it's been a very rough time for me these past few years, 3 to be exact! Every time I try to settle in, get a place set up where I can enjoy art, some misfortunate event overtakes my free time and I end up misplaced and trying to find a safe place to -sleep- in. I want to paint and draw again, and I'm considering remaking a sketchbook blog where I just upload stuff. I'm sorry I haven't been active, it's been just one thing after another.
I managed to finally reach a safe place, I suffered a miscarriage while in a very terrifying relationship with my ex, who became psychotic and expressed homicidal intent to me while isolated in our shared apartment. I don't want to divulge anymore than that, since despite this information, it's very surface level of the going-ons in my life.
I'm apprehensive to say there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel, I am in a safe place, with safe people, and I am finally picking up the pieces of myself.
I feel like my life has actually begun, restarted, and I can return to something I enjoyed as a little kid. I started on the internet as an artist, enjoyed the internet for what it was in my teenage years; it took me through college, filled with hope of a better future. Then my adult life took a very unexpected dark turn with abusers. The Gift of Fear is a great book, and so is extensive therapy. It's definitely not the end of the road, but only the beginning.
Hopefully I can hear from you again, and draw your fun characters that insitlled in me creativity and a love for life.
Hiya! Curious about joining bluesky but intimidated by all the features? Already on bluesky but want to learn more? Then welcome to my quick guide on getting started and navigating bluesky!~
What is Bluesky?
it’s a social media site that’s owned by no single person or company. it's aim is to bring back the early days of twitter before bots, elon musk or algorithms took over.
Personally I find the site really cozy, wholesome, and engaging.
my Bluesky account for example
What’s unique about Bluesky?
→ CUSTOMIZATION:
your timeline is very easy to control. There’s tons of options, so be sure to go through each tab in your settings. some options include: turning off autoplay, changing the order in which threaded replies show, changing DM settings, content preferences and lots of visual app settings.
→ MODERATION LISTS:
human made, mass blocklists. These are public lists of accounts that when you subscribe to you automatically block or mute everyone in that specific blocklist. A great way to avoid unwanted content, and interactions.
✦ Moderation lists I recommend will be below the cut
→ STARTER PACKS:
recommendation lists on who to follow, made by users. You can even curate your own starter pack of recommendations!
✦ Starter pack recommendations will be below the cut
→ FEEDS:
public timelines, basically. There are a lot of feeds you can join, or you can even create your own. I made a feed featuring just my pixel art so it doesn’t get cluttered with text posts or other photos in my media tab.
✦ I’ll post feeds I recommend below and link you to a tutorial on how to create your own feed
→ BLOCKING/MUTING:
bluesky has a great blocking system. When you block someone they can no longer see, or interact with you. They also have a feature to make your blog inaccessible unless logged in.
you can also mute specific people, delete post replies, and even detach your post from a reblog. You can also mute specific words, phrases, tags etc.
→ NSFW:
bluesky allows NSFW content, including artwork, porn, lewds etc. They also have a great moderation page to avoid the content completely, censor the content, or show it if you’d wish.
✦ just go to settings > moderation > toggle on NSFW settings and it’ll let you heavily moderate.
→ LABELS:
this is a really cool feature on the site, you can subscribe to certain pages that enable a lot of fun/useful labels that help you in different ways! (like pronoun tags, artist tags etc)
✦ Labels to browse will be posted below
→ COMMUNITIES:
the vastly diverse communities really feel like the best parts of tumblr. since you can so heavily curate your experience, it can really feel like a calming oasis. Mine is mostly artists, and other creatives.
there’s also a large community of professional artists, art directors, authors, celebrities, and even the best shitposters from twitter. the app really is what you make of it but it’s thriving right now.
RECOMMENDATIONS & LINKS BELOW ⬎
→ MODERATION LISTS:
HATE SPEECH:
NAZIS | MAGA | MAGAv2 | MAGAv3 | TRANSPHOBES & HOMOPHOBES | FAR RIGHT | FAR RIGHTv2 | FAR RIGHTv3 | ELON MUSK FANBOYS | ANTI-BLACK | ANTI-VAX
✦ to block or mute everyone in the blocklist at once, click subscribe in the top right corner:
→ STARTER PACKS:
ART:
PIXEL ART | PIXEL ARTv2 | WOMEN OF PIXEL ART | BADASS DIGITAL ARTISTS | MAGIC THE GATHERING ARTIST | PAINTERS OF BLUESKY | INDIE COMIC CREATORS | LGBTQIA+ COMIC CREATORS
✦ for more niche starter packs, use the search function. search your specific interest and ‘starter pack’ and you’ll find some!
→ FEEDS:
DISCOVER | WHATS TRENDING | MENTIONS | ART | TRENDING ART
THE GRAM: a timeline for exclusively image posts from those you follow. no textposts etc.
ONLYPOST: similar to the gram, it shows a timeline of only those you follow. no reposts, just original posts.
📌: a way to bookmark posts. just reply with the pin emoji.
✦ there’s tons of others feeds as well! just use the feed tab and you can browse feeds or search for specific ones.
✦ TUTORIAL ON HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM FEED FOR YOUR ART/POSTS
→ LABELS:
SKYWATCH: most popular label. Lots of useful labels!
AI Labels: identifies AI users, can also enable hiding the posters.
Pronouns: self explanatory but useful. can add a badge with your pronouns!
✦ you can search for additional label bots on bluesky!
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS:
✦ use the block function often. do not entertain trolls or hate speech.
✦ as well as starter packs, there’s also lists! lists can be used in the same way to create curated lists of accounts. it’s a good way to keep track of specific genres of posters you’re interested in, and finding new ones!
✦ hashtags: use them! they’re beneficial in boosting your post. you can even link hashtags in your bio making you easier to find. another method of making you more visible is if you post an ‘interest’ post! basically just type things you’re interested in and it’ll help people find you / vice versa !
✦ update your profile first thing, like bio avi etc. make a small post so people know you're real. interact and engage! the communities there are so welcoming!
I think that covers abt everything i wanted to cover! Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading lol