DreamLife.LiveLit.

Hi I'm E, mid 20s she/her. Fandom writer. Newsies the Musical, the 100, Rogue One, Once Upon A Time primarily as of August 2020. Find me on A03 at writetheniteaway. Header and avatar by @justindavis.

[cal-kestis]

happy april 30th!

[catchymemes]

[kalgalen]

Leaving a fandom before the source material goes to shit but still hearing about what's going wrong with it from the friends you made when you were into it feels like standing on a lifeboat after a shipwreck and seeing your friends still in the water fistfighting the man eating sharks circling around

[menlove]

when u see a mutual u haven't seen in ages in ur notifs like omg I've pleased you again never leave me

[hellpotter]

it’s not weird to find fanfiction from 2021, or 2017, or 2014 that you’ve never read and actually taking your time to read it.

it’s not weird to love it and comment and leave kudos because the author will probably still see it someday and it will make them happy.

it’s not weird to like said author’s work so much that you want to go look for other fics from them.

it’s not weird to go through the authors profile and look for other fics from the ships you like (or maybe some that you’ll give a chance because you liked the author) and maybe bookmark them for later.

it’s not weird to read these other fics and like them too and comment on them because you actually like them and you want to let the author know.

it’s not weird to read fanfiction from 5, or 8, or 10 years ago and actually enjoy and engage with it because it’s perfectly normal to relate to something that’s less than a decade old!

let’s stop treating fanfiction like they’re instagram posts that stop being interesting in 24 hours! fanfiction is NOT social media, fanfiction is art!!! and art doesn’t get old in one day, one year, or even a decade!

read fanfiction! write fanfiction! comment on fanfiction! let’s not let fanculture die people!!!!!

[photomatt]

Tumblr Advisor Board

I think it could be cool to put together a board of the top Tumblristas in the world, that could see previews of what's coming up and advise on strategic direction. Who should be on it?

[prismatic-bell]

Okay, look. We're gonna do it like this, Matt. I used to work in market research. This one is free, next time I expect a month of free premium and if there's a third time I expect a job.

TO EVERYONE ELSE:

A series of ten reblogs is about to follow, since you can only have one poll per reblog. Please answer all ten polls. If you don't see them all, check the notes (this shouldn't take me long so if it's more than like, fifteen minutes since I posted this one they should all be there.)

1) What is the PRIMARY thing you do on Tumblr?

I mostly reblog others' posts

I write original posts

I make/post memes

I make/post images or gifs

I make/post videos

I run a poll blog

I run a gimmick blog

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

2) how long have you been here?

Under twelve months

1-2 years

3-4 years

5-6 years

7-8 years

9-10 years

More than ten years

I don't remember

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

3) how old are you?

Under 18

19-28

29-38

39-48

49-58

59-68

I'm one of the Tumblr grandparents

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

4) thinking about the recent Tumblr feature release/rollback, what did you find most frustrating?

There was no communication before the fact

I felt like the feature didn't take Tumblr users' wants and needs into account

I felt like the feature showed a lack of understanding of Tumblr culture

I felt the feature would hurt Tumblr culture

I felt the feature would hurt Tumblr artists and small makers specifically

I wasn't bothered by the change

It happened so fast I didn't even know until it was all over

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

5) thinking about the recent Tumblr feature release/rollback, what satisfied you most about the response?

Tumblr staff responded quickly

I felt like we were heard and listened to

It was nice to see our concerns were understood

I wasn't bothered by the change

It happened so fast I didn't even know until it was all over

Other

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

6) thinking about features you use on Tumblr, what would you like to see improved?

The recent UI changes to reblogging are too confusing

I'd like tagging to be easier

I'd like to see the tagging system overhauled

I'd like to see the reporting/adult tagging system improved

I'd like a separate page for my communities

I'd like to be able to mark posts as for my followers only

I'd like to see the blocking system improved

I'm happy with Tumblr as it is

Other

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

7) with the understanding that Tumblr needs to attract new users or convert more current free users to paying users in order to stay online, what do you think of Matt's "top tumblrista" idea?

Absolutely not--this is very famously the influencer-hating site

Absolutely not--this site is too diverse for that to work

Absolutely not, for other reasons

I'm actually liking this poll method

The poll method is clunky but something similar would be great

I think the panel of "top users" would be great

I have no opinion on this

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

8) if you don't currently pay for use of a Tumblr feature, why not?

I have paid Tumblr features

The price point is too high for my wallet

The price point is too high for what's offered

There's nothing offered that I want

I wouldn't pay even if something I wanted was offered

Other

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

In the following question, "pre-social media" refers to platforms like LiveJournal, forums, alt.net boards, early MySpace, and similar spaces.

9) thinking about the given definition of "pre-social media," how much do you agree with the statement "I think most tumblr users I know would prefer pre-social media to modern platforms like Facebook and X"?

"Strongly agree" is not strong enough

Strongly agree

Agree

Kind of maybe agree?

Neutral/I don't know enough about pre-social media to say

Kind of maybe disagree?

Disagree

Strongly disagree

"Strongly disagree" is not strong enough

Voting ended onMar 27

[prismatic-bell]

10) do you think Matt should just hire me to do this so I don't have to squeeze it around my break at work?

Yes, this was awesome

Sure, you're not perfect but this was way better than what they've done til now

No, but someone should do this

Honestly I'm just sad you didn't give us nuance/bald/vanilla extract/tickybox

Voting ended onMar 27

[honestlydarkprincess]

to celebrate the ides of march this year tumblr decided to stab its users in the back

[d0n-d13g0]

et tu hellsite?

[hellyeahrihannafenty]

Tom Holland does Rihanna’s “Umbrella” on Lip Sync Battle

[dr0wnedperfectionist]

I’m literally zendaya reacting like he didn’t have to go that hard and yet..

[kiera-jpg]

if this comes up on my dash and i don’t reblog it - just assume im dead

[kimberly-stocks]

I mean.. is there really anything better than this?

[snowstories]

My biggest tip for fanfic writers is this: if you get a character's mannerisms and speech pattern down, you can make them do pretty much whatever you want and it'll feel in character.

Logic: Characters, just like real people, are mallable. There is typically very little that's so truly, heinously out of character that you absolutely cannot make it work under any circumstance. In addition, most fans are also willing to accept characterization stretches if it makes the fic work. Yeah, we all know the villain and the hero wouldn't cuddle for warmth in canon. But if they did do that, how would they do it?

What counts is often not so much 'would the character do this?' and more 'if the character did do this, how would they do it?' If you get 'how' part right, your readers will probably be willing to buy the rest, because it will still feel like their favourite character. But if it doesn't feel like the character anymore, why are they even reading the fic?

Worry less about whether a character would do something, and more about how they'd sound while doing it.

[mossbear-minese]

I don't remember where I saw this piece of advice so I can't credit it, unfortunately

But it was along the lines of "instead of asking whether something is out of character, ask 'what would it take for this character to do this'"

Which I think fits really nicely with this advice of making the actual action itself also feel in character

[presentlydean]

online communities are so strange because people slip away so easily. you can be on here for years, folding people you've never met into the fabric of your daily life, and then they disappear, leaving only ghost posts scattered across tumblr behind. or their blog stays dormant, for weeks, months, years, until you're only still following them because you remember that they love sunflowers or they were kind to you when they didn't have to be or the last thing they posted was sad and raw and you still worry about them sometimes.

and sometimes they come back when you least expect it, years later, even, and there's this sudden rush of relief like there you are, there you are, even though you barely knew each other.

there's a strange kind of love to it. i don't know you and i want to hold your hand across miles and time zones and oceans. i can still see the imprint of you in this community you left. you don't think anyone will notice or care when you're gone, but we notice and we care and we wish you well.

i hope you're all okay out there. i hope the sun is shining on your face and you are breathing deeply. i miss you.

[carrieeve]

Happy Tuesday, sunflowerkru! Our last bfsn for the year.

Christmas was busy but also quite fun. We had my little nephew visiting visiting, which was absolutely wonderful. And now, I hope you guys have a lovely New Year 😊

@pendragaryen @togetherkru @natassakar @ninappon @sometimesrosy @nakey-cats-take-bathsss @infp-with-all-the-feelings @igotbellarkeforthat @immortalpramheda @geekyogicheese @roguetwelve @jeanie205 @okmcintyre @julibernardo @gabbagabbadoo @writetheniteaway @travllingbunny @lee-em-dee @kizo2703 @who-needs-reality-anyways

[writetheniteaway]

I'm a few weeks late but Happy New Year I hope you are l doing well!!!

[carrieeve]

Happy bfsn, sunflowerkru!

Thanks for the tag last week, @ninappon & @togetherkru I have sadly missed out on the fun over the last couple of weeks but it's been busy and exhausting. Work is always more taxing when the autumn comes, alas. I also hope we'll be able to still keep this thing going. I love hearing from all of you guys. 💜

@pendragaryen @natassakar @sometimesrosy @nakey-cats-take-bathsss @infp-with-all-the-feelings @igotbellarkeforthat @immortalpramheda @geekyogicheese @roguetwelve @jeanie205 @okmcintyre @julibernardo @gabbagabbadoo @writetheniteaway @travllingbunny @lee-em-dee @kizo2703

[writetheniteaway]

A glimpse of the sky from my second home. Infinite love and appreciation to you all.

[carrieeve]

Happy Tuesday, sunflowerkru 🌻

The weather over here turned for the rainy and I've been feeling that shift for a couple of days now, with how sleepy I am all day. But this morning, I saw the cutest car stickers on my way to work--the first one is easy, the second one translates to something like Catmobile. It was such a fun thing to see first thing in the morning and it immediately made me smile. Didn't help with the sleepiness in the long run, obviously, but still lifted the mood.

Hope you guys are alright 😊

@pendragaryen @togetherkru @natassakar @ninappon @sometimesrosy @nakey-cats-take-bathsss @infp-with-all-the-feelings @igotbellarkeforthat @immortalpramheda @geekyogicheese @roguetwelve @jeanie205 @okmcintyre @julibernardo @gabbagabbadoo @writetheniteaway @travllingbunny @lee-em-dee @kizo2703

[writetheniteaway]

Hey y'all. Been a hot minute since I've had the energy to love something as much as I love The Ties that Bind (Mythcraft the Podcast). Please hit me up and join me in this excitement. It's lonely out here 🤣 There's only 14 episodes currently published, you can catch up in a weekend.

Love you to pieces, hope everyone is safe and well. This is the bright spot of joy in my life right now, so I'm sharing.

[writetheniteaway]

*Shouting into the void of whoever is left of these fandoms on ye olde internet* Shooting my shot for you all to join me in listening to https://linktr.ee/MythCraftThePodcast

Peaky Blinders meets fantasy TTRPG actual play meets everything I've described above, and even made a handy little chart. There are only 13 or so episodes published right now and there is a 3 week posting 1 week off schedule, so you are EASILY able to get caught up. This is a cry for help. This show is worthy of the fandoms of heyday of old. I need people to scream and cry and laugh and write and create with. Bonus points, supporting small independent creators who are genuinely amazing people. Seriously, if any of the ships on this list have been impactful for you at any point, you want to check this story out. The ship is only part of overall amazing storytelling, every single character is rich and delightful, the plot is complex and mysterious and like unlocking a massive puzzle. Join me in hell. Please. It's lonely out here.

[carrieeve]

Happy Tuesday, sunflowerkru! 🌻

I have some new life for you guys today. There's a pigeon nest on my balcony at work and there are two babies growing in there!

Yes, I do realise that the reason they are there is because it'd been cold for so long, I totally neglected it and by the time I was going to clean it up properly, the parents had already started to arrange the debris into a nest and I didn't want to scare them off. I also recognise that had it been literally any other spot, I would've complained about bird dirt in the future. But now, those are my balcony babies and I feel strangely proud. This photo is a few days old and they are even more fluffy now.

Have a lovely evening!

@pendragaryen @togetherkru @natassakar @ninappon @sometimesrosy @nakey-cats-take-bathsss @infp-with-all-the-feelings @igotbellarkeforthat @immortalpramheda @geekyogicheese @roguetwelve @jeanie205 @okmcintyre @julibernardo @gabbagabbadoo @writetheniteaway @travllingbunny @lee-em-dee @kizo2703

[writetheniteaway]

A few of the awesome "offices" I've had in the last few months. Hope you all are also on many adventures.

[carrieeve]

Happy Tuesday, sunflowerkru!

As promised, I have some photos from my trip last weekend. Not too many because the weather was atrocious and it rained most of the time but there we are. Those are from Wieliczka Winery, where we went for a bit of a tasting. The wine was so-so but the views were spectacular. Later, we went to another winery where the wine was better, so I didn't take any photos, I was otherwise occupied 😁 clearly, we'd beed very scholarly during that conference.

Unfortunately, as it happens every spring, my allergies went after me with full force, having spent the day running around damp forests. I spent Saturday evening cursing myself for having the wine instead of antihistamines but oh, well.

Hope you guys have agreat evening!

@pendragaryen @togetherkru @natassakar @ninappon @sometimesrosy @nakey-cats-take-bathsss @infp-with-all-the-feelings @igotbellarkeforthat @immortalpramheda @geekyogicheese @roguetwelve @jeanie205 @okmcintyre @julibernardo @gabbagabbadoo @writetheniteaway @travllingbunny @lee-em-dee @kizo2703

[writetheniteaway]

Hello loves; I miss you all. I've been fasting from social media for the most part, so here is a smattering of random bouts of joy from the last two months or so. Hoping I'll be back more regularly soon.

[sharlinefreire]

sometimes what you need to get out of a deep depression is to start shipping a fictional couple that encourages you to read fanfiction until 3 am.