The Darkness Has Its Own Light

So we all know that Tumblr is US-centric. But to what degree? (and can we skew the results of this poll by posting it at a time where they should be asleep?)

Reblog to increase sample size!

*sighs* this was so beautiful when the percentages were 20% : 80%...

Good morning to EDT and CDT, and to the early birds in the mountains

It’s always insane to me when people DM me to yell at me about breaching their DNI because I reblogged a post from them

Like how chronically online are you that you’re checking the blogs of everyone who reblogs from you

And I genuinely mean that. Even if the post only has like 10 notes at best. How much free time do you have to check the blogs of all 10 of those notes, and then go OUT OF YOUR WAY to message anyone who doesn’t fit your strict guidelines for human interaction. And I know some of y’all don’t just check but you DIG, because some of the stuff I get DMed about is not advertised on my blog as soon as you look at it.

How do you all survive outside of the internet when every persons political opinions and stances on fictional content aren’t displayed to you right off the bat.

Like I’m not kidding. That’s not normal. You are not the normal one in this situation. Please put your phone down for at least a week and go outside.

I love how someone got SO mad at my post that basically boiled down to “If you’re digging through the blogs of strangers who reblog from you, on the strangers reblogging from people website, to dig up dirt on them - that’s not normal behavior and you should stop” that they sent me a paragraph of anon hate

Yeah man you’re real normal. You won. I was a fool to think that perhaps that was unhealthy behavior.

I love this fandom, look at this person's comment:

😂😂😂 so true

we still get immediately shoved out of our immersion in tv shows or films when The Girl find a dead body and immediately shrieks - we just don't find it realistic because we're pretty confident most people would gasp rather than shriek (i.e. sharp inhale rather than sharp exhale) and it also feels unnecessarily (and predictably) misogynistic too, as men encountering corpses almost never do the same on screen

also of course please do tell us if you've actually encountered a corpse unexpectedly, because tumblr is absolutely a place where some people have done this thing and we love a good anecdote

suddenly imagining "burst into song" as a potential response

hi, I'm still here. and I even still draw. I'll show you something

Thuringwethil, Celeborn, Curufin sketch, with-king redraw

One of the 50 sketches I did to find a design for Fëanor.

We have sworn, and not lightly. This oath we will keep. We are threatened with many evils, and treason not least; but one thing is not said: that we shall suffer from cowardice, from cravens or the fear of cravens. Therefore I say that we will go on, and this doom I add: the deeds that we shall do shall be the matter of song until the last days of Arda.“

There are currently ~2300 works in AO3 tagged with "Created Using Generative AI"

I'll be upfront with my opinion, which mirrors my opinion in regards to my field: using AI will only hasten your own obsolescence. The point of fanfiction is not to crank out fics, but rather to enjoy the hobby and communities of writing and fandom.

Alright, to ao3's soon to be arriving Wattpad Refugees, a basic guide to general user culture:

1.) Unlike Wattpads vote system that let's you like each chapter, the ao3 equivalent kudos only allows one per work. Everyone is generally quietly annoyed about this. To engage with each chapter, you're heavily encouraged to comment. Trust me, it makes people's day.

2.) Ao3 has no algorithm. By default it's latest updated work first. You can find things to your taste through searches, filters and tags.

3.) 'No archive warnings apply' and 'user has chosen not to use archive warnings' mean two very different things. No archives warnings means the work is free from any content that could require a warning tag (character death, graphic depictions of violence, non-con, etc). User has chosen not to use archive warnings means it could contain any of the warning content, be it hasn't been explicitly tagged. Treat it like an allergen. No archive warnings apply is allergen free. User has chosen not to use archive warnings, may contain traces or whole chunks of the allergen. If you're likely to have a bad reaction, maybe don't take the risk.

4.) Speaking of warnings, ao3 has very few restrictions on the type of work that's allowed. Whatever your personal thoughts or feelings on that are, thats how the site is. You're likely to run across some dark subject matters and a lot of people are uncomfortable with reading that. You're well within your rights not like these works and have your opinion on whether they should be allowed, but harassing the authors of such works (or any works) is more likely to come back on you than them. Ao3 operates on a strong policy of 'don't like, don't read'. Use the tagging system to your full advantage to only engage with the kind of works you want to see.

We look forward to welcoming you all and seeing the fantastic works you create. Happy writing!

i think its funny how facial scars are seen as like a major character plot point where they reveal that someone tried to kill their dad or something when i know a ton of ppl (including myself) who have facial scars bc they rlly arent uncommon and all of them are like. from tripping and falling as a toddler

i could use this post as an oppritunity to talk about how scarring is a natural and human thing and everyone has scars, and larger scars as well as facial ones and burn scars should’nt only exist in media as a storytelling device but im also gonna just say that your oc is still hot as hell if he has a massive slash going through his eye i just think it would be funnier if he got it from falling down the stairs and then picking the scab too many times

Everybody tag your Dramatic Backstory Scars. My most notable ones are from cat scratches and falling off a skateboard.

There was a point in my childhood when I knew more people with scars across one eyebrow from running into a table when they were three than without one.

I had a very similar scar (and still have a very thin bald patch on my eyebrow if you look closely) from being pushed over and besically sliding along the edge of a bench on my face