Just Gonna Leave This Here………. \(°^°)/

The Tumblr writing community is dying.

It’s something I’ve noticed over the past two years of using this site. It was gradual, imperceptible at first, something that most would brush off as a silly concern, or fault Tumblr algorithm for. While it’s true that Tumblr’s engine leaves a lot to be desired, I’ve noticed that even popular blogs have started to dwindle in terms of interaction or motivation. There could be a lot of reasons for this, but the biggest two I’ve noticed, experienced myself, and asked fellow writers about is this: (1) content being stolen, and (2) lack of feedback or interaction. I’ve never seen any logical person defend content being stolen, so I want to address point 2 instead.

Lack of feedback and interaction. I’m not saying this on my behalf so much as I’m saying this for friends and smaller blogs who have lost motivation to write. I was looking at my yandere writing blogs list the other day and noticed that a good majority of them no longer write. I usually update the list every few months, and by that point, more and more writers have stopped writing entirely. This isn’t a problem confined solely to the yandere fandom; in fact, there’s less writing blogs in general these days, especially ones that are active. I used to run a very popular BNHA blog with some friends, but that dissolved after our content was stolen and our followers stopped interacting as much. Out of our 8,500 followers, we hardly got 0.015% notes (~128 notes) on an average post. Tumblr is to blame for the lack of eyes seeing our posts, for sure, but that also means that at least 128 people saw one post and didn’t leave a comment or ask. We were considered a big blog; imagine what it’s like on a small blog.

My friend recently made a post that summed this up perfectly: 

“I’ve seen people say “Be grateful that people even lurk on your page.” and, while I get the message they’re trying to say, it’s more dismissive and hurtful in my opinion. Like you’re saying, “Oh your writing is mediocre, you should be grateful people even LOOK at it.”

Me personally? I’ve heard the argument that AO3 is a better place to post fanfics, and while that might be true, I’ve had friends experience firsthand the lack of interaction there too. I’ve heard the argument that interacting with some writers is intimidating (me included). I’ve heard that argument that followers might be too shy to interact. I’ve heard the argument that writers should write for themselves and not for views / likes / reblogs / etc, and while that’s ideal, it’s not sustainable for everyone. What works for one writer won’t work for another, but you know what will? Interaction.

That comment or ask that took you 2 seconds to write? We remember it. That reblog with the compliments in the tags? We remember it. Every single ‘named’ anon we get (heart anon, sunflower anon, etc)? We remember them. And the best part is? It’s actually easier to do these things on Tumblr since you have the option to send anonymous asks or make a sideblog specifically for reblogs! Trust me, whether the lack of interaction is the cause of a lack of motivation or what have you, every writer appreciates feedback (don’t be shy to offer some critique or compliments) or even a simple keyboard smash with some emojis. Even sitting down for 5 min a day per week to comment on your favorite writers’ new pieces makes a huge difference. Personally, since Tumblr’s activity feed is beyond terrible and I have over 1,500 posts, I don’t always see new reblogs or comments on my content; asks though? Always see those, can never go wrong with those. If you don’t want to reblog or leave a comment, then you can never go wrong with an anonymous ask. 

As my wise friend says: writing is an art, and in order to improve that art, we need other people’s eyes to see what we don’t.

For the sake of every writer (past, present, and future) on this platform, please share this post.

infiltrating

Batman, over the communicator: alpha team report in

Wonder Woman: I'm in position

Batman: good

Billy: I'm on my way to the central control room

Batman: ...what the hell are you doing?

Billy: I'm-

Batman: why aren't you powered up right now?

Billy: oh I'm in a vent

Batman: are you out of your mind? turn back into Shazam right now!

Billy: I can't, I'm literally in a vent

Batman: this is insanely dangerous, you cannot be wandering around active situations in your mortal body. get out of the damn vent

Billy: okay first of all I can't just get out of the vent till I find an exit

Billy: and also you realise your body's mortal too, right?

Batman: I'm

Batman: I'm wearing full kevlar body armour! you're running around in a hoodie, you're going to get yourself killed!!

Billy: I'm pretty sure I'm safe for now, I don't think there's anyone else in the base who could fit in this vent

Flash, who is not on the alpha team & was not previously involved in the conversation at all: this is just like in Among Us

Billy: omg you're right it totally is

Batman: Billy

Wonder Woman: what is Among Us

Feel free to repost these, credit would be great, I’m shop5s on instagram – stay safe out there guys I think the next couple days might be rough – 

[Image Description: Image one is a zine style flyer that says “It’s not about you, Vote because it’s about everyone” in cut out newspaper letters. In the top left corner is a photocopied and rasterized photo of just a wolf’s snarling mouth.

Image two is a zine style flyer that reads “Resist out of necessity” in cutout Newspaper letters set against a photocopied and rasterized image of a cat’s mouth hissing.

image three is a zine style flyer that says “Survive because you matter.” In cutout newspaper letters set against a photocopied and rasterized image of holding hands.” ]

Good morning! I’m salty.

I think we, as a general community, need to start taking this little moment more seriously.

This, right here? This is asking for consent. It’s a legal necessity, yes, but it is also you, the reader, actively consenting to see adult content; and in doing so, saying that you are of an age to see it, and that you’re emotionally capable of handling it.

You find the content you find behind this warning disgusting, horrifying, upsetting, triggering? You consented. You said you could handle it, and you were able to back out at any time. You take responsibility for yourself when you click through this, and so long as the creator used warnings and tags correctly, you bear full responsibility for its impact on you.

“Children are going to lie about their age” is probably true, but that’s the problem of them and the people who are responsible for them, not the people that they lie to.

If you’re not prepared to see adult content, created by and for adults, don’t fucking click through this. And if you do, for all that’s holy, don’t blame anyone else for it.

Watch:  Chicago woman had some great responses to a white man’s disturbing racist attacks.

today i saw a cat who immediately and casually hissed at me on sight but after i said “that’s rude” he meowed politely

Y'all do realize the more you call trans kids “transtrenders” and that they’re “faking it” the more parents aren’t gonna support even Actually Real Dysphoric Trans People, right?

ok that has been enough historical events for at least the rest of the decade me thinks