Regarding how Amegakure was under Hanzō's rule, before Pain, a point I see rarely remembered is just how strong he was.
Hanzō was the one to name the Three Sannin after sparing their lives. Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru were famous because they survived fighting him. We, the readers, know Hanzō because of Jiraiya; in their world, it was the other way around.
For me, it puts in perspective how much of a backstab Konan's kidnapping was. Yahiko, Nagato and the original Akatsuki did not see him as an enemy; the anime tells us that Nagato respected him. One of the most legendary ninja in the world: a man of Rain! Your compatriot, you leader. How could you not love him? How could Yahiko not trust his proposal of an alliance?
How could he betray them like this?
It also helps us understand why Yahiko didn't even try to fight back. His sensei was famous for not being killed by the man - what could he possibly do? Risk having Hanzō poison the rain and kill them all? In this perspective, one could argue Yahiko was only rational. Hanzō even escaped Nagato's rage unhurt.
Hanzō's power was so great that Nagato and Konan took years to win Amegakure's civil war. In the anime lore, we learn the Rain ninja we see in the Chunnin Exam were sent by him when he was still in power. This timeline would make Pain Amegakure's ruler for only the few years between Classic Naruto and Shippuden. I prefer the manga's implied timeline, that the war took years, but Pain ruled for much longer.
How was Hanzō perceived, apart from legendary and strong? All evidence is given that he was loved by Rain, before he became obsessed with power. Evil cannot be corrupted; to fall, first you have to be good.
We meet Hanzō's trap with just as much shock as the Ame Orphans do, but we often miss how helpless they must have felt. Any reaction was pointless; getting out of there alive was impossible. No wonder Yahiko despaired. We see Nagato's rage, and we know that Konan and him eventually won the civil war; we never see how hard it was, how long it took them. We also know Hanzō grew careless of his training, that he was no longer in his prime when Pain defeated him; his morals grew weak, his body and soul along with it. Pain tells him at time of defeat; he has lost himself so badly, he does not even know why he lost. But how dim can the light of a legend really get?
When Jiraiya comes to Amegakure, he cannot believe anyone could ever defeat him. It was inconceivable. He had been there, he witnessed the man - yet, Pain had done it. Recognizing Hanzō's legend doesn't only make his betrayal all the more hurtful - it makes Pain and Konan all that more terrifying.
Hey everyone!! I thought it'd be good to make some updates. Though my activity both here and on twitter has dropped significantly, I wanted to share that I'm still very much into Naruto and working on two main projects at the moment, one being that one +100k Ame Orphans fanfic I'm writing and some 3D stuff of Amegakure/Ame Oprhans. These two projects are the ones I will be more focused on at the moment!! Finishing the fanfic is one of my top priorities for this year. I really really want it so much to be done. It's probably one of the most important things I've ever created (and am still creating) in my life.
But the issue with these projects is that, although I work on them constantly, you guys won't be able to see the result until I'm done, which might make it look like I've vanished -- but I've not!! I'm very much here :)
I hope you guys can wait until I'm done, I promise it will be worth it!! Thank you so much for the support, always :)
Hey everyone, remember this? It was no empty promise! The story is already finished. I am, however, in the process of re-writing, mostly due to formatting and cadence issues. The style changed a lot from start to finish, I'm being careful to make it concise.
Hopefully, I will start the publishing near the end of this year! I'll keep you updated in this regard. Thank you so much for all those of you who show your love for the Ame Orphans!
hey everyoneee just passing by to let you know that after a few years of struggle I'm finally on ADHD meds and OH BOY I'm being hit by the fact that I really miss my children (the ame orphans) soooo so much
I feel what hurts the most in events like today is the utter powerlessness that we from the rest of the world have as we witness this. There is nothing for us to do besides watch as everything unfolds until it ricochets back to us. I do feel like taking up the streets (as I have so many times before), but it is pointless. My voice does not matter for that country, even though its every action will affect mine in a domino effect. All people like me can do is sit and wait as the wave comes to hit us, and fight in yet again another political war which we did not start. Everyday I pray that you wake up and act, because it's also really sad to see how you suffer at the hands of your own governors. So many of us in the rest of the world are already fighting as much as we can, but we can't win if you guys don't win there first. I root for you so hard; I hope this day comes soon.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
NARUTO │Yahiko's Journal │2.4k │Philosophy
I know, for them, my house is not as homely. My thoughts, if any, not as profound. My relationships not as meaningful; my ambitions, non-existent. My hunger, a mere animal need. My culture, incoherent - my country, a mere landscape for the stories they’ll tell at dinner.
And yet, I can’t bring myself to hate them.
A look into one of the logs in Yahiko's diary as the head of the Akatsuki during the Shinobi Wars.
Hey everyone!! I thought it'd be good to make some updates. Though my activity both here and on twitter has dropped significantly, I wanted to share that I'm still very much into Naruto and working on two main projects at the moment, one being that one +100k Ame Orphans fanfic I'm writing and some 3D stuff of Amegakure/Ame Oprhans. These two projects are the ones I will be more focused on at the moment!! Finishing the fanfic is one of my top priorities for this year. I really really want it so much to be done. It's probably one of the most important things I've ever created (and am still creating) in my life.
But the issue with these projects is that, although I work on them constantly, you guys won't be able to see the result until I'm done, which might make it look like I've vanished -- but I've not!! I'm very much here :)
I hope you guys can wait until I'm done, I promise it will be worth it!! Thank you so much for the support, always :)
Disclaimer: Early Akatsuki era where Yahiko is alive and well, madly, deeply in love with Konan. And vice-versa. This fic was inspired but one of the amazing yahikonan fanarts @gakkubi made exactly one year ago (at least that's when it showed on Tumblr, 13th of Sept 2021). I have promised to write a fanfic of it and it happened to finish it right after 1 year, so happy anniversary to this amazing fanart.
Warnings: fluff; smut; a bit of angst; kissing; undressing; semi-public sex; exhibitionism; Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence; cross-posted on Ao3
Pair: Yahiko x Konan
Word count: 1.7k
Being a leader will never be easy, no matter what sort of leader one is. Yahiko knew it very well before he started on his journey, and despite loving his job – saving and protecting people, ending conflicts before they erupted and others of this sort – he found himself growing more tired by the day.
A long-living and always capable leader will always need that one person they can rely on, no matter the situation. For Yahiko, that person was Konan. She had been by his side since the beginning, helped him with every decision he had to take, eased his mind when he felt down or scared, and offered him smile after smile to brighten his days. Yahiko loved Konan. He truly loved her, in more ways than he was aware of.
On the other hand, Konan knew exactly how she loved Yahiko. Truthfully, passionately, dangerously dedicated. If he told her to kill, she would. If he told her to die, she would. If he told her to live, she would. But the one order she waited so patiently to hear from Yahiko – her leader, her childhood friend, the man who irrevocably pierced her heart – was to love him.
Frustrated for no apparent reason, Yahiko threw some papers away. He cupped his face to muffle his scream but the one who had ears to hear him even when silent appeared in the doorframe.
"Another traitor?" Konan asked.
"I'm just so tired, Konan… why can't people simply be good to each other? This world is doomed, no matter how much we try to save it."
Konan loved how often Yahiko used the plural. That was one of the many reasons she always felt she belonged with him.
"You know what, Yahiko? The world isn't that bad. Yes, there are a lot of bad people, but there are even more good people. We've seen them. We've saved them."
He showed his face from behind his palms and sighed.
"Well, at least I have you."
There was sunshine painted on the boy's face whenever he told Konan that. Maybe his orange hair was at fault for the colour on his cheeks but then the tint should've been also orange, not pink, Konan thought.
"You will always have me," she replied with a sincere smile coating her lips. However, as she turned to leave and give Yahiko some room to breathe, he called her back.
"Could you… give me a hug, please?"
Yahiko was that type of strong, powerful man who knew how to be gentle to others, but he never appeared soft. Well, except in front of that purple-haired woman around whom his world spun.
“Of course,” she replied.
One foot in front of the other, she reached by his side in no time. Her intention was to wrap her arms around his shoulders and hug his back to her belly, but Yahiko had other plans. He turned around with the chair and was the first to wrap his arms around Konan’s lower body. His cheek was pressed to her breasts and he closed his eyes in an instant. Taken by surprise, but not disappointed, she hugged his head and caressed his messy hair.
“Is everything ok?”
The young man was too caught up in his feelings to reply vocally, so only a nod of his head has been enough. Konan continued to graze his scalp gently, her fingers spread in a pulse matching the breaths that raised her chest. She closed her eyes too, indulging in such an intimate and vulnerable position, happy that she could at least experience that, if something more wasn’t plausible.
However, from the docile way his hands caught at each other’s wrist to encase Konan’s body, Yahiko moved them up her back, all the while he shifted his head to gaze at the woman. His chin rested at the bottom of her sternum and his eyes pierced right through hers when she met them.
“What is it?” Konan asked, pausing the fondling.
“I want you.”
Neither one of them expected to hear those words. Even though he was their owner, the words made Yahiko blush instead of Konan, who only lowered her palms to cup his cheeks.
“You have me, Yahiko. You know I would do anything you command,” she replied, giving Yahiko a chance to think twice and change his mind in case his mouth spoke without permission.
“Not like that…” he said and looked to the side, leaning his face in one of the soft palms. “I want you to be mine, Konan. To tell you what’s eating at my soul, to hold you… kiss you… have you…”
The more he talked, the lower Yahiko’s tone went. His cheeks were plain red by now and he fumbled with the woman’s clothing behind her back. On the other hand, his sweet confession didn’t make Konan nervous; it actually reassured her. Reassured her of the reason Yahiko’s heart beat that fast, of the meaning of that look in his eyes whenever they were alone in a room, of the warmth of his hand whenever it briefly touched her.
“You have me, Yahiko,” she repeated as she lifted his chin to press their lips together.
From the moment he tasted her mouth, Yahiko changed completely. His hands grasped the woman’s body vigorously and he made room for it on his lap. The chair was most uncomfortable, though, and it forbade the free movement they longed for, so it got abandoned quickly, in the favour of the floor.
Not long after their tongues got acquainted, the kiss became rougher and hotter. Hotter were the surroundings as well; hot enough for the two to tug at each other’s clothes, desperate to remove all barriers which stood in front of their love. Yahiko’s cloak was the first to reach the floor. His shirt then followed and as he worked on untying Konan’s clothes, she covered his eyes with her palm.
“What are you doing?” Yahiko asked, chuckling.
“Let me help you relax,” Konan whispered, tracing thin lines with her fingertips both on his eyelids, and at the base of his neck.
Without further words, the leader let himself be taken care of. He insisted only to pull Konan’s cloak off her shoulders, a gesture to which the girl agreed, secretly proud of herself to have chosen to be bare underneath. From the briefest touch of his fingers, he figured out that her chest was exposed. He fondled the breasts, traced their bottom roundness, flicked the perky buds with his thumbs, but essentially he remained blind to the view. Konan did not allow him to look. As she rolled her hips on top of him, her hand over his eyes did not waver. She kissed his open mouth a few times, moaned whenever his touch was a bit rougher, but made sure to keep his sight concealed, to enhance the other senses.
Using only one hand, Konan guided Yahiko’s under the clothes that still hid her bottom. She squeezed her own buttocks using the man’s hand, showing him what she wanted. She’s been dying to do that for a while – tell him, show him, ask from Yahiko the same love she wanted to offer him. Soon, Yahiko’s remaining clothes became a nuisance, and, funny enough, both of them reached to untie his pants. A common laughter followed, but it was low enough not to leave the enclosure.
“I don’t remember whether you closed the door or not,” Yahiko whispered.
“I don’t remember when I cared about the others,” Konan replied.
Yahiko laughed again. He was the leader, after all. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, but that wasn’t the problem. Instead, he didn’t want anyone else but him to see Konan naked. Despite his slight frown and those thoughts, Yahiko got too drunk on how she felt on the inside to care about the rest of the world. For once, Yahiko only cared about himself and the woman in his arms.
They made slow love to each other. Paid attention to every inch of their bodies, and kissed endlessly. Even though they have been together for almost their entire lives, nothing compared to those moments when they became one. Jittery warm breaths exited their mouths and mixed in the small space allowed between their faces. Initially meant to be relaxed, their body muscles were all contracted as the momentum increased in speed.
By the end, when the tension was reaching its peak, both of them could hear their names escaping from the other’s mouth, in a whisper, every syllable full of love and appreciation. Yahiko wished to press his forehead to hers, to withhold the tension in his lower body but, on his lap, Konan was taller than him, had control over him, and he loved it. She was there with him, for him and only him, yet he wanted her even closer, so Yahiko tightened his hold around her and glued his face to her chest when he finished. His powerful groan eclipsed Konan’s prolonged mewl, but when they came back down from the high, they could hear both their voices.
“How are you feeling?” Konan asked.
She twirled a strand of orange hair between her fingers, as she leaned with her chin on top of Yahiko’s head.
“Happy,” he responded.
She thought he would say pleased, or consumed, yet Yahiko resorted to his emotional side like he did every time he talked to Konan. She smiled and rubbed her cheek on his head.
“How do you feel?” The boy asked in return.
“Loved.”
Yahiko’s heart had been beating fast during the intercourse – as it was normal to do so – but even after the waters calmed down, Konan’s answer spiked his heart rate.
“Good. Because I love you.”
“I know you do, Yahiko. I love you too, but I feared we will never get to tell it to each other.”
To erase any doubt that could have resided in the girl’s soul, Yahiko looked up at Konan, offered her that one special smile which he only showed to her, and then kissed her. Just like the first one, that kiss was meant to tell a thousand words, a thousand promises and I love yous, and Konan heard them all in the silent touch of their lips. There was no need to worry any longer, they ended up together.
Hi! Sorry to bother you, this feels like a bit of a loaded ask;;
So I'm currently working on a big ol fic and the ame trio (and original akatsuki) are a part of it. It has 3 original characters (2 being parents and one being a young child) that join Akatsuki. I was wondering if you had any tips for writing the ame trio as sort of older siblings to this kid? Also any general tips on writing the trio would be nice too if you have the time... I really love your work regarding the three. 💖
Hello!! Wow, this is such a lovely and fun ask! It's not a loaded question at all. I'm glad that you feel like asking my opinion on this, our own works are such personal things! I'm also super excited to know more people who are working on creative content (art & writing) with the Ame Oprhans. <3
I'll try to give an answer as detailed and helpful as possible! Leaving it below the cut because it will also be long, as I can't manage to be cohesive lmao.
I hope it's not a problem, but I'll rearrange a bit the order of your questions: first, general pointers about the Ame Orphans (+ Hanzo and Amegakure), and then how it'd relate to them being older siblings to your OCs.
The original Akatsuki timeline: I think the context of what was happening in the Land of Rain during the time of the original Akatsuki is a bit messy/vague, which makes it hard to understand, that's why I'm including it in the answer.
Bear with me for a little while, I know it feels like I'll be going on a tangent but I believe to better understand the characters, it's important we understand their environment just as much.
--- First off, I think it's good to clear up that the Akatsuki was not opposed to Hanzo (or his government). This is a misconception I see rather frequently, and it contradicts directly a lot of Yahiko's own actions - why would he want to ally with Hanzo if the Akatsuki was opposed to him? It's important to keep in mind that the trap that got Yahiko killed only happened because Hanzo "wanted to use the Akatsuki's influence to assist with peace negotiations between the three countries (waging the Third War)". (Ch.446). That is why Hanzo betrayed them... you can't betray your enemies.
I believe the misconception comes from, well, the fact that Hanzo killed Yahiko, and the fact that Kyusuke saw the Ame Orphans wearing hitai-ates with the Rain symbol, assumed they worked with Hanzo and stated that in a very... snarky manner. (Ep. 346).
Was Hanzo popular? Was he hated? Both? I don't think we have canon information enough to state either. What we know is that Yahiko (and, in extent, the Akatsuki) had a goal of working with him, or at least not against him - after all, the Akatsuki was all about estabilishing peace, not more conflict.
"Just like Hanzo, we hope that one day we'll be able to bring peace to the shinobi world..." Yahiko on Ep.346, English dub.
--- What was the Akatsuki's goal besides, well, world peace?
As far as we know, Rain didn't have a central government (like Fire and the other Great Nations had the Kage and Daimyo) -- Rain is not ever even called a "Country", probably because of that. When you a weak/non-existant/unstable government in a nation, it opens space for the rise of criminal factions. You don't have to search too much to get reference for that; crime-dominated cities are good examples, even if in smaller scales, for what happens when governments lose control to factions (mafia, gangs). When these factions wage war against each other, citizens suffer. In Rain, you also have the factor of Rain being occupied and used as battlefield for the Third War. We can assume the Akatsuki was trying to peacefully work against both of these situations.
Achieving "world peace" is a very broad goal -- you can try to do that through many different ways, as Nagato (post Yahiko's death) and Madara show us. We can tell through the story that Yahiko's Akatsuki, on a daily basis, tried to pave the way to world peace through local action: being the "guardians" of small villages (ep.346) and protecting it from local criminal gangs, as well as more 'international' actions such as helping (interfering?) with the conflics between the Great Nations (ep.347).
In this regard, we can also safely assume the Akatsuki grew to be known/powerful enough to have influence, or at least enough to pose as a threat to Hanzo; they were not just a small little group ninja among other similar groups of ninja. I think it's quite safe to assume that a lot of people heard about the Akatsuki (and the three main leaders), given that they caught the attenttion of Danzo, who is not even a Rain citizen...
2. The Ame Orphans.
I have a series of analysis of the Ame Trio as inviduals if you want to read, so I'll try to keep a simpler answer here, and more directed at your question.
I think writing them as older siblings to your character would depend a lot, of course, in what is the relationship of your character with them. Are they a member of the Akatsuki?¹ If so, what is their role in the Akatsuki? Are they trying to figure out where they fit, or do they start more or less knowing what is it that they will do?²
¹ Side note: You did mention one of the characters being a kid - if your child character ends up joining the Akatsuki... I wonder how the process of bringing a child into an organization that deals with war will work in the first place? We know the Shinobi World doesn't oppose children dealing with violence -- but how do the Ame Orphans, who are rebels against the system, feel about it? I'm very curious. I can totally see the Akatsuki having a "younger members" section, but I also feel like there would be some resistance to that idea. I wonder if this will cause some conflict until they decide what to do about your OC? Will they all be on the same page? Will of some of them be too idealistic ("we can't do what everyone else does and involve children with violence") and others be too realistic ("this is the world we live now, and we need to play the game to change the rules")?
² Side note: Especially for the adult characters, I think their "roles" will influence a lot with which of the ame orphans they'll interact most. Yahiko is the leader, of course, which means that he will probably interact with everyone more or less equally, and for that same reason will probably be in too much constant hurry to be present all the time. I think Nagato and Konan are the ones you can have a lot more freedom in this regard!
--- I don't think making the Trio behave as "older siblings" would be, in any way, OOC - in fact, it's entirely in their character to do that very naturally and instantly.
Yahiko is the most obvious one in this regard, having cared for Konan and Nagato with a (quite extreme) overprotection, and then serving as the leader of the Akatsuki and caring for everyone else. We saw how Nagato behaved as the Akatsuki's leader as well; he was distant in many ways (for obvious reasons), but he disliked name-calling between the members and chose members with similar interests to work "better" together (I mean, Kishimoto did, but you can extend that to him). We saw how he behaved with Naruto during the Edo Tensei, warm and proud and also worried about hurting him with his own powers. And Konan was the one Jiraiya called "happy and caring", and despite the coldness we usually associate with her (after Yahiko's death) she really was; she gifted Jiraiya with flowers, made origami to play with Chibi, and then gifted Naruto with flowers right after all the Pain Arc ordeal. She has a will of doing good to others that is very natural to her.
--- I find that, in order to highlight a character's virtues, we have to first identify and understand a character's flaws -- and in the Ame Orphan's case, how these flaws strain the relationship between them and how this can affect the relationship between your characters and them.
We know that Yahiko was so convinced that Nagato was the one to "save" their country and so adamant on the idea of having him as the Akatsuki's leader, he didn't really care for Nagato's (and Konan's) own opinions about it. (Ch 509/510). Of course his fiery will is a reason why Yahiko is admired, but couldn't his tunnel vision on his ideals also make him excessively busy and even hard to work with? We have a pretty clear implication that YahiKona didn't 100% happen because he was so stubborn on pushing Konan to be with Nagato despite neither of them wanting it. I'm not sure if YahiKona is a thing in your story, but if canon Yahiko was too focused on his goals to allow himself to be in a relationship with the person he loved, and even disregard their beloved's own desires, one can only wonder what it means for his other relationships...
Konan, like him, is someone who is also loyal and duty-oriented. Pretty much everything she does in Naruto is because she's extremely focused on her goals. She stays with Nagato after Yahiko's death, despite not fully agreeing with him or his methods (as implied in canon and stated in Akatsuki Hiden), because she's loyal to him (her family). Her whole reason to fight Obito is because he's a direct threat to her ideals and goals and family (as Nagato believed in Naruto). If Yahiko is insufferably loyal to his ideals, then Konan isn't all that much better, maybe just less obviously so. In Akatsuki Hiden, she misses a pretty obvious implication Nagato makes about them (YahiKona) because she can't think of anything besides the Akatsuki. Again, even if YahiKona isn't a thing in your story, one can only wonder how such extreme focus (and little thought for anything else) affects her relationships.
Nagato is, of course, also loyal and duty-focused, but he has a factor neither of the previous have, which is the Rinnegan. Jiraiya states that he mastered all jutsu natures (fire, water, etc) by age 10 - in the flashbacks, we only see him using "normal" ninjutsu. Nagato does not use the Rinnegan willingly until after Yahiko's death. He can't, and he doesn't want to; we know he is scared of the powers he can't control. Think about it; Nagato is a person who is scared of himself. He's scared of what he can do, because he can't control his powers once they unleash. How confortable can he be, interacting with others, if he has such a relationship with himself? We know he is nervous, insecure, hesitant despite being so powerful - maybe that's why he relies so much on Konan, and especially Yahiko. How confortable would he be with protecting others, if he can't safely use his own powers to their full extent?
3) Now, back to your character - how the "older sibling" relationship could estabilish.
Please note that this will be heavily influenced by how I would write such a thing, based on their personalities. It will be wonderful if you agree, but feel free to disregard if any of these don't sit right with you at all~!
I think Yahiko is the easiest one to know; we has a pretty strong tendency to protect the "weaklings". Konan and Nagato are way more powerful than him, we know, but only physically. From the start, they relied on him for everything, and kept on relying on a lot as the years went by. I think it would be extremely natural for Yahiko to take someone under his wing if they seem too lost or too much in need of guidance.
I believe Konan, on the other hand, would have her attention caught by someone who doesn't obviously need so much support. We know Yahiko is loud and expensive, and we know how quiet and composed Konan is compared to him - so I think someone who puts on a strong façade, but shows cracks of maybe needing help, needing to talk, needing care, would be the one to catch her eye more than others. It would be a more delicate relationship, one that Yahiko (being so blunt and on hurry all the time) could easily miss. And maybe you're thinking: "that also sounds like Nagato" - yes, I think Nagato and Konan gravitate towards similar things in general.
But Nagato has the Rinnegan, which adds a complexity factor that Konan, despite all of their similarities, doesn't have. We associate Nagato's behavior with insecurity and shyness, but we don't associate Konan with either of those, despite her also being a quiet and reserved character - Konan has full control of her powers, whereas Nagato doesn't. I think Nagato would face an internal conflict when meeting new people and estabilshing relationships: a tendency to be kind and helpful vs. a tendency to isolate because of the general sense of fear he constantly lives in. Your OC being a child would only amplify that: the desire of protecting someone who is fragile, especially considering how much the trauma of being orphaned impacted him (he knows "pain"), vs. the expanded fear of hurting that person who is so much more fragile than most (a child, not an adult). Maybe that extra nervousness could call the attention of the other rain orphans...?
-- So, I know I talked a lot, and I hope this will be helpful (or at least interesting) for you. It was surely a lot of fun thinking about all of this to answer your question, and I'm curious how your imagination will build this story~!
I hope you're having fun writing it, and I'll be super eager to read it once you publish it. :) Good luck! I'm sending a lot of creative vibes for you. 🌸
Hello everyone, especially the anon who sent me a lovely ask yesterday :) I wanted to say firstly that I *loved* the ask, it's not a loaded ask at all, and secondly that I might take a little while to answer because things have been quite agitated lately (as you may have noticed, I haven't posted any art this month!) -- Since I want to answer appropriately, I'll probably only be able to post a reply in the next weekend.
Also, I'll try to resume posting art by either next weekend or next week as well, but thank you for everyone who has been reblogging my arts with such wonderful comments in the tags 🙏🧡 I read everything and appreciate immensely!~🧡
actually i’m reblogging this again with commentary, fuck it.
There’s people in the notes talking about “not basing your worth off numbers”, and like. that isn’t what this post is about. It’s not a threat, either, it’s a comment on how this site works, at a mechanical level.
Likes are worthless. Let me say that again.
Likes. Are. Worthless.
They don’t do anything. They’re a bookmark. They were never part of how tumblr works - in the early days we didn’t even have a like button, and the site still more or less acts as though we don’t. They’re personal bookmarks and the only people who “get” anything from them are you (you bookmark the post) and the OP (maybe a very slight serotonin boost), but they don’t keep the post in circulation, they don’t keep it alive.
Without reblogs, a post will be dead in the water within an hour. No matter how good it is, no matter how many hours of painstaking love and attention its creator put into it, it will be dead within an hour and never seen again. It gets pushed down the dashboard and nobody aside from the followers who were online when it was posted will see it.
And there’s a huge difference in engagement on posts that get even one lucky reblog from someone with wider reach - that one reblog shows your post to five, ten, fifteen other people, and if one of those people also reblogs it, and so on and so forth, that’s how posts stay alive and in circulation.
It’s like a contagion, but we’re sharing creativity instead of disease.
And that matters. That “lifespan” of the post matters, artists and writers give up on this site and go to sites where posts have longer lifespans because it sucks to spend hours of your life, maybe even days, to get two notes and some fucking pocket lint for your efforts.
We create for ourselves, but we share because we want people to see it, because that engagement offers positive feedback and encouragement to continue.
But more than that, if every post (whether art, fic, gifset, whatever) is dying within an hour or a day of being posted, that means it’s not making it onto your dashboard. And if it’s not on your dashboard, you won’t see it. This kills the site, after a while. You stop seeing the posts, because nobody is putting them on your dashboard, because this site doesn’t have an algorithm like twitter and insta’s and it shouldn’t, it’s the last bastion of chronological timelines.
Forgive my giant fucking rant I am so tired right now and full of the plague but like stop acting like artists and writers are just being whiny little babies, or “threatening” to withhold our fucking work (you’re not entitled to it! it’s ours! if we get nothing out of sharing it we’re well within our rights to keep it private!) when we say this site will dry up without reblogs. We’re just stating facts.
also I’ve seen some people in the tags say ‘oh there have always been more likes on posts’ no there haven’t ????
these are posts from 2013, look at the ratio
not to sound like a nursing home resident but back then people know that the point of this site was to reblog things and share them, not to bury them away among your other 23k liked posts
tangentwithtanner
prguitarman
izzy806
dededos
origamiaround
snowghoul
