#and that includes relearning how to interact in fandom

[dreemurr-skelememer]

"i miss you guys :((" never logs in nor answers asks in a timely manner

[thebackbrain]

✨️about me✨️

call me ren

virgo

arrived in '94 (sorry)

she/her

pan

engaged (we'll call him Fen)

chronic: adhd, depression, anxiety, pcos, and new mystery illness since 2020 that none of my doctors could agree on (endometriosis? IBS? Both? Neither? Who cares?🙃)

permanently ditched meta because i hate them so I'm am relearning how to use tumblr. I haven't had an active account in over 8 years, and even then I was still pretty reserved so I didn't interact with anyone. This time around, I'm hoping to find myself and actually make friends.

I have other accounts but this will be my main one where I post a little of all of my interests (some of which include NSFW so please no one under 21 on here). This spot is my safe haven where I can vent and cry about all the bad and the good and the mundane in my life.

above said interests include: Fall Out Boy; music in general, I'm always looking for more; anime; social justice; drama and comedy TV shows; true crime; crafting and sewing; beauty and hair; reading; gardening; pets; weed; this emoji in particular 🙆🏻‍♀️; uuhhhhh ... I can't think of anything else. I'm high as I write this. Just know I'll bring the vibes.

As I make more blogs I will post links to them here. Until then, feel free to reach out to me! I'm always holding my tracking device. 🫶🏼🙆🏻‍♀️

Other blogs:

@takingthisrealquickthanks - posts i saved to show to my fiancé

@renmyr - selfies and fandom

@hecallsme-slvt - kink blog (NSFW, minors DNI, etc.)

[wonderhello]

EVERYBODY, SHOWTIME!

about ☆

We are the Wonderhello Sidesystem, a.k.a. Wonder! (Link is to our pronouns.cc!)

21+ • they • black • queer • alterhuman • chronically ill + nd

[ PT: 21+, they, black, queer, alterhuman, chronically ill + nd \End PT ]

Main blog where we're relearning to be unapologetically be ourself.

Asks are off right now. Here's why. I've been getting spammed with multiple of these daily despite blocking the anons. I'm really sorry. :(

More info about us will be under the cut!

sidesys shenanigans ☆

We're a sidesystem of 7. Usually our sign-offs are a guess based on vibes, but sometimes if we can't even manage that we'll just tag things with "#wonderposting".

"Are you parts or people?" Nuance/I'm bald; we refer to ourselves as parts, alters, folks, and chucklefucks.

We have a DID diagnosis and our origin label is playing the accordion and doing a silly little dance. These things can and do coexist. How? Whatever's funniest for the bit. Our beliefs align with "genicpunk".

Part Tags (plain text immediately follows colored text):

#a delusion of dawn (a delusion of dawn)

#shooting star starting signal (shooting star starting signal)

#pop music melody (pop music melody)

#from this shallow dream (from this shallow dream)

#a shadow of my former self (a shadow of my former self)

#the mediator (the mediator)

#places you've yet to see (places you've yet to see)

As mentioned, we also have #wonderposting for when we don't know who's fronting or when who's fronting isn't relevant (according to our discretion lol).

other boundaries + “DNI” ☆

We don't have a DNI. If we don't want to interact with someone, we won't; if someone interacts with us and it makes us go "zoinks", we will just block.

Relevant stances so y'all respect your OWN DNIs:

Endogenic supportive + endogenic safe (I choose not to use pro-endo for a multitude of reasons)

Anti-radqueer/anti-transID

I don't fuck with demonizing PDs. Yes, this includes the cluster Bs. Yes, this includes NPD and ASPD. This means I also don't fuck with the term "narcissistic abuse" or calling assholes "narcissists" or "psychopaths/sociopaths" or the armchair diagnosing of assholes and people who have done cruel things with PDs.

If you treat our introjects like blorbo personified, I will ask you kindly to stop. If you continue to do so, I will block you. This may not be a boundary for others, but it is for me. We are a person outside of our introjects; please remember that.

I joke a lot about my parts and most of what I talk about on here will be parts-related as of right now. There's a lot of shame around the "more important" parts of my disorder and I'm not going to force myself to talk about them online so you can determine how ✨ valid ✨ my DID is. I have a therapist and a journal that can be on the receiving end of that. Sometimes I reblog stuff related to the "more important" parts of my DID.

contact ☆

Break's Blog: @triple-a-daybreak (fandom kinda + personal; previously em-purpled)

Star and Mel's Blog: @sillystayers (aesthetics + positivity; might be fairly inactive since they're mostly internal)

Clear's Blog: @clear-gaze (personal + sysconversation; fairly inactive since vi's mostly internal)

Our DMs are open, but feel free to ask for our Discord as well!

[indianaec]

writeblr intro!!

Hi! My name is Indiana and this is actually a side blog, so don't freak out if you see a random fandom account following and liking your posts! I'm a Y2K baby, nonbinary, disabled, and an aroace lesbian. I have a degree in archaeology and classical civilisation. Recovering childhood 'advanced reader' trying to relearn how to enjoy books.

I write in a lot of genres but my favourites are low fantasy and scifi. Not published yet but we're manifesting! I like to centre familial and platonic relationships in my stories, including QPRs and found family. I also keep writing about grief by accident.

My current WIPs are a low fantasy toxic yuri story about two fae and the kid one of them adopted (One of Us Has to Die); and a scifi cyberpunk story about a girl and the AI she modelled after her dead best friend trying to save her brother from the metaverse (Gutterdog).

I also write fanfiction, but that's not what this account is about.

To get ahead of it, yes I have written (and still do write) ATEEZ lore fanfic. I don't consider that RPF, but it's cool if you do and if that means you'd rather not interact with me, I get

Mostly I'm just here to hang out, collect resources that are useful for me, and maybe make some writer friends!

[azurefishnets]

Yuletide Letter 2023

Hello, friend!

I’m excited to have you join me for this Yuletide Exchange! I hope you find something that resonates with you here and thank you so much for taking this on! Feel free to mix and match as necessary; in all cases, all listed characters do not have to be included. I am 100% open to treats of all kinds, visual/non-writing included; they’ve been marked open for this exchange always.

You can always check out previous letters if the prompts here don’t grab you too. And, as always, please know that my order is alphabetical and doesn't mean I want any one canon or any one prompt over any other. If I've requested it for this exchange, it means I would be ecstatic to receive anything from any of them. My previous letters are also still good if there are prompts that speak to you from there!

Candy Hearts Exchange 2023 - Yuletide Letter (2022)

I am also azurefishnets on Ao3.

LIKES:

worldbuilding

sensory details (textures and smells especially)

unusual interactions (anything from slice of life to full adventure!)

puns and wordplay

cool symbolism & unexpected parallels

relationship level ups, whether that means platonic bonding or friends-to-more, etc

non-mundane AUs (no coffee shop, school, etc)

fandom crossovers or fusions (but taken seriously, not cracky unless specifically requested)

missing moments

emotional support/intimacy

demonstrations of physical caring/loyalty

OKAY WITH:

any tense

any amount of plot or none

out-of-the-ordinary story structures

any amount of dialogue from none to screenplay

character explorations

characters appearing that aren’t requested as long as it doesn’t go against my DNWs

DNWS:

non-requested romantic relationships, or ways of writing requested relationships as infidelity

hurt without comfort

underage relationships, non-canon children

pandemic stuff / terminal illness

any kinds of consent issues as regards developing a relationship

FINAL FANTASY VI

Celes

Terra

Edgar

Sabin

I wasn't expecting to see FFVI back on the list this year but the rules change means I'm going to lean hard into prompting More, since at any given time I’m probably thinking about this game. So many questions and trails left to explore! I still love the cast, the setting, the various unanswered questions, especially surrounding the War of the Magi, relics, and the Warring Triad. Any of these questions explored in context of prompts and characters would be exciting. The World of Ruin, with its reopening of old wounds, is especially interesting to me. Hidden secrets from an obscured past… please lean into this stuff!

This group is probably my most used party (min-maxers don't @ me, I like who I like) and I like it as much for the implied party dynamics as their combat usefulness! Estranged but reunited brothers becoming friends with the weird war crimes magic women is just unparalleled to me. Any moments between any two of them or three of them or four of them in any of the places where they actually could be in canon (or, if they are somehow traveling together post-canon) would be just wonderful. I particularly like caves, ruins, and/or links to the world that was...or the world that was before that, during the War of the Magi. A moment while escaping Kefka's Tower together would be cool, or post-canon reluctant adventurer Terra getting dragged along on some trip by the enthusiastic brothers (like maybe some found War of the Magi ruins or something? Beyond the ancient castle, that is. Or books from the Figaro library? I'd love to see ways Terra could reconnect with some aspect of her heritage via history either known or discovered). Or formerly magic ladies relearning how to do extremely mundane tasks together. Or, just, these extremely powerful and forceful people and then, there's Terra who is also extremely powerful but is also not terribly forceful...the other three might enjoy assertiveness training with her (whether she herself would enjoy that is up to you). Or I'm always happy to see these characters aging and trying to change the world in different ways this time...

Fandom DNW: Any romance between these characters. A lot of focus on slave crown times for Terra. Kefka as redeemable.

GHOST TRICK: PHANTOM DETECTIVE

Alma

Cabanela

Jowd

What I love about this triad, in both the romantic and platonic senses, is the sense of tension and balance; they're always kind of orbiting around each other and the game isn't shy about symbolic parallels, so they're just this incredible push-pull that just so happens to include a frankly amazing amount of (sometimes pretty unrequited) loyalty from Cabanela and, post-game, a lot of what I imagine as extremely awkward gratitude/heretofore unrealized attraction (???) on Jowd's part. Alma just happens to neatly fit in the middle as a fulcrum and (I'd hope anyway) sometime moderator/instigator, and how lucky that both she and Jowd have two hands!

As far as writing them goes, for prompt purposes you can split them, you can write just two of them or one of them and that’s just fine, as long as no infidelity is implied if and when you go in a romantic relationship route. I’m also OK with Cabanela being the world’s most fantastically annoying yet fantastically loyal friend to Alma/Jowd, if romance isn't your bag. All I really ask is that you put them in situations and make them figure it out (and possibly kiss. If so inclined. You know.)

If you're looking for prompts, I'm always excited for worldbuilding, although it's not specifically nominated, but there are so many things about this world they live in that are so interesting! There are robots! There are ghosts! There's some kind of cold war??? There are tiny submarines that can be run by only ten crewmen! I just think there are tons of situations you could throw my OT3 (or, I say conscientiously, my OTP+1) at. But slice of life situations are also extremely good, and I'm happy for fluff any time.

If you prefer visual prompts as a writing starter, I'm particularly taken with these excellent OT3 dynamic charts from @mcnuggy, especially F1, G2, K2 or K3, but really feel free to choose from your heart if you use these! (Jowd being pink (of course), Alma being blue (of course), and Cabanela being yellow (sorry, Cabs!They didn't have white or red!))

Fandom-specific DNWS: Cabanela & Yomiel friendship or reconciliation, having the old timeline be remembered by everyone, unexamined xenophobia if writing any person with blue skin.

LEGEND OF HEROES: CROSSBELL DUOLOGY

Any

I love this whole series! The worldbuilding, the lore, the fantastic slice of life moments… I'm Crossbell-only this time but I'm always fine with pulling in lore from the other arcs, although please mind my DNWs! But anyway, I especially love the interesting locations in Crossbell. The Stargazers’ Tower, the Temple of the Moon, the Ancient Battleground… feel free to explore some of the worldbuilding here! Or go more slice of life: I love the vibe and look of Armorica so much, but I'm also very fond of the west side of Crossbell City, Downtown, the harbor...

I'm fine with anyone or any group of someones from the tag set, and I'm fine with any of them being platonically friendly with each other but no ships here please. As far as dynamics go, I'm really interested in KeA's powers, as it were, as the Zero Child, versus KeA's powers of just being an adorable cutie. For instance: Dudley & KeA growing a reluctant (on his part) friendship, or Sergei becoming de facto uncle before he even really had time to register it... I also like, very much, the growth the SSS experiences in learning to make functional and caring found-familial relationships. Any moment exploring that, and/or exploring the SSS's bonds with each other rather than only theirs with Lloyd, would be great!

Fandom-specific DNWs: Romantic relationships between any of the tagged characters, spoilers from Reverie or Daybreak.

SABLE

Captain Singh

SARIN

Sable

Simoon

Worldbuilding

What I very much enjoyed about Sable, beyond the exploring and collecting elements (although those wonderful locations to explore!! The Eyrie! The Crystal Plateau! The Bridge of the Betrayed!! You could worldbuild me right into delight by merely exploring the setting of Sable and I would love it. Anyway...) was the huge selection of unsolved mysteries, from the revelations at the Watch, the presence of the multitude of remains from the wars against the Wyrms (not to mention the implications about Wyrms and hoverbikes), the Hicaric remains' entire deal, the Chum Queen, the Mask Casters, SARIN...nothing is ever fully explored here and I love that tension of what the player discovers vs what Sable just knows and accepts about her world. As said before, you could worldbuild any amount of things and make implications about Midden and I would be delighted, but if you can also somehow capture that feeling of Sable (or some other Glider) exploring that communal memory and experience. It's really implied that the Gliders don't and can't discover anything particularly new in this little corner of Midden--but the Chums may belie that, at least for Sable? It feels like she has an entirely unexplored path if she goes down the Chum Priestess road.

As far as actual prompts go, there's so much I want to know still that I hardly know where to begin. It was a devastating realization that Simoon had to go back to the Ibexii tribes; it truly felt like Sable had to say goodbye to absolutely everything she knew in order to become an adult. If it's like that for every Glider, it's no wonder that some might choose never to return rather than formally give that up. What might one of those wandering Gliders' lives entail? What does one do when your only purpose is never to have to let go of being a child but in doing so one has to truly let go of everything? It's kind of like Peter Pan and I wonder if there are diegetic tales of wandering Gliders used to teach lessons.

There's also the question of Simoon and her possible sentience; what does she remember of her former companions? When she is reset back to basic parts does she lose that experience? Does she feel any connection to the Wyrms, or to the Hicarics?

I would also like to know more about Captain Singh and SARIN. What was their relationship like as the humans had to fight for survival on Midden, as they had to adapt and learn to live with the Perpetual and the presumable radiation/dust which posed them such a threat that they adopted the mask traditions as first a protectant and then a matter of culture? SARIN's overseen so many generations--did it know when it was forgotten? Does a hologram dream of electric ships?

Finally, I'm awfully interested (and pretty saddened) in what drives these people to maintain a capitalist economy when the land is so harsh and they would be much better served with a mutual aid and support system that does not require currency in order to function...they are so few in number and resources are so sparse. Just...why? It seriously broke my heart when I realized that the Ibexii live where they live because they can't afford anything else. Simply? That's fucked up and I want to know more.

SEA OF STARS

Garl

Valere

Zale

Worldbuilding

Oh, this game grabbed me and it grabbed me hard. Of course the parallels and references to Chrono Trigger and other classic RPGs got me but I also got grabbed pretty hard by Garl/Valere/Zale. Like...the sheer loyalty of them to each other. The saving of a simple clay cookie jar for nearly ten years in the hope they'd see each other again. The sacrifice. BOTH sacrifices. The tearful parting and equally (on my part anyway) teary-eyed reunion, only to be literally star-crossed lovers for most of the rest of Garl's life except for that one day a year and then Solen and Luana doing their immortal duty until they are, at last, forgotten (Although I have my own thoughts on The Messenger continuity tbh). The parallels and paradox of godlike immortality against someone who has seen death and come back. That's one experience they can never share, and man the tension could be delicious... Anyway. Yeah. T-T Do you see my vision. Do you understand their tragedy.

Um, anyway, I'm also really really interested in the world Studio Sabotage appears to be building here. I watched a longplay of The Messenger and I'm catching up with the ARG and man there is a ton of connecting lore! But I'm definitely more interested, at least for now, in the present and near future of both worlds that we see in Sea of Stars. The presence of Garl and the diverging timeline Re'shan created suggests that they're now heading toward a different future than the Messenger's...

Anyway. Exploring one of those birthdays where they're all getting older but only Garl looks it...some kind of slice of life or small adventure there would be cool. Or Mirth over the years? Or Mooncradle, now that there are no more Solstice Warriors to cradle...how does Garl change things there...? Or, heck, vignettes from the Garl & Wentworth world tour after Valere and Zale leave! He barely got to see the Sky Kingdom and that's just unfair.... Or maybe stuff as Garl nears the end of his second life and they meet for the last time... I'm OK with leaning into a bit more tragedy here because it's just so damn compelling to me to explore their changing dynamic over time.

Also, if you enjoy visual prompts, the same dynamics charts from earlier might be helpful here! No specific thoughts on color choices here but I do like Valere and Zale getting to have more character and life than we really see in-game. Them getting to be silly or teasing would be a welcome shift from how serious they have to be all the time (and man, isn't that a tragedy in itself? They never even really got to be kids or even non-Solstice Warriors at all, despite what Erlina and Brugaves tried to achieve with their (really stupid) plan. Aephorul truly won there...)

Or, if you do not want to write the triad, please feel free to lean hard into worldbuilding. I'm fascinated by the Queen That Was, the abandoned bird cult buildings, the Lost Ones enclave... the Docarri ruins, the Clockwork Castle, the swamp... all the locations are honestly so good and so compelling you could do anything set in them or exploring their purposes and I'd be very happy!

Fandom-specific DNWs: Valere and Zale being interchangeable paper-dolls, writing them as though there is huge age-difference after Valere and Zale stop visibly aging, Valere/Zale & Garl, any of the villains (if they even come up) being treated without nuance or acknowledgement of the complexities therein.

I can’t wait to see whatever you do! Thanks again for reading and see you on Yuletide!

[normal-thoughts-official]

Makoto plot line by Lêx?

thank you for this totally 100% spontaneous ask that you sent of your own free will, anon!

okay, so here's the thing. i dont like makoto. not really. he's annoying af and basically useless. bitch does nothing but hide behind haru cuz he's scared of everything and be blushy and soft in that spineless way, you know? like he just lets everyone push him around and treats everyone in such an unfuriatingly uniform, fake-cheery, ultra helpful way that it's his whole personality

but here's the thing! it gets sad. you know? especially considering how he, like, seems to basically live to enable haru? in all the worst ways. like it's nice of course that he helps haru with his depression but there's a point when it becomes enabling and that point is when makoto is running after haru all the time trying to solve his messes, remind him of his own damn responsibilities, and basically take care of haru's whole life so he doesn't have to. again, helping is good, but by worrying about the things haru doesn't worry about and preventing him from facing the consequences of not doing anything basically lmao he enables haru to never fucking get out of his constant stupor. also, as previously said, he's spineless, which means that he never truly goes against haru's wishes. so like. enabler. bad

which is my main beef with makoharu, which is actually the most popular ship in the fandom because ppl have no taste and also dont know how to interpret shit. tho tbh even makoharu shippers are like "i ship makoharu because makoto deserves to be happy and he wants haru!" so even they acknowledge that.... haru isn't into him lmao. but anyway

point is: they pull each other back. im not gonna say it's abusive or something cuz i don't think it is, i wouldn't even call it toxic, but it's stale in the worst kind of way. makoto enables not only haruka's depression, but also his self destructive and to some extent relationships destructive behavior, setting his growth back. and makoto lives and exists to take care of haru. he has no dreams, no goals, hell, not even INTERESTS. his whole thing is just. haru. where haru goes, he follows. and. that's it basically

which is why the fact that so many makoto stans ship makoharu is also baffling to me, because if i were a makoto fan, i'd probably hate haru, lmao. i mean, makoto is going around doing all this work for him, plus emotional labor, and haru never gives him much back really. and it's obvious that haru doesn't like makoto the same way makoto likes him, but makoto is just out there taking whatever scraps he can get, and haru just sort of. probably doesn't even notice cuz that's been their dynamic since they were kids. and makoto knows that, too. so like. if i stanned makoto. id fucking hate haru for that tbh

and honestly it's bad writing because i think the writers couldn't care less about makoto lmao and also didn't know what to do with him, which i think becomes increasingly obvious as seasons go by and he's just sort of. there. they tried to give him his own plotlines and even dreams but it never stuck. he feels like a doll most of the time. even in s1, which was widely rinharu-focused and barely had any other characters have real plotlines unless you count the one (1) episode where they try to teach rei how to swim, makoto was particularly uninteresting and underexplored and developed. like, the other characters might not have had huge importance but at least they had personalities. makoto didn't, really, unless you count "mama henning haru" and "being uwu" as a personality

but my point is: what if makoto got some real writing? what if we explored his character, and his relationship with haru, in a more critical, dimensional way?

makoto is in love with haru, i think that's indisputable. haru isn't in love with makoto, which i also think is indisputable. makoto himself knows that what haru has with rin is special and beyond what makoto and haru have, he says that, he even says that he was jealous of rin. yet he stays. even when rin comes back, and haru and rin become friends again, and it's obvious they're going to be together, makoto stays. he takes care of haru, which is some pretty damn stressful work, and does all this emotional labor for him, and haru barely gives him, like, a smile every once in a while, lmao, and again it's sad. but makoto stays. and - that's an important part to me - it doesn't seem to be because he has any hopes that haru will come around. so why

i think they're stuck in a loop, and that makoto has been in love with haru, and being not only his emotional support, but basically the one thread connecting him with the outside world (while simultaneously enabling him to continue as detached from it as he can, because he's not bringing haru out to the world, he's bringing the world to accommodate haru) for so long, he doesn't really know what else to do. also, he feels guilty about leaving haru to his own devices, even if obviously there's nothing he can do if haru won't help himself. also, he's scared of losing him, because he's been defining himself for his relationship with haru for so long, he doesn't know where else to go

i think that's supported by his relationship with other characters. like i said, makoto is annoyingly kind to everyone (if im not mistaken, the name makoto actually does mean kind) and a MASSIVE pushover. he never goes against anyone's wishes. he never really throws in what he wants. he doesn't really interfere with anyone's plans and ideas, he just sorta makes it happen. he is never annoyed, never has any quirks, is never even like, tired, you know? he lives to please other people, to the point where he has no personality, interests, or wishes beyond that

so, yeah: i think makoto is scared that, if he doesn't please other people, there's nothing else left for him. and in a way, he is right, because i don't think he would know what to do with himself if he had to look into himself and figure out what he wants out of life. so it's easier to follow others and dedicate himself to them. also, fear of loneliness is very valid, even if i dont think any of his friends would actually leave him if he weren't being their damn mom all the time. but they also let it happen, especially haru, because it's convenient, and again, homeboy barely has the energy to go to school, much less help makoto unpack all of that

but if i were writing free!, id want to explore that, because it has so much potential to be a pretty damn rich story, actually. especially as the story progresses, because one effect of rin being back and haru running the whole swimming club and trying to prepare for their race is that haru needs makoto less and less as time goes by. because he has a motivation. he cares about his grades because if he doesn't keep them up he won't be allowed to keep working in the swimming club, he cares about teaching the newbie (the rei i mentioned before) how to swim because otherwise they won't be able to run against rin in the medley race, hell, he reforms the whole entire pool that was abandoned so they have a place to train (with help, but like, he couldnt be bothered with getting up to school before). he even goes back to drawing so he can make pamphlets to attract more people to the club

and then he finds his love for swimming again, especially as a team, competitively. he finds his love for people again, for human interaction, for competition and the thrill of the sport he loves. haru finds his motivation, and he starts putting his life back on track and working towards his goals, and haru is damn capable. and that means that makoto has a lot of free time in his hands now, and haru is slipping through them, and he knows he can't really keep their relationship as he was. and he shouldn't, honestly, and i think that he's, at least, smart enough to know this

and he has a crisis, because again, he's been defining himself through haru for the longest goddamn time, im talking all the way from middle to high school here. and he doesn't know who he is. he doesn't know what he wants. he barely knows what he likes

but he's not alone either, because again, makoto is haru's best friend, and haru does like him and it's not like he's all "i found my purpose with rin now. peace out". his journey was also about finding his whole support system with his friends. through relearning how to swim in a team, he also relearned human connection and friendship. that's one of the many beauties of rinharu. they inspired each other to make their lives better, including in ways that have nothing to do with each other, and they weren't even trying to

so he has haru, but in a now radically different dynamic, and also rei and nagisa (his teammates) and gou (rin's sister and also their trainer) (rin and gou don't go to the same school for some reason). and everyone is going through a similar crisis, because it's the last year of high school. rin obviously has known that he wants to be an athlete since he was a kid, but everyone else's plans are kinda sketchy. makoto just happens to have some extra flavor in that mission - he's not just trying to figure out what he wants to do, but who he is

and fuck if i know how that would develop from there, but id really love to see makoto finding himself, honestly. i want to see his issues being addressed. the only backstory we have for him is that he's afraid of the ocean because he almost drowned at some point? i dont remember. i want to know why the fuck he's been repressing his own needs and personality so hard. i want to know what had him so scared of the world that it was easier to forget about himself and basically live through haru. i want to know what he's going to do to find himself, and the very, very painful journey of looking at himself and his own needs, and, in many ways, his own emptiness, because makoto essentially carved himself hollow. i want makoto to have dimension and depth, and be relatable and not just a dumb shell of uwuness for ppl to swoon over and want to protecc, not even because i like him, but because it could be so interesting. and relatable in so many ways. like, god damn it. if you wanna make him one of the main characters, give him a real plotline!

and i want to see him finding out that his life is better when he's a little more detached from haru and not living in an endless pursuit of a relationship, but having a network of people he loves and that has mutual support. i want to see him getting over haru, not so he can have some other romance with someone else, but so he can grow. makoto basically doesn't grow at all the whole show, and it's sad to watch, especially as everyone else grows so much

[writer-and-artist27]

Some of the various reactions I've seen to the recent Tumblr drabble for Passing Days include:

@withanina: The mental image of kama munching on embers is pretty funny. Other than that, it’s nice to see this treatment for Kama, who really needed to find a way back to how they used to be. Robin’s interaction on Kama and Vy’s response are wonderful.

@xviicprc: #🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 robin......... #HDJDFUEJEJSJD thank you for always tagging me!!!

@panyum: # THIS IS SOMFT# AND YES GIVE KAMA A CHANCE TO RELEARN HHHHHH# 🥺🥺

:) Well. It looks like my attempt at addressing some of the problems the fandom has found with the Ooku event went well. My brain is still simping a bunch for Robin Hood (more so with RobVy [or as Pan calls it, Roby] growing on me as a ship for my Mastersona, which is amazing considering I thought she'd be platonic love forever, but eh, demiromantic here), but I'm glad I was still able to give Kama some justice. Considering they're my strongest 5-star Assassin in the game now, I see that as a win.

Maybe in my Novum Chaldea, Kama's making do with friends with Eresh and Archer EMIYA. I'd like to think so, since in my head, they're the closest this Sakura is going to get to Rin and Shirou for a while. (Summer Ishtar is here-there, I'm not going to mention how much original Ishtar has cost me in Quartz, and I know Muramasa is two years away in NA. -.- Eresh is best Rin-face to me.)

Thank you all for reading and enjoying it. :)

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

okay but i mUST know. what..... i mean how did you start shipping grima and eomer??? am i missing something bookcanon-wise? like..... could you explain it to me?? I'm definitely intrigued!

oh lord - I started shipping them maybe ten years ago? It was something I stumbled upon, there was a fanfic on Livejournal that I read and it was them and I thought: Huh, I like the dynamic. 

So no, you aren’t missing anything book!canon-wise. 

Grima does have his sarcastic moments which we were robbed of in the film. Including him sassing Treebeard. 

Because LOTR is ultimately a comedy. 

Eomer is more somber in the movies and less hot-headed/prone to acting before thinking than he is in the books. We were also robbed of the time Saruman called Eomer a serpent, which is something I enjoy reading into as I like to imagine there is a bit of a cunning streak beneath Eomer’s bonhomie. 

But the two of them interacting? There is nothing “on screen” in the book, but clearly they did. Aside from Eomer threatening Grima’s life in the king’s hall for, presumably, treason & looking-at-Eowyn reasons (which is why he was under quasi-house arrest when Gandalf et al showed up), they would have interacted. Like, it would make absolutely no sense if they never talked to each other/didn’t know one another. 

Grima is a member of the King’s Household (he's taken an oath to Theoden and fulfills an adviser role, which makes him most likely a household member. It would be weird if he wasn’t) and Eomer grew up in Theoden’s household after his parents died. 

We don’t know how long Grima has been working for Theoden, but I always assumed it was for a fair while. Well before the Treason Years, if only based on the line from Gandalf: “This here, is a snake. To slay it [Grima] would be just. But it was not always as it is now. Once it was a man, and it did you service in its fashion.”

So, they would have known each other, interacted, worked together in some capacity. Eomer as Third Marshal would have had dealings with his uncle’s main adviser, just out of necessity to make sure there’s coordinated approaches in tithing, maintaining winter rations, defense of the borders, road maintenance etc. All those day to day workings of a geographically disparate kingdom.

Anyway - as for why I ship them? tl;dr: I like the opposite-attract dynamic; couples-who-bicker is a favourite trope; angst!potential!high!; fun things to explore in terms of leadership/kingship/how do you make a decision when there is no moral choice to be made? All options for X situation are terrible. Make your bed and lie in it./Necessary Man + Honourable Man = hnnnngyes/People finding their way in from the cold is beautiful/I just Really Love Redemption Ok?? 

-

I like the dynamic - I am a sucker for The Mean Cold One Falls In Love With The Sunshine One. Also, if we run with Eomer being a little more sly than people assume he is, there is a lot of possibility there with the two of them snaking around one another. 

(Grima: I thought I was the only gay snake in the village.)  

Grima is a favourite character and I never was into Grima/Eowyn, personally. They’re too similar (two sides of the same coin), so it’s not really my cup of tea. I love dynamic, drastic opposites. Also, I almost never write/engage with straight pairings in fandom. Ever. Because I can’t write straight people. Everyone is bi/queer/something when I write them. (Side-characters are an exception; but main people? Never straight) 

Enemies-to-grumblegrumble-to-lovers is the Best Trope; followed closely by we-must-continue-to-pretend-to-be-enemies-for-reputation-reasons. 

Court! Politics! Are! Fun! Grima and Eomer as a team is such a ruthless combo and all of Rohan should tremble. Like actually though, great power couple potential.

Angst potential is high! But with catharsis, because this is LOTR after all. 

Grima’s subversion of gender is something that speaks to me on a spiritual level. Much of it is born from the classic “evil=effeminate” equation that consciously, or subconsciously, appears in fiction for misogyny/homophobic/etc. reasons. But, it’s present in the text and I am always drawn to those characters and enjoy smashing them together with their polar opposite.

The above is further complicated by Rohan’s hyper-masculine militarized idealization of manliness and what is expected of men in terms of behaviour; occupation; relationships with each other and with women; socialization etc.   

Trauma is born from relationships, and it is through relationships that we heal trauma. This isn’t to say that you can “fix” or “heal”or “save” a person, because you can’t. That’s not how things work. But relationships are still integral to healing. Particularly, having safe, healthy ones help give a person the space they need to work through their things and come out the other side.

I love the journey of someone who is on the bad-guy side switching over to the good side but they still remain an ugly person in many ways. Goodness doesn’t require niceness. Grima is a nasty person, but I like the idea of him being a mean piece of work who is has learned to be like I GUESS I WILL MAKE THE MORAL CHOICE FUCK IT FINE. UGH. 

Eomer learning kingship, especially in the shadow of Theodred’s death and Aragorn’s Straight-From-A-Fairy-Tale kingship, has buckets of potential. So, adding to that, Grima/Eomer makes for an excellent opportunity to explore power, what it means to lead, what it means to be a real-human-king and not the ideal that is stitched into tapestries and sung about in mead halls. 

Related to the above: questions of what it means to be the Necessary Man who makes the Necessary But Often Brutal Decisions are fun to explore, and again, this dynamic really lends itself to it. More so, if you run with Eomer having a bit of a snakish streak in him that he is aware of - take your pick on if he is trying to suppress it; work with it; run with it; ignore it lalala je suis Honourable(tm). 

Additionally, the idea of love of country and desire to ensure survival becoming warped into something evil? I live for it. Then finding a way back to the light? Sign me up. 

-

Sorry for the long reply! Again, tl;dr: I like the opposite-attract dynamic; couples-who-bicker is a favourite trope; angst!potential!high!; fun things to explore in terms of leadership/kingship/how do you make a decision when there is no moral choice to be made? All options for X situation are terrible. Make your bed and lie in it./Necessary Man + Honourable Man = hnnnngyes/People finding their way in from the cold is beautiful/I just Really Love Redemption Ok??

Much of what I like about them is bound up in what I like about Grima and his character and the potential that he had to exemplify the idea that it is a kind act, a loving act, that can change the world. Frodo offered his hand, offered forgiveness, offered safety and peace and Grima was going to take it (and all that comes with that, including relearning goodness). But then Tolkien killed him off. What a sad ending. 

Anyway - not sure if this makes sense or is helpful as a response! 

<3 

[illwynd]

PLEASE tell us more about your dad's math porn

Lololol OK well. I have mentioned it on here a few times, and... well, see, the damn book has been through so many iterations since I first read it years ago when I was a teenager so I am not sure some of this made it into the published cut. But the gist of the book is like this. It’s set in the 80s (I think?) and it’s about this brilliant young med student, John, who meets a woman who claims to be from outer space. The woman, Stella, says that her planet is supposed to be this paradise, everybody is genetically engineered to perfection, they live thousands of years of youthful, healthy life... but now they’re having a population crisis, and not the one you’d think. Rather, they seem to be going infertile. Stella thinks it’s because they’ve lost the zest for life: life on her perfect planet is fuckin boring. So she has the idea to go to Earth, a planet full of people who are so good at fantasizing that they can get swept up in all kinds of delusions, to relearn how to have fun. 

I mean, as a concept, you could do worse? It’s very golden age soft SF (and I mean that as fondly as possible). And a lot of the book is really fun. Pages upon pages of John and Stella arguing philosophy, with some actually nifty perspectives and unusual insights, between bizarre little interludes of plot. A side character, John’s old friend and classmate Walt, who is an electrical engineer who decides that his purpose in life is to design a machine to give people better orgasms, and whose interactions with a calculus professor gave us a couple pages of actual calculus problems that I think may have sadly gotten cut from the published version. Barfights that end with mind control and references to old-time wrestlers. Tons of references to old Hollywood and TV, which is most of what Stella knew of Earth culture before her expedition. So, in its best spots, it’s clever and funny and charming and thought-provoking. 

But it’s also full of incredibly purple porn. Like seriously. It’s het af, but even setting that aside, there are parts of the porn that are intentionally funny! And there are parts that are (I am fairly sure) unintentionally fucking hilarious. I tried several times to edit the book and I always got stuck on trying to figure out how to tell my dad that his porn was... not hot. I mean, ok, we are very spoiled in fandom and my bar for comparison is high. But still. At least he’s safe from ever getting convicted for obscenity, because ain’t no way any judge would conclude that’s appealing to the prurient interest. Prostate like a syrup factory. My gods. Save me.

Anyway, it looks like at least some of the math did stay in the final cut, including in the scene where they’re driving out to John’s cabin for a weekend of debauchery and discussion, and John (who is an avowed communist---in the ‘80s, mind you) has gotten started talking about politics and Stella... promptly falls asleep. Interest in the negative numbers. Lights out. John fears this means she’s pretty but actually dumb, so when, after she wakes up, he starts speeding on a toll road to make it to their dinner reservation, and she’s the one to point out that the excuse he has come up with will make matters worse (if the tollbooth attendant punched up the tickets ahead of time, he will appear to have been speeding more, not less), he at first doesn’t believe that she figured it out faster than he did. He tests her with a few more math and logic puzzles like that before concluding that she is in fact no dummy. 

I’m sorely tempted to post the calculus bits just because it’d be a damn shame if those never saw the light of day, though XD

[kneworder]

Hey! 

I made a (pretty long and possibly out of control) list of (mostly) Five-centric fanfic recs, so if anyone’s interested, here it is!

(pretty much all of them contain spoilers, so beware!)

Umbrella Academy Fanfiction Recs:

* = my favorites

**= PLEASE READ THIS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

One-Shots

this is a bad town (for such a pretty face) by luciimariiellii (3747 words)*

Set in the apocalyptic future, shows the Hargreeves ghosts reacting to seeing Five again after 17 years, interspersed with their reactions to his earlier absence

Covered in Ash, Covered in Glass by Qpenguin98 (8359 words)*

Five character study! Goes through time before and after canon.

Stages of Decomposition by telm_393 (3249 words)*

Five’s time through the apocalypse.

falling backwards by syncwhispers (2770 words)*

Series of vignettes documenting Klaus’ time in Vietnam and Five’s time in the apocalypse. Later focuses on sibling bonding!

Requiem by historymiss (673 words)*

Five buries his siblings. Short and (not so) sweet.

A Little Whiskey Goes a Long Way by Zyla (3360 words)

Drunk Five and sad Klaus, with a little Diego towards the end.

Blood Like Lemonade by Ford_Ye_Fiji (2860 words)

Klaus being able to see ghosts is especially interesting when his brother just so happens to be an incredibly prolific assassin

PB & MM by M3xxaTh3M3z (2739 words)

Goes into Five and Vanya’s relationship as kids, and takes another approach at Vanya being ordinary. (Five sees her lack of powers as a kind of freedom, in a a way, which I thought was fascinating)

Multi-Chapter

Complete

6 Times Five Helped Out His Siblings… by kbaycolt (8402 words, 7 chapters)*

I am a sucker for 5+1 (or 6+1, in this case) and this does it justice. Exactly what it says on the tin.

Blink by Lady_Origami (10,294 words, 3 chapters)

Five and PTSD, includes Five, Klaus, and Ben bonding! (Also classified under The Sky Weeps series, so related to The Moon Laughs)

you're the only one who knows by WeWalkADifferentPath (3459 words, 2 chapters)

Corporeal Ben finds Five in the library, and bonding ensues!

Partners, Parents, or None of the Above by DarkFairytale (20,616 words, 2 chapters)

Numerous times that people have mistaken Klaus and Diego for a couple (and often, Five as their son)

Ongoing

(All word counts are as of 3/22/19 and are subject to change)

(Chapter count is specified if an end chapter count is given, otherwise chapter count is omitted)

An A-Z Of the End of the World by historymiss (5305 words 20/23 chapters)*

Drabble series giving insight into Five’s character at different points in time.

The Moon Laughs by Lady_Origami (52,046 words)**

One of my absolute favorites, as this one has both all the great character-study elements I love, and a really compelling plot. Essentially: Five in a Groundhog Day loop of the 8 days in canon. Takes its time, explores the characters, in multiple iterations. Heartbreaking, hilarious, just… fantastic. Highly recommend.

A Snippet of Time by Milu_i (4338 words)

Series of Five-centric one-shots/fics, only 2 chapters so far, but both have been good!

An Eye For An Eye by dgalerab (23,626 words)*

Set post canon, picks up where season 1 left off. Fun twist in chapter three, I’m excited to see where it goes!

Blessed be the boys time can't capture by thebatmandiaries (7812 words, 6/10 chapters)

-blurb contains comic spoilers!-

Blends comic canon and show canon by rewriting the show with the added comic detail of Five having implanted serial killer DNA from the Commission

Falling Forward Into Orbit by Roserayrose (9119 words)

Five returns to 2019 after only 2 months in the apocalypse. Things are the same, but everything is different.

I Missed You Idiots by Allwalkfree (3557 words)

Klaus finds Five making a cake for Ben’s ‘birthday,’ and it’s bittersweet.

mirror, mirror by screechfox (5701 words)

Picks up from the end of season 1, except instead of everyone becoming young again, they’re faced with their young selves. Essentially, adult Hargreeves are all sent back to 2002.

Relearn, Restart by emavee (8982 words, 4/15 chapters)

Vanya survives the apocalypse, and is forced to reconnect with a furious Five.

run (because you know you cannot hide) by e_va (6643 words)*

Only one chapter so far, but it gets off to a great start. The Commission decides to kidnap Five’s family to exploit his *one* weakness. Original villain is surprisingly interesting? This coming from someone who never likes OCs in fanfic, he’s pretty cool. Characterizations are great!

Shingaling by LWF (3658 words, 2/3 chapters)

After the apocalypse is averted, Five, Diego, and Vanya go to clean up Harold Jenkins’ corpse.

Sunshine, Lollipops, and Thai Food by slightlyworriedhuman (5574 words)

The Hargreeves family finally gets a firsthand look at the violence Five has become capable of, thanks to the Commission.

the desperation murmur of a heartbeat by slytherincosette (9386 words)*

Five doesn’t run into the apocalypse at 13. Instead, he takes his siblings (sans Luther) and runs away from home at 16. (Gets extra points for Green Day quotations… what can I say, I’m weak for Green Day)

two can be as bad as one by myeyesarenotblue (1715 words, only 1 chapter so far)

Power swap!

how we react (and how we recover) by shamefulshameless (13,123 words, 1/2 chapters)**

I think this is the only non-Five-centric fic on this list but… damn. Entirely in Dave’s perspective, chronicles his and Klaus’ relationship. Now, I usually don’t like shipfic, but this had me Crying in the Club because it’s so beautiful. Highly recommend.

Series

the odds were never in our favor by aletterinthenameofsanity (27,442 words total, 7 works)**

Okay so it’s a Hunger Games crossover, and if that doesn’t sound like something you’d like, hear me out. It’s actually fantastic? So far, there are 7 installments and every one is beautifully haunting. Portrays each sibling as a previous victor, and crosses over with Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Hands down, my favorite work in this fandom. Just… please read it, it’s so good.

old dog, old tricks by Soulykins (27,823 words total, 9 works)

After living in the apocalypse for over 40 years, Five doesn’t adjust well to no longer having to just survive. Series centers on his family learning more about his issues and helping him through them.

Out Of Time by Devilbaby (4368 words total, 4 works)

Series of short interactions between Five and his family.

you've walked all these miles (and now you're in the right place) by slytherincosette (3813 words total, 2 works)

Five makes it home to his 16 year old siblings after four years in the apocalypse.

((((also My Immortal but it's The Umbrella Academy by speedythief which is easily recognizable as crack for anyone who knows my immortal but it’s hilarious and I couldn’t not include it))))

Please read these! There’s so much talent in this fandom, and I know I’m leaving stuff out, but these are just the ones that I’ve found so far, and they’re all fantastic!! 

[queerfables]

I feel like something's that maybe worth adding to this conversation is just how toxic the anti community is to its fellow members. Once I got out of it enough to take a breath, there was no way I could ever have gone back, because I was breathing clearly again for the first time in a long time.

Maybe my story is a little unusual because I had a weird arc of like, becoming very kink-positive in my late teens/early 20s, then getting caught up in radfem rhetoric for a couple of years and arguing fiercely for fandom to be more "responsible" in shipping; I self described as an anti, though this was back in 2013ish, so the term was very new and had slightly different implications (but, the foundations for modern anti-ism were all there, including defending ourselves against accusations of purity culture). For mostly unrelated reasons, I took a break from online spaces for a few years, and when I came back I found myself looking on in slowly dawning horror at the inevitable conclusion of all those deep convictions I'd been arguing for.

Coming out of those ideas wasn't an immediate process but it also wasn't as tenuous as this ask suggests. Admittedly, I had that underlying foundation of sex positivity that other people may not have, but for me, walking away from anti culture was like walking towards myself. All the stress and shame and cognitive dissonance just fell away and I remembered what it was like to trust myself again, instead of being adrift in a sea of ever shifting goal posts and calls to listen to the most oppressed person in the room. It's true that I was cautious, at first, about exploring more risque fanworks, but that was more about relearning my own boundaries (and, as my tumblr will testify, didn't last long).

What I'm getting at here is that I didn't change for anyone except myself and what I believed in, so it makes very little difference to me whether a stranger on the internet trusts me or not. If you're someone who thinks ex-antis are untrustworthy, it's fine to be cautious or even just never interact with anyone who's open about that past. I'd rather you not go so far as to be a dick, but if you do, the good news is that the block button exists and I'm free to use it on anyone I don't want to interact with. I have plenty of friends who care more about my present than my past, and I made them by engaging with fandom as a fun hobby we share rather than a high-stakes moral crusade, which feels amazing.

I'm the anon who sent the ask about finding it hard to trust former antis.

jmtorres says the following in the notes: "certainly not everyone has a responsibility to be friends with ex-antis, but if ex-antis get treated shitty for their former beliefs, will they have motivation to stick to their new community or will they think about going back to their old community?"

This gets at the heart of the issue: if a reformed anti is at risk of sliding back into their earlier pattern of harassment and fearmongering, I don't see why anyone needs to accommodate them unduly and centre their needs over those of their victims and the community at large. ContraPoints talked about something similar in a recent video that addresses the transphobia of Megan Phelps-Roper, a former spokesperson for the Westboro Baptist Church who went on to become one of their loudest critics. I'm not saying antis are exactly like bigots, only that there are parallels. And I'm not sure why people are assuming that exercising caution is going to be super-obvious and make the ex-anti feel bad. It's more like a private rule for me, something that makes my fandom experience a little better, like keeping difficult and unstable people at arm's length. I also assume that most people won't publicize that they used to be antis out of embarrassment, so privacy works both ways.

Also, there totally are things that ex-antis do that strike me as red flags. One thing is seeking authority by organizing community events, with all the gatekeeping that entails, immediately after their "conversion" or whatever. It's fine to be suspicious in that situation. Why is a former bully so keen to jump into a leadership role?

--

I think the trouble here is that "anti" covers everyone from active harassers to dumb 14-year-olds who parroted certain kinds of widespread "Porn Bad Tho" ideas before growing the fuck up.

I think it's hard to unlearn really heinous behavior but not especially difficult to get over dumb ideas once you have exposure to counterarguments.

For my own social life, I find that people who've dipped a toe in the anti pool are usually not ready to be on my level where at some social gathering, my friend is like "Ew, how can you ship Wen Ning. He's full of holes. It would all just... ooze out." and then I make this face

😀😀😀

while she goes "No. No. NO." and I outline the plot of my future epic.

Having swum in those waters recently usually makes people awkward around the uninhibited. Others not being embarrassed embarrasses them. So I won't end up being buddies, but I wouldn't assume they're going to backslide all that much.

[fuckyeahasexual]

(Suicidal ideation tw and aphobia tw)- aphobia sends me into suicidal ideation and puts my life in danger. After the abuse apologism and death threats i got talking about my own abuse from aphobes and conversion therapy on this website, when it's mentioned i have to struggle to not act on them. I was v happy to see buzzfeed lgbt do a series on asexual hcs, but the comments section is fullll of regs saying we either don't belong or are disrespecting gay hcs. And idk what to do. (Cont)

(Part 2) did they get wind of the article and go to spam it? Or is the hatred really so spread??? I quit tumblr to, you know, stay alive. But to know that even when lgbt websites include us its bombarded with hate feels way too much. I know people liked to say its the minority but that article took away hope. Idk what to do with these feelings that im unsafe around cis straight and now, lgbt+ people too. I had hopes it was dying out

I wish could say hold out until [date] the weather will change and they will be sunshine for sure! But I honestly can’t. Here are some things I can tell you with that I believe with my whole heart.

REGs are the minority. This is meant as reassurance, because their loudness makes them seem like it’s literally everyone versus you. That’s not the case. My high estimate would be 1 asshole to every 10. That’s not to belittle how much pain one asshole causes but a reminder that you aren’t alone.

I was just complaining to my friend yesterday that I keep running into people who caused my own suicidal idealization because people in my circle would boost them, and how I hated that because they felt so unavoidable. And was lovingly reminded that there are lots of aces out there, I don’t need to put up with a single toxic person for the sake of community. A ‘plenty of fish in the sea’ pov and if people aren’t helping me avoid those people, even seemingly good people, I found out that I’m happier without them too. This isn’t to encourage you to isolate yourself, but a reminder that you don’t have to socialize. 

There’s a lot of ace head-canon-able characters and a lot of canon characters. I know I got sooo used to fandoms being an exchange between people that I forgot there was other ways to consume media. I started missing the days where I could just watch something and enjoy it. Not worry every for seconds that someone would tell my my headcanon is wrong. I had to relearn how to sit and watch something.

Try to grow your own happiness. And when you find it, don’t instantly share it. That helped to remind me that I don’t need that constant interaction to be happy in the first place. And I now how ableist this next part sounds, but as someone who’s been there, I want you to hear me out. To some degree, you can choose happiness. For example, after months of feeling like “ha you all make me wish I was dead” I realized certain actions triggered those feelings. I’d log on, I’d see abusers running around, I’d want to die. And quiting that pattern is not easy at times. You have to work on it as if it was an addiction. I had to think x will make me really unhappy avoid x, multiple times a day. And that can be hard because old behaviors are easy to repeat. Social media has good and bad and that’s what makes it hard to avoid. I’ve seen people fucking SUFFERING some new thing hourly but feel like they couldn’t walk away from things causing the harm. Once you know what causes you harm you can work to avoid it. Maybe for you that’s not having a tumblr account and choosing yourself over and over to avoid the comments section. Maybe it’s that and other little things. Maybe it’s a big thing and saying I have a free day I’m going to do nothing and feel good about it.

Put your safety first, put your happiness first. 

I think as a community we are so used to coming together to survive. That we are utterly vulnerable to abuse within the community. And we need to learn how to distance ourselves from the bad and regroup when we need.

I want you to ask yourself if you need others to be okay with your identity. On your own, non-triggered, how cool are you being you? If you hate yourself right now this can be tricky. But personally, my queer identity is at peace as long as I stay away from abusive people. I don’t need the community to feel okay being asexual anymore. It’s others the fuck me up. This utterly changes the way I interact with people, and really the community as a whole.

If you need people, that’s absolutely okay too. But you might need to change what spaces you are in to make sure you are in ones that are positive and on the happy side. Watching negativity and pain 24/7 will fuck your head up.

This is getting long and is rambling on so in summary,  if you are unsafe find higher ground. Do something that makes you happy. Or at least something that doesn’t make you miserable if happiness isn’t in the forecast. When you need someone reach out for them. When you don’t, it’s okay to keep all your hands arms, and legs inside the ride.

[ao3feed-timdrake]

Reparation

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/38n7iFC

by Anonymous

Waking up from his induced coma was only the beginning. Now Dick has to piece his life back together. That includes relearning how to walk, how to eat, how to speak, and how to interact with the group of strangers that call themselves his family.

AKA, a different take on Dick getting shot in the head that involves fewer bad nicknames

Words: 3513, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth

Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: Fix-It of Sorts, Brain Injury, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, mediocrely researched medicine, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Aphasia, Amnesia, Epilepsy, Headaches

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/38n7iFC

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Reparation

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/38n7iFC

by Anonymous

Waking up from his induced coma was only the beginning. Now Dick has to piece his life back together. That includes relearning how to walk, how to eat, how to speak, and how to interact with the group of strangers that call themselves his family.

AKA, a different take on Dick getting shot in the head that involves fewer bad nicknames

Words: 3513, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth

Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: Fix-It of Sorts, Brain Injury, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, mediocrely researched medicine, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Aphasia, Amnesia, Epilepsy, Headaches

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/38n7iFC

[task-modelcam-blog]

How To Use Social Media As A Device For Lead Generation

The whole point of social media marketing — or any marketing, really — is to bring business back your company or brand. Yes, it is great for brand building, interacting with your audience, and widen your audience but you have to open a social media account with the intention of generating lead and treat it as a part, an extension of your company rather than a separate entity. In short, lead generation should be your main objective while drafting your social media plan.

To fulfill this objective, there are a few things you will have to understand, learn, and relearn.

What Is Lead Generation?

In the simplest form of the term, ‘lead generation’ means ‘generating’ enough interest in potential customers to ‘lead’ them to your business. Lead generation is (or should be) the driving force behind every strategy you make and almost every campaign you take on (except the ones you do for social causes, social awareness, etc).

Lead generation is the device you use to get potential customers to your sales funnel. To do this you, obviously, need some basic information about your customers, like

What are they interested in?

What are their pain points? Which ones relate to your business the most?

Which of your products or services can you sell them? How can you present your brand so it will appeal to them?

How can you eventually turn them into paying customers?

Earlier (before the internet) this data was gathered through surveys and forms you found in magazines. With the arrival of internet, we were introduced to digitized, modern lead generation tools like gated content, video marketing, email opt-ins and paid ad campaigns. These tools are quicker and easier ways to gather the information you need about your audience to get them to your business and turn them into paying customers.

How Does Social Media Come Into Play?

Now, you’re probably, “okay, but what does social media got to do with all this?”

If someone wants to create an account on a social media platform, they have to submit some of their personal information. This means that, if they have this information viewable to public, you have readily available data on your audience without bothering them much. Also, since it is a social platform and people much more open to interacting with brands, you can actually interact and engage with your audience to find out their interests, pain points, etc.

Another important reason why you should get on social media is because of the number of users it has. Facebook alone has 2.23 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2018 while Instagram — ranked the sixth most popular photo-sharing app — has around 1 billion users. And since these platforms are available in multiple languages and on smart phones that are getting cheaper by the minute, your brand will be exposed to audiences beyond geographic and economic borders. This will simultaneously make it easier for you to collect information and research data for your lead generation strategy.

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Ways To Generate Leads Via Social Media

Okay, so social media is a great tool for lead generation, but how do you use this tool? Do you just… tweet? Broadly speaking, yes, but it is what you tweet, or post in general, that differentiates lead generation from brand building (although in some cases those two could overlap).

Here are some ways you could use social media as a lead generation tool:

1. Special Offers

Who doesn’t like free stuff? Host a sweepstake-type event or offer some giveaways once in a while that people love sharing to their social media accounts. Besides, if you include an entry form they have to fill in, that is free lead generation data for you!

Just remember to add a shareable link with the post so your viewers can share the offer with their friends/followers and spread the word.

2. Polls and Surveys

Polls and surveys are age-old devices to collect information about your audience; even the government uses a “100 percent sample survey” to keep a track of the citizens. The digitized versions of these polls and surveys available on social media have the advantage of being quicker and easier than their manual counterparts. Besides, since it’s on social media, people participate in these more readily and with a lot more interest.

3. Referrals

According to Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising Survey 2012, 92% buyers say that they trust ‘earned media’ like word-of-mouth (video marketing) and the recommendations of their friends and family. This is why referrals can work so well for you (‘can’ because if you don’t do it right, it can be a slippery, downhill slope for you and your brand’s reputation).

Referrals not only help with lead generation, but they also help you increase your audience base (especially if you have marketing automation platform that is integrated with the major social platforms). They are also easy to track since they have a special link unique to each shared message.

4. Discount Codes

There are a reason sales work; people love getting things on discount; there is a sense of urgency, the incentive of saving money, etc. even if they don’t particularly need the product, they are more likely to buy it if it is on discount. Another thing people love is the feeling of being exclusive or being part of an elite club. Discount Codes give them that feeling of exclusivity because it is not just any discount given to anyone walking into a shop, only people that follow the brand and/or match some requirements get the discount.

And since humans are hardwired to look out for their community, they will share this code with people they care about in hopes of also sharing the feeling of exclusivity.

5. Promote Gated Content

Gated content tells people ‘look here, this stuff can be viewed only by people who fulfill these prerequisites’; mostly these prerequisites are filling in a form with your email, name, and such. On the other hand though, people are very careful about what information they give to whom because of the privacy issues that came to light recently; they take their privacy very seriously and hold all personal information related to it very close to your heart. If you have done your research right, you will know what topics your audience will find interesting and valuable enough to give up their basic information for.

6. Hold Livestreams

This may be hard to believe but being social is key on social media, even if you are a brand. Another reason why livestreams are popular is because consumers get to see a face and/or hear a human voice for the brand which humanizes the brand in the eyes of the viewers. The aspect of getting their questions answered in real time is also a driving aspect in people liking livestreams. To top it off, if the topic for yor livestream is interesting enough, viewers will get more people to join, engage, and maybe even become paying customers.

Regardless whether it is a charity livestream or a webinar or even a live chat, conduct livestreams on a regular basis. Instagram recently came out with the ‘Questions Sticker’ that allows you to ask your viewers questions that you can answer in real time through the Stories. Twitter Chats, Facebook live, and Youtube Live are a few other options that you can use for holding livestreams and other time-sensitive events.

7. Paid Ads

Ads on social media platforms sound like bad ideas for the most part, mostly because people tend to scroll past without another thought, or get annoyed with the number of ads they come across. But strategically placed ads that show up at the right time in the right person’s page have a good chance of being clicked on.

Most brands treat paid ads as a separate device for social media promotion; that is where they go wrong. Paid advertisement is not an alternative to organic ads, but a complementary addition that enhances basic lead generation. Highly and precisely targeted ads ensure that you get leads from equally laser-focused groups of potential customers.

The popularity of paid ads among brands has lead to a lot of social media platforms to include customizable tools that are designed to help you collect leads and lead generation data directly from the platform. Tools like Facebook lead ads, Instagram lead ads, and LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms not only give brands valuable information on their audiences but they also ensure the platform users about the safety of their privacy.

8. Contests

Contests are a fun, delightful ways to generate leads. The incentive of winning a prize (and boasting rights) is a good enough reason for people to join contests. But from the business point of view, if you want more leads that are also accurate, remember two things while deciding on the prize: first, make sure the prize is valuable enough for the intended audience to get interested, and second, the prize should be of high value only for those in your audience who have a higher potential of becoming your paid customers and not of much value to others.

So instead of offering free merchandise (unless it’s a fandom that you’re targeting), maybe offer a free extended trial for your product or a substantial discount on membership. These criteria will ensure that only those interested and likely to become paid customers will join your contests.

You can ask people to enter your contest by retweeting/sharing/liking a post or by following your page/account. Although this is the easiest way to get a lot of people to enter, it is not as good for lead generation since most social media users only share information that is publically available on their profiles. Also, keep in mind that if you ask for likes or shares too many times, Facebook’s algorithm will view it as spam and bring down your News Feed distribution.

Another way to get people to join your contests is by clicking through to a landing page. This method will get fewer entrants since it involves an extra step. But if you attach a contest entry form, you will gather more information than the first method which will help you turn your contestants into leads more accurately.

You can also use the ‘Question Tag’ feature on Instagram to hold interesting contests.

9. #Hashtag-ify Your Brand

Create and use hashtags that are unique to your brand. If you have an event or major reveal coming up, create some buzz around it by adding a custom hashtag in your post relating to it. Hashtags like #ShareACoke, #YesWeCan, # ALSIceBucketChallenge, and #LikeAGirl are some really good examples of brand hashtags that have generated lots of leads for the brand associated with them.

Also, notice that all of these hashtags have positive connotations, are associated with positive causes, or have strong positive emotional overtones or undertones.

Social media is a great tool for lead generation, especially now, when using social media is like having coffee in the morning — not everyone does it but everyone knows about it and talks about it. It is time that you stop thinking of social media as a tool exclusively for building brand and start using it to its full potential as a lead generation device as well.