#this thing doesnt have an algorithm and i want my post to be seen

[cloudbrooksblog]

TRIGGER WARNINGS/content warnings: mentions of various commonly triggering things, descriptions of car-related triggers, many stupid "get over it" phrases that might be triggering if you're a victim of something, and also mentions of suicide, just read with caution ok?

yknow, I've been thinking about PTSD lately. Specifically people's reactions to me involuntarily displaying symptoms of it (dissociating, having flashbacks that make me cry, avoiding triggers, etc).

Most of this is from people who are related to my main abusers (my parents) but they don't react this way for no reason. They were raised in a culture that thinks this way.

The reactions are all similar: when I have an involuntary or instinctual response to triggers (like the ones I mentioned above), they say that I shouldn't let these things hurt me. Want a couple more specific examples, actually?

I avoid movies with car crashes and dissociate+sometimes have flashbacks when I hear tires or brakes screeching on the street. I start to shake if someone honks their horn near me, even in a parking lot. When I do this, INVOLUNTARILY (i cannot stress it enough), my brother will say that I let it bother me too much. Other assorted reactions I've gotten to this specific circumstance have been "you need to get over this one day", "you can't just avoid cars your whole life", and paraphrased, "you need to move on", "if this bothers you you'll never survive in real life", and "you're so dramatic".

That's just with car-related triggers for my PTSD. Don't get me started with sex jokes, cigarettes, talking about wanting to hurt children, etc. And DONT get me started about people's reactions to me wanting to cut off my family.

If I talk about any of that (when it naturally comes up, usually after questions about why I don't talk to certain people from members I'm about to cut off as soon as I don't have to depend on them,) the general reactions are that I'm like a ghost. Holding onto grudges that are just hurting me, that by holding onto them I'm hurting myself pointlessly, and that if i just *tried a little harder* I could live a much more peaceful and happy life. This is in reaction, let me remind you, to things like... me being uncomfortable around cigarettes. Me flinching when I hear sex jokes. Me leaving the room when people start talking about wanting to beat up kids and strangle them. I'm holding a grudge! I'll be encountering these things for the rest of my life!

That last one I get a lot, too. I'll be encountering these things for the rest of my life.

Let me tell you a secret. That's why I tried killing myself. That's why I've been to crisis facilities 6 different times. That's why I've made plans to move off-grid, to move to somewhere isolated, etc. But since I'm still right fucking here, obviously I'm not going to do any of that. So why point it out? Why point that out, as though it's not something you just WITNESSED my way of coping with?

Yes, I'll be encountering PTSD triggers the rest of my life. And every time I do, I will avoid them. That's why I don't buy into the whole "just try a little harder" angle. I'm not going to waste my time and my life trying to do that. This isn't a fear. This isn't a phobia. I don't sprint the opposite direction whenever a car honks and I'm walking on the sidewalk. I still have friends who smoke various things my abusers did. My PTSD still gets triggered by it, and I still get uncomfortable when they smoke. But you know what? They're my friends. They understand that and don't get annoyed at me for being uncomfortable. My friends who make sex jokes do it even though it makes me flinch because I've made it very clear: I'm going to react to them. It's not an insult. There's no need to feel bad. It's just nature.

When you tell me to get over it, it's NOT because you care. Convince yourself that it is, but listen closely: You're making it WORSE. And people with PTSD tell you that. And you ignore them, because you don't really care. Our PTSD just makes you uncomfortable and annoyed. It's inconvenient to think about and be around.

I'm not going to brute-force my way out of having triggers. It's just not happening. I'm going to have these involuntary responses. If you're my friend, you'll deal with it and understand the truth:

It's just nature :) deal with it. It's worse for me than it is for you, you selfish person.

[snowiwyvern]

a shitty guide to tumblr for people who have never been on this godforsaken website

yeah so ive been thinking about making one of these posts, because tumblr is pretty unlike a lot of popular social media today and because i lost the ones that used to be making rounds. this is mostly for my own use so i dont have to reexplain tumblr every time i try to introduce people to this website, and i can just send this post to them instead

this is more to help you get started with no context of how tumblr operates, its not really a strict guide for you to follow fyi. you could ignore this completely if you want, this is generally for people who are confused, lost, and need somewhere to start. this post also mostly expects you to know what the buttons do, or at least be able to figure out what they mean

quick table of contents for this post: 1. setting up your blog 2. how to use tags 3. tumblr algorithm 4. tumblr etiquette [as of this post] 5. common lingo [also as of this post]

1. setting up your blog

okay, so. tumblr has a hugeeeee bot problem. these bots typically have default pfps, nonsensical or overly average urls, no personalization to their blog with everything as the default, no reblogs/posts or very few of them. i, and many others, tend to block these. however, if youve just gotten tumblr and havent customized your blog yet, you might be confused for a bot. so the first thing you should do is something to show that youre a real person, like changing your banner, pfp, or blog title. people also tend to hide their following and likes, but thats up to you if you want them hidden

if youd like to add more information about yourself, such as having an introduction to your blog that doesnt fit in your bio, put it in an intro post and pin it to your blog to make it your pinned post [if you arent sure how to do that, press the three dots on the top right of the post and then press pin post]. ofc your pinned post could be some other post you really really like, such as a pinned reblog of a funny post, a post you made that you thought was a banger and encapsulates your blog, whatever. but keep in mind it will usually be what introduces people to your blog.

for me, my blog introduction has a short introduction to me, what i post, my main tags [ill get into that later], and masterposts. masterposts are posts that you use to link to other posts, typically for posts that are all connected in some way. some examples would be for an art challenge, an au, or a story that spans across posts. it just helps compile and keep track of things.

and ive seen that one repost of that tiktok post. you dont have to prep like its professional or smth [unless you want to ofc]. youre fine, tumblr is informal as hell. just be kind and respectful of others and you should be fine. also, random thing i didnt know where to put elsewhere. go into your settings. you can put stuff like a theme for your blog, add timestamps to posts (which i highly reccommend, keeps you from reblogging warnings that are out of date n such), and whatever else you can find in there.

in addition, you can make side blogs! side blogs are attached to your main blog, and are used for a variety of things. some examples include: gimmick blogs [a blog whos whole purpose is to do one specific thing], ask blogs [a blog where you rp as a character and answer asks as if you were them], au/story/comic blogs [just to keep all of it in one place, if you dont want to use tags], fandom blogs [to split up your blogs by the fandom they post about], and more!

2. how to use tags

people here on tumblr can be veryyyy particular on tags. if you misuse them badly enough, you will likely find out the hard way. so, to prevent that from happening, here a quick crash course in tumblr tags!

dont spam unrelated tags if you make a post about blorbo and tag bingus, despite him not being in the post, that is using an unrelated tag and people will probably get annoyed or mad at you. you tag what is in the post. im looking at you instagram users. you tag the character[s] featured in the post, the fandom/story theyre from, and as [fandom] fanart, [fandom] fanfiction, or whatever it is. [pssstt fyi instead of fandom in brackets you put the fandom the character is from!]

dont main tag vagueposts a vague post is when you talk about someone, without naming them. this is typically done to shit talk the person its about. if you reallyyyy need to talk shit about someone that badly, dont tag it with the main tags you both interact through. ngl i think its just petty and shitty to make vagueposts in the first place, but you do you.

dont main tag critique/hate of people, ships, or characters lets say, for example, you really hate a ship in your fandom, and it bothers you to the point you feel the need to make this dislike known. you do NOT tag it with the name of that ship. people go into that tag to see people talking about how much they like that ship. that is a quick way to get a lot of hate. if you really need to, use that tag with crit slapped onto the end of it. generally, dont walk into someones house, shit talk it, and be surprised when they punch you in the face.

dont censor tags youre not going to get murdered by staff if you say suicide in your tags. if you put tags using censored terms like sewerslide or suc1d3, that only makes it so people who have those terms blocked will get those posts on their dashes. tag that shit and dont censor it, for the sake of the people around you.

now that thats out of the way, heres the other cool thing about tumblr tags! as i mentioned in the third to last paragraph of the previous section, you might want to put your main tags in your pinned post. tumblr allows you to search blogs by tag, so if someone wants to search for all of your posts that are tagged #blorbo, they can!

as an example i have 5 main tags listed in my pinned post that i use, the tag with all my art, the tag with all my writing, my tag for random textposts i make, my tag of reblogs, and my mutuals tag so i can look back and be like yayyyyy i love my moots :3. and while i dont have one, people tend to have an ask tag, where they can put all the asks they answer

3. tumblr algorithm

hate to break it to you pookie, but tumblr doesnt really have an algorithm like other social media. i lied. im sorry. im stealing your spleen. the for you page is... there. but no one uses it most of the time. tumblr operates more like websites used to, and you have to go hunt your posts down in the wild.

here on tumblr, we have the dashboard! it shows the posts from the people you follow in reverse chronological order. this means that, as a tumblr newbie, your dash will be empty. so, go into the tags and follow people who post and reblog things you like. however, that is step one in the circle of life here. you can stop there, of course, but you must keep something in mind.

if you like a post and want to share it with your followers, reblog it. a like will not get it onto their dash. a like is more like telling the original poster you thought the post was neat or that you saw it; this would be more like vent posts, posts about their private life, stuff like that. if its a post youd like to share with your followers, you reblog it; this is usually someone spitting facts you want to show your followers you agree with, a post you thought was funny, cool art, and whatever else you might want to have on your blog.

fyi, when i reblog i typically leave a like. it lets me know that i have interacted with this post before, and helps me so if im looking through a mutuals or someones blog and theres an awesome post left unliked, i know i didnt reblog it. however, thats just how i like to do it

4. tumblr etiquette

tumblr is a very old website, and that comes with a lot of unspoken rules the community has learned over time. heres a quick list of some rules you might need to keep in mind!

dont repost/steal posts a common thing i see on instagram and twitter is people reposting art, animation, or copying posts they thought were clever to farm likes. here on tumblr, we have reblogs! if you want that art on your blog, just reblog it. for example, if you run a gimmick blog that focuses on posting about one character, dont repost someone elses art [especially without credit]. just go reblog the original post, and let them know how much their contribution to the fandom is appreciated in the tags.

dont derail/hijack a post if you see a post thats completely unrelated to blorbo and about a different character completely and go, wow this is so blorbo coded! talk about it in the tags, or go make your own post. we build posts together here, we dont tear them down.

blocking you dont like seeing someone on your dash or when youre looking through tags? dont go and yell at them or something, or make a vaguepost. block their ass. how dare you interpret blorbo in that way. explode. get out of my sight. block tags you dont like. block keywords you dont like. block people you dont like. curate your online experience.

youve dicovered youre blocked oh no! someway, somehow, youve discovered youre blocked! oh the woe. dont make a vaguepost about it. dont go and make a hate mob because of it. it was likely nothing personal. maybe they just didnt like the way you typed. who literally cares. move on.

mutuals whenever you make a mutual, you often get bonded through blood together. i may be be posting about dogs and youre posting about taylor swift now, but through whatever led us to become mutuals, we are forever intertwined through our experience. the dash needs some diversity anyways. however, if this mutual has, for example, spontaneously started reblogging and posting about heinous shit you hate? block. begone. curate your online experience

someone posts something you dont like so you dont like what someones posting? what should you do? nothing. just leave them alone. dont send an ask, dont leave hate in their replies/reblogs. just block them if you need to, and move on

replying to reblogs you want to reply to someone in your reblogs, but you dont want to make a whole reblog or separate post? @ them in the replies of that post and chat with them there, or go to their dms and talk there

5. common lingo

heres some common terms youre likely to run into on tumblr! ofc this can vary from fandom to fandom, but from my experience these tend to span across fandoms.

op - original poster. the origin. the person who made the first post youre reblogging

moot/mutual - a person who you follow and they follow you back

<- prev - used in tags, to denote tags taken from the previous reblog. this can stack, to denote prev prev prev, but just screenshot the tags and add them in a reblog at that point

<- ops tags - used similarly to prev, but specifically for ops tags

blorbo - a term to describe the character that has taken over your mind like a parasite

scrimblo (and its variations) - a term similar to blorbo, but with more of a scraggly tinge to it

tumblrina - a gender neutral term for tumblr users. its not used all that commonly anymore, but i felt it was worth mentioning

yuri - term for a ship between girls

yaoi - term for a ship between boys

headcanon/hc - an interpretation of a character that is not canon. usually is a trait that falls in line with their canon portrayal, but not always

id/alt text - an image description. it describes an image in text, so that if the image is not loading or someone is blind, they can still know what it is/what it says. heres a helpful image for how to write one

asks - when you open your askbox, something you have to do through your settings, it allows people to send you messages that when you answer it posts as a whole tumblr post on your blog. you can also customize your askbox, only by changing the text from 'ask me anything!' to whatever you want. also, it might just be a me thing, but i like to tag who sent the anon in by their url or anonymous if theyre on anon

anon/anonymous - what we use to refer to people who are sending you an ask while on anonymous. some people have them off, because many people dont have the balls to send... unsavory asks on main. this is also why when people are getting hate, anon is turned off

queue - something ive actually neglected to mention! when you add things to your queue, it will post a certain amount of posts over time at the rate you set it to, during the time range you set it to

communities - tumblr communities are a more recent thing that was added to tumblr! you can go join them if youd like. quick warning though, communities that are open tend to get the occasional porn bot posting links in it. report it to a community moderator. this also means that communities that you have to be accepted into likely arent going to reject you. its probably just there to help prevent bots from getting in

porn bots - bots that post links to porn. they spam tags, communities, and spam follow people. report the porn as spam or sexual content, block, and move on

of course, there are way more terms used on this website than this, especially fandom specific ones. i couldnt possibly include them all, but this should be enough so you can understand what people are saying most of the time

in conclusion...

thanks for reading! i hope you enjoyed this post, or found it helpful. make sure to be kind to people around you, stay respectful--even of things you might think are a little odd, cringe culture is dead--, and most of all, have fun!

happy blogging :3

[pssstttt hey tumblr users, if theres anything major you think i missed, let me know in the replies or a reblog and ill add it.]

[electraslight]

i always hate when i see people make posts on tumblr saying 'i hate it when people say they dont like the like button, blah blah insert funnypost about how you like seeing cute hearts or whatever' like artists and creatives on tumblr havent been struggling to get any sort of interaction or have any fun with this site for a while because no one reblogs anything or even sends asks. like i know youre trying to be silly but likes really are causing the downfall of interaction on the site. a lot of you guys are artists, and i bet you remember getting a lot of asks and interaction a year or two ago, even when you werent actively pandering to fandom interests (i know some of you do this now, i see you, i feel you, that's not healthy because it doesnt work either), and now most people's like to reblog ratio is crazy small. look at any art post, and you can see ratios like 17 to 100, 5 to 150, etc etc. and of course no asks, at least not from people who arent telling you to tag 'food warning' or tell you youre a horrible human being for shipping a one year age gap or whatever. and i get a lot of the point of those posts is that you shouldnt be upset that youre getting more likes than reblogs, because you should be happy that anyone likes your art enough to show you they like it, but i think an artist's urge to grow isn't as clout related as these people assume. its wanting more people to see your work, to interact with it. to feel something from it, and the dry well of interaction has made a lot of people move away from the site, because tumblr interactions always felt so personal and so community driven, and now there's no interaction besides harassment. it's not a sin to want your art to be seen, and it's not 'clout goblin behavior' to want members of your community to interact with you and your work. 'likes are interaction too' doesnt matter, because no one gets anything from the interaction besides number go up, which you may find cute and funny, but cute and funny didnt help me meet my best friends, come up with new concepts, have my art feel wanted. Interaction did. And this site has no algorithm, so reblog things you like, type everything you can think of in the tags, comment, send inane asks, or a lot of your favorite artists, creatives, even mutuals just blogging, wont hang around for long

[joculatrixster]

"ill admit i dont watch sos nor raft streams but im calling out ppl who r calling scott specifically abusive and ive literally never seen anyone as vilinized as scott in fics i can think off the top of my head 3 fics ive seen where scott is the vilian and portrayed as jimmys abuser which is NOT true for anyone u mentioned." You can't say Scott is the only one villainized in the same breath as admitting you haven't seen content where other CCs get villainized by the audience.

Many of the *exact same people* who criticize Scott have also come out with posts talking about how uncomfortable Sausage makes them, some of them specifically citing his behavior toward Jimmy in SOS. Of course, I can't say that's true for everyone in fandom who criticizes Scott, but in my experience people critical of Scott are critical of others, too, regardless of their sexuality. Saying the criticism is fueled by homophobia doesn't track when the people criticizing Scott are also criticizing straight CCs/characters for very similar things.

Everyone has a different fandom experience based on what circles/fan archives/discussion boards they're on, and even on the same site people can have different experiences because of stuff like algorithms and who you're following. IIRC I have seen a fic where Grian, Jimmy, Joel and Lizzie were all siblings and Lizzie called out Grian and Joel for not being good brothers to Jimmy, while the only fic I've seen with Scott being "villainized" was a short ficlet where he did something small out of jealousy that didn't have any long term effects. I have actually gone *looking* for toxic FH fanfic and not found any. (I like complicated messy relationship story lines, so I feel like toxic FH in fic form would be fun to read.) Obviously this has not been your experience, but you seem to be treating your fandom experience as if it's the same for everyone else, which it's not.

its nnot just my experience when multiple multiple ppl have spoken out about how prominent it is specifically for scott again if its just a small issue id understand but the normalization is insane, ive seen a fic where scott turns jimmy into his pet doll and he needs to be saved from his clutches. ive read a gic where scott kills pearl and wants to destroy the entire world and has jimmy as his pet who he promised to keep as long as he stayed uner his thumb. ive read a fic where scott just leaves jimmy at the alter and pearl hunts him down and lashes out violently at him and we r meant to side w pearl for attacking him bc he didnt feel bad for poor jimmy. these were not obscure fics or small fics. u seem to assume an issue others r clearly pointing out theyve seen way more than others is only something some fridnge guy is complaining about instead of perhaps something UVE missed hm? uve seen 1 fic where joel and grian r kinda shitty to jimmy and get called out ive read multiple fics where scott breaks down jimmy as a person and needs to be saved from him, ive seen multiple posts calling irl scott smajor am abuser bc of one clip, ive seen pll say jimmy deadass is uncomfortable w FH and doesnt like scott which is just weird ass behavior. yes sausage gets flack i belive this but i haven't seen a shit ton of fics making sausage break jimmy soan mentally then get killed or punished in the end for being an irredeemable abuser. ive seen multiple of that for scott or just seeing scott in general in a veryyy negative light which is clearly due to an unfavorable interpretation of his character. which is fine, but name three fics where grian is intpreted that unfavorably w over 100 kueos. no seriously show me the fics where grian dies in the 3nd and its a thing everyone is happy about in the ficand they do not mourn him at all bc they hated him. go on!

its funny how ur orignal anon nitpicked my post and ur reply again nitpicks one part of a wider post as if the point i said was even what ur replyin to, im talking fandom space but even if i wasnt im talking life series fandom while i do mention oli thats just to ponnt out that One scott clip is not Just a scott thing, girl. vilinized in life series aka what i tagged, dont be stupid here its literally just making u look stupid 😭i used grian as an example bc hes someone who acts similar in the space i was criticizing and not sausage bc i am aware things may be different in a DIFFERENT context. ur majorlyyyy derialing and not rlly proving me wrong ur just proving that u dont rlly get what im saying which is fine but also all ur points r just...not disproving anything l. ur example is 1 grian and joel being criticized in one(1) fic(which is not what vilianized even means dude but hey ill give u this u did find one somewhat grian neg fic!) and 2 a guy not even in the fandom i tagged. girl...

[softness-and-shattering]

I saw a Blaze the other day that had in the tags, I think, something like "blazed because I havent been here for ten years so no one will see my posts".

Ive been here like two and a quarter years, I was a rat fleeing the sinking ship of twitter a little before the main wave of twitter refugees, who therefore have also been here about two years. Reddit...84? 87? 96? folks have been here even less time (sorry I dont remember your number).

Theres nothing wrong with blazing your post to be seen, but it doesnt target who sees it. If you want to meet people with whom you have things in common - and you need *something* to start your first conversation at least - look up things that interest you in the tags, and respond in comments, tags or reblogs. (Comments are mainly the OP to see, or if a tag conversation is getting silly long. Reblogs are for conversation, discussion, adding things you want everyone to see on the reblog chain. Tags are more like whispering commentary to your friends in a lecture, HOWEVER they are visible to everyone including OP, so dont insult OP or talk shit about them because they will see it, its just not davka directed at them).

Then look at the blogs of the people involved in the conversation. Are they sharing cool shit, and not sharing anything thats a deal breaker to you? Follow them! Look at the blogs they reblog from, if you like, follow. And talk. Contribute. You can just be a blog that shares, thats fine, but we're assuming you want what you say to be seen, that you means you want people to think you and your blog are interesting enough to follow. If youre talking into oblivion, no ones gonna see or reblog, so you gotta talk to let people know you exist and know something about you. Then they follow you, they share some of what you share, they share some of what you say, ten reblogs down the chain someone will think "OP seems cool, let me check out their blog. Yeah Im gonna follow them" and your audience, your friendgroup, your community grows, around your interests and their interests and things youre all involved in conversation about. And you have to be pretty genuine, no one succeeds at Influencing here, its not the style or culture of the site. Its generally more equal peership than Influencer and Audience, though some blogs are a lot bigger than others but that doesnt make them wealthy or famous IRL. No ones getting sponsorship deals for being big on tumblr. We're just a bunch of various geeks, nerds, outcasts, weirdos, people who dont like our every movement being tracked and all our media algorithm-fed. Id say we're more normal but maybe what Im looking for is just that we're less "social media" than social media?

So you probably dont want randoms seeing your post, whoevers page your blaze landed on. You want to find "your people" and carve out a little place for yourself in the woodwork, hang up a picture, stick some pie in the oven and introduce yourself to your neighbours. Or find people and declare them your neighbours by following them.

[fipindustries]

first course completed!

that was arc 1 of introduction to magic.

and this is the first drawing i made of the main characters all the way back in 2019

what is this

now that the first arc is done i would like to take a chance to actually stop and properly self promote a little here. it was about time.

i am currently writing a novel called Introduction to magic, an examination of a magic system i came up with by way of following the lessons of magical apprentice Katerina Dolcevita under the aprenticeship of Maria Bellanova. the best way i have to summarize the feel and tone of it all is Fantasy AU-R63! Rick and Morty. imagine if rick and morty were both women and they were exploring magic rather than sci fi.

the first arc is intended to be a prologue of sorts, to get you up to speed with the nature of this world and the nature of the two main characters.

where this came from

i came up with the story and the concept around this world proper in 2021, while reading pale. i was looking at all the extra material that wildbow had written for its magical world and i found myself really wishing that we didnt have to just see excerpts from the magical books like famulus or 100 years lost. and it came to me that if i really want a book about magic to exist then i can just write one myself.

the magic system in this story follows a bunch of my own deeply held beliefs about life and magic. mainly that is kind of silly how we insists magic doesnt exist when we have things like computers and planes and psychodelics. it occured that if we were to live in a world where magic was real we wouldnt call it magic either, we would just think of it as the normal state of affairs. there is a post i read here, which i cant find right now, which said something about how weird conciousness is, how strange the fact that conciousness arises from the specific configuration of a brain. about how conciousness is the last, mysterious, seemingly ineffable property of reality. they concluded that we live in a fantasy world where our magic system has only one spell "summon daemon". obviously a lot of it was merely poetic and rethorical devices to see with fresh eyes of wonder something we take for granted.

and a lot of this book stems from a similar wish to want to see the mundane with eyes of wonder once again, which is why i insist that low level magic in this world is things as basic as writing and lighting a fire. is also the reason why a lot of the titles that i use for the magic specializations are normal every day professions.

the second, stronger impulse was to try to come up with a system of magic that could be broad enough to grasp all possible forms of magic humans have come up with and yet simple enough that could be understood in a few pages. the classification system i use on this book is based on all the broadest, most basic forms of magic practisce that i have seen in history and fiction. manipulating signs as drawings and writing, manipulating sound as voice and song, using tools and props, moving the body, combining and refining substances and materials, handling living creatures.

what's next

as we move forward on this story the format will switch to a more traditional narrative where we will properly follow the adventures of these two ladies. ocassionally i will dip back into textbook-like sections where i infodump about another interesting concept i thought of, but even in the narrative sections most of the chapters will be an excuse to explore some concept or idea. i gather by sheer quantity 80% of the content of this story is going to be maria explaining things to Katerina.

so yeah, if that sounds at all interesting please do read this, and please do leave a comment, i really want to see what people think of this work. i dont need money or donations or to be engaged in any algorithm, all i need to stay motivated and energized and thus continuing the story is to know that people are invested in it.

thank you so much for reading.

[caelumsnuff]

I know guy’s not everyone cup of tea but maybe let’s all try to understand Erik’s probably dealing with stuff or busy with his real life. In the last podcast episode he mentioned he got his wisdom teeth out and was still dealing with a lot of pain while talking. Maybe Guy was all he could get out. Big lore stuff talks a lot of talking and time he may not have had. We all know YouTubes algorithm isn’t kind when people stop posting for a while and I’m sure Erik is well aware of that too. He had to get something out to keep up with it. I say this as someone who also deeply wants some lore or to hear from characters we haven’t seen in a while. Erik’s just been having a rough go of it and might need to make some simpler stuff like guy or Ollie so YouTube doesn’t crush the channel ya know? I understand frothing at the mouth for the big stuff trust me (I would do criminal acts to hear from Vega again) but Erik’s also a person with other stuff going on all while trying to work with a broken shitty algorithm that is constantly against content creators. I know it’s frustrating but I really do think there’s reasons for it.

i did not know about the tooth thing, so thanks for telling me.

I do think it's important for me to note that even when i am critiquing the videos themselves and the content in them, no malice is directed towards Erik. Sometimes I really am just complaining to complain on my blog on which i complain. Not everyone likes Guy, but a lot people do and if it's the case that Erik needed to make and upload something easy then so be it.

I will still remain questioning why he has fixated on Guy so much, but its more of a question in regards to what he does (or more accurately: doesnt) do for the story. I think there's reason behind the things he does or doesnt do, even if him choosing Guy is perhaps because his videos are more popular (i do not know for sure, i havent checked. Feel free to fact check this for me. or not), or just to have some semi normal bf rpasmr stuff on his channel.

Either way i wasn't really judging or critiquing Erik himself because of my dislike for Guy, moreso for my longstanding want to see more plot relevant videos or characters that predates just this recent video. I was complaining publicly bc i dislike Guy, but it wasn't an issue that was brought about because of him, it was just circumstantial to my complaining.

I know i have expressed general dislike for Erik's personality and whatnot on this blog, but it manifests more in apathetic feelings towards him. I don't feel any strong way, but i do still wish to treat him as i would a stranger. I am not actually angry at him for uploading or making videos i do not like, a lot of the things i say on this blog are melodramatic.

I do appreciate this ask. though i don't think i was necessarily forgetting the fact that Erik is Just Some Guy, it was nonetheless a reminder. I'm going to continue to talk about how i don't like Guy and how i want other things on the channel, but it's more a general complaint instead of something directed at Erik himself.

[the-rorster]

please tell me why reblogging is better why reposting is bad? honestly cause i'm confused the reason why i repost is because i'm showing that i love their art and want it to be on my page as well that's all to show that i love it

so first off, theres really no need to send me almost the same ask twice. I feel like every time I talk to you, you're sending me 2-4 inboxes that all say the same thing and then sometimes you turn around an send me three more that say something else but those three also all say the same thing. The third thing you added is a valid addition which I'll also touch in here but this first and second thing you said to me are almost exactly the same and truthfully and honestly there is no reason for it.

Now. Tumblr is a form of social media people posting, especially posting fancreations a lot of time thrive on that interaction. Unlike most social medias, tumblr doesnt have a big algorithm that pushes content out to be seen.

On a normal social media, if you liked a post, the algorithm would say 'this is a post people like, lets show more people' and more people would see it. This is tumblr.

Reblogging is tumblr's best version of that. It boosts the content. Reblogging is how things get shared across here. Because if I posed something and you reblogged it and someone saw your reblog (which, yes, would be on your page) and liked it, both you and the person who made it will get that like. And you want the person who made the art you like to know people like it don't you? A lot of times that's what encourages them to make more.

If you repost it, you're stealing it from them, and any like only goes to you.

"reblogging: you are giving a direct link and source to the original art, and you can tag it so it reaches the target audience. you are supporting the artist and helping their art gain notes and show others who created it

reposting: you blatantly take an artists work and post it without credit to the artist when you can give a simple @ to them. it doesnt help the original poster gain any sort of traction and credit and notes they deserve for their work."

@cr4shqueen (who you wrongfully blocked and reported)

I really, really, really want to be ab;e to say that this is understandable. Because it would be. if you were 11. or 12. or 13. or MAYBE even 14. But you claim to be 25, so, if you aren't 25, you should admit that to me now because it changes a lot of the circumstance that you are in, but otherwise, you really don't have an excuse to have been on tumblr for 2+ years and still not understand what a reblog does. Either way, let me show you

This is Ryver's blog

Now lets say Ryber is scrolling tumblr and she finds some artwork she really likes (im going to be using some of my own for this example)

In this examply, Ryver really likes this picture of tiny rory

Because this is my post, you see @the-rorster at the top. Because I drew it. You know who the artist is, me, because its my post.

Ryver can click this reblog button right here

Ryver now has the option to say anything on the main post or add tags

She might decide to say something nice right here, but you should never comment on how you want something changed, or don't like something. Ryver can say "This is cute!" but she shouldn't say "You shouldn't have made him tiny. I don't like him tiny" this is important to note. Dont talk about things you dont like in this section

When she's done, Ryver hits the blue reblog

The creator gets a notification like this

now they KNOW someone liked their content

this number (which was 21 before) goes up

this number shows how many people enjoyed the content you made/how many times someone has interacted with it

AND the post is on ryvers blog

The exact same way it would be if she reposted it, the only difference is that my name is still there, so you still know who drew it, and I still get any interaction it gets from ryvers blog

People have lost out on thousands of dollars because of other people reposting instead of reblogging. I definitely don't want my favorite Benny artists missing out on thousands of dollars. I don't think you do either, so maybe start reblogging so that you arent the reason it happens. Because I know you don't want to be a theif.

This is also why crediting the original creator is important if they give you permission to crop it. So that people who see it from your blog can go and see the whole thing. Which you should want if youre trying to show you love the art

[lesbianralzarek]

tumblr in reddit terms

blogs: personal subreddits where the theme/topic is 99% of the time just “me and whatever the hell i feel like at the moment”. for reference, the most common other theme rn is “wizard roleplay that never breaks character”

reblogs: crossposts. these are crucial to maintaining tumblr’s ecosystem. due to blogs generally having fewer followers than subreddits have subscribers, this is the way that posts get seen and passed around. the vast majority of posts on a person’s blog tend to be reblogs, so if the people you follow dont reblog a whole lot, your dashboard is gonna be a ghost town. post limit (combined total of reblogs and original posts per day) is 250, so feel free to go hog wild

tags: this one is complicated. theyre a combination of flairs and Comments But Low-key. you can use them for organization and to avoid seeing content you dont want to (go to your blog, settings, account settings, content you see, and then add tags you want tumblr to warn you about before seeing it). if op tags the post #reddit (in the tags, not the body of the post), itll show up in the #reddit tag when anyone searches that tag. tags are also used for comments that dont really add anything to the post. you know how a jpeg gets kinda gross when its been through a million screenshots and has ifunny watermarks and shit? thats what adding “lmao same” as a comment does to a post. comments stay on reblogs, while tags show up in 4 places: op’s notifications, the notifs of whoever you reblogged it from, when someone clicks on the “notes” button of a post and actively looks for the tags left on it, and when people view your specific reblog of the post (like a follower would on their dashboard)

likes: upvotes but weaker. almost everyone turns off all the algorithms (settings, account settings, dashboard preferences, toggle off the first 3 options. also, make sure your dashboard is on "following" and not "for you". this is highly recommended), so leaving a like doesnt boost the post in any way. they still matter to some people. you can also use them to bookmark a post and go back to your likes later

enthusiastic and/or hyperbolic tags: reddit gold. you wanna let op know you like their art? leave something like ”#printing this out and stapling it to my forehead #op you wanna get married?” in the tags

pornbots: both reddit and tumblr have an issue with them. we block and report them on sight. they usually have hot women as their icons, no posts or reblogs, and a description like “22, brazil, nurse <3″. try to not look like that if you dont wanna get blocked by everyone you follow

blocking: you have this as well, but it seems like a bigger deal on reddit. the reason we are not twitter is because we block bitches who annoy us and move on with our day. do not feed the trolls

things we dont have:

karma: clout-chasing is The Most embarrassing thing you can possibly do on this site. we are all in this circus together and the clown who gets the most laughs is still a clown. popular users will literally deactivate sometimes because clout is a burden. no one here makes money

[kiruliom]

hihi reddit's mogai peeps, welcome to mogaiblr, here's a (not so) small guide by your host Vivian to help you grow accustomed to this place.

press the read more/keep reading thingy to continue, dont worry, it dont bite!

general tumblr etiquette

tag your stuff, they wont be seen otherwise.

do not crosstag (tag a group youre complaining about), or tag unrelated stuff

reblog, reblog, reblog! if you see a post that interests you, reblog! this is super important as there is no algorithm and all the like button does is basically save the post for later

tag triggering things!! [thing] tw or [thing] cw should suffice, dont tag every possible version of a trigger, you only have 30 tag slots, it's the reader's responsibility to block all possible tags as theres no limit on blocked tags. I suggest trigger tagging after the 20th tag as tags after the 20th one dont show up on search (stupid I know) but still gets blocked okay

get a profile photo as soon as possible, this site has a massive bot problem and if youre thought to be one you will be blocked without hesitation

if youre on pc, I highly recommend you get xkit, its a browser extension that helps a lot with your tumblr experience

these are the basics, these have been talked about over and over with twitter refugees as well so I wont drabble on them too much

mogaiblr etiquette

1: keep in mind the intersectionality

the mogai tumblr community has a lot of overlap with other communities, namely the disabled community, nonhuman community and plural community. respect them, and listen to them, for they are your allies. you will see the overlapping community get referred to as "LIOM" a lot (like in my username), it stands for labels, identities and other minorities and is meant to be an all encompassing umbrella.

2: make your posts accessible

as I just said, theres a lot of disabled people in this community, so its important to make your posts as accessible as possible. I will talk more on this later

3: dont be afraid to ask individual blogs

there is no subreddit posting system, and if you just post a general question you likely wont get any answers, if you get seen at all, so dont shy away from asking individual blogs about stuff, if their asks are open, it means they WANT you to talk with them and ask them stuff, so never view it as bothering them. the askbox doesnt always say "asks" and similar stuff though due to being customizable, so just know its the little button to the left of the follow button.

4: check pinned posts

pinned posts are posts that are pinned on top of a persons blog, when you open someones blog, theyll be the first post to be seen upon scrolling down. a lot of people use these to introduce themselves, set boundaries, give request rules, talk about availability, etc. so its important to read these through whenever possible.

more on accessibility

1: image descriptions!!!

its basically where you describe the image, as the name suggests, tumblr has an alt. text function for it but it doesnt always work so little [boxes like this] right under the image is ideal for most, yes it makes it look less pretty, but is your aesthetic worth more than someone whos visually impaired not being able to understand the post? trust me no one cares if your posts are pretty or not. anyway, the ideal way to know how to describe an image is pretend youre explaining it out loud to someone across from you, who cant look at your screen for whatever reason.

2: plain text!

yes, tumblr has a lot of cool text features (like bold or italic, or even colored [PT: like bold, italic, or even colored. end PT]) but this is, again, unfortunately inaccessible, due to tumblr being a broken website it often doesnt register formatted text for screenreaders, plus it can be hard to navigate for people with disabilities even without a visual disability. this goes for fancy text and symbols as well (like stars emoticons or a cursive text font). so you have two options, offer a plain text alternative or dont format text at all. offering plain text can be done in the same way as image IDs (theres even an example above).

3: eyestrain

bright colors are awesome, trust me, Id know, but not everyone can view them properly without a migraine or even worse, a seizure. so its important to tag your posts with eyestrain if you decide to make a brightly colored flag, or even better, do your best to make the flag accessible instead, with slightly duller colors with more (or less depending on the flag) contrast. it doesnt make your flag as ugly as youd think, trust me ^^

4: availability cant do one or more of the things mentioned above for any reasons? dont fret! theres blogs out there that can help you, most of them do this out on their own accord.

currently the most active ones are @plaintextpro , @accessmogai and @transflorall (my blog hehe), who specialize in plain text, image descriptions and eyestrain-help respectively

thats about it that I can think of!!! thank you for reading, and if theres anything you'd like to add, dont be afraid to!

[icedtoastt]

A quick guide on how to help c!Quackity and your favs in the mcytblr polls

hi! seeing as how close quackity and joe hills are in the mcytblr sexyman polls i just wanted to make a list on things you can do to help boost quackity! this poll has such a grip on me

1. Make alts! - alts are extremely helpful and every vote counts. i admit it can be boring and time consuming. but when the votes have just a 30 vote gap it can really make a difference! tumblr doesnt check emails, so its quite

2. Fanart! - this one is really time consuming but it pays off. its wonderful to see more art for our borblos so please go ahead! and make sure to support other artists too!

3. Slides! - these ones are always super fun to see. personally i always found slides to be the most persuasive (and has changed my votes a lot) so please, go ahead and make some slides about how your borblo is clearly the superior mcytblr sexymen (i'm listening)

4. posters, memes, shouting, whatever! - any sort of posting can help get a long way for your borblo. even if its just shouting telling your followers to vote, go ahead and do it!

5. bribes! - bribes are a good way for accumulating votes. you can ask people so send proof of voting for your fav and in return do stuff like writing, or doodles.

6. reblog reblog reblog! - for the tumblr newcomers, likes don't boost the algorithm! if you want more people to see a post make sure to reblog it! this especially goes for art, make sure to support artists

7. tell people! - if you know anyone with a tumblr account who knows, maybe outing yourself as a mcyt fan could be worth it! I have seen people tell the wildest of people to vote for their borblo. every vote matters so even if its just telling your friend its worth it!

overall its been fun to see people supporting this favorites in this silly poll. still, remember at the end of the day this is all a silly poll (don't be a jerk guys) and even if your borblo seems to be losing, don't give up hope! this has been so fun and may the best mcytblr sexyman win! (quackity. go vote for quackity right now)

[cupcraft]

I guess since there are new tumblr users, esp in mcyt/dsmp/etc, I wanna add some of my own advice besides the change your pfp and reblog stuff (though i'll add onto this).

1. Reblog art AND writing/fanfic AND analysis posts if you liked them! This is is how things are boosted algorithmically.

2. I'm sure you've seen posts about tags and how they work objectively, but on another note definitely feel free to rant/talk in the tags. I and many people read those tags especially in response to writing/art/analysis/etc. and its like a "comment" basically and its always fun to see what ppl think (ik i always read the tags). This is especially true when replies are off.

3. Lots of people have a block and move on policy. If you interact and break a DNI list/are weird/op just doesnt want you to interact you'll just be blocked. This will appear as being unable to follow someone or sort of a loading error on a blog when you try to open it.

4. Ask boxes are great ways to communicate with people but like tags and in general dont be weird, even on anon you can be blocked.

5. Especially in fandom it is always good to curate your own experience. Block tags and posts you dont want to see or cannot see. And if something is triggering always feel free to reach out to a poster to see if they'll tag that (i know i will if asked if needed! I often put "ask to tag" to indicate I recognize this may need tw/cw tags but idk what).

6. Tumblr has a lot of yearly and weekly traditions that are celebrated for fun you may notice. Like Ides of March memes, mishapocalypse is still a thing in my experience, neil banging out the tunes, and etc.

Mutuals and anyone else can add on. These are just things i wanted to mention!

[dteam-thecollective]

Reblogs > Likes

im sure ive made posts like this before, but im doing it again and if youre seeing it i want you to reblog it bc everyone needs to hear it. i dont care who you are, what fandom youre in, what platform youre coming from, or if a post doesn't "fit in" with the rest of your blog. if you like fanart, fanfiction, gifsets, whatever, REBLOG IT.

likes mean nothing here. the only way your content is seen is if people reblog it to show their followers (who show their followers, etc.). i see so many artists putting this in polite terms and still being shit on so im going to go on record to state that this is not a polite request. this is a demand.

"it doesn't fit with my theme"? make a sideblog. it takes 5 seconds. you would not believe the amount of blogs called ____sreblogs. unsurprisingly this is a thing people regularly do but some of you still don't get it.

"i don't have any followers who will see it"? it doesn't matter because reblogs boost posts in the algorithm. the more people that reblog it, the more likely it is to show up in the top posts of a tag, and the more likely it is people will see it.

"my blog is for personal posts only" (yes this is a real actual excuse ive seen people use)? get off of tumblr and write a diary then, or use a different blogging website that isn't so heavily reliant on user interaction. alternatively, make a sideblog for reblogging things.

"no ones interacting cus it probably sucks"? no one reblogs -> no one sees the posts except for ops followers (which for new blogs is literally no one). it has nothing to do with the quality of the art.

"you can't tell me what to do/telling me to reblog makes me want to do it even less"? youre right. i cant. i can shout from the rooftops that you need to reblog fanworks but that doesnt mean youll do it. and if being told to reblog fanworks dissuades you from doing it, im sorry you feel that way. however, if you continue to see "reblogs > likes" posts and still refuse to reblog, then more and more creators are going to quit and deactivate until you have nothing left to complain about except the lack of fanworks that you caused

[slothcapsule]

Curious for your YouTube algorithm thoughts

THANK YOU RANDOM CITIZEN OK SO this is gonna be messy asf bc im on phone but i need it out there so. im gonna talk about just like Dream specifically because yes. this is gonna be a long post you can skip past it

so like the thing is about dream blowing up so quickly is that he knew and was confident that he was in fact going to blow up and he talks about it as a matter of fact like, he even said he told Sapnap and George to come along with him like he was confident that its gonna happen and 1. we love us a cocky man and 2. i wanted to know why so i went through his channel and old videos and i cannot stress how perfectly he executed manipulating the YouTube algorithm in his favour.

Most of it wasn't really luck, but there did have to be a certain point of skills for him to gain as much attention as he did, like obviously being cracked at the game but also being charismatic, he has an easy good personality and him being at something that so many people love was such a good set up like. minecraft was the perfect base for him to gain attention because it has such a wide audience and so many people love interacting with any of its content, its practically too easy. so its not really luck, just a happy coincidence.

That's the setup, just Minecraft and then we have the first few videos on his channel which are again- perfect for people to find his channel, and i like to imagine he had sort of a set plan before he started his channel of what he's gonna do, probably long the lines of something like this:

short videos that draw people to watch them in like 4am when theyre bored - clickbait someone everyone knows (in his case pewdiepie) those will make people discover his channel and gain him a lot of views because people are going to want to figure out what seed he used and they'd be curious about that, and some people would actually look for it.

there was also the "cursed video" era, they were satirical and funny and unoriginal and glorious because people love them, and they're the type of stuff that get recommended to minecraft enjoyers.

slightly more original content but isnt new if you think about it - slightly longer videos but in a subject that people are curious about (as he's done it- "the unsolved mystery of...." and a bunch of others, those will make people actually click his channel to seek more videos of the same idea

and then its a cycle of those two for a while, keeps people engaged and grow fond of his channel

but then he throws a couple of videos that will make people stay there for him and not the content. aka the "minecraft but xray is on series" and it works, he keeps a level of engagement throughout the video and make people grow fond of him without them losing interest and draws out the video for around 20 minutes and thats when the mod videos started coming in

fully original content, with friends to keep the video from being dull (minecraft but... series)

and at that point he's practically made it, he just needed that little push to make all people flock to his content. thats where manhunt came in, in its early points at least.

i wholeheartedly believe that the speedrunning thing wasnt originally meant to be something to draw clout, if it was i reckon he wouldve made speedrunning videos before- but he started adding some speedrun videos and that helped people see just how good he was at the game.

but that's just like a very rough idea of it from what ive seen by scrolling through his channel, and he also talked about his name in anthony's interview, he said that Dream was a name he picked because everyone knew it, everyone knew how its spelled and its easy to remember, its just so well thought out and he just reached a point where he doesnt need those deliberate moves because now people use him for clickbait, hell even pewdiepie did.

it just. blows my mind no one else or not many other people really thought to do it the way Dream did or didn't manage to execute it as well because its such like, an easy thing to do sort of yk? you just need to have basic knowledge of how algorithms work. But thats just my opinion on it! feel free to add more if you want or if theres anything else you want to point out :D

[xplrvibes]

I sent you an ask earlier but it showed as error so im going to assume you didnt get it and send it again because there are times i feel like its a reach with her but apparently when it comes to snc nothing is so i want an opinion .

While living in Vegas she had one of these sponsors where she gave followers a code, it was about a backpack and she promoted it like no other. Yet based on stuff i’ve seen of her provided by people keeping track of her nonsense, she always uses a xplr backpack that i have not even seen on snc. From that and moments where she posts herself i noticed she really does live in their merch. It goes beyond support as well, she wears it for tiktoks, dresses guests in it for tiktoks and when around snc she has it on all the time. It reminded me of a comment i saw on here where someone called her a walking billboard for xplr. I noticed in the new preview she even has the new color block hoodie they released. So its either rave clothing (ick) or every single merch drop since 2020.

A few weeks ago while out and about with a certain someone, people noticed a bouquet of roses in the background of one of her posts. She liked comments alluding to the fact that someone, a particular someone gifted them to her. Yesterday, she posted the exact same flowers with a discount code with her name on it. Its boxed roses for those wondering. Plus i dont think its algorithm what keeping her from supporting Katrina, she answers fans when the questions arent even for her or addressed to her, she is first (and the only one) liking core4 stuff on twitter, she has even liked things that only mentioned Colby and then unliked as if she realized she wasn’t mentioned. Katrina over promotes herself so i doubt shes not going to see 1 of those posts but does happen to see Colbys one tweet every few weeks and likes those.

She doesnt support anything that isnt snc or colby. She has many other “friends” with big projects and she never says a word, but like someone mentioned she made “Skin” fit into a rave/techno playlist. Up until yesterday she still liked pics of her and Colby in Europe and keeps mentioning Wales (ahem). Not exaggerating when i say i hope Kat drops her and its a domino effect.

I definitely did not receive the previous ask you sent, so thank you for re-sending it! I think asks have been getting eaten again 😕.

When it comes to wearing merch in snc's videos, I think thats a strategic decision that snc make to subtely promote whatever merch they have coming down the pipeline. I've noticed others that appear in their videos do that as well, on occasion. So, I assume they handed her and Kat some merch and said "wear this at some point during the next couple vids," and that was that.

As far as for every other day in her life- yea. She's always in xplr gear lol. I don't think I've ever seen her not in it (except for the rave outfits). It really does seem like 80% of her wardrobe is snc/Colby related. It's odd, but if someone was handing me free $50 hoodies hand over fist, I'd wear them til they completely unraveled lol.

As far as the rest of it (ie: the roses and the weird shit she likes on twitter), that's the stuff I have a hard time digesting sometimes. It gives me horrible flashbacks to the days of 🖤🦋, if ya know what I mean lol.

That being said: if this is what she feels she needs to do to get ahead and get notoriety and get her name out there...I mean, that's kind of pathetic, but whatever. That's something that snc need to put the kibosh on if it concerns them, since it's their name and popularity she's exploiting for her own gain. If they don't care...not much we can do about it, really. I choose to try my damndest to not give her what she wants, which is my attention. (Somedays it works better than others, lol).

But yea, I think somethings rotten there. And I do agree, I think it's only a matter of time before a fracture starts, and I think you'll see it start with Kat and work it's way up from there. She's gonna get sick of the selective displays of support eventually, especially if Stas claims to be her friend first. It's really only a matter of time. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, and btw: the roses thing. Wouldn't it be hilarious if Colby actually did get her a box of cheap ass roses that he used her own discount code to obtain? I am an avid watcher of colbybrockscloset on instagram, I know that he had an outfit on one day that was worth $6,500 US dollars. This man has TWO mansions and a closet full of designer clothes; I'm sure he could afford to send fresh roses if he so chose. So the idea of him using an influencer discount code to get a deal on something like that strikes me as funny.

[endcant]

aimless musings on subgenre, citypop, and internet subcultures

theres something very interesting about watching citypop become very mainstream in korea and watching that feed back into both western listeners’ opinions and also into the sometimes-cynical efforts of a variety of kpop producers

a lot of people in the youtube/kpop sphere talk about the growth of citypop as if it were a spontaneous wave that appeared out of nowhere with mariya takeuchi’s plastic love getting picked up by the youtube algorithm in like 2018 or whatever, but thats a very like online-ignorant view of the interaction between vintage japanese music and worldwide online EDM production. citypop has been used in future funk and vaporwave for almost a decade by now, and, as a result, a number of citypop songs took off on social media here and there before plastic love’s acceleration— dress down by kaworu akimoto is one of the big examples off the top of my head, but there’s likely many many more.

“Plastic Love” by Mariya Takeuchi (1984). if you haven’t heard this yet, you’d better listen to it now. The video that first went viral was uploaded in 2017

“Selfish High Heels” by Yung Bae, Macross 82-99, and Harrison (2014) is a popular Future Funk remixes of Dress Down by Kaoru Akimoto (1986)

people who haven’t been very aesthetically literate online over the years— musically or visually, since those things are tied in subcultures— treat things like they come from nowhere. there are ongoing subcultural conversations that lead to certain aesthetic choices, and when someone tries to cash in on a trend without understanding what the trend is, that leads people to call bullshit. calling bullshit is not meanspirited, in my opinion, because it very much is like somebody who can’t speak a language getting up in front of everybody and saying “hey, i’m fluent!” and then speaking some vaguely that-language-sounding nonsense. of course people who genuinely speak that language will be outraged instinctively. it feels like being mocked.

that’s why the difference between music producers picking up on a trend cynically and music producers picking up on a trend with earnest interest in that trend’s origins feels different, even if the producers are similarly distant from the original subculture that produced that trend.

“Lady” by Yubin (2018) committed hard to the 80s JP citypop aesthetic, musically and visually, down to the sets, all fairly early in the major resurgence.

i’m sure that anyone with a passing familiarity with citypop and kpop can ascertain that not all kpop producers know what citypop is and what makes it citypop. all they know is that it is on-trend and they have to make it. not all kpop listeners know what citypop is and what makes it citypop. all they know is their idol said citypop as a buzzword in their little prepared statement. all this results in some interesting moments for me as a Music Fan, Online.

here is where i get to the thing that spurred this post: loona “did a citypop” for their japanese comeback. it doesnt sound like citypop.

“Hula Hoop (Citypop Version)” by Loona (2021). It has very odd percussion rhythms and mixing for citypop, no real attempt at a citypop verse, and strangely sparse gestures towards citypop in the form of a few seconds of bass and some synthesized orchestral embellishments that were taken from the original mix …all in spite of a very disco-inspired melody that should have worked perfectly for citypop

this is not a very big deal, and im not mad about it or anything. when a kpop act i like gets saddled with an unfortunate B-Side track i dont tend to take it very hard. however, it did raise a little bit of musical discourse in the loona fandom— in the form of remixes.

“hula hoop if it was actually a citypop song” by loonahatetwinks and Olivia Soul on youtube. this one has an original instrumental that is spot-on for contemporary k-citypop

My most favorite one of these remixes is a futurefunk remix by ZSunder, one of the very best LOONA fan producers. The fact that ZSunder thought to make a future funk remix at all speaks more to an understanding of the mutually supportive relationship between citypop and EDM genres than most kpop citypop producers or fanmixers seem to care to know about.

“Hula Hoop (Future Funk Mix)” by ZSunder is futurefunk made and mixed with such love that it has the infectious summery energy of a polished, big-name future funk hit

in the comments of this video, some people seemed to get the citypop-future funk connection and some didnt. many did get it, don’t get me wrong! but also, its not all that surprising for some kpop-focused listeners to not know much about EDM subcultures and the reasons behind various trends among producers, since kpop as an institution tends to take influences from any genre and culture it likes and then decontextualize those influences by just having their names used as buzzwords in the blurbs the idols have to recite when variety show hosts ask them about their latest single. this isn’t a criticism of the genre or the fans really, it’s just a part of the kpop industry that is used to add shine to an endless firehose-like stream of polished pop tracks. there are some issues with using whole genres and subcultures with complex histories as buzzwords, but god help us if we ever want a pop industry to give its influences their dues.

anyway, the intention behind ZSunder’s future funk Hula Hoop remix happened to remind me me of why i love Yukika’s discography so much, especially the Soul Lady album. I’ve seen some reviews online baffled by parts of Soul Lady, because the album in general is an exploration of that relationship between citypop and modern/internet EDM. i’ve seen plenty of Soul Lady reviews especially baffled by pit-a-pet, saying something along the lines of “what’s with the modern-sounding dance track in the middle of a retro album?”, but i think that pit-a-pet is a futurefunk-inspired track, at least in the chorus. considering both that and the Chill Lo-Fi Interludes, it seems like estimate’s team put together Soul Lady for Yukika in a way that shows that they love citypop and understand the online-specific electronic music subcultures that led to citypop’s resurgence.

“pit-a-pet” by Yukika (2020). the stacatto, bass heavy chorus is futurefunk enough, but the soaring orchestral part in the final chorus seals the deal for my interpretation.

“All Flights Are Delayed (1 hour version)” by Yukika (2020). Estimate literally released an hour-long youtube mix of one of the Lo-Fi interludes on Soul Lady as part of their promotion, clearly inspired by “Lo-Fi anime beats to chill out to,” which is another example of online producers from around the world using Japanese samples as a focal point of their music

Estimate, in the end, is still a Kpop production company, just the same as BBC, so they have no inherent claim over citypop, but the way that their exploration of subgenres clearly comes from passion and interest on the part of their production staff makes it so that their work with Yukika rings true. on the other hand, i really appreciate Ryan S. Jhun’s work on LOONA’s JP comeback, as well as on Not Friends, but the citypop mix thing was so clearly an afterthought to the point where fans of Loona who like citypop seem mostly just irritated by the cynical-seeming attempt.

heres one last good modern kpop citypop MV that has nods to the internet culture that led to its revival in the form of the videography— vaporwave, future funk, lofi, and other internet genres along those lines tend to have videos consisting of looping anime and vhs clips. future funk in particular is known for this, especially since a lot of future funk music, esp early future funk, is just loops of very short, catchy segments of citypop and disco songs. it’s all about the loops

“My Type” by Yoon JongShin ft. Miyu Takeuchi (2019). This song is so dedicated to the retro JP citypop sound that it’s almost beyond my personal taste. The singer, Miyu, was a headlining act at a seoul citypop festival and sang this song as part of her act (:

this video of “Only One” by Conscious Thoughts (2015) has a looped clip as an example for comparison with My Type. it also has a pulsing sidechain compressor working in time with its drum beat in a way that is common for future funk and that i think is a good example for my pit-a-pet yukika comparison to future funk

i guess the takeaway here is that media is more and more online, and the creation and propagation of digital audio and video content has been in the hands of literally almost anybody who wants to do it for the past two decades thanks to garage band and fruityloops and audacity and tiktok and youtube and bandcamp and soundcloud and myspace and newgrounds and p2p file sharing and so on and so forth. and therefore like… as with all things, the consumer class more and more is also the creator class, and therefore every member of an audio-visual subculture will have the ability to discern what is and isnt made with knowledge of the audio-visual language of that subculture