boat show remains awesome btw. john stamos had two boyfriends + autobrewery syndrome and a gay couple ate so many yams they almost died and the one straight couple on the boat birthed a giant premature baby to bob the drag queen performing I’m coming out. and they’re literally doing a slow burn will-they/won’t-they throuple.

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

✍ Do you have a beta reader?

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

🍷 Do you drink and write?

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

💖 What made you start writing?

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

📈 How many fics do you have?

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

hope is a skill

hope is a weapon you are trained to wield

favourite additions

You cannot hide this in the tags, bestie. This is too lovely to keep a secret.

It may not be apparent to everyone how to easily find out who wrote the poem in the tags, so: @mumblesplash

(an instant-classic example of a Tumblr thread where so many people add value!)

"Justine Siegal, the first woman coach employed by a Major League Baseball team, is attempting to make more history -- this time by creating an American professional baseball league specifically for women. Siegal is one of the co-founders of the Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL), which aims to begin play during the summer of 2026.

Siegel and co-founder/lawyer Keith Stein have enlisted a few other notable names as special advisors... Those include World Series-winning manager Cito Gaston and Japanese pitcher Ayami Sato, a five-time Women's Baseball World Cup champion. (Sato is also part of Japan Women's Baseball League.)

The WPBL is hoping to land a national television deal ahead of its inaugural season. The league intends to have a full season, as well as playoffs and a championship round. At present, the goal is to field six teams at launch, with those clubs located "predominantly" in the Northeast region of the United States. 

"The Women's Pro Baseball League is here for all the girls and women who dream of a place to showcase their talents and play the game they love," Siegal said as part of the WPBL's press release announcing its formation. "We have been waiting over 70 years for a professional baseball league we can call our own. Our time is now."

Stein, for his part, added: "We believe that the success of other women's professional leagues such as the WNBA and NWSL demonstrates the incredible interest and support for women's sport."

The United States has won two Women's Baseball World Cups, and most recently finished as the runners-up in the 2024 event (that was played in 2023). The U.S. team roster included, among others, pitcher/outfielder Kelsie Whitmore. Whitmore has been a trailblazer in her own right, appearing in games with various independent leagues, including the Atlantic League, Pacific Association, and, as of this year, the Pioneer League."

-via CBS Sports, October 30, 2024

I am aware I have died on this hill before but people who really strenuously argue that fanfic isn't "real writing" drive me insane. what do you meeeaaaaannn. besides the fact that any attempt to define "real art" vs "fake art" is inherently reactionary, it just doesn't make any sense. it's Writing. people Write it. what the fuck are you talking about.

"it's totally self-indulgent with no standards for quality and criticism is borderline not allowed"

are you like. aware of the concept of hobbies? if someone regularly posted pictures of their hobbyist knitting projects on their blog, it would be considered rude to drop in with "criticism." that's still a real art form.

"most of it is really bad"

I cannot stress enough how much perceived quality is not a valid metric for determining what is and isn't art

"it's just porn"

I'm going to kill you

"it's full of unchecked misogyny, racism, queerphobia, etc"

I have some really bad news about every artistic medium ever

"you didn't put in the work of making your own world/characters, you just copied someone else's"

tv shows with writers' rooms. ghost writers. franchises where different works are written by different people. adaptations and retellings. sorry guys I guess none of these are real writing anymore.

There is an endemic problem in spinoff novels or cross-media properties like comics, where you'll get a very talented author recruited whose work is generally excellent, and everyone's excited, but then it turns out they don't know how to write fanfiction.

And the result is that the spinoff is really bad. Because the author completely fails to capture the vocal cadence or behavior or motivations of someone else's characters, the narrative tone of the series...they try too hard to the point of making in-universe references feel stilted and unnatural, or do WAY too much exposition about things that shouldn't need to be explained at this level of barrier-of-entry.

The ability to be a chameleon, to figure out and match the "feel" of characters and a world you didn't create, is a learned skill.

new variant on “your boos mean nothing; I’ve seen what makes you cheer”

"Your thirst means nothing; I've seen what makes you horny."

If your democrat friends start muttering about stolen election conspiracy theories, the time to have a sit down with them and express your concerns is NOW, while you still have a chance to reach them, not 6 months from now when they're fully conspiracy-pilled.

Here's some of the talking points and why they're bullshit:

But just as importantly as the facts: sit down with your friend and talk about the anxiety that's behind their conspiracy leanings. Acknowledge their pain and fear. Help them find ways to feel less powerless and regain their sense of agency. Take them to a mutual aid event, involve them in a fundraising event for a marginalized group, invite them to a local community effort. If they spend more time feeling connection and empowerment and less time doom scrolling online, they're far more likely to stay in reality.

This this this

I worked as an election judge across multiple polling locations and election types in my state from 2018-2023 (presidential primary and general elections, midterms, and special elections like for the school board etc.)

US elections are extremely secure. There are so many safeguards in place. Everything is double and triple counted.

The number of ballots electronically counted by the box are checked against the number of physical ballots at the end of the night, and also the receipt papers that individuals exchange for their ballot. All three of these counts MUST MATCH. Sometimes you're off by 1 number and it means everyone stops and triple counts these papers until you find the error (human error, it's been 16 hours and two pieces of thin receipt paper were stuck together and the second person to recount finds it and everyone cheers because thank fuck, it means no one dropped anything on the floor anywhere.)

There are eyes everywhere and there's a deliberate mix of poll workers across political parties/affiliations. It's simply not possible to alter even 1 ballot at 1 polling place, much less thousands.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump won this election. If there was interference, it was NOT at the voting booth. That's simply not possible. The "interference" (if you can even call it that) comes from right wing propaganda convincing stupid and/or hateful and/or selfish people to vote for him.

In 2016, we had 60% turnout.

In 2020, we had 66% turnout.

It's too early to know what this year's number is, but I bet it's around 60%.

Trump got 1.5 million more votes this year than he did 4 years ago, which is more or less in line with population growth.

His base showed up. Harris's base didn't. That's it. There's no deep mystery here, just the usual disenfranchised minorities and disinterested populace.

When turnout is high, Republicans lose. When the electorate stays home, Republicans win. This is simple math that has been true my entire adult life, and yet every 4 years, like clockwork, people ignore it.

Please note. The orange one is not included because A. He isn’t a billionaire. And B. Calling him obnoxious is too kind for him.

it’s so fucked up when you see something you KNOW is a portal to somewhere but you can’t figure out how to activate it. this is the most frustrating feeling that plagues modern man.

I’ve seen this post easily 12 times now and EVERY TIME it’s just a different cat looking at a different door. 

My favorite tags so far:

so this lead me down a fucking hour-long rabbit hole. i watched a video (linked on the radio station's wikipedia page) where some young guys walk through the radio tower property a week after it was allegedly stolen, and it's an overgrown jungle. looks like it's been abandoned for years. the door is hanging open and there is lichen growing on the linoleum floor inside. down in the comments there are locals saying the area is not exactly out in the boonies, either; there are people and businesses on that road. not to mention that a 200 foot radio tower is fucking gigantic. there is no crushed vegetation from dismantling the tower. no sign of any vehicles recently on the property other than the 1 set of tire tracks from the police vehicle which came to check it out when the report was received.

the tower wasn't stolen. it hadn't been there for years before the report was filed. google earth shows the tower up on site in 2022 and gone in 2023 so in all likelihood, it fell down sometime then. ALLEGEDLY, the fcc had been on them for an inspection of their am radio tower, and then a week before the fcc were scheduled to come out and inspect it, the station reported the tower missing. so. that's an hour of my life gone. you're welcome? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Then how… I believe you, but how…

how had they been broadcasting

had they been?

It's easy. They WEREN'T.

Hi, so admittedly I own one of the other radio stations in the same freaking town. And by own I mean it's in my name but I leave the technical stuff to my dad and pretty much absorb my information from being around him and the station all the time.

ANYWAYS!

The guy who runs WJLX isn't actually licensed to run an LPFM he is licensed to run an AM station. The AM station is supposed to be the one he plays his music on and he can run a translator to broadcast onto the FM frequencies as well. BUT! Only if his AM is still the main station. He can't do FM only.

That means two power bills basically. Those can be pretty hefty for a radio station.

And since no one really cares about AM these days he did the worst thing possible. He LET HIS AM STATION GO OFF THE AIR. His AM station has been off the air since as far back 2013. We have video of us testing his frequencies that far back. He's been running full time as an LPFM only for at least a decade now which in his case is illegal AF and is a $10,000 per day fine from the FCC if he's ever caught.

Well, low and behold he was caught and now he's trying to claim he didn't know because his tower was "obviously stolen".

For starters, it was eventually stolen. But only after it had already collapsed to the ground and rusted for several years. Metal scrappers will take nearly anything that looks to have been abandoned long enough.

TLDR; If he'd been running his station properly then he'd have known the exact moment his tower stopped broadcasting. He'd have known the moment it fell. There are these things called silence detectors (at least that's what we call them) and their whole job is to tell us we're not broadcasting anymore.

Ok, to prove to my husband that this is more a European device than a U.S. device I am going to need more non-US people to reblog this.

Do not reblog for science. No science will be happening. Reblog to help me prove a point!

(If I am right I will show him this poll. If I am wrong he will never know this happened)

Dr. Gachey with foxglove, 1890

Some of Van Gogh’s best work was done during a period of his life that he spent in a hospital being treated for his mental health problems. I could be wrong but I think Starry Night was among those.

This is consistently the case. Creators tend to do their best work when they are in a healthy place and receiving proper treatment and not being self destructive in their efforts to cope. Go figure.

All our experiences, good and bad, inform what we create, but suffering is not the price of great art. Suffering is what prevents artists from completing great art.

(I bring to mind this @tkingfisher / Ursula Verson quote about once a week <3)

in all of these arguments for or against women reading ~dark erotica~ and people trying to puzzle out what possible allure this could hold for these poor misguided women no one ever considers that maybe they're just having fun. like maybe they're just having a good time reading something silly without anything more psychologically profound at play.

over on my other post about booktok erotica girlies a lot of people have been very quick to claim that they don't hate the dark romances for being porn they hate them for being bad porn when women deserve porn of a higher quality. which is like... okay. sure, if they want to read something else I hope they can. but, like, it's also fine to pick the thing seen as trash. that's also completely fine.

listen, dude: I deserve access to a variety of nutritional and affordable foods. all people do. but if sometimes I want to get some shitty fast food because it's tasty and I'm not in the mood to cook, I don't need someone kicking my chicken sandwich out of my hands squawking about how I deserve a better meal. I know what I'm doing, and a deliberate choice is being made here.

sometimes people just want to have a good time.

I love that every year fire departments are like "hey. maybe DON'T fry your turkeys?"

and across the nation, patriots rise up and shout "FUCK YOU" bc surely it'll be fine for THEM

and then start massive grease fires in their backyards

it is my most favorite thanksgiving tradition

for non-americans who have no idea what I'm talking about, a TON of fire departments and public health people will do annual presentation videos on how deep frying turkeys can go catastrophically bad

and every year, the american public goes "...anyway, where's my propane tank-"

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fry."