regularly, there have been weekends where I just go into the Soukoku tag on AO3 and just read any and all fics that catch my attention. I’ve found really good ones and found new writers that I want to support, I’ve found stories that aren't to my taste but I know I’m not the target audience, I’ve found fics that I admire a lot, I’ve found fics that make me question if I enjoy a certain tag or not, and miscellaneous from there.

Because of the nature of Soukoku and the appeal behind it, there’s always going to be new content for it and it’ll almost always be one of the first things you encounter from the BSD fandom if you’re an outsider and are looking in. It’s just there. There’s an abundance of it. It’s like any other fandom you find yourself in. There’s going to be a really big ship and there’s going to be an abundance of it. One benefit I get from Soukoku is that although I’m mildly interested in it, that abundance of material and the sheer variety of it helps to temporarily fill in a void that’s either hard or impossible for me to fill from my favorite pairing.

Sometimes I want to consume a piece of fan content for my favorite pairing, but it’s not there. One of the benefits of a large ship is that undoubtedly, it’s there. Or otherwise, it’s going to be there. So whenever I’m twiddling my thumbs and waiting for new content for Odazai or other smaller ships and rarepairs that I do enjoy, I temporarily fill in the void with Soukoku. It’s like -- and pardon the example -- Soukoku is a bag of chips or complementary peanuts or buns that you snack on until you get what what you’re waiting for. Satisfies for a while until you can sink your teeth into what you really want. That’s how I interact with Soukoku.

What Makes Me Happy About Them I don’t know. I do enjoy that there’s history between them and that they could read each other like an open book. Chuuya and Dazai are familiar with each other, they’ve worked together, and are probably intimately aware of each other’s strengths and flaws. To some extent.

I do enjoy some of the rare easy-going moments that we get from both of them, where there’s some reminiscent vibe going on even if it’s in a teasing manner to rile a certain someone. For the most part, I’m not sure what makes me happy about them.

What Makes Me Sad About Them Again, I don’t really know. I guess if I had to give an answer, what disheartens me a bit is how we lost a potential of what could’ve been. Not sure how to explain that and not meaning it in a romantic light, but the way Dazai left the Mafia and severed ties with almost everyone there, I feel like there may’ve been a shift or even an apology between him and Chuuya that’s now lost. To say that they could’ve been friends is stretching it, but I feel that there may’ve been a development behind the scenes that could’ve manifested as something akin to friendship. Not exactly friendship, but something along a similar vein since they joined the Mafia for identically different reasons and they’re more alike than you’d initially notice.

Character composition-wise, that similarity is really hard to see. But I spent some time thinking about it for the past 7 months and I think if I were to peel every layer of their beings like an onion, I know I will find a similarity that connects them very deeply to one another and it’s very, very loosely referenced or seen in the Fifteen arc before the thread gets lost from there. Again, I don’t think it’s romantic. But it’s something and that something could’ve been realized if Dazai didn’t leave the Mafia. But considering what happened at the end of Dark Era, Dazai saw it as his best option to leave and so he did.

Things Done in Fanfic That Annoys Me Chuuya is often written in a really strange way. He’s hotheaded and acts before he thinks, but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid or clueless. He would’ve been dead a long time ago if he was either or Hell forbid, both. With an ability like For the Tainted Sorrow, you know Chuuya’s mind is whizzing around, calculating trajectory and physics, so he knows how much power to put behind his attacks to get what he wants to achieve. When your ability is a force of nature, you wield it differently and you strategize your offense and defense differently. There’s a lot of thinking going on, and I really don’t buy it when Chuuya’s made out to be dumb.

Things I Do Look For in Fanfic General pacing, how does the story flow, how does the writer approach the topic or endgame of their fic, does characterization feel believable, does the story engage my imagination, etc… I like reading how writers approach emotional intimacy between Chuuya and Dazai and how they approach the unresolved tension between them.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Odazai all the way, baby. For Chuuya, I’d be comfortable if he ended up with Yosano, Kunikida, or even Akutgawa.

My happily ever after for them: Chuuya waking up after using Corruption and realizing that Dazai did take care of him when he was out cold. He wakes up in a familiar bed somewhere in a hospital or an infirmary. His clothes are folded neatly on a chair and the patient gown he’s wearing is soft and doesn’t itch his skin. Chuuya’s sore. He’s always sore after using Corruption, but he can feel that this sore will remain for a long time after he leaves and rehabilitates so he can be back on the field. His mouth is unbearably dry. Before Chuuya could stir, someone is already pouring him a cup of water and is helping him sit up so he can drink. It’s Dazai and he tips the cup slowly so that Chuuya can drink at his own pace.

Dazai isn’t known for his bedside manner. If anything, he’s known for his complete disregard of it. But seeing him here, Chuuya’s a little thankful for it. He doesn’t ask why Dazai’s here. The man’s not going to give him a straight answer anyway. When Chuuay lies down to rest some more, he’s aware that Dazai will be here for a while. Since he’s quiet, Chuuya doesn’t mind.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Dazai is the little-tall spoon who’s aversed to touch but sometimes, he can tolerate being hugged by Chuuya for a little while. Chuuya is the big-short spoon that gives Dazai a little hug to remind him that he’s human and that he’s here.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Listening to the strum of a guitar while Chuuya hums a song he caught on the radio and Dazai’s leaning against him, feeling the music slowly permeate through his skin and gives him something to hang onto during those slow moments caught between them.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, mid July to August, 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across from July 14 to August 24, although some may be older than that.

Tumblr has not been saving all of my drafts correctly, which has led to me rewriting some of this post more than once. (I’m now going to be compiling it elsewhere & pasting it here when done, to avoid this issue in the future.) That, a heavy workload, and some vacation time delayed & truncated this report. 

But the good news is I am now on a more consistent schedule, with more time to read and write. I expect to be getting this back to 3 times a month very soon. 

Are there types of news you would like to see here? Please let me know! Leave a comment below, email me through my website, or send me a message on Twitter.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

The priority placement is US search for items that ship free has been around for nearly 4 weeks, and doesn’t seem as disruptive as some feared. Etsy is conscious that non-US sellers are particularly upset about this, and have therefore published a list of things they are doing to help international sellers. (note that most of those things also help US sellers that ship to other countries, 

Etsy’s 2nd quarter results came out on August 1. Everything was up, but not quite as much as some experts predicted, so the stock is down quite a bit. The big announcement was that Etsy will be combining Promoted Listings & Google Shopping ads bought by sellers into Etsy Ads. They are supposed to launch in August, but I have yet to hear of any seller who thought this was a good idea.

3.5 million people worldwide use at least one social media platform. (That’s 46% of the planet’s population.) And more than half of the planet  - over 4 billion people - watch videos online. “[H]alf of all internet users below the age of 35″ use voice to operate their devices, with 43% of internet users worldwide using voice at least occasionally. 

SEO isn’t enough; you are going to have to spend money to be seen, if you don’t already “The last 18 years have been an anomaly. Twenty years ago, if a brand couldn't afford to pay for a newspaper or a radio ad, the media company didn't give the company time to publish a public service announcement. SEO allowed companies to go through a period where they received free listings on search engines like Google and Bing. Sending people to a brand's website is like getting a free television or radio commercial or newspaper ad or billboard at the baseball park in 1984″

Trend watch: both clothing retailers and makeup companies are seeing a drop in sales as their markets shrink. If you sell either, you will want to read both articles, as there are some parallels between the two areas in regard to what is and is not working. 

ETSY NEWS

Etsy purchased musical gear website Reverb for $275 million; it will continue to run separate from Etsy. Etsy stock went up at the time. This is notable because Etsy hasn’t bought much lately; it looks like they are slowly dialing back the panic mode, single-goal approach. Their business acumen has disappointed one commentator [humour].

Etsy is “improving” Etsy shop stats. (Note that the Google Shopping category is apparently for the ads you buy yourself only, not the ones Etsy buys, so you will need to use Google Analytics to look at those hits for the moment.) This seems to be leading up to the launch of Etsy Ads (see above).

Here’s some coverage of Etsy changes in the past few years (not a lot new, with some errors). 

Etsy seems to be ramping up its monitoring of seller customer service factors, as more people are receiving email notifications that their shops are falling below Etsy’s customer service expectations. I expect that any updates in this area might involve the new chat convo thingy: Convos are changing to live chat threads, which you cannot write more than one paragraph for because hitting return sends the message. It’s a mess. (Please forgive my frustration; I’ve already had to deal with over 40 separate convos from one buyer alone.)

There will be a site-wide Labour Day sale August 30-September 2, which Etsy will apparently be promoting. 

Fall fashion trends as promoted by Etsy: apparently silk scarves are in, for all sorts of uses. They also released their holiday trend report (pdf file), which I will summarize next week if I can find the time. It’s worth a look, because they divulge some top search data. You can also listen to the podcast, or read the podcast transcript. 

This article on tiered pricing and increasing your average order value is geared towards people using the $35 free shipping guarantee, but it is also useful for anyone wanting their customers to buy more from them. 

Staff will be using the Etsy Success section of the forum to post weekly tips called “Etsy Insights”. So far, they have been posting each week’s thread in that announcement post, so it is easy to skim and see if any topics are relevant for you. 

They are also asking members to sign up for more research surveys; so far, I am finding it pretty boring, and all of the content on their “hub” page is over a year old. 

The expansion into India saw their domestic listings more than double last year. Free workshops have helped bring many new sellers aboard. 

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Google’s John Mu, who does SEO outreach & education, reminds us that “LSI keywords” are not actually a thing. (LSI was a computer method to figure out relationships between words back in the 1980s; no search engine today is using it, as they have real search data on how people relate words to each other, and it just doesn’t give any insight into modern search technology.)

You don’t need tons of backlinks, but you do need good ones. And linking out on your own site is a good idea in many cases [video], as long as it serves your readers. 

Using images that show up on many different web pages can harm your SEO. They used stock photos that showed up on hundreds of pages for this experiment, so it is not likely that using your own image on 5 sites, for example, would be a problem. 

It looks like there was a fairly significant Google update around July 18th; there’s a bit more coverage here. The last 3 large Google updates are summarized & analyzed here. 

Google then released a blog post explaining their core updates and what you should do if you are negatively affected by one. They linked to several SEO websites explaining Google’s concept “E-A-T” (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness), which is particularly important if you produce blog posts or educational materials.  

Less than half of Google searches now lead to a click on a website result, at least on desktop. Mobile Google searches overwhelmingly do not result in traffic to a website any more. (Note: as I always remind people, the data from these types of studies is always a bit suspect, because they only have a slice of the data, but the provider here probably has the biggest slice worldwide. 

Do you do some simple coding on your website or blog? You will find this beginners’ guide to canonical tags and the different uses of redirects and canonical tags [video & transcript] very helpful. If you are a bit more advanced than that, here’s a good guide to meta tags. 

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Hubspot puts out a lot of good digital marketing guides; check out their “Ultimate Guide to Content Distribution”. Also, they covered how to write a great (& SEO-effective) blog headline, with examples. 

Some stats on current social media usage [infographic]. 

Verizon sold Tumblr to Wordpress owner Automattic. 

Snapchat users continue to increase, as does revenue. They still aren’t profitable, but didn’t expect to be yet. 

Not getting enough traffic on Facebook? Here’s how to get seen by more people there. 

There are ways to optimize your LinkedIn profile to get more sales.

How to get valuable Twitter followers, that is, not bots. (They use Etsy as an example of a well-optimized Twitter profile.) 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Amazon is making advertising an even bigger slice of its income. 

Digital ad spending is continuing to increase in most areas.

Facebook is expanding its search ads to more businesses; it’s not really clear how it all works, though. The ads must also run as news feed ads. Here are some basic tips on how to get the most out of Facebook’s ad algorithm. 

With Etsy possibly ending the free Google Shopping ads it currently buys for us (see the Etsy Ads announcement above), this might be a good time to look into buying Google Shopping ads for your website; here is your complete guide to setting them up. 

More changes to regular Google ads mean less control for the business buying ads, meaning that exact match phrases are no longer even close. “Google says 15% of its daily searches are new — and advertisers will miss out on these new queries if matching is too tightly controlled. Its machine learning systems, the company says, can infer intent and spare advertisers from creating exhaustive keyword lists in order to get their ads to trigger on relevant queries.”

If you are thinking about paying for ads on Pinterest, you will want to read this starter guide. 

Twitter video ads now have an option to not pay for a click unless people view at least 6 seconds of the video. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

How to use Instagram Analytics to boost your business. (That is written for companies that are larger than most Etsy shops, but there is plenty of good material there.)

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

eBay beat earnings expectations in the second quarter. 

Amazon had higher than expected sales but lower than expected earnings in the second quarter. They keep thriving despite low profits margins because they have a massive cash flow. 

Alibaba reported higher than expected revenue and profit for its first quarter ending June 30th. 

Amazon sales on Prime Day (July 15-16, actually 2 days) were greater than last year’s Black Friday & Cyber Monday combined, and also signed up more new Prime members on each than ever before. Other websites also saw a big boost, especially for electronics. 

Amazon forced to amend its seller policies worldwide following German legal action. As of August 16, they will give 30 days notice for standard account cancellations. 

And they have expanded their robot deliveries (still followed by humans, though!)

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

While buyers do love free shipping, nearly half of US consumers surveyed will choose to pay for shipping in certain circumstances, most commonly when they really want the product. Only 11% said they never buy unless shipping is free. 

When you are trying to sell something, and especially if you want a repeat buyer, make sure you are pitching it to the right target market. For example, people who don’t want to spend a lot of money won’t buy things they can get for free elsewhere. Provide value for the right people. (A lot of this article is pitched at entrepreneurs selling classes and events, not tangible products, but I think there is a lot of value in the explanations.)

MISCELLANEOUS

WordPress is one of the most popular ways to set up your own website; here’s a beginner’s guide to getting started. 

Google beat earnings expectations in the second quarter. Ad revenue was up a lot. Microsoft also had a better-than-expected quarter, but the growth of their search ads and of LinkedIn (which they own) has slowed. 

How to choose colours that will work together well. 

There is a lot of research on productivity; here are 10 things you can do to get more done. 

If you use Chrome, you could really use these Chrome keyboard shortcuts. 

[leciell]

AnimeOnStage & Buying services experience

Hello Tumblr,

I’m back. (kinda not really) I’ve taken a hiatus from this place and have found respite on other social medias. I still love my musical boys to death but life has caught up with me and has had me plenty busy. I still log in once in a while but you can definitey find me at other SMS where I’m much more active.

but I’m here to touch base on a subject that I’ve had some people DM me about since I guess my ASK box isn’t working? (Welp then)

I didn’t feel the need to make this post only because I feel so much of us have already have our ways to get our grabby little hands on all our favorite butai merch but to those who are new to the game and are looking at the right places to buy, tumblr and other butai blogs have long extensive lists and more detailed posts on how to procure your merchandise, as well as how to access DMM or even how to be a member on Toumyu’s website.

I’ll be blunt, I have a JP address and a card that allows me to gain access to all that.

How to get your own JP Address? Tenso. it does require you to do some verification but its really simple and easy from there. they will even provide you a phone number to use to gain access to all the other stuff They offer ems, dhl and regular shippping. Their basically a forwarding service, you buy the items yourself and you get it shipped to your tenso address and the warehouse guy wil contact you to let you know your stuff is in and forward it to your US/UK/overseas address.

Downside to tenso: Again you need to procure the items yourself, meaning you bid on your own and etc.

FromJapan: Good place to shop. They will source all items from rakuten, amazonjp and yahoo auctions and more. they are also a buying proxy with very good rates. They offer a variety of shipping and will do bids on your behalf.

AmazonJP: By far my favorite place to shop as their pricing are very very *very* competitive. If anything, sometimes even way cheaper than the regular retail price. for example: bakuten bluray originally was approx $85-95 USD. At amazonjp it was $65 USD with free global dhl shipping. Downside to buying from amazon or frommJP sellers, like buying from auction houses, your basically buying from a 3rd party seller and if your intention is to ‘support the show directly’ your better off buying directly from their sales division either by a 'in-person proxy’ or directly from the shows website and using tenso or personal shopper to buy in your place.

This post is getting quite long but let me get straightto the point as to why I’m bringing this post up, this was meant to be a walk through or talk through on my buying experiences with AnimeOnStage.

Let me start with, I’m not here to bash on a business, I’m not out to destory their reputation or anything like that. but its very apparent that so many people have been rather unhappy with their services as of late (ie; see twitter please)

Now, before we go on the whole 'why this business is bad and why you shouldn’t shop from them’, no. Stop. check yourself. And remind yourself that they are also a small business. For the fans by the fans if their motto, and for the longest time I appreciate what their trying to do. And that is to bridge the gap between western and eastern fans and basically feed us our 2.5D merch needs.

I’ve used their services a few times in the past and so far haven’t had any issues.

(but Chisa! Why would you use them when you have all these other accesses? - I’m lazy. Simple as that. I’ve said this so many times on all my other posts — yes guys i’m sorry i still have half the audio rips from the shinken ranbusai that i’ll eventually put up LOOo see how lazy i am?!.

but basically, I opted to join in on their 'group orders’ for certain live plays coz hey, i figured their going to watch the show and buy merch anyway I might as well put in a request for an item or two coz the price isnt any different if i pay for ems or dhl…etc…)

So how does AOS stage play orders work? let me run down on this real quick, they will post up the merch list on what will be on sale, you fill out the form on what you want and they invoice you for it. Simple enough right? After a few weeks when your merch is in their hands (in the US) they’ll then forward you a email/2nd invoice to shipping within the US. So in the end, you basically just pay priority mailing which is approx $7-10 depending on how heavy your package is. Simple enough.

Now, heres my gripe with them lately… their a small business, I get that. They travel all over the place, traveling wears you outand takes a lot of time. Vending at cons isn’t easy. I’ve been there, done that. So i’ve been pretty patient. But, I’ve been waiting on hold on my Engekki jacket orders for well over 9 months now, how long ago was the engekki reprisal show when the jackets were first announced? Still no word… Now fast forward June 2017…I’m waiting to hear from them.

I’ve emailed them a few times before and as of this post today, I’m still waiting on my refund. (Its been a few weeks, I won’t name a number because I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here)

again, I want to stress I’m not out here to destroy their reputation, I know a lot has been going on at twitter on how their business practices are; ie bootleg merch and all. But I would like to point out that from one thread I found on twitter (I won’t link them, please feel free to search on there) that they had no intentions on selling bootleg mech and will offer refunds to those who mistakingly bought bootleg items. So, I atleast gotta hand them that.

Tl;dr I’d shop with them at your own discretion. Because lgr, you could be duped by another seller when your trying to bid on items online but atleast finding bootleg merch on JP buying sites is almost impossible atleast.

So what happened to my engekki jacket orders? Basically, from what I can disect is that they were unable to procure the said jackets at the time of the event, for months I was led to believe that maybe they were on a pre-order basis considering the only people I’ve seen sporting them were the cast of engekki hq themselves and no other fans were posting them…but fast forward a few months later, I sent in an inquirey and the response I got was; “Hi, xxxx!

We are still trying to source the parkas from a reliable source and we deeply apologize for the delay. If you would like a refund at this time, we totally understand! ”

now, I knew full well that the jackets were gonna be a hot item to be sold at the venue so I guess in my mind it made sense that they would probably be on a pre-order basis but this response / email made me think other wise. Reliable source? As in, purchasing it elsewhere?

Anyways its been a good few mins since I started drafting this post and as I was about to hit 'post’ I got an email response from them (Finally, after a twitter blast later as well) and got a refund from a personal account. Ok.

I didn’t want to back track and rewrite the whole post. But this is my experience with AOS.

Again, I want to stress that their not a bad business, I’ve been pretty patient waiting all this time on their responses and I’ve been pretty forgiving coz I know how its like to run a small hub of a business and I just hope that this experience (and other peoples orders) go smoothly and would serve as a learning step or building block for them to grow their business better and to continue to (re)build their reputation coz I’d hate to see a vendor like this crash and burn because of a few unhappy clients. There is room for growth, I hope that they will continue to grow into being a better service provider by supplying legit merch if they insist on charging the prices they charge for other merch.

(But I would say that their buying service charges are actually very reasonable imho)

[ads-is-shady-blog]

#1) The Aeon Dream Studios mess

View the discussion on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/otomegames/comments/9arqcr/the_aeon_dream_studios_mess/

Post:

Hey guys! I don't think I've seen anyone on here talking about this so I'm making this thread so we can discuss it. I'm sure some of you already know about it, have played Serendipity of Aeons etc.

If you don't know what happened the gist of it is (Excuse me if I miss any details please feel free to add on down below)

About two years ago a small indie company, Aeon Studios, made a Kickstarter for Mystic Destinies Echoes, a sequel to a game of theirs. As they were making this game they took on another project a year later, To the Edge of the Sky, a game which used BTS's likeness.

Eventually it soon became apparent that Echoes, a game which they had been working on since the year before, was not their priority. TTEOTS was getting consistent and constant updates, sneak peeks, etc. with Echoes having a complete lack of any sort of updates or feedback, their Kickstarter basically went silent with really no explanation and any trace of the game on the company's Twitter and Tumblr was buried by TTEOTS content. On top of this, backers never received their physical rewards and were met with resistance when trying to get their refunds. Of course fans were upset and Aeon proceeded to mostly ignore any questions, concerns, or criticism when it came to Echoes and when it was acknowledged it was with hostility.

Recently it's come to light that Aeon Studios never actually got permission from BigHit to use BTS's likeness in TTEOTS, they sent an email, never got a reply, and proceeded to make the game. While the game was apparently nonprofit they did accumulate at least $50,000 in donations throughout multiple platforms and have a "premium" version available for sale, BigHit has sent them a cease and desist and is demanding the financial data relating to TTEOTS. Aeon Studio plans to continue making the game after removing the traces of BTS.

Coincidentally they've suddenly become more active on their Mystic Destinies Twitter account as well as on Steam where they've locked a Steam forum that's been open since last year that consisted of criticism, backer complaints, and people talking about their experiences with the company. They indirectly responded to it and really to anyone who says something they don't want to hear with this.

TLDR; A company basically abandoned a game they were working on, that had gotten fully funded, in favor of one centered around BTS. They treated their long time fans like trash. They've taken thousands of dollars from people. They didn't get permission to use BTS's likeness in their game and could possibly be getting sued by BigHit.

So thoughts? Opinions? How do you think this is going to play out?

Personally, I don't think we're ever going to see Echoes and if we do it's going to be a shadow of what the Kickstarter promised. Some people were even speculating that they had used the Echoes money for TTEOTS. I don't think they'll apologize either. It's become pretty apparent that they refuse to acknowledge that they've done anything wrong. My anger aside I really am so disappointed. I had honestly been looking forward to this game and I wanted to believe that they'd get it together but this company just continues to dig themselves deeper and deeper into their mess. It's been two years. This game was supposed to be out last year and now it's supposedly coming out this year. Okay. With BigHit getting involved I doubt this company is going to be around for much longer.

UPDATE: Instead of coming out in September the Echoes release has been pushed back to mid-October

UPDATE: Echoes has been delayed again with an indefinite release date

[necrotext]

So I used to do this here too (anymore dumping things on twitter has been easier though) – but some of you here may very well remember my old more introspective posts/blogs that told more about myself. But at this point I’ve well over doubled my follower count and quite a few of you may have not seen it before. I do still like to do this stuff. See: AC post. But this is a little bit heavier. Slightly more sharp on topic. I apologize if you -don’t- enjoy my rambling. I hope its easy enough to skim past on your dash. But I felt bad unintentionally playing favorites. For context, the art spoken of at the end of the post already came and went, as this was two weeks ago. Lastly some more recently pieces have been remnants of what the thread left me feeling in the long run. I feel better now but that was a really odd week or so. And thanks regardless to all my followers, old and new. <3 (edited because it was labeled nsfw? so I hope that fixes it? it didn’t, tumblr why)

[ssnakey-b]

10 Things about me

Huh, wouldn’t have expected to be tagged by @skribleskrable of all people. But sure, why not? I like me and talking about me, so here are 10 random factoids about me. Hopefully someone other than my two porn bot followers will read this:

1. I literally only got a Tumblr account a few months ago to show my support to artists I like. In turn, I decided to more actively support artists because I started drawing a lot again after going through a dry spell and I realized that people appreciating and commenting on my work really encouraged me to draw more and improve, so I figured I should do the same for other people whose work I feel is worthy of support.

2. Around that same time, I also fell deep down the FF8 fandom hole again. Not that I ever really leave it, I just sometimes go back to the surface for some air. I also made a test LP of the French version of the game, pointing out the differences between the French and English versions of the game (at least the ones I remembered) and taking the opportunity to explain why I love and relate to this game so damn much and my analysis of the story and characters.

3. Speaking of FF8, I have written my very first fanfic a few months ago, which you can read here, here or here. Why yes, I WILL use this thing to plug my stuff. In all seriousness though, it’s short (3200 words), light-hearted stuff so please give it a look if you want and have the time. I do have plans for more fanfics but the problem is, most of them are very similar to what I did here and I don’t really want to make similar things in a row.

4. I’m currently in the process of writing an original comic set in a steampunk universe about the adventures of a bounty huntress. I have currently scripted 25 pages and that should be finished soon as I predict the entire thing to be about 30. I honestly have no idea if the story is going to be any good to readers but I just really want to make a complete one.

5. There is no fact N°6.

7. I finally moved out of my parents’ house last year and that’s the best thing that could ever have happened to me. I feel a lot more relaxed and I’m more confident and productive than ever. I also go out more and even watch more movies. I even feel like my relationship with my parents has improved.

8. As you may have guessed from N°2, I am French. I started learning English at age 9 (IIRC) when my parents made me take classes. They were very fun and the teacher was excellent, so I acquired some very strong basics, I loved it when we started learning it in school and I got really good at it. I actually tried to become a professional translator but it didn’t pan out. Heh, maybe I’ll give it another shot in the future.

9. I’ve been taking acting classes for over three years now. Those have really helped me come out of my shell. If you’re socially awkward or anxious and don’t know how to approach other people more easily, I can only recommand taking acting lessons. It’s very cathartic to play someone who isn’t you and therefore do and say stuff you probably wouldn’t yourself and since it's a safe and welcoming environment where everyone feels the same, you have less qualms about opening up and you realise that what you have to say is nowhere near as dumb as you may have thought.

10. I always feel like my posts on forums, Tumblr and similar stuff tend to be too long, which is ironic considering I’m not very talkative in real life. I guess I want to make sure my point is 100% clear and fully developed. It’s probably one of the 4915 reasons why I hate Twitter; by design, this thing actively discourages constructive discussion and replaces it with ready-made, hollow catchphrases.

11. A while ago, I started a thread on a forum I frequent daily asking people to recommend me any movie to watch and I’d watch them all in the order they were recommended then write a short review of it. I did that because I wanted to broaden my cinematic culture by watching stuff I wouldn’t normally watch of my own volition. It worked really well as people got way into it right away and I got dozens of suggestions right off the bat, plus it was a massive success in the sense that, just as I was hoping for, most suggestions were for films I would never have even thought of watching, including some really weird and obscure stuff (but also some classics that I’d never seen). I need to get back to it eventually. Really good way to discover new stuff if you don’t know where to look.

And I guess I’ll tag @ideakureima as she’s pretty much the only person I know on Tumblr that skribleskrable hasn’t already tagged. :P

[kingofthewilderwest]

Hello! I’d just want to ask you a question on when did @/fuhrerzakk ask for your permission on using your Maes Hughes thread?

I am responding publicly only because this is a widespread public matter on Twitter. Multiple people have messaged me about this. I have also been in communication with fuhrerzakk about this. Thanks to everyone who has been talking to me about this. I intend to be kind but factual, but I am here to set the record straight.

Twitter has been going after fuhrerzakk for copy-and-pasting other people's meta without permission or credentials. My Maes Hughes analysis from November 29, 2018 was one of the works taken. You can follow the link, see the material, and see the date my meta was posted. Fuhrerzakk and I have reached an understanding and are on good terms with each other as I speak. I do want to emphasize this: fuhrerzakk and I are on good terms. See more below cut.

I did not give permission to fuhrerzakk to use my Maes Hughes analysis and some of my words were taken out of context earlier this morning to suggest that I had given permission. However, I am not angry at fuhrerzakk. I do not want my words used to pillory fuhrerzakk or hurt them further in any capacity. I do believe in kindness and giving people second chances, and after our private convo, that is what I am doing here.

Below, I will explain what's going on on my end:

Yesterday, Fuhrerzakk sent me both a DM and an anonymous message asking for permission to copy my meta works. Feeling a little leery about a blog that didn't have any material posted, I tried to answer politely but carefully. I made sure to answer the anon message publicly on tumblr for "receipts" in case anything weird popped up with someone taking my writing. That way, everyone would have seen me say, "Don’t use a new post to take my entire analysis, reword it, and put your own insertions into it."

I intended both my conversation with fuhrerzakk in private yesterday, and my posted message, to be good screencappable proof that I was not giving permission for people to copy my analyses.

Of course, my wordiness got the better of me, hahaha. I always try to answer very politely to people, even when I'm feeling uncertain. My answers follow a honey-and-hatchet format. I give kind words to people first to make them feel comfortable before I detail my full perspective. Well, cropping worked against me. That's on me. This morning, fuhrerzakk woke up, saw the storm on Twitter, and hastily defended themselves using a screencap of the first part of our conversation. As you'll notice, it makes it seem like I had given permission for word-per-word repastes.

However, that was not the full conversation. Here is my full response and what I actually said:

Today, I received messages from several helpful people. They told me about my Maes Hughes analysis being on Twitter and so forth. I shared some screencaps of my earlier fuhrerzakk private messages. You may see those screencaps floating around Twitter. I will be adding my own Twitter posts shortly.

Fuhrerzakk also messaged me today admitting they had used my Maes Hughes analysis on Twitter without credits, and apologized profusely and sincerely to me. You can see the first part of their apology below.

We have had a long conversation. A long conversation. In this long conversation, fuhrerzakk and I talked about:

How fuhrerzakk is deleting all tweets that were taken from other people.

How fuhrerzakk used the screencap of our DMed conversation inaccurately but will rectify it. The mislreading screencap has already been deleted and I have verified it's already been deleted.

How fuhrerzakk is drafting a public apology post for Twitter saying all the analysis resposts were wrong, they feel bad, and they're going to change their behavior on social media. They shared the full soon-to-be-public-apology in the DMs to me. It is a good apology that explains but does not justify their mistakes, and shows a desire to make things right. I recommend you guys read it when it comes up, and that you treat an apology with the encouragement it deserves.

How fuhrerzakk LEGITIMATELY FEELS BAD about this.

And more.

While it is true that some people are incredibly deceitful and will use emotional conversations like this as further manipulation, in this case I say: guys, please take fuhrerzakk's word on this. You guys can watch it for yourself. Watch for the public apology post. Watch for the change in behavior before you shout out. Fuhrerzakk intends to change their behavior on Twitter. Give them that chance, and because of that, I don't think that more rumor-spreading, pillorying, hate-speaking, or mocking will do any good.

This is not the first time that human beings have been legitimately harmed because they made mistakes on social media. Over and over again on tumblr and Twitter, I see a call-out culture that loudly turn mistakes public and treat people as enormous "evils" of social media. We all make mistakes. Fuck man, guys, I have some posts from like 2014 where I got yelled at by fandom senpais, and I still think about how much it hurt me. I was a young college student, I had barely been on social media, I didn't know what I had done wrong, and I was scared at their response. I'm sure everyone else has forgotten those posts but me, but hell do I remember them. They hurt baaaaad, and I'm someone who can take a beating compared to lots of people I know.

Think about what you're doing and how much you're hurting someone for an infraction you learned about 5 minutes ago. Think about the human behind it. Think about all the things you might NOT be aware of that'd change how you'd respond. Think about how loud public screaming sessions turn into festivals where people WANT to share drama, WANT to have fun with someone else's mistake, WANT to take pleasure in rooting out "wrongs." It's gross, dudes.

Telling people they did something wrong is fair. Being hard but firm on people who make repeated infractions because they don't care is fair. Talking to people in private first and then maaaaaybe going public if things become repeated issues is fair. But mocking people for enjoyment, playing witch hunt and drama for enjoyment, that is not cool. These sorts of social media takedowns can be extremely psychologically debilitating, and I don't want to see you guys become bullies yourselves in the quest for the elusive "purity" that toxic purity culture has imbued within y'all. People make mistakes. While there are assholes out there, not everyone's an asshole, and I don't like y'all assuming everyone who makes an infraction is an asshole.

Maybe teaching people and giving people kindness is a great way of helping people improve their behavior instead of psychologically damaging them.

Last. If you haven't seen it. A relevant video from someone I've always admired, talking about the toxicity of Twitter's pillory culture: