#this is my ask to all you tumblrites

[luxexhomines]

Question (not writing)

So, I have to ask some questions of which the answers may seem obvious to everyone, but which I think I have been confused about the past several years. Oops.

I'm trying to revamp my requests post and think more about how I write, so if anyone has any thoughts or answers, I would deeply appreciate some clarifications and help!!

According to many sources like Fanlore, an imagine is a short fanfic or descriptive passage.

Most imagines blogs seem to write with short paragraphs and/or bullet points. So, what is it I've been writing the past couple years?? Because it seems like they're just one-shots and not imagines. That is, aside from my headcanons, which have been in bullet points.

Is this why I take so long to write "imagines?" Because I write full on one-shots instead of imagines?

Also, feel free to be honest with me, I don't mind at all (as long as you're not telling me I'm stupid or something ;o;)!

I'm thinking about just changing my writing so I actually write imagines for requests and not one-shots, especially those with multiple characters. Does that sound reasonable to whoever sees this post, if anyone sees this??

(Edit: I checked and it looks like sometimes I write imagines with bullet points? Wtheck. Does this just mean I'm inconsistent af?)

(Thank you in advance to anyone who shares their thoughts, I'll really appreciate your thoughts & help!!!)

Also, this doesn't mean I'll never write one-shots again, but that I wouldn't do it as much for requests unless someone requested it that way!

[olderthannetfic]

hi, as someone who is tragically gen Z and only ever read AO3, can I ask: what was so great about LiveJournal? Like, I know that there were fics posted there (and I've even read about the "purge", so I get why it isn't used anymore) and that it was sort of a forum-type thing. But what I don't understand, wouldn't Tumblr fill in the latter function? How was that site any different? I see a lot of people reminiscing about it and I'm confused

--

A big factor in LJ's greatness is timing and nostalgia.

It was genuinely great, but it wasn't quite as great as all of the Lo, shall the Golden Age ne'er come again? posts suggest.

LJ arrived at a pivotal time in the development of the internet both in terms of technical stuff and how many people had access. Many fans who are now in their thirties to fifties first discovered fandom through LJ and many were at a time in their lives when they were feeling energetic and up to making lots of new friends—and to figuring out how to make a site work for them.

I got on LJ in 2002 when it required invites. Fandom arrived in droves in 2003, first via coordinated campaigns to get invites to key people and then when LJ opened up free account creation to everyone. Back then, LJ's features sucked. It was impossible to search properly, among other things. At its height (2005-7, let's say), there was a reasonable site search, and fans had developed all sorts of community resources for finding each other.

People often remember this phase but not the early days of suckitude.

This development parallels how Tumblr used to not have that private chat feature and how a lot of fuckyeah[whatever] type tumblrs have helped curate the site and make it much more usable for fans. Fandom draining away from LJ after strikethrough also parallels people draining away from Tumblr after the purge.

There are people who talk about Tumblr the way my cohort talks about LJ...

And to the shock of no one, they are people who came of age on Tumblr, who found fandom via Tumblr, who were on Tumblr during pivotal times in their lives and ones when they had energy to make friends and figure out how a site worked.

Those same Tumblrites are now making all the same geriatric-sounding posts we LJers do about how other sites lack the required features to be good for fandom while missing that 90% of tumblr's "features" at its height (2012-2016, let's say) were actually fan-created and were basically the same as any fandom newsletter or links page or all the versions of this kind of personal curation stretching back to long before the internet existed.

What life phase you hit a site at matters.

--

With all of that said, no, LJ was not a forum. It was a blogging site with threaded comments.

The key point to understand is that conversation was always happening in a specific person's space. Unlike on a true forum, people were in the comments on a particular post in a journal owned by another fan. (On a forum, there's the first post in a thread, but it's still more of a communal space with less of a hierarchy.)

Overall, the LJ format can have a feeling a bit like you're over at someone's house for tea. There's more of a sense of intimacy and also behaving yourself in front of community members.

Tumblr being obscure and impossible to find anything in does give it some of the same vibe relative to Twitter, but it's still part of modern social media that tries to shove every rando into the face of every other rando.

But it wasn't just vibes: LJ also had robust privacy features where you could lock a post to this or that group of friends. You could moderate your comments section properly. Tumblr has far fewer controls to force people to behave or leave on a technical level.

--

The biggest thing many people miss about LJ is the threaded comments. At least by late LJ and on Dreamwidth, you can expand and collapse threads, making it far easier to deal with a massive comments section. But more than that, things are properly threaded with multiple levels of hierarchy that are all easily visible in the same place.

On Tumblr, it used to be extremely difficult to find all of the actual commentary on a post. Nowadays, it's far easier, but you still have to scroll chronologically, and multiple versions of a post with a long chain of commentary may be much more divorced from each other than what would happen in a LJ comments section.

--

But could we use Tumblr pretty much how we used LJ?

We could.

I do.

--

The key things that people tend to miss about LJ, aside from the younger and more excited version of themselves or the friends they've lost since then, are:

Heavily text-based

It may sound odd on the modern internet, but there are a lot of people whose brains don't like or handle an image-heavy site well. They were everywhere in SF book fandom. They were everywhere on the early internet. Today, they're hanging out on Dreamwidth and still going to their SF cons. They're usually not on Tumblr.

You could follow the discussion

Threaded comments help, but a lot of it is about having some place you can check for updates. It wasn't actually that easy to follow big LJ discussions unless you were subscribed to comments and reading along as things were happening instead of coming along after the entire mass of comments had been left.

The tone of the discussion is intellectual and one's enemies are "idiots", not "problematic"

All this requires is a penchant for longwindedness and an itchy blocking finger to remove anyone slinging ad hominems from the comments section.

On tumblr, it's as simple as conversations happening in the replies on a popular account and that person not tolerating suibaiting and threats.

(And make no mistake, a lot of LJ discussion was in the comments on popular accounts, not spread equally between everyone's.)

It does require that multiple people like that tone and want to engage in that way, but lots of people do want to.

--

These days, I interact with tumblr by checking my askbox and reading my activity page. The vast, vast majority of my posts are ones where I'm the OP, so if I block someone, they're booted from the discussion entirely.

For me... yeah, Tumblr functions almost exactly like LJ.

Also like LJ, while I'm hosting the conversation, if you hang around, you'll see the same people again and again in the comments. They may or may not also host that kind of conversation in their space, and there's a larger pool of lurkers who have some notion of which people count as regulars. Other people are watching from the shadows, enjoying or deriding the takes of the usual crowd.

People presumably do like reading my lengthy commentary or they wouldn't be here, but my tumblr wouldn't be popular like this without a healthy pool of other people who chime in regularly. It's not just that there are more people: it's that you see the same people over time. There's a bit more sense of place and community than on some parts of the internet.

--

So, in my opinion, the failure to just recreate LJ fandom on Tumblr was a skill issue.

Threaded comments were great, but LJ culture came from mailing lists, and mailing lists had the same issue as tumblr with the diverging threads.

We solved that back then by clipping out only the parts we wanted to respond to (you'd write "snip" around the quotation to show it was incomplete). We solved the smaller LJ issue by linking to other posts we were referencing and doing discussion link roundups. We solve it on tumblr by, again, linking to what we're talking about and even quoting multiple reblog chains in our own reblog of just one chain.

--

Tumblr's technical features and even general crap-ness aren't really the problem. 90s and early 00s sites regularly went down for periods of time unthinkable today.

The missing piece is people.

When one is in an active fandom with others who curate or with friends who let one know what's up, a site with imperfect features is easy to figure out and retrofit for fandom's needs. When one already feels out of touch and is between fannish passions—or at least fannish passions anyone else cares about—seeing the potential in a new site is hard.

--

Threaded comments are different and better.

LJ's built-in way to see everyone's blog in your own style was better. The automatic timestamps and the ease of seeing a paginated archive of an entire blog was better than tumblr's endless scroll and lack of clear date labeling. But some of that can be fixed with xkit or knowing your way around tumblr well.

A lot of it is nostalgia for the lj era and a refusal to take the time to figure out how to use tumblr in an oldschool internet way.

--

So by all means, people, weigh in about what made LJ great or how the culture felt at the time...

But if I see one more god damn response going "You can't have a conversation on tumblr!" in reply to my tumblr, which contains nothing but conversation, I am coming for you.

[luvtonique]

I'm just gonna up and say it.

I'm gonna be real. It's something too many of you need to hear.

And it's time someone told you.

If you are made aware of a violent and bloody war, where people are being slaughtered, killed, raped, tortured, having their children killed, having their homes and families destroyed, having their lives taken...

And you see it as an opportunity to "choose a side you support" and put their nation's flag on your profile in support of them, and condemn people who don't support the same side as you?

If you are actively looking for reasons to support your 'side,' making excuses on behalf of bloodshed, arguing about what's 'justified' or 'a result of provocation' to further advocate for bloodshed?

If you ask people which side they support and know deep down that you will be viciously angry if they say "Neither" "I want this violence to stop" or the opposite side of the one you support?

I'm sorry.

But you are a fucking monster.

I have to say this. I literally can't keep reading posts from people fighting over whether they support Israel or Palestine, or even Ukraine or Russia.

This isn't fucking Esports you actual psychopaths! This is war and people are fucking dying! If you are celebrating when you hear "Ukrainians kill 1000 Russian soldiers" or "Palestinians kill Israeli children" you are literally a fucking monster. You are celebrating death, you are celebrating bloodshed, how the fuck do you look at yourself in the mirror and see anything other than a psychopathic death-obsessed twisted individual staring back at you?

You are sick. End of story.

Holy fucking lord I can't believe you fucking monsters so regularly celebrate slaughter of people. These are people, these are lives, these are human beings being fucking killed and you're waving around a flag like you're cheering for a sports team what the

ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU

From the bottom of my heart I hope that you all stand up right now, walk to the mirror, stare into it, and ask yourself, truly, deeply, if this is the person you really want to be. Someone who argues with people about why one side or the other is the 'good' side in war. Someone who actively looks for reasons to forgive the horrible violence happening in our world that's ending thousands and thousands of lives.

This isn't even just for war. Violence in general.

Stop it. Stop thinking there's a good side. Stop thinking violence is justified. I don't care what you fucking think about "the other side" and how it's "okay to punch them," you're a fucking freak of nature looking for any reason you can to justify violence as long as the violence lines up with your personal political views. You are just a fucking sick person.

Someone had to say it. You had to hear it. And I know damn well it's gonna fall on quite a lot of deaf fucking ears because social media is just full of you violence-obsessed genocidal fuckwits.

I already know the replies I'm gonna see.

"But what about if the person being killed is a <label> or voted for <name>? It should be okay to advocate violence against them"

"Oh so it's okay if x kills y but not if y kills x?"

"Wow I can tell what side you chose <clown emoji>"

I know it. I can feel it. I can feel you Tumblrites seething from reading this, from being told the truth about how much of a psycho you are, and you're conjuring every bit of your smug energy, looking into the void of your mind to find the perfect end to a sentence starting with "Wow it's almost as if" so you can "Own me" instead of taking your hands off your keyboard, standing up, thinking for one second about who you are and what your morals are, and deciding to stop advocating violence in any form.

And to the select few who read this and go "Yeah I already don't advocate violence and I'm already a person who just wishes it would stop instead of taking an opportunity to attack people and feel justified in my attack" then you're fine. You're a good person. Go get yourself a nice piece of butter toast or like make some soup you've earned it.

[bisexualbaker]

Crochet Patterns for Palestine

Making a new post for this; I'll still accept donation receipts from all organizations linked on the previous version of this post, but my focus has shifted and/or concentrated somewhat.

[Alt]

This crochet pattern is for small cats, of a good size to make into keychains, magnets, or even hair clips! There are six PDF versions available:

- US stitch names in 12 point Atkinson Hyperlegible - US stitch names in 22 point Atkinson Hyperlegible - US stitch names in 22 point Comic Sans

- UK stitch names in 12 point Atkinson Hyperlegible - UK stitch names in 22 point Atkinson Hyperlegible - UK stitch names in 22 point Comic Sans

Between those six options, that should cover most pattern accessibility needs. If you need something else, though, let me know! I’m prepared to offer a .doc or similar file on an individual basis if you need a screenreader to access crochet patterns, and have a sheet I can use to translate things to German stitch terms (though more in-depth instructions would still be in English). The pattern is worked primarily in (US) single crochet/(UK) double crochet, with the ears in (US) double crochet/(UK) treble crochet popcorn stitches, and is bundled with similar file options of a popcorn stitch tutorial PDF (no stitch names used).

“Socchan,” you say, “These cats are super cute! And you said that this pattern is for charity? How does that work exactly?”

I’m glad you asked! Simply donate a minimum of $3 or close-enough local equivalent to a related charity, then take a screencap of your receipt/proof of donation. Block out any information that could doxx you; it’s nice if you trust me, but it’s not impossible that my email could get hacked, and I want you to be safe! Finally, email the altered screencap to socchan (at) protonmail (dot) com.

Once I get and check the screencap, I will email you back with a password-locked zipped folder of all six files, as well as the password. I will do my best to respond to all emails within two days of receiving them. Please be respectful of both my work and this donation incentive and don't upload the patterns elsewhere!

As a bonus, if you take your donation up to at least $5 (or close-enough local equivalent), I’ll throw in an additional link and password for a very cute little flower pattern!

[Alt]

“That sounds pretty easy,” you go on to say, “but where should I donate? There are so many options to choose from!”

No problem! Check out Operation Olive Branch: A spreadsheet collecting lots and lots of links to fundraisers in Palestine.

Too much information to sort through? Here are some good general options:

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund - Focuses on medical aid to children in Palestine Medical Aid for Palestine - “[H]elp MAP respond to the ongoing emergency in Gaza, as well as provide medical supplies, support healthcare services and deliver long term development to healthcare in the occupied Palestinian territory and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.” MAP reportedly has a team on the ground in Gaza, providing critical medical aid. Anera - Providing food, hygiene kits, and medical care in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Palestine Red Crescent - More medical support in Palestine; the rest of the webpage is in Arabic, so be prepared if you want to click around at all. Basically the Palestinian Red Cross. Crips for eSims for Gaza - This organization is raising money to buy eSims in bulk, to help Palestinians in Gaza to communicate with the outside world. Help Gaza Children - Organized in part by Tumblrite @fairuzfan, Help Gaza Children provides food and toys to children in Gaza, feeding bodies and hearts.

"Socchan," you say, "I heard about this other person who is offering something else in exchange for proof of donation to Palestine-related charities. If I make a donation to get a drawing of a dragon, or some neat music, or a book of international vegan recipes, or something else I've found, is it okay if I also use that same donation or purchase to get a crochet pattern or two?"

Absolutely! What matters to me is that the people of Palestine get the aid they need. One of the reasons I made my minimum donation request so low is because I know that money is tight for a lot of people right now; even small donations are still very welcome to many of these organizations, and I understand if you need to make your money stretch as far as it can.

Thank you so much for reading this far! Please consider boosting this post, so it can reach more crocheters and crocheter-adjascent people.

[thegodthief]

You may have answered this before but are you a God who IS a thief, you steal FROM gods, or you steal gods? Collecting deities like Pokemon

The moniker was bestowed as an acute derogatory term by a Tumblrite who was hella annoyed that I included deities in my "dream" posts to whom I have no apparent cultural connection. That the deity that was the last straw for this person happens to be a god of thieves made the entire affair extra humorous. To the point that said god of thieves asked me to take on that moniker as a request (read: offering) to him AND to extra annoy the Tumblrite who thought they were the sole arbiter of the discussion because who the fuck is this person speaking on behalf of a god who already made their boundaries known to me?

The moniker stuck. HARD. Those who knew me when I was more gregarious online and thus more open with my "travels" loved to pick on me about it, because I was (and still am) actively avoiding being attached (read: leashed) to any divinity, be it by oath or otherwise. So the idea of me stealing gods like a rogue Pokemon trainer was just the height of hilarity.

I didn't get to save the picture, but someone made a quick drawing to commemorate the mental aneurysm that my embrace of the moniker created. There is a drawing of [someone that's supposed to be me], in a stolen convertible, license plate "FELETES1", driving off laughing. There are taped boxes in the backseat labeled "STOLEN GODS". And Hermes is peeking out from the unlatched trunk facing the viewer with his finger over his mouth to shush the viewer.

I think of that picture every time someone gets silly about religious boundaries. Are there closed religious practices that I have no right to demand insider info on? Absolutely. There are practices that do require the right bloodline to enter, and I will be out in the street because that's not my right. There are practices that require a certain initiation rite to properly enter into and receive benefit of, and for those practices, no amount of self-initiation is going to be satisfactory because the lineage is required for a reason. There are practices that require access to certain places, certain things, certain rituals for the practitioner to have certain blessings and obeisances for. I will never meet those requirements so I have no right to speak of what I know as if I was someone who has.

But, there are certain religious practices that were forced onto other peoples, if not by the might of swords, then by the might of the markets. There are certain religious practices have remade themselves to adjust to the modern world, that may have been closed at one time, but opened themselves to become accessible to all. There are certain religious practices that are documented as never giving a flying fuck about the practitioners as long as the practitioners behaved themselves, and you can't close a barn door when the barn was never built in the first place.

And then there's people like me: Culturally cut off from ancestral lineages. Culturally cut off from the predominate religion of the area because [insert bullshit reasons here]. Culturally and religiously isolated and trying to find a way through this hot mess, and if Other People's Gods™ look over and hand me a travel bag with a skin of water, who the hell am I to turn that down?

So, to answer your question, I am a person that steals gods, but only if the god wanted to be "stolen" in the first place. Please disregard the snickering sounds from the box I'm preaching from.

[ohblackdiamond]

Fandom Ask Game! 6, 7, 15, 18, 19, 20, 22 , 23, 24, 25 (I know this is all KISS related lol but some questions are for how you write these characters in your lovely fics more than the actual people) Um, I may have asked too many questions. lol I understand if you skip some that were already answered!

i'll answer them all!

6. Show us a bit of a WIP!

This is from "rocks off"--

“You keep giving me secondhand fantasies, Paulie. I want something just for you and me.”

Paul raised up a bit, bracing himself with one arm. He was looking at Ace one aspect at a time. Long, skinny legs, not much hair on them. Damp curls, wet mound– Ace was still sitting on top of him– small, jutting hips, small, pert breasts, all in contrast to his somewhat pouchy gut. The only fat really on him was right there at his stomach. All that champagne and beer, all that greasy, rich food on tour, and yet Paul knew damn well that Ace still weighed less than him. So unfair.

Ace’s face now. Some prettier, but recognizable.  Still scarred up and pockmarked. No beauty queen, no Playboy playmate. He’d been left as himself, same as Paul, and Paul had been cruel to him for it. Having Ace buy lingerie he didn’t fill out, just to make him insecure. Just to tear into him for not measuring up, because Paul himself didn’t feel like he measured up right now. Even Paul putting on the lingerie that another man had bought him– he hadn’t meant that as a jab, but that didn’t matter. He’d sliced into Ace with such precision he was amazed Ace was still even in bed with him.

Ace hadn’t had to be pretty to mess around with before, back when they’d both had the right bodies. None of that had mattered. He’d just had to be Ace. 

“Something just for you and me,” Paul said quietly. “If that’s what you want, then stop talking about Gene.”

“Can’t help it. He’s all over the goddamn place.”

“He doesn’t have to be.”

Ace pushed Paul’s curls back behind his ear, a gesture too oddly tender for Paul to believe.

“I can’t have you the way he could. The way I wanna.” Two of Ace’s fingers ran across Paul’s lips– Paul parted them on hazy automatic. “The way you wanna.”

So that was it, then. Some of it. Paul’s lips closed around Ace’s finger, sucking lightly for just a few seconds, before he pulled away with a small, wet pop.

“Ace,” he said, “what the hell do you know about what I want?”

7. Is there a piece of clothing you think [character] is particularly fond of/that you imagine them wearing a lot or like to draw them in?

I'm not a very visual person at all, so sadly, no. Everyone is stuck in jeans in most of my fics.

15. Have you noticed your style changing over time?

I have been at the fanfic game for longer than a lot of tumblrites have been alive-- sadly, due to not reading very many actual books, my style has not changed overly much in the last ten years or so. I'm relying on the same bag of tricks as ever (parallelism, implications).

18. Type [character]'s name and tell us what the autocomplete suggests as the next word.

Paul and

19. What's your favorite thing about [fandom] (the people in it, not the media you're all enjoying together)?

You know, in real life, it's probably actually the most welcoming fandom I've ever been in. I have never been treated poorly by anyone I met at a KISS event and in fact have always been treated extremely kindly. KISS fans get a bad rap for being bitter but in my experience it's not really true. Kissblr has been pretty good to me overal as well and has led me to meet and befriend some wonderful people.

20. When did you first join Tumblr? How long was it between that and finding [fandom]?

I first joined tumblr 12 years ago (I had an Angel Sanctuary blog). I have been involved in the KISS fandom on tumblr since 2018 but have been interested in KISS since the Reunion era, when I was a kid.

22. Give us a headcanon for [character].

In the merfic, purple tails (particularly in the New York area) are basically akin to having brown eyes in terms of being common. Blue tails are just slightly less common, then green, and red/pinkish are the least common.

All the mer are inbred and that accounts for their problems reproducing as well as issues like Paul's condition (both his microtia and his always-remaining purple splotching). Oh, wait, I don't think that's a headcanon because it's basically right there in the fic.

In t&a or any permutations of it, Paul could absolutely have orgasmed as a girl on his own if he'd let go of his anxiety about it more (and stopped just sticking his fingers in!).

Ace probably told Paul the way to break the curse was to have sex with Peter.

At the end of t&a, on the other end of the line, Ace is asking Paul if he's checked to see if his dick is still working properly.

23. Has your favorite character/ship changed over time?

I don't know that I ever had a favorite ship, it's always been a rough trifecta of Paul/Gene, Paul/Ace, and Ace/Peter.

Favorite to write about is still Paul. That's mostly because he's just easy to write because he has a lot of traits people identify with (anxiety, depression, body image issues, insecurity).

24. What's your favorite thing about [character]?

Aw, I guess I love Ace because he's very offbeat. I am not a linear thinker at all and so someone like Gene (who is extremely linear), for example, is sometimes difficult for me to understand. But Ace is charming, out there in what you assume is lala land but isn't really. I feel like Ace has a very Mittyesque view of life.

25. What's your least favorite thing [character] said or did?

In real life, they all said and did terrible things, mostly to each other, their spouses, their groupies, and the people that worked for/with them.

Ficwise... I tend to write a somewhat more acrid/cruel Paul than most people (and a particularly bitter Peter); I guess my least favorite thing I ever had him do was not admit in "no change in the weather" to Peter that he is, indeed, cheating him (in the sense that Ace is getting paid much more per show, unbeknownst to Peter), so maybe that makes the climax and conclusion of that story a little hollow, if you know your kisstory....

In "careening," a drunken Paul propositions Bruce in a restaurant, which wasn't cool, either.

In "rocks off," which isn't complete/posted yet (but that's the title of the fic that the excerpt above is from), Paul is mean enough to semi-make Ace buy lingerie he has no hope of filling out, just to try to make him feel insecure.

Thanks for the asks!

[iloveyou-writers]

How do I get people to care about me personally as a writer and my work? I only got three likes on a piece of work while this another writer literally got 6 likes on a post with someone asking if they were okay and 7 likes on another post congratulating them on her fic count while literally my fic count post congratulating myself only received 1 like and my other only received 2. It just shows me that my followers don't care about my works at all because I'm not good enough and I think I suck at canon character portrayal. It makes me think that the person who was over critical about my work was right I suck as a writer and as a human being.

I have been trying to think of the best way to word my response to this and it's been a struggle, honestly. It's not that I don't have an answer, it's that the answer may be a bit discouraging because the unfortunate truth is that there isn't a simple answer for how to get people to love your writing.

It's a lot of hard work. It often takes a long time, especially with today's writeblr. Back when I first joined writeblr, there was a lot more interaction. It was much easier to get your work in front of people because people were actually reblogging works and sharing them with others. Now-a-days, most people will just like it and move on, essentially cutting out a VAST majority of the readership you otherwise might get.

So, today, people getting enthusiastic about your writing not only takes a whole lot more work but it also takes a whole lot of luck. Getting your writing in front of the right person and HOPING they'll get into it enough to get their readers to get enthusiastic about it.

On top of that, a lot of writers now have "reblog blogs" which also cuts down the amount of people that will views your works because if their followers don't care for what they reblog usually, they won't follow that blog even though they're following the writing blog, so that cuts out another chunk of people that might be into your writing.

Then you also have to worry about timezones and the right people being online. There may be people that follow you and love your writing but if you're not posting it or reblogging it when they're online, they might not see it. A lot of people don't do what used to be much more common (me included, tbh) and scroll all the way down their dashes til they catch up to where they last were. So they could be missing your writing even if they love it. People often follow an impossible amount of blogs to keep up with fully, so they often miss things, even if they'd love it.

Basically, it boils down to you have to work hard to get your works in front of the right people at the right time. It's hard work, it's a lot of work, but if you're lucky and a great writer, you might be able to get the views. But even if you get the views, that doesn't mean that you'll get the notes because these days, people feel discouraged to actually interact with works.

So it's just a whole lot of mess that is causing writers and artists (especially writers, though, since it's a lot more work to read than it is to view art and a lot of people don't have the energy to read long stories these days) to not get the interaction or views they would have in the past.

Ugh, I know this is probably a really discouraging reply, but to be honest, these days I even struggle to get many notes on my actual writing. This blog gets lots of interaction, but that's because I'm GIVING something to people. Not many people are willing to react to a post that isn't giving them something (such as the encouragement from this blog)... so it's been hard for me too. I don't get nearly the interaction on my main that I do on this blog, so I'm not sure that I could give any specific advice on how to better get the interaction you're craving.

Maybe if you'd asked me 2-3 years ago, but tumblrites (especially on the creative side of tumblr) have changed a lot since then, so it's more of a struggle for everyone to get views, yes, even the popular ones. We're all feeling the changes.

I hope you get the interaction you're craving, my friend. I'm hoping to start a blog soon that'll help with writers create more of a community and interaction with one another, but we'll see if it works.

Sorry for all the depressing responses. I hope that you still push forward and that you find a way to get those interactions you're craving.

Good luck and happy writing, my friend. 💖

[axolotluv]

(A stereotypical gameshow intro jingle plays as the lights turn on on a set with one host who's just some middle aged white guy you've never heard of and a curtain obscuring a small area. the host waves his cane sporadically in the air) Who's ready for our favorite game! GUESS. THAT. MUTUAL!!!!! That's right folks, today we have a special little tumblrite for your eyes. This mutual of yours has pestered you multiple times, has supported your other mutuals lunacy on several occasions, and most importantly, has 100 percented Moster Prom yet never talked about it online. You get ONE guess in order to see who we're talking about. Take all the time you need!

First thing to take into account is WHICH mutual would do this and then narrow it down based on the critera

Probably not Limi because Monster Prom feels like a red herring ALSO the fact that I don't think Limi has pestered me multiple times nor supported my mutuals lunacy on several occasions

Use of the word "tumblrite" probably not Elm

A lot of mutuals are eliminated because we don't interact enough

Now there's a few contenders left, some of which aren't technically mutuals but I still count them <3 love you guys

If you interact with a lot of my mutuals, you were 100% in the DCA fandom which already narrows it down

I know two people who were in the DCA fandom

Supported my other mutuals lunacy on several occasions?

I know two people who support people like crazy and are literally everywhere

100%ed Monster Prom yet never talked about it online?

I know two people who'd check my account enough to know I recently reblogged Monster Prom art who'd know to even bring that up

Now, there are only a few people who I've seen enough to count it as "pestering me multiple times" and out of those few people there are only two that remain in the fighting ring

BittySteam vs BoxOfCreamPuffs

Both of you have a strong game going, it's really REALLY difficult deciding which one of you it is

I think literally either of you could be this mysterious anon, and it's very difficult discerning which one of you it is

The more I think about this the harder it becomes

Both Bitty and Puffs would send an ask like this, both Bitty and Puffs support people like bananas, and both Bitty and Puffs haven't posted about 100%ing monster prom (I assume)

I wrote a whole 3 paragraphs on the word "pester" being used but then I realized literally both of you make fun of me and/or pop into my inbox threatening(?) violence(?), so I think that counts

DAAMMNN IITTT THIS IS DIFFICULT

Yknow what we're balling because I have genuinely been writing this for like 45 minutes

I'm guessing Bitty from bittysteam!!!!!!!!!!

[kayanofreak]

even if i couldnt remember it i knew on some level my life was Bad and getting hit full force with not only was it Bad i had to remember how i had hope in humanity to change over the course of my lifetime and instead people in my nation are willing to sit back and watch what happened to my family happen over and over again bc fighting to topple a fascist regime takes like, effort. its difficult to explain i take this shit so seriously and let it take over my life in a sick way bc in my helpless disabled position i felt like i could at least give Theoretical Answers to issues but people would be like "boots on the ground is the only acceptable activism" and then refuse to put Their boots on the ground. sometimes i see shit from tumblrites that makes me think we should bring back Check Your Privilege bc people have forgotten being able to post on the internet at all is an incredible privilege. having grown up poor being one of the few ppl with a computer and then living in poverty as an adult watching the world rely on more advanced tech while millions dont even have a phone let alone know how to use one when its required. man its hitting me this is why its hard to talk about stuff when friends ask bc i dont just see My issue i see Every Issue In The World At Once and bc of my weird brain shit i cant let go that what caused my horrific trauma is still going on today bc americans are selfish and dont want to give up comfort even for like 5 seconds or try to empathise with someone in a different economical position than themselves. under it all this is why milgram means so much to me it was the first media i ever saw where it was willing to be brave showing what happens to people under these kinds of horrific pressures and then point to the audience like your inaction is partially why things got this bad. the internet is so sanitized now and even people who claim to be otherwise still self censor. like we know the staff here hate queers esp trans women. and yet we just log on day after day like nothing is happening. maybe things have gotten so bad we all got choice paralysis and dont realize revolution could still happen it just needs to start small. wow i got off topic lol i really dont feel good Today. miku was like ill let you do your overthinking postmania a few times now log off. so im logging off byebye 🖖 thank you everyone for letting me be weird during one of the bestworst times of my life

[frostiifae]

yknow something to think about re: transphobic moderation staff (@staff), with that transgirl comic that got passed around and then flagged -- and this is purely a guess, i am under no delusions here, just some instincts informed by my limited experience as a web developer --

but, y'know, we should all know better than to assume that a bad system is SOLELY caused by, explicitly, bigotry on behalf of the people running it. right? like the whole point of systemic oppression is that it is coming from the system. is it possible that tumblr's explicit content moderation is systemically transphobic in a way that has nothing to do with the attitudes of the moderators themselves?

so embark with me on a thought experiment for a sec; i know this is a stretch, especially with certain types of posts, but hear me out: suppose staff actually has a pretty hardline policy on what they want to assign community labels to, as a Better Safe Than Sorry kinda deal, but since AI moderation went so poorly, suppose they're now relying very heavily on user reports. i'm making a few assumptions but it'd all make sense together, right?

and here's the thing; if i stumble on porn blogs i generally don't report them. that's a moral thing, i don't believe in censorship of sexual content as long as it's appropriately self-selecting. so i enact my politics through the report system, specifically by not reporting something that is clearly in explicit violation of the rules.

so suppose you've got terfy users just doing the same thing in reverse. transphobe tumblrites see transgender joy, get their jimmies rustled about it, and use the report tool to enact their politics. for us everyday users, sexually suggestive content gets shown around all the time and it's seen as very normal, and so nobody reports it, but to the moderation staff suggestive content would fall under their Better Safe Than Sorry standards, so - maybe we should flag these selfies if they could be construed as thirst traps or otherwise sexually suggestive? maybe we should flag this comic if it could be construed as fetishistic, or might lead in a sexual direction in the future?

to be absolutely clear; in this hypothetical the people who make these decisions are enacting transphobia, and could be less transphobic by like... Not Flagging The Posts, but to assign blame solely to them I think is maybe a bit of a red herring. Like, hey, maybe we shouldn't spiteful individual users the power to report anything that offends them if we're going to adopt a Flag First, Ask Questions Later policy? That might turn out pretty badly for the site, you know?

[maniacwatchestheworld]

Some Brief Propaganda

Fellow Tumblrites and Bat-enthusiasts. I come to you today asking for you to find it on your heart to vote for Gilda Dent in this latest Batman Sexywoman tournament held by @batman-heritageposts. If you stood with team Two-Face during the Batman Sexyman poll, I would hope that you can understand why I feel compelled to campaign for Gilda as well. I love her and she's absolutely radiant. If you voted for Two-Face before, I would hope that you can find it in your heart to vote for Two-Face's beautiful wife who can and will murder you as well. u.u

But to sweeten the deal a little, I have written something for all of you eager voters today. A little fanfic about Gilda and Renee. If you vote for Gilda, I will consider writing more of it. So without further ado, here it is.

(Sorry if I botched Renee's writing a little. I'm more familiar with Gilda and her various incarnations than Renee, and I haven't gotten around to consuming any media of Renee as the Question yet, but I tried my best!)

---

It was a series of murders. In Gotham City, that’s what always seems to start it... 

They were just like before. A killing. Once a month. Every time, a holiday. A calling card relating to that holiday left behind at every crime scene along with the weapon- a gun with a baby bottle nipple used as an improvised silencer. With his more flashy antics in more recent years, many people had forgotten. But those of us on the force when it all started didn’t. There were two primary suspects. Calendar Man or…

But Julian Day was safely locked away in Arkham Asylum, ranting and raving, angry over how he was being copied. Again. Just like the first time. Which just left Holiday.

He had broken out again. He seemed to be a master at that. Some were certain that he only ever went to Arkham Asylum because he wanted to be there. Everyone knew that he had connections on the inside. And he had resources on the out. People weren’t even surprised when Harvey Dent broke out of Arkham Asylum these days. The killer had to be him. He was Holiday after all.

After everything he put me through, everyone recommended that I stay away from the case. I convinced everyone that I had. But it was a lie. I had to get involved. I would bring him in, and no one would have to know that it was me. But then something unexpected happened.

Everything went according to plan. I knew who he would kill next. I made contact. We would set a trap together. Make it easy for him. Just as he would go in for the kill, I would stop him. Trap him.

I had expected him. Harvey Dent. Two-Face had to be the killer. But what I didn’t expect was her…

She managed to get away. No one else realized... But I know what I saw. This Holiday wasn’t Harvey Dent. It wasn’t Two-Face. Holiday was a woman. And I recognized her.

Her name was Gilda. Gilda Gold. I had met her a handful of times before, but always in passing, and never for long. She used to be his wife. Back before he was Two-Face. Back when he was still Gotham City’s District Attorney. Reports said that she had moved away from Gotham. Apparently she was back. But why? And what was she doing? Had he put her up to this? It didn’t sound like him. He had spoken about her before. Not very much, but it was clear to me that even after all of these years, he still loved her and thought the world of her. Albeit in his own way. But what would I know? I don’t think I’ll ever understand his particular brand of crazy. But if he hadn’t put her up to it, that left a much more disturbing question. Was she a copycat killer? Or even more disturbing... It was a question that I intended to answer one way or another.

I found where she was living. Some cheap apartment in the Narrows. If I had to guess, she had moved in a hurry. Just as well. This was a neighborhood where people didn’t tend to ask questions if they knew what was good for them. Give the neighbors enough incentive, and they would turn a blind eye to just about anything.

It did occur to me just how ironic it was. Me stalking his ex-wife after what he- It didn’t feel good sneaking into her apartment.

It was supposed to be a quick in and out. Find the evidence. See if he had gotten in contact with her. Get out.

This first room that I had snuck into seemed to be a workshop of some kind. Tools, vices, odd objects here and there. A detail about the crime scenes came to mind- the guns left behind at the crime scene had serial numbers that had been manually filed off of them. Could this be where the guns came from- where their numbers had been filed off? But as my eyes adjusted, even stranger shapes began to take form… Faces in the darkness.

Wood, stone, clay… The materials were different, but the faces… These busts… She recognized them… Here among the tools and odd, half formed shapes was a collection of statues of him.

How old were these statues anyway? Where did she get them? Some of them were disfigured, made horrific just like the man they were modeled on, yes, but others… They looked just like he did before…

“Some of my best work. They're a little old now, but I still think that I did a really good job of capturing him. What do you think?”

The voice startled me as a light was flicked on. She wasn’t supposed to be here. How did she manage to sneak in so quietly? This was a mistake. I’d been caught. I should leave before she has the chance to-

“I thought that you might track me down. It’s alright, I’m going to do anything to you. If anything, I would like for you to be my guest. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you took a seat.”

I could only watch as she moved towards a stool that stood near the center of the room upon which a slab of wood rested. The upper half of the block had a shape carved into it that resembled a human head. She took a chisel in hand before skillfully carving the shape into a more refined form.

“The Question, right?”

I had to shake myself from a trance. I couldn’t stop myself from staring at her biceps. She was wearing short sleeves and coveralls, and her arms were just as sculpted as the statues around us.

“W-what?”

“That’s what they call you, right? The Question? I try to keep up with the kinds of people that Harvey associates himself with these days- you can never know when one of them might try to use me to get at him after all- but I have a harder time keeping up with the heroes. But I think I’ve heard of you before. And you’re The Question, right?”

“Y-yes. Let me-” I let out a deep breath. “You seem to have quite the obsession with your ex-husband.” I motioned towards the statues I had been examining before.

That seemed to make her pause. “Maybe you could say that…”

“If you aren’t then what’s with all of the busts of him over there?”

“Work.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m a sculptor. And Harvey... He used to be my muse. He was my favorite muse. That’s why I wanted to marry him.” She leaned back with a smile of fond memories on her lips. “He was always so beautiful. My Apollo. But then everything with the gangs happened and… Well… You know.”

“But you keep sculpting him?”

“Well… He’s still my Harvey. He’s still my perfect muse. People may not think so anymore- he might not think that he’s beautiful anymore… But he is. He’s never given me the chance to tell him… Always rejects the idea outright when I’ve tried. He thinks that he’s hideous. But a few scars like that was never enough to scare me away.”

“Didn’t you divorce him?”

“... Yes. But it was only at his insistence. He’s afraid of hurting me. He’s certain that as long as I stayed in his life, that I was in danger. Always just one bad coin flip away from killing me… He begged me. I couldn’t say no to the way he looked at me… So I accepted. I filed the divorce papers like he asked. But that doesn’t change anything. If he needs space to recover, that’s fine with me. But I still love him. I don’t think that I will ever stop loving him… Even if he…” She drifted off, but it wasn’t hard to catch her meaning.

“... He’s not worth it.” I couldn’t keep the tone of bitterness out of my voice.

“Perhaps not. But I’m willing to wait.”

“And what if after all this waiting, he doesn’t love you anymore?”

“That’s alright. He may have been my favorite muse, but he isn’t my only one. I may not want to move on, but if he’s gone on without me, I can go on without him.”

What a perfect little wife. Loyal to her man until the end. At least until he wanted to do away with her. But that just left the question… But before I could ask it, she said something that I wasn’t expecting.

“You’re beautiful.”

Obviously that had taken me by surprise. “W-what…?”

She turned the block of wood she was sculpting to me. The resemblance to my face was uncanny.

“How did you…!?” I put a hand to my face to make sure that the mask was still there. The smile she gave me made my heart skip a beat.

“When I saw you the other day… I thought that you must be beautiful. I had to sculpt you. So what do you think? Is it close? I can’t make out the specifics, obviously, but with the way that the fabric pulls over your face… I can make out the shape of it all. The cut of your chin, the curve of your cheekbones, the angle of your brows, your nose… Your lips… I wanted to see it for myself… But I can only guess what your eyes look like… I would simply love it if you let me see your face…”

I paused.

Was I actually considering…? No. I came here with a purpose. I had questions and I needed answers. What was I doing letting myself get distracted like this? I had a job to do! Even if she was pretty, and her eyes…

“When was the last time Two-Face got in contact with you?” I asked.

Turning the block of wood back to her, she seemed to consider it for a long moment. “I believe that would be the last time I visited him at Arkham Asylum. He’s lousy at keeping in touch with me these days. Too busy with his criminal enterprises and whatnot. It’s up to me to try and contact him. But that’s difficult when he isn’t at Arkham Asylum. But I do try to visit when I can.”

She still loves him… And she still visits him at Arkham Asylum. The thought of it made my stomach churn. I had visited him at Arkham once. It wasn’t because I wanted to see him or keep him company or anything like that. I was on a case and had questions that needed answering. I was certain that he could answer them. That was all.

He had once told me that he loves me. The feelings were never mutual. He said that he wanted to be with me and did what he could to try and prove his ‘love’ to me. His fucked up version of it at least. And all along he had this woman waiting for him? Still loving him after the kind of monster that he became? It made me feel sick.

“So you’re saying that he didn’t put you up to killing Thorne last Tuesday?”

“What would make you think that?”

“Well, he’s Holiday. Why else would you want to try to kill a well-known gangster like that?”

“That is the question, isn’t it?”

“Are you going to answer it?”

“Am I obligated to? I’m not under oath right now, and even if I was, I have the right to not incriminate myself. And while I don’t intend on pressing charges, you did still break into my home. Are you wanting a confession out of me? Why? So that you can try me? Given your method of receiving any such evidence or confession, it would hardly be admissible in court. Unless you want to claim that you’re an officer of the law, in which case, I’d like to see a warrant.”

That brought a smile to my face. “Leave it up to the ex-wife of a lawyer to make this difficult.”

“Oh, that’s not Harvey’s advice speaking here. But I can get another lawyer on the line if you’re wanting to make this difficult. They always told us that a lawyer that defends themself in court has a fool for a client, and I know plenty who will defend me in my place.”

“Us?”

“Would you believe that I graduated from Oxford?”

“With an art degree?”

“And a law degree.”

“And you chose to be a sculptor.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I was good at it- practicing law that is. But I was never quite as driven in the same way that Harvey was… He needed to practice law- to prosecute and punish criminals just as much as he needed to breathe. And if we wanted to start a family, at least one of us had to stop and make time for it. I had my sculpting, and I could still do that at home, but Harvey… Well… I don’t think that he could have stopped himself even if he tried.”

“Must have been difficult…”

“For others, maybe. But I didn’t mind per se. I knew the man I married. He was doing what he had to. And he was doing good.”

“Until the day he took it too far.”

Gilda let out a laugh. “You mean the Holiday killings?”

I was taken aback. “You disagree?”

“Now that’s a question, isn’t it? Harvey was always held back by the law… We had talked about it, you know. He said that if the Maronis and the Falcones just up and died, it would make his job so much easier. There would be so much less crime in Gotham. Maybe for once he would have some free time and then… Well… Maybe we could finally have that family he had always wanted… But then again, maybe that was never my story to tell.”

“Not your story to tell?”

Gilda seemed to be thinking in the silence. “Do you want to know the true story of the Holiday killings?”

“... Yes…”

“Why?”

“... Maybe it’s more to satisfy my own curiosity than anything else... And I want to know how you’re involved.” It was an ugly bit of honesty.

“... I could tell you everything. Things that the police got wrong. Things that Batman doesn’t even know. The truth that only Harvey and I know…”

“Batman…? He’s wrong about-?” I don’t think that I had ever heard Batman being wrong about anything like this before.

“I don’t think it’s his fault, mind you… Harvey spun a convincing story that everyone wanted to believe… And so they did... I think that it’s just easier for Batman to accept that only Harvey could- ... Maybe he just didn’t want to get his heart broken twice… Or maybe too much damage had already been dealt, and he’s willing to let Harvey carry all of the pain and guilt on his own since he decided to take responsibility for it regardless… He always was a good friend…”

“A friend…?”

“Maybe more. Harvey was certainly interested. Maybe I was too.” That raised another question, but before I could ask it, she spoke up, breaking the forming thought. “How about this. You can have my confession. I’ll satisfy your curiosity. But in exchange you satisfy one of my curiosities.”

“And what would that be?”

“You let me see your face.”

I hesitated. This would be stupid to agree to. I couldn’t just compromise my identity like that. What she was asking was too much. “... Okay…” But I still agreed to it. I think it was her eyes that made me want to agree. Very pretty… So innocent, almost doe-like. And yet still intelligent and containing some sort of depth that I couldn't quite make full sense of. That and all the questions that I knew would go unanswered if I just let this go.

The way that she smiled at me made my heart beat just a little faster. Some part of me thought that it was worth it just to see that smile.

“Harvey was never the Holiday killer. I was Holiday.”

“How…!? Why?”

“It’s been so long… The how is fuzzy even for me. But as for why… Maybe it was because I loved him… Maybe if the biggest perpetrators of crime in Gotham City were dead, then my Harvey could have some free time and we could start a family… Or maybe it was revenge for what those families had done to me, and I just wanted to see the darkness inside of Harvey finally come to light, not caring if he got hurt in the process. Or maybe it was to pursue the kind of justice that Harvey was never able to accomplish for himself, always being restricted by the confines of the law… They deserved to die for the crimes they had committed. All of them. Regardless, it’s not really my story, is it? And if it’s not my story… Why do my reasons matter…?”

There it was again. Her saying that this wasn’t her story. “Why do you say that?”

“That this isn’t my story?”

I nodded.

“That’s simple. When people talk about the Holiday killings, that Long Halloween, what do they say about it? That it was what finally made my Harvey snap and become Two-Face. That it was his origin story. Or maybe it’s the story of how Batman lost one of his few first allies and closet friends… And he doesn’t have many of those, does he? I may have been the killer, but if the story is about how Two-Face came to power or how Batman lost a friend, then is it really my story? Or am I just a bit player in it? What do my reasons matter if the story is not and has never been mine? In the end, people always fall back to their image of me and don’t think that my story is worth telling… A worried, crying housewife that’s waiting for my love to come back to me… A victim of my husband’s insanity and crimes… And now what will you see me as? Just a killer? Does anything else about me matter if I’m just another killer in this city? Maybe that’s all I can ever be. Two-Face’s killer wife… Nothing more…”

“... Do you really believe that?”

“What else is there to believe…?”

The look of resignation and despair on her face made my heart sink in my chest. I thought that she had to be wrong… Surely… Surely there was more to her than just being a killer… Surely her story mattered to someone out there in some significant manner.

I glanced to the statues that surrounded us. She was an accomplished sculptor. She was a lawyer… She still loved that monster of a man even after all this time and all the crimes he did… I remembered the way that he used to talk about her… Even now he still thought about her sometimes… And maybe she was one of the few things that could save him...

A thought occurred to me. Maybe what I was seeing in her were the same things that drew Two-Face to her... Or maybe they were the same things that drew him to me. The idea of it made me feel ill. But another part of me thought that he was stupid for letting a woman like this go and slip through his fingers when she still clearly loved him. A lucky man. But too stupid to see what he had.

But even if I expressed these thoughts out loud, I didn’t think that any of them would offer her much consolation… But maybe I could do something that would make up for it… Maybe there was at least one thing I could do to bring a smile back to her face.

I approached, getting closer to her until she was in my arms. It was my turn to keep up my end of the bargain. “Would you like to do the honors?” I asked, and her face seemed to light up. This was a stupid move for certain, but seeing her face light up from resigned despair like that… It made me feel simply wonderful. Maybe that’s what she was good at- her secret superpower. Making otherwise intelligent people be stupid for her and somehow still making it feel rewarding…

“Can I really?” she asked as if she hadn't expected that I would actually let her see my face, and I chuckled.

“Of course. You gave me your confession, Holiday. Now it’s time for me to keep up my end of the bargain.”

She brought a hand to my mask and touched it, feeling the fabric. Taking her hand, I guided her fingers to the edges of the mask where she could peel the fabric away from my face.

I could feel her breath escape her once the cloth was removed and my face was revealed to the light.

“I was right. You are beautiful.”

After a compliment like that, of course I had to let out a chuckle. “I’m not the only one…”

She started blushing. “I feel like I’ve seen you before somewhere… Maybe in my dreams?”

Now she wasn’t the only one blushing as I began to laugh outright. “I thought that you were loyal to Two-Face.”

“He isn’t my only muse.” She pretended to put on an indignant expression, but there was a playfulness to her movements. “Has anyone told you that you would make for a gorgeous Lady Justice?”

“I can’t say that anyone has.”

“Speaking of… I think that I recognize you now… You’re that police officer, aren’t you? Officer Montoya, right?”

“Police commissioner these days, actually.”

“Oh! Well congratulations on the promotion, then! Very naughty of you to be going out on the town dressed like this then.”

“Caught me dead to rights.”

But the air of laughter was stifled by tension upon what she said next. “... You’re the one he fell in love with, aren’t you…? You’re Renee...”

I had to look away from her. Even if I didn’t say anything, it seemed that she understood.

“I… I see… I’m so sorry… You didn’t deserve to be… I’m sorry. I assume that’s why you decided to take on the costume to investigate these killings?”

I nodded.

“... I wish that I could make it up to you…”

“It’s not your fault.”

“That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to make it better if I can.”

“Is that what makes you still love him after all this time…?”

“Maybe… Maybe I can’t help it. I mean, he can hardly help it either… Maybe I’ve always been a fixer… Maybe I just can’t give up on someone even when they’re beyond hope… Maybe that makes me stupid…”

“Or maybe it makes you a hero the likes of which Batman and I could never hope to be… Maybe it makes you courageous and faithful.”

That smile was back, even if it was faint now. “Harvey told me about you, you know. He said that you were kind to him… And for someone like him, that means a lot.”

“Well, he completely misunderstood it.”

“I know… Maybe a part of him knew… But then decided to ignore it… It doesn’t make it right. I don’t know if anything ever could… But I’m glad that you still showed him kindness in a world that can have so little of it.”

Her smile was captivating and if I had something to say, it was soon lost in her eyes. They were eyes that shone with clear intelligence and were bright, reminding me of the sky on a clear day.

“Or maybe… Maybe I can make it up to you…” I only barely heard her mutter the words before she pressed a finger to my lips and I fell completely helpless to her charms.

I could see her leaning in closer to me and I couldn’t stop myself...

---

Remember to vote for Gilda in the Batman sexywoman tournament held by @batman-heritageposts, and maybe I'll write more!

[cstorm86]

Today my friend asked me for a favor. She wanted me to send her my favorite picture of my puppy. I couldn't choose 1. I have over 500 pictures of him on my phone! How could I choose 1?

I chose 2. I thought I'd share them with you tumblrinas and tumblrites.

For your enjoyment Smrgol the Dragon Puppy.

The first one you all might recognize from the artist who would draw your pet into a monster. It's the epitome of my puppy being a Dragon and that's why and how he was named.

The second one, I had purchased an orange to eat on break but forgot it in my hoodie pocket. After arriving home, it rolled out and he thought it was a ball. Until he bit into it and got a taste of orange juice. He was so happy-surprised he made my favorite face ever.

[pokimoko]

@pizzee Thank you for the tagging me to join in on the TV show tag game! I have the exact opposite problem to you in that I watch way too many shows. There's so many I've watched in the last few months alone that I've absolutely loved (Andor, Severance, Poker Face, The Sandman, The Last of Us, Vox Machina, etc etc) but for this I think I'll stick with the ones that I've connected to and cherished the most of the years. It wasn't required or even asked for but all of you are getting Backstory™ for these whether you like it or not. Anyway, in no particular order, here they are:

Moon Knight: Wow, I like the show that is now my defining personality trait? Shocker. But, no, seriously, I don't think I've latched onto a show or group of characters so quickly in my life, or so intensely before. This show has (as of posting this) made me write almost 200k worth of fic about it. I got bloody Discord because of this show because the brainrot was so intense. I am part of a fandom community for really the first time in my life because of this show. It's no exaggeration to say that this show has had a huge impact on me; the dinosaurs got off easy in comparison.

Lucifer: I started watching this show when Season 2 premiered way back in 2016 and I was there watching it up until the end. It was silly and emotional and heartwarming and campy, and the characters were amazing (do I own shirts that Ella Lopez wore in the show? Yes, yes I do.) and the music was excellent. This show loved the heck out of metaphors, and I am not immune to that. Or Tom Ellis.

The Owl House: I used to be obsessed with owls when I was younger (the 'Owls of Ga'Hoole' movie was my jam, and—I'm sorry Zack Snyder directed that??? What the f—ahem, sorry, as I was saying:), and while that particular interest faded over the years, I do remember I was drawn to this show because of the name, and then the premise, and then the characters (Hunter gets a gold star for making me go "argh this guy is annoying" to "I would die for him" within a span of two appearances), and then so, so many things. I've loved a lot of cartoons, many of which deserve a spot on this list, but this one just hits so many of the right notes for me. I will die mad that Disney robbed us of a full season 3, but I will always cherish what we got.

Adventure Time: The first show I ever binged in full, and essentially what kickstarted my career as a Tumblrite (my logo was Marceline for many a year—if you find my *gag* Wattpad account it'll still be there). I still have doodles for this show from when I was 14 (many of which were Bubbline, which was also my first ship). I am the silly little Tumblr fool I am today because of this show.

Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes: I used to watch this show on TV as a kid, random episodes here and there, never enough to truly understand what was going on but enough to know the characters. It was how I first came to know Marvel, long before I even liked superheroes, and it was the reason I watched 'The Avengers', which in turn was the reason I went and saw 'Age of Ultron' (the first MCU movie I ever saw at the cinema) and then, well, the rest is history. But it all started here, with this show. (Also, let's be real, the theme song slaps.)

Doctor Who: specifically the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor's seasons, though I love Ten's as well (even if 'Midnight' and the following Library episodes—episodes I now adore—scared me off from the show for almost 7 years). I might have also been a little in love with Clara. This show has made me sob with true and utter grief (musical motifs that will make you cry without warning and other secrets your Doctor won't tell you!) and also made me feel like I'm taking acid. It's got the range darling.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: I've watched this whole thing three times. It's just…It's good. It's really good. The world, the characters, the animation/visuals, the god damn narrative. I'm still in awe of how masterful this anime was. I aspire to this level of multilayered, intelligent storytelling… and also the level of comedy. It too has the range. And god I love when shows can do that well.

Bee and Puppycat: I used to watch the YouTube series for this (along with 'Bravest Warriors' and a bunch of other Cartoon Hangover shorts) as a tween and it's just a very fond, cosy memory for me. And now there's the Netflix version and it's been wonderful to not only get more of what was already there, but more to the story in general. My childhood self is being tucked into bed and wrapped in a blanket, content in the knowledge that things left unfinished are not always over.

That really is the tip of the iceberg of all the shows I've loved over the years but we'd be here for a month of Sundays if I went on about all them, so I'll take my leave now and pass on the baton. I'm going to tag @yellowocaballero, @mockspector, @theophagism and @aster-o1d. Have fun! :3

[residentdormouse]

About (me) This Blog

Hey, I'm Mouse! 👋 I'm a 30-something old millennial, just living on Tumblr for a fun escape from the daily bullshit. This had been solely Stand FanFiction before, but since it's bound to expand to different fandoms here soon (a certain wizard has hijacked my brain), I figured my intro should adjust accordingly.

I am but a humble fanfic writing, doodle drawing, nonsense producing Tumblrite. I mean, we're all here for fun right? Right?? Well, I am, so I'm gonna do it anyways. Embrace the cringe. Or is it cringe is dead? Meh, same concept... Some of my stuff has smut (smut lite, if we're being honest), so 18+ and all that jazz - heed warnings, etc. But smut aside, there's bound to be lots of smoking and swearing and violence; that's pretty unavoidable.

If you're just here to talk about fandoms, writing, art, Blorbos, music, anything truly, I'm pretty open for conversation. Just drop an ask or a DM. I don't bite, promise. I'm here for community, 100%.

(I'm on discord too - ResidentDormouse)

FanFiction Masterlist:

The Stand (2020)

Jumping to Wonderland - Main Post w. Links

This page contains everything I have for this OC insert series: artwork, asks, backstories that never made it to AO3, chapter summaries, as well as the links to the stories themselves. Basically all the things you'd see on Blu-ray/DVD features, cause that's still a thing, right?

Supply Run (and other Stand One Shots)

A series of single serving One-Shot stories before/during/after canon. Canon compliant.

Baldur's Gate 3:

From Waterdeep

Short one shot in which Gale receives a surprise gift, and Hayden (OC Tav) unlocks a later dialog.

Art:

Team: Gale Needs a Hug

Stranger Things:

Even in Death

A Short Drabble post Season 4, using the prompt "Did you think they could protect you", a ghost, and Eddie Munson.

Original Works:

Close to the Vale: WIP

Intro post to an original story I'm starting. This is a full collection of links, character backgrounds, and other information as it's released. Updating on AO3 as I go. Come and hold me accountable for writing on time.

Random Drabbles/Flash Fiction:

Dream Shop Prompt, Sidekick Prompt, Dark Chatroom Prompt, Song Prompt (1)

I also reblog shit posts. A lot. And I reblog other's stories, because that what we do here, yeah? Community. Should anything not be your jam, here's my typical tags to block:

#Mouse's Friend's OCs #Mouse's Friend's Stories #Mouse's Friend's Art #Mouse is back on her Nonsense #Mouse's Tag Games & Reblogs

That said -- Welcome! -- Always feel free to say 'Hi!'

[tricitymonsters]

🎆 🎆 A thing is happening!🎆 🎆

Text ver and extra details!!

Want me to write a lil drabble for you?  Answer some burning questions about the TCM characters?  OC Asks? Your MC doing the nasty with Mori or Amir (or Kazu or Raath, if you’ve seen the Patron Side Stories)?  I’m game.

Starting on JULY 1 - 4th, make a donation in any amount to the national network of abortion funds and send me a screencap (either by submitting here or hitting me up on discord (cloud#9104)) and i’ll fulfill your writing desire! K|inks, 18+, fluff, whump, the world is your oyster.

All fills will be posted publicly for all to enjoy both here and probably in a doc for non-tumblrites.

Get all that?  Starting July 1, send me donation receipts and I’ll write a couple hundred word drabble or answer whatever questions/prompts you send me in detail.  I’m going to post fills all weekend and close up shop on the 4th.

The fine print:

Being an american right now is scary- especially if you’re not a white practicing Christian man.  We have a corrupt court making reprehensible, interconnected choices for our country against the wishes of the VAST (60%+) majority that give women less rights then dead bodies, marginalizes non-cishets, strips us of our privacy, our right to protest, our rights to fair treatment when arrested, and our right to freedom from religion in matters involving the state.  I’m just one idiot on the internet but I want to use my tiny little platform for whatever good I can, hence my directing traffic and encouraging donations to the NNAF.

If you want to learn more about the NNAF, I recommend their website and presskit but basically, they’re running a collective fund that helps people who need abortion access all over the country and they can mobilize assets like money and people to help out in areas that need help the most.  Right now this is the southern portion of the US, including further west like Texas, Arizona, and Utah.  Planned Parenthood has also advocated for NNAF and expressed a desire to allocate donations in that direction so that’s why I chose it.

So anyway, American independence day is the 4th if you didn’t know and I’m not much in the mood to celebrate freedoms taken from me and the further marginalization of already systemically abused groups and now I’m writing smut out of spite.  Consider donating if you can, and if you can’t, a reblog or cross post would be very cool of you!

[apieters]

Ask Me Anything!

Alright Tumblrites, if you like, follow, or just so happen to have stumbled into my blog, here’s your chance to ask me literally anything about what you find there.

Asks about my art? Wondering about my WIP’s? Leary about my literary analysis? Fuzzy on my philosophy? Thoughtful about my theology? Or just wondering about the man behind the curtain?

It’s all fair game. Be warned that your freedom to ask will be matched by my complete and utter freedom to answer as I see fit, although I will do my best to make it worth your while.

Ask away!