#type: polls

[ladytanithia]

You know, after 2-3 years on Tumblr, I still wonder what that last option on polls is based on. I guess now I know. Lol

When you choose "I'm bald" on a poll this is what you're saying

[questions-about-blorbos]

Every poll on this blog is about fictional characters only. This request was sent to us and we made a poll in response to it. Send any Blorbo-related question you want to our inbox and we’ll make a poll on which people can vote with their own Blorbos in minds

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[16woodsequ]

*you don't have to have posted it, just when you started writing.

[yesornopolls]

Would you be in favor of banning ownership of a smart phone until age 14? (To be clear, a dumb phone would be allowed)

[wyllpower]

*for context, I've been on and off tumblr since 2012.

if I disagree with someone's fandom take, I’ll most often reblog a post directly and attach a comment, if it’s something I feel strongly about. this is not usually an attempt to ‘correct’ or ‘teach’ the OP, who will likely not change their mind, but an attempt to provide a public viewpoint countering OP’s public statement.

one caveat of the above is that if you are purely hurling personal attacks - saying that someone's art or writing is ugly or stupid, telling them to fuck off, calling them names - that's just abuse and you should speak to OP directly and privately once you have calmed down. or maybe log off.

'talking in tags' is fine if I'm just riffing, but I feel that too many people talk in tags excessively and then I have to screenshot and respond, rather than just responding directly. this is time consuming and also inaccessible for fans who use screen readers.

if the reply is not that important, or I just want to make a quick comment or join a conversation, I’ll use the replies. however I find that replies can also be passive-aggressive since if OP wants to rebut your statement, they have to screenshot and add it to a reblog and then respond to you, rather than just reblogging.

there is no real point to passive-aggressively complaining about a post you saw online to one of your friends. this is, at best, venting or consciousness-raising. sometimes you can sit down and discuss with a friend to figure out what to say, but I still think the response should eventually be made public, if it matters to you. only talking to people who agree with you makes little difference in fandom settings. It can also be a kind of bullying behavior if whole groups of people are getting together on Discord for example to snark and mock someone’s post, and can even give rise to targeted abuse and harassment.

I also find vagueblogging to be rude and passive aggressive. especially for the target of the vagueblog - OP and their friends know that the post is 'about you,' but everyone else is left wondering who is being criticized and why the thing that was done is so bad that it warrants a semi-public callout. this is ultimately hurtful because it does not help the target address their behavior, or correct the weird or under-informed take, nor does it help inform the rest of the community. it makes people paranoid and anxious and ultimately reduces the amount of positive interactions as people withhold their ideas for fear of being targeted and harassed.

the only real value of a vagueblog in my opinion is a general 'PSA' that is directed at multiple members or sections of a fandom, without intending to call out any one person directly, but addressing a general trend that you, the poster, disagree with. this could be a good option for, e.g. discussing subtle examples of fandom racism that don't rise to the level of outright bigotry, but maybe the people participating in the trend don't realize that it is coming off as racist.

simply ‘ignoring’ a take is fine if it’s not that important and it doesn’t matter to you. but my general rule is if something is actually bothering me or represents a more general trend that I disagree with - a widely-held misread of a character’s personality or intentions, etc. - I will say something. if you do speak up you should also be prepared for the reality that OP could get angry with you for daring to contradict their viewpoint. but that’s frankly their problem and not yours.

overall I feel that expressing disagreement should be more more welcomed in society in general and fandom in particular. I have learned a lot from people publicly disagreeing with me on issues large and small, even if it made me angry at the time. especially in fandom settings, these are fictional characters and fictional settings, so it's honestly safer and more fun to debate and discuss our takes about characters in an online sandbox setting where no real people are being criticized or maligned. and it can be a good foundation for thinking about real-world issues as well.

i actually need to know people's thoughts on this because at least in my experience the answer to this has drastically changed since i was on tumblr in the 2010s and its driving me fucking insane

*im talking about fandom takes specifically. not someone being horribly evil about a real-life issue or or blatantly factually incorrect. literally just harmless fandom disagreements or differing interpretations of a text/character/etc.

[incognitopolls]

This poll is about someone making art of your original character (OC) without asking you first. For this poll, assume that the character is correctly attributed to you, and the art in and of itself is not objectionable– i.e. it's tame/clean (or no more sexualized, gory, political, etc. than your own work involving that OC). This is just about the act of someone making art of your OC without your express permission.

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Harrowhark Nonagesimus- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Ronan Lynch- The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

[caspersgraveyard]

picking the most common option like damn i really am just a basic bitch

Communal Tumblr Stim Toy pass it on

[anonpolls]

Thanks, Anon!

-submit your poll!-

[slightly-gay-pogohammer]

pokèmonize yourself!!!!

spin this wheel to see your pokemon type

spin this one to see how you'll look like