#aprilappreciation

[tateypots]

April Appreciation

Or more to the point self appreciation!

I think it’s fair to say we’ve all seen a drop in interaction on tumblr over the last couple of years and one thing that strikes me is that people always seem hesitant to self-rec or repost their own stuff. So I’m giving you an excuse to do it. Put your works back out there for new people to discover.

I know it might seem a little scary, no one wants to seem pushy or braggy but there are so many talented and wonderful people on here that you should get to feel proud of your work and toot your own horn a little bit. Especially when reblogging is literally the only way to get your posts seen.

So here it is. Each week in April there will be a different theme, some will be a specific ask for a particular post, others you can post as many as you like. I’ll list the themes below, reblog your work and tag it #aprilappreciation and tag me too. I may at some point compile all of your reblogs into a Masterlist, depending on how many there are.

This is not limited to writing; artwork, moodboards, gifs are all welcome and encouraged. I’m also not limiting it to a specific fandom. If you come across this and want to play along please go right ahead. The only limitations I’m setting are that the reblogs should be your own work, nothing AI generated and please make sure everything is tagged appropriately.

That being said, it is up to everyone to curate their own experience on here so please do heed all warnings and tags before interacting with any of the reposts.

Themes:

Week 1 - the first work you posted

Week 2 - the works that pushed you outside your comfort zone

Week 3 - the works you feel deserve a bit more love

Week 4 - your personal favourite work

So that’s it. You don’t have to play every week (although I’d love it if you did). And of course while reblogging your own work is great, maybe check out some of the other reblogs and maybe interact with those too! Spread the love.

I’ll put out a reminder post each week as well with the weeks theme on, just to keep us all right!

NPT: @easybbgrl @aurorawritestoescape @magpiepills @mystickittytaco @misstokyo7love @puduvallee @katw474 @joelsprettygirl @ess-evo @ivoryandflame @brittmb115 @harriedandharassed @baronessvonglitter @pertpetualharpyresonance @oldenoughtoknowbettersstuff @peelieblue @vickie5446 @txmel @rosharanfiction @milla-frenchy @la-vie-est-une-fleur29 @missadangel @petalsinblood @toxicanonymity @arcane-fox @avastrasposts @grogusmum @bergamote-catsandbooks @old-logan-and-old-joels-slut

[whocaresstillthelouvre]

April Appreciation Week 1: First Work Posted

Shout out to @tateypots for putting on the April Appreciation event for us creators. I actually recently made a celebratory post about my first fic, seeing as March 19 was the anniversary of it. Anyways, I've come a very long way since Golden Walkway... and yet I'm still the same damned horny mess. Peep the warnings:

Warnings: smut, drinking, consent first, degradation second, followed by so much praise, hair pulling, spitting, Joel calls you a slut, fingering against a brick wall, F receiving oral, I watched that doggy style Narcos gif (for research) a lot, unprotected p in v, apocalypse birth control (pulling out), Joel’s canon age, Reader’s in her 30’s.

Yeah...

Anyways... I'm so glad to be here sharing whatever depraved, horny words or soft, yearning words fall out of my fingers. It's definitely not the same world I stepped into, we've lost so many pillars... but shout out to those still chugging along.

Because I posted my first ever fic–and keep posting fic, it's brought so many people into my life that have helped me as a writer and human: @mothandpidgeon, @schnarfer, @valevntine, deactivatedperson, deactivatedperson, @sin-djarin, @for-a-longlongtime, @perotovar, @magpiepills, @sawymredfox

Also, a huge shoutout to a writer I admire VERY MUCH, @justagalwhowrites, who was so kind in helping me when I first started.

But most of all, this fic and so much back then was written with the help of @forspringcleaning and dedicated to our unhingedness over fic and Joel Miller back in 2023-2024. I really miss those days, as I'm sure most of you do.

That's why I'm really enjoying this challenge, @tateypots, I love seeing how active the fandom was and all the fresh ideas that were constantly being posted back in the "golden era" but also I love seeing how many good people are still here. 💞

[604to647]

Darn it 😅- sorry to slide in so last minute again @tateypots for April Appreciation Week 2 - The Works That Pushed You Outside Your Comfort Zone! (I endeavour to be better next week! 🤞🏻)

^girl who's going to be on time for Week 3

The fic that comes to mind immediately is Mr. Know-It-All; and not because the premise is any stretch of the imagination or wild (at all!), but because of the MMC. I NEVER thought I would write for Joel Miller, and on some level I may have even sworn off of it. I read so much good Joel it's not even funny - we truly suffer from such an embarrassment of riches when it comes to that old man *sigh*; as a writer, I never imagined there to be room for anything I might come up with. As well, some of the most talented writers I've ever had the pleasure of coming across here write for Joel; it's a space in which I knew I would feel a lot of imposer syndrome, so I figured it best to avoid it all together.

Of course, Joel had other ideas and inspiration struck at the most unexpected time (after watching Fantastic Four 😂😂😂) - and while all the reasons I never considered writing Joel before remained true, the reason I ultimately wrote and posted this fic is because of some of those same Joel writers that I admire so much 🥹

These babes (gn) are some of the most supportive and sweet souls to grace this here website - they're always ready with encouraging words, kind advice or to plain gas you up 😂 despite my personal Joel reservations, they make this place feel so safe and welcoming, I decided to just go for it 🥹 Thank you @aurorawritestoescape @milla-frenchy @sawymredfox @inept-the-magnificent @baronessvonglitter

@greenwitchfromthewoods @bergamote-catsandbooks @penvisions @magpiepills @yopossum

@ghotifishreads @ace-turned-confused and of course, you, Kate (tateypots)!! Honestly, I would never have posted or even written what has turned out to be my most popular fic without the safety net of your friendship and presence here! LOVE YOU ALL TO THAT MOON AND BACK, AND SORRY TO BE SUCH A (TARDY) CHEESEBALL 😘😘😘😘

[sawymredfox]

April Appreciation, week 3✨

@tateypots Thank you, once more, for organising this! In general, my stories fly under the radar. I always appreciate and treasure every comment I get, and the people who constantly support me and my stories, but a part of me, like I imagine most of us have, would love it if they got more recognition. I feel like this week's premise, the works you feel deserve a bit more love, is particularly hard to compose. I just saw @bergamote-catsandbooks 's post, and I'm going to do mine following her idea, not focus on the numbers, but on the stories where I put a lot of myself in, which especially challenged me, and didn't land as I expected.

Three days till sunset (Frankie Morales x fem!able bodied reader)

I entered @schnarfer, @whocaresstillthelouvre and @mothandpidgeon Magic Number Challenge after watching The Bridges of Madison County for the first time. I didn't expect the movie to wreck me in the way it did, nor to make me question the woman's right to be happy, the struggle to love oneself, to feel worthy of being happy, and to inspire me to write this story. It was not an easy write, and I felt so proud of it once it was finished.

The Small Things of a Whole (Frankie Morales x Ben Miller)

It's one pairing I never saw myself writing for, but once the seed took root, it's becoming one of the stories I feel more proud of. These boys have taken over my mind, and I love them so much. I love delving into their relationship and seeing it grow as they guide me as I write them. And I guess I just wish more people got to know them.

Scent of Love (Tim Rockford x fem!able bodied reader)

I know Tim is not one of Pedro's most written and read characters, but there's something I find so compelling about this character. @burntheedges 's Summer Tunes Writing Challenge gave me an excuse to write him once more, using the song she gave me and the summer heat.

[rosharanfiction]

april appreciation week #2

thank you again @tateypots for organizing this event. I’m new to tumblr in the last year, and I’ve loved this as a chance to learn more about my mutuals!

the theme this week is fics that pushed you out of your comfort zone. writing is lowkey always challenging (and wonderful), but there’s one fic that fits the bill the most.

crosshairs (jackson! joel miller x javier peña)

This might also be my favorite fic, but it’s such a challenge sometimes. I’m fascinated by the ways Joel and Javi fit together, and I want the romance to feel true to their characters. The biggest things that have pushed me here are:

Writing characters who are different from me. I definitely rely way too much on giving my reader-inserts my sense of humor (and sometimes also my neurodivergence/job/problems). It was uncomfortable at first learning to get in a totally new headspace, but I love writing Joel and especially Javi now, and I think it’s made me a much better storyteller.

Combat. I’m a softie vegetarian and I’d hardly even written verbal fights before this, let alone ones with weapons. But I knew these boys had to bond over murder. I got to study fight tactics and examine combat scenes in books I like, and now this is lowkey one of my favorite things to write. It’s inspired me to outline a novel with a thriller subplot.

Slow (ish) burn. This is uncomfortable to me because I want them to kiss. Hurry up, you two avoidant hotties.

Bonus Javi for the road. (This is how I look when my friends self rec)

[bergamote-catsandbooks]

April Appreciation - Week 1: First Work ✨It's still Sunday somewhere right?

Thank you @tateypots for creating this event, it was so fun and it made me happy to see people share their first work. I didn't have time this week to catch up with all the posts, but I can't wait to read all of everyone's first stories.

I got into fandom and fanfic so late in life, I feel like I've missed on so much. I started reading fanfics in 2024, without creating an account, just lurking on here, until I caved and made one (I don't why I din't want to). I took me time, I understood the rules and started actually commenting/reblogging and interacting! My first blog post was a fic recs list, my 10th post was my first ever fic, and the ever first thing I wrote from beginning to end. It was quite something to share it. I was lucky to be greeted by many wonderful people. A lot have left the fandom or Tumblr all together, but I made great friends in the process and still continue too.

So here it is:

A Christmas Love Story - Joel Miller x f!Reader - Joel hires an English tutor for Sarah, and of course they fall for each other.

The idea came from a prompt that @/punkshort received and very nicely let me use (not tagging because she is out of the fandom and I don't want to bother her).

[milla-frenchy]

April appreciation week one

Thank you @tateypots for such a good idea 🥰❤️

My first fic was Roads, part 1 (yeah, I started with a series, which seems totally crazy to me now 😂)

3 years ago Joel broke your heart and you left your hometown. What happens when your paths cross again? An emotional love story

Roads is probably my most personal writing, I suppose I needed to throw my emotions somewhere, and I wrote the seven chapters in less than two months

That’s when I realized that writing fics was therapeutic

Roads is the story of a love story, a passion that burns everything in its path, where sometimes reason is forgotten because we need that fire to keep burning inside us, like some kind of addiction. Until we realize that we might be losing ourselves, and we find ourselves at a crossroads, having to make a choice

And Joel seemed to be the perfect character to embody the man reader falls in love with

This series is very dear to my heart for all these reasons, even though my writing has probably changed a lot since then

It’s kinda funny that my first fic was called Roads, because thanks to it my world opened up and I met so many amazing people ❤️🥹

I couldn't make this post without thanking a few people (sorry I’m gonna be cheesy)

@aurorawritestoescape

One day- and we didn’t know each other that much, back then- I asked you if you were willing to beta my fics, because my English grammar was awful and I had never written in English before. I never would have posted if it hadn't been for you having my back

And since then, you’ve always been there, an unwavering support, listening to me talk about my 50 WIPs, a real sunshine in my life, my baby that I love so, so much 💕

@toxicanonymity

When I joined Tumblr in early 2023 I knew nothing about fanfics, nothing about Tumblr and I was lucky enough to meet you and ask you my silly questions. You’ve always been incredibly patient and you’re one of my dearest friends and I love you 🖤

@ghoulettesinspace

You were here from the beginning, and I don't think you know how much your rbs encouraged me to keep going 🫂

Thank you SO MUCH to all the readers, people that comment and rb fics, you’re the reason we keep going

I can't thank everyone and I don't want to forget anyone, but I really wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you so much for being here. Tumblr can be a hell of a place sometimes, but I’m so grateful for the friends I made here, for the people I met, and for the fics I’m so lucky to read, because I am first and foremost a reader ❤️

appreciation April

[djarinmuse]

April Appreciation Week 1 - the first work you posted:

A delightful idea by @tateypots for writers to toot their own horn 🥳

The first fic I posted was chapter one of Second Chances back in February of 2022. It was supposed to be 3 chapters and end on a comedic beat. That super duper did not happen! 😆

I had never written fic before and had only started reading it in 2021. I knew about fic but didn't know about fic. So I dove in and educated myself on the ins and outs.

This fic spawn from my 2020 hyperfixation on Star Wars, Mando and Pedro Pascal. And from surviving a mental health crisis in 2020.

I really wanted something angsty, funny, whumpy, quasi romantic and quirky. I also specifically wrote that she has short hair to spite every supposedly blank reader fic that has her "putting her hair up". Part of my identity is that I don't have long hair. It's not petty, it's just fair.

It's absolutely one of my most self indulgent and creative fics. I'm working on the last chapter currently. I reread chapter one after being tagged this week and made edits in the moment to the opening scene. I didn't realize how lackluster their first meeting was.... So, I zhuzed it up last night. It's really interesting to see how far my writing has come since those first chapters.

Thank you for the tag @sixhours!

💫🖤💫

If you're seeing this consider me tagging you! That's lazy... Lemme tag some peeps even if you've been tagged and I missed it IDK @the-blind-assassin-12 @perotovar @annwrites24 @newpathwrites @max--phillips @coulsons-fullmetal-cellist @kewwrites @jessthebaker